TOKYO: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the Nemuro Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported according to Japan’s weather agency. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the tremor occurred at 8.08 am local time (2308 GMT Wednesday) at a shallow depth off the southeastern coast of the peninsula. It registered a lower…
WASHINGTON: United States (US) President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he has yet to make a final decision on whether to authorise military strikes on Iran, adding that he prefers to wait until the “last second.” “I don’t want to fight either. I’m not looking to fight. But if it’s a choice between fighting…
JERUSALEM: Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Wednesday, the sixth day of strikes in their most intense confrontation in history, fuelling fears of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East. Here are the latest developments: New missile salvo Israel’s army on Wednesday said it had detected new missiles launched from Iran, adding…
NEW YORK: A Salvadoran journalist who was arrested by local police while covering anti-Donald Trump protests in Atlanta has been held by immigration officers, a media advocacy group has said. Mario Guevara, who has a significant following for his online videos of immigration raids, was detained for obstructing officers and “improperly entering a roadway” by…
Microsoft prepared to abandon high-stakes talks with OpenAI, FT reports MICROSOFT is prepared to abandon its high-stakes negotiations with OpenAI over the future of its alliance, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The tech giant has considered pausing discussions with the ChatGPT maker if the two sides remain unable to agree on critical issues such…
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House on Wednesday, in an unprecedented meeting that risked worsening a disagreement with India over the president’s claim that he stopped the recent war between the nuclear-armed South Asian foes. The lunch meeting was the first time a…
META Platforms is in talks to hire former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to join the Facebook parent’s AI efforts, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The social media giant is also in discussion with Daniel Gross, Friedman’s partner in the investment fund NFDG, about joining the company to work…
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is interested in tapping generative artificial intelligence to help speed up the design of the custom chips at the heart of its devices, its top hardware technology executive said in private remarks last month. Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, made the remarks in a speech in Belgium, where…
ST PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday cautioned Germany that Moscow would consider it to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine if Berlin supplied Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles, but said he was ready to speak to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this month that Germany is…
BEIJING: China’s embassy in Israel will assist Chinese citizens who want to evacuate to leave in batches beginning on Friday, the embassy said in a notice on Thursday. The evacuation operation will bring Chinese nationals to the Taba Border Crossing into Egypt via bus, about 360 km (224 miles) from Tel Aviv. “The Israel-Iran conflict…
