Twitter names Elon Musk to board, further lifting shares on April 6, 2022New York: Twitter announced Tuesday that Elon Musk will join its board, boosting hopes the Tesla boss will lift the social media company’s prospects as some observers expressed wariness of the billionaire’s influence. Shares rose for a second day on news of Musk’s board appointment after surging on Monday’s disclosure of the outspoken entrepreneur’s large […]
Factfile: Plastic and pollution on February 26, 2022 Paris: Plastic production and pollution show no signs of letting up, even though solutions that could mitigate the material’s harmful environmental impact are emerging. Here are the key issues, ahead of a UN conference in Nairobi next week that has its sights on a future treaty to curb plastic waste: – How much plastic […]
World must brace for more extreme wildfires: UN on February 23, 2022Paris: The number of major wildfires worldwide will rise sharply in coming decades due to global warming, and governments are ill-prepared for the death and destruction such mega-blazes trail in their wake, the UN warned Wednesday. Even the most ambitious efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions will not prevent a dramatic surge in the frequency […]
EU chief urges Russia to take ‘concrete’ steps towards de-escalation on February 16, 2022Strasbourg, France: The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Wednesday urged Russia to take “concrete” steps to ease tensions around Ukraine, as Moscow said it was pulling back more forces from the border. “Russia has signaled that it may be open to diplomacy and we urge Russia to take concrete and tangible steps […]
Egyptian, Saudi leaders to attend Olympics: state media on January 28, 2022Beijing: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are among over 20 foreign dignitaries who will attend next week’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, Chinese state media said Friday. The dignitaries will be present for the February 4 opening ceremony, a welcome banquet and talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, […]
More than 30 Panamanians to be tried over Panama Papers scandal on January 26, 2022Panama City: Thirty-two Panamanians will be prosecuted for alleged involvement in graft revealed by the so-called Panama Papers in 2016, the country’s justice department said Tuesday. The 32 defendants will be prosecuted for “the alleged commission of the crime against the economic order, in the form of money laundering, in the case known as ‘Panama […]
Canada’s foreign ministry targeted in cyberattack on January 25, 2022Montreal: Canada’s foreign ministry was hit by a cyberattack last week that is still preventing diplomats from accessing certain online services, federal cyber security agencies confirmed on Monday. A day after the attack, which took place on January 19, Canada’s federal cyber security agency warned that critical infrastructure needed stronger defenses against “Russian state-sponsored cyber […]
Biden concedes voting rights agenda may fail on January 14, 2022Washington: President Joe Biden appeared to admit defeat Thursday in his bid to get major voting rights laws passed in Congress after he failed to persuade his own Democratic party to give full backing. In another blow to his presidency, the Supreme Court also ruled against his Covid-19 test-or-vaccine mandate on large businesses, a key […]
US jobless claims rise in third week of January on January 27, 2017WASHINGTON: New claims for US jobless benefits rose in the third week of January but continued a record streak of low levels, the Labour Department reported on Thursday. Initial claims for unemployment insurance stood at 259,000 for the week ended January 21, on a seasonally adjusted basis, an increase of 22,000 over the previous week. […]
Trump plans to fund Mexico border wall with 20% import tax on January 27, 2017 WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump plans to fund his construction of a wall on the Mexican border by imposing a 20 percent import tax on goods from Washington’s southern neighbour, his spokesman said Thursday. “By doing that, we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone,” […]