Category: Featured

Musk, Ronaldo among guests at Trump’s dinner with Saudi Arabia’s MBS

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WASHINGTON: Tech mogul Elon Musk and football star superstar Cristiano Ronaldo were among the guest attending a high-profile White House dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for the visiting Saudi crown prince on Tuesday. Ronaldo plays for Saudi club Al Nassr, one of a number of ageing players who have been attracted to the desert kingdom’s heavy spending on stars despite its rights record. The 40-year-old, whose contract with the Saudi club ends this summer, took his place near the head of Trump’s table a few seconds before the…

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US, Saudi Arabia clinch defining nuclear, F-35 deals in major strategic push

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The United States and Saudi Arabia signed agreements on civil nuclear energy and the sale of advanced US-made F-35 fighter jets during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington on Tuesday, the White House said. The two countries ratified a “joint declaration” on civil nuclear energy that “builds the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar nuclear energy partnership” in line with “strong nonproliferation standards,” the White House said in a statement. In addition, President Donald Trump approved a “major defence sale package,” which includes future deliveries of F-35 advanced…

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MBS vows $1tr US investments in meeting with Trump

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Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pledge to invest $1 trillion in the United States, as the Saudi royal received a grand reception at the White House. Trump moved to consolidate his growing bromance with the Saudi leader, who is at the Oval Office for the first time in seven years, giving him a parade of soldiers on horseback and a military flypast featuring F-35 jets that he said Washington would soon sell to Riyadh. Trump opened their White House meeting with praise for the prince’s…

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Trump claims credit for averting Pak-India ‘war that was almost ready to start again’

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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that he had actually stopped eight battles, including a war from “restarting” between nuclear-armed neighbours, Pakistan and India. Addressing a joint press conference along with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is visiting the US for the first time in seven years, at his Oval Office, Trump said: “I’ve stopped eight wars… I’ve actually stopped eight wars.” The US president said that he had done a lot of good with his office. He said, “We stopped India and Pakistan. I could…

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ICAST-2025 opens in Islamabad, showcasing Pakistan’s growing space role

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan took a major step forward in its space programme on Tuesday with the launch of the International Conference on Applications of Space Science and Technology (ICAST-2025), billed as the region’s largest space science and technology forum. The conference opened at the Institute of Space Technology (IST), and is being jointly organised by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) and IST. The conference is being held with the collaboration of the Inter-Islamic Network on Space Sciences and Technology (ISNET), the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation (APSCO), the…

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Google drives green energy push for Christmas Island data hub

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SYDNEY: Australia’s remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island has sufficient power capacity to host a new Google data centre without affecting local supply, but its arrival could help drive a shift towards renewable energy, the island’s biggest employer and the tech giant said. Alphabet’s Google announced on Monday that it will build a data hub on the tiny island, located about 350 km (220 miles) south of Indonesia, confirming an earlier Reuters report. The company also said it would construct a subsea cable system linking Christmas Island with the Maldives and…

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Chinese state-owned entities bankrolling projects in US: report

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HONG KONG: Despite prevailing trade tensions, the United States is the biggest recipient of China’s lending activities globally as revealed in a study tracking Beijing’s credit activities and found it is increasingly lending to higher-income countries over developing countries. The report, published on Tuesday by AidData, a research lab at US university William & Mary, said China’s lending and grant giving totalled $2.2 trillion across 200 countries in every region of the world from 2000 to 2023. China has long been seen as a creditor to developing countries through its Belt and…

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UN Security Council votes for international force for Gaza

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The UN Security Council voted on Monday in favor of a US-drafted resolution bolstering Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state. There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which US President Trump claimed would lead to “further Peace all over the World,” with only Russia and China abstaining — but no vetoes. Trump posted on social media that the vote “acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me…will go…

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Trump okays breakthrough Saudi F-35 jets deal on eve of MBS visit

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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Monday the United States would sell F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, a day before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House for talks. “We will be doing that. We will be selling F-35s,” Trump told reporters when asked if Washington would agree to sell Riyadh the jets at Tuesday´s meeting. “They’ve been a great ally,” he added. A sale would mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and testing Washington’s definition of maintaining Israel’s…

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India signs gas deal with US amid tariff tensions

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India announced on Monday that it has signed a “significant” agreement under which the United States will supply nearly 10% of the country’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, as New Delhi moves to further diversify its energy sources. Relations between Washington and New Delhi plummeted in August after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on India to 50%, with US officials accusing the country of fuelling Russia´s war in Ukraine by buying its discounted oil. Trump has claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to cut its Russian oil…

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