Category: World

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is becoming more popular as fewer Americans believe a recession is on the way, according to a new poll. The new poll shows that more people now approve of how he’s handling the economy. The two-day poll showed 44% of respondents approved of the Republican leader’s performance, up from 42% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos survey carried out April 25–27. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Approval of Trump’s economic stewardship rose to 39% from 36%. Trump began his term with a 47%…

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KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked his US counterpart Donald Trump to help arrange a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while accusing the Russian leader of not seriously wanting to end the war. Zelensky believes that a face-to-face conversation is the key to ending the war. Zelensky said in Kyiv that the West should impose massive sanctions if Putin skips the meeting, emphasising that he would do “everything” possible to make it happen and secure a ceasefire. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the US…

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Saudi Arabia on Tuesday promised billions of dollars in deals with the United States, from defence to artificial intelligence, as it threw a lavish welcome for President Donald Trump on the first state visit of his second term. The Saudis escorted Air Force One into the kingdom with fighter jets before bringing out long-stretching guards of honour and sending flag-waving cavalry to accompany Trump’s motorcade to the palace. Under imposing chandeliers, Trump welcomed a promise by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for $600 billion in…

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LONDON: As British government unveiled policies designed to reduce legal immigration and fend off rising support for the hard right, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Monday to “finally take back control” of Britain’s borders. Starmer announced he was ending an “experiment in open borders” that saw net migration rise to nearly one million people under the previous Conservative government, which lost last year’s general election. The government’s Immigration White Paper policy document includes plans to cut overseas care workers and increase from five to 10 years the length of time…

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WASHINGTON: The State Department has authorised the sale of $1.4 billion worth of military aircraft and equipment to the United Arab Emirates, ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit this week, US officials said on Monday. The  Officials from the State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs said in a statement said that the proposed sale to the Gulf state involves six CH-47F Chinook helicopters and other equipment for $1.32 billion that would “support the foreign policy and national security of the United States”. “The UAE will use these assets in search…

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WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is halting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender troops as it moves to implement President Donald Trump’s plan to remove them from the US military, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Monday. The instructions from the Defence Department barred any new hormone treatments as well as any surgical procedures for transgender troops, the memo said. “I am directing you to take the necessary steps to immediately implement this guidance,” Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of defence for health affairs, said in the memo. The Pentagon referred…

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has launched a bold new artificial intelligence company central to its strategy and investments just before US President Donald Trump’s visit. The move is part of the kingdom’s big plans to become a global leader in AI and invest heavily in future technologies. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) said in a statement its chairman, de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, launched HUMAIN to “operate and invest across the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain”. The announcement comes on the eve of Trump’s arrival on the first…

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US President Donald Trump said Monday he was considering offering sanctions relief to Syria as it seeks to rebuild after a grinding decade-plus civil war, AFP reported. “We are going to have to decide on the sanctions, which we may very well relieve. We may take them off of Syria because we want to give them a fresh start,” Trump told journalists at the White House before departing on a trip to the Middle East. Syria’s Islamist authorities, who toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad in December, are working to rebuild…

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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced Monday its dissolution and the end of more than four decades of armed struggle against the Turkish state, the pro-Kurd ANF news agency reported. “The 12th PKK Congress has decided to dissolve the PKK’s organisational structure and end its method of armed struggle,” the group announced in a statement after holding its congress last week. The PKK’s announcement to dissolve itself heeds a call by its founder Abdullah Ocalan, jailed on an island off Istanbul since 1999, who urged his fighters in February to…

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GENEVA: China and the United States said on Monday they have agreed a deal to slash reciprocal tariffs for now as the world’s two biggest economies seek to end a trade war that has disrupted the global outlook and set financial markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, while speaking after talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, told reporters the two sides had agreed on a 90 day pause on measures and that tariffs would come down by over 100 percentage points to 10%. “Both countries represented their national…

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