Category: World

A reported plan by Amazon to label product prices with U.S. tariff information has been scrapped, drawing praise from President Donald Trump and defusing what could have been a political flashpoint. The initial report, from Punchbowl News, suggested Amazon’s low-cost Haul platform was preparing to reveal how much tariffs were adding to prices. The White House swiftly condemned the idea, calling it “hostile” and politically motivated. President Trump later confirmed a personal conversation with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whom he praised for resolving the matter. Trump said Bezos was “a good…

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OTTAWA: Votes were being counted Monday in a Canadian election that will choose a leader to confront Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats, which the US president renewed in an election day message. The Liberal Party, led by new Prime Minister Mark Carney, was trailing Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives until Trump’s attacks on Canada sparked a wave of patriotism and a sudden reversal in poll forecasts. Polling stations across the vast country that spans six time zones have started to close, with results from smaller eastern provinces trickling in. Voting…

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OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has emerged victorious after his Liberal Party managed to win Canada’s election on Monday. Carney, who has a history of taking on roles at challenging moments, secured a term as prime minister despite having never served in parliament, which is unprecedented in Canadian history. “I’m most useful in a crisis. I’m not that good at peacetime,” he said during the campaign. Carney secured a term as prime minister despite having never served in parliament, which is unprecedented in Canadian history. Even with no government experience,…

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RIYADH: A series of stringent penalties have been announced by the Saudi Ministry of Interior targeting individuals who attempt to perform Hajj without the required permit, as well as those who facilitate such violations. From the first of Dhul-Qi’dah until the 14th of Dhul-Hijjah, the measures will be enforced. Under the new regulations, individuals caught performing or attempting to perform Hajj without a valid permit will face fines of up to SAR 20,000. This penalty also applies to holders of all types of visit visas who enter or stay in…

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Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada’s election Monday, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power after convincing voters his experience managing crises had prepared him to confront United States President Donald Trump. The public broadcaster CBC and other outlets projected the Liberals would form Canada’s next government, but it was not yet clear if they would hold a majority in parliament. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre fell short of becoming prime minister, but his party was on track to form a strong opposition. Carney, who had never held elected office…

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Pope Francis’ sometimes tumultuous papacy will be honoured on Saturday with a funeral Mass in St Peter’s Square, which will be attended by members of the royal family, presidents, prime ministers, and a horde of devoted people. US President Donald Trump, who has frequently differed with Francis over his very divergent views on immigration, will be among those attending the event from over 150 countries. The Argentine pope died on Monday, aged 88, following a stroke, ushering in a meticulously planned period of transition for the 1.4-billion member Roman Catholic…

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In a sigh of relief for overseas students, the Trump administration said on Friday that it is restoring the student visa registrations of potentially thousands of foreign students in the United States whose legal status had recently been abruptly terminated. The decision was announced during a court hearing before a federal judge in Boston who was hearing a challenge by one of the many international students nationally suing over the administration’s actions. Those students status had been revoked as a result of their records being terminated from a database of…

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US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said, “I…

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The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom in May. The offered package comes after the administration of former president Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalise a defence pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel. The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US…

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WASHINGTON: Ukraine is working quickly to finish a minerals deal with the United States, according to Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko. The Ukrainian official told Reuters on Thursday that both sides are making progress, but a few issues still need to be sorted out before the agreement can be signed. Marchenko and other Ukrainian officials met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday to discuss the deal and ongoing questions about Russian assets frozen and held by the West since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The two countries signed a…

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