Category: World

ISTANBUL: Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia — a 1,488-year-old architectural marvel that has transformed from church to mosque to museum and back to mosque — is undergoing a significant renovation aimed at preserving its grandeur and fortifying it against future earthquakes. Long admired for its majestic dome, glimmering stone, and slender minarets that dominate the city’s skyline, the monument now bears the signs of restoration. Scaffolding currently blankets its eastern facade and one of its minarets, as engineers work to safeguard the historic structure for generations to come. While “the renovation…

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Donald Trump’s administration is using personal data, which is normally protected from dissemination, to find undocumented immigrants where they work, study and live, often with the goal of removing them from their housing and the workforce, reported The Detroit News. Staffers of the Department of Government Efficiency have been given access to government databases, containing private information about where people work or live, reported The Independent. This is being done all with the intention of identifying undocumented immigrants and assisting in Trump’s mass deportation agenda.e At agencies such as the Department of Housing and…

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Former United States president Joe Biden, in his first major speech since leaving the White House, railed Tuesday against his successor President Donald Trump’s frenetic government overhaul, claiming the “hatchet” effort put Americans’ retirement benefits at risk. “Fewer than 100 days, this administration has done so much damage, and so much destruction, it’s kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon,” Biden told a conference of disability advocates in Chicago. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security administration, pushing 7,000 employees out the door,” said the former president, referring…

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NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump has warned he may revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status after the institution rejected government demands to overhaul its academic policies or risk losing federal funding. US President Donald Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status on Tuesday and said the university should apologise, a day after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programmes or lose federal grants. Beginning with Columbia University, the Trump administration has rebuked universities across the country over their handling of the pro-Palestinian student protest movement…

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WASHINGTON: The White House has said that the United States is ready to enter a trade deal with China, but stressed that it is up to Beijing to take the first step towards negotiations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is open to making a trade deal with China, but Beijing should make the first move. “The ball is in China’s court: China needs to make a deal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” Leavitt told a press briefing,…

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US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it must swiftly abandon any nuclear ambitions or face a military response as diplomatic efforts between the two nations resume, Reuters reported. Trump made the comments following a meeting in Oman on Saturday between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and a senior Iranian representative. Both nations described the session as “constructive,” with a follow-up round expected this weekend, potentially in Rome. Speaking to reporters, Trump voiced scepticism over Iran’s intentions. “I think they’re tapping us along,” he said. Despite the positive tone from the…

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TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister is set to visit Moscow later this week for discussions on the country’s nuclear programme, just before a new round of indirect talks with the United States. On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman — the highest-level negotiations since the 2015 nuclear accord collapsed. US President Donald Trump, who withdrew from the deal, has brought Iran back into the spotlight since returning to office in January. In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,…

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BUENOS AIRES: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said there is still room for a major trade deal with China, despite growing tensions and a deepening tariff dispute between the two countries. “There’s a big deal to be done at some point,” Bessent said on Monday when asked by Bloomberg TV about the possibility that the world’s largest economies would decouple. “There doesn’t have to be” decoupling, he said, “but there could be.” Bessent stressed that a deal with China would be more difficult than with other nations because “China is…

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Forget spending hours researching holidays online. AI tools are rapidly reshaping the way we plan travel, offering tailored itineraries and bookings in a matter of seconds, AFP reported. Start-up Mindtrip has developed a generative AI that builds entire travel plans based on just a few lines of text. From flights and hotels to dining and excursions, the app can recommend options and link users directly to booking platforms. “You don’t need to keep switching between sites,” explained CEO Andy Moss. “It’s all in one place.” Mindtrip is not alone. Platforms like Vacay…

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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has refused to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, claiming it would be tantamount to smuggling a terrorist back into the country, Reuters reported. During a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Bukele rejected the notion that he had any authority to comply with a US court order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. The Salvadoran national had been living in Maryland and was deported despite a judge’s ruling protecting him from removal. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?”…

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