Category: World

WASHINGTON: The US Department of Veterans Affairs plans to cut more than 80,000 jobs in an effort to reduce staffing to 2019 levels, a move that has sparked outrage among veterans’ groups and Democrats, who warn it could severely impact services for former military personnel. The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, sent a memo to senior agency officials on Tuesday, telling them the goal was to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would mean cutting about 82,000 staff. The memo directed agency staff…

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PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron has raised the possibility of France offering nuclear protection to its European partners, warning that the continent must confront the growing threat from Russia. France and Britain are Europe’s only two nuclear powers. “Our nuclear deterrent protects us: it is complete, sovereign, French through and through,” Macron said in his televised speech. “But, responding to the historic call of the future German Chancellor, I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our (nuclear) deterrence,” Macron said.…

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LONDON: UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer marked Ramadan at an iftar gathering in Parliament, acknowledging it as a “challenging time for Muslims in the UK.” PM Starmer attended “the big iftar” hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims to observe Ramadan, which began on Friday and will go on until March 30. Speaking at the event on Tuesday evening, the prime minister thanked British Muslims for their contributions to “every community in Britain” and reflected on the “pain of the conflict in Gaza” and how conflict abroad…

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WASHINGTON: Donald Trump proclaimed Tuesday that the “American dream is unstoppable” in his first address to Congress since a whirlwind return to power that has roiled the nation and the world. With his close advisor Elon Musk among those in the audience for his prime-time televised address, the 78-year-old Republican billionaire said he was “just getting started” on his radical plans to reshape the country. The president hailed the achievements of his first six weeks, vowing to press on with his polarizing bid to reshape the US government and end…

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WASHINGTON: A new Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that only one in three Americans supports how President Donald Trump is tackling the rising cost of living in the US, highlighting growing concerns as his steep import tariffs — rolled out on Tuesday — threaten to push prices higher. The two-day poll, carried out just before the Republican president was due to address a joint session of Congress, showed Trump’s approval ratings below 40% on a range of issues – including the economy, foreign policy, and corruption – with the notable exception being…

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A senior US official suggested on Tuesday that President Donald Trump may ease tariffs on Canada and Mexico this week while keeping his focus on China, just hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lashed out at Washington’s trade policies. “I think he’s going to work something out with them,” Howard Lutnick told Fox Business, hinting that an announcement could come as soon as Wednesday. “Somewhere in the middle will likely be the outcome—the president moving with the Canadians and Mexicans, but not all the way,” he added. Earlier in…

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau forcefully condemned US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports on Tuesday, calling them “a very dumb thing to do” and announcing immediate retaliatory measures against Washington. Speaking just hours after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on both Mexico and Canada, Trudeau unveiled a 25% tariff on C$30 billion worth of US goods. He warned that if necessary, an additional C$125 billion in tariffs would follow within three weeks. “There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs,” Trudeau told reporters, adding that Canada…

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he regretted last week’s extraordinary Oval Office clash with Donald Trump and wanted to “make things right”, adding that Kyiv was ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible, Reuters reported. In a fulsome statement issued a day after Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, Zelenskiy said he was ready to sign “any time and in any convenient format” a deal giving the United States access to Ukrainian minerals. He had left the deal on the table when he abandoned a visit…

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An Iranian court has sentenced two former ministers to prison over a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal linked to imported tea, the judiciary announced on Tuesday. The case, known in Iran as the Debsh Tea Scandal, was opened in 2023 and implicated more than 60 people, involving a total of $3.7 billion, the Iran newspaper reported in May, citing the country’s chief justice. Forty-two defendants were sentenced in the case, including former agriculture minister Javad Sadatinejad and former industry minister Reza Fatemi Amin, said Mizan Online, the judiciary’s news outlet. Sadatinejad received…

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Pope Francis suffered two new breathing attacks on Monday, requiring two separate bronchoscopies, the Vatican said, as the 88-year-old pontiff struggles to recover from pneumonia. “Today, the Holy Father experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” it said in a statement on Francis’s 18th day in hospital, the longest of his papacy. In its usual evening update, the Holy See said the pope had resumed the use of an oxygen mask and noted that he was “alert, focused and…

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