Category: International

After negotiations that went on for several weeks to reach an agreement for setting the federal budget, the US lawmakers announced a federal spending limit of $1.6 trillion for fiscal year 2024, averting the government shutdown as presidential elections near this year. The budget was announced by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrat leaders in Congress, with President Joe Biden appreciating the move. The 81-year-old Joe Biden said: “The deal moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.” But time is short…

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TOKYO: Tsunami waves over a metre high hit central Japan on Monday after a huge earthquake that damaged homes, set off a major fire and prompted authorities to urge people to run to higher ground. Media reports said two people were feared dead after the 7.5-magnitude quake struck Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan side of the main island of Honshu at 4:10 pm (0710 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Japanese authorities put the magnitude at 7.6 and said that it was one of more than…

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BEIJING: President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the Chinese economy had grown “more resilient and dynamic” in 2023, despite financial figures continuing to disappoint as the post-Covid recovery stalls. He also promised in a bullish New Year’s address to the nation that China would “surely be reunified” — a reference to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and has pledged to seize. Xi has endured a challenging 2023 at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy, with his administration struggling to sustain an economic rebound…

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At least 30 people were killed and over 160 were left injured in the early hours of Friday as Russia launched its largest missile bombardment of the war so far, on Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Lviv. Russia “used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal”, with homes and a maternity hospital hit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Ukraine’s air force said it had never seen so many missiles launched at once, amid a drastic improvement of Russia’s air defences, which were overwhelmed on Friday, the BBC reported. An Air Force…

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The top election official of the Maine state has declared former US president Donald Trump ineligible for the state elections, removing him from the 2024 primary ballot over his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Maine becomes the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court removed the former president from the ballot earlier this month, reported CNN. The development is a significant victory for Trump’s critics, who, citing the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, say they’re trying to enforce a constitutional…

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The Indian government has been using Pegasus spyware to target prominent journalists, according to a joint investigation by Amnesty International and The Washington Post released on Thursday. The spyware, developed by Israeli firm NSO Group and sold to governments worldwide, allows access to a phone’s messages, emails, photos, call recordings, location data, and even the phone’s camera. The spyware used both “IP addresses as well as domain names to reach its targets,” according to the National Herald, an Indian newspaper. There has been enough research published in the field of cyber security since a…

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It is the holiday season again and this means traffic-struck travel routes as families across the world travel hundreds or thousands of miles to reunite and celebrate together. However, during the holiday season, it is important to be mindful of safety, especially if you plan to travel to different cities in the United States. New research from Vivint, a smart-home security company, suggests that some cities in the US are considered more “unsafe” than others during the holidays. Those factors include data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Google…

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The United States’ Supreme Court, without an explanation or any dissents, has rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s request to expedite arguments on former president Donald Trump’s immunity from federal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during office. The court’s recent decision on Friday, which could delay Trump’s trial, is a significant setback for Smith, who requested the justices to bypass a federal appeals court and swiftly resolve a crucial issue in his election subversion criminal case against Trump, CNN reported. In urging the court to not take the case, Trump’s attorneys argued…

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A man at Prague’s Charles University shot dead at least 15 people and wounded numerous others before the police “eliminated” him, the authorities said on Thursday. Panic ensued from the violence in the historic core of the Czech Republic city, prompting a major police response and advisories to stay indoors, reported AFP. The Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, located close to popular tourist destinations including the Charles Bridge from the fourteenth century, is where the shooting took place. “At the moment I can say there are 11 dead people on the scene…

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