Tag: z.straitstimes2

WASHINGTON – The United States on Wednesday announced the approval of a US$285 million (S$385 million) sale of a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (“NASAMS”) air defence system and related equipment to Ukraine as Kyiv seeks to boost protection against Russian strikes. “Ukraine has an urgent need to increase its capabilities to defend against Russian missile strikes and aircraft,” the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement. “Acquiring and effectively deploying this capability will enhance Ukraine’s ability to…

NEW YORK – Meta Platforms Inc started carrying out the last batch of a three-part round of lay-offs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, as part of a plan announced in March to eliminate 10,000 roles. Meta earlier this year became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs, after showing more than 11,000 employees the door in autumn. The cuts brought the company’s headcount down to where it stood as…

OSLO – The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a US ship. It is a show of Nato force at a time of heightened tension between the regional alliance and Russia over the war in Ukraine. The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country’s coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said. “This visit is an important…

WASHINGTON – More than 100 members of the US Congress and the European Parliament on Tuesday called for the removal of an oil industry executive tapped to lead the next United Nations climate change conference. The choice of Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), to head December’s COP28 summit in Dubai has angered activists who fear it will hold back progress on reducing emissions. The lawmakers expressed “profound concern” over the appointment in…

NEW YORK – Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical chief executive officer who served almost seven years in prison for securities fraud, is earning US$2,500 (S$3,370) a month consulting for a law firm and living with his sister in Queens, New York, according to the US Probation Office. Shkreli, 40, has had a mostly “positive adjustment” since being released from prison in 2022 and is currently employed by the Law Office of Christopher K. Johnston, according to a probation report filed…

NEW YORK – Dozens of fringe news websites, content farms and fake reviewers are using artificial intelligence to create inauthentic content online, according to two reports released on Friday. The misleading AI content included fabricated events, medical advice and celebrity death hoaxes, the reports said, raising fresh concerns that the transformative technology could rapidly reshape the misinformation landscape online. The two reports were released separately by NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation, and ShadowDragon, a company that provides resources…

  GHIBULLO – More than 36,000 people have now been forced from their homes by deadly floods in northeast Italy, regional officials said Saturday, as rising waters swallowed more houses and fresh landslides isolated hamlets Violent downpours earlier this week killed 14 people, transforming streets in the cities and towns of the Emilia Romagna region into rivers. And as more rain fell, regional authorities extended the red weather alert to Sunday. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she was…

NEW YORK – When Ms Raegan Zelaya and Mr Shua Wilmot decided to include their pronouns at the end of their work e-mails, they thought they were doing a good thing: following what they viewed as an emerging professional standard and also sending a message of inclusivity at the Christian university where they worked. But their bosses at Houghton University, in upstate New York, saw the matter very differently. Administrators at Houghton, which was founded and is now owned by…

WASHINGTON – The United States on Friday announced sanctions on more than 300 targets as Group of Seven leaders met in Japan, aiming to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and intensifying one of the harshest sanctions efforts ever implemented. The move, which targets Russia’s sanctions evasion, future energy revenues and military-industrial supply chains, marks the latest sanctions and export controls targeting Moscow, which have already hit thousands of targets and imposed steep curbs on Russia. “Today’s actions will…

LONDON – Tesco chairman John Allan will step down at the group’s annual shareholders’ meeting next month, with Britain’s biggest retailer saying claims of inappropriate behaviour against him risked becoming a distraction to the business. One of Britain’s highest-profile corporate names, Mr Allan, 74, is often featured in British media commenting on retail and general business matters. He has chaired Tesco since 2015 and also chairs housebuilder Barratt Developments, where he is due to step down in September. The supermarket…

MOSCOW – Russia has issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor who in March prepared a warrant for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges, Russian media reported on Friday. The British prosecutor, Karim Khan, was added to the Interior Ministry’s wanted list, state-owned news agency TASS said, citing the ministry’s database. Moscow opened cases against Khan and three ICC judges on March 20, days after the order for Putin’s arrest. The ICC and its office…

LONDON – Britain on Friday published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel and slap a new wave of sanctions against Russia, targeting companies connected to the alleged theft of Ukrainian grain. Along with the United States, Britain and other Group of Seven (G-7) major economies are set to unveil sanctions and export controls targeting Russia over its war against Ukraine at a summit in Japan this weekend. “We will legislate later this year to ban…

GENEVA – Rising temperatures are making it increasingly difficult to reach global health goals. There is a risk of more than nine million climate-related deaths each year by the end of the century, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). “All aspects of health are affected by climate change – from clean air, water and soil to food systems and livelihoods,” the WHO said in its annual World Health Statistics report released on Friday. “Further delay in tackling climate change…

  WASHINGTON – The Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around US$3 billion (S$4.05 billion), a Senate aide and a defense official said on Thursday, an error that may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces. The error was the result of assigning a higher than warranted value on weaponry that was taken from US stocks and then shipped to Ukraine,…

  LONDON – Ukraine has rejected a Chinese suggestion to consider an immediate ceasefire in the country’s war with Russia. In a statement issued on Wednesday after a day of closed-door meetings with Ambassador Li Hui, China’s special mediator in the conflict, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: “Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict.” The failed diplomatic effort comes just as the war is growing in…

LONDON – Governments are increasingly focusing on health risks fuelled by global warming, with most nations now considering concerns from malaria to heart disease in their climate plans, according to data shared exclusively by the World Health Organisation (WHO). More than 90 per cent of countries have included health hazards in their commitments to tackle climate change, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), up from 70 per cent in 2020, according to new WHO data set to be released in…