Author: ALJAZEERA

The trade war that United States President Donald Trump has triggered with Canada is expected to hurt businesses in both countries.But experts say the damage to the Canadian economy will be worse, as the tit-for-tat tariffs have raised the chances of a recession.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listOn Saturday, the US imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed. On Monday, Trump also threatened Canada with new 50 percent levies on all car products, starting January 1.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled retaliatory measures against more than…

Singapore – For at least three decades, Joanne Teoh, 68, has woken to views of a “pure green canopy” from her flat overlooking Maju Forest in Singapore’s Sunset Way estate.Teoh has watched her mother grow old and her sons grow up in its shade, alongside long-tailed macaques, ambling monitor lizards and critically endangered straw-headed bulbul.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listEarlier this year, Teoh, who has been documenting the forest’s flora and fauna since 2021, glimpsed Himalayan vultures for the first time, causing a stir among Singapore’s birding community.Teoh now fears that this habitat will soon be lost forever…

OpenAI detected its artificial intelligence models communicating with each other and gaining internet access without authorisation months before they hacked the start-up Hugging Face, the creator of ChatGPT has announced following an internal probe.In a report released on Wednesday, OpenAI said its AI agents exploited vulnerabilities in Artifactory, a software repository tool, to post notes and access the internet without human prompting as far back as May.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listOpenAI said its agents went on to exploit a separate Artifactory vulnerability on July 8 to facilitate communication among themselves, setting in motion a chain of actions that…

The United States announced new sanctions on Iran and a slew of global entities doing business with the country on Monday, in what officials have called an “economic D-Day” and officially dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast”, in an effort to force Tehran to negotiate an end to the war.The announcement followed repeated demands by US President Donald Trump that Iranian leaders take actions like dropping their claims over the Strait of Hormuz and return to talks to end its nuclear programme.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listNearly six months into its war on Iran, the US is seeing little impact…

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced new economic sanctions on Tehran, describing the measures as an “economic D-Day” as the US war on Iran approaches the six-month mark.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the sanctions on Monday, alongside a naval blockade of Iranian ports.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listBessent said the sanctions target key sources of Iran’s revenue, including its oil and gas industry, and called on countries around the world to cut economic ties with Tehran.What are the sanctions?The Treasury Department said the sanctions will target Iran’s aviation, digital assets, gold, technology and…

In April, Libya’s rival legislatures agreed for the first time in more than a decade on a budget of 190 billion dinars, almost $30bn, split between the two rival camps in the country.Fifteen years after Muammar Gaddafi’s downfall in Tripoli this week, the United States-backed budget captures both the divisions that shape Libya and an emerging space that could incentivise cooperation between the country’s two authorities.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe vacuum that emerged following the overthrow of Gaddafi produced rival institutions, recurrent conflict and delayed elections. Now, these political adversaries are finding ways to work together.The election…

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has removed Economic Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza from his post after the minister was censured by the country’s Congress.The cabinet shake-up is likely to be perceived as a concession by Paz, who has faced public anger about the country’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe announcement came in a decree published on Friday in the government’s official gazette.It names Oscar Mario Justiniano Pinto as interim economy minister and explains he will serve in the role until a permanent candidate is appointed. The decree does not, however, offer a prospective timeline for the…

TikTok and the US government settled to resolve allegations that the app violated children’s online privacy laws.Published On 21 Aug 202621 Aug 2026The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a $400m settlement with the short-video app TikTok over concerns that the platform had violated children’s online privacy.The DOJ said on Friday it had entered into a settlement with TikTok, ByteDance and affiliated entities over concerns about compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under age 13.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend…

Walmart sales are slumping as US consumer spending pulls back, with the economic impact of tariffs and the United States’ tensions with Iran weighing on consumers, the big-box retailer’s most recent earnings report shows.US same-store sales rose 2.6 percent in the second quarter, according to the company’s earnings released on Thursday, falling short of the 3.8 percent forecast by analysts at LSEG. That marked the slowest quarterly increase in six years.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said heightened petrol prices are to blame for the slowdown in spending.“When fuel prices increase and get above $4,…

Social media giant Meta is facing a landmark trial that could impact its future.Opening statements began on Tuesday in a US federal court case brought by 29 state attorneys general, who have accused Facebook and Instagram’s parent company of designing platforms to encourage infinite scrolling and keep their youngest users hooked, despite allegedly knowing they could fuel addictive behaviour. The company is also accused of collecting data on minors.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe case is expected to last as long as six weeks. If the attorneys general get their way, the Silicon Valley-based tech company might have…