Author: ALJAZEERA

Israel claims it is reopening the main crossing point for humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip as its military launched new attacks across the Palestinian territory and was building its offensive on southern Rafah despite ongoing talks for a ceasefire. The Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, was taken over by Israeli forces and closed after a Palestinian rocket attack killed four of their soldiers. Despite signalling the opening of the vital frontier in Rafah on the border with Egypt, aid trucks were yet to start entering the enclave on Wednesday. Israeli tanks took control…

Tesla CEO last month made an unannounced visit to Beijing for talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.Elon Musk suggested testing Tesla’s full self-driving feature in China by deploying it in robotaxis, Chinese state media has reported. During Musk’s visit to China last month, officials told the Tesla CEO that Beijing “welcomes Tesla to do some robotaxi tests in the country” and hopes it can “set a good example”, the state-backed China Daily reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Chinese authorities, however, did not immediately approve Tesla’s widespread use of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, the newspaper said.…

Sweltering Earth endures 11-month warming streak as global air and sea surface temperatures soar.The world experienced its hottest April on record, continuing an 11-month streak of unprecedented high temperatures, the European Union’s climate change monitoring service has said. Each month since June 2023 has ranked as the planet’s hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Wednesday. The exceptionally warm conditions occurred despite a weakened El Nino – the weather phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean and leads to a rise in global temperatures – leading the researchers to…

Japanese car giant says net profit reached 4.94 trillion yen ($31.9bn) in the year to March.Toyota has reported record profit and sales figures on the back of the weak yen and strong demand for hybrid vehicles. The Japanese car giant said on Wednesday that it netted a record profit of 4.94 trillion yen ($31.9bn) in the year to March on revenues of 45.1 trillion yen, double the previous year’s income. Global sales topped 10.3 million units, an all-time high, buoyed by strong demand in the home market and in North America and Europe. Sales of hybrid vehicles jumped 31 percent…

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Washington, DC – The United States has played down the deadly Israeli assault on Rafah, saying the offensive appears to be “limited” despite concerns over the fate of the more than 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in the southern Gaza city. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the US still opposes a major Israeli offensive against Rafah. Israel had stepped up its bombardment of Rafah on Monday, killing dozens of people after ordering about 100,000 residents in its eastern areas to evacuate. Israeli troops also stormed the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip…

The United Nations and aid agencies have slammed the Israeli army for cutting off an essential aid route by seizing the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza, warning that already scarce supplies will be further depleted in the enclave that is on the brink of famine. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel reopen two key land crossings to enable desperately needed aid supplies to reach Palestinians in Gaza. “The closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately,” he said…

Federal Aviation Administration says Boeing voluntarily informed officials that inspections may not have been completed.Air safety officials in the United States are investigating whether employees at Boeing falsified inspections records for the 787 Dreamliner. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that it had opened the probe after Boeing voluntarily informed officials that it may not have completed required inspections to “confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes”. “The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records. At the same time, Boeing…

Grossi urges ‘practical and tangible measures’ to accelerate cooperation in talks in Tehran on Iran’s nuclear programme.The head of the United Nations nuclear body has called on Iran to increase its efforts to make cooperation tangible and “concrete”. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi urged Tehran on Tuesday to adopt “concrete” measures to foster collaboration. The UN is seeking to re-establish oversight of Iran’s atomic activities but has met various setbacks over how to implement a deal struck last year. However, officials on both sides suggested that there is some distance between their positions. At a news conference…

Announcement comes after rival Microsoft last week unveiled major investments in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.Amazon has announced plans to invest $9bn in Singapore to expand cloud infrastructure in the city-state. The announcement at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ASEAN Summit on Tuesday comes after the Seattle-based tech giant last year unveiled multibillion-dollar investments in cloud services in Malaysia and Thailand. “AWS is doubling down on its cloud infrastructure investments in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to support customer demand, and help reinforce Singapore’s status as an attractive regional innovation launchpad,” AWS Country Manager Priscilla Chong said. Amazon said the investment…