Author: ALJAZEERA

The historic Kashan bazaar in central Iran once sat on a major caravan route, its silk carpets known the world over. But for the weavers trying to sell their rugs under its ancient arches, their world has only unravelled since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and wider tensions with the West. Carpet exports, which exceeded $2bn two decades ago, have plummeted to less than $50m in the last year, according to government customs figures. With fewer tourists and increasing difficulties in making international transactions, Iranian rugs are going unsold as some weavers work for as little…

Franchise operator cites ‘challenging economic conditions’ amid local reports linking closures to boycotts of Israel.KFC Malaysia has temporarily closed some outlets in the country amid calls to boycott the chain over Israel’s war in Gaza. KFC is among a number of Western brands in Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of the population is Muslim, that have been subject to boycott calls over their perceived links to Israel. QSR Brands Holdings Bhd, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the country, said it temporarily shut the outlets amid “challenging economic conditions” in order to “manage increasing business costs and…

UN agency’s chief calls award a tribute to courage of journalists facing ‘difficult and dangerous’ conditions in Gaza.All Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza have been awarded UNESCO’s world press freedom prize, the United Nations cultural agency has said. “In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals, said during the announcement on Thursday. “As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to…

Company-wide memo says the newspaper is shifting its ‘center of gravity in the region’ to Southeast Asian hub.Hong Kong, China – The Wall Street Journal has announced staff cuts at its Hong Kong bureau as it shifts its “center of gravity in the region” to Singapore, marking the latest blow to the financial hub’s once-thriving media industry. Editor-in-chief Emma Tucker told staff in a company-wide memo on Thursday that the newspaper was following the same path that “many of the companies we cover have done”. The cuts include six editorial staff in Hong Kong and two reporters at the newspaper’s…

An international investigation has found that at least four Israeli-linked firms have been selling invasive spyware and cyber surveillance technology to Indonesia, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel and is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. The research by Amnesty International’s Security Lab – based on open sources including trade records, shipping data and internet scans – uncovered links between official government bodies and agencies in the Southeast Asian country and Israeli tech firms NSO, Candiru, Wintego and Intellexa, a consortium of linked firms originally founded by a former Israeli military officer, going back to at least 2017.…

Sales of the iPhone fall 10 percent amid growing competition from Chinese rivals such as Huawei.Apple’s revenue has dipped for a fifth consecutive quarter, driven by the steepest decline in iPhone sales since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The California-based tech giant on Thursday reported a profit of $23.6bn on $90.8bn in revenue during the January-March period. Sales of the iPhone fell 10 percent, to $45.7 bn, amid growing competition from Chinese rivals such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Sales in Greater China, one of Apple’s most important markets, fell to $16.4bn from $17.8bn year-on-year, a nearly 8 percent…

blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, UN Development Programme says Gaza needs 80 years and as much as $40bn to restore 80,000 homes destroyed in Israel’s bloody war on the Palestinian territory. Source link

Results highlight the dramatic decline of Gazprom since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom has said it plunged to a net loss of 629 billion roubles ($6.9bn) in 2023, its first annual loss in more than 20 years, amid dwindling gas trade with Europe, once its main sales market. The results released on Thursday highlight the dramatic decline of Gazprom, which since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been one of Russia’s most powerful companies and was often used as leverage to solve disputes with its neighbours, such as Ukraine and Moldova. Analysts…

Washington, DC – Elderly Palestinian American Omar Assad was handcuffed, blindfolded and gagged by Israeli soldiers and left to die in a cold car park. His fatal detention in January 2022 sparked outrage and calls for accountability in the United States, with advocates urging the American government to apply the country’s own laws to restrict military aid to the Israeli unit that killed the 80-year-old United States citizen. Israel’s notorious Netzah Yehuda battalion – who had detained Assad – had been accused of other abuses, as well. But more than two years later, this week, the US announced that it…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says firm will provide education and training to 200,000 people.Microsoft will invest $2.2bn in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in Malaysia to support the country’s digital transformation, the tech giant has said, following similar announcements in Indonesia and Thailand. The announcement by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday includes plans to establish an AI Centre of Excellence and provide education and training to 200,000 people in the Southeast Asian country. “We are committed to supporting Malaysia’s AI transformation and ensure it benefits all Malaysians,” Nadella said as he visited Kuala Lumpur on the final stop of…