Author: ALJAZEERA

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hails Mulroney’s role in creating ‘modern, dynamic, and prosperous country’.Canada’s former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who led his country into a sweeping free trade deal with the United States, has died. He was 84. Mulroney, who governed Canada from 1984 to 1993, died peacefully surrounded by family, his daughter, Caroline Mulroney, said on Thursday. “On behalf of my mother and our family, it is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister,” she said in a post on X. Born in the French-speaking province…

Doha, Qatar – At one of the world’s largest technology conferences, whether it was on the main stage, its side panels, or at the dozens of glitzy, towering company booths, there was one term on everybody’s lips: artificial intelligence (AI). At Web Summit – held for the first time in the Middle East in Doha – and which wrapped up on Thursday, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders from around the world were all talking about AI’s capabilities. Hundreds of international companies and startups were present at Web Summit [Urooba Jamal/Al Jazeera] Yet alongside that excitement, there are also growing concerns…

Short-term spending bill averts shutdown of agencies that would have kicked in on Saturday.The United States Congress has approved a short-term spending package to avoid a government shutdown, the fourth such stopgap measure in several months. The bill, which passed the Senate in a bipartisan 77-13 vote, provides funding for some federal government agencies to keep running through March 8 and others through March 22, preventing a shutdown that would have kicked in on Saturday. The funding will avert disruption to numerous government functions, including food safety inspections and air traffic controllers’ pay. US President Joe Biden must now sign…

Israel has used it as justification for the slaughter of more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza – with thousands more lost under the rubble and presumed dead – in under five months. And, now, the United States has used it to justify its air strikes on Houthi fighters in Yemen. The right of a sovereign state to act in self-defence, under international law, has been thrust into the spotlight in recent months as four concurrent conflicts and humanitarian crises – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen – threaten all-out war in the Middle East. This week, however US Senator for…

Canberra blasts Meta’s decision as a ‘dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability’ of the media industry.Facebook parent company Meta has announced that it will no longer enter deals to pay news publishers in Australia, prompting condemnation from the government and the media industry. To ensure that Meta can “continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement”, the company will not renew its funding deals with traditional news content and “will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future”, the tech giant said in a blog post on Friday. Meta said the move…

At least 112 Palestinians have been killed and more than 750 wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City. Here is what we know: What happened and when? The incident unfolded at about 04:30 local time (02:30 GMT) on Thursday, when people congregated at Harun al-Rashid Street in Gaza, where aid trucks carrying flour were believed to be on the way. A convoy of aid trucks passed through the checkpoint, heading north, as people started gathering in large groups. According to the Israeli military, a convoy of 31 trucks entered Gaza but…

Directive 24 also urges officials to push back against foreign influence, The 88 Project says.Taipei, Taiwan – Vietnam’s Communist Party leaders have issued a sweeping directive aimed at clamping down on civil society, including trade unions and labour activism, even as it pledges to uphold human rights at the United Nations, according to a rights watchdog. Among the many provisions of the order known as Directive 24, officials are asked to closely monitor trade unions and labour disputes, and ensure that new labour groups are not established based on ethnicity or religion, Bangkok-based The 88 Project, which obtained the directive,…

This week, more than 40 organisations working on health justice around the globe put out an urgent call to the global health and human rights community. In an open letter, we issued a call to global health bodies, health institutions, professional associations and the World Medical Association (WMA) to take immediate action on the Israeli government’s continuing onslaught on Gaza – because the war on Palestine is an issue of health justice, too. Israel’s onslaught – which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled “plausibly” meets the conditions of genocide – has claimed the lives of more than 30,000…

Bengaluru, India — After years of working at a salon in Bengaluru, Shakeela Banu made a major life change in 2018 and joined Urban Company (UC), an app-based home services platform that has more than 52,000 workers across Indian cities, one-third of whom are women. At first, Banu was happy with the working conditions. Her manager treated her well, she said, and she got plenty of work as a beautician on call. She estimates that she’s worked with 3,000 customers since she joined the company and has turned down many requests from those who would ask for her services privately.…

Voters head to the polls to select members of the legislature and the Assembly of Experts. Source link