Author: ALJAZEERA

A major trade war between the United States and Canada has been averted after US President Donald Trump agreed to hold off on imposing a 25 percent tariff for 30 days. But anger has erupted in Canada, with people calling for a boycott of US products, and some even calling to stop the export of oil to the country’s southern neighbour. However, blocking crude oil flow to the US could inflict an enormous economic cost on Canada, which pumps nearly all of its crude oil to the US via a network of pipelines. Moreover, it would take some time for…

Announcement comes as US President Donald Trump confirms he is considering eliminating the aid agency.The administration of United States President Donald Trump has ordered nearly all directly-hired staff of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to be placed on leave as part of the Republican’s drive to radically shrink the government. USAID said on Tuesday that all direct hire personnel would be put on leave from Friday, apart from “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs”. USAID personnel posted overseas will be recalled from their postings within 30 days, the agency said in a…

Billionaire Elon Musk is tightening his control over broad swaths of the United States government at extraordinary speed, prompting growing alarm from Democrats and constitutional scholars. In the two weeks since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk, the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has upended the federal bureaucracy, prompting questions about the scope of his authority and warnings of a constitutional crisis, or even a coup. Acting without oversight of the US Congress, Musk’s lieutenants have brought the work of the US’s main foreign aid agency to a halt, flagged millions of government employees for redundancy,…

United States President Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Saturday. The White House confirmed on Friday that tariffs of 25 percent on Mexico and Canada — and 10 percent on China — will go into effect by the weekend. “The February 1 deadline that President Trump put into place at a statement several weeks ago continues,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, later adding: “These are promises made, promises kept by the president.” The White House also denied an earlier report from the Reuters news agency saying the tariffs…

Buenos Aires, Argentina – It is December in the capital of Buenos Aires, and the summertime temperatures have soared to 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit). The sun beats relentlessly on the corrugated metal roofs of Villa Fiorito, a working-class neighbourhood south of Argentina’s capital city. Teenagers in flip-flops ride their motorbikes through the dirt streets. Other kids look for shady spots to rest and rinse their feet with a garden hose. Carla G, who requested anonymity, is one of the neighbourhood teenagers. At age 18, she is nearing the end of high school. One of her favourite pastimes was playing…

An official at the Meta-owned platform says it detected attempts by Paragon to hack its users’ accounts.An official at Meta’s popular WhatsApp chat service has said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions targeted 90 of its users, including journalists and members of civil society. The official told the Reuters news agency on Friday that WhatsApp had sent Paragon a cease-and-desist letter following the hack. The official declined to say who, specifically, was targeted but confirmed that WhatsApp is referring targets to the Canadian internet watchdog group Citizen Lab. He declined to say how WhatsApp ascertained that Paragon was responsible for the…

National Transportation Safety Board says it will ‘leave no stone unturned’ in probe of midair collision.Investigators in the United States have located the black boxes from the American Airlines jet that crashed into a US Army helicopter near Washington, DC, killing all 67 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Friday said it recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Bombardier CRJ700 jet that collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. “The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation,” the agency said in a post on…

Target is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programme along with other equity initiatives, the retailer has said, becoming the latest US firm to pull back these policies meant to boost racial and ethnic representation in workplaces. Target said on Friday it was rolling back programmes aimed at promoting racial equity, called the Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives, this year. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order directing federal agencies to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, encouraging private companies to do the same. “For Target, with an inclusive audience, this is their version of…

Elon Musk is clashing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project touted by President Donald Trump, the latest in a feud between the two tech billionaires that started on OpenAI’s board and is now testing Musk’s influence with the new president. Trump on Tuesday had talked up a joint venture investing up to $500bn through a new partnership formed by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, alongside Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, is already starting to build out data centres and the electricity generation needed for the further development of fast-evolving AI technology.…

Anti-Defamation League defends tech billionaire for making ‘awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm’.Tech billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire after making hand gestures resembling the Nazi salute during a speech celebrating the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. Addressing Trump supporters hours after the Republican was inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday, Musk hailed the outcome of the November 4 election as “no ordinary victory”. “This was a fork in the road of human civilisation,” Musk said at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. “This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you.”…