Author: ALJAZEERA

United States President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slap a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada and an “additional” 10 percent tariff on Chinese products in response to irregular border crossings and drug trafficking. Trump’s announcement on Monday rattled international markets and offered the clearest indication yet that he intends to implement a concentrated form of the unorthodox “America First” economic policies that fueled his return to the White House. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he would impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports on day one of his…

The Department of Justice said Google had ‘deprived rivals’ of opportunities to expand their search engine market share.Alphabet’s Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser and share data with competitors, prosecutors in the United States have argued, as part of a list of proposals intended to end the tech giant’s monopoly on searching the internet. In a court filing on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Google, which controls about 90 percent of the online search market, should not be allowed to re-enter the browser market for five years and should sell its Android mobile…

The deals had been sharply criticised over lack of transparency and value for money.Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that had been expected to award control of the country’s main airport to India’s Adani Group after its founder was indicted in the United States. Ruto made the announcement on Thursday in his state of the nation address. Under the proposed deal worth nearly $2bn, the Adani Group was to add a second runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and upgrade the passenger terminal in exchange for a 30-year lease. Ruto also said he was…

Known for his hard-charging style, Gary Gensler led an ambitious agenda to boost transparency, reduce systemic risks, and stamp out conflicts of interest on Wall Street.United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down on January 20 when US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes over, the agency has said, ending an ambitious tenure that saw Gensler clash with Wall Street and the crypto industry. “I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without fear or favor,” Gensler, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe…

British luxury carmaker Jaguar is under fire over a colourful new advertising campaign that promotes inclusivity but lacks one key ingredient – any reference to cars. Released across multiple social media platforms, the 30-second clip features models of varying ages, genders, and races accompanied by phrases such as “live vivid”, “delete ordinary,” and “copy nothing” as a minimal techno soundtrack plays. Part of Jaguar’s larger rebrand towards electric vehicles after years of sluggish sales, the advertisement has been greeted with confusion and mockery online. Following the campaign’s launch on Tuesday, many social media users dubbed the rebrand “embarrassing” and damaging…

Half of survey respondents also say mining giant’s workplace culture has improved ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’.More than one-third of workers at Rio Tinto experienced bullying in the previous 12 months, a progress review has found, nearly three years after the mining giant pledged to tackle pervasive sexism and racism in the workplace. Among the nearly 12,000 surveyed Rio Tinto employees, 39 percent reported being bullied, up from 31 percent in 2021, the report commissioned by the British-Australian company showed on Wednesday. Female employees were more likely to say they experienced bullying. Half of the women surveyed reported such experiences,…

US president-elect says former Wisconsin congressman will usher in a ‘golden age of travel’.United States President-elect Donald Trump has named a former congressman-turned-Fox Business host as his pick for transportation secretary. In a statement announcing the nomination on Monday, Trump said Sean Duffy, a co-host of Fox Business’s The Bottom Line who represented a district in Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019, would usher in a “golden age of travel”. “He will prioritise excellence, competence, competitiveness and beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said, describing Duffy as a “tremendous and well-liked public servant”. “He will ensure our…

United States President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Brendan Carr, a Republican known for his criticism of Big Tech, to lead the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Carr, who has served as an FCC commissioner since 2017, will end the “regulatory onslaught” that has held back job creators and innovators, and ensure that the communications agency delivers for rural areas, Trump said in a statement on Sunday. “Commissioner Carr is a warrior for free speech, and has fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ freedoms, and held back our economy,” Trump said. Carr, who has echoed Trump’s concerns about censorship…

US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, Reuters news agency has reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling electric vehicle (EV) transition in the United States. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s largest EV seller – have told a Trump transition committee that they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of…

Medan, Indonesia – Halimah Nasution used to feel as if she had it all. For years, she and her husband Agus Saputra made a good living renting out supplies for weddings, graduations and birthdays. Even after splitting their earnings among several of their siblings, the couple in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province took in about 30 million rupiahs ($1,917) each month. Spending about one-quarter of their takings each month, the couple belonged to the upper reaches of Indonesia’s middle class, officially defined as those with monthly outgoings of between two million rupiahs ($127) and 9.9 million rupiahs ($638). Then the COVID-19…