Author: ALJAZEERA

Trade watchdog says company misled customers about origin of butter used in ‘100 percent pure New Zealand’ products.A New Zealand dairy company has been fined 420,000 New Zealand dollars ($261,452) for using imported Indian butter in products labelled as locally produced. New Zealand’s Commerce Commission said on Monday that Milkio Foods Limited misled customers about the origin of the butter used in its “100 percent pure New Zealand” ghee products. Milkio, based in Hamilton, admitted to 15 breaches of the Fair Trading Act through false representations as well as unauthorised use of the FernMark logo, which is used to identify…

Fast rise in prices led the Fed to increase its benchmark policy rate from near zero to the highest range in a quarter of a century.United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has offered an explicit endorsement of interest rate cuts, saying further cooling in the job market would be unwelcome and expressing confidence that inflation is within reach of the central bank’s 2 percent target. “The upside risks to inflation have diminished. And the downside risks to employment have increased,” Powell said on Friday in a highly anticipated speech at the Fed’s annual economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The…

The union representing workers at the Canadian National Railway (CN) says they will strike next week, in a new threat to the economy after promising to challenge a government decision to end an unprecedented rail stoppage. The Teamsters union filed notice on Friday, just days after returning to work, that conductors, locomotive engineers and other workers at Montreal-based CN would strike on Monday. The announcement is the latest twist in a labour dispute at Canada’s top two railroads, which locked out more than 9,000 unionised workers on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds…

Ireland has been called the most pro-Palestinian country in Europe. So this might surprise you: at the same time – largely under the radar – it has been playing a pivotal role in connecting businesses in illegal Israeli settlements with consumers around the world. Take the case of Etsy, the popular platform for more “ethical” artisanal and vintage shopping online. The company’s business outside the Americas is handled by its Irish subsidiary. This business includes hosting dozens of shops that explicitly list illegal settlements as their locations (as documented in a recent investigative report I worked on). Etsy has a big Dublin…

Move comes weeks after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn into office following the collapse of the previous government.Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok less than a year after blocking the Chinese-owned application out of its stated concern for “social harmony”. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung announced the decision on Thursday following a cabinet meeting. The move comes after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who was sworn in last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government, issued a directive calling for the equal treatment of all social networking platforms, state-run…

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Like a scene from an endless horror movie, new orders for evacuations were issued on Wednesday morning for residential areas in Deir el-Balah. “Every day brings a new catastrophe,” we despaired as we studied the latest Israeli map, its lines now looming dangerously close to our home. The sounds of tanks grew louder, and the crack of gunfire echoed nearer. A question has haunted us, and everyone in Gaza, for more than 320 days of war. The question we ask the world but never get an answer: “Where should we go?” A question echoing in the…

Romanian authorities say probe relates to alleged crimes including human trafficking and sex with a minor.Influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been detained in Romania as part of an investigation into new allegations of criminality, including human trafficking and sex with a minor. The Tate brothers, who were indicted last year on charges including human trafficking and rape, were detained for questioning overnight on Wednesday after investigators carried out searches on four properties in Bucharest and Ilfov county. Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said in a statement that the new probe related to the alleged trafficking…

The stage on Chicago’s United Center and McCormick Place was lit up with blue lights and surrounded by enthused, placard-toting supporters for a second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday. From main talking points to key speakers, here are the highlights from the gathering on Tuesday: The Obamas arrived to support Harris Former US President Barack Obama delivered the night’s keynote speech, throwing his support behind Democrat Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz. Obama, who was the country’s Democratic president from 2009 to 2017, spoke for more than half an hour. He paid tribute to President…

Australia-Asia Power Link is slated to provide up to 15 percent of city-state’s energy needs once completed.Australia has granted environmental approval for a $19bn solar power project to export electricity to Singapore. The Australia-Asia Power Link is slated to generate 6GW of renewable energy, one-third of which would be transmitted to the Southeast Asia city-state via an undersea cable. SunCable, owned by billionaire software entrepreneur and climate activist Mike Cannon-Brookes, has said the project will supply up to 15 percent of Singapore’s energy needs once completed in the early 2030s. Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Wednesday that the…

UN office warns that a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023 and fears further grim milestones could be set as wars rage.More than half of the 280 aid workers killed worldwide in 2023 died during the first three months of Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the United Nations. The rise in deaths, mainly due to Israeli air attacks in Gaza between October and December last year, represents a 137 percent increase compared with 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that aid workers…