Author: ALJAZEERA

Tehran, Iran – Iran is facing more energy constraints as its summer season begins, with the widespread use of air conditioning and other needs during hotter months contributing to an imbalance between supply and consumption.For decades, successive Iranian governments have kept utility bills well below supply costs for households and offices through a mix of implicit oil-and-gas subsidies, administered tariffs, state-controlled pricing, and sometimes direct financial support.The negative impacts of the war with Israel and the United States on the economy mean the government has fewer tools at its disposal to deal with an energy crisis this summer.Despite having the…

Veteran journalist’s dismissal comes after he reportedly accused management of ‘murdering’ influential news programme.By Reuters and The Associated PressPublished On 3 Jun 20263 Jun 2026US broadcaster CBS has fired Scott Pelley, a longtime correspondent for its 60 Minutes programme, after he reportedly said Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was “murdering the show” and accused its new producer of having “slender qualifications” for the job.The firing on Tuesday deepened the turmoil at the most influential TV news programme in the US, days after a leadership overhaul.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listPelley, 68, criticised management on Monday during a fiery staff meeting…

US tech giant says fundraising drive includes deal to sell $10 bn of stock to Berkshire Hathaway.Published On 2 Jun 20262 Jun 2026Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has announced plans to sell $80bn worth of shares to fund its rollout of artificial intelligence.Alphabet said on Monday that the equity offerings would finance the rollout of AI infrastructure needed to meet “unprecedented customer demand”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe US tech giant said the fundraising drive included a deal to sell $10bn of stock to Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led for six decades by legendary investor Warren Buffett.The remaining $70bn will…

Jerome Powell says the US central bank is undergoing a ‘stress test’ like other institutions in the current era.Published On 1 Jun 20261 Jun 2026Former US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has warned against the politicisation of monetary policy amid President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the independence of the central bank.In a speech at an awards ceremony in Boston on Sunday, Powell said that the Fed had been undergoing a “stress test” like many other institutions in the Trump era.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listPowell said the US Congress had “wisely” chosen to insulate the central bank from political pressure and that…

A United States federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation fund” to compensate victims of alleged government “lawfare”.On Friday, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia blocked the Trump administration from “taking any further action” to set up or operate the fund while she hears legal arguments.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe judge, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, scheduled a June 12 hearing about whether to extend the order blocking payouts.The Department of Justice announced the fund last week as part of an agreement to…

Published On 29 May 202629 May 2026The administration of United States President Donald Trump wants to increase the percentage of regionally produced content in North American-built vehicles to qualify for preferential treatment under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade to 82 percent, with 50 percent of that value produced in the US.The new proposal, which was first reported by the Reuters news agency, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter, emerged amid negotiations to revise the USMCA in Mexico City. Canada was not present at the negotiations.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe shift, if accepted, would be…

Chipmaker becomes second South Korean company in history to hit milestone.Published On 29 May 202629 May 2026South Korea’s SK Hynix has entered the exclusive ranks of companies worth at least $1 trillion, propelled by explosive demand for semiconductors used in AI.SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, hit the milestone this week as investors rushed to capitalise on record-shattering revenues generated by the AI boom.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe feat comes after SK Hynix’s two main rivals – US-based Micron and fellow South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics – hit the milestone this month on the back…

Michele Spagnuolo allegedly used insider information to profit from bets on people on Google’s most-searched list.Published On 28 May 202628 May 2026A Google software engineer has been charged with fraud by US authorities after allegedly using insider information to win more than $1.2m in bets on the prediction market platform Polymarket.Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland, is accused of using confidential information to wager on the results of Google’s annual most-searched list, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listUS prosecutors accuse Spagnuolo of using an account named “AlphaRaccoon” to make…

Taipei, Taiwan – For Li, an engineer at Taiwanese computer giant ASUS, the AI boom sweeping Taiwan has made it an exciting time to work in tech.Taiwan is a semiconductor powerhouse, producing about 90 percent of the most advanced chips used to power leading AI models such as ChatGPT and Claude.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list“I’ve felt Taiwan’s tech and computer industry becoming more vibrant,” Li, who asked not to be identified by his real name, told Al Jazeera, pointing to events such as the upcoming Computex tech and AI expo running from June 2 to 6.Still, Li…

Rodrigo Paz says the salary cut for him and cabinet ministers shows the government’s ‘commitment to the country’.Published On 25 May 202625 May 2026Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz says he will cut his salary and those of his cabinet ministers in half amid a growing political crisis marked by protests and roadblocks demanding his resignation.Speaking at an event in Sucre, the country’s constitutional capital, on Monday, Paz said the pay cuts demonstrated the government’s “commitment to the country”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe cuts come as Bolivia enters its fourth week of political and social unrest. Protests have caused…