* The bill, which still needs passage in the Senate to become law, would prohibit TikTok from U.S. app stores unless the social media platform is spun off from its parent company ByteDance. * TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew warned that if the bill is signed into law, it will …
Read More »The two faces of free trade
COMMENT | DANI RODRIK | Few terms in economics are as ideologically loaded as “free trade.” Advocate it nowadays, and you are likely to be regarded as an apologist for plutocrats, financiers, and footloose corporations. Defend open economic borders, and you will be labeled naive or, worse, a stooge of the …
Read More »German Bundestag rejects resolution to supply Kiev with Taurus missiles
BERLIN | TASS | The majority of Bundestag MPs voted against a new resolution of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union bloc, demanding that Germany send Taurus missiles to Ukraine. As many as 495 parliamentarians out of 690 present voted to reject the resolution, 190 voted in its favor and …
Read More »Schumer calls for new elections in Israel, hits at Netanyahu
Washington, US | VOA | Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, called on Israel Thursday to hold new elections, saying he believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” in the country’s bombardment of Gaza. Schumer, long an ally of the Jewish …
Read More »EU lawmakers approve AI Act
The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act with an overwhelming majority in Strasbourg, France. BRUSSELS, Belgium | Xinhua | The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act with an overwhelming majority in Strasbourg, France. The Parliament passed the act with 523 lawmakers voting …
Read More »Putin urges Russians to vote in upcoming presidential election
MOSCOW | Xinhua | Russian President Vladimir Putin has encouraged Russian citizens to participate in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for March 15-17, TASS news agency reported Thursday. “It is necessary to confirm our unity and determination to move forward together. Each of your votes is valuable and significant. Therefore, …
Read More »South Korean national arrested on espionage charges posed as writer
MOSCOW | TASS | South Korean national Baek Won-soon, who has been arrested in Russia on charges of espionage, had been posing as a writer and was receiving information constituting state secrets via a messenger app, law enforcement agencies told TASS. “While probing into the case of Baek Won-soon, investigators …
Read More »Haiti PM resigns amid unrest
MEXICO CITY | Xinhua | Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, according to local media. “The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of (a transition) council,” Henry said in a video address. …
Read More »Egyptian Food Bank prepares free food boxes to alleviate hunger in Gaza during Ramadan
CAIRO | Xinhua | Workers and volunteers with the non-profit organization Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) are working nonstop to prepare free food boxes for those underprivileged both in Egypt and the neighboring besieged Gaza Strip, as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will start on Monday. Raising the slogan of …
Read More »Zardari wins Pakistan’s presidential election
ISLAMABAD | Xinhua | Ruling coalition candidate Asif Ali Zardari won the presidential election of Pakistan with an overwhelming lead on Saturday, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced. Zardari won the election by taking 411 votes from all the electoral colleges, including parliament and four provincial assemblies, the commission said. …
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