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President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States, marking the first time in the nation's history that a federal language will be officially designated. While the White House has not disclosed a specific date for the signing, the order was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. For nearly 250 years, the US has never had an official language at the federal level, though some individual states have adopted English as their official language. Trump's decision aligns with his longstanding stance against illegal immigration, which has been a cornerstone of both his presidential campaigns. The president has also strongly advocated for the use of English in public life. In 2015, during his first campaign, Trump famously criticized Republican rival Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish, declaring, "We’re a nation that speaks English." The executive order will overturn a policy introduced under Democratic President B...

US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky openly argued in the White House on Friday as they clashed on the need for compromising with what the Ukrainian president called Russia’s “killer” leader. Trump berated Zelensky as they sat in the Oval Office, telling him to be more “thankful” and saying, “You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.” He told the Ukrainian president that he either “make a deal” with Russia “or we’re out”. US Vice President JD Vance, sitting nearby, also attacked Zelensky, calling him “disrespectful”. Zelensky appeared to try to speak but was cut off. The extraordinary outburst came after Trump said Ukraine would have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour three years ago. “You can’t do any deals without compromises. So certainly he’s going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won’t be as big as some people think,” Trump said. But showing T...

Protesters hurled petrol bombs and set fire to trash cans in Athens on Friday as hundreds of thousands of Greeks went on strike and took to the streets in nationwide demonstrations on the second anniversary of the country’s deadliest train crash. Fifty-seven people were killed when a passenger train filled with students collided with a freight train on February 28, 2023 in central Greece. The accident has become a painful emblem of the perceived neglect of the country’s infrastructure in the decades before the crash and the two years since. “The government hasn’t done anything to get justice,” said Christos Main, 57, a musician at the Athens rally. “This wasn’t an accident, it was murder,” he said. In one of the biggest protests in Greece in years, public services and many private businesses were brought to a halt and people poured into the streets of cities and towns chanting “murderers” against what they say is the state’s role in the disaster. The government denies wrongdoing. A sea...

Lawyers for migrants from around the world who were deported from the United States and moved to a remote Panamanian jungle camp in recent weeks say they have been unable to communicate with their clients since they arrived there. Some 100 deported migrants are being held in the "San Vincente" immigration center deep in the dense jungle that separates Panama from Colombia, according to Panamanian authorities. Their future is uncertain as they wait to see if they will be granted asylum in Panama or elsewhere. "Individuals, including families like our clients, are being sent to Panama without any screening for asylum and despite not having any connection to Panama," said Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "And when they get there they are disappearing into a black box without access to counsel," he said. Gelernt is one of several lawyers challenging a January 20 executive order from US President Donald Trump that broadly bl...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that talks with Russia and Ukraine on a peace deal are “very well advanced” and credited Russia for its actions in the talks, as he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House. Starmer has urged the United States to provide a security “backstop” for any European forces that take part in a potential peacekeeping role in Ukraine at the conclusion of peace talks that Trump has pushed forward since taking office last month. Sitting alongside Starmer in the Oval Office, Trump said he thinks a peace deal reached with Russia would hold and said he does not think Putin would invade Ukraine again. “I think Russia has been acting very well. … I think we’re very well advanced on the deal, but we have not made a deal yet,” Trump said, adding that he would not talk about the details of peacekeeping until a deal was agreed. When asked if Putin could be trusted, Trump replied: “Trust and verify.” Starmer thanked Trump for “changing th...

Hotels in Makkah and Madinah are preparing to welcome millions of pilgrims during Ramadan, with special decorations and services that offer guests a chance to immerse themselves in Saudi culture. Mohammed Haris, a pilgrim from India, shared that his annual Ramadan experience in Saudi Arabia is truly unique, highlighting the distinct atmosphere and spirituality of the holy cities. Elaf Al Taqwa Hotel in Madinah, located near the Prophet’s Mosque, has introduced several initiatives for Ramadan, including daily azan calls, dua recitations, and a specially curated menu for iftar and sahoor. General Manager Hussain Rauff emphasized the hotel’s aim to create a spiritually enriching environment, offering exclusive Ramadan offerings such as a Ramadan bazaar with Islamic books, prayer mats, and local products, alongside a traditional seating area for guests to reflect over Saudi coffee and local delicacies. The hotel also ensures guests’ well-being by keeping the gym open during Ramadan, and of...

The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’sfirst cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage. The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper. TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, along with correspondents from Axios, the Blaze, Bloomberg News and NPR were permitted to cover the event. On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the White House would determine which media outlets would cover the president in smaller spaces such as the Oval Office. The White House Correspondents’ Association has traditionally coordinated the rotation of the presidential press pool. Reuters, an international wire service, has participated in the pool for decades. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while traditional media organizations would still be permitt...

Ukraine said on Wednesday it was set to approve a framework minerals deal with the United States but that its success would depend on talks with President Donald Trump. The deal, under which Kyiv would hand some revenue from its mineral resources to a fund jointly controlled by the US, is central to Ukrainian attempts to win strong support from Trump as he seeks a quick end to Russia's war, with US-Russian talks that have so far excluded Kyiv set to continue on Thursday. Trump confirmed Zelenskiy would visit Washington on Friday but suggested Washington would not be making far-reaching security guarantees. Kyiv has been seeking US security guarantees as part of the deal, cast by Trump as a payment for US aid to Kyiv during the war. "I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond - very much. We're going to have Europe do that," Trump said. Zelenskiy said the most important thing was the current draft did not cast Ukraine as a debtor that would have to pay back h...

Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to UAE’s president, said on Wednesday a Gaza reconstruction plan cannot happen without a clear path to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. Investment in the project would need political stability, he added in remarks to the Investopia 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi. “Gaza does need a reconstruction plan, a massive one, but that reconstruction plan cannot really take place without a clear path to a two-state solution. So, clearly here, you need political stability of a roadmap in order for these big investments to come to place,” Gargash said. Arab states are weighing a post-war plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the strip under US control and displace Palestinians, a prospect that has angered regional leaders. The mainly Egyptian proposal may include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from the region, sources familiar with the discussions have said. Egypt and Jordan held discussions...

As the European Commission president prepares for her visit to New Delhi, leading advocacy groups are sounding the alarm. They warn that in its pursuit of stronger diplomatic ties, Brussels must not turn a blind eye to a decade-long assault on civil liberties, press freedom, and religious minorities under Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government. In a letter to the College of Commissioners and Ursula von der Leyen, a dozen rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Reporters Without Borders—accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government of eroding democratic institutions, stifling dissent, and persecuting minorities with increasing impunity. This charge sheet comes days before von der Leyen’s rare diplomatic pilgrimage to India and weeks after her remarks at the World Economic Forum, where she expressed a desire to strengthen EU-India ties. While the let...

In the halls of a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, experts gathered to address an age-old challenge: making it rain in the UAE, one of the world’s largest deserts. Despite decades of research and millions of dollars spent, rainfall remains elusive in this arid region, home to a growing expatriate population thriving amid the harsh climate and blistering summer heat. However, at the recent International Rain Enhancement Forum, held last month, a glimmer of hope emerged. Officials are now exploring artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance cloud seeding techniques, potentially increasing rainfall in the region’s dry skies. Luca Delle Monache, deputy director of the Centre for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San Diego, confirmed that AI-driven cloud seeding is in its final stages. AI will feed satellite, radar, and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form over the next six hours, improving the accuracy of cloud seeding mission...

Apple has come under scrutiny after a viral TikTok video revealed that its iPhone voice-to-text feature briefly displays the word "Trump" when users dictate "racist" before correcting itself. Fox News Digital replicated the issue multiple times, observing the word “Trump” flash on the screen before being replaced by “racist.” However, the glitch did not occur consistently, and in some instances, the dictation feature displayed unrelated words like “reinhold” or “you” instead. In response to the controversy, an Apple spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating: "We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation, and we are rolling out a fix as soon as possible." According to Apple, the speech recognition models that power dictation may temporarily display words with phonetic overlap before settling on the correct word. The company clarified that the bug affects other words starting with ‘r’ as well, not just "racist....

A Palestinian group said on Monday that an unusual deployment of Israeli tanks in the occupied West Bank, part of a major offensive that has displaced tens of thousands, may be a step toward annexation. The torn-up streets surrounding the Jenin refugee camp in the territory's north were empty on Monday, an AFP journalist reported, as three Israeli Merkava tanks stationed at higher vantage points overlooked the area. Displaced camp residents occasionally entered through a back alley to retrieve belongings from their homes. "We go back in to get things, whatever we can. We take the risk because we have to," said 52-year-old Ahmad al-Qahrawi. "We had nothing when we left, no clothes, nothing. We go back to get clothes because it's cold." Israeli leaders have repeatedly pledged to annex at least parts of the West Bank, which has been occupied since 1967, but any such proposal has been met with strong opposition from Palestinians and much of the international com...

Ukraine hosted European leaders on Monday to mark three years of all-out war with Russia, while top US officials stayed away in a clear illustration of President Donald Trump's lurch towards Moscow since returning to power. Still reeling from Trump calling President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a "dictator", Kyiv said it was in the final stages of agreeing a deal with Washington to provide access to its mineral wealth. "We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come," Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna wrote on X. Meeting with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said Zelenskiy could travel to Washington this week or next to seal the minerals agreement, which he called "very close," and suggested that the war in Ukraine could end within weeks. But he did not elaborate. The minerals deal is at the heart of Kyiv's bid to win U.S. support, but officials have wra...

 US President Donald Trump said Monday that he and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are discussing “major” economic deals as part of discussions on ending the war started by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I am in serious discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia. Talks are proceeding very well!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. Trump issued the statement after being joined by French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House for a conference call with other G7 leaders on the third anniversary of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Washington’s European allies are scrambling to react to the abrupt shift in US policy since Trump took office last month. After three years of steady US and European support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Trump has entered talks with Moscow on a settlement – while leaving it unclear...

The second annual Web Summit in Doha has become a focal point for discussions on the future of artificial intelligence (AI), with leading entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators gathered to explore the rapid transformation of the tech landscape. Held in Qatar's capital, the four-day event is set to address the most pressing questions surrounding AI, attracting over 25,000 attendees from 124 countries, including more than 1,520 start-ups and 600 investors. The summit kicked off its second day with a keen focus on AI advancements, as the technology continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Entrepreneurs such as Alexander Wang, founder and CEO of Scale AI, and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, took centre stage, sharing insights on AI’s global impact. Wang noted that the US and China are at the forefront of AI development, with most countries and companies likely to build their AI systems using either of the two nations' technology stacks. He highlighted the competition b...

Fourteen people were killed when a bus collided with a petrol tanker in central Nigerian Niger state, a road safety official told AFP Sunday. The passenger bus rammed into the on-coming petrol tanker as the driver tried to overtake another bus outside Kusobogi village, 80 kms from the state capital Minna, Kumar Tsukwan, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger state, said. "Fourteen people died in the head-on collision while six others were injured and taken to hospital for medical attention," Tsukwan said. He blamed "speeding and wrongful overtaking" by the bus driver for the accident. The bus was heading to the northern city of Kaduna from the Nigerian economic capital Lagos, Tsukwan said. Road accidents are common on Nigeria's poorly maintained roads due largely to speeding and disregard to traffic rules. Last week 23 people died when a truck laden with goods and passengers overturned in northern city of Kano. from Latest World News, Internatio...

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was willing to give up his position if it meant peace in Ukraine, adding that he could exchange his departure for his country's entry into the NATO military alliance. "If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready," an irritated-looking Zelenskiy said when asked during a press conference whether he was ready to leave his post if it meant securing peace. "I can exchange this for NATO (membership), if that condition is there, immediately," the president added. U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for elections to take place in Ukraine, having branded Zelenskiy a "dictator", an apparent reference to the Ukrainian leader's official five-year term running out in 2024. Russia has cited this in the past to assert that he is an illegitimate leader. Ukrainian legislation prohibits holding elections during a state of martial law, which Ukraine declared the d...

Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in Beirut on Sunday to pay their final respects to Hezbollah’s late leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel five months ago. The public funeral, initially delayed due to security concerns, was held at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Lebanon’s largest venue. The event began with a speech by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, read aloud to the crowd. Mourners stood in silence as the decorated coffins of Nasrallah and his heir apparent, Hashem Safieddine—who was killed in another Israeli airstrike a week later—were brought into the stadium, draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag. Hezbollah leaders framed the funeral as both a tribute and a demonstration of resilience. “We will uphold trust and walk on this path,” said Hezbollah’s acting leader, Naim Qassem, in a televised speech. “Your struggle lives within us.” Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush said 800 dignitaries from 65 countries attended the ceremony, which featured ...

One person died and two police officers were seriously injured Saturday in a knife attack in eastern France that President Emmanuel Macron said was an "Islamist terror act". Prosecutors said that three more officers were lightly wounded in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, called FSPRT, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP. The suspect was arrested. France's national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT), which has taken charge of the investigation, said the suspect first attacked the municipal police officers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/X2olNFQ via IFTTT

President Donald Trump fired top US military officer General Charles "CQ" Brown on Friday, part of a major shake-up of the armed forces' leadership. Trump offered no explanation for Brown's dismissal less than two years into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which followed sweeping layoffs of federal workers and moves to dismantle government institutions just a month into the president's second term. Brown had been nominated to the top military role by Democratic president Joe Biden and became only the second Black person to hold the position. Following Trump's announcement on Brown, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was seeking a replacement for Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as the top US Navy officer. Trump thanked Brown for "his over 40 years of service to our country" in a post on his Truth Social platform, describing him as "a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader." Brown has comma...

Two Virginia Beach police officers were shot and killed late Friday night following a traffic stop in the Green Run area, authorities confirmed. Department spokeswoman Jody Saunders initially announced at 4:30 a.m. Saturday that one officer had died while another was critically injured. Hours later, she confirmed the second officer had also succumbed to his injuries. The incident began around 11:30 p.m. Friday near Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive. The crime scene, located in a townhouse complex cul-de-sac, remained under heavy police presence as investigators worked to gather details. Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate and Mayor Bobby Dyer are expected to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. to provide further updates. Eyewitness Accounts Describe Chaos and Gunfire Neighbors recounted the harrowing moments when officers attempted to detain a man inside a car. Randy Nash, a resident, witnessed officers struggling with the suspect, telling him to stop resisting. Moments late...

Palestinian fighters freed six Israeli hostages on Saturday, with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released in exchange under a fragile Gaza truce that is nearing the end of its first phase. The release of the last group of living hostages under the truce’s first phase caps an emotional two days in Israel, where the remains of another hostage, Shiri Bibas, have been identified after the initial handover of a different body. Bibas and her two young sons, among dozens taken captive during Hamas attack on Israel that triggered more than 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip, had become symbols of the ordeal suffered by the Israeli hostages. At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, masked Hamas brought onto a stage Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23. An AFP correspondent said they waved while holding release certificates before their handover to the Red Cross and return to Israeli soil. At a similar ceremony in Rafah, southern Gaza, figh...

India’s financial crime fighting agency has fined British broadcaster BBC 314,510 pounds ($397,980) for alleged foreign exchange violations in the South Asian nation, three government sources told Reuters. The agency, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), opened an investigation into the BBC in April 2023 under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, two months after tax authorities searched the broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The ED conducts investigations into suspected contraventions of India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act and can “adjudicate and impose penalties” on those found guilty, according to its website. The BBC, which launched a new company for Indian language services in December 2023, was issued a show-cause notice earlier that year for failing to reduce foreign ownership in the company to the permitted limit of 26%, the sources said. As a result, the broadcaster has been fined 314,510 pounds, along with a fine for every day since October 15, 2021 for viola...

Germany’s interior ministry on Friday warned of a Russian disinformation operation attempting to influence the country’s federal election campaign with fake videos spreading on social media in Hamburg and Leipzig. The ministry said there were indications that the campaign was linked to the so-called “Storm-1516”, a pro-Russian influence operation previously observed in the 2024 US presidential election investigated by American authorities. Security agencies in Leipzig and Hamburg have identified multiple pseudo-media sites and social media accounts as part of the network, reinforcing concerns over Russian interference in democratic processes. Russia’s embassy in Berlin did not respond to a request for comment. One video circulated in the eastern city of Leipzig gave the impression that a candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany party was missed off an electoral list and that no second vote could be cast there for the party, according to the city’s official website. The “Stor...

Indian authorities are looking into “deeply troubling” information about US governmental activity in the country, New Delhi said on Friday, after American President Donald Trump suggested that a US government agency had spent money trying to influence Indian elections. The Indian foreign ministry comment comes two days after Trump cited information released by DOGE, the department led by Elon Musk, showing that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had spent $21 million on “voter turnout” in India. “We have seen information put out by the US administration regarding certain USAID activities and funding. These are obviously very deeply troubling. This has led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly news briefing when asked about USAID’s activities in India. Jaiswal said the “relevant department and agencies” were looking into the matter. USAID did not immediately respond to ...

Donald Trump on Friday said he doesn’t consider it essential for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be present at negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. “I don’t think he’s very important to be in meetings,” Trump said in an audio interview with Fox News. “He’s been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals.” Later, the US president added that Ukrainian leaders “don’t have any cards” in the talks. “I’ve had very good talks with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and I’ve had not such good talks with Ukraine. They don’t have any cards, but they play it tough. But we’re not going to let this continue,” Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House Friday. Kyiv and Europe have complained of being sidelined after Trump opened talks with Moscow over ending the war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian and top diplomats met in Saudi Arabia earlier this week to talk about a ceasefire and Kyiv was not invited. Tensio...

On Thursday, the US Senate voted to confirm Kash Patel as the new FBI Director, a position that has long been insulated from political influence. Patel, a former Republican congressional aide and national security staffer under President Donald Trump, was sworn in following a confirmation process marked by intense scrutiny, particularly from Senate Democrats. Patel's nomination was controversial due to his staunch loyalty to Trump and his outspoken stance on FBI investigations that have targeted the president. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel strongly denied accusations of politicising the FBI or using the agency to seek retribution against Trump’s political enemies. "There will be no politicisation at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken," he assured lawmakers, claiming that some of his past remarks had been misrepresented. His confirmation comes after the resignation of former FBI Director Chris Wray, who stepped down after Trump made it clea...

A group of nearly 100 migrants deported from the US to Panama last week has been moved from a hotel in the capital to the Darien jungle region in the south of the country, Panama's government said on Wednesday. The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama's president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the US to receive non-Panamanian deportees. In a statement, Panama's security ministry said of the 299 migrants deported from the US in recent days, 13 had been repatriated to their countries of origin while another 175 remained in the hotel in Panama City awaiting onward journeys after agreeing to return home. The migrants have been staying at the hotel under the protection of local authorities and with the financial support of the United States through the UN-related International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency, according to the Panamanian gov...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed optimism over recent Russia-US talks held in Saudi Arabia, stating that he rates the discussions “highly” and believes they marked an important first step toward restoring cooperation in various areas of mutual interest. The high-level talks between US and Russian officials took place for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. While the talks excluded Ukraine and European governments, Putin assured that Ukraine was not being excluded from future negotiations to resolve the conflict. He emphasized that building trust between Russia and the US was crucial to addressing the war. Putin also indicated that he would be open to meeting US President Donald Trump, though he noted that such a meeting would require preparation. In a shift towards diplomacy, Putin reiterated Russia’s willingness to engage in negotiations with Europe, asserting that Russia had never rejected talks and that European lead...

A midair collision between two small planes at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona has left at least two people dead. The crash occurred on Wednesday at the airport, located northwest of Tucson. Authorities have confirmed the victims' deaths but have yet to release detailed information about the incident or the identities of those involved. The planes involved were identified as a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, both fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the crash, while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also involved in the response. This incident adds to a worrying pattern of recent aviation accidents in North America, including a Delta flight crash in Toronto earlier this week, and a deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport in January. Authorities have promised to review air traffic control systems to...

WhatsApp has hit a user criterion set out in landmark EU tech rules, the unit owned by Meta Platforms said, meaning it is required to do more to tackle online illegal and harmful content. Messaging platform WhatsApp in a February 14 filing said it had about 46.8 million average monthly active users in the 27-country European Union in the six month period to December 2024, above the 45-million-user threshold set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA). “We can indeed confirm that WhatsApp has published user numbers above the threshold for designation as a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said in an email on Wednesday. After receiving the designation, a platform has four months to comply with the DSA requirements including identifying and assessing system risks related to illegal content, fundamental rights, public security and protection of minors. Fines for DSA violations can reach as much as 6% of a company’s glo...

The administration of US President Donald Trump reportedly pressured Romanian authorities to relax travel restrictions imposed on Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are currently facing criminal charges in Romania. The Financial Times claims that US officials raised the issue multiple times with Romanian counterparts, requesting that the Tate brothers—who are dual US and UK nationals—have their passports returned while legal proceedings continue. The brothers, who deny all charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct, money laundering, and forming an organised crime group, were released from house arrest in January but remain barred from leaving Romania. Trump envoy allegedly intervened Among those said to have personally intervened is Richard Grenell, a former special envoy in Donald Trump's administration. According to the Financial Times, Mr Grenell met Romania’s foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, in an attempt to push for the lifting of restrictions on the Tate brothers. While Mr G...

A Florida man was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder after shooting at a vehicle with two men who he thought were Palestinians but turned out to be Israeli visitors, local authorities said. The website of Miami-Dade County Corrections says the suspect, 27-year-old Mordechai Brafman, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and booked on Sunday for the shooting on Saturday. A police report shared by Miami Beach Police showed that Brafman, when interviewed by police, said that while he was driving his truck in Miami Beach, he saw two people he thought were Palestinian. He said that he then stopped, shot at and killed them, according to police. However, the victims survived. One was shot in the shoulder and the other had a wounded forearm. They turned out to be Israeli visitors and not Palestinians, police said. A representative or lawyer for Brafman could not be immediately identified by Reuters. Human rights advocates say there has been a rise in anti-Muslim...

The administration of US President Donald Trump reportedly pressured Romanian authorities to relax travel restrictions imposed on Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are currently facing criminal charges in Romania. The Financial Times claims that US officials raised the issue multiple times with Romanian counterparts, requesting that the Tate brothers—who are dual US and UK nationals—have their passports returned while legal proceedings continue. The brothers, who deny all charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct, money laundering, and forming an organised crime group, were released from house arrest in January but remain barred from leaving Romania. Trump envoy allegedly intervened Among those said to have personally intervened is Richard Grenell, a former special envoy in Donald Trump's administration. According to the Financial Times, Mr Grenell met Romania’s foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, in an attempt to push for the lifting of restrictions on the Tate brothers. While Mr G...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed plans for Gaza during a meeting on Monday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. Rubio is visiting the Middle East after President Donald Trump infuriated the Arab world with a proposal for the Palestinian residents of the war-torn strip to be resettled in other Arab nations and for the US to lead reconstruction of the enclave. "The Secretary underscored the importance of an arrangement for Gaza that contributes to regional security," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a readout of the meeting between Rubio and the crown prince. The two also reaffirmed their commitment to the ceasefire agreed last month between Israel and Hamas and discussed Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea, Bruce said. Saudi state news agency SPA said they discussed regional and global developments and efforts to achieve security and stability. Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier in the da...