USA

Trump Slaps ‘Tremendous’ Sanctions on Russian Oil for Ukraine War

US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war "don't go anywhere." The European Union also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its ...

Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah with Matthew Levitt

On this week’s episode of This is America, we cover the Gaza ceasefire and the disarming of Hezbollah. We also feature an exclusive interview with Matthew Levitt, Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute, who shares his insights on the situation in Gaza and the prospects for peace in the region.

Hamas: A Beheaded Organization Still Standing

Is the terrorist group Hamas still capable of inflicting damage on the state of Israel? An investigation by American outlet NBC suggests that it is. Despite being severely weakened after two years of open war, the Islamist movement is believed to still have around 20,000 fighters, hundreds of rockets – including some with long-range ...

U.S. Pushes Plan to Disarm Hamas and Rebuild Gaza

US Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday of the tough task ahead in disarming Hamas and building a peaceful future for Gaza, as Washington sought to reassure its ally Israel over the next steps in its ambitious ceasefire deal. Vance met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second day of a trip to Israel, part of a diplomatic blitz in ...

From Protection to Precaution: Reassessing Pandemic-Era Chemicals

Some of the chemicals widely used for protection during the 2020 – 2021 coronavirus pandemic are now raising concerns among scientists, with new research suggesting they may have posed unexpected health risks. According to a recent report published by the Financial Times on Tuesday, the European Union (EU) is considering classifying ...

OpenAI Unveils Search Browser in Challenge to Google

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on Tuesday announced an "Atlas" search browser, leveraging its artificial intelligence prowess in a direct challenge to Google Chrome. "This is an AI-powered web browser built around ChatGPT," OpenAI chief Sam Altman said in a streamed presentation. OpenAI has ramped up its challenge to Google, which has responded by rapidly ...

Russia Downplays Swift Meeting to Prepare for Trump-Putin Summit

Moscow on Tuesday doused hopes of a swift meeting of the Russian and US foreign ministers to prepare for a speedy summit between their leaders over the Ukraine war. Following a phone call last week, the Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump announced they would meet in Budapest for talks on resolving the war in Ukraine, which ...

Khamenei Tells Trump to 'Keep Dreaming' Over Claims of Destroying Iran Nuclear Sites

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday rebuffed claims by US President Donald Trump that the Islamic republic's nuclear sites had been destroyed by US strikes in June. In a statement on his official website, Khamenei told Trump to "keep dreaming" over the comments on the sites' destruction and questioned the US president's right ...

AWS Outage Disrupts Major Apps and Services Worldwide

A widespread outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has caused significant disruptions across many of the world’s most popular apps, websites, and online services from social media platforms like Snapchat to government websites such as the UK’s HMRC. The issue, which began around midnight Pacific time (10 a.m. Beirut Time) on Monday, ...

OpenAI Commits to Over $100 Billion in AI Chip Orders Amid Uncertain Financing Plans

OpenAI is ordering hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chips in the artificial intelligence race, raising questions among investors about how the startup will finance these purchases. In less than a month, the San Francisco startup behind ChatGPT has committed to acquiring a staggering 26 gigawatts of sophisticated data processors from ...