Browsing: News

NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to overcome divisions and step up support for people in need as Ramadan approaches, urging action to protect human rights and dignity amid conflicts and humanitarian crises. In a message delivered by UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at UN Headquarters in New York, Guterres described Ramadan as a sacred period of reflection and prayer that embodies a vision of hope and peace. He said that vision remains out of reach for many people, citing continued suffering linked to conflict, hunger, displacement and discrimination in multiple regions. Guterres urged people to “bridge divides” and…

DETROIT: President Donald Trump has threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a major new U.S.-Canada crossing between Detroit and Windsor, unless Canada agrees to terms he outlined on social media. Trump said the bridge should not open until the United States is “fully compensated” and said the U.S. should own at least part of the project, describing a 50% stake as a possible benchmark. In his post, Trump tied the bridge dispute to broader trade complaints with Canada. He cited tariffs on U.S. dairy products and what he described as limited shelf space for some U.S. alcoholic beverages…

PHOENIX: A federal jury in Phoenix ordered Uber Technologies to pay $8.5 million to a passenger who said she was sexually assaulted by a driver, marking a closely watched verdict in litigation that includes thousands of similar claims against the ride-hailing company across the United States. The award consisted of compensatory damages and followed a trial that tested whether Uber can be held liable for a driver’s conduct during a trip arranged through its app. The plaintiff, Jaylynn Dean, said she was assaulted during an Uber ride in Arizona in November 2023 after she became intoxicated and requested transportation to her hotel. Dean,…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: The death toll from a sprawling winter storm and its aftermath across the United States has reached at least 90, as bitter cold, snow and ice continued to disrupt daily life from the South and Midwest to the Mid Atlantic and Northeast. Fatalities have been reported in multiple states over more than a week of severe weather, with officials attributing deaths to vehicle crashes on icy roads, exposure to extreme cold, and other weather related incidents. Authorities in several states said roughly half of the reported deaths were concentrated in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, where prolonged power outages and dangerous travel conditions followed…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping government funding agreement late Friday, but a short partial shutdown began after the House of Representatives left Washington without taking it up before a midnight deadline. The Senate vote, 71 to 29, advanced a package designed to keep most federal agencies funded through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, while separating the Department of Homeland Security for a brief extension. The measure cleared the Senate after hours of amendment votes and procedural steps, sending the legislation to the House, which is scheduled to return on Monday, Feb. 2. With final congressional action…

MENA Newswire, DAVOS: California has joined a World Health Organization coordinated outbreak response network, state officials said, a day after the United States formally completed its withdrawal from the U.N. health agency. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said California is the first U.S. state to join the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, known as GOARN, a partnership that links hundreds of public health institutions and laboratories worldwide to support detection and response to health emergencies. The announcement followed Newsom’s meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where his office said he met WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to discuss cooperation on emerging…

MENA Newswire, GENEVA: The United States has formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, ending nearly eight decades of membership in the UN health agency that coordinates global disease surveillance and emergency response. The withdrawal took effect on January 22, 2026, after a required one year notice period following a January 20, 2025 presidential directive ordering the move. U.S. health and foreign policy officials said the United States ended its participation in WHO governing bodies and technical committees, and halted U.S. funding and staffing arrangements tied to the organization. U.S. agencies also began shifting or winding down activities previously conducted through WHO channels,…

WASHINGTON: Most U.S. families do not earn enough to meet the federal definition of affordable child care, according to a recent LendingTree analysis that compares household income with typical costs for two young children. Using the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services benchmark that child care is affordable at 7% of household income, the analysis found families would need to earn about $402,708 a year to keep average costs for an infant and a 4-year-old within that threshold. The LendingTree study, which draws on U.S. Census Bureau income data and pricing benchmarks from Child Care Aware of America, put the average annual cost for…

DAVOS: U.S. President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney this week after Carney’s World Economic Forum speech described a breakdown in the rules-based international system and warned against the use of economic leverage by major powers. Trump’s response, delivered in remarks and later echoed online, sharpened tensions between Washington and Ottawa and put the U.S.-Canada relationship at the center of Davos discussions. Carney’s address, delivered in Davos on January 20, said the world was entering a harsher period of great-power rivalry in which longstanding assumptions about global rules and constraints no longer held. He argued that middle powers such as Canada should strengthen…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration is circulating plans for a new international body called the Board of Peace, with a proposal that countries could pay $1 billion to secure permanent seats, according to official documents and public statements from several invited governments. The initiative is described by the administration as a mechanism to coordinate governance, security arrangements, humanitarian support and reconstruction in Gaza following the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The proposed structure offers two tracks for participation. One track would grant permanent board status to countries that contribute at least $1 billion, according to draft charter language described in multiple…