Author: i2wtc

Algeria’s jailing of writer for remarks on border with regional rival Morocco inflames tensions with France.Algeria has sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to five years in prison on charges of “undermining national unity”. A court in Dar El Beida, near Algiers, sentenced the author on Thursday under “anti-terrorism” laws after he gave an interview to far-right French media outlet Frontieres, in which he questioned the borders dividing Algeria from regional rival Morocco. In the interview, published last October, Sansal argued that France had redrawn Algeria’s borders in the latter’s favour during the colonial period to include lands that once belonged…

Michael Intrator, co-founder and CEO of CoreWeave, speaks at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, on Nov. 13, 2024.Carlos Rodrigues | Sportsfile | Web Summit | Getty ImagesCoreWeave on Thursday priced shares at $40 in the company’s IPO, raising $1.5 billion in the biggest U.S. tech offering since 2021, CNBC has confirmed.The company, which provides access to Nvidia graphics processing units for artificial intelligence training and workloads, had planned to sell shares for between $47 and $55 each. At the top end of the range, that would’ve valued CoreWeave at about $26.5 billion, based on Class A and Class B shares…

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centres across the United States. HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK) criticised the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video announcing the restructuring on Thursday. He faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health. “I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Kennedy said in the video, posted to social media. The…

Vladimir Putin says US President Donald Trump’s stated intention to acquire Greenland was ‘serious’.Geopolitical rivalries are intensifying in the Arctic, but Russia is willing to cooperate with foreign partners, including from the West, in economic ventures there that will benefit all sides, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. In a major speech on Thursday, Putin said US President Donald Trump’s stated intention to acquire Greenland was “serious”, and it was clear that the US would continue to promote its interests in the Arctic. The Greenland question had nothing to do with Russia, he said. But Moscow was concerned that “NATO…

Investigators look over the scene at a Tesla Collision Center after an individual used incendiary devices to set several vehicles on fire on March 18, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller | Getty ImagesA Las Vegas man has been arrested on charges related to the Molotov cocktail arson attack on Tesla vehicles in that city on March 18, authorities said.The incident was one of the highest-profile acts of vandalism in a series of attacks on Tesla locations around the country related to company CEO Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration heading DOGE, the effort to slash federal spending and…

Lululemon store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., on July 15, 2024.Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesLululemon beat Wall Street expectations for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, but issued 2025 guidance that disappointed analysts.On an Thursday earnings call, CEO Calvin McDonald said the athleticwear company conducted a survey earlier this month that found that consumers are spending less due to economic and inflation concerns, resulting in lower U.S. traffic at Lululemon and industry peers. However, he said, guests responded well to innovation at the company.”There continues to be considerable uncertainty driven by macro and geopolitical circumstances. That being said,…

Listen to article Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that nations do not progress through International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs, emphasising that Pakistan has already achieved the stability it needs. Speaking at the launch of the Prime Minister Digital Youth Hub, he clarified that the $1 billion loan from the IMF is not earned income but borrowed funds. The prime minister said the public is aware that a staff-level agreement has been reached with the IMF, but it is a loan of one million dollars — not something Pakistan has earned on its own. He stressed that the younger generation’s hard work and…

Iran’s foreign minister says response sent through Oman, affirms policy that ‘indirect negotiations can continue’.Iran has responded through Oman to a letter from United States President Donald Trump in which he urged Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal, Iranian state media reported. Iran’s official IRNA news agency published an article on Thursday citing Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying that an Iranian response to Trump’s letter was “appropriately sent through Oman”. “Our policy is still to not engage in direct negotiations while under maximum pressure and military threats, however, as it was the case in the past, indirect negotiations…

On Jan. 9, Ubisoft said it was postponing the launch of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” and had appointed advisors to review strategic options.Ina Fassbender | AFP via Getty ImagesUbisoft on Thursday announced that it’s creating a new gaming subsidiary with Chinese technology giant Tencent investing 1.16 billion euros ($1.25 billion) into the unit.The subsidiary will focus on Ubisoft’s best-known games brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, according to the company.It will “focus on building game ecosystems designed to become truly evergreen and multi-platform,” Ubisoft said in a press release Thursday.”Backed by greater investment and boosted creative…

Listen to article At least six passengers were killed in a brutal attack on a Karachi-bound bus in Gwadar’s Kalmat area on Wednesday night. The incident occurred in the Kalmat area, where five people died instantly, and one succumbed to injuries later while receiving treatment at the hospital. Authorities confirmed that the victims, all travelling to Karachi, included a man from Multan. This attack adds to a growing number of violent incidents in Balochistan. Just days before, armed assailants killed four workers from Punjab in Mangochar, Balochistan. The workers, who were involved in tubewell installation in Langzai, were targeted and killed by…