MOSCOW: A Russian military court on Monday sentenced in absentia Meta spokesman Andy Stone to six years behind bars for “justifying terrorism,” as part of efforts to restrict Western social media platforms in the country. The largely symbolic ruling came several months after Mosocw, which has blocked Meta platforms Instagram and Facebook, put the US … Read more
Authors withdraw from PEN America Literary Awards in protest against stance on Gaza DUBAI: Thirty authors and translators have signed an open letter to PEN America in which they declined, or withdrew their work from consideration for, the organization’s 2024 Literary Awards, in protest against its “failure to confront the genocide of the Palestinian people … Read more
RIO DE JANEIRO: A US congressional committee released confidential Brazilian court orders to suspend accounts on the social media platform X, offering a glimpse into decisions that have spurred complaints of alleged censorship from the company and its billionaire owner Elon Musk. The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday published a staff report disclosing dozens … Read more
DUBAI: Being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing a lengthy course of treatment is a frightening prospect at any time. Enduring such an ordeal in wartime is a different league of terror altogether. Some 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been displaced by months of intense Israeli bombardment, while strict controls on the entry of … Read more
UNICEF representative at Davos urges private sector to adopt child-centered approach DAVOS: Carla Haddad Mardini, director of UNICEF’s private fundraising and partnerships division, has highlighted the importance of integrating “a child-sensitive lens” in all aspects of the private sector’s work. In an interview with Arab News at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Haddad Mardini … Read more
Trump downplays Jan. 6 on the anniversary of the Capitol siege and calls jailed rioters ‘hostages’ NEWTON, Iowa: Former President Donald Trump, campaigning in Iowa Saturday, marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by casting the migrant surge on the southern border as the “real” insurrection.Just over a … Read more
N. Korea breached UN sanctions by supplying missiles to Russia for Ukraine attacks: US and UK WASHINGTON: North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday. Russia is also looking to obtain … Read more
RIYADH: The King Salman Science Oasis concluded its participation in the “Hour of Code” event, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. The event, organized in collaboration with the General Administration of Education in Riyadh and Microsoft Arabia, aims to foster a culture of programming and innovation among students in the Kingdom. The event was inaugurated … Read more
SEOUL: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his country’s military, munitions industry and nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the US, state media said on Thursday. Speaking on the policy directions for the new year at a key meeting of the country’s ruling … Read more
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza’s main city as diplomats pressed on with efforts to secure a pause in the war that Hamas says has claimed 20,000 lives. The United Nations said Israel had issued evacuation orders on Wednesday for large areas of Khan Yunis, where more than 140,000 … Read more