Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking to prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence, creating a federal taskforce with the sole responsibility of challenging state laws. At a ceremony on Thursday, the president said AI companies were eager to invest in the United States but warned that “if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it”. The order, titled Ensuring a national policy framework for artificial intelligence, revives an earlier attempt by Republicans to impose a ten-year moratorium on state regulation of AI. That effort collapsed earlier this year after bipartisan opposition…

Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and threatening strikes on land targets, as the Venezuelan leader accused Washington of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean. On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and their associated shipping companies. The US Treasury alleged the vessels had engaged in “deceptive and unsafe shipping practices” and continued to provide financial resources to what it described as Maduro’s “corrupt narco-terrorist regime”. Documents from Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA…

US forces have seized a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s campaign against President Nicolás Maduro. Caracas denounced the move as “an act of international piracy”. President Donald Trump confirmed the operation on Wednesday, describing the vessel as “the largest one ever seized”. He declined to reveal the ownership of the tanker but insisted it had been taken “for a very good reason”. Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, released footage of the seizure on social media. The 45‑second clip showed US forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter. Bondi said…

Elon Musk has admitted that the sweeping federal job-cutting initiative he led during Donald Trump’s second term, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), was only “a little bit successful” and confirmed he would not take on the role again. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, a right-wing commentator and former Doge adviser, Musk said he would have been “better off running his companies” than heading the controversial programme. Miller is married to Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and a prominent figure in the administration’s hardline immigration policies. Asked whether Doge had achieved its aims,…

All visitors to the United States would be required to disclose their social media activity from the past five years under new proposals from the Trump administration. The plans, published on Tuesday in the Federal Register, would also oblige tourists to provide email addresses and telephone numbers used during the same period, along with the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members, including children. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through its agency Customs and Border Protection (CBP), described the disclosures as “mandatory” for entry. The rules would apply to travellers from all countries, including those currently permitted to…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared he is prepared to hold elections within the next three months, if Ukraine’s parliament and foreign allies agree, after Donald Trump accused him of clinging to power. Speaking on Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian president appeared irritated by Trump’s remarks. “This is a question for the people of Ukraine, not people from other states, with all due respect to our partners,” he said. Zelenskyy added that he was willing to organise a vote despite wartime restrictions. “Since this question is raised today by the president of the United States of America, our partners, I will answer very…

French celebrities and politicians on the left have condemned Brigitte Macron after she was filmed using a derogatory term to describe feminist protesters at a theatre performance in Paris. The footage, recorded on Sunday, showed France’s first lady backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre speaking with actor and comedian Ary Abittan, who was preparing to go on stage. Abittan, previously accused of rape, told her he was nervous following a protest the night before, when campaigners disrupted his show by shouting: “Abittan, rapist!” In response, Macron referred to the demonstrators as “sales connes” translated as “dirty or stupid bitches” and…

Fewer than 60,000 people, just 0.001% of the world’s population, now control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a major study that warns inequality has reached extremes requiring urgent action. The World Inequality Report 2026, compiled by 200 researchers, found that the richest 10% of income-earners take home more than the other 90% combined, while the poorest half capture less than 10% of global earnings. Wealth, defined as the value of assets, was even more concentrated than income. The richest 10% own 75% of global wealth, while the bottom half hold just…

Caribbean coral reefs have lost nearly half of their hard coral cover since 1980, according to a new study. Scientists report a 48 per cent decrease, driven largely by climate breakdown and increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. The heatwaves disrupt the microalgae that sustain coral, turning them toxic and forcing the coral to expel them. In 2023–24, the region endured what researchers described as “the most destructive thermal stress ever recorded”, resulting in a 16.9 per cent decline in coral cover in just one year. Four decades ago, divers would have encountered colourful, thriving ecosystems supporting hundreds of marine species, including…

David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has intensified its campaign to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), launching a hostile bid despite Netflix’s announcement last week that it had agreed to purchase the company’s studio and streaming operations. Netflix’s offer, valued at $82.7bn, covers WBD’s Hollywood film studio and HBO cable network but excludes its traditional television assets, including CNN and the Discovery channel. Paramount’s all‑cash tender offer, sent directly to shareholders on Monday, covers the entire company and places a total enterprise value of $108.4bn on WBD, representing a significant premium on its current stock price. In its pitch to shareholders, Paramount…