Author: admin

LONDON (AP) — A British High Court judge ruled Wednesday that a company linked to an underwear tycoon must repay the government more than 121 million pounds ($163 million) for breaching a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.In an 87-page ruling, Justice Sara Cockerill found that PPE Medpro had “breached the contract” and that the Department of Health and Social Care was “entitled to the price of the gowns as damages,” though not to the cost of storing the gowns.The judge said the gowns “were not, contractually speaking, sterile, or properly validated as being sterile”…

SEOUL – American economist Anne Krueger, 91, has witnessed a great deal of public policy chicanery during her stints as a top executive at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Yet Donald Trump’s tariff gamble on South Korea — including a US$350 billion “signing bonus” — has the battle-tested Krueger, who has also seen her share of financial crises, literally shaking her head with a mix of confusion and disgust. “Korea is going to be hurt if all of this happens,” she said in an interview in Seoul. “Other countries will be harmed, but not as much as the…

NEW YORK (AP) — On this, at least, the Democrats agree: It’s time to fight.Whether far-left activists, Washington moderates or rural conservatives, Democratic leaders across the political spectrum are shrugging off the risks and embracing a government shutdown they say is needed to push back against President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress.For Democrats, the shutdown fight marks a line in the sand born from months of frustration with their inability to stop Trump’s norm-busting leadership. And they will continue to fight, regardless of the practical or political consequences, they say. “It’s a rare point of unification,” said…

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Anti-government demonstrations gripped Morocco for a fourth straight night as youth filled the streets of cities throughout the country and destruction and violence broke out in several places.With billions in investment flowing toward preparations for the 2030 World Cup, promises to fix Morocco’s strained social services haven’t quelled anger from internet-savvy youth who launched some of the country’s biggest street protests in years.Young Moroccans took to the streets on Tuesday clashing with security forces and decrying the dire state of many schools and hospitals. After dozens of peaceful protesters were arrested over the weekend, violence broke…

The utterly depraved and hallucinatory “press conference” that took place at the White House after “discussions” between US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other assorted co-conspirators, should finally make something perfectly clear: the question of Palestine has never really been about the Jewish people or creating a “safe haven” post-World War II.  Initially a last-ditch effort to resuscitate the failing British Empire by keeping a foothold in the Middle East through the Balfour Declaration, the present iteration is now a US-led, imperial-colonialist project to impose a new order across the region.  Using “Greater Israel” as its…

Amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan is remilitarizing its Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in a manner not seen since the end of World War II. To maintain a threshold of deterrence, Japan and the United States are growing their mutual defense capabilities to new heights.The United States military has deployed the Typhon missile system to Japan as a major set of deterrence capabilities against a rapidly militarizing China. With major areas of responsibility to cover in its Northern territories and East and South China Sea, the Typhon can help the JSDF and US Forces Japan (USJF) enhance their rocket force…

NASA keeping workers on the job for Artemis missions with SpaceX, Blue OriginElon Musk speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as they watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesNASA staff and contractors working on Artemis, the moon exploration program that contracts with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, will stay on the job during the shutdown, according to internal memos obtained by CNBC.Those employees will not be paid “for the duration of the shutdown furlough,” but they…

BRUSSELS (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protests are shaking major European cities, and calls are growing to ban Israel from sporting and cultural events. European navies have been deployed to protect activists trying to get aid into Gaza — and a wave of countries have done the once-unthinkable and recognized a Palestinian state.As outrage over the humanitarian catastrophe grows, more European leaders, sometimes driven by pressure from their populations, have openly condemned Israel’s war conduct and sought to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agree to a ceasefire and allow in aid. “There has been a ground-breaking shift in Europe where…

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 69 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit a central Philippine province where dozens of peple were killed by a powerful earthquake Tuesday night.The magnitude-6.9 earthquake that hit at about 10 p.m. trapped an unspecified number of residents in collapsed houses, nightclubs and other businesses in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province, officials said.Rescuers scrambled to find survivors Wednesday. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers backed by backhoes and sniffer dogs were deployed Wednesday to carry out house-to-house searches for survivors.The epicenter of the earthquake, which…

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government fighters entered the city of Sweida over the summer in an apparent bid to assert control over the enclave of the Druze minority that for years had operated in semiautonomy.It backfired. Sectarian attacks on Druze civilians during the ensuing fighting have hardened Sweida’s stance against the government, pushed it toward Israel, and led some in the minority sect to go as far as calling for secession.Now Druze groups have set up a de facto military and governmental body in Sweida, similar to the Kurdish-led authorities in the country’s northeast. It is a major setback for…