USA: Selena Gomez announces engagement to Benny Blanco

Selena Gomez has revealed she is engaged to songwriter Benny Blanco. The actress and singer posted a picture of a large engagement ring on Instagram, with the caption “forever begins…

USA: Trump teases speedy environmental permitting for $1bn investments in US

President-elect Donald Trump has teased the prospect of faster environmental approvals for companies and individuals investing at least $1bn in the United States.As part of a flurry of social media…

Syria: Iran’s Khamenei says al-Assad ouster a US-Israel ‘plot’, blames ‘neighbour’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the toppling of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while also blaming a “neighbouring” country of Syria.…

Russia: Moscow tells citizens not to travel to United States

Russia has warned its citizens not to travel to the United States and other Western countries, claiming they could be “hunted” by the authorities in those states. Ministry of Foreign…

USA: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta donates $1m to Trump inauguration fund

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has donated $1m (£786,000) to an inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump. The tech giant’s boss, Mark Zuckerberg, dined with Trump at his…

USA: Billionaire Murdoch loses bid to change trust in real-life ‘Succession’ battle

A real-life “Succession” battle for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has ended with a Nevada court commissioner denying the billionaire’s bid to change a family trust and give control to his…

USA: General Motors pulls plug on robotaxi business

General Motors has announced that it will stop funding the development of the Cruise self-driving taxi. The company says it will now “refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles”. GM…

USA: Donald Trump named Time Person of the Year again

Time Magazine has named Donald Trump as their person of the year for the second time. “For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a- generation political realignment,…

USA: Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences, pardons 39 people

United States President Joe Biden has commuted nearly 1,500 prison sentences and pardoned 39 people in what the White House has described as the largest act of clemency in a…

USA: Trump takes jab at Canadian PM Justin Trudeau

US President-elect Donald Trump took a light jab at his Canadian counterpart on Tuesday, referring to Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada”. In an early…