Author: Trainee Reporter

Washington: US President Donald Trump has launched the long-anticipated ‘Trump Gold Card’ scheme, a fast-tracked US visa programme designed for wealthy foreign nationals willing to pay at least $1 million for accelerated residency and a pathway to citizenship. Announced earlier this year and now fully activated, the programme promises a direct path to citizenship for all qualified and vetted people, Trump said on social media, calling it an exciting opportunity for American companies to retain invaluable talent. .@POTUS: “Very excitingly for me and for the country, we’ve just launched the Trump Gold Card… all funds go to the United States…

Miami: Eileen Higgins has secured a landmark victory in Miami, becoming the city’s first Democratic mayor in almost three decades after winning a decisive runoff against Republican contender Emilio Gonzalez. The former county commissioner clinched 59 percent of the vote, according to official results, defeating Gonzalez, who garnered nearly 41 percent and was backed by US President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Celebrating her win, the 61-year-old told supporters that Miami had ‘chosen a new direction’, adding that voters opted for ‘competence over chaos’. Her election also marks the first time a woman has been chosen to lead…

India: Tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have unveiled a combined $52.5 billion (£39.4 billion) investment plan in India, aiming to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem, cloud infrastructure, and technology-driven economic growth. Amazon announced that it will invest $35 billion in India by 2030, focusing on AI-driven digitisation, export growth, and job creation. This follows Microsoft’s $17.5 billion commitment to bolster India’s AI capabilities, announced a day earlier. India has emerged as a major hub for AI and cloud infrastructure, attracting significant global tech investments in recent months. In October, Google revealed a $15 billion investment to build an AI data…

Havana: Cuba’s Supreme Popular Tribunal has handed former Economy Minister Alejandro Gil a life sentence for espionage, marking one of the country’s most significant political prosecutions in decades. The ruling, delivered following a closed-door trial, also includes a concurrent 20-year sentence on corruption charges, ranging from bribery and falsification of documents to tax evasion. Gil, 61, served as Cuba’s economy minister from 2018 until his dismissal in February 2024. Once considered a trusted ally of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, he vanished from public view after his removal. His sudden fall echoes past political shake-ups, most notably the 2009 dismissals of former…

Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced a $12 billion farm aid package to support American farmers grappling with depressed crop prices and the ongoing fallout from trade disputes, particularly with China. The initiative, revealed during an event at the White House, is designed to provide short-term relief as the administration works to stabilise agricultural markets. According to the White House, $11 billion of the package will fund one-time payments for row crop farmers under the Agriculture Department’s Farmer Bridge Assistance programme, while another $1 billion will be held for speciality crops not covered by the main initiative. WE ❤️OUR…

Paris: A water leak at the Louvre Museum in Paris has damaged hundreds of works, adding to a string of recent troubles at the world-famous institution. The museum’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, confirmed that between 300 and 400 works, mostly books, were affected in the Egyptian department. The damaged volumes are described as Egyptology journals and scientific documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all regularly consulted by scholars. Steinbock said the leak, discovered in late November, stemmed from a long-known issue. Repairs were already scheduled for next year. The books will be dried, rebound, and restored before…

Canada: Air Transat, one of Canada’s biggest airlines, will gradually suspend flights as it prepares for a potential pilots’ strike set for mid-week. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents the airline’s 750 pilots, issued a 72-hour strike notice, warning that pilots will stop reporting for duty on December 10, unless a new labour agreement is reached. The union said 99 percent of pilots had voted to authorise a strike after nearly a year of negotiations aimed at replacing their 2015 contract with improved pay, benefits, work rules and job security. In response to the notice, Air Transat announced…

Spin Boldak: Fresh clashes have erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with both sides trading blame for breaking a fragile ceasefire agreed less than two months ago. Overnight fighting around the Afghan border city of Spin Boldak sent residents fleeing on foot and in vehicles, as the four-hour exchange intensified fears of a broader escalation. A medical official in Kandahar confirmed that a local hospital received the bodies of four people, though it remains unclear whether casualties were also reported on the Pakistani side. Both governments acknowledged the exchange of fire but offered sharply conflicting narratives. Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s spokesperson Mosharraf…

United States: A major shift in US vaccine policy has ignited intense debate after a federal advisory panel voted to end the longstanding recommendation of administering hepatitis B (HBV) vaccines to newborns immediately after birth. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8–3 to support individual-based decision-making for babies born to mothers who test negative for HBV. The move changes more than three decades of universal newborn vaccination guidelines, first introduced in 1991 and credited with preventing an estimated 90,000 deaths in the US. Today, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted in favor of removing the universal…

Taipei City: Taiwan will block access to the Chinese social media and shopping platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, for one year following a surge in online shopping scams. The island’s Criminal Investigation Bureau reported that more than 1,700 fraud cases have been linked to the app since last year, with losses exceeding $7.9 million (NT$247 million, £5.9 million), local media reported. Xiaohongshu is a TikTok-like platform with integrated shopping features, and Taiwan’s internet service providers have been ordered to block the app, affecting at least three million users domestically. Taiwan confirmed that some users attempting to access the app…