US and Iran trade fire in the Strait of Hormuz in most serious clash since ceasefire
American and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday in the most serious military confrontation since a ceasefire took effect on April 8, casting serious doubt over the ability of the month-old truce to hold as both sides traded accusations over who fired first. The incident drew in the United Arab Emirates and sent......
Soap pedicure, the translucent nail trend winning over beauty lovers in 2026
The soap pedicure has become one of the defining beauty trends of spring 2026, conquering social media feeds and professional salons alike with its smooth, luminous finish that evokes the surface of a fresh bar of soap. Built on a minimalist philosophy that enhances rather than conceals, the technique favors soft shades such as milky white,......
El Niño threat amplifies Middle East oil shock as Asian inflation hits multi-year highs
Asia is facing a dangerous convergence of inflationary pressures as a looming El Niño weather event and record temperatures compound the economic fallout from the Middle East oil crisis, threatening to drive food and energy costs sharply higher in the second half of 2026 at a moment when central banks across the region are already struggling......
France to resume deportations of Algerian nationals amid push for diplomatic reconciliation
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced that his country will resume expulsions of Algerian nationals in an irregular situation, signaling a tentative thaw in a relationship that has been frozen by months of diplomatic tension. The announcement came as President Emmanuel Macron is reported to be determined to secure a reconciliation......
Search for two missing US soldiers in Morocco enters fifth day with 600 personnel deployed
A large-scale search and rescue operation entered its fifth day on Wednesday as more than 600 military personnel from multiple countries continued scouring Morocco's southern Atlantic coastline and open ocean for two American soldiers who went missing near the Cap Draa training area outside Tan-Tan. US, Moroccan, and other participating......
Luxembourg identifies new investment opportunities in Morocco across key strategic sectors
Luxembourg's Economy Minister Lex Delles concluded a four-day economic mission to Morocco on May 7, wrapping up a visit that generated concrete cooperation leads in green finance, renewable energy, aerospace, and logistics. The mission, which ran from May 4 to 7, brought a delegation of 40 people to Casablanca and Rabat, including representatives......
Morocco and South Korea move toward a comprehensive economic partnership agreement
Morocco and South Korea are advancing toward a significant deepening of their bilateral economic relationship, with both countries agreeing to explore the early launch of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The move signals a deliberate effort by Rabat to diversify its international trade architecture and strengthen......
Zyphra's sub-billion parameter AI model matches industry giants on reasoning benchmarks
San Francisco-based AI startup Zyphra has released ZAYA1-8B, a mixture-of-experts reasoning model with only 760 million active parameters that matches or outperforms significantly larger models on mathematics, coding, and reasoning benchmarks, while having been trained entirely on AMD hardware. The release challenges prevailing assumptions......
Iran threatens UAE will "pay the price" after explosions rock Qeshm island
Explosions struck the Iranian island of Qeshm and the port city of Bandar Abbas overnight on Thursday, prompting state-aligned Iranian media to accuse the United Arab Emirates of conducting a hostile act and to warn that Abu Dhabi would face consequences if its involvement were confirmed. The incident added a volatile new dimension to an already......
BYD's flagship Datang SUV surpasses 100,000 pre-orders in just two weeks
BYD announced Thursday that its large premium electric SUV, the Datang, has exceeded 100,000 pre-orders just two weeks after reservations opened at the Beijing Auto Show on April 24, 2026. The figure was disclosed by the head of BYD's Dynasty commercial division and underscores the considerable appetite for the Chinese automaker's......
Trump sets July 4 deadline for EU to ratify trade deal or face higher tariffs
President Donald Trump issued a new ultimatum to the European Union on Thursday, demanding that the bloc ratify the trade framework reached last summer by July 4, the 250th anniversary of American independence, or face an increase in tariffs. The announcement came a day after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen......
Russia warns foreign diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of May 9 Victory Day strikes
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a formal warning on Wednesday to all foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations based in Kyiv, urging them to evacuate their personnel before what it described as inevitable retaliatory strikes on the Ukrainian capital tied to Russia's May 9 Victory Day commemorations. The warning marked......
Pussy Riot and FEMEN storm the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Members of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN stormed the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale on Wednesday, May 6, staging a protest against Russia's return to the international art exhibition for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The demonstration drew immediate......
Microsoft scales back Copilot as the company retreats from its AI-everywhere strategy
Microsoft is pulling back from its aggressive push to embed artificial intelligence across every corner of its product ecosystem, with the executive now leading Copilot publicly endorsing the removal of the feature wherever it has failed to deliver value. The reversal marks a significant shift for a company that spent nearly two years placing......
Nvidia's Jensen Huang calls AI job loss warnings ridiculous and attacks rivals' God complex
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang used a series of high-profile appearances this week to push back forcefully against predictions that artificial intelligence will trigger mass unemployment, dismissing such forecasts as ridiculous and accusing some of his fellow technology executives of developing a God complex. His remarks, delivered at......