Author: Finance for Sight

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered tighter controls on federal elections, including requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, as the Republican continues to attack a system he insists remains tilted against him. Experts swiftly denounced his executive order as an abuse of presidential power that could ultimately prevent millions of Americans from casting ballots, and rights groups already have vowed to challenge it in court. Trump, now in his second term, has never acknowledged his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, and he maintains baseless claims of massive election fraud – particularly in…

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to call for a snap election for April 28 could curtail his ability to respond forcefully if the United States carries out a threat to impose additional tariffs. Now that campaigning has started, the government is bound by a so-called caretaker convention, which means it can engage in routine business but should avoid major policy decisions. The election comes at a particularly sensitive time for Canada given the threat it faces from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and remarks about annexing Canada, which Carney on Sunday called “the most significant crisis of our…

WASHINGTON: Trump administration officials on Sunday defended their use of extraordinary war powers to deport scores of Venezuelan migrants despite a judge blocking the move and Venezuela denying US officials’ assertions that the deportees were gang members. “It’s modern-day warfare, and we are going to continue to fight that and protect American citizens every single step of the way,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on the “Sunday Morning Futures” program. Bondi said the Trump administration’s decision to deport 137 Venezuelan migrants last weekend to El Salvador was justified because they were members of Venezuela’s feared…

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV: The United States reached separate agreements on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on attacks by the two countries on each other’s energy facilities. The agreements, if implemented, would represent the clearest progress yet towards a wider ceasefire that Washington sees as a stepping stone towards peace talks to bring an end to Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine. Both countries said they would rely on Washington to enforce the deals. Ukraine, US to meet in Riyadh after Russia-US Black Sea ceasefire talks “If the Russians violate this,…

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Tuesday refuted concerns regarding the discrepancies in sugar pricing, stressing that the agreed rates must be enforced uniformly across the country, the ministry said in a statement. Chairing a high-level meeting in Islamabad, Tanveer categorically refuted claims of price manipulation, stating that the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) had set the wholesale price at Rs159 per kg, with provincial authorities responsible for ensuring compliance. He stressed that any deviation from this agreed rate would not be tolerated. During the meeting, Punjab officials confirmed that the wholesale price of…

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence said Tuesday that 14 people had been killed since midnight in Israeli strikes on the war-battered Palestinian territory, a week into Israel’s renewed offensive. Spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Israeli aircraft had carried out more than 20 strikes across Gaza, killing at least 14 people including women and children. Gaza death toll tops 50,000 as Israel kills more Palestinians He said five people were killed and 12 wounded in a dawn strike in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City, while a strike on the southern area of Khan Yunis killed nine including a couple…

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Tuesday as investors awaited clarity on U.S. threats of reciprocal tariffs, set to take effect early next month. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said automobile tariffs are coming soon, but also indicated that not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2, suggesting some degree of flexibility on the matter. Trump’s tariff policies are widely expected to contribute to slowing global economic growth, trigger further trade tensions, and could drive up inflation. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index dropped 0.6%, hit by a 1.6% fall in Al Rajhi Bank…

KHARTOUM: A Sudanese war monitor accused the army Tuesday of killing hundreds of people in an air strike on a market in the country’s western Darfur region. The Emergency Lawyers group of volunteer legal professionals who have documented atrocities on both sides of Sudan’s nearly two-year war said army warplanes carried out “an indiscriminate air strike on Tora market in North Darfur, killing hundreds of civilians and seriously wounding dozens”. It did not specify when the strike occurred. AFP could not independently verify the toll due to a telecommunications blackout in Darfur. The army, which has been fighting the paramilitary…

NEW DELHI: Air India said on Tuesday that all staff, including top management, would travel in economy from April 1 to free up seats for paying customers, as the airline works on improving its image following criticism over flight delays. Staff would be upgraded to premium economy and business class seats on a flight only if these remained unsold 50 minutes prior to departure, The Times of India said in a report, confirmed by the airline. “With this, we want to ensure that our premium seats for which we are seeing huge demand – are available for booking to our…

Australian shares ended Tuesday’s session nearly unchanged as a decline in heavyweight mining stocks overshadowed gains across most sectors, while some concerns on the US tariff front eased. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.07% higher at 7,942.5 points after rising as much as 0.7%. The benchmark briefly approached the psychologically important 8,000-point threshold, a level not seen since March 7. US President Donald Trump’s indication that automobile tariffs are coming soon, but with possible exemptions for many countries, helped calm market fears about severe trade measures. Banking stocks closed flat after earlier climbing more than 1% to an over two-week…