North America

San Francisco, Oct 21 (AP) Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter's workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75 per cent of Twitter's employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, according to the report published on Thursday. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.

21 October 2022; MEMO: The White House is in talks with billionaire, Elon Musk, about setting up SpaceX's satellite internet service, Starlink, in Iran, CNN reported on Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.

The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians circumvent the regime's restrictions on accessing the internet and certain social media platforms.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (APP): The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Friday warned that in the flood-impacted areas of Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces, more than 1 in 9 children under five admitted to health facilities were suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

They say estimates based on the pre-existing malnutrition prevalence indicate that close to 1.6 million children could be suffering from malnutrition and in need of urgent treatment in the areas impacted by the floods.

SEATTLE, Wash., Oct 20 (Reuters) - Wildfires in Oregon and Washington are blanketing much of America's Pacific Northwest with smoke, choking residents in Seattle, Portland and other parts of the two states with the worst air in the United States, according to government data.

In the Seattle area, home to some 4 million people, the sky was brown and the air was difficult to breathe on Thursday. When the sun peeked through it was orange.

Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers landed in Guam this week in the long-range aircraft's second deployment to the island this year amid regional tension over Taiwan and the looming prospect of a new North Korean nuclear test.

The U.S. military confirmed their temporary deployment to the U.S. Pacific territory as part of a "bomber task force" mission on Thursday, a day after aircraft-spotting websites reported their flight from home bases in the United States.

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The United States unsealed criminal charges on Thursday against seven Chinese nationals accused of waging a surveillance and harassment campaign against a U.S. resident and his family, in a bid by the Chinese government to repatriate one of them back to China.

The eight-count indictment, unsealed in a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, is the latest case by the Justice Department targeting China's apparent expatriation campaign, known as "Operation Fox Hunt."

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Regulations prohibiting the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns within Canada take effect on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding that the measure builds on earlier efforts banning handgun imports.

The handgun freeze was announced in May alongside proposed legislation that would implement the nation's strongest gun control measures in 40 years as part of Trudeau's plan to tackle gun violence, his office said.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The international community should step up efforts to promote women's participation in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Thursday.

The participation of women at all levels "has played a pivotal role in changing the way we approach peace and security over the last 20 years," Mohammed told a UN Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday that Iranian troops are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s power stations and other key infrastructure, claiming it has troubling evidence of Tehran’s deepening role assisting Russia as it exacts suffering on Ukrainian civilians just as the cold weather sets in.

MIAMI (AP) — It was a deal that brought together oligarchs from some of America’s top adversaries.

“The key is the cash,” the oil broker wrote in a text message, offering a deep discount on Venezuelan crude shipments to an associate who claimed to be fronting for the owner of Russia’s biggest aluminum company. “As soon as you are ready with cash we can work.”