WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s effort to ban immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries heads to the Supreme Court Wednesday, which will decide if his argument asserting national security interests was tainted by religious bias. The case, known as Trump v. Hawaii, will address the president’s broad powers to set immigration policy, which the administration says permit…

UNITED NATIONS: UN peacekeepers from Nepal are facing allegations of child rape in South Sudan, the UN spokesman said Monday, describing the case as “especially heinous.” At the request of the United Nations, Nepal agreed to send a team of investigators to work with the UN office of internal oversight on the case. “Any act…

NEW YORK: A new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York seeks to recreate some of the grandeur of the Versailles royal palace in France. At first, the idea was to create a book based on the accounts of people who visited the palace, such as diplomats and nobles. But Danielle Kisluk-Grosheide,…

Mass shootings at US schools are rising rapidly, killing more people in the last 18 years than in the entire 20th century, said a study Thursday. The report in the Journal of Child and Family Studies tallied mass shootings — events when at least one shooter intentionally killed or injured at least four others — and…

TAMPA: Americans waste nearly 150,000 tons of food per day, amounting to about one pound (422 grams) per person, and fruits and vegetables are mostly what gets tossed, said a study Wednesday. The amount of land used annually to grow food that ends up in the garbage in the United States is 30 million acres,…

NEW YORK: The New York Times and The New Yorker won the Pulitzer Prize for public service on Monday for explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment. The prestigious prize was awarded to the Times team led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday announced a $150-million (120 million euro) donation for the maintenance of Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem. “Saudi Arabia announces a $150-million grant to support the administration of Jerusalem’s Islamic property,” the monarch said at the opening of the Arab League summit in the kingdom’s eastern city of Dhahran….

WASHINGTON: Just over a year ago U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike against the Syrian government for a chemical weapons attack against its own people. Trump did the same on Friday, with allies France and Britain, in a response intended to deter Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from using chemical weapons again, but which…

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May faced a backlash from the domestic opposition after launching military strikes on Syria without consulting parliament. As the Conservative leader explained her rationale for the air strikes, opposition parties claimed the attacks were legally dubious, risked escalating conflict and should have been approved by lawmakers. The shadow of the…

DAMASCUS: Hours before dawn, a string of powerful blasts jolted awake residents of the Syrian capital. Emerging onto their balconies, they watched Western strikes light up the sky over Damascus.  For around 45 minutes, explosions and the sound of warplanes roared over Damascus, a stronghold of Syria’s regime, as the US, France, and Britain carried…

TEHRAN: Iran warned of “regional consequences” on Saturday following a wave of punitive strikes in Syria by the United States, Britain and France. “The United States and its allies have no proof and, without even waiting for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to take a position, have carried out this military attack,”…

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple said Monday it had achieved a goal of “100 percent clean energy” for its facilities around the world. The California tech giant said its retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries were operating with nonpolluting or renewable energy. Nine additional manufacturing partners have committed to power all of…

WASHINGTON: Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg placed the blame for privacy and security lapses at the world’s largest social network squarely on himself as he girded Monday for appearances this week on Capitol Hill before angry lawmakers. In prepared remarks released by a congressional panel, Zuckerberg admitted he was too idealistic and failed to grasp how…

LOS ANGELES: Superhero movie Black Panther beat Titanic to become the third highest earning film in North America. CNN reported that the film took the position after earning $665.4 million on the US box office Saturday. Titanic now stands at No.4 with earnings of $659.4 million The film is trailing behind Star Wars: The Force…

Lebanon, United States: The opioid epidemic ravaging the United States, and New Hampshire in particular, is born from subscription painkillers. How did it start? What do opioids do to the body? Is the crisis already past its worst? Lisa Marsch, an expert in the prevention and treatment of substance-use disorders and a professor at the…

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria “very soon” and lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars. In a populist address to industrial workers in Ohio, Trump said US forces were close to securing all of the territory that the…

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook troubles worsened late Thursday with the leak of a two-year-old memo from a high-ranking executive hinting that the social network was determined to grow despite risks to users. The 2016 memo published by news website Buzzfeed was written by veteran Facebook executive Andrew Bozworth, considered part of chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s inner…

MIAMI: World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki and rising star Naomi Osaka became early round casualties while veteran Venus Williams survived a scare to book her third round spot at the Miami Open on Friday. Wozniacki slumped to a shock 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Monica Puig of Puerto Rico while Osaka’s bid for the “Sunshine…

WASHINGTON: United States has once again asked Pakistan to “do more” against terrorist organizations. “Vice President Pence reiterated President (Donald) Trump’s request that the Government of Pakistan must do more to address the continued presence of the Taliban, Haqqani Network, and other terrorist groups operating in their country,” a White House statement read. Pence reiterated…

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Roger Federer stepped up his bid for a sixth Indian Wells Masters title with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Filip Krajinovic on Monday. The 36-year-old marvel continues to defy the ageing process as he needed just 58 minutes to overpower the Serb with a brilliant display of Swiss timing. “I…

INDIAN WELLS: Roger Federer will be looking for payback when he opens the defence of his ATP Indian Wells title with a second round match against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis on Saturday. There aren’t many players who can say they have a winning record over 20 time Grand Slam winner Federer but Delbonis is one of…