Iran holds ‘very good’ talks with Mecca pact nations on region’s security
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Oct 26 in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, with Tehran saying the discussions were “very good”.
Officials from the three Mecca pact countries flew to Iran as part of efforts to “de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis”, a Saudi foreign ministry statement said.
The talks, which included heavyweight Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war.
Microsoft to offer buyouts to 60,000 workers in latest cost cut
PHOTO: REUTERS
Microsoft will offer buyouts to about 60,000 workers, part of the company’s efforts to trim costs and retool its workforce for the artificial intelligence era.
Some personnel in the US, Canada, India and the UK at a vice-president level and below will be eligible, said a Microsoft spokesperson.
Divisions such as Xbox, Windows, Copilot and finance are fully participating in the offer, according to people familiar with the terms. Certain pools of employees, including some focused on data centres, sales, marketing, cybersecurity and quantum computing, aren’t eligible, the people said. Microsoft declined to comment on these specifics.
Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo draws early complaints of the screen cracking
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
The iPhone Duo, one of Apple’s biggest new products in years, is drawing a growing number of complaints from customers who say the foldable display cracked after just hours or days of use.
In these cases, customers reported hearing a crunching sound when unfolding the phone, followed by a large crack forming along the centre crease. Some users also experienced a white patch or other display malfunction on the right side of the screen.
Reports of the problem first surfaced on Reddit and other social media sites. Bloomberg News has since independently verified the issue with more than half a dozen customers, who provided photos showing damage to their devices or evidence of their support conversations with Apple.
Jordan says its air force struck ‘militant hideouts’ in Syria after church attack
PHOTO: REUTERS
Jordan said on Oct 26 its air force struck what it described as militant hideouts in southern Syria after determining that the suspects behind last week’s deadly church attack in the kingdom were linked to “terrorist groups” operating there.
The armed forces said the operation was conducted in coordination with Damascus. Syria’s government gave a contradictory account, saying it had launched an investigation into the Jordanian attacks, and stressed in a statement the importance of field and security coordination in border areas.
Damascus informed Jordan of its “complete reservation” over the strikes without prior coordination, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Walter Koenig, who played original Chekov on Star Trek, dies at 90
PHOTO: REUTERS
Walter Koenig, the actor best known for his role as Pavel Chekov on the groundbreaking television show Star Trek and in the franchise’s first seven movies, has died at age 90, his representative said on Oct 26.
Koenig died overnight at his home in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, his agent Zachery McGinnis said in a statement, citing the cause of “old age” without further details.
The actor was known for playing the youthful Russian navigator Chekov in the original television series, as well as in several Star Trek feature films.