Ira Spitzer

1 month ago | channelnewsasia.com | Ira Spitzer

OAKLAND: Ports on the West Coast of the United States are bracing for a major impact as the country’s bruising trade war with China continues. Around half of the goods that arrive at these ports from overseas are made in China, but the figure is expected to drastically fall as the tariff cycle continues. Tit-for-tat escalation between the world’s two largest economies have pushed US levies on Chinese goods to a whooping 145 per cent and Chinese tariffs on American products to 125 per cent.

2 months ago | channelnewsasia.com | Ira Spitzer

The United States government’s antitrust trial against Meta has kicked off at a courtroom in Washington DC, with the company’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg taking the stand. The Federal Trade Commission has accused the social media giant of buying potential rivals Instagram and WhatsApp in order to stifle competition. Ira Spitzer has more.

2 months ago | channelnewsasia.com | Ira Spitzer |Louisa Tang

BERKELEY, California: As the United States government aims to get rid of what it calls illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, critics have decried its measures as going too far. US President Donald Trump’s administration has cited discrimination against white and Asian students as justification for the threats. But vagueness over what constitutes DEI is already having a chilling effect, according to rights groups and activists.

Feb 18, 2025 | channelnewsasia.com | Ira Spitzer

Another of Elon Musk's firms, xAI, has launched its AI chatbot Grok 3 in a livestreamed event. The world's richest man said the latest iteration is far more powerful, and claims it surpasses rivals like OpenAI, Google and China's DeepSeek in benchmarks such as math, science and coding. Ira Spitzer reports.

Feb 17, 2025 | channelnewsasia.com | Ira Spitzer

In Los Angeles, recent wildfires have become one of the costliest natural disasters in world history, destroying entire neighbourhoods near America's second-largest city. The tragedy also exposed and accelerated another crisis in California — the increasing risk of natural disasters, driven by climate change. It has made insurance harder to come by and premiums more expensive. Ira Spitzer reports.