U.S. approves Patriot missile deal, but Ukraine faces long wait
The U.S. has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth an estim...
Amazon says it will cut 16,000 corporate jobs, completing a plan to shed around 30,000 positions since October, as the company restructures and increases its use of artificial intelligence.
The layoffs affect nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce and mark the largest job cuts in the company’s history. Most of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees work in fulfilment centres and warehouses.
The company says the cuts are aimed at reducing management layers, cutting bureaucracy and increasing ownership across teams. Amazon’s top human resources executive Beth Galetti said some teams may still make further adjustments. Most U.S.-based employees whose roles are affected will be given 90 days to look for another job inside the company. Timing may vary in other countries depending on local labour rules.
Amazon has also announced it is closing its remaining Fresh grocery stores and Go markets and is dropping its Amazon One palm-scan payment system after years of investment.
The move comes as CEO Andy Jassy pushes to abandon underperforming businesses and streamline operations. He has said wider use of generative AI and internal AI agents will change how work is done across Amazon. Jassy has warned the company will need fewer people in some roles and more in others as efficiency gains from AI grow, and that overall corporate headcount is likely to fall in the coming years.
The latest round follows 14,000 job cuts announced in October, which Amazon linked to the growing role of AI and concerns about corporate culture.
Amazon also mistakenly sent an internal email referencing the layoffs as “Project Dawn” to some Amazon Web Services staff, unsettling thousands of employees. Workers across AWS, Alexa, Prime Video, devices, advertising and last-mile delivery teams say they have been affected.
Amazon has been cutting costs so it can invest more heavily in AI and in the rapid expansion of data centres. The company has said capital spending is expected to reach about $125 billion in 2026.
Shares in Amazon were up slightly in pre-market trading.
The Middle East conflict remains tense as diplomatic efforts continue alongside renewed Houthi attacks. Iran says it remains open to mediation, while the Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom.
Evacuations and the provision of humanitarian aid in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky have begun, a senior Ukrainian official said on Friday. In a statement on Telegram, David Arakhamia said a six-day ceasefire was holding, and that more details would follow.
Rescuers searched the wreckage of two high-speed trains in central Spain on Thursday as the death toll rose to a provisional 74, making it the country's second fatal high-speed rail disaster this year.
Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the U.S. and Iran, according to an official briefed on the talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia remains willing to rebuild relations with European countries but warned that any wider conflict on the continent would leave no winners, as he commented on recent diplomatic contacts with Nordic leaders and growing security concerns in the Baltic region.
The U.S. has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth an estimated $2.1 billion, but Kyiv could face years of delays before receiving the weapons it urgently needs to defend against intensifying Russian attacks.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body responsible for monitoring money laundering and terrorist financing risks, has removed four countries from its so-called “grey list” after determining they had made sufficient progress in addressing weaknesses in their financial cr
The death toll from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 5,000, according to government figures released on Friday, as health authorities continue to struggle to contain the country's worst-ever Ebola epidemic.
A hacking group linked to North Korea is widely believed to be behind the theft of $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency giant Binance, a cyberattack that experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
Poland's long-running conflict over judicial independence and control of the Constitutional Tribunal intensified on Friday after the head of the country's top court was suspended, prompting President Karol Nawrocki to cut short an overseas trip and return to Warsaw amid mounting political tensions.
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