International News Live Updates: US, Canada end loophole that let asylum-seekers cross border

Firefighters battled a blaze in Pennsylvania on Friday after an explosion at a chocolate factory injured at least six people and sent a plume of black smoke into the air above West Reading. Berks County fire crews remained on the scene at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant Friday night about 60 mile (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, but few details had been released. Six injured people were taken to Tower Hospital in West Reading, NBC10 in Philadelphia first reported.

Microsoft Corp has threatened to cut off access to its internet-search data, which it licenses to rival search engines, if they do not stop using it as the basis for their own artificial intelligence chat products, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The company has told at least two customers that using its Bing search index - a map of the internet that can be scanned in real time - to feed their AI chat tools violates the terms of their contract, the news agency said, citing people familiar with the dispute.

Eric Garcetti was sworn in as US Ambassador to India on Saturday. Ambassador Garcetti is a committed public servant and will play a critical role in strengthening our partnership with the people of India, said Kamala Harris, US Vice-President.

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday celebrated the close, “inseparable” U.S.-Canada relationship and vowed that the two nations remain committed to defending Ukraine as it tries to repel a Russian invasion that has no end in sight. Biden and Trudeau met just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks for the first time since the start of the war. The Chinese and Russian leader agreed to deepen economic bonds between their two countries. But Biden argued that Western resolve remains stronger and warned Russia that the U.S., Canada and their allies would defend “every inch of NATO territory."

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) said on Friday Executive Chairman Vincent McMahon had paid $17.4 million to the company to cover costs related to an investigation into his alleged misconduct. McMahon, credited with transforming WWE from a regional player to a global giant, retired as CEO and chairman of the company in July last year. He returned to the board in January, after the probe was wrapped up. The Wall Street Journal had reported that he was being investigated by the board for agreements to pay $12 million over the past 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received a rollover of $2 billion in deposits for a period of one year from its all-weather ally China to help Islamabad get a much-required bailout from the IMF to stabilise its economy, a media report said on Friday. The rollover, which basically is not a loan but a financial deposit to be kept at Pakistan’s central bank for a period of one year, is one of the requirements of IMF in meeting its external financing needs in order to move towards inking the staff-level agreement, The News International reported. Finance minister Ishaq Dar confirmed the development. “Yes,” Dar was quoted as saying in a brief response when asked about getting a rollover of $2 billion SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) deposits from China.

Intel Corp co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose "Moore's Law" predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, died Friday at the age of 94, the company announced. Intel and Moore's family philanthropic foundation said he died surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. Co-launching Intel in 1968, Moore was the rolled-up-sleeves engineer within a triumvirate of technology luminaries that eventually put "Intel Inside" processors in more than 80% of the world's personal computers.

Emphasizing the fight against drugs, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said strict action has been taken to check the menace of narcotics in the states. Speaking at Regional Conference on 'Drug Trafficking and National Security which was presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Friday, Chief Minister Bommai said the state government maintains a zero-tolerance policy to check the drug menace.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement that has allowed thousands of asylum-seeking immigrants to move between the two countries along a back road linking New York state to the Canadian province of Quebec. So many migrants since early 2017 have walked into Canada on Roxham Road outside Champlain, New York, that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police staffed a reception center to process them, less than five miles (8 kilometers) from the official border crossing.