Briefly

PERU

PM resigns ahead of no-confidence vote

Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen submitted his resignation on Tuesday, hours before Congress was set to debate at least three motions seeking his removal. "In consideration of the nation's higher interests, I feel duty-bound to present my irrevocable resignation from the position of president of the Council of Ministers," Adrianzen said in a televised address. He was joined by his cabinet and President Dina Boluarte, who has consistently defended him and praised his performance.

JAPAN

Two missing after military plane crashes

A search was launched on Wednesday for two crew members reported missing after a Japanese air force training plane crashed minutes after takeoff. The T-4 training aircraft belonging to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force took off from Komaki Air Base, in the central prefecture of Aichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. The force said the plane was lost from radar two minutes after taking off. Authorities are searching for the missing aircraft and its crew in an area near a reservoir known as the Iruka pond, officials said. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said parts of the aircraft have been found at the crash site and the cause of the crash is under investigation.

UNITED STATES

Harvard sues govt over funding cuts

Harvard University expanded its lawsuit challenging the Donald Trump administration's moves to cut off billions of dollars in federal funding to the Ivy League school on Tuesday after officials said they are terminating an additional $450 million in grants. Harvard filed the amended complaint in federal court in Boston hours after a federal antisemitism task force announced that eight government agencies were canceling additional grants on top of the $2.2 billion in funding that the administration had already terminated. The task force did so after accusing the school of failing to confront "pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment plaguing its campus".

Microsoft fires about 3% of its workforce

Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers on Tuesday, nearly 3 percent of its entire workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years. That included 1,985 workers in its home state of Washington, according to a filing posted on the state's labor affairs agency. Microsoft said the layoffs will be across all levels, teams and geographies, but the cuts will focus on reducing the number of managers. Notices to employees began going out on Tuesday.

Agencies - Xinhua