Trump takes fight with AP over White House access to US appeals court
WASHINGTON -President Donald Trump’s administration will ask a U.S. federal appeals court on Thursday to pause a judge’s ruling lifting access restrictions the White House imposed on the Associated Press for referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage….
Science caught in crossfire of Trump’s fight with universities
Harvard scientist Dr. Donald Ingber, who works where medicine and engineering meet, saw federal funding for some of his projects frozen this week as his university clashed with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. While Trump and his advisers…
Trump administration says Harvard may lose ability to enroll foreign students
WASHINGTON -The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government’s latest escalation…
El Salvador blocks US senator from visiting wrongly deported Salvadoran man
SAN SALVADOR/WASHINGTON -Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Wednesday authorities in El Salvador had denied him access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and being held in a notorious prison in the country. Van Hollen…
White House looking to slash $40 billion from health department, Washington Post reports
WASHINGTON -The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to cut some $40 billion in funding from its Department of Health and Human Services, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a preliminary budget document it had obtained. This…
Judge orders Trump officials to testify about efforts to return wrongly deported man
GREENBELT, Maryland -A U.S. judge on Tuesday demanded U.S. officials provide documents and answer questions under oath about what it had done to secure the return of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador, ramping up an inquiry into whether…
Trump officials could face criminal contempt over deportations, judge says
WASHINGTON -Trump administration officials could face criminal contempt charges for violating a U.S. federal judge’s order halting deportations of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang who had no chance to challenge their removals, the judge said on Wednesday. In a…
US labor market stable; single-family homebuilding dives amid tariffs
WASHINGTON – The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to a two-month low last week, suggesting labor market conditions remained stable in April, though uncertainty around tariffs is making businesses hesitant to boost hiring. President Donald…
Trump challenges judges’ probes of compliance with deportation orders
NEW YORK -The Trump administration is appealing efforts by two judges to investigate whether government officials defied their rulings over the deportation of migrants to El Salvador, escalating a confrontation between the executive and judicial branches On Wednesday night, the…
Iran’s Khamenei sends letter to Putin ahead of talks with US
MOSCOW/DUBAI – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent his foreign minister to Moscow on Thursday with a letter for President Vladimir Putin to brief the Kremlin about nuclear negotiations with the U.S., which has threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic….
Gold’s lustre undimmed, prices hit records above $3,300/oz
Gold prices pierced the $3,300 an ounce barrier to hit record highs as investors sought a refuge from the turbulence surrounding trade tensions between the United States and China. Spot gold hit a record of $3,317.90 per ounce on Wednesday,…
China wants partnership with EU to counter US ‘abuse’, says envoy to Spain
MADRID – China wants to deal with the European Union as a partner instead of a rival, its ambassador to Spain said, amid shifting geopolitics and Washington’s new trade policy which he described as unilateral economic abuse. Yao Jing told…
Putin praises Elon Musk, compares him to father of Soviet space program
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised Elon Musk, comparing him to Sergei Korolev, the chief engineer behind the Soviet Union’s space success in the 1950s and 1960s, state news agency TASS reported. TASS cited Putin, who was…
Ford Motor may hike prices in May if Trump’s auto tariffs persist, Automotive News reports
Ford Motor may raise prices of its new vehicles in May if U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs are not eased, Automotive News reported on Wednesday, citing a memo to dealers. Both U.S. and foreign automakers have rushed to alleviate…
Kennedy plans studies into link between environmental factors and autism
WASHINGTON -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that he plans to commission a series of studies to identify environmental contributors to autism he claims are linked to its rising prevalence in the country. Speaking at his…
Ex New York police sergeant sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison for acting as Chinese agent
NEW YORK – A former New York City police sergeant was sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday over his 2023 conviction for acting as an illegal Chinese agent. Michael McMahon was charged with being hired as a private…
Nissan US chief says tariffs will hammer lower-income car shoppers
DETROIT – The chairman of Nissan Americas, Christian Meunier, said on Wednesday he is concerned that tariffs may drive already eye-popping vehicle prices even higher. “Cars are becoming completely unaffordable,” Meunier told Reuters. “It’s not fair for the middle class…
Baby food makers are failing California’s lead standards, Reuters review shows
NEW YORK -Some baby food manufacturers are failing to meet California’s standards for lead, which are the most stringent in the nation, according to a Reuters analysis of new test results released for the first time. The results are being…
US 30-year mortgage rate jumped last week to 2-month high
The interest rate for the most popular U.S. home loan jumped to 6.81% last week, its highest level in two months, following a turbulent week for financial markets as President Donald Trump pressed on with a deepening trade war. The…
AP accuses Trump White House of defying court order restoring access
WASHINGTON – The Associated Press accused aides to President Donald Trump of defying a court order restoring its access to press events in the White House after a judge found the news agency had faced unlawful retaliation. In a court…
US plans to use tariff negotiations to isolate China, WSJ reports
U.S. President Donald Trump administration plans to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure U.S. trading partners to limit their dealings with China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing people with knowledge of the conversations. U.S. officials plan to…
Exclusive-Nvidia kept some China customers in the dark about new US chip clampdown, sources say
SINGAPORE – Nvidia did not warn at least some major customers in advance about new U.S. export rules it was told about a week ago requiring it to obtain licenses to sell its China-focused artificial intelligence chip, according to two…
European shares fall after Nvidia, ASML signal mounting corporate pain
European shares slipped on Wednesday after a strong start to the week, as concerns over corporate profits deepened following news that Nvidia would shoulder billions in charges due to U.S. export curbs to China. Adding to tech woes, ASML, the…
After Harvard rejects US demands, Trump adds new threat
NEW YORK – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status on Tuesday and said the university should apologize, a day after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programs or lose federal…
China’s Xi calls for UN, multilateral systems to be upheld on Southeast Asia trip
KUALA LUMPUR – China’s President Xi Jinping called for support for the international system centred around the United Nations, trade and the rule of law as he continued on a Southeast Asian tour amid a sharp deterioration in China-U.S. relations….
Gaza a ‘mass grave’ of Palestinians, says MSF, as Israeli strikes kill 13
CAIRO – Gaza has become a “mass grave” for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued…
Ukraine says Russian drone attack injures three, damages homes in Odesa
A Russian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa overnight injured three people, sparked fires and damaged homes and civilian infrastructure, officials of the southern Ukrainian region said on Wednesday. Various morning attacks by Russian aviation and…
Iran says its right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable
DUBAI – Iran’s right to enrich uranium is not negotiable, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, ahead of a second round of talks in Oman this weekend with the United States about Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. Araqchi was responding…
Fuel retailer Ampol’s first-quarter refinery margin halves amid global slump
Australia’s top fuel retailer Ampol reported a 49% drop in first-quarter refining margins for its Lytton refinery in Queensland on Wednesday, citing weakness in refining profits in Singapore — a bellwether for Asia. The company said its Lytton refinery margin…
China’s Q1 economic growth likely to slow as tariffs darkens outlook
BEIJING – China’s economy is expected to have slowed in the first quarter in the face of a prolonged property downturn, as policymakers brace for the impact of hefty U.S. tariffs that analysts say pose the biggest risk to the…