US will deploy biometric capabilities with Colombia, Noem says
BOGOTA – The United States will deploy biometric capabilities in partnership with Colombia to help manage migration and disrupt criminal activity, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a visit to Bogota on Thursday. “Today we have signed a…
Zelenskiy says Russia hit Ukraine’s power infrastructure, US should react
KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Russian artillery had damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the front-line city of Kherson, two days after the U.S. announced that each side had agreed to a truce on energy strikes. “Two days…
French prosecutors seek seven years’ jail for Sarkozy for taking Libyan money
PARIS – French prosecutors on Thursday requested a seven-year jail sentence and a 300,000-euro fine for French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy for allegedly taking millions of euros from late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi to help his 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy has…
Greenland agrees to form broad government in shadow of Trump pressure, local media reports
COPENHAGEN -Greenland’s Democrats will announce a four-party coalition government on Friday, local media said on Thursday, following an election overshadowed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in taking control of the island. The expected announcement of a broad coalition would…
Carney has not spoken to Trump, says Canadian prime minister’s office
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not speak to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Carney said, denying an earlier story. Citing sources in Washington, said the two men had held their first call since Carney was…
Factbox-How hard have Trump and Musk layoffs hit US agencies?
President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are undertaking a sweeping campaign to cut the size of the 2.3-million-strong civilian U.S. government workforce with plans to fire or offer buyouts to more than 100,000 employees. The layoffs have primarily been…
NY official rejects Texas judgment against doctor in abortion pill case
A local official in New York on Thursday rejected Texas’ effort to enforce a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor accused of sending abortion pills to the state, escalating an unprecedented interstate conflict. Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck…
Analysis-Economic turbulence shakes US airlines as travel demand falters
CHICAGO/NEW YORK – U.S. airlines were flying high less than two months ago on talk of a new golden age, as strong travel demand and tight industry-wide capacity raised the prospect of a multi-year profit boom. But President Donald Trump’s…
Trump administration tells oil and biofuels groups to hash out new biofuel policy
NEW YORK – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has asked oil and biofuels producers to hash out a deal on the next phase of the nation’s biofuels policy to avoid the kind of political clashes that marked his first term,…
UN slightly reduces rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
DHAKA – The United Nations World Food Programme has managed to sustain food assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, though rations have been slightly reduced due to funding shortages, officials said on Thursday. Under the revised system, each refugee in…
Car rental firms Hertz, Avis zoom as tariffs seen hurting new-vehicle demand
Shares of highly shorted Hertz and Avis Budget Group surged on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to slap a 25% tariff on imported vehicles raised prospects of consumers opting for car rentals instead of buying expensive new cars….
Putin envoy says Russia could supply a small nuclear power plant for Musk’s Mars mission
Russia could supply a small nuclear power plant for a mission to Mars planned by billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, President Vladimir Putin’s international cooperation envoy said on Thursday. The envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said Moscow could discuss the…
Denmark condemns what it calls Trump’s escalated rhetoric on Greenland
COPENHAGEN – Danish government ministers condemned what they called President Donald Trump’s escalated rhetoric on Thursday and praised Greenland’s inhabitants for their resilience in the face of U.S. pressure for control over the Arctic island. Reiterating his desire to take…
Europeans back strong Ukraine army, differ on future ‘reassurance force’
PARIS -European leaders vowed on Thursday to strengthen Kyiv’s army to ensure it was the cornerstone of future security in Ukraine, while France and Britain tried to expand support for a planned foreign “reassurance force” in the event of a…
Rescuers dig for missing U.S. soldiers’ vehicle in Lithuania
VILNIUS -Rescuers in Lithuania were digging on Thursday into a peat bog in a military training area to recover the vehicle of four U.S. soldiers missing for two days. The soldiers in the M88 Hercules armoured recovery vehicle were on…
Car-carrying ships send added cargo to US ahead of looming tariffs
BERLIN- Car-carrying ships have sent more cargo from Europe and China, Japan and Korea to the United States in the first months of the year than last year, shipping data showed, in a sign of companies front-loading shipments ahead of…
Canada’s prime minister says nothing off the table in response to Trump’s tariffs
OTTAWA -Canada will wait until next week to strike back against the latest U.S. threat of tariffs and nothing is off the table regarding possible countermeasures, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday. Carney, warning Canadians that tough times lay…
Trump’s auto tariffs will hit many companies, but Elon Musk’s Tesla less so
As the global auto world reeled from the potential fallout of Donald Trump’s new auto tariffs, one name stood out as less affected than others – electric-vehicle maker Tesla. The Texas-based company’s shares were the rare automotive stock to trade…
Trump auto tariffs take aim at a pillar of Asian economies – and national pride
For Japan and South Korea, tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump represent a blow to domestic car industries that are both economic pillars and sources of national pride. Shares in companies such as Japan’s Toyota and Honda and South Korea’s…
Exclusive-How Syria’s sectarian violence spread to capital, terrorizing Alawites
DAMASCUS -Close to midnight on March 6, as a wave of sectarian killings began in western Syria, masked men stormed the homes of Alawite families in the capital Damascus and detained more than two dozen unarmed men, witnesses said. Those…