Hamas warns those who “spread chaos” following killing of its police officer
CAIRO – A Gaza family’s open admission this week that they killed an officer from the Hamas-run police force after they said a relative was shot dead has added to signs of popular dissent against the militant group after 18…
US judge blocks Trump cuts to legal aid for migrant children
A federal judge ordered U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to temporarily restore funding for programs that provide legal services for unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in San Francisco late on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining…
NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case dismissed, cannot be brought again
NEW YORK -A U.S. judge on Wednesday dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and said the charges cannot be brought again. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho’s decision to dismiss the case…
Mexico will not enter a tariff tit-for-tat with US, president says
MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that Mexico doesn’t plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement of plans to impose new tariffs. Sheinbaum added that Mexico will on…
Trump tells Cabinet, others that Musk will leave soon, Politico reports
WASHINGTON -U.S. President Donald Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts that his billionaire ally Elon Musk will soon step back from his government role, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to Trump. Trump…
With U.S. absent, China steps in for earthquake-hit Myanmar
BANGKOK/BEIJING – After a 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar on Friday, killing more than 2,800 people, international rescuers rushed into the devastated Southeast Asian country. The most ubiquitous among them have been Chinese relief workers, whose blue and orange uniforms…
Trump considering revoking tariff exemptions for cheap shipments from China, source says
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is considering revoking tariff exemptions for low-value shipments from China as part of Wednesday’s tariff announcement, a source familiar with the plans said. The decision would reinstate U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision in February to…
Amazon bids to buy TikTok as deadline looms, U.S. administration official says
Amazon.com has put in a last-minute bid to buy TikTok, a U.S. administration official said on Wednesday, just days ahead of an April 5 deadline for the short-form video app to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in…
Top cases before the US Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court’s current term includes cases involving guns, gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, online pornography, religious rights, TikTok, preventive healthcare, Planned Parenthood funding, job discrimination, federal regulatory powers on nuclear waste storage and vape products, voting rights…
Meta CEO Zuckerberg lobbies Trump to avoid antitrust trial, WSJ reports
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump and White House officials to agree to a settlement that would prevent the company from facing an antitrust trial later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday,…
Harvard at risk of losing $9 billion in federal funds as US launches review
The Trump administration said on Monday it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants awarded to Harvard University, part of a crackdown on what it says is antisemitism on college campuses. The Departments of Education, Health and Human…
US Army withholds report on key helicopter safety system use, senators say
WASHINGTON -The U.S. Army has refused to turn over a 2024 report detailing why it has routinely failed to use a safety system known as ADS-B on helicopter flights around Reagan Washington National Airport, Republican and Democratic senators said on…
US says it killed top Houthi missile expert, but questions linger
WASHINGTON – The White House has said that U.S. strikes in Yemen earlier this month killed the Houthi top missile expert, but the U.S. military has so far declined to confirm the death, and the identity of the Houthi commander…
US judge blocks firing of intelligence officers assigned to DEIA programs
A U.S. judge on Monday blocked the firing of 19 intelligence officers who had worked on diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility programs that President Donald Trump ordered eliminated, according to their attorney. Kevin Carroll, who represents the Central Intelligence Agency…
Japan Feb jobless rate falls to 2.4%, job availability shrinks
TOKYO – Japan’s jobless rate in February fell to 2.4% from 2.5% in January, government data showed on Tuesday. Economists’ median forecast was for 2.5%. The jobs-to-applicants ratio also dipped to 1.24 in February from 1.26 in January. The median…
Russian and US steps to normalise ties bring optimism, China’s foreign minister says
Russia and the United States have taken the first step toward normalizing relations, which inspire optimism, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Russia’s RIA state news agency in remarks published on Tuesday. “Russia and the United States have taken the…
Trading Day: Wall Street shakes off tariff trepidation
NEW YORK – Making sense of the forces driving global markets Today’s Key Market Moves * The S&P 500 ends up 0.55% at 5,611.51 * The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield falls 3.3 basispoints to 4.222% * The euro falls…
Trump administration to freeze family-planning funds for Planned Parenthood
Reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood said on Monday the Trump administration would cut federal family planning funding as of Tuesday, affecting birth control, cancer screenings and other services for low-income people. Planned Parenthood said that nine of its affiliates received…
US judge rejects J&J’s $10 billion baby powder settlement
NEW YORK -A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Monday rejected Johnson & Johnson’s $10 billion proposal to end lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other talc products cause ovarian cancer, marking the third time the company’s bankruptcy strategy has failed…
Analysts at Cantor, formerly headed by Lutnick, call for Kennedy’s dismissal
Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, formerly headed by the Trump administration’s Secretary Of Commerce Howard Lutnick, called for the dismissal of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, last week announced plans to…
Trump says Le Pen’s conviction in France is a ‘very big deal’
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s conviction and resulting prohibition from running in the 2027 presidential election was a “very big deal.” A French court on Monday barred Le Pen…
AI-powered cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest valued at $3.4 billion in latest funding round
AI-powered cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest said on Monday it has raised more than $500 million in a funding round led by EQT, KKR and FTV Capital, valuing it at $3.4 billion. Investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has been strong as businesses…
Trump signs order aimed at attracting corporate investments of more than $1 billion
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at facilitating and accelerating corporate investments of more than $1 billion, the White House said. The order establishes an office within the Department of Commerce called the United States…
IMF’s Georgieva: Recession not on the horizon despite tariff worries
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for sweeping tariffs is creating great uncertainty and denting confidence but is not likely to trigger a near-term recession, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. “We are not seeing…
Intel’s new CEO tells customers ‘be brutally honest with us’
SAN FRANCISCO – In his first remarks as Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan on Monday outlined a leaner version of the iconic American chipmaker in which he would work directly with engineers to develop new products based on feedback from…
Judge blocks Trump administration from stripping deportation protections for Venezuelans
A U.S. judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from stripping deportation protections for some Venezuelan immigrants. In a case brought by the National TPS Alliance, a group that advocates for immigrants, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco…
OpenAI plans to release open-weight language model in coming months
OpenAI is planning to release its first open-weight language model with reasoning capabilities since GPT‑2 in the coming months, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday. The company will speak with developers about how to make it useful, Altman said in…
US restricts Chinese officials’ visas over access to Tibetan areas
WASHINGTON -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday the United States imposed additional visa restrictions on Chinese officials involved in policies on access for foreigners to Tibetan areas. “For far too long, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has…
Chinese military says it is conducting exercises around Taiwan
BEIJING – China’s military on Tuesday announced it was conducting joint army, naval and rocket force exercises around Taiwan in a statement on the Eastern Theater Command’s official WeChat social media account. “These drills mainly focus on sea-air combat-readiness patrols…
Appeals court won’t delay block on US military’s transgender ban
A U.S. appeals court on Monday denied a request by the Trump administration to pause a lower court’s decision blocking President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington last week issued…