justice

US Supreme Court pauses deportation of Venezuelans from Texas

  • The obscure law has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. "The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court," the Supreme Court's brief order issued early Saturday said.
  • The US Supreme Court on Saturday paused the Trump administration's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law.
  • The obscure law has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. "The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court," the Supreme Court's brief order issued early Saturday said.
The US Supreme Court on Saturday paused the Trump administration's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law.
US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) last month to begin rounding up Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang before expelling them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
The obscure law has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
"The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court," the Supreme Court's brief order issued early Saturday said.
The order came after rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal to halt the deportation of migrants currently held in a facility in the southern state of Texas.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in its emergency filing on Friday night that the group of Venezuelans held in Texas had been told "they will be imminently removed under the AEA, as soon as tonight." 
Attorneys for several of the Venezuelans previously deported had said their clients were not members of Tren de Aragua, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.
Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to expel millions of undocumented migrants, has accused Venezuela of "perpetrating an invasion" of the United States through the entry of alleged Tren de Aragua members.
The Supreme Court said this month that anyone facing deportation under the AEA must first be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal.

'Imminent removal'

The ACLU said in its filing on Friday that the migrants in Texas were in danger of "being removed from the United States without notice or an opportunity to be heard."
"Many individuals have already been loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport," the rights group said.
The Trump administration went ahead with the initial deportations of alleged Tren de Aragua members under the AEA in March despite an order by federal judge James Boasberg blocking the move.
Judges and lawmakers are now wrangling with Salvadoran officials over the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was deported last month due to what the White House later said was an "administrative error."
The Supreme Court lifted the block on April 7, in the same decision where it said people facing deportation are entitled to due process.
The deported migrants are currently held in El Salvador's maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega-prison southeast of the capital San Salvador with capacity for 40,000 prisoners.
Inmates there are packed in windowless cells, sleep on metal beds with no mattresses and are forbidden visitors.
tjx/pbt

economy

Trump goes to war with the Fed

BY DANIEL AVIS

  • Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding this week that he considers the bank's independence over monetary policy to be a "matter of law."
  • Donald Trump's simmering discontent with the US Federal Reserve boiled over this week, with the president threatening to take the unprecedented step of ousting the head of the fiercely independent central bank.
  • Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding this week that he considers the bank's independence over monetary policy to be a "matter of law."
Donald Trump's simmering discontent with the US Federal Reserve boiled over this week, with the president threatening to take the unprecedented step of ousting the head of the fiercely independent central bank.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants rate cuts now to help stimulate economic growth as he rolls out his tariff plans, and has threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell if he does not comply, putting the bank and the White House on a collision course that analysts warn could destabilize US financial markets.
"If I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me," Trump said Thursday, referring to Powell, whose second four-year stint as Fed chair ends in May 2026. 
Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding this week that he considers the bank's independence over monetary policy to be a "matter of law."
"Clearly, the fact that the Fed chairman feels that he has to address it means that they are serious," KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told AFP, referring to the White House. 
Stephanie Roth, chief economist at Wolfe Research, said she thinks "they will come into conflict," but does not think "that the Fed is going to succumb to the political pressure."
Most economists agree that the administration's tariff plans -- which include a 10 percent "baseline" rate on imports from most countries -- will put upward pressure on prices and cool economic growth, at least in the short term.
That would keep inflation well away from the Fed's long-term target of two percent, and likely prevent policymakers from cutting rates in the next few months.
"They're not going to react because Trump posted that they should be cutting," Roth said in an interview, adding that doing so would be "a recipe for a disaster" for the US economy.
- Fed independence 'absolutely critical' - 
Many legal scholars say the US president does not have the power to fire the Fed chair or any of his colleagues on the bank's 19-person rate-setting committee for any reason but cause. 
The Fed system, created more than a century ago, is also designed to insulate the US central bank from political interference.
"Independence is absolutely critical for the Fed," said Roth. "Countries that do not have independent central banks have currencies that are notably weaker and interest rates that are notably higher."
Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told AFP that "we've had strong evidence that impairing central bank independence is a really bad idea." 

'Can't control the bond market'

One serious threat to the Fed's independence comes from an ongoing case in which the Trump administration has indicated it will seek to challenge a 1935 Supreme Court decision denying the US president the right to fire the heads of independent government agencies. 
The case could have serious ramifications for the Fed, given its status as an independent agency whose leadership believes they cannot currently be fired by the president for any reason but cause. 
But even if the Trump administration succeeds in court, it may soon run into the ultimate guardrail of Fed independence: The bond markets.
During the recent market turbulence unleashed by Trump's tariff plans, US government bond yields surged and the dollar fell, signaling that investors may not see the United States as the safe haven investment it once was. 
Faced with the sharp rise in US Treasury yields, the Trump administration paused its plans for higher tariffs against dozens of countries, a move that helped calm the financial markets. 
If investors believed the Fed's independence to tackle inflation was compromised, that would likely push up the yields on long-dated government bonds on the assumption that long-term inflation would be higher, and put pressure on the administration. 
"You can't control the bond market. And that's the moral of the story," said Swonk.
"And that's why you want an independent Fed."
da/bfm

virus

White House touts Covid-19 'lab leak' theory on revamped site

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • - 'Terrible shame' - "I welcome all efforts to dig deeper," said Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in response to the revamped White House website.
  • The White House on Friday unveiled a revamped Covid-19 website that promoted the contentious theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory, framing it as the pandemic's "true origins."
  • - 'Terrible shame' - "I welcome all efforts to dig deeper," said Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in response to the revamped White House website.
The White House on Friday unveiled a revamped Covid-19 website that promoted the contentious theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory, framing it as the pandemic's "true origins."
The Covid.gov website, previously focused on promoting vaccine and testing information, now includes a full-length image of President Donald Trump and criticizes the pandemic policies implemented under former president Joe Biden.
The site also targets Anthony Fauci, Biden's former chief medical advisor, for advancing what it calls the "preferred narrative that Covid-19 originated naturally."
It presents five bullet points aimed at bolstering the lab leak theory, noting that Wuhan, the site of the first known coronavirus case, is also home to China's "foremost SARS research lab" and has a history of conducting research at "inadequate biosafety levels."
"By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn't," the website said.
The lab-leak theory, once dismissed as a conspiracy theory, has recently gained mainstream traction in the United States.
Even as the debate remains unresolved -- scientifically and politically -- US agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Energy have come out in support of the theory, albeit with varying levels of confidence.
Earlier this year, the Central Intelligence Agency shifted its official stance on the virus's origin, saying that it was "more likely" leaked from a Chinese lab than transmission from animals.
The assessment drew criticism from China, which said it was "extremely unlikely" Covid-19 came from a laboratory.
Beijing also urged the United States to "stop politicizing and instrumentalizing the issue of origin-tracing." 
The United States and China are currently locked in a major trade war, with Washington announcing Thursday new port fees for Chinese-linked ships and increased tariffs for Chinese goods.

'Terrible shame'

"I welcome all efforts to dig deeper," said Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in response to the revamped White House website.
"But it would be a terrible shame if such efforts distracted from essential work to help prevent further infections and treat people suffering from Covid-19 and long Covid," he told NPR.
The new site, which apparently seeks to redefine the political narrative about Covid-19, also criticized the mask and social distancing mandates introduced at the start of the pandemic in 2020. There is also a map of Wuhan that is animated to throb.
Under a section titled "Covid-19 misinformation," it also accused public health officials under the previous administration of demonizing "alternative treatments" and colluding with social media companies to censor dissenting views about the pandemic -- a charge frequently echoed by US conservatives.
The Biden administration has previously rejected the charge that it was suppressing or censoring conservative perspectives.
The website revamp comes after layoffs began earlier this month at major US health agencies, as the Trump administration embarks on a sweeping and scientifically contested restructuring that will cut 10,000 jobs.
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr -- who has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines -- said the layoffs were part of a major reform of his department, aiming to refocus efforts on chronic disease prevention.
More than one million people died of Covid-19 and related illnesses in the United States, and millions more fell victim to the disease around the world.
ac/tgb

politics

US senator says El Salvador staged 'margarita' photo op

BY FRANKIE TAGGART

  • Van Hollen said he realized he had been set up when Bukele posted photos on X of the meeting, alongside a caption stating that Abrego Garcia was "miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture,' now sipping margaritas with Sen.
  • A US senator described Friday how El Salvador staged a photo of him supposedly sipping margaritas with a wrongly deported constituent to cover up the man's ordeal in a notorious prison.
  • Van Hollen said he realized he had been set up when Bukele posted photos on X of the meeting, alongside a caption stating that Abrego Garcia was "miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture,' now sipping margaritas with Sen.
A US senator described Friday how El Salvador staged a photo of him supposedly sipping margaritas with a wrongly deported constituent to cover up the man's ordeal in a notorious prison.
Chris Van Hollen denied that he drank cocktails with Kilmar Abrego Garcia while in El Salvador to meet the man, who was removed in what the White House has admitted was an "administrative error."
US President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have refused to bring about the Maryland father's release, despite a US federal judge's order -- backed by the Supreme Court -- for his return.
Van Hollen, a Democrat who represents Abrego Garcia's home state, met the metal worker Thursday at the senator's hotel in San Salvador.
He told reporters on his return to Washington that Abrego Garcia had been moved to a better prison an hour's drive away, but not before being scared for his safety in San Salvador's CECOT, known for reports of rights abuses.
Van Hollen said he realized he had been set up when Bukele posted photos on X of the meeting, alongside a caption stating that Abrego Garcia was "miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture,' now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!"
Later at the White House, Trump called Van Hollen a "fake" after he was asked about Bukele's post.
But the two-term senator said one of Bukele's aides had planted cocktail glasses on the table to make it look like Abrego Garcia was being detained in the lap of luxury. 
"Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is. But this is a lesson into the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people about what's going on," Van Hollen said.
"And it also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and the president will go to, because when he was asked (by) a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride."
Van Hollen said Bukele's officials had even pushed for the meeting to take place beside the hotel's pool "to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar."

'Total blackout'

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant, entered the United States illegally in 2011 but was given an indefinite reprieve from deportation in 2019.
He was among scores of deportees the Trump administration has paid Bukele's administration several million dollars to keep in detention.
Trump has not revealed the terms of the deal, including any arrangements for the detainees' care, how the contract is being monitored for compliance or when the prisoners will be released.
The US government says Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS-13 Salvadoran gang, although the evidence it has produced has been dismissed as inadequate by a federal court.
He denies gang membership and has never been charged with crimes in either country.
Van Hollen shared details of his half-hour meeting with Abrego Garcia, saying the detainee told him he had been in a cell with around 25 others. 
"He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell, but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT, and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways," the senator told reporters.
Van Hollen added that even under his better conditions, Abrego Garcia was still under a "total blackout," with no access to news from the outside world and no contact with family.
The senator said Abrego Garcia grew emotional as he spoke repeatedly about his five-year-old son, who has autism and was in the car when Kilmar was pulled over by US government agents in Maryland and handcuffed.
"His conversation with me was the first communication he had with anybody outside a prison since he was abducted. He said he felt very sad about being in a prison because he had not committed any crimes," the Democrat went on. 
"When I asked him what was the one thing he would ask for, in addition to his freedom, he said he wanted to talk to his wife, Jennifer."
ft/acb

conflict

Trump warns US could ditch Ukraine talks if no progress

BY DANNY KEMP WITH SERGEY BOBOK IN KHARKIV AND LEON BRUNEAU IN PARIS

  • But Trump warned that a decision on whether to abandon the talks could come "very shortly".
  • US President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Washington would "take a pass" on talks to end the Ukraine war within days unless there is rapid progress from Moscow and Kyiv.
  • But Trump warned that a decision on whether to abandon the talks could come "very shortly".
US President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Washington would "take a pass" on talks to end the Ukraine war within days unless there is rapid progress from Moscow and Kyiv.
His comments came just hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set the clock ticking, saying in Paris that the United States could "move on" from its role brokering the negotiations.
Trump has been pressing both sides for a truce, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin despite an ice-breaking call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and repeated negotiations with Moscow.
"If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'You're foolish. You're fools. You're horrible people' -- and we're going to just take a pass," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 
"But hopefully we won't have to do that."
Republican Trump refused to cast blame on either Putin, who ordered the February 2022 full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, or Kyiv's President Volodymyr Zelensky, insisting both sides had to make progress.
But Trump warned that a decision on whether to abandon the talks could come "very shortly". "No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done," he added.

'Move on'

Moscow has kept up strikes on Ukraine, killing at least two people and wounding dozens more in attacks on the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.
One of the few commitments Trump had wrangled from Russia -- a temporary moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure -- "expired" on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to an AFP question.
After meeting European officials in Paris to discuss a ceasefire, Rubio said Washington needed to figure out soon whether a ceasefire was "doable in the short term."
"Because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," he told reporters.
But speaking on a trip to Italy, US Vice President JD Vance still insisted he was "optimistic" about ending the three-year war.
Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office but has little to show for his efforts so far.
He has embarked on a rapprochement quest with the Kremlin that has alarmed Kyiv and driven a wedge between the United States and its European allies.
He and Vance also had a blazing Oval Office row in February with Zelensky, whom he still accuses of bearing responsibility for Moscow's invasion.
Trump insisted that he was not being "played" by Moscow, which is accused by Ukraine of dragging its feet.
"My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and I know when they're not," the billionaire property tycoon added.
Asked if Putin was stretching out the process, Trump added: "I hope not. I'm going to let you know about that soon if he is... he's got a big force out there." 

 'Mockery'

Zelensky meanwhile slammed the latest attacks on his country, which came just days before Easter.
Kyiv earlier announced it had received the bodies of 909 soldiers from Russia.
"This is how Russia started Good Friday -- with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shahed drones. A mockery of our people and cities," Zelensky said on Telegram.
Russia said it had hit "key drone production sites" and Ukrainian military airfields.
Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.
Trump has also repeatedly expressed anger and frustration at Zelensky in a marked break from his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Ukraine is set to sign a deal next week in Washington that would give the United States sweeping access to its mineral resources.
European powers have meanwhile been seeking a seat at the table in the negotiations, particularly as Trump's administration insists the continent should share the burden for Ukraine's security. 
France hosted meetings between US and European officials in Paris on Thursday, saying the talks had launched a "positive process."
The meetings included French President Emmanuel Macron, Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Many allies have however been alarmed by Witkoff -- who recently met Putin in Russia -- repeating Moscow's talking points about the war.
burs-dk/tgb/

Yemen

80 killed in deadliest US attack on Yemen, Huthis say

  • The US strikes began in January 2024 but have multiplied under Trump, starting with an offensive that killed 53 people on March 15.
  • US strikes on a Yemeni fuel port killed at least 80 people, Huthi rebels said Friday, in the deadliest attack of Washington's 15-month campaign against the Iran-backed group.
  • The US strikes began in January 2024 but have multiplied under Trump, starting with an offensive that killed 53 people on March 15.
US strikes on a Yemeni fuel port killed at least 80 people, Huthi rebels said Friday, in the deadliest attack of Washington's 15-month campaign against the Iran-backed group.
Thursday's strikes on Ras Issa aimed to cut off supplies and funds for the rebels that control large swathes of the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, the US military said.
Images broadcast by a Huthi-run television channel showed large blazes lighting up the night sky following the latest in an intensified barrage of attacks under US President Donald Trump.
Huthi media later reported fresh strikes in and around the capital Sanaa on Friday night.
Huthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said rescuers were still searching for bodies at the fuel terminal on the Red Sea, suggesting the number of dead could rise.
The rebels' Al-Masirah TV, citing local officials, said the toll from the strike had "risen to 80 dead and 150 wounded". 
The Huthis later announced missile attacks targeting Israel and two US aircraft carriers. Israel's military said on Friday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.
Protesters chanting "Death to America! Death to Israel!" gathered in rebel-held cities around the country, including at a major demonstration in the capital Sanaa.
"The American military buildup and continued aggression against our country will only lead to more counterattack and attack operations, clashes and confrontations," Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree told the crowd in Sanaa.

'Signal to Tehran'

The strikes on Thursday came as the United States prepares to resume negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme in Rome on Saturday, following warnings that Tehran is getting closer to building an atomic weapon.
"The military actions in Yemen are clearly sending a signal to Tehran," Mohammed Albasha, a US-based consultant, told AFP.
The US military has hammered the Huthis with near-daily air strikes for the past month in a bid to stamp out their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 
Earlier on Friday, when the Ras Issa toll stood at 74, Alabashi said the overall number of deaths from renewed US strikes since March was 198.
Claiming solidarity with Palestinians, the rebels began attacking the key maritime route and Israeli territory after the Gaza war began in October 2023.
They paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire.
In a statement, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said: "US forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Huthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Huthi efforts to terrorise the entire region for over 10 years."
Al-Masirah TV, citing authorities at the port, said the attack had caused "significant damage" that "will affect navigation and the supply of oil".
The US strikes began in January 2024 but have multiplied under Trump, starting with an offensive that killed 53 people on March 15.
Footage broadcast early Friday by Al-Masirah showed a fireball igniting off the coast as thick columns of smoke rose above what appeared to be an ongoing blaze.
The Huthi TV station later screened interviews with survivors lying on stretchers, including one man with burns on his arms.
"We ran away. The strikes came one after the other, then everything was on fire," one man who said he worked at the port told Al-Masirah.

Shipping attacks

Israel carried out air strikes on Ras Issa and elsewhere in Yemen in January, describing the targets as military infrastructure. Similar Israeli strikes that also included Ras Issa took place in September.
Iran called the latest US strikes "barbaric", while Hamas Palestinian militants denounced them as "blatant aggression".
The US bombing campaign intensified last month following Huthi threats to resume attacks on international shipping in protest at Israel's blockade of aid to Gaza.
"The message today is unmistakable: the US is targeting not only Huthi military assets and personnel, but also their economic infrastructure," Albasha said.
Huthi attacks on the Red Sea shipping route, which normally carries about 12 percent of global trade, have forced many companies into costly detours around the tip of southern Africa.
Separately, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce accused the Chinese satellite firm Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company of "directly supporting" Huthi attacks on "US interests".
Bruce did not initially provide details, but later referred to "a Chinese company providing satellite imagery to the Huthis".
wd-aya/smw/kir

diplomacy

Vance meets Italy's Meloni before Easter at the Vatican

BY ALEXANDRIA SAGE

  • But Vance tweeted after his visit Friday that he had had a "great meeting" with Italy's premier, a far-right leader who shares many of his conservative views. 
  • US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met Italy's Giorgia Meloni in Rome and later prayed at the Vatican during an Easter visit against a backdrop of transatlantic trade tensions. 
  • But Vance tweeted after his visit Friday that he had had a "great meeting" with Italy's premier, a far-right leader who shares many of his conservative views. 
US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met Italy's Giorgia Meloni in Rome and later prayed at the Vatican during an Easter visit against a backdrop of transatlantic trade tensions. 
Vance's visit, which also includes a meeting with the pope's right-hand man, comes a day after Meloni met President Donald Trump and his number two in Washington in a quick trip aimed at securing a favourable tariffs deal.  
A US-EU trade war and Trump's threatened tariffs could have a major impact on Italy, the world's fourth-largest exporter, which sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States.
The Rome trip marks Vance's first return to Europe since delivering a combative speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he lambasted EU members on culture war issues while calling for the bloc to "step up" in managing its own security. 
But Vance tweeted after his visit Friday that he had had a "great meeting" with Italy's premier, a far-right leader who shares many of his conservative views. 
"I'm grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday," said Vance, who is Catholic.
In brief comments to the press ahead of his meeting, Vance said he would update Meloni on negotiations with the European Union over trade. 
He would also brief her on negotiations involving Ukraine and Russia, and "some of the things that have happened even in the past 24 hours," he said. 
"I won't prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close," he said.
His statement appeared to contradict more sceptical comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in Paris on Friday said the United States was prepared to "move on" were it to decide peace was not "doable in the short term". 
Later on Friday, Vance, his wife and three children attended the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, a liturgy for Good Friday, at St Peter's Basilica.
Following the two-hour service, the family was given a private tour of Castel Sant'Angelo, the former mausoleum of the Roman emperor Hadrian which the popes later converted into a fortified castle.  
On Saturday, Vance is scheduled to speak with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who as the Vatican's secretary of state is the second-highest official at the Holy See after Pope Francis.
It is not clear whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, also plans to attend Easter mass with his family in St Peter's Square on Sunday.

'Make the West great again'

Meloni was the first leader from Europe to visit Trump since he imposed 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.
The two leaders struck a warm tone Thursday during a working lunch and a meeting in the Oval Office, with Trump hailing the 48-year-old Italian premier as "fantastic".
In a subsequent joint statement, they said Trump had accepted an invitation for an official visit to Italy "in the very near future", with a US-Europe meeting on the same occasion being considered. 
Casting herself as the only European who could de-escalate Trump's trade war, Meloni highlighted their conservative common ground and said she wanted to "make the West great again".
Meloni's decision to personally intercede with Trump had caused some disquiet among EU allies, concerned her visit could undermine the bloc's unity.
While Trump expressed confidence about an eventual deal with the 27-nation bloc he has accused of trying to "screw" the United States, he said on Thursday he was in "no rush".
Russia's war in Ukraine, meanwhile, remained a touchy subject between the US and Italian leaders.
Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia's invasion in 2022.
Trump, however, has stunned allies with a pivot towards Moscow and repeated attacks on Zelensky, whom he and Vance berated in a televised Oval Office meeting in February.
With Meloni seated beside him, Trump on Thursday said "I don't hold Zelensky responsible but I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started", adding that he was "not a big fan" of the Ukrainian leader.
ljm/ams/js/ams/sbk

conflict

Trump says US will soon 'take a pass' if no Ukraine deal

  • Trump boasted repeatedly before returning for a second presidential term that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
  • President Donald Trump said Friday the United States will "take a pass" on brokering further Ukraine war talks unless there is quick progress from Moscow and Kyiv.
  • Trump boasted repeatedly before returning for a second presidential term that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
President Donald Trump said Friday the United States will "take a pass" on brokering further Ukraine war talks unless there is quick progress from Moscow and Kyiv.
Trump was speaking after Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented -- following talks with European allies -- that Washington would "move on" if a truce did not seem "doable" within days.
"Yeah very shortly," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked to confirm what Rubio had said. "No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done."
Trump refused to cast blame on either Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, or Ukrainian President Voloydmyr Zelensky. But he insisted both sides had to make progress.
"Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'You're foolish. You're fools. You're horrible people' -- and we're going to just take a pass," Trump said. 
"But hopefully we won't have to do that."
Trump boasted repeatedly before returning for a second presidential term that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours. He claimed recently that he was being sarcastic.
Ukraine has agreed to a full temporary ceasefire and accused Russia of stalling on a deal to get a better negotiating position.
Trump stunned Western capitals when he opened direct talks with Putin in February, soon after taking office.
He said he hoped the Russian leader was not dragging his feet. 
"I hope not," he said when asked if Putin was stalling. "I'll let you know soon."
Trump denied that he was being "played" by the former KGB agent, who denied Russia was going to invade right up until the eve of the attack.
"Nobody's playing me, I'm trying to help," Trump said.
dk/sms

conflict

US threatens to withdraw from Ukraine talks if no progress

BY LEON BRUNEAU, CECILE FEUILLATRE AND ALICE HACKMAN

  • - 'European sanctions' - Ukraine said Friday that its prime minister would visit Washington next week for talks with US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington could soon exit efforts to reach a Ukraine ceasefire if it decided peace was not "doable", after meeting European and Ukrainian officials in Paris.
  • - 'European sanctions' - Ukraine said Friday that its prime minister would visit Washington next week for talks with US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington could soon exit efforts to reach a Ukraine ceasefire if it decided peace was not "doable", after meeting European and Ukrainian officials in Paris.
European powers have been seeking a seat at the table since US President Donald Trump's shock decision to open talks with Russia to end the three-year-old war, which started with Moscow's 2022 invasion.
But Trump's push for peace has stumbled, with Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.
"The United States has been helping Ukraine over the last three years, and we want it (the conflict) to end, but it's not our war," Rubio said.
"We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," he told reporters at the Le Bourget airport outside Paris.
"We have other priorities to focus on as well."
Rubio said European officials had been "very helpful and constructive with their ideas" during talks in Paris on Thursday, which he attended with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
"We'd like them to remain engaged... I think the UK and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this," he said, ahead of a similar meeting planned for "early next week" in London.

'European sanctions'

Ukraine said Friday that its prime minister would visit Washington next week for talks with US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal.
Trump wants the deal as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
An agreement would be designed to give the United States royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals.
Rubio had said late Thursday in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that "peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement", the US State Department said.
Rubio said he hoped European nations would consider lifting sanctions against Russia over the war.
"Many of them are European sanctions that we can't lift, if that were ever to be part of a deal," he said.
European countries last month agreed to ramp up rather than scale down sanctions on Russia.
France and Britain have sought a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine during the conflict and in any ceasefire, after Trump opened talks with Putin.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Paris talks had made a breakthrough because the United States, Ukraine and European ministers had "gathered around the same table". 
He said the United States "has understood that a just and sustainable peace... can only be achieved with the consent and contribution of Europeans."

'Little problem'

Russia's strikes, which have recently killed dozens of people including children in Ukrainian cities, have increased pressure for new diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Witkoff said this week that Putin was open to "permanent peace" after talks with him in Saint Petersburg, their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House in January.
Zelensky has accused Witkoff of "spreading Russian narratives" after the US envoy suggested a peace deal with Russia hinged on the status of Ukraine's occupied territories.
Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv gave its backing to the idea.
Putin also suggested Zelensky be removed from office, sparking an angry response from Trump who said he was "very angry" with the Russian leader.
Celia Belin, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Rubio's latest comments were "not surprising".
"Trump wants to get rid of the Ukraine issue," she told AFP.
"He wants to renew a strategic partnership with Moscow and he doesn't want a 'little problem' like Ukraine getting in the way."
burs-ah/jh/js

conflict

New US envoy prays, delivers Trump 'peace' message at Western Wall

  • He said Trump handed him the message at the White House with an instruction that the first thing he should do as an ambassador to Israel would be to deliver his message.
  • The new US ambassador to Israel prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Friday, delivering a handwritten message from President Donald Trump calling for peace in Israel.
  • He said Trump handed him the message at the White House with an instruction that the first thing he should do as an ambassador to Israel would be to deliver his message.
The new US ambassador to Israel prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Friday, delivering a handwritten message from President Donald Trump calling for peace in Israel.
Mike Huckabee, a former Republican governor, has long been an outspoken supporter of Israel, backing calls to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank before such talk became increasingly mainstream.
He presented his diplomatic credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday, as Israel's 18-month war against Hamas Palestinian militants continues in the Gaza Strip.
Located in east Jerusalem -— a sector of the holy city that is occupied and annexed by Israel —- the Western Wall is the last remaining remnant of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, and is the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray.
"It was such an honour, an incredible privilege, to place on behalf of the president of the United States President Donald J Trump, a prayer that he wrote in his own hand, and initialled," Huckabee, wearing a traditional Jewish kippa cap, told reporters at the site.
He said Trump handed him the message at the White House with an instruction that the first thing he should do as an ambassador to Israel would be to deliver his message.
Trump gave the note "with the hope that I would bring it and place it in the wall, with the best wishes and the prayers of the American people for the peace of Jerusalem," Huckabee said, showing the small, handwritten note.
It read: "For Peace in Israel". The note had Trump's initials "D.T".
Huckabee said that he too offered his own prayer at the holy site, calling for the return of all hostages still held in Gaza.
"We will bring them home, and that is the prayer of the president as well," he said.
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas Islamist movement launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, triggering the ongoing Gaza war. 
During the assault, militants captured 251 individuals, 58 of whom remain hostage in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
On Friday, Hamas rejected the latest Israeli proposal for a ceasefire deal.
According to a senior Hamas official, it called for a 45-day truce in exchange for the release of 10 living Israeli hostages, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and authorisation for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
However, Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the group would not agree to a "partial deal".
He said Hamas "seeks a comprehensive deal involving a single-package prisoner exchange in return for halting the war, a withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip, and the commencement of reconstruction" in the territory.
phy-jd/it

trade

Chinese vent anger at Trump's trade war with memes, mockery

BY MARY YANG AND ISABEL KUA

  • "Donald Trump started a trade war, so...
  • While China's leaders use their economic and political might to fight Donald Trump's trade war "to the end", its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online.
  • "Donald Trump started a trade war, so...
While China's leaders use their economic and political might to fight Donald Trump's trade war "to the end", its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online.
The US president's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.
Trump says his policy is a response to years of being "ripped off" by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing back to the United States, forcing companies to employ US workers.
But China's online warriors have been taking advantage of the massive strides in artificial intelligence to create memes highlighting that many of the goods bought by Americans such as shoes and smartphones are made using cheap Chinese labour.
Defiant posts have shot to the top of most-searched lists on social media, flooding platforms with patronising comments and jokes.
In one video, a Chinese internet user opens his hands to reveal what goods he buys from the United States -- nothing.
His dozens of videos railing against the United States have accumulated tens of millions of views on TikTok, officially blocked in China but accessible through a virtual private network (VPN).
"Donald Trump started a trade war, so... F*** MAGA," he says in one video, referring to Trump's campaign slogan of Make America Great Again.

'Two-faced behaviour'

The user, based in northeastern China's Liaoning province and who asked to be identified by his online persona "Buddhawangwang", told AFP the posts were a way of "venting my anger".
The 37-year-old poster said he moved to California in 2019 but "threw away" his green card four years later -- angry over "prejudices against China".
That included "fake news" about Xinjiang, the far-western region where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses against minorities. China denies the claims.
Now, he feels vindicated in his quest to "debunk Western propaganda".
For many in China -- whose status as "the world's factory" fuelled its meteoric rise as an economic superpower -- the idea of Americans making their own shoes or phones is laughable.
AI-generated videos putting Trump, US Vice President JD Vance -- who sparked outrage with comments referring to "Chinese peasants" -- and tech mogul Elon Musk on footwear and iPhone assembly lines quickly went viral.
Others show rows of befuddled overweight shophands fiddling with sewing machines as Americans make clothes, shoes and electronic devices.
The alleged hypocrisy of US officials railing against China while enjoying the fruits of globalisation has also been targeted. 
One post traced a dress worn by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to Chinese online shopping platform Taobao.
"Attacking 'Made in China' is work; enjoying 'Made in China' is life," one comment read.
"Two-faced behaviour. Don't wear it then, don’t use it," another said.
Another post shared by Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning showed Trump's trademark "MAGA" hat marked "Made in China" -- with a price tag indicating an increased cost.

'Made in China'

Elsewhere, Chinese users have taken to TikTok to show Americans how they can get around the swingeing tariffs -- going to China and buying goods straight from the source.
In one, a man in a warehouse claiming to work at a factory making Birkenstocks in the eastern hub of Yiwu sold pairs of the iconic sandal for just $10.
"We have seven colours," he says, pointing to multiple pairs of shoes displayed on a cardboard box with the words "Made in China" printed on it.
"If you need, please contact me," he added, gesturing towards stacks of boxes behind him. 
"There certainly is nationalism here," Gwen Bouvier, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University who researches social media and civic discourse, told AFP.
The videos make "fun of how rude JD Vance is and, by extension, the Trump administration", Bouvier said -- a timely clapback against the vice president's "peasants" comments.
But beneath the humour there is likely deep concern over the impact of the trade war on China's export-dependent economy.
Censors on the country's strictly regulated internet appear to have scrubbed out narratives that warn of the effects they may have on Chinese consumers and manufacturers.
On China's X-like Weibo platform, all comments under the hashtag "The United States will impose a 104% tariff on Chinese goods" have been removed.
By contrast, the hashtag "America is fighting a trade war while begging for eggs" -- a reference to soaring prices for the kitchen staple -- was viewed 230 million times.
mya-isk/oho/dan/tc/tym

migration

US senator meets wrongfully deported Salvadoran migrant

  • Van Hollen added that he would offer "a full update upon my return" to the United States.
  • American Senator Chris Van Hollen said Thursday he had met with a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to his home country by the Trump administration, in a case that has sparked outrage in the United States.
  • Van Hollen added that he would offer "a full update upon my return" to the United States.
American Senator Chris Van Hollen said Thursday he had met with a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to his home country by the Trump administration, in a case that has sparked outrage in the United States.
Van Hollen had earlier said he had been denied access to the prison where Washington has paid President Nayib Bukele millions to lock up nearly 300 migrants it says are criminals and gang members -- including 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance," Van Hollen later posted on X with a photo of him sitting at what appeared to be a restaurant table with Abrego Garcia.
The dour-faced deportee is shown wearing a short-sleeved check shirt and a baseball cap.
Van Hollen added that he would offer "a full update upon my return" to the United States.
Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland last month and expelled to El Salvador along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 fellow Salvadorans who were deported shortly after President Donald Trump invoked a rarely-used wartime authority. 
Trump administration officials have claimed he is an illegal migrant, a gang member and involved in human trafficking, without providing evidence. 
Abrego Garcia had enjoyed a protected status in the United States, precluding his deportation to El Salvador for his own safety. 
A federal judge has since ordered he be returned, later backed up by the Supreme Court.
But the administration -- despite admitting an "administrative error" in his deportation -- contends he is now solely in Salvadoran custody. 

'Staying in El Salvador'

Bukele, who met Trump in Washington on Monday, said he does not have the power to send the man back.
The Salvadoran leader posted to X late Thursday that Abrego Garcia was "sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador."
The deportee in fact appeared to have a cup of coffee and glass of water on the table in front of him.
"Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody," Bukele added in another post.
Van Hollen, on the second day of his trip to El Salvador, had earlier tried to make his way to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) outside the capital San Salvador to see Abrego Garcia. 
The car he was traveling in was stopped by soldiers, he said, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the complex holding thousands of Salvadoran gangsters, and now also hundreds of migrants expelled from the United States. 
"We were told by the soldiers that they had been ordered not to allow us to proceed," the senator later told reporters. 

Cots without mattresses

He said the goal had been to check on the health and well-being of Abrego Garcia, who had been "illegally abducted" and was now the subject of "illegal detention" in the same prison built to hold members of gangs who had previously threatened his family.
On Wednesday, Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa had denied Van Hollen permission to see the prisoner or even talk to him by telephone. 
Asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at all, Ulloa told him "that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT," the senator recounted.
Bukele had built the CECOT to hold gang members rounded up in an iron-fisted anti-crime drive welcomed by most Salvadorans but widely denounced for violating human rights. 
CECOT inmates are confined to their cells for all but 30 minutes a day, denied visits, forced to sleep on stainless steel cots without mattresses, and subsist on a diet of mostly beans and pasta. 
cmm/fj/dg/mlr/tgb/wd

Italy

Trump and Italy's Meloni talk up EU tariff deal hopes

BY DANNY KEMP

  • Meloni is the first leader from Europe to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.
  • Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni hit an optimistic note about a possible US-EU tariffs deal Thursday as the far-right Italian prime minister mounted a charm offensive at the White House.
  • Meloni is the first leader from Europe to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.
Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni hit an optimistic note about a possible US-EU tariffs deal Thursday as the far-right Italian prime minister mounted a charm offensive at the White House.
Casting herself as the only European who can de-escalate Trump's trade war, Meloni highlighted their conservative common ground and said she wanted to "make the West great again."
"There will be a trade deal, 100 percent," Trump said during her visit. Meloni said she was "sure" they could reach a deal.
The two leaders struck a warm tone during a working lunch and a meeting in the Oval Office, with Trump hailing the 48-year-old Italian premier as "fantastic."
Meloni is the first leader from Europe to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.
The Italian leader said Trump had accepted an invitation to visit Rome in the "near future" and that he might also meet European leaders there.
"Even if we have some problems between the two shores of the Atlantic, it is the time that we try to sit down and find solutions," she said.
Meloni highlighted their shared views on immigration and "woke" ideology and added: "The goal for me is to make the West great again, and I think we can do it together." 

'Get smart'

But while Trump expressed confidence about an eventual deal with the 27-nation bloc he accuses of trying to "screw" the United States, he said he was in "no rush."
"Everybody wants to make a deal -- and if they don't want to make a deal, we'll make the deal for them," Trump added.
Trump also returned to his administration's familiar criticisms of Europe, saying it needed to "get smart" on immigration and boost defense spending on NATO.
The US leader said separately that superpower rival China had "reached out" about a possible deal to end the bitter trade war between the world's biggest economies.
Trump has slapped eye-watering 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods after it retaliated to his worldwide "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement on April 2.
"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he added.
Russia's war in Ukraine meanwhile remained a touchy subject between the US and Italian leaders.
Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia's invasion of the country in 2022, most recently calling Moscow's Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy "horrible and vile." 
Trump however has stunned allies with a pivot toward Moscow and repeated attacks on Zelensky, whom he berated in an Oval Office meeting in February.
The US leader said with Meloni beside him that "I don't hold Zelensky responsible but I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started," adding that he was "not a big fan" of the Ukrainian.

Uncertainty

Meloni had earlier acknowledged the uncertainty weighing on her trip as Europe reels from repeated blows from a country that has been the continent's defender for decades.
"I am aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I am defending," Meloni said Tuesday.
Italian newspapers reported that one of the goals of Meloni's visit was to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Meloni's decision to personally intercede with Trump has caused some disquiet among EU allies, who are concerned that her visit could undermine bloc unity.
"If we start having bilateral discussions, obviously it will break the current dynamic," France's Industry Minister Marc Ferracci warned last week. 
A European Commission spokeswoman said that while the EU alone could negotiate trade agreements, Meloni's "outreach is very welcome" and was coordinated with Brussels.
Following Thursday's meeting with Trump, Meloni will fly back to Rome on Friday in time to host US Vice President JD Vance, with whom she has a meeting planned.
Trump's threatened tariffs could have a major impact on Italy, the world's fourth-largest exporter, which sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States.
dk/tgb/acb

economy

Trump insists he could fire independent Fed Chair Powell

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • The US president does not have direct authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, but Trump could initiate a lengthy process to attempt to unseat Powell by proving there was "cause" to do so.
  • US President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could force out the head of the independent Federal Reserve, lashing out after Jerome Powell warned of tariffs-fueled inflation.
  • The US president does not have direct authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, but Trump could initiate a lengthy process to attempt to unseat Powell by proving there was "cause" to do so.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could force out the head of the independent Federal Reserve, lashing out after Jerome Powell warned of tariffs-fueled inflation.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Powell would "leave if I ask him to." 
He added: "I'm not happy with him. I let him know it and if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me."
Earlier, in a scathing post on Truth Social, Trump repeated a demand for Powell to lower interest rates, saying his "termination... cannot come fast enough." 
Sources also told the Wall Street Journal that Trump has privately discussed firing Powell for months but has not made a final decision, and raised it during private meetings at Mar-a-Lago with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
The US president does not have direct authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, but Trump could initiate a lengthy process to attempt to unseat Powell by proving there was "cause" to do so.
Powell warned Wednesday that Trump's sweeping tariffs on virtually every trade partner could put the Fed in the unenviable position of having to choose between tackling inflation and unemployment.
Trump's stop-start tariff policy has unnerved investors and governments around the world, leaving them unsure about his long-term strategy and what it might mean for international trade.
The US central bank has adopted a wait-and-see attitude to cutting rates, holding them steady at 4.25 to 4.5 percent since the start of this year.
Trump has frequently criticized the Fed chairman, whom he originally nominated during his first term, accusing Powell of playing politics.
Trump's earlier post suggested Powell's decisions were "Too Late" and that he should have followed the European Central Bank's lead, which on Thursday lowered its benchmark deposit rate by a quarter point.
ECB chief Christine Lagarde expressed her confidence in Powell following Trump's remarks, saying she had "a lot of respect for my friend and esteemed colleague."
On the campaign trail in August, Trump suggested the White House should have a "say" in setting monetary policy. 
Democrats, however, have defended the independence of the institution.
"An independent Fed is vital for a healthy economy -- something that Trump has proved is not a priority for him," senior Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said on X in response to Trump's criticism of Powell.

Powell pledges to stay

While presidents have a long history of clashing with Fed chiefs, any move to force Powell to leave office would be unprecedented in modern US political history.
Speaking on April 4, Powell insisted he had no plans to step down as Fed chairman before his term ends next year. 
"I fully intend to serve all of my term," he said at an event in Virginia.
At the time, Powell also suggested that the Fed was in no rush to cut its benchmark lending rate from its current elevated level.
Financial markets see a roughly two-thirds chance that policymakers will vote to keep rates unchanged again at the next Fed interest rate meeting in May, according to data from CME Group.
Setting key interest rates is one of the primary levers the Fed exercises in its dual mandate of managing inflation and unemployment.
Lowering interest rates serves to make borrowing cheaper and tends to kickstart the economy by encouraging investment, while raising them -- or keeping them steady at higher rates -- can help cool inflation.
US year-on-year consumer inflation slowed to 2.4 percent in March, bringing it closer to the Fed's long-term two-percent target.
That drop was aided by a 6.3 percent fall in gasoline prices, according to official data.
tjx-aha/sla/wd

Trump

US Supreme Court to hear Trump birthright citizenship case next month

  • The birthright citizenship issue will be just one at play in the May 15 hearing, as the justices have technically been asked in the case to limit nationwide injunctions against Trump's policies.
  • The US Supreme Court announced Thursday it would hear arguments next month on President Donald Trump's push to end birthright citizenship -- a principle enshrined in the Constitution for over 150 years.
  • The birthright citizenship issue will be just one at play in the May 15 hearing, as the justices have technically been asked in the case to limit nationwide injunctions against Trump's policies.
The US Supreme Court announced Thursday it would hear arguments next month on President Donald Trump's push to end birthright citizenship -- a principle enshrined in the Constitution for over 150 years.
The Trump administration had filed an emergency application asking the justices to lift or limit lower court rulings that paused an executive order he signed on his first day in office.
Under that order, which was due to take effect February 19, children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens, radically altering the interpretation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment.
Offering no commentary on the case, the court said it would hear oral arguments on May 15, while leaving the halts in place.
When asked about the development Thursday, Trump said he was "so happy."
"I think the case has been so misunderstood -- that case, birthright citizenship, is about slavery," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
The 14th Amendment was one of several amendments enacted in the wake of the Civil War to guarantee rights to formerly enslaved people, and says, in part: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
Trump's order was premised on the idea that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, was not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark 1898 case, previously rejected such a narrow definition.
District Judge John Coughenour, who heard one of the cases challenging the action in Washington state, described the executive order as "blatantly unconstitutional."
"I've been on the bench for over four decades, I can't remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is," said Coughenour, who was appointed by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
The birthright citizenship issue will be just one at play in the May 15 hearing, as the justices have technically been asked in the case to limit nationwide injunctions against Trump's policies.
Like the halt on his birthright citizenship order, many of his other actions have been blocked by lower courts as they work their way through the legal system.
The Trump administration argues that lower courts should be limited in applying halts to policy on a national scale, saying they "gravely encroach on the President's executive power."
"This situation is intolerable," the Trump administration wrote in its emergency request, noting that the number of such injunctions have soared under his presidency.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, though it is unclear if the case will break down along ideological lines.
The issue has become a rallying cry for Trump and his Republican allies, who accuse the judiciary of stymying his agenda against the will of voters.
Democratic opponents however point to the onslaught of actions by the Trump administration in its rampaging first few months.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill last week to limit judges' power to issue nationwide injunctions, though the text likely has no chance of passing the Senate.
sst-des/bfm

education

Republicans launch probe into top US university Harvard

BY JOSEPH PREZIOSO

  • "No matter how entitled your behavior, no institution is entitled to violate the law."
  • Republicans in the US Congress announced an investigation into Harvard University on Thursday, accusing it of flouting civil rights law in an escalation of President Donald Trump's attacks on elite institutions.
  • "No matter how entitled your behavior, no institution is entitled to violate the law."
Republicans in the US Congress announced an investigation into Harvard University on Thursday, accusing it of flouting civil rights law in an escalation of President Donald Trump's attacks on elite institutions.
The lawmakers wrote to the world-renowned education and research establishment demanding documents on its hiring practices, diversity programs and last year's pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The letter -- signed by House Oversight Committee chair James Comer and House leadership chair Elise Stefanik -- came with Trump seeking unprecedented levels of control over the country's oldest and wealthiest university.
Comer and Stefanik castigated Harvard President Alan Garber for rejecting demands for supervision by the White House, which has canceled $2.2 billion in funding and threatened further reprisals.
"Harvard is apparently so unable or unwilling to prevent unlawful discrimination that the institution, at your direction, is refusing to enter into a reasonable settlement agreement proposed by federal officials intended to put Harvard back in compliance with the law," they told Garber. 
"No matter how entitled your behavior, no institution is entitled to violate the law."
Trump -- furious at Harvard for rejecting oversight of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant -- told reporters the university's conduct had been "horrific."
The president, who is in charge of every aspect of the federal government, said he was "not involved" in its fight with Harvard but had "read about it." 
"I think what they did was a disgrace," Trump told reporters at the White House. "They're obviously anti-Semitic and all of a sudden, they're starting to behave."
Harvard is just the latest in a series of top universities and other institutions in the administration's crosshairs.
But while New York's Columbia University bowed to less far-ranging demands, Harvard flatly rejected the pressure, saying it would not "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights."
Trump said Harvard should lose its government research contracts and tax-exempt status, while administration officials threatened to ban the school from admitting foreigners, who make up more than a quarter of the student body.
Trump has also targeted Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Pennsylvania and Princeton universities, threatening each with freezes of between $175 million and $1 billion, according to US media.
Republicans have said their campaign against universities is a response to what they call rampant anti-Semitism, following divisive protests against Israel's war in Gaza that swept campuses last year.
Columbia -- an epicenter of the activism -- agreed last month to oversight of its Middle Eastern studies department after being threatened with a loss of $400 million in federal funds.
Harvard staff and students rallied against the Trump administration in a campus protest Thursday aimed at encouraging university leadership to hold the line, research fellow Avi Steinberg told AFP. 
"They actually want Harvard to make good on its promises to its students and its faculty to protect every single student on campus, to protect the faculty and especially faculty free speech," he said.
str-ft/wd

tariffs

Trump says US 'talking' to China on tariffs

  • "I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House earlier as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited for talks aimed at ending US tariffs on the European Union. dk/tgb
  • President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end a bitter trade war.
  • "I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House earlier as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited for talks aimed at ending US tariffs on the European Union. dk/tgb
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end a bitter trade war.
"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I would say they have reached out a number of times."
Trump confirmed that the talks had happened since he upped tariffs on China to a whopping 145 percent, after Beijing retaliated to his sweeping "Liberation Day" worldwide levies.
But Trump was cagey when asked if he had spoken directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite having dropped several hints in the past that he has.
"I've never said whether or not they've happened," he said when asked about talks with Xi. "It's just not appropriate."
Pressed by reporters whether Xi had reached out to him, Trump replied: "You'd think it was pretty obvious that he has, but we will talk about that soon."
Trump's administration is locked in a war of sky-high reciprocal tariffs with superpower rival China that has unnerved world markets.
"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House earlier as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited for talks aimed at ending US tariffs on the European Union.
dk/tgb

migration

Salvadoran soldiers stop US senator near prison holding expelled migrant

  • Asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at all, Ulloa told him "that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT," the senator recounted.
  • Salvadoran soldiers on Thursday barred a US senator who is in the country to seek the release of a man wrongfully deported by President Donald Trump's administration from visiting the prison where he is held.
  • Asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at all, Ulloa told him "that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT," the senator recounted.
Salvadoran soldiers on Thursday barred a US senator who is in the country to seek the release of a man wrongfully deported by President Donald Trump's administration from visiting the prison where he is held.
On the second day of his trip to El Salvador, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen tried to make his way to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) outside the capital San Salvador to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 
The car he was traveling in was stopped by soldiers, he said, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the complex holding thousands of Salvadoran gangsters, and now also nearly 300 migrants expelled from the United States. 
"We were told by the soldiers that they had been ordered not to allow us to proceed," the senator later told reporters. 
He said the goal had been to check on the health and well-being of Abrego Garcia, who "has had no communication with anybody on the outside," including his wife and lawyers. 
He said the man had been "illegally abducted" and was now the subject of "illegal detention" in the same prison built to hold members of gangs who had previously threatened his family.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was arrested in Maryland last month and expelled to El Salvador along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 fellow Salvadorans who were deported shortly after Trump invoked a rarely-used wartime authority. 
Trump administration officials have claimed he is an illegal migrant, a gang member and involved in human trafficking, without providing evidence. 
Abrego Garcia had enjoyed a protected status in the United States, precluding his deportation to El Salvador for his own safety. 
A federal judge has since ordered he be returned, but the administration -- despite admitting an "administrative error" in his deportation -- contends he is now solely in Salvadoran custody. 
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, who met Trump in Washington on Monday, said he does not have the power to send the man back. 

Cots without mattresses

On Wednesday, Van Hollen met Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa, who denied him permission to see the prisoner or even talk to him by telephone. 
Asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at all, Ulloa told him "that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT," the senator recounted.
Bukele had built the CECOT to hold gang members rounded up in an iron-fisted anti-crime drive welcomed by most Salvadorans but widely denounced for violating human rights. 
CECOT inmates are confined to their cells for all but 30 minutes a day, denied visits, forced to sleep on stainless steel cots without mattresses, and subside on a diet of mostly beans and pasta. 
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Italy

Italy's Meloni in Washington seeking EU tariff deal from Trump

  • "We absolutely must avoid a tariff war," Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters Tuesday, saying Meloni would seek in Washington to "convince everyone we need to talk."
  • Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets with Donald Trump Thursday in Washington, hoping a personal charm offensive can help convince the US president to cut a more favourable deal on EU tariffs.
  • "We absolutely must avoid a tariff war," Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters Tuesday, saying Meloni would seek in Washington to "convince everyone we need to talk."
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets with Donald Trump Thursday in Washington, hoping a personal charm offensive can help convince the US president to cut a more favourable deal on EU tariffs.
The far-right Meloni -- described by Trump as a "fantastic leader" who shares many of his conservative views -- is the first European leader to meet with Trump since his trade war with the bloc began. 
She has looked to maintain ties with the mercurial leader despite the widespread disruption caused by his tariff policies, even while criticizing as "wrong" his 20 percent duties on EU exports, which he later suspended for 90 days. 
Amid the uncertainty, Meloni has called for cool heads, urging Brussels not to retaliate while casting herself as the only EU leader able to potentially de-escalate the conflict through her personal relationship with the US president.
Her bilateral meeting with Trump, scheduled for noon at the White House, does not come without risk, however. 
Italian newspapers on Wednesday floated the possibility that Meloni could end up in a trap similar to the White House meeting in February with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump and his Vice President JD Vance berated their guest in front of reporters.
Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and Zelensky since Russia's invasion of the country in 2022, most recently calling Moscow's Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy "horrible and vile." 
The only EU leader to be invited to Trump's inauguration in January, Meloni has acknowledged the uncertainty weighing on her quick visit. 
"We know we're going through a difficult period, let's see how it goes in the coming hours. I don't feel any pressure, as you can imagine, for my next two days, let's say," she joked at an awards ceremony for Italian goods Tuesday. 
"Surely, I am aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I am defending," she added.
Italian newspapers reported that one of the goals of Meloni's visit was to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. 

'Need to talk'

Meloni has said the goal should be to eliminate so-called reciprocal duties on existing industrial products as part of a "zero for zero" formula, as floated by the European Commission earlier this month.
"We absolutely must avoid a tariff war," Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters Tuesday, saying Meloni would seek in Washington to "convince everyone we need to talk."
Meloni's decision to personally intercede with Trump has caused some disquiet among EU allies, concerned her visit could undermine the unity of the bloc.
"If we start having bilateral discussions, obviously it will break the current dynamic," France's industry minister, Marc Ferracci, warned last week, saying "Europe is only strong if it is united."
A French government spokeswoman said later, however, that all voices that helped encourage dialogue with the United States were welcome.
A European Commission spokeswoman had a similar line on Monday, noting that while the EU alone could negotiate trade agreements, Meloni's "outreach is very welcome".
Her meeting was "closely coordinated" with the EU, the spokeswoman said, noting that Meloni and von der Leyen had been "in regular contact."
Following Thursday's meeting with Trump, Meloni will fly back to Rome on Friday in time to host JD Vance, with whom she has a meeting planned.
Trump's threatened tariffs could have a major impact on Italy, the world's fourth-largest exporter, which sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States.
During her meeting, Meloni is also likely to discuss Trump's demand for NATO allies to spend more on defence. 
Trump wants the current target raised from two to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a huge demand for debt-laden Italy, which currently spends around 1.5 percent. 
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education

Trump says 'joke' Harvard should be stripped of funds

BY SEBASTIAN SMITH

  • Trump is furious at the storied institution for rejecting government supervision of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant and ordered the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard this week.
  • US President Donald Trump called Harvard a "joke" Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.
  • Trump is furious at the storied institution for rejecting government supervision of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant and ordered the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard this week.
US President Donald Trump called Harvard a "joke" Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.
Trump's administration also threatened to ban the famed seat of learning from admitting foreign students unless it bows to the requirements, as US media reported that officials were considering revoking the university's tax-exempt status.
"Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World's Great Universities or Colleges," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
"Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds."
Trump is furious at the storied institution for rejecting government supervision of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant and ordered the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard this week.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also canceled $2.7 million worth of research grants to Harvard on Wednesday and threatened the university's ability to enroll international students unless it turns over records on visa-holders' "illegal and violent activities." 
"If Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," a DHS statement said, with Secretary Kristi Noem accusing the university of "bending the knee to antisemitism."
International students made up 27.2 percent of Harvard's enrollment this academic year, according to its website.
Other institutions, including Columbia University, have bowed to less far-ranging demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is too left-wing.
Harvard has flatly rejected the pressure, with its president, Alan Garber, saying that the university refuses to "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights."

Tax exemption

Trump also said Tuesday that Harvard "should lose its Tax Exempt Status" as a nonprofit educational institution if it does not back down.
CNN and the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was now making plans to do so following a request from Trump.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told AFP by email that "any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the President."
Demonstrating the broadening resonance of the row, Golden State Warriors basketball coach Steve Kerr spoke out in support of Harvard.
Kerr, sporting a Harvard T-shirt, called the demands on the university the "dumbest thing I've ever heard" and cited his backing of "academic freedom."

Government seeks control

The payments frozen to Harvard are for government contracts with its leading research programs, mostly in the medical fields where the school's laboratories are critical in the development of new medicines and treatments.
Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at encouraging minorities.
The anti-Semitism allegations are based on controversy over protests against Israel's war in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year.
Columbia University in New York -- an epicenter of the protests -- stood down last month and agreed to oversight of its Middle Eastern studies department after being threatened with a loss of $400 million in federal funds.
The claims about diversity tap into long-standing conservative complaints that US university campuses are too liberal, shutting out right-wing voices and giving preference to Black people and other minority groups over whites.
In the case of Harvard, the White House is seeking unprecedented levels of government control over the inner workings of the country's oldest and wealthiest university -- and one of the most respected educational and research institutions in the world.
In a letter sent to Harvard, the administration's demands included:
- ending admissions that take into account the student's race or national origins
- preventing admission of foreign students "hostile to the American values and institutions"
- ending staff hiring based on race, religion, sex or national origin
- reducing the power of students in campus governance
- auditing students and staff for "viewpoint diversity"
- reforming entire programs for "egregious records of anti-Semitism or other bias"
- cracking down on campus protests.
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