trade

Trump unveils UK trade deal, first since tariff blitz

BY DANNY KEMP

  • The reward came on Thursday, with a trade deal slashes export tariffs for British cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, Britain said. 
  • US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a "historic" trade agreement Thursday, Trump's first deal with any country since he unleashed a blitz of sweeping global tariffs.
  • The reward came on Thursday, with a trade deal slashes export tariffs for British cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, Britain said. 
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a "historic" trade agreement Thursday, Trump's first deal with any country since he unleashed a blitz of sweeping global tariffs.
The deal will see Washington lower tariffs on British luxury cars and lifts them entirely on steel and aluminum, although a 10 percent baseline levy on British goods stays in place.
As Trump announced the deal while making a phone call to Starmer in the Oval Office, he said Britain would in return will open up markets to US beef and other farm products.
But the deal remained thin on details, despite Trump hailing it as a template for deals with other countries such as China after his "Liberation Day" tariffs in April.
"I'm thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom," Trump said. "The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports."
The deal came through at the last minute, with Starmer saying he learnt that Trump had given it his approval when he called him on Wednesday night as he watched a football match.
"This is a really fantastic, historic day," Starmer said during the call with Trump.
He noted that it coincided with the 80th anniversary of "Victory Day" for allied forces -- including Britain and the United States -- over Nazi Germany in World War II.

'James Bond'

Britain had made a major push to avoid Trump's tariffs, which the Republican insists are necessary to stop the United States from being "ripped off" by other countries.
Starmer launched a charm offensive as early as February when he came to the White House armed with an invitation from King Charles III for a historic second state visit for Trump.
The reward came on Thursday, with a trade deal slashes export tariffs for British cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, Britain said. 
The move will apply to 100,000 vehicles from luxury makers like Rolls Royce and Jaguar, billionaire Trump added.
"That is a huge and important reduction," PM Starmer said during a visit to a Jaguar Land Rover factory in the central Midlands area of England.
US automakers however said the deal "hurts" companies that have partnered with Canada and Mexico.
The British government insisted that the deal to allow in more US agricultural products would not dilute British food standards, amid concerns over chlorinated US chicken and hormones in US beef.
It also entirely lifts recently-imposed 25 percent tariffs on British steel and aluminium. 
World stock markets mostly rose on news of the deal but uncertainty remained over key issues.
Trump said that "James Bond has nothing to worry about" from his threatened 100 percent tariffs on foreign movies, but did not spell out how Britain could get a carve out.
The deal also failed to mention digital services, with the White House keen to tackle a recent digital services tax imposed by Britain on US tech giants.

'Maxed-out'

Both sides said there would be further negotiations on a fuller deal, but Trump denied overselling the agreement.
"This is a maxed-out deal -- not like you said it really incorrectly," he added, answering a reporter's question on whether he was overstating the breadth of the deal.
The deal is a fresh win for Labour leader Starmer after Britain this week struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
Torturous negotiations between London and Washington in the years since the Brexit vote failed to produce a deal until now.
But Trump has also been in need of a win after weeks of insisting that countries were lining up to make deals with the United States.
Trump told reporters at the White House he was "working on three of them" and that the British deal could act as a template.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said most countries would still be hit with higher tariffs than the 10 percent baseline "Liberation Day" tariffs, and only the "best" would escape.
Top US and Chinese officials are due to meet in Switzerland over the weekend to kickstart trade officials, the first official meeting since Trump's tariffs plunged the world's two largest economies into a trade war.
bur-dk/jbr

politics

Nearing 100, Malaysian ex-PM Mahathir blasts 'old world' Trump

BY ISABELLE LEONG AND JAN HENNOP

  • Asked what he thought of some of Trump's foreign policies -- proposing to take over Greenland and seize control of the Panama Canal -- Mahathir said the US leader was "living in an old world".
  • Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is giving President Donald Trump three months before his fellow Americans force him to rethink his stringent global tariff strategy, accusing the US leader of "living in an old world".
  • Asked what he thought of some of Trump's foreign policies -- proposing to take over Greenland and seize control of the Panama Canal -- Mahathir said the US leader was "living in an old world".
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is giving President Donald Trump three months before his fellow Americans force him to rethink his stringent global tariff strategy, accusing the US leader of "living in an old world".
Speaking to AFP in an interview two months ahead of his 100th birthday, the plain-speaking Mahathir said: "Trump will find that his tariffs are hurting America, and the people in America will end up against him."
The US president's stop-start tariff rollout will hit Asian nations hard -- including Malaysia, which faces a 24 percent levy in July unless the two countries can strike a deal.
"It's going to cause America a lot of problems, so I give Trump three months," said Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia in two stints lasting nearly a quarter of a century. 
Still working a five-day week from his office in the administrative capital Putrajaya, the sprightly nonagenarian remains as outspoken as ever.
"Donald Trump is irrational. I don't think he thinks carefully about what he's doing," said Mahathir.
"His policies on migration -- and also trying to reduce the cost of government, sacking thousands of people -- all these things are not good.
"It will not make America great," he said, taking a jab at Trump's MAGA election slogan.
Asked what he thought of some of Trump's foreign policies -- proposing to take over Greenland and seize control of the Panama Canal -- Mahathir said the US leader was "living in an old world".

'Cannot stop China'

Throughout his long career, Mahathir was a proponent of a "Look East" policy -- pushing Malaysians to find solutions in Asia rather than depending on Western nations.
As US tariffs loom, Mahathir has not changed his mind.
China has taken the brunt of the US president's combative trade policies with 145 percent tariffs on many goods.
President Xi Jinping recently visited Malaysia, part of a three-stop tour to Southeast Asia, where the Chinese leader called for closer cooperation between the two nations.  
"You cannot just stop China because its ability, its capacity is the same as those of Western countries," said Mahathir.
"We find that the US, which for some time has been lauding itself as the world's first power, does not want to accept China's development."
Malaysia aimed to remain friendly towards both Washington and Beijing, the veteran politician said.
"We don't want to quarrel with China, but we don't want to quarrel with America either," he added.
"Malaysia's policy is to be friendly with all countries."
Mahathir, one of the 20th century's last post-colonial stalwarts, will celebrate his birthday on July 10.
The former leader has been battling health problems, most recently when he was hospitalised after contracting a respiratory infection.
He spent nearly three months in hospital during another stay last year.
Although no longer in power -- his fragile coalition which included long-time political foe and current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim collapsed in 2020 -- Mahathir's views still carry much weight at home and across the region.
But asked what he thought was his most important legacy, Mahathir said it was "for others" to judge.
jhe-llk/fox-jj/sco

politics

US Justice Dept opens criminal probe of Trump legal foe

  • The Albany Times-Union and Guardian newspapers, which first reported the probe, said the criminal investigation into James's real estate dealings involved the Justice Department and the FBI. The Washington Post said it is believed to be the first criminal investigation by the administration involving a law enforcement official who took action against Trump.
  • The US Justice Department has opened a criminal probe of New York state Attorney General Letitia James, one of President Donald Trump's main adversaries, for alleged mortgage fraud, newspapers reported Thursday.
  • The Albany Times-Union and Guardian newspapers, which first reported the probe, said the criminal investigation into James's real estate dealings involved the Justice Department and the FBI. The Washington Post said it is believed to be the first criminal investigation by the administration involving a law enforcement official who took action against Trump.
The US Justice Department has opened a criminal probe of New York state Attorney General Letitia James, one of President Donald Trump's main adversaries, for alleged mortgage fraud, newspapers reported Thursday.
The investigation comes after the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), a Trump appointee, alleged that James "appeared to have falsified records" related to properties in Virginia and New York to obtain better loan terms.
James has denied wrongdoing and said in a statement last month when reports emerged that she may be a target that she "will not be intimidated by bullies."
The Albany Times-Union and Guardian newspapers, which first reported the probe, said the criminal investigation into James's real estate dealings involved the Justice Department and the FBI.
The Washington Post said it is believed to be the first criminal investigation by the administration involving a law enforcement official who took action against Trump.
James, a Democrat, drew the wrath of Trump after leading a civil fraud case against him that saw the Republican ordered to pay a huge penalty last year.
Trump was found liable of fraud by conspiring to alter his net worth to get better loan and insurance terms. Trump and his older sons were ordered to pay $454 million.
Trump and his allies regularly attacked James during the trial in New York, and he has put revenge against his foes high on the agenda since returning to the White House in January.
FBI and Justice Department staff involved in criminal cases against Trump have been fired, among other acts of retribution.
According to the Washington Post, a grand jury has issued subpoenas related to a mortgage application in which James stated that a Virginia home would be her primary residence.
James's lawyer Abbe Lowell said in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi that his client was actually helping her niece purchase the property and the documents clearly stated she would not be living in the home, the Post said.
William Pulte, the head of the FHFA, had "cherry-picked" one paperwork mistake in the loan application package in seeking his criminal referral, Lowell added.
cl/acb

aviation

US unveils ambitious air traffic control upgrade

BY JOHN BIERS

  • Speaking to the event on speaker phone, President Donald Trump pledged the overhaul "will bring American air traffic control into the highest level of anybody, any country anywhere in the world."
  • The Trump administration unveiled Thursday a plan to overhaul the antiquated US air traffic control system, acting with industry and lawmakers' support on a hot-button issue after a deadly crash this year.
  • Speaking to the event on speaker phone, President Donald Trump pledged the overhaul "will bring American air traffic control into the highest level of anybody, any country anywhere in the world."
The Trump administration unveiled Thursday a plan to overhaul the antiquated US air traffic control system, acting with industry and lawmakers' support on a hot-button issue after a deadly crash this year.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the initiative as once-in-a-generation upgrade -- a project involving the rebuilding of some air traffic control towers and the replacement of radar, sensors and telecommunications with completely state-of-the-art versions.
"I don't need to preserve any of this," Duffy said, pointing to a table with 1980s computers, floppy disks and other outmoded equipment still in use at US air traffic facilities.
"We're going to build a brand new car," Duffy said. "It's a brand new system."
Speaking to the event on speaker phone, President Donald Trump pledged the overhaul "will bring American air traffic control into the highest level of anybody, any country anywhere in the world."
Such a transformation could require tens of billions of dollars that would need congressional support at a time when Trump's administration is also seeking deep across the board spending cuts to finance tax cuts.
Duffy did not release an overall price tag during a 75-minute launch event that often resembled a pep-rally.
Funding for air traffic infrastructure has averaged $3 billion per year for the past 15 years, according to a Transportation Department handout, which called for "an immediate infusion of funding to address critical infrastructure needs."
Duffy said he would push Congress to provide "all of the money up front" to ensure the project meets an ambitious three to four year timeframe. 
The House transportation committee last week approved a preliminary plan for $12.5 billion as a step towards air traffic control modernization, but that proposal is still winding its way through Congress.
The Modern Skies Coalition, which represents more than 50 aviation stakeholders, estimated that at least $18.5 billion in additional emergency spending was needed over the next year, bringing the total to more than $31 billion.
"The staffing and technology challenges facing the National Airspace System did not appear overnight," the coalition said.

Newark in focus

At the launch event, Duffy and other speakers acknowledged people who lost relatives in the fatal January collision between a regional passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter not far from the White House, the first major US commercial crash since 2009.
The effort also comes on the heels an April 28 incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in which air traffic officials stationed in nearby Philadelphia were unable to connect with planes on radar or by radio for 90 seconds.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been reducing arrivals and departures at Newark following the incident, which traumatized some air traffic control staff and caused delays and flight cancelations.
Duffy said the Newark incident underscored the need for action, warning that without a fix "you'll see new Newarks in other parts of the country because it's an aging system."
Speakers at the event included National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, who said the watchdog body has seen recommendations for system upgrades going back almost 30 years get ignored.
"This is bold, but I have to tell you it is absolutely necessary to ensure safety in our skies," Homendy said.
This is "a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Nick Calio, president of Airlines for America, which represents US passenger and cargo airlines. "It's to finally get something done to stop the deterioration of our airspace."
In the buildup to Thursday's announcement, Duffy has taken frequent shots at his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, blaming the Biden administration transportation secretary for the problems at Newark and elsewhere in the system. 
But Duffy, a former reality television star who served in the House of Representatives for nine years, adopted more of a big tent approach to Thursday's event, welcoming Democratic Representative Rick Larsen, a senior lawmaker on transportation, who echoed the need for action.
"We've talked about how this effort sometimes spans administrations," Larsen said. "We don't want the effort to span generations."
jmb/jbr

Peru

Extremely online new pope unafraid to talk politics

  • Robert Prevost, now better known to the world as Pope Leo, quickly took to X to take a theological swipe at the vice president. 
  • From pillorying the US vice president to denouncing the death penalty, Pope Leo has proven unafraid to tackle prickly political issues on social media -- making him the first "extremely online" pontiff. 
  • Robert Prevost, now better known to the world as Pope Leo, quickly took to X to take a theological swipe at the vice president. 
From pillorying the US vice president to denouncing the death penalty, Pope Leo has proven unafraid to tackle prickly political issues on social media -- making him the first "extremely online" pontiff. 
When JD Vance suggested that Christians should love their family, neighbors, community and fellow citizens -- in that order -- one very notable Christian took umbrage. 
Robert Prevost, now better known to the world as Pope Leo, quickly took to X to take a theological swipe at the vice president. 
"JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," he wrote, reposting a columnist's searing opinion piece and prompting tens of thousands of likes and a slew of barbed comments. 
Pope Benedict may have been the first to tweet under the handle @Pontifex in 2012, but Pope Leo is undoubtedly the first to take the Chair of Saint Peter with the baggage of a long social media history. 
In 14 years since his X account was created, he has posted more than 400 times, opining on a range of hot-button issues: racism, sexual abuse by the clergy, Covid-19, the police murder of George Floyd and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 
Perhaps unsurprisingly for an American who spent decades in Peru and took up its citizenship, immigration is a topic close to his heart. 
The new pope has notably amplified criticism of US President Donald Trump's immigration policies, reposting a 2017 article which called refugee bans "a dark hour of US history" and an abandonment of "American values."
He has repeatedly taken Vance to task, challenging a vice president whose religious views show all the zeal of a recent convert to Catholicism. 
It is clear from his ample online commentary, interviews and video blogs that retweets are almost always endorsements. 
In 2020, days after African American Floyd was suffocated to death under a police officer's knee, he implored fellow members of the clergy to speak up. 
"We need to hear more from leaders in the Church, to reject racism and seek justice," he posted. 
He has also demanded more action of the church in ousting members of the clergy who sexually abused children.
"If you are a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, report it," he told Peruvian paper La Republica this month. 
"We reject cover-ups and secrecy; that causes a lot of harm. We have to help people who have suffered due to wrongdoing." 
Embracing another contentious issue, in 2014 he wrote that it was "time to end the death penalty" and has repeated that point over the years in interviews, masses and in public remarks. 
"We have to be pro-life at all times" he once told assembled Peruvian journalists in his fluent and modestly accented Spanish.  
Still, he is also unafraid to post a joke, including a suggestion that while many people are intelligent, most are asymptomatic. 
Like many of us, the tempo of his social media posts appeared to increase during pandemic lockdowns. 
It is unclear if he will extend that social media chattiness from inside the Apostolic Palace. 
arb/sla

pope

First US pope shared articles critical of Trump, Vance

  • The US president and vice president made no reference to the new pope's prior comments as they congratulated him on his election.
  • Pope Leo XIV shared articles criticizing US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media months before his election as America's first pontiff, particularly on issues of migration.
  • The US president and vice president made no reference to the new pope's prior comments as they congratulated him on his election.
Pope Leo XIV shared articles criticizing US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media months before his election as America's first pontiff, particularly on issues of migration.
In February, the then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost reposted on X a headline and a link to an essay saying Vance was "wrong" to quote Catholic doctrine to support Washington's cancellation of foreign aid.
The Vatican confirmed Thursday the account was genuine and belonged to the Chicago-born Prevost.
The article took issue with Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and argued that Christians should love their family first before prioritizing the rest of the world.
"JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," said the headline reposted on Prevost's account, along with a link to the story by the National Catholic Reporter.
After becoming vice president, Vance justified the cancellation of nearly all US foreign assistance by quoting 12th-century theologian Thomas Aquinas's concept of "ordo amoris," or "order of love."
The late pope Francis, in a letter soon afterward to US bishops, said that "true ordo amoris" involved building "a fraternity open to all, without exception."
A few days later Prevost posted the headline and link of another article about Vance's doctrinal arguments, which referred to Francis's criticisms of Trump's mass deportations of migrants.
The future pope's last activity on X before his election on Thursday was to repost a comment by another user criticizing the Trump administration's mistaken deportation of a migrant to El Salvador.
The post talked about "suffering" and asked, "Is your conscience not disturbed?"
The US president and vice president made no reference to the new pope's prior comments as they congratulated him on his election.
Vance, who met Francis briefly on Easter Sunday hours before the pontiff died, said: "May God bless him!"
"I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church," he said on X.
Trump, who had posted an AI-generated image of himself in papal clothes a few days earlier, said the election of the first pope from the United States was a "great honor for our country."
dk/acb

tariff

US automakers blast Trump's UK trade deal

  • The Detroit companies organized their supply chains around the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which Trump negotiated in his first term.
  • The Trump administration's latest trade deal with Britain unfairly penalizes US automakers that have partnered with Canada and Mexico, a trade group representing Detroit automakers said Thursday.
  • The Detroit companies organized their supply chains around the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which Trump negotiated in his first term.
The Trump administration's latest trade deal with Britain unfairly penalizes US automakers that have partnered with Canada and Mexico, a trade group representing Detroit automakers said Thursday.
In a sharply-worded statement, the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC) said the US-UK trade deal "hurts American automakers, suppliers, and auto workers," according to the group's president Matt Blunt.
The deal unveiled Thursday between US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer lowers the tariff on British vehicles to 10 percent from 27.5 percent on the first 100,000 cars shipped from Britain to the United States. 
In contrast, AAPC members Ford, General Motors Company and Jeep-maker Stellantis now face import tariffs of 25 percent on autos assembled in Canada and Mexico. The Detroit companies organized their supply chains around the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which Trump negotiated in his first term.
"We are disappointed that the administration prioritized the UK ahead of our North American partners," Blunt said. "Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little US content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts."
Trump last week unveiled some steps to lessen the impact of tariffs on imported auto parts in moves applauded by GM and Ford. 
The Trump administration will allow companies that assemble autos in the United States to deduct a fraction of the cost of imported parts for two years to give the industry enough time to relocate supply chains.
In another change, the administration said companies wouldn't face a 25 percent levy on imported steel or aluminum in addition to a 25 percent levy for an imported vehicle.
But last weeks' changes did not soften the 25 percent tariff on imported finished autos. 
The Trump administration plans to negotiate separate agreements with Japan, South Korea and the European Union, all of which export finished autos to the United States.
"We hope this preferential access for UK vehicles over North American ones does not set a precedent for future negotiations with Asian and European competitors," Blunt said. 
jmb/sla

politics

US climate agency stops tracking costly natural disasters

  • "In alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product," a banner on the landing page said.
  • US President Donald Trump's administration will stop updating a long-running database of costly climate and weather disasters as part of its deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a Thursday announcement.
  • "In alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product," a banner on the landing page said.
US President Donald Trump's administration will stop updating a long-running database of costly climate and weather disasters as part of its deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a Thursday announcement.
The database, which spans the years 1980-2024, has allowed researchers, the media and the public to keep a tally of events ranging from wildfires to hurricanes that caused losses exceeding $1 billion, adjusted for inflation. 
"In alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product," a banner on the landing page said. Past years will remain archived.
From 1980 to 2024, the United States experienced 403 weather and climate disasters with damages exceeding $1 billion each, adjusted to 2024 dollars. The cumulative cost of these events surpassed $2.9 trillion.
A time-series chart shows that while there is year-to-year variation, the overall number of billion-dollar disasters is rising sharply, driven by climate destabilization linked to fossil fuel emissions.
"Hiding many billions in costs is Trump's latest move to leave Americans in the dark about climate disasters," said Maya Golden-Krasner of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute.
"Trump's climate agenda is to leave people unsafe and unprepared while oil companies pocket record profits," Golden-Krasner added. "The pressure is on for leaders with integrity to keep counting the costs of climate disasters and hold polluters accountable for the damage."
Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement on day one of his second term, has pursued aggressive rollbacks of climate-focused institutions. 
His administration appears to be following "Project 2025," a blueprint authored by right-wing think tanks that labels NOAA a key source of "climate alarmism."
NOAA has since undergone mass layoffs affecting roughly 20 percent of its workforce, and the White House is seeking to slash the agency's annual budget by $1.5 billion -- nearly a quarter of its total funding.
The move follows another major blow to federal climate science: the dismissal of more than 400 authors behind the National Climate Assessment, a report mandated by Congress and considered the government's foremost climate evaluation.
ia/mlm

conflict

US says new foundation to spearhead Gaza aid

  • Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.
  • The United States said Thursday that a new foundation will soon announce plans for aid to Gaza, sidelining the United Nations as Israel's two-month blockade brings severe shortages to the war-battered territory.
  • Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.
The United States said Thursday that a new foundation will soon announce plans for aid to Gaza, sidelining the United Nations as Israel's two-month blockade brings severe shortages to the war-battered territory.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the foundation was non-governmental and would make an announcement "shortly," without offering further details.
"We welcome moves to quickly get urgent food aid into Gaza... in a way that the food aid actually gets to those to whom it's intended," Bruce told reporters.
"It cannot fall into the hands of terrorists such as Hamas."
Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.
Israel denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding and has vowed to ramp up pressure further on Hamas. The Israeli military has already leveled most of the territory's buildings following militants' unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel has long criticized involvement of the United Nations, seeing it as biased, and has banned work of the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees.
Asked about the lack of a role for the United Nations, whose efforts have been impeded by Israel, Bruce said: "Endless press releases and Hamas appeasement have not delivered food, medicine or shelter to those who need it."
US President Donald Trump has teased a major announcement before he heads on a tour next week of Gulf Arab monarchies.
Little is known for certain about the foundation, but a listing in Switzerland showed the establishment in February of the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation."
Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported that the foundation was looking to hire "mercenaries" to work in the distribution of aid.
Amnesty International's Swiss chapter voiced alarm, saying in a statement: "A foundation contributing to Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory would be in violation of international law and fail to meet its responsibility to respect human rights."
Israeli officials in recent days have spoken of a broader assault in Gaza, whose population has been almost entirely displaced by the military offensive.
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the territory will be "entirely destroyed."
European governments, UN experts and China have voiced alarm over the Israeli plans. The Trump administration has held back on criticism and blamed Hamas for the situation.
Trump since taking office has stopped the vast majority of US international assistance.
sct/acb

pope

Trump says election of first US pope 'great honor for our country'

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a conservative Catholic, said in a statement that the United States "looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship" with the new pope.
  • President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born head of the Catholic Church, as a "great honor" for the United States.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a conservative Catholic, said in a statement that the United States "looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship" with the new pope.
President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born head of the Catholic Church, as a "great honor" for the United States.
"Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a conservative Catholic, said in a statement that the United States "looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship" with the new pope.
Trump later spoke to reporters outside the West Wing about the new pope, who hails from Chicago.
"To have the pope from America, that's a great honor," Trump said in brief remarks. "What greater honor could there be. We're a little bit surprised but very happy."
The president said Vatican officials had reached out about a meeting, adding "we'll see what happens."
The new pope, as a cardinal, has spoken out critically on the Trump administration's key policy of mass deportations of migrants, as did Francis.
In February, the future pope reposted on X an essay with the headline that Vice President JD Vance "is wrong" in arguing that Christians should love their family first before prioritizing the rest of the world.
Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, met Francis briefly on Easter Sunday hours before the pontiff died.
Vance on X offered congratulations to the new pope. 
"I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!” Vance wrote.
Trump attended pope Francis's funeral in April with First Lady Melania Trump. He held ice-breaking talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican on the sidelines of the ceremony.
But Trump also joked last week that he would like to succeed Francis, saying: "I'd like to be pope. That would be my number one choice."
Asked Thursday if he regretted recently posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal garb, Trump ignored the question and said: "What's next?" 
Trump earlier said that he did not have a preference on pope but that there was a cardinal in New York who was "very good" -- an apparent reference to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, known for his conservatism.
dk-sct/dw

Biden

Biden says Republicans took 'sexist route' to beat Harris

  • "I wasn't surprised because they went the sexist route... this is a woman, she's this, she's that," he said.
  • Former US president Joe Biden said Thursday he was not surprised Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump and blamed her defeat on Republicans taking the "sexist route."
  • "I wasn't surprised because they went the sexist route... this is a woman, she's this, she's that," he said.
Former US president Joe Biden said Thursday he was not surprised Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump and blamed her defeat on Republicans taking the "sexist route."
Biden, in an interview with ABC's "The View," also denied claims made in recent books that he had suffered a cognitive decline in his final year in office.
"They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that," the 82-year-old said.
Former First Lady Jill Biden, who appeared on the show too, also rejected the allegations of her husband's mental decline and denied claims that she had created a "cocoon" around him at the White House.
"The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us and they didn't see how hard Joe worked every single day," she said. "He wasn't hiding somewhere. I didn't have him, you know, sequestered in some place."
Biden said the sole reason he abandoned the presidential race was "because I didn't want to have a divided Democratic Party."
The former president also launched a few jabs at Trump, saying his Republican successor has "had the worst 100 days any president's ever had."
"I think he has done, quite frankly, a very poor job in the interests of the United States of America," he said.
Asked about Harris's loss to Trump, Biden said he was disappointed but "wasn't surprised -- not because I didn't think the vice president was qualified first to be president -- she is.
"I wasn't surprised because they went the sexist route... this is a woman, she's this, she's that," he said.
"I've never seen a quite as successful and a consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn't lead the country, and a woman of mixed race," Biden said.
The former president also said he talks to Harris frequently and "she's got a difficult decision to make about what she's going to do."
"I hope she stays fully engaged," he said.
cl/dw

Fed

Trump calls US Fed chair 'fool' after pause in rate cuts

  • "'Too Late' Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn't have a clue," Trump posted on his Truth Social network, in a fresh attack on the head of the independent Federal Reserve.
  • US President Donald Trump branded Fed Chair Jerome Powell a "fool" on Thursday after the central bank announced another pause in rate cuts and warned of higher risks to inflation and unemployment goals.
  • "'Too Late' Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn't have a clue," Trump posted on his Truth Social network, in a fresh attack on the head of the independent Federal Reserve.
US President Donald Trump branded Fed Chair Jerome Powell a "fool" on Thursday after the central bank announced another pause in rate cuts and warned of higher risks to inflation and unemployment goals.
"'Too Late' Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn't have a clue," Trump posted on his Truth Social network, in a fresh attack on the head of the independent Federal Reserve.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to see rates cut now to help stimulate economic growth as he rolls out his on-again, off-again tariff plans, which have included huge levies on China.
The Fed said Wednesday that policymakers had voted unanimously to hold the US central bank's key lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent.
Speaking to reporters after the decision was published, Powell said there was "a great deal of uncertainty" about where the Trump administration's tariff policies will end up.
Many analysts have warned that the government's actions will likely push up inflation and unemployment, while slowing growth -- at least in the short run.
But Trump claimed in his Truth Social post that there was "virtually NO INFLATION" and said "almost all costs" were down. 
During a news conference at the Oval Office a few hours later, Trump stepped up his attacks against the US Fed chair. 
"It's like talking to a wall," he said.
"He's always too late," added the US president. "But in this case, it's not going to matter that much, because our country is so strong."
He has piled pressure on Powell in particular over rates decisions, last month calling him a "major loser" and insisting he could force out the head of the bank, before walking back his comments and saying he had no plans to do so. 
The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate to act independently to tackle inflation and unemployment, primarily by hiking, holding, or easing its benchmark lending rate. 
An upbeat Powell told Wednesday's news conference that criticism from Trump "doesn't affect doing our job at all."
He added: "We are always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks, and that's it." 
bur-da/bjt

Congress

US lawmakers back Trump's 'Gulf of America' name change

  • "Codifying the rightful renaming of the Gulf of America isn't just a priority for me and President Trump.
  • US lawmakers voted Thursday to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," turning into federal law an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in his first week in office. 
  • "Codifying the rightful renaming of the Gulf of America isn't just a priority for me and President Trump.
US lawmakers voted Thursday to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," turning into federal law an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in his first week in office. 
The bill's passage in the Republican-led House of Representatives is largely symbolic as other countries are under no obligation to use Trump's new designation and the measure is unlikely to pass the Senate, where it requires Democratic votes.
Upon taking office, Trump signed executive orders changing the name of the body of water and also reverting the name of Denali, America's highest peak, to its former moniker Mt. McKinley.
Trump's renamings sparked criticism from Indigenous groups in Alaska and raised diplomatic concerns with Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested calling the United States "Mexican America."
The House bill directs federal agencies to update their documents and maps to reflect the name change. 
"Codifying the rightful renaming of the Gulf of America isn't just a priority for me and President Trump. It's a priority for the American people," said far right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who authored the bill.
Republican moderate Don Bacon told CNN however the move "seems juvenile." 
"We're the United States of America. We're not Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany or Napoleon's France... we're better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do," he said.
The name change would cost the federal government less than $500,000 over five years to update documents and maps, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
But schools, libraries and other public organizations would bear the costs of updating their materials, and Democrats have called the effort a waste of money.
"This bill does nothing to materially improve the lives of United States citizens -- it is an unserious offering by the majority," said a statement from the office of House Democratic whip Katherine Clark.
Trump barred the Associated Press from the Oval Office and from traveling on Air Force One in February because of the global news agency's decision to continue referring to the "Gulf of Mexico."
In its style guide, the AP notes that the Gulf of Mexico has "carried that name for more than 400 years" and the agency "will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen."
A federal judge said in April the "viewpoint-based denial of the AP's access" was a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press.
The Trump administration is appealing the judge's ruling ordering the White House to restore the AP's access to official presidential events.
ft/dw

Gates

Gates Foundation to spend $200 bn through 2045 when it will shut down

  • The new timetable means a change to the organization's charter, which planned for the foundation to sunset 20 years after the death of Bill Gates. 
  • The Gates Foundation plans to spend more than $200 billion over the next 20 years, accelerating its public health mission and shutting down in 2045, the organization said Thursday.
  • The new timetable means a change to the organization's charter, which planned for the foundation to sunset 20 years after the death of Bill Gates. 
The Gates Foundation plans to spend more than $200 billion over the next 20 years, accelerating its public health mission and shutting down in 2045, the organization said Thursday.
The new timetable means a change to the organization's charter, which planned for the foundation to sunset 20 years after the death of Bill Gates. 
The shift is driven by "urgency and opportunity," as artificial intelligence advances boost the potential for human wellbeing even as governments cut back on aid funding, the foundation said.
"During the first 25 years of the Gates Foundation -- powered in part by the generosity of Warren Buffett -- we gave away more than $100 billion," Gates, 69, said in a blog post, referring to the influential American investor.
"Over the next two decades, we will double our giving," Gates wrote.
The blog post contained a chart showing Gates's net worth plummeting 99 percent over the next 20 years. Gates is currently listed as the 13th on the Forbes "real-time" billionaire list, with a net worth of $112.6 billion.
"People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that 'he died rich' will not be one of them," Gates wrote. 
"There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched in 2000, the same year Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft. In 2024, Melinda French Gates exited the foundation three years after the couple's divorce.
Gates cited progress in launching global public health efforts including campaigns to eradicate polio and the creation of a new vaccine for rotavirus that has helped reduce the number of children who die from diarrhea each year by 75 percent.
"By accelerating our giving, my hope is we can put the world on a path to ending preventable deaths of moms and babies and lifting millions of people out of poverty," Gates said in the blog.
Separate from the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft founder said he plans to continue to provide funding for initiatives to expand access to affordable energy and for breakthrough research into Alzheimer’s disease.
jmb/bjt

tariff

Trump tariff plan brings Hollywood's struggles into focus

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES AND HUW GRIFFITH

  • Newsom reacted to Trump's tariff suggestion with a counter-proposal for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit that would apply nationwide.
  • Donald Trump's proposal to put 100 percent tariffs on foreign movies left many filmmakers scratching their heads.
  • Newsom reacted to Trump's tariff suggestion with a counter-proposal for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit that would apply nationwide.
Donald Trump's proposal to put 100 percent tariffs on foreign movies left many filmmakers scratching their heads. But it did highlight a problem plaguing Hollywood: cinema is rapidly abandoning its long-time home.
For decades almost every film that hit US theatres -- as well as most of what was on TV -- emanated from a handful of movie lots in the sun-soaked capital of America's entertainment industry.
Actors, stunt performers, costume designers, set builders, editors and special effects wizards flocked to Los Angeles, where they worked with hundreds of thousands of drivers, caterers, location managers, animal handlers and prop wranglers to produce thousands of hours of output every year.
The city boomed from the 1920s onwards because it was an industry town with a virtual stranglehold.
Not any more.
"The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death," Trump blared on his social media platform over the weekend.

All-time low

The number of shooting days in Los Angeles reached an all-time low last year -- lower even than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when filming shut down completely.
Less than one-in-five film or TV series broadcast in the United States was produced in California, according to FilmLA, an organization that tracks the movie industry.
"On-location production in Greater Los Angeles declined by 22.4 percent from January through March 2025," it said in a report, with film and TV production both down 30 percent year-on-year.
Southern California's high costs -- including for labor -- are a problem for studios, whose margins are small, especially as fewer people are prepared to shell out for pricey cinema tickets, preferring to watch titles at home.
As revenue pressures mount, production houses are turning to filming opportunities abroad that offer them savings. 
And there is no shortage of countries courting them: Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Hungary, Thailand and others all offer tax incentives.
The temptation to film abroad only increased during the Hollywood actors' and writers' strike in 2023, said entertainment lawyer Steve Weizenecker, who advises producers on financial incentives.
"During the strikes, I had production that went to the UK, that went to France, Italy and Spain, because they couldn't shoot here," he told AFP.
"And so the concern now is how do we bring that back?"
Toronto, Vancouver, Britain, Central Europe and Australia now all rank above California as preferred filming locations for industry executives.
Competition has never been more fierce: in 2024, 120 jurisdictions worldwide offered tax incentives for film and TV production, almost 40 percent more than seven years ago.

Canada first

Canada introduced a tax break for film and TV productions as early as 1995.
"That was when the term 'runaway production' started being thrown about, because suddenly producers did not have to shoot in California or New York," Weizenecker said.
Canada's success has since spawned competition between dozens of US states.
Georgia, where many Marvel superhero films are shot, has offered a tax credit since 2005. New Mexico, the setting for drug drama "Breaking Bad," has been doing the same since 2002. And Texas, which has offered tax breaks since 2007, wants to increase its budget allocated to such funding.
"Much like Detroit lost its hold on the auto industry, California has lost its dominance, mostly due to the arrogance of not understanding there are always alternatives," Bill Mechanic, a former Paramount and Disney executive, told Deadline.
State officials, prompted by the cries of anguish from Hollywood have belatedly begun to take notice.
Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom called on lawmakers to double the money available to the state's TV and film tax credit program.
California currently offers a tax credit of up to 25 percent that can be used to offset expenses including the cost of hiring film crews or building sets.
Two bills trundling through the legislature could increase it up to 35 percent of qualified expenditures, and would expand the kind of productions that would qualify.
Newsom reacted to Trump's tariff suggestion with a counter-proposal for a $7.5 billion federal tax credit that would apply nationwide.
Whether or not the Republican would be keen to support an industry he views as hostile and overly liberal remains to be seen, but it would really help, according to George Huang, a UCLA professor of screenwriting.
"Right now the industry is teetering," Huang told the Los Angeles Times. 
"This would go a long way in helping right the ship and putting us back on course to being the capital of the entertainment world."
rfo-hg/des

ElSalvador

'Dream turned nightmare' for Venezuelan migrant deported from US by Trump

BY ANA FERNÁNDEZ

  • Merwil does not know why he was taken to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in a wave of deportations that has stirred legal debate in the United States over a lack of due process and alleged human rights violations, his father said.
  • Merwil Gutierrez, 19, was among 200 Venezuelans controversially deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March without due process or any criminal charges, says his father who has heard nothing for weeks.
  • Merwil does not know why he was taken to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in a wave of deportations that has stirred legal debate in the United States over a lack of due process and alleged human rights violations, his father said.
Merwil Gutierrez, 19, was among 200 Venezuelans controversially deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March without due process or any criminal charges, says his father who has heard nothing for weeks.
"I don't know if my son is okay, if he is sick, I don't know if he is eating at all," Wilmer Gutierrez, Merwil's father, told AFP.  
"The relatives of all those who are there" have the same concerns, he said.
Merwil does not know why he was taken to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in a wave of deportations that has stirred legal debate in the United States over a lack of due process and alleged human rights violations, his father said.
Merwil was arrested by agents around 11:00 pm on February 24 from the door of the Bronx building where he lived, after buying dinner and socializing with neighbors.
The agents initially asked for another man with a different name, his father said. 
After checking his identity, one agent told him he could go, but another decided to detain him, along with two others, said Wilmer in a park in front of their building. 
He last spoke to his son while Merwil was detained in a Texas processing center where he learned that he would be deported the next day. Both men assumed it would be to their native Venezuela.
"When we found out that those flights had arrived in El Salvador... we weren't sure about whether they had sent him to Venezuela, because no flight was due to leave for there," said the 40-year-old father of three.
Until US authorities issued a list of those deported to El Salvador some days later, Wilmer was in the dark about his son's whereabouts.
The removals conducted by the Trump administration sparked condemnation and allegations he has run roughshod over the law, court orders and human rights in his push to conduct the "largest deportation effort in US history."

'Simply a kidnapping'

One of the most publicized was the removal of Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was apparently deported to his native El Salvador by accident.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, a Texas judge blocked deportations like Merwil Gutierrez's under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Previously, the US Supreme Court and several district courts had temporarily halted the expulsions. 
Merwil had filed for asylum, said lawyer Ana de Jesus from the organization Immigracion al Dia, who described what happened to her client as "horrible." 
Together with other migrant support organizations, they are considering seeking a court order demanding the government correct its abuse of power. 
"Regardless of whether something can be done or not, what we're trying to do is make noise, public pressure because what is being done -- not following due process, not allowing us to help our clients -- it is simply a kidnapping," said de Jesus.
In Merwil's case, two US lawmakers from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Adriano Espaillat, said in a statement "we are horrified by ICE's abduction of Merwil Gutierrez, who was violently taken from his doorstop in the Bronx and deported to El Salvador."
After an arduous journey through the famously dangerous jungles of the Darien Gap, between Colombia and Panama, following hundreds of thousands of other Venezuelans, Wilmer and his then 17-year-old son entered the US in July 2023 seeking asylum.
Wilmer insists his son, whom he describes as passionate about clothing and shoes, did not have the tattoos commonly linked by law enforcement to the violent Tren de Aragua Venezuelan street gang.
"If they made a mistake in this country, then let them do the time in this country or send them to their own country," said Wilmer. Father and son both worked nights at a packaging warehouse since arriving in New York.
On the night of his arrest, Merwil was off work.
"That dream (of coming to the United States) turned into a nightmare. It was beautiful while we were coming," the father said, swiping through images of their journey on his phone. 
"Look at his childlike face," he said wistfully. 
"If they send him back to Venezuela... I would grab my suitcase and leave -- that's where the American dream ends."
af-gw/sla/mlm

environment

California leads lawsuit over Trump's EV charging funding change

  • The cash had been allocated by Congress to the states, and in some cases was expected to be paired with state and private funds as jurisdictions look to grow charging networks and reduce the range anxiety that drivers of gas cars sometimes say puts them off switching to electric vehicles.
  • Donald Trump's order to withhold $5 billion earmarked to grow the electric vehicle charging network in the United States is being challenged in court by more than a dozen states, California officials said Wednesday.
  • The cash had been allocated by Congress to the states, and in some cases was expected to be paired with state and private funds as jurisdictions look to grow charging networks and reduce the range anxiety that drivers of gas cars sometimes say puts them off switching to electric vehicles.
Donald Trump's order to withhold $5 billion earmarked to grow the electric vehicle charging network in the United States is being challenged in court by more than a dozen states, California officials said Wednesday.
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by a coalition of largely liberal jurisdictions looking to push back on what they see as the American president's overreach, especially on environmental issues.
"The President continues his unconstitutional attempts to withhold funding that Congress appropriated to programs he dislikes," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
"This time he's illegally stripping away billions of dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, all to line the pockets of his Big Oil friends."
A mammoth congressional bill passed in 2022 aimed at bolstering America's crumbling infrastructure included $5 billion to help build out charging points for electric vehicles.
But as soon as he arrived in the Oval Office in January, Trump ordered that the money be stopped, part of a slew of executive orders the Republican has issued, which also included demands that the United States produce more fossil fuels.
The cash had been allocated by Congress to the states, and in some cases was expected to be paired with state and private funds as jurisdictions look to grow charging networks and reduce the range anxiety that drivers of gas cars sometimes say puts them off switching to electric vehicles.
The lawsuit announced Wednesday contends that as president, Trump does not have the power to divert monies the legislature has allocated.
"The complaint asks the court to declare that the... directive is unlawful and to permanently stop the administration from withholding the funds," a statement said.
Trump, a climate change skeptic, has long been hostile to electric vehicles and has repeatedly lashed out at Environmental Protection Agency rules requiring automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions in their cars.
California, which is home to the lion's share of EVs and hybrid vehicles in the United States, plans to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
The lawsuit comes as Republicans in Congress are trying to remove the rules that allow the state -- the biggest and richest in the nation -- to make its own vehicle emission rules.
"The facts don't lie: The demand for clean transportation continues to rise, and California will be at the forefront of this transition to a more sustainable, low-emissions future," said Bonta.
"California will not back down, not from Big Oil, and not from federal overreach."
Bonta is joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general from, Colorado, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.
hg/mlm

diplomacy

Joseph Nye, who coined 'soft power,' dies at 88

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Nye, who died Tuesday, first joined Harvard's faculty in 1964 and served as dean of the Harvard Kennedy School as well as in positions under presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
  • Joseph Nye, a versatile and influential political scientist and US policymaker who coined the term "soft power," a concept of nations gaining dominance through attractiveness now scoffed at by President Donald Trump, has died, Harvard University announced Wednesday.
  • Nye, who died Tuesday, first joined Harvard's faculty in 1964 and served as dean of the Harvard Kennedy School as well as in positions under presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Joseph Nye, a versatile and influential political scientist and US policymaker who coined the term "soft power," a concept of nations gaining dominance through attractiveness now scoffed at by President Donald Trump, has died, Harvard University announced Wednesday. He was 88.
Nye, who died Tuesday, first joined Harvard's faculty in 1964 and served as dean of the Harvard Kennedy School as well as in positions under presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
The author of 14 books and more than 200 journal articles, the neo-liberal thinker studied topics as varied as arms control and pan-Africanism but became best known for developing the term "soft power" in the late 1980s.
As opposed to hard power, such as weapons and economic sanctions, soft power includes values and culture that can win over others.
"Soft power -- getting others to want the outcomes that you want -- co-opts people rather than coerces them," Nye wrote in a 2004 book on the topic.
Among other examples, he pointed to growing US influence in Latin America when Franklin Roosevelt instituted a "good neighbor policy" and, conversely, how the Soviet Union lost Eastern Europe through brutality even as Moscow's hard power grew.
Trump, since returning to office in January, has sharply reduced US soft power, including through dismantling foreign assistance and cracking down on international students, and has sought to ramp up military spending.
In responses to AFP in February about how he saw Trump's second term, Nye wrote: "Trump does not really understand power. He only thinks in terms of coercion and payment." 
"He mistakes short-term results for long-term effects. Hard coercive power (such as a threat of tariffs) may work in the short term while creating incentives for others to reduce their reliance on the US in the longer term," he wrote to AFP by email.
"Our success over the past eight decades has also been based on attractiveness."
But he said that US soft power had seen cycles in the past, pointing to the unpopularity of the United States during the Vietnam War.
"We will probably recover somewhat after Trump, but he has damaged trust in the US," he wrote.

Nuclear thinker

Nye acknowledged the limitations of soft power alone. In his book, he wrote: "Excellent wines and cheese do not guarantee attraction to France, nor does the popularity of Pokemon games assure that Japan will get the policy outcomes it wishes."
Nye was considered a possible national security advisor if John Kerry won the White House in 2004. He was also particularly active on Japan, where former president Barack Obama considered appointing him ambassador.
Always attentive to soft power, Nye took to the opinion pages of The New York Times in 2010 to criticize some in the Obama administration for seeking to play "hardball" with a new, inexperienced Japanese government over base relocation, calling for a "more patient and strategic approach" to the longtime US ally.
Much of Nye's time in government was focused on nuclear policy. He argued that the risk of nuclear weapons could have deterred major powers from entering World War I -- but that the spread of nuclear weapons since the end of the Cold War posed new dangers.
"He was proudest of having contributed both intellectually... and practically (in the Carter and Clinton administrations) to preventing nuclear war," fellow Harvard scholar Graham Allison said in a statement.
sct/jgc

diplomacy

US envoy Witkoff briefs UN Security Council on Gaza, other issues

  • After the meeting Wednesday, ambassadors from the UN Security Council's 14 other members declined to give details of Witkoff's remarks.
  • US envoy Steve Witkoff briefed members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday about various topics, including Gaza, participants in the closed-door talks said.
  • After the meeting Wednesday, ambassadors from the UN Security Council's 14 other members declined to give details of Witkoff's remarks.
US envoy Steve Witkoff briefed members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday about various topics, including Gaza, participants in the closed-door talks said.
The informal meeting in New York came a day after Witkoff was formally sworn in as President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East.
At the swearing-in ceremony, Trump teased a "very, very big announcement" to come before his multi-nation visit to the Middle East next week, without providing details.
Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and close Trump ally, has been acting as lead US negotiator on several major disputes, including the Israel-Hamas war, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and  Iran's nuclear program.
After the meeting Wednesday, ambassadors from the UN Security Council's 14 other members declined to give details of Witkoff's remarks.
"It was confidential," Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said.
Panamanian Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba called it "an informal meeting, it was very interesting, about various subjects, not only Gaza."
Since Trump's return to office in January there has not been a permanent US ambassador to the UN, making it difficult for council members to stay abreast of American positions on various issues, some diplomats have said.
Witkoff also met separately on Wednesday with Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon.
Danon said afterward they had an "important discussion about the regional issues."
"We will continue to cooperate with our strongest ally, the United States," he added.
abd/des/acb

Fed

US Fed pauses rate cuts again and warns of inflation, unemployment risks

BY DANIEL AVIS

  • Following the April tariff rollout, many analysts pared back or delayed their expectation of rate cuts for this year, predicting that tariffs will push up prices and slow growth -- at least in the short run.  
  • The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced another pause in rate cuts and warned of higher risks to its inflation and unemployment goals in a likely reference to President Donald Trump's tariff rollout.
  • Following the April tariff rollout, many analysts pared back or delayed their expectation of rate cuts for this year, predicting that tariffs will push up prices and slow growth -- at least in the short run.  
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced another pause in rate cuts and warned of higher risks to its inflation and unemployment goals in a likely reference to President Donald Trump's tariff rollout.
Policymakers voted unanimously to hold the US central bank's key lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, the Fed said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters in Washington after the decision was published, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said there was "a great deal of uncertainty" about where the Trump administration's tariff policies will end up. 
The US president introduced steep levies last month on China and lower "baseline" levies of 10 percent on goods from most other countries, sparking weeks of turbulence in the financial markets. 
The White House also slapped higher tariffs on dozens of other trading partners and then abruptly paused them until July to give the United States time to renegotiate existing trade arrangements.
Many analysts have warned that the administration's actions will likely push up inflation and unemployment while slowing growth -- at least in the short run.
That could complicate the path towards rate cuts for the Fed, which has a dual mandate to act independently of political pressure to keep inflation at two percent over the longer term, and the unemployment rate as low as possible. 

'A really difficult choice'

The Fed said Wednesday that "swings in net exports" did not appear to have affected the solid economic activity -- a nod to the pre-tariff surge in imports in the first quarter ahead of the introduction of Trump's "liberation day" tariffs.
Wall Street stocks closed higher following the Fed's decision.
The "hard" economic data published in recent weeks points towards an economic slowdown, while the unemployment rate has hovered close to historic lows, and the inflation rate has trended towards the Fed's two percent target.
However, the "softer" economic survey data have pointed to a sharp drop-off in consumer confidence and growing expectations of higher inflation over the longer term -- in contrast to the market's inflation expectations, which remain relatively well-anchored.
"All the hard data are backward looking," former Fed economist Rodney Ramcharan told AFP on Wednesday. "And all the soft data that they're getting...those data look pretty bad."
"The Fed doesn't have a lot of good options in front of them," added Ramcharan, now a professor of finance at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "It's a really difficult choice."
- Rate cuts delayed - 
Powell was also asked about the recent public criticism leveled at him and the Fed by senior government officials -- including the president, who has called for him to cut rates to boost economic growth.
An upbeat Powell said Trump's criticism didn't affect the Fed's job of tackling inflation and unemployment "at all."
"We are always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks, and that's it," he added. 
Following the April tariff rollout, many analysts pared back or delayed their expectation of rate cuts for this year, predicting that tariffs will push up prices and slow growth -- at least in the short run.  
"The best course of action for the FOMC may simply be to wait for more clarity about trade policy and its implications for the U.S. economy," Wells Fargo chief economist Jay Bryson wrote in an investor note after the decision was published by the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
"While the Fed is, and should be, focused on the fragility of inflation expectations, we expect that by late summer labor market weakness will prompt a policy response," JPMorgan chief economist Michael Feroli wrote in a note to clients, penciling in a first rate cut for September. 
da/bjt