Senate working to avert partial government shutdown before midnight deadline
Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected on Friday president Donald Trump’s latest remarks about annexing Greenland, saying the Danish autonomous island could not be taken over by another country.
“If you look at the Nato treaty, the UN charter or international law, Greenland is not open to annexation,” he told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Continue reading...Letter from Elon Musk’s firm to US trade representative warns of ‘downstream impacts’ of tit-for-tat tariffs
Elon Musk’s Tesla has warned that Donald Trump’s trade war could expose the electric carmaker to retaliatory tariffs that would also affect other automotive manufacturers in the US.
In an unsigned letter to Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, Tesla said it “supports fair trade” but that the US administration should ensure it did not “inadvertently harm US companies”.
Continue reading...Document described as interim national security guidance calls on US military to create options
The Trump administration has called on the Pentagon to provide military options to ensure the country has full access to the Panama canal, two US officials told Reuters on Thursday.
Donald Trump has said repeatedly he wants to “take back” the Panama canal, which is located at the narrowest part of the isthmus between North and South America and is considered one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, but he has not offered specifics about how he would do so, or if military action might be required.
Continue reading...Demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace demanding release of Palestinian activist stood in US president’s New York City building
Protesters organized by a progressive Jewish group occupied the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia University student held by US immigration authorities, and nearly 100 were arrested.
Chanted slogans included: “Free Mahmoud, free them all” and: “Fight Nazis, not students.”
Continue reading...Mahmoud Khalil described by former colleague at UK office for Syria as well liked and extensively vetted
A detained Columbia University graduate threatened with deportation after the Trump administration claimed he poses a risk to US foreign policy is a former employee of the British government who was extensively vetted before working at the embassy in Beirut.
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate from a Columbia University master’s programme, was arrested at home on 9 March as he returned with his wife from a dinner to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Continue reading...New requirement hardens enforcement of existing law that hasn’t been applied consistently to Canadians entering the United States
Canadians who visit the US for more than 30 days will be required to register with authorities and have their fingerprints taken, as the Trump administration tightens migration rules amid soaring tensions between the North American neighbors.
The new requirement, effective from 11 April, will harden enforcement of an existing law, which states that all foreign nationals 14 years old or older who plan to stay in the US for 30 days or more must register with the authorities.
Continue reading...Senate minority leader says Democrats will not provide votes for stopgap measure and calls for bipartisan effort
Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said on Wednesday that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes to pass a stopgap funding bill, dramatically raising the risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
Announcing the decision in a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer urged Republicans to consider a shorter funding extension that would give congressional negotiators more time to consider a bipartisan path forward.
Continue reading...Activists horrified as EPA reverses pollution laws and reviews landmark finding that gases harm public health
Donald Trump’s administration is to reconsider the official finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to public health, a move that threatens to rip apart the foundation of the US’s climate laws, amid a stunning barrage of actions to weaken or repeal a host of pollution limits upon power plants, cars and waterways.
Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an extraordinary cavalcade of pollution rule rollbacks on Wednesday, led by the announcement it would potentially scrap a landmark 2009 finding by the US government that planet-heating gases, such carbon dioxide, pose a threat to human health.
Continue reading...US president said of Senate minority leader: ‘He’s not Jewish any more. He’s a Palestinian’
Donald Trump has been condemned by a leading US Muslim civil rights group for seeking to use the word “Palestinian” as an insult when he attacked the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, as “not Jewish any more”.
“President Trump’s use of the term ‘Palestinian’ as a racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office,” said Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or Cair.
Continue reading...Canadian foreign minister condemns ‘unjustified’ trade war and condemns ‘Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion’
Congressional brinkmanship, including repeated near-misses with shutdowns and over the nation’s $36 trillion in debt, has contributed to global ratings agencies’ moves to downgrade the US federal government’s once-pristine credit rating, reports Reuters.
Democrats have long chided Republicans for threatening or voting for government shutdowns, and Republicans were quick to call them out for considering votes that could risk one.
Continue reading...Break in negotiations comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty
The United States has paused negotiations with Canada on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.
British Columbia’s energy ministry said officials south of the border are “conducting a broad review” of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and water supply.
Continue reading...The Russian president remains unwavering in his demands, making wider sanctions and tariffs ineffective
Ukraine’s agreement to support a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war against Russia’s invasion has focused attention on what Moscow may or may not agree to, and what pressure can be brought to bear on Vladimir Putin by the Trump administration.
While the question has frequently been asked over the last few years as to what leverage Putin might have over Trump, the question here is what leverage Trump might have to persuade Putin.
Continue reading...Secretary of state’s visit has backdrop of trade war between US and allies and Trump’s threats to take over Canada
Marco Rubio has said he is not planning to discuss Donald Trump’s threat to “take over Canada” during a visit to Quebec, as Washington’s top diplomat arrives to the backdrop of a raging diplomatic crisis and trade war.
The US secretary of state is flying on Wednesday for a two-day summit with other foreign ministers from allied G7 countries at the river resort of La Malbaie, the first such gathering since Trump retook power with his “America first” agenda.
Continue reading...Daniel Noboa, who is seeking re-election, announced the partnership with Erik Prince, a supporter of Donald Trump
Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, has announced a “strategic alliance” with the Donald Trump-supporting founder of the private military firm Blackwater to supposedly reinforce his controversial “war” on crime.
Noboa, the rightwing heir to a South American banana empire, announced the partnership with Erik Prince on social media on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...The US president is making energy deals with Japan and Ukraine, and in Africa has even touted resurrecting coal
Donald Trump’s repeated mantra of “drill, baby, drill” demands that more oil and gas be extracted in the United States, but the president has set his sights on an even broader goal: keeping the world hooked on planet-heating fossil fuels for as long as possible.
In deals being formulated with countries such as Japan and Ukraine, Trump is using US leverage in tariffs and military aid to bolster the flow of oil and gas around the world. In Africa, his administration has even touted the resurrection of coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, to bring energy to the continent.
Continue reading...Firings announced Tuesday as administration decried as ‘detached from how Americans live’
The US Department of Education intends to lay off nearly half of its workforce. The layoffs of 1,300 people were announced by the department on Tuesday and described by the education secretary, Linda McMahon, as a “significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system”.
In a post on X, McMahon said: “Today’s [reduction in force] reflects our commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.”
Continue reading...Trump administration has axed $400m in federal funding to Columbia and detained student activist Mahmoud Khalil
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that Columbia University was “refusing to help” the Department of Homeland Security identify people for arrest on campus, after immigration authorities detained a prominent Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate over the weekend.
The Trump White House’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday the administration had given the university names of multiple individuals it accused of “pro-Hamas activity”, reiterating the administration’s intention to deport activists associated with pro-Palestinian protests.
Continue reading...Defence, the Palestinians and Irish-American trade will all be on the agenda as Micheál Martin heads to Washington
St Patrick’s Day has long been one of the sacred moments of the Irish-American calendar with more than 200 years of parades in New York and a shamrock reception at the White House launched by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953 to cement political ties between the two nations.
But this year’s annual meeting between the taoiseach and the US president, a week early because of a congressional recess on 17 March, is laden with anxiety over the future of Ireland’s economy, which is heavily reliant on US multinationals Donald Trump wants to repatriate.
Continue reading...Critics condemn arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia University graduate student who led protests over Gaza war
A judge has blocked the deportation of the prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s protests against Israel over the war in Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University until this past December who holds permanent US residency, is being detained by US immigration authorities at a facility in Louisiana after his arrest, according to information from officials.
A spokesperson for the US’s homeland security department – as well as the country’s top diplomat – confirmed the arrest. In a statement to the Associated Press, a homeland security department spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said Khalil’s arrest was made to support Donald Trump’s presidential orders “prohibiting antisemitism”.
Continue reading...Health secretary accuses food companies of ‘exploiting loophole’ over food safety and urges greater transparency
The US secretary of health and human services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has directed the Food and Drug Administration to revise safety rules to help eliminate a provision that allows companies to self-affirm that food ingredients are safe.
The move would increase transparency for consumers as well as the FDA’s oversight of food ingredients considered to be safe, Kennedy said on Monday.
Continue reading...