Foreign minister Javad Zarif advises US president to respect country after warning
The Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, has hit back at Donald Trump’s “genocidal taunts” after a strongly worded warning from Trump that Tehran should not think of attacking the US.
Related: Trump tweets threat: 'If Iran wants to fight, that will be the end of Iran'
Continue reading...Trade wars, like real ones, are very much easier to start than to stop. The decision by Google to withhold its software from future Huawei smartphones, even if it will continue to support those presently on the market, comes after considerable pressure from the US government. Even so, it is a move that all parties will regret.
The pain for Huawei is obvious. Although it has been stockpiling chips and, presumably, preparing other defences, there is nothing it can sell to consumers outside China that does not depend on American software, and little that does not depend on American chips. As much as half of its global market could disappear, and that is without counting the 5G networking equipment which was the proximate cause of this quarrel. The ultimate cause, of course, is the American fear of losing its position of global pre-eminence, and the Chinese determination to realise that fear.
Continue reading...Top executive says dispute is about trade, not security, after Trump issued order aimed at cutting off firm from US supplies
The US ban on sharing technology with Huawei was a “cynically timed” blow in the escalating trade war between the US and China, the Chinese firm’s top executive in the UK has said.
Huawei denounced Donald Trump’s ban on the sharing of US tech with “foreign adversaries”, after a string of US tech companies followed Google in restricting the company’s access to their products on Monday.
Continue reading...Donald Trump sought on Monday to discredit a New York Times report that Deutsche Bank employees flagged concerns over transactions involving legal entities controlled by the president and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Related: Deutsche Bank staff saw suspicious Trump and Kushner activity – report
Continue reading...Robert Smith, a billionaire investor, surprises students at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, by using his speech at a commencement ceremony to pledge to wipe the debts of the 2019 class. 'This is my class – 2019 – and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,' he said
Continue reading...Senior attorneys in the executive branch were once seen as guard rails on the president but now seem to be enabling his most constitutionally dubious actions
Not everyone thinks Donald Trump poses a direct and obvious threat to the rule of law. When he accuses FBI investigators of “treason”, declares his campaign was “conclusively spied on” and suggests “long jail sentences”, there is often an assumption that cooler legal heads in the justice department and White House will prevail against the impulsive president.
But as Trump’s test of constitutional boundaries intensifies, critics say, the supposedly cooler heads seem to be simmering.
Continue reading...Destroyer moved near Scarborough Reef to ‘challenge excessive maritime claims’, says commander of Seventh Fleet
A US warship has sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal claimed by China in the South China Sea, a move likely to anger Beijing at a time of tense ties between the world’s two biggest economies.
The destroyer USS Preble carried out the operation on Sunday, a US military spokesman said. The busy waterway is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a trade war, the blacklisting of tech company Huawei US sanctions and Taiwan.
Continue reading...Reported move could hit Huawei Technologies’ ability to run phone operating system
Google has suspended Huawei’s access to updates of its Android operating system and chipmakers have reportedly cut off supplies to the Chinese telecoms company, complying with orders from the US government as it seeks to blacklist Huawei around the world.
In a fresh blow to Huawei, Google said it was complying with Donald Trump’s executive order and was reviewing the “implications”, after Reuters initially reported the story.
Continue reading...The US will hold an international economic “workshop” in Bahrain in late June, seeking to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories as the first part of Donald Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the White House said on Sunday.
Related: The ‘ultimate deal’? For Israel, maybe. We Palestinians will never accept it | Hanan Ashrawi
Continue reading...Robert Smith makes pledge to eliminate students’ debt estimated at $40m at Morehouse, Martin Luther King’s alma mater
Delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr, the billionaire technology investor and philanthropist Robert F Smith made a surprise announcement: his family would wipe out the student debt of the entire class of 2019.
Related: $1.5tn in debt: student loan crisis shatters a generation's American dream
Continue reading...As Donald Trump opened fire on Justin Amash, the Michigan representative who became the first Republican in Congress say he had engaged in “impeachable conduct”, Mitt Romney declined to join the fight.
Related: Justin Amash becomes first Republican to back Trump impeachment
Continue reading...Formally launching his third presidential campaign, Joe Biden appealed for party and national unity while accusing Donald Trump of leading the US with ‘a clenched fist, a closed hand and a hard heart’. But, he said, ‘we are the United States of America and there is not a single thing we cannot do if we are together’. Biden was a senator representing Delaware for 36 years and vice-president to Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. He was a relatively late entrant to the sprawling field seeking the Democratic nomination in 2020, with 23 candidates now in the running
Continue reading...Congressman says Mueller report ‘identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice’
The Michigan congressman Justin Amash has called for Donald Trump to be impeached, adding a first Republican voice to a growing chorus of Democrats demanding Congress move against the president.
Amash is a libertarian and independent-minded politician who has flirted with the idea of a run against Trump in 2020, and has in turn been attacked by the White House. Elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, he was a founder of the House Freedom Caucus, which has become a hard-right mouthpiece for Trump.
Continue reading...Arnold Schwarzenegger was struck by a flying kick at a sports event in South Africa on Saturday, though the actor and former California governor later reassured fans there was no need to worry.
Schwarzenegger, 71, was kicked from behind while chatting with fans at the Arnold Classic Africa, an event showcasing bodybuilding and other sports, in Johannesburg.
Continue reading...Formally launching his third presidential campaign, Joe Biden appealed for party and national unity while accusing Donald Trump of leading America with “a clenched fist, a closed hand and a hard heart”.
Related: Could climate change submerge Joe Biden's presidential bid?
Continue reading...A top “slave master” in the alleged sex cult Nxivm said in testimony on Friday she herself was sexually and psychologically enslaved by Keith Raniere, the sole defendant in a sex-trafficking trial that has produced a rolling tableau of alleged debauchery and cruelty.
Related: Nxivm trial: alleged sex cult leader tried to 'break' female followers, says witness
Continue reading...Arsenal defender says ban also an issue for men, and garners support from Ian Wright
Héctor Bellerín, the Arsenal and Spain defender, has challenged fellow football professionals to speak out against the abortion bill passed this week in Alabama, in the US, which would make it a crime to perform a termination at any stage of pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest.
Bellerín, 24, tweeted: “I wanted to see if anyone from our industry would speak out about the abortion bill, but I guess people are too scared. This isn’t just an issue for women, it’s one for every human being. We fight for equality and this is something men should fight for and not hide away from.”
Continue reading...The Chinese-owned app does pose data risks – but wrongly framing such fears can fuel racism and homophobia
For years, American leaders claimed that the internet would bring free markets and liberal democracy to China. Today, they are more likely to express worry about how Chinese power and Chinese money are reshaping American tech. Conventional strategic areas, like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, have received the most scrutiny. But this week the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) reached an agreement after an investigation of a different kind of target: the popular gay social networking app Grindr.
Grindr is based in West Hollywood and boasts more than 27 million users. The Chinese gaming firm Beijing Kunlun Tech Company acquired it over two years, purchasing a 60% stake in January 2016 and the remaining 40% in January 2018.
Continue reading...Reality TV star and musician ‘blessed beyond measure’ with arrival of baby boy
Kim Kardashian West and her husband, the musician Kanye West, have named their new child Psalm after its recent birth via surrogate.
Kardashian West posted a picture of the boy on social media with the caption “Psalm West”.
Continue reading...Conflict in Syria, shocking pink fashion at Cannes, and a seal pup making a splash – the last seven days, as captured by the world’s best photojournalists
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