Mexican president blasts US for harboring drug cartels

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Claudia Sheinbaum gives riposte to Trump’s accusation of ‘intolerable alliance’ between Mexican government and gangs

Mexico’s president has accused the US of harboring drug cartels and American citizens of working with organized crime groups in Mexico, in a riposte to Donald Trump’s allegation of an “intolerable alliance” between traffickers and her government.

“There is also organized crime in the United States and there are American people who come to Mexico with these illegal activities,” Claudia Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference on Thursday. “Otherwise who would distribute fentanyl in the cities of the United States?”

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UK government to ‘wait and see’ in the face of Trump tariffs announcement

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The US president announced what he called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on all other countries on Thursday

The UK government will “wait and see” whether tariffs announced by Donald Trump “actually come to pass”, a senior minister said.

The US president announced what he called “reciprocal tariffs” on all other countries on Thursday evening, claiming it was “fair to all”.

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Stars pull out of shows and positions at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover

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Issa Rae, Ben Folds and Shonda Rhimes among those who chose not to associate with the institution and president

Donald Trump’s takeover of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington has generated outcry from performers and members, with several stars pulling out of engagements or associations.

Trump purged the board of the arts foundation last week, clearing the group of appointees by Joe Biden. Stacked with Trump loyalists, the new board terminated the center’s president, Deborah Rutter, and installed Trump as chair. The board then named Richard Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, as interim president.

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US releases Russian cybercriminal as part of exchange for teacher Marc Fogel

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Alexander Vinnik, owner and operator of cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, was arrested in 2017 for money laundering

The Trump administration has released Alexander Vinnik, a cybercriminal who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, to Russia, as part of an exchange that freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel on Tuesday.

Vinnik, who arrived in Moscow on a flight from Turkey on Tuesday after having been released from custody in California, is accused of owning and operating one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, BTC-e, which prosecutors allege facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars in transactions for criminals worldwide.

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Elon Musk says he’ll drop his $97bn bid for OpenAI if it remains a non-profit

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Billionaire’s lawyers say offer will be withdrawn if firm he helped found a decade ago ‘preserves the charity’s mission’

Elon Musk says he will abandon his $97.4bn offer to buy the non-profit behind OpenAI if the ChatGPT maker drops its plan to convert into a for-profit company.

“If OpenAI, Inc’s Board is prepared to preserve the charity’s mission and stipulate to take the ‘for sale’ sign off its assets by halting its conversion, Musk will withdraw the bid,” lawyers for the billionaire said in a filing to a California court on Wednesday. “Otherwise, the charity must be compensated by what an arms-length buyer will pay for its assets.”

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Trump proposes nuclear deal with Russia and China to halve defense budgets

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‘We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things,’ the US president said

Donald Trump said that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump lamented the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in rebuilding the nation’s nuclear deterrent and said he hopes to gain commitments from the US adversaries to cut their own spending.

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Chinese Fighter Harassed Australian Surveillance Aircraft Over South China Sea, Official Say – USNI News

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  1. Chinese Fighter Harassed Australian Surveillance Aircraft Over South China Sea, Official Say  USNI News
  2. China accuses Australia of deliberate provocation in South China Sea  Reuters
  3. Australia says Chinese fighter jet released flares that almost hit spy plane over South China Sea  CBS News
  4. Chinese Warships Approach Australian Coast After South China Sea Encounter  Newsweek
  5. Australia accuses China of 'unsafe' fighter jet move  BBC.com
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Two Darlington councillors investigated after ‘wrestling’ in parish meeting

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Exchange of insults between David Darling and Colin Pease, both in their 70s, led to scratches, bleeding and broken spectacles

The agenda for the Middleton St George parish council meeting was quite dull: village show costs, condition of footpaths and a quote for a flagpole inspection.

But the meeting itself was more lively, with two councillors exchanging insults before a “wrestling match” that led to scratches, bleeding, a bruised finger and the destruction of spectacles said to be worth £325.

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Student died from sepsis after antibiotics error in London hospital, inquest hears

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Potentially life-saving drug was prescribed for William Hewes but not given quickly enough due to communication mix-up

A consultant paediatrician warned medical colleagues treating her son that they had failed to give him life-saving antibiotics hours before he died from sepsis, an inquest has heard.

William Hewes, 22, a history and politics student, died on 21 January 2023 of meningococcal septicaemia at east London’s Homerton hospital, where his mother, Dr Deborah Burns, worked.

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France proposes plan to speed up Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon, minister says – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. France proposes plan to speed up Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon, minister says  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Israel seeks another extension for Lebanon withdrawal, source says  BBC.com
  3. US said to accept IDF request to remain in 5 south Lebanon posts after Feb. 18 deadline  The Times of Israel
  4. Extend the ceasefire in the North and protect Israel from Hezbollah – editorial  The Jerusalem Post
  5. Israel to Keep Five Army Posts in Lebanon, Top Minister Says  Bloomberg
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Trump’s Ukraine call with Putin leaves UK sounding at odds with reality

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Statements that there can be no negotiations without Kyiv ring hollow when the US president has just sidelined it

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s incendiary call with Vladimir Putin, UK ministers and officials have had to do some extraordinary contortions.

There is no greater priority in the UK’s foreign policy than keeping the volatile occupant of the White House on side. And that has meant over the past 24 hours that some pronouncements by the British government have seemed at odds with reality.

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