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Jul 5, 2025 - World

President also says he may visit Xi Jinping or Chinese leader could come to US after Trump last month extended app sale deadline for third timeDonald Trump has said he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible TikTok deal.The United States president said the US “pretty much” had a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app. Continue reading...

Jul 5, 2025 - World

Amy Hawkins visits one of the many bars popping up across Chinese cities offering drinks, snacks and a vision of the futureIn the age of self-help, self-improvement and self-obsession, there have never been more places to look to for guidance. Where the anxious and the uncertain might have once consulted a search engine for answers, now we can engage in a seemingly meaningful discussion about our problems with ChatGPT. Or, if you’re in China, DeepSeek.To some, though, it feels as if our ancestors knew more about life than we do. Or at least, they knew how to look for them. And so it is that scores of young Chinese are turning to ancient forms of divination to find out what the future holds. In the past couple of years, fortune-telling bars have been popping up in China’s cities, offering drinks and snacks alongside xuanxue, or spiritualism. The trend makes sense: China’s economy is struggling, and although consumers are saving their pennies, going out for a drink is cheaper than other forms of retail therapy or an actual therapist. With a deep-rooted culture of mysticism that blends Daoist, Buddhist and folk practices, which have defied decades of the government trying to stamp out superstitious beliefs, for many Chinese people, turning to the unseen makes perfect sense. Continue reading...

Jul 5, 2025 - World

Justice department says the men – including nationals from Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Cuba and Myanmar – will be flown to South SudanEight migrants lost their last-ditch effort to halt their deportation to South Sudan by the Trump administration on Friday, clearing the way for their imminent transfer after a judge in Massachusetts denied their request.Lawyers for the justice department said the men were scheduled to be flown to South Sudan on Friday at 7pm Eastern Time after two courts considered the request on an emergency basis on 4 July, when courts were otherwise closed for the Independence Day holiday. Continue reading...

Jul 4, 2025 - World

Donald Trump just precipitated a "brutal" and deadly attack abroad, according to the president's former "trusted operative" Friday.Lev Parnas, a former insider of the Trump administration who said he "saw how he thinks" and "how he operates," published an article on Independence Day called, "BREAKING: Putin Bombs Kyiv After Trump Call."Parnas began with an explanation of the devastating attack Russia just launched on Ukraine, saying, "Yesterday morning, just hours after Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin, Russia unleashed one of the most brutal, coordinated assaults on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began."Parnas went on to level an allegation against Trump himself."This was the largest aerial assault on Kyiv since the war began — and it didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was greenlit. It was enabled. It was part of a chain reaction — triggered from the Oval Office," he said.According to Parnas, it all began when "Trump lifted key sanctions on Russian military-financing banks just days ago," which freed "up the cash Putin needed to escalate his war.""Next," according to the ex-operative, "Trump ordered the rollback of U.S. missile systems on the Polish border meant for Ukraine.""That decision, according to my sources, came after direct pressure from the Kremlin," he wrote.Then Trump had his private call with Putin, after which "Putin launched the deadliest wave of attacks on Ukraine in over a year," according to Parnas.He then added, "And now — my sources tell me Trump is preparing to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pressure him to accept a 'deal,' which really means a surrender."Parnas then adds, "You’re watching this unfold in real time. Trump lit the match, Putin launched the missiles, and now the plan is to close the deal. Hand Ukraine over in pieces — a slow suffocation of a sovereign nation."Read the full post here.

Jul 4, 2025 - World

With sweeping tariffs on friend and foe, US President Donald Trump has roiled financial markets and sparked a surge in economic uncertainty -- and tensions are mounting days before a fresh volley of higher duties are due to kick in.Here is a rundown of what Trump has implemented in his second presidency, with levies on dozens of economies set to bounce from 10 percent to a range between 11 percent and 50 percent on Wednesday.- Global tariffs -While Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners in April, the rate is set to rise for dozens of economies including the European Union and Japan come Wednesday.To avoid higher levies, countries have been rushing to strike deals with Washington.So far, the UK and Vietnam have struck pacts with the United States, while China has managed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties.There are notable exceptions to the duty.Immediate US neighbors Canada and Mexico, which were separately targeted over illegal immigration and fentanyl, are not affected by the 10 percent global tariff.Also off the hook are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber -- although these are sectors that Trump is mulling levies on. Gold and silver, as well as energy commodities, are excluded too.- China focus -China has borne the brunt of Trump's levies. The world's two biggest economies engaged in an escalating tariffs war this year before a temporary pullback.Both sides imposed triple-digit tariffs on each other's goods at one point, a level effectively described as a trade embargo.After high level talks, Washington agreed to lower its levies on Chinese goods to 30 percent and Beijing slashed its own to 10 percent.The US level is higher as it includes a 20 percent tariff imposed over China's alleged role in the global fentanyl trade.- Autos, metals -Trump has also targeted individual business sectors in his second term.In March, he imposed a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum imports and last month doubled them to 50 percent.He has also rolled out a 25 percent tariff on imported autos, although those imported under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower levy.Trump's auto tariffs impact vehicle parts too, while the president has issued rules to ensure automakers paying vehicle tariffs will not also be charged for certain other duties.- Canada, Mexico -Canadian and Mexican products were initially hard hit by 25 percent US tariffs, with a lower rate for Canadian energy.Trump targeted both neighbors saying they did not do enough on illegal immigration and the flow of illicit drugs across borders.But he eventually announced exemptions for goods entering his country under the USMCA, covering large swaths of products. Potash, used as fertilizer, got a lower rate as well.- Other threats -Beyond expansive tariffs on Chinese products, Trump ordered the closure of a duty-free exemption for low-value parcels from the country. This adds to the cost of importing items like clothing and small electronics.Trump has also opened the door for 25 percent tariffs on goods from countries importing Venezuelan oil. He has threatened similar "secondary tariffs" involving Russian oil.And he has ordered investigations into imports of copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals that could eventually bring new duties.- Legal challenges -Trump's sweeping tariffs on countries have faced legal challenges. The US Court of International Trade ruled in May that Trump had overstepped his authority with across-the-board global levies.It blocked many of the duties from going into effect, prompting the Trump administration's challenge, and a US federal appeals court has since allowed the duties to remain while it considers the case.