uncertainty

UN chief says 700 million people live in extreme poverty as Qatar calls for doubling efforts to support Palestinians.

Doha, Qatar – A declaration of intent to fight deepening global inequality is a “booster shot for development”, the head of the United Nations declares.

At the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar on Tuesday, the president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, announced the adoption of the Doha Political Declaration.

“Social development and inclusion is essential for strong societies,” she said, adding that the declaration must “end social injustice and guarantee dignity for everyone, prioritising a people-first approach.”

In a keynote speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on global leaders to unite behind the “bold people’s plan”.

“It’s unconscionable that nearly 700 million people still live in extreme poverty while the richest 1 per cent own nearly half of global wealth,” he told the delegations.

“It’s intolerable that almost four billion people lack access to any form of social protection at all.”

The summit in Qatar’s capital, Doha, was convened to build on the development goals established 30 years ago during the Copenhagen Summit.

According to the UN, about 40 heads of state, 170 ministerial-level representatives, heads of NGOs and 14,000 delegates from around the world were expected to attend.

The declaration calls for commitments in several areas, including poverty eradication, access to “decent work”, social integration, gender equality and climate action.

Guterres noted the progress that has been made over the past three decades.

“Over one billion people have escaped extreme poverty. Global unemployment is at a near-historic low. Access to healthcare, education and social protection has dramatically expanded. People are living longer, and child and maternal mortality have declined. And more girls are attending school with rising graduation rates for all students,” he said.

However, he insisted that more challenges must be faced, saying the Second World Summit “opens at a moment of high global uncertainty, divisions, conflicts and widespread human suffering”.

“Developing countries are not getting the level of support they need,” he warned. “We are not moving fast enough to mitigate the volatility and outright destruction wrought by a warming planet.”

Peace and stability

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, opened the event by calling for sustained efforts to support the Palestinian people amid the devastation of Israel’s two-year war on Gaza.

“It’s impossible to achieve social development in any society without peace and stability,” he said, adding that only “constant peace, not temporary settlements, is just peace.”

Calling on the international community to increase support for reconstruction, he added: “It goes without saying that the Palestinian people need all forms of aid to be able to recover from the devastation” caused by “the apartheid system in Palestine”.

The UN estimates more than $70bn is needed to rebuild Gaza.

Addressing reporters on the sidelines later, Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by “continued violations of the ceasefire” in the enclave.

“They must stop, and all parties must abide by the decisions of the first phase of the peace agreement,” he demanded.

The emir also condemned the war crimes being carried out in Sudan.

“We express our collective shock at the horrific atrocities committed in the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region and reaffirm our condemnation of these acts in the strongest terms,” Sheikh Tamim said after the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group captured the capital of North Darfur State last week.

Is President Trump going to restart nuclear weapons testing? When will this federal shutdown end? Will Californians pass Proposition 50, scramble the state’s congressional maps and shake up next year’s midterm elections?

Amid a swirl of high-stakes standoffs and unprecedented posturing by Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other leaders in Washington and Sacramento, the future of U.S. politics, and California’s role therein, has felt wildly uncertain of late.

Political debate — around things such as sending military troops into American cities, cutting off food aid for the poor or questioning constitutional guarantees such as birthright citizenship — has become so untethered to longstanding norms that everything feels novel.

The pathways for taking political power — as with Trump’s teasing a potential third term, installing federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation, slashing federal budgets without congressional input and pressuring red states to redistrict in his favor before a midterm election — have been so sharply altered that many Americans, and some historians and political experts, have lost confidence in U.S. democracy.

“It’s completely unprecedented, completely anomalous — representative, I think, of a major transformation of our normal political life,” said Jack Rakove, a Stanford University emeritus professor of history and political science.

“You can’t compare it to any other episode, any other period, any other set of events in American history. It is unique and radically novel in distressing ways,” Rakove said. “As soon as Trump was reelected, we entered into a constitutional crisis. Why? Because Trump has no respect for constitutional structures.”

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that “President Trump’s unorthodox approach is why he has been so successful and why he has received massive support from the American public.”

Jackson said Trump has “achieved more than any President has in modern history,” including in “securing the border, getting dangerous criminals off American streets, brokering historic peace deals [and] bringing new investments to the U.S.,” and that the Supreme Court has repeatedly backed his approach as legal.

“So-called experts can pontificate all they want, but President Trump’s actions have been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court despite a record number of challenges from liberal activists and unlawful rulings from liberal lower court judges,” Jackson said.

There are many examples of Trump flouting or suggesting he will flout the Constitution or other laws directly, and in ways that make people unsure and concerned about what will come next for the country politically, Rakove and other political experts said. His constant flirting with the idea of a third term in office does that, as does his legal challenge to birthright citizenship and his military’s penchant for blasting alleged drug vessels out of international waters.

On Wednesday, Trump raised the prospect of further breaching international law and norms by appearing to suggest on social media that, for the first time in three decades, the U.S. would resume testing nuclear weapons.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote — leaving it unclear whether he meant detonating warheads or simply testing the missiles that deliver them.

There are also many examples, the experts said, of American political norms being tossed aside — and the nation’s political future tossed in the air — by others around Trump, both allies and enemies, who are trying to either please or push back against the unorthodox commander in chief with their own abnormal political maneuvers.

One example is House Speaker Mike Johnson (R.-La.) refusing to swear in Adelita Grijalva, despite her being elected in September to represent parts of Arizona in Congress. Johnson has cited the shutdown, but others — including Arizona’s attorney general in a lawsuit — have suggested Johnson is trying to prevent a House vote on releasing records about the late Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced billionaire sex offender whom Trump was friends with before a reported falling out years ago.

Uncertainty about whether those records would implicate Trump or any other powerful people in any wrongdoing has swirled in Washington throughout Trump’s term — showing more staying power than perhaps any other issue, despite Trump’s insistence that he’s done nothing wrong and the issue is a distraction.

The mid-decade redistricting battle — in which California’s Proposition 50 looms large — is another prime example, the experts said.

Normally, redistricting occurs each decade, after federal census data comes out. But at Trump’s urging, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott agreed to redraw his state’s congressional lines this year to help ensure Republicans maintain control of the House in the midterms. In response, Newsom and California Democrats introduced Proposition 50, asking California voters to amend the state Constitution to allow Democrats to redraw lines in their favor.

As a result, Californians — millions of whom have already voted — have been getting bombarded by messages both for and against Proposition 50, many of which are hyper-focused on the uncertain implications for American democracy.

“Let’s fight back and democracy can be defended,” a Proposition 50 backer wrote on a postcard to one voter. “It is against democracy and rips away the power to draw congressional seats from the people,” opponents of the measure wrote to others.

H.W. Brands, a U.S. history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said, “Americans who are worried about democracy are right to be concerned,” because Trump “has broken or threatened many of the guardrails of democracy.”

But he also noted — partly as a reflection of the dangerous moment the country is in — that Trump has long rejected a particularly “sacred” part of American democracy by refusing to accept his loss to President Biden in 2020, and Americans reelected him in 2024 anyway.

“Americans have always been divided politically. This is the first time (with the exception of 1860) that the division goes down to the fundamentals of democracy,” Brands wrote in an email — referencing the year the U.S. Confederacy seceded from the Union.

High stakes

The uncertainty has festered in an era of rampant political disinformation and under a president who has a penchant for challenging reality outright on a near-daily basis — who on a trip through Asia this week not only said he’d “love” a third term, which is precluded by the Constitution, but claimed, falsely, that he is experiencing his best polling numbers ever.

The uncertainty has also been compounded by Democrats, who have wielded the only levers of power they have left by refusing to concede to Republicans in the raging shutdown battle in Washington and by putting Proposition 50 to California voters.

The shutdown has major, immediate implications. Not only are federal employees around the country, including in California, furloughed or without pay checks, but billions in additional federal funding is at risk.

Democrats have resisted funding the government in an effort to force Republicans to back down from massive cuts to healthcare subsidies that help millions of Californians and many more Americans afford health coverage. The shutdown means Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits could be cut off for more than 40 million people — nearly 1 in 8 Americans — this weekend.

California and other Democrat-led states have sued the Trump administration, asking a federal court to issue an emergency order requiring the USDA to use existing contingency funds to distribute SNAP funding.

Jackson, the White House spokesperson, said Democrats should be asked when the shutdown will end, because “they are the ones who have decided to shut down the government so they can use working Americans and SNAP benefits as ‘leverage’ to pursue their radical left wing agenda.”

The redistricting battle could have even bigger impact.

If Democrats retook the House next year, it would give them a real source of oversight power to confront Trump and block his MAGA agenda. If Republicans retain control, they will help facilitate Trump’s agenda — just as they have since he took office.

But even if Proposition 50 passes, as polling suggests it will, it’s not clear that Democrats would win all the races lined up for them in the state, or that those seats would be enough to win Democrats the chamber given efforts to pick up Republican seats in Texas and elsewhere.

The uncertainty around the midterms is, by extension, producing more uncertainty around the second half of Trump’s term.

What will Trump do, particularly if Republicans stay in power? Is he stationing troops in American cities as part of some broader play for retaining power, as some Democrats have suggested? Is he setting the groundwork to challenge the integrity of U.S. elections by citing his baseless claims about fraud in 2020 and putting fellow election deniers in charge of reviewing the system?

Is he really gearing up to contest the constitutional limits on his tenure in the White House? He said he’d “love” to stay in office this week, but then he said it’s “too bad” he’s not allowed to.

Fire with fire?

According to David Greenberg, a history professor at Rutgers University, it is Trump’s unorthodox policies and tactics but also his brash demeanor that “make this a more unsettled moment than we are used to feeling.”

“Sometimes when he’s doing things that other presidents have done, he does it in such an outlandish way that it feels unprecedented,” or is “stylistically” but not substantively unprecedented, Greenberg said. “Self-aggrandizing claims, often untrue. The brazenness with which he insults people. The way he changes his mind on something. That all is highly unusual and unique to Trump.”

In other instances, Greenberg said, Trump has pushed the boundaries of the law or busted political norms that previous presidents felt bound by.

“One thing that Trump showed us is just how much of our functioning system depends not just on the letter of the law but on norms,” Greenberg said. “What can the president do? What kind of power can he exert over the Justice Department and who it prosecutes? Well, it turns out he probably can do a lot more than should be permissible.”

However, the appropriate response is not the one seemingly gaining steam among Democrats — to “be more like Trump” themselves or “fight fire with fire” — but to look for ways to strengthen the political norms and boundaries Trump is ignoring, Greenberg said.

“The more the public, citizens in general, feel that it’s OK to disregard long-standing ways of doing things that have stood the test of time until now, the more likely we are to enter into a more chaotic world — a world in which there will be less justice, less democracy,” Greenberg said. “It will be more subject to the whims or preferences of whoever is in power — and in a liberal democracy, that is what you are striving to fight against.”

For the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a NATO member has formally invoked Article 4 of the alliance’s founding treaty after a major airspace breach. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna tells Talk to Al Jazeera why repeated Russian provocations are more than isolated incidents – they’re a test of NATO’s credibility. As United States President Donald Trump questions the value of collective defence, Tsahkna warns that Europe’s security consensus is fraying and hesitation could invite danger.

The Japanese legislature, known as the Diet, is set to meet for an extraordinary session to vote for the next prime minister.

The vote on Tuesday follows the collapse of a 26-year-old partnership earlier this month between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the smaller Komeito party after Sanae Takaichi took the helm of the LDP.

The LDP has been the dominant force in Japanese politics since the 1950s, but over the past two years, it has lost its majority in both legislative houses after failing to address a series of problems, including a major corruption scandal and Japan’s cost-of-living crisis.

Now, the LDP is at risk of losing power completely unless it can bring another opposition party to its side.

Some Japanese media reports suggested on Sunday that the LDP had reached an agreement with the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin) to form a coalition that would ensure that Takaichi is elected prime minister. But details of the partnership remain unclear, and the two sides have yet to confirm it.

Who is Sanae Takaichi, and why is she controversial?

Takaichi, 64, is the former protege of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a member of the LDP’s conservative faction.

She was chosen to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as head of the LDP after he stepped down in September. Takaichi ran on a platform of aggressive fiscal expansion to resolve Japan’s ongoing economic problems.

Takaichi is also known as a foreign policy hawk who wants to strengthen Japan’s military, and she holds conservative views on same-sex marriage.

Following her election as LDP leader on October 4, the LDP and Komeito held policy negotiations. They hit an impasse when Takaichi failed to address Komeito’s concerns about corporate donations, according to Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies.

The disagreement follows a recent LDP scandal that revealed that party members had diverted more than 600 million yen (approximately $4m) of donations to a slush fund.

“[Takaichi] didn’t give them what they considered a serious answer on their concerns about corruption scandals, and they wanted more serious regulations around funding, especially corporate donations,” he told Al Jazeera.

Can Takaichi still become the next prime minister?

Takaichi still has the chance to become Japan’s first female prime minister, but experts say it will take some horse-trading.

The LDP has 196 seats in the lower house of the Diet, and Takaichi needs at least 233 seats to secure a majority. She could do this by negotiating with one of Japan’s other opposition parties, like the Japan Innovation Party.

Conversely, if opposition parties worked together, they could form a new government, but experts like Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy, say this would be challenging due to ideological disagreements.

The situation is very different from 2009, when the LDP last lost power, to a unified opposition, for three years.

“If the opposition is able to rally for the unified candidate, it is possible that Takaichi will lose, but more likely, Takaichi will win not by majority but as the first of the two candidates [in a run-off vote],” Suzuki said.

“But even if Takaichi wins, she is based on a very small minority,” he said. “It will be extremely difficult for Takaichi and the LDP to conduct policies of their own.”

Who could challenge Takaichi for the top job?

Experts say that Takaichi’s most likely challenger is Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the leader of the conservative Democratic Party for the People (DPFP).

While the party holds 27 seats, it could secure a majority if it cooperated with the centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), which holds 148 seats, and the Japan Innovation Party, which holds 35 seats.

The DPFP and the CDP were once part of the same party but split due to ideological differences over foreign policy and the future of Japan’s military.

The Japan Innovation Party and the DPP also clash over policies like economic reform and deregulation, according to Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at Japan’s International Christian University.

“There are a lot of contradictory positions that will make it unlikely they can form a coalition,” Nagy said.

In a more likely scenario, the Japan Innovation Party will form a coalition with the LDP, he said. They share views on major policy concerns like the United States, China, Taiwan, immigration, and the future of the imperial family.

What does this mean for Japan and the LDP?

Experts say the LDP will likely retain its hold over the government for now, but Takaichi will be a much weaker prime minister than many of her predecessors.

“The bigger question is whether she will survive more than a year, and there are external factors like the US relationship and [US President Donald] Trump’s unpredictability, and internal factors such as the direction of the economy and whether she’ll make decisions about Yasukuni shrine,” said Nagy, referring to the shrine to Japan’s war dead that includes war criminals.

Takaichi will also have to find a way to work with Japan’s other parties, and that means negotiating or softening her stance on more controversial policies.

Kanda University’s Hall said this could be a watershed moment for Japanese politics, especially if the opposition parties can retain their support from voters.

“We have a situation where there are several centre-right parties, there’s a far-right party, and there are a few smaller left-wing parties. There just simply isn’t the math for one party to put together a stable coalition with a partner that agrees with it on the big issues,” he told Al Jazeera.

“With this kind of multi-party democracy, they’re going to have new norms develop, where parties are more willing to compromise if they want to form a government – and if they don’t… then we’ll see no-confidence votes that oust prime ministers,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hard-line positions rather than more traditional compromises.

Plenty of blame being thrown around

The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.

Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.

“What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”

Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide

An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.

“There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.

Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.

What’s staying open and shutting down

The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

No easy exit as health care costs soar

Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.

But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.

The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

“Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

“They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”

Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

Mascaro, Jalonick and Groves write for the Associated Press. Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti, Will Weissert, Fatima Hussein and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.

Published on
29/09/2025 – 14:05 GMT+2

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The price of gold climbed to a new record on Monday, rising above $3,850 an ounce in the afternoon in Europe, up more than 1% on the day.

Precious metals across the board surged, fuelled by a weak dollar and high uncertainty around funding for the US federal government.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are meeting with Democrats to discuss a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on Tuesday. Republicans need at least seven votes from Democrats to pass the legislation.

Uncertainty is high, which historically sees investors flocking into so-called safe-haven assets such as gold. The precious metal is a more stable option in turbulent times when other asset classes are far more volatile.

So far this year, gold has shown itself to be an investor favourite amid increased geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainties. Since January, the precious metal has gained over 45%, rising from $2,669 an ounce.

Other factors are also supporting gold prices, including expectations of further rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. On 17 September, the Fed lowered its target range for its main lending rate to 4% – 4.25%, and officials indicated that there could be two more rate cuts this year.

Lower rates tend to weaken the US dollar, in which gold is denominated, increasing the metal’s appeal. This is particularly the case when other interest-bearing assets like bonds and savings accounts offer lower yields, following rate cuts.

“Gold prices continue to mark new records, with expectations for further rate cuts from the Fed supportive, given the precious metal does not offer income,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Now above $3,800, gold has also been boosted by central bank buying over several years, weaker demand for traditional safe havens like US government bonds driven by concerns over US deficits and trade policy, dollar weakness and geopolitical tensions, including conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine,” Mould added.

“The threat of a shutdown in Washington, as policymakers engage in tense negotiations ahead of a deadline at midnight on Tuesday, is yet another factor driving support for gold.”

Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice; always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances. Also remember, we are a journalistic website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information on this page, then you do so entirely at your own risk.

Dragons are the first Welsh team in action when they travel to face Ulster in Belfast on Friday night.

The club have been the most vocal of the regions in criticising the plans to drop to two sides, stating “Welsh rugby deserves better and the WRU must rethink”.

Chair David Wright says the initial proposals “don’t add up” and that there was no way the Dragons could agree to them as they were.

Co-captain and Wales lock Ben Carter says it is a concern but has praised his squad on focusing on the rugby which he says is “the number one priority”.

His head coach Filo Tiatia agrees.

“What happens with the WRU, we’ll leave it with our chairman and CEO and they’ll fight the battle,” said the former All Black.

“What we can focus on is how we move forward with the current conditions and what we know.

“There’s talk of two teams, we can’t control that. We might as well not focus on the things because we’re burning energy.”

OMAHA — No formal agreement has been signed to convert a remote state prison in Nebraska into the latest immigration detention center for President Trump’s sweeping crackdown, more than three weeks since the governor announced the plan and as lawmakers and nearby residents grow increasingly skeptical.

Corrections officials insist the facility could start housing hundreds of male detainees next month, with classrooms and other spaces at the McCook Work Ethic Camp retrofitted for beds. However, lawmakers briefed last week by state officials said they got few concrete answers about cost, staffing and oversight.

“There was more unanswered questions than answered questions in terms of what they know,” state Sen. Wendy DeBoer said.

Officials in the city of McCook were caught off guard in mid-August when Republican Gov. Jim Pillen announced that the minimum-security prison in rural southwest Nebraska would serve as a Midwest hub for immigration detainees. Pillen and federal officials dubbed it the “Cornhusker Clink,” in line with other alliterative detention center names such as “ Alligator Alcatraz ” in Florida and the “Speedway Slammer ” in Indiana.

“City leaders were given absolutely no choice in the matter,” said Mike O’Dell, publisher of the local newspaper, the McCook Gazette.

McCook is the seat of Red Willow County, where voters favored Trump in the 2024 election by nearly 80%. Most of them likely support the president’s immigration crackdown, O’Dell said. However, the city of around 7,000 has also grown accustomed to the camp’s low-level offenders working on roads, in parks, county and city offices and even local schools.

“People here have gotten to know them in many cases,” O’Dell said. “I think there is a feeling here that people want to know where these folks are going to end up and that they’ll be OK.”

The Work Ethic Camp first opened in 2001 and currently houses around 155 inmates who participate in education, treatment and work programs to help them transition to life outside prison. State leaders often praise it as a success story for reducing prisoner recidivism.

Some lawmakers have complained that Pillen acted rashly in offering up the facility, noting that the state’s prison system is already one of the nation’s most overcrowded and perpetually understaffed. The governor’s office and state prison officials met with members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee last week to answer questions about the transfer.

What the lawmakers got, several said, were estimates and speculation.

Lawmakers were told it was the governor’s office that approached federal officials with the offer after Trump “made a generalized, widespread call that we need more room or something for detainees,” said DeBoer, a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.

Lawmakers were also told the facility — which was designed to house around 100 but is currently outfitted to hold twice that — would house between 200 and 300 detainees. The prison’s current staff of 97 is to be retrained and stay on.

The costs of the transition would be borne by the state, with the expectation that the federal government would reimburse that cost, DeBoer recalled.

A formal agreement between the state and federal agency had yet to be signed by Friday.

Asked how much the state is anticipated to spend on the conversion, the agency said “that number has not yet been determined,” but that any state expenditures would be reimbursed. The state plans to hire additional staffers for the center, the agency said.

A letter signed by 13 lawmakers called into question whether Pillen had the authority to unilaterally transfer use of a state prison to federal authorities without legislative approval.

To that end, state Sen. Terrell McKinney — chairman of the Legislature’s Urban Affairs Committee and a vocal critic of Nebraska’s overcrowded prison system — convened a public hearing Friday to seek answers from Pillen’s office and state corrections officials, citing concerns over building code violations that fall under the committee’s purview.

“How can you take a facility that was built for 125 people and take that to a capacity of 200 to 300 people without creating, you know, a security risk?” McKinney asked.

Pillen maintains state law gives him the authority to make the move, saying the Department of Correctional Services falls under the umbrella of the executive branch. He and state prison officials declined to show up at Friday’s hearing.

But dozens of Nebraska residents did attend, with most of them opposed the new ICE detention center.

Beck writes for the Associated Press.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA -0.01%) are down 3% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading as of 7:42 p.m. ET, following the artificial intelligence (AI) tech leader’s release of its report for its second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended July 27, 2025).

The stock’s modest decline can likely be mainly attributable to the uncertainty still surrounding the Chinese data center market. On the earnings call, management said it has received U.S. government licenses to resume selling its H20 data center AI chip to several Chinese customers, and that it has the immediate capacity to sell $3 billion to $5 billion of these chips to China in the third quarter. However, due to geopolitical issues still being “open,” as management put it, it did not assume any H20 sales in its third-quarter guidance.

That said, Q2 revenue and adjusted earnings per share both beat Wall Street’s estimates, as did Q3 guidance for both the top and bottom lines.

In my Nvidia earnings preview, this chain of events is as I predicted: “I’m predicting it [Nvidia] will beat Wall Street’s earnings estimate. That said, I think the stock’s movement will largely depend on H20 news and related Q3 guidance.”

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia’s key numbers

Data source: Nvidia. YOY = year over year. GAAP = generally accepted accounting principles. Fiscal Q2 2026 ended July 27, 2025.

Investors should focus on the adjusted numbers, which exclude one-time items.

Wall Street was looking for adjusted EPS of $1.01 on revenue of $46.13 billion, so Nvidia exceeded both expectations. It also handily beat its own guidance, which was for adjusted EPS of $0.98 on revenue of $45 billion.

For the quarter, GAAP and adjusted gross margins were 72.4% and 72.7%, respectively.

Platform performance

Data source: Nvidia. OEM = original equipment manufacturer; OEM and other is not a target-market platform. YOY = year over year. QOQ = quarter over quarter.

The data center segment’s revenue accounted for about 88% of total revenue, so it continues to drive the company’s overall performance.

The data center platform’s strong year-over-year and sequential growth was driven by “demand for our accelerated computing platform used for large-language models, recommendation engines, and generative and agentic AI applications,” Colette Kress said in her CFO commentary.

Notably, within data center, Blackwell revenue grew 17% sequentially. Blackwell is Nvidia’s graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture that is currently in full production.

The other platforms also performed very well. Auto had particularly powerful year-over-year growth. Its growth was driven by “strong adoption of our self-driving platforms,” Kress said. The driverless vehicle revolution is advancing — and Nvidia is the best driverless vehicle stock, in my view.

What the CEO had to say

CEO Jensen Huang stated in the earnings release:

Blackwell is the AI platform the world has been waiting for, delivering an exceptional generational leap — production of Blackwell Ultra is ramping at full speed, and demand is extraordinary. Nvidia NVLink rack-scale computing is revolutionary, arriving just in time as reasoning AI models drive orders-of-magnitude increases in training and inference performance. The AI race is on, and Blackwell is the platform at its center.

Guidance for the third quarter

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, which ends in late October, management expects revenue of $54 billion, which equates to growth of 54% year over year. This outlook does not assume any H20 chip sales to China.

Management also guided (albeit indirectly by providing a bunch of inputs) for adjusted EPS of $1.22, or 51% growth.

Going into the report, Wall Street had been modeling for Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.19 on revenue of $52.76 billion, so the company’s outlook beat both estimates.

A fantastic quarter and guidance

In short, Nvidia turned in a fantastic quarter and guidance. The stock’s modest decline is likely due to short-term traders and will be recovered shortly, in my opinion.

The results were particularly impressive since they did not include any sales of H20 data center AI chips to China due to the U.S. government’s export controls spanning the entire quarter. And Q3 guidance was also particularly impressive for the same reason — it assumes no H20 sales to China. So any H20 chips that are sold to China in Q3 will be icing on the cake.

Raskin started the first three games of Rangers’ season, but was left out of the starting XI for the first leg of the tie against Viktoria Plzen, which Martin’s side won 3-0 at Ibrox.

The 24-year-old was again benched for Saturday’s Premiership match against Dundee, but impressed as a substitute in the 1-1 draw.

Martin expressed his delight at how Raskin has responded to being dropped.

“He came out of the team for reasons that me and him spoke about, and his reaction has been top, like really, really brilliant,” he said.

“He’s a really fantastic player, and he’s a young man that I’m getting to know all the time, and actually I really like his character and personality.

“It’s my job to make sure, playing for this football club, whoever you are, the demands are really clear, in whatever position you play.”

Life is never dull at FC Barcelona – or ‘Can Barca’ as the club and its surrounding environment is known in Spain.

Even the sleepiest off-season Sunday can suddenly erupt into the latest melodramatic controversy, with rumours, counter-rumours and abrupt U-turns a matter of course.

This summer has been no different, with Rashford’s first fortnight at the club overshadowed by a series of sagas.

The biggest of those, centred on club captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen, looked for a while as though it would even delay Rashford’s league debut.

Ter Stegen is a Barca legend with more than 400 appearances and 17 trophies under his belt. But he has recently sustained several injuries, playing only nine games last season, and the summer signing of Joan Garcia from Espanyol strongly suggests the club is ready to shove their captain aside.

Attempts to sell him, however, were thwarted when the keeper underwent surgery on a back problem – and that also had wider ramifications.

Barca are currently barred by La Liga from registering their new signings, including Rashford and Garcia, because their troubled finances do not meet La Liga’s strict guidelines.

Selling Ter Stegen would have freed up enough salary space to do so, but his surgery made a summer sale impossible. So Barca devised another plan: de-register their captain until January.

Ter Stegen, however, refused to sign the necessary paperwork, reasoning that his injury should only sideline him until November.

Barca reacted furiously, opening disciplinary proceedings against the keeper and stripping him of the captaincy.

Ter Stegen then relented, had the captaincy restored and will spend the next few months as an unregistered player in rehab before – barring poor form or injury to his replacement Garcia – most likely being sold in January.

That should open the door for Rashford and other new signings to be registered (but take nothing for granted until the paperwork is complete), meaning he’ll be available for next Saturday’s league opener against Mallorca.

That game will be played away from home… and therein lies another summer drama.

WASHINGTON — For weeks, President Trump was promising the world economy would change on Friday with his new tariffs in place. It was an ironclad deadline, administration officials assured the public.

But when Trump signed the order Thursday night imposing new tariffs, the start date of the punishing import taxes was pushed back seven days so the tariff schedule could be updated. The change in tariffs on 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands was potentially welcome news to countries that had not yet reached a deal with the U.S. It also injected a new dose of uncertainty for consumers and businesses still wondering what’s going to happen and when.

Trump told NBC News in a Thursday night interview the tariffs process was going “very well, very smooth.” But even as the Republican president insisted these new rates would stay in place, he added: “It doesn’t mean that somebody doesn’t come along in four weeks and say we can make some kind of a deal.”

Trump has promised that his tax increases on the nearly $3 trillion in goods imported to the United States will usher in newfound wealth, launch a cavalcade of new factory jobs, reduce the budget deficits and, simply, get other countries to treat America with more respect.

The vast tariffs risk jeopardizing America’s global standing as allies feel forced into unfriendly deals. As taxes on the raw materials used by U.S. factories and basic goods, the tariffs also threaten to create new inflationary pressures and hamper economic growth — concerns the Trump White House has dismissed.

Questions swirl around the tariffs despite Trump’s eagerness

As the clock ticked toward Trump’s self-imposed deadline, few things seemed to be settled other than the president’s determination to levy the taxes he has talked about for decades. The very legality of the tariffs remains an open question as a U.S. appeals court on Thursday heard arguments on whether Trump had exceeded his authority by declaring an “emergency” under a 1977 law to charge the tariffs, allowing him to avoid congressional approval.

Trump was ebullient as much of the world awaited what he would do.

“Tariffs are making America GREAT & RICH Again,” he said Thursday morning on Truth Social.

Others saw a policy carelessly constructed by the U.S. president, one that could impose harms gradually over time that would erode America’s power and prosperity.

“The only things we’ll know for sure on Friday morning are that growth-sapping U.S. import taxes will be historically high and complex, and that, because these deals are so vague and unfinished, policy uncertainty will remain very elevated,” said Scott Lincicome, a vice president of economics at the Cato Institute. “The rest is very much TBD.”

The new tariffs build off ones announced in the spring

Trump initially imposed the Friday deadline after his previous “Liberation Day” tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic. His unusually high tariff rates announced then led to recession fears, prompting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period. When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he extended the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, prompting a slew of hasty agreements.

Swiss imports will now be taxed at a higher rate, 39%, than the 31% Trump threatened in April, while Liechtenstein saw its rate slashed from 37% to 15%. Countries not listed in the Thursday night order would be charged a baseline 10% tariff.

Trump negotiated trade frameworks over the past few weeks with the EU, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines — allowing the president to claim victories as other nations sought to limit his threat of charging even higher tariff rates. He said Thursday there were agreements with other countries, but he declined to name them.

Asked on Friday if countries were happy with the rates set by Trump, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said: “A lot of them are.”

Thursday began with a palpable sense of tension

The EU was awaiting a written agreement on its 15% tariff deal. Switzerland and Norway were among the dozens of countries that did not know what their tariff rate would be, while Trump agreed after a Thursday morning phone call to keep Mexico’s tariffs at 25% for a 90-day negotiating period. The president separately on Thursday amended an order to raise certain tariffs on Canada to 35%.

European leaders face blowback for seeming to cave to Trump, even as they insist that this is merely the start of talks and stress the importance of maintaining America’s support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has already indicated that his country can no longer rely on the U.S. as an ally, and Trump declined to talk to him on Thursday.

India, with its 25% tariff announced Wednesday by Trump, may no longer benefit as much from efforts to pivot manufacturing out of China. While the Trump administration has sought to challenge China’s manufacturing dominance, it is separately in extended trade talks with that country, which faces a 30% tariff and is charging a 10% retaliatory rate on the U.S.

Major companies came into the week warning that tariffs would begin to squeeze them financially. Ford Motor Co. said it anticipated a net $2 billion hit to earnings this year from tariffs. French skincare company Yon-Ka is warning of job freezes, scaled-back investment and rising prices.

It’s unclear whether Trump’s new tariffs will survive a legal challenge

Federal judges sounded skeptical Thursday about Trump’s use of a 1977 law to declare the long-standing U.S. trade deficit a national emergency that justifies tariffs on almost every country.

“You’re asking for an unbounded authority,” Judge Todd Hughes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit told a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration.

The judges didn’t immediately rule, and the case is expected to reach the Supreme Court eventually.

The Trump White House has pointed to the increase in federal revenues as a sign that the tariffs will reduce the budget deficit, with $127 billion in customs and duties collected so far this year — about $70 billion more than last year.

New tariffs threaten to raise inflation rates

There are not yet signs that tariffs will lead to more domestic manufacturing jobs, and Friday’s employment report showed the U.S. economy now has 37,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than it did in April.

On Thursday, one crucial measure of inflation, known as the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, showed that prices have climbed 2.6% over the 12 months that ended in June, a sign that inflation may be accelerating as the tariffs flow through the economy.

The prospect of higher inflation from the tariffs has caused the Federal Reserve to hold off on additional cuts to its benchmark rates, a point of frustration for Trump, who on Truth Social, called Fed Chair Jerome Powell a “TOTAL LOSER.”

But before Trump’s tariffs, Powell seemed to suggest that the tariffs had put the U.S. economy and much of the world into a state of unknowns.

“There are many uncertainties left to resolve,” Powell told reporters Wednesday. “So, yes, we are learning more and more. It doesn’t feel like we’re very close to the end of that process. And that’s not for us to judge, but it does — it feels like there’s much more to come.”

Boak writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

Booking tumbled in the summer months as consumers pulled back on travel expenses

American Airlines has restored its full-year outlook as broader economic uncertainty continues to weigh on domestic consumer demand across the travel industry.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier on Thursday offered a wide range for its full-year forecast on the heels of its earnings report, saying the broader economic uncertainty is hobbling consumer spending. The airline had suspended financial guidance in April.

The airline says it expects an adjusted loss per share of 20 cents a share to a profit of 80 cents a share in 2025. The midpoint of the forecast is 30 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 61 cents a share, according to LSEG data.

American, which generates more than two-thirds of its passenger revenue from the US domestic market, said that if domestic travel demand continues to strengthen, it expects to hit the top end of its outlook. But if the economy weakens, it only expects to be at the bottom end of the forecast.

“The domestic network has been under stress because of the uncertainty in the economy and the reluctance of domestic passengers to get in the game,” CEO Robert Isom told analysts on an earnings call.

American said tepid domestic travel demand affected its bookings in July. Isom, however, said the performance is expected to improve sequentially in August and September.

“We expect that July will be the low point,” he said.

The company expects its domestic unit revenue, or revenue generated from each seat, to remain lower year-over-year in the third quarter. Its non-fuel operating costs are estimated to be up as much as 4.5 percent in the September quarter.

American expects an adjusted loss per share in the range of 10 cents to 60 cents in the third quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates of a loss of 7 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company’s outlook contrasts with upbeat forecasts of rival Delta and United Airlines. Alaska Air Group has also reported improvements in passenger traffic and pricing power.

Most US airlines withdrew their financial forecasts in April as President Donald Trump’s trade war created the biggest uncertainty for the industry since the COVID-19 pandemic. While some have reinstated their expectations, there is lingering uncertainty as to how the economy will fare in an ever-evolving tariff landscape.

Demand in the domestic travel market has remained subdued, with budget travellers approaching their plans with caution, hurting carriers that primarily service the US domestic market and price-sensitive customers.

Even summer, typically the peak money-making season for airlines, is falling short this year, with unsold standard economy seats forcing carriers to cut fares.

It dented the second-quarter earnings of Southwest Airlines, the largest US domestic airline.

At American, the domestic market was the weakest in the second quarter, with its unit revenue declining 6.4 percent from a year ago. The company’s unit revenue in international markets was up, led by a 5 percent annual jump in the transatlantic market.

On Wall Street, the stock is taking a hit and was down 7.2 percent from the market open as of 11:30am in New York (15:30 GMT).

Indonesia is apparently seeking a secure position in an unstable world situation. It fosters cooperation through partnerships for this purpose. In this situation, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has recently engaged in dialogue and cooperation with world powers. Last weekend, on 6-7 July 2025, Prabowo went to the summit in the BRICS meeting. They discussed economic orientation and a few of the members’ common interests. They called an emerging power against the old power that had ruled the world for decades. Indonesia seems to join the cooperation to get a huge benefit since it is the largest economy in the world, namely China, Russia, and India. As the 10th member of BRICS, Indonesia clearly focuses on economic development through cooperation among countries.

This is not just stopping there. Just a week later, on Sunday, 13 July 2025, Prabowo met and discussed in front of journalists cooperation between Indonesia and the EU in developing Indonesia’s economy. Not only for the economy but also for geopolitical reasons. Indonesia’s effort to make agreements, dialogue, and meetings with actors who highlight global issues recently seems to secure its position.

“We found out that Indonesia’s motto is ‘unity and diversity’; one of our core sentences in the European Union is ‘united in diversity.’” Ursula von der Leyen said they share common sense.

In the EU-Indonesia joint presser to officially announce their strategic partnership in an uncertain economy and a confusing world. The partnership between them is not only for their economic interest but also as a depiction of what countries should do amid the instability and confusing situation.

Europe favors this cooperation first to strengthen the supply chain of critical raw materials, which Indonesia has abundant resources for. Europe is also seeking power for the clean and digital transition. Moreover, Europe would like to set a goal on geopolitics and security, particularly in ASEAN. Indonesia clearly says that the European Union is a significant partner for Indonesia’s economy and geopolitical stability in the global situation right now.

“Partnership between Europe and Indonesia, also being a large part of ASEAN, I think will be a very important contribution to economic and geopolitical stability in the world. We consider Europe to be very important for us. That’s why we would like to see more European presence and more European participation in our economy,” said Prabowo Subianto.

Future action of this agreement EU-Indonesia, it potentially massive investment in mining since the EU mentions critical raw materials in Indonesia. Indonesia will please welcome the EU to invest in this sector to leverage economic development. Despite this future prediction, Indonesian societies will have easier access to Europe as Ursula von der Leyen said,

“I’m pleased to announce that the European Commission has adopted a decision on a visa cascade. It means that from now on, Indonesian nationals visiting the European Union for a second time will be eligible for a multi-entry Schengen visa. This will make it easier to visit, but also to invest, to study, and to connect.”

Both of them have a beneficial partnership with a long-term goal. It seems Indonesia does not want to lose its investor and 5th market for commodities. Also, Europe does not want to lose its core country to secure its position in Southeast Asia and its supply chain of raw materials, obviously for its goal of energy transition. To secure a position in an uncertain world is one of the most important things for the EU to maintain its leadership, especially in the energy transition.

To conclude, Indonesia’s action in making cooperation with the EU one of its strategies in this uncertain world. We can see that prior to this agreement, Indonesia had met the BRICS countries in a summit with the same purpose of economic development. This action is a reflection of Indonesia’s principle of action in foreign policy, called “bebas-aktif.” Bebas means “free” in English, which is the right of Indonesia to act however they want without relying on one side; aktif means “active.” Is Indonesia actively promoting peace throughout the world? We can see Indonesia’s effort, which is one reflection of this principle.

SEOUL — As the Trump administration has been churning out trade threats this week, South Korea, a crucial trading partner and military ally, has been struggling — like many — to navigate the uncertainty that looms over trade negotiations with Washington.

On Monday, Trump sent a letter dictating new tariff rates to 14 countries including South Korea, which was hit with a 25% tax. The levies were set to kick in Tuesday, but were postponed to Aug. 1. Trump left the door open for another extension, telling reporters the new deadline was “firm but not 100% firm,” depending on what trade partners could offer.

But it’s unclear whether the additional three weeks will be enough to resolve the longstanding disagreements between Washington and Seoul. One of the biggest points of contention is South Korea’s auto industry, which was the third biggest exporter of automobiles to the U.S. last year.

Although White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump’s phone was ringing “off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal,” the tone in Seoul has been reserved.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, left, walks across the tarmac on Sunday as President Trump boards Air Force One. On Monday, Trump dictated new tariff rates to 14 countries, including a 25% tax on South Korea.

(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)

Last week, ahead of the initial July 8 deadline, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, said “it’s difficult to say for certain that we can finish [the trade talks] by July 8.”

“Both sides are doing their best and we need to come up with an outcome that can be mutually beneficial to both parties, but we still have not yet been able to clearly establish what each party wants,” he added.

Since then, senior South Korean trade officials have been dispatched to Washington with the hopes of bringing a deal within striking distance.

“It’s time to speed up the negotiations and find a landing zone,” Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said after meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday.

So far, the only two countries that have struck new trade deals with the Trump administration are the U.K. and Vietnam.

But the Lee administration has maintained a note of caution. At a high-level meeting held Tuesday to discuss the current state of the negotiations, Lee’s presidential chief of staff for policy, Kim Yong-beom, reportedly emphasized the “national interest” over speedy dealmaking, instructing officials to support tariff-affected industries and “diversify” South Korea’s export markets.

Under a decades-long free trade agreement, South Korean tariffs on most U.S. goods are already zero, meaning there are fewer concessions Seoul can offer, analysts say. And on the key points of contention such as automobiles, there is little daylight to be found.

“This announcement will send a chilling message to others,” Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Washington-based Asia Society Policy Institute and former deputy U.S. trade negotiator, said in a post on X.

Trump’s letter also suggested that the U.S. will “not be open to reprieves” from sectoral tariffs, including those on automobiles, Cutler added.

South Korean trade officials have stressed that removing or significantly reducing the 25% tariffs on cars is a top priority.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a trade letter sent by the White House to South Korea during a news conference on Monday.

(Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But South Korean cars from Hyundai and Kia factor significantly into the $66-billion trade deficit that Trump has decried as unfair. Last year, South Korea was the third biggest exporter of automobiles to the United States, to the tune of $34.7 billion. It bought $2.1 billion worth of cars from the U.S.

Until now, the country’s flagship automakers Hyundai and Kia have been able to sidestep any major tariff shocks, achieving instead record sales in the first half of the year by selling existing inventory in the U.S.

But many believe it is only a matter of time until they will have to raise vehicle sticker prices, as some competitors have done. Both companies’ operating profits are now forecasted to hit double-digit declines compared with the previous year.

The U.S. has also reportedly demanded concessions that touch on sensitive issues of food or national security in South Korea — a far harder sell to the public than the expanded manufacturing cooperation that South Korea has sought to center in the trade talks.

Among these are opening up South Korea’s rice market to U.S. imports and allowing Google to export high-precision geographic data to its servers outside of South Korea.

As an essential crop that represents a significant portion of farmers’ incomes, rice is one of the few heavily protected goods in South Korea’s trade relationships. Under its free trade agreement with the United States, Seoul imposes a 5% tariff on U.S. rice up to 132,304 tons, and 513% for anything after that.

U.S. Army soldiers attend a ceremony last month in Dongducheon, South Korea. A 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that it cost $19.2 billion to maintain American troops in South Korea from 2016 through 2019.

(Kim Jae-Hwan / SOPA Images via Getty Images)

The South Korean government has long denied Google’s requests to export high-precision geographic data — which is used for the company’s map services — on the grounds that it could reveal sensitive military sites that are essential for defense against North Korea. Last year, Ukraine accused Google of exposing the locations of some of its military systems to Russia.

Equally vexing are Trump’s long-running demands that Seoul should pay more to host the some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

“South Korea is making a lot of money, and they’re very good. They’re very good, but, you know, they should be paying for their own military,” Trump said at a White House Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, adding that he told South Korea it should pay $10 billion a year.

Over a four-year period from 2016 through 2019, the total cost of maintaining U.S. troops in South Korea was $19.2 billion, or around $4.8 billion a year, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Over that period, South Korea footed about 30% of the total annual costs, in addition to providing indirect financial support such as waived taxes or foregone rents.

Under the Special Measures Agreement, the joint framework that governs this arrangement, Seoul’s payments have grown over time. Under the latest version, which covers 2026 to 2030, Seoul’s annual contribution beginning next year will be $1.19 billion, an 8.3% increase from 2025, and will increase yearly thereafter.

Trump’s demand for nearly 10 times that — along with the threats that the U.S. might pull its troops from the country — has previously drawn widespread outrage in the country, spurring calls by some for the development of South Korea’s own nuclear arsenal.

“The Special Measures Agreement (SMA) guarantees stable conditions for U.S. troops stationed in Korea and strengthens the joint South Korea – U.S. defense posture,” a spokesperson for South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to Trump’s comments.

“Our stance is that the South Korean government will adhere to the 12th SMA, which was agreed upon and implemented in a legitimate manner.”

Jennifer Geerlings-Simons to lead the impoverished Latin American country through crisis before oil wealth arrives.

Suriname has elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as its first female president, with parliament backing the 71-year-old physician and lawmaker to lead the crisis-hit South American nation.

Her election came after a coalition deal was struck in the National Assembly, which voted by a two-thirds majority on Sunday.

The move followed inconclusive May polls and mounting pressure to replace outgoing President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, whose tenure was marred by corruption scandals and harsh austerity.

Geerlings-Simons, leader of the National Democratic Party, ran unopposed and will take office on July 16.

“I am aware that the heavy task I have taken on is further aggravated by the fact that I am the first woman to serve the country in this position,” she said after her confirmation.

She will be joined by running mate Gregory Rusland, as the pair inherit a country struggling under the weight of economic hardship, reduced subsidies, and widespread frustration. While Santokhi’s government managed to restructure debt and restore macroeconomic stability with IMF backing, it also triggered mass protests over deep cuts.

With Suriname expected to begin producing offshore oil in 2028, Geerlings-Simons has promised to focus on stabilising state finances. She has previously pledged to boost revenues by tightening tax collection, including from small-scale gold miners.

Economists warn she faces a rocky road ahead. Winston Ramautarsingh, former head of the national economists’ association, said Suriname must repay about $400m annually in debt servicing.

“Suriname does not have that money,” he said. “The previous government rescheduled the debts, but that was only a postponement.”

Geerlings-Simons will now be tasked with steering the Dutch-speaking country of 646,000 people through a fragile period, balancing public discontent with the promise of future oil wealth.

As Suriname prepares to mark 50 years since gaining independence from the Netherlands this November, the small South American country is pinning its hopes on a new era driven by oil wealth and deepening ties with China.

In 2019, it joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, becoming one of the first Latin American states to sign on to the vast infrastructure project.

Suriname is one of the continent’s poorest nations, despite its rich ethnic tapestry that includes descendants of Africans, Indigenous groups, Indians, Indonesians, Chinese, and Dutch settlers.

A Doctor Who showrunner has cast doubt on whether the beloved show will return for season 16 as they ‘don’t know what’s happening’ on the future of the show yet

As Ncuti Gatwa’s second season as The Doctor came to a close in an exciting two-part finale, a showrunner has cast more uncertainty on the future of the beloved show. The latest series saw The Doctor become trapped in a dystopian world which is controlled by the Time Lady and the future is left up in the air.

Doctor Who usually returns to the TV, no matter the amount of time between series, however, rumours about the show have cast doubt on whether it will return for season 16, as a showrunner said they ‘don’t know’ the future of the show yet.

Both the BBC and Disney will have a say in the show’s future as they made a deal which allows the show to be available on the streaming platform Disney+, making it available internationally.

Russell T Davies for Doctor Who Magazine recently shared: “We don’t know what’s happening yet, and while everyone works that out, I’ll take a pause on this page… Hopefully, we’ll have news soon”.

Disney is labelling season 16 as season three online, with a BBC spokesperson saying: “As we have previously stated, the decision on season 3 will be made after season 2 airs and any other claims are just pure speculation. The deal with Disney Plus was for 26 episodes – and we still have an entire spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, to air.”

Showrunner Russell T Davies has revealed to Radio Times that he already has ideas mapped out for up to three more seasons, demonstrating his strong commitment to keeping Doctor Who thriving. However, exactly when the series will return to our screens remains uncertain.

The lack of updates about the show’s future has left fans feeling uneasy. That said, a recent announcement offered some consolation as a new children’s series is in development for CBeebies which is set within the Doctor Who universe.

Ncuti Gatwa has concluded his time as the Fifteenth Doctor after only two seasons. The exact reasons for his departure remain unclear, but he shared a statement on Instagram alongside two costars.

He said: “Three queens of the sky. Twas an experience like no other and thank God we were by eachothers side. There aren’t quite the words for how much you both mean to me but I am so grateful I got the opportunity to work, learn from and laugh with you both everyday.

“You’re both just simply incredible and it has been nothing short of a blessing to share this journey with both of you. Ruby Sunday and Belinda Chandra will live in mine and the Whoniverse hearts forever. Also shout out to the CAPTAIN of all 15’s companions. Captain Poppy. Ultimate top dog of this season! (lil Sienna brought so much life and magic to us all on set ) I love you guys. We did it”.

Fans were sad to see him leave the iconic role as one person penned: “Best doctor since David Tennant, we wanted more time with you”, while another added: “You’ll be so missed”.

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Santa Barbara, California – Far away from US President Donald Trump’s public confrontations with elite universities like Harvard and Columbia, students at the bustling University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) are finishing up their final exams under the sunny skies shining above the nearby beach.

Despite the distance and pleasant weather, students here still feel the cloud of uncertainty hanging over them, created by Trump’s rhetoric and policies towards foreign students.

“The overall mood across the room [among international students] is that people are looking for other options,” said Denis Lomov, a 26-year-old PhD student from Russia who has been at UCSB since 2022 studying climate change politics and energy transitions.

Since coming into office this year, the Trump administration has revoked the student visas of hundreds of foreign nationals, slashed funding for science and research programmes, arrested and tried to deport foreign nationals involved in pro-Palestine campus activism, and suspended student visa appointments.

For international students at universities like UCSB, where nearly 15 percent of all students are from outside the US, the rhetoric and policies have left students wondering about their futures in the country.

“It makes you wonder if maybe you’d rather go somewhere else,” Lomov told Al Jazeera, adding that he is still several years away from completing his PhD.

Like his fellow international students, he said he has started to consider whether his skills might be more valued in places like Canada or Europe after he finishes his programme.

“I think it’s the unpredictability of these policies that makes me fear about the future, both with me being a student, but also after I graduate,” he said.

Lack of certainty

The Trump administration’s actions against universities and foreign students have met mixed results in the courts.

On Monday, in one of the Trump administration’s first significant legal victories in those efforts, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from Columbia University over the government’s cuts to the university’s federal funding, based on allegations that the university had not taken adequate steps to curb pro-Palestine activism in the name of combatting anti-Semitism on campus.

In another ruling, also on Monday, a judge extended a restraining order pausing Trump’s efforts to block incoming international students from attending Harvard as the case makes its way through the legal system. Trump has also threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and has frozen more than $2.6bn in research grants. Harvard has also filed a lawsuit challenging those cuts.

Several universities in the UC system, including UCSB, have warned international students against travelling outside of the country, a restriction that poses serious complications for their academic work and their personal lives.

“People are considering whether they’ll be able to go home and visit their families during their programme,” said Anam Mehta, a US national and PhD student at UCSB.

“They’re being extra cautious about what they post online out of concern about being questioned at the airport,” added Mehta, who is also involved with the UAW 4811 academic workers union.

These concerns, he said, could also stymie the ability of international students to conduct field work in foreign countries, a common feature of graduate research, or attend academic conferences abroad.

Some students — and even university administrators themselves — have noted that it is difficult to keep up with the raft of policy announcements, media reports, lawsuits, and counter-lawsuits that have unfolded as Trump presses his attacks on higher education.

“There have been frequent changes and a lot of these policies have been implemented very quickly and without a lot of advanced notice,” Carola Smith, an administrator at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), said, noting that prospective international students have reached out with questions about whether they are still able to study in the US.

Smith says that between 60 and 70 different national identities are represented on campus and that, in addition to international students paying higher tuition fees than US students, their presence on campus provides a welcome exposure to a wider variety of perspectives for their classmates and creates connections with people from other parts of the world.

With student visa appointments currently suspended, Smith predicted the number of foreign student enrollments could drop by as much as 50 percent in the coming year.

Shifting attitudes

The stress of keeping up with shifting developments has also been paired with a more abstract concern: that the US, once seen as a country that took pride in its status as a global destination for research and academics, has become increasingly hostile to the presence of foreign students.

“Harvard has to show us their lists [of foreign students]. They have foreign students, almost 31 percent of their students. We want to know where those students come from. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come from?” Trump said in March.

The administration has also said that international students take university spots that could go to US students, in line with a more inward-looking approach to policy that sees various forms of exchange with other countries as a drain on the US rather than a source of mutual benefit.

“They’re arguing that they don’t need international students, that this is talent they should be cultivating here at home,” says Jeffrey Rosario, an assistant professor at Loma Linda University in southern California.

“You can see a throughline between this and their tariffs abroad, based on this form of economic nationalism that says the rest of the world is ripping us off,” added Rosario, who has written about the government’s history of trying to exert influence over universities.

For Lomov, the student from Russia, the atmosphere has him wondering if his skills might find a better home elsewhere.

“I left Russia because I didn’t feel welcome there, and my expertise wasn’t really needed. That’s why I left for the United States, because I knew the United States provides amazing opportunities for academics and research,” said Lomov.

“But now it feels like maybe I’m back in the same place, where I have to leave again.”