United States

US consumer inflation rises 3.8% in April, highest since May 2023

In the 12 months through April, the CPI advanced 3.8 per cent . That was the biggest year-on-year increase since May 2023 and followed a 3.3 per cent rise in March

S California mayor resigns, will plead guilty to acting as China agent

A Southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, and has resigned from her city position, officials said Monday. Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favourable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis. City manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a news release that no city finances or staff were involved. "We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022," he said. Federal officials said she has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with

As US visa policies tighten, international students find job market tougher

And Homeland Security has indefinitely paused the processing of visa applications for people from 39 countries

Donald Trump calls Iran proposal 'stupid' amid West Asia conflict

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reiterated that Iran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon

Don't open door to Chinese cars: US industry to Trump ahead of Xi meet

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also has ruled out Chinese investments in the US autos sector

Netanyahu says Israel wants to phase out US military assistance: Report

The US currently provides Israel with $3.8 billion a year in military assistance under a 10-year agreement originally negotiated by the Obama administration that lasts through 2028

Trump admin moves to widen fertility benefit access under new rule

This measure comes at a time when the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement enthusiasts have raised concerns about the birth rate hitting record lows in US in recent years

US Judge orders release of Jeffrey Epstein's purported suicide note

A note Jeffrey Epstein's former cellmate claimed he found after the millionaire sex offender's first suspected jail suicide attempt was made public Wednesday, years after being sealed and locked in a courthouse vault as part of an unrelated legal dispute. US District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, New York, ordered the release of the note after The New York Times asked him last week to unseal it and other documents in a case involving the former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request. Few people had known about the note until Tartaglione, a former police officer serving a life sentence for killing four people, mentioned it last year on writer Jessica Reed Kraus' podcast. Tartaglione claimed he discovered the note in a book after Epstein was found on the floor of their cell at a Manhattan federal jail on July 23, 2019, with a strip of bedsheet around the financier's neck. That was about three weeks before Epstein was found dead in his cel

Major military operations against Iran over, Op Epic Fury concluded: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that major US military operations against Iran are over - but he stopped short of saying the conflict cannot be restarted. Rubio told reporters at the White House that "Operation Epic Fury" - the attack the US and Israel mounted on Iran on Feb. 28 - "is concluded" because its objectives were met. Rubio said recent clashes with Iran related to US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were "defensive in nature." "We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur," he said. "We would prefer the path of peace." He said Iran must agree to President Donald Trump's demands on its nuclear program and reopen the strait, a waterway vital to global oil and gas supplies. US forces pressed ahead with an effort to guide commercial ships through the strait, but so far only two vessels are known to have passed through. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US prefers a peaceful effort to guide vessels out of the Persian Gulf but is ready to ac

Hegseth, Caine say US-Iran ceasefire is not over despite fresh attacks

US forces launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, with the first two ships, both American-flagged merchant vessels, sailing through unscathed. Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said the safety corridor in the key waterway for oil and gas transport involves guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the forces prefer a peaceful effort to "guide" the more than 22,500 mariners stuck on more than 1,550 vessels out of the Persian Gulf, but are ready if needs change. "This is a temporary mission for us," Hegseth said. "We expect the world to step up." Iran has denounced the move as a ceasefire violation. It is unclear what will follow. The US Central Command said Iran earlier launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at civilian ships under the US military's protection, and that US helicopters sank six small boats involved in the attacks. It denied Iranian ...

White House says Trump's drug pricing deals could save $529 billion

White House economists estimate that President Donald Trump's deals with pharmaceutical companies to drop some of their US prescription drug prices to what they charge in other countries could save USD 529 billion over the next 10 years. The analysis obtained by The Associated Press includes the first economy-wide projections behind a policy at the core of Trump's pitch to voters going into November's midterm elections for control of the House and Senate. Democratic lawmakers have been doubtful about the savings claimed by Trump and these new numbers are likely to trigger additional questions about the data. Cost-of-living issues are at the forefront of voters' concerns and higher energy prices tied to the Iran war have deepened the public's anxiety. Trump has tried in part to address affordability concerns by focusing on his efforts to cut deals with companies so that the cost of prescription drugs in the US would no longer be dramatically higher than in other affluent nations. "

China invokes anti-sanctions law over US blacklisting of oil firms

Under the law, introduced in 2021 and most recently revised in April, China can impose countermeasures on companies and individuals, including trade and investment curbs and entry and exit restriction

United Airlines flight hits pole on highway before landing at Newark

United Flight 169 from Venice, Italy, hit a pole on the New Jersey Turnpike around 2 pm local time Sunday before touching down

US troop cut underlines European defence responsibility: German minister

In response to heavy criticism from Washington over defence spending, European ‌Nato members, including Germany, have pledged to ‌take on more responsibility for their own ‌defence

Bard College Prez to retire after scrutiny of relationship with Epstein

The longtime president of Bard College announced his retirement Friday, months after it was revealed that he had a much deeper relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than was previously known. Leon Botstein, who has been president of the small, liberal arts college in New York for a half century, will retire at the end of June, he wrote in an email provided to The Associated Press by Bard. In the note, Botstein, 79, didn't mention the scrutiny of his ties to Epstein, except to say that he had waited to announce his retirement publicly until the completion of an independent review of his relationship with the notorious sex offender. He said he would remain on Bard's faculty as a teacher and musician. Botstein was not accused of any involvement in Epstein's exploitation and abuse of girls and women. But he was among a long list of prominent and notable men and women who maintained friendly relationships with him for years, despite his status as a convicted sex offender. A trove of docume

Pentagon claims US blockade has cost Iran nearly $4.8 bn in oil revenue

The Department of War assessment suggests Iran has been denied close to $5 billion in oil earnings due to disruptions linked to US enforcement operations in the region

US jobless claims fall to decades low as layoffs stay largely subdued

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, dropped to 1.79 million in the previous week, the lowest in two years

The return of Section 301: How Washington's next trade lever may test India

The US government has revived Section 301 investigations into India over excess capacity and forced labour concerns, raising risks of tariffs and tighter compliance for key export sectors

US Q1 GDP growth rises 2% as Iran war clouds outlook, fuels inflation

Gross domestic product increased at a 2.0 per cent annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its advance GDP estimate on Thursday