Page 5 - United States

Why Greenland has drawn America's strategic interest for over a century

From Cold War defence pacts to Trump's annexation threats, the Arctic island has often found itself at the centre to Washington's strategic calculations

Woman shot during immigration stop sentenced for illegally entering US

A woman who was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent during a recent immigration stop in Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally entering the U.S. and was sentenced to one year of probation. Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras appeared by video from an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, for the federal court hearing in Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. She won't face time in prison but will have location monitoring and certain nighttime curfew requirements during probation. She will be able to remain out of custody in Oregon under the negotiated resolution of the case, the news outlet reported. The case was initially filed in Texas, where she was accused of illegally entering the U.S., but she waived her right to appear there for prosecution, the outlet reported. The shooting on Jan. 8, one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over agents' aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement ...

TikTok seals long-awaited deal to operate in US, averts nationwide ban

The social media company has officially established a US entity with three managing investors: Oracle Corp., private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC, and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX

Musk expects Europe, China to approve Tesla's FSD system next month

The approvals would be crucial for Tesla, which is under pressure to generate revenue from software and services and is looking to monetize FSD outside the US

US scraps multimillion-dollar solar projects in Puerto Rico amid grid woes

The administration of US President Donald Trump has cancelled solar projects in Puerto Rico worth millions of dollars, as the island struggles with chronic power outages and a crumbling electric grid. The projects were aimed at helping 30,000 low-income families in rural areas across the US territory as part of a now-fading transition toward renewable energy. In an email obtained by The Associated Press, the US Energy Department said that a push under Puerto Rico's former governor for a 100 per cent renewable future threated the reliability of its energy system. "The Puerto Rico grid cannot afford to run on more distributed solar power," the message states. "The rapid, widespread deployment of rooftop solar has created fluctuations in Puerto Rico's grid, leading to unacceptable instability and fragility." Javier Rua Jovet, public policy director for Puerto Rico's Solar and Energy Storage Association, disputed that statement in a phone interview Thursday. He said that some 200,000

Trump claims 'total access' to Greenland; NATO urges allies to step up

Trump's U-turn had triggered a rebound in European markets but also raised questions about how much damage had already been done to transatlantic ties and business confidence

Russia, US, Ukraine to meet in UAE: Zelenskyy after meeting Trump in Davos

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had a good meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that "war has to end". Replying to media queries before leaving Davos, Trump said a US delegation will be meeting Putin today or tomorrow. "I met President Zelenskyy here; the meeting was good. We (US delegation) are meeting President Putin today or tomorrow," he said. Asked what would be his message to Putin, Trump said, "The war has to end. A lot of people have been killed".

US applications for jobless benefits inch up last week to still-low 200,000

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits inched up last week but US layoffs remain historically low despite signs of a softening labour market. US filings for jobless aid for the week ending Jan 17 rose by 1,000 to 200,000, up from 199,000 the previous week, the Labour Department reported Thursday. That's fewer than the 207,000 new applications that analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting. Applications for unemployment benefits are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. The four-week average of jobless claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 3,750 to 201,500. The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Jan 10 declined by 26,000 to 1.85 million, the government said.

US economy logged 4.4% growth in third quarter, official data shows

Powered by strong consumer spending, the US economy grew at the fastest pace in two years from July through September, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its first estimate. America's gross domestic product - the nation's output of goods and services - rose at a 4.4 per cent annual pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, up from 3.8 per cent in the April-June quarter and from the 4.3 per cent growth the department initially estimated. The economy hasn't grown faster since third-quarter 2023. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 per cent of US GDP, grew at a healthy 3.5 per cent pace. A surge in exports and a drop in imports also contributed to robust third-quarter growth. The economy has remained resilient despite uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump's policies, particularly his double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on Earth. Despite the strong growth numbers, many Americans are dissatisfied with the state

Trump launches Board of Peace, says it'll work with UN on global conflicts

Trump, who will chair the Board of Peace, invited dozens of world leaders to join the initiative, arguing that it should address conflicts beyond Gaza while working alongside the United Nations

Trump says he is 'reasonably close' to deal to end Russia-Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he thinks he is 'reasonably close' to a deal on stopping the Russia-Ukraine war, though he had earlier thought it would be an easier one for him to settle in a matter of hours. He also said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be stupid if they don't end it now, and that he knows they are not stupid. Speaking here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Trump said he is good at the 'stuff (settling wars) though the United Nations should be doing it. "I hate to say, I thought that was going to be so, I settled for four plus. And I thought that was going to be one of my easier ones. Not the easiest, so settled in a matter of hours," Trump said in reply to a question on the Ukraine war. "It's got to get done. Saving a lot of lives, saving millions of lives. With Ukraine and Russia, this tremendous hatred between President Zelensky and President Putin. That's not good. That's not good for

Paper tossing, winding riffs as Trump recaps first year back in office

For more than 10 minutes, he showed off mugshots of people he said had been arrested, remarking on their alleged crimes

EU 'fully prepared' to hit back over Trump's Greenland tariffs, threats

Pointedly, von der Leyen also argued that there was no returning to the world order that Europe spent decades building with US cooperation

US won't use force to acquire Greenland, but will 'remember' a no: Trump

Trump said the United States would not use force to acquire Greenland, but added that Washington would "remember" a rejection

India 'stopped' buying oil from Russia, claims US Treasury Secretary

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed that India has "stopped" buying oil from Russia after US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on countries purchasing oil from Moscow. Trump has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including 25 per cent for its purchases of Russian oil. Speaking with Fox Business, Bessent said, "India started buying Russian oil after the (Ukraine) conflict began, but President Trump put a 25 per cent tariff on them, and India has geared down and has stopped buying Russian oil." India had described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" while maintaining that its energy policy is guided by its own national interest. A bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil. The proposal has near-unanimous backing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While speaking on the bill, Bessent said that it is a proposal that Senator Graham has in fro

India yet to decide on joining Trump's proposed Gaza Board of Peace

India is yet to take a call on US President Donald Trump's invitation to be part of the "Board of Peace" that will work towards bringing lasting peace to Gaza and possibly resolve global conflicts, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the numerous global leaders that the US President has invited to join the Board that was unveiled under the second phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Trump is set to host a ceremony on the margins of the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos on Thursday to announce the broad contours of the "Board of Peace" and its charter. It is learnt that India is considering various aspects as the initiative involves sensitive issues, people familiar with the matter said. The countries which have accepted Trump's invitation are Argentina Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates

Macron asks EU to consider trade 'bazooka' in response to US tariffs threat

Rattled by President Donald Trump's aggression towards Greenland, the European Union is readying counter-measures against the United States. But as primarily a trading bloc of 27 nations, the EU's toolkit is mostly financial instruments, from steep tariffs on US goods to the so-called "trade bazooka" touted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The term is shorthand for the bloc's Anti-Coercion Instrument, or ACI, that could sanction individuals or institutions found to be putting undue pressure on the EU. Those sanctions could inflict untold billions of dollars in costs to US companies by restricting EU market access, barring them from EU public tenders, and potentially limiting foreign direct investment and curtailing the export and import of goods and services. So far, there's little backing in the 27-nation EU to use it, with the exception of France. Macron warned in Davos on Tuesday that additional tariffs by the US could force the EU to use its anti-coercion mechanism for the

China wary of joining Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza without UN backing

China on Wednesday expressed reservations about joining US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza if it is not under the auspices of the UN, reaffirming its firm commitment to the international system with the global body at its core. China has always been committed to true multilateralism, and will firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a news briefing here. Guo was responding to a question about Trump's comments that the UN should continue to exist, but the Board of Peace he proposed "might" replace the organisation. No matter how the international situation evolves, China will firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Guo said. On Tuesday, China confirmed that it has received an invitation fr

After Trump tariff threat, Macron says Europe won't give in to bullies

While other European leaders have tried to keep a measured tone to prevent the trans-Atlantic dispute from escalating, Macron came out swinging

Trump may name next Fed chair as early as next week: US Treasury chief

Trump has sharply criticized Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends in May, for not lowering interest rates fast enough