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US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would increase tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union to 25%, saying the bloc had not complied with its trade deal with Washington.”Based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the US,” he wrote in a social media post.”It is fully understood and agreed that, if they produce Cars and Trucks in USA. Plants, there will be NO TARIFF.”Trump told reporters at the White House the higher tariff would force European car makers to move their factory production to the US more quickly.”We have a trade deal with the European Union. They were not adhering to it. So I raised the tariffs on cars and trucks to 25%, that’s billions of dollars coming into the US, and it forces them to move their factory production much faster.”SLOW IMPLEMENTATIONThe Trump administration last year imposed a 25% tariff on global automotive imports under a national security trade law, but reached a deal with the EU in August to lower those duties to a net 15%, inclusive of prior duties.In exchange, the EU agreed to eliminate duties on US industrial goods, including autos, and accept US safety and emissions standards on vehicles.Although EU lawmakers advanced legislation in March to implement the tariff reductions, the process is not expected to be completed before June, as EU governments and the European Parliament negotiate final texts.”President Trump’s behavior is unacceptable,” Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, told Reuters.”This latest move demonstrates just how unreliable the US side is. We have already witnessed these arbitrary attacks from the US in the case of Greenland; this is no way to treat close partners. Now we can only respond with the utmost clarity and firmness, drawing on the strength of our position,” Lange said.But a Trump administration official, asked to explain Trump’s move, said: “The EU has not complied with the autos deal after eight months.”Shares of Ford Motor fell 2% after Trump’s announcement, while those of Stellantis were down 1.7%. General Motors shares dropped 1.1%.Ryan Majerus, a former senior US Commerce Department official who is now a partner with King & Spalding, said the president’s move also may be related to Trump’s frustration that some European countries had balked at supporting the US-Israeli war against Iran.”This is not going to sit well in the EU, and I’m not sure the administration cares, because they’re so incredibly antagonistic toward the EU,” Majerus said. Related Story Source link
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he was ‘not satisfied’ with a new Iranian negotiating proposal, with peace talks between the two sides frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire. Iran delivered the text of the proposal to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported, without offering details as to its contents.’At this moment I'm not satisfied with what they're offering,’ Trump told reporters, laying blame for the stalled talks with Iran due to ‘tremendous discord’ within its leadership. ‘Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the options,’ he said when asked about next steps, adding he would ‘prefer not’ to take the first option ‘on a human basis’.The war, launched by the United States and Israel with a wave of surprise strikes on February 28, has been on hold since April 8, but only one failed round of direct talks has taken place between Iranian and US representatives. In the meantime, Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off vast amounts of oil, gas and fertiliser from the world economy, while the US has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports. Despite the failure to negotiate an end to the war, the ceasefire has held. On Friday, Iranian judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said ‘the Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations’.But he added in a video shared by the judiciary's Mizan Online website, ‘we certainly do not accept imposition’ — though Tehran did not want a return to war.The White House has declined to comment on the details of the new Iranian proposal. But the news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this week had submitted amendments to a previous proposal seeking to reinject the issue of Tehran's nuclear programme into the negotiations. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Axios said they included a demand that Iran not try to move enriched uranium out of sites bombed during a brief war last year, or resume any activity there while talks continue.Optimism after news of the Iranian proposal sent oil prices falling by nearly five percent for US benchmark West Texas Intermediate. However, prices are still roughly 50% above their prewar levels as traders confront the prolonged closure of Hormuz. Source link
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum gestures as she speaks during her daily press conference at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City Thursday. (AFP) Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that unless the US government presents “clear evidence” linking Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha to drug cartels, the charges announced against him on Wednesday are politically motivated. “We are not going to protect anyone who has committed a crime,” Sheinbaum said at her regular morning press conference, referring to the US Justice Department’s indictment against Rocha and other Mexican current and former officials for conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel. “However, if there isn’t clear evidence, it is obvious that the objective of these indictments by the Department of Justice is political,” Sheinbaum added, saying that Mexico would not permit interference by a foreign government in its sovereign affairs. The charges against Rocha mark a new front in the US fight against cartels. While the US has repeatedly gone after drug kingpins, US indictments against sitting senior Mexican politicians are rare. Rocha’s indictment poses a problem for Sheinbaum, particularly because they are both from the same ruling Morena Party. Rocha is also an ally of Sheinbaum’s predecessor and mentor, former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Rocha has denied the charges and said they were an attack against Mexico’s governing political movement. “They lack any truth or foundation whatsoever,” he said in a post on X, vowing they would be proven false. According to the US indictment, Rocha was elected as governor of Sinaloa in 2021 with the help of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel run by the sons of founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, known as “Los Chapitos.” The Chapitos allegedly kidnapped and intimidated Rocha’s political rivals, the Justice Department said, in exchange for Rocha’s promise to allow the group to operate with impunity and distribute drugs to the US. The others charged by the US Justice Department include current and former state-level officials as well as the mayor and an ex-police commander for Culiacan, the Sinaloa state capital. “These politicians and law enforcement officials have abused their authority in support of the cartel, exposed and subjected victims to threats and violence, and sold out their offices in exchange for massive bribes,” according to the indictment. Sheinbaum stressed that due process would have to be followed in Mexico. “There has to be overwhelming evidence for an arrest warrant to be issued,” she said, referring to carrying out the US extradition requests that accompanied the indictment. The Mexican president said she had spoken to Rocha on Wednesday, telling him: “If there is nothing, there is nothing to fear.” Related Story Source…
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters after passage of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, Thursday at the US Capitol…
The war against Iran has cost the United States $25bn since it was launched in late February, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday. “We’re spending about $25bn on Operation Epic Fury. Most of that is in munitions,” acting Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers, using the official name for US operation. Related Story Source link
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the country’s “constructive” diplomatic engagement to support de-escalation between the United States and Iran has continued, with sustained efforts aimed at facilitating a ceasefire.Ongoing contacts maintained with both Washington and Tehran over the past two weeksIslamabad reiterates commitment to regional stability and international peaceEmphasis on dialogue and principled diplomacy to address complex geopolitical challengesHe added that, under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, communication channels with all relevant parties have remained open as part of Pakistan’s mediation approach. Source link
Twenty-four people, including two firefighters, suffering from breathlessness, were taken to the hospital after a chlorine gas leak in the Kondhwa area, western India.Local authorities stated that the leak originated from an abandoned tank containing chlorine at a defunct water purification plant.They added that those affected were taken to the hospital for treatment after inhaling the gas. Source link
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar discussed in a phone call Thursday with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper the latest regional developments.Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining constructive engagement to support stability and peace in the region and beyond, Pakistani news agency reported. Source link
Seven people were rescued and 17 bodies recovered after a boat broke down off Libya’s eastern coast and was stranded at sea for eight days, the Libyan Red Crescent said.In a statement, the organization said the operation was carried out in coordination with naval units and the Coast Guard in the city of Tobruk.The statement added that necessary legal procedures are underway, including the transfer of the bodies in coordination with local authorities and criminal investigation departments. It also noted that humanitarian assistance and medical care are being provided to survivors in cooperation with international organizations.Libya remains a major transit hub for irregular migrants due to its proximity to Europe and its long Mediterranean coastline. Source link
A woman visits a makeshift memorial on the steps of the town hall in the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, (Reuters/File Photo) Family members of victims of one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in US court Wednesday, alleging the company identified the shooter as a credible threat eight months before the attack but did not warn police. The lawsuits, filed in federal court in San Francisco, accuse OpenAI leaders of not alerting police because it would have exposed the volume of violence-related conversations on ChatGPT and potentially jeopardised the company’s path to a nearly $1 trillion initial public offering. The February shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia left nine people dead, many of them children. An OpenAI spokesperson called the shooting “a tragedy” and said the company has a zero-tolerance policy for using its tools to assist in committing violence. “As we shared with Canadian officials, we have already strengthened our safeguards, including improving how ChatGPT responds to signs of distress, connecting people with local support and mental health resources, strengthening how we assess and escalate potential threats of violence, and improving detection of repeat policy violators,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The cases are part of a growing wave of lawsuits accusing artificial intelligence companies of failing to prevent chatbot interactions that plaintiffs say contribute to self-harm, mental illness and violence. They appear to be the first in the US to allege that ChatGPT played a role in facilitating a mass shooting. Jay Edelson, who is representing the plaintiffs, said he plans to file another two dozen lawsuits in the coming weeks against the company on behalf of other people impacted by the shooting. Jesse Van Rootselaar, whose interactions with ChatGPT are at the center of the lawsuits, shot her mother and stepbrother at home before killing an educational assistant and five students aged 12 to 13 at her former school on February 10, according to police. Van Rootselaar, who was 18, then died by suicide. The plaintiffs include relatives of those killed at the school and a 12-year-old girl who survived after being shot three times but remains in intensive care. According to one of the complaints, OpenAI’s automated systems in June 2025 flagged ChatGPT conversations in which the shooter described gun violence scenarios. Safety team members recommended contacting the police after concluding she posed a credible and imminent threat of harm, said the complaint, which cites a Wall Street Journal article from February about the company’s internal discussions. But Altman and other OpenAI leadership overruled the safety team and police were never called, the lawsuit alleges. The shooter’s account was deactivated, but she was able to get a new account and continue using the platform to plan her attack, the lawsuit claims. Following the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, the company said the account was flagged by systems that identify “misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities” but the issues did not meet its internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement. Last week, a local Tumbler Ridge newspaper published an open letter in which Altman said he was “deeply sorry” the account was not flagged to law enforcement. In a blog published Tuesday, OpenAI said it trains its models to refuse requests that could “meaningfully enable violence,” and notifies law enforcement when conversations suggest “an imminent and credible risk of harm to others,” with mental health experts helping assess borderline cases. The company said it continually refines its models and detection methods based on usage. The lawsuits seek an unspecified amount of damages and a court order requiring OpenAI to overhaul its safety practices, including mandatory law enforcement referral protocols. One of the victims originally filed her lawsuit in Canadian court but dismissed it to pursue her claims in California, Edelson said. The lawsuits over the Tumbler Ridge shooting come after multiple lawsuits against OpenAI have been filed in US state and federal court in recent months over claims ChatGPT facilitated harmful behavior, suicide, and, in at least one case, a murder-suicide. The lawsuits, which are still in early phases, will force courts to grapple with what role an AI platform can play in promoting violence and whether the company can be held liable for its actions or the actions of its users. OpenAI has denied the claims in the lawsuits, arguing in the murder-suicide case that the perpetrator had a long history of mental illness. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced earlier this month a criminal investigation into ChatGPT’s role in a 2025 shooting at Florida State University. Related Story…