Tag: All Regions

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Aug 5 said he believes that banks discriminate against him and his supporters, adding that Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase had previously refused to accept his deposits. They totally discriminate against, I think, me maybe even more, but they discriminate against many conservatives,” he told CNBC in an interview. “I think the word might be Trump supporters more than conservatives.” Mr Trump made the comments when asked about a report by the…

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly leading a coup attempt after losing the 2022 election. The court’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order, saying in his decision that Bolsonaro had violated the precautionary measures imposed on him by posting content on his son’s social media channels. In formally charging Bolsonaro earlier this year, Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet accused the former president of heading a criminal organization that allegedly plotted to overturn…

WASHINGTON – US Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury probe into allegations that members of Democratic former President Barack Obama’s administration manufactured intelligence on Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a source familiar with the matter said on Aug 4. The Justice Department (DOJ) said late in July that it was forming a strike force to assess claims made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about “alleged weaponisation of the US intelligence…

It comes after union members at operations in Missouri and Illinois, who build F-15 fighter jets and other military aircraft, voted against the firm’s latest offer over pay, work schedules and pensions. “We’re disappointed our employees rejected an offer that featured 40% average wage growth”, Dan Gillian, who is the vice president of Boeing’s Air Dominance unit, said in a statement. Boeing is struggling to turn itself around after a series of problems, including safety issues and a damaging almost eight-week…

ROME – Italian police arrested 13 people following a nationwide sweep against Chinese mafia groups, on charges including involvement in crimes such as drug dealing, sex trafficking and aggravated robbery, they said on Aug 4. Raids were conducted in 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato and Catania, anti-organised crime police official Andrea Olivadese said. Police reported a further 31 people to judicial authorities without arresting them, and seized 550 grams or around 5,500 doses of “shabu” crystal methamphetamines, and…

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance’s security detail had an Ohio river’s water level raised last week to accommodate a kayaking trip he and his family took to celebrate his 41st birthday on Aug. 2. The U.S. Secret Service said it requested the increased waterflow for the Little Miami River, first reported by The Guardian, to ensure motorized watercraft and emergency personnel “could operate safely” while protecting the Republican vice-president, whose home is in Cincinnati. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said…

ROME/BRUSSELS – Europe’s top court on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the “safe countries” list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania and fast-track their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key plank of the government’s migration policy. Conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office, in a statement, called the court ruling “surprising” and said it “weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration and defend national borders”. Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum-seekers in…

BRUSSELS – European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on critical scientific data the United States historically made freely available to the world, and are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes, according to Reuters interviews. The effort – which has not been previously reported – marks the most concrete response from the European Union and other European governments so far to the US government’s retreat from scientific research under President Donald…

Four flight attendants on the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 plane hit by a mid-air cabin panel blowout in January 2024 are suing Boeing for physical and psychological injuries, the Seattle Times said on July 31. In separate lawsuits seeking compensation for past and future economic damages, they cited physical and mental injuries, emotional distress and other financial costs related to the incident, the newspaper added. “Each of the four flight attendants acted courageously, following their training and putting their…

On July 26, Taiwanese citizens went to the polls and voted on whether to recall 24 of their 113 representatives—or 21 percent of the legislature. It was an unprecedented moment in the island’s democratic history. Citizens have recalled individual Taiwanese legislators in the past, but never before have they attempted to recall politicians en masse. The recalls were ultimately defeated. But their very occurrence, and the months of campaigning that preceded them, highlight a fundamental challenge in Taiwan’s politics: deep…

BRASILIA – Brazilian banks are scrambling to assess the domestic fallout from sweeping U.S. sanctions against a Supreme Court justice who oversees a criminal trial against an ally of President Donald Trump, as legal teams weigh how the move to isolate the judge financially could ripple through Brazil’s financial system. Justice Alexandre de Moraes is presiding over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who is accused of plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral loss….

US President Donald Trump intensified his trade war with Canada a day ahead of his Aug 1 deadline for a tariff agreement, saying it would be “very hard” to make a deal with Canada after it gave its support to Palestinian statehood. Mr Trump is set to impose a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement if the two countries do not reach an agreement by the deadline. “Wow! Canada has just announced…

KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy restored the independence of Ukraine’s two main anti-corruption agencies on Thursday, moving to defuse a political crisis that has shaken faith in his wartime leadership and worried Western partners. Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by Zelenskiy’s ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies. Zelenskiy reversed course after the outcry, under pressure from top European officials,…

RHODE ISLAND – Brown University, besieged by the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the country’s most elite schools, struck a deal with the government on July 30, becoming the third Ivy League university in a month to reach an agreement with the White House. The agreement, a copy of which Brown made public, calls for the university to make US$50 million (S$64 million) in payments to state workforce development programmes over a decade and requires Brown to comply with the…

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA – President Donald Trump ordered massive tariffs on Brazil July 30 and sanctions against the judge overseeing a trial of his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup in Latin America’s biggest economy. The announcement of 50 per cent tariffs saw Mr Trump make good on his threat to wield US economic might to punish Brazil – and its Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, in particular – for what he has termed a…

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Wednesday on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels, in a sign the Trump administration is doubling down on its “maximum pressure” campaign after bombing Tehran’s key nuclear sites in June. The sanctions broadly target the shipping interests of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who is himself an adviser to Supreme Leader Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The U.S. Treasury described the move as the most significant…