Donald Trump

Pandemic Treaty Talks Inch Towards Accord

Countries hope more than three years of negotiations on battling future pandemics will finally end Tuesday, after reaching a preliminary agreement last week. It has been more than five years since the Covid-19 pandemic began, killing millions of people and devastating economies. Experts say an accord has become even more crucial with new health ...

Trump Envoy Says Putin Open to 'Permanent Peace' Deal with Ukraine

US President Donald Trump's special envoy said Monday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was open to a "permanent peace" deal with Ukraine, following talks seeking to end the more than three-year war. Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated ...

Iran's Top Diplomat to Visit Russia after US Nuclear Talks

  Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of a new round of talks planned between the foes. On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman -- the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear accord ...

From Taif to Oman: The Long Road to State Sovereignty in Lebanon

For the past 34 years, Hezbollah’s weapons have remained a central point of contention both domestically and internationally. On September 30, 1989, Lebanon’s political factions convened in Taif, Saudi Arabia, and signed the National Accord, known as the Taif agreement, to end the devastating 15-year civil war. One of the key provisions ...

Harvard Sees $2.2 Billion in Funding Frozen After Defying Trump

Elite US university Harvard was hit with a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funding Monday after rejecting a list of sweeping demands that the White House said was intended to crack down on campus anti-Semitism. The call for changes to its governance, hiring practices and admissions procedures expands on a list Harvard received on April 3, which ...

US Opens Door to Tariffs on Pharma, Semiconductors

The United States opened the door Monday to tariffs targeting high-end technology and pharmaceuticals, feeding the uncertainty gripping the global economy in a trade war that Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned can have "no winner." After weeks of indications such a move was coming, the US Commerce secretary formally announced ...

Ukraine-US Hold 'Constructive' Talks on Minerals Deal

Talks last week between the United States and Ukraine on a proposed minerals deal were "constructive," a senior official familiar with the discussions told AFP on Monday. "The meeting was normal, no problems; everyone says that they talked constructively," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, after a meeting in Washington on ...

European Stocks Jump Over 2% After Tech Tariff Exemptions

European stock markets rose sharply Monday after the United States announced exemptions from sweeping tariffs for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products, tempering trade war fears. Despite US President Donald Trump suggesting that the exemptions could be short-lived, European stocks rallied around two percent at the ...

Trump Says no One 'Off the Hook' on Tariffs but Markets Rise

Markets on Monday welcomed a US tariffs reprieve for electronics, but President Donald Trump warned no country would get "off the hook" in his trade war -- especially China. The world's two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted ...

Meta Faces Landmark US Antitrust Trial

Social media juggernaut Meta stands trial on Monday facing serious US government allegations that it abused its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors. By moving forward, the trial in a Washington federal court dashes the hopes of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg that the return of Donald Trump to the White ...

Chinese exports soared in March ahead of Trump's 'Liberation Day'

Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month, according to data Monday, beating expectations as businesses rushed to get ahead of swingeing tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on his so-called "Liberation Day". Beijing and Washington have been locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a ...