USA

Trump Says 'Pretty Much' Finalized Trade Deal With S. Korea

US President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that a trade deal had been reached with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung, before adding later the agreement was "pretty much" finalized. "We did," Trump told journalists when asked if a deal had been reached, without giving further details. "We reached a deal. We did a lot of different things. ...

Key Issues up for Discussion at Trump-Xi Meet

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to meet Thursday for the first time since 2019. Washington and Beijing have been locked in a multipronged trade spat since Trump returned to the White House and are tussling for global sway. Here are the key issues the two leaders could discuss: Rare earths A strategic ...

Copper Price Hits Record High on US-China Hopes of Trade Truce

The price of copper reached a record high in trading Wednesday, the industrial metal boosted by hopes of a truce in the US-China trade war. Copper hit $11,143 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, also on concerns about tight global supply as a major mine in Indonesia remains shut following a deadly mudslide last month. The new high beat the ...

As US Blows Up Drug Boats, Venezuelan Oil Sets Sail

While the American military blows up boats it claims are transporting drugs from Venezuela, observers say tankers shipping Venezuelan oil in violation of a US embargo continue to navigate the very same Caribbean waters undisturbed. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed a massive US military deployment within striking distance of his ...

Hurricane Melissa Makes Landfall in Cuba After Roaring Across Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa picked up strength as it bore down on Cuba, where it made landfall Wednesday after ripping a path of destruction through Jamaica as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record there, lashing the island nation with brutal winds and torrential rain. The monster storm was still 110 miles (175 kilometers) away from Guantanamo late ...

Trump Says 'Timing' Didn't Work Out to Meet N. Korea's Kim

Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not able to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the US president's visit to the South, ending fierce speculation over a possible summit. Trump had said he would "love to meet" Kim during his Asia trip, which would have been their first meeting since the US leader's previous term in ...

Lebanese Insurers Approach Syrian Market with Caution

Lebanese insurance companies have long been active in the Syrian market, establishing a presence decades ago when Hafez al-Assad’s regime opened the door to private sector activity. However, international sanctions forced most to withdraw, as the market became too risky. Today, any move to re-enter Syria is considered premature, according to a ...

US Strike on Alleged Drug Boats in the Pacific

The Mexican Navy on Tuesday confirmed it was carrying out a rescue operation after US strikes on four alleged drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean that left one survivor. The Navy said that the operation was taking place more than 400 miles (645 km) southwest of the port of Acapulco and was carried out at the request of the US Coast ...

Musk Launches Grokipedia to Rival 'Left-Biased' Wikipedia

Elon Musk's company xAI launched Grokipedia on Monday to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he has accused of ideological bias. The site dubbed version 0.1 had more than 885,000 articles by Monday evening, compared to Wikipedia's more than seven million in English. The launch came with the promise of a newer version, 1.0, which ...

Asia Stocks Surge on US-China Trade Deal Breakthrough

Asian equities surged Monday as investors cheered a breakthrough in US-China trade talks that set the stage for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize a deal, averting an escalation in the world's biggest trade dispute. Markets rallied after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the threat of the US president imposing an additional ...