Trump grants one-month exemption for US automakers from new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers, as worries persist that the newly launched trade war could crush domestic manufacturing.
The pause comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, on Wednesday, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Asked if 30 days was enough for the auto sector to prepare for the new taxes, Leavitt said Trump was blunt with the automakers seeking an exemption: “He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff.”
Trump had long promised to impose tariffs, but his opening weeks in the White House involved aggressive threats and surprise suspensions, leaving allies unclear at what the U.S. president is actually trying to achieve.
Based off various Trump administration statements, the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China imposed on Tuesday are about stopping illegal immigration, blocking fentanyl smuggling, closing the trade gap, balancing the federal budget and other nations showing more respect for Trump.
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Divided Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid, but it was not clear how quickly money might start flowing.
By a 5-4 vote, the court rejected an emergency appeal from the Republican administration, while also telling U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the quick release of nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.
It was the second time the new administration had sought and failed to persuade the conservative-led court with three appointees of President Donald Trump to rein in a federal judge who put the brakes on executive action taken by Trump.
Although the outcome is a short-term loss for the administration, the nonprofit groups and businesses that sued are still waiting for the money they say they are owed. Organizations in the U.S. and around the world have cut services and laid off thousands of workers as a result.
HIAS, one of the nonprofit groups in the case, said it was encouraged to see the Trump administration held accountable, but said it regretted "the irreparable damage that the Trump administration has already inflicted on our staff, the people we serve, and the reputation of the United States as a leader and a reliable partner.”
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China's premier and the American president: Two leaders, two speeches, two differing world visions
BEIJING (AP) — Their words came just an hour apart this week — two major speeches by two of the world's most powerful leaders, delivered on opposite sides of the planet. Together, they illustrate the very different approaches the world's 21st-century powers are taking to achieve their respective national ambitions.
For China, it was a call for unity to overcome obstacles through innovation and “opening up” — a time-honored phrase in Chinese politics — to eventually accomplish national rejuvenation. It came from Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing as he delivered an annual work report to the National People’s Congress, nearly 3,000 representatives from a nation of 1.4 billion people.
Seven thousand miles away and an hour later, at 9 p.m. in Washington, President Donald Trump addressed both chambers of the U.S. Congress, more than 500 lawmakers representing a nation of 340 million, as he vowed to levy tariffs on imports and defeat inflation to "make America great again" — an equally resonant phrase for many in the United States.
From setting to speaking style, the speeches were an ocean apart. Yet they struck a similar tone — that of a desire for greatness at a moment when the reigning superpower and its biggest challenger are seeing their interests increasingly at odds.
The paths their leaders choose will shape both countries' futures — and the rest of the world's, too.
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Trump issues 'last warning' to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza, directing a sharply worded message after the White House confirmed that he had recently dispatched an envoy for unprecedented direct talks with the militant group.
Trump, in a statement on his Truth Social platform soon after meeting at the White House with eight former hostages, added that he was “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job.”
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” Trump said. “Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
The pointed language from Trump came after the White House said Wednesday that U.S. officials have engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held U.S. policy of not directly engaging in the militant group.
Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha come as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance. It’s the first known direct engagement between the U.S. and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
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Vance promotes Trump's 'whole government' immigration crackdown during visit to US-Mexico border
EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Vice President JD Vance visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday and said that arrests for illegal crossings had fallen sharply because President Donald Trump is demanding that all of government prioritize the issue in ways his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, never did.
Vance was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, as he took a helicopter tour of the area around Eagle Pass, Texas, around 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. They also visited a Border Patrol facility and sat for a roundtable with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and national, state and local officials.
Vance pointed to arrests for illegal border crossings plummeting 39% in January from a month earlier. The numbers have actually been falling sharply since well before Republican Trump took office for his second term on Jan. 20, coming down from an all-time high of 250,000 in December 2023. After that, Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders and Biden introduced severe asylum restrictions early last summer.
“President Trump has empowered — and in fact demanded — that his whole government take the task of border control seriously,” Vance said.
In an effort to impose harder-line immigration policies, the Trump administration has put shackled immigrants on U.S. military planes for deportation fights and sent some to the U.S. lockup at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It has also expanded federal agents’ arrests of people in the U.S. illegally and abandoned programs that gave some permission to stay.
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US charges Chinese hackers, government officials in broad cybercrime campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve Chinese nationals, including mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers and employees of a private hacking company, have been charged in connection with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
A set of criminal cases filed in New York and Washington add new detail to what U.S. officials say is a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing in an arrangement meant to provide Chinese state security forces cover and deniability.
The indictments come as the U.S. government has warned of an increasingly sophisticated cyber threat from China, including a hack last year of telecom firms called Salt Typhoon that gave Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, including U.S. government officials and prominent public figures.
One indictment charges eight leaders and employees of a private hacking company known as I-Soon with conducting a sweeping array of computer breaches around the world meant to suppress speech, locate dissidents and steal data from victims. Among those charged is Wu Haibo, who founded I-Soon in Shanghai in 2010 and was a member of China's first hacktivist group, Green Army, and who is accused in the indictment of overseeing and directing hacking operations.
Earlier AP reporting on leaked documents from I-Soon mainly showed I-Soon was targeting a wide range of governments such as India, Taiwan or Mongolia, but little on the United States.
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Things to know about avalanches, what causes them and how to stay safe
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Three skiers are believed dead after an avalanche swept them away and buried them under a pile of snow nearly 10 stories deep in the Alaska backcountry.
Each winter about 25 people on average die in avalanches in the U.S., with most occurring in the wilderness, according to the National Avalanche Center. They are rare at ski resorts, which manage their slopes and trigger smaller slides on purpose when no visitors are around.
Here’s a look at avalanches, how they occur and some tips on how to stay safe:
The heli-skiers are believed to be dead after being swept away and buried Tuesday afternoon near the skiing community of Girdwood, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Anchorage. Heli-skiing is a type of backcountry skiing that involves using a helicopter to access remote areas and slopes of fresh snow.
If the three men's deaths are confirmed, it would be the deadliest in the country since three climbers were killed in Washington’s Cascade Mountains in 2023.
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Scientists raise concerns as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide
NEW DELHI (AP) — The U.S. government will stop sharing air quality data gathered from its embassies and consulates, worrying local scientists and experts who say the effort was vital to monitor global air quality and improve public health.
In response to an inquiry from The Associated Press, the State Department said Wednesday that its air quality monitoring program would no longer transmit air pollution data from embassies and consulates to the Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow app and other platforms, which allowed locals in various countries, along with scientists around the globe, to see and analyze air quality in cities around the world.
The stop in sharing data was “due to funding constraints that have caused the Department to turn off the underlying network” read the statement, which added that embassies and consulates were directed to keep their monitors running and the sharing of data could resume in the future if funded was restored. The fiscal cut, first reported by the New York Times, is one of many under President Donald Trump, whose administration has been deprioritizing environmental and climate initiatives.
The U.S. air quality monitors measured dangerous fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and lead to respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and premature death. The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution kills around 7 million people each year.
News of the data sharing being cut prompted immediate reaction from scientists who said the data were reliable, allowed for air quality monitoring around the world and helped prompt governments to clean up the air.
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An Okinawan bone digger searches for remains from one of the fiercest battles of World War II
ITOMAN, Japan (AP) — Takamatsu Gushiken turns on a headtorch and enters a cave buried in Okinawa's jungle. He gently runs his fingers through the gravel until two pieces of bone emerge. These are from the skulls, he says, of an infant and possibly an adult.
He carefully places them in a ceramic rice bowl and takes a moment to imagine people dying 80 years ago as they hid in this cave during one of the fiercest battles of World War II. His hope is that the dead can be reunited with their families.
The remains of some 1,400 people found on Okinawa sit in storage for possible identification with DNA testing. So far just six have been identified and returned to their families. Volunteer bone hunters and families looking for their loved ones say the government should do more to help.
Gushiken says the bones are silent witnesses to Okinawa’s wartime tragedy, carrying a warning to the present generation as Japan ups its defense spending in the face of tensions with China over territorial disputes and Beijing's claim to the nearby self-governing island Taiwan.
“The best way to honor the war dead is never to allow another war,” Gushiken says. “I'm worried about Okinawa's situation now. ... I'm afraid there is a growing risk that Okinawa may become a battlefield again.”
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Alex Ovechkin gets 885th career goal to move nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky's NHL record
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 885th career goal midway through the third period of the Washington Capitals' game against New York Rangers on Wednesday night, moving nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky's NHL record.
The Capitals' captain scored as he knocked in a loose puck from the left side with 9:32 left in the third period to tie the score 2-2. Ovechkin now has 46 goals in 76 career games against the Rangers.
Ovechkin has 32 goals in 46 games this season. He had 15 goals in his first 18 games, then missed 16 games with a fractured left fibula. He returned Dec. 28 and has scored 17 in 28 games since.
The Russian star is on pace to break Gretzky’s mark of 894 that had long seemed unapproachable in early April, long before the regular season is over.
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