Donald Trump booed, cheered at Kennedy Centre premiere of Les Miserables amid boycott
Cheers and boos met US President Donald Trump as he attended a performance of Les Miserables at Washington's premier cultural institution, which he has effectively seized control of since returning to power in January.
Trump's appearance at the opening night of the hit musical Les Miserables at the
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RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Israel launches 'preemptive strikes' against Iran,
By Helen Regan and Lauren Izso , CNN Photo: 123RF Israel carried out "preemptive" strikes against Iran on Friday, targeting its nuclear plant and military sites, after US President Donald Trump warned of a possible "massive conflict" in the region. Explosions were heard Friday morning in the Iranian capital, state TV reported, adding that Iran's air defence were at "100 percent operational capacity". Israel declared a state of emergency, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying that retaliatory action from Tehran was possible following the operation. "Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future," Katz said. Oil prices surged as much as 6 percent on the strikes, which came after Trump warned of a possible Iranian attack and said the US was drawing down staff in the region. "I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen," Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday when asked if an Israeli attack loomed. Trump said he believed a "pretty good" deal on Iran's nuclear programme was "fairly close", but said that an Israeli attack on its arch foe could wreck the chances of an agreement. The US leader did not disclose the details of a conversation on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said: "I don't want them going in, because I think it would blow it." Trump quickly added: "Might help it actually, but it also could blow it." A US official said there had been no US involvement in the Israeli strikes on Iran. The United States on Wednesday said it was reducing embassy staff in Iraq -- long a zone of proxy conflict with Iran. Israel, which counts on US military and diplomatic support, sees the cleric-run state in Tehran as an existential threat and hit Iranian air defences last year. Netanyahu has vowed less restraint since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, which triggered the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza. The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it has repeatedly denied. Israel again called for global action after the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran on Wednesday of non-compliance with its obligations. The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke a "snapback" mechanism, which expires in October, that would reinstate UN sanctions eased under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by then US president Barack Obama. Trump pulled out of the deal in his first term and slapped Iran with sweeping sanctions. Iran's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, slammed the resolution as "extremist" and blamed Israeli influence. In response to the resolution, Iran said it would launch a new enrichment centre in a secure location. Iran would also replace "all of these first-generation machines with sixth-generation advanced machines" at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close, though still short, of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. - AFP
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump's China 'truce' is nothing of the sort
Analysis by David Goldman , CNN Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Photo: AFP Analysis: At long last, the United States has reached a trade agreement with China. Again. After a testy war of words that escalated into a tit-for-tat restriction on key exports, American and Chinese officials this week met in the United Kingdom with a singular goal: Find a way to agree to what they had agreed to a month earlier in Geneva. It appears the countries' top trade negotiators have accomplished that. On Wednesday (NZT) , both Chinese and Trump officials said they had agreed to a framework to implement the consensus they reached in May, and the trade truce would be sent to their respective leaders for their approval. Businesses, consumers and Wall Street investors will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief: Burdensome tariffs have raised significant anxiety, and easing trade barriers between the world's two largest economies should lower costs and help inject some much-needed certainty into an economy that has been demonstrating some signs of strain. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said in a Truth Social post that a "deal" with China has been completed. "Our deal with China is done," Trump said in his all-caps social media post. Trump said both countries agreed to ease export restrictions, per the prior arrangement agreed upon in Geneva in May. The president also confirmed on Wednesday in his post that the deal included "full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China." But in reality, the trade truce - if that's really what was accomplished this time around - is mostly just a return to the already-tense state of affairs from before 2 April. Tariff rates from both countries remain historically high, and significant export restrictions remain in place. The United States has not opened its doors to China's autos, nor is it going to sell its high-end AI chips anytime soon. And, in Trump's parlance, China isn't treating America much more "fairly" after this agreement than it did before. Without a doubt, a trade agreement was much needed. After Trump's 2 April "Liberation Day" announcements, tensions ran so high that trade between the United States and China came to an effective halt. A 145 percent tariff on most Chinese imports made the math impossible for US businesses to buy virtually anything from China, America's second-largest trading partner. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, America's chief negotiator in both trade talks with China, said previous tariff levels were "unsustainable." On 12 May, delegates from China and the United States announced they would significantly roll back their historically high tariffs on one another. Economists pared back their recession forecasts, and moribund consumer confidence rebounded. But Trump and his administration in recent weeks grew increasingly hostile toward China, accusing the country of breaking the promises it made in mid-May. China similarly said the United States failed to live up to its obligations under the Geneva agreement. The Trump administration had expected China to lift restrictions on rare-earth materials that are critical components for a wide range of electronics, but China has only very slowly allowed them to return to the open market, causing intense displeasure inside the Trump administration and prompting a series of export restrictions on US goods to China, three administration officials told CNN last month. China has a virtual monopoly on rare earths, without which cars, jet engines, contrast dye used in MRI machines and some cancer drugs cannot be manufactured. Trump told reporters Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to allow exports of rare earth minerals products to begin, but industry analysts said the crucial materials had not been flowing to the United States as they once had. If both countries satisfy the terms of the agreement this time around, the de-escalation should prevent the direst warnings about the trade war, including potential pandemic-level shortages. Despite the good vibes, the United States and China remain in an economic standoff. The Trump administration - and the Biden administration before it - have maintained that Chinese companies are more than happy to sell inexpensive products to the US market but that China places significant restrictions on US businesses operating in the country and encourages Chinese companies to steal American intellectual property. China has long disputed those claims. Trump, in his first term, raised tariffs on China based on national security concerns. Biden maintained many of those tariffs and doubled down on some. But the second Trump administration has taken trade barriers to an unprecedented level. It has placed a 10 percent universal tariff on virtually all goods coming into the United States. It put in place an additional 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods in an effort to get China to take action to reduce the flow of fentanyl over the US border. Both of those extraordinary tariffs remain in place on most Chinese goods, with the exception of some products like electronics. In addition, the White House closed the so-called de minimis exemption that allowed packages with a value of under $800 (NZ$1381) to come into the United States tariff-free. Hefty new tariffs remain in place on small packages, undermining the business models of Chinese ecommerce giants Shein and Temu. The compounding tariffs create significant trade barriers with America's second-largest trading partner, raising prices for American businesses and consumers with no easy fixes or clear market alternatives. Some gigantic companies, such as Apple, have complex supply chains that can withstand some of the price pressures. But even Apple, which has said it would ship most US iPhones from India as Chinese tariffs rise, said it would face a $900 million quarterly cost increase because of tariffs - at their current levels, not at the sky-high 145 percent rate. Other businesses, such as Boeing, have been completely shut out of China's market. Even without any tariffs or other formal barriers by China on purchases of US aircraft, Boeing has made virtually no sales in China, the world's largest for aircraft purchases, since 2019. But Trump sounded a hopeful note about the path forward. "President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade," Trump said in a post Wednesday morning. "This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!" A trade truce may be better than the alternative - if it lasts this time. But if the deal leads to reduced trade barriers, that could boost both economies. -CNN
National Business Review
5 hours ago
- National Business Review
One survivor reported after Air India crash; UK economy contracts
Ata mārie and welcome to your Friday recap of the main international business and political headlines. In developing news, Al Jazeera reported on the crash of an Air India plane bound for London. It crashed into a medical college in the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff, killing at least 240 people. It was reported that there was one survivor among the passengers. That person was rushed to hospital for treatment. Officials said medical students at the college hostel were among the dead. Air India said it was working with local authorities on the emergency response, while it was still too early to identify the cause of the crash. Boeing, the manufacturer of the 787-8 Dreamliner, said it was in contact with Air India and 'ready to support them'. Elsewhere, China is ready to drop tariffs on imports from 53 African nations, the BBC reported. China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 15 years. Africa's exports to China were worth about US$170 billion in 2023. A joint statement criticised "certain countries' [efforts to] disrupt the existing international economic and trade order" through the unilateral imposition of tariffs, the BBC noted. Yesterday, it was reported that a trade deal between the United States and China had been 'done', according to US President Donald Trump. Reuters reported that negotiators from both sides had agreed on a framework to get a fragile trade truce back on track and remove Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and other critical industry components. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Meanwhile, pressure between Trump and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell intensified after Trump called him a 'numbskull', and repeated a call to cut interest rates, CNBC reported. Trump claimed that lowering rates by two percentage points would save the US US$600b each year. 'We can't get this guy to do it.' 'We're going to spend US$600b a year…because of one numbskull that sits here [and says] 'I don't see enough reason to cut the rates now,'' Trump said. Staying with economics, the UK economy contracted by 0.3% in April, as businesses slashed jobs and shelved investment plans in response to higher taxes and global trade tariff uncertainty, the Guardian reported. Official data showed the economy fell after expanding 0.2% in March and 0.5% in February. The contraction was the worst monthly drop since October 2023. Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to rule out future tax rises and acknowledged the latest figures were 'clearly disappointing', she told the BBC. 'No chancellor is able to write another four years of Budgets within a first year of government, you know how much uncertainty there is in the world at the moment.' Elon Musk. Over the Ditch, the ABC reported that Tesla drivers had reported 'phantom' braking in autopilot mode, with the electric cars slowing down for no particular reason while driving. Allegations of phantom braking led to legal action overseas and the Australian class action against Tesla was due to return to the Federal Court later this year. Tesla said autopilot mode was designed to make driving safer, but in the US, Tesla was sued over several deadly crashes after the system was enabled, the ABC said. It was reported that Elon Musk's company had settled some cases but not admitted wrongdoing and blamed driver error. About 10,000 Tesla drivers in Australia had registered their interest in a class action against the company, with allegations that consumers were misled over phantom braking, battery range, and self-driving capability, the ABC reported.
