Vietnam, US, hold negotiations on new trade deal, ministry says
During the negotiations with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Vietnamese trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien asked the U.S. to review "reciprocal tariffs" and market access for Vietnam's key exports, the ministry said in a statement.
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CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump says he wants strong testing to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports at 2028 Olympics
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to establish a White House task force to coordinate the federal government's preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, using the occasion to rail against transgender athletes' participation in women's sports. The task force is a mirror image of a similar group overseeing the federal preparations for next year's World Cup in the United States. The group is meant to centralize all the various planning operations that will need to work in sync to make a massive event like the Olympics go smoothly. But even while touting the unifying spirit of the Olympics, Trump delved deep into the culture wars around sports that he said were a key part of his 2024 presidential campaign. A few minutes into the event, Trump thanked Gene Sykes – the president and chairman of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee – for the group's pledge to follow a Trump administration order by banning transgender women athletes in an update to the organization's athlete safety policy. The change was a part of a 27-page document released last month that made reference to the committee's compliance with Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which was issued in February. 'The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics. So, we appreciate the fairness and everything else that you've shown,' Trump said to Sykes. Later, Trump was asked by a reporter if he would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute any transgender athletes participating in women's sports, referring especially to the women's boxing competition. At the Paris Olympics last year, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won the gold medal amid scrutiny over her gender after a previous governing body – the International Boxing Association – disqualified her and another Taiwanese boxer from competition after alleging they failed an eligibility test. Khelif has repeatedly said that she is not transgender and Olympic officials said repeatedly through the Games that she is, and always has been, a woman. Still, that has not stopped Trump and other critics from repeatedly referring to her as a man and using her gold medal victory as a talking point in stump speeches. The president demurred over the idea of prosecuting any transgender athlete who takes part in women's competitions, saying he expects 'a very strong form of testing.' 'As far as charges, I'd have to ask the attorney general about that. I don't know, but there will be a very, very strong form of testing, and if the test doesn't come out appropriately, they won't be in the Olympics,' he said. The testing will be put in place by the world governing bodies of each sport. Some of those governing bodies, such as World Athletics, have already announced plans for one-time genetic testing of athletes looking to compete in female competitions. World Boxing announced plans for genetic testing, specifically mentioning Khelif in their announcement – something for which they later apologized. Trump said he thought the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee would have cracked down on transgender athletes participating in women's sports even without his influence. 'They probably would have because it just seems to be an issue that most people feel should be,' Trump said. The president added that he feels very strongly about the issue and made it a central message of his campaign, saying his presidential run was based 'partially on that.' While Trump was complimentary of Casey Wasserman, the chair of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic Games, slammed the California Democratic politicians who will also be working to ensure the event goes smoothly. He name-checked Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, attacking the governor for his approach to wildfires in the state and how California uses its water – and Bass over the approval process for building permits after wildfires devastated parts of the city earlier this year. The president promised to use the National Guard and military to provide security at the Olympics, if necessary. It's not unusual for massive security reinforcements to provide security for the Games; in Paris, police from all parts of Europe were present on the streets of the City of Lights as part of the security operation. 'This is going to be so safe, and – if we have to – because obviously you have a mayor that is not very competent,' Trump said. The president himself is the chairman of the task force and Vice President JD Vance will serve as vice chair. The Olympic Games are a point of pride for Trump and he has reveled in the fact that the quadrennial event, along with next year's World Cup and this year's Ryder Cup, will take place in the US during his second term in office. He promised to mobilize 'the entire federal government to ensure the games are safe, seamless and historically successful. It's going to be amazing. I think it's going to be amazing. America is a nation of champions, and in July 2028 we'll show the world what America does best, and that's when we're winning like we have never won before.'
CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
Victims object to ‘public legitimization' of Ghislaine Maxwell as judge weighs fate of Epstein grand jury transcripts
Numerous victims of Jeffrey Epstein took aim at the 'public legitimization' of his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell as they urged a federal judge considering unsealing grand jury transcripts to take their privacy into account when making his decision. Lawyers Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, who represent numerous victims, including a woman who testified at Maxwell's criminal trial, also questioned the motives of the Justice Department as the Trump administration tries to tamp down criticism from some of his most ardent supporters after deciding not to release a trove of investigative files. In a letter filed Tuesday to the judge overseeing the Maxwell case, the lawyers said Maxwell's meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month and her transfer to a lower security prison was 'jarring' for victims. 'For survivors who bravely testified, the perception that Ms. Maxwell is being legitimized in public discourse has already resulted in re-traumatization,' they wrote. The letter offered the most critical reaction to date from victims of Epstein and Maxwell, some of whom have long-standing distrust of the federal government's history investigating Epstein. After evading a federal prosecution in 2007 through a secret nonprosecution agreement, Epstein was indicted in 2019 in New York with sex trafficking, but weeks later died by suicide before trial. Maxwell is the only person charged and convicted in the scheme. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence and has appealed her conviction. 'The survivors support transparency when it can be achieved without sacrificing their safety, privacy, or dignity,' the lawyers wrote in a letter to the judge weighing unsealing transcripts from the investigation into Maxwell. 'But transparency cannot come at the expense of the very people whom the justice system is sworn to protect — particularly amid contemporaneous events that magnify risk and trauma: the public platforming of Ms. Maxwell as a purportedly credible commentator despite her sex-trafficking conviction and perjury charges, her transfer to lower-security custody, a government request to unseal filed without conferral, and the looming specter of clemency,' they added. Another law firm representing Annie Farmer, who testified that Maxwell recruited and sexually assaulted her alongside Epstein, pushed for the unsealing of transcripts but noted in a footnote her concern that Maxwell will benefit from the recent confluence of events. '(E)pstein escaped justice through his apparent suicide, and Maxwell is now, to the victims' horror, herself attempting to escape justice by negotiating for herself a potential pardon or commutation of her sentence,' Farmer's lawyer Sigrid McCawley wrote. 'The victims of her crimes unequivocally object to any potential leniency that the Government may be considering offering Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker.' The concerns were laid out in letters that are among several submitted to the two judges considering unsealing grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case. Edwards and Cassell said victims were not consulted by the government before Maxwell's transfer to a lower security prison, which they view as 'extraordinarily insensitive and suggestive of ulterior purposes,' the lawyers wrote. Nor were they consulted before the motions to unseal were filed, the lawyers said, adding, 'This omission reinforces the perception that the victims are, at best, an afterthought to the current administration.' 'For some, the Maxwell conviction is the only meaningful measure of criminal accountability; its erosion would be devastating,' the lawyers wrote. CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment. For her part, Maxwell on Tuesday argued her legal interests outweigh the public's interest in Epstein and urged the judge to deny the Trump administration's motion to unseal grand jury transcripts. 'Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not. Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain,' David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's attorney, wrote to the judge. Markus said since they have not seen the grand jury transcripts, he has 'no choice' but to oppose their release. Maxwell is appealing her conviction on sex trafficking and other charges. She has asked the Supreme Court to take up her case and any potential reversal could result in a new trial. 'Public curiosity is insufficient when Maxwell's legal and reputational interests are at stake. These factors weigh heavily in favor of preserving the secrecy of the grand jury materials,' Markus said. 'The reputational harm from releasing incomplete, potentially misleading grand jury testimony, untested by cross-examination, would be severe and irrevocable,' he added. Last month, Maxwell met with Blanche for interviews spanning more than nine hours over two days. She was subsequently moved from a low-security prison in Florida to a low-security prison camp in Texas. The Trump administration is debating releasing transcripts of Blanche's interview with Maxwell.
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Celtics trade Georges Niang to Utah Jazz, agree to deal with Chris Boucher
BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics are trading recently acquired forward Georges Niang and two future second-round draft picks to the Utah Jazz in exchange for rookie RJ Luis Jr., ESPN reported on Tuesday. In a separate deal, power forward Chris Boucher has agreed to a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the Celtics, his agent Sam Permut confirmed to The Associated Press. Boucher has spent the past seven seasons with Toronto, where he was part of its 2019 championship team. Niang is headed to Utah just a month after being dealt to Boston as part of a three-team deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta. Niang previously spent four seasons with Utah. He appeared in 79 games split between Atlanta and Cleveland last season when he averaged a career-high 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Shedding the final year of Niang's salary for next season will save Boston $8 million in luxury taxes, and allow it to stay under the second penalty apron following Boucher's addition. ___ AP NBA:
