US House Speaker Johnson says Epstein case 'not a hoax', World News
Trump has denounced the furor over his late friend, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender as "the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" and urged his fellow Republicans without success to drop the issue.
"It's not a hoax. Of course not," Johnson said in an interview with CBS News.
Johnson said on Tuesday he would send lawmakers home a day early for a five-week summer recess to avoid a political fight over whether to make public additional files on Epstein, who hung himself in a New York City jail in 2019, according to New York City's chief medical examiner.
Even so, a Republican-controlled subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday approved a subpoena seeking all Justice Department files on Epstein. Three Republicans joined five Democrats to back the effort, in a sign that Trump's party was not ready to move on from the issue.
"We want full transparency. We want everybody who is involved in any way with the Epstein evils — let's call it what it was — to be brought to justice as quickly as possible. We want the full weight of the law on their heads," Johnson told CBS in the interview, conducted on Wednesday.
A disclosure on Wednesday about Trump's appearance in the Justice Department's case records threatened to deepen a political crisis that has engulfed his administration for weeks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to Epstein.
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A banner warning against the dangers of etomidate, a new recreational drug, near a drug rehabilitation and counselling centre in Sham Shui Po. HONG KONG – A name can shape perceptions and Hong Kong is finding that a drug with an innocuous name is causing ripples of harm across society. It is for this reason that the government officially changed the name of the city's latest-trending recreational drug for the second time in 2025. In Singapore, these drugs are known as Kpods – fruity flavoured vape capsules laced with addictive sedatives like etomidate, a controlled anaesthetic. In Hong Kong, it was first marketed by drug peddlers as 'space oil', a substance that emerged in the city some time in late 2023, promising its users a euphoric high that would 'take them to space'. 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The security chief's words marked Hong Kong's hardening of its narrative against the banned substance, as the government doubles down on efforts to convey the dangers of the drug to the public – in particular, the youth. Mr Tang implored the media to use the new name in reports on the drug. The name change was aimed at 'directly addressing etomidate's nature as a drug, just like marijuana and cocaine', he said. It was also to prevent the name 'space oil' from being used to 'deliberately glorify drugs containing etomidate, deceiving young people into taking them and causing them to ignore the serious harm they cause to their bodies', he added. The move to reframe characteristics associated with the drug came weeks after Mr Tang initially suggested renaming it 'zombie oil' to better reflect its effect on users. But that was vetoed after lawmakers raised concerns that the city's impressionable youth might find the term appealing as well and continue to be lured to abuse it. 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'Taking etomidate is definitely not cool; knowing how to resist drugs is the way to be cool,' Mr Tang said. Those found consuming or in possession of etomidate face up to seven years' jail and a HK$1 million (S$164,000) fine. Traffickers and manufacturers face life in jail and a HK$5 million fine. The government has even roped in Cantopop star Aaron Kwok as its honorary narcotics commissioner to urge young people in Hong Kong to reject drugs. Kwok appeared at a publicity campaign on Aug 3, introducing new dance moves and chanting anti-drug slogans with dozens of youth ambassadors, who will help spread awareness of the dangers of etomidate at their schools. Lawmaker Dennis Lam welcomed the scrapping of the term 'space oil', which he described as 'inappropriately romantic'. Dropping the suggestion to rename it 'zombie oil' was also a wise choice, Dr Lam told local media, adding that the term might have sparked further curiosity among rebellious teens to try the substance. 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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump's higher tariff rates hit goods from major US trading partners
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
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The president has signalled he could impose similar penalties on other countries, as he looks for ways to use trade policy to pressure Russia into halting its war against Ukraine. In general, the duties do not apply to foreign goods that have been loaded onto ships just before Aug 7. Those products in transit won't be subject to new taxes so long as they enter the United States before early October, perhaps opening the door for importers to amass more inventory before the steepest rates cut into their bottom lines. Many smaller countries' exports have faced 10 per cent tariffs since the president first announced, then suspended, his initial tranche of policies in April. Others have staved off eye-watering rates after brokering deals with the United States that set their tariffs generally between 15 per cent and 20 per cent. That includes the 27-member European Union, as well as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. 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The president's new tariffs send the average US effective tariff rate to above 18 per cent, the highest level since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University. For American households, those duties may add up to price increases, resulting in an average annual loss of US$2,400, the Yale research centre found. And for the broader economy, it could translate to a drop in output, shaving off half a percentage point in growth starting in 2025. Mr Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, said the tariffs threatened to create an environment that was 'very stagflation-esque', referring to the risk of a stagnant economy with inflationary prices. That, he said, would add to the challenge facing the Federal Reserve at a time when Trump is demanding lower interest rates. 'Growth is slowing,' Mr Zandi said. 'It's happening, and it's going to become much more obvious.' NYTIMES
