China's Economic Protests Spiked to Record Ahead of Tariff Shock
Cases of economic protest rose by 41% in the fourth quarter from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Freedom House's China Dissent Monitor. The tally was the highest for a three-month period since the US advocacy group began documenting incidents in 2022.
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Trump says gold will not face tariffs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said gold would not be subject to tariffs, but gave no other details. "Gold will not be Tariffed!" Trump said in a statement posted on his social media account and attributed to the president.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Diane Francis: Trump sets his sights on the banking industry
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to prevent banks from discriminating against customers because of their politics, religion or 'lawful business activities,' such as owning crypto assets. He told CNBC that in years past, JPMorgan Chase and other banks have 'discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks.' Apparently, such complaints are not uncommon. 'Conservatives have said that regulators appointed by President Joe Biden spent past years conscripting banks to target Trump's political opponents. Tech investor and Trump adviser Marc Andreessen had said about 30 founders of tech start-ups were 'de-banked.' He called the project 'Operation Chokepoint 2.0.,' ' read a recent report in the Washington Post. In an attempt to prevent increased scrutiny from the federal government, many banks have increased their lobbying and updated their policies to make it clear that they don't discriminate on the basis of politics or religion. But financial institutions will face future scrutiny. While this is an American initiative, it will affect Canadian banks because of their extensive operations south of the border. Canada's five biggest companies are all banks based in Toronto. Many of them own branches and extensive in assets south of the border. It's hard to believe that there would be a concerted top-down initiative to de-bank customers purely based on politics, but in America's deeply polarized society with its localized banks, this would not be surprising. Moreover, their restrictions on financial and tech startups is understandable and began because two banks specializing in crypto — Silvergate and Signature — went bust in 2023, according to the Washington Post. They failed because they didn't appropriately manage the risks, said Steven Kelly, former associate director of research at the Yale Program on Financial Stability. But Trump's fight with banks that allegedly discriminate against the cryptocurrency industry is also political, as he intends to make America the world's crypto capital. Trump's crypto business has boomed and is worth billions. Currently, Canadian banks are gun-shy about crypto, but they may now be forced to start dealing with crypto startups, at least in the U.S. However, Canada's foreign ownership restrictions may prove to be an a bigger challenge, for both Ottawa and the Big Five banks. Trump has publicly, and incorrectly, claimed that Canadian restrictions mean that American banks are forbidden from operating in Canada. 'Canada doesn't allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market. Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn't it?' Trump wrote on social media in March. That's untrue. There are 16 U.S.-based bank subsidiaries operating in Canada with billions in assets, according to the Canadian Bankers Association. But American banks operating in Canada are heavily regulated and somewhat restricted when it comes to providing retail banking services to consumers. It seems clear that Trump wants to eliminate all barriers to entry so that American banks can directly compete in Canada against local banks and offer the same services that Canadian banks provide. So stay tuned. Trump has never let the facts get in the way of a policy. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
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What to know about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska
The U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska is happening at a site where East meets West — quite literally — in a place familiar to both countries as a Cold War front line of missile defense, radar outposts and intelligence gathering. Whether it can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow's invasion remains to be seen. Here's what to know about the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the first summit in four years: When and where is it taking place? The summit will take place Friday in Alaska, although where in the state is still unknown. It will be Putin's first trip to the United States since 2015, for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Since the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it is under no obligation to arrest him. Is Zelenskyy going? Both countries confirmed a meeting between only Putin and Trump, even though there were initial suggestions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might be part of it. But the Kremlin has long pushed back against Putin meeting Zelenskyy -– at least until a peace deal is reached by Russia and Ukraine and was ready to be signed. Putin said last week he wasn't against meeting Zelenskyy 'but certain conditions need to be created' for it to happen and were 'still a long way off.' That raised fears about excluding Ukraine from negotiations. Ukrainian officials last week talked with European allies, who stressed that peace cannot be achieved without Kyiv's involvement. What's Alaska's role in Russian history? It will be the first visit by a Russian leader to Alaska, even though it was part of the czarist empire until 1867, the state news agency Tass said. Alaska was colonized by Russia starting from the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. When it was found to contain vast resources, it was seen as a naïve deal that generated remorse and self-reproach. After the USSR's collapse, Alaska was a subject of nostalgia and jokes for Russians. One popular song in the 1990s went: 'Don't play the fool, America … give back our dear Alaska land.' Sam Greene of King's College London said on X the symbolism of Alaska as the site of a summit about Ukraine was 'horrendous — as though designed to demonstrate that borders can change, land can be bought and sold.' What's the agenda? Trump has appeared increasingly exasperated with Putin over Russia's refusal to halt the bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Kyiv has agreed to a ceasefire, insisting on a truce as a first step toward peace. Moscow presented ceasefire conditions that are nonstarters for Zelenskyy, such as withdrawing troops from the four regions Russia illegally annexed in 2022, halting mobilization efforts, or freezing Western arms deliveries. For a broader peace, Putin demands Kyiv cede the annexed regions, even though Russia doesn't fully control them, and Crimea, renounce a bid to join NATO, limit the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as an official language along with Ukrainian. Zelenskyy insists any peace deals must include robust security guarantees for Ukraine to protect it from future Russian aggression. Putin has warned Ukraine it will face tougher conditions for peace as Russian troops forge into other regions to build what he described as a 'buffer zone.' Some observers suggested Russia could trade those recent gains for territory still under Ukrainian control in the four annexed regions annexed by Moscow. Zelenskyy said Saturday that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' But Trump said Monday: 'There'll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody. To the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both.' What are expectations? Putin sees a meeting with Trump as a chance to cement Russia's territorial gains, keep Ukraine out of NATO and prevent it from hosting any Western troops so Moscow can gradually pull the country back into its orbit. He believes time is on his side as Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances along the front line amid swarms of Moscow's missiles and drones battering the country. The meeting is a diplomatic coup for Putin, isolated since the invasion. The Kremlin sought to portray renewed U.S. contacts as two superpowers looking to resolve various global problems, with Ukraine being just one. Ukraine and its European allies are concerned a summit without Kyiv could allow Putin to get Trump on his side and force Ukraine into concessions. 'Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace," Zelenskyy said. "They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.' European officials echoed that. 'As we work towards a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear: All temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine,' European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. 'A sustainable peace also means that aggression cannot be rewarded.' NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday he believed Trump was 'making sure that Putin is serious, and if he is not, then it will stop there." "If he is serious, then from Friday onwards, the process will continue. Ukraine getting involved, the Europeans being involved,' Rutte added. Since last week, Putin spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin said. That suggested Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia's most important allies about a potential settlement, said pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov. —- Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
