Russia is open to peace with Ukraine but insists on achieving its goals, Kremlin spokesman says
Peskov and other Russian officials have repeatedly rejected accusations from Kyiv and its Western partners of stalling peace talks. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to intensify its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, launching more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate.
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Canada News.Net
an hour ago
- Canada News.Net
Trump hails Japan trade pact as job-creating breakthrough
WASHINGTON, D.C.: This week, President Donald Trump unveiled a new trade framework with Japan, announcing a 15 percent tariff on goods imported from the country—a significant reduction from the 25 percent rate he had previously warned would take effect on August 1. Trump hailed the deal as a historic win for the U.S. economy, writing on Truth Social, "This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it." He also emphasized continued strong ties between the two nations, saying, "The United States will continue to always have a great relationship with the country of Japan." According to the president, Japan has agreed to invest US$550 billion into the United States economy "at my direction" and to open its market to more American products, specifically automobiles and rice. This new agreement marks a strategic pivot in Trump's tariff campaign, replacing an earlier, more aggressive stance with a framework he claims will enhance trade fairness and boost domestic job creation. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba responded early on June 23, stating that the agreement would prove mutually beneficial and foster greater cooperation between Tokyo and Washington. The acknowledgment signals a rare moment of harmony amid months of tariff escalations and trade tensions. While Trump's initial round of tariffs, introduced in early April, rattled global markets and triggered fears of a slowdown, those concerns appear to have eased for now. Still, the president's latest social media statement left some questions unanswered—most notably, whether the 25 percent tariff on Japanese-built automobiles remains in effect or has been folded into the new 15 percent rate. The Japan agreement fits within Trump's larger strategy of framing tariffs not as punitive but as economically transformative. His administration argues that revenues generated from tariffs will help reduce the U.S. budget deficit, incentivize companies to shift manufacturing to American soil, and address chronic trade imbalances. Officials believe this will result in a stronger, more self-reliant industrial base. However, the effectiveness of this approach remains contested. Tariffs are still causing deep uncertainty in business circles, where companies fear rising costs. A stark example came on a day earlier, when General Motors reported a 35 percent drop in net income for the second quarter. The company blamed the slump partly on tariff pressures and warned of further hits to its business in the near future. Its stock took a sharp downturn following the announcement, underlining the volatility that continues to shadow Trump's trade agenda. As the August 1 deadline nears for the imposition of new tariffs outlined in letters sent to world leaders, Trump has expanded his strategy. Alongside the Japan deal, he also announced a new trade framework with the Philippines, imposing a 19 percent tariff on Filipino goods, while ensuring American exports to the country would remain untaxed. Similarly, he reaffirmed an identical 19 percent tariff on goods imported from Indonesia. Trade data shows the U.S. had a $69.4 billion trade imbalance with Japan last year, while the imbalance stood at $17.9 billion with Indonesia and $4.9 billion with the Philippines. These figures reflect how the U.S. imports significantly more from these nations than it exports to them. Both Indonesia and the Philippines, being less affluent economies, could be more vulnerable to the impact of these tariffs. Amid these moves, the European Union is also under pressure. Trump had sent a letter earlier in the month, threatening all 27 EU member states with 30 percent tariffs on their exports, effective August 1, if no agreement is reached. Meanwhile, separate negotiations with China remain underway. The current round of talks is scheduled to continue until August 12, while a baseline 30 percent tariff remains in effect on Chinese goods. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced he would travel to Stockholm on July 28 and 29 to meet with Chinese counterparts. As Trump escalates his multi-front trade strategy, the coming weeks will be pivotal in determining whether these new agreements can hold, and whether the bold predictions of job growth and economic revival will come to pass—or give way to rising costs and deeper global uncertainty.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Why the U.S. is pulling out of UNESCO
Andrew Chang explains why U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the second time.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Trump's NASA cuts will 'compromise human safety,' hundreds of employees say in letter
NASA scientists say pending cuts to the space agency could compromise mission safety and pave the way for another tragedy like the 1986 Challenger disaster. "When you're talking about cuts that appear unstrategic and unthoroughly researched and not motivated by actual improvements in mission safety, then you start to get people worried," Kyle Helson, a research scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, told As It Happens guest host Megan Williams. Helson is one of 362 current and former NASA employees who have signed an open letter sounding the alarm about "recent policies that have or threaten to waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission." In an email to CBC, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens dismissed those concerns. "NASA will never compromise on safety. Any reductions — including our current voluntary reduction — will be designed to protect safety-critical roles," she said. $6B US in proposed cuts U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking a 25 per cent, or roughly $6 billion US ($8.22 billion Cdn), budget cut for NASA as a whole, and 50 per cent cut for the scientific research division. "President Trump has proposed billions of dollars for NASA science, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to communicating our scientific achievements," Stevens said. Helson says that's technically true, but wildly disingenuous. "That's like saying your bicycle is missing one wheel, but don't worry, you've still got another wheel," he said. Trump's cuts have yet to be approved by Congress, which holds NASA's purse strings. But in leaked audio from a NASA town hall meeting last month, several high-ranking officials said they will be moving ahead with them anyway. Zoe Lofgren and Valerie P. Foushee, the top Democrats on a House committee overseeing NASA's budget, have said implementing the cuts prematurely would be "flatly illegal" and "offensive to our constitutional system." The bipartisan committee has called on NASA not to implement the cuts. Fears of reprisal The open letter, called The Voyager Declaration, is addressed to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who Trump appointed interim NASA administrator earlier this month. Duffy's office directed calls for comment to NASA. The declaration specifically cites concerns that, if NASA continues along this path, existing missions will be cancelled, valuable scientific data will be lost, international partners will be abandoned, development programs will be nixed, staffing will be gutted and safety measures will be scaled back. It follows similar open letters by workers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the latter of which suspended 144 employees who signed. NASA workers fear a similar retribution. Roughly half of those who signed the letter did so anonymously, and only four signatories who currently work with NASA are willing to speak out on record, according to Stand Up For Science, the organization that helped organize this letter, and those at NIH and EPA. Helson is one of those four, and says he's only comfortable speaking because his work with NASA is in co-operation with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a position he says gives him more academic freedom than those employed directly by NASA. "A lot of my coworkers who are civil servants are very afraid right now, and so I want to use what I perceive to be my advantages in my position to speak out on their behalf," he said. "People are afraid that they're going to lose their job." NASA did not respond to questions from CBC about whether it would retaliate against the letter's signatories. The letter is framed an act of "Formal Dissent," a reference to a NASA policy that empowers employees to speak up against decisions they believe are "not in the best interest of NASA." According to the New York Times, the policy was put in place after the deadly 1986 Challenger and 2003 Columbia space shuttle disasters, when the concerns of some engineers were brushed aside. The Challenger broke up seconds into its flight on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board. The Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, killing its crew of seven. The letter's signatories say they're worried that other policies designed to prevent those kinds of tragedies will be impacted by the cuts. "The culture of organizational silence promoted at NASA over the last six months already represents a dangerous turn away from the lessons learned following the Columbia disaster," the letter reads.
