
Nintendo says sales of its Switch 2 hit a record within four days
NEW YORK (AP) — Nintendo says it sold more than 3.5 million of its new Switch 2 gaming consoles within the first four days since its release — breaking a record for the company.
In a Wednesday announcement, Nintendo said that this marks the 'highest global sales level' for any of hardware it's sold within that window of time. The Japanese gaming company officially launched the Switch 2 on June 5.
Fans of the console's eight-year-old predecessor have been clamoring for an upgrade for years. Throngs of gamers stood in long lines outside stores for the Switch 2's release around the world last week — less than two months after a chaotic rush for preorders quickly sold out.
Nintendo is counting on the Switch 2 to boost sagging sales. And in addition to a larger screen and new games, the console has added social features aimed at luring new players into online gaming.
Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026. The 3.5 million sold in the first four days includes the Nintendo Switch 2's Mario Kart World Bundle, as well as the Switch 2's Japanese-language and multi-language systems sold in Japan.
The Switch 2's baseline price of $449.99 is significantly higher than the original Switch's $299 price tag. While new bells and whistles may account for a sizeable portion of that hike, experts have previously noted that new tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are also a contributor. Evaluating the impact of these import taxes also led Nintendo to delay its April preorders by several weeks.
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Trump signs measure blocking California's ban on new sales of gas-powered cars
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to sign a bill blocking California's rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a resolution on Thursday that blocks California's first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The state quickly quickly announced it will challenge the move in court, with California's attorney general holding a news conference to discuss the planned lawsuit before Trump's signing ceremony ended at the White House. The resolution was approved by Congress last month and aims to quash the country's most aggressive attempt to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump also signed measures to overturn state policies curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Trump called California's regulations 'crazy' at a White House ceremony where he signed the resolutions. 'It's been a disaster for this country,' he said. It comes as the Republican president is mired in a clash with California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, over Trump's move to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests. It's the latest in an ongoing battle between the Trump administration and heavily Democratic California over issues including tariffs, the rights of LGBTQ+ youth and funding for electric vehicle chargers. The state is already involved in more than two-dozen lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions, and the state's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the latest one at a news conference in California. 'The federal government's actions are not only unlawful; they're irrational and wildly partisan,' Bonta said. 'They come at the direct expense of the health and the well-being of our people.' The three resolutions Trump signed will block California's rule phasing out gas-powered cars and end the sale of new ones by 2035. They will also kill rules that phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles and cut tailpipe emissions from trucks. In his remarks at the White House, Trump expressed doubts about the performance and reliability of electric vehicles, though he had some notably positive comments about the company owned by Elon Musk, despite their fractured relationship. 'I like Tesla,' Trump said. In remarks that often meandered away from the subject at hand, Trump used the East Room ceremony to also muse on windmills, which he claimed 'are killing our country,' the prospect of getting electrocuted by an electric-powered boat if it sank and whether he'd risk a shark attack by jumping as the boat went down. 'I'll take electrocution every single day,' the president said. When it comes to cars, Trump said he likes combustion engines but for those that prefer otherwise, 'If you want to buy electric, you can buy electric.' 'What this does is it gives us freedom,' said Bill Kent, the owner of Kent Kwik convenience stores. Kent, speaking at the White House, said that the California rules would have forced him to install 'infrastructure that frankly, is extremely expensive and doesn't give you any return.' The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major car makers, applauded Trump's action. 'Everyone agreed these EV sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic,' John Bozzella, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement. Newsom, who is considered a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, and California officials contend that what the federal government is doing is illegal and said the state plans to sue. Newsom said Trump's action was a continuation of his 'all-out assault' on California. 'And this time he's destroying our clean air and America's global competitiveness in the process,' Newsom said in a statement. 'We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.' The signings come as Trump has pledged to revive American auto manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling. The move follows other steps the Trump administration has taken to roll back rules that aim to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the signing of the resolutions was 'Trump's latest betrayal of democracy.' 'Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people's health and their wallets,' Becker said in a statement. California, which has some of the nation's worst air pollution, has been able to seek waivers for decades from the EPA, allowing it to adopt stricter emissions standards than the federal government. In his first term, Trump revoked California's ability to enforce its standards, but Democratic President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has not yet sought to revoke it again. Republicans have long criticized those waivers and earlier this year opted to use the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. That's despite a finding from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, that California's standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding. California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, has significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen states signed on to adopt California's rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars. ___ Michelle L. Price, Sophie Austin And Seung Min Kim, The Associated Press


Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
China grants rare earth export permits after US trade talks, offers relief but uncertainty persists
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The high-level negotiations over China's export controls of rare earths is giving U.S. businesses some relief, even though it may be only for now. China has approved 'a certain number' of export permits for rare earth elements and related items, its commerce ministry said on Thursday, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Beijing would supply to the U.S. companies those key elements and the magnets made from them following a two-day trade talk in London. 'I will be one of the happiest people out there if, if in fact, China starts to, to release some of those heavy rare earths and allows them to get into the world economy because the world economy is going to shut down without those heavy rare earths,' said Mark Smith, chief executive officer of NioCorp., which is developing a new mine in Nebraska to produce niobium, scandium, titanium and an assortment of rare earths. Export controls of the minerals apparently eclipsed tariffs in the latest round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, after China imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements in April, threatening to halt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. Negotiators from the two governments said they reached a framework to move forward, with details yet to be agreed to by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but businesses welcomed the developments, even though uncertainties persist. Important elements used in many products Rare earth elements are some of the most sought-after critical minerals. Despite the name, they aren't actually rare, but it is hard to find them in high enough concentrations to make mining them economical. They are also difficult to extract from the ore, and China over the past several decades has built dominance in the processing capacity, supplying nearly 90% of the world's rare earths. In the heat of the tariff war with Trump, Beijing on April 4 announced permitting requirements for seven heavy rare earths: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, citing the need to 'better safeguard national security and interests and to fulfill global duties of non-proliferation.' The elements China has restricted, such as terbium and dysprosium, are key ingredients needed to make permanent rare earth magnets withstand high temperatures. That is crucial for a variety of uses in electric vehicles, wind turbines and military uses like jet engines and nuclear submarines. Some of the other rare earths needed for those magnets are produced at the only operating U.S. rare earths mine run by MP Materials in California, but China remains the only source of nearly all of what's known as the heavy rare earths. MP Materials previously sent the heavy rare earths that it mines to China for processing but it halted that in April amid the tariffs. The company is working to expand its own processing capability as soon as possible, and it is building a new magnet plant in Texas. Looming shortages start to hit manufacturing Neha Mukherjee, rare earths analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, had previously predicted that most companies wouldn't start to run short of rare earths until later this year, but it appears some companies already have problems. 'The overall market stockpile exists, but looks like a lot of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), especially auto manufacturers, were not prepared, especially in Europe,' Mukherjee said. Some American companies have stockpiled, but they 'might start experiencing constraint if this continues.' 'Looks like most of the stockpile is still in China hence the bottleneck in supply,' Mukherjee said. On June 4, the European Association of Automotive Supplies said the industry was 'already experiencing significant disruption' due to China's export restrictions on rare earths and magnets. 'These restrictions have led to the shutdown of several production lines and plants across Europe, with further impacts expected in the coming weeks as inventories deplete,' the group said. Questions remain about latest trade deal Details are still scarce on any agreement on rare earths shipments from China. On Thursday, He Yadong, spokesman for the Chinese commerce ministry, said China will 'sufficiently consider the reasonable needs and concerns by all countries in the civilian field' in reviewing applications of export permits for rare earths and related items. He said that it is consistent with international practice to put export controls on rare earths because they can be used for both civilian and military purposes. China's limits on rare earths remain a threat In a note, Gabriel Wildau, managing director of the consultancy Teneo, wrote that even though there is an agreement for now, 'supply cutoffs will remain an ever-present threat.' That's because China's licensing regime for the export of the seven heavy rare earths and related magnets is permanent, despite perceptions at the time that it was an act of retaliation, he wrote. China 'will probably not approve exports in sufficient quantity to allow U.S. customers to stockpile, ensuring that Beijing's leverage remains undiminished,' he wrote. 'Beijing may approve few if any exports to U.S. defense companies and their suppliers.' Smith of NioCorp. said even if the Chinese are offering a reprieve from their restrictions on rare earths, they will likely still keep limits in place on U.S. military uses. 'If I'm in the military and flying a jet or running a nuclear class submarine or a guided missile, I don't want that to fail because of high temperatures. So we have to have these heavy rare earths,' Smith said. Smith said he hopes to find a solution to the problem of America being almost entirely dependent on China for these elements. 'I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that we use this situation as our final learning,' Smith said. 'Let's take care of what we know needs to be taken care of.'


Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
GOP tax bill would cost poor Americans $1,600 a year and boost highest earners by $12,000, CBO says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican tax bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives would cost the poorest Americans roughly $1,600 a year while increasing the income of the wealthiest households by an average of $12,000 annually, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the Congressional Budget Office. Middle-income households would see a boost of roughly $500 to $1,000 per year under Republican President Donald Trump's tax bill, the CBO found. The cuts to the lowest-income households come from proposed cuts to social safety net programs including Medicaid and a food assistance program for lower-income people, known as Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program. The bill also proposes expanding work requirements to receive food aid and new 'community engagement requirements' of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents to receive Medicaid. Some proposed tax breaks would be temporary, including a tax break on tips and overtime, car loan interest and a $4,000 increase in the standard deduction for seniors. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other Republicans have sought to discredit the CBO's analyses of the bill and say that the U.S. could head toward economic catastrophe if the measure is not passed. GOP Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday that the tax bill 'recognizes the solution to our debt crisis is not to tax Americans more, it is to spend less.' 'The legislation recognizes that extending proven tax reform is critical for working families,' he said. Administration officials have said the the cost of the tax bill would be offset by tariff income. Recently, the CBO separately estimated that Trump's sweeping tariff plan would cut deficits by $2.8 trillion over a 10-year period while shrinking the economy, raising the inflation rate and reducing the purchasing power of households overall. The CBO was established more than 50 years ago to provide objective, impartial analysis to support the budget process. It is required to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill approved by a House or Senate committee and will weigh in earlier when asked to do so by lawmakers. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The office's analysis released Thursday considers Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' in isolation, excluding the potential impact of the tariffs that Trump has imposed and paused on nations around the world. Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who requested the CBO analysis released Thursday, said in a statement that 'this would be one of the largest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in American history. It's shameful.'