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Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
U.S. secures strategic transit corridor in Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the White House on Friday, the meeting will culminate in the signing of a peace framework that includes exclusive U.S. development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus, officials told Reuters. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh - an Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population - broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. A peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are to join Trump at the White House for talks and the signing ceremony, the U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. They are to sign a framework aimed at reaching a "concrete pathway to peace" and addressing a long-simmering transit issue, the officials said. Azerbaijan has asked for a transport corridor through Armenia, linking the bulk of its territory to Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave that borders Baku's ally Turkey. Under a carefully negotiated section of the documents the leaders will sign on Friday, Armenia plans to award the United States exclusive special development rights for an extended period on a transit corridor that will be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, and known by the acronym TRIPP, the officials said. The route will be operated according to Armenian law and the United States will sublease the land to a consortium for infrastructure and management, the officials said. "Through commercial means, this step will unlock the region and avert further hostilities," one of the officials said. The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders will also sign documents requesting the dissolution of the Minsk Group, which has been co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States since its establishment in 1992 to mediate the conflict, the officials said. Progress on the Armenian-Azerbaijan issue began in March when U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff visited the region. Members of his team made several subsequent trips there to help broker the agreement. U.S. officials believe a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan could prompt negotiations on the entry of Azerbaijan into the Abraham Accords, the series of normalization agreements that Trump brokered between Israel and four Muslim-majority countries in his first term. The White House summit comes as Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House has credited him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan and India. Trump has been less successful in ending Russia's war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The summit will take place on the same day that Trump set as a deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to steps to halt his invasion of Ukraine or face further economic sanctions.
The Journal
02-08-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Trump fires official he accuses of 'rigging' report that showed cracks in job market
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has fired a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market. US job growth missed expectations in July, Labor Department data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. Without providing evidence, Trump lashed out at the department's commissioner of labor statistics, writing on social media that the jobs numbers 'were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, he charged that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had 'faked' jobs data to boost Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election. 'McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,' Trump said, referring to latest data for July. 'Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative,' Trump said, insisting that the world's biggest economy was 'booming' under his leadership. He later told reporters 'we need people that we can trust,' accusing the economic official of inflating hiring figures under former president Joe Biden's administration. 'Dangerous precedent' The United States added 73,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, said the Department of Labor earlier Friday. Hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000. This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs. The employment data points to challenges in the key labor market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment while grappling with Trump's sweeping – and rapidly changing – tariffs this year. The numbers also pile pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates. Advertisement With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs. Some are now passing them along to consumers. William Beach, who previously held McEntarfer post at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warned that her firing 'sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau.' The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) condemned her dismissal, saying large revisions in jobs numbers 'reflect not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies.' 'Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones,' slammed Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary under Democratic president Bill Clinton. 'Gamechanger' Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said Friday's jobs report was a 'gamechanger.' 'The labor market is deteriorating quickly,' said Long, noting that of the growth in July, '75% of those jobs were in one sector: health care.' 'The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs,' Long said. 'The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs.' It remains unclear when the dust will settle, with Trump ordering the reimposition of steeper tariffs on scores of economies late Thursday, which are set to take effect in a week. A sharp weakening in the labor market could push the Federal Reserve toward slashing interest rates sooner to shore up the economy. On Friday, the two Fed officials who voted this week against the central bank's decision to keep rates unchanged warned that standing pat risks further damaging the economy. Both Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary effects of tariffs were temporary. They added in separate statements that the bank should focus on fortifying the economy to avert further weakening in the labor market. Putting off an interest rate cut 'could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth,' Bowman said.
NZ Herald
30-07-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Swing-state focus group research offers clues on what Democrats have to do to win back young men
They felt no sympathy from the left, who they say brushed away their legitimate economic woes by citing their male privilege. They acknowledge historical patriarchy but assert that doesn't make them invincible in a job market where graduate unemployment is concentrated among men. Those are the latest findings in focus groups conducted by the centrist pro-Democratic group Third Way and HIT Strategies with men aged 18 to 29 from swing states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The men were lower-propensity voters - more likely to turn out in a presidential year than a midterm - and voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but switched to Trump last year. 'The belief has been that men have it easier in the labour market, and that's been true to a large extent. But that notion is at odds with the reality right now' for many young men as manufacturing gives way to the information age, said Joshua Doss, senior research manager at HIT Strategies. 'They talked about how they're really watching the economy erode the types of jobs that they were told worked for them.' Men feeling left behind elicits eye rolls in many corners of the Democratic Party. The gender pay gap persists, with women making 85% of what men earned in 2024, despite greater female participation in the workforce than in past decades. The numerous calls from party leaders to appeal to the 'manosphere' and appear less 'woke' also elicit concerns that that means throwing marginalised groups under the bus on issues like trans or women's rights. But that line of criticism only proves their point, said Lucas Holtz, a political analyst with Third Way. 'There is complete misconception from Democrats and especially from progressives about young men moving away from the party and takes from 'It was all because of inflation' to 'The guys that supported Trump are incels and sexist,'' Holtz said. 'It's just a really terrible stereotype that has backlash effect on Democrats.' Appealing to young men has been discussed as a nearly existential question for Democrats, who haemorrhaged support in some of their traditionally most reliable demographics. Former President Barack Obama sounded the alarm on former first lady Michelle Obama's podcast this month, saying support for young men is often mistaken for neglect of women's rights. But it's not a zero-sum game. 'We don't think about boys and just assume they're going to be okay because they've been running the world and they've got all the advantages relative to the girls. And all of which has historically been true in all kinds of ways,' the former President said. 'We've made that mistake sometimes in terms of our rhetoric. Where it's like we're constantly talking about what's wrong with the boys, instead of what's right with them.' Incidentally, Obama was the only Democrat focus group participants could name as a masculine role model from the party. 'I think being a masculine leader is, like, outlawed in the Democratic Party right now,' one participant said. Trump broke through with economic promises that appealed to many young men's desires to be financially self-sufficient and support their families. The focus group participants were not heavy news consumers, largely informed through social media and podcasts, but they were still able to list Trump's economic policy promises, such as no taxes on tips, which Republicans passed into law in their recent tax cuts legislation. Focus group participants said Democratic messaging, especially to young black and Latino men, felt like pandering to their race, if it was ever directed to them at all. 'They brought out, like, rappers and stuff. And it's, you know, nothing against rappers, but it's like, what does that do for me?' one black participant said. For all the pull Republicans achieved among young men, many still remained unsold in either direction. Men aged 18 to 29 are the least likely to support Democrats of any age and gender group at only 34%, but they are also the most uncommitted either way, at 13% , according to the Pew Research Centre. While they supported Trump's policies that they thought would speak to their economic concerns, they disapproved of policies that they thought harmed others. Deportation without due process and punishing tariffs applied to foreign countries came up as examples. Doss and Holtz said that gives Democrats ample opportunity to win young men back. Concise aspirational economic messages, something that can be condensed into a three-word slogan, performed well, they found. Several focus group participants also responded well to Democratic leaders who spoke directly to them, whether it was former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg speaking with podcaster Andrew Schulz about connecting with differing viewpoints or Maryland Governor Wes Moore talking about the need to invest in young men. 'A straight talker, you know, someone that's not, like, beating around the bush,' one participant said of who would be an ideal candidate. 'Somebody that just is not afraid to say what they feel. That's a very masculine trait.'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As Trump considers US strikes on Iran, polls suggest Americans may not be into it
For years now, Americans have been trending in a more isolationist, anti-war direction. Particularly on the right, the ascendant view is that the world's problems are not necessarily ours. Iran could be about to test that. President Donald Trump has in recent hours employed increasingly bold rhetoric about involving the United States in Israel's attacks on Iran. On Tuesday afternoon, he wrote on Truth Social that 'we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.' He added that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an 'easy target,' and said, 'We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.' He called for Iran's 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.' These comments came as CNN reported he's indeed quickly warming to using the US military to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump has saber-rattled for effect before, so it's possible this is him employing the 'madman theory' of foreign policy again. But it's also evident that we're closer to a major new military confrontation than we've been in two decades. So how might Americans view it if Trump did involve the US military offensively? It's complicated. Americans have in recent years expressed plenty of worry about Iran and even support for hypothetical military strikes. But there is reason to believe military action today could be a bridge too far – for the same reasons Americans have been drifting away from foreign interventions. Much of the polling here is dated, and views are of course subject to change based on fresh circumstances. A 2019 Fox News poll is the most recent high-quality survey to ask directly about a situation like the one Trump is contemplating. And it found a significant level of support for using action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. American voters favored that 53% to 30% – a 23-point margin. The question from there is whether Americans would view that as indeed the purpose here. This is how Trump has billed potential strikes, saying Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon. But as recently as March of this year, his own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified quite the opposite. She said that the intel community had assessed that 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.' Trump disputed Gabbard's account on Tuesday, but it's not difficult to see her words – and US intelligence assessments about the lack of imminence of an Iranian nuclear weapon – becoming a problem. That's particularly because America's last major military foray, into neighboring Iraq, became so unpopular due how the Bush administration exaggerated the threat it posed. Americans have appeared open to military action in theory. The question from there is how immediate they view that threat as being. Some surveys indicate Americans do tend to view Iran as a major threat – and on a bipartisan basis: The same Fox poll showed 57% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans called Iran a 'real national security threat.' A 2023 Fox poll showed more than 6 in 10 Democrats and about 8 in 10 Republicans were at least 'very' concerned about Iran getting a nuke. And Gallup polling last year showed 93% of Republicans and 70% of Democrats described Iran developing nuclear weapons as a 'critical threat' to the vital interests of the United States. But other surveys suggest that perceived problem might not rank particularly high. Pew Research Center polling last year showed many more Americans felt China (64%) and Russia (59%) were major military threats than Iran (42%). Pew data last year also found only 37% of Americans said limiting Iran's power and influence should be a 'top priority.' It ranked lower than limiting Russia and China's power and about the same as North Korea's – while also falling below limiting climate change. And back in 2020, just 14% of Americans thought Iran was such a threat that it required immediate military action, according to a CBS News poll conducted by SSRS. A huge majority felt it was a threat that could be contained (64%), while 17% said it wasn't a threat. All of these numbers could change if Trump goes down the path toward the US hitting Iran. He has shown an ability to get Republicans, in particular, to buy into pretty much whatever he says. (Though some prominent conservative voices like Tucker Carlson have strongly rejected the idea of strikes, meaning there could even be some resistance there). Anyway, it's likely we'd see these numbers polarize. But US intelligence assessments had concluded that not only was Iran not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon — in contrast to Israeli warnings — but that it was also up to three years from being able to produce and deliver one to a target, CNN reported Tuesday. Trump's history with Iran also looms here. In 2020, he launched a controversial strike that killed a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani. And polling often showed people leaned in favor of the strike. But polling also showed Americans said by double digits that the strike made us less safe domestically. And a CNN poll at the time showed Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the situation with Iran also by double digits, 53-42%. All of which indicates Americans are concerned about blowback and don't have a particularly high degree of faith in Trump's Iran policies. The sum total of the data suggest that, while Americans are concerned about the prospect of Iran getting a nuclear weapon, they don't necessarily view it as an immediate problem necessitating the use of the US military. If someone asks you if you are worried about a nuclear foreign country, of course that sounds scary. You might even sign off on a hypothetical in which US military might be needed to combat that threat you fear. But it doesn't mean you think that's imminent enough to warrant putting US servicemembers in harm's way and setting off a major Middle Eastern war, today. And there's plenty of reason to believe Trump could – or at least should – approach this idea cautiously.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's next move: Energizing Democrats in South Carolina and California
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will seek to energize activists at Democratic state conventions in South Carolina and California on Saturday, as the party's 2024 vice presidential nominee works to keep up the high national profile he gained when Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. Walz, a former schoolteacher who went to Congress and then became his state's governor, will keynote the South Carolina gathering in Columbia, traditionally a showcase for national-level Democrats and White House hopefuls. Another leader who often appears on those lists, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, spoke Friday night at the party's fundraising dinner. South Carolina held the first Democratic presidential primary of the 2024 campaign, and the party hopes for a repeat as first in line in 2028. But the national party organizations haven't settled their 2028 calendars yet, and party officials in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada are also vying to go first. 'From the classroom to the governor's office, Tim Walz leads with compassion and common sense,' the South Carolina party posted on social media earlier this month when it announced his appearance. 'He's proof that you can govern with both heart and backbone, and he's bringing that message to South Carolina.' Walz, who's on a long list of potential 2028 candidates who have been traveling to early-voting states, will also be a featured speaker as California Democrats gather in Anaheim on Saturday. 'We're fired up to welcome Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to the Convention stage in Anaheim,' state chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. 'He's a former teacher, a veteran, and a trailblazer who's spent his career fighting for working families and standing up for the values we all share — fairness, dignity, and opportunity for all.' Democrats have been debating since Harris lost to President Donald Trump in November over which direction the party should take. That self-examination reflects deep frustrations among Democratic voters that their leaders are failing to put up enough resistance against Trump, who has taken a much more aggressive approach to his second term in the White House. Walz hasn't officially said if he'll seek a third term in 2026, but acknowledges he's thinking about it. He said in a recent interview with KSTP-TV that he would probably wait to decide until July, after he calls a special session of the closely divided Minnesota Legislature to finish work on the state's next budget. Those negotiations have gone slowly despite his frequent meetings with legislative leaders. He's given mixed signals on a 2028 presidential run while keeping up his attacks on Trump. He told The New Yorker Radio Hour for an interview that aired in March that he would 'certainly consider that' if circumstances were right. He told CNN's 'State of the Union' last month that he was 'not thinking about running in 2028.' But he hasn't ruled it out, either, and has signaled possible interest in other ways. Following the Democratic ticket's defeat in November, Walz returned to the road in March when he went to Iowa to launch a series of town halls in competitive congressional districts represented by Republicans, after House Speaker Mike Johnson advised GOP representatives to avoid holding town halls because of protests at them. Walz's gubernatorial campaign organization, which has been actively raising money, has used his travels in 'Support Tim on the Road' fundraising pitches. 'For the past few weeks, I've been showing up where Republicans won't,' he wrote in one recent message. 'I've hosted town halls in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas to hear from people the GOP is neglecting.' ___
