The Trump administration is reportedly considering imposing a new travel ban that could affect citizens from up to 43 countries, expanding beyond the restrictions from his first term, according to sources familiar with the matter. A draft list prepared by diplomatic and security officials outlines a “red” list of 11 countries whose citizens would be completely banned from entering the United States. These countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen, according to officials.  However, these sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, warned that this list was compiled weeks ago by the State Department and could change by the time it reaches the White House, reports The New York Times. Tensions between Iran and US rise as Trump sends letter to supreme leader Embassy officials, regional bureaus at the State Department, and security specialists from other agencies and intelligence services have been reviewing the draft. They are providing feedback on whether the descriptions of deficiencies in the listed countries are accurate or if there are any policy considerations that might justify reconsidering certain countries’ inclusion, it said. Additionally, the draft proposal includes an “orange” list of 10 countries where travel would be restricted but not fully prohibited. Affluent business travelers might still be allowed entry, but those on immigrant or tourist visas would face restrictions. Citizens from these countries would also need to attend mandatory in-person visa interviews. This list includes Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Turkmenistan. Upon taking office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order instructing the State Department to identify countries with insufficient vetting and screening information, potentially leading to partial or full suspension of their nationals’ entry into the United States. The State Department had 60 days to present a report, which is expected next week, with assistance from the Justice and Homeland Security Departments, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the report said. While several agencies declined to comment, the State Department has previously affirmed its commitment to protecting the nation and its citizens by upholding high standards of national security and public safety through the visa process, although it declined to discuss internal deliberations in detail. Trump clarifies his 24-hour Russia-Ukraine war promise as 'Sarcastic' Reports earlier this month indicated that Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban after the U.S. withdrew in 2021, was likely to be added to the new travel ban list, although the inclusion of other countries remained unclear. It remains uncertain whether people with existing visas would be exempt from the ban, or if their visas would be revoked. There is also ambiguity about whether green card holders, who have already been approved for permanent residency, would be exempt, added the report. The Trump administration recently canceled the green card of Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born former Columbia University graduate student, due to his involvement in campus protests against Israel’s Gaza actions, citing antisemitic views and sparking a legal challenge. Some of the countries on the draft red and orange lists were included in Trump’s previous travel bans, but others are new. Many of them are Muslim-majority or predominantly nonwhite, poorer, and have governments considered corrupt or weak, the report also said. However, the reasons for some countries’ inclusion are unclear. For example, Bhutan, a small Buddhist and Hindu nation between China and India, is proposed for an outright ban, though neither China nor India are listed. The proposal to restrict visitors from Russia is also notable, as Trump had previously aimed to shift U.S. foreign policy towards a more Russia-friendly stance. Including Venezuela could complicate improving relations, which have aided Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented migrants. The draft also includes a “yellow” list of 22 countries, which would be given 60 days to address deficiencies, with the possibility of being moved to one of the other lists if they fail to comply. This list includes Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe. During Trump’s first term, courts blocked the enforcement of the initial versions of the travel ban, but the Supreme Court ultimately allowed a revised version, banning citizens from eight countries, six of which were predominantly Muslim. Upon becoming president in January 2021, Joe Biden revoked Trump’s travel bans, calling them a “stain on our national conscience” and inconsistent with the U.S.’s tradition of welcoming people of all faiths. Trump’s executive order from January indicated that the bans would be revived to protect American citizens “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”

The threat of tornadoes in parts of the U.S. proved deadly as whipping winds moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, with at least two people killed in south-central Missouri and widespread damage there and elsewhere. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that two adults were killed in the Bakersfield area in Ozark County and multiple people were injured. The deaths come as a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that damaged buildings, whipped up deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires. Extreme weather is forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier areas to the south. The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings early Saturday morning for areas in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana and Texas. Three people were killed Friday in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo County in the Texas Panhandle, according to Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the state’s department of public safety. One pileup involved an estimated 38 cars. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Barkley said, calling the near-zero visibility a nightmare. “We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.” Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers. “This is terrible out here,” said Charles Daniel, a truck driver hauling a 48-foot (14.6-meter) trailer along Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma. “There’s a lot of sand and dirt in the air. I’m not pushing it over 55 mph. I’m scared it will blow over if I do.” Forecasters said the severe storm threat would continue into the weekend with a high chance of tornadoes and damaging winds Saturday in Mississippi and Alabama. Heavy rain could bring flash flooding to some parts of the East Coast on Sunday. Experts say it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in March. “What’s unique about this one is its large size and intensity,” said Bill Bunting of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. “And so what that is doing is producing really substantial impacts over a very large area.” Tornadoes hit amid storm outbreak The weather service said at least five tornadoes were reported in Missouri on Friday, including one in the Saint Louis area. Several buildings were damaged. The Storm Prediction Center said fast-moving storms could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs, but the greatest threat would come from straight-line winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 100 mph (160 kph) possible. “Potentially violent” tornadoes were expected Saturday in parts of the central Gulf Coast and Deep South into the Tennessee Valley, according to the National Weather Service. The Storm Prediction Center said parts of Mississippi including Jackson and Hattiesburg and areas of Alabama including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa would be at a high risk. Severe storms and tornadoes were also possible across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle. Wildfires break out amid dry, gusty conditions Wildfires in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds, and evacuations were ordered Friday for some communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico. A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from less than a square mile (about 2 square kilometers) to an estimated 32.8 square miles (85 square kilometers), the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening. About 60 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, another fire grew to about 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometers) before its advance was halted in the afternoon. High winds also knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, according the website poweroutage.us. Blizzard warnings in Northern Plains The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible. Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected to cause whiteout conditions.  

President Donald Trump welcomed Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House, where he added Ireland to the list of countries he says are taking advantage of the United States. Martin countered by noting Ireland's contributions to the U.S. It was Trump's first Oval Office meeting with a foreign leader since his recent sit-down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which morphed into a shouting match as they jousted over ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The session ended with Zelenskyy being asked to leave the White House. Martin, who offered only gentle pushback to some of Trump's comments, returned to the White House in the evening and presented Trump with a bowl of shamrocks at an early St. Patrick's Day celebration. The duo also attended an annual luncheon at the Capitol. The president's banter during the Oval Office meeting also touched on Vice President JD Vance's shamrock-themed socks and Trump nemesis Rosie O’Donnell 's recent move to Ireland. The Republican president has been sparring with U.S. allies and adversaries alike over trade, slapping double-digit tariffs on imports from countries from Canada to China and in between. During the appearance with Martin, Trump repeated his claim that the European Union was created just to stick it to the U.S. Asked if Ireland, a member of the EU, was taking advantage, too, Trump said, “of course they are. I have great respect for Ireland and what they did and they should have done just what they did, but the United States shouldn’t have let it happen.” He was referring to the concentration of U.S. pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, due to the country's tax policies. “We had stupid leaders. We had leaders that didn’t have a clue or let’s say they weren’t businesspeople, but they didn’t have a clue what was happening and all of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies," Trump said. Martin countered that the trade relationship is “a two-way street,” adding that Ireland's two largest airlines buy more aircrafts from Boeing Co. than anyone else outside of America. More than 700 Irish companies are also based in America, creating thousands of jobs, Martin said. “That's a little known fact that doesn't turn up in the statistics,” he added. Portugal’s govt falls prompting early election after confidence vote “I understand where you're coming from, fully,” Martin told Trump, “but I think it's a relationship that we can develop and that will endure into the future.” At one point, Trump became distracted as he talked about inflation in the U.S. “By the way, I love these socks. What’s with these socks? I’m trying to stay focused, but I’m very impressed with the VP’s socks,” Trump said, drawing chuckles from others in the room. Vance had worn socks patterned with small green shamrocks as a nod to Martin's visit. When a reporter asked Martin why his country would let O'Donnell move there, Trump jumped at the opening. “I like that question,” the president said, adding that Martin was ”better off not knowing” about O'Donnell. O'Donnell, a comedian and former talk-show host, and Trump have feuded for years. O’Donnell, who is gay, recently announced that she moved to Ireland in January, citing a lack of equal rights in America. Trump found a way to sneak his penchant for professional fighting into the discourse. As the meeting wrapped, Trump was asked to name his favorite person in Ireland. Trump referred to Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, partly because "he's got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen.” Trump is well known for his support of Ultimate Fighting Championship and attended bouts during the 2024 presidential campaign. He noted that Martin’s father was an acclaimed boxer, but motioned to Martin saying, “You’re so smooth,” suggesting he did not look like a boxer. “I’m a pretty good defensive boxer,” Martin joked in reply.

Fulbright scholar Aubrey Lay was supposed to receive three months’ worth of payments from the U.S. government for his teaching assistantship at a school for Ukrainian refugees in Estonia. However, he only received approximately one week’s pay, with no indication of when the rest of his grant would be disbursed, reports AP. US agents arrest Palestinian activist who led Columbia University protests Lay is one of many scholars worldwide who rely on State Department funding to participate in long-standing programmes such as Fulbright. These scholars report that their payments were suddenly halted after being informed that their activities were under review. This decision appears to align with the White House’s push to significantly reduce government spending, a shift that has affected numerous federal agencies. In the coming weeks and months, the government is set to undergo even more drastic changes. President Donald Trump has instructed agencies to develop plans for extensive layoffs, known as reductions in force, which will likely result in scaled-back operations at agencies delivering essential services. The funding freeze has left thousands of scholars stranded outside their home countries, uncertain about the future of their programmes or how they will sustain themselves financially. In February, the U.S. State Department temporarily halted spending to conduct a review of its programmes and activities, according to NAFSA, an association of international educators. This pause included initiatives such as the Fulbright, Gilman, and Critical Language international scholarships. Since the spending freeze was implemented, scholars and advocacy groups have reported that grant payments have stopped, with no communication from U.S. officials regarding whether the situation will change. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment on the funding suspension. Lay expressed frustration over the lack of communication from U.S. officials. He also worried about the future of a programme that his grandmother had taken part in decades ago. Established in 1946, Fulbright has become a flagship initiative for the U.S. government’s cross-cultural engagement efforts. However, his biggest concern is the impact on his students if he is forced to leave prematurely. “I don’t want to be yet another source of instability and uncertainty in their lives,” Lay said. “That thought is unbearable to me.” Lay said he could manage for another month, but he feared for participants who lacked financial savings. “The only clarity I have is that nobody knows what’s happening,” he said. “Every time I ask someone, they have no answers and are just as confused as I am.” According to the Fulbright Association, a nonprofit comprising programme alumni, thousands of scholars are in situations similar to Lay’s. In a newsletter email, the association reported that the funding halt affects “over 12,500 American students, youth, and professionals currently abroad or scheduled to take part in State Department programmes over the next six months.” Beyond U.S. citizens, the Fulbright Association noted that the pause had also cut funding for U.S.-based programmes that host over 7,400 individuals. Halyna Morozova, a Fulbright scholar from Kyiv who teaches Ukrainian at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, had just endured an exhausting day at the airport on 28 February. That same day, President Trump had harshly criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a highly unusual Oval Office meeting, leaving Morozova deeply worried about the future of her country and her family back home. Who is Mark Carney, the next prime minister of Canada? Then, she received an email from the Institute of International Education (IIE), which administers the Fulbright scholarship. “IIE is currently authorised to send you a partial stipend equivalent to one week of your anticipated upcoming stipend payment,” the email stated. “We will provide updates on future payments as soon as possible.” Morozova panicked. Typically, she received $750 per month. Now, she had to stretch just $187.50 to cover her expenses. “It was terrifying—not only because I am stranded in another country,” she said. “We have no idea if we will receive another stipend here, or even if they have the funds to buy our tickets home. So much is uncertain.” Olga Bezhanova, a professor overseeing Morozova and two other scholars, said the exchange programme had been an integral part of her university’s language education for nearly two decades. Now, she is exploring whether the university can supplement the scholars’ lost funds. If that is not feasible, she admitted she was unsure of what else could be done. “I have to look into the faces of these brilliant individuals as they ask me, ‘Is this really America? What is happening?’” she said. “This is an absolute mess.”

Federal immigration officials apprehended a Palestinian activist on Saturday who was a key figure in the Columbia University demonstrations against Israel, marking a significant intensification of the Trump administration’s commitment to detain and deport student protesters, reports AP. Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia until last December, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his university-owned apartment. His attorney, Amy Greer, informed The Associated Press that ICE agents claimed to be acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. When Greer clarified that Khalil was a permanent U.S. resident with a green card, the agents asserted that his residency status was being revoked instead. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Khalil’s arrest, stating it was in line with President Trump’s executive orders against anti-Semitism. This marks the first known deportation action under Trump’s crackdown on students involved in last spring’s campus protests against the Gaza war, with the administration alleging that such activists forfeited their right to remain in the U.S. by supporting Hamas. McLaughlin suggested Khalil’s arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests, alleging that he led activities connected to Hamas, a designated terrorist group. Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a plant producing drinking water During the arrest, ICE officers also allegedly threatened to detain Khalil’s wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant, according to Greer. Initially, authorities informed Khalil’s legal team that he was being held at a detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but when his wife attempted to visit, she was told he was not there. As of Sunday night, Greer said his whereabouts remained unknown. Columbia University did not confirm whether law enforcement had presented a warrant before entering its property. A university spokesperson stated that officials must show a warrant before accessing campus premises but declined to comment further on Khalil’s detention. On social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the administration was revoking visas and green cards of Hamas supporters to facilitate their deportation. Under U.S. law, green card holders can face deportation for various alleged offences, including support for a terrorist organisation. However, immigration experts described Khalil’s detention—despite no formal criminal charges—as an unusual and legally uncertain move. “This appears to be retaliation against someone for expressing views that the Trump administration opposes,” said Camille Mackler, founder of the immigrant advocacy group Immigrant ARC. Khalil, who completed his master's in international affairs at Columbia, played a key role as a student negotiator during discussions with university officials about dismantling a protest encampment last spring. His visibility in the movement led to increasing pressure from pro-Israel activists urging his deportation. Additionally, Khalil was under investigation by a newly established Columbia University office that has brought disciplinary charges against several students over their pro-Palestinian activism. The Trump administration recently moved to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to Columbia, citing the university’s failure to curb alleged antisemitism on campus. Khalil faced disciplinary actions for his involvement with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group. The university’s allegations included his alleged participation in an unauthorised march that praised Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack and his role in spreading anti-Zionist social media content. More than 1,000 people dead in clashes between Syrian govt forces and Asad loyalists “I have about 13 charges against me, mostly for social media posts I had nothing to do with,” Khalil told the AP last week. “They just want to appease Congress and right-wing politicians, regardless of how this affects students. It’s an attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian speech.”

Most of the 80,000 federal workers responsible for researching diseases, inspecting food and administering Medicare and Medicaid under the auspices of the Health and Human Services Department were emailed an offer to leave their job for as much as a $25,000 payment as part of President Donald Trump's government cuts. The workers have until 5 pm on Friday to submit a response for the so-called voluntary separation offer. The email was sent to staff across the department, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the National Institutes of Health as well as the Food and Drug Administration, both in Maryland. The mass email went out to a “broad population of HHS employees," landing in their inboxes days before agency heads are due to offer plans for shrinking their workforces. HHS is one of the government's costliest federal agencies, with an annual budget of about $1.7 trillion that is mostly spent on health care coverage for millions of people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. There was no immediate comment Sunday from HHS. Russia uses a gas pipeline to strike at Ukrainian troops from the rear in Kursk Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's health secretary, has hinted at plans at deep cuts to the staff. Last year, he promised to immediately clear out all 600 employees at the NIH, the nation's biomedical research arm. He has not gone that far, but in an interview last month shortly after being sworn in last month, Kennedy said he wanted to remove some workers from the public health agencies. “I have a list in my head,” Kennedy said of potential firings at the agency. He said some workers “made really bad decisions” on nutrition guidelines. The Trump administration, with the help of billionaire Elon Musk, has been trying to push out federal workers in an effort to cut costs. In January, most federal employees received a deferred resignation offer that came with eight months of pay. Thousands of probationary employees, too, have been fired across federal agencies, including at HHS. The latest move to reduce the number of federal health workers comes as the the CDC is assisting with a deadly measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico and as lawmakers are debating deep cuts to Medicaid in the federal budget. HHS workers are directed in the email to reach out to their local human resources office to submit for the voluntary separation.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a government reserve of bitcoin, a key marker in the cryptocurrency's journey towards possible mainstream acceptance. Under Trump's new order, the US government will retain the estimated 200,000 bitcoin it's already seized in criminal and civil proceedings, according to Trump's “crypto czar” David Sacks. “The US will not sell any bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called ‘digital gold,’” Sacks said on social media. The executive order calls for a “full accounting” of the government's bitcoin holdings, which Sacks said have never been fully audited. He added that the US government has previously sold off about 195,000 bitcoin over the last decade for $366 million. He said those bitcoins would be worth about $17 billion if the government hadn't sold them. Sacks said the order allows for the Treasury and Commerce Departments “to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin.” Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies and leaned into his unofficial role as the “ crypto president ” in ways that can both help the crypto industry and enrich himself and his family. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, who felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win last year's election. Trump vows support for crypto industry at White House summit Establishing a bitcoin reserve was one of several crypto-related promises Trump made on the campaign trail last year. Trump is also pushing Congress to pass industry-friendly legislation, and under his administration the Securities and Exchange Commission has started dropping enforcement actions it had taken against some major crypto companies. On Friday, Trump is set to host many key industry leaders at a White House “Crypto Summit.” Bitcoin is the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency. Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis by an anonymous person or persons, bitcoin has blossomed from an experiment by libertarian cryptography enthusiasts into an asset with a market cap of about $1.7 trillion. While it hasn’t taken off as a way to pay for everyday things, bitcoin has found popularity as a store of value that’s not controlled by banks, governments or other powerful entities. Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, a built-in scarcity that supporters say makes it a great hedge against inflation. Critics have long said bitcoin lacks any inherent value, but it’s so far defied naysayers with remarkable price increases. Some supporters of a strategic bitcoin reserve said it could one day help pay off the US national debt. Crypto prices soared after Trump’s victory last year, and when the price of bitcoin first crossed $100,000 in early December, Trump took credit and posted “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” on social media. But prices have since cooled off. Trump's executive order did not equate to an immediate price spike for bitcoin, which was trading around $86,000 shortly after his announcement. The executive order also creates a “US Digital Asset Stockpile,” where the government will hold seized cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. On Sunday, Trump sent crypto prices on a short-lived surge after a surprise announcement that he wanted the government to hold lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana and cardano.

 New Zealand’s most senior envoy to the United Kingdom has lost his job over remarks he made about U.S. President Donald Trump at an event in London this week, New Zealand 's foreign minister said Thursday. Phil Goff, who is New Zealand's high commissioner to the U.K., made the comments at an event held by the international affairs think tank Chatham House in London on Tuesday. Goff asked a question from the audience of the guest speaker, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, in which he said he had been rereading a famous speech by former British wartime leader Winston Churchill from 1938, when Churchill was a lawmaker in the government of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Churchill's speech rebuked Britain's signing of the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler, allowing Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia. Goff quoted Churchill as saying to Chamberlain, “You had the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, yet you will have war.” Goff then asked Valtonen: “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?” As the audience chuckled at the New Zealand envoy's question, Valtonen said she would “limit myself” to saying that Churchill “has made very timeless remarks,” according to video of the event published by Chatham House. Hamas rejects Trump's threat, demands lasting truce for hostages Valtonen's speech on Tuesday was billed as covering Finland’s approach to European security at an event entitled ‘Keeping the peace on NATO’s longest border with Russia.’ In response to questions from reporters, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that Goff’s remarks were “disappointing” and made the envoy’s position “untenable.” “When you are in that position you represent the government and the policies of the day," Peters said. “You’re not able to free think, you are the face of New Zealand.” Officials would “work through” with Goff the “upcoming leadership transition” at New Zealand's mission in London, said Peters. Goff has been New Zealand’s envoy to the U.K. since January 2023. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials were “in discussion with High Commissioner Goff about his return to New Zealand," according to a statement from New Zealand's foreign minister. Global stocks mixed as Trump eases some trade tariffs Former Prime Minister Helen Clark — who was Goff's boss during his time as a lawmaker — denounced his sacking in a post on X, where she wrote the episode was “a very thin excuse” for removing a “highly respected” former foreign minister from his diplomatic role.

As it has with other government agencies, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision at the Voice of America. As it does so, a question hangs in the air: Is the news organization's journalistic mission, which dates to World War II, in for some fundamental changes? Within the past week, VOA placed veteran U.S.-based journalist Steve Herman on an extended absence to investigate his social media activities, and moved to reassign White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, who had been disciplined during the first Trump administration. President Donald Trump's choice to lead VOA, unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, joined the organization as a special adviser while awaiting the approval necessary to take over. Voice of America beams audio and online news reports about the United States throughout the world, typically in the native languages of countries where it operates. At birth, Voice of America told stories about democracy to people in Nazi Germany. Charter mandates editorial independence The agency's charter requires that its journalists deliver independent news and information, and not be a government mouthpiece. Conservatives have often chafed at that; outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the agency employees in 2021 that they often sounded like “Vice of America" and shouldn't be afraid to extol the country's greatness. Trump has also been critical. He said on social media that Lake's appointment will help “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the world FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.” Billionaire Elon Musk, leading Trump's government efficiency efforts, has no use for the organization. He posted on X on Feb. 9 to “shut them down.” Musk wrote that “nobody listens to them anymore” and that it's “just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching” taxpayer money. In January, the president appointed L. Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative watchdog Media Research Center, to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and sister outlets like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The appointment requires Senate approval. Herman ran afoul of VOA leadership in early February for what could be considered a typical journalist's act: tweeting a link to comments by an activist critical of the administration's efforts to dismantle USAID. A Trump administration official, Richard Grenell, labeled that “treasonous” and said Herman should be fired. Last Friday, Herman received a letter effectively suspending him with pay. The action is pending an investigation “regarding whether your social media activity has undermined VOA's audiences' perception of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operation,” according to the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. Minority groups in Bangladesh feel safer under interim govt: VOA survey VOA “believes that your continued presence in the workplace may otherwise jeopardize legitimate U.S. government interests,” said the letter, signed by John Featherly, acting deputy director, programming directorate. A representative for the U.S. Agency for Global Media said Tuesday that it does not discuss personnel matters. VOA managers told journalists there on Monday about Widakuswara's assignment, without making clear why it was being done or what she would be doing in the future. As a White House reporter in 2021, she was demoted for shouting questions at Pompeo following his appearance at the agency, including one referencing the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. That proved to be short-lived, however, as former President Joe Biden removed agency leadership the day after he was inaugurated. Yet in the wake of her demotion four years ago, dozens of Widakuswara's colleagues signed a letter protesting her treatment, and there's some concern that the action could make them targets with Trump loyalists returning, according to an employee who spoke under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Are stories being edited to minimize criticism of Trump? There have also been instances of VOA stories being edited or watered down to minimize criticism of Trump, according to some journalists there who spoke on condition of anonymity. Some holdovers at VOA appear to be trying to appease future leaders from the Trump team, said a former manager there who has heard of similar instances and spoke under condition of anonymity in fear that some people he still knows there could be punished. A story on VOA's website on Tuesday about the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs played it straight, with contributions from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. But it included criticism of Trump's plan by leaders in Canada, Mexico and China. The quick moves by the Trump administration to assert itself at VOA stands in contrast to the president's first term, where his choice to lead the agency, Robert Pack, didn't take office until three years into the presidency. Trump supporters have also taken a close look at news organizations that are supported in part by government funding, like PBS and NPR, and at government payments for news subscriptions. In a memo announcing Lake's appointment as an adviser last week, VOA's chief financial officer Roman Napoli, said the former television anchor's experience in journalism and broadcasting “will be invaluable as we continue our mission to clearly and effectively present the policies of the Trump administration around the world.” 60.4 % think freedom of expression improved under interim govt: VOA survey  That caused some internal concern. “If what they're going to create is an all-Trump, all the time outlet, we're going to lose our credibility and our resources,” said the former manager at VOA. In her own memo to staff later in the week, Lake cited comments made by former President John F. Kennedy upon the 20th anniversary of Voice of America that the task is to tell America's story around the world and do it in a way that is truthful. “That remains our job today,” she wrote. “I am committed to quickly reforming and modernizing the agency into something the American people are willing to support,” she wrote. “I look forward to working with you.” Lake's appointment as leader of VOA is pending approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, which works with the head of the agency that Bozell was chosen to lead. However, that board's membership was recently disbanded by Trump. Jeffrey Trimble, a former deputy director of that advisory board's predecessor, said the new administration had every right to seek congressional approval to change Voice of America's mission. But he thought that would be unwise, since the message VOA sends to other countries about the free flow of ideas in a democracy has a power in its own. “It represents a core value of our democracy, which is robust debate about the issues,” Trimble said. “They can change that if they want to. But at the moment, they are governed by law.”

Twelve Chinese nationals — including mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers and employees of a private hacking company — have been charged in connection with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. A set of criminal cases filed in New York and Washington add new detail to what U.S. officials say is a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing in an arrangement meant to provide Chinese state security forces cover and deniability. The indictments come as the U.S. government has warned of an increasingly sophisticated cyber threat from China, such as a hack last year of telecom firms called Salt Typhoon that gave Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, including U.S. government officials and prominent public figures. One indictment charges eight leaders and employees of a private hacking company known as I-Soon with conducting a sweeping array of computer breaches around the world meant to suppress speech, locate dissidents and steal data from victims. Among those charged is Wu Haibo, who founded I-Soon in Shanghai in 2010 and was a member of China's first hacktivist group, Green Army, and who is accused in the indictment of overseeing and directing hacking operations. Earlier reporting by The Associated Press on leaked documents from I-Soon mainly showed I-Soon was targeting a wide range of governments such as India, Taiwan or Mongolia, but little on the United States. But the indictment contains new revelations about I-Soon’s activities targeting a wide range of Chinese dissidents, religious organizations and media outlets based in the U.S., including a newspaper identified as publishing news related to China and opposed to the Chinese Communist Party. Other targets included individual critics of China living in the U.S., the Defense Intelligence Agency and a research university. The intended targets were in some cases directed by China's Ministry of Public Security — two law enforcement officers were charged with tasking certain assignments — but in other instances the hackers acted at their own initiative and tried to sell the stolen information to the government afterward, the indictment says. US pauses intelligence sharing with Ukraine amid diplomatic spat The company charged the Chinese government the equivalent of between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully hacked, officials said. Phone numbers listed for I-Soon on a Chinese corporate registry rang unanswered, and I-Soon representatives did not immediately respond to an AP email requesting comment. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, suggested Wednesday that the allegations were a “smear” and said, “We hope that relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude and base their characterization of cyber incidents on sufficient evidence rather than groundless speculation and accusations.” A separate indictment charges two other Chinese hackers, identified as Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, in a for-profit hacking campaign that targeted victims including U.S. technology companies, think tanks, defense contractors and health care systems. Among the targets was the U.S. Treasury Department, which disclosed a breach by Chinese actors late last year in what it called a “major cybersecurity incident.” The Treasury Department announced sanctions Wednesday in connection with the hacking, and the State Department announced multimillion-dollar rewards for information about the defendants. I-Soon is part of a sprawling industry in China, documented in an AP investigation last year, of private hacking contractors that steal data from other countries to sell to the Chinese authorities. Over the past two decades, Chinese state security’s demand for overseas intelligence has soared, giving rise to a vast network of these private hackers-for-hire companies that have infiltrated hundreds of systems outside China. UN rights chief calls for accountability over Bangladesh’s 2024 protest abuses China’s hacking industry rose in the early days of the internet, when Wu and other Chinese hackers declared themselves “red hackers” — patriots who offered their services to the Chinese Communist Party, in contrast to the anti-establishment ethos popular among many coders. The indictment “proved the close ties and interaction among China’s first generation patriotic hackers,” said Mei Danowski, a cybersecurity analyst who wrote about I-Soon on her blog, Natto Thoughts. They “all turned to entrepreneurs now — doing businesses with the governments and making profits through other means.” Since I-Soon documents were leaked online last year, the company has been suffering but is still in operation, according to Chinese corporate records. They've downsized and moved offices. "Apparently i-SOON companies have been struggling to survive," Danowski wrote on her blog. “To Chinese state agencies, a company like i-SOON is disposable.”