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Apr 8, 2025 - World

Even though one of the goals of President Donald Trump 's trade war is to revive U.S. manufacturing, his administration is slashing a key program meant to help modernize plants across the country — including in Vice President JD Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio.New reporting from CNN says the Trump administration has frozen $6.3 billion in Biden-era grant programs that would have allowed large industrial companies to upgrade their equipment. In the meantime, Elon Musk's DOGE will decide what it will allocate, if anything, to companies like "steel giant" Cleveland-Cliffs.According to CNN, the company was slated to receive a $500 million grant to upgrade its blast furnaces."The new furnaces — which run on climate-friendly hydrogen, natural gas and electricity instead of coal — would have extended the life of the plant and given the steel company a foot in the future," the article stated.ALSO READ: 'The Hard Reset': Here's how the U.S. is exporting terrorism around the worldIn addition, the grants, "which would have created over 100 permanent jobs and 1,200 construction jobs in Middletown alone, are slated for termination under the Trump administration," according to internal documents obtained by CNN.Middletown is the Ohio town where Vance grew up.Climate Reporter Ella Nilsen wrote, "Experts fear the cuts could have a chilling effect on America’s manufacturing industry, especially as the global economy reels from Trump’s tariff war. Trump’s tariffs, which were meant to be a boon to manufacturing, could be painful in the short term as they roil markets, stoke recession fears and seize supply chains."An anonymous source told CNN, "it 'makes zero sense' to cut a major federal grant to one of the largest employers in the vice president’s hometown."The source continued, “There’s no political logic to it whatsoever. Cliffs is the major vertically integrated steel manufacturer left in this country, and they’ve been quite supportive of Trump’s tariffs. This really reads like a bunch of 24-year-olds at DOGE are working through this.”In a statement, an Energy Department spokesperson told CNN that “no final decisions have been made” about funding cuts.Read the CNN article here.

Apr 8, 2025 - World

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) questioned U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a Tuesday hearing about the tariffs, which will go into effect on Wednesday. Greer explained that despite requests for negotiations, all tariffs will be implemented this week — and there is no way of knowing when they will be paused. Masto asked Greer about his work on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and renegotiating the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, also known as KORUS FTA. She noted that these were Trump-negotiated deals that the president is now effectively "ripping up."ALSO READ: 'Decimated for 60 years': GOP senator warns tariff backlash has dearly cost Republicans"Why would any country want to do business with us, much less negotiate a trade deal, if we don't even honor our ongoing agreements?" she asked. Greer said that countries are forced to trade with the U.S., and some Asian countries "have built their entire economies around exporting to us." He claimed this is what caused the trade deficit. "But there was a process for you to renegotiate that agreement this year," she said. Greer agreed. "Time matters," she continued. "How long did it take to negotiate the agreement, the USMCA?"Greer admitted it was two years. "Two years. And now you are telling us you have nearly 50 countries coming to you, approaching you to enter into negotiations, and you think you can do that overnight?" the senator asked. "Man, you're pretty superhuman here if that is the case. Let's be realistic. That is all we are asking, common sense and realism, as you sit here before us."See the clip below or at the link here. - YouTube youtu.be

Apr 8, 2025 - World

Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, drew mockery — and concern — on social media after posting video showing her holding an assault rifle with the muzzle pointed toward the head of a law enforcement officer. "Human traffickers. Drug Smugglers. 18th Street Gang members. Spent the morning in Phoenix with our brave @ICEgov and Arizona law enforcement arresting these dirtbags and getting them off of our streets," Noem posted Tuesday along with the video introducing officers "Marco" and "Brian." Quite a few military veterans replied to the video, expressing concern for "Brian," who was standing to the secretary's left. One veteran reposted the photo with the word, "Ummmmm....." and a cringey-face emoji, while another questioned, "just why is she holding a weapon she isn’t authorized to have?" Still another wrote, "You probably shouldn't hold that or at least know what you're doing." Political analyst David Fitzpatrick posted, "Great, okay but could we at least practice better gun safety measures for a photo op? I appreciate the work, the collaboration, the optics, but gun handling is a pet peeve of mine. Muzzle down, or pointed in a safe position loaded or unloaded - unless engaging a target." J.D Luckenbach, a liberal influencer with 12,000 X followers, posted, "Kristi has the weapon pointed at the officer's head. Her always playing dress up is going to get somebody killed.." "Perfect form. 100% natural. Great job media team," mocked podcaster Good Morning Liberty, while polling company Rasmussen Reports wrote, "This looks ridiculous and like you pulled rank on the officers to hold a big gun." Later in the day, Noem reposted video of an arrest that was witnessed by representatives of the controversial LibsOfTiktok. "This illegal was so mad he was getting arrested so he tried blocking us and hiding with his CROC. DHS Secretary Noem: “You’re not scaring me with your crocs," LibsOfTiktok posted.Watch the video below or at this link.

Apr 8, 2025 - World

US president had trailed ‘direct talks’ and said Iran would be in ‘great danger’ if they failedUS politics live – latest updatesIran, wrongfooted by Donald Trump’s revelation that “direct talks” between the US and Iran on its nuclear programme are set to start in Oman on Saturday, insisted the talks would actually be in an indirect format, but added that the intentions of the negotiators were more important than the format.Trump on Monday threw Tehran off guard by revealing the plan for the weekend talks and saying that if the talks failed Iran would be in “great danger”. There has been an unprecedented US military buildup across the Middle East in recent weeks, and Trump’s decision to make the talks public looks designed to press Iran to negotiate with urgency. Continue reading...

Apr 8, 2025 - World

After 15 Palestinian medics and civil defence workers were killed by Israeli forces late last month, Israel began a familiar pattern of denialThe Israel Defense Forces’ changing account of its killing of 15 Palestinian medics and civil defence workers is part of a long familiar pattern in high profile cases involving the killing of civilians.Often, at first, the IDF denies involvement. Sometimes – in the context of Gaza – it suggests one of Hamas’s own rockets fell short, causing the casualties. Continue reading...