Sri Lanka is among 60 trading partners facing new United States import tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5%, which are scheduled to take effect today,

A notice issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said that Sri Lankan goods entering the United States will be subject to a 10% tariff from Friday under a new trade measure announced by President Donald Trump’s administration.

According to the USTR, Sri Lanka qualifies for the lower tariff rate because it has adopted, partially implemented, or committed to enforcing restrictions on imports linked to forced labour.

The USTR said 10% was the appropriate rate for economies that have committed to or imposed forced-labour import prohibitions.

“10 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for investigated economies that (i) impose a forced labor import prohibition; (ii) have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; or (iii) have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor good,” the notice said.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the tariffs, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, were intended to address forced-labour violations among trading partners.

Sri Lanka joins countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Kingdom in facing the 10% rate. Products from the European Union and Taiwan will also be subject to a 10% tariff.

Meanwhile, 41 trading partners deemed not to have adopted such restrictions will face a higher tariff of 12.5%. These include China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and several Middle Eastern countries.

The Trump administration has moved quickly to restore the President’s tariff regime after the Supreme Court struck down several duties in February, limiting his ability to impose sweeping levies.

Following the ruling, Trump invoked alternative legal powers to introduce a temporary 10% tariff on imports for 150 days. With that measure expiring on Friday, the new tariffs—first proposed in June—will replace it.

The new tariffs follow an investigation conducted under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, which allows the administration to impose duties in response to trade practices it considers unfair or harmful.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake issued a gazette on July 10, 2026, immediately prohibiting the importation of goods produced wholly or partially using forced labour. The measure followed warnings that Sri Lankan exports could face a 12.5% tariff.

Under the new regulation, importers must submit certified documentation to Sri Lanka Customs proving that their goods comply with the prohibition.

The policy has now enabled Sri Lanka to qualify for the lower 10% US tariff rate, although it could have wider implications for local businesses, manufacturing costs and the country’s export strategy. (Newswire)

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President Trump highlighted the potential approval of the SAVE America Act during his Salute to America 250 speech, stating his goal to require photo identification to vote and limit the use of mail-in ballots.

Trump on Saturday delivered a Fourth of July address from the National Mall, praising the American spirit and the founders who fought the British 250 years ago to pave the path to American independence — hours after the event was delayed by weather in the nation’s capital.

Taking the stage at 11:15 p.m., an hour and 15 minutes after originally planned, the president said, “Tonight we pledge allegiance to the flag they gave us, and we say, God bless the immortal patriots of 1776. And long live the cause of independence.”

The US President brought up present-day politics. During the speech, he promoted his signature SAVE America Act, which would drastically change the administration of American elections just months out from the midterms, and repeatedly railed against communism.

During his speech, Trump touted several historic flags that hung on the stage behind him, including an original 1777 flag and the flag that draped over President Abraham Lincoln’s coffin. The president had multiple veterans and Medal of Honor recipients from various American wars come onto stage at several points to salute the historic flags.

The speech, which culminated in a flyover and a massive fireworks display, came following a major disruption to the show as crowds who waited for hours in the record heat were forced to evacuate the grounds due to thunderstorms hitting Washington, D.C.(NBC)

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Trump appeared to hint at a potential military operation in Cuba after US forces “finish the job” in Iran. The comments come as Washington announced a set of new sanctions targeting the island nation on Friday, which Havana slammed as a form of collective punishment.

US President Donald Trump joked on Friday that his country’s Navy would take on Cuba on the way home from Iran.

His comments came as he addressed attendees of an event at the non-profit Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, where he was invited as a keynote speaker.

Trump said that his military will be “taking over (Cuba) almost immediately,” raising concerns that the US may be entangled in yet another military conflict this year.

“Now Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job. On the way back from what we’ll do… on the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier – the biggest in the world, will have that come in. Stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘thank you very much. We give up’,” added Trump.

Trump has suggested that military operations in Cuba are on the table for months as his administration continued to attack leadership in Havana following Washington’s stunning intervention in Venezuela in January, which toppled and captured President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump had accused Cuba of providing security personnel to protect Maduro’s alleged drug-trafficking operations in exchange for money and oil, both of which he had cut off following the 3 January operation.

The island nation has since been grappling with dire oil shortages which have shut down many sectors across the country and ground national healthcare services to a halt. The UN warned several times that a humanitarian crisis was unfolding in Cuba as a result of the US oil embargoes.

On Friday, Trump ordered new sanctions against Havana, targeting a broad set of people in the communist-run country and threatening foreign banks that work with them.

In an executive order, Trump said he would impose sanctions on people involved in sweeping sections of the Cuban economy, which is steered by the government. (EuroNews)

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The Trump administration on Thursday issued a new license allowing countries to temporarily purchase certain Russian oil products, the same day Brent crude prices settled above $100 per barrel for the first time since August 2022 as the war with Iran drags on.

Temporarily lifting the sanctions on oil from Russia, a major exporter, comes despite previous US pressure on Russian oil companies as part of a bid to stem the flow of cash funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on social media. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”

The license, posted to the US Treasury site, only applies to Russian crude or petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12. The license authorizes those shipments through April 11.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and ranking member on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations criticized the decision on social media. “As Putin helps Iran target Americans in the Middle East, @POTUS is now filling the Kremlin’s war coffers. Instead of squeezing Russia’s faltering economy, the President’s ill-planned war is giving Putin a windfall while American families face higher prices,” Shaheen wrote.

CNN previously reported that the US has granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil currently stranded at sea. Bessent, at the time, said the move was “to enable oil to keep flowing into the global market.”

The war, now in its second week, has seen the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, effectively closed to tanker travel. Oil prices have jumped, and analysts, economists and traders have warned that even a rapid end to the war won’t necessarily mean a quick re-opening of the strait.

As the energy shortage worsens, countries have scrambled to stem the economic impact by curbing consumption, capping fuel prices and tapping into emergency oil reserves. (CNN)

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The United States Senate has failed to pass a resolution seeking to rein in US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

The latest war powers resolution failed 47 to 52 in a procedural vote, marking another major setback for proponents of curtailing Trump’s military pursuits abroad and underscoring Republicans’ embrace of the president’s campaign.

A separate resolution is set to be voted on in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, but it too faces stiff odds.

Lawmakers in the Senate had spent the day arguing for and against asserting Congress’s powers to authorise or end Trump’s military actions against Iran.

Supporters of the resolution say Trump exceeded his constitutional authority by launching a war alongside Israel. Under Article II of the US Constitution, presidents can only launch such attacks in self-defence in response to an immediate threat. Otherwise, Congress has the sole power to declare war.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Tim Kaine argued that, “even in a classified setting”, the Trump administration “could produce no evidence, none that the US was under an imminent threat of attack from Iran”.

“You can’t stand up and say: This is a pinprick that doesn’t lead to the level that would be characterised as war,” Kaine said. “You can’t stand up and say: This is one and done, and no troops are engaged in hostilities against Iran.”

Republicans rally behind Trump

Since launching its military offensive on February 28, the Trump administration has offered a carousel of rationales for why a war was needed now.

Trump has suggested that Iran was seeking to rebuild its nuclear programme, which he has said was “obliterated” in strikes last year. He also said that Iran was seeking to develop a long-range missile to attack the US.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, told reporters that Israel was planning to attack Iran, which would likely have led to retribution against US assets in the region. Trump later contradicted the claim, saying Iran was the one planning an imminent attack on Israel.

To undergird those claims, the Trump administration has also sought to frame the whole of Iran’s military and nuclear-energy programmes since the Islamic revolution in 1979 as an immediate threat to the US.

Several Republicans spoke out against the resolution, arguing that the last 47 years of sabre-rattling from Iran justified the president’s military action.

The Constitution, according to Senator James Risch, “clearly gives the president not only the right, but indeed the duty, as does his oath to protect the United States”.

Risch also pointed to Iran’s efforts to rebuild its nuclear energy assets after a US attack in June of last year, conducted as part of a 12-day war led by Israel.

“The commander-in-chief ordered this attack because of the increase in the manufacturing of long, medium-range missiles — and after [Iran tried] to restart the nuclear programme that was decimated in the 12-day war,” Risch said.

The US and Iran had been in the middle of negotiations to scale down Iran’s nuclear programme in the lead-up to this month’s war, but Risch dismissed those efforts as performative.

“All this time, they had us sitting at the table, dragging out and yakking away at negotiations that were going absolutely nowhere,” he told the Senate, calling on his fellow lawmakers to vote down Wednesday’s resolution.

The vote, which broke down largely along party lines save for one Republican and one Democrat breaking ranks, was the latest in a series of war powers resolutions to fail in Congress. Since the June 21 attack, Congress has introduced several measures to stop Trump from carrying out military campaigns in Iran and Venezuela, to no avail.

Under the 1973 War Powers Act, US presidents must seek congressional approval after committing US troops to military actions for more than 60 days.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth argued that the US operation had just begun, with more US assets being sent to the region.

The duration and scope of the conflict remain unclear, though Trump himself has projected it could last “four to five weeks”. Still, Risch expressed optimism that the conflict would be resolved quickly.

“This is going to end, and it’s going to end rapidly. This is not a forever war, indeed, not even close to it,” Risch said. “This is going to end very quickly.”

Why war powers votes still matter

Even if Wednesday’s effort had passed, the Senate’s war powers resolution would have faced an uphill battle before it could become law.

Both chambers would have needed to pass the resolution for it to go to the president’s desk for a final signature — but even then, Trump could have vetoed the measure.

Only a two-thirds majority in both chambers can override a presidential veto.

Still, advocates have long maintained that such resolutions force lawmakers to confront important questions about the limits of presidential power, even if they are long shots.

They also give constituents a reason to petition their elected officials and voice their concerns about the war.

“While the outcome did not pass, this moment underscores a core truth: Congress must continually reassert its constitutional role to check executive power and prevent endless wars,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, the legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Washington-based nonprofit.

“Our founders warned that unchecked authority leads to unchecked conflict. Senators and Representatives must keep forcing votes to curb US military engagement in unauthorised wars.”

Cavan Kharrazian, a senior policy adviser for the advocacy group Demand Progress, also pointed out that congressional votes can help inform the electorate about their representatives’ stances on key issues.

That, in turn, can have political consequences at the ballot box, particularly in an election year.

“The American people will remember who voted to continue an illegal, unnecessary war,” Kharrazian said.

“Every senator who voted against the war powers resolution also voted against the wishes of the American people and against the safety of the servicemembers they are sworn to protect. The stakes are clear, and there is no more time for political games.” (Al Jazeera)

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A man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after a federal prosecutor said his crime was unacceptable “in this country or anywhere.”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon pronounced Ryan Routh’s fate in the same Fort Pierce courtroom that erupted into chaos in September when he tried to stab himself shortly after jurors found him guilty on all counts.

“American democracy does not work when individuals take it into their own hands to eliminate candidates. That’s what this individual tried to do” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley told the judge.

Defense attorney Martin L. Roth argued that “at the moment of truth, he chose not to pull the trigger.”

The judge pushed back, noting Routh’s history of arrests, to which Roth said, “He’s a complex person, I’ll give the court that, but he has a very good core.”

Routh then read from a rambling, 20-page statement. Cannon broke in, said none of what he was saying was relevant and gave him five more minutes to talk.

“I did everything I could and lived a good life,” Routh said, before the judge cut him off.

“Your plot to kill was deliberate and evil,” she said. “You are not a peaceful man. You are not a good man.”

She then issued his sentence: Life without parole, plus seven years on a gun charge. His sentences for his other three crimes will run concurrently. In a statement on the social platform X, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked prosecutors for ensuring that Routh “will never walk free again.”

“Ryan Routh’s heinous attempted assassination of President Trump was not only an attack on our President — it was a direct assault against our entire democratic system,” Bondi said.

Routh’s sentencing was initially scheduled for December. But Cannon agreed to move it back after Routh decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase, instead of representing himself as he did for most of the trial. (AssociatedPress)

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US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that would slap additional tariffs on goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.

The order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and calls the Cuban government an “extraordinary threat” to US national security.

Cuba’s foreign minister condemned Trump’s executive order, calling it a “brutal act of aggression.”

The move could further aggravate an already deep energy crisis in the country.

The Caribbean island has experienced severe fuel shortages in recent years, impacting its power grid and causing widespread blackouts.

Trump cuts off Venezuelan oil to Cuba

Cuba has largely been under a US embargo since 1962.

“We denounce to the world this brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people, who for more than 65 years have been subjected to the longest and cruelest economic blockade ever imposed on an entire nation and who are now guaranteed to be subjected to extreme living conditions,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on social media.

Cuba has relied heavily on shipments from allies like Venezuela, Mexico and Russia.

Supplies from Venezuela, however, have ceased since the US launched a military attack earlier this month and kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump has said that no more Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba.

He also claimed that the Cuban government is ready to collapse.

Order puts pressure on Mexico

The latest order is likely to put pressure on Mexico, which remains one of the few countries supplying energy to Cuba.

In its most recent report, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex said it shipped nearly 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba from January through September 30, 2025.

But experts who track crude shipments say the figure is likely to have fallen to about 7,000 barrels a day.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been vague about where her country stood on the issue.

Earlier this week, she denied reports she had stopped oil shipments to Havana.

Sheinbaum, who has sought to forge a strong relationship with Trump, has said that Mexico would continue to show solidarity with Cuba, but didn’t clarify what kind of support Mexico would offer. (DW)

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado visited the White House on Thursday for a closed-door lunch with US President Donald Trump.

Machado told reporters after the meeting she had  “presented” Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

In brief remarks, she added the meeting had gone well and that her supporters could “count on” the US president. 

A White House official confirmed that Trump intends to keep the medal, Reuters news agency and CNN reported.

Trump has openly coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, and reacted to Machado’s being named Nobel laureate in December 2025 with derision. 

Machado had been careful in recent weeks to avoid offending Trump and even previously offered to share her peace prize with him, which the Nobel Institute said is not allowed.

Trump called Machado a “wonderful woman” after their meeting Thursday.

“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect,” Trump later wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Thank you María!”

The ouster of President Nicolas Maduro after a US raid in Caracas on January 3 had initially sparked hopes among Venezuela’s embattled pro-democracy opposition, led by Machado, who had called for an “end to tyranny” in Venezuela.

However, Trump quickly sidelined Machado after the US kidnapped Maduro, saying she didn’t “have the support within or the respect within the country” to be in charge.

Venezuela’s opposition says Maduro stole the 2024 election from Machado’s party, claims which have been supported by Washington.

On Thursday, the White House said Trump has not changed his opinion on Machado.

The opposition leader won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for advocating democracy in Venezuela despite threats from Maduro.

Machado’s daughter Ana Corina Sosa received the prize for her mother during a ceremony in Oslo in December 2025.

The meeting with Trump was a rare public appearance for Machado, whose whereabouts have been largely unknown since she left Venezuela last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. 

Rodriguez calls for ‘diplomacy’

Despite calling Machado a “freedom fighter” and a “very nice woman,”  it is clear Trump and his advisers prefer Maduro’s deputy Delcy Rodriguez, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, to be in charge of day-to-day government operations in Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Trump spoke with Rodriguez for the first time on the phone, calling her a “terrific person” and praising the “terrific progress” made since Maduro’s ouster.

“Many topics were discussed,” Trump wrote on social media, “including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security.”

Rodriguez said the call was “productive and courteous,” and characterized by “mutual respect.”

In a national address on Thursday, Rodriguez criticized the Trump administration’s moves while also calling for closer cooperation with Washington, in a sharp reversal in tone from her predecessors. 

“Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the US, said Rodriguez. In recent days, the Venezuelan government has begun releasing hundreds of political prisoners detained during Maduro’s rule.

US seizes another oil tanker

Machado’s visit and Rodriguez’s speech come as another vessel was seized by US forces in the Caribbean on Thursday, according to the US ⁠military’s Southern Command.

The pre-dawn raid on the tanker Veronica took place “without incident,” the US military said in a statement, adding the vessel was “operating in defiance” the US president’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

Six Venezuelan-linked oil tankers have been seized by US forces since mid-December, with four of the operations taking place after ​Maduro was snatched from Caracas and brought to New York.

Maduro’s deputy Rodriguez quickly took over as interim president, and the Trump administration has signaled Rodriguez is ready to play ball with US plans to take control of production, refining and global distribution of Venezuelan oil. (DW)

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Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo recently attended the Golden Globes as a nominee for his performance in HBO’s ‘Task’, but he wasn’t feeling entirely celebratory.

The actor called out the US President Donald Trump and said he couldn’t b******* when it came to how “not normal” it is to attend a glitzy awards ceremony just days after the death of Renee Good.

The actor was one of several celebrities wearing a “Be Good” pin to honor Good, who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week, reports ‘Variety’.

“It’s for Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered”, Ruffalo said about wearing the pin before calling out J.D. Vance and other political figures who defended the shooting as self-defense. “We have a vice president who is lying about what’s happening. We’re in the middle of a war with Venezuela that we illegally invaded. (Trump) is telling the world that international law doesn’t matter to him. The only thing that matters to him is his own morality”.

Nodding to Trump telling The New York Times that “my own morality” and “my own mind” are his only limits when it comes to global power

He told ‘USA Today’, “The guy is a convicted felon. He’s the worst human being. If we’re relying on this guy’s morality for the most powerful country in the world, then we’re all in a lot of trouble. So this is for (Renee). This is for the people in the United States who are terrorized and scared today. I know I’m one of them. I love this country, and what I’m seeing here happening is not America”.

When asked why it was important to send a political message while attending the Globes, Ruffalo answered, “Listen, I want to pretend like this, I want to be here to celebrate, and I am here to celebrate, and I’m proud to have a Golden Globe nomination. But also, this is not normal anymore, and so I don’t know how I could be quiet, and I’m feeling a little sick, so it’s hard to BS right now”. (IANS)

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would withdraw from dozens of international and U.N. entities, including a key climate treaty and a U.N. body that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment, because they “operate contrary to U.S. national interests.”

Among the 35 non-U.N. groups and 31 U.N. entities Trump listed in a memo to senior administration officials is the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change – described by many as the “bedrock” climate treaty which is parent agreement to the 2015 Paris climate deal.

The United States skipped the annual U.N. international climate summit last year for the first time in three decades.

“The United States would be the first country to walk away from the UNFCCC,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Every other nation is a member, in part because they recognize that even beyond the moral imperative of addressing climate change, having a seat at the table in those negotiations represents an ability to shape massive economic policy and opportunity,” said Bapna.

The U.S. will also quit UN Women, which works for gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the international body’s agency focused on family planning as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. The U.S. cut its funding for the UNFPA last year.

“For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” reads the memo. Trump has already largely slashed voluntary funding to most U.N. agencies.

A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

TRUMP WARY OF MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS

Trump’s move reflects his long-standing wariness of multilateral institutions, particularly the United Nations. He has repeatedly questioned the effectiveness, cost and accountability of international bodies, arguing they often fail to serve U.S. interests.

Since beginning his second term a year ago, Trump has sought to slash U.S. funding for the United Nations, stopped U.S. engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and quit the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. He has also announced plans to quit the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement.

Other entities on the U.S. list are the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, the International Energy Forum, the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms and the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission.

The White House said the dozens of entities that Washington was seeking to depart as soon as possible promote “radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength.”

It said the move is part of a review of all international intergovernmental organizations, conventions and treaties.

“These withdrawals will end American taxpayer funding and involvement in entities that advance globalist agendas over U.S. priorities, or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively such that U.S. taxpayer dollars are best allocated in other ways to support the relevant missions,” the White House said in a statement. (Reuters)

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Activists from the Frontline Socialist Party and several other groups gathered outside the United States Embassy in Colombo this evening to protest U.S. actions in Venezuela.

Protesters held placards reading “Don’t Touch Venezuela,” calling for a Venezuelan‑led solution and denouncing what they describe as US interference.

The protests comes after a major escalation in US – Venezuela tensions, after the United States launched a large‑scale military operation that included strikes on Venezuelan territory and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are now to face federal charges in the United States.

The US has signaled intentions to oversee Venezuela’s transition and its oil resources, a move that has drawn international criticism and heightened global debate over sovereignty and intervention. (Newswire)

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The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has ordered the suspension of the green card lottery program at Donald Trump’s direction, saying it allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the US.

Suspect Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, initially entered the US on a student visa in 2000 and later became a permanent resident in 2017, according to Oscar Perez, the police chief in Providence, Rhode Island. Valente was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said on X.

Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals.

After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other countries.

The DV1 visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the US, many of them in Africa.

Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the US. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.

Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants. (The Guardian)

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US President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday that compels his administration to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting those efforts.

Trump could have chosen to release many of the files on his own months ago.

“Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories,” Trump said in a social media post as he announced he had signed the bill.

Now, the bill requires the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in a federal prison in 2019, within 30 days. It allows for redactions about Epstein’s victims for ongoing federal investigations, but DOJ cannot withhold information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”

It was a remarkable turn of events for what was once a farfetched effort to force the disclosure of case files from an odd congressional coalition of Democrats, one GOP antagonist of the president, and a handful of erstwhile Trump loyalists. As recently as last week, the Trump administration even summoned one Republican proponent of releasing the files, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, to the Situation Room to discuss the matter, although she did not change her mind.

But over the weekend, Trump did a sharp U-turn on the files once it became clear that congressional action was inevitable. He insisted the Epstein matter had become a distraction to the GOP agenda and indicated he wanted to move on.

“I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had,” Trump said in a social media post Tuesday afternoon, explaining the rationale for his abrupt about-face. (AP)

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The US Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday notified India about the plans to increase tariffs to 50% on Indian goods, signalling that the White House plans to push ahead with the higher tariffs after talks to broker a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine appeared to be stalled.

The notice said Indian goods that entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 AM eastern daylight time on August 27, 2025 would attract heightened levies.

The deadline for the additional 25% tariffs to be imposed on Indian goods by the United States will end tonight and from August 27, Indian imports in America will be levied with a 50% tariff rate.

President Donald Trump-led administration has termed India’s continued purchase of Russian oil a “national security concern” and Vice President JD Vance recently told NBC News that President Trump had applied “aggressive economic leverage”, including “secondary tariffs on India” to “make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy”.

PM Narendra Modi, in a statement to support small entrepreneurs and farmers on Monday said, “No matter how much pressure comes, we will keep increasing our strength to withstand it.”  (Indian Express)

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The United States is planning to build its largest ever migrant detention facility on a military base in Texas.

The initial plan is to hold 1,000 migrants at the Fort Bliss base near the Mexican border starting this month, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The facility, named Camp East Montana, would then be expanded to provide 5,000 beds for migrants in “the weeks and months ahead,” according to the Department of Defense.

Migrant detention in tents at US base

When completed, it would be the largest federal detention center in the US, the Pentagon added.

The Defence Department is funding the detention center, which will consist of short-term tent-like housing, according to US media reports citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Although the facility is being built on a military base, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to be responsible for the people held there, according to Reuters news agency.

US President Donald Trump has made the arrest and rapid deportation of undocumented migrants a key focus of his second term and masked, armed ICE agents have taken people into custody in raids at factories and farms around the country.

The number of migrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement hit record levels in recent weeks.

Nationwide, nearly 57,000 people are being held in detention, according to ICE figures, which also showed the vast majority of those taken into custody have no conviction, despite the president’s campaign promises to go after hardened criminals.

Trump administration using military amid migrant crackdowns

During Trump’s first term, the Pentagon balked at building facilities to house detained migrants and the idea was dropped.

His decision to activate the military in his second term is meeting with more success.

In July, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth approved the use of two other military bases — in New Jersey and Indiana — to house migrants before their deportation.

Earlier this year, Trump ordered the preparation of a 30,000-person “migrant facility” at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba earlier this year, though it has not held anywhere close to that number of people.

Trump’s second term has also seen thousands of active-duty troops sent to the US-Mexico border.

Some migrants have also been deported using military aircraft, although this has reportedly been stopped on cost grounds.

In July, Congress approved $45 billion (€38.6 billion) for building new immigration detention centers. (DW)

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In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump stood alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston. The atmosphere was electric. Indian Americans cheered, and New Delhi appeared fully invested in the Trump presidency. Trump’s popularity in India eclipsed that of his successor Joe Biden and even Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, who is herself of Indian ancestry. Trump’s re-election in 2024 thus seemed like the beginning of a new, stronger chapter in India-U.S. relations.

That chapter is now closing fast. India is beginning to question the value of its strategic alignment with Washington. And the United States is handing it every reason to do so.

On July 25, when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Washington to discuss trade and critical minerals, New Delhi took notice. This was not the first time a high-level engagement with Pakistan had stirred unease in India. But the timing, messaging, and broader context made this moment impossible to ignore. Why, many in New Delhi asked, would Washington deepen ties with a country that actively undermines India’s security, especially after decades of painstaking work to build India-U.S. relations?

Worse still, Trump’s renewed talk of mediating between India and Pakistan, including on the Kashmir dispute, has reopened old wounds. India has long maintained that Kashmir and other sensitive issues must be handled bilaterally. Any interference, no matter how well-intentioned, is seen as a breach of sovereignty.

Trump’s talk of mediation thus sends a clear message to India that its core concerns are negotiable. If Washington is serious about deepening ties with India, such comments are at best a diplomatic misstep and at worst strategic self-sabotage on a grand scale.

Pakistan’s sponsorship of cross-border terrorism is a direct national security threat for India Any United States administration that ignores this point is guilty of diplomatic negligence. India does not ask for unconditional alignment, only consistency and respect for its core interests from the United States.

This indifference is especially jarring now that India is recalibrating its foreign policy. No longer shielded by nonalignment, India has leaned into pragmatic engagement with the West. New Delhi has joined frameworks like the Quad, committed to expanding military exercises like Malabar, and demonstrated readiness to share responsibility in the Indo-Pacific. India is doing its part, but partnerships cannot be one-sided.

Trump’s mixed signals and public overtures to Pakistan are actively undermining India-U.S. ties, to unclear ends. Pakistan is economically fragile, politically volatile, and increasingly tethered to China. India, by contrast, brings capacity, credibility, and the geopolitical leverage needed to shape Asia’s balance of power. 

By engaging Pakistan – a state firmly within Beijing’s orbit – and wavering on India’s core concerns, the United States is weakening trust and undermining the very alliances and partnerships it claims to prioritize. The United States must decide if it wants a steady, forward-looking partner in India or a string of transactional dealings with Pakistan that only breed mistrust.

India is managing a delicate and high-stakes relationship with China, and despite this challenge, it remains committed to regional stability, alongside Australia and Japan. Yet none of these countries can uphold the Indo-Pacific vision alone while Washington continues to send conflicting signals. U.S. inconsistency hands Beijing a strategic advantage. It allows China to appear more predictable and, at times, more reasonable in contrast.

The original rationale for closer India-U.S. ties was straightforward: India is the only democratic power in Asia with the capacity to balance China’s growing assertiveness. That rationale still holds true, and the need is more pressing than ever. Beijing is stepping up pressure on Taiwan. The South China Sea remains volatile. The regional balance is shifting. Washington cannot afford to sideline its trusted partner in Asia, lest it weaken the Indo-Pacific framework from the inside out.

As India and Pakistan traded strikes in early May U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said of the conflict, “It’s none of our business.” If the Trump administration still holds this view – that what happens in South Asia is of no concern – then the United States should step aside. 

If the Trump administration does envision a role for itself in the region, then now is the moment to demonstrate that the United States sees India as more than a convenient partner. The Trump administration must clarify its long-term priorities. India is an indispensable and equal partner, and must be treated as such. Doing otherwise risks damaging a partnership that may never fully recover. Rebuilding trust will take decades; influencing India’s increasingly confident strategic autonomy will be even harder.

Ignoring India’s concerns not only jeopardizes the bilateral partnership but also strengthens voices within India that argue the West cannot be trusted. As it stands now, the Trump administration is giving those voices every reason to say, “We told you so!” (The Diplomat)

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US President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with a common, benign vein condition, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.

“In recent weeks, President Trump noted mild swelling in his lower legs,” Leavitt told journalists at a White House press briefing.

She said medical tests “revealed chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.” Trump is 79 years old.

The announcement comes amid speculation regarding images showing Trump with a bruised hand and swollen legs.

Leavitt claimed that the bruised hand was due to Trump shaking hands with so many people and because he takes aspirin. Trump takes aspirin to mitigate heart attack and stroke risk.

Leavitt said laboratory testing found no evidence that Trump faces “deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease.”

A letter published by the White House from presidential physician Sean Barbabella said Trump “remains in excellent health.”

How serious is CVI?  

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website, CVI occurs when “leg veins don’t allow blood to flow back up to your heart.” Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said CVI is “not a serious health threat.”

Trump, Biden face health speculation as oldest-ever presidents

The White House’s statements that Trump’s health is in good shape comes as Trump has attacked the previous President Joe Biden, with Trump claiming Biden covered up his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Biden, who served as president from January 2021 to January 2025, announced he had prostate cancer in May. Biden’s office has denied that 82-year-old Biden covered his cancer diagnosis during his presidency.

Trump and Biden are the oldest ever occupants of the White House, with their health put under a microscope by the US public.

During Trump’s first term in 2020, he was diagnosed with COVID-19, with Trump having to spent time in Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington DC to recover. Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and subsequent hospital stay was the focus of wall-to-wall media coverage. (DW)

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Sri Lanka has been hit with a 30% tariff by the United States, part of a broader package affecting six other nations, President Donald Trump announced on July 9 .

Under the new measures—imports from Sri Lanka will see duties rise to 30%, effective from August 1 

The US also imposed the same 30% tariffs on Algeria, Iraq, and Libya, while Brunei and Moldova face 25%, and the Philippines 20%. (Newswire)

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Israeli forces have killed at least 109 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump claimed that Israel had agreed to “the necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social site on Tuesday that the US would work “with all parties” to end the war on Gaza during the ceasefire, and called on Hamas to agree to the deal.

Trump’s comments came after a particularly bloody day in Gaza, as Israeli attacks destroyed clusters of homes in the north and south of the enclave, amid fears of yet another looming ground invasion.

The attacks come ahead of a planned visit next week by Netanyahu to Washington, DC. Trump said on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister wanted to end the war on Gaza, even as his forces ramp up attacks in Gaza.

Among the Palestinians killed were 16 hungry aid seekers who died when Israeli soldiers attacked crowds at aid distribution hubs run by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to medical sources.

They are the latest victims in a wave of daily killings at these sites, which have killed nearly 600 Palestinians since GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a crippling Israeli blockade.

More than 170 major international charities and nongovernmental organisations have called for an immediate end to GHF, which rights groups say is operating in violation of international principles.

“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” a joint statement read.

GHF brings “nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza,” it added. (Al Jazeera)

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A federal court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority to impose sweeping tariffs that have raised the cost of imports for everyone from giant businesses to everyday Americans.

But the administration immediately appealed the decision on Wednesday night, leaving the situation uncertain for consumers and companies and potentially prolonging the battle over whether Trump’s import duties will stand – and possibly reshape the global economy.

A three-judge panel at the US Court of International Trade, a relatively low-profile court in Manhattan, stopped Trump’s global tariffs that he imposed citing emergency economic powers, including the “Liberation Day” tariffs he announced on April 2.

It also prevents Trump from enforcing his tariffs placed earlier this year against China, Mexico and Canada, designed to combat fentanyl coming into the United States.

The court ruled in favor of a permanent injunction, potentially grinding Trump’s global tariffs to a halt before “deals” with most other trading partners have even been reached. The court ordered a window of 10 calendar days for administrative orders “to effectuate the permanent injunction.” That means the bulk – but not all – of Trump’s tariffs would be put in a standstill if the ruling holds up in appeal and, potentially, with the Supreme Court.

The order halts Trump’s 30% tariffs on China, his 25% tariffs on some goods imported from Mexico and Canada, and the 10% universal tariffs on most goods coming into the United States. It does not, however, affect the 25% tariffs on autos, auto parts, steel or aluminum, which were subject to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act – a different law than the one Trump cited for his broader trade actions.

The lawsuit was filed by the libertarian legal advocacy group Liberty Justice Center in April and represented wine-seller VOS Selections and four other small businesses that claimed they had been severely harmed by the tariffs. The panel came to a unanimous decision, publishing an opinion on the VOS suit and also one by twelve Democratic states brought against the Trump tariffs. (CNN)

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