Senate Republicans, minus one, coalesce around budget plan– www.washingtontimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Senate took an initial vote Thursday to advance a budget blueprint for enacting President Trump’s agenda, with all but one Republican unifying around the outline for sweeping tax and spending cuts.
NUUK, Greenland — Denmark’s prime minister has told the U.S. during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to U.S. security.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs sent shockwaves through Wall Street, wiping about $3.1 trillion in market value in its largest one-day decline since the Covid pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 percent. The S&P 500 fell 4.8 percent.
And the tech-focused Nasdaq was down 6 percent — fuelled by declines from Apple, Nvidia and Amazon.
The New York stock exchange has closed on its worst day of trading since June 2020 – during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The main indices saw their worst one-day falls in five years as Donald Trump claimed that “the markets are going to boom” in response to his sweeping tariffs.
The S&P 500 index is down 4.9% at the close, which Reuters flags is the biggest one-day drop since June 2020.
The Dow has also posted its biggest one-day drop since June 2020, down 4%.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq tumbled 5.9%, its worst single-day performance since March 2020.
The scale of the sell-off, wiping trillions of dollars off the value of US companies, highlights just how alarmed investors are by the tariffs, and the fears they could lead to a recession.
An anonymous Tesla owner in Texas is suing a vandal for $1 million after the man was caught on video keying his Model X.
Rafael Hernandez, 56, was arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief over the weekend for vandalizing the Tesla at DFW airport in March, CBS News Texas reported.
Hernandez is one of countless Democrats who have been caught in recent weeks keying Teslas and harassing Tesla owners to show their disapproval of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.
The U.S. State Department has canceled the work and tourist visas of the members of Mexican corrido group Los Alegres del Barranco after they displayed images of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during a concert on Saturday (March 29) at an auditorium at the University of Guadalajara.
China’s global Belt and Road Initiative is under intense scrutiny here after just one structure in the Thai capital collapsed in last week’s earthquake: a 30-floor building under construction by China.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is facing global blowback after announcing a dramatic series of tariffs on countries around the world, with U.S. adversaries and allies alike promising crushing responses that could devastate the American economy.
Stock markets in the United States, Europe and Asia plunged in the aftermath of President Trump’s announcement, which included a 10% base rate hike on nearly all foreign imports. Still other countries and trading blocs, including China, the European Union, South Korea and Japan, were hit with higher rates.
“We’re now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in remarks late Wednesday evening from Uzbekistan, calling Trump’s announcement “a major blow to the world economy.”
The British trade secretary said that the United Kingdom, one of America’s closest allies with strong ties to the Trump administration, would work over the next month to see whether it could negotiate an exemption from U.S. tariffs, or otherwise deliver retaliatory taxes. The government published a webpage asking businesses for input on identifying which American products the U.K. should implement tariffs on, with the most minimal impact on the British economy.
USDA freezes funding for Maine amid battle over transgender athletes– www.boston.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday that it had frozen federal funding for education programs in Maine, the latest in a barrage of actions targeting the state since its Democratic governor, Janet Mills, sparred with President Donald Trump over the issue of transgender athletes at the White House in February.
The agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, notified Mills in a letter that funding would be stopped while the agency reviews grants awarded to Maine by the Biden administration, many of which “appear to be wasteful, redundant, or otherwise against the priorities of the Trump administration,” Rollins wrote in the letter, according to a statement.
It was not immediately clear which educational programs would be affected by the funding freeze. The government’s statement said its latest action would not alter “federal feeding programs or direct assistance to citizens.”
Senate confirms Matthew Whitaker as US ambassador to NATO– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
Whitaker’s approval ensures that a loyalist to President Donald Trump will serve as his de facto surrogate to the U.S.-led alliance while relations with its members are at a historic low. Whitaker will likely use his position to increase pressure on NATO allies to increase defense spending, something Trump has demanded since his first administration.
Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker speaks during a Commit to Caucus rally on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)
His first major action as ambassador will be to attend a Brussels summit with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“This week, together with @SecRubio, Amb. Whitaker will arrive in Brussels ready to strengthen the Alliance, ensure the security of the American people, and uphold our nation’s role as the beacon of freedom and liberty,” the U.S. ambassador to NATO’s X account posted.
Congratulations to Matthew G. Whitaker on his confirmation as @USAMBNATO.
This week, together with @SecRubio, Amb. Whitaker will arrive in Brussels ready to strengthen the Alliance, ensure the security of the American people, and uphold our nation’s role as the beacon of… pic.twitter.com/ehRbJqdBqN
— U.S. Ambassador to NATO (@USAmbNATO) April 2, 2025
FBI Agent Didn’t Know He Was Supposed to Lie, So He Confirmed Biden Laptop Was Real on Call with Twitter: Report– www.westernjournal.com Source Link Excerpt:
Amid the volley of “now the truth can be told”-style stories coming out about the last days of President Joe Biden’s administration in the run-up to the 2024 election — and those are bad enough — we’re now getting them about the run-up to the 2020 election, too.
In fairness, we probably should have seen this coming; the Biden administration spent four years protecting the swamp at all costs and invoking the specter of the worst day in the history of all of humanity — Jan. 6, 2021, obvs — to ward off anyone who shined a light into the D.C. bog.
But now, thanks to a report from Catherine Herridge and Michael Shellenberger, two prominent independent journalists, we can see inside the FBI’s response to Hunter Biden’s laptop in regards to social media — and, surprise, surprise, it’s every bit as bad as we thought it would be.
The report said that federal investigators confirmed that, yes, they told Twitter the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop — i.e., that it was real — before Twitter throttled a story from the New York Post about its unseemly contents.
NASA shocker: Asteroid feared to strike Earth now on course to obliterate the Moon, scientists warn – The Economic Times Source Link Excerpt:
NASA researchers have updated their estimates for asteroid 2024 YR4, which was previously thought to hit Earth. New estimates suggest that the space rock might crash into the Moon instead.
Although the danger to Earth has been averted, scientists are still monitoring the path of the asteroid, as there is still concern about a potential lunar impact. NASA has provided an update on the location and predictions of a concerning asteroid that is speeding through the universe.
Is there still a chance the asteroid will hit Earth? No, NASA has ruled out an Earth impact in 2032, but the asteroid may strike the Moon instead.How powerful would an asteroid’s impact be?
If it had hit Earth, it could have emitted energy equivalent to 8 megatons of TNT, more than 500 times the Hiroshima bomb.
How is NASA tracking 2024 YR4?
However, scientists think there may be a possibility of impact on the lunar surface because of fresh observations made by NASA’s potent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as quoted in a report by The Daily Star.
In a research memo, an international team of astronomers stated, “An impact on Earth by 2024 YR4 on December 22, 2032, has now been ruled out, but it still has a non-zero probability of impacting the Moon at this time.
Federal judge Ho dismisses public corruption case against Mayor Adams “with prejudice”– www.nydailynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed the sweeping public corruption charges against Mayor Adams — denying an effort by Trump’s Justice Department to have them, tossed “without prejudice,” or keeping open the possibility of bringing them again.
Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho’s decision was not based on the merits of the case against Adams or a belief of whether he was innocent or guilty.
The judge appointed an independent lawyer, Paul Clement, the former solicitor general under President George W. Bush, to advise him on the matter, who recommended he dismiss the case for good. Clement said the prospect of the mayor feeling indebted to the president out of fear he could be reindicted and not New Yorkers was “deeply troubling.”
Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com Source Link Excerpt:
Airstrikes continued on Gaza on Wednesday morning after the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel intended to expand its war. In a statement, Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.”
The move has been condemned by the Hostages Families Forum, who said it appeared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government were making the return of 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas “a secondary task” that had been “pushed to the bottom of the priority list.”
I wish success to the IDF soldiers who are fighting bravely and powerfully in Gaza for the return of the kidnapped and the defeat of Hamas. The goal of Operation “Strength and Sword” is first and foremost to increase pressure for the release of all the hostages in the face of Hamas’ refusal.
Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us. I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages. This is the only way to end the war.