AFP USA

US President Donald Trump told rebel Republicans Tuesday to back his so-called “big, beautiful bill,” despite criticisms that its tax cuts will increase America’s yawning budget deficit.Trump described the talks with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as a “meeting of love” ahead of an expected close vote later this week on legislation that he has placed at the heart of his second-term agenda.The bill pairs an extension of the tax cuts from the billionaire’s first presidential term with steep savings in government spending to pay for them.But the closed-door talks apparently failed to quell concerns among Republican fiscal hawks that it will increase the national debt — and among moderates that it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans.Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday as US markets, already sparked by a ratings downgrade last week, focused on the fate of Trump’s proposal.”There was no shouting, I think it was a meeting of love,” Trump told reporters afterwards alongside Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. “We’re going to have a great victory.”Trump says Americans will face huge tax increases if the bill, which also contains provisions for migration and other issues, does not pass.Johnson is reportedly eying a vote later this week — but with the Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority in the lower house they will need every member to be on side.Democrats are united against the bill.”Nothing in Congress is ever easy, especially when you have small margins. But we are going to land this plane and deliver this,” Johnson said.There were signs that stark divisions still remained.Conservatives are angling for much deeper spending cuts to tackle the ballooning deficit.- Health care divisions -Moderates say the savings would mean millions of the poorest Americans lose health coverage under the Medicaid program — while hawks are angry that work requirements for Medicaid entitlement would not kick in until the end of Trump’s term.Several US media said Trump told the meeting: “Don’t fuck around with Medicaid.”Moderate Republicans fear overly large cuts in the popular program could upset the party’s prospects in the November 2026 midterm elections.The so-called SALT Republicans — a faction demanding bigger deductions in state and local taxes — are also at loggerheads with the leadership.Several of them reportedly texted Johnson to say they would still vote against the bill, reacting angrily after Trump called out some of them by name.Trump argued that the cuts would only benefit governors in Democratic states.Trump has been eager to present the bill as a significant legislative accomplishment early in his second term, after a frenzied first few months where he has governed largely through presidential orders.But independent congressional analysts calculate that the mega-bill’s tax provisions would add more than $2.3 trillion to the US national debt over the coming decade.The bill — which is now formally named the “One Big Beautiful Bill” after Trump initially used it as a nickname — cleared a key hurdle on Sunday when it finally progressed out of the House Budget Committee.But it now faces a tough ride.Even if the bill passes in the House, it will face challenges in the Senate, where Republicans are demanding major changes.The fate of Trump’s budget bill has renewed market jitters over the spiralling US debt, particularly amid wider global uncertainty over Trump’s sweeping tariffs on trading partners around the world.Patrick J O’Hare, analyst at Briefing.com, said investors were “waiting to see if the Treasury market can keep its cool” as the bill is debated, given it “is expected to add trillions to the budget deficit”.

The father of one of two Mexican cadets killed when a naval sailing ship crashed into New York’s Brooklyn Bridge paid tribute to his daughter as a “wonderful” person Tuesday.Dozens of friends and relatives attended a funeral for 20-year-old America Yamileth Sanchez, who died along with Adal Jair Maldonado, 23.Around 20 other crew members were injured when the training ship, which visits foreign ports on goodwill voyages, crashed into the iconic New York bridge on Saturday, snapping the masts.Sanchez’s coffin was received with flowers, candles and tears at her home in Xalapa in the eastern state of Veracruz after a procession through the city.Mourners shouted the name of the young cadet, who was pictured in her navy uniform.”She is an example for future generations to come — an excellent person, a wonderful human being,” her father Herminio Cosme Sanchez said.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum offered her “love and solidarity” to the family.Numerous sailors were positioned among the Cuauhtemoc ship’s rigging at the time of the crash.It had begun a seven-month voyage in April from its base in the Pacific coastal city of Acapulco.The vessel had been departing New York at the time of the accident with flags fluttering from its rigging and an enormous Mexican flag waving off its stern.The US National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that a preliminary report into the collision was expected within 30 days. 

The United States will restrict routine Covid-19 boosters to people over 65 or those at higher risk of serious illness, while requiring new placebo-controlled trials to justify vaccination in healthy individuals under that age, senior officials said Tuesday.The move comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime vaccine skeptic who has spread doubt about immunization programs — pushes to remake federal public health policy.Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Food and Drug Administration’s Vinayak Prasad and Commissioner Martin Makary framed the policy shift as evidence-based and said it would bring US guidance more in line with that of European nations.They described the initial Covid-19 vaccine rollout as “a major scientific, medical, and regulatory accomplishment” — but argued the benefits of repeated boosters in low-risk individuals remain uncertain.Contrasting the US approach with that of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the authors criticized what they called America’s “one-size-fits-all” strategy. They said it was based on the mistaken assumption that Americans cannot understand age- and risk-based recommendations.Rather than building trust, the approach had backfired, contributing to broader vaccine hesitancy — including toward childhood immunizations such as the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, the officials argued.Going forward, the FDA expects to find a favorable benefit-risk profile for people over 65, and for anyone over six months old with one or more underlying health conditions, based on antibody levels generated by vaccination.However, “for all healthy persons — those with no risk factors for severe Covid-19 — between the ages of 6 months and 64 years, the FDA anticipates the need for randomized, controlled trial data,” the officials wrote.”We simply don’t know whether a healthy 52-year-old woman with a normal BMI (body mass index) who has had Covid-19 three times and has received six previous doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will benefit from the seventh dose,” they added.Vaccine makers such as Pfizer and Moderna will be encouraged to conduct trials involving adults aged 50 to 64. These studies should assess whether boosters reduce symptomatic illness, severe disease, hospitalization, and death.Last week, pharmaceutical company Novavax received approval for its COVID-19 vaccine — but only for adults over 65, and for individuals aged 12 and older with at least one underlying health condition.- New placebo trials -Rather than comparing updated boosters against earlier versions, Makary and Prasad said  “the control group could receive a saline placebo, to permit documentation of the full adverse-event profile.”That approach — using a placebo when a “standard-of-care” vaccine already exists — is contentious within the biomedical community. Covid vaccines were originally granted approval based on large-scale placebo-controlled trials involving tens of thousands of participants.The idea of retesting established vaccines against placebo was first floated earlier this month by Kennedy, according to reports.Supporters of continued Covid-19 boosters often draw parallels to annual flu shots. But Makary and Prasad pushed back on that comparison, arguing the two diseases behave differently in terms of how they mutate over time. They said Covid vaccine-induced immunity may not require yearly updates to protect against the most clinically relevant outcomes.The authors also sought to reassure Americans concerned they might lose access to boosters under the new framework.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) definition of risk factors is “vast, including obesity and even mental health conditions such as depression,” they wrote, noting that between 100 million and 200 million Americans would likely still qualify.Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist who now leads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), rose to prominence during the pandemic for publicly questioning widespread booster use.

A man who pleaded guilty to killing a convenience store worker by setting her on fire is to be put to death in Texas on Tuesday in the second of three executions to be carried out in the United States this week.Matthew Johnson, 49, is to executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville some time after 6:00 pm Central Time (2300 GMT).Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2012 murder of Nancy Harris, a 76-year-old grandmother.Johnson admitted at trial to pouring lighter fluid on Harris and setting her alight during an early morning robbery of a store in Garland, Texas.Harris suffered severe burns and was taken off life support five days later.Johnson’s execution is scheduled to take place just hours after the midwestern state of Indiana carried out its second execution since 2009.Benjamin Ritchie, 45, was put to death by lethal injection overnight at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City for the 2000 murder of officer Bill Toney, the Indiana Department of Correction said in a statement.Toney, a father of two, was shot to death after pursuing a van that had been stolen by Ritchie and another man from a gas station in the town of Beech Grove.The other execution scheduled this week is in the southern state of Tennessee.Oscar Smith, 75, is to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1989 shooting and stabbing murders of his estranged wife, Judy Smith, and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.There have been 17 executions in the United States this year: 13 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and two using nitrogen gas.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

The United States will limit routine Covid-19 boosters to people over 65 or those at higher risk of serious illness, while requiring new placebo-controlled trials to justify vaccines for healthy individuals under that threshold, senior health officials said Tuesday.In a letter to the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, the Food and Drug Administration’s Vinayak Prasad and Commissioner Martin Makary said the shift brought US policy more in line with European nations.They described the initial rollout of Covid-19 vaccines as “a major scientific, medical, and regulatory accomplishment” — but argued that the benefits of repeated boosters in low-risk individuals remained uncertain. They contrasted the US approach with that of countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which limit booster recommendations to older adults and those with underlying conditions.Going forward, the FDA believes it will continue to find the benefit-risk balance favorable for people over 65, and people over the age of six months with one or more underlying conditions.However, “for all healthy persons — those with no risk factors for severe Covid-19 — between the ages of 6 months and 64 years, the FDA anticipates the need for randomized, controlled trial data,” they said. “The control group could receive a saline placebo.”They identified adults aged 50 to 64 as an ideal study population, and said trials should assess whether boosters reduce symptomatic illness, severe disease, hospitalization, and death.Makary and Prasad also sought to reassure those worried about losing access to vaccines under the new framework.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of risk factors is “vast, including obesity and even mental health conditions such as depression,” they wrote, adding that between 100 million and 200 million Americans would likely still qualify under this guidance.Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist who now leads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), rose to prominence during the pandemic for publicly questioning the widespread use of boosters.

Billionaire Elon Musk said Tuesday he was pulling back from spending his fortune on politics, asserting his Tesla electric car company was doing well despite blowback over his support of US President Donald Trump.”In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk told Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, speaking by video link from Austin, Texas.Musk, the richest person on Earth, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Trump win the 2024 presidential election, and questions were rife in Washington whether his largesse would continue.”If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don’t currently see a reason,” he said in the often tense interview.The comments will trigger speculation that the close relationship between Trump and Musk may be shifting as the Tesla tycoon steps away from his full-time role as cost-cutting chief for the US administration.When it comes to politics, “I did what needed to be done,” Musk said.Musk confirmed he has reduced his role as the unofficial head of the administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” working there now just one or two days a week.Tesla, which is the major source of Musk’s wealth, has suffered significant brand damage due to his political work, particularly with Trump. He has also expressed support for the far-right anti-immigration AfD party in Germany.Since Trump took office, Tesla dealerships have become scenes of protest and vandalism in the United States and beyond.”It’s certainly fine to object to political things, but it’s not fine to resort to violence and hanging someone in effigy and death threats,” Musk said.But he pushed back when asked if he was worried about the effects of his political positions on sales at the electric carmaker, saying the company was doing fine.Aside from a sales decline in Europe, “we’re strong everywhere else,” Musk said.He pointed to the performance of Tesla’s shares on Wall Street as a sign that the company was on good footing.”We’re now back over a trillion dollars in market cap, so clearly, the market is aware of the situation, so Tesla is already turned around,” he said.- ‘Annoying’ -In the wide-ranging conversation, Musk said he was in no rush to take his rocket and space exploration company SpaceX public, saying he didn’t need the money or the added scrutiny.Going public “is, I guess, a way to potentially make more money, but at the expense of a lot of public company overhead, and inevitably, a whole bunch of lawsuits, which are very annoying,” he said.Musk has faced a series of lawsuits from shareholders in publicly traded Tesla, including one that saw a US judge reject his massive $55.8 billion compensation package.”The compensation should match that something incredible was done,” Musk said, when asked about the judge’s decision.”But I’m confident that whatever some activist posing as a judge in Delaware happens to do will not affect” his future pay.Musk also said he was pushing ahead with his lawsuit against OpenAI despite that company, which he cofounded in 2015 before leaving, saying it was keeping non-profit oversight as it continues to expand ChatGPT and its AI models.Musk dismissed the recent restructuring and said his anger towards OpenAI for becoming a profit-driven AI giant, now one of the biggest tech companies in the world, still had merit.”I funded OpenAI for roughly $50 million and it was intended to be a nonprofit, open source company, and now they’re trying to change that for their own financial benefit into a for-profit company that is closed source,” he said.”This would be like you funded a nonprofit to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, but instead of doing that, they became a lumber company, chopped down the forest and sold the wood.”

Three US senators said Tuesday they had written to Paramount over its efforts to settle President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against its news division, suggesting that the entertainment giant risks violating bribery laws.The trio warned Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone that the company “may be engaging in improper conduct involving the Trump administration in exchange for approval of its merger with Skydance Media.”Trump’s lawsuit argues that the editing of a CBS News “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris was biased in her favor and “deceptive.” It is described by Trump’s critics as part of a broader assault on press freedom that has seen him bar the Associated Press from the Oval Office and sue other media organizations over their coverage.Paramount nevertheless entered into mediation in a bid to placate Trump as it seeks to close its $8 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which needs federal government approval.”Paramount appears to be attempting to appease the administration in order to secure merger approval,” wrote Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden, plus independent Bernie Sanders.Republicans control both chambers of Congress, limiting the power of Democrats to investigate or compel answers from witnesses.The senators’ letter comes after CBS News head Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens announced they were quitting over Paramount’s handling of the showdown with Trump. Warren, Wyden and Sanders noted that the company had initially called the suit “completely without merit” and had sought to have it dismissed.”If Paramount officials make these concessions in a quid pro quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other administration officials, they may be breaking the law,” they wrote.Trump accuses CBS of airing two different snippets from the same answer the then-vice president gave about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to help her in her election campaign. The Republican billionaire — who is seeking at least $20 billion in damages — sued last October, alleging that the interview violated a Texas consumer protection law. Legal experts have argued that the lawsuit would be an easy victory for CBS if it ever came to court.The network — which has made public an unedited transcript of the Harris interview — didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment but has denied any wrongdoing.Media watchers have pointed out that Trump routinely takes part in interviews that are edited for all manner of reasons. 

Top finance leaders from the G7 nations gather in Canada starting Tuesday, with concerns including war in Ukraine at the fore while the advanced economies grapple with fallout from US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.In talks running through Thursday, leaders are set to discuss global economic conditions, with participants seeking a common position on Ukraine, while issues like non-market practices are also on the agenda.The talks come amid an uncertain approach among the G7 democracies towards the war in Ukraine — after Russia’s invasion in 2022 — since Trump returned to the presidency this year.Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko will be present as well at the meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors in Canada’s western province of Alberta. He is due to take media questions Tuesday.Once broadly unified, the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — has been rattled by Trump, who has reached out to Russia and slapped tariffs on both allies and competitors.Economists have warned that tariffs could fuel inflation and weigh on growth. The effects of US trade policy on economic stability will loom over Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s talks with counterparts.A US Treasury spokesperson said Bessent seeks to get the grouping “back to basics and focused on addressing imbalances and non-market practices,” including in non-G7 countries.A source briefed on US participation expects China’s excess industrial capacity to be discussed, with G7 members generally sharing concerns on the issue.A Japanese official told AFP the delegation is arranging for a meeting with Bessent this week, seeking to speak on topics like foreign exchange.While the grouping discusses policies and solutions to issues like trade, security and climate change, analysts warn of unpredictability as leaders deal with internal tensions.- ‘A test’ -The Banff, Alberta gathering will be “a test or signal of the G7’s ability or inability to agree on a final statement,” a French finance ministry official told reporters Tuesday ahead of talks.While Canada’s presidency hopes to issue a communique, such an outcome must reflect “a shared understanding of the global economic situation and common goals in addressing the challenges outlined in the statement, the official said.”We will not be able to accept language that is completely watered down.”The source briefed on US participation said Washington is not inclined to “do a communique just for the sake of doing a communique,” adding that a consensus will have to align with Trump administration priorities too.Carl Weinberg, chief economist at research group High Frequency Economics, called the talks a “litmus test” on how a leaders’ summit in June will go.For now, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warned Tuesday that trade disputes with the United States should be resolved as soon as possible.In comments before meeting his counterparts, Klingbeil said tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on the economy and job security.Trump has slapped a blanket 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, threatening higher rates on economies including the European Union.He also imposed tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and other goods, raising the temperature with G7 countries.”A possible metric for success is that the US wants to engage and negotiate a trade deal with these countries,” said Ananya Kumar, a deputy director at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.Officials told AFP they are not expecting trade agreements to be unveiled this week, but maintain the gathering is another chance to find common ground.- Russia sanctions -Trying to move forward on trade will help with progress on other issues, said Kumar, who expects members to also seek “commitment towards the status quo with Ukraine.”The issue of sanctions on Russia remains uncertain.Trump said Russia and Ukraine would start peace talks after he spoke Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while the EU on Tuesday formally adopted a new round of sanctions on Russia, targeting its “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.A source briefed on US participation in this week’s summit maintained that all options remain regarding sanctions.But they stressed sanctions are aimed at achieving foreign policy results such as ending the war — a Trump administration priority.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday said he was pulling away from spending his fortune on politics, asserting that his Tesla electric car company was doing well despite blowback due to his support of US President Donald Trump.”In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk told Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, speaking by video link from Austin, Texas.Musk, the richest person on Earth, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s political campaign, and questions were rife in Washington whether his largesse would continue.”If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don’t currently see a reason,” he said in the often tense interview.The comments will trigger speculation that the close relationship between Trump and Musk may be shifting as the Tesla tycoon steps away from his full-time role as cost-cutting chief for the US administration.Musk confirmed that he has reduced his role as the unofficial head of the administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” working there now just two days a week.Tesla, which is the major source of Musk’s wealth, has suffered significant brand damage due to his political work, particularly with Trump. He has also expressed support for the far-right anti-immigration AfD party in Germany. Since Trump took office, Tesla dealerships have become scenes of protest and vandalism in the United States and beyond.When asked if he was worried about the effects of his political positions on sales at the electric carmaker, Musk hit back to say the company was doing fine.Aside from a sales decline in Europe, “we’re strong everywhere else,” Musk said.He pointed to the performance of Tesla’s shares on Wall Street as a sign that the company was on good footing.”We’re now back over a trillion dollars in market cap, so clearly, the market is aware of the situation, so (Tesla) is already turned around,” he said.

US President Donald Trump rallied Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday to back a so-called “big, beautiful bill” that is likely to increase the yawning budget deficit and cut health care for millions of Americans.Sharp divisions in the party have slowed the progress through Congress of Trump’s budget bill, which pairs an extension of the billionaire’s signature tax cuts from his first term with a series of savings.But conservatives are angling for much deeper spending cuts to tackle the ballooning deficit, while moderates say the savings would mean millions of the poorest Americans lose health coverage under the Medicaid program.Trump said as he was greeted by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that there were “one or two grandstanders” blocking the bill but that he was confident of a deal.He warned that without the bill the United States would face huge tax increases.”I think we’re going to have a very good discussion. There are one or two points that some people feel strongly about, but maybe not so strong,” Trump told reporters as he went in to meet lawmakers.Trump has been eager to present the bill as a significant legislative accomplishment early in his second term, after a frenzied first few months where he has governed largely through presidential orders.- Health care fears -Fiscal hawks oppose the bill on the grounds that it would pile on to the already huge US budget deficit. Independent congressional analysts calculate that the mega-bill’s tax provisions would add more than $4.8 trillion over the coming decade.Trump insisted that he was “not touching” Medicaid but just cutting “waste, fraud and abuse” — the slogan of the administration’s cost-slashing drive led by tech tycoon Elon Musk.The bill would, however, add new restrictions on the Medicaid program that helps provide health insurance for more than 70 million lower-income Americans.They would include toughening work requirements for those receiving assistance and cutting it for undocumented migrants.The policy change would result in more than 10 million people losing coverage under the program, according to estimates by the independent Congressional Budget Office.Moderate Republicans fear overly large cuts in the popular program could upset the party’s prospects in the November 2026 midterm elections.The bill — which is formally known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — cleared a key hurdle on Sunday when it finally progressed out of the House Budget Committee.Several rebels who had blocked it on Friday dropped their earlier opposition after speaker Johnson spent the weekend persuading them.But Trump will need everyone onside for it to get past Congress.Republicans have a very slim majority in the House, meaning the legislation needs almost unanimous support to pass, with Democrats united against the bill.Even if the bill passes in the House, it will face challenges in the Senate, where Republicans are demanding major changes.