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The White House and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday both denied a report that he had expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s mental health to other European leaders.Politico, citing European diplomats, said that nationalist leader Fico had told counterparts at a summit last week he was worried about the US leader’s “psychological state.”It also said Fico, a Trump ally, had used the word “dangerous” to describe how the US president came across when they met in Florida on January 17.”This is absolutely total fake news from anonymous European diplomats who are trying to be relevant. The meeting at Mar-a-Lago was positive and productive,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.The Slovak leader, who shares the same nationalist ideology as Trump, denounced the Politico report as “lies.””I strongly reject the lies of the hateful, pro-Brussels liberal portal Politico,” Fico said on X, posting in capitals like Trump often does on social media.Without directly mentioning Trump’s mental state, Fico said that he “did not speak informally with any prime minister or president about my visit to the US” and rejected Politico’s report about “how I assessed my meeting” with Trump.”No one heard anything, no one saw anything, there are no witnesses, but nothing prevented the Politico portal from coming up with lies,” he said.Following their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Fico said he had “exceptionally important” talks with the US leader.The physical and mental health of 79-year-old Trump, the oldest person ever to be elected as US president, has become an extremely sensitive issue for the White House. Republican Trump, who turns 80 in June, has consistently portrayed his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as decrepit while boasting about his own vitality.But there has been increasing speculation about Trump’s own health, including over frequent bruising on his hands, and footage of him apparently dozing in meetings.

The era of rules-based trade with the United States is “over,” Canada’s central bank governor said Wednesday, echoing a stark warning from the country’s prime minister that President Donald Trump’s impact on global trade is permanent.Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem made the comments during an interest rate announcement which held the key rate at 2.25 percent, citing “unpredictable” US trade policies.Macklem has repeatedly warned that the bank’s efforts to forecast the Canadian economy had grown increasingly difficult given the tariffs imposed and threatened by Trump.On Wednesday he made clear that he agrees with Prime Minister Mark Carney, who told the World Economic Forum last week that there would be no going back to a pre-Trump normal in the US-led international system. “It’s pretty clear that the days of open rules-based trade with the United States are over,” Macklem told reporters.In a speech that has captured global attention, Carney said “nostalgia is not a strategy,” urging middle-sized powers who have previously benefitted from the stability of US economic dominance to recognize that a new reality had set it. More than 75 percent of all Canadian exports go to the United States and the country remains uniquely vulnerable to Trump’s protectionism.Macklem said Canadian growth remains stunted by US policy. Trump’s global sectoral tariffs have hit Canada’s auto, steel, aluminum and lumber industries hard.But the most severe disruptions may be yet to come, Macklem stressed.Trump has so far broadly adhered to the existing North American free trade agreement, which he signed and praised during his first term.With the United States‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement (USMCA) still holding, more than 85 percent of all bilateral trade has remained tariff‑free.But talks on updating that deal are set for this year and the Trump administration has indicated it could seek major changes, or may move to scrap the pact entirely, an outcome that would upend the Canadian economy. “The upcoming review of the (USMCA) is an important risk,” Macklem said.A volatile geopolitical environment is also complicating Canada’s immediate economic future, he added. “I’m not going to go through every event, but the month of January has been pretty packed with new geopolitical risks,” Macklem said, in an apparent reference to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Trump’s threats on Greenland and the unrest in Iran.  – US Fed independence -Macklem also took aim at Trump’s efforts to exert political influence on the US Federal Reserve. “The US Federal Reserve is the biggest, most important central bank in the world and we all need it to work well,” Macklem said.”A loss of independence of the Fed would affect us all,” he warned, but stressed that for Canada the consequences of a politically influenced Fed would likely be far-reaching, given the integrated nature of the neighboring economies. An independent Fed “good for America,” Macklem said. Trump has been seeking to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, while the Department of Justice is investigating Fed chairman Jerome Powell over the bank’s headquarters renovation.In a rare rebuke this month, Powell criticized the threat of criminal charges against him, saying this was about whether monetary policy would be “directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday at its first policy gathering this year, citing robust economic growth, as the central bank resists President Donald Trump’s mounting pressure for cuts.The Fed’s 10-2 vote maintains rates at a range between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent, an outcome that was widely expected as officials await more data on the world’s biggest economy.In a statement on its decision, policymakers flagged that economic activity has been “expanding at a solid pace,” while the unemployment rate showed some “signs of stabilization.”But the Federal Open Market Committee saw two dissents.Fed Governor Stephen Miran, alongside Christopher Waller — who is seen as a potential candidate to succeed chairman Jerome Powell — both backed a quarter-percentage-point rate cut instead.The Fed has made quarter-point cuts at its last three policy meetings, as officials worried about the cooling jobs market. Miran, who was recently appointed by Trump, pushed for larger reductions each time.But solid GDP growth, relatively low unemployment and stubborn inflation have provided reasons to pause, putting officials again at odds with Trump, who has repeatedly urged for lower interest rates.Trump has sharply escalated pressure on the Fed since returning to the White House a year ago, taking steps that officials warn could threaten the bank’s independence from politics.The president has been seeking to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, while his administration launched an investigation into Powell over the bank’s headquarters renovation.In a rare rebuke this month, Powell criticized the threat of criminal charges against him, saying this was about whether monetary policy would be “directed by political pressure or intimidation.”- Higher bar -“While the Fed has been politically pressured to cut rates, it is not pressed by the data,” said EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco.Officials appear to have converged on a near-term halt in rate reductions, with their debate now centering around what conditions justify further cuts — and how quickly these should take place.”The hurdle for additional near-term cuts has risen,” Daco said.Officials will be looking for “clearer, more durable evidence of disinflation” or renewed deterioration in the labor market before lowering rates again, he added.Recent weakness in the US dollar could cause further complications, making imported products more expensive for American consumers who are already hit by higher prices as Trump’s tariffs flow through supply chains.Financial markets generally expect the Fed to continue keeping rates unchanged until its June meeting, according to CME FedWatch.Looking ahead, all eyes are also on how Trump’s nominee to succeed Powell — whose chairmanship of the bank ends in May — shapes Fed policy.”We think inflation peaks and starts to turn lower (this year) but also importantly, we think a new Fed chair would be more open to helping to navigate lower interest rates,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.- Credibility issues -One issue is whether the new chairman can corral the rest of the rate-setting committee into more cuts, ING analysts said.Outside the Fed, it could be harder for the next chairman to convince investors that the bank will continue pursuing its mandate of low and stable inflation and maximum employment, independent of political influence, said Michael Strain of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.Given the way the Trump administration has targeted Powell, Strain added that “establishing credibility will be much more challenging” for Powell’s successor than previous Fed chiefs over the last few decades.Strain, who is AEI’s director of economic policy studies, also cautioned that the Fed may have gone too far in lowering rates last year.He warned that the labor market might be stronger than officials think, while there remains a risk that inflation accelerates again.”Certainly, the Fed should not continue to cut,” he said. “I’m worried the Fed’s going to have to hike in 2026.”

Veteran rock legend Neil Young has given Greenland residents free access to his catalogue, saying he hoped the gesture offered stress relief to those unsettled by US President Donald Trump’s threats.”This is an offer of peace and love,” the dual US‑Canadian musician said on his website.”I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwanted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government,” Young wrote.After European pushback, Trump backed down on his threat to take Greenland, a mineral‑rich Danish autonomous territory.”All the music I have made during the last 62 years is yours to hear,” the 80‑year‑old Young said.Anyone with a cellphone number using Greenland’s country code can access the gift, which Young said is renewable “as long as you are in Greenland.”Young has been a long-standing critic of Trump. When Trump was elected to his first term in 2016, Young wrote a song called “Already Great” as a repudiation of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope Wednesday for cooperation with Venezuela after the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro and expected a reopening soon of the US embassy there, but brandished force if the interim leader is defiant.In prepared testimony for a Senate hearing, Rubio had written that Delcy Rodriguez, who was vice president and now acting president, “is well aware of the fate of Maduro.””Make no mistake, as the president has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” read the prepared testimony, referring to President Donald Trump.Asked about his prepared testimony during his appearance, Rubio took a more measured tone.”I can tell you right now with full certainty we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to, have to take any military action in Venezuela,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”The only military presence you’ll see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy,” he said.Trump has demanded that Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, cooperate with US oil companies.The State Department last week named a senior diplomat, Laura Dogu, as top diplomat for Venezuela, and earlier sent a mission to assess the embassy in Caracas.”We think very quickly we’ll be able to open a US diplomatic presence on the ground,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The restored US mission “will allow us to have real-time information” and improve interaction with Venezuelan authorities as well as “members of civil society, the opposition,” Rubio said.The United States shuttered its embassy in 2019 shortly after Washington and other major powers declared Maduro to be illegitimate following an election marred by reports of irregularities.- ‘One dictator for another’ -US commandoes raided Caracas on January 3 and seized Maduro, a longtime leftist nemesis of Washington, and his wife, Cilia Flores.The couple were flown to New York to stand trial on US-issued charges of drug trafficking, which they deny.Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the operation has cost at least hundreds of millions of dollars “and yet the Maduro regime is essentially still in power.””Her cooperation appears tactical and temporary, and not a real shift in Venezuela’s alignment. In the process, we’ve traded one dictator for another,” Shaheen said.Senator Chris Van Hollen, another Democrat, pointed to Trump’s meetings with oil executives and questioned if he ordered the attack for personal benefit.”By any measure, this is the most corrupt administration in American history,” he said.Venezuelan officials say more than 100 people died, both Venezuelans and Cubans who unsuccessfully tried to protect Maduro. Rubio called the tactical operation a success as no Americans died.Trump indicated hours after deposing Maduro that he favored working by pressuring Rodriguez rather than seeking to empower Venezuela’s democratic opposition, dismissing its leader Maria Corina Machado as a “very nice woman” who did not command “respect.”But Trump sounded more favorable to Machado after she visited him at the White House and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won last year despite Trump loudly coveting the prestigious honor.Rubio will hold a closed-door meeting Wednesday with Machado, the State Department said.Rubio — a Cuban-American and fervent critic of Latin American leftists — had, as a senator, championed Machado’s opposition forces.Rodriguez insisted Sunday that she has had enough of orders from Washington. But she has also worked to encourage US oil investment and said Tuesday that the United States was unblocking sanctioned Venezuela funds.

Rap icon Nicki Minaj declared Wednesday she was Donald Trump’s “number one fan,” adding that “hate” directed at the US president made her support him more.Republican Trump called the provocative singer-songwriter up on stage after she announced her support for so-called “Trump Accounts,” which provide trust funds for children.”I will say that I am probably the president’s number one fan, and that’s not going to change,” said Minaj, who wore a furry white coat as she embraced Trump and took the podium.”And the hate or what people have to say, it does not affect me at all. It actually motivates me to support him more.”The Trinidadian star, 43, added that she would not let the billionaire president’s opponents “get away with bullying him and you know, the smear campaigns. It’s not going to work.””He has a lot of force behind him, and God is protecting him. Amen.”Trump, who had earlier joked that he would grow out his nails to emulate the “Starships” and “Super Bass” rapper, then held her hand while another speaker took the podium.The self-proclaimed “Queen of Rap” is known for her shape-shifting musical and fashion styles — but she has also radically modified her politics in recent years.Previously a critic of Trump’s hardline immigation policies, Minaj has moved in recent years to praising his leadership. In November she made a surprise appearance at the United Nations to call for an end to faith-based persecution in Nigeria, an allegation by the Trump administration which the government there denies.

US online retail and cloud computing giant Amazon said Wednesday it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide as the company tries to streamline amid its major push into AI.The job cuts, which follow already flagged plans to trim its workforce by 14,000 posts, were aimed at “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” senior vice president Beth Galetti said in a statement.Media reports from October had said the roughly 30,000 job cuts planned in total would comprise nearly 10 percent of the 350,000 office jobs at Amazon. They would not affect the distribution and warehouse workers that make up the bulk of the company’s 1.5 million employees.Amazon did not give any breakdown of the latest cuts or specify which divisions would be affected, saying only that “every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate.”The company will release its full-year 2025 results on February 5. In its last quarterly earnings statement in October, the company said it spent $1.8 billion on severance costs tied to planned job cuts.Amazon said new positions will be offered to employees where possible.The layoffs are in line with a trend in big tech to trim white-collar management jobs. Microsoft in July said it had slashed a little less than four percent of its global workforce, about 15,000 jobs.CEO Andy Jassy said in October, after the first round of layoffs, that the cuts were not related to budget or AI investments. “Really, it’s culture,” he said, decrying too many layers of management.Facebook owner Meta has also cut jobs over the past year, in a move intended to remove organizational bloat following aggressive hiring during the pandemic.Dutch tech giant ASML on Wednesday said it would cut hundreds of management jobs to improve internal organization, with HP and Oracle also announcing recent layoffs.Like other tech giants, Amazon is making massive investments to grab a slice of the AI revolution pie.It is particularly banking on the performance of its subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud provider, which is engaged in a race against its fast-growing rivals, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.Spending on developing new AI-based chips and services is growing exponentially. In December, Amazon announced it would invest more than $35 billion in India.

A core of Minneapolis activists is playing a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the federal agents deployed in force to the midwestern city to round up undocumented immigrants.Using encrypted messaging apps and mapping software, the volunteers — several of them military veterans — seek to shadow the federal officers as they comb the city for immigrants, to share their whereabouts and document arrests.Activist Chelsea Kane pulled up alongside a black SUV that her city-wide network of eyes and ears suspected belonged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”It is not ICE. It’s just a person picking up takeout. Normal human,” she said after a man left an eatery and got into the car.Kane and her fellow spotters publish the locations of officers and raids underway in an effort to document arrests and de-escalate the encounters with their presence.The freelance software engineer, 37, is among dozens of volunteers who spend hours each day tracking the roughly 3,000 federal officers who have surged into Minnesota under US President Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigrant crackdown.”For me, it’s just what you do. You protect your community,” said the former soldier, who accuses federal authorities of racism and profiling.Sitting alongside her in her electric SUV was her neighbor, Carrie Thompson, another volunteer.”It’s messed up, just because you have brown skin, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be here,” said the 45-year-old mother-of-two.Trump has deployed waves of heavily armed, masked agents into the heart of Minneapolis, following the playbook previously used by officers in Los Angeles and Chicago, sparking fierce local opposition.Aggressive raids at bus stops and in front of hardware stores have led to the arrests of thousands of undocumented migrants, officials report, as well as some US citizens.The committed band of Minneapolis residents organized spontaneously, defying the deep-freeze conditions to confront the operation that has ensnared longtime city residents.Each neighborhood has its own group powered by local people on the encrypted messaging app Signal, which lights up with rumors and tips when vehicles with tinted-windows or ICE officers are spotted.- ‘It’s not over’ -The Trump administration has characterized the observers as criminals obstructing law enforcement, while the FBI has said it is reviewing the activity on Signal. “We’re not trying to get in their way,” said Kane.”All we’re doing is recording so that if something happens it’s documented.” The Democratic-supporting city of 400,000 has been locked in a stand-off with Washington over the immigration sweeps. In less than a month, federal agents have shot an undocumented Venezuelan man in the leg, and detained a 5-year-old Ecuadoran boy, Liam Ramos.They have also shot dead two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom administration officials sought to paint as domestic terrorists until witness footage challenged those claims.”If we don’t have video evidence, that propaganda that they’re trying to spin could literally just become the truth. Between an eyewitness testimony of a random person and the president of the United States, who are you going to believe?” Kane asked.Kane and Thompson said that Minneapolis had been beset by paranoia following the start of the anti-immigration operation. On occasion, clips of them confronting federal agents have spread on social media, but many of the tips they chase are false alarms.Kane said she does not mind the wasted calls she receives during her tours, which last as long as eight hours.”Honestly I don’t mind when it’s boring because that means that ICE didn’t catch anybody today or harm anybody today,” Chelsea said. “Families stayed together — that’s a good day.”Following the killing of Pretti, Trump pulled back an outspoken Border Protection commander as well as a proportion of the officers deployed to the state.Kane insists the pullback is merely cosmetic.”They’re not taking a significant amount of agents off the streets,” she said. “So it’s not over”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned the mayor of Minneapolis — where the brutal killings of two US protesters by immigration agents sparked nationwide outrage — that he is “playing with fire.”Trump told Mayor Jacob Frey that his refusal to cooperate with federal authorities on rooting out suspected illegal immigrants was “a very serious violation of the law.”The statement on Trump’s Truth Social platform contradicted the 79-year-old Republican president’s earlier statement that he wanted to “de-escalate.”A top hard-line White House official retreated late Tuesday on his initial attempt to justify the shooting of a protester Saturday. And Trump shuffled the leadership of immigration agents deployed in Minneapolis, putting a less confrontational figure in charge.But the Minnesota city remains the focal point for national tensions over the immigration crackdown.While the White House insists that it is targeting hardened criminals, the use of masked, heavily armed men to snatch people from streets, homes and workplaces has caused widespread shock.That turned to fury this month after immigration agents shot dead two Minneapolis protesters at point-blank range. The latest, intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti, was shot multiple times after being forced to the ground by camouflaged officers.Top Trump aide Stephen Miller initially justified Pretti’s killing by branding him a “would-be assassin” — despite video evidence clearly showing the 37-year-old man posed no threat when he was gunned down. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, another key Trump loyalist, had claimed Pretti committed “domestic terrorism.”Late Tuesday, Miller acknowledged that the Customs and Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti “may not have been following protocol.”Seeking to distance himself from the fallout, Trump also struck a more conciliatory tone Tuesday.However, Trump said there was no plan for a “pullback” and he has resisted calls to sack Noem.The political battle could soon move to Congress where Democrats are threatening to hold up authorization for swaths of US government funding if reforms are not made to rein in the sprawling military-style immigration agencies.- Politician attacked -Trump’s focus on Minnesota is linked to a probe into alleged corruption by Somali immigrants in the state.Trump and his right-wing media supporters have heavily amplified the probe as an example of what they say is a fight against criminal immigrants around the country. The president has made a particular target of Somali-born congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whom he routinely insults in speeches and says should be sent back to Somalia.In the latest sign of how the political climate is deteriorating, a man attacked Omar with an unidentified liquid while she was giving a speech late Tuesday, before being tackled by security.”Here is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand — we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us,” Omar said to the meeting of constituents.Frey, a Democrat, told Trump’s new point man for Minnesota, Tom Homan, that he has no intention of using city resources to help federal authorities in the immigration crackdown.They “will not enforce federal immigration laws and…we will remain focused on keeping our neighbors and streets safe,” Frey said on X.”I shared with Mr. Homan the serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis and surrounding communities, as well as the strain it has placed on our local police officers,” he wrote.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described Pretti’s death as “concerning” on Wednesday, and French basketball star Victor Wembanyama said he was “horrified” by the news.burs-sms/acb

Ghana has granted citizenship to US YouTuber IShowSpeed, the country’s foreign minister announced, as the influencer wraps up a month-long tour of Africa.Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa said in an X post on Monday that following “confirmation of the irrefutable ties of IShowSpeed to Ghana”, his government “has approved the issuance of a Ghanaian Passport to IShowSpeed”. “Keep making our great nation Ghana, and our beloved African continent proud. Ghana celebrates you,” the minister said.The 21-year-old African American IShowSpeed — born in Cincinnati, Ohio as Darren Jason Watkins Jr. — is one of the most-followed influencers on the planet.He hit 50 million YouTube subscribers this month, Rolling Stone magazine named him the Most Influential Creator of 2025 and Forbes estimates his net worth at $20 million.The YouTube and Twitch star’s tour, which started on December 29, has taken him to 20 countries, showing his tens of millions of followers a different side of Africa as he visited a diamond mine in Botswana, discovered Ethiopia’s rich cuisine and attended the Africa Cup of Nations football final in Morocco.Subscribers to his channel have soaked up his coverage of the continent, with some black Americans posting emotional videos of their own saying IShowSpeed had opened their eyes to a completely different vision of Africa, far from TV cliches of endless poverty and violence.