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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would not extend an August 1 deadline for higher US tariffs to take effect on dozens of economies, a day after he appeared to signal flexibility on the date.While Trump imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on goods from almost all trading partners in April, higher rates customized to dozens of economies were unveiled, then halted until July 9.But the president this week again delayed their reimposition, pushing it back to August 1.Trump insisted that there would be no further delay in the tariffs. “There will be no change,” he posted on Truth Social. He added that levies would start being paid on August 1, in line with letters now being sent out to trading partners.”No extensions will be granted,” Trump said.On Monday night, Trump had told reporters at a dinner that the August 1 deadline was “firm, but not 100 percent firm.”Pressed on whether the letters were his final offer, Trump replied: “I would say final — but if they call with a different offer, and I like it, then we’ll do it.”In a push for further trade deals, Trump sent letters to more than a dozen partners on Monday, including key US allies Japan and South Korea.Products from both countries would be hit with 25 percent duties, Trump wrote in near-identical letters to leaders in Tokyo and Seoul.Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia were among other countries facing duties ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent.In his messages to foreign leaders, Trump warned of further escalation if there was retaliation against his levies.Most countries receiving the letters so far saw US tariffs at similar or unchanged rates from those threatened in April, although some like Laos and Cambodia saw notably lower levels.The Trump administration is under pressure to show results after promising a flurry of deals following the US president’s tariff threats.So far Washington has only struck two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, besides an agreement to dial back staggeringly high tit-for-tat levies with China.In threatening tariff hikes on various economies, Trump cited in his letters a lack of reciprocity in trading ties.He also warned that goods transshipped to avoid higher duties would be subjected to steeper levels.But he added that if countries were willing to adjust their trade policies, Washington “will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter.”He said in the letters that tariffs could be modified “upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country.”

An imposter posing as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent AI-generated voice and text messages to high-level officials and foreign ministers, a report said Tuesday, the latest American official to be targeted by impersonators.A cable from Rubio’s office said the unidentified culprit was likely seeking to manipulate powerful officials “with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,” the Washington Post reported.The impostor contacted at least three foreign ministers, a US state governor, and a member of Congress using both text messaging and the encrypted messaging app Signal, according to the cable dated July 3.Starting in mid-June, the impostor created a Signal account using the display name “Marco.Rubio@state.gov” to contact the unsuspecting officials, it added. “The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” said the cable. The contents of the messages were unclear.The cable added that other State Department personnel were impersonated using email.Responding to an AFP request for comment, the State Department said it was aware of the incident and was “currently investigating the matter.””The Department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents,” said a senior State Department official. The FBI has previously warned that since April, “malicious actors” have impersonated senior US officials to target their contacts, including current and former federal or state government officials.”The malicious actors have sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts,” the FBI said in May.In May, President Donald Trump said an impersonator breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. US senators, governors and business executives received text messages and phone calls from someone claiming to be Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported. The breach prompted a White House and FBI investigation, but Trump played down the threat, saying Wiles “can handle it.”Senior Trump administration officials have courted criticism for using Signal and other unofficial channels for government work.In March, then-national-security-adviser Michael Waltz inadvertently added a journalist to a Signal chat group discussing US strikes in Yemen. The episode led to Waltz’s ouster.With proliferating AI voice cloning tools — which are cheap, easy to use and hard to trace -– disinformation researchers fret the impact of audio deepfakes to impersonate or smear celebrities and politicians.Last year, a robocall impersonating then-President Joe Biden stoked public alarm about such deepfakes.The robocall urged New Hampshire residents not to cast ballots in a Democratic primary, prompting authorities to launch a probe into possible voter suppression and triggered demands from campaigners for stricter guardrails around generative AI tools.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to Rome this week for a conference of world leaders and businesses aimed at boosting support for rebuilding his war-torn country as US military aid stalls.The Ukraine Recovery Conference takes place in the Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, with the goal of mobilising investments — notably private sector funds — for Kyiv as it faces its fourth year of conflict.The meeting, which will also be attended by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz among 15 heads of state and government, will focus on Ukraine’s long-term recovery.Ukraine hopes to sign agreements on energy, with its power grid regularly hit by Russian strikes, as well as cooperation in the defence industry.But Zelensky — who will fly in on Wednesday to meet Italy’s head of state, President Sergio Mattarella — stressed his country’s urgent need remained defending itself against intensifying Russian missile and drone attacks.”Ukrainian representatives will have a concrete set of tasks focused on immediate defence — the defence of our cities and our communities,” he said in an address on Monday night.Zelensky will open the conference — an annual event since Russia’s February 2022 invasion — on Thursday morning with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian officials said.The United States, formerly Ukraine’s biggest backer, will be represented by President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.Trump criticised the tens of billions of dollars in support and weapons sent to Kyiv under the Biden administration, and has announced no new military aid packages since taking office in January.But the president on Monday said the United States would send additional weapons to Ukraine, a few days after announcing he was halting some weapons shipments.- A long time -Donations of military, financial and humanitarian aid from European countries have so far filled the gap left by the US withdrawal, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker.But whether European countries can sustain that level of support in the long run remains to be seen. “There is understanding that the war might continue for a long time,” noted analyst Tymofiy Mylovanov, head of the Kyiv School of Economics.At the same time, Ukraine is contending with “how difficult it is to secure support from the EU and from the United States in particular”, he said.The World Bank estimates that the reconstruction and recovery will cost $524 billion over the next decade, approximately 2.8 times the estimated nominal GDP of Ukraine for 2024.That recovery will be “difficult to achieve” without private investors, the Italian government said.More than 2,000 companies — around 500 of them Italian — are due to attend the Rome conference, as well as members of civil society.But convincing investors remains a challenge for Ukraine as the war grinds on, with talks pushed by Washington so far making no progress.”The recovery of our state is a real, daily process that continues despite constant shelling from Russia,” Oleksii Kuleba, minister for the recovery of Ukraine, insisted in a statement to AFP.”We will present specific achievements, examples of effective cooperation, and new projects that investors can join today,” he said.The Trump administration has adopted a more transactional approach to its Ukraine support.Washington and Kyiv in April signed a landmark minerals deal that will see them jointly develop Ukraine’s natural resources, with some revenues going to a joint recovery fund for the war-torn country. As well as investments, the Rome conference will address Ukraine’s hopes of joining the European Union and, after years in which many Ukrainians were called up to fight or fled, the question of human capital.

Volunteers on horseback and others with rescue dogs are combing riverbanks alongside authorities in central Texas, searching for victims of catastrophic floods that have killed more than 100 people.Rescuers in inflatable motorboats also searched Monday for bodies near Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp, where 27 campers and counselors died after being swept away by floodwaters.Another team collected the children’s belongings from flooded cabins marked by mud lines exceeding five feet (1.5 meters) high.About 30 volunteers on horseback, many wearing cowboy hats, joined mounted police from Austin to support rescue efforts in four towns along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County.Michael Duncan, 55, rode Ranger, his dark brown horse, along the river, supporting rescue efforts that have deployed hundreds of searchers along several miles of the waterway.”Obviously (on horseback)… we can gain more ground. We can get to some areas where people can’t get to as easy,” Duncan told AFP.The horses easily navigate the hilly terrain, undergrowth and debris left behind after the rain-swollen floodwaters receded.Perched atop Ranger, Duncan said that the “height advantage” allowed him to scan across the mounds of debris.Volunteers on foot also scoured the area, detecting foul odours from undergrowth that could indicate decomposing animals or human remains.They dug through earth piled near trees, using pointed sticks to probe mounds for any signs of bodies.During their search, they found children’s swimming goggles and a football.’Emotional debt’Tom Olson, a rescue dog trainer, deployed his eight-year-old Belgian Malinois, Abby, to assist the search.Olson, 55, compared the dog’s search abilities to a useful tool, “just like underwater sonar boats, drone, aircraft.””The dog will be able to rapidly find a potential victim… lowering the risk to the people that are out here actually trying to do the search and rescue,” he told AFP. Olson said the work to recover victims’ bodies involved “a mental debt” and “emotional debt” but was necessary to bring “closure to the families that lost (people), as well as closure for the rescuers.”Electric company crews also worked to restore power poles and cables destroyed by the floods as the Guadalupe River receded to its normal course.Duncan, the mounted volunteer, said the searches filled him with “a lot of sadness” but added: “It’s also great to see how many people come out… and most everybody is doing this for free.”That’s pretty inspiring to see.”

US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war by threatening more than a dozen countries with higher tariffs Monday — but then said he may be flexible on his new August deadline to reach deals.Trump sent letters to trading partners including key US allies Japan and South Korea, announcing that duties he had suspended in April would snap back even more steeply in three weeks.Tokyo and Seoul would be hit with 25 percent tariffs on their goods, he wrote. Countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia were slapped with duties ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent.But in a move that will cause fresh uncertainty in a global economy already unsettled by his tariffs, the 79-year-old once again left the countries room to negotiate a deal.”I would say firm, but not 100 percent firm,” Trump told reporters at a dinner with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when asked if August 1 deadline was firm.Pressed on whether the letters were his final offer, Trump replied: “I would say final — but if they call with a different offer, and I like it, then we’ll do it.”The US president had unveiled sweeping tariffs on imports on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2, including a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries.But he quickly suspended all tariffs above 10 percent for 90 days following turmoil in the markets. They were due to kick back in on Wednesday and Trump sent the letters in advance of that deadline.Trump’s near-identically worded letters to Japanese and South Korean leaders said he would impose 25 percent tariffs as their trading relationships with Washington were “unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”He warned of further escalation if there was retaliation against the levies.But Trump on Monday also signed an order formally extending the Wednesday deadline, postponing it to August 1.- ‘President’s prerogative’ -The new August date effectively marks a further delay — and Trump’s latest comments threaten to compound the uncertainty over when the deadline really is.According to letters posted to Trump’s Truth Social platform, products from Indonesia will face a 32 percent tariff, while the level for Bangladesh is 35 percent and Thailand, 36 percent.Most countries receiving letters so far had duties similar or unchanged from rates threatened in April, although some like Laos and Cambodia saw notably lower levels.The Trump administration is under pressure to show results after promising “90 deals in 90 days.” So far only two firm deals have emerged, with Britain and Vietnam, plus an agreement to dial back super-high tit-for-tat tariffs with China.Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a cabinet meeting Monday that the announcement of the 25 percent tariffs is “genuinely regrettable,” local media reported.South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac meanwhile met with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington, expressing hope that a bilateral summit could soon be held to achieve “mutually beneficial outcomes across key pending issues.”Asked why Trump opted to start with Japan and South Korea, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s the president’s prerogative, and those are the countries he chose.”Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Tuesday he wanted a “better deal” than the 36 percent tariff Trump threatened to impose, adding: “The most important thing is that we maintain good relations with the US.”Malaysia said it was “committed to continuing engagement with the US towards a balanced, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive trade agreement,” its trade ministry said in a statement, after Washington imposed a 25 percent tariff on the Southeast Asian nation.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that there would be more deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”Major US stock indexes fell from records Monday on Trump’s fresh threats. The Nasdaq tumbled 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 lost 0.8 percent.Trump has also threatened an extra 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.But partners are still rushing to avert Trump’s tariffs altogether.The European Commission said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump on trade when the pair spoke Sunday.

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas rose to more than 100 on Monday, as rescuers continued their grim search for people swept away by torrents of water. Among the dead were at least 27 girls and counselors who were staying at a youth summer camp on a river when disaster struck over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Forecasters have warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground, complicating recovery efforts involving helicopters, boats, dogs and some 1,750 personnel.”There is still a threat of heavy rain with the potential to cause flooding,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement Monday, with the number of victims expected to rise still. President Donald Trump confirmed he planned to visit Texas on Friday, as the White House slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems.”Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.She said the National Weather Service, which The New York Times reported had several key roles in Texas unfilled before the floods, issued “timely and precise forecasts and warnings.”Trump has described the floods that struck in the early hours of Friday as a “100-year catastrophe” that “nobody expected.”The president, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state level, has signed a major disaster declaration, activating fresh federal funds and freeing up resources.- ‘Tragedy’ -At least 104 flood-related deaths were reported across central Texas.Kerr County, through which the Guadalupe River runs, was the hardest hit, with at least 84 people killed including 28 children, according to the local sheriff’s office. The toll includes 27 who had been staying at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp that was housing about 750 people when the floodwaters struck.Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas.Texas Senator Ted Cruz described them as a chance to make “lifetime friends — and then suddenly it turns to tragedy.”But some residents were questioning the absence of more robust flood-warning systems in this region of south and central Texas — where such deluges are so frequent that it is known colloquially as “Flash Flood Alley.”Experts stress the NWS sent out timely forecasts, and climate scientist Daniel Swain pinned the problem on a failure of “warning dissemination.”San Antonio mother Nicole Wilson — who almost sent her daughters to Camp Mystic — launched a petition on Change.org urging Governor Greg Abbott to approve a modern warning network. “Five minutes of that siren going off could have saved every single one of those children,” she told AFP.At a candlelight vigil in San Antonio on Monday night, Texans gathered to pray for the victims of the floods and voice lingering fears.”I was pretty shocked on the gravity of the situation and how big it was, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect that our rivers would rise so quickly,” said Rebeca Gutierrez, 29. “Hopefully there’s preventative efforts happening in similar areas to make sure nothing to this degree happens.”- Two-story building -In a terrifying display of nature’s power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept.Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.Volunteers were helping search through debris from the river, with some motivated by personal connections to the victims. “We’re helping the parents of two of the missing children,” Louis Deppe, 62, told AFP. “The last message they got was ‘We’re being washed away,’ and the phone went dead.”Months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on Thursday night into Friday, and rain has continued in bouts since then.The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) — more than a two-story building — in just 45 minutes.Flash floods occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall.Human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense in recent years.

“There’s no such thing as a natural disaster,” geographers like to say — a reminder that human choices turn hazards into tragedies. The Texas flash floods this weekend that left more than a hundred dead, including many children, offer a stark illustration.Here is a look at the intertwined forces that amplified this storm’s impact.- ‘Flash Flood Alley’ -Texas’s Hill Country sits in an area known as “Flash Flood Alley,” explains Hatim Sharif, a hydrologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Warm Gulf air rushes up the Balcones Escarpment — a line of steep hills and cliffs that arcs southwest down from near Dallas — cools, and dumps torrents onto thin soils that quickly give way to bedrock. Runoff then funnels through a dense web of creeks.”Water will rise very, very quickly, within minutes or a few hours,” Sharif told AFP.The early hours of July 4 proved that. Around 3:00 am, a gauge near Camp Mystic in Hunt showed the Guadalupe River rising nearly a foot (30 centimeters) every five minutes; by 4:30 am the river had surged more than 20 feet, National Weather Service data show.That’s enough water to sweep away people, vehicles and buildings.An urgent NWS warning went out shortly after 1 am, but most campers were asleep; phones are banned, coverage is patchy, and darkness makes escape routes hard to judge. Sharif urges the use of hydrologic forecasts that convert rainfall into likely river levels. “Rainfall needs to be translated into runoff,” he said. “If you have 10 inches, what will happen?”Summer camps have long been drawn to the region for its natural beauty. But with increasing risks, Sharif warns that treating these sites as safe or permanent is unwise.- ‘We need to adapt’ -A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, loading the dice for heavier downpours. A new analysis by ClimaMeter finds that the meteorological conditions preceding the floods, which delivered more than twice the monthly average rainfall in a single day, could not be explained by natural variability alone.”Climate change is already affecting us, so we need to adapt,” said Mireia Ginesta, a climate scientist at the University of Oxford who co-authored the research, which is funded by the European Union and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).”We also need to cut our emissions, and make sure that proper funding is provided to the forecast services and research in general on climate change.”The call comes as the National Weather Service, like other agencies, has experienced deep staffing cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.Experts stress, however, that NWS forecasters performed admirably under the circumstances.The real failure, wrote climate scientist Daniel Swain on Bluesky, “was not a bad weather prediction, it was one of ‘last mile’ forecast/warning dissemination.”- No warning system -For years, commissioners in Kerr County, where the camps lie, considered flood sirens and digital alerts to replace the informal practice of summer camp staff getting on the radio and warning fellow camps.Minutes from a 2016 meeting show officials labeling even a feasibility study “a little extravagant,” suggesting sirens would mainly help tourists, and vouching for the word-of-mouth system.”The thought of our beautiful Kerr County having these damn sirens going off in the middle of night, I’m going to have to start drinking again to put up with y’all,” Commissioner H.A. Buster Baldwin said in a transcript.The debate rolled on. Residents during meetings in 2021 expressed strident opposition toward relying on federal funds tied to the Biden administration.After the disaster, San Antonio mother Nicole Wilson — who almost sent her daughters to Camp Mystic — launched a petition on Change.org urging Governor Greg Abbott to approve a modern warning network. “Five minutes of that siren going off could have saved every single one of those children,” she told AFP.

Gone are the days of six-fingered hands or distorted faces — AI-generated video is becoming increasingly convincing, attracting Hollywood, artists, and advertisers, while shaking the foundations of the creative industry.To measure the progress of AI video, you need only look at Will Smith eating spaghetti. Since 2023, this unlikely sequence — entirely fabricated — has become a technological benchmark for the industry.Two years ago, the actor appeared blurry, his eyes too far apart, his forehead exaggeratedly protruding, his movements jerky, and the spaghetti didn’t even reach his mouth.The version published a few weeks ago by a user of Google’s Veo 3 platform showed no apparent flaws whatsoever.”Every week, sometimes every day, a different one comes out that’s even more stunning than the next,” said Elizabeth Strickler, a professor at Georgia State University.Between Luma Labs’ Dream Machine launched in June 2024, OpenAI’s Sora in December, Runway AI’s Gen-4 in March 2025, and Veo 3 in May, the sector has crossed several milestones in just a few months.Runway has signed deals with Lionsgate studio and AMC Networks television group.Lionsgate vice president Michael Burns told New York Magazine about the possibility of using artificial intelligence to generate animated, family-friendly versions from films like the “John Wick” or “Hunger Games” franchises, rather than creating entirely new projects.”Some use it for storyboarding or previsualization” — steps that come before filming — “others for visual effects or inserts,” said Jamie Umpherson, Runway’s creative director.Burns gave the example of a script for which Lionsgate has to decide whether to shoot a scene or not. To help make that decision, they can now create a 10-second clip “with 10,000 soldiers in a snowstorm.”That kind of pre-visualization would have cost millions before.In October, the first AI feature film was released — “Where the Robots Grow” — an animated film without anything resembling live action footage.For Alejandro Matamala Ortiz, Runway’s co-founder, an AI-generated feature film is not the end goal, but a way of demonstrating to a production team that “this is possible.”- ‘Resistance everywhere’ -Still, some see an opportunity.In March, startup Staircase Studio made waves by announcing plans to produce seven to eight films per year using AI for less than $500,000 each, while ensuring it would rely on unionized professionals wherever possible.”The market is there,” said Andrew White, co-founder of small production house Indie Studios.People “don’t want to talk about how it’s made,” White pointed out. “That’s inside baseball. People want to enjoy the movie because of the movie.”But White himself refuses to adopt the technology, considering that using AI would compromise his creative process.Jamie Umpherson argues that AI allows creators to stick closer to their artistic vision than ever before, since it enables unlimited revisions, unlike the traditional system constrained by costs.”I see resistance everywhere” to this movement, observed Georgia State’s Strickler. This is particularly true among her students, who are concerned about AI’s massive energy and water consumption as well as the use of original works to train models, not to mention the social impact.But refusing to accept the shift is “kind of like having a business without having the internet,” she said. “You can try for a little while.”In 2023, the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA secured concessions on the use of their image through AI.Strickler sees AI diminishing Hollywood’s role as the arbiter of creation and taste, instead allowing more artists and creators to reach a significant audience.Runway’s founders, who are as much trained artists as they are computer scientists, have gained an edge over their AI video rivals in film, television, and advertising.But they’re already looking further ahead, considering expansion into augmented reality and virtual reality — for example creating a metaverse where films could be shot.”The most exciting applications aren’t necessarily the ones that we have in mind,” said Umpherson. “The ultimate goal is to see what artists do with technology.”

Donald Trump has shrugged off Elon Musk’s plans for a new political party as “ridiculous” — but the announcement underscored the threat the disaffected former ally poses to US Republicans defending paper-thin congressional majorities.Musk’s weekend launch of the “America Party” came in the wake of Trump signing into law a sprawling domestic policy bill that the tech mogul has slammed over estimates that it will balloon the deficit.Musk has been light on policy detail, but is expected to target a handful of House and Senate seats in next year’s midterm elections where the sitting Republican voted for Trump’s bill after preaching fiscal responsibility.”Elon Musk’s America Party is a wild card that could upend the midterms in 2026, particularly for Republicans,” said political analyst Matt Shoemaker, a former Republican congressional candidate and an ex-intelligence officer.”With bare majorities in Congress, the Republicans should be worried.”Musk, the world’s richest person, had teased the idea of a new party for weeks, running an informal social media poll in June that showed 80 percent support among 5.6 million respondents.Unlike previous third parties, his would have almost limitless resources, and a talisman with a large constituency of young American men who see him as a maverick genius and a superstar.”Musk’s brand appeals to disaffected independents and younger, tech-savvy voters who might otherwise break for Republicans in swing districts,” Shoemaker told AFP. – ‘Balance of power’ -With a personal wealth estimated at $405 billion, Musk has already demonstrated that he is willing to spend big on politics, lavishing $277 million on Trump’s 2024 campaign.Yet a more recent foray into Wisconsin politics — he spent $20 million only to see his candidate for the state supreme court lose handily — has underlined the limits of wealth and celebrity in politics.And then there is the political difficulty of building support in the American heartland, among voters who are not part of Musk’s Silicon Valley “tech bro” bubble. Time magazine’s 2021 Person of the Year was once liked by a broad cross-section of Americans, but he saw his numbers plunge after joining the Trump administration as the president’s costcutter-in-chief.Musk’s net favorability in the most recent rating published by Nate Silver, one of the most respected US pollsters, is underwater at -18.1, compared with a slightly less subaquatic -6.6 for Trump. “While you don’t want to paint with too broad a brush, the Republican base and MAGA movement are fairly inseparable in today’s political climate,” said Flavio Hickel, associate professor of political science at Washington College in Maryland.”And their support for Trump has been unwavering despite recent controversies. It’s hard to imagine any political project associated with Musk siphoning off votes from individuals who approve of Donald Trump.”- ‘Fizzled out’ -While multiple Republicans and Democrats have switched to independent, wins for third parties have been rare in modern US history.The Conservative Party of New York State in the 1970s and the Farmer–Labor Party in the 1930s are the only minor parties to win Senate seats in the last century.Smaller parties saw more success in the House in the early 20th century but have only won one seat since the 1950s. AFP spoke to multiple analysts who pointed to the many hurdles thrown in front of third-party candidates trying to get onto the ballot in a system designed to favor the status quo.These include minimum signature requirements, filing fees and other onerous state-specific regulations on age, residency and citizenship.”Remember in early 2024 the so-called ‘No Labels’ party that was going to chart a middle course for the 2024 elections?” said veteran political strategist Matt Klink.”They fizzled out in epic fashion.”Analysts agree that winning seats in Congress may be a stretch, but say Musk can inflict pain on Trump by syphoning votes from vulnerable sitting Republicans or throwing cash at primary opponents of the president’s preferred candidates.”Elon’s party won’t win seats, but it could cost Republicans plenty,” said Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan.”In tight districts, even a few points siphoned off from the right could flip control.”

Jeffrey Epstein was not murdered, did not blackmail prominent figures and did not keep a “client list,” the FBI and Justice Department said Monday, debunking notable conspiracy theories about the disgraced US financier.The conclusions came after an “exhaustive review” of the evidence amassed against Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking, the agencies said in a joint memorandum.Six years later, questions continue to swirl around Epstein’s life and death and the multi-millionaire hedge fund manager’s connections to wealthy and powerful individuals.The memo, first reported by Axios, squarely rejected one of the leading conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein — that he did not commit suicide but was murdered while being held in jail.”After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell,” it said.Video footage from the area where he was being held did not show anyone entering or attempting to enter his cell from the time at night when he was locked in till when his body was found the next morning, it said.Extensive digital and physical searches turned up a large volume of images and videos of Epstein’s victims, many of them underage girls, the memo said.”This review confirmed that Epstein harmed over one thousand victims,” it said, but did not reveal any illegal wrongdoing by “third-parties.””This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,'” the memo said. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”Epstein’s former assistant, Ghislaine Maxwell, is the only former associate of his who has been criminally charged in connection with his activities.Maxwell, the daughter of British media baron Robert Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in New York in 2021 of child sex trafficking and other crimes.- Trump-Musk feud -Among those with connections to Epstein was Britain’s Prince Andrew, who settled a US civil case in February 2022 brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.Giuffre, who accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave, committed suicide at her home in Australia in April.Billionaire Elon Musk accused President Donald Trump on X last month of being in the “Epstein files” after the pair had a falling out, but he later deleted his posts.Trump was named in a trove of depositions and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024, but the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing.Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base allege that Epstein’s associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others.They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself.Prior to the release of the memo, Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, and the FBI’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, had been among the most prominent peddlers of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein.