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The US economy returned to growth in the second quarter, government data showed Wednesday, but analysts flagged distortions from swings in trade flows over President Donald Trump’s tariffs.The world’s biggest economy expanded by an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the April to June period, beating economists’ expectations and reversing a 0.5 percent decline in the first three months of the year, said the Department of Commerce.This swiftly prompted Trump to ramp up pressure for an interest rate cut, saying on social media that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell “must now lower the rate.”Trump’s comments come hours before the Fed announces its latest interest rate decision.A consensus forecast by Briefing.com had expected a 2.5 percent GDP growth rate.Second quarter growth “was bolstered by a sharp reversal in trade flows skewed by the tariffs,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.An underlying GDP measure slowed to “slowed to a sluggish 1.2 percent from 1.9 percent in the first quarter,” painting a more accurate picture of economic activity, she added.Real consumer and business spending advanced only moderately, after households brought forward purchases, she said. Businesses meanwhile held off spending on heightened policy uncertainty.At the start of the year, companies rushed to stock up on products to avoid the worst of Trump’s threatened tariff hikes — but the build-up has been unwinding.”The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a decrease in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP,” said the Commerce Department.The uptick also reflected an increase in consumer spending, the report said.The imports surge in the first quarter led to the largest drag on GDP growth from net exports on record, analysts at Goldman Sachs noted recently.Analysts anticipated a bounce back as imports cooled but said this might not be sustainable.Economists have also warned that Trump’s tariff hikes could cause an inflation uptick, which in turn stands to erode households’ spending power and influence consumption patterns.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has rolled out wave after wave of fresh duties.These included a 10 percent levy on almost all US partners, higher duties on steel, aluminum and auto imports, alongside separate actions against Canada and Mexico, blaming them for illegal immigration and illicit fentanyl flows.Washington separately took aim at the world’s number two economy, China, as Beijing pushed back on US tariffs.Both countries ended up imposing tit-for-tat duties on each other’s products, reaching triple-digit levels and snarling trade flows before they agreed to temporarily lower levies.After talks in the Swedish capital of Stockholm this week, negotiators signaled there could be an extension of the truce — although the final call depends on Trump.- Shifting to lower gear -“Beneath the topline figure, the economy is switching to a lower gear but not going in reverse,” said Oxford Economics’ lead US economist Bernard Yaros.The economy’s resilience will allow the Fed to “hold still and assess the unfolding tariff impact on consumer prices before pivoting to interest rates cuts in December,” he added.For now, he said that “consumers are slowing their spending but not heading for the bunkers outright.”Analysts are monitoring the impact of Trump’s tariffs on inflation, with economists expecting to learn more from data in the summer months.All eyes are also on official employment data due Friday, after figures from payroll firm ADP showed Wednesday that private sector hiring beat expectations, increasing by 104,000 jobs in July and indicating a healthy economy.”The consumer is hanging in there, but still on edge until the trade deals are done,” said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.”Meanwhile, business investment tanked in the second quarter. Companies do not want to invest in equipment, buildings or hiring with this much uncertainty,” she added. “There’s no recession in sight, but certainty is needed to get the economy fully back on track,” she said.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.The magnitude 8.8 quake struck at 8:24 am (2304 GMT Tuesday) off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, while local media said one of between three and four metres high was recorded in the Elizovsky district of Kamchatka.A video posted on Russian social media appeared to show buildings in the town submerged in seawater. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated.Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none of them seriously. “The walls were shaking,” an Elizovsky resident told state media Zvezda. “It’s good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out… It was very scary,” she said.Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico and Ecuador — issued warnings to avoid affected beaches.In Japan, people evacuated by car or on foot to higher ground — including in Hokkaido, where a first wave measuring 30 centimetres was observed.There were no injuries or damage reported in Japan as of midday (0300 GMT).In Hawaii, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said residents and the thousands of visitors should get to safety on upper floors of buildings or on higher ground.”People should not, and I will say it one more time, should not, as we have seen in the past, stay around the shoreline or risk their lives just to see what a tsunami looks like,” governor Josh Green said.”It is not a regular wave. It will actually kill you if you get hit by a tsunami,” Green said.- Pacific warnings -Wednesday’s quake was the strongest since 1952 in the Kamchatka region, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warnings of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.The epicenter of the earthquake is roughly the same as the massive 9.0 temblor that year which resulted in a destructive, Pacific-wide tsunami, according to the USGS. At least six aftershocks have further rattled the region, including one of 6.9 magnitude and another listed at 6.3.The US Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.Between one- and three-metre waves were possible along some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Japan and other islands and island groups in the Pacific, it said.Waves of up to one metre were possible elsewhere, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.It described the potential conditions as “hazardous.”At Inage Beach in Chiba prefecture in Japan, a security perimeter was set up, and a rescue worker told AFP that the seaside area was off limits until further notice.”I didn’t expect there to be a tsunami; I actually made a joke about it when we heard (the alert),” Canadian tourist Leana Lussier, 17, told AFP.”We came here hoping to swim, but once we heard a tsunami warning had been issued, we didn’t go in at all, not even close to the water,” local Tomoyo Fujita, 35, told AFP as she left the area with her young daughter.Television footage showed several whales washed up on a beach.Workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan — destroyed by a huge quake and tsunami in 2011 — were evacuated, its operator said.- Aftershocks -Tsunami alerts were pushed to mobile phones in California, according to local AFP reporters.”STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!” US President Donald Trump said on social media.Tsunami sirens blared near Hawaii’s popular Waikiki surf beach where an AFP photographer observed gridlocked traffic as Hawaiians escaped to higher ground.The US Tsunami Warning Centers issued a Tsunami Warning — its highest level alert — for the entire US state of Hawaii, with the first waves expected at 7:17 pm local time (0517 GMT).”People are also advised to stay away from the beach and not to go to the coast,” the seismology centre said in a warning.Vessels were ordered to head to open water ahead of the expected arrival of waves up to 2 metres, while government employees in Honolulu were sent home early.

US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday to become a federal appellate judge in a 50-49 partisan vote. The Republican-led Senate confirmed Emil Bove as a judge on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, a lifetime appointment, despite fiery opposition from Democrats, who walked out of a Senate committee meeting in protest earlier this month.Two GOP Senators — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins — voted against the nomination, but Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber and were able to carry the vote anyway.A former federal prosecutor, Bove, 44, was nominated by Trump while serving as the third-ranking official in the Justice Department. His nomination drew fierce criticism, and Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement Tuesday night lambasting Bove after he got the new job.”Mr. Bove’s primary qualification appears to be his blind loyalty to this President,” Durbin said, adding that Bove sided with January 6, 2021 rioters who stormed the Capitol, and fired career prosecutors who held them to account.  The Third Circuit covers the eastern states of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim issued a joint statement saying Bove’s “professional record is marred by a pattern of abusive behavior, ethical breaches, and disdain for the norms of judicial integrity.”Opposition to Bove’s appointment was vocal in legal circles ahead of Tuesday’s vote.More than 900 former Justice Department attorneys recently sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying “it’s intolerable to us that anyone who disgraces the Justice Department would be promoted to one of the highest courts in the land.”A group of more than 75 retired state and federal judges also wrote the committee, saying it is “deeply inappropriate for a president to nominate their own criminal defense attorney for a federal judgeship.”Bove represented Trump in the New York case that ended in his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star.He also defended Trump in two federal criminal cases which never reached trial and were shut down after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.Earlier this year, Bove ordered federal prosecutors to drop bribery and fraud charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, triggering a wave of resignations in the Manhattan US attorney’s office and the Justice Department in Washington.Bove has denied allegations that the decision was a quid pro quo in exchange for the Democratic mayor’s support for Trump’s immigration crackdown.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to league employees Tuesday night the New York office will remain closed through at least August 8 after a gunman attacked their headquarters building.A man identified by the New York Police Department as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas opened fire in the high-rise building where the NFL offices are located and killed four people on Monday while also wounding a man Goodell identified as a league employee.”Our hearts go out to all the victims and their families, and we are deeply grateful for the first responders and medical staff who acted so quickly and continue to provide care,” Goodell wrote.”Our thoughts and prayers remain especially with our colleague who was impacted. He is currently surrounded by his family and members of the NFL community and we are all continuing to hope for and support his full recovery.”The NFL Manhattan office at 345 Park Ave. will be closed until August 8, Goodell said, asking employees who usually work on-site to work remotely.”We ask that you do not attempt to enter the building until we confirm that it is ready for us to return,” Goodell wrote.The league plans a virtual town hall for Wednesday.”We are strongest when we come together and support one another,” Goodell wrote. “To provide a space for our community, we will be holding a virtual town hall tomorrow where we can connect, share and support each other.”This has been a challenging time for our entire team. Please continue to take care of yourselves and one another. If you need additional support, do not hesitate to reach out to your manager or HR. We are here for you.”Goodell closed by writing: “In the midst of this difficult time, we hold on to hope and optimism for healing and brighter days ahead.”

Unconditional support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in US Republican politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by Donald Trump’s populist base — where invocations of the “special relationship” are falling on deaf ears.Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump’s “MAGA” movement over whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president’s “America First” platform.Trump’s first significant break with Israel came on Monday, when he acknowledged that “real starvation” is happening in Gaza and vowed to set up food centers in the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by Israel’s war with Hamas. Asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said: “Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry.”It was a notable retort and prompted commentators to speculate that unwavering US support for Israel might end up as just another conservative sacred cow slayed by MAGA.Vice President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing “heartbreaking” images of “little kids who are clearly starving to death” and demanding that Israel let in more aid.Political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift might in part be emotional — with TV images of starving children resonating more profoundly than the aftermath of air strikes.”Perhaps it is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war,” the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP. Israel has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the isolationist MAGA movement under Trump has challenged the ideological foundations of the “special relationship.”MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in particular the “left behind” working class that makes up Trump’s base.- ‘Almost no support’ -Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to “re-orient its relationship with Israel” from a special relationship “to an equal strategic partnership.”Stronger expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts — especially after the October 7 Hamas attacks.But there is a new urgency in the debate in MAGA circles following dire warnings from leading NGOs and the UN World Food Program’s finding that a third of Gaza’s population — of about two million — go for days without eating. One sign of the new thinking came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pushed to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel’s rocket defense system.Greene this week went further than any Republican lawmaker has previously in using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s conduct and slamming the “starvation of innocent people and children in Gaza.”While Greene’s credibility has been undermined by an extensive record of conspiratorial social media posts, there is no denying that she knows what makes the MAGA crowd tick.A new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel’s actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68 percent in 2023 to 52 percent. Youth seems to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April, when food shortages had yet to become a humanitarian catastrophe.While Republicans over age 50 haven’t changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since 2022, the survey showed that the US ally’s unfavorability among younger adults has climbed from 35 percent to 50 percent. “It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support,” former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Politico, adding that Trump’s rebuke would solidify his supporters’ enmity.Democratic strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as “one of those rare moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock.” “You’re seeing people across the political spectrum who just can’t stomach it anymore,” he told AFP.

The US central bank is expected to defy political pressure and keep interest rates unchanged Wednesday at the end of a two-day policy meeting, as the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs emerge.The Federal Reserve’s decision, due to be announced at 2:00 pm US eastern time (1800 GMT), comes amid a flurry of data releases this week, including an early estimate of second quarter economic growth.”It’s a high-wire act for the Fed, because they’re balancing a lot of risks without a net,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told AFP.”Some of the most tariff-sensitive sectors have begun to show price increases, but the bulk of any inflation bump due to tariffs is still ahead of us,” Swonk added in a recent note.Meanwhile, there are cracks in the foundation when it comes to the labor market, she said, adding that “it doesn’t take much of a pick-up in layoffs to have a bigger effect on demand.”Analysts broadly expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady at a range between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent. Its last reduction was in December.The outcome could vex Trump, who has lashed out repeatedly at independent Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering rates sooner — calling him “too late,” a “numbskull” and “moron.”JP Morgan chief US economist Michael Feroli said in a note that Powell will likely sidestep questions at a press conference Wednesday on issues like Trump’s threats to fire him or speculation over a possible early retirement.Powell’s term as Fed Chair ends in May 2026.- ‘Hyper-politicized’ -But the central bank could well see renewed criticism from Trump after unveiling its decision, particularly as the outcome may show internal disagreements.Economists anticipate potentially two dissents among Fed policymakers, given that a couple of officials have signaled willingness to reduce rates as soon as in July.This month, Fed governor Christopher Waller flagged that indicators do not point to a particularly healthy private sector jobs market.While he did not commit to a decision, he has made the case for a July rate cut and stressed that policymakers need to respond to real-time data.Analysts said it is not too unusual to see a couple of dissents when the Fed unveils its decision, and financial markets would already have braced for this possibility given officials’ recent remarks.But Swonk warned: “What I worry about is how, in this hyper-politicized environment, that’s perceived.””Multiple dissents by governors, who are closest to the Chair, could signal an unintended view that they have lost confidence in the chairman,” Swonk noted.Already, Trump has called for interest rates to be dropped by as much as three percentage points.- Cruel summer -Swonk of KPMG said: “it’s going to get tougher over the summer.””Tariff-induced price pressures are starting to filter through the economy,” said EY chief economist Gregory Daco in a note.Companies are citing weaker earnings and higher input costs, while elevated consumer prices are beginning to weigh on retail sales.”More demand erosion is likely in the months ahead,” Daco said.He expects Powell to “strike a tone of cautious patience” in his press conference after the rate decision.Powell would likely reiterate that policy remains data-dependent, and that the Fed can adjust this as conditions evolve, Daco added.Looking ahead, Swonk said, “the real issue will be, what does he say at Jackson Hole now?”Powell typically addresses an annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it takes place this year in late August.”The next shoe to drop is: Will there be enough data by the time we get to Jackson Hole to open the door to a September rate cut?” Swonk said.

A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India is set to launch Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 5:40 pm (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.Highly anticipated by scientists, the mission has also been hailed as a milestone in growing US-India cooperation between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change,” Karen St Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science division, told reporters. “Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle.”By picking up on tiny changes in the vertical movement of the Earth’s surface — as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) — scientists will be able to detect the precusors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.”We’ll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and of course, we’ll see wildfires,” added St Germain, calling NISAR “the most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built.”Equipped with a 12-meter dish that will unfold in space, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth’s land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 464 miles (747 kilometers).- Microwave frequencies -As it orbits, the satellite will continuously transmit microwaves and receive echoes from the surface. Because the spacecraft is moving, the returning signals are distorted — but computer processing will reassemble them to produce detailed, high-resolution images. Achieving similar results with traditional radar would require an impractically large 12-mile-wide dish.NISAR will operate on two radar frequencies: L-band and S-band. The L-band is ideal for sensing taller vegetation like trees, while the S-band enables more accurate readings of shorter plants such as bushes and shrubs.NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and India’s ISRO shared the workload, each building components on opposite sides of the planet before integrating and testing the spacecraft at ISRO’s Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.NASA’s contribution came to just under $1.2 billion, while ISRO’s costs were around $90 million.India’s space program has made major strides in recent years, including placing a probe in Mars orbit in 2014 and landing a robot and rover on the Moon in 2023.Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, recently became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station — a key step toward India’s own indigenous crewed mission planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan (“sky craft”) program.

The United States is set to raise tariffs on dozens of trading partners Friday if they fail to reach accords with President Donald Trump to avert the higher rates, and this risks raising prices for consumers.Economists have warned that steeper US tariffs, paid for by importers of foreign products, could add to business costs and trickle down to households.The risk is a dampening of consumption — a key driver of the world’s biggest economy.Trump’s tariffs could impact everything from coffee beans and rice to cocoa, seafood or even electronics.Here are some examples of products in the crosshairs:- Coffee -Over 99 percent of America’s coffee is imported, according to the National Coffee Association. It told AFP that two-thirds of US adults drink coffee daily.Top suppliers of coffee beans include Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).But Brazil, which accounted for over 30 percent of such imports in recent years, faces a 50 percent tariff threat come August 1.In a letter to Brazil’s leadership, Trump cited a judical “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, in unveiling the rate.Imports from Vietnam, meanwhile, face a 20 percent additional tariff even after a deal the Southeast Asian country recently struck with Trump.- Shirts -Clothing like shirts and sweaters could also become pricier.China, Vietnam and Bangladesh accounted for more than half of US apparel imports from January through May this year, said the American Apparel & Footwear Association.All three countries face different tariff levels under the Trump administration.Chinese goods, which account for nearly a third of apparel imports, were hit by a fresh 30 percent duty this year — piling atop existing ones.If an existing truce expiring August 12 is not extended, tariffs on products from China could surge even higher, causing companies to halt imports or be forced to pass on more costs.Vietnamese goods accounted for nearly 20 percent of clothing imports while those from Bangladesh made up about 11 percent, the association said.Trump has threatened to impose a 35 percent duty on Bangladesh goods.- Jasmine rice -The United States is the biggest rice importing country in the Western Hemisphere, bringing in some 1.3 million tons, according to the USDA.More than 60 percent of the country’s rice imports are aromatic varieties, mostly jasmine from Thailand and basmati from India and Pakistan.Thailand faces a prospective 36 percent tariff come Friday, India 26 percent and Pakistan, 29 percent.The United States also takes in smaller quantities of medium and short-grained rice from Asia and some products from South America.- Cocoa -US imports of cocoa beans — mostly from places like the Ivory Coast and Ecuador — averaged over $1.1 billion annually from 2017 to 2021, according to the USDA.Among them, the Ivory Coast faces a 21 percent tariff.Cocoa butter shipments were valued at $576 million annually and mainly supplied by Indonesia and Malaysia, facing fresh duties of 19 percent and 25 percent respectively.- Electronics -Besides tariffs on imports from specific countries, Trump has also threatened a 50 percent duty on copper imports come August 1.Consulting firm BCG warned that this would add $8.6 billion to the cost of raw copper and refined copper imported into the country — and more if tariffs extended into derivative products.BCG expects material costs to jump for the construction industry — which uses 42 percent of copper products consumed domestically — and makers of electronics goods.

Donald Trump has abandoned any qualms he had in his first term about making money on the side while serving as president, as he unabashedly promotes his business interests.In the latest instance of him blending diplomacy, pageant and the profit motive, Trump on Tuesday inaugurated another golf course bearing his name in the town of Balmedie as he concluded a five-day visit to Scotland.The ceremony, which featured bagpipes, fireworks and a Trump campaign song — the Village People’s “YMCA” — was broadcast live on the White House YouTube channel.Trump had led UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a tour of the course on Monday.And Trump on Tuesday welcomed Scotland’s leader, First Minister John Swinney, who has ruffled feathers by granting subsidies to hold a golf tournament at the Trump property.   – ‘Deeply troubling’  -“All of this looks like foreign governments paying, or paying tribute to, Donald Trump’s businesses in apparent attempts to curry favor with him and receive better treatment from him on key policy issues including trade deals,” said Noah Bookbinder, head of an NGO called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).Bookbinder called it “deeply troubling” that US diplomacy could be guided by the financial interests of the Trump family.A White House official denied there was anything awry in Trump’s golf diplomacy stay in Scotland, saying the president’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and there is no conflict of interest.The 79-year-old president teed off Tuedsay to play the new golf course with his son Eric, who led the project.”We wanted this to be the greatest 36 holes anywhere on Earth. And there’s no question that that’s been achieved,” said the younger Trump.A journalist then asked Trump if blurring the line between his official duty as president and trying to make money amounted to a conflict of interest.”I haven’t heard that,” Trump said, immediately changing the subject to his golf game.”Did you get to see my drive in the first hole? … Pretty long, pretty long,” Trump said.Eric and Donald Trump Jr, who was also here for the course inauguration, are both executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, a holding company that features a wide range of Trump properties and other assets.During his stay in Scotland, Trump also received European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at another opulent Trump golf resort in the southwestern town of Turnberry.- Cryptocurrencies -The Trump family has more than a dozen ritzy golf resorts scattered around the world that can host receptions or tournaments, and the president has expressed hopes that the British Open will be played at their property in Turnberry one day.Trump’s sons are involved in a range of other businesses, encouraged openly by their father from the White House.The president in particular has gotten involved in a number of cryptocurrency endeavors that have inflated his wealth as his government actively promotes the burgeoning sector of the economy.Trump was roundly criticized for hosting a private dinner in April for the top 25 holders of $TRUMP, a crypto product associated with him and called a meme coin.He has promoted this product on his social media platform Truth Social, which is part of the company Trump Media. Trump also uses the platform for official government announcements on anything from tariffs to ties with Russia.- World Liberty Financial -Trump’s wife Melania is also involved in moneymaking endeavors, including a new documentary series produced by Amazon.The president and Steve Witkoff, his envoy for Russia and the Middle East, are linked through their families to a cryptocurrency company called World Liberty Financial.The company — which lists Trump as “co-founder emeritus” on its website — came under virulent criticism over a recent transaction with a company in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.During a spring tour of the Middle East, Trump agreed to a request from UAE authorities to be able to buy cutting-edge US electronics.While on the same trip, Trump agreed to accept a Boeing jetliner as a gift from Qatar to the United States, dismissing howls of protest from the Democrats over a gesture which they called a blatant conflict of interest.During Trump’s first term in office from 2017-2021, the Trump Organization declared a moratorium on investments with private companies in other countries. This time around there is no such abstention. 

Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt joined calls Tuesday for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League threw their weight behind a seven-page text agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. “In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” said the declaration.It followed a call Monday by the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations for both Israel and Hamas to leave Gaza, allowing the Palestinian Authority to administer the coastal territory.The text also condemned the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel, something the UN General Assembly has yet to do.France, which co-chaired the conference with Saudi Arabia, called the declaration “both historic and unprecedented.””For the first time, Arab countries and those in the Middle East condemn Hamas, condemn October 7, call for the disarmament of Hamas, call for its exclusion from Palestinian governance, and clearly express their intention to normalize relations with Israel in the future,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.The text, co-signed by France, Britain and Canada among other western nations, also called for the possible deployment of foreign forces to stabilize Gaza after the end of hostilities.Israel and its ally the United States did not take part in the meeting.- 21 months of war -The document was issued at the second day of the conference in New York at which Britain announced it may recognize a Palestinian state in September.British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said London would proceed with recognition if Israel did not fulfil conditions including implementing a ceasefire in Gaza and allowing in sufficient aid.French President Emmanuel Macron last week said he would formally announce France’s recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.For decades, most of the global body’s members have supported a two-state solution with Israel and a Palestinian state existing side-by-side.But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could become geographically impossible.The current war in Gaza started after the Hamas attacks on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed.Israel responded with large-scale military action that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and destroyed most infrastructure in the enclave.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting Monday “the two-state solution is farther than ever before.”In a statement issued late Tuesday, 15 Western nations including France and Spain, affirmed their “unwavering support to the vision of the two-state solution.”Among the signatories, nine that have not yet recognized a Palestinian state expressed “willingness or positive consideration of their countries” to do so: Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal, and San Marino.