A Chinese man faces up to five years in prison for trying to smuggle protected turtles worth more than $1 million from the United States to Hong Kong.Wei Qiang Lin, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal district court in New York to exporting more than 220 parcels containing around 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles.The Justice Department said the live turtles had been wrapped in socks for the weeks-long journey and the boxes with the reptiles had been labeled as containing “plastic animal toys.”The turtles, which had a market value of $1.4 million, were intercepted by law enforcement at a border inspection, it said.Eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles feature colorful markings and are a “prized feature in the domestic and foreign pet market, particularly in China and Hong Kong,” the Justice Department said in a statement.It said they are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).Sentencing was set for December 23. Lin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Donald Trump on Monday deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, seeking to cement his claim to be a “law and order” president with a crackdown that he said could be expanded to other major US cities. The Republican leader said he would place the capital’s Metropolitan Police under federal government control while also sending the National Guard onto the streets of the US capital.The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offenses are down.”This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” the president told reporters at the White House.Trump — a convicted felon who granted blanket clemency to nearly 1,600 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren’t tough enough. The administration says 800 DC National Guardsmen — potentially backed up by other “specialized” Guard units — will be deployed to the city of 700,000.The move was slammed by Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said the aim was to “further the personal and political agenda of a wannabe king.” Richard Stengel, a former undersecretary of state in Barack Obama’s administration, pointed out that Washington is not among the most dangerous US cities.”Throughout history, autocrats use a false pretext to impose government control over local law enforcement as a prelude to a more national takeover,” he posted on X.”That’s far more dangerous than the situation he says he is fixing.”As Trump was speaking at the White House, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside.”There is absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” said 62-year-old retiree Elizabeth Critchley, who brandished a sign with the slogan “DC says freedom not fascism.”The new approach echoes Trump’s aggressive policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.- New York, Chicago next? -The president told reporters he planned to roll out the policy to other cities, spotlighting New York and Chicago.Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city’s budget.Data from Washington police show significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.Trump posted on social media ahead of the news conference that he also wants to tackle homeless encampments, after signing an order last month making it easier to arrest rough sleepers.  Federal law enforcement have already increased their presence after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was beaten during an attempted carjacking. “Last week my administration surged 500 federal agents into the district including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the US Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump said.”You know a lot of nations, they don’t have anything like that… They made dozens of arrests.”A Gallup poll in October found that 64 percent of Americans believed crime had risen in 2024, although FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crime nationwide in more than half a century.Federal law allows Trump to control Washington’s police for 30 days, while a longer period would require authorization from Congress, which Democrats would likely block.The city’s Democratic mayor Muriel Bowser has not explicitly criticized Trump over the federal takeover, but she pushed back on White House claims of spiraling crime, noting the recent decrease.”While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we’re totally surprised,” she told a news conference.

At least one person died and dozens were wounded Monday after blasts at a US Steel plant in the state of Pennsylvania, officials said.”Multiple explosions occurred today at U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works,” the state’s Governor Josh Shapiro said in a post on X, naming a plant some 15 miles (25 kilometers) outside the city of Pittsburgh.”Injured employees have now been transported to local hospitals to receive care, and search-and-rescue efforts remain active at the plant,” he added.At least two people were believed to be missing, said Allegheny County Police, which confirmed on Facebook there had been one fatality.It added that “multiple individuals have been treated for additional injuries. The status of those individuals is not known at this time.”Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania posted on X that “dozens” had been wounded.US Steel said the incident happened at around 11:00 am (1500 GMT) on Monday and that emergency teams were immediately dispatched to the scene. “During times like this, U.S. Steel employees come together to extend their love, prayers, and support to everyone affected,” David Burritt, CEO of the company, said in a statement. Some US media outlets reported that people were still trapped under the rubble of the explosion. Videos on social media, not verified by AFP, appeared to show firefighters battling the blaze in front of a gutted industrial building, under a thick plume of white smoke. The Clairton Coke Works is the largest coking factory in the United States — a facility where coal is processed to produce coke, a key fuel in steelmaking. 

US President Donald Trump reportedly signed an order delaying the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods on Monday, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire.The halt on steeper tariffs will be in place for another 90 days, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported, citing Trump administration officials. The White House did not respond to queries on the matter.While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s products this year, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them.But their 90-day halt of steeper levies was due to expire Tuesday.Asked about the deadline earlier Monday, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens. They’ve been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with President Xi (Jinping) and myself.”Trump also touted the tariff revenue his country has collected since his return to the White House, saying “we’ve been dealing very nicely with China.””We hope that the US will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.He added that Beijing also hopes Washington will “strive for positive outcomes on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.”The full text of Trump’s latest order has yet to be released. The 90-day extension means the truce is set to expire in early November, according to the Wall Street Journal.- Shaky truce -Even as both countries reached a pact to cool tensions after high level talks in Geneva in May, the de-escalation has been shaky.In June, key economic officials convened in London as disagreements emerged and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Policymakers met again in Stockholm last month.US trade envoy Jamieson Greer said last month that Trump will have the “final call” on any such extension.Trump said in a social media post late Sunday that he hoped China will “quickly quadruple its soybean orders,” adding that this would be a way to balance trade with the United States.For now, the extension of a truce means that US tariffs on Chinese goods this year stand at 30 percent.Under their de-escalation, Beijing’s corresponding levy on US products stood at 10 percent.Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped a 10-percent “reciprocal” tariff on almost all trading partners, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deemed unfair. This surged to varying steeper levels last Thursday for dozens of economies.Major partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea now see a 15-percent US duty on many products, while the level went as high as 41 percent for Syria.The “reciprocal” tariffs exclude sectors that have been separately targeted, such as steel and aluminum, and those that are being investigated like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.They are also expected to exclude gold, although a clarification by US customs authorities made public last week caused concern that certain gold bars might still be targeted.Trump on Monday said that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, without providing further details.The US president has taken separate aim at individual countries such as Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup, and India over its purchase of Russian oil.Canada and Mexico come under a different tariff regime.