US President Donald Trump voiced confidence Tuesday at reaching a trade deal with the Philippines to ease his threatened tariffs as he welcomed his counterpart Ferdinand Marcos to the White House.”We’re very close to finishing a trade deal. A big trade deal, actually,” Trump said as he met Marcos in the Oval Office.”He’s a very tough negotiator. So far we’re not there because he’s negotiating too tough,” Trump said.But Trump, in response to questions, said he believed the two countries would ultimately reach an agreement.”We’ll probably agree on something,” Trump said.The Philippines, a former US colony and longtime ally, was among countries confronted by Trump with letters this month warning of 20 percent tariffs on all their goods coming into the United States as of August 1 — up from a previous threat of 17 percent.The trade rift comes despite increasingly close defense relations between the United States and the Philippines, which has seen high tensions with China.The United States last year under former president Joe Biden deployed ground-launched missiles in the Philippines.Washington has also eyed ammunition manufacturing in the Philippines, despite the closure in 1992 of the US naval base at Subic Bay due to heavy public pressure.”All of what we consider part of the modernization of the Philippine military is really a response to the circumstances that surround the situation in the South China Sea,” Marcos said.”We are essentially concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights,” he said.”Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States.”China and the Philippines have engaged in a series of confrontations in the contested waters, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.

The US Department of Justice is seeking to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, officials said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump struggles to quell a furor over the handling of the explosive case.The former British socialite is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking minors on behalf of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in his own pedophile trafficking case.”President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence” about the Epstein case, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X.The surprise announcement marked the Trump administration’s latest effort to defuse spiraling anger among the Republican’s own supporters over what they have long seen as a cover-up of Epstein’s crimes and high-level connections.Blanche said an FBI review of the evidence against Epstein — a wealthy financier whose powerful friends once included Trump — had found nothing to suggest new leads.But if Maxwell “has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” said Blanche, who was formerly Trump’s personal lawyer. “No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits.”David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer, confirmed on X that he was in discussions with the government and said “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.””We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case,” Markus added.Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate who was convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege included trafficking young models for VIPs.Trump’s conspiracy-minded supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said on July 7 that Epstein had committed suicide while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list.”Trump has tried a variety of measures to placate his base, including by ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to obtain release of grand jury testimony in Epstein’s aborted New York case.At a White House meeting with the Philippine’s president on Tuesday, Trump dismissed the entire Epstein scandal as “a witch hunt.”- Epstein prosector fired -However, the president’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement has long held as an article of faith that “Deep State” elites were protecting Epstein’s associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood — although not Trump himself.While no evidence has emerged of any wrongdoing by Trump, the president had a close friendship with Epstein and he sued the Wall Street Journal last week after it published a story about a raunchy letter he purportedly sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday.The latest developments come just days after the federal prosecutor who handled Epstein’s and Maxwell’s sex trafficking cases was abruptly fired by the Trump Justice Department.Maurene Comey — the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, a prominent Trump critic — was dismissed on July 16 from her position as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan.The furor over Epstein has derailed business in the US House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson is sending lawmakers home early to derail demands by Democrats for a vote to release the “Epstein files.”Epstein was found hanging dead in his New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.The FBI and New York medical examiner ruled his death a suicide but the determination has done little to quell speculation in right-wing circles that he was murdered.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.

General Motors reported Tuesday that second-quarter profits tumbled by more than a third due to tariffs as it confirmed its full-year forecast.GM’s results topped expectations, but shares fell as the automaker projected weaker profitability in the second half of 2025.The Detroit automaker, which has adjusted billions of dollars in investment in light of shifting US trade and environmental policies, said it benefited from continued solid pricing in its home market.Profits overall fell 35.4 percent to $1.9 billion year-on-year, with a $1.1 billion hit from tariffs accounting for much of the drop.Revenues dipped 1.8 percent to $47.1 billion, in spite of higher auto sales globally compared with the year-ago period.GM was among the carmakers that benefited from a surge in demand this spring from US consumers who wanted to beat US tariffs. GM pointed to sales growth in North America where new and revamped trucks and sport utility vehicles sold briskly.The United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported finished cars in early April, a move that affected major GM manufacturing operations in Mexico, Canada and South Korea.Auto companies have also been buffeted by tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and auto parts.GM reaffirmed its forecast of an overall hit of $4-$5 billion from tariffs in 2025 as it continues to import from those three countries “to avoid interruptions for our customers and dealers,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson told analysts.”Over time we remain confident that our total tariff expense will come down as bilateral trade deals emerge and our sourcing and production adjustments are implemented,” Jacobson said.Chief Executive Mary Barra declined to predict “a worst-case” tariff scenario, but said the outcome could potentially be better than the current policies on which forecasts are based.- Lower profitability expected -The Detroit-based company’s outlook for a weaker second half of 2025 reflects “seasonally lower” volumes, increased spending on vehicle launches and the presence of two quarters with a tariff hit, compared to just one, the company said in a slide presentation.GM expects annual operating income of between $10 billion and $12.5 billion after notching $6.5 billion in the first half of the year.GM expects to mitigate “at least” 30 percent of the tariff hit through “manufacturing adjustments, targeted cost initiatives and consistent pricing,” according to a slide.In June, GM announced $4 billion over two years to expand production of plants in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee, making use of unused capacity in its home market as President Donald Trump’s tariffs penalize imports of finished vehicles.The June announcement included steps to produce in the United States Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Blazer, two vehicles which are currently assembled in Mexico. GM has so far not shifted production from South Korea, home to production for the Chevrolet Trax, a popular compact SUV that is priced affordably. President Donald Trump has set an August 1 deadline to reach broad trade deals with numerous countries, including South Korea, which faces a broad-based 25 percent tariff if there is no deal.Barra told analysts the company’s South Korea operation is one “we’ve had for a long time that’s very efficient and high quality,” adding that the company would avoid long-term decisions until it knows the outcome of talks between Washington and South Korea.As GM has shifted production to the United States, it has also ramped up investments in internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) in light of slowing growth in electric vehicles. Those dynamics will be compounded by the Trump’s recent legislation to phase out tax credits for EVs after September.Recent GM investments will boost GM ability to produce either EVs or ICE vehicles at plants depending on demand, Jacobson said.”That flexibility is going to be important for us as we go through the next several years,” Jacobson said.Shares of GM fell 7.1 percent in morning trading.

Major social media platforms are enabling and profiting from misinformation around extreme weather events, endangering lives and impeding emergency response efforts, a research group said Tuesday.The report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) — which analyzed 100 viral posts on each of three leading platforms during recent natural disasters including deadly Texas floods — highlights how their algorithms amplify conspiracy theorists while sidelining life-saving information.”The influence of high-profile conspiracy theorists during climate disasters is drowning out emergency response efforts,” the report said, adding that the trend was “putting lives at risk.”Nearly all of the analyzed posts on Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram lacked fact-checks or Community Notes, a crowd-sourced verification system increasingly being adopted as an alternative to professional fact-checkers, the report said.Elon Musk-owned X lacked fact-checks or Community Notes on 99 percent of the posts, while Google-owned YouTube “failed entirely,” with zero fact-checks or Community Notes, CCDH said.The report noted that well-known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s false claims during the LA wildfires amassed more views on X throughout January than the combined reach of major emergency response agencies and news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times.”The rapid spread of climate conspiracies online isn’t accidental. It’s baked into a business model that profits from outrage and division,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s chief executive.During the wildfires, online scammers placed social media advertisements impersonating federal emergency aid agencies to steal victims’ personal information, Ahmed said, citing local officials.”When distraught people can’t distinguish real help from online deception, platforms become complicit in the suffering of innocent people,” he said.The tech platforms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.- ‘Dangerous’ falsehoods -Following natural disasters, misinformation tends to surge across social media — fueled by accounts from across the political spectrum –- as many platforms scale back content moderation and reduce reliance on human fact-checkers, often accused by conservative advocates of a liberal bias.During Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida last year, social media was flooded with baseless claims that the storm had been engineered by politicians using weather manipulation.Similarly, the LA wildfires were falsely blamed on so-called “government lasers,” a conspiracy theory amplified by viral posts.Augustus Doricko, chief executive of cloud seeding company Rainmaker, said he received death threats online after conspiracy theorists blamed him for the devastating floods in Texas.”I can confirm that we have received multiple threats since the flooding event,” Doricko told AFP, highlighting the real-life consequences of such falsehoods.The CCDH study found that the worst offenders spreading extreme weather misinformation were verified users with large followings, many of whom were attempting to monetize their posts.Eighty eight percent of misleading extreme weather posts on X came from verified accounts, CCDH said. On YouTube, 73 percent of such posts originated from verified users, while on Meta, the figure was 64 percent.”Climate disinformation costs lives,” said Sam Bright of DeSmog, which reports on climate misinformation campaigns.”As extreme weather events become more and more frequent, these falsehoods will only get more dangerous.”