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A gathering of global economic leaders in Washington wraps up Saturday with tariff talks between the United States and partners still unresolved — and anxiety building over the state of the global economy.The International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings provided an important opportunity for countries to discuss trade at the sidelines, speaking with President Donald Trump’s new administration.But despite US officials touting progress on tariff talks, analysts tell AFP that the hard work to reaching deals lies ahead.Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped 10 percent tariffs on most US trading partners and a separate 145 percent levy on many products from China.Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.But despite Trump saying that there are many deals on the table, details have been scant.”Coming out, I think we have more confusion, not more clarity, in terms of what the administration wants for negotiations,” said Josh Lipsky, international economics chair at the Atlantic Council.Participants likely left the spring meetings with “a lot of anxiety about what these meetings will be like when they reconvene in six months, both for the state of the global economy and for individual countries,” he told AFP.- ‘Notoriously tedious’ -“No deals have been announced but that’s not surprising. Trade agreements take time to negotiate,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade negotiator.While the uptick in negotiating activity is a “positive sign,” she added, “holding meetings is a far step from announcing deals.”For now, Washington has prioritized discussions with key allies like Japan, South Korea and Switzerland — in line with the Trump administration’s comments that it would place more focus on about 15 important trading relationships.Barath Harithas, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the emphasis on 15 or so partners is “likely pragmatic.””Comprehensive tariff negotiations are notoriously tedious, typically spanning years rather than months, and cannot realistically be compressed into a 90-day ultimatum period,” he added. US officials have met with counterparts from countries like South Korea and Japan this week.But negotiations with Thailand, although initially scheduled, have been postponed as Washington sought further review on crucial issues, Harithas said.EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters Friday that there remains “a lot of work ahead” to reach a deal with Washington.Underscoring the differences between both sides, Dombrovskis added that tariffs are not a solution to address underlying trade imbalances — a goal of the Trump administration as it rolled out various levies.Earlier Friday, Trump also cast doubt on a further tariff pause when speaking to reporters.- ‘Frustration’ -Lipsky of the Atlantic Council said it is seen as “unrealistic” for a series of deals to be struck by July, even if some discussions may bear fruit.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent maintained Wednesday that Washington was close to a pact with India and making progress with other partners.But he added: “A satisfactory arrangement does not necessarily mean the actual trade document, it means that we have reached agreement in principle.”With current economic worries sparked by Trump’s policy decisions, Lipsky said there has been disappointment with current conditions.”The frustration that I’ve heard this week is that this was unnecessary,” Lipsky added.And tensions between Washington and Beijing are “not headed towards any immediate resolution,” he said.While Trump said in a Time magazine interview that Xi has called him, Beijing previously disputed that tariff talks were ongoing.Countries are now resigned to the idea that high US-China tariffs are here to stay, at least in the near future, he added.A European official told AFP there have been two negotiation channels that are not always in agreement — with Bessent on one hand and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the other.”The only thing I’m fairly sure of,” the official said, “is that in the end, the decision is made by President Trump.”

Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down an insurance executive in cold blood in a slaying that has divided Americans, pleaded not guilty to murder charges Friday, after he was arraigned in court.Mangione has now been charged in both New York state and federal court over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He pleaded not guilty to the federal charges in a Manhattan court on Friday. The case has stirred debate about political violence and the state of the healthcare system in the United States, and is the first case in which the Justice Department is seeking the death penalty since Donald Trump returned to the White House.Mangione wore beige prison scrubs — in contrast with the sharp, civilian wardrobe in which he has previously appeared — and conferred with his lawyers, an AFP correspondent saw.He is charged with murder, two counts of stalking, and a firearms offense.The focus in the case will now shift to the trial date, with the judge due to set a timetable at a hearing scheduled on December 5, exactly a year and a day after last year’s murder.Outside court, a van fitted with a video screen accused the Justice Department of “barbaric” conduct alongside an image of Mangione.Well-wishers brandished signs and chanted, with one stopping to admonish prosecutors for rushing the cases against him.- Insurance ‘horror’ stories -One woman dressed in the green overalls of the Super Mario character Luigi and brandished a sign relating to the case.Lindsay Floyd, an activist working in support of Mangione, said ahead of the hearing that “these are serious accusations that deserve some reflection, not this vilification before the trial has even begun.”Early on December 4, 2024, Mangione allegedly tracked Thompson in New York, walked up behind him and fired several gunshots from a pistol with a silencer, federal prosecutors said. He had traveled to the city by bus from Atlanta about 10 days before the crime.Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, following a tip from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant after a days-long manhunt. In the state case, Mangione has also pleaded not guilty and could face life imprisonment with no parole, if convicted.Mangione’s lawyer Karen Agnifilo — wife of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo — said that the federal case should be heard before the state one because of the risk of the death penalty.Marc Agnifilo was seen rushing from a hearing in the Combs case to attend the arraignment of Mangione, for whom he is also a lawyer.”It’s a side door kind of day,” he said.Elliott Gorn, a history professor at Loyola University Chicago, said that what struck him most in the days following the murder “was the deep sense of grievance that many Americans were suddenly talking about in the open.”  “We’d just had a months-long political campaign, and the subject barely came up, but then suddenly the floodgates opened, and everyone seemed to have a horror story of medical care denied,” he said.

Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down an insurance executive in cold blood in a slaying that has divided Americans, pleaded not guilty to murder charges Friday, after he was arraigned in court.Mangione pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to the four-count indictment that is the first case in which the Justice Department is seeking the death penalty since Donald Trump returned to the White House.Mangione has been charged in both New York state and federal court for slaying UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a case that has stirred debate about political violence and the state of the healthcare system in the United States.In the state case, Mangione has also pleaded not guilty and could face life imprisonment with no parole, if convicted.Early on December 4, Mangione allegedly tracked Thompson in New York, walked up behind him and fired several gunshots from a pistol with a silencer, federal prosecutors said. He had traveled to the city by bus from Atlanta about 10 days before the crime.Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, following a tip from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant after a days-long manhunt. 

Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday.Republican Santos, 36, had faced at least two years in prison and a maximum of 22 years after pleading guilty to wire fraud and identity theft for his elaborate grifting while a lawmaker.”He admitted to engaging in a brazen crime spree that took place over a period of years. He stole personal identities and financial information from campaign contributors, made unauthorized transfers of money to his campaign, and to himself personally,” said prosecutor John Durham.”He went so far as to seek out elderly people with cognitive impairment and dementia.”Judge Joanna Seybert in Federal District Court in Central Islip sentenced Santos to seven years and three months.In August 2024 she had ordered Santos to pay more than $370,000 in restitution which prosecutors say has gone unpaid.He emerged from the courthouse flanked by his lawyers, tugging at his collar, but did not speak to reporters.”Stop the deception,” shouted a crowd of local activists as Santos climbed into a white SUV to leave.Earlier, well-wishers put their arms around Santos, who wore a charcoal suit and sunglasses, as he arrived at the courthouse for sentencing.Ahead of his sentencing, Santos suspended his Cameo account on which users had been able to pay to request custom videos.”I have disabled the ability to make new requests as I am unsure if I will be able to fulfill them in recent days,” he wrote on X.He has said that he has no plans to request a pardon from US President Donald Trump and is resigned to prison.Despite his guilty plea, federal prosecutors have insisted that Santos’s social media shows his claims of remorse “ring hollow.””As of this writing, despite years of actively courting media attention and capitalizing on his infamy, Santos has forfeited nothing of his ill-gotten gains and has not repaid one cent to any of the victims of his financial crimes,” prosecutors wrote.- Spectacular downfall -The downfall of the congressman from Long Island came after it was revealed he had fabricated almost his entire backstory including his education, religion and work history.Santos was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2022 and indicted the following year for stealing from campaign donors and engaging in credit card fraud, money laundering and identity theft.Santos used donor money for Botox treatments and the OnlyFans porn website, as well as luxury Italian goods and vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to an investigation by a congressional ethics committee.He had been scheduled to go on trial on September 9 on some two dozen charges, but opted instead to enter a guilty plea to wire fraud and identity theft.Santos’s bizarre biographical fabrications included claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs, being Jewish and having been a college volleyball star.He was ultimately doomed by the congressional probe that found overwhelming evidence of misconduct and accused him of seeking to “fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy.”Santos was expelled from the House in 2023, becoming only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals.In February 2024, voters in his suburban New York district picked Democrat Tom Suozzi to replace him.

US President Donald Trump headed to Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis, where he will brush shoulders with an array of world leaders on the unexpected first foreign trip of his second term.Trump had a distant relationship with the late pontiff who did not hesitate to criticize him sharply on his signature policy of mass deportations of migrants.But Trump will not miss what is set to be a major diplomatic gathering on Saturday with some 50 heads of state, including 10 reigning monarchs, expected to attend. Among them may be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in what would be the two leaders’ first time together in person since a disastrous White House meeting on February 28.Trump and Vice President JD Vance in that meeting berated Zelensky, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military assistance since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.Trump, while calling on Russia to stop its aerial attacks on Ukraine, has also recently blamed Zelensky for the war and the continuing bloodshed.Zelensky said Friday he may miss the funeral due to military meetings after recent deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv.- Biden not on Air Force One -No meetings have been announced in Rome for Trump, who is due to stay only half a day in the Eternal City.But Trump may find discomfort around some mourners around him — chief among them his predecessor, Joe Biden.Biden is a devout Catholic and was close with Francis. He will travel independently to Rome, his office said, even though former presidents generally travel on Air Force One for funerals. Trump has relentlessly attacked Biden and torn down his legacy in his nearly 100 days in office, with Biden in turn recently speaking out against Trump’s policies.President George W. Bush took two of his predecessors, Bill Clinton and his father, on Air Force One for Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005.Trump’s trip to Italy comes after he rattled European allies by imposing sweeping tariffs, although he at least temporarily has backed down from the most severe measures.French President Emmanuel Macron, one leader who has managed to forge a bond with Trump, and outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will both be at the funeral, as will top EU executives Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa.Also in attendance will be Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a veteran leftist whose vanquished rival Jair Bolsonaro is an ideological soulmate of Trump.Lula has been critical of Trump but has avoided major confrontation since the Republican billionaire’s return.The funeral will also bring leaders more ideologically in tune with Trump including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Javier Milei of Argentina, the late pope’s home country.Trump also paid a brief visit to France after his election but before his inauguration for the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral. Macron brought him together with Zelensky on the sidelines.Trump’s first foreign trip was supposed to be to oil-rich Gulf Arab states, where he is hoping to see business opportunities and press for closer relations with Israel.He is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13.

Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday.Republican Santos, 36, had faced at least two years in prison and a maximum of 22 years after pleading guilty to wire fraud and identity theft for his elaborate grifting while a lawmaker.Judge Joanna Seybert in Federal District Court in Central Islip sentenced Santos to seven years and three months, a courts spokesman told AFP.In August 2024 judge Seybert ordered Santos to pay more than $370,000 in restitution which prosecutors say has gone unpaid.Well-wishers put their arms around Santos, who wore a charcoal suit and sunglasses, as he arrived at the courthouse for sentencing.Ahead of his sentencing, Santos suspended his Cameo account on which users had been able to pay to request custom videos.”I have disabled the ability to make new requests as I am unsure if I will be able to fulfill them in recent days,” he wrote on X.He has said that he has no plans to request a pardon from US President Donald Trump and is resigned to prison.Despite his guilty plea, federal prosecutors have insisted that Santos’s social media shows his claims of remorse “ring hollow.””As of this writing, despite years of actively courting media attention and capitalizing on his infamy, Santos has forfeited nothing of his ill-gotten gains and has not repaid one cent to any of the victims of his financial crimes,” prosecutors wrote.- Spectacular downfall -The downfall of the congressman from Long Island came after it was revealed he had fabricated almost his entire backstory including his education, religion and work history.Santos was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2022 and indicted the following year for stealing from campaign donors and engaging in credit card fraud, money laundering and identity theft.Santos used donor money for Botox treatments and the OnlyFans porn website, as well as luxury Italian goods and vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to an investigation by a congressional ethics committee.He had been scheduled to go on trial on September 9 on some two dozen charges, but opted instead to enter a guilty plea to wire fraud and identity theft.Santos’s bizarre biographical fabrications included claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs, being Jewish and having been a college volleyball star.He was ultimately doomed by the congressional probe that found overwhelming evidence of misconduct and accused him of seeking to “fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy.”Santos was expelled from the House in 2023, becoming only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals.In February 2024, voters in his suburban New York district picked Democrat Tom Suozzi to replace him.

After President Donald Trump’s administration revoked hundreds of student visas and threatened deportation for participants of pro-Palestinian campus protests, international students told AFP they were reconsidering their dreams of earning degrees in the United States.Trump has launched a crackdown on higher education in recent weeks, accusing universities including Columbia and Harvard of allowing anti-Semitism on their campuses.In response more than 130 international students across the United States have joined a federal lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully canceling their visas, jeopardizing their legal status in the country.But others have been deterred from stepping foot in America in the first place.German Tariq Kandil turned down an opportunity to spend six months on exchange at the University of California, Davis, fearing he would be targeted by the US government for his social media posts criticising Trump and speaking about Palestine.”I didn’t want to have to censor myself just to be able to enter the country,” the 21-year-old told AFP. “The United States is supposed to be the country of free speech.”Kandil said he was “afraid of being arrested when entering or leaving the country and finding myself in detention awaiting deportation.”He was also worried his name would attract undue scrutiny.”Tariq Kandil isn’t a typical name when you come from Europe.”- ‘Study in fear’ -More than 1.1 million international students attended college or university in the United States during the 2023/24 academic year, a record figure, according to a report published by the State Department’s educational bureau and the Institute of International Education.Now Trump is aggressively targeting top universities where students protested over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, cutting off federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport student demonstrators, including those with green cards.Rania Kettani, a Moroccan student currently living in Abu Dhabi, joined protests against Israel’s conduct in the Gaza conflict while studying at New York University in 2023.”It is inconceivable to me that, in today’s context, doing the exact same thing could lead to deportation and cut short my studies,” Kettani told AFP.The 22-year-old had planned to apply for a master’s degree at an American university.”Seeing the number of students whose visas were revoked, I gave up,” she said.”I don’t want to live and study in fear.”- ‘A bit hostile’ -Naveen, a 26-year-old who asked to be identified with a pseudonym, is in the process of applying for a US visa after being admitted to a university there.To prepare for his studies, he has joined online forums that share the “do’s and don’ts” of being an international student in the United States.The current situation is “a bit hostile.” he told AFP.But Naveen said he believes that revoked student visas and deportations are targeting “immigrants not following the law properly and doing illegal practices.”He is hopeful the atmosphere around higher education will improve “in a year or two.” Naveen said he sees a bright future for himself in America, and wants to help the US “economy and people.”The United States could “go back to being a really happy place where people won’t feel these kinds of uncertainties or any doubts in the back of their minds,” he told AFP.

US President Donald Trump has insisted Chinese leader Xi Jinping called him despite Beijing denials of any contact between the two countries over their bitter trade dispute.In an interview conducted on April 22 with TIME Magazine and published Friday, the US president did not say when the call took place or specify what was discussed.”He’s called,” Trump said. “And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong told reporters Thursday that “I would like to emphasize that there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States.”The world’s two biggest economies are locked in an escalating tit-for-tat trade battle triggered by Trump’s levies on Chinese goods, which have reached 145 percent on many products.Trump suggested he will announce deals with US trading partners in the next few weeks.”I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way,” he said.”There’s a number at which they will feel comfortable,” Trump told the magazine, referring to China. “But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars on us.”The tariff blitz — which Trump says is retaliation for unfair trade practices, as well as a bid to restore US manufacturing prowess — has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession.

President Donald Trump has defied international norms on the nascent field of deep-sea mining, signing an executive order Thursday expanding the practice for rare earth minerals in domestic and international waters.White House aides say the initiative could see US operations scoop up more than a billion metric tons of mineral-rich deep-sea nodules, and pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the American economy.But the move to disrupt ocean floor ecosystems to extract cobalt and other minerals flies in the face of environmental group concerns and the controls set by global regulators at the International Seabed Authority. Since the 1990s, the group has sought to set ground rules for the burgeoning industry’s extraction efforts in international waters. But the US never ratified the agreements that empowered the ISA’s jurisdiction and is not a member of the UN-affiliated body. Instead, the Trump administration is “relying on an obscure 1980 law that empowers the federal government to issue seabed mining permits in international waters,” the New York Times reported. ISA didn’t immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.Under the order, the secretary of commerce has 60 days to “expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”- ‘Environmental disaster’ -Commercial deep-sea mining remains in its infancy, but with a global race underway for rare earth minerals — and the industry dominated by China — Washington appears set on expanding its collection capacity to benefit its defense, advanced manufacturing and energy industries.But environmental groups warn the process can cause major ecological damage.”Fast-tracking deep-sea mining is an environmental disaster in the making,” Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.”Trump is trying to open one of Earth’s most fragile and least understood ecosystems to reckless industrial exploitation.”The boosted deep-sea mining policy is aimed in part at “strengthening partnerships with allies and industry to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” the White House said.The ISA is scrambling to devise a rulebook for deep-sea mining, balancing its economic potential against warnings of irreversible environmental damage.Last week the American firm Impossible Metals said it had asked US officials to “commence a leasing process” in a parcel of the Pacific Ocean surrounding far-flung US territory American Samoa.  The bid circumvents the ISA by mining within US jurisdiction, rather than international waters.Key seabed resources include polymetallic nodules, potato-sized pebbles found at depths of 13,000 to 20,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters) that contain manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel.A senior administration official told reporters shortly before the signing that the US could retrieve more than a billion metric tons of material, and the process could create some 100,000 jobs and generate $300 billion in domestic GDP over 10 years.Canada-based deep-sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company recently stunned industry observers with an attempt to sideline the ISA.After years of pushing the authority to adopt rules for industrial-scale mining, The Metals Company abruptly announced earlier this year it would seek US approval instead, with CEO Gerard Barron lauding Trump’s order.”By building on decades of domestic innovation and regulatory groundwork, this action reasserts America’s role in securiting critical seabed resources and ensures the US is not left behind in a strategic arena increasingly influenced by China,” Barron said in a statement.

Russia’s foreign minister said Thursday that Moscow was ready to do a deal on its war in Ukraine after Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin to halt attacks, in a rare rebuke following the deadliest strikes on Kyiv in months.”We are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points… which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,” Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with CBS News.Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Russia on Friday where he is expected to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Putin.Lavrov said the talks process was moving in the right direction, and negotiations would continue with Washington.He said the US president was “probably the only leader on Earth who recognised the need to address the root causes of this situation”, but said Trump “did not spell out the elements of the deal”. Trump, however, issued a direct appeal to Russian President Putin following missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital early Thursday which left at least 12 people dead.It was the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians, defying Trump’s push to bring about a rapid end to the bloodshed.”I am not happy with the Russian strikes,” Trump said on social media. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”Trump, who is accused of favoring Russia and has often vilified Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was asked by reporters what concessions Moscow had offered in negotiations to end the war.”Stopping taking the whole country — pretty big concession,” he replied.Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since been bogged down in a bloody war with huge casualties on both sides.- Crimea spat -Zelensky cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with the aftermath of the latest strikes.He questioned whether Kyiv’s allies were doing enough to force Putin to agree to a full and unconditional ceasefire.”I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,” Zelensky said, highlighting that Trump had previously warned of repercussions if Moscow did not agree to pause the fighting.Trump on Wednesday had accused Zelensky of frustrating peace efforts by ruling out recognizing Russia’s claim over Crimea, a territory the US president said was “lost years ago”. Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.”We do everything that our partners have proposed; only what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution we cannot do,” Zelensky said in response to a question about Crimea.In contrast, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday it was Moscow, not Kyiv, that needed to move forward in negotiations.”The balls are clearly in the Russian court now,” Rutte told reporters at the White House after meeting Trump.- ‘Pulled out of the rubble’ -Russia fired at least 70 missiles and 145 drones at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday, the main target being Kyiv, the Ukrainian air force said.”As of 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), the death toll in Kyiv’s Sviatoshinsky district has risen to 12,” Ukraine’s state emergency services reported, with the number of wounded rising to 90.Russia said it had targeted Ukraine’s defense industry, including plants that produced “rocket fuel and gunpowder”.Asked about the strikes, Lavrov told CBS News: “We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military.””If this was a target used by the Ukrainian military, the Ministry of Defense, the commanders in the field have the right to attack them.”Ukraine has been battered by aerial attacks throughout Russia’s three-year invasion but strikes on Kyiv, better protected by air defenses than other cities, are less common.Zelensky said Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile in the strikes.Olena Davydiuk, a 33-year-old lawyer in Kyiv, told AFP she saw windows breaking and doors “falling out of their hinges”.”People were being pulled out of the rubble,” she added.Zelensky said that on the ground, Russian forces had been attacking Ukrainian positions on Thursday, following the Kyiv strikes.”Basically, the Russians tried to go on the offence under the cover of their massive strike,” he said on X.”While the bulk of our forces were focused on protection from missiles and drones, the Russians significantly intensified their ground attacks.”