AFP USA

President Donald Trump visited police and troops Thursday that he has deployed in the US capital in what he calls a crackdown on crime, saying they were going to “stay here for a while.”Trump ordered hundreds of members of the Guard, a reserve force, to deploy in Washington last week vowing to “take our capital back,” despite protests by some residents and statistics showing violent offenses falling.”We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going to then go on to other places, but we’re going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect,” the Republican said outside a US Park Police facility in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington.He was surrounded by law enforcement from various local and federal agencies as well as National Guard troops.Earlier Thursday the 79-year-old had suggested he would go on patrol with police and the military, but instead he made a short speech and gave out pizzas and hamburgers. “Everybody feels safe,” he said, adding that he plans to get the capital “fixed up physically.” “One of the things we’re going to be redoing is your parks. I’m very good at grass, because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being,” the billionaire added.He spoke one day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to Washington’s formal name, the District of Columbia — on his own meet-and-greet with troops. Vance dismissed the hecklers as “a bunch of crazy protesters.”The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200.They have been spotted in tourist areas such as the National Mall and its monuments, the Nationals Park baseball stadium and others.The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.Some residents have welcomed the crackdown, pointing to crime in their areas — but others have complained the show of force is unnecessary, or has not been seen in parts of Washington where violence is concentrated.- Sandwich guy -Several incidents involving the surge of law enforcement have gone viral as residents voice their discontent, including the arrest of one man who was caught on camera throwing a sandwich at an agent.Banksy-style posters honoring the so-called “sandwich guy” have popped up around the city. The National Guard troops have provided “critical support such as crowd management, presence patrols and perimeter control in support of law enforcement,” according to statements on their official X account.In addition to sending troops into the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids.

Rotting bodies, some of them up to 15 years old, were found behind a fake door at a US funeral home run by a county coroner, official documents said.Inspectors who arrived at the Davis Mortuary in Colorado for a regular annual inspection on Wednesday noticed “a strong odor of decomposition,” said documents published by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.Officials also noticed a door at the premises in Pueblo, near Colorado Springs, that was hidden by a cardboard display.The funeral home’s operator, Brian Cotter — who also serves as Pueblo County coroner — asked the inspectors not to go into the room.When they did, they found “several bodies in various states of decomposition,” documents said.”Mr Cotter stated that the bodies were awaiting cremation and admitted that some bodies had been in the room for approximately 15 years. “Mr Cotter admitted to inspectors that he may have issued next-of-kin fake cremains.”Inspectors ordered the mortuary to stop doing business at once.According to the Pueblo County website, Cotter has served as the county’s coroner since 2014.The site said he has “over 25 years of death care experience as a local mortician, a state death investigator, and a diplomat for the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.”Cotter did not immediately respond to messages from AFP.Colorado is no stranger to rogue funeral directors.Last year the cremated remains of dozens of people were found in a house as it was being cleaned following the eviction of its former occupant, a one-time funeral director.A hearse discovered on the premises contained the body of a woman who had died 18 months earlier.In 2023, nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found in a decrepit funeral home after neighbors complained of a foul smell at the property near Colorado Springs.And in 2018 the FBI found that directors of one establishment were selling body parts around the world, and giving grieving families cement mix instead of cremains.The Denver Post has reported that Colorado is the only state in the US in which funeral home directors do not need a license, and homes themselves are only lightly regulated.

A divided US Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light on Thursday to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants linked to diversity initiatives.A federal judge in Massachusetts had blocked the planned cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants in June, saying they amounted to racial discrimination and LGBTQ prejudice.The Trump administration has targeted nearly $800 million in NIH research funding for elimination as part of its campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.In a 5-4 vote, the conservative-majority Supreme Court allowed the cuts to go ahead while legal challenges continue in lower courts.Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, sided with the three liberal justices on the top court in the minority.The targeted diversity grants represent only a fraction of the more than $10 billion in NIH research and contracts that have been put on the chopping block since President Donald Trump took office in January.Other affected projects include studies on the health effects of global warming, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.Trump has launched a sweeping overhaul of the US scientific establishment in his second term — slashing funding, attacking universities, and overseeing mass layoffs of scientists across federal agencies.

A nearly naked Lil Nas X was picked up by police Thursday after being found wandering through Los Angeles in just his underwear and a pair of white cowboy boots.Video posted on TMZ appeared to show the “Old Town Road” artist almost in the buff as he strutted down the major thoroughfare in the city.The rapper repeatedly addressed the passerby taking the video, urging them: “Don’t be late to the party tonight.”It was not clear which party he was referring to or where he was headed, as he walked along the center median of the near-empty street.At one point he asked the person filming — who was apparently sitting in a car — to hand over the phone so he can throw it away.”I wanna throw it far away so you never see it again. I don’t like phones.””Didn’t I tell you to put the phone down? Uh-oh, somebody’s gonna have to pay for that,” he said as he theatrically wagged his finger.A spokesman for Los Angeles Police Department told AFP that officers had been called to the Studio City area just before dawn.”There was a nude man walking in the street,” the spokesman said.”Upon arrival the suspect charged at officers. He was taken into custody and taken to a local hospital for a possible overdose and placed under arrest for battery on a police officer.”The spokesman said he was unable to provide the identity of the man.Photos published by TMZ appear to show the flamboyant star putting a traffic cone on his head.There was no immediate comment from Lil Nas X or his representatives.

The US and EU released details of a trade deal Thursday that foresees lower car tariffs but no relief for Europe’s wine sector, but Brussels said it would push for further concessions.US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy.But many aspects remained unclear, as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others.A joint statement Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over and some moving parts remain.The “maximum, all-inclusive” 15-percent rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said.”This is the most favourable trade deal the US has extended to any partner,” EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told journalists in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs.In recent weeks Trump had raised the possibility of additional tariffs hitting certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20 percent of the EU’s exports to the United States, and semiconductors.Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 percent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart.But this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was “working very hard” on.Welcoming the clarity provided by the joint statement, Sigrid de Vries, director of European auto lobby ACEA, urged the commission to implement its part of the deal “without delay, mitigating the tariff impact which already has cost automakers millions of euros in duties every day.”- Wine woes -The 15-percent rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption.”Unfortunately, here we didn’t succeed,” Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue, but did not want to give “false promises”. “These doors are not closed forever,” he said.The French wine exporters federation said it was “hugely disappointed”.”We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector,” said the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS Gabriel Picard.France exports 25 percent of its wines and spirits to the United States and Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said “the situation cannot remain unresolved”.In a post on X, she called the agreement “unbalanced” and said European negotiators needed to make the issue a priority as a matter of urgency. She also expected “strong European measures to support producers”.Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as “bad news” — but better than the worst case scenario, as Trump had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200 percent.”It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States,” which is by far their largest market, Chateau told AFP. The US Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group, also expressed disappointment, saying it favoured tariff-free trade on both sides of the Atlantic. “These new higher tariffs on EU spirits products will further compound the challenges facing restaurants and bars nationwide,” said the group’s CEO, Chris Swonger. – Bisons and planes –   French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek “additional exemptions” in the trade deal.The office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the agreement was “not yet an ideal or final point” but a “trade war” had been avoided. Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat.On the other hand, a special more favourable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US including “unavailable natural resources” such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals.These would effectively face a “zero or close to zero” rate, the commission said.”Faced with a challenging situation, we have delivered for our Member States and industry, and restored clarity and coherence to transatlantic trade,” said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.”This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential”.ub-burs/phz/jxb

Google will provide its Gemini artificial intelligence tools to US federal agencies practically free, the government announced Thursday.A suite of AI and cloud computing services called “Gemini for Government” from Google is intended to speed the adoption of the technology across the US government, the General Services Administration (GSA) said in a joint statement.”Gemini for Government gives federal agencies access to our full stack approach to AI innovation,” added Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.”So they can deliver on their important missions.”AI tools being provided include generation of video, images, or ideas as well as digital “agents” capable of independently tending to complex tasks.US agencies will pay a scant fee of less than a dollar for the AI tools, building on a previous agreement that saw Google Workspace software provided to the government at a major price discount, according to the GSA.”Federal agencies can now significantly transform their operations by using the tools in Gemini for Government,” said GSA acting administrator Michael Rigas.The deal comes just weeks after Google rival OpenAI said it was letting the US government use a version of ChatGPT designed for businesses for a year for just $1.”By giving government employees access to powerful, secure AI tools, we can help them solve problems for more people, faster,” OpenAI said in a blog post announcing the alliance.Earlier this year, the US Department of Defense awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to put generative AI to work for the military.OpenAI planned to show how cutting-edge AI can improve administrative operations, such as how service members get health care, and also has cyber defense applications, the startup said in a post.

President Donald Trump said he plans to patrol Washington’s streets on Thursday with troops he deployed to the US capital in a show of force against what he claims is a “crime emergency.”Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard to deploy in Washington last week vowing to “take our capital back,” despite protests by some residents and statistics showing violent offenses falling.”I’m going to be going out tonight I think with the police and with the military of course… We’re going to be doing a job,” the Republican told Todd Starnes, a host for right-wing media outlet Newsmax.He spoke one day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to the District of Columbia — on his own meet-and-greet with troops deployed in the city. The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops for the mission, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200 more.They have been spotted in major tourist areas such as the National Mall and its monuments, the Nationals Park baseball stadium and others.In addition to sending troops onto the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the local Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.Some residents have welcomed the crackdown, pointing to crime in their areas — but others have complained the show of force is unnecessary, or has not been seen in parts of the US capital where violence is concentrated.Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller visited troops at Washington’s Union Station Wednesday.Loud boos could be heard from outside as Vance walked into a fast-food restaurant at the train station. People also shouted expletive-laden jeers and slogans including “Free DC! Free DC!”Vance dismissed the hecklers as “a bunch of crazy protesters.”- Data shows crime falling -Several incidents involving the surge of law enforcement have gone viral as capital residents voice their discontent, including the arrest of one man who was caught on camera throwing a sandwich at an agent after a night out.Banksy-style posters honoring the so-called “sandwich guy” have popped up around the city. The National Guard troops have provided “critical support such as crowd management, presence patrols and perimeter control in support of law enforcement,” according to statements on their official X account.The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids.

US President Donald Trump will patrol the streets of Washington Thursday with police and National Guard troops he has deployed to the US capital, the Republican said in an interview.Trump ordered hundreds of National Guard to deploy in Washington last week as part of what he has called a crackdown on crime in the Democrat-run city, despite statistics showing violence offenses are down.”I’m going to be going out tonight I think with the police and with the military of course… We’re going to be doing a job,” Trump told Todd Starnes, a host for right-wing media outlet Newsmax.He spoke one day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to the District of Columbia, the federal district which includes Washington — on his own meet-and-greet with troops deployed in the city. The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops for the mission, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200 more.The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.In addition to sending troops onto the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the local Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids.

A US court threw out Thursday a $464 million civil penalty against President Donald Trump imposed by a judge who found he fraudulently inflated his personal worth, calling the sum “excessive” but upholding the judgment against him.Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in February 2024 at the height of his campaign to retake the White House, which coincided with several active criminal prosecutions that the Republican slammed as “lawfare.””It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform Thursday, adding that “everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT.”When Engoron originally ruled against Trump, he ordered the mogul-turned-politician to pay $464 million, including interest, while his sons Eric and Don Jr. were told to hand over more than $4 million each.The judge found that Trump and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.Alongside the financial hit to Trump, the judge also banned him from running businesses for three years, which the president repeatedly referred to as a “corporate death penalty.”On Thursday, five judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but ruled that the size of the fine was “excessive” and that it “violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive or cruel punishments and penalties.- ‘Massive win! -State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the initial case, vowed to take Thursday’s ruling to the state’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.Thursday’s appeals court ruling “affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud,” James added. Following the initial verdict, Trump subsequently sought to challenge the civil ruling as well as the scale and terms of the penalty, which has continued to accrue interest while he appeals.He repeatedly condemned the case and the penalty as politically motivated.His son Don Jr. termed the appellate court ruling a “massive win!!!””New York Appeals Court has just THROWN OUT President Trump’s $500+ Million civil fraud penalty! It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice… and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees! NO MORE LAWFARE!” he wrote on X.During hearings, conducted without a jury under state law, Trump accused then-president Joe Biden of driving the case, calling it “weaponization against a political opponent who’s up a lot in the polls.”As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment.Trump’s economic advisor Peter Navarro said at the White House Thursday that “James is another one that belongs in jail,” referring to the New York attorney general.”The Democrats really overplayed their hand on this because they thought they could take Donald Trump out,” he said.

A US Navy sailor has been convicted of espionage for selling military secrets to China for $12,000, the Justice Department said Thursday.Jinchao Wei was found guilty by a federal jury in California on Wednesday after a five-day trial, the department said in a statement.Wei, a machinist’s mate on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, and another sailor, Wenheng Zhao, were arrested in August 2023 and charged with spying for China.Zhao pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January of last year to 27 months in prison.Wei went to trial and was convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and other charges. He is to be sentenced on December 1.Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said Wei sent photographs and videos of US Navy vessels, ship movement information, technical manuals, and weapons capabilities to a Chinese intelligence officer, for which he was paid $12,000.According to US officials, Zhao, who was stationed at a naval base north of Los Angeles, received nearly $15,000 from a Chinese intelligence officer for sensitive information regarding navy operational security, exercises and critical infrastructure.Zhao specifically provided information about a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system located in Okinawa, Japan, they said.