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At dawn, container ships from Asia unload at a huge Pacific port in Mexico that so far appears to be weathering the storm unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.Members of the navy patrol the waters off Lazaro Cardenas, which for years has also been a gateway for drug flows that Mexico is under pressure from Trump to stop.The port, which covers an area of water and land the size of several thousand football fields, handles thousands of vehicles and even more auto parts.Millions of other goods from various industries and countries also arrive at the port.As well as the logistical challenge, Mexican authorities face mounting pressure from Trump to tackle trafficking of drugs or their precursors hidden in imported goods.The importance of Lazaro Cardenas — located in Michoacan, one of Mexico’s most violent states — reflects the country’s deep integration with the United States and Canada thanks to decades of free trade agreements.”It’s a strategic logistics point,” Joel Mendez, the port’s operations manager, told AFP during a tour of the facilities.The port is connected to a railroad that extends to the United States and Canada, so a container can arrive in Chicago in seven days.- Expansion planned -Lazaro Cardenas has become a major competitor to the Port of Long Beach in California, according to local authorities.So far there is no sign of a slowdown at the Mexican port, its operator says.Container throughput increased 11 percent between January and March, when Mexico was already in Trump’s sights.There are plans to expand the port’s size by 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) — around 900 football fields.It already handles the most vehicle shipments of any Mexican seaport, accounting for 35 percent of the national total.It also processes inputs for the steel industry, another sector targeted by Trump’s tough trade policy.ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, has a presence in Lazaro Cardenas.Though Trump excluded Mexico from his steep “reciprocal tariffs” — and this week eased auto import duties — its steel and aluminum exports are subject to a 25 percent tariff. That is a major challenge for a country that is home to plants operated by major foreign automakers such as Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW.Despite fears of an economic downturn, Mexico’s economy avoided a recession in the first quarter of the year, growing 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, a preliminary estimate showed Wednesday.- Drug searches -Dozens of soldiers inspected products in a special area of the port, which in 2013 was taken over by the military after it became a destination for chemical precursors used to produce crystal meth.Trump has linked his tariffs in part to the need for Mexico to do more to tackle trafficking of another synthetic drug, the deadly opioid fentanyl, as well as illegal migration.A soldier at the port took samples from big sacks of fishmeal, placing them in a machine than can detect illegal substances.”Cocaine and cannabis are the two substances that have been seized the most in the port,” a Mexican navy officer said on condition of anonymity.In October, the navy announced it had seized more than 8.3 tonnes of drugs in the Pacific southwest of Lazaro Cardenas — a record for a single operation at sea.Authorities are focused on chemicals that can be used to produce both legal medications and synthetic drugs.Port workers are preparing for the industry’s peak season, between May and June, when companies export and import millions of products in anticipation of the year-end holidays. Despite the chill winds from Trump’s trade war, “the port will continue to grow,” Mendez predicted.

At the Port of Los Angeles, the frenetic choreography of cranes unloading containers from Asia has slowed to a tiptoe, and the noise of the busiest docks in the US is quieting. “You could hear a pin drop, it’s very unusual,” Port Director Gene Seroka told AFP. By this unofficial barometer, the American economy faces slowdown under US President Donald Trump amid his trade war with China.Along with the next-door Port of Long Beach, the area represents the biggest gateway in the United States for goods from China and the rest of Asia. That has made it among the first victims to a burgeoning crisis threatening to disrupt the lives of millions of Americans.Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs — and the retaliation launched by other countries — has cowed importers, whose usual orders for furniture, toys, and clothing have dwindled.For the week of May 4, the Port of Los Angeles will receive up to 35 percent less cargo compared with the same period last year, Seroka said.The Port of Long Beach says for the entire month of May it is expecting a 30 percent drop in imports.Dozens of ships have cancelled their voyages to these ports.”Many retailers and manufacturers alike have hit the pause button, stopping all shipments from China,” said Seroka.The Asian manufacturing giant is the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs, with levies as high as 145 percent on some goods. Sales of Chinese goods to the US last year totaled more than $500 billion, according to Beijing.And while sales may not be going up this year, prices undoubtedly will. “Effectively, the cost of a product made in China now is two and a half times more expensive than it was just last month,” said Seroka.- Empty shelves – Trump last month announced a range of differing tariffs against nearly all countries in the world — including an island populated mostly by penguins — using a formula that baffled economists.He reversed course a few days later and left a blanket 10 percent rate against most of the planet.That extra cost, which is paid by the importer of a product, not by the seller, will affect trade across the United States.”This is not just a West Coast issue,” warned Long Beach Port Director Mario Cordero.”It affects every port, whether it’s in the East or in the Gulf” of Mexico, which Trump has decreed should be known as the Gulf of America.At the start of the year, Long Beach and Los Angeles saw American companies scurry to get ahead of tariffs that Trump promised on the campaign trail.Cargo volumes surged as they tried to build up as much untaxed inventory as possible.But as the tariffs begin to bite, they will undoubtedly hold buying to eat into that inventory.Without a reversal from the White House that would re-open the trade spigot, that could mean shortages that consumers will start to notice, and soon, according to Seroka.”American importers, especially in the retail sector, are telling me that they have about five to seven weeks of normal inventory on hand today,” he said.”If this trade dispute goes on for any length of time, we’ll likely see fewer selections on store shelves and online buying platforms.”The impact on American consumers will be less choice and higher prices,” he said.”The American consumer is going to get hit right in the wallet.”- ‘We’re angry at Donald Trump’ – For Antonio Montalbo, one of the 900,000 logistics workers in Southern California, the ordeal has already begun. As the owner of a small trucking company, he needs to replace the starter on one of his vehicles; the part, made in China, now costs twice as much. Trump has “created a hostile environment at the port for the drivers,” says the 37-year-old.”We’re angry at Donald Trump. He needs to go check out the country a little bit, because he has a lot of angry truck drivers.”It seems like he doesn’t care about the public or the working class.”Between skyrocketing maintenance costs and the fall-off in work, he estimates he could be laying off staff within six months.Montalbo says he voted for Trump last November because he was fed up with inflation, and trusted him to fix the economy.”I thought that he was a businessman. “Now we have something worse than inflation, called tariffs.”

An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy in an attack deemed an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war.Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted in February of fatally stabbing WadeaAl-Fayoumi and attacking the boy’s mother, Hanan Shaheen.Czuba was the family’s landlord and the attack took place a week after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.Wadea was stabbed 26 times and a serrated military knife with a 15-cm (six-inch) blade was removed from the child’s abdomen during the autopsy. Shaheen and Czuba’s now ex-wife, Mary, testified that he targeted the Muslim family after becoming agitated about the conflict in Gaza, media reported. Prosecutors said Shaheen called police in 2023 after Czuba forced his way into her bedroom and stabbed her repeatedly. She was able to lock herself in a bathroom to call for help, during which time Czuba attacked her child.”The cruelty of this morally reprehensible killer and the impact of his violent conduct on this innocent child and mother is truly unfathomable,” prosecutor James Glasgow said in a statement.Jurors deliberated for just over an hour before finding Czuba guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and two counts of a hate crime.Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in prison for Wadea’s murder, 20 years for the attack on his mother and three years for the hate crimes, to be served consecutively, the Chicago Sun Times reported.During sentencing, the boy’s great-uncle Mahmoud Yousef asked Czuba why he did it but received no response, the newspaper said.”We want to know what made him do this,” Yousef told the judge.According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the victims were targeted “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”Joe Biden, then the US president, condemned the attack as a “horrific act of hate” that “has no place in America.”

Apple on Friday relaxed its App Store payment rules in the face of a scathing court order, with Spotify quick to reap the benefit.Apple’s update to its App Store guidelines let developers know they could now provide links to outside payment platforms, allowing people to buy apps featured in its US online shop without paying through the App Store.The rule change came just two days after a US judge accused Apple of defying an order to loosen its grip on the App Store payment system to the point that criminal charges could be warranted.Music streaming giant Spotify said Friday that Apple had approved an update “that will finally allow us to freely show clear pricing information and links to purchase” in its app in the US App Store.”In a victory for consumers, artists, creators, and authors, Apple has approved Spotify’s US app update,” the Sweden-based service said in a post on X.”Today represents a significant milestone for developers and entrepreneurs everywhere who want to build and compete on a more level playing field.”Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney shared the Spotify post along with a message of congratulations for it “being the first major iOS app to exercise its court mandated right to do digital commerce with customers free of Apple obstruction, interference, and the Apple Tax!”US District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple “willfully” violated an injunction she issued at trial, with the company instead creating new barriers to competition with the App Store and even lying to the court in the process.Gonzalez Rogers ordered the injunction be enforced.An Apple spokesperson told AFP it strongly disagrees with the judge’s decision and will appeal to a higher court, but would comply.- ‘Junk fees’ -Fortnite-maker Epic launched the case in 2021 aiming to break Apple’s grip on the App Store, accusing the iPhone maker of acting like a monopoly in its shop for digital goods and services.After a trial, Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple’s control of the App Store did not amount to a monopoly, but that it must let developers include links to other online venues for buying content or services.Apple’s response to the trial order included new barriers and requirements including “scare screens” to dissuade people from buying digital purchases outside of its App Store, the judge concluded.”Apple’s 15-30 percent junk fees are now just as dead here in the United States of America as they are in Europe under the Digital Markets Act,” Sweeney said in a post on X.The act, which went into effect last year in Europe, requires Apple and other US tech giants to open up their platforms there to competition.- Courting developers -Apple has made a priority of building up its services business as the Silicon Valley titan tries to reduce its reliance on iPhone sales for revenue.The unit, which includes Apple’s television and music streaming services along with iCloud data storage and App Store income, now accounts for more than a quarter of the company’s revenue.The App Store changes include letting app makers use alternate payment systems free or charge or commission, according to Apple.”Whatever revenue Apple was getting, it is not worthwhile for them to continue to look as if they don’t have the developers best interest at heart,” said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.Apple will be courting app makers at its annual developers conference in June.”There’s still a lot of revenue coming in from subscriptions, iCloud and more, so this is not the end of the App Store being a good source of revenue for Apple,” Milanesi said.Most apps in the App Store make their money from ads, and Apple shares in that revenue, according to the analyst.”And for smaller developers, the App Store is still the best way to reach consumers without having to invest the kind of money that an Epic Games or Spotify can invest in setting up alternative payment methods,” the analyst added.

US hiring slowed less than expected in April while the jobless rate remained unchanged, according to government data published Friday, buoying investors navigating the early turbulent months of Donald Trump’s second presidency.Since returning to office in January, Trump has looked to slash the number of federal employees and embarked on a trade war that many economists warn is likely to cool growth and push up inflation. With Trump’s tariff plans still in their early stages, their effect has not yet filtered through into hiring: The world’s largest economy added 177,000 jobs last month, down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March, the Department of Labor said in a statement.However, job creation was still well above the market consensus of 130,000, according to Briefing.com, and remained slightly above the average monthly gain over the past 12 months.The unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent, in line with expectations. US financial markets closed sharply higher on the news, with all three major Wall Street indices ending the day firmly in the green.”Markets breathed a sigh of relief this morning,” Northlight Asset Management chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli wrote in a note to clients. “While recession fears are still simmering on the back burner, the buy-the-dip dynamic can continue — at least until the tariff pause runs out,” he said, referring to Trump’s recent decision to pause higher levies on dozens of trading partners until July to allow for trade talks. – ‘Just getting started’ -Trump took to his Truth Social account after the data was published to talk up the “strong” employment figures.”Just like I said, and we’re only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting started!!!” the US president wrote. “NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!” added Trump, who has been outspoken in his calls for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. The independent central bank has kept its key lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent for months, as it looks to bring inflation from its current elevated levels to its long-term target of two percent while keeping one eye firmly fixed on the unemployment rate.Financial markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to extend its rate cut pause next week, according to data from CME Group. – ‘Nothing to complain about’ -Sectors that saw job gains last month included health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance, the Labor Department said.But federal government employment declined by 9,000 in April, bringing the total decline in the number of government employees since January to 26,000.The Trump administration is facing legal action after attempting to lay off tens of thousands of federal workers as part of an aggressive cost-cutting drive.Average hourly earnings grew 0.2 percent to $36.06 in April, the Labor Department said Friday. “There is nothing to complain about here,” High Frequency Economics chief economist Carl Weinberg wrote in a note to clients. “You cannot find any evidence of a nascent recession in these figures.”While traders may breathe easier today, many analysts have stressed that it is still early days for the new administration, and warned they still expect tariffs to cool job creation in the future. “It will be extraordinary if employment is unscathed this year by the jump in tariffs on imports, the drop in asset prices and the extreme economic policy uncertainty,” economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote in an investor note published on Monday. These factors are likely “causing many businesses to defer non-essential spending,” they added, noting that they had not yet seen any significant changes in the payroll data they track.

The United States will stage a military parade on June 14 to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army, the White House said Friday, with the event also falling on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.Trump “will honor American Veterans, active-duty servicemembers, and military history with a military parade!” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly wrote on X.In addition to the parade, the celebration of the service’s birthday will feature fireworks and a festival on the National Mall, US Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan said.”Given the significant milestone of 250 years, the Army is exploring options to make the celebration even bigger, with more capability demonstrations, additional displays of equipment, and more engagement with the community,” Hagan said.”Parade planning is actively underway, and we anticipate approximately 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, and 6,600 soldiers,” she added.Trump had floated the idea of holding a military parade in Washington during his first term after attending a Bastille Day parade in France.It never materialized, however, after the Pentagon said it could cost $92 million and concerns were raised that tanks and other heavy military vehicles would damage the city’s streets.Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser raised similar concerns last month when asked by reporters about plans for a parade.”Military tanks on our streets would not be good,” Bowser said. “If military tanks were used they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads.”- ‘We never celebrate anything’ -The last major US military parade in Washington was held in 1991 to celebrate the end of the Gulf War.The new parade announcement came a day after Trump said he was declaring May 8 to be Victory Day for World War II and changing Veterans Day — observed on November 11 — to Victory Day for World War I.In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president downplayed the role of European countries — many of which suffered far more casualties and devastation than the United States — in the two global conflicts.”We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” Trump wrote.Trump has had a contradictory relationship with US military forces, lauding their power but also claiming they were depleted and in need of rebuilding.He at times clashed with military brass during his 2016-2020 term in office and reportedly referred to fallen troops as “losers” and “suckers” — something he denied.During his second term, Trump has overseen a purge of top officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the traditionally neutral US military.

The United States will stage a military parade on June 14 to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army, the White House said Friday, with the event also falling on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.Trump “will honor American Veterans, active-duty servicemembers, and military history with a military parade!” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly wrote on X.Kelly included a link to a Fox News article that said the parade will include US troops, students from the country’s military academies, and reenactors and equipment from past conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror.The plan to hold a display of American military strength in the streets of the nation’s capital was reported by the Washington City Paper last month, which said the parade could stretch four miles (six kilometers) from the Pentagon to the White House.Trump had floated the idea of holding a military parade in Washington during his first term after attending a Bastille Day parade in France.It never materialized, however, after the Pentagon said it could cost $92 million and concerns were raised that tanks and other heavy military vehicles would damage the city’s streets.Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser raised similar concerns last month when asked by reporters about plans for a parade.”Military tanks on our streets would not be good,” Bowser said. “If military tanks were used they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads.”The last major US military parade in Washington was held in 1991 to celebrate the end of the Gulf War.Trump has had a contradictory relationship with US forces, lauding their power but also claiming they were depleted and in need of rebuilding.He at times clashed with military brass during his 2016-2020 term in office and reportedly referred to fallen troops as “losers” and “suckers” — something he denied.During his second term, Trump has overseen a purge of top officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the traditionally neutral US military.

US President Donald Trump on Friday outlined sweeping cuts targeting “woke” and “wasteful” spending in his first budget blueprint since he returned to power, while boosting defense and border security.Republican Trump aims to cut non-defense discretionary spending across the federal government by a massive $163 billion — or 22 percent — in 2026 as he digs in on the conservative, cost-cutting drive led by billionaire Elon Musk.Trump would also carry out widespread cuts to health, education, science and climate, and to foreign aid, even as he hikes funding for the Pentagon past $1 trillion.But the president’s so-called “skinny budget” is not binding and is more of a wishlist — while it faces bitter opposition from Democrats who branded it a “gut punch” for Americans.The White House described the plan as a “pretty historic effort” to reshape the federal government.”It is woke and it is wasteful, and dividing us on the basis of race and identity in the country and honestly weaponized against it,” a senior official from the Office of Management and Budget told reporters.The White House was “joined at the hip” with Musk’s DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, on the cuts, the official added.The White House provided an entire fact sheet on cuts to “woke programs”, saying it was “eliminating radical gender and racial ideologies that poison the minds of Americans” and countering “cultural Marxism.”But many of the proposed cuts would target scientific research, climate monitoring, and health agencies.The National Institutes of Health — the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, which Trump’s administration accused of promoting “dangerous ideologies” — would see its research budget slashed by nearly half. Despite seeking a 26 percent cut to the overall healthcare budget, the proposal sets aside $500 million for controversial Health Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s signature “Make America Healthy Again” plan.There would also be cuts to space agency NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and others.Trump’s budget would meanwhile continue the shuttering of the US Department of Education — a long-held dream of right-wingers who want individual states to dictate policy on schooling.- ‘Heartless’ -And it would formalize the closure of the US international development agency USAID, dramatic cuts to which have already been widely criticized around the world.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said taxpayers would no longer be “sent to unaccountable NGO’s overseas to fund programs that do not serve our nation’s interests.”The boosts for the Pentagon and Homeland Security, however, reflect Trump’s national security policies.US defense spending would rise 13 percent to what the OMB official called “truly historic” levels comparable to those last seen under Republican president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.Homeland Security spending would rise a giant 65 percent as Trump cracks down on what he calls an “invasion” of undocumented migrants.Together the spending boost would “at long last, fully secure our border,” OMB chief Russ Vought said in a letter to Congress accompanying the budget proposal.Trump’s “skinny budget” is a summary of more detailed proposals expected later this month. Republican lawmakers will use it as a guideline as they begin drafting the 12 bills Congress has to clear each year to fund the government, but his proposals are not binding.Congress holds the power of the purse and ultimately determines federal spending through the legislative process.Republican leaders are already struggling to pass what Trump has called a “big, beautiful bill” for sweeping tax cuts.The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, hailed the budget plan as a “bold blueprint.”Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said his party would “fight this heartless budget with everything we’ve got.””Donald Trump’s days of pretending to be a populist are over. His policies are nothing short of an all out assault on hardworking Americans,” Schumer said in a statement.

A fiery crash involving a passenger van near Yellowstone National Park has left seven people dead, US police said Friday.Detectives probing the crash said a pickup truck collided with a van carrying 14 people on Thursday evening by Henry’s Lake in eastern Idaho.”Tragically, six individuals in the van and the driver of the pickup died as a result of the crash,” a statement from Idaho State Police said Friday.Pictures in local media showed a badly crumpled red truck and a van that had been engulfed in flames.Police said an air ambulance had been called in to transport victims to hospitals “due to the severity of the injuries.”There was no information on the identities or nationalities of those caught up in the crash.Locals quoted by media said the road is usually busy because it leads to one of the entrances to Yellowstone.Millions of tourists — domestic and international — travel every year to Yellowstone, the first national park to be established in the United States, which covers portions of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.It is home to thousands of geothermal features — hot springs, mudpots, steam vents and about half the world’s active geysers, including Old Faithful.

An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy in an attack deemed an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war.Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted in February of fatally stabbing WadeaAl-Fayoumi and attacking the boy’s mother, Hanan Shaheen.Czuba was the family’s landlord and the attack took place a week after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.Wadea was stabbed 26 times and a serrated military knife with a 15-cm (six-inch) blade was removed from the child’s abdomen during the autopsy. Shaheen and Czuba’s now ex-wife, Mary, testified that he targeted the Muslim family after becoming agitated about the conflict in Gaza, media reported. A jury deliberated for just over an hour before finding Czuba guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and two counts of a hate crime.Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in prison for Wadea’s murder, 20 years for the attack on his mother and three years for the hate crimes, to be served consecutively, the Chicago Sun Times reported.During sentencing, the boy’s great-uncle Mahmoud Yousef asked Czuba why he did it but received no response, the newspaper said.”We want to know what made him do this,” Yousef told the judge.According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the victims were targeted “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”Joe Biden, then the US president, condemned the attack as a “horrific act of hate” that “has no place in America.”