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A federal judge in New York ordered Argentina on Monday to sell its majority stake in oil firm YPF, the latest blow to Buenos Aires in a decade-long international legal saga.Argentine President Javier Milei, who is on a campaign to stabilize his country’s struggling economy, promptly vowed to appeal.The case revolves around the 2012 renationalization of YPF from the control of Spanish giant Repsol.Two minority shareholders, Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital, filed suit in 2015 seeking damages for allegedly not receiving proper compensation in the sale.US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and in September 2023 ordered Argentina to pay over $16 billion to the firms.To partially satisfy the outstanding sum, Preska on Monday ordered Argentina to transfer its 51 percent stake of YPF to an intermediary, with instructions that the shares then be handed over to the plaintiffs.”We will appeal this decision in all appropriate courts to defend national interests,” Milei posted on X shortly after the judgment was published.He pointed the finger at Axel Kicillof, who was the South American country’s economy minister in 2012 under then-president Cristina Kirchner and considered a potential 2027 presidential candidate.YPF, a century-old and iconic Argentine company with more than 22,000 employees, was privatized in the 1990s and gradually came under the control of Repsol.It was renationalized in 2012 under Kirchner, which at the time raised questions about the security of investments in South America’s third-largest economy.In 2014, after months of dispute, Repsol reached an agreement with Argentina for compensation of around $5 billion.The Petersen Group and Eton Park Capital — which together held 25.4 percent of YPF’s capital — filed suit in 2015, alleging that the country had not submitted a takeover bid as provided by law.Preska has ordered Argentina to pay $7.5 billion in damages and $6.85 billion in interest to Petersen Energia.She also ordered Argentina to pay about $1.7 billion, between damages and interest, to Eton Park Capital.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is “ignoring the scientific consensus to benefit polluters,” hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency employees said in a letter of dissent Monday, accusing the government of undermining the EPA’s core mission.The scathing letter, signed by more than 200 current and former officials and their supporters, accused EPA chief Lee Zeldin of enacting policies dangerous to both humans and the environment.”The decisions of the current administration frequently contradict the peer-reviewed research and recommendations of Agency experts,” said the letter.”Make no mistake: your actions endanger public health and erode scientific progress — not only in America — but around the world.”Under Zeldin, the EPA has worked to deliver Trump’s campaign promises of lifting environmental regulations, boosting fossil fuel production and cutting clean energy spending.The letter identifies five main areas of concern, including the increasing politicization of the agency, the reversing of programs aimed at marginalized communities and the “dismantling” of the agency’s Office of Research and Development.It described the agency’s communications under Zeldin as being used “to promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.””This politicized messaging distracts from EPA’s core responsibility: to protect human health and the environment through objective, science-based policy.”As an example, the letter cited official communications that likened “climate science to a religion.”Zeldin has repeatedly stated that he sees the EPA’s role as supporting US economic growth, and under his guidance the agency has set in motion a full-scale reversal of several environmental standards and greenhouse gas regulations.Unveiling a set of policy initiatives in March, Zeldin hailed the move as “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.””We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the US and more,” said the administrator of the federal agency charged with protecting the environment.The letter came weeks after the publication of a similar text signed by dozens of employees of the National Institutes of Health over the Trump administration’s “harmful” policies.The EPA letter had more than 170 “anonymous signers,” with the text stating the administration had promoted “a culture of fear” at the agency.

US senators were bogged down in a marathon session of amendment votes Monday as Republicans sought to pass Donald Trump’s flagship spending bill, an unpopular package expected to slash social welfare programs and add an eye-watering $3 trillion to the national debt.US President Trump wants the “One Big Beautiful Bill” to extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion, boost military spending and fund his plans for unprecedented mass deportations and border security.But senators eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over savings that would strip around $1 trillion in subsidized health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3.3 trillion to the nation’s already yawning budget deficits over a decade.Trump wants to have the package on his desk by the time Independence Day festivities begin on Friday.The process had ground to a glacial pace by early evening, however, after members considering dozens of amendments as part of the so-called “vote-a-rama” required before final passage managed to complete only 14 votes in the first seven hours.With little sign of the pace picking up ahead of a final floor vote that could be delayed until well into the early hours of Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called for Republican resolve.”Republicans need to stay tough and unified during the home stretch and we are counting on them to get the job done,” she told reporters at the White House. Given Trump’s iron grip on the party, he is expected to get what he wants in the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-tight majority. All Democrats in that chamber are expected to vote “nay.”It will be a huge win for the Republican leader — who has been criticized for imposing many of his priorities through executive orders that sidestep the scrutiny of Congress.But approval by the Senate is only half the battle, as the 940-page text will have to pass a separate vote in the House of Representatives, where several rebels in the slim Republican majority are threatening to oppose it. – ‘Debt slavery’ -Trump’s heavy pressure to declare victory has put more vulnerable Republicans in a difficult position.Nonpartisan studies have concluded that the bill would ultimately pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest.And cuts to the Medicaid program — which helps low-income Americans get coverage in a country with notoriously expensive medical insurance — and cuts to the Affordable Care Act would result in nearly 12 million more uninsured people by 2034, independent analysis shows.Polls show the bill is among the most unpopular ever considered across multiple demographic, age and income groups.Senate Democrats have been focusing their amendments on highlighting the threats to health care, as well as cuts to federal food aid programs and clean energy tax credits.Senate Majority Leader John Thune can only lose one more vote, with conservative Rand Paul and moderate Thom Tillis already on the record as Republican rebels. A House vote on the Senate bill could come as early as Wednesday. However, ultra-conservative fiscal hawks in the lower chamber have complained that the bill would not cut enough spending and moderates are worried at the defunding of Medicaid.Former close Trump aide Elon Musk — who had an acrimonious public falling out with the president earlier this month over the bill — reprised his sharp criticisms and renewed his calls for a new political party as voting got underway.”It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country — the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” Musk wrote on social platform X, which he owns. The tech billionaire, who headed Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency before stepping down at the end of May, had earlier described the text as “utterly insane” for seeking to gut government subsidies for clean energy.He accused Republicans of supporting “debt slavery” and vowed to campaign for the removal of any lawmaker who ran on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.

Wall Street stocks pushed into new record territory on Monday amid optimism the United States would reach trade deals ahead of a self-imposed deadline next week and extend tax cuts.Canada said on Sunday it would restart trade negotiations with the United States after it rescinded a tax affecting US tech firms that had prompted US President Donald Trump to halt talks.That boosted optimism that other governments would make deals with Trump to avoid his steep levies, as the July 9 cut-off for tariff reprieve looms.”Investors seem confident trade deals will be struck, geopolitical tensions ease and a major economic slump is avoided,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.”The big unknown is whether investors are correct or are simply being too complacent,” he added.Officials from Japan and India have extended their stays in Washington to continue talks, raising hopes for agreements with two of the world’s biggest economies.On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished higher in the final session of the second quarter, adding to last week’s records.The S&P 500 finished at 6,204.95, up 0.5 percent for the day and around 10.6 percent for the quarter.Trade optimism also helped boost most Asian stocks but Europe’s main indices slid lower.Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said Wall Street’s “positive disposition follows the weekend update that the Senate passed a procedural vote that will set up its version of the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ for a full Senate vote tonight”.Trump’s signature domestic policy bill extends tax cuts from his first term at a cost of $4.5 trillion while, among other things, beefing up border security and placing new restrictions on public health insurance programs.The Republican president has ramped up pressure to get the package to his desk by July 4 and called out wavering lawmakers from his party.However, there are worries about the impact on the economy, with the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the measure would add nearly $3.3 trillion to US deficits over a decade.There was little major reaction on Monday to data showing the contraction in Chinese factory activity eased further in June after a China-US trade truce.However, investors will be keeping an eye on data this week and a key US jobs report on Thursday will be pored over for signs of the pace of interest-rate cuts. “This could be the make-or-break moment for July rate cut expectations,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Only one in five investors currently see the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its July meeting, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool. But they expect it to cut two or three times later this year.Trump’s indication he could choose a successor to Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell within months is also leading investors to ramp up rate cut bets.- Key figures at around 2040 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 44,094.77 (close) New York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,204.95 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 20,369.73 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,760.96 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,665.91 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,909.61 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 40,487.39 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 24,072.28 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,444.43 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1785 from $1.1718 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3732 from $1.3716Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.98 yen from 144.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 85.82 pence from 85.42 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $65.11 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $67.61 per barrelburs-jmb/des

Streaming giant Netflix said Monday it will soon allow viewers to binge rocket launches and spacewalks through a partnership with US space agency NASA.”Whether you’re a die-hard space nerd or someone who just really, really enjoys seeing Earth glow from 250 miles up, the countdown has officially begun,” Netflix said in a blog post announcing the new NASA+ feed.Programming will include “jaw-dropping Earth views from the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut spacewalks that make your palms sweat” and rocket launch livestreams, according to Netflix.NASA said its partnership with the entertainment company, which reported over 300 million subscribers in December, aims to “bring space a little closer to home.””Our Space Act of 1958 calls on us to share our story of space exploration with the broadest possible audience,” wrote Rebecca Sirmons, general manager of NASA+.The stream is committed to “inspiring new generations — right from the comfort of their couch or in the palm of their hand from their phone,” she added.NASA+ programming will remain free of charge for viewers on the NASA.gov website and the agency’s mobile app.Netflix announced a similar partnership with French television group TF1 earlier this month, its first such deal with a major traditional broadcaster anywhere in the world. That programming is slated to launch in summer 2026, giving Netflix subscribers in France access to five TV channels and a streaming platform.The terms of the Netflix deal were not made public, but follow in the footsteps of other partnerships to expand its content offerings.The company entered new territory at the end of 2024 by livestreaming two NFL games and a boxing match between YouTube personality Jake Paul and retired professional boxer Mike Tyson. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House next week for talks with President Donald Trump, a US official said Monday, as Washington ramps up the pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza.The July 7 visit — Netanyahu’s third since Trump returned to power in January — comes after Trump said that he hoped for a truce in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory within a week.A Trump administration official confirmed the visit to AFP on condition of anonymity.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that Netanyahu had “expressed interest” in a meeting with Trump and that both sides were “working on a date.”This has been a priority for the president since he took office, to end this brutal war in Gaza,” Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.”It’s heartbreaking to see the images that have come out from both Israel and Gaza throughout this war, and the president wants to see it end.”A senior Israeli official, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, is due to visit the White House this week for talks to lay the ground for Netanyahu’s visit, Leavitt said.Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit Trump in his second term in February, when the US president surprised him by suddenly announcing a plan for the United States to “take over” Gaza.The Israeli premier visited again in April.The end of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran has provided a window of opportunity for a deal, with Trump keen to add another peace agreement to a series of recent deals he has brokered.”We think even next week, we’re going to get a ceasefire,” Trump told reporters on Friday. He followed up by pressing Israel in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday to “make the deal in Gaza”.But on the ground, Israel has continued to pursue its offensive across the Palestinian territory in a bid to destroy the militant group Hamas. Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 51 people on Monday, including 24 at a seafront rest area.Trump meanwhile appeared to leverage US aid to Israel at the weekend as he called for that country’s prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Netanyahu.”The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” Trump posted.The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.

An elderly woman who was severely injured in the firebombing attack at a protest supporting Israeli hostages held in Gaza has died, prosecutors in the US state of Colorado said Monday.”Karen Diamond, 82 years old, died tragically as a result of the severe injuries that she suffered in the attack,” the district attorney’s office in Boulder, where the violent June 1 incident occurred, said in a statement.Following Diamond’s death, charges against the suspect in the attack, 45-year-old Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman, have been amended from attempted murder to first degree murder, the statement said.It added that the district attorney’s office has revised the toll from the attack, estimating that there were 29 victims in total, including 13 who were wounded. Authorities had initially reported 15 wounded.Soliman, who authorities say was in the country illegally after overstaying a tourist visa, already faces over 100 criminal counts for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails and spraying burning gasoline at the protesters.Last week, the US Justice Department announced federal hate crime charges against Soliman.In bystander videos, the attacker can be heard screaming “End Zionists!” and “Killers!”Governor Jared Polis, the first Jewish person to lead the western state, said Monday on X that the loss of Diamond “is deeply felt by the Boulder community and our entire state, particularly within our strong Jewish community.”The Boulder attack came less than two weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, where a 31-year-old suspect, who shouted “Free Palestine,” was arrested.

US President Donald Trump will visit a migrant detention center this week in a reptile-infested Florida swamp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” the White House said Monday.Trump will attend the opening of the 5,000-bed facility — located at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands — on Tuesday, part of his expansion of deportations of undocumented migrants, his spokeswoman said.”The facility is in the heart of the Everglades and will be informally known as Alligator Alcatraz,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.”There is only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.”Asked if the scaly-skinned predators were a “design feature,” Leavitt replied: “When you have illegal murderers and rapists and heinous criminals in a detention facility surrounded by alligators, yes I do think that’s a deterrent for them to try to escape.”Republican Trump’s visit comes as he is trying to push a huge tax and spending bill through Congress which includes funding for his massive migrant deportation program.”His trip to this detention facility actually underscores the need to pass the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ because we need more detention facilities across the country,” Leavitt added.Florida announced last week that it was constructing the site, which is in the heart of a sprawling network of mangrove forests and swamps in the middle of the Everglades conservation area.State Attorney General James Uthmeier recently described the 30-square-mile (78-square-kilometer) area as a “low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility, because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter.”The facility’s nickname references the famous former prison on Alcatraz Island, located in the San Francisco Bay, which Trump has also sought to re-open.”If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them, other than alligators and pythons,” Uthmeier added. It is expected to cost roughly $450 million per year to operate.The project is part of a broader campaign of harsh optics which Republican officials hope will discourage migrants from coming to the United States.Since the billionaire businessman’s return to the White House in January, his administration has enlisted local authorities to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramp up arrests of undocumented migrants.While officials highlight the targeting of violent criminals, many migrants without any charges have also been swept up.The deportation drive has prompted pushback among critics of the crackdown — and recently sparked anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles and other American cities.Environmental groups have also opposed its construction in a subtropical ecosystem that is home to more than 2,000 species of animals and plants.

US President Donald Trump’s administration ramped up its immigration crackdown in Los Angeles on Monday, filing a lawsuit against its “sanctuary city” policies for undocumented migrants.The move comes three weeks after the Republican sent the National Guard to the Democratic-run California city to quell protests against roundups of migrants by federal agents.California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the thousands of troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.Los Angeles is one of a number of US “sanctuary cities” that prohibit local police from arresting people based on their immigration status and limit what information can be shared with federal authorities.That has brought it in direct confrontation with Trump, who assailed undocumented migrants on the campaign trail, likening them to “animals” and “monsters,” and promised to launch the biggest deportation drive in US history.Under Trump, the Justice Department has sued Chicago and several other Democratic-run cities with sanctuary policies.In a statement, the department said it had filed suit against the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles City Council over policies that “interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws.”Attorney General Pam Bondi said sanctuary policies are “illegal under federal law” and contributed to the “recent lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism” in the country’s second-largest city.”Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Bondi alleged, a claim denied by the California authorities.US Attorney Bill Essayli said the lawsuit “holds the City of Los Angeles accountable for deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law.””By assisting removable aliens in evading federal law enforcement, the City’s unlawful and discriminatory ordinance has contributed to a lawless and unsafe environment that this lawsuit will help end,” Essayli added.In the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, the Justice Department said federal government efforts to address an immigration “crisis” were being “hindered by Sanctuary Cities such as the City of Los Angeles.”

The White House said Monday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had “caved” to President Donald Trump, after Canada dropped a tax on US tech firms that prompted Trump to call off trade talks.”It’s very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President Trump and the United States of America,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a daily briefing.Leavitt said Trump “knows how to negotiate,” adding that “every country on the planet needs to have good trade relationships with the United States.””And it was a mistake for Canada to vow to implement that tax that would have hurt our tech companies here in the United States.”Canada announced late Sunday that it would rescind taxes impacting US tech firms and said trade negotiations with Washington would resume.The digital services tax, enacted last year, would have seen US service providers such as Alphabet and Amazon on the hook for a multi-billion-dollar payment in Canada by Monday.But Trump, who has weaponized US economic power in the form of tariffs, abruptly said on Friday that he was ending trade talks with Canada in retaliation for the levy.Then over the weekend Trump revived his rhetoric about wanting Canada to become the 51st US state, which had strained ties between the two countries.”Frankly, Canada should be the 51st state, okay? It really should, because Canada relies entirely on the United States. We don’t rely on Canada,” Trump told Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures.”The blow-up over the tech tariffs came despite what had been warming relations between Trump and Carney.The Canadian leader came to the White House on May 6 and had a cordial meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. They met again at the Group of Seven summit earlier this month in Canada, where leaders pushed Trump to back away from his punishing trade war. A July 9 deadline that Trump has set for countries to negotiate trade deals is now rapidly approaching before harsh tariffs kick in.”He is going to set the rates for many of these countries if they don’t come to the table to negotiate in good faith, and he is meeting with his trade team this week to do that,” Leavitt said.