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Donald Trump’s national security advisor is to leave his post — the first major departure of the president’s new term — after being embroiled in a scandal over a chat group leak, US media reported Thursday.Mike Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were both set to leave the White House, CBS News and others reported, while Fox News said Trump was expected to comment on the matter soon.The 51-year-old former congressman from Florida lasted just over 100 days of Trump’s second term, which has so far been more stable in terms of personnel than his first.Trump cycled through four national security advisors during his first presidency.A White House official did not confirm the reports, saying they “do not want to get ahead of any announcement.”Waltz showed no sign that he knew of his imminent departure when appearing early Wednesday on Fox News, where he hailed the new US minerals deal with Ukraine.”Nobody said (it) could be done. President Trump said ‘get it done’,” he said.Saying Trump has boosted US military recruitment, he added: “This is leadership at its finest, led by our commander in chief, who loves the troops and they love him.”Waltz also was present at Trump’s televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday.A former special forces officer, Waltz was seen as a moderate voice in the Trump administration when he was appointed, but reportedly clashed with other officials over his hawkish stance against Russia and Iran.Trump has pushed for Ukraine to reach a quick ceasefire deal with Russia, while reopening negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.- Chat group blunder -Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate whom Trump has picked to lead US talks with both Russia and Iran, is in contention to replace Waltz, US media reported.Waltz had been under pressure since late March, when the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Magazine revealed he had been mistakenly added to a chat on the commercial messaging app Signal about military attacks on Yemen’s Huthi rebels.Officials on the chat laid out the attack plan including the timings that US warplanes would take off to bomb targets, with the first texts barely half an hour before they launched.Despite intense media speculation that Trump would fire Waltz over the scandal, the president repeatedly offered his backing and the national security advisor appeared to have ridden out the storm.However, Waltz was among a number of White House staff targeted by a right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist who met with Trump urging a purge.Laura Loomer, who is known for claiming that the September 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job, is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to the president.After news of Waltz and Wong’s ouster was reported Thursday, Loomer posted on X: “SCALP.”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also faced pressure over the scandal.”1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”, Hegseth wrote in one text, referring to F/A-18 US Navy jets, before adding that “Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME.””1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).”A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”Reacting to Waltz’s reported dismissal on Thursday, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted on X: “Now do Hegseth.”

General Motors pledged Thursday to take additional steps to boost its US supply chain after projecting a $4-5 billion hit to the US auto giant’s 2025 earnings from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.GM expects to offset “at least” 30 percent of that tariff hit from “self help” measures that include relatively quick changes to its production and supply chain footprint, executives said.Chief Executive Mary Barra described her talks with Trump and his administration as “very productive,” praising a White House move on Tuesday to temper tariffs on auto parts as advancing “our shared goals of growing the US auto industry which will be good for America in the long term.”On Thursday, GM updated its adjusted earnings range to $10 billion to $12.5 billion from the earlier $13.7 billion-$15.7 billion.The impact includes $2 billion in estimated tariffs on finished vehicles from South Korea, where GM manufactures a number of value-priced autos, including the Chevrolet Trax, a small sport utility vehicle.GM postponed its earnings conference call until Thursday after Trump’s tariffs move. The US president also released a proclamation that gives the industry a two-year grace period to reduce “American reliance on imports of foreign automobiles and their parts” — designed to encourage firms to move supply chains stateside.Under that policy, companies that import parts for vehicles assembled in the United States would be able to offset 3.75 percent of a vehicle’s list price in the first year and 2.5 percent in the second year.But Trump has not taken steps to mitigate a 25 percent tariff on auto imports, which also affects GM vehicles made in Canada and Mexico.In media interviews Thursday, Barra said the company is considering its global operations in light of Trump’s tariff policy, while monitoring trade talks between the United States and South Korea.”Our entire footprint is under review,” Barra said on Fox Business.- Excess capacity -GM said earlier this month that it plans to boost truck production at its plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana.Barra signaled similar steps at other plants were likely, noting the company has “excess capacity” at manufacturing facilities in the United States and adjustments would be faster to make at existing factories.Other quick “self help” measures include shifting more electric battery module production to the United States and working with auto suppliers to boost their US-supplied content for GM vehicles, said Barra, who noted that the company is also working to avoid unnecessary discretionary spending.”There’s a lot of levers that we can pull,” Barra said. “We’ll be announcing more as we go forward.”- Higher retail prices? -GM’s American rival Ford reported a 16.2 percent surge in US auto sales for April after the company extended employee pricing to retail customers.Chief Executive Jim Farley told Fox Business on Wednesday that Ford will extend that promotion through the July 4 Independence Day holiday.Ford will have additional comment on tariffs when it reports earnings next week, but Farley told Fox Business that a push to have US-assembled vehicles made entirely of US-made parts would mean higher prices for customers.Even with Trump’s modifications, automakers face a 25 percent tariff on imported parts after the two-year grace period. Ford currently imports 15 percent of its parts.”What is the right balance between affordability and making 100 percent of the parts here?” Farley asked. “The issue is that it would increase the price a couple of thousand dollars, so that’s the debate right there.”Shares of GM rose 1.7 percent in morning trading, while Ford jumped 3.0 percent.

A Gulf War veteran convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three young children is to be executed by lethal injection in the southern US state of Florida on Thursday.Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, is to be put to death for the murders of Renee Flaherty, 32, and her children — Geoffrey, 9, Amanda, 7, and Logan, 4.Hutchinson’s lawyers claim he suffers from mental illness as a result of his experiences during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, but appeals to halt his execution have been rejected.According to court documents, Hutchinson argued with Flaherty on the evening of September 11, 1998, packed his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar.He then returned home and fatally shot Flaherty and her children with a 12-gauge shotgun.Following the murders, Hutchinson called 911 and said, “I just shot my family.”When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found Hutchinson dazed on the floor of the garage with blood on his clothes and gunshot residue on his hands.The phone was still connected to the 911 dispatcher.Hutchinson claimed at trial that the murders were carried out by two masked and armed intruders who shot Flaherty and the children and then fled.The execution is to be carried out at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) at the Florida state prison in Raiford.There have been 14 executions in the United States this year: 10 by lethal injection; two by firing squad; and two using nitrogen gas.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Microsoft announced Thursday that it will increase Xbox console prices worldwide, citing “market conditions” just days after Sony made a similar move with its PlayStation 5.The tech giant also plans to raise prices for some new games developed by its video game subsidiaries.”We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” the company said on its website.While not explicitly mentioned by Microsoft, US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Washington’s trading partners have cast a shadow over the gaming industry. Xbox consoles are primarily manufactured in China, which faces 145 percent US tariffs on numerous products under the Trump administration.In the United States, the entry-level Xbox Series S will jump from $299.99 to $379.99, a 27-percent increase. The premium Series X Galaxy Black model will now retail for $729.99, up from $599.99 previously — a 22 percent hike.Additionally, certain new games from Microsoft-owned studios will be priced at $79.99, up 14 percent from the current $69.99.In Europe, the Series S will rise from 299.99 euros to 349.99 euros, a 17-percent increase.The Series S and X launched in late 2020 and have sold approximately 30 million units, according to industry analysts’ estimates.In mid-April, Sony announced price increases for several PlayStation 5 models in select markets, including Europe but notably excluding the United States. PS5 consoles are also primarily assembled in China.

Elon Musk said the results of his massive cost-cutting drive on US government spending did not quite meet its original ambition after facing pushback, including from within the Trump administration.”It’s sort of, how much pain… are the cabinet and is Congress willing to take? Because it can be done, but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints,” he told an assembled group of US media on Wednesday.The interview, conducted after a cabinet meeting that could be Musk’s last, was published by multiple outlets on Thursday.Musk is widely expected to reduce his role as the unofficial head of the administration’s cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” to focus more on his troubled car company, Tesla.The “DOGE” effort grabbed headlines from day one of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, with Musk-led teams entering government agencies to pore over spending and launching massive — and often chaotic — rounds of layoffs and other reforms.The drive has seen Musk’s public image take a beating, with Tesla dealerships becoming scenes of protest and vandalism in the United States and beyond.That experience has been “not super fun,” Musk said.Musk acknowledged that so far, DOGE has cut $160 billion in federal spending — short of the original $2 trillion goal.Deeper cuts would require reducing the government’s biggest cost bases: pensions and healthcare for retirees, and the defense budget.DOGE was originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026, but Musk said the effort could continue through the entire four years of the Trump administration.”It’s up to the president,” he said.Indicating that he will not be completely gone, Musk, the world’s richest person, said he plans to keep his small White House office when he is in Washington one to two days a week.He insisted that, with or without him, “DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism.””Buddha isn’t alive anymore. You wouldn’t ask the question: ‘Who would lead Buddhism?'”Trump on Wednesday told Musk he could stay in his administration “as long as you want,” though acknowledging that he may want “to get back home to his cars.”The Tesla tycoon said that he has slept in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom on several occasions at the president’s invitation.

United States officials have reached out to their Chinese counterparts for talks on vast tariffs that have hammered markets and global supply chains, a Beijing-backed outlet said on Thursday citing sources.Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products came into force in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.And on Thursday Yuyuan Tantian, a Chinese outlet linked to state broadcaster CCTV, said citing sources that Washington was “proactively” reaching out to China via “multiple channels” for talks on the tariffs.”From a negotiation standpoint the US is currently the more anxious party,” the outlet, which blends analysis with news reporting, said on the X-like platform Weibo.”The Trump administration is facing multiple pressures,” it added.AFP has reached out to China’s foreign ministry for comment.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs.And on Wednesday Trump reiterated there was a “very good chance we’re going to make a deal”.”But we’re going to make it on our terms and it’s got to be fair,” he told a NewsNation “town hall”.Beijing has vehemently denied any talks are taking place while repeatedly urging the United States to engage in dialogue in a “fair, respectful and reciprocal” manner.But it has also said it will fight a trade war to the bitter end if needed, with a video posted on social media this week by its foreign ministry vowing to “never kneel down!”

The last time these thrumming, red-eyed bugs burrowed out of the ground across America’s suburbs and woodlands was the early summer of 2008.Global financial jitters were mounting, iPhones were a luxury item, and George W. Bush was still president.Now, reports from the citizen-science app Cicada Safari show the first insects of Brood XIV — which emerges every 17 years — surfacing in the US South. As ground temperatures warm across the North, millions more are expected to follow.Cicadas belong to the insect order Hemiptera, which includes stink bugs, bed bugs, and aphids.But they are often mistaken for locusts, a confusion that dates back to early English settlers who likened the mass emergences to Biblical plagues. Brood XIV itself was first documented in 1634.There are roughly 3,500 species of cicadas globally, many still unnamed.But periodical cicadas — which emerge en masse after 13 or 17 years — are unique to the eastern United States, with two additional unrelated species found in northeastern India and Fiji, says Chris Simon, a leading cicada expert at the University of Connecticut.”Everybody’s fascinated by them, because you see nothing for 13 or 17 years, and then all of a sudden, your house and car are covered in these insects,” Simon told AFP.”This is a marvelous phenomenon that you can take your kids to see and marvel at, watch them come out of their shells and wonder about how they evolved,” she added, urging the public to appreciate, not fear them.”The world wouldn’t survive without insects.”Because their emergence years are staggered, different periodical cicada broods appear in different years. In 2024, a rare “double whammy” occurred when the 13-year Brood XIX overlapped with the 17-year Brood XIII.That’s not the case in 2025, but excitement remains high around these mysterious critters, which continue to intrigue scientists — especially given that the evolutionary logic behind their prime-numbered life cycles remains unresolved.Cicadas are often thought of as “creatures of history,” conjuring memories of past life chapters — what you were doing when this brood last emerged.They spend nearly their entire lives underground, passing through life stages called instars, before tunneling to the surface for a brief few weeks to molt, mate, and die — while their newly hatched offspring drop from trees and burrow into the soil, beginning the cycle anew.Males produce their deafening mating calls using tymbals, sound-producing membranes on either side of their abdomens, creating a chorus that’s been likened to sirens or power tools.They don’t bite or sting, and they don’t eat solid food in their adult form, though they drink water.Instead, their defense is overwhelming abundance -— swarming in such numbers that they satiate predators like birds, raccoons, foxes, and turtles, playing a crucial role in the ecosystem.But their survival strategy is increasingly challenged by human-caused changes.Widespread deforestation and urbanization have destroyed habitat. And now, climate change is triggering more frequent occurrences of “stragglers” — cicadas that emerge four years too early or too late, often in numbers too small to survive, which could threaten long term population numbers.Simon added that in areas like the capital Washington, these asynchronous emergences are forming “a patchy mosaic” of overlapping broods.Then there’s the political climate. Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has fired scientists en masse and frozen funding for new research.Simon submitted a grant proposal last August to the National Science Foundation for a major genetic study into cicadas’ internal clocks — biological mechanisms that somehow track the passage of years, unlike humans’ 24-hour circadian cycles.”Nobody knows what’s happening,” she said, decrying the current attacks on science.

Former US vice president Kamala Harris hit out at Donald Trump and his backers on Wednesday, in her first major speech since losing November’s election.The defeated Democrat told supporters the apparent “chaos” of the last three months was actually the realization of a long-cherished plan by conservatives who are using Trump to twist the United States to their own advantage.”What we are, in fact, witnessing is a high velocity event, where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making,” she told an audience in San Francisco.”An agenda to slash public education. An agenda to shrink government and then privatize its services. All while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest.”A narrow, self-serving vision of America where they punish truth-tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone to fend for themselves.”Trump’s first 100 days in power have been marked by a dizzying array of executive orders tackling everything from immigration to foreign aid to showerhead pressure.Critics have been appalled at what they say is a vengeful administration carelessly overstepping democratic and constitutional norms, including clashing with the courts.While Trump’s supporters have cheered some of the rapid-fire changes, recent polls have shown a majority of the country is becoming disenchanted with the political and economic tumult, particularly from his oft-changing tariffs.Harris, who is thought to be mulling a run for the governorship of her home state of California in 2026 or a possible White House run in 2028, has largely stayed out of the limelight since leaving Washington in January.On Wednesday she was a guest speaker at an event run by Emerge, a political organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for public office.She told the crowd that Trump was targeting universities and courts because he wanted to cow the opposition.”President Trump, his administration, and their allies are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious,” she said.”They are counting on the notion that, if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others.”But, she said, there were judges, academics, politicians and regular people who were standing up to the government.”Fear isn’t the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious,” she said.”The courage of all these Americans inspires me.”

The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday signed a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what President Donald Trump’s administration called a new form of US commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid.Ukraine said it secured key interests after protracted negotiations, including full sovereignty over its own rare earths, which are vital for new technologies and largely untapped.Trump had initially demanded rights to Ukraine’s mineral wealth as compensation for US weapons sent under former president Joe Biden after Russia invaded just over three years ago.After initial hesitation, Ukraine has accepted a minerals accord as a way to secure long-term investment by the United States, as Trump tries to drastically scale back US security commitments around the world.Announcing the deal in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed “both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.””This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said.”And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”The Treasury statement notably mentioned Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine — diverging from the Trump administration’s usual formulation of a “conflict” for which Kyiv bears a large degree of responsibility.In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the agreement was “good, equal and beneficial.”Shmygal said the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having equal voting rights and Ukraine would retain “full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources.”Meeting a key concern for Kyiv, he said Ukraine would not be asked to pay back any “debt” for billions of dollars in US support since Russia invaded in February 2022.”The fund’s profits will be reinvested exclusively in Ukraine,” he said.Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the deal would finance mineral and oil and gas projects as well as “related infrastructure or processing.”Trump had originally sought $500 billion in mineral wealth — around four times what the United States has contributed to Ukraine since the war.- US presence against ‘bad actors’ -Trump has balked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and has rejected its aspiration to join NATO.But he said on Wednesday that a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.”The American presence will, I think, keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we’re doing the digging,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting.Speaking later at a town hall with NewsNation, Trump said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a recent meeting at the Vatican that signing the deal  would be a “very good thing” because “Russia is much bigger and much stronger.”Asked whether the minerals deal is going to “inhibit” Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Trump said “well, it could.”Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday threatened giving up on mediation unless the two sides come forward with “concrete proposals.”Since starting his second term, Trump has pressed for a settlement in which Ukraine would give up some territory seized by Russia, which has rejected US-backed overtures for a ceasefire of at least 30 days.Backed by the international community, Zelensky has ruled out any formal concession to Russia of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula seized in 2014.But Zelensky has taken care to voice support for Trump’s diplomacy after a disastrous February 28 White House meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him for allegedly being ungrateful for US assistance.Calling the agreement “Trump’s extortion of Ukraine deal,” US Congressman Gregory Meeks, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump should now focus his efforts on pressuring Putin rather than “fixating” on Zelensky and Ukraine.Ukraine holds some five percent of the world’s mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates. But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and many sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.Notably, Ukraine has around 20 percent of the world’s graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research. Ukraine is also a major producer of manganese and titanium, and says it possesses the largest lithium deposits in Europe.burs-sct/bfm/cl/sla

A US judge on Wednesday 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.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.”That it thought this court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation,” Gonzalez Rogers said in an order allowing Epic Games to enforce the injunction against Apple.”As always, the cover-up made it worse. For this court, there is no second bite at the apple.”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 or 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.The judge also found at the time that the 30 percent commission Apple charges on App Store sales allowed it “supracompetitive operating margins” that were anticompetitive, according to the injunction.Apple’s response to the trial order included charging a commission on purchases made linking out of its app store, according to the judge.Apple also imposed new barriers and new requirements including “scare screens” to dissuade people from buying digital purchases outside of its App Store, the judge concluded.”In the end, Apple sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this court’s injunction,” Gonzalez Rogers said in the ruling.”In stark contrast to Apple’s initial in-court testimony, contemporaneous business documents reveal that Apple knew exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option.”An Apple spokesperson told AFP it strongly disagrees with the judge’s decision and will appeal to a higher court, but plans to comply.”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,” Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.Sweeney’s post included a “peace proposal” promising to drop current and future litigation on the matter if Apple extends the court’s “Apple-tax-free framework” worldwide.The judge called on the US Attorney’s office to investigate whether punitive criminal contempt sanctions against Apple are warranted “to punish past misconduct and deter future noncompliance.”