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Top US diplomat Marco Rubio on Thursday issued a stern warning against Venezuela if it escalates its claims against newly oil-rich Guyana, brandishing the power of the US military to protect the small South American nation.Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is a sworn enemy of the Cuban-American Rubio, has laid claim to Guyana’s Essequibo, which covers most of the country and is the center of oil production.”I have full confidence saying it now as secretary of state — there will be consequences for adventurism. There will be consequences for aggressive action,” Rubio told a joint news conference.Asked what the United States would do if Venezuela attacks ExxonMobil oil projects in Guyana, Rubio said: “It would be a very bad day — a very bad week for them.””It would not end well for them,” he said to applause from Guyanese officials assembled in a fanned outdoor pavilion in the tropical heat.While stopping short of spelling out a US military response, Rubio said: “We have a big navy, and it can get almost anywhere.”Rubio signed an agreement to boost security cooperation with Guyana including through greater information sharing. The United States and Guyana earlier agreed to joint maritime patrols.Guyanese President Irfaan Ali welcomed the stance of Rubio, who called Venezuela’s claims “illegitimate.””I’m very pleased at the reassurance of the US, ensuring the safeguard of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Ali said.Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America, earlier said that the United States envisioned a future “binding” security relationship with Guyana similar to the US position in the oil-rich Gulf.The United States stations troops in Gulf Arab nations to ensure the small petro-states’ security, in particular against larger neighbor Iran.- US expands in hemisphere -Guyana, an English-speaking former British and Dutch colony where the majority of the 800,000 people still live in poverty, has for years had a long-shot movement that has sought to join the United States.Such formal accession was not on the agenda, but Trump has made no secret of his passion for expansionism in the Western Hemisphere, even at the expense of traditional alliances. The Republican billionaire has vowed to take control of Greenland from Denmark and to “take back” the Panama Canal.While Exxon has dominated the oil industry, China — viewed by the Trump administration as the top global adversary — has made rapid inroads in Guyana with infrastructure projects including an expansion of the international airport where Rubio landed.Meanwhile, Guyana earlier in March denounced what it called a Venezuelan military vessel’s incursion into its waters.Venezuela denied any violation and requested a meeting with Ali, who dismissed the offer.The parliament in Caracas last year approved a bill to declare Guyana’s Essequibo as Venezuela’s 24th state, a move rejected internationally.Guyana insists the border was finalized by an 1899 arbitration panel, but Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region’s east as a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.The Trump administration has put a high priority on ramping up oil production, seeing both economic and security incentives, and has brushed aside the push by previous president Joe Biden to diversify to renewables to address the planet’s fast-rising temperatures and climate disasters.Texas-based ExxonMobil has taken the lead in oil production in Guyana, which has rapidly scaled up over the past five years.ExxonMobil anticipates gross production from Guyana of 1.3 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, dwarfing current output from Venezuela, whose industry has slumped since the 1990s after mismanagement and US sanctions.The Trump administration, under pressure from anti-communist Latino lawmakers, has canceled US oil major Chevron’s exemption from US sanctions to operate in Venezuela.

World powers on Thursday blasted US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on imported vehicles and parts, vowing retaliation as trade tensions intensify and price hikes appear on the horizon.Major car exporter Germany urged a firm response from the European Union, while Japan said it “will consider all options.”The 25 percent US duties take effect starting 12:01 am Washington time (0401 GMT) on April 3 and impact foreign-made cars, light trucks and vehicle parts.Experts warn of higher vehicle costs, and Italian carmaker Ferrari said it would raise prices on many models sold to the United States by up to 10 percent from next week.Global stock markets plummeted with automakers like Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes leading the plunge. In New York, shares in General Motors tumbled with Ford and Stellantis also declining.French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the only solution for the EU is to “raise tariffs on American products in response.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he convened a meeting to discuss trade options, while Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard seeks “preferential treatment” for his country.But Trump ramped up his threats overnight, saying on social media that Canada and the EU could face “far larger” tariffs if they worked together “to do economic harm to the USA.”- Price surge -JPMorgan analysts estimate the tariffs on autos and parts could cause a $4,000 to $5,300 increase in average auto prices.It said 82 percent of Ford’s US sales are produced domestically, with the corresponding figures for Stellantis at 71 percent and General Motors at 53 percent.The American Automotive Policy Council representing the three automakers warned that the tariffs must be implemented in a way that “avoids raising prices for consumers” and preserves the industry’s competitiveness.”The steep and broad-based tariffs are likely to cause supply chain disruptions globally,” JPMorgan said in a note.Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association president Brian Kingston said the levies would bring higher costs for producers and consumers, alongside “a less competitive industry.”While Trump invoked emergency economic powers for some earlier tariffs, his auto levies build on a government investigation completed in 2019.- ‘Cheaters’ -About one in two cars sold in the United States are manufactured in the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany also major suppliers.Of the US-made cars, their average domestic content is likely around 40 percent, the White House said.In a briefing Wednesday, Trump’s senior counselor Peter Navarro blasted “foreign trade cheaters” who he said turned the US manufacturing sector into a “lower wage assembly operation for foreign parts.”He took aim at Germany and Japan for reserving construction of higher-value parts to their countries.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China — alongside a 25 percent duty on steel and aluminum.The latest levies add to those already in place for autos.But the White House said that vehicles entering under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower rate depending on their American content.USMCA-compliant auto parts will remain tariff-free as officials establish a process to target their non-US content.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said tariffs were contrary to the North American trade deal, but her country would wait until early April before responding.- ‘Devastating impact’ -Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans and worries they could trigger a downturn have roiled financial markets, with consumer confidence also slipping.Trump has defended levies as a way to raise government revenue and revitalize US industry.Targeting imported cars could strain ties with Washington’s allies, however.”Imposing 25 percent tariffs on imported cars will have a devastating impact on many of our close trading partners,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade negotiator.Besides automobiles, Trump is eyeing other sector-specific tariffs, including on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies, tailored to different trading partners, to address practices that his government deems unfair.

Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg has been propelled to global fame — and put under immense pressure — after being inadvertently added to a group chat in which top US officials shared secret plans for Yemen air strikes.He has been roundly attacked by President Donald Trump, as well as by other officials, after publishing details of the sensitive exchanges on the Signal app in the run up to US strikes on rebel Houthis.Goldberg says the attacks on him are expected but misguided.”This is their move. You never defend, just attack,” said Goldberg, 59, in an interview with the BBC.”I’m sitting there, minding my own business. They invite me into this Signal chat and now they’re attacking me as a sleaze bag, I don’t even get it,” he said. “Maybe they should spend a little time thinking about why I was invited into the chat in the first place.”- Rising US journalism star -Born into a Jewish New York family, Goldberg migrated to Israel in the 1980s. He briefly served in the Israeli army during the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, including a stint as a guard at a Palestinian detention camp, an experience he recounts in a book on the issue. Back in the United States, he launched a stellar career with a job covering the police for The Washington Post, before moving to the prestigious New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker, according to The Atlantic’s website.He joined the Atlantic in 2007, becoming its fifteenth editor-in-chief in 2016, a position he still holds today.- The Atlantic success story -Founded in 1857 in Boston, the magazine was originally a literary and cultural monthly, publishing notable authors and essays on contemporary issues — with a particular focus on the abolition of slavery. After cutting back publication from 12 issues annually to 10, amid severe economic headwinds for traditional US media, The Atlantic has enjoyed a revival under Goldberg’s editorship.It announced last year that it had surpassed one million subscribers and was once again profitable, after winning three Pulitzer Prizes — in 2021, 2022, and 2023.- A tempestuous history with Trump -Goldberg previously drew Trump’s ire in 2020 for an article in which he reported senior US military officers hearing the president call soldiers killed in World War I “losers.”Monday’s article about his stunning inclusion in the Yemen strikes chat on Signal won him further opprobrium from the White House.Trump said: “I just know Goldberg. He’s a sleazebag. You know, his magazine’s terrible.” A White House spokesperson, Taylor Budowich, described The Atlantic as “scumbags.”Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who revealed secret attack plans in the chat while Goldberg was included, branded him a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.”The Atlantic has endorsed Trump’s Democratic rivals for the White House since 2016.

Mexico said Thursday that it wanted preferential treatment if US President Donald Trump goes ahead with steep car tariffs, vowing a “comprehensive response” to Washington’s duties.President Claudia Sheinbaum said that tariffs were contrary to a North American free trade deal that has led to a booming auto industry in Mexico, which is home to many foreign-owned car plants.”Of course, there should be no tariffs within the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. That is the essence of the trade agreement,” she told a news conference.Trump on Wednesday announced a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States, part of a broad-ranging trade war against partners and competitors alike that he says is aimed at addressing “unfair” practices. “If we are moving to a system of such high tariffs, what we have to look for is preferential treatment for Mexico,” Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. That would enable the Latin American country to “protect our jobs and Mexico’s economic activity,” he said, speaking by video link from Washington, where he held talks with senior US officials.Sheinbaum said that Mexico would wait until early April — when Trump has promised reciprocal tariffs tailored to each US trading partner — before giving a “comprehensive response.””That does not mean that the doors to working with the United States are closed,” she said.Sheinbaum has repeatedly expressed optimism that US tariffs on Mexican goods can be averted, and Trump has twice granted Mexico tariff relief, which is due to expire in early April.- Booming US-Mexico trade -Mexico replaced China in 2023 as the United States’ largest trading partner, with the Latin American country’s northern neighbor buying more than 80 percent of its exports.Mexico exports nearly three million automobiles to the United States a year — including cars and trucks assembled by US auto companies — and the vehicle sector generates around five percent of its national economic output.Ebrard noted that, according to the White House, those vehicles would qualify for lower tariffs if some of their components were made in the United States.Mexico has also been assured that products will not subjected to multiple tariffs if they cross the US border several times during the manufacturing process, he said.Seeking to ease concerns about the Mexican economy in the face of Trump’s tariff threats, Sheinbaum has invited several company executives to her news conferences to present their investment plans.On Thursday, US retail giant Walmart said that it would invest more than $6 billion in Mexico this year, generating several thousand jobs.

Senior Republican and Democratic US senators issued a bipartisan call Thursday for a probe into a scandal over an accidentally leaked chat between top officials on Yemen air strikes that has engulfed Donald Trump’s White House.Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and ranking Democrat Jack Reed wrote to a Pentagon watchdog asking it to “conduct an inquiry” into the incident.The Atlantic magazine published the full chat — which Trump’s top security officials conducted on the commercially available app Signal rather than on a secure government platform — after its editor was mistakenly looped in.Republican Trump has dismissed the scandal as a “witch-hunt” and backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, despite the fact that Hegseth used the app to discuss precise timings of the strikes shortly before they happened and aircraft types involved.The president told reporters on Wednesday that the prospect of a watchdog investigation “doesn’t bother me.”But Democrats have claimed that the lives of US service members could have been put at risk by the breach, and the row has raised serious questions about potential intelligence risks.In their letter, Wicker and Reed asked the Pentagon’s acting inspector general to look into the “facts and circumstances,” whether classified material was shared, and the security of communications.”If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information,” they said of The Atlantic’s story about the chat.- ‘Mistake’ -Wicker said on Wednesday that the information shared in the chat “appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified.”But the White House has gone on the offensive, denying that any classified material was shared and attacking Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who revealed that he had been erroneously added into the supposedly secret chat group.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that “we have never denied that this was a mistake” and insisted that National Security advisor Mike Waltz had taken “responsibility” for including Goldberg.US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday that the breach was unlikely to face a criminal investigation.”It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released, and what we should be talking about is that it was a very successful mission,” Bondi told a news conference.Trump and his top officials have repeatedly tried to turn the conversation towards the strikes themselves that began on March 15.Washington has vowed to use overwhelming force against the Huthis until they stop firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with the rebels threatening to resume attacks in protest over the Gaza war.The Huthis said Thursday they targeted an Israeli airport and army site as well as a US warship, soon after Israel reported intercepting missiles launched from Yemen.

World powers on Thursday blasted US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on imported vehicles and parts, vowing retaliation as a widening trade war intensifies.Major car exporter Germany urged a firm response from the European Union, while Japan said it “will consider all options.”The 25 percent US duties take effect starting 12.01am eastern time (0401 GMT) April 3 and impact foreign-made cars, light trucks and vehicle parts.Global stock markets plummeted with automakers like Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes leading the plunge. In New York, shares in General Motors tumbled with Ford and Stellantis also declining.France Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the only solution for the EU is to “raise tariffs on American products in response.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he convened a meeting to discuss trade options, while Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard seeks “preferential treatment” for his country.Trump ramped up his threats, saying on social media that Canada and the EU could face “far larger” tariffs if they worked together “to do economic harm to the USA.”Trump confidant and Tesla boss Elon Musk said his company would not be spared, writing on X that the price for parts “is not trivial.” However, because Tesla builds its cars for the US market domestically it will in fact emerge relatively unscathed compared to rivals.The American Automotive Policy Council warned that the tariffs must be implemented in a way that “avoids raising prices for consumers” and preserves the industry’s competitiveness.While Trump invoked emergency economic powers for some earlier tariffs, his auto levies build on a government investigation completed in 2019.- ‘Cheaters’ -The Center for Automotive Research previously estimated that US tariffs could raise the price of a car by thousands of dollars and weigh on the jobs market.About one in two cars sold in the United States are manufactured in the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany also major suppliers.Of the US-made cars, their average domestic content likely around 40 percent, the White House said.Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association president Brian Kingston said levies would bring higher costs for producers and consumers, alongside “a less competitive industry.”In a briefing Wednesday, Trump’s senior counselor Peter Navarro blasted “foreign trade cheaters” who he said turned the US manufacturing sector into a “lower wage assembly operation for foreign parts.”He took aim at Germany and Japan for reserving construction of higher-value parts to their countries.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China — alongside a 25 percent duty on steel and aluminum.The latest levies add to those already in place for autos.But the White House said that vehicles entering under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower rate depending on their American content.Similarly, USMCA-compliant auto parts will remain tariff-free as officials establish a process to target their non-US content.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said tariffs were contrary to the North American trade deal, but her country would wait until early April before giving a “comprehensive response.”- ‘Devastating impact’ -Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans and worries they could trigger a downturn have roiled financial markets, with consumer confidence also slipping.Trump has defended levies as a way to raise government revenue and revitalize US industry.Targeting imported cars could strain ties with Washington’s allies, however.”Imposing 25 percent tariffs on imported cars will have a devastating impact on many of our close trading partners,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade negotiator.Washington has free-trade agreements with some affected parties, “calling into question the value of US commitments” under a trade deal, she added.Besides automobiles, Trump is eyeing other sector-specific tariffs, including on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies, tailored to different trading partners, to address practices that his government deems unfair.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said these would focus on countries that have been “ripping off the United States,” although Trump noted some numbers would be more conservative than many expected.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Guyana Thursday, with an offer to put the newly oil-rich nation under Washington’s security umbrella as border disputes with neighboring Venezuela have intensified.A decade after the discovery of vast reserves, the small South American nation is poised this year to become the world’s largest producer of oil on a per capita basis, outpacing Qatar and Kuwait.With tensions on the rise between Guyana and Venezuela, whose government Washington strongly opposes, Rubio will sign a memorandum of understanding that outlines security cooperation, according to the State Department.Rubio, who is flying to Guyana after talks with Caribbean nations in Jamaica, will also stop later Thursday in Guyana’s neighbor Suriname, whose own oil production is on the rise.US President Donald Trump’s administration said it envisioned a relationship with Guyana akin to those with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations, which welcome US troops for their security, with a particular view towards larger neighbor Iran.”The security of Guyana is a key priority for us in the same way that we have been working with countries in the Gulf states to ensure the security cooperation from the regional threats there,” said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America.”We’ve seen the threats from Venezuela,” he told reporters ahead of the trip.”Obviously, that’s unacceptable and we want to work together,” he said, to “find an agreement towards binding security cooperation.”Guyana, an English-speaking former British and Dutch colony where the majority of the 800,000 people still live in poverty, has for years had a long-shot movement that has sought to join the United States.Such formal accession is not expected to be discussed, but Trump has made no secret of his passion for expansionism in the hemisphere, even at the expense of traditional alliances. The Republican billionaire has vowed to take control of Greenland from Denmark, with Vice President JD Vance paying a visit Friday that has been criticized by NATO ally Denmark. Trump has also insisted that Washington will “take back” the Panama Canal, and has separately called for ally Canada to be absorbed into the United States.- Rising oil, rising tensions -Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who faces reelection this year, has embraced closer defense cooperation with the United States, including through joint maritime patrols.Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro has been heavily criticized by the Cuban-American Rubio, has laid claim to Guyana’s Essequibo, which covers most of the country and is the center of oil production.Guyana earlier in March denounced what it called a Venezuelan military vessel’s incursion into its waters.Venezuela denied any violation and requested a meeting with Ali, who dismissed the offer.The parliament in Caracas last year approved a bill to declare Essequibo as Venezuela’s 24th state, a move rejected internationally.Guyana insists the border was finalized by an 1899 arbitration panel, but Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region’s east as a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.The Trump administration has put a high priority on ramping up oil production, seeing both economic and security incentives, and has brushed aside the push by previous president Joe Biden to diversify to renewables to address the planet’s fast-rising temperatures and climate disasters.Texas-based ExxonMobil has taken the lead in oil production in Guyana, which has rapidly scaled up over the past five years.ExxonMobil anticipates gross production from Guyana of 1.3 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, dwarfing current output from Venezuela, whose industry has slumped since the 1990s after mismanagement and US sanctions.The Trump administration, under pressure from anti-communist Latino lawmakers, has canceled US oil major Chevron’s exemption from US sanctions to operate in Venezuela.

The Iran-backed Huthis said Thursday they targeted an Israeli airport and army site as well as a US warship, soon after Israel reported intercepting missiles launched from Yemen.The Huthis “targeted Ben Gurion airport… with a ballistic missile… and a military target” south of Tel Aviv, their military spokesman Yahya Saree said.Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen “prior to crossing into Israeli territory” after it activated air raid sirens across multiple areas, including Jerusalem.Saree said the rebels also “targeted hostile warships in the Red Sea, including the American aircraft carrier (USS Harry S) Truman,” which he said was “in retaliation to the ongoing US aggression against our country”.The United States launched what its Central Command called a “large scale operation” involving air strikes against the Huthis on March 15.Washington vowed to use overwhelming force until they stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the rebels threatened to resume attacks over the Gaza war.The Huthis have since reported near-daily US air strikes on areas under their control.- Rebels say 2 killed -Earlier Thursday, the rebels said two people had been killed in overnight air strikes near the rebel-controlled capital Sanaa that they blamed on the United States.The Huthis’ Al-Masirah TV channel reported nearly 20 strikes on Sanaa governorate, both north and south of the capital.”The American aggression killed two and injured two,” the Huthi-run health ministry’s spokesman Anis al-Asbahi said on social media platform X.Al-Masirah also reported strikes early Thursday in Saada, the Iran-backed rebels’ northern stronghold which Huthi media had said was hit 17 times the day before.While the United States does not always report these raids, a United States defence official told AFP on Sunday that American forces were “conducting strikes across multiple locations of Iran-backed Huthi locations every day and night in Yemen”.The latest strikes claimed by the Huthis come with Washington embroiled in scandal linked to the March 15 strikes. The Atlantic Magazine published the transcript of messages accidentally shared with its editor in a chat group of senior US officials on Signal, a commercially available messaging app.The magazine on Thursday published details of the March 15 attack plans, which it initially withheld, after the White House insisted no classified details were involved.In response to the US strikes, the Huthis have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on the Truman carrier group off Yemen’s coast, as well as projectiles fired at Israel.The Huthis began targeting shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian people, but paused their campaign when a ceasefire in Gaza took effect in January.Earlier this month, they threatened to renew the attacks in the vital maritime trade route over Israel’s aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.

President Donald Trump called on Congress on Thursday to “immediately” defund two public broadcasters as he and his supporters ratchet up their long-running battle with the US media.Trump’s attacks on traditional media have intensified since his return to the White House, with the Republican president repeatedly attacking journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits.His latest comments came after Congressional Republicans took aim at federal funding for US public media on Wednesday, accusing it during a hearing of “brainwashing the American people”.Trump claimed that radio network NPR and broadcast channel PBS were “arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party.””NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms… should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Trump ally, told the hearing: “We will be calling for the complete and total defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).”The CPB is a nonprofit that oversees US public media funding.”The content that is being put out through these state-sponsored outlets is so radical it is brainwashing the American people, and more significantly American children,” Greene told the heads of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.She criticized the outlets for pushing a political agenda that included “the LGBTQ indoctrination of children” and “the systemic racism narrative,” as well as being “anti-family, pro-crime fake news.”- ‘Enemy of the people’ -The attacks by Greene echo media criticism by Trump, who frequently refers to legacy news media as the “enemy of the people.”Greene also sits on the House Committee on Government Efficiency, formed in support of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk and charged with slashing federal spending.However, the CPB — established nearly 60 years ago — has already had its budget approved by Congress until 2027, with more than $500 million in funding.Some 40 million Americans tune in to NPR at least once a week and about 36 million watch their local PBS station each month, according to estimates from the outlets.The Republican congresswoman from Georgia went on to say NPR and PBS have grown to become “radical left-wing echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy, white, urban liberals and progressives.”The critiques drew fierce blowback from Democrats, including Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas, who said Greene wants “to shut down everybody that is not Fox News,” a broadcaster preferred by many conservatives.NPR chief executive Katherine Maher estimated the radio station received $120 million from the CPB in 2025, “less than five percent” of its budget.Brian Jack, another Republican representative from Georgia, asked Maher if NPR could survive without the funding.”It would be incredibly damaging to the national radios system,” Maher said. “If federal funding for our network goes away, it means that people in rural parts of America would be harmed.”Democrat Stephen Lynch was also critical of the way Republicans led the hearing, saying it should be “talking about the security breach that occurred recently,” in reference to the leaked Signal group chat among US government security officials.”Today the controlling House majority is afraid to do its job, it is afraid to hold Trump and Trump’s administration accountable,” Lynch said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads Thursday to Guyana to offer to put the newly oil-rich nation under the US security umbrella as neighboring Venezuela asserts claims.A decade after the discovery of vast reserves, the small South American nation is poised this year to become the world’s largest producer of oil on a per capita basis, outpacing Qatar and Kuwait.With tensions on the rise between Guyana and US nemesis Venezuela, Rubio will sign a memorandum of understanding that outlines security cooperation, according to the State Department.Rubio, who is flying to Guyana after talks with Caribbean nations in Jamaica, will also stop later Thursday in Guyana’s neighbor Suriname, whose own oil production is on the rise.President Donald Trump’s administration said it envisioned a relationship with Guyana akin to those with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations, which welcome US troops for their security, particularly against larger neighbor Iran.”The security of Guyana is a key priority for us in the same way that we have been working with countries in the Gulf states to ensure the security cooperation from the regional threats there,” said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America.”We’ve seen the threats from Venezuela,” he told reporters ahead of the trip.”Obviously, that’s unacceptable and we want to work together,” he said, to “find an agreement towards binding security cooperation.”Guyana, an English-speaking former British and Dutch colony where the majority of the 800,000 people still live in poverty, has for years had a long-shot movement that has sought to join the United States.Such formal accession is not expected to be discussed, but Trump has made no secrets of his passion for expansionism in the hemisphere, even at the expense of traditional alliances. Trump has vowed to take control of Greenland from Denmark, with Vice President JD Vance paying a visit Friday criticized by NATO ally Denmark, and has insisted that the United States will “take back” the Panama Canal.- Rising oil, rising tensions -Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who faces reelection this year, has embraced closer defense cooperation with the United States, including through joint maritime patrols.Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is despised by the Cuban-American Rubio, has laid claim to Guyana’s Essequibo, which covers most of the country and is the center of oil production.Guyana earlier in March denounced what it called a Venezuelan military vessel’s incursion into its waters.Venezuela denied any violation and requested a meeting with Ali, who dismissed the offer.The parliament in Caracas last year approved a bill to declare Essequibo as Venezuela’s 24th state, a move rejected internationally.Guyana insists the border was finalized by an 1899 arbitration panel, but Venezuela claims the Essequibo River to the region’s east as a natural border recognized as far back as 1777.The Trump administration has put a high priority on ramping up oil production, seeing both economic and security incentives, and has brushed aside the push by previous president Joe Biden to diversify to renewables to address the planet’s fast-rising temperatures and climate disasters.Texas-based ExxonMobil has taken the lead in oil production in Guyana which has rapidly scaled up over the past five years.ExxonMobil anticipates gross production from Guyana of 1.3 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, dwarfing current output from Venezuela, whose industry has slumped since the 1990s after mismanagement and US sanctions.The Trump administration, under pressure from anti-communist Latino lawmakers, has canceled US oil major Chevron’s exemption from US sanctions to operate in Venezuela.