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Rock star Bruce Springsteen released a surprise EP on Wednesday, with the six-track album including scathing criticism of US President Donald Trump that prompted an online diatribe from the Republican billionaire last week.The EP, titled “Land of Hope and Dreams” — the name of his ongoing tour — features recordings of four songs performed live in Manchester, England on May 14. Two tracks feature Springsteen describing his disappointment with Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” although he does not name the president directly.The comments had prompted the right-wing populist to label Springsteen, 75, an “obnoxious JERK” last week, and on Wednesday Trump posted a video edited to make it seem like he had hit the New Jersey rocker with a golf drive.On Monday, Trump had gone further than mere rhetoric, calling for a “major investigation” into Springsteen, genre-smashing music icon Beyonce and other celebrities.He alleged — without evidence and in the face of denials by those involved — that the celebrities had been paid millions of dollars to endorse his Democratic opponent in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris.The collection of tracks released Wednesday featured Springsteen’s full comments as he introduced the songs “Land of Hope and Dreams” and “My City in Ruins.””In my home, the America I love, the America I have written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he said, addressing the Manchester crowd. “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring.”In the second introduction track, he decried “some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now.””In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,” he said, while also taking aim at the “sadistic pleasure” some were taking in launching crackdowns on migrants, the poor and workers.Springsteen then launched into a spirited rendition of “My City in Ruins,” ending with a rousing repetition of the words: “Come on, rise up!”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday.Qatar’s offer of the jet — which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.”The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.”The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States,” Parnell said, referring questions to the US Air Force.The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the Emoluments Clause.But Trump has denied there are any ethical issues involved with accepting the plane, saying it would be “stupid” for the US government not to take the aircraft.”It’s a great gesture,” the 78-year-old billionaire told reporters at the White House last week when asked if the oil-rich Gulf state would expect anything in exchange.”I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person (and) say ‘no we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.'”The leader of the Democratic minority in the US Senate introduced legislation earlier this week that would block Trump from using the aircraft.Chuck Schumer’s Presidential Airlift Security Act would prohibit the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds to retrofit any plane previously owned by a foreign government for use as the presidential plane.”Donald Trump has shown time and again he will sell out the American people and the presidency if it means filling his own pockets,” Schumer said in a statement.”Not only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure.”Although several Republicans have voiced concerns about the proposed gift, Senate Majority Leader John Thune — a Trump loyalist — is not obliged to bring the bill to the floor of Congress’s upper chamber.But Schumer plans to force a vote by offering it as an amendment to spending bills that Republicans will have to pass later in the year.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will seek to reset ties with Donald Trump and Elon Musk Wednesday after Washington’s unfounded claims of “genocide” against white Afrikaners sent relations plunging.Ramaphosa arrived at the White House with two of South Africa’s top golfers, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and its richest man Johann Rupert, in a bid to woo the golf-loving US president. The White House confirmed South African-born tech tycoon Musk, Trump’s top advisor, would also attend the meeting.The support of the three high-profile Afrikaners in Ramaphosa’s delegation comes days after around 50 Afrikaners arrived in the United States to take up Trump’s offer of “refuge.”Trump made the offer despite the United States having halted arrivals of asylum seekers from most of the rest of the world as he cracks down on migration.Musk, the world’s richest man, has been a leading proponent of “white genocide” allegations that Pretoria strongly denies, and Trump has also taken up the claims.The South African president was also expected to come bearing gifts, with reports that his government would offer Musk a deal to operate his Starlink satellite internet network in the country.The Tesla and Space X boss has accused Pretoria of “openly racist” laws, a reference to post-apartheid black empowerment policies seen as a hurdle to the licensing of Starlink.Ramaphosa’s office said he hoped to “reset the relationship” with South Africa’s second largest trading partner.But he will also stress to Trump that conspiracies of a “white genocide” are “patently false,” his spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.- Land law row -Trump’s administration has torn into a series of policies in South Africa since the US president began his second term in office.It has slammed South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, cut foreign aid, announced 31 percent tariffs, and expelled Pretoria’s ambassador after he criticized Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.But the biggest issue for Trump and his team has been a South African land expropriation law signed in January that aims to redress the historical inequalities of white minority rule.Trump has bought into an unfounded assertion boosted by billionaire Musk that white farmers are being targeted in the country for murder.”It’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about,” Trump told reporters on the day the 50 white South Africans arrived. “White farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”Musk, who leads Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), lashed out at the land laws in a video appearance at the Qatar Economic forum on Tuesday.”Why are there racist laws in South Africa?” he said.Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people despite being only 7.3 percent of the population.Ramaphosa has rejected Washington’s assertion that the law will be used to arbitrarily confiscate white-owned land.Some right-wing Afrikaner lobby groups have claimed that Afrikaans farmers are being murdered in targeted killings, but authorities say this is unfounded.Most of the victims of South Africa’s sky-high murder rate are young black men in urban areas, according to police figures.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has recovered well after his release from jail last year, his wife told AFP ahead of the premiere of a documentary Wednesday that includes never-seen-before footage of the whistleblower.Assange is at the Cannes Festival to promote the documentary by American filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, wearing a T-shirt with the names of killed Gaza children at a photo session on Tuesday.The 53-year-old former hacker is not talking to the media, however, with his wife Stella Assange saying, “He’ll speak when he’s ready.””We live with incredible nature at our doorstep (in Australia). Julian’s very outdoorsy. He always has been. He’s really recovered physically and mentally,” Stella, a Spanish-Swedish lawyer, told AFP.Assange was released from a high-security British prison last June after a plea bargain with the US government over Wikileaks’s work publishing top-secret military and diplomatic information.He had spent five years behind bars fighting extradition from Britain and another seven holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London where he claimed political asylum.Award-winning director Jarecki said his film, “The Six Billion Dollar Man”, aimed to correct the record about Assange, whose methods and personality still make him a divisive figure. “I think Julian Assange put himself in harm’s way for the principle of informing the public about what corporations and governments around the world are doing in secret,” Jarecki told AFP.Anyone willing to trade years of their life for their principles, “I think you’d have to look at that person as having heroic qualities,” he added.The film includes personal videos handed over by Stella, who initially joined Wikileaks as a legal advisor and went on to have two children with Assange while he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy.It also features testimony from people who helped spy on Assange, including a private security agent who said he installed bugs accessed by the American security services in the Ecuadorian embassy.Former “Baywatch” actress and Assange’s friend Pamela Anderson, fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson also appear.- Criticism -Jarecki pushed back on some of the criticism of Assange, notably that he endangered lives by publishing unredacted US documents with the names of people who spoke to American diplomats, including informants or human rights campaigners.He also dismissed any links between Wikileaks and Russian intelligence services over the leak of Democratic Party emails ahead of the 2016 US presidential election which embarrassed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.An investigation by US special counsel Robert Mueller, who probed alleged Russian interference in the 2016 vote, found evidence Russian military intelligence hacked the Democratic Party and passed the information to Wikileaks.”Other than from the mouths of people in the Democratic Party, we’ve never found any evidence of any linkages between WikiLeaks and Russia,” Jarecki claimed. Ecuador’s left-wing former president Rafael Correa, who offered Assange asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, was to attend the film’s red carpet premiere on Wednesday evening. Jarecki was awarded the first ever Golden Globe for documentary at Cannes on Monday for his previous work, including his 2018 film about Elvis, “The King”. This year’s festival is one of the most political for years, with hundreds of film industry figures including Hollywood heavyweights signing a letter condemning what they called “genocide” in Gaza. It also denounced Israel’s killing of Fatima Hassouna, a young Gaza photojournalist featured in the documentary “Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk”, which premiered at Cannes last week.

Eric Trump attended a groundbreaking ceremony in Vietnam Wednesday for a $1.5-billion luxury resort and golf course due to be developed by his father US President Donald Trump’s real estate group.The Trump Organization, which builds luxury developments around the world, has come under scrutiny, with critics accusing Trump of leveraging his political position for personal financial gain.Eric Trump, an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, and his wife Lara attended the event, as well as local partner the Kinhbac City Development Corporation (KBC).Heavy security surrounded the event in Hung Yen province, 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Hanoi, where the complex, reportedly featuring a 54-hole course and residential villas, will be built.Hundreds of farmers watched the event from afar, mostly standing on a dyke overlooking the farms of oranges, pomelos, peach blossoms and kumquat trees that will be cleared for the luxury complex.Do Thi Lieu, a 62-year-old farmer who had been given compensation for land that is now part of the development, told AFP that she was happy the Trumps were here but was worried she would now have nothing to do.”We want him to arrange jobs for us,” she said- ‘Incredible city’ -Eric Trump is also due to scout locations later this week for a potential tower project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern business hub.Project director Charles Boyd-Bowman said in a meeting with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March that his group aimed to finish the golf resort in March 2027, before Vietnam hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Vietnam and the United States are engaged in trade talks after President Trump threatened a 46 percent levy on Vietnamese goods as part of his global tariff blitz.Trump visited the Vietnamese capital in 2019 for his abortive second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.He described Hanoi at the time as an “incredible city”, praising Vietnam for “the job they’ve done — economic development”.

The eldest son of US President Donald Trump, Don Jr, said Wednesday he could run for president “maybe one day”, after previously denying he was considering a White House bid.Asked during a forum in Doha if he would consider entering a presidential race to succeed his father, Don Jr first chuckled before suggesting it was possible.”It’s an honour to be asked and an honour to see that some people are OK with it,” he said during a panel discussion at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum as some in the audience applauded.”You never know,” he added.Donald Trump Jr, 47, is an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, his family’s luxury real estate conglomerate, and a vocal proponent of his father’s right-wing MAGA political agenda.In March, left-leaning website Mediate reported that Don Jr was “seriously considering a run for president in 2028″, which he denied at the time. But on Wednesday, Don Jr did not rule out a White House run.”I don’t know, maybe one day, you know, that calling is there,” he told the Bloomberg forum.”I think my father has truly changed the Republican Party. I think it’s the America first party, now the MAGA party, however, you want to look at it,” he added.The Trump Organization has been run by the president’s two eldest sons, Don Jr and Eric, since his 2016 election win.While the president no longer holds an executive title, he has retained his stake in the family business via a trust.burs-sco/tc

US President Donald Trump has announced new details and initial funding for his “Golden Dome” missile shield system, with geopolitical rival China accusing Washington on Wednesday of undermining global stability.Trump on Tuesday announced $25 billion earmarked for the project, which he said could eventually cost a total of around $175 billion and would be operational in about three years. Beijing hit back Wednesday, denouncing Golden Dome as a threat to international security and accusing the United States of fueling an arms race.”In the campaign I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. “Today I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system.””Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space,” Trump said. “This is very important for the success and even survival of our country.”He said US Space Force General Michael Guetlein will lead the effort, and that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as “they want to have protection also.”While Trump put the total price at about $175 billion, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of space-based interceptors to defeat a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles at between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years.Golden Dome has more expansive goals, with Trump saying it “will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors.”Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump, said the system is aimed at protecting “the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.”- China, Russia oppose Golden Dome -The plan’s Golden Dome name stems from Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system that has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011.The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to counter.The 2022 Missile Defense Review pointed to growing threats from China and Russia.Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernizing its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, the document said.It also said that the threat of drones — which have played a key role in the Ukraine war — is likely to grow, and warned of the danger of ballistic missiles from North Korea and Iran, as well as rocket and missile threats from non-state actors.Beijing on Wednesday expressed “serious concern” over the plan, saying it undercuts “global strategic balance and stability.””The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country’s security should come at the expense of others,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing.”(The plan) heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security,” Mao added. China this month had already joined Russia in slamming the concept as “deeply destabilizing”. It “explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space,” said a statement published by the Kremlin after talks between the two sides.The United States has gained valuable real-world experience in defending against missiles and drones in recent years.In Ukraine, US systems have been used to counter advanced Russian missiles, while American planes and warships helped defend Israel against Iranian attacks last year and have repeatedly shot down missiles and drones launched at ships by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Huthi rebels.

The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew Cuomo, a Democratic frontrunner in the New York mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about his actions as governor during the Covid-19 pandemic, US media reported.The reported probe comes after the Trump administration dropped corruption charges last month against current New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for reelection and has been accused of cozying up to President Donald Trump for political gain.Adams — a Democrat who had been accused of wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations and a bribery conspiracy — has vowed to assist Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, sparking criticisms of an alleged quid pro quo between the mayor and Trump’s administration.The US attorney’s office in Washington began the inquiry against Cuomo began about a month, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter. Republican members of Congress have pushed for the Justice Department to investigate Cuomo, alleging he lied while testifying during a congressional probe into Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic.In 2021, Cuomo resigned in disgrace after 10 years as governor of New York following accusations of sexual harassment. A prosecutor dropped related charges against him in January 2022.Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told CBS the former governor had not been contacted by law enforcement about the investigation related to the Covid deaths case, and questioned why it would be leaked now.”The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Azzopardi said, according to CBS.New York, the largest US city, is a bastion of the Democratic party, and the party’s candidate — chosen in a June primary — will be the favorite to win November’s mayoral election.Adams, the Democratic incumbent, has said he will run as an independent.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa meets Donald Trump on Wednesday amid tensions over Washington’s resettlement of white Afrikaners that the US president claims are the victims of “genocide.”The Trump administration’s admission of around 50 white South Africans last week — even as it halts refugee arrivals from most of the rest of the world — is set to dominate the meeting at the White House.Ramaphosa will be hoping to reset historically low relations with a crucial trading partner but will also confront Trump over what Pretoria says are false claims of persecution.The South African president will stress to Trump that conspiracies of a “white genocide” in South Africa are “patently false,” his spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.”We need to reset the relationship,” he added.Ramaphosa may also come bearing gifts, with reports that his government will offer Trump advisor Elon Musk a deal to operate his Starlink network in the country.Tech tycoon Musk was born in South Africa and has been a vocal proponent of the unfounded assertion that white farmers are being targeted in the country for murder.Trump appears to have bought into his billionaire ally’s claims.A first group of around 50 white South Africans arrived in the United States on May 12 after Trump offered refuge to the Afrikaner minority.”It’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about,” Trump told reporters on the day they arrived.”White farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”Trump’s administration has been particularly critical of a land expropriation law signed in January that aims to redress historical inequalities from the apartheid era of white minority rule.Ramaphosa has rejected Washington’s assertion that the law will be used to arbitrarily confiscate white-owned land.- ‘Reset and revitalize’ -Land ownership is a contentious issue in post-apartheid South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people despite being only 7.3 percent of the population.Some right-wing Afrikaner lobby groups have claimed that Afrikaans farmers are being murdered in targeted killings, but authorities say this is unfounded.Most of the victims of South Africa’s sky-high murder rate are young black men in urban areas, according to police figures.But Trump and his team have also torn into a series of other policies in South Africa, a pivotal nation seen by former administrations as a crucial ally for Washington.It has slammed South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, cut aid, announced 31-percent tariffs, and expelled Pretoria’s ambassador after he criticized Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.Seasoned diplomat Ramaphosa will therefore be treading a tightrope when he meets Trump in the Oval Office.The symbolic heart of the American presidency has turned into something of an endurance test for foreign leaders seeking to curry favor with the unpredictable Trump in his second term.Ramaphosa will in particular seek to avoid the fate of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was berated by Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in front of news cameras in February.Trade will be one of the top topics for Ramaphosa.The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trade partner but Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs in April — later paused for 90 days — has ignited fears for key sectors, including the automobile industry and citrus growers.”The purpose of the visit is to reset and revitalize bilateral relations between South Africa and the United States,” read a statement issued by the Pretoria presidency.

A man who pleaded guilty to killing a convenience store worker by setting her on fire was put to death in Texas on Tuesday in the second of three executions to be carried out in the United States this week.Matthew Johnson, 49, was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville and pronounced dead at 6:53 pm local time (2353 GMT).Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2012 murder of Nancy Harris, a 76-year-old grandmother.He admitted at trial to pouring lighter fluid on Harris and setting her alight during an early morning robbery of a store in Garland, Texas.Harris suffered severe burns and was taken off life support five days later.In his final statement, Johnson thanked God and asked for forgiveness from the victim’s family, saying “I never meant to hurt her.” He also apologized to his wife and asked for her forgiveness, along with the forgiveness of their three daughters.”Just know that it’s nothing that y’all did,” he said to his family. “I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences.”Johnson’s execution was scheduled to take place just hours after the midwestern state of Indiana carried out its second execution since 2009.Benjamin Ritchie, 45, was put to death by lethal injection overnight at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City for the 2000 murder of officer Bill Toney, the Indiana Department of Correction said in a statement.Toney, a father of two, was shot to death after pursuing a van that had been stolen by Ritchie and another man from a gas station in the town of Beech Grove.The other execution scheduled this week is in the southern state of Tennessee.Oscar Smith, 75, is to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1989 shooting and stabbing murders of his estranged wife, Judy Smith, and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.There have been 18 executions in the United States this year: 14 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 called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”