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US President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday banned reporters from accessing a core part of the White House press office without an appointment, citing the need to protect “sensitive material.”Journalists are now barred if they do not have prior approval to access the area in the West Wing known as Upper Press — which is where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s office is located.White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended the move, saying without providing evidence that reporters had been “ambushing” cabinet secretaries in the area and secretly recording video and audio.”This memorandum directs the prohibition of press passholders from accessing… ‘Upper Press,’ which is situated adjacent to the Oval Office, without an appointment,” said a memo from the White House National Security Council (NSC).The memo, addressed to Leavitt and Cheung, said the aim was “protecting sensitive material from unauthorized disclosure in Upper Press.”The policy comes amid wider restrictions on journalists by the Trump administration, including new rules at the Pentagon that major outlets including AFP refused to sign earlier this month.White House reporters have until now been able to freely visit the area, often wandering up to try to speak to Leavitt or senior press officers to seek information or confirm stories.Media are still allowed to access the area known as “Lower Press,” next to the famed White House briefing room, where more junior press officers have their desks, the memo said.- ‘Eavesdropping’ -The memo said the new restrictions were triggered by “recent structural changes to the National Security Council” that meant White House press officers were dealing with more sensitive material.Republican Trump has effectively absorbed the once powerful NSC into the White House, putting it under the control of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was reassigned in May following a scandal over the use of the Signal app to plan strikes on Yemen.But Cheung later went further, saying on X that “some reporters have been caught secretly recording video and audio of our offices, along with pictures of sensitive info, without permission.””Cabinet Secretaries routinely come into our office for private meetings, only to be ambushed by reporters waiting outside our doors,” he added, also accusing reporters of “eavesdropping on private, closed-door meetings.”Cheung, a Trump veteran who is known for his combative social media approach, did not provide evidence for the claims. US media said Democratic president Bill Clinton’s administration also sought to limit access to the Upper Press area, before rescinding the decision.Trump’s administration has made a major shake-up to access rules for journalists since his return to power in January.Many mainstream outlets have seen their access to areas like the Oval Office and Air Force One reduced, while right-wing, Trump-friendly outlets have been given more prominence.The White House also banned the Associated Press news agency from key areas where Trump speaks after it refused to recognize his order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Knocking down the East Wing of the White House apparently wasn’t enough for Donald Trump.The US president unveiled yet another makeover to the storied residence on Friday, showing off a marble-and-gold renovation of the Lincoln Bathroom.The old version dating back some 80 years had pale green tiles and strip lights, according to a picture posted by Trump on his Truth Social network.But now, it has gold taps and mirrors, along with lavish white and gray marble walls, Trump revealed in more than two dozen photos in a string of posts.”I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.”I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”It comes just days after Trump sparked controversy by demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House in October to build a giant new $300 million ballroom.But the bathroom renovation is the first major work done on the executive mansion of the White House itself. The Lincoln Bathroom is near the Lincoln Bedroom, an ornate room on the second floor of the mansion where the US president lives.The Lincoln Bedroom used to be the late president’s office and cabinet room, and was renamed in 1945 when President Harry Truman ordered furnishings from the Lincoln era to be placed there, according to the White House Historical Association.Tesla and Space X tycoon Elon Musk said he slept in the Lincoln Bedroom on a number of occasions at Trump’s invitation when he was running Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.Billionaire property developer Trump has enthusiastically embarked on a series of renovation and building projects since his return to power — which many critics have derided as tacky.He has covered the Oval Office with gold decor, paved over the grass of the Rose Garden with an outdoor patio and put two huge flagpoles on the White House’s north and south lawns.

The G7 announced two dozen new projects Friday aimed at reducing China’s dominance of critical mineral supply chains, as Canada’s energy minister vowed the alliance was “serious” about reforming the global market. The deals, announced as Group of Seven energy ministers concluded a meeting in Toronto, involve a range of metals essential to high-tech products, including the rare earth materials where China has built outsized control.The initial steps taken by the newly launched G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance “sends the world a very clear message,” Canada’s Energy Minister Tim Hodgson told reporters.”We are serious about reducing market concentration and dependencies,” he said, referencing China. Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States met in Toronto after US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping reached a deal that will see Beijing suspend certain rare earth export restrictions for at least one year.Rare earths are needed to make the magnets used in a range of sophisticated products, and the prospect of China limiting exports had rattled markets.China has overwhelming dominance in the processing of rare earths, and Hodgson conceded that broadening supply chains would take time. He said the goal was building systems that stretch from “from mine to magnet.””That doesn’t exist in the West today…It will take time,” he said. The 26 projects announced include partnerships across the G7 and its allies, but the United States has not initially signed on to a specific arrangement. – Non-market tactics -By US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who attended the meeting, had earlier told reporters that Trump’s administration was in full alignment with G7 allies on countering China’s market influence. There was “no disagreement within the group,” Wright said. He also said the G7 will have to use “non-market” tactics to counter China’s position.”China, frankly, just used non-market practices to squish the rest of the world out of manufacturing those products, so it got strategic leverage. Everybody sees that now,” Wright told reporters.”We need to establish our own ability to mine, process, refine, and create the products that come out of rare earth elements,” Wright said.”We’re going to have to intervene and use some non-market forces.”Repeating a widely shared accusation made against Beijing, Wright said China had used its rare earth stockpiles to manipulate global prices.”As soon as you start to invest, someone floods the market and crushes the prices. (China has) chilled investments,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Christians in Nigeria face an “existential threat,” as right-wing political allies including Senator Ted Cruz push claims of “Christian mass murder” that experts say are false.Narratives of “Christian genocide” and “persecution” in Nigeria have been bubbling up on social media in recent months, finding purchase among the American and European far right.Africa’s most populous country is embroiled in numerous conflicts that experts say have killed both Christians and Muslims without distinction.But according to Trump, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria.””Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform, without providing evidence to support his claims.Trump said he is naming Nigeria a “country of particular concern” — a State Department designation for nations “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom.”Claims of Christian persecution have also been pushed by some in Nigeria, where ethnic, religious and regional divisions have flared with deadly consequences in the past and still shape the country’s modern politics.Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and largely Christian south.Its northeast has been in the grip of jihadist violence for more than 15 years by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives and forced two million people from their homes.The northwest is rife with gangs known as “bandits” who attack villages, killing and kidnapping residents.Central Nigeria sees frequent clashes between mostly Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers — giving the violence there an air of religious tension, in a region that has seen sectarian violence in the past.Experts say the conflict is primarily over land, which is being squeezed by expanding populations and climate change.- ‘Indiscriminate’ violence -Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, said in mid-October that “Boko Haram and Islamic State “are killing more Muslims than Christians.”Ladd Serwat, a senior Africa analyst at the US-based monitoring group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), told AFP that jihadist violence in Nigeria is “indiscriminate.”According to ACLED data, 52,915 civilians have been killed through targeted political killings since 2009, including those carried out by Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, “ethnic/communal militias in the central and northern regions, violence by groups commonly described as ‘bandits,’ and self-defence militias.”The data also showed there have been at least 389 instances of violence targeted at Christians between 2020 and 2025, with at least 318 fatalities. There were 197 violent attacks against Muslims during the same period, with more than 400 deaths.Trump’s comments come as a lobbying effort is underway on behalf of Nigerian separatists.Moran Global Strategies, representing the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, wrote to US congressional staffers in March warning of the “persecution of Christians” in the country, according to documents disclosed as part of American foreign lobbying rules.Biafra was the name of a short-lived breakaway state that declared independence in 1967, sparking a brutal civil war that lasted until 1970.

The ongoing budget deadlock in the United States is threatening food security of around 42 million Americans who receive food stamps at the start of each month to help get by. The US Department of Agriculture had said that no money could be paid out on Saturday due to the shutdown.But on Friday, a federal judge helped ease some of the uncertainty at the last minute by ordering the government to use emergency funds to ensure the continuity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has helped low-income Americans for more than 60 years.The idea that SNAP assistance could be paused is “truly unprecedented,” Meredith Niles, a professor specializing in food policy at the University of Vermont, told AFP.”This has never happened in more than 50 years of the program, despite numerous other government shutdowns,” she said. Here’s how SNAP works, and what its absence could mean for those affected. – How does it work?While food stamps date back to the 1930s during the Great Depression, the SNAP program was created in 1964 and expanded nationwide in 1974, according to Niles from the University of Vermont.Today, around one-in-eight Americans receive SNAP benefits each month based on income, according to the Department of Agriculture. This costs the federal budget nearly $100 billion. Beneficiaries have a payment card, similar to a debit card, which they can use in supermarkets, grocery stores, and some farmers’ markets. The cards are usually reloaded automatically on the first day of the month.To qualify for SNAP, along with being low-income, recipients must meet certain requirements — which can vary from working at least 30 hours a week to being medically deemed unable to work due to disability.  “It is an important program for many Americans,” Niles said, adding that recipients receive an average of around $6 per person day.Every day items like fruit, vegetables, canned goods, chips, and pasta are covered by SNAP, while alcohol and pre-prepared meals are not. From January 2026, around ten states also plan to exclude the purchase of soft drinks using SNAP vouchers.- Impact of SNAP pause – Nationwide, around nine percent of grocery purchases are paid for using SNAP, according to Niles, with a quarter of all purchases using the vouchers made at the retail giant Walmart.”We’re talking about billions and billions of dollars that aren’t going to be in the economy,” if SNAP payments are frozen in future, she added. If SNAP payments are halted, Niles said she expects people will try to compensate by dipping into their savings, skipping meals, or deferring other expenses like repaying loans or attending medical appointments.Households will receive retroactive benefits once the suspension is lifted and federal funding is made available again, according to a US Department of Agriculture document shared with AFP. – Beyond party politics -SNAP is an issue that transcends politics, with millions of Democrats and Republicans registered to receive the support. Close to 24 million SNAP recipients live in states that voted for the current Republican President Donald Trump, while approximately 18 million beneficiaries live in places that voted Democrat in last year’s presidential race, according to AFP analysis. In the event of non-payment, states have invited recipients to make use of food banks — which could be swiftly overwhelmed by the demand.According to the latest available data, 13.5 percent of American households did not have guaranteed access to sufficient quantity and quality of food in 2023, the highest level since 2014. In September of this year, the Department of Agriculture announced it would stop gathering the data for this report. 

President Donald Trump reiterated Friday that he wants testing of US nuclear weapons, but again failed to clarify whether he meant live explosions in an order that has provoked global tension and confusion..Asked by an AFP journalist whether he meant conducting underground blasts for the first time in the United States since 1992, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I am not going to say.””You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing, yeah. Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going do it,” he said on his way to spend Halloween at his golf resort in Florida.No country other than North Korea has conducted an explosive nuclear weapon test for decades. Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996 respectively.The 79-year-old Republican first made his surprise testing announcement by social media post on Thursday, minutes before entering a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.The announcement came in the wake of Russia saying it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone.Iran, whose own controversial nuclear program was bombed by US forces on Trump’s orders earlier this year, called Trump’s directive “regressive and irresponsible.””A nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons. The same bully has been demonizing Iran’s peaceful nuclear program,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media.- ‘Pretty responsible’ -Japanese atomic bomb survivors group Nihon Hidankyo sent a letter of protest to the US embassy in Japan.The order “directly contradicts the efforts by nations around the world striving for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons and is utterly unacceptable,” the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group said in the letter obtained by AFP.Amid concern abroad and some in the US Congress, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was moving “quickly” to follow Trump’s orders and said testing was “responsible.””The president was clear. We need to have a credible nuclear deterrent,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “Resuming testing is a pretty responsible, very responsible way to do that. I think it makes nuclear conflict less likely.”But China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the United States to “earnestly abide” by a global nuclear testing ban.United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said through a spokesman that “nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances.”The United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes.- Russia pushes back -Russia pushed back against any idea that its recent weapon systems tests could justify a return to live test explosions.The Kremlin questioned whether Trump was well-informed — and implied Russia would conduct its own live detonations if Trump does so first.The recent weapons drills “cannot in any way be interpreted as a nuclear test,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. “We hope that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump.”According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Russian stockpile of deployed and stored warheads is 4,309, compared to 3,700 for the United States and 600 for China — figures that don’t take into account hundreds of other warheads scheduled for dismantling.The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between July 16, 1945, when the first was conducted in New Mexico, and 1992.Its two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II make it the only country to have used the weapons in combat.The last US nuclear test explosion was in September 1992, a 20-kiloton underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.Then-president George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992 that has been continued by successive administrations.burs-sms-dk/bjt

A senior member of the US Federal Reserve on Friday said he voted against cutting interest rates this week because inflation was “too high” for comfort. Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid was one of two people who dissented on Wednesday’s vote, at which the US central bank backed a quarter percentage-point rate cut. The other dissent was Fed governor Stephen Miran, who wanted a larger rate cut. “The labor market is largely in balance, the economy shows continued momentum, and inflation remains too high,” Schmid said in a statement. “I view the stance of policy as only modestly restrictive,” added Schmid, who has a vote on the Fed’s rate-setting committee this year. “In this context, I judged it appropriate to maintain the policy rate at this week’s meeting.”US consumer inflation data came in hot at 3.0 percent in the 12 months to September, though the Fed uses a different measure that is also stuck above the two-percent target.The Fed’s rate decision brought interest rates down to between 3.75 percent and 4.00 percent, easing the burden slightly on businesses and consumers looking to borrow money.Speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the decision was published, Fed chair Jerome Powell said that while there had been broad agreement on a cut this time, there was less clarity on what would happen next.”There were strongly differing views about how to proceed in December,” he said. “A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it.”Speaking in Washington on Friday, President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor sounded a different note on the health of the world’s largest economy, flagging the recent consumer inflation data which came in slightly below expectations. “We’re glad that they reduced the interest rate,” Kevin Hassett, the director of Trump’s National Economic Council, told reporters. “The Fed is flying blind a little bit, but we have a government shutdown, which is a negative for the economy,” he said. “And against that backdrop, the idea that the Fed would be backing away from their promised rate reductions in the future is puzzling to us.”Among the 10-2 majority voting for a quarter-point cut this week was Fed governor Christopher Waller, a Trump nominee who is on the five-person shortlist to take over from Powell when he steps down as Fed chair next May. “All of our forecasts have inflation coming back down the target,” he told Larry Kudlow on Fox Business on Friday.”Yes, it’s high, it’s been high, but it’s fully coming back. And the biggest concern we have right now is the labor market,” he said. “So this is why I’m still advocating we cut policy rates in December, because that’s what all the data is telling me to do.”Futures traders slashed their expectations of a December rate cut, and now see only a 65 percent probability of a quarter-point move in December, according to CME Group data. 

The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater is a smaller venue that typically features everything from A-list classical music recitals to dance performances to film screenings.The venue in the US capital’s venerable arts complex is also available for rent, and on Thursday, it hosted a different kind of event: a conference on “ending Christian persecution” organized by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).The series of lectures bookended by prayers is emblematic of the overhaul at the center engineered by Donald Trump since his return to the White House in January.”The calculation has changed now — it has become more of a government arts organization,” Andrew Taylor, director of the arts management program at American University, told AFP.During his first term, the Republican billionaire never attended the annual fundraising gala for recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, as many of those artists vocally opposed his policies.This time, Trump moved quickly to make the center his own, purging the board of trustees of its Democratic appointees and ousting its president as part of a wider assault on federally funded cultural institutions he deems too “woke.”He installed himself as the chair of the board for the towering white monument to slain president John F. Kennedy facing the Potomac River, which opened in 1971.In less than a year, some observers say, the status of the center — a public-private partnership — as a nonpartisan celebration of artistic excellence has largely evaporated.Taylor said the center was now “fully aligned with the current administration, and not an independent arbiter of artistic excellence anymore.”The center’s new president, former diplomat Richard Grenell, has repeatedly spoken about what he calls “common sense and traditional programming.”Some artists have canceled their appearances, and the producers of smash Broadway hit “Hamilton” have scrapped a run scheduled to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.Meanwhile, in September, a prayer vigil was organized at the center for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, after his murder in Utah.- ‘Back to life’ -At the CPAC event, near a large American flag, the keynote speaker was Jennifer Korn, the faith director of the White House Faith Office. She praised Trump for creating the office, which he did in February to “protect religious liberty,” according to an executive order — a concept already established in the Constitution’s First Amendment.But she quickly shifted to echo some of the administration’s talking points about “anti-Christian bias” and the dangers of “transgender books” for children.In the Concert Hall, Grenell has ordered the National Symphony Orchestra to play the national anthem ahead of each performance, rather than just to open the season.The shift in tone at the Kennedy Center — down to the portrait of a brooding Trump in the entryway — may be bad for business.A Washington Post analysis published Friday reveals that ticket sales for orchestra, dance and theater performances are down sharply in 2025 as compared to last year.Since early September, 43 percent of tickets remained unsold for typical concerts or musical performances, the paper said — as opposed to just seven percent of seats available last year.The decline in sales has not stopped Trump from undertaking major renovations at the center — from the carpets to the chandeliers to the heating — and musing about putting his name on the complex.”I just inspected the construction on The Kennedy Center. It is really looking good!” Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform.”My people are doing a really great job! We are bringing this building back to life. It was dead as a doornail, but it will soon be beautiful again!”

The US government shutdown barreled towards its second month Friday and the pain is spreading fast — with federal workers broke, food aid under threat and millions of Americans caught in the crossfire.What started on October 1 as a Washington sideshow has morphed into a slow-motion implosion of public services and a growing economic convulsion, with federal offices dark and President Donald Trump’s government stuck in neutral.Republicans have warned that millions will begin feeling the full force of the shutdown for the first time this weekend, as unresolved fights over funding for health care and food stamps make them hungrier and poorer.”Most people haven’t noticed up until this week. Thanks to Donald Trump finding a way to pay our troops last month, that pain was delayed,” Republican House Whip Tom Emmer told Fox News. “But, starting this week… this is starting to become very real.”At the heart of the fight is the expiry of insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for more than 20 million people. Premiums are expected to skyrocket when the new sign-up period opens Saturday.Democrats refuse to reopen the government without a deal to extend the subsidies but Trump’s Republicans say they won’t talk until the lights are back on.As Washington bickers, the shutdown is starting to pinch where it really hurts — the dinner table. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps 42 million low-income Americans buy groceries, is set to run out of funds this weekend. A federal judge in Rhode Island gave the program a temporary reprieve, ordering the White House on Friday to use emergency funds to pay for food stamps during the shutdown, in a case brought by charities and other groups. But the administration has been arguing that it cannot legally tap that fund, and it was not immediately clear, despite the ruling, that Americans would get their weekend SNAP payments.CNN reported that it asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins if she would comply with a judge’s order to release the money and she responded: “We’re looking at all the options.”- Air travel hit -WIC — the food aid program for pregnant women, new mothers and infants — is also on the brink, while “Head Start” programs that provide nutrition and family support to 65,000 infants could begin shuttering from Saturday. With uncertainty over food stamps giving Americans heartburn, communities have begun banding together to help vulnerable neighbors.Kerry Chausmer, 55, from Bethesda in Maryland, said she was buying groceries for two local families in need — at a personal cost likely to total at least $200.”I think that you can judge a culture by how they help the people that need it most… We’re failing, and I am honestly despondent and embarrassed to be an American,” she told AFP.The administration says it has scraped together enough money to cover Friday’s payday for active-duty troops, but acknowledges that they could go unpaid by mid-November. And US air travel was beginning to suffer badly, with New York area airports John F Kennedy, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia all under restrictions due in part to reduced staffing at control towers. A ground stop was in effect at JFK until mid-afternoon, with delays clocking in at 60 to 100 minutes. Delays above three hours were expected at Newark while some passengers were bracing to be held up by as much as five hours at LaGuardia. Trump, whose shadow hangs over every Republican move, has largely stayed out of the shutdown fight, although lawmakers on both sides hope he’ll swoop in to broker a deal on the health care subsidies. He repeated his pledge to sit down with Democrats over their demands — but only after the shutdown is over.”We’ll meet very quickly, but they have to open up the country,” he told reporters. “It’s their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday that the agency had thwarted a “potential terrorist attack” planned in the northern US state of Michigan over Halloween weekend.Patel did not provide any details about the alleged plot but CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, said it was “inspired” by the Islamic State (IS).”This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” Patel said in a post on X.”Through swift action and close coordination with our local partners, a potential act of terror was stopped before it could unfold.”CBS said five people between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested Friday and one or more of them may have known a former member of the Michigan National Guard who was arrested in May for planning an IS-inspired attack on a US Army site in suburban Detroit.The Federal Bureau of Investigation had been monitoring an online discussion about the plot for some time, the broadcaster said.According to CNN, members of the group had chatted online about carrying out an attack, practiced with automatic weapons at a shooting range and made references to “pumpkin day.”In a post on Facebook, the police department in Dearborn, a city west of Detroit, said the FBI had conducted operations there early Friday.”We want to assure our residents that there is no threat to the community at this time,” the police department said.FBI agents were spotted searching homes in the Dearborn area Friday morning.