Afghanistan earthquake kills more than 800

A massive rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan Monday, after a strong earthquake and multiple aftershocks flattened homes in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people, the Taliban authorities said.

The earthquake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from Kabul to neighbouring Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

More than 1.2 million people likely felt strong or very strong shaking, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Near the epicentre in the east of Afghanistan, around 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in remote Kunar province alone, chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Another 12 people were killed and 255 injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province, he added.

"Numerous houses were destroyed," interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP.

The majority of Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick homes that are vulnerable to collapse.

Some of the most severely impacted villages in remote Kunar provinces "remain inaccessible due to road blockages", the UN migration agency warned in a statement to AFP.

The Taliban authorities and the United Nations mobilised rescue efforts to hard-hit areas. The defence ministry said 40 flight sorties had so far been carried out.

A member of the agricultural department in Kunar's Nurgal district said people had rushed to clear blocked roads to isolated villages, but that badly affected areas were remote and had limited telecoms networks.

"There is a lot of fear and tension... Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives," Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad told AFP.

He said that many living in quake-hit villages were among the more than four million Afghans who have returned to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years.

"They wanted to build their homes here."

The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, was 27 kilometres from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the USGS.

Nangarhar and Kunar provinces border Pakistan, with the Torkham crossing the site of many waves of Afghan returnees deported or forced to leave, often with no work and nowhere to go.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added his condolences to those shared by the Taliban government and several nations.

"I stand in full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier today," he said.

- Frequent quakes -

After the initial quake, a series of at least five aftershocks followed throughout the night, with the strongest being one of magnitude 5.2 just after 4:00 am (2330 GMT Sunday).

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Nangarhar province was also hit by flooding overnight Friday to Saturday, which killed five people and destroyed crops and property, provincial authorities said.

In October 2023, western Herat province was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake struck the impoverished eastern border province of Paktika, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Ravaged by four decades of war, Afghanistan is already contending with a series of humanitarian crises.

Since the return of the Taliban, foreign aid to Afghanistan has been slashed, undermining the already impoverished nation's ability to respond to disasters.

In high-stakes summit, Trump, not Putin, budges

Donald Trump wanted to go bold -- a high-pomp, high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin to test whether the Russian leader would compromise on the Ukraine war.

In the end, it looks like it was Trump, not Putin, who budged.

Putin, visibly delighted as he stepped foot in the West for the first time since ordering the 2022 invasion, made no apparent concession at the talks at an Alaska air base.

In a brief joint media appearance with Trump, who unusually took no questions, Putin again spoke of addressing the "root causes" of the Ukraine war and warned Kyiv and Europeans against disrupting "emerging progress" with the United States, the top defender of Ukraine under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.

Trump, who bills himself as a master negotiator, acknowledged there was "no deal" but said there were "very few" areas of disagreement, although he was vague on what they were.

But posting hours later on his Truth Social account, Trump said he wanted Russia and Ukraine to "go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war" and not a ceasefire.

Trump's own administration had been pushing a ceasefire for months, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing on after intense pressure from Trump. Putin had repeatedly rejected truce offers and kept up attacks on Ukraine, seeking to maximize battlefield advantage.

- Putin again woos Trump -

Trump had vowed to be firm with Putin after wide criticism of the US president's cowed appearance before him at a 2018 summit in Helsinki.

But Putin again found ways to flatter and trigger Trump, who in his second term constantly speaks unprompted about his many grievances.

Putin told Trump before the cameras that there would have been no war -- which Putin himself launched -- if Trump were president in 2022 rather than Biden, a frequent Trump talking point.

Trump bemoaned the effect on ties with Putin of what he again called the "hoax" of the findings by US intelligence that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help him.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said that "one of the most interesting things" Putin told him was about... the US voting system.

Trump said approvingly that Putin -- who has held power in Russia since 2000 and was declared the winner of elections last year with 88 percent of the vote -- told him of the risks of mail-in ballots and said of Trump's 2020 loss to Biden, "You won that election by so much."

US election authorities and experts have found no evidence of wide-scale fraud from mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, which Trump, uniquely in US history, refused to concede.

- 'Shameful' or wait and see? -

Trump's Democratic rivals voiced outrage that the summit secured no breakthrough and said it only served to normalize Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

"By quite literally rolling out the red carpet, Trump has legitimized Russia's aggression and whitewashed Putin's war crimes. It's shameful," said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Experts said it was too early to write off the summit completely, as much is not known about what was discussed behind closed doors. Trump will meet Zelensky on Monday at the White House.

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, which backs US restraint, said that Trump's critics have been proven wrong in saying he would "give Ukraine to Putin or force Kyiv to accept surrender."

"His focus has been and remains getting Putin to the negotiating table. Mr. Trump deserves credit rather than condemnation for his efforts so far," she said.

But Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said an initial read was that "Putin scored a victory by showing up, and Trump's limited words and tense demeanor left Putin to control the narrative."

"For a man so attached to showmanship, Trump unusually allowed Putin to be the star of what should have been the Trump show," she said.

Trump hits Scottish golf course as protesters set to rally

US President Donald Trump played golf on the first full day of his visit to Scotland Saturday, as protesters prepared to take to the streets across the country.

Trump emerged from his Turnberry resort with son Eric and waved to photographers following his arrival in Scotland on Friday evening.

His presence has turned the picturesque and normally quiet area of southwest Scotland into a virtual fortress, with roads closed and police checkpoints in place.

Officers on quad bikes or horses, others on foot with sniffer dogs, patrolled the famous course -- which has hosted four men's British Opens -- and the sandy beaches and grass dunes that hug the course.

The 79-year-old touched down Friday at nearby Prestwick Airport, as hundreds of onlookers came out to see Air Force One and try to catch a glimpse of its famous passenger.

The president has professed a love of Scotland, where his mother was born, but his controversial politics and business investments in the country have made for an uneasy relationship.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac, Trump immediately waded into the debate surrounding high levels of irregular migration.

"You better get your act together or you're not going to have Europe anymore," he said, adding that it was "killing" the continent.

Trump's five-day visit has divided the local community.

"A lot of people don't trust Trump and I'm one of them. I think the man is a megalomaniac," retiree Graham Hodgson told AFP.

"He's so full of himself. I think he's doing a lot of damage worldwide with his tariffs. And I think it's all for the sake of America, but at the moment I think America is paying the price as well for his policies."

But at Prestwick Airport a boy held a sign that read "Welcome Trump" while a man waved a flag emblazoned with Trump's most famous slogan -- "Make America Great Again".

"I think the best thing about Trump is he's not actually a politician yet he's the most powerful man in the world and I think he's looking at the best interests of his own country," said 46-year-old Lee McLean, who had travelled from nearby Kilmarnock.

"Most politicians should really be looking at the best interests of their own country first before looking overseas," he told AFP.

As the police rolled out a massive security operation, the Stop Trump Coalition announced demonstrations on Saturday near the US consulate in Edinburgh and another in Aberdeen, where Trump owns another golf resort.

Police are also monitoring any other protests that might spring up near Turnberry.

Trump has no public meetings in the diary for Saturday, but he is due to discuss trade with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Trump calls for MAGA base to end 'Epstein Files' obsession

President Donald Trump urged his political base on Saturday to stop attacking his administration over files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a case that has become an obsession for conspiracy theorists.

Trump's Department of Justice and the FBI said in a memo made public last week there was no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a "client list" or was blackmailing powerful figures.

They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide at a New York prison in 2019, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.

The move was met with incredulity by some on the US far-right -- many of whom have backed Trump for years -- and strident criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

"What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!" Trump said Saturday in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.

"We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein," he added, referring to his "Make America Great Again" movement.

Many among the MAGA faithful have long contended that so-called "Deep State" actors were hiding information on Epstein's elite associates.

"Next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,'" furious pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tweeted after last week's move. "This is over the top sickening."

Far-right influencer Laura Loomer called for Trump to fire Bondi over the issue, labeling her "an embarrassment."

But on Saturday, Trump came to the defense of his attorney general, suggesting that the so-called "Epstein Files" were a hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party for political gain, without specifying what benefits they hoped to attain.

On Saturday, Trump struck an exasperated tone in his admonishment of his supporters.

"For years, it's Epstein, over and over again," he said. "Let's...not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about."

The US president called for Patel and Bondi to instead focus on what he terms "The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020," which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The Republican has repeatedly perpetuated unfounded conspiracy theories about his loss being due to fraud.

He called for the FBI to be allowed to focus on that investigation "instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein. LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE'S GREAT!"

Trump, who appears in at least one decades-old video alongside Epstein at a party, has denied allegations that he was named in the files or had any direct connection to the financier.

"The conspiracy theories just aren't true, never have been," said FBI Director Patel on Saturday, hours before Trump's social media post.

Not everyone, however, seemed to be on the same page.

US media reported that Dan Bongino -- an influential right-wing podcast host whom Trump appointed FBI deputy director -- had threatened to resign over the administration's handling of the issue.

Trump's dealmaker name on the line in high stakes tariff talks

President Donald Trump set out early in his second term to fulfill a decades-long desire of reshaping US trade with the world, but the main outcomes so far have been discord and uncertainty.

The real estate tycoon, who has staked his reputation on being a consummate dealmaker, embarked on an aggressive strategy of punitive tariffs that his administration predicted could bring "90 deals in 90 days."

The score so far? Two. Three if you count a temporary de-escalation agreement with China.

The 90-day deadline was due on July 9, with dozens of economies including the European Union, India and Japan facing tariff hikes without a deal.

But days before it arrived, Trump issued a delay to August 1.

It was his second extension since unveiling the tariffs in April -- reigniting the "TACO Theory" that has gained traction among some Wall Street traders.

The acronym coined by a Financial Times writer stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out," highlighting the president's inclination to roll back policies if markets turn sour.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, part of Trump's multi-leader trade team, has reportedly been a key advocate for the pauses.

But the label has irked Trump and he insisted Tuesday that the deadline had always been in August.

"I didn't make a change. A clarification, maybe," Trump said at a cabinet meeting.

This week, he published more than 20 letters dictating tariff rates to world leaders including in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.

"We invite you to participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, the Number One Market in the World, by far," Trump wrote.

He also issued letters to the EU, Canada, Mexico and Brazil -- although Brazil was not previously targeted by the steeper "reciprocal" tariffs and Canada and Mexico face a separate tariff regime.

The documents "appear to be Trump's way of combatting the TACO label," said Inu Manak, a fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"He wants to show that he's not just kicking the can down the road on the deadline, but that he means business," she told AFP.

"He's likely frustrated that there isn't a parade of deals coming in."

- 'Politically complicated' -

"The shift in his rhetoric from 'there is no cost -- the foreigners pay the tariffs' to 'there is a short term cost, but there will be a long term gain' has put him in a more politically complicated position," said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that foreign countries foot the bill for tariffs, although the reality is more complicated with US companies generally paying them.

"In the public's mind, the tariffs are the pain, and the agreements will be the gain," said Reinsch, a former US commerce official.

He warned that without trade agreements, Americans could conclude Trump's strategy was flawed and deem his tactics a failure.

While the 90-deal goal was probably unrealistic, Reinsch said, "it's clear that three (UK, China, Vietnam) with only one actual text made public (UK) is too small."

- Deflecting attention -

Meanwhile, Trump has announced a 50 percent levy on copper imports starting August 1.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said officials would also conclude investigations into semiconductors and pharmaceuticals -- which could lead to tariffs -- at month-end.

"That timing is not coincidental -- it lines up with the new deadline of August 1, adding more pressure and deflecting attention from any lack of deals that get made in that time frame," Manak said.

Analysts believe Trump's supporters will likely not pay much attention to trade talks unless the tariffs fuel inflation.

"Trade policy is not top-of-mind for the average voter," said Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures.

She expects the Trump administration's focus on boosting US manufacturing and reinvigorating the defense industrial base means it could be willing to bear some political heat to achieve those objectives.

But it's a delicate balance.

Voters will likely pay more attention if Trump follows through on his August tariff threats, Manak said.

"And we could see a negative market reaction as well, which would not go unnoticed."

'Into a void': Young US college graduates face employment crisis

Over two years, Rebecca Atkins filed more than 250 job applications, and felt like every one was going into a gaping chasm -- one opened by the highest unemployment rate for recent college graduates in the United States in more than a decade.

"It was extremely dispiriting," said the 25-year-old, who graduated in 2022 with a degree in law and justice from a university in the US capital Washington. "I was convinced that I was a terrible person, and terrible at working."

At 5.8 percent, unemployment for young, recent graduates from US universities is higher than it has been since November 2013, excluding 15 months in the Covid pandemic, according to official data.

Moreover, it has also remained stubbornly higher than overall unemployment -- an extremely unusual situation, analysts say.

And while overall US unemployment has stabilized between around 3.5 and 4 percent post-pandemic, unemployment for recent college graduates is only trending higher.

The labor market for new grads has weakened consistently since 2022, with new hiring down 16 percent in 2025, year-over-year, according to payroll firm Gusto.

Analysts say the trend is likely a result of cyclical post-pandemic hiring slowdowns -- particularly in new-grad-heavy sectors like technology, finance, and business information -- and overall economic uncertainty in the tumultuous early days of the Trump administration.

That is scant consolation to the droves of young people -- often saddled with huge amounts of student debt -- on the hunt for their first full-time job.

"All of the jobs that I wanted, I didn't have the requirements for -- often entry-level jobs would require you to have four or five years of experience," said Atkins, who bounced between part-time roles and working in restaurants for years.

- 'Extremely high uncertainty' -

"It is definitely an outlier," said Matthew Martin, senior US economist at Oxford Economics. "You'd expect that the white collar positions would not be as exposed to cyclical downturns (as other jobs)."

Job openings for professional and business services have declined by more than 40 percent since 2021, according to research authored by Martin, with tech sector jobs disproportionately impacted.

"Part of that is a slower pace of hiring as they right-size after they hired at very high rates in 2022, but at the same time the sheer volume of decline also points to the impact of AI," he told AFP, signaling the potential of artificial intelligence technology to eliminate some entry-level roles.

Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, said slowing tech sector hiring as companies focus on holding on to their talent "disproportionately" affects recent graduates.

The hiring slowdown is also a result of US President Donald Trump's far-reaching policy swings since taking office in January, said Daco.

"The experience of extremely high uncertainty when it comes to the administration's trade, tax or other policies has caused many firms to potentially slow down or freeze their hiring."

He cautioned, however, against jumping to the conclusion that AI had already begun to eliminate entry-level roles, pointing to a so-far limited uptake of the technology by most sectors.

"The reality is that a lot of firms are still in the early stages of adoption of these new technologies, and I think it would be a bit premature to assume that we've reached a level of use... that would have a visible macro impact."

- 'Constantly working' -

The United States is perhaps the most expensive country in the world for a university education, with an average cost of $27,673 per year for an undergraduate degree, according to official data.

In 2020, 36.3 percent of US undergraduates took on federal student loans to help meet those spiraling costs, the data shows, with the Education Data Initiative putting average student loan debt for graduating students at $29,550.

Even without student loan debt, however, the weakening job market can leave some recent graduates feeling like they are stretched thin.

Katie Bremer, 25, graduated from American University with a dual-degree in Environmental Science and Public Health in 2021.

It took her more than a year to find a full-time job -- one not in her field -- and even then, she had to supplement her income by babysitting.

"I felt like I was constantly working," she told AFP.

"It seems overwhelming, looking at the costs, to try and make your salary stretch all the way to cover all the milestones you're supposed to reach in young adulthood."

There is little hope on the immediate horizon, with analysts warning that it will likely take some time for the labor market to resolve itself, with part of that adjustment likely seeing students picking different majors.

"It's likely to get worse before it gets better," said Martin.

Looking at her peers, many of whom are saddled with huge debt and struggled to find work, Bremer says she worries for their collective long-term future.

"There have been times where I've thought 'how is my generation going to make this work?'"

'Mass casualty event': US rescuers search for victims in Texas flash floods

Rescuers were on Saturday searching for more than 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed 24 people -- with more rain on the way.

"At this point we're at about 24 fatalities," Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told an evening press conference on Friday, as rescue teams scrambled to locate stranded residents in the south-central Texas region.

Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a previous news conference.

On Saturday, the National Weather Service warned of more extremely heavy rain and "locally catastrophic" flash flooding to come in the region, located northwest of San Antonio.

"Flash flooding is already occurring," the NWS said in an alert, calling on residents to move to higher ground, and to "act quickly to protect your life."

In Kerrville on Saturday, the usually calm Guadalupe River was flowing fast, its murky waters filled with debris.

"It rained in a day what it usually rains in a year," said local resident Gerardo Martinez, 61.

"The water reached the top of the trees. About ten meters or so," he added. "Cars, whole houses were going down the river. That was pretty bad."

- 'Still missing' -

Friday saw a massive rescue operation launched, with around 500 personnel and 14 helicopters helping in the search for survivors.

Texas military official Major General Thomas Suelzer told reporters at least 237 people had been rescued or evacuated by emergency personnel, with 167 rescues performed using helicopters.

On Friday evening, the county sheriff said as many as 25 children from the Camp Mystic Christian summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were missing.

Lieutenant Governor Patrick put the number of missing children at "about 23."

On Saturday, US media reported that two of the missing girls were dead, citing their families.

The Heart O' The Hills summer camp, located about a mile away from Camp Mystic, confirmed on Saturday that its director Jane Ragsdale was among the dead.

They were among the roughly 750 children at Camp Mystic, a girls summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River, which rose 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes with heavy rainfall overnight.

"That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication," Patrick said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a disaster declaration to boost resources for counties in the region, and President Donald Trump has promised federal support.

Vice President JD Vance on Saturday described the disaster as "an incomprehensible tragedy."

- 'Mass casualty event' -

Freeman Martin, director of the state's public safety department, said continuing heavy rain had made conditions challenging for rescuers.

Martin called the disaster a "mass casualty event."

State and local officials warned against residents traveling to the area which includes camp grounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads impassable.

Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the flash flood caused by heavy overnight rain of up to 12 inches -- one-third of Kerr County's average annual rainfall.

Governor Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from the top of a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter, as floodwaters raged below.

The Texas National Guard sent rescue teams and the US Coast Guard joined efforts as well.

- 'Another wave' -

Kerr County officials have repeatedly said they were unaware of an impending flood overnight from Thursday to Friday.

"We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County judge Rob Kelly said on Friday, adding that the region has "floods all the time."

"This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States," he added, referring to the Guadalupe River.

Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.

"It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this," Reyna said.

"Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people's houses and you know, it's just crazy," she added.

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.

But scientists say in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and intense.

In Kerrville, Martinez said Friday's flooding was some of the worst he had ever seen.

"There is a saying here that there's a flood every hundred years," he said. "We had it. We've never seen anything like that and hopefully we won't ever see it again."

What is the state of play with Trump's tariffs?

With sweeping tariffs on friend and foe, US President Donald Trump has roiled financial markets and sparked a surge in economic uncertainty -- and tensions are mounting days before a fresh volley of higher duties are due to kick in.

Here is a rundown of what Trump has implemented in his second presidency, with levies on dozens of economies set to bounce from 10 percent to a range between 11 percent and 50 percent on Wednesday.

- Global tariffs -

While Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners in April, the rate is set to rise for dozens of economies including the European Union and Japan come Wednesday.

To avoid higher levies, countries have been rushing to strike deals with Washington.

So far, the UK and Vietnam have struck pacts with the United States, while China has managed to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties.

There are notable exceptions to the duty.

Immediate US neighbors Canada and Mexico, which were separately targeted over illegal immigration and fentanyl, are not affected by the 10 percent global tariff.

Also off the hook are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber -- although these are sectors that Trump is mulling levies on. Gold and silver, as well as energy commodities, are excluded too.

- China focus -

China has borne the brunt of Trump's levies. The world's two biggest economies engaged in an escalating tariffs war this year before a temporary pullback.

Both sides imposed triple-digit tariffs on each other's goods at one point, a level effectively described as a trade embargo.

After high level talks, Washington agreed to lower its levies on Chinese goods to 30 percent and Beijing slashed its own to 10 percent.

The US level is higher as it includes a 20 percent tariff imposed over China's alleged role in the global fentanyl trade.

- Autos, metals -

Trump has also targeted individual business sectors in his second term.

In March, he imposed a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum imports and last month doubled them to 50 percent.

He has also rolled out a 25 percent tariff on imported autos, although those imported under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower levy.

Trump's auto tariffs impact vehicle parts too, while the president has issued rules to ensure automakers paying vehicle tariffs will not also be charged for certain other duties.

- Canada, Mexico -

Canadian and Mexican products were initially hard hit by 25 percent US tariffs, with a lower rate for Canadian energy.

Trump targeted both neighbors saying they did not do enough on illegal immigration and the flow of illicit drugs across borders.

But he eventually announced exemptions for goods entering his country under the USMCA, covering large swaths of products. Potash, used as fertilizer, got a lower rate as well.

- Other threats -

Beyond expansive tariffs on Chinese products, Trump ordered the closure of a duty-free exemption for low-value parcels from the country. This adds to the cost of importing items like clothing and small electronics.

Trump has also opened the door for 25 percent tariffs on goods from countries importing Venezuelan oil. He has threatened similar "secondary tariffs" involving Russian oil.

And he has ordered investigations into imports of copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals that could eventually bring new duties.

- Legal challenges -

Trump's sweeping tariffs on countries have faced legal challenges. The US Court of International Trade ruled in May that Trump had overstepped his authority with across-the-board global levies.

It blocked many of the duties from going into effect, prompting the Trump administration's challenge, and a US federal appeals court has since allowed the duties to remain while it considers the case.

US Senate opens debate on Trump's controversial spending bill

US senators debated into the early hours of Sunday Donald Trump's "big beautiful" spending bill, a hugely divisive proposal that would deliver key parts of the US president's domestic agenda while making massive cuts to social welfare programs.

Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which would extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beef up border security.

But Republicans eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to the country's debt.

The Senate formally opened debate on the bill late Saturday, after Republican holdouts delayed what should have been a procedural vote -- drawing Trump's ire on social media.

Senators narrowly passed the motion to begin debate, 51-49, hours after the vote was first called, with Vice President JD Vance joining negotiations with holdouts from his own party.

Ultimately, two Republican senators joined 47 Democrats in voting "nay" on opening debate.

Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the United States' independence day.

"Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the vote to begin debate.

"Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our Country 'go down in flames' than do the right thing," he said in an earlier post.

Democrats are bitterly opposed to the legislation and Trump's agenda, and have vowed to hold up the debate. They began by insisting that the entirety of the bill be read aloud to the chamber before the debate commences.

The bill is roughly 1,000 pages long and will take an estimated 15 hours to read.

"Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. "So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that's what it takes to read it."

If passed in the Senate, the bill would go back to the House for approval, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes -- and are facing stiff opposition from within their own ranks.

- Divisive cuts -

Republicans are scrambling to offset the $4.5 trillion cost of Trump's tax relief, with many of the proposed cuts to come from decimating funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans.

Republicans are split on the Medicaid cuts, which will threaten scores of rural hospitals and lead to an estimated 8.6 million Americans being deprived of health care.

The spending plan would also roll back many of the tax incentives for renewable energy that were put in place under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.

On Saturday, former Trump advisor Elon Musk -- with whom the president had a public falling out this month over his criticism of the bill -- called the current proposal "utterly insane and destructive."

"It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future," said Musk, who is the world's richest person, and owns electric vehicle company Tesla and space flight firm SpaceX, among others.

Independent analysis also shows that the bill would pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest.

The bill is unpopular across multiple demographic, age and income groups, according to extensive recent polling.

Although the House has already passed its own version, both chambers have to agree on the same text before it can be signed into law.

Fans celebrate 'Squid Game' finale with Seoul parade

Thousands of fans gathered in Seoul on Saturday to celebrate the final "Squid Game" season, ending a global Netflix hit that is seen as a symbol of South Korea's cultural clout.

The third and final season was released Friday, concluding the series that sees desperate people compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games for a massive cash prize.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he had "poured everything" into the series, which launched nearly four years ago.

"So while it's sentimental to see it end," he said, "there's also a sense of relief".

Fans gathered near Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace, led by marchers dressed in the bright pink uniforms worn by the show's mysterious masked agents.

They were followed by others carrying oversize toys from one of the games featured in the series, along with the show's flag.

Park Sang-gyu, a fan who stayed up all night watching the final season, said the dystopian drama was "ultimately a story about people".

"As you watch, you realise it's not just about the games -- it reflects many aspects of real life."

The walls of the Seoul Metropolitan Library were lit up with key scenes, including Young-hee -- the giant motion-sensing animatronic doll featured in one of its brutal games.

Lee Byung-hun, who played the masked Front Man overseeing the competition, said the show had become "something of a cultural phenomenon".

"One that has drawn one of the boldest lines in the history of Korean content," he said.

The first two seasons of the series are among Netflix's most-watched shows, and in 2022, Hwang and the show's leading actor, Lee Jung-jae, became the first Asian men to win Emmy Awards.

The final season follows its hero Gi-hun, played by Lee, as he returns to the ultra-violent games to dismantle them from within after surviving the first round.

Along with filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning 2019 thriller "Parasite" and K-pop sensation BTS, "Squid Game" is considered one of the most powerful examples of South Korea's rise as a global cultural force.

US inflation edges up as Trump renews criticism of Fed chief

The US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure logged a mild uptick Friday while spending weakened, triggering another tirade by President Donald Trump against the central bank chair for not cutting interest rates sooner.

"We have a guy that's just a stubborn mule and a stupid person," Trump told an event at the White House, referring to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. "He's making a mistake."

With Powell's term as Fed chief coming to an end next year, Trump hinted at his choice of successor: "I'm going to put somebody that wants to cut rates."

The president's remarks came after government data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbing 2.3 percent last month from a year ago in May.

This was in line with analyst expectations and a slight acceleration from April's 2.2 percent increase, but still a relatively mild uptick.

Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the PCE price index was up 2.7 percent, rising from April's 2.6 percent uptick, the Commerce Department's report showed.

But consumer spending declined, after Trump's fresh tariffs in April dragged on consumer sentiment. PCE dropped by 0.1 percent from the preceding month, reversing an earlier rise.

While Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners since returning to the White House in January -- alongside higher rates on imports of steel, aluminum and autos -- these have had a muted effect so far on inflation.

This is in part because he held off or postponed some of his harshest salvos, while businesses are still running through inventory they stockpiled in anticipation of the levies.

But central bank officials have not rushed to slash interest rates, saying they can afford to wait and learn more about the impact of Trump's recent duties. They expect to learn more about the tariffs' effects over the summer.

- 'Clear weakening' -

"The experience of the limited range of tariffs introduced in 2018 suggests that pass-through to consumer prices is intense three-to-six months after their implementation," warned economists Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen of Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note.

They flagged weakness in consumer spending, in part due to a pullback in autos after buyers rushed to get ahead of levies.

And spending on services was tepid even after excluding volatile components, they said.

"There has also been a clear weakening in discretionary services spending, notably in travel and hospitality," said Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, in a note.

This reflects "the chilling effect of the plunge in consumer sentiment," he added.

Between April and May, the PCE price index was up 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department report showed.

As a July deadline approaches for higher tariff rates to kick in on dozens of economies, all eyes are also on whether countries can reach lasting trade deals with Washington to ease the effects of tariffs.

For now, despite the slowing in economic growth, Pearce said risks that inflation could increase will keep the Fed on hold with interest rates "until much later in the year."

Ex-members of secret US abortion group fear return to dark era

They were once part of an underground network that helped an estimated 11,000 women get abortions before the US Supreme Court established a constitutional right to the procedure in 1973.

More than 50 years on, former members of the "Jane Collective" are watching in disbelief as America slides back toward the era they risked everything to end.

"I was crushed," recalls Abby Pariser, speaking to AFP ahead of the third anniversary on June 24 of the landmark Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and erased the federal right to terminate a pregnancy.

"I was infuriated that they could do this to women," adds the 80-year-old Pariser at her home in Huntington, a suburb of New York City, wearing a T-shirt declaring "Bold Women. Change History."

Like many of the now-retired women, Pariser devoted her life to defending reproductive rights at a time when abortion was widely illegal in the United States.

The story began in Chicago in the late 1960s.

Students, mothers, and young professionals -- "ordinary women," as they describe themselves -- came together, helping others access clandestine abortions.

They risked prison as they negotiated prices with doctors willing to perform the procedures -- and some even learned to do them themselves.

"It was just unbelievable that this would occur in this time and era, that we would go back to something this devastating," says a fellow ex-Jane, Sakinah Ahad Shannon, her voice breaking with emotion.

The seismic reversal -- and the release of the HBO documentary "The Janes" -- brought renewed attention to their story. Several former members have since spoken out, recounting the hardships women faced before the Roe ruling.

- Mobsters and back-alley surgeries -

At the time, access to contraception was severely limited, and the very notion of abortion was steeped in taboo, recalls Laura Kaplan, a former Jane and author of a book on the subject, who now lives in the iconic New York village of Woodstock.

Out of public view, women resorted to desperate measures to end unwanted pregnancies -- from ingesting poison to seeking help from underground abortionists.

The illicit trade was dominated by corrupt doctors and Mafia intermediaries, who charged exorbitant fees. Abortions typically cost around $500, Kaplan remembers.

"You could rent a decent one-bedroom apartment in Chicago for $150 a month at the time," she says. "Just to give you a sense of how expensive abortions were."

Beyond the financial burden, women were often subjected to sexual assault, humiliation, or medical malpractice. Some did not survive.

"There were wards in every major city's public hospitals for women suffering the effects of illegal abortions -- whether self-induced or performed by someone else -- and they were dying," Kaplan adds.

The Jane network emerged in response to this grim reality, aligned with the broader women's liberation movement of the time.

They adopted pseudonyms, opened a phone hotline, and raised funds to help women who could not afford the procedure.

Some later trained to perform dilation and curettage procedures themselves.

- Hope -

"Women paid $10, $50 -- whatever they had in their pockets," says Kaplan.

But in the spring of 1972, seven members of the collective, including Pariser, were arrested during a police raid.

"It was scary," she recalls, describing a night in jail and the disbelief of officers who had stumbled upon an all-female clandestine network.

Still, the others pressed on.

"We knew what we were doing was committing multiple felonies every day we worked," Kaplan adds with a smile. "We were well aware of that."

Had Roe not been decided, they could all have spent their lives behind bars -- a prospect that, today, no longer feels remote.

Since the federal right to abortion was overturned, more than 20 states have banned or sharply curtailed access to the procedure, forcing women to travel across state lines or resort -- once again -- to illegal means.

Such restrictions have already led to multiple preventable deaths from delayed miscarriage care, according to reporting by ProPublica.

Access could shrink further with the return to power of President Donald Trump, who takes credit for reshaping the Supreme Court during his first term and paving the way for its reversal on abortion.

Observers are closely watching for moves to restrict access to abortion pills, which now account for the majority of terminations.

"I think we were very naive," reflects Pariser, believing the battles of their youth had secured lasting progress.

"The people who were shooting doctors and killing them in clinics or churches on Sunday -- these are maniacs. These are terrible people."

Just this month, a gunman suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker was reportedly found with a hit list targeting abortion providers, activists and politicians who support access to abortion.

Even so, the Janes believe today's generation of women are better informed, with higher reproductive health literacy and broad access to online resources.

"Just like we said no 50 years ago, they're saying no today -- and that's what gives me hope," says Ahad Shannon.

Trump's remarks in full after US strikes on Iran

President Donald Trump delivered brief remarks from the White House late Saturday after the US military carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Here is what Trump said in full:

"A short time ago the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

"Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

"Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

"Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.

"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.

" Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.

"For 40 years, Iran has been saying, 'Death to America, Death to Israel.'

"They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty, we lost over 1,000 people.

"And hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate, in particular, so many were killed by their general Qasem Soleimani.

"I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

"I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel.

"I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done.

"And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

"Hopefully we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that's so.

"I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan 'Razin' Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

"With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.

"Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

"But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.

"There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

"Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, will have a press conference at 8 am at the Pentagon.

"And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular, God. I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military, protect them.

"God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you."

'Secret police': Trump's immigration enforcers spark fury and fear in US

After night fell on the outskirts of Los Angeles on Thursday, around 50 people clanged metal pots and blasted air horns outside a hotel in a noisy bedtime protest targeting US immigration agents.

The "No Sleep For ICE" rally underscored growing anger at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a once obscure agency that has become the focal point of President Donald Trump's migrant crackdown.

"They terrorize our community the entire day. Why do they get a good night's sleep?" said Nathanael Landaverde, 23, who banged a dismantled frying pan at the protest.

Dramatic images have shown federal agents, often masked and sometimes armed with assault rifles, chasing down migrants and handcuffing them at courthouses, farms and on the streets.

ICE officials have also detained some US citizens for allegedly intervening in arrests, including a mayoral candidate in New York this week.

The heavy-handed approach has sparked fear among immigrants and infuriated many Americans, particularly in liberal cities such as Los Angeles, where large-scale street protests erupted this month over ICE raids.

"If they don't sleep they're not gonna do their job effectively. They're gonna get less people," added Landaverde, as passing vehicles honked in apparent support for the late-night rally.

It was not certain whether ICE agents were staying at the three-star hotel, but protest organizers claimed to have photo evidence.

Dozens of people danced to a deafening cacophony as they waved signs reading "No rest for ICE" and "ICE out of LA" towards the hotel, where some guests peered through the curtains.

One woman simply screamed into a megaphone. Another man wore earmuffs as he blasted distorted white noise through a speaker.

"They're ripping families apart, and it's horrifying to watch in my community. They can't sleep if they're gonna do that here," said Juliet Austin, 22, who was playing a small blue accordion.

- 'Secret police' -

Trump was elected to a second term in large part for his promise to deport thousands of migrants.

But alongside their aggressive tactics, critics have denounced federal immigration agents for wearing face masks to hide their identities -- a highly unusual but legal practice in US law enforcement.

"At what point will we as a nation find ourselves with a secret police?" Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute think tank, wrote last month.

"For the Trump administration, turning masked raids into standard practice fits into a wider effort to dodge accountability for potentially illegal and unconstitutional actions," he added.

In California, lawmakers have introduced the "No Secret Police Act" that would restrict federal agents from wearing masks.

Federal officials have rejected this criticism by claiming that agents wear masks to protect them from potential reprisals.

Meanwhile, ICE has frequently boasted about its activities and posted pictures of detained migrants on social media.

And it crucially still enjoys Trump's support, who last weekend praised ICE agents' "incredible strength, determination, and courage."

Still, anger over ICE looks unlikely to go away as long as immigration arrests continue, and protesters Thursday were adamant they would not back down.

"I think it's a modern Gestapo here in America," said Austin, a dance teacher.

"This city is not the one to mess with... We're not gonna let it happen. We're not tired," she added.

Macron, on Greenland visit, berates Trump for threats against the territory

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday criticised US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland, as he made a visit to the Danish autonomous territory.

"That's not what allies do," Macron said as he arrived in Nuuk, Greenland's capital.

Macron is the first foreign head of state to visit the vast territory -- located at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Arctic -- since Trump's annexation threats.

Trump, since returning to the White House in January, has repeatedly said America needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.

Denmark has also repeatedly stressed that Greenland "is not for sale."

Macron said his visit was aimed at conveying "France's and the European Union's solidarity" for "the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and dozens of Greenlanders waving their territory's red-and-white flags, were on hand to greet the French president.

Macron kicked off his six-hour visit with talks on board a Danish frigate with Frederiksen and Nielsen.

He was to later visit a glacier to see firsthand the effects of global warming. A visit to a hydroelectric plant was initially scheduled but was cancelled at the last minute.

Macron's trip to Greenland was "a signal in itself, made at the request of Danish and Greenlandic authorities", his office said ahead of the trip.

- 'Not for sale' -

The Danish invitation to Macron contrasts sharply with the reception granted to US Vice President JD Vance, whose one-day trip to Greenland in March was seen as a provocation by both Nuuk and Copenhagen.

During his visit to the US Pituffik military base, Vance castigated Denmark for not having "done a good job by the people of Greenland", alleging they had neglected security.

The Pituffik base is an essential part of Washington's missile defence infrastructure, its location putting it on the shortest route for missiles fired from Russia at the United States.

Polls indicate that the vast majority of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants want to become independent from Denmark -- but do not wish to become part of the United States.

Unlike Denmark, Greenland is not part of the European Union but is on the list of Overseas Territories associated with the bloc.

The Arctic has gained geostrategic importance as the race for rare earths heats up and as melting ice caused by global warming opens up new shipping routes.

Copenhagen in January announced a $2 billion plan to boost its military presence in the Arctic region.

NATO also plans to set up a Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Norway above the Arctic Circle, as Russia aims to bolster its military presence in the region.

During his visit, Macron plans to discuss Arctic security and how to include the territory in "European action" to contribute to its development, while "respecting its sovereignty", his office said.

- Mount Nunatarsuaq -

Macron scheduled glacier visit was to Mount Nunatarsuaq, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Nuuk, to see firsthand the effects of global warming on the frontlines in the Arctic.

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, according to a 2022 study in scientific journal Nature, and Greenland's ice sheet melted 17 times faster than the historical average during a May 15-21 heatwave, a recent report showed.

France intends to "massively reinvest in the knowledge of these ecosystems," following in the footsteps of famed French explorer Paul-Emile Victor who carried out multiple expeditions to Greenland, Macron's office said.

Greenlandic authorities recently designated Victor's hut, built in 1950 in Quervain Bay in the north, as a historic structure.