Chinese President Xi Jinping has declared that China is "not afraid" amid rising tensions in the ongoing trade war with the United States. Speaking in Beijing during a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Xi warned that “there are no winners in a trade war” and stressed China’s resilience against “unjust suppression.” The statement comes after the Trump administration hiked tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. Xi emphasized China’s commitment to self-reliance and vowed to remain focused despite external pressures. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that President Donald Trump is "optimistic" about striking a trade deal with China. Leavitt made the comment in response to a reporter who asked why Trump hasn't called Chinese President Xi Jinping amid their escalating trade war. China's decision came hours after White House officials reportedly called their counterparts in Beijing, warned them not to retaliate and told...

  President Donald Trump is going to "make America's showers great again" by relaxing rules restricting water flow, the White House says. The US president is ordering the energy secretary to rescind a change introduced by Barack Obama that restricted multi-nozzle showers from discharging over 2.5 gallons of water per minute overall. This served "a radical green agenda that made life worse for Americans", the White House said, as Trump criticized the "ridiculous" amount of time he says it takes to wet his hair in the shower. Biden and Obama introduced these limits to increase efficiency and conserve water. Where their focus was on the environment, Trump’s order aims to “make America’s showers great again,” a White House fact sheet says. Trump’s order to free the nozzle from regulations would help him wash his “beautiful hair”.  Trump’s order calls on Energy Secretary Chris Wright to reverse the definitions of what constitutes a showerhead usable in the ...

  Three American citizens jailed over a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been released and transferred to U.S. custody, following high-level diplomatic talks focused on security cooperation and mining agreements. The Congolese presidency confirmed the Americans were handed over after their sentences were commuted last week, allowing them to serve their remaining time in the United States. The handover was finalized during a visit to Kinshasa by Massad Boulos, senior Africa adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, who met with President Felix Tshisekedi amid ongoing negotiations between both nations. The talks come as the U.S. expresses interest in Congo’s proposed minerals-for-security deal, with the State Department recently signaling openness to partnerships involving critical minerals. Tina Salama, spokesperson for President Tshisekedi, said the move reflects growing bilateral cooperation. The release also followed appeals from the Trump administration...

President Donald Trump called on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily halt a judge's order requiring his administration to return by the end of the day a Salvadoran man who the government has acknowledged was wrongly deported to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday ordered the administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the end of Monday, in response to a lawsuit filed by the man and his family. A lower federal appeals court - the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - declined on Monday to freeze the judge's order. Xinis had found that the U.S. government had no lawful authority to detain and deport Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in Maryland legally with a work permit, and ordered his return by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. He was deported on March 15. "The United States cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations in advance, least of all when a court imposes an absurdly compressed, mandat...

  A South African court found a Nigerian televangelist , Timothy Omotoso not guilty on 32 charges Wednesday, eight years after he was jailed on accusations of raping and sexually assaulting several young women from his church, bringing the high-profile rape case to an end. Eastern Cape High Court judge Irma Schoeman said the prosecution had mishandled its case against Tim Omotoso, 66, senior pastor at the Jesus Dominion International (JDI) church based in South Africa. Omotoso, along with his alleged recruiters, Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani, appeared in the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha, where the verdict was delivered. The trio faced a range of serious charges, including racketeering, human trafficking, rape, and sexual assault. Omotoso, arrested in 2017, fell to his knees and appeared to pray after the judge found him not guilty of all charges.Omotoso, arrested in 2017, fell to his knees and appeared to pray after the judge found him not guilty of all charges, which inc...

  President Trump signed an executive order targeting the ticket reselling industry during a signing ceremony from the White House. The new order will allow the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to go after the reselling industry, which has used computer bots and algorithms to buy large blocks of tickets and resell them at extremely higher prices.  Musician Kid Rock, who also appeared at the Republican National Convention last July, was present at the signing in the Oval Office.  The president also took several questions from the press, including on the possibility of additional sanctions on Russia, immigration, and tariffs. “I’ve spoken to him over the years about it and it bothers him,” Trump said about Kid Rock during the executive order’s signing. “It bothers a lot of other artists. They go out with a $100 ticket, and it sells for $2,000 the following night.” Trump admitted that he hadn’t known much about price gouging, “but I checked it out, and it is a...

Iran would have no alternative but to acquire a nuclear weapon if attacked by the United States or its allies, an adviser to the country's supreme leader warned on Monday, following a threat by Donald Trump. The remarks by Ali Larijani to the state news broadcaster were among the clearest yet by a senior political figure indicating Tehran could pursue a bomb if threatened. "If you make a mistake on the nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move toward nuclear weapons because it must defend itself," Larijani told IRIB. "Iran does not want to take this path, but when you apply pressure, it finds a secondary justification and has no other choice. The people will push for it, arguing that it is necessary for the country’s security." Larijani has served as speaker of the parliament, national security chief, nuclear negotiator and head of the state broadcaster.  His standpoint openly represent Iran's ultimate decision-maker, Ali Khamenei. "We are not moving t...