China is the third-biggest buyer of U.S. agricultural products. Now that it has punched back with tariffs on American goods, farmers can expect to feel the pain.
Ukraine's president sent his condolences to local families and said five residential buildings had been damaged
A Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 14 people and left dozens of others wounded, according to regional head Serhii Lysak.
Six of the dead were children, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, who grew up in the city.
Images from the scene showed at least one victim lying in a playground cordoned off by police. The head of the city's defence administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said a ballistic missile had landed in the centre of a residential area.
One video showed a large section of a 10-storey block of flats obliterated by the attack and victims lying on the road outside.
The attack is among the deadliest on Kryvyi Rih since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
The city also came under attack earlier this week when a building in the centre was struck. Officials said four people were killed in that attack.
Zelensky wrote on social media that at least five buildings had been damaged in Friday's strike: "There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn't want a ceasefire, and we see it."
His home city is about 40 miles (70km) from the front line in eastern Ukraine and with a population of 600,000 it is reputed to be the longest city in Europe.
Kilmar Abergo Garcia was deported last month along with hundreds of alleged gang members
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
Kilmar Abergo Garcia, who was was expelled last month along with hundreds of alleged gang members, must be returned to the US by no later than Monday, US District Judge Paula Xinis ordered.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a recent court filing that deporting Mr Garcia was an "administrative error". An immigration judge granted him a legal protection from deportation in 2019.
The White House has alleged Mr Garcia is an MS-13 gang member, but his lawyers argued there is no evidence to prove that he is gang-affiliated, adding that he has never been charged with a crime in any country.
The Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 ruling, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the liberal justices in dissent, amounted to an early victory for the Trump administration before the court.
Ukraine's president sent his condolences to local families and said five residential buildings had been damaged
A Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 14 people and left dozens of others wounded, according to regional head Serhii Lysak.
Six of the dead were children, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, who grew up in the city.
Images from the scene showed at least one victim lying in a playground cordoned off by police. The head of the city's defence administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said a ballistic missile had landed in the centre of a residential area.
One video showed a large section of a 10-storey block of flats obliterated by the attack and victims lying on the road outside.
The attack is among the deadliest on Kryvyi Rih since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
The city also came under attack earlier this week when a building in the centre was struck. Officials said four people were killed in that attack.
Zelensky wrote on social media that at least five buildings had been damaged in Friday's strike: "There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn't want a ceasefire, and we see it."
His home city is about 40 miles (70km) from the front line in eastern Ukraine and with a population of 600,000 it is reputed to be the longest city in Europe.
Nintendo says it will no longer open pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the United States next week, following the introduction of steep tariffs on exports from Japan.
It said then that US pre-orders would open in a matter of days, but it has been now been forced to revise its plans.
"Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the US will not start April 9 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions," it said in a statement.
It says it still intends to launch the console on June 5, as originally planned.
Nintendo confirmed the announcement applies to the US market only, so UK pre-orders will not be affected.
Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries.
Japan, where the gaming company is based, has been hit with a 24% tariff - a cost which the firm must swallow or pass onto consumers.
Trump says that his global tariffs will boost the US economy and protect jobs - but Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called them a "national crisis" on Friday according to local media.
"The government will do its utmost to respond to this crisis, involving the entire country," he said.
The decision may raise concerns amongst fans that Nintendo could be considering a change in prices in the US.
On Wednesday, it revealed the Switch 2 would cost $449.99 in the US, with a physical copy of its big game Mario Kart World coming in at $79.99 - though it can be purchased for less if bought with the console.
It is not known whether Nintendo factored potential tariffs into its original pricing - though, even if it did, it is unlikely it would have expected the rate to be as high as the 24% announced by Trump.
Clothing from well-known American brands like the Gap could see a price increase, as they rely heavily on Asian countries for production
US President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs - or import taxes - for nearly every country in the world could push prices up on almost all the staples Americans routinely buy, from clothes to coffee.
After declaring a national economic emergency on Wednesday, Trump announced new tariffs on billions of dollars of goods of at least 10%. For countries he has deemed the "worst offenders", the rates can go as high as 50%. They start taking effect on 5 April.
Economists have warned the new levies - and those that other countries impose in retaliation - could push prices up for Americans across the board, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said that they will increase inflation.
That's because the companies importing the goods may pass the costs of the tariffs on to customers or simply bring fewer products into the country, creating a limited supply.
Here are six everyday items that could become more expensive for American consumers.
Clothing – from Target to H&M to the Gap
The "worst offenders" about to be hit with the highest tariffs include the clothing manufacturing hubs of Vietnam, China and Bangladesh. The three - among the top five largest apparel importers to the US - could soon see levies ranging from 34% to 46% charged on their products.
That means major US department stores like Target and Walmart, where Americans often turn for affordable clothing, and some familiar apparel brands may feel the pressure.
The Gap, an American clothing retailer that also operates Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta, sources about 21% of its clothing from Vietnam, according to an analysis by Prof Sheng Lu at the University of Delaware's Fashion & Apparel Studies department. Another 37% of its clothing comes from India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
H&M, known for its inexpensive fashions, manufactures most of its clothing in China and Bangladesh.
The tariffs could bring an "unfair burden to American families, particularly lower-income households", warned the United States Fashion Industry Association in a statement on Wednesday.
Vietnam is open to working out a deal with the administration to avoid the tariffs, Trump has said. China, on the other hand, has retaliated with its own steep levies.
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Coffee and other imported foods
Almost all of the coffee consumed in the US comes from outside the country, meaning that morning cup, whether brewed at home or at a favourite shop, could soon become a bigger burden on Americans' wallets.
The US mostly sources its coffee from Brazil and Colombia, which are subject to the baseline 10% tariffs. Vietnam is also a key importer of certain types of coffee.
Walter Haas, owner of San Francisco-based coffee roastery Graffeo, told the Washington Post that once tariffs hit, his company will feel it "immediately – literally the next day."
If they remain in place, those cost increases will be "permanently baked into the price consumers pay", he added.
Other imported foods found on the countertops in many US kitchens could suffer a similar fate, especially those coming from European Union nations, who will all be hit by a 20% tariff. Prices of shelf staples like olive oil, which is primarily imported from Italy, Spain and Greece, could rise further.
Shoes, one of the most basic necessities and also one of Americans' biggest splurges, could become more expensive, including the beloved sneakers Nike Air Force 1s and Adidas Sambas. Both sportswear companies rely heavily on Asian factory hubs for their inventories, with about half of Nike's shoes and 39% of Adidas' shoes made in Vietnam.
In 2024, the US imported more than $27bn worth of footwear, mostly from China and Vietnam, which was subject to tariffs of about $3bn, according to data by Prof Lu.
Now, that tax amount could nearly triple.
UBS analysts told Reuters that, all in all, retailers may not be able to fully swallow the costs, and would need to raise prices by 10% to 12% to offset the levies on Vietnamese manufacturers.
Alcohol, including European wine and beer
France is one of the biggest foreign suppliers of wine to the US, and its winemaking industry has expressed anxiety about what the 20% EU tariffs will mean for their business.
The Bourgogne Wine Board, which represents producers in the French region of Burgundy, said the US tariffs will deliver "a serious blow" to both exporters and American consumers.
"The risk with these additional tariffs is that they could push our wines past a psychological price threshold," warned Laurent Delaunay, president of the Bourgogne Wine Board - meaning above what buyers feel comfortable paying.
Price increases could be seen at restaurants, especially for imported beers (like Guinness) or drinks using foreign spirits (like a negroni). Separately, Trump expanded an aluminium tariff to include all canned beer, which could also make it more expensive for those who stay home.
UBS analysts told Reuters that large alcohol sellers would have to hike prices up to 5% to cover the tariffs if they choose not to absorb the costs themselves.
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Electronics, like iPhones and video gaming consoles
Cell phones, TVs and video game consoles tend to be big-ticket purchases, and the latest US tariffs could make them even bigger-ticket.
China, as well as Taiwan and South Korea, are all top exporters of electronics to the US.
Almost all iPhones are made in China, although some are also made in India (which, too, is on the "worst offenders" list with a 26% tariff). Samsung, meanwhile, has significant production operations in Vietnam.
It's still unclear how these major tech companies will respond to the new levies. But Japanese video gaming company Nintendo announced on Friday that it is delaying pre-orders of its Switch 2 console, saying it needs to "assess the potential impact of tariffs."
Shein and Temu shopping hauls
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Americans may soon find that loading up fast-fashion hauls from Chinese online retailers like Temu or Shein with a few swipes on their phones has gotten more expensive.
Along with imposing the country-level tariffs, Trump has signed an executive order ending an exemption that prevented charging the levies on small-dollar shipments from China.
The exemption is referred to as the "de minimis" loophole, and it had allowed shipments under $800 (£620) to enter the US duty-free. Experts say it was a big reason why Temu and Shein were able to keep their costs low.
The order means those companies may have to pay taxes for the first time on the clothes they often send directly to customers.
It is unclear just how much costs for these goods could rise with the elimination of the loophole, but the White House says small shipments sent to the US through the international postal network could be subject to a tax of "either 30% of their value, or $25 per item."
That tax would then increase to $50 per item after 1 June, according to the White House.
Immigrant groups and Democratic states pushed back on a Trump administration request for the Supreme Court to allow curbs on birthright citizenship to go into effect in some places.
Rather than address the legality of curbing birthright citizenship, government lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a long-simmering debate about a tool used by federal judges, the nationwide injunction.
For years, the singer and songwriter has avoided the spotlight. But she is breaking her silence to look back on her self-titled debut and its powerful hit “Fast Car.”
“I think there’s some assumption with me that I’m coming out of the ’60s folk tradition,” Chapman said. “You can slot me in there, but it wasn’t my foundation. I wasn’t aware of that music in Cleveland in the ’70s, as a young Black girl.”
He ascended to the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church before allegations of misconduct in 2018, and an investigation led Pope Francis to strip him of his title and priesthood.
Theodore E. McCarrick in Rome in 2013. An investigation in 2018 concluded that he had molested a teenage altar server in 1971 and 1972, while he was a monsignor in New York City.
Mr. Duffy, the U.S. transportation secretary who has characterized the New York City subway as dirty and dangerous, rode a train with Mayor Eric Adams on Friday.
Given the country’s extreme polarization, there is something to be said for giving voters a voice in judicial elections unconstrained by district lines in gerrymandered states.
Neither Donald Trump nor Xi Jinping looks like they are going to back down on tariffs soon
American companies looking to sell into the huge Chinese market have just taken a big hit. A 34% price increase on all US goods entering the country will knock some out of here altogether.
This is especially bad for US agricultural producers. They already had 10 or 15% tariffs on their produce entering China, in response to the last round of Trump tariffs. Now, if you add 34% on top of that, it is probably pricing most of them out.
Beijing doesn't seem too worried about looking elsewhere for more chicken, pork and sorghum and – at the same time – it knows it is whacking the US president right in his heartland.
Globally, all of this has analysts worried.
The problem is that supply chains have become so international, components in any given product could be sourced from all corners of the planet.
So, when the ripples of economic distress start spreading from country to country, it could have potentially catastrophic consequences for all trade.
US agricultural producers hoping to export to China will be among the hardest hit
Most concerning is that the world's two greatest economies are now at each other's throats with no indication that either is preparing to backdown.
Just take the timing of Beijing's announcement.
The Chinese government revealed its promised "resolute countermeasures" to Trump's latest tariffs in a written statement from the finance ministry at 18:00 local time (10:00 GMT), on a Friday night, which is also a public holiday.
The timing could mean several things.
1. It wanted to somewhat bury the news at home, so as to not spook people too much.
2. It simply made the announcement as soon as its own calibrations had been finalised.
3. Beijing had given up on the hope of using the small window it had before Trump's 54% tariffs on Chinese goods took effect next week to do a deal. So, the government just decided to let it rip.
If it is the last of these reasons, that is pretty bleak news for the global economy because it could mean that a settlement between the world's superpowers could be harder to reach than many had expected.
Another indicator of President Xi's attitude towards President Trump's tariffs can be seen by what he was doing when they were announced.
Elsewhere, governments may have been glued to the television, hoping to avoid the worst from Washington.
Not here.
Xi and the six other members of the Politburo Standing Committee were out planting trees to draw attention to the need to counter deforestation.
It presented a kind of calmness in the face of Trump, giving off a vibe along the lines of: do you're best Washington, this is China and we're not interested in your nonsense.
There is still room for the US and China to cut some sort of deal, but the rhetoric does not seem to be heading that way.
Another possible path is for China to increase its trade with other countries – including western nations once seen as close allies of the US – and for these new routes to essentially cut America out of the loop.
Again, this would hurt not only US companies but also US consumers who will already be paying higher prices thanks to Trump's tariffs.
Ukraine's president sent his condolences to local families and said five residential buildings had been damaged
A Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 14 people and left dozens of others wounded, according to regional head Serhii Lysak.
Six of the dead were children, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, who grew up in the city.
Images from the scene showed at least one victim lying in a playground cordoned off by police. The head of the city's defence administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said a ballistic missile had landed in the centre of a residential area.
One video showed a large section of a 10-storey block of flats obliterated by the attack and victims lying on the road outside.
The attack is among the deadliest on Kryvyi Rih since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
The city also came under attack earlier this week when a building in the centre was struck. Officials said four people were killed in that attack.
Zelensky wrote on social media that at least five buildings had been damaged in Friday's strike: "There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn't want a ceasefire, and we see it."
His home city is about 40 miles (70km) from the front line in eastern Ukraine and with a population of 600,000 it is reputed to be the longest city in Europe.
US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline to comply with a law that requires TikTok's parent company "ByteDance" to sell the popular video app to an American buyer.
The 75-day extension comes as the administration finalises a plan to keep the popular app running in the US.
The social media platform, which is used by 170 million in the US, initially went dark for several hours before Trump took office as the app prepared to shutter in the US due to a law passed by Congress.
"The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed," Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social on Friday.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Yasin Akgul, a photojournalist for AFP, was arrested at his home
It was early morning on 23 March when the police came to Yasin Akgul's door in Istanbul – while his children were still in bed. Just hours before, the Turkish photojournalist had returned home from covering mass anti-government protests. Now he was a wanted man.
"I went to the door and saw there was a lot of police," he says. "They said they had an arrest order for me but gave me no details. My son was awake, and I couldn't even tell him what was happening as I didn't get it myself."
Akgul, 35, has seen "plenty of action" in more than a decade as a photojournalist with the AFP news agency – from war-torn Syria to IS-controlled Iraq. On home soil in Turkey, he has been beaten by the police several times while taking pictures, he says - including on World Peace Day – and has been detained "so many times".
But being arrested at home was a first.
"A chill fell over the house," he tells us. "In my work, at the protests, I have seen a lot of violence, and tear gas, but having the police in my home, I felt more afraid."
Akgul was one of seven journalists arrested in dawn raids. All had been covering the protests sparked by the arrest of the city's opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu – the main political rival of Turkey's long-time leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The protesters say the mayor's arrest over corruption charges, which he denies, is politically motivated – an attempt to end his hopes of becoming the country's next president.
The authorities had banned the protests but had been unable to stop them.
Akgul is facing charges of "taking part in illegal rallies and marches". He says the aim is clear – to stop others taking pictures of the biggest unrest in Turkey in more than a decade.
He was in the thick of it – gas mask on – when he took some of the most iconic images of the night.
YASIN AKGUL/AFP
Akgul's photos from the protests were seen around the world
His photos show a man dressed as a whirling dervish (a dancing mystic) being pepper-sprayed by a line of riot police – striking images of a battle for the soul of Turkey that went around the world, before landing him behind bars.
"This message is to all the journalists," he says. "Don't shoot (take pictures), don't speak, don't film. They are making other journalists afraid that if they go back into the field, they could face the same thing." The fact that he works for an international news agency, AFP, makes that message even louder, he believes.
It has been received and understood.
"After we were arrested, many freelance journalists could not shoot the next day. Everyone was afraid," he told us, sitting on his couch at home with his wife Hazal by his side.
Their three-year-old daughter, Ipek, lay on the couch, holding her father's hand. Their son, Umut, eight, listened on, wearing a Harry Potter-style hat and glasses.
Akgul believes those arrested were carefully chosen – among them seasoned photojournalists. "They are trying to remove us from the front lines," he says.
Plenty of his friends – fellow journalists - have already removed themselves, leaving Turkey because they faced charges or feared they would.
For now, his family is among many here worrying that they could be torn apart by the courts. The government says the judiciary is independent. Human rights groups say judges are under political control, and Turkish democracy is being eroded, year on year.
President Erdogan – who has many loyal supporters - retains a tight grip on the levers of power. He says the protests are "street terrorism" and accuses the opposition of leading "a movement of violence". He has predicted that the demonstrations will wane.
As Yasin Akgul was being released from prison on the morning of 27 March, the BBC's Mark Lowen was being deported from Istanbul, after 17 hours in detention. He was given papers saying he was "a threat to public order".
The authorities later said – after the BBC reported the story – that he had been deported because he lacked accreditation.
It's not only journalists who are at risk. One of the mayor's own lawyers was detained briefly "on fictitious grounds", according to a social media post that Ekrem Imamoglu sent from his cell in a high security prison.
His legal team fight on, but they too are feeling the chill.
"The right to a defence, I think, is sacred. It's part of a fair trial that your lawyers should feel comfortable and safe," says Ece Guner, who is both a lawyer, and an adviser to the mayor.
"It would be a lie to say that no-one is worried, to be honest," she tells us, "but we still feel we have a duty to our country to say the truth, to preserve democracy, and the rule of law."
Lawyer Ece Guner is an adviser to the arrested mayor of Istanbul
Where does Turkish democracy stand now? Some here fear it's on its last gasp.
In the past two weeks or so – since the protests began on 19 March - around 2,000 people have been detained, according to Turkey's interior ministry.
Many of those are students and members of Generation Erdogan – those who have only known the 22-year rule of Turkey's long-time leader. Arresting them sends another message.
"It's a huge warning to young people, a loud and clear warning – don't get involved," says Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey Director for Human Rights Watch.
She says the government has also been "lashing out in all directions against perceived opposition" from any quarter, not just the mayor's Republic People's Party (CHP), which is the main opposition party here.
"Public bodies are under threat," she says. "If they speak out and use their voices with authority, there is an attempt to stifle them immediately."
She expects that the coming months will see continuing attempts to limit the protests, and "render them invisible".
That won't be hard given the government's extensive control of the media here. The huge demonstrations held so far didn't lead the bulletins on state TV and pro-government outlets, and when they were shown the protesters were referred to as terrorists.
Some families brought several generations with them to hear calls for change under a warm sun. We saw the usual heavy police presence but this time there was no tear gas, or rubber bullets. This rally was not banned.
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There were large crowds at an opposition rally on 29 March
Among the throng we met Alp, 32, who said he had come to defend democracy while there was still time. We didn't ask for a surname – many protesters prefer not to give theirs. He said he was concerned about the risk of arrest.
"The police are collecting students, and women and working people like us," he said.
"So, all of us are in danger right now. But we have to stand up. That's our only choice. If we don't do anything, if we just watch, the battle is lost already."
The opposition is promising to keep up its protests and its campaign on the streets. It's pressing for presidential elections to be brought forward from 2028.
Opposition polls suggest President Erdogan would lose to Imamoglu – if he were freed from jail and able to run as a candidate.
The president himself should not be able to run - as he is already in his second term - but there's speculation here that he could try to change the constitution.
The opposition insists there will be weekly protests from now on. If so, it looks certain that the arrests will continue.
It's unclear if Yasin Akgul's case will go to trial, but the charges against him remain. Despite the danger he hopes to keep telling the story here.
"Someone needs to do this job," he says, "and I think I am one of those people."
Five-year-old Ronin has helped Cambodians reclaim land that was once avoided for fear of landmines
A landmine-detecting rat in Cambodia has set a new world record to become the first rodent to uncover more than 100 mines and other deadly war remnants.
Ronin, an African giant pouched rat, has uncovered 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021, charity Apopo, which trains the animals, said in a statement.
Cambodia remains littered with millions of unexploded munitions following about 20 years of civil war that ended in 1998.
The Guinness Book of World Records said that Ronin's "crucial work" is making a real difference to people who have had to live with the "fear that one misstep while going about their day-to-day lives could be their last."
Apopo, which is based in Tanzania, currently has 104 rodent recruits, or HeroRATS, as the non-profit likes to call them.
The rats are trained to sniff out chemicals that are found in landmines and other weapons abandoned on battlefields. Because of their small size, the rats are not heavy enough to detonate the mines.
The rats can check an area the size of a tennis court in about 30 minutes, the charity says, whereas a human with a metal detector might take four days to clear the same land.
They can also detect tuberculosis, an infectious disease that commonly affects the lungs, far quicker than it would be found in a lab using conventional microscopy, Apopo says.
APOPO
It takes about one year to train each rat to detect unexploded landmines
Ronin's impressive work in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province has surpassed the previous record held Magawa, a rat who sniffed out 71 mines and was presented with a gold medal for his heroism in 2020.
Since Apopo's work began 25 years ago, the organisation has cleared 169,713 landmines and other explosives worldwide - more than 52,000 have been in Cambodia. The charity also works in other countries affected by war, including Ukraine, South Sudan and Azerbaijan.
There are still an estimated four to six million landmines and other exploded munitions buried in Cambodia, according to the Landmine Monitor.
The Trump administration has fired Gen Timothy Haugh - the head of both the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command - the BBC's US partner CBS has reported.
It is not clear why he was removed, but it comes after a meeting between President Donald Trump and far-right activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday. Ms Loomer reportedly urged Trump to fire specific employees whom she suspected lacked support for his agenda.
She posted on X that Gen Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble, who US media reported was also let go, "have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired."
Before their firings were reported, Trump told reporters he would get rid of any staff deemed to be disloyal.
"We're always going to let go of people – people we don't like or people that take advantage of, or people that may have loyalties to someone else," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump made the comments as reports emerged of the firings of at least three other officials at the White House National Security Council (NSC), following the reported meeting with Ms Loomer. The president did not confirm names.
The National Security Agency (NSA) referred the BBC to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs for a comment on the firings.
The White House previously told the BBC that the NSC "won't comment on personnel" matters.
The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees - Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - disclosed Gen Haugh's firing to CBS.
Himes said in a statement that he was "deeply disturbed" by the decision, CBS reported.
"I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first — I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration," Himes said.
Those fired from the NSC on Thursday included Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security, CBS reported.
It was not clear if Gen Haugh and Ms Noble's removals were connected to those at the NSC.
The firings follow a major controversy involving the NSC last month when senior officials inadvertently added a journalist to a Signal messaging thread about military strikes in Yemen.
Gen Haugh, who was not on the Signal chat, testified on Capitol Hill last week about the leak.
The extent to which that controversy played a role in the firings is unclear.
Trump has so far stood by top officials involved in the incident, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who took responsibility for the Atlantic magazine reporter being added to the Signal chat, and said it was an accident.
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Laura Loomer is a staunch Trump supporter
According to CBS, a source familiar with the situation said the Signal incident "opened the door" to looking into staff members believed not to be sufficiently aligned with Trump, while Ms Loomer's visit sealed the fate for those who were terminated.
The administration has been looking at outside meetings held by national security staff, reprimanding some for meeting people not believed to be aligned with the president, according to the source.
Aboard Air Force One en route to Miami, Florida, on Thursday, Trump praised Ms Loomer and confirmed he had met with her, calling her a "great patriot" and a "very strong person".
"She makes recommendations… sometimes I listen to those recommendations," he said. "I listen to everybody and then I make a decision."
In a phone call with the BBC, Ms Loomer said it would be "inappropriate" to divulge details of her meeting with Trump on Wednesday.
"It was a confidential meeting," she said. "It's a shame that there are still leakers at the White House who leaked this information."
She texted a statement that said: "It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings.
"I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America and our national security."
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who posted information in the chat, is now the subject of an internal review into his use of Signal and whether he complied with his department's policies, the Pentagon's office of the acting inspector general said on Thursday.
Inspector general offices routinely conduct independent investigations and audits of federal agencies, and look into possible security breaches.
Upon returning to the White House in January, Trump removed many of the government's inspectors general and has installed acting heads of the watchdogs at the defence, commerce, labour and health departments.
Democrats have called for Hegseth to resign over the scandal
The inspector general of the US Department of Defense has launched an investigation into Pete Hegseth's use of the Signal application to message other top-level officials about military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The White House faced a backlash after a journalist was inadvertently added to a group chat - where specific details of strikes were discussed - on the commercial app.
The investigation comes at the request of the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee.
The goal of the probe is to determine whether the defence secretary and other staff complied with the department policies on using messaging applications to discuss official business.
The acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a letter to Hegseth that the watchdog would also "review compliance with classification and records retention requirements".
The White House faced a host of questions after Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat in early March, in which Hegseth discussed the exact timings of planned strikes, along with weapons packages and other details.
Democrats have called for officials - including Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who created the group chat - to resign over the incident.
The Trump administration maintains the information shared in the chat was not classified.
The inspector general's letter asks Hegseth to name two points of contact for the investigation within five days, including one government employee who is familiar with the incident as well as a "member of the Senior Executive Service or a General/Flag Officer".
The review will take place both in Washington DC, and at US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, according to the letter.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was aware of the inspector general's probe.
"Those cases would have to be referred to me," she said. "They have not been referred to me."
On 26 March, Senate Armed Services Committee chair Republican Roger Wicker and ranking member Democrat Jack Reed asked the Pentagon watchdog to probe what messages were communicated in the Signal chat, defence department policy on sharing sensitive information on non-government networks and recommendations on actions the government should take.
The senators said the Signal scandal "raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information".
Well-wishers celebrate the Thai king's birthday, in Bangkok on 28 July, 2024.
A Thai court has issued an arrest warrant for an American academic under Thailand's lese-majeste law that forbids insulting the monarchy.
The army filed a complaint against Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in central Thailand, under lese-majeste and computer crime laws, according to his legal representation.
Mr Chambers and his lawyer are due to report to police on Tuesday, where charges are expected to be filed.
Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead for the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre representing Mr Chambers, told the BBC he did not know the reason for the complaint.
If convicted, Mr Chambers could face three to 15 years in prison for each lese-majeste count.
The BBC has contacted Royal Thai Police for comment.
It is rarer for the lese-majeste law to be used against foreigners, but it has happened before, Mr Akarachai said.
The army filed the complaint against Mr Chambers for "defamation, contempt or malice" towards the royal family, "importing false computer data" in a way "likely to damage national security or cause public panic", and disseminating computer data "that may affect national security", according to a letter from police received by the university's social sciences faculty on Friday, his legal representation said.
The court had already issued the arrest warrant on Monday, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre added.
If charges are filed against Mr Chambers next Tuesday, police could release him on bail or detain him, in which case his lawyer would apply for bail.
Police will then investigate and if they believe he did commit the offense, pass a case along to prosecutors, who will decide whether to indict him.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Chambers first lived and worked in Thailand 30 years ago, and has spent years since then lecturing and researching in the country, including writing books on its military.
He has not received a subpoena before, his legal representation said.
Thailand's lese-majeste law has been in place since the creation of the country's first criminal code in 1908, although the penalty was toughened in 1976.
The government says the law is necessary to protect the monarchy. Critics say the law is used to clamp down on free speech.
Mr Akarachai told the BBC lese-majeste has been used more since student-led pro-democracy protests, which also targeted the monarchy, swept the country in 2020.
Since late 2020, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre has seen more than 300 cases of lese-majeste involving more than 270 people, including 20 children under the age of 18, Mr Akarachai said.
"When people take to the streets to demand monarchy reforms, they face the risk of political prosecution. Now, when academics write or discuss about those issues in academic settings, it seems they also face the same risk of political prosecution," he said.
Last year, a reformist political party was dissolved by court order after the court ruled the party's campaign promise to change lese-majeste was unconstitutional.
The European Parliament called on Thailand last month to reform the law, which it said was "among the strictest in the world", and grant amnesty to those prosecuted and imprisoned under it.
On Wednesday, Thai parliament is set to discuss the issue of amnesty bills, Mr Akarachai said.
If I was writing a Russian language course for 2025, Lesson One would definitely contain the phrase for rollercoaster: Amerikanskiye gorki.
It means, literally, American Hills.
How appropriate.
After all, with President Donald Trump now operating the ride, and Vladimir Putin pressing some of the buttons, US-Russian relations have become one of late, with highs and lows and twists and turns.
You never know quite where you are now.
Analysing geopolitical trends is hard enough at the best of times. It's even harder careering along on the American Hills of the 47th US president.
When Trump returned to the White House in January, his direction of travel was clear: he set out to repair relations with Russia.
There were Trump/Putin phone calls, high-level US-Russia negotiations. At one point Washington voted with Moscow against a UN resolution that identified Russia as the "aggressor" in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Whenever the Trump administration exerted pressure, it was always on Kyiv, never on the Kremlin.
But a week or so ago the rollercoaster ride began.
Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV/POOL/ AFP
Trump made it known he was angry with the Russian president's comments
"I was disappointed in a certain way, some of the things that were said over the last day or two having to do with Zelensky," Trump commented on 30 March. "Because when [Putin] considers Zelensky not credible, he's supposed to be making a deal with him. Whether you like him or you don't like him."
After a day playing golf with Trump, the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, told the Guardian newspaper: "I think America, and my sense is also the president of the United States, is running out of patience with Russia."
Trump threatened to impose secondary tariffs of up to 50% on Russian oil exports if Russia was found to be dragging its heels on a Ukraine peace deal.
A bi-partisan group of US senators has gone even further.
They've drawn up a bill that would impose 500% secondary tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other resources.
Up to this point the Russian press had been welcoming the thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper last month ran a headline stating that US and Russian officials had "started speaking the same language".
This week things changed.
On Wednesday, Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper accused the Trump administration of "administrative insanity… inexperience… immaturity".
It criticised the administration's "bragging and arrogance" and "its desire to declare 'huge breakthroughs' when the first steps have barely been taken".
The same day, Komsomolskaya Pravda declared: "On Ukraine talks, Donald's mood changes as often as the wind."
Signs, perhaps, of a cold wind blowing between Moscow and Washington?
And yet when Trump announced his sweeping tariffs this week, Russia wasn't on the list.
Instead, US authorities had organised a sanctions waiver for a key Kremlin official: Putin's foreign investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Dmitriev flew into Washington for talks with the Trump administration.
A sign, perhaps, of Russia and America getting on with the business of… getting along?
But on Friday, another warning from Washington to Moscow. This time at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
"President Trump's not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not."
AFP
Marco Rubio said Trump would not fall into the "trap of endless negotiations about negotiations"
"If they're not," he continued, "then we'll have to re-evaluate where we stand and what we do moving forward about it."
This followed criticism of Russia by America's Nato allies. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Putin "continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet".
"He could accept a ceasefire now, he continues to bombard Ukraine… We see you, Vladimir Putin, we know what you are doing."
Earlier on Friday there were rumours that Trump and Putin were about to speak again on the phone. These were followed by more rumours: the White House had changed its mind.
The Kremlin said that there were no plans for a conversation.
But there are reports that American companies are planning to take part in this year's St Petersburg Economic Forum.
Okay. Stop the ride. I need to get off.
My conclusions from all of this.
Trying to follow each twist and turn on the US-Russia rollercoaster can leave you giddy and confused.
Sometimes it's better observing from a distance. It often helps in order to identify the bigger picture.
Which is this: for months Donald Trump's team avoided criticising Putin and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Key White House officials, like special envoy Steve Witkoff, have repeatedly embraced and repeated Kremlin talking points. True, Washington says it's growing impatient with Russia and has threatened tougher sanctions on Moscow. But it hasn't imposed any. Not yet.
Will it?
Is the Trump administration prepared to pressure Moscow into ending the war? And would the Kremlin allow itself to be pressured into doing so?
It's a key question as Russia's war on Ukraine continues.
Prince Andrew's involvement with an alleged Chinese spy came at a time his chief aide and other royals believed his reputation was "irrecoverable".
Previously secret documents detail how ex-advisor Dominic Hampshire saw Yang Tengbo as Andrew's "only light at the end of the tunnel" after his Newsnight interview in 2019.
The documents also reveal details of Andrew's "communication channel" with China's President Xi Jinping - including sending an annual birthday letter - and how MI5 intervened to block contact between Andrew and the alleged spy.
The documents were disclosed after the BBC and other media outlets pushed for them to be released by the courts.
Mr Yang has denied all wrongdoing.
Newly released papers include Mr Hampshire's full witness statement which he wrote in support of Mr Yang, and which he sought to keep private.
According to Mr Hampshire's statement, the prince's "communication channel" with the Chinese president was largely used to promote his Pitch@Palace start-up business initiative in China.
He said that because of "cultural differences", Mr Yang helped him draft letters to Xi, including in relation to plans for the Eurasia Fund, an investment vehicle which Andrew was seeking to raise funds for.
But the witness statement insisted there was "nothing to hide" in these exchanges – and they were full of "top-level nothingness", such as birthday wishes.
China Daily
Yang Tengbo has denied all wrongdoing
Mr Hampshire said the late Queen Elizabeth II knew about the contact and they were "perhaps even encouraged".
He described Andrew as a "valuable communication point with China" - though the document reveals that Mr Hampshire thought "China would prefer a different royal."
Commenting on the mood in the Palace after Andrew's BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, which saw him probed over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Mr Hampshire said it was "clear" the duke's "reputation was irrecoverable".
Mr Yang has lived in the UK since 2002 and became a trusted confidant to Andrew in the wake of the interview.
The fallout from the interview led the prince to withdraw from public duties and led to the end of Pitch@Palace events in the UK and China.
In December, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) said Mr Yang had formed an "unusual degree of trust" with Andrew.
It found Mr Yang had not disclosed his links to an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is involved in clandestine "political interference".
That term is used for suspected Chinese state agents who use their position to secretly influence key decision-makers in the British state, including politicians, academics and business leaders.
These agents aim to subtly and slowly make key figures amenable to the aims of the CCP in a long-term operation often referred to as "elite capture".
It was previously revealed Mr Hampshire credited Mr Yang with salvaging Andrew's reputation in China.
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