WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump delayed the start of tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month Monday after the US neighbors struck last-minute deals to tighten border measures against the flow of migrants and the drug fentanyl. Global stock markets had slumped as Trump's threat of sweeping 25 percent levies on exports from Canada and Mexico to the United States sparked fears of a global trade war. But after calls with Trump just hours before the US tariffs were due to take effect, both Cana

PALM BEACH (AFP) -- President Donald Trump announced broad tariffs Saturday on major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, claiming a "major threat" from illegal immigration and drugs -- a move that sparked promises of retaliation. Canadian and Mexican exports to the United States will face a 25 percent tariff starting Tuesday, although energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10 percent levy. Goods from China, which already face various rates of duties, will see an additional 10 p

US President Donald Trump floated a plan to "just clean out" Gaza, and said he wants Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinians from the territory, as a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas aimed at permanently ending the war enters its second week on Sunday. The truce deal that came into effect on January 19 saw four Israeli hostages and around 200 Palestinian prisoners released to joyful scenes on Saturday, in the second such exchange so far. But after 15 months of war, Trump called Gaza a "demol

Italy's far-right League party, a partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, proposed a law Thursday to follow Donald Trump and pull out of the World Health Organization. A spokeswoman for Meloni, whose post-Fascist Brothers of Italy party is the largest in parliament, said she did not yet have a position on the proposal. It comes after President Trump said he would pull the United States out of the UN body. League Senator Claudio Borghi accused the WHO of an "excess of power" and sa

President Donald Trump's administration has shut down the White House's Spanish language page. As of this week, visitors to whitehouse.gov/es now see an error message and the words "page not found" beneath an image of the White House. Below that, visitors can click on "go to home page" which directs to whitehouse.gov, where a video montage plays featuring Trump. The move was immediately met with criticism. "Put this back," Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer posted on X. "Deleting this resource mak

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel on Sunday said a truce with Hamas began in Gaza nearly three hours after initially scheduled, following a last-minute delay on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the delay, Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed eight people. A statement from Netanyahu's office, issued less than an hour before the truce had been set to start, said he had "instructed the IDF (military) that the ceasefire ... will not begin until Israel has received t

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday he hopes for a "good start" to relations with the United States in a phone call with president-elect Donald Trump, state media reported. "We both attach great importance to mutual interaction (and) hope that China-US relations will have a good start in the new term of the US president", Xi said according to CCTV.

The release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel is expected to begin on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday. "Subject to the approval of the cabinet and the government, and the implementation of the agreement, the release of the hostages can proceed according to the planned framework, with the hostages expected to be released as early as Sunday," the office said in a statement. During the initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire

Russia and Iran will sign a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty on Friday during a visit to Russia by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said Monday. Raising concerns in the West, Moscow and Tehran have boosted their military and political cooperation amid Russia's full-scale military offensive on Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East. "On 17 January, Vladimir Putin will hold talks with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, who will come to Rus

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named centrist leader Francois Bayrou as prime minister, handing him the daunting task of hauling France out of months of political crisis. Bayrou, the 73-year-old head of the MoDem group which is allied to Macron's party, was appointed nine days after Michel Barnier's government was ousted by parliament in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over an austerity budget. "The President of the Republic has appointed Mr. Francois Bayro

Tehran (AFP) -- Iran said on Sunday that it would hold nuclear talks in the coming days with the three European countries that initiated a censure resolution against the Islamic republic recently adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced the meeting on Friday of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to discuss a range of topics including the Iranian nuclear issue.

Bitcoin soared to a new record high on Sunday, as the cryptocurrency continues to rise following Donald Trump's presidential election win. The digital currency passed $80,000 for the first time shortly after 12:00 pm (1200 GMT). It reached $75,000 on Wednesday, topping its previous all-time peak of $73,797.98 achieved in March. (AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a landmark defense pact with North Korea, a deal that comes amid reports that Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine. Putin struck the deal during a visit to North Korea in June, but it had to pass through Russia's parliament and signed by the Kremlin leader to come into force. The Kremlin published the signed law ratifying the treaty on its website on Saturday evening. The agreement formalizes months of deepe

North Korea's Under-17 Women's World Cup-winning footballers received a heroes' welcome back in the capital Pyongyang, AFP footage showed on Sunday, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic a week ago. Remarkably it was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea -- largely closed off to the outside world -- they also lifted the