KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump to broker peace in Ukraine like in &quot;the Middle East&quot; during a phone call Saturday, saying if Trump could stop one war, &quot;others can be stopped as well&quot;. The call came a day after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine&#39;s energy grid, knocking out power to parts of the capital Kyiv and nine other Ukrainian regions. Diplomatic efforts to end Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine have slowed in recent months, in part because global attention has shifted to Israel&#39;s two-year war with Palestinian group Hamas, Kyiv says. Trump, who announced the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in August but failed to extract any kind of peace deal. &quot;I had a call with US President Donald Trump. A very positive and productive one,&quot; Zelensky said on Facebook, congratulating Trump for his &quot;outstanding&quot; ceasefire plan in the Middle East. &quot;If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war,&quot; Zelensky added, calling for Trump to pressure the Kremlin into negotiations. Relations between the two leaders have warmed dramatically since February, when they sparred during a now infamous televised meeting at the White House. Trump has since grown more hostile towards Moscow while expressing sympathy for Ukraine. In September, he wrote on Truth Social that Kyiv should try to &quot;take back&quot; all its occupied territory with Europe&#39;s and NATO&#39;s help. US First Lady Melania Trump said Friday she had secured the release of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia after establishing an extraordinary back channel of communication with Putin. Strikes cut powerRussian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five people on Saturday and cut power to parts of Ukraine&#39;s southern Odesa region, according to Ukrainian officials. Two of the people died inside a church in Kostyantynivka when it was hit by a strike, according to local authorities. In Russia&#39;s border region of Belgorod, a truck driver was killed by a Ukrainian strike, according to local officials. Moscow has targeted Ukraine&#39;s energy grid each winter since it invaded in 2022, cutting power and heating to millions of households and disrupting water supply in what Kyiv says is a brazen war crime. Russia denies targeting civilians and says Ukraine uses the energy sites to power its military sector. Ukrainian drone attacks meanwhile killed two people in Russia, according to regional officials. Both countries have accused each other of frustrating progress towards a peace deal in recent months. Russia blames Kyiv and its European allies for the impasse, accusing them of undermining peace negotiations with Washington. Ukraine and Europe accuse Russia of playing for time so it can seize more Ukrainian territory. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a &quot;special military operation&quot; to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO. Kyiv and its European allies say the war is an illegal land grab that has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and widespread destruction. Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes since 2022, while Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory -- much of it ravaged by fighting.

Americas

Asia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump to mediate peace with Russia after major strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, praising Trump’s Middle East ceasefire plan and calling for similar efforts to end the Ukraine war

Zelensky urges Trump to end Ukraine war like in 'the Middle East'

WASHINGTON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday at a time when one of the world&rsquo;s most durable and amicable alliances has been fractured by Trump&#39;s trade war and annexation threats.&nbsp;Carney&#39;s second visit to the White House comes ahead of a review next year of the free trade agreement, which is critical to Canada&#39;s economy. More than 77% of Canada&#39;s exports go to the US&nbsp;Trump&rsquo;s talk of making Canada the 51st state and his tariffs have Canadians feeling an undeniable sense of betrayal.&nbsp; Relations with Canada&rsquo;s southern neighbor and longtime ally haven&rsquo;t been worse.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&#39;ve had ups and downs, but this is the lowest point in relations that I can recall,&rdquo; said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States and current deputy chairman of TD Bank.&nbsp;&ldquo;Canadians aren&#39;t being instructed what to do. They are simply voting with their feet,&quot; he said. &quot;I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips. There is an outright rebellion.&quot;&nbsp;There is fear in Canada over what will happen to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Carney is looking to get some relief on some sector-specific tariffs, but expectations are low.&nbsp;&ldquo;Improving relations with the White House ahead of the USMCA review is certainly an objective of the trip, but opposition parties and part of the Canadian public will criticize Prime Minister Carney if he doesn&rsquo;t achieve some progress on the tariff front at this stage,&rdquo; said Daniel B&eacute;land, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.&nbsp;Trump said Monday that he anticipated Carney wanted to use the meeting to discuss trade.&nbsp;&ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;s going to ask about tariffs, because a lot of companies from Canada are moving into the United States,&rdquo; Trump, a Republican, told reporters after signing an executive order related to Alaska. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s losing a lot of companies in Canada.&rdquo;&nbsp;Carney has said the USMCA, which is up for review in 2026, is an advantage for Canada at a time when it is clear that the US is charging for access to its market.&nbsp; Carney has said the commitment of the US to the core of USMCA means that more than 85% of Canada-US trade continues to be free of tariffs.&nbsp; He said the US average tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6% and remains the lowest among all its trading partners.&nbsp;But Trump has some sector-specific tariffs on Canada, known as Section 232 tariffs, that are having an impact. There are 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The ties between the two countries are without parallel. About $2.5 billion (nearly $3.6 billion Canadian) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.&nbsp; Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. There is close cooperation on defense, border security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and pastimes.&nbsp;About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports are from Canada.&nbsp;Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

Europe

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday to ease tensions over tariffs and trade, as relations between the longtime allies hit a historic low ahead of the 2026 USMCA review.



Carney meets Trump to improve strained Canada, US trade relations

BRATISLAVA: Slovakia&rsquo;s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said Tuesday his government has approved an agreement with the United States to build an additional nuclear reactor.&nbsp;Fico announced the multi-billion-dollar deal during a speech at an annual nuclear conference in the Slovak capital.&nbsp; He said that the new reactor will be built at the existing nuclear plant in Jaslovsk&eacute; Bohunice in western Slovakia, will have an output of over 1,000 megawatts and be fully owned by the state.&nbsp;It was unclear when the two governments will sign the deal.&nbsp;Fico didn&rsquo;t gave more details but his government had approved a plan last year for a 1,200-megawatt nuclear unit at the site where the dominant utility Slovensk&eacute; Elektr&aacute;rně (Slovak power plants) currently operates two nuclear units.&nbsp;The cost of the project was estimated to reach up to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion).&nbsp;The government originally planned to find the builder in a public tender but recently said it was negotiating a direct deal with US company Westinghouse.&nbsp;Slovakia heavily relies on nuclear energy and currently generates over 80% of its electricity at two nuclear plants.&nbsp;The Slovak plan reflects recent nuclear expansion in Central and Eastern Europe. The neighboring Czech Republic has signed a contract with Korea&rsquo;s KHNP to build two more nuclear reactors. Poland struck a deal with Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant, while Russian energy giant Rosatom is set to build two more reactors in Hungary.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Tuesday that his government approved a deal with the United States to build a new state-owned nuclear reactor in Jaslovské Bohunice, expanding the country’s nuclear energy capacity.

Slovak leader announces a deal with US on a new nuclear reactor

WASHINGTON: The United States issued nearly one-fifth fewer student visas in August, following a crackdown by President Donald Trump, led by a steep drop for India, which overtook China as the top country of origin, data showed on Monday.&nbsp;The United States issued 313,138 student visas in August, the most common start month for US universities, a 19.1% drop from the same month in 2023, according to the International Trade Commission.&nbsp;India, which was the top source of foreign students in the United States last year, experienced the most significant decline, with 44.5% fewer student visas issued compared to the previous year.&nbsp;Visa issuance also dropped for Chinese students, but not nearly at the same rate.&nbsp; The United States issued 86,647 visas to students from mainland China in August, more than double the number issued to students from India.&nbsp;The statistics do not reflect the overall numbers of US-based students, many of whom remain on previously issued visas.&nbsp;Trump has put a top priority since returning to the White House, both on curbing immigration and on weakening universities, which his administration sees as a key power base of the left.&nbsp;Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefly suspended the processing of student visas in June, a peak month, as he issued orders requiring US embassies to vet applicants&#39; social media.&nbsp;In rules that affect Indians in particular, the Trump administration has made it more difficult for applicants to apply for visas outside the jurisdiction of US consulates in their home countries, even when there are backlogs.&nbsp;Trump has taken a series of actions at odds with India, which for decades had been courted by US policymakers of both parties, who saw the billion-plus nation as a natural counterweight to China.&nbsp;Trump has also imposed a hefty new fee on H-1B visas, which are mainly used by Indian technology workers.&nbsp;Trump, however, has voiced hope for ramping up the number of Chinese students to boost relations between the two powers, a sharp contrast to earlier messaging from Rubio, who had vowed to &quot;aggressively&quot; revoke visas from Chinese students he accuses of exploiting US technical know-how.

US student visas fell 19% in August. India saw the biggest drop, while China became the top source. New rules made it harder for Indians, but more Chinese students are being encouraged.

Indians lead drop in US university visas

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Sunday said talks on implementing a truce for Gaza will take days, while his foreign policy chief, Marco Rubio, warned that Israel needs to stop bombing for a hostage release to happen.&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re in negotiations right now as we speak. They&#39;ve started the negotiations. It&#39;ll last a couple of days,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ll see how it turns out. But I&#39;m hearing it&#39;s going very well,&quot; he added.&nbsp;In a text exchange with CNN released Sunday, Trump said &quot;yes&quot; when asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on board with ending the military campaign in Gaza. Trump urges negotiators to &#39;move fast&#39;In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, Trump urged Hamas and Israeli negotiators to &quot;move fast,&quot; adding that there had been &quot;very positive discussions&quot; with the Palestinian group. &quot;There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend, to release the hostages, end the war in Gaza, but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East,&quot; he said. &quot;These talks have been very successful, and are proceeding rapidly. The technical teams will again meet Monday, in Egypt, to work through and clarify the final details. I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST.&quot; Negotiators from Israel and Hamas were set to hold talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with Netanyahu expressing hope that hostages held in Gaza could be released within days. However, Hamas called for a swift start to a hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel. &quot;Hamas is very keen to reach an agreement to end the war and immediately begin the prisoner exchange process in accordance with the field conditions,&quot; a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Separately, Rubio called for a halt to Israeli bombing on Gaza.&nbsp;&quot;I think the Israelis and everyone acknowledge you can&#39;t release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop,&quot; the secretary of state told CBS News talk show &quot;Face the Nation.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;There can&#39;t be a war going on in the middle of it.&quot;&nbsp;The diplomatic push follows the positive response by Hamas to Trump&#39;s roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.&nbsp;Rubio told NBC&#39;s &quot;Meet the Press&quot; that there were &quot;logistical challenges&quot; to address to pave the way for the hostage release.&nbsp;He also predicted that the longer-term goals would be &quot;even harder&quot; to attain, in terms of how the war-ravaged territory will be governed and disarming militants.&nbsp;&quot;You can&#39;t set up a government structure in Gaza that&#39;s not Hamas in three days. I mean, it takes some time,&quot; Rubio told NBC.&nbsp;Trump told CNN he expected clarity &quot;soon&quot; on whether the Palestinian group that carried out the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the conflict was committed to peace.&nbsp;The US president added that if Hamas were to refuse to cede power, they would face &quot;Complete Obliteration!&quot;

US president urges negotiators to 'move fast'; Hamas calls for swift start to hostage-prisoner exchange; Rubio says Israel must pause bombing for hostages to be safely released.





Trump says Gaza deal talks to go on 'couple' days

PORTLAND: A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked President Donald Trump&rsquo;s administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland, ruling Saturday in a lawsuit brought by the state and city.&nbsp;US District Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, issued the order pending further arguments in the suit. She said the relatively small protests the city has seen did not justify the use of federalized forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon&#39;s state sovereignty.&nbsp;&ldquo;This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,&quot; Immergut wrote.She later continued, &ldquo;This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.&rdquo;&nbsp;The Trump administration late Saturday filed a notice of appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.&nbsp;State and city officials sued to stop the deployment last week, one day after the Trump administration announced that 200 Oregon National Guard troops would be federalized to protect federal buildings. The president called the city &ldquo;war-ravaged.&rdquo;&nbsp;Oregon officials said that characterization was ludicrous. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in the city has been the site of nightly protests that typically drew a couple dozen people in recent weeks before the deployment was announced. Trump federalizes troops in OregonSeparately, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would go to court to fight the move by President Donald Trump to send National Guard members from his state to Oregon, where protesters have gathered near a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said 101 California National Guard members arrived in her state on Saturday night by plane and more were on the way.&nbsp; Kotek said there has been no formal communication with the federal government about the deployment.&nbsp; &ldquo;There is no need for military intervention in Oregon,&quot; Kotek said Sunday.&nbsp;Judge: The federal response didn&#39;t match the factsGenerally speaking the president is allowed &ldquo;a great level of deference&rdquo; to federalize National Guard troops in situations where regular law enforcement forces are not able to execute the laws of the United States, the judge said, but that has not been the case in Portland.&nbsp;Plaintiffs were able to show that the demonstrations at the immigration building were not significantly violent or disruptive ahead of the president&#39;s order, the judge wrote, and &ldquo;overall, the protests were small and uneventful.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;The President&rsquo;s determination was simply untethered to the facts,&rdquo; Immergut wrote.&nbsp;White House says it will appealFollowing the ruling, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that &ldquo;President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement, we expect to be vindicated by a higher court.&rdquo;&nbsp;Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield called the ruling &ldquo;a healthy check on the president.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It reaffirms what we already knew: Portland is not the president&rsquo;s war-torn fantasy. Our city is not ravaged, and there is no rebellion,&rdquo; Rayfield said in a statement. He added: &ldquo;Members of the Oregon National Guard are not a tool for him to use in his political theater.&rdquo; Trump has deployed or threatened to deploy troops in several US cities, particularly ones led by Democrats, including Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Memphis. Speaking Tuesday to US military leaders in Virginia, he proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces. Last month a federal judge ruled that the president&#39;s deployment of some 4,700 National Guard soldiers and Marines in Los Angeles this year was illegal, but he allowed the 300 who remain in the city to stay as long as they do not enforce civilian laws. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate panel has put the lower court&#39;s block on hold while it moves forward.&nbsp;Portland protests were small, but grew after deployment was announcedThe Portland protests have been limited to a one-block area in a city that covers about 145 square miles and has about 636,000 residents.&nbsp;They grew somewhat following the September 28 announcement of the guard deployment. The Portland Police Bureau, which has said it does not participate in immigration enforcement and only intervenes in the protests if there is vandalism or criminal activity, arrested two people on assault charges. A peaceful march earlier that day drew thousands to downtown and saw no arrests, police said.&nbsp;On Saturday, before the ruling was released, roughly 400 people marched to the ICE facility. The crowd included people of all ages and races, families with children and older people using walkers, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.&nbsp;Federal agents responded with chemical crowd control munitions, including tear gas canisters and less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls. At least six people were arrested as the protesters reached the ICE facility.&nbsp;Later in the evening, federal agents again emerged from the facility and deployed tear gas on a crowd of about 100 people.

Trump federalizes troops in Oregon; Judge says federal response didn't match the facts; White House says it will appeal.







Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from deploying troops in Portland

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, T&uuml;rkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, in a joint statement on Sunday, welcomed the steps taken by Hamas in&nbsp;response to US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan to end the Gaza conflict. &ldquo;The foreign ministers ... welcomed President Trump&rsquo;s call on Israel to immediately stop the bombing and to begin implementation of the exchange agreement and expressed appreciation for his commitment to establishing peace in the region,&rdquo; according to the statement. Gaza administration and ceasefire talks The foreign ministers supported Hamas&rsquo;s announcement to hand over Gaza&rsquo;s administration to a transitional Palestinian Administrative Committee of independent technocrats. They called for swift negotiations to establish implementation mechanisms. They said that there is a need for &quot;immediate launch of negotiations to agree on mechanisms to implement the proposal, and address all of its aspects.&rdquo; Commitment to peace, security, and humanitarian aid According to the statement, &quot;The foreign ministers reiterated their joint commitment to support efforts toward the implementation of the proposal, to work for the immediate end of the war on Gaza, and achieve a comprehensive agreement that ensures unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinian people, and that no measures are taken that threaten the security and safety of civilians, the release of hostages, the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank, and reaching a security mechanism that guarantees the security of all sides, in a manner that leads to the full Israeli withdrawal, and to the rebuilding of Gaza, and that creates a path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution.&quot; They described the developments as a &ldquo;real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire, and to address the critical humanitarian conditions facing people in Gaza Strip.&rdquo;

 Israeli soldiers take position along the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP)

Middle East

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the eight countries reiterated their commitment to supporting the release of hostages, ceasefire talks, the handover of the Gaza administration, and urgent peace negotiations based on the two-state solution.

Pakistan, other Muslim nations, welcome Hamas response to Trump’s peace plan

STAVANGER: U.S. President Donald Trump&rsquo;s bid to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/explaining-netanyahu-trump-nobel-prize-nomination-bb3b0338b85226694ab7064b50f978c8" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">win the Nobel Peace Prize</a> has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be.&nbsp;Longtime Nobel watchers say Trump&rsquo;s prospects remain remote despite a flurry of high-profile nominations and some notable foreign policy interventions for which he has taken personal credit. Experts say the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prize-peace-literature-economics-chemistry-medicine-98860d60c271ee64833075af9654a534" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Norwegian Nobel Committee</a> typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals. Trump&#39;s own record might even work against him, they said, citing his apparent disdain for multilateral institutions and his disregard for global <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/climate-change" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">climate change</a> concerns. Still, the U.S. leader has repeatedly sought the Nobel spotlight since his first term, most recently telling United Nations delegates late last month, &ldquo;everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.&rdquo; A person cannot nominate themselves.&nbsp;<h4 style="text-align: justify;">Public lobbying campaigns but a private committee decision</h4>Trump&rsquo;s boasts and previous high-profile nominations make him the blockbuster name on the list of bookmakers&rsquo; favourites. But it&#39;s unclear whether his name comes up in conversation when the five-member Nobel committee, appointed by Norway&rsquo;s parliament, meets behind closed doors. Trump has been nominated several times by people within the U.S. as well as politicians abroad since 2018. His name also was put forth in December by U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), her office said in a statement, for his brokering of the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bahrain-israel-united-arab-emirates-middle-east-elections-7544b322a254ebea1693e387d83d9d8b" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Abraham Accords</a>, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states in 2020. Nominations made this year from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/explaining-netanyahu-trump-nobel-prize-nomination-bb3b0338b85226694ab7064b50f978c8" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</a> and Pakistan&#39;s government occurred after the Feb. 1 deadline for the 2025 award. Trump has said repeatedly that he &ldquo;deserves&rdquo; the prize and claims to have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-peace-wars-claim-fact-check-10128b26232e1d1eb9e68c5617320cf3" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">&ldquo;ended seven wars.&rdquo;</a> On Tuesday, he teased the possibility of ending an eighth war <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-09-30-2025-68afb24376d63fd0ff8fe8e1010ca178" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">if Israel and Hamas agree to his peace plan</a> aimed at concluding the nearly two-year <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">war in Gaza</a>. &ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s ever done that,&quot; he told a gathering of military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. &ldquo;Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They&rsquo;ll give it to some guy that didn&rsquo;t do a damn thing.&rdquo; <h4 style="text-align: justify;">Sustained peace efforts prioritized over quick wins</h4>Nobel veterans say the committee prioritizes sustained, multilateral efforts over quick diplomatic wins. Theo Zenou, a historian and research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said Trump&#39;s efforts have not yet been proven to be long-lasting. &quot;There&rsquo;s a huge difference between getting fighting to stop in the short-term and resolving the root causes of the conflict,&rdquo; Zenou said. Zenou also highlighted Trump&rsquo;s dismissive stance on climate change as out-of-step with what many, including the Nobel committee, see as the planet&rsquo;s greatest long-term peace challenge. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they would award the most prestigious prize in the world to someone who does not believe in climate change,&rdquo; Zenou said. &ldquo;When you look at previous winners who have been bridge-builders, embodied international cooperation and reconciliation: These are not words we associate with Donald Trump.&rdquo; <h4 style="text-align: justify;">Avoiding political pressure</h4>The Nobel committee was met with fierce criticism in 2009 for giving <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-united-states-government-fd0fbcd09be746708be34c1b0bb95ed4" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">then-U.S. President Barack Obama</a> the prize barely nine months into his first term. Many argued <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-4835c234ac4b4c088e64b822b4e0c710" style="font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Obama had not been in office</a> long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel. And Trump&rsquo;s own outspokenness about possibly winning the award might work against him: The committee won&rsquo;t want to be seen as caving in to political pressure, said Nina Gr&aelig;ger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Trump&rsquo;s prospects for the prize this year are &ldquo;a long shot,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;His rhetoric does not point in a peaceful perspective.&rdquo; The Nobel announcements begin Monday with the medicine prize. They continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Oct. 13. &nbsp;

U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be

Experts say Trump unlikely to win Nobel Peace Prize

WASHINGTON: Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown were fading Friday as Republicans and Democrats dug in for a prolonged fight and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.&nbsp;Senators were headed back to the Capitol for another vote on government funding on the third day of the shutdown, but there has been no sign of any real progress toward ending their standoff.&nbsp; Democrats are demanding that Congress extend health care benefits, while Republicans are trying to wear them down with day after day of voting on a House-passed bill that would reopen the government temporarily, mostly at current spending levels.&nbsp;&ldquo;Until they have eight or hopefully 10 or more people who want to, decide they want to end the government shutdown, I&#39;m not sure this goes anywhere,&rdquo; Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday.&nbsp;Although Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Senate&#39;s filibuster rules make it necessary for the government funding legislation to gain support from at least 60 of the 100 senators.&nbsp; That&#39;s given Democrats a rare opportunity to use their 47 Senate seats to hold out in exchange for policy concessions. The party has chosen to rally on the issue of health care, believing it could be key to their path back to power in Washington.&nbsp;Their primary demand is that Congress extend tax credits that were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic for health care plans offered under the Affordable Care Act marketplace.&nbsp;Standing on the steps of the US Capitol on Thursday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said, &ldquo;Understand this, over the last few days and over the next few days, what you&rsquo;re going to see is more than 20 million Americans experience dramatically increased health care premiums, co-pays and deductibles because of the Republican unwillingness to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.&rdquo;&nbsp;The shutdown gambleDemocrats are running the high-risk strategy of effectively voting for a government shutdown to make their stand. Trump has vowed to make it as painful as possible for them.&nbsp;The Republican president has called the government funding lapse an &ldquo;unprecedented opportunity&rdquo; to make vast cuts to federal agencies and potentially lay off federal workers, rather than the typical practice of furloughing them.&nbsp; White House budget director Russ Vought has already announced that he is withholding funds for infrastructure projects in states with Democratic senators.&nbsp;Jeffries displayed no signs of budging under those threats.&nbsp;&ldquo;The cruelty that they might unleash on everyday Americans using the pretense of a shutdown is only going to backfire against them,&rdquo; he said during an interview with The Associated Press and other outlets at the Capitol. Roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and they could lose out on $400 million in daily wages.&nbsp; House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that &ldquo;real pain is being inflicted upon the American people because 44 Democrats in the Senate have voted for the third time to reject&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;Who will take the blame?The American public usually spreads the blame around to both major political parties when it comes to a government shutdown.&nbsp; While Trump took a significant portion of the blame during the last partial government shutdown in 2018 as he demanded funding for a US-Mexico border wall, this standoff could end differently because now it is Democrats making the policy demands. Both sides expressed confidence that the other would ultimately be found at fault. In the House, party leaders seemed to be moving farther apart rather than closer to making a deal to end the shutdown.&nbsp;Talks in the SenateA few senators have engaged in bipartisan talks about launching negotiations on extending the ACA tax credits for one year while the Senate votes to reopen the government for several weeks.&nbsp;As senators prepared for their last scheduled vote for the week on Friday, they appeared resigned to allow the shutdown to continue at least into next week.&nbsp;

The US government shutdown is dragging on as Democrats and Republicans fight over health care benefits. President Trump is preparing layoffs and spending cuts, raising worries for federal workers and the wider economy.

Hopes fade for end to shutdown as Trump readies layoffs and cuts

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Wednesday barred Donald Trump from immediately firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, as the president mounts multiple challenges that have tested the independence of the central bank.&nbsp;In an order, the court said it had deferred the request &quot;pending oral argument in January 2026,&quot; ensuring that the Fed governor will remain in her post until the case is heard.&nbsp;Over the summer, Trump attempted to fire Cook, who serves on the Fed&#39;s powerful seven-person governing board, claiming that she had falsified statements on her mortgage agreements.&nbsp;Cook has filed a lawsuit challenging her firing, arguing that she was not given a chance to meaningfully contest allegations against her.&nbsp;In response to Wednesday&#39;s Supreme Court order, a White House spokesperson told AFP that the administration had &quot;lawfully removed&quot; Cook, and looked &quot;forward to ultimate victory after presenting our oral arguments before the Supreme Court in January.&quot;&nbsp;Lisa Cook has challenged her removal in court, and currently remains a member of the Fed&#39;s governing board and the bank&#39;s powerful interest rate-setting committee.&nbsp;Cook, who is the first Black woman to serve on the independent central bank&#39;s governing board, is due to remain in post until 2038.&nbsp;Trump has been a fierce critic of the Fed&#39;s decision to keep interest rates elevated as it battles against inflation, which remains stuck stubbornly above its long-term target of two percent.&nbsp;The US central bank has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and employment by either raising or lowering its key lending rate.&nbsp;The Supreme Court&#39;s decision to delay the trial until January marks a rare instance of pushback by the conservative-dominated court, which has been deferential to the current administration.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s attempts to fire a member of the independent central bank have unnerved investors, and drawn criticism from close to 600 economists, who recently penned a letter expressing their support for both Cook and central bank autonomy.&nbsp;Asked to comment, a Federal Reserve spokesperson referred AFP to a statement from August in which it said it would &quot;abide by any court decision.&quot;

The Supreme Court blocked Trump’s attempt to immediately fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, delaying the case until January 2026.


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