UNITED KINGDOM

As humanitarian aid organisation is gutted by Trump administration, Rudd’s office says neither he nor Asia Society received fundingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador in Washington DC, has hit back at “fake” claims an institute he once led received money from USAid, the US foreign aid agency being targeted by Donald Trump.The office of Rudd, a former Australian prime minister and current ambassador to the US, has issued a statement seeking to dispel claims circulating online suggesting Rudd and the Asia Society – where he has held various roles since 2015 –

Leaders praise each other at White House but president warns Japan could face tariffs if it doesn’t cut US trade deficit to zeroThe Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and the US president, Donald Trump, struck a warm tone at their first meeting on Friday, with Tokyo avoiding tariffs that Trump has slapped on other allies – for now.Heaping praise on each other at the White House, the two leaders pledged to stand together against Chinese “aggression” and said they found a solution for a blocked deal for troubled US Steel. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/08/trump-and-japanese-pm-ishiba-talk-tariffs-and-vow-to-stand-against-chinese-aggression Author : Agence France-Presse

Half allocated to state’s justice department while other half set aside for legal groups to defend immigrantsGavin Newsom, the California governor, signed laws on Friday setting aside $50m to help the state protect its policies from challenges by the Trump administration and defend immigrants amid the president’s mass-deportation plans.One of the laws allocates $25m for the state’s department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another sets aside $25m in part for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation. During his first presidency, Trump sparred with California over climate laws, water policy, immigrant rights and

Exclusive: Move allows China to further global influence, UK foreign secretary says on Ukraine visitDonald Trump’s plans to make dramatic cuts to the United States’ international aid budget could be a “big strategic mistake” that allows China to step in and further its global influence, the UK foreign secretary has said.David Lammy cautioned that Britain’s own experience of merging the Department for International Development (DfID) into the Foreign Office, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020 with little fanfare, was a serious blow to Britain’s “soft power” in developing countries and beyond. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/07/trumps-international-aid-cuts-usaid-china-lammy Author : Pippa