FBI launches criminal investigations of John Brennan, James Comey: DOJ sources
EXCLUSIVE: Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump–Russia probe, including allegedly making false statements to Congress, Justice Department sources told Fox News Digital. CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital. The sources said that the referral was received and told Fox News Digital that a criminal investigation into Brennan was opened and is underway. DOJ sources declined to provide further details. It is unclear, at this point, if the investigation spans beyond his alleged false statements to Congress. As for Comey, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the former director is underway, but could not share details of what specifically is being probed. EX-OBAMA INTEL BOSS WANTED ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER INCLUDED IN ‘ATYPICAL’ 2016 ASSESSMENT DESPITE PUSHBACK The full scope of the criminal investigations into Brennan and Comey is unclear, but two sources described the FBI’s view of the duo’s interactions as a “conspiracy,” which could open up a wide range of potential prosecutorial options. The FBI and CIA declined to comment. Neither Brennan nor Comey immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The Brennan investigation comes after Ratcliffe last week declassified a “lessons learned” review of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The 2017 ICA alleged Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump. But the review found that the process of the ICA’s creation was rushed with “procedural anomalies,” and that officials diverted from intelligence standards. WHITE HOUSE WANTS OBAMA INTEL OFFICIALS ‘HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ FOR ROLE PEDDLING 2016 RUSSIA HOAX It also determined that the “decision by agency heads to include the Steele Dossier in the ICA ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” The dossier — an anti-Trump document filled with unverified and wholly inaccurate claims that was commissioned by Fusion GPS and paid for by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC — has been widely discredited. Last week’s review marks the first time career CIA officials have acknowledged politicization of the process by which the ICA was written, particularly by Obama-era political appointees. Records declassified as part of that review further revealed that Brennan did, in fact, push for the dossier to be included in the 2017 ICA. Brennan testified to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2023, however, that he did not believe the dossier should be included in that intelligence product. COMEY SAYS MCCABE LIED, CONFIRMS HE KICK-STARTED PROBE THAT LED TO HIS FIRING Ratcliffe was not surprised by the review’s findings, a source familiar told Fox News Digital, given the director’s long history of criticizing Brennan’s politicization of intelligence. But Ratcliffe was compelled to refer aspects of Brennan’s involvement to the FBI for review of possible criminality, the source said. The source was unable to share the sensitive details of Ratcliffe’s criminal referral to the FBI with Fox News Digital, but said that Brennan “violated the public’s trust and should be held accountable for it.” The false statements portion of the probe stems from a newly declassified email sent to Brennan by the former deputy CIA director in December 2016. That message said that including the dossier in the ICA in any capacity jeopardized “the credibility of the entire paper.” FISA REPORT DROPS: 7 TAKEAWAYS FROM DOJ WATCHDOG’S REVIEW OF RUSSIA PROBE “Despite these objections, Brennan showed a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,” the new CIA review states. “When confronted with specific flaws in the Dossier by the two mission center leaders – one with extensive operational experience and the other with a strong analytic background – he appeared more swayed by the Dossier’s general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns.” The review added: “Brennan ultimately formalized his position in writing, stating that ‘my bottomline is that I believe that the information warrants inclusion in the report.’” But Brennan testified the opposite in front of Congress in May 2023. “The CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment,” Brennan testified before the House committee, according to the transcript of his deposition reviewed by Fox News Digital. “And so they sent over a copy of the dossier to say that this was going to be separate from the rest of that assessment.” FLASHBACK: NEWLY DECLASSIFIED INTEL DOCUMENT NOTED STEELE DOSSIER CLAIMS HAD ‘LIMITED CORROBORATION’ CIA officials at the time of its creation pushed back against the FBI, which sought to include the dossier, arguing that the dossier should not be included in the assessment, and casting it as simply “internet rumor.” Ultimately, Steele’s reporting was not included in the body of the final ICA prepared for then-President Barack Obama, but instead detailed in this footnote, “largely at the insistence of FBI’s senior leadership,” according to a review by the Justice Department inspector general, and later, the Senate Intelligence Committee. But back in June 2020, Ratcliffe, while serving as director of national intelligence, declassified a footnote of the 2017 ICA, which revealed that the reporting of Trump dossier author Christopher Steele had only “limited corroboration” regarding whether then-President-elect Trump “knowingly worked with Russian officials to bolster his chances of beating” Hillary Clinton and other claims. FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA The footnote, also known as “Annex A” of the 2017 ICA, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in June 2020, spanned less than two pages and detailed reporting by Steele, the former British spy who authored the unverified anti-Trump dossier — a document that helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Steele’s reporting, at the time, was commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS and funded by the Clinton campaign and
Hawley touts provision in Big, Beautiful Bill that has even hard-left Democrats celebrating
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., stood shoulder-to-shoulder with staunch Democrats to celebrate the inclusion of key compensation for survivors of nuclear testing inside President Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill on Tuesday. Hawley has fought for the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) since the program was canceled in 2023. It has now been re-upped and greatly expanded thanks to persistent bipartisan advocacy. Among the cross-aisle attendees was former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who was among the most aggressive critics of Republicans while in Congress. Hawley embraced Bush at the event, however. “Cori, thank you. We would not be here without you and your work,” he said, recounting their multiple prior efforts to pass the legislation. POLITICAL FIGHT OVER ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ SHIFTS TO CAMPAIGN TRAIL Also at the event was Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., who voted against the OBBB, but said he supports the RECA legislation. Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren also attended the event and recounted the impact of nuclear testing on his community. The bill applies to sites across the country where Americans, civilian, military and members of the Navajo Nation, were exposed to radiation due to nuclear weapons testing and the storing of nuclear waste. The event took place at one such site: St. Cin Park in St. Louis. The surrounding area has been determined to be a cancer hotzone thanks to the storing of nuclear waste nearby. The legislation applies to similar sites across Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, but advocates of the bill and Hawley himself say there remains more work to be done. “This is a great first step, but there is definitely more to do,” NAACP St. Louis president John Bowman told Fox at the event. “This is a good day, but there are better days to come.” WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ Bowman and others highlighted some zip codes that aren’t eligible for the compensation, and they say work needs to be done to expand the documentation Americans can use to prove they qualify for compensation. Dawn Chapman, founder of Just Moms STL, an advocacy group devoted to the radiation exposure issue, told Fox that the process – while difficult – reinforced her belief in the legislative process. She recounted seeing staffers from opposite sides of the aisle celebrating and sharing high-fives after the bill was passed. The bill passed through the Senate three times in recent years before finally making it to the president’s desk. “The system still works. It does,” she said. “The media just often doesn’t share it.”
Supreme Court lets Trump’s ‘wrecking ball’ federal job cuts proceed while legal fight continues
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to move forward, at least for now, with plans to implement large-scale cuts to the federal workforce, issuing a stay that lifts a lower court’s injunction against the administration’s executive order. In a 6–3 decision, the justices granted the emergency request filed by the White House last week, clearing the way for Executive Order No. 14210 to take effect while legal challenges play out in the Ninth Circuit and potentially the high court. The order directs federal agencies to carry out sweeping reductions in force (RIFs) and agency reorganizations. It has been described by administration officials as a lawful effort to “streamline government and eliminate waste.” Critics, including labor unions, local governments and nonprofit organizations, argue the president is unlawfully bypassing Congress to dismantle major parts of the federal government. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA A majority on the Court stressed that it was not ruling on the legality of specific agency cuts, only the executive order itself. “Because the Government is likely to succeed on its argument that the Executive Order and Memorandum are lawful—and because the other factors bearing on whether to grant a stay are satisfied—we grant the application,” the Court wrote. “We express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order and Memorandum. The District Court enjoined further implementation or approval of the plans based on its view about the illegality of the Executive Order and Memorandum, not on any assessment of the plans themselves. Those plans are not before this Court.” The district court in California had blocked the order in May, calling it an overreach. But the Supreme Court’s unsigned decision on Tuesday set aside that injunction, pending appeal. The majority said the government is “likely to succeed” in defending the legality of the order. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented forcefully, writing that “this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation.” She warned that the executive action represents a “structural overhaul that usurps Congress’s policymaking prerogatives” and accused the majority of acting prematurely in an emergency posture without fully understanding the facts. TRUMP ADMIN ASKS SCOTUS TO ALLOW IT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH PLANS TO SLASH FEDERAL WORKFORCE “This unilateral decision to ‘transform’ the Federal Government was quickly challenged in federal court,” she wrote. “The District Judge thoroughly examined the evidence, considered applicable law, and made a reasoned determination that Executive Branch officials should be enjoined from implementing the mandated restructuring… But that temporary, practical, harm-reducing preservation of the status quo was no match for this Court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.” The executive order, issued in February, instructed agencies to prepare immediate plans for reorganizations and workforce reductions, including eliminating roles deemed “non-critical” or “not statutorily mandated.” The administration says it is a necessary response to bloated government and outdated structures, claiming the injunction was forcing agencies to retain “thousands of employees whose continuance in federal service… is not in the government and public interest.” Labor unions and state officials opposing the plan say it goes beyond normal workforce management and could gut services across multiple agencies. They point to proposed cuts of over 50% at the Department of Energy, and nearly 90% at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The court’s ruling is not a final judgment on the legality of the executive order. It only determines that implementation may proceed temporarily while appeals continue. If the Ninth Circuit upholds the injunction or the Supreme Court declines to take up the case later, the order could again be paused. The American Federal Government Employees Union had a forceful response: “Today’s decision has dealt a serious blow to our democracy and puts services that the American people rely on in grave jeopardy. This decision does not change the simple and clear fact that reorganizing government functions and laying off federal workers en masse haphazardly without any congressional approval is not allowed by our Constitution. While we are disappointed in this decision, we will continue to fight on behalf of the communities we represent and argue this case to protect critical public services that we rely on to stay safe and healthy.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The case is Trump v. American Federation of Government Employees. “Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling is another definitive victory for the President and his administration,” wrote White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields in an email to Fox News Digital. “It clearly rebukes the continued assaults on the President’s constitutionally authorized executive powers by leftist judges who are trying to prevent the President from achieving government efficiency across the federal government.”
Mamdani camp silent when confronted with calls to ‘radicalize’ high schoolers, ‘dismantle’ US
Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s campaign did not respond when confronted with a handful of radical platforms and messages that were promoted during an annual gathering of socialist activists and leaders in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, Fox News Digital found. “Socialism 2025” was held in Chicago Thursday through Sunday, where activists promoted “radicalizing” high school students, overthrowing the U.S. government and how to perform a “DIY” abortion and required all attendees to wear N95 or K95 while indoors, in addition to common rhetoric slamming capitalism. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign Tuesday morning inquiring if the NYC Socialist Democrat agreed or disagreed with the platforms and ideas promoted at the conference, and if they were ones he would implement if elected the next mayor of the Big Apple, but did not immediately receive a response. Mamdani did not attend the conference in Chicago, but describes himself as a Democratic socialist and has previously embraced radical left-wing policies, such as ending private homeownership in favor of communal living, Fox Digital has previously reported. The socialism conference included panels dominated by college professors, as well as community organizers, activists and others. SOCIALIST MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S SAT SCORE REVEALED: REPORT “Socialism 2025 is a four-day conference bringing together thousands of socialists and radical activists from around the country to take part in discussions about social movements, abolition, Marxism, decolonization, working-class history, and the debates and strategies for organizing today,” the conference touts on its website. Fox News Digital provided Mamdani’s office with a bullet-point list of six quotes and platforms promoted at the event, including one woman who identified herself as a Wisconsin high school teacher calling for youths to be “radicalized” before they enter college. “All of you who got radicalized in college, imagine if you got radicalized four years earlier,” the woman, who was a member of the audience, was heard saying during the conference. NYC’S SHOCKING SOCIALIST VICTORY IS A DIRE WARNING FOR THE RIGHT Another Chicago-based activist who spoke during a panel called for the U.S. government to be overthrown. “I think it’s important to say the state isn’t democratic. We don’t live in a democracy. We should start saying that more so. I mean, there are so many different ways — I’m not going to go into it — but people are clapping, so there’s general agreement. I’m glad we agree on that,” the activist said during a panel Saturday called, “Their End is Our Beginning: Cops, Capitalism, and Abolition,” which receive applause from the crowd. “So, do we capture the state or do we try to replace it with something different?” he continued. “And I think it’s the latter. We have to replace it with something different.” While during another panel on “Gender, Sexuality, Reproduction and the State: Fighting Back Against the So-Called Law,” a woman from the audience announced that the conference would hold a do-it-yourself abortion panel to discuss how to use and where to buy legal abortion pills. While a panel speaker for the same forum appeared to call for the abolition of the family. VIDEO SURFACES OF MAMDANI USING SLOGAN ROOTED IN COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONARY LANGUAGE “But… the bigger part of abolition as everybody’s reminding us in that tradition is the building of infrastructures of real safety, real accountability, real justice,” the activist said during the panel. “You know it’s the same with the family. Capitalist care has to be abolished in the sense that we are all pretty clear that care is a real need. What does the family offer us? What is the promise? It’s like a promise that you will be deeply, profoundly, unconditionally, selflessly and uncalculatedly known and held.” “Is the family really doing that?” she added, before adding that the idea of family has shortcomings and can be replaced with “mutual aid.” While yet another activist declared during a video clip circulating social media that she seeks to “dismantle the United States” and said “everyone” should join her in her activism — “no questions asked.” “I seek to dismantle the United States,” the activist said, according to video footage circulating on X. “I hope you seek to dismantle the United States. And if that isn’t your politics, OK. I speak as if everybody has this commitment. And the thing is, you should. You should listen to indigenous people when they are telling you this is the goal. Not only is this the goal, but this is the starting point.” “Decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species. It’s the only thing that’s going to save us as a planet. And everyone should be on board with it, no questions asked.” SANDERS ENDORSES SOCIALIST MAMDANI IN MOVE TO BLOCK CUOMO IN NYC MAYORAL RACE Mamdani trounced top NYC mayoral competitor and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the polls in June. Mamdani’s victory is viewed as the Democrat Party moving farther to the left in New York City after national voters sounded off in the 2024 election that the party’s embrace of some left-wing policies alienated Americans. President Donald Trump has slammed Mamdani as a “Communist Lunatic” and vowed he would “save New York City.” “As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier in July. “Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!”
Judge torched for Planned Parenthood order: Her court looks ‘like a fast food drive-through’
A federal judge drew enormous backlash from Republicans after she blocked the Trump administration on Monday from following through on a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that strips federal funding from Planned Parenthood. Critics of Judge Indira Talwani said her fast-acting decision to grant Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion vendor, a temporary restraining order was an extraordinary overreach of judicial authority. Tom Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital the judge’s move was “obviously out of bounds.” “What you have here is Congress exercising its explicit constitutional authority to make spending decisions, and you have a district judge arguably trying to exercise power she doesn’t have to force Congress to change,” Jipping said. PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT CONFRONTS HIGH ABORTION RATES THREE YEARS AFTER DOBBS Talwani, a Boston-based judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued the temporary order, which lasts 14 days, after Planned Parenthood sued the government over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive tax and budget bill. The provision stripped Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, which the nonprofit said could force it to close roughly 200 of its 600 facilities and deprive about one million customers of non-abortion-related services. Congress narrowly passed the bill with no support from Democrats last week, and Trump signed it into law on July 4. Talwani’s brief two-page order came on the same day Planned Parenthood sued, and it contained only the explanation that the nonprofit showed “good cause” for the temporary relief. “I don’t know how fast that judge reads, but she issued her TRO within a couple of hours,” Jipping said. “That makes her court look like a fast food drive-through.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a lawyer and Senate Judiciary Committee member, said he believed the judge’s order was not an innocent mistake and floated the idea that the House could initiate impeachment proceedings against the judge. “We have the best judicial system in the world, but it’s run by fallible, mortal humans. People make mistakes. But unless I’m missing something here, this wasn’t an honest mistake,” Lee said. “This was a pretty egregious judicial usurpation of legislative power.” SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN OKS BAN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERAL FUNDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL Bill Shipley, a former federal prosecutor who once represented numerous Jan. 6 defendants, suggested on X that the First Circuit Court of Appeals reassign the case. “The only way District Judges are going to be disciplined to adhere to their role is if they are sanctioned for brazenly ignoring the limits of their authority for partisan ends,” Shipley wrote. Talwani set a hearing for July 21 to consider arguments from Planned Parenthood and the named agencies in the lawsuit, Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Department of Justice (DOJ) could challenge the order in the interim. DOJ chief of staff Chad Mizelle said the judge’s restraining order amounted to “lawless overreach,” and he called for the Supreme Court to intervene. The order came in response to Planned Parenthood claiming in its lawsuit that Congress’s budget bill unconstitutionally targeted Planned Parenthood because it performs abortions. FEDERAL JUDGE PAUSES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDING MEASURE Opponents of abortion have focused their energy on weakening Planned Parenthood in the years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the passage of the budget bill marked a milestone success for them. Some told Fox News Digital recently that it was one of several steps they needed to take to address the glaring fact that abortions remain prevalent and could even be on the rise. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood said Medicaid does not cover abortion and that depriving Planned Parenthood of its hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements would cause more than half of its customers to lose access to services that do not include abortion. Cancer and sexually transmitted infections would go undetected, especially for low-income people, and more unplanned pregnancies would occur because of a lack of contraception access, the Planned Parenthood attorneys said. “The adverse public health consequences of the Defund Provision will be grave,” the attorneys wrote. Some Democrats celebrated Talwani’s order but did not address the legality of it. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on Bluesky that the judge in her home state delivered “some good news” for people who have relied on Planned Parenthood for health care. “But make no mistake: our fight is far from over,” Clark wrote.
How strong is US manufacturing, as Trump’s tariff deadline looms?
The global economy is on edge as United States President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline looms for the imposition of double-digit tariffs on most trading partners. On Monday, Trump announced tariffs on 14 countries, ranging from 25 to 40 percent. The targeted countries include close US allies like Japan and South Korea, as well as Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tunisia, South Africa, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And with only a few trade deals in place, his administration is expected to announce the imposition of new levies on many more countries. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said those new tariffs would come into effect on August 1. Trump’s initial April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of across-the-board tariffs on countries around the world sent markets into a tailspin. Trump relented – temporarily – announcing a 90-day cessation on higher tariffs, while imposing a 10 percent baseline levy on all trading partners. Now, some experts fear that higher tariffs, if imposed after July 9, could push the global economy into a recession. Along with reducing the trade deficit, Trump’s argument for tariffs is that they will boost US manufacturing and protect jobs. He says tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy more US-made goods, increase the taxes raised and enhance investment in the US. But what is the current state of manufacturing in the US, and how has it fared in recent months amid the economic churn stirred by Trump’s policies? Advertisement Where are we now? In a bid to revitalise US industry, Trump announced a $14bn investment on May 30, brokering a partnership between US Steel and Nippon Steel tipped to create 70,000 jobs, according to the White House. The Trump administration has also highlighted investments announced by automakers, tech firms and chocolate companies, among others, as evidence of the return of manufacturing to US soil. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, manufacturing contributed $2.9 trillion to the economy in the first quarter of 2025, a 0.6 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2024. That places it behind only finance, professional and business services, and government as the largest sectors contributing to the US economy. However, building that manufacturing base back to the heydays of the sector, when it dominated the US economy, will not be easy, caution many experts. They point out that the US is today missing many of the essential elements of a robust manufacturing framework, including skilled labour, government support and technology. Manufacturing accounted for more than 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1970s, but that came down to 13 percent by 2005. Its share has since dropped further, to about 9.7 percent in 2024. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing value added as a percentage of GDP was 21 percent in 2024, followed by professional and business services (13 percent) and government (11 percent). US manufacturing falls for a fourth month The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Index, also known as the purchasing managers’ index (PMI), is a monthly indicator of economic activity based on a survey of purchasing managers at manufacturing firms nationwide. It serves as a primary indicator of the condition of the US economy. The PMI measures the change in production levels across the economy from month to month. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. In June, it registered 49 percent, marking a fourth consecutive month of contraction, though the rate of decline has slowed. (Al Jazeera) At the start of 2025, the PMI was in expansion territory – 50.9 percent in January and 50.3 percent in February, before slipping below 50 in March. Nine manufacturing industries reported growth in June, while six industries reported contraction. According to the Reuters news agency, economists say the lack of clarity on what happens after July 9 has left businesses unable to make long-term plans. Advertisement How many people does manufacturing employ? According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 2025 there were some 12.75 million people employed in the manufacturing sector in the US. Employment in manufacturing has increased from five years ago – in June 2020, some 11.95 million people were employed. However, current employment levels are still far below the peak of nearly 20 million people hired in manufacturing jobs in the late 1970s, reflecting the long-term decline in the sector’s contribution to employment in the US. US manufacturing job openings increased in May – 414,000, up from 392,000 in April – but actual hiring declined, hinting at uncertainties in the labour market over the Trump administration’s tariff policies. US manufacturing compared to the rest of the world The US has seen a decline in its share of global manufacturing, while China has taken over as the largest manufacturing country by value-added. China contributed $4.8 trillion to the global GDP through manufacturing in 2022, followed by the US at $2.7 trillion that year. Still, the US remains a major player and adds more manufacturing value than the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-largest countries combined. And it does so with far fewer workers than its competitors. Adblock test (Why?)
Poland imposes controls on Germany, Lithuania borders to check migration
Polish government says step aimed to check migrants more thoroughly amid public concerns over immigration. Poland has reintroduced temporary checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania, citing a growing influx of undocumented migrants and increasing public concern over security. Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the move on Monday, arguing that Warsaw needed to “redirect” migration routes that bypass barriers along the Belarusian border and instead pass through neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania. “To redirect this stream of people, which is deflected by our barrier, but which wants to cross Poland again through the border with Latvia and Lithuania, and further into Europe,” Tusk said. The decision came amid heightened tensions across Europe over irregular migration, with other Schengen members like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands having already taken similar steps over the past 18 months, putting strain on the European Union’s passport-free travel zone. Germany has maintained controls on its border with Poland since 2023, but recently adopted a tougher approach, rejecting undocumented arrivals and sending them back to Poland under EU and bilateral agreements. Polish authorities say this has placed an unfair burden on their country. Knut Abraham, Germany’s envoy for Polish relations, warned the new checks could cause traffic congestion and disrupt trade, without curbing migration effectively. Similar concerns were raised by Rafal Gronicz, mayor of the border town of Zgorzelec, who dismissed fears of a migrant crisis as exaggerated. “As long as I live, I have never known anyone who wanted to escape from Germany to Poland,” he told local radio. “There are no pressing waves of migrants walking around Zgorzelec.” Advertisement Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said checks on the German border will be lifted when Berlin ends its tougher controls. “If Germany lifts its controls, we are not going to delay either,” Siemoniak said. “We want this movement to be absolutely free, that the problems of illegal migrant and migration be resolved together, without either side suffering.” Tensions have escalated in recent weeks in Poland after a Venezuelan national was charged with murdering a 24-year-old woman in Torun. That killing triggered mass protests led by nationalist groups, with some 10,000 people marching on Sunday in her memory. A separate incident on Saturday saw a Polish man fatally stabbed during a brawl in the northern town of Nowe. Authorities said on Monday that 13 people had been arrested – three Poles and 10 Colombians. Angry crowds gathered outside a workers’ hostel where the Colombians had been staying, state media reported. Far-right groups have also begun patrolling Poland’s western frontier, claiming to protect the country from migrant flows. Human rights organisations condemned these vigilante efforts, warning they fuel xenophobia and undermine trust in official institutions. “The actions of these self-proclaimed groups are the result of a radicalising political narrative,” said the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. “Debate on migration should be grounded in facts, not fear.” Adblock test (Why?)
Netanyahu, Trump discuss forced transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met United States President Donald Trump at the White House, with the two leaders repeating their controversial proposal to forcibly transfer thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip. Trump and Netanyahu met for dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on Monday as indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and Hamas on US-backed proposals for a 60-day ceasefire to end the 21-month Gaza war appeared to gather some momentum. Netanyahu told reporters present at the meeting that the US and Israel were working with other countries to give Palestinians a “better future”, suggesting that the residents of Gaza could move to neighbouring nations. “If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn’t be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice,” Netanyahu said. “We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.” Trump, who earlier this year caused outrage when he floated his idea of relocating Palestinians and taking over the Strip to turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, said there had been “great cooperation” on the matter from “surrounding countries”. “So something good will happen,” he added. ‘Recipe for catastrophe’ “This is something the Israelis have been saying for some time, calling it the ‘voluntary migration’ of Palestinians from their homelands. But of course, this has been condemned as ethnic cleansing,” Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said, reporting from Amman, Jordan. Advertisement Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that just because there are ongoing reports and statements about relocating Palestinians in Gaza to other countries, it does not mean that there is a “practical plan”. “The fact that the Israeli defence minister blurts some ideas out, or even the prime minister, or even the president of the United States, doesn’t mean there is a plan,” he said. “In early February, Trump spoke about a Palestinian Riviera, and within 36 hours, he changed that from a Riviera for the Palestinians to the Palestinians will be expelled,” he added. Pinkas explained that amid reports that the Boston Consulting Group, which has been asked to come up with a plan to relocate Palestinians, it “doesn’t mean it’s implementable, it doesn’t mean it’s practical”. “[It] is a recipe for catastrophe because it ensures that no [post-war] agreement in Gaza is durable,” Pinkas said. Trump and Netanyahu met as Israeli and Hamas negotiators held a second day of indirect talks in Qatar, seated in different rooms in the same building. Proposals for a 60-day pause in fighting envisage a phased release of Hamas-held captives and Palestinian prisoners, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on completely ending the war. But a sticking point is whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the captives in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something the Palestinian group refuses to do. In advance of Netanyahu’s visit to the US, Trump predicted that a ceasefire deal could be reached this week. But Netanyahu appeared cagey, ruling out a full Palestinian state, saying Israel will “always” keep security control over the Gaza Strip. Monday’s talks in Qatar ended with no announcements. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who played an important role in crafting the proposals, is expected to join negotiators in Qatar this week. Coveted Nobel nomination Trump and Netanyahu’s discussions came just over two weeks after the former ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes, before announcing a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war. During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that he said had been used to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture, thanked him. Advertisement “So much of this is about optics,” said Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, reporting from Washington, DC. “Of course, the [Israeli] prime minister will be very keen to make sure that this is seen back home as a major success … He is very keen to make sure that he is portrayed as being back in the good favours of Donald Trump.” Trump has made little secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel, trumpeting recent truces that his administration facilitated between India and Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. During the meeting, Trump indicated that Iranian officials have reached out to the US to schedule talks about Iran’s nuclear programme. Negotiations had started in April but were scuppered after Israel launched attacks last month. “We have scheduled Iran talks, and they … want to talk. They took a big drubbing,” said the US president. Sitting at the table with Trump, Witkoff said the meeting would be soon, perhaps in a week. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, released on Monday, that he believed Tehran could resolve its differences with Washington through dialogue. Netanyahu, who also met Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, is due to meet Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday morning (about 13:30 GMT). Adblock test (Why?)
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