Trump blames predecessor as US economy hit by tariff policies
President asks for ‘patience’ as businesses react negatively to Trump’s aggressive efforts to upend global trade. United States President Donald Trump blames former president Joe Biden for the decline of key economic indicators during his first months as president, amid widespread disruptions caused by Trump’s tariff policies. The US economy contracted by 0.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, the first such drop in three years. During the last three months of 2024, the economy grew by 2.4 percent. “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” Trump said in a post on his website Truth Social. “Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!” Since taking office, Trump’s efforts to upend the global trade system through a series of aggressive import duties have caused turmoil in financial markets amid fears of an escalating trade war and uncertainty surrounding the tariff policies. Advertisement The first quarter saw an uptick in imports, as US businesses seek to get out ahead of higher costs that could accompany future tariffs. Inflation, however, continues to ease. In March, consumer prices were 2.3 percent higher than they were a year earlier, compared with 2.5 percent in February. In a press release from the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt mirrored Trump’s claims that Biden was to blame for any turbulence while also stating that the Wednesday economic report showed “strong economic momentum”. “It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering,” Leavitt said. Many economic analysts blame Trump’s chaotic approach to tariffs for the US’s flagging indicators. Since taking office, the S&P 500 has shrunk by about 7.3 percent. “If the blowout on trade was the result of firms pre-buying imported inputs to beat the tariffs, the decay in the trade balance will reverse in second quarter,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told the news agency Reuters. “That will generate some GDP growth. However, corrosive uncertainty and higher taxes, tariffs are a tax on imports, will drag GDP growth back into the red by the end of this year.” In recent weeks, the White House has suggested that it could draw down tariffs with key US trading partners such as China, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating last week that current rates were not “sustainable”. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi: Massive fire breaks out at Dilli Haat, operations underway
In an unfortunate incident, fire broke out in Dilli Haat. According to news agency ANI, Fire tenders are present at the spot with firefighting operations underway.
India shuts its airspace for Pakistan flights days after Pahalgam terror attack
India shuts its airspace for Pakistan flights days after Pahalgam terror attack.
WH says ‘no dispute’ deported suspected gang member had MS-13 tattoos despite photos to the contrary
President Donald Trump defended the deportation of illegal alien and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia during a fiery interview with ABC, pointing to a photo he shared on social media clearly showing the notorious gang’s name tattooed across Abrego Garcia’s knuckles. Other recent photos of the illegal alien, however, do not appear to show the tattoo, Fox News Digital found. “Ask any law or immigration enforcement official who’s been on the ground about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s tattoos: they’re MS-13,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital Wednesday when asked about other photos appearing not to show “MS13” tattooed on Abrego Garcia’s hand. “An ICE investigation, a local police investigation, and the government of El Salvador have all determined that he is a wife-beating MS-13 terrorist illegal alien who should never have been in the United States. There is no dispute about these facts.” Trump joined ABC News for an interview in the Oval Office that aired on Trump’s 100th day back in the White House, where he defended that Abrego Garcia had “MS13” scrawled across his hand. “On his knuckles he had MS-13,” Trump told ABC in an interview that aired Tuesday, referring to Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador’s notorious high-security prison CECOT in March, before he was moved to another detention center in the country earlier in April. “He had some tattoos that were interpreted that way,” ABC’s Terry Moran replied. “M-S-1-3 — It says M-S-one-three,” Trump continued in the interview. VIOLENT MS-13 GANGBANGERS GETTING ‘DESPERATE’; DHS OFFICIAL CREDITS EARLY TRUMP ACTION “That was Photoshop,” Moran responded while attempting to change the topic of conversation. Trump shared a photo to his social media accounts April 18 showing a man’s hand with “MS-13” tattooed across his knuckles above other tattoos, such as a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross and a depiction of a human skull. Trump continued that Moran was doing “such a disservice” by claiming a photo clearly showing “MS-13” tattooed across the hand was “Photoshopped,” arguing Moran was spreading “fake news.” FEDERAL JUDGE ALLEGES ‘WILLFUL AND BAD FAITH REFUSAL’ TO COMPLY IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION CASE “Fair enough, he did have tattoos that can be interpreted that way,” Moran added during the interview. “I’m not an expert on them.” Fox News Digital examined two separate photos of Abrego Garcia shared with the media in recent weeks that do not appear to show the MS-13 tattoo. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who struck an agreement with the Trump administration to accept thousands of violent gang members illegally living in the U.S. and house them in a high-security prison in the country, shared a photo of Abrego Garcia after his arrival to El Salvador in March that does not appear to show “MS13” tattooed across his hand. 4 MORE DEMS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RETURN TO US “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador,” Bukele posted to X April 17, accompanied by photos of Abrego Garcia shaking hands with Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who visited El Salvador in April to protest the Trump administration’s deportation of the man. The photo shows other tattoos across Abrego Garcia’s knuckles — including the marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross and human skull tattoos — but does not appear to show “MS13” like in the photo shared by Trump. Another photo shared by CASA, an immigration activist group, earlier in April showed a separate photo of Abrego Garcia with his young son that also did not appear to show the tattoo. Fox News Digital reached out to CASA for additional details and comment on the matter, but did not immediately receive a reply Wednesday morning. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Abrego Gacria’s attorney for comment on the photos and reported MS-13 tattoo, but did not immediately receive replies. Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally from his home country in El Salvador in 2011 and was issued a deportation order in 2019, Fox News Digital previously reported. Trump administration officials acknowledged in court in March that his March 15 deportation had been an administrative error, but have since defended the deportation and argued that El Salvador could release him if the nation chose to do so. DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN AND SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor/human trafficking, according to a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report previously obtained by Fox News. The report also stated that “official law enforcement investigations” revealed that Abrego Garcia was a member of the notorious gang MS-13, which Trump has designated as a terror organization. Abrego Garcia was pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Dec. 1, 2022, after he spotted the car speeding and not remaining in its lane, according to the Homeland Security Investigations report. The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis to “perform construction work,” Fox Digital previously reported. The report states that the trooper suspected the group was involved with a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle. MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS HE WON’T TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR FOR ABREGO GARCIA New documents further revealed that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his “boss.” The Suburban was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, Fox Digital previously reported. The Homeland Security Investigations report also notes that in October 2019, the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER
Graham mocks Democrats as Trump DEA nominee confirms MS-13 gang tattoos
During the confirmation hearing for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nominee Terrance Cole, Sen. Lindsey Graham produced a photo of deported alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and asked Cole to essentially translate the man’s controversial tattoos. “Are you familiar with MS-13? Briefly, what are they?” Graham asked. “They’re a terrorist organization,” Cole replied. “[They’re involved in] extortion, kidnapping, drugs, intimidation, money laundering…” ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER Graham then asked whether MS-13 members have “membership cards” or anything similar for the public to identify them, given disputes about what Garcia’s knuckle tattoos really mean. “Not necessarily the membership cards, but they are well recognized based on tattoos and different [things],” Cole said. Producing a photo of the tattoos, Graham asked Cole to translate each of them in the fashion of a Rebus puzzle. “Based on your time and experience and expertise in the DEA, what does that photo or those markings suggest to you?” he asked. ‘NOT A MARYLAND MAN’: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL “Well, they suggest that he’s an MS-13 member – that those are his markings. That’s his brand.” When asked what the leaf on his first knuckle stood for, Cole said it was marijuana, which starts with “M.” The second finger was a “smiley face,” he said, which starts with “S,” followed by the number “1” and what “looks like a backwards 3, from here.” “So based on your time as a DEA agent in the field, particularly in Mexico, these tattoos are consistent with MS-13 associations,” Graham asked. “Yes sir, that’s correct,” Cole replied. To dispel further criticism, Graham went on to ask if there might be any other organizations that would use that series of symbols. Cole responded in the negative. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was asked by the outlet “The Bulwark” about Democrats’ recent trips to El Salvador to meet with Garcia. Democratic aides later told the outlet that Jeffries had reportedly discouraged any more visits. The controversy over Garcia’s tattoos also boiled over during a recent interview between ABC News’ Terry Moran and President Donald Trump. “Wait a minute, he had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles,” Trump said, before Moran countered that there were “some tattoos that were interpreted that way.”
Ex-McConnell advisor-turned-MAGA star doesn’t rule out potential Senate bid as rumors swirl
Scott Jennings, CNN’s Trump-supporting commentator who has gone viral on social media for his sparring matches with left-leaning guests, responded to reports that he may run for Senate in Kentucky to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell. “Man, the internet’s a crazy place. Long way until next May,” Jennings, who formerly advised multiple McConnell campaigns, told Fox News Digital at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. “I read all this with some amusement, but again, it’s a long way until next year.” Fox News Digital reported in February that he is being encouraged to run and the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last Friday that he’s mulling a bid. Jennings went on to say that he believes “Kentucky has benefited from having Republican senators for a long time” and that he thinks the Senate seat “ought to be in the hands ultimately of somebody who’s going to help Donald Trump execute on the president’s agenda.” CNN’S JENNINGS SAYS ALL THE ‘CLINTON GUYS FROM THE 90S’ HAVE LEFT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR TRUMP “And frankly, I think politics is a team sport. The president’s the head of our team and I think eventually he’ll need to weigh in here on who he thinks is the best to help him execute on his agenda,” Jennings added. At President Donald Trump’s 100-day rally in Michigan on Tuesday night, the president invited Jennings to address the audience. “We have a man here that I don’t know, but he’s defending me all the time on CNN. And he defends me really well, but he can’t go too far because if he goes too far he’ll get fired,” Trump said. “I got to get a farm in Michigan, because when you own as many Libs as I do, you gotta get a place to put ‘em all!” Jennings joked. CNN’S JENNINGS SAYS LEFT ‘IN LOVE WITH THE WORST PEOPLE’ DURING PANEL ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIEN DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR Currently, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and former Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron are in the race for the seat on the Republican side. There has also been speculation that Kentucky businessman Nate Morris, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, will hop into the race. In the Democratic primary, Kentucky House Minority Leader Pamela Stevenson is in the race. Trump won the state by a wide margin in November and it is generally considered a red state, with the notable exception of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. HOUSE REPUBLICAN ENTERS RACE FOR MITCH MCCONNELL’S SENATE SEAT, SETTING UP HIGH-STAKES GOP PRIMARY The 83-year-old McConnell, who has regularly butted heads with the president despite also receiving high praise from Trump, said in February he would not run for re-election after being in the seat since the 1980s. As for Jennings, who was initially floated as a potential pick for the White House press secretary role before Karoline Leavitt was chosen, he was formerly a top advisor to McConnell and served in the George W. Bush administration. He has also advised several other campaigns and is the founding partner of RunSwitch, which is advertised as “Kentucky’s largest PR and public affairs firm.”
Kashmir attack: How India might strike Pakistan – what history tells us
Pakistan said on Wednesday that it had “credible intelligence” that India might launch a military strike against it within the next few days. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a series of security meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, adding to speculation of an impending Indian military operation against its archrival, after the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed. Since the attack, barely existent relations between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have nosedived further, with the countries scaling back diplomatic engagement, suspending their participation in bilateral treaties and effectively expelling each other’s citizens. The subcontinent is on edge. But how imminent is an Indian military response to the Pahalgam killings, and what might it look like? Here’s what history tells us: What happened? Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a televised statement early on Wednesday that Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India was planning to take military action against Pakistan in the “next 24 to 36 hours”. Advertisement Tarar added that this action would be India’s response on the “pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement” in Pahalgam. While India has alleged Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack, Islamabad has denied this claim. India and Pakistan each administer parts of Kashmir, but both countries claim the territory in full. Tarar’s statement came a day after Modi gave the Indian military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the Pahalgam attack in a closed-door meeting with the country’s security leaders, multiple news agencies reported, citing anonymous senior government sources. On Wednesday, Modi chaired a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, the second such meeting since the Pahalgam attack, state-run Doordarshan television reported. Meanwhile, as the neighbours continued to exchange gunfire along the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, other world leaders stepped up diplomacy to calm tensions. “We are reaching out to both parties, and telling … them to not escalate the situation,” a United States state department spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday, quoting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is expected to speak to the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan. Also on Tuesday, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he had spoken to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, offering his help in “de-escalation”. What military action could India take? While it is unclear what course of action India could take, it has in the past used a range of military tactics. Here are some of them: Advertisement Covert military operations By design, they aren’t announced – and aren’t confirmed. But over the decades, India and Pakistan have each launched multiple covert raids into territory controlled by the other, targeting military posts, killing soldiers – and on occasion beheading the enemy’s troops. These strikes are often carried out as a retaliatory step by a military unit whose personnel were themselves previously attacked, as a form of retribution. But such raids are never confirmed: The idea is to send the other country a message but not force it to respond, thereby containing the risk of escalation. Public announcements lead to domestic pressure on governments to hit back. Publicised ‘surgical strikes’ Sometimes, though, the idea is not to send subtle messages – but to embarrass the other country by making an attack public. It also doesn’t hurt politically. India has in the past carried out so-called surgical strikes against specific, chosen targets across the LoC – most recently in 2016. Then, after armed fighters killed 17 Indian soldiers in Uri, Indian-administered Kashmir, special forces of the Indian Army crossed the de facto border to attack “launch pads” from where, New Delhi alleged, “terrorists” were planning to strike India again. “The operations were basically focused to ensure that these terrorists do not succeed in their design of infiltration and carrying out destruction and endangering the lives of citizens of our country,” Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, then the director-general of military operations for the Indian Army, said in a public statement, revealing the raid. Advertisement India claimed that the surgical strike had killed dozens of fighters, though independent analysts believe the toll was likely much lower. Aerial strikes In February 2019, a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir, weeks before national elections in the country. This attack was claimed by the Jaish-e-Muhammad, an armed group based in Pakistan. Amid an outpouring of rage, the Indian Air Force launched an aerial raid into Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India claimed it had struck hideouts of “terrorists” and killed several dozen fighters. Pakistan insisted that Indian jets only hit a forested region, and did not kill any fighters. Islamabad claimed it scrambled jets that chased Indian planes back across the LoC. But a day later, Indian and Pakistani fighter jets again engaged in a dogfight – this one ending with Pakistan downing an Indian plane inside territory it controls. An Indian fighter pilot was captured, and returned a few days later. Attempts at taking over Pakistan-controlled land Over the past few years, there have been growing calls in India that New Delhi should take back Pakistan-administered Kashmir. That chorus has only sharpened in recent days after the Pahalgam attack, with even leaders of the opposition Congress Party goading the Modi government to take back that territory. While retaking Pakistan-administered Kashmir remains a policy objective of every Indian government, the closely matched military capabilities of both sides make such an endeavour unlikely. Advertisement Still, India has a track record of successfully taking disputed territory from Pakistan. In 1984, the Indian Army and Indian Air Force launched Operation Meghdoot, in which they rapidly captured the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas, blocking the Pakistan Army from accessing key passes. One of the world’s largest non-polar glaciers, Siachin has since been the planet’s highest battleground, with Indian and Pakistani military outposts positioned against each other. Naval missions In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, the Indian Navy announced that it had carried out
Pro-Palestinian students confront University of Manchester leadership
NewsFeed Video from the Youth Front for Palestine shows student activists interrupting a meeting of University of Manchester leaders to demand the school sever ties with Israel’s Tel Aviv University. The school’s leadership defended its decision to maintain ties, saying that doing so is not in support of genocide or Israel. Published On 30 Apr 202530 Apr 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine says it is poised to sign minerals deal with the US
Ukraine’s PM says agreement is ‘good, equal and beneficial’, hopes it will be signed ‘within the next 24 hours’. Ukraine is poised to sign a much-anticipated minerals deal with the United State, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal has said, as both sides finalised details. The agreement would see Washington and Kyiv jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral resources, an arrangement US President Donald Trump has called “money back” for the wartime aid it has received from the United States. “This is truly a good, equal and beneficial international agreement on joint investments in the development and recovery of Ukraine,” Shmygal said on national TV on Wednesday. “I hope that the agreement will be signed in the near future, within the next 24 hours, and we will take the first step,” he added. There was no immediate comment from Washington. Ukraine and the US had planned to sign the agreement weeks ago, but a fiery clash between Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House temporarily derailed talks. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said, “It seems there are still some details to work out. But the signing of that deal is expected within the next 24 hours”. Advertisement Joint fund Ukraine has been pushing for security guarantees as part of any deal to halt Russia’s three-year invasion. The Trump administration has argued that boosting US business interests in Ukraine will help deter Russia from future aggression in the event of a ceasefire. It was not clear if the deal included any security guarantees for Ukraine. The deal will not be linked to any “debts” for previous assistance Kyiv has received, and will create a “50/50” joint fund split between Kyiv and Washington, a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency said, as cited by the AFP news agency. “It ensures the equality of the parties. An investment fund will be created to invest in reconstruction. It is envisaged that there will be contributions from us and the United States,” it added. When Washington provides new military aid, it will be counted as their contribution to the joint fund, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a draft of the agreement. However, the draft does not spell out how the joint fund’s revenues will be spent, who benefits, or who controls decisions about the spending. According to the draft, the United States, or other entities it designates, will get preferential – but not exclusive – access to new permits, licences and investment opportunities in the field of Ukrainian natural resources, according to the draft. Existing deals are not covered. Previous iterations of the deal during negotiations had said that it would include Ukrainian natural gas infrastructure, which is one of Ukraine’s most valuable assets, sources with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month. Advertisement Gas infrastructure was not covered by the draft cited by Reuters on Wednesday. Adblock test (Why?)
UP school boy forced to urinate on Pakistani flag, details here…
In a police complaint, the 15-year-old student’s family said he was returning home from the Government Inter College with friends on Monday afternoon when he noticed the flag lying on the ground. Moments later, a mob accosted the boy, demanded to know his name, started abusing him.