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Top Trump agency purges over 20 suspected China-linked products from federal marketplace

Top Trump agency purges over 20 suspected China-linked products from federal marketplace

The Small Business Administration (SBA), in collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), is removing nearly two dozen foreign products from its official catalog that supplies government agencies, citing fears that some of them may be misrepresenting their sourcing. Kelly Loeffler, SBA administrator, raised concerns that China-based companies were falsely marketing their products as “made in America” on the Advantage! platform — a listing service the government uses to connect vendors with agencies. “As part of our commitment to rebuilding American industry and supply chains, the Trump SBA believes that every taxpayer dollar spent by the federal government should go to support American businesses, workers and products,” Loeffler said. SBA’s crackdown furthers efforts by the Trump administration to double down on American manufacturing and aims to reduce the risk associated with purchasing or implementing compromised China-sourced goods. REPUBLICANS LOOK TO STOP CHINA’S ‘BACKDOOR’ TARIFF DODGING SCHEME The concerns first arose at the White House Small Business Summit where a New York-based small business, Sherrill Manufacturing, communicated suspicions to SBA that China-based companies were only partially assembling or finishing their products in the U.S. Sherrill, according to the SBA, is the only manufacturer of stainless steel flatware that is 100% made in America. “When foreign companies were caught falsely claiming ‘Made in America’ status in the federal procurement system, President Trump directed the SBA and GSA to take aggressive action,” Loeffler said. Even in his first term, Trump used executive orders to maximize the use of domestically sourced raw materials such as iron, aluminum and cement. He issued a similar executive order earlier this year. INTEL RIVAL SKYWATER PITCHES ITSELF AS ALL-AMERICAN FIRM AS TRUMP MULLS MORE EQUITY DEALS But sourcing protections for federal materials didn’t start with him. For security reasons, the Berry Amendment, implemented in 1941, requires the Department of War to purchase only American-sourced steel. Similarly, the Buy American Act (BAA), a Great Depression-era law that passed in 1933, requires federal agencies to prioritize American-made goods over certain value thresholds. Loeffler explained that companies like Sherrill Manufacturing can be put unknowingly at risk of violating those requirements if vendors aren’t honest about their sourcing. “The Trump Administration is sending a clear message that we will not tolerate foreign impostors that hijack Made in America labels, or those that undercut honest, generational, American small businesses like Sherrill Manufacturing,” Loeffler said. The company’s CEO, Matthew Roberts, praised the SBA’s work and thanked the Trump administration. “The factory where Sherrill Manufacturing and Liberty Tabletop produce their flatware has a manufacturing history dating back to supplying America’s armed forces during World War I,” Roberts said. 18 BRANDS STILL MAKING COOKWARE AND KITCHEN TOOLS IN THE U.S. — FROM SKILLETS TO SPATULAS “We deeply appreciate President Trump, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, and GSA Administrator Ed Forst, along with their offices, for their continued efforts to keep American manufacturing alive and restore pride in products made in the USA,” he added. SBA did not list which specific vendors have been removed from the Advantage! platform.

Progressive Talarico knifes Biden’s open border, tries moderating stance on key issues in Texas Senate race

Progressive Talarico knifes Biden’s open border, tries moderating stance on key issues in Texas Senate race

The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas torched former President Joe Biden’s open borders policies as he races to clean-up past comments amid criticism he is too radical to be elected in Texas. James Talarico hardened his stance on border security and pitted himself against the former president during a podcast interview on “Cogdell Law Uncensored” earlier this week. The Democrat member of the Texas legislature has a far-left track record that includes calls to “tear down” Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), an agency which he has called “secret police,” and claiming the border should act as a “welcome mat” for illegal immigrants. He is now the Democratic nominee taking on Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton in the race for a Senate seat in Texas in November. JAMES TALARICO SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS CONVINCED BORDER SECURITY WAS ‘RACIST’ “I called out Joe Biden for failing to secure our southern border and I got a lot of heat from my own party for doing that,” he told podcaster and attorney Dan Cogdell. “But I remember talking with my colleagues in the legislature who represent border communities and they told me about the utter chaos caused by President Biden’s policies.” Those calls and his more moderate immigration stance emerged only after Talarico launched his Senate bid in the most populated U.S. red state where the most illegal immigration happens. When asked repeatedly by Fox News Digital, Talarico’s campaign officials could not produce evidence to support the progressive candidate’s claims he was ever at odds with Biden on the issue of border security before his Senate campaign began and while Biden was still in office. Millions of illegal aliens poured undetected into the United States during the previous presidency, while Talarico occupied his seat in the Texas House legislature. Talarico said in the podcast: “The Democratic Party, we’re the ones that should be about making government work for people and our immigration system is a prime example of government not working for people. So I’m a border security Democrat. I believe we’ve gotta have a sane, orderly process to ensure that we know who’s coming into our country.” While he has accused ICE of “terrorizing our country,” called for Americans to “stand up and fight back” and in 2019 slammed Texas Republicans for passing an “anti-immigrant bill” that funded President Donald Trump’s border wall project, Talarico said on the podcast this week that public safety should be a priority. TEXAS DEM TALARICO’S ‘CULTURE OF VIOLENCE’ REMARKS RESURFACE AS HE DENIES DEFUND POLICE TIES “But I also think we need to keep out folks who want to do us harm, and public safety is the most important thing the government does,” he said. Under Trump, ICE has been tasked with zeroing in on the “worst of the worst” illegal aliens for arrest and deportation, especially those with violent criminal records. “James has never supported abolishing ICE and supports more border security — which is why he’s authored legislation to modernize our ports of entry and called for more Border Patrol agents,” Talarico’s press secretary JT Ennis told Fox News Digital. “Both parties have failed us on the issue of immigration, so James is running for Senate to keep our country safe by deporting criminals instead of hunting down moms, babies, and small business owners who have been contributing to our economy for decades.” Speaking to Cogdell, Talarico also pitched himself as a defender of the Second Amendment while simultaneously calling for strict gun control methods. TEXAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATES SIDESTEP ISLAMIC TERRORISM CONCERNS FOLLOWING DEADLY AUSTIN ATTACK “I am a believer in the Second Amendment. I don’t pick and choose between the Bill of Rights. I believe in the Second Amendment just as much as I believe in the First,” he said. “We have a right to bear arms, to protect ourselves, our families. We have a right to own weapons for sport or for hunting, but like any freedom in the Bill of Rights, it’s not absolute.” “We’ve gotta keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. We’ve gotta make sure that we’ve got safe storage laws and background checks so that we’re keeping everybody safe,” the candidate qualified. He positioned himself during the conversation as a moderate Democrat, chastising people on the political left who are “trying to take away people’s guns” and people on the political right who “don’t want to see any regulations.” MS NOW ANALYST ADMITS TALARICO ‘NOT A MODERATE,’ HAS PROGRESSIVE VIEWS LIKE CROCKETT But only a few months ago, Talarico said he favored “red flag laws,” which allow judges to order Americans to be stripped of their firearms if they think a person is a danger to themselves or others. Talarico also once accused Republicans of loving guns more than children. “You can’t be the party of freedom and control women’s bodies,” he said at a 2024 event with the Travis County Democratic Party. “You can’t be the party of family and love your guns more than our kids. You can’t be the party of faith and worship at the feet of Donald Trump.” Ennis said that the candidate has “always believed, like the vast majority of Texans, that we must protect the Second Amendment while also enacting popular, common sense measures like universal background checks that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.” MARK HALPERIN: IS DEMOCRAT JAMES TALARICO THE REAL DEAL — OR BETO 2.0 HEADED FOR A TEXAS FLOP? Talarico also distanced himself from child sex change surgeries, sometimes called “gender affirming care,” and said he does not support them despite often earning criticism for his comments regarding children who identify as the opposite of their biological sex. “I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors,” he told Cogdell, claiming “the people that are in power” are trying to distract from “corruption in our government.” “So they’re gonna use a tried and true playbook to get out of this,” he said. “Distraction and division. That is how corrupt public officials stay

Archaeologists find ancient female-led society in Turkiye

Archaeologists find ancient female-led society in Turkiye

NewsFeed Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an ancient female-led society in the ruins of a city in present-day Turkiye. Researchers studied 300 skeletons in the 9,000-year-old city of Catalhoyuk and found a civilization where families were headed by women and girls. Published On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Activists form human Palestine flag at World Cup opener in Mexico City

Activists form human Palestine flag at World Cup opener in Mexico City

NewsFeed Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Mexico City during the opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to form a giant human Palestinian flag. Organisers said the action sought to keep the Palestinian struggle in the spotlight during one of the world’s most-watched sporting events. Published On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Alarm as Ebola spreads into new areas of DR Congo

Alarm as Ebola spreads into new areas of DR Congo

Cases are being identified in new health zones on a near-daily basis, warns the WHO’s head of epidemiology. By AFP and Reuters Published On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026 Ebola has spread to new areas of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including a crowded displacement camp, raising fears that the country’s near-month-long outbreak is entering a more dangerous phase and larger scale than previously thought. The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, is showing signs of local transmission in newly affected communities as response measures lag, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official warned on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, there have been 676 confirmed Ebola cases, including 136 deaths in the Ituri province – the centre of the outbreak – as well as North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, according to WHO figures. A total of 32 patients have recovered. The United Nations agency reports a further 119 cases are suspected in the DRC, as the virus starts to spread to new areas. Olivier le Polain, the WHO’s head of epidemiology and analytics, said that cases were being identified in new health zones within the three affected provinces on a near-daily basis. “That reflects really the scale of this outbreak: a scale that is much bigger than what is being detected, and the high mobility of the population,” he said. Much more needs to be done to contain the virus, the WHO said, with isolation bed capacity far below the anticipated need, based on how it is spreading. No approved vaccines or treatments exist for the Bundibugyo species of the virus. ‘Blind spots’ Le Polain added that while in recent weeks, cases in new areas could be traced back to travel from hotspots, now “we also see local community spread in new areas”. Advertisement “There are still many blind spots in some areas that are high risk,” he said. “The full scale of the outbreak is not yet clear and we’ll get more clarity as surveillance improves.” Le Polain said contact tracing was getting better but was “still too low to ensure appropriate control”. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done across the board: more supplies to ensure that we’ve got safe spaces to isolate patients. Surveillance can scale up, but if you don’t have any space to put your patients safely, it becomes very difficult,” he added. The WHO official’s remarks came shortly after the UN’s refugee agency confirmed the first Ebola-related deaths in the crowded Kpanga displacement camp in Ituri province. DR Congo’s struggle to contain the disease has been complicated by the legacy of decades of conflict in the region. The government lacks full oversight due to the presence of armed rebels seeking control over the mineral riches in the area, leaving infrastructure poor or destroyed, and violence having chased huge numbers of people from their homes. According to an aid worker with knowledge of the cases cited by Reuters, those deaths occurred on May 31 and June 1. Cramped conditions at camps like Kpanga, where hundreds of people sometimes share a toilet, have fuelled concerns of rapid contagion. “We are all really worried that Ebola in these camps will spread extremely quickly and that there will be panic and people will flee all over whether or not they’re contacts, whether or not they’re ill,” Caitlin ⁠Brady, country director for the Danish Refugee Council in Congo, told Reuters. That will alarm neighbouring Uganda, which has confirmed 19 cases and two deaths but was reported recently by the African Union’s health agency to have the situation “under control”. Adblock test (Why?)