National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Breaking: Dow books biggest point gain ever, Nasdaq scores best day since 2001 on Trump tariff delays | 9 April 2025 | The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by almost 3,000 points on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite had its best day in 24 years, after President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs and a surprisingly strong Treasury auction. The Dow rose roughly 2,963 points, or 7.9%, to close near 40,608, based on preliminary data. That is its largest one-day point gain on record, exceeding the 2,112.98-point gain seen on March 24, 2020. The S&P 500 rose 474 points, or 9.5%, to end at roughly 5,457, breaking a four-session streak of losses. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 1,800 points, or 12%, to finish near 17,125. It was the index’s biggest one-day percentage gain since January 2001.

Accused would-be Trump assassin tried to buy rocket launcher from Ukraine, prosecutors say —Accused would-be Trump assassin tried to buy rocket launcher from Ukraine, prosecutors say – filing | 8 April 2025 | Ryan Wesley Routh tried to buy a rocket launcher from Ukraine just weeks before he was arrested for allegedly attempting to gun down President Trump at his Florida golf course, court papers reveal. The 58-year-old accused would-be assassin tried to make the purchase from someone he believed to be a Ukrainian with access to a haul of military grade weapons, federal prosecutors alleged in a motion filed Monday. In one exchange, which unfolded via an encrypted messaging app, Routh allegedly asked the associate to “send me an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or Stinger and I will see what we can do…[Trump] is not good for Ukraine.” Routh later inquired about the price and whether the person could “ship it to me????” “I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected,” he added, according to the filing.

USAID paid Czech groups to ‘wage war’ against Russia – former police chief | 9 April 2025 | The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) financed a long-running anti-Russian campaign in the Czech Republic, former Czech police chief Stanislav Novotny has told RT. In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Novotny said Washington’s primary channel for funding political projects abroad had played a major role in shaping Czech-Russian relations. According to the former police chief, who is now a lawyer and journalist, U.S. globalist George Soros has also had a significant influence on the deterioration of ties between Prague and Moscow through his Open Society Foundations. “A lot of money was poured into civil society organizations of political nature which were waging a war against Russia,” Novotny said. “Such organizations should simply be removed,” he added, accusing the Czech government of spending taxpayers’ money on stoking anti-Russian sentiment by contributing financially to the organizations.

Iran puts army on high alert – Reuters | 7 April 2025 | Iran has placed its forces on high alert, warning neighboring countries that host American bases not to support potential U.S. strikes, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an official familiar with the matter. The reported move follows a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging direct talks aimed at halting Tehran’s nuclear program. Trump has threatened a bombing campaign if a new deal is not reached. Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, rejected the demand for direct talks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the proposal “meaningless” and questioned its sincerity. “If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?” he said.

Palestinian teenager with U.S. citizenship killed by Israeli forces in West Bank | 6 April 2025 | A Palestinian teenager with U.S. citizenship was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, with the Israeli military saying it shot a “terrorist” who endangered civilians by hurling rocks. The incident is the latest in a surge of violence and near-daily confrontations in the volatile West Bank, where settler violence and clashes between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians have kept it on edge. The mayor of Turmus Ayya, Adeeb Lafi, told Reuters earlier in the day that Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler at the entrance to Turmus Ayya and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him. However, the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the incident as an “extra-judicial killing” by Israeli forces during a raid in the town, saying it was the result of Israel’s “continued impunity.”

Next pandemic could strike ‘tomorrow’ – WHO | 8 April 2025 | Another deadly pandemic could emerge as soon as “tomorrow,” the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, calling on the countries of the world to prepare for it. In a statement on Monday, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged governments to invest in health security and finalize the Pandemic Agreement, an international treaty on pandemic prevention and response. The global outbreak of COVID-19, which began in late 2019, resulted in an estimated 20 million deaths worldwide and wiped more than 10 trillion from the global economy, according to the WHO. A new similar contagion “could happen in 20 years or more, or it could happen tomorrow. But it will happen, and either way, we must be ready,” Ghebreyesus has said, describing it as “an epidemiological certainty” rather than “a theoretical risk.”

Trump pauses tariff hikes for 90 days against most countries – but raises China rate to 125% over ‘lack of respect’ in escalating trade war | 9 April 2025 | President Trump announced Wednesday that his heightened “reciprocal” tariff scheme was being paused for 90 days in response to overtures from dozens of countries — but duties on Chinese imports would be heightened to 125% due to a “lack of respect” from Beijing. “Based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the [US Trade Representative], to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, sending Wall Street soaring.

White House shares staggering number of countries who want to make deals on tariffs | 6 April 2025 | More than 50 countries have reached out to the Trump administration to negotiate tariff deals, according to a White House advisor. “They’re doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Sunday. Last week, the commander-in-chief implemented a 10 percent “baseline” tariff on all U.S. trading partners. Trump has said that the tariffs are expected to stay, though he did announce that he is open to making deals… “So the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating,” Hassett shared before adding “and, by the way, coming to the table.”

Musk accuses top Democrat of profiting from government fraud after DOGE allegations | 9 April 2025 | Business tycoon Elon Musk floated the idea that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is somehow profiting off of government fraud, though the lawmaker has pushed back. “Chuck, I’m starting to think you’re getting a piece of the action with the government fraud. But no, that couldn’t possibly be the reason, could it?” Musk posted early Tuesday morning. Musk, who has been spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to expose waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, made the comment in response to a Monday post in which Schumer accused DOGE of “sabotaging” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — the post reflected sentiments Schumer had conveyed during a Senate speech.

DOGE cuts 51M from U.S. African Development Foundation, including 229K to market shea butter | 7 April 2025 | The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced 51 million in cuts from the U.S. African Development Foundation, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars for marketing shea butter and pineapple juice, as well as mango drying facilities. DOGE made the announcement on X, highlighting several initiatives. For instance, 229,296 was used to market 100% organic shea butter in Burkina Faso; 246,217 was spent on mango drying facilities in the Ivory Coast; and 239,738 was spent on marketing pineapple juice in Benin. The department also said 99,566 was spent to increase yogurt production in Uganda…50,000 was spent to train farmers how to grow dragon fruit in Senegal, and 48,406 was spent on a WhatsApp marketing chatbot in Kenya.

Woman jailed 31 months over ‘racist’ post on X after Southport stabbings ‘is denied temporary release to see daughter and ailing husband’ | 4 April 2025 | A woman who was jailed for two years after she tweeted about the Southport riots has been denied temporary leave to see her 12-year-old daughter and sick husband. Lucy Connolly, 42, is currently serving a 31-month sentence for a post made last summer where she spoke of mass deportations and setting fire to asylum hotels “for all I care.” The comments came in the wake of the knife attack on a Southport dance class on July 29 in which three children were killed, and in the midst of false claims the attacker was an illegal immigrant. Connolly’s post on X, which she later deleted, read: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f***ing hotels full of the b******s for all I care…” She later added: “If that makes me racist, so be it.” The child-minder, from Northampton, was subsequently arrested and put behind bars. But now police chiefs are being criticised for denying Connolly temporary leave, as she has been waiting four months to secure release.

Biden White House secured Trump’s phone for FBI in Jan. 6 probe: new emails from Grassley, Johnson | 8 April 2025 | Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson published new emails from FBI whistleblowers showing that President Joe Biden’s then-Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su personally assisted the FBI in securing President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s cell phones to assist the nascent “Arctic Frost” investigation over January 6. The new whistleblower emails also show that a future member of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team and an anti-Trump FBI agent were closely involved in the origins of the FBI probe. Operation Arctic Frost formed the basis of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s false elector case under which former President Donald Trump was later charged with a conspiracy to defraud the United States for his campaign’s attempts to assemble alternate slates of electors under claims that the 2020 election had been stolen. The new emails are contained in a letter the senators sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel urging cooperation with their requests for all information related to the FBI probe.

Homeland Security Department issues waiver to accelerate border wall construction in California | 9 April 2025 | Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has issued a waiver to expedite border wall construction in California. The waiver issued Tuesday will enable construction of about 2.5 miles of new wall in California, the department said in a press release. The waiver will also cover projects from Customs and Border Protection to close gaps in the southern U.S. border wall.

Massive win for Trump as Supreme Court rules he can deport illegal migrants using historic wartime act | 7 April 2025 | President Donald Trump scored a huge win in his efforts to deport migrants living in the United States illegally with a major Supreme Court ruling on Monday. The country’s highest court, in an unsigned 5 – 4 ruling, ruled that the Trump administration can invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. Trump had declared that members of the Tren de Aragua gang were terrorists, and his border czar Tom Homan spectacularly rounded up suspected gangsters across the United States last month to send them back to “h-ll hole” prisons in Venezuela. But the president’s efforts were halted on March 15 when Obama-appointed US District Court Judge James Boasberg issued an injunction blocking the deportations. That injunction has now been lifted under the Supreme Court’s ruling — allowing the president to once again send suspected gang members to their home countries.

Meghan Markle makes moronic claim about the U.S. economy while she lashes out at Trump tariffs as her absurd jam price roils critics | 9 April 2025 | Meghan Markle has said she wants her As Ever products to bring “joy” during a “time of recession” – and does not expect Donald Trump’s tariffs to impact the range. The first items from the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle brand sold out within an hour of going on sale last Wednesday – the same day the President announced his levies. But she has insisted her As Ever brand…is well positioned for uncertain economic times, because the products are all made in America. Meghan also referred to a “time of recession” amid fears of an economic downturn as countries brace for potential damage from import taxes on goods entering the U.S. But Meghan is wrong to state the U.S. is in a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive three-month periods of economic contraction. The U.S. economy grew by 2.8 percent last year and ended the last quarter of 2024 up by 2.3 percent.

AOC flies first-class to Bernie Sanders’s ‘Fight Oligarchy’ rally as critics pan lefty pol for battling inequality one ‘mimosa at a time’ | 7 April 2025 | Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was photographed flying first-class to a Bernie Sanders event last month — with critics saying it shows how she battles inequality “one mimosa at a time.” An incredulous passenger snapped AOC getting comfy in the roomy first-class cabin of JetBlue Flt. 511 on March 19 that departed from JFK Airport in Queens for Las Vegas, where she spoke at a Sanders rally titled “Fighting Oligarchy.” “Nothing says, ‘Power to the people’ like ignoring voters looking to say hello and reclining in first class while tweeting about income inequality,'” the flier who took the photo told The Post — claiming that AOC did not respond to friendly comments once she sat down. “AOC is fighting the system one first-class mimosa at a time,” said the passenger, Tracey, who is from Brooklyn and was sitting in the economy cabin.