'Like they're set in their ways': Some Indigenous leaders not happy with projects as premiers meet
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CGTN: President Xi Jinping calls on China, EU to provide more stability, certainty for world
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with European Union leaders during their visit to Beijing for the 25th China-EU Summit on Thursday. CGTN published an article exploring China-EU relations in two-way trade and investment, emphasizing the need for both sides to embrace multilateralism, openness and cooperation to bring greater stability and certainty to the world. BEIJING, July 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fifty years ago, China-Europe trade was a trickle. Now, as the two sides mark half a century of ties, a single day's trade equals what they exchanged in the entire year when relations were first established. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the European Union, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China-EU relations have come to another critical juncture in history. There are no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical contradictions between China and the EU, Xi told European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. "The current challenges facing the EU do not come from China," he said, adding that the fundamentals and prevailing trend of China-EU relations featuring cooperation over competition and consensus over differences have remained constant. Xi put forward three proposals for the future of China-EU relations: both sides should uphold mutual respect and consolidate the positioning of their relations as partnership, embrace openness and cooperation while properly managing differences and frictions, and practice multilateralism and uphold international rules and order. Trade and investment At Thursday's meeting, the Chinese president said the China-EU economic and trade relationship is by nature complementary and mutually beneficial and can indeed achieve dynamic equilibrium through development. China's high-quality development and opening up will provide new opportunities and potentials for China-EU cooperation, Xi noted, calling on both sides to strengthen green and digital partnership and boost mutual investment and cooperation. In 2024, trade between China and the EU soared to $785.8 billion, an increase of over 300 times compared to when diplomatic relations began in 1975, according to China's customs authorities. Two-way investment flows have also shown sustained growth in recent years, indicating a positive trend. Chinese battery manufacturer CALB, for instance, is building a $2.2-billion plant in Sines, Portugal, expected to create 1,800 jobs. Xi expressed hope that the EU can remain open in the trade and investment market, refrain from using restrictive economic and trade tools, and foster a sound business environment for Chinese enterprises investing and operating in the EU. At the 25th China-EU summit on Thursday, both sides agreed to forge an "upgraded version" of the China-EU export control dialogue mechanism, have timely communication on each other's concerns and jointly keep the industrial and supply chains between China and Europe stable and unimpeded. Multilateralism Xi said China has always viewed and developed China-EU relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, regarded the EU as an important pole in a multipolar world and consistently supported European integration and the strategic autonomy of the EU. China-EU relations are not targeted at, subjugated to, or controlled by any third party, he said, calling on both sides to deepen strategic communication, enhance understanding and mutual trust, and foster a correct perception of each other. Pascal Lamy, the former European commissioner for trade, told CGTN that despite differences, China and the EU share crucial common ground in defending multilateralism and cooperating on global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and ocean protection. Among the outcomes of Thursday's summit, leaders of China and the EU issued a joint statement on climate change, highlighting their shared commitment to addressing climate change and pursuing green development. Xi underscored the importance of China and the EU as constructive forces for multilateralism, openness and cooperation, and called on both sides to provide more stability and certainty to the world. CONTACT: Email: cgtn@
NBC News
24 minutes ago
- NBC News
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reports to prison for seven-year sentence
WASHINGTON — Disgraced former Rep. George Santos reported to prison on Friday, beginning a more than seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to a laundry list of federal charges that included wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. He is in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in Fairton, New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Friday. The flashy New York Republican, who stormed onto the national stage when he unexpectedly won a congressional seat in 2022 and was expelled by his colleagues the very next year, didn't go quietly this week. He appeared on an hour-long podcast, engaged with his followers on X Spaces and posted a series of farewell tweets on X. He also continued to post videos for supporters on the Cameo platform through Friday morning, charging a minimum of $300 per video, according to the site. 'Well, darlings …The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days,' Santos wrote on X. 'I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit," he continued. In his hour-and-a-half Spaces live broadcast, Santos, a Donald Trump ally in Congress, said he had been asked by many people whether he would get a presidential pardon or commutation that could cut short his 87-month sentence. 'The answer to that is, I don't know. You're asking the wrong person,' he said on Thursday. 'The only person that can answer that question is, you know, whoever the president of the United States is — in this case, President Donald Trump.' The White House has not commented on the matter. Santos' political career was one of the shortest and most tumultuous in recent memory. Even before he was sworn into office, the New York Times and other outlets revealed that he had fabricated parts of his resume, and the personal narrative that he shared with donors and voters on the campaign trail began to fall apart. The House Ethics Committee issued a scathing investigative report about Santos, finding he'd likely committed multiple federal crimes, and the Justice Department indicted him on 23 counts, including embezzling contributions from supporters, illegally obtaining unemployment benefits and lying on House financial disclosures. In the 2022 midterm elections, Santos had been one of four Republicans who had flipped Democratic-held seats in New York. But after the indictment and Ethics report, it was those same New York GOP colleagues who led the charge to oust him from Congress. On Dec. 1, 2023, the House voted 311-114 to expel Santos, making him just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. After his guilty plea, Santos was sentenced to 87 months behind bars this past April and ordered to pay almost $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture. During his appearances this week, Santos repeatedly expressed remorse for his lies and actions, even as he tried to settle political scores with those who ousted him from Congress. "I think we can all attest that I've made a string of s--- choices in my life, and for that, I'm sorry to those I've disappointed, to those I've let down, to those that I have caused irreparable damage. I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm not— I'm not placating. This isn't for show," Santos said on Spaces.
32 minutes ago
Lumbee tribe of North Carolina sees politics snarl recognition by Washington
Since the 1980s, the Lumbee Tribe has lobbied Congress to acknowledge it as a sovereign nation. There was renewed hope last year when both major party candidates in the presidential election promised to intervene on behalf of the Lumbee. In his first week in office, President Donald Trump appeared to be making good on his endorsement. He issued an executive order directing the Interior Department to create a plan for federal recognition, a move Lumbee Chairman John Lowery called a 'significant step forward.' But several months later, it remains unclear if Trump will take further action. The plan was submitted to the White House in April, according to the Interior Department. However, a White House official told The Associated Press last week that the Lumbee will have to achieve its goal through legislation — which the Interior Department also confirmed. 'We anticipate the tribe will work with Congress on a path forward to be formally recognized,' Interior spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in a statement. Federal acknowledgement comes with a bevy of resources owed to tribal nations through treaty rights and acts of Congress, including health care through the Indian Health Service, access to certain federal grants, and the ability to create a land base such as reservations through the land-to-trust process. Many of the 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. have been acknowledged through legislation. Dozens more have been recognized through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement, which determines if applicants have a documented history of political and social existence as a tribe. Critics of the Lumbee Tribe, including several tribal nations, argue that it has not been able to prove its historic and genealogical claims and it should do so through the formal federal process. The tribe is recognized by the state of North Carolina. 'The gaps in the Lumbee's claims are staggering,' said Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks. He said the Lumbee have yet to show who they descend from and that recognizing them through legislation would open the door for fraudulent groups to gain federal acknowledgement. 'Congress wouldn't be recognizing a tribe, it would be manufacturing one,' he said. Lowery argues that the Lumbee can prove who they descend from but that the application and vetting process through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement is too long and arduous and could take decades complete. He has been working closely with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina to pass a bill that would federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe. 'For anyone, from any tribe, to somehow think that a tribe that receives federal recognition via legislation is somehow circumventing the process,' Lowery said, 'is being disingenuous.' The Lumbee Tribe applied for recognition in 1987. But Arlinda Locklear, a Lumbee attorney who has worked on the issue for decades, said staff at the Office of Federal Acknowledgement offered conflicting opinions because a 1956 congressional act acknowledged the Lumbee exist but denied them access to federal resources. She said they asked the office to issue a formal opinion regarding the 1956 bill. 'If we're not eligible then tell us at the beginning so we can ask for it from Congress,' she said. The Office of Federal Acknowledgement determined the Lumbee Tribe was ineligible for recognition, but that decision was reversed in 2016 by Interior's Office of the Solicitor. Despite being allowed to reapply since 2016, both Locklear and Lowery said that process remains too lengthy and have opted instead to urge Congress to pass legislation. That could prove difficult in the current climate, as Trump and Republicans lawmakers are slashing federal spending. In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that recognizing the Lumbee Tribe and providing the necessary federal resources would cost the U.S. more than $840 million in the first four years. A 2022 CBO estimate put that number at more than $360 million. This month, a Brookings Institution report found that the Trump administration's directive to freeze federal grants could disrupt $24 billion that go to tribes. Tillis, the author of the bill, has also been the subject of the Trump's ire recently, after he voted against the president's tax bill in June. Trump threatened to campaign against him, and Tillis said he would not seek reelection. His bill, the Lumbee Fairness Act, was referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in January. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who chairs the committee, said she will work with Tillis on the bill. David Wilkins, a Lumbee author and professor at the University of Richmond, has advocated for federal recognition for decades. But, he said the Lumbee face opposition across Indian Country, and he's concerned that gaining it with Trump's endorsement will add to that. 'The way he's battering Indian Country with his cuts or with his layoffs,' Wilkins said. 'If we do slip through because Trump convinces his Secretary of Interior to either expedite the acknowledgement process or get Congress to find a move on the Lumbee bill and get it through, I worry about how that's going to be received in Indian Country.'
