Who is Nick Adams, self-styled 'alpha male' influencer picked by Trump as US Ambassador to Malaysia?
Who is Nick Adams, self-styled 'alpha male' influencer picked by Trump as US Ambassador to Malaysia?
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Straits Times
15 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Russian strike on Ukraine's Dobropillia ravages busy town square
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Russia dropped a 500kg bomb on the Ukrainian town of Dobropillia, which is just 20km from the front line. KYIV - Russian airstrike on a central square in the front-line town of Dobropillia on July 16 killed one person and wounded more than 20, with more casualties feared trapped under the debris, authorities said. Russia fired hundreds of drones, artillery and a ballistic missile at Ukraine between late on July 15 and early on July 16, defying calls by US President Donald Trump to reach a peace deal. Mr Trump on July 14 threatened to impose severe sanctions against Moscow unless it reached a peace settlement within 50 days to end its three-year war on Ukraine. According to regional authorities, Russia dropped a 500kg bomb on Dobropillia, which is just 20km from the front line. 'Updated information on the shelling of person killed and 21 wounded,' Mr Vadym Filashkin, of the Donestk regional administration, said on social media. He added that the rush hour attack hit 54 shops and 13 buildings around the crowded square. 'It is likely that people are still trapped under the rubble, and the search for survivors continues.' Ukrainian and Russian officials last met for direct peace talks more than a month ago, and no further meetings have been scheduled despite the Kremlin saying it is open to contacts. Russia fired at least 400 drones at Ukraine between late on July 15 and early on July 16, as well as an Iskander ballistic missile launched from Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, the Ukrainian air force said. The attacks killed one and left dozens injured on top of the Dobropillia toll, according to Ukrainian authorities. Russia has stepped up its summer campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks as Washington-mediated ceasefire talks stall. Its army has pushed ahead on the battlefield, while pounding Ukraine with drone, artillery and missile strikes. Mr Trump said July 14 he had struck a deal with Nato to supply more US air defence systems and weapons to Ukraine, citing his frustration with Russia's refusal to accept a ceasefire. AFP
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US Senate pushes toward aid, public broadcasting cuts sought by Trump
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) walks to the Senate floor as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday moved toward approval of President Donald Trump's plan for billions of dollars in cuts to funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, which would hand Trump another victory as he exerts control over Congress. The Senate was due to debate amendments to the rescissions package, Trump's request to cut spending previously approved by Congress. Vice President JD Vance was needed to break 50-50 ties over two procedural hurdles on Tuesday, when three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the measure. More Republicans had objected to Trump's plan to slash life-saving global health programs. But they moved into the "yes" column after Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on Tuesday that PEPFAR, a global program to fight HIV/AIDS launched in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush, was being exempted. The change brought the size of the package of cuts to $9 billion from $9.4 billion. Congress has until Friday to pass the rescissions. Otherwise, the request would expire and the White House will be required to adhere to spending plans passed by Congress. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine voted against moving the legislation closer to passage. "You don't need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting," Murkowski said in a Senate speech. She said the Trump administration also had not provided assurances that battles against diseases such as malaria and polio worldwide would be maintained. Most of all, Murkowski said, Congress must assert its role in deciding how federal funds were spent. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, called Trump's request a "small, but important step toward fiscal sanity." The PEPFAR change in the Senate version of the legislation means it must go back to the House of Representatives for a vote before it can be sent to the White House for Trump's signature. DOGE CUTS The amounts at stake are extremely small in the context of the $6.8 trillion federal budget. They also represent only a tiny portion of all of the funds approved by Congress that the Trump administration has held up as it has pursued sweeping cuts, including those ordered by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. As of mid-June, Trump was blocking $425 billion, according to Democratic lawmakers tracking frozen funding. "Today, Senate Republicans turn this chamber into a subservient rubberstamp for the executive, at the behest of Donald Trump," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. "Republicans embrace the credo of cut, cut, cut now, and ask questions later," Schumer said. The foreign aid initiatives in Trump's request for cuts included lifesaving support for women and children's health and vaccination programs that have long had strong bipartisan support. PEPFAR alone is credited with saving 26 million lives. The package also cuts funds supporting public broadcasting, which can be the main source of emergency information in rural areas. Senator Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, was concerned about funding cuts to Native American radio stations, but said he would support the rescissions after the administration promised to fund some tribal broadcasters separately. Standalone rescissions packages have not passed in decades, with lawmakers reluctant to cede their constitutionally mandated control of spending. But Trump's Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the Senate and House, have backed all of his policies since he began his second term in January. The House passed the rescissions legislation without altering Trump's request by 214-212 last month. Four Republicans joined 208 Democrats in voting no. REUTERS
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Trump denies reports he plans to fire Fed's Powell
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 16) he is not planning to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, after a Bloomberg report that the president is likely to do so soon sparked a drop in stocks and the US dollar, and a rise in Treasury yields. Such reports are not true, Trump said. 'I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud,' Trump said, a reference to recent White House and Republican lawmaker criticism of cost overruns in the US$2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's historic headquarters in Washington. Stocks pared losses and Treasury yields pared declines after Trump's comments, which also included a now familiar barrage of criticism against the Fed chair for not cutting interest rates, calling him a 'terrible' chair. Trump did talk with some Republican lawmakers about firing Powell, he said, but said he is more conservative about his approach to the question than they are. In response to a question about whether the White House has given any indication that the president intends to try to fire Powell, a Fed official pointed to Powell's public statements that he intends to serve out his term. Powell, who was nominated by Trump in late 2017 to lead the Fed and then nominated for a second term by Democratic President Joe Biden four years later, is serving a term that goes through May 15, 2026. Last week, the White House intensified its criticism of how the Fed is being run when the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, sent Powell a letter saying Trump was 'extremely troubled' by cost overruns in the US$2.5 billion renovation of its historic headquarters in Washington. Powell responded by asking the US central bank's inspector general to review the project, and the central bank posted a 'frequently asked questions' factsheet, which rebutted some of Vought's assertions about VIP dining rooms and elevators that he said added to the costs. REUTERS
