Metals Drift Lower as US Trade Uncertainty Dims Risk Appetite
Trump is sending letters to as many as 15 trade partners on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Sunday interview with CNN. He also added that revised tariffs will kick in on Aug. 1 and indicated that some countries may be able to negotiate beyond the president's original deadline of July 9.
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Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Residents still shaken a day after federal authorities march through Los Angeles' MacArthur Park
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hector Velasquez was playing cards with friends at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles early Monday when a young man with a megaphone walked through announcing federal agents were on their way. Another man drove past in a car, shouting out the window, 'Immigration is coming!' The people in Velasquez's group who did not have legal status scattered. Others with U.S. citizenship — like Velasquez — lingered to see what would happen. Two hours later, federal authorities and National Guard troops arrived, with guns and horses. By then, the park that is normally bustling with vendors was mostly empty. Activists had also spread word about the raid on social media. After sweeping through the park, the convoy that included armored vehicles left as suddenly as it had arrived, Velasquez said. He described the scene Tuesday as he once again sat in the park playing cards — this time only with those who were citizens. 'I thought this was like a war,' said Velasquez, who was reminded of his home country of El Salvador. 'Only in war do you see the tanks.' The Department of Homeland Security wouldn't say what the purpose of the operation was, why it ended abruptly, or whether anyone had been arrested. The agency said in an email that it would not comment on 'ongoing enforcement operations.' But local officials said it seemed designed to sow fear. Mayor Karen Bass planned a Tuesday afternoon news conference to outline how Los Angeles will challenge what she says are unlawful immigration raids. Park is a center of immigrant life Immigration across the Los Angeles area have been on edge for weeks since the Trump administration stepped up arrests at car washes, Home Depot parking lots, immigration courts and a range of businesses. Rumors of an upcoming raid at MacArthur Park had been swirling. The park is in an area home to many Mexican, Central American and other immigrant populations that has been dubbed by local officials as the 'Ellis Island of the West Coast.' Just two miles west of downtown, MacArthur Park has a lake ringed by palm trees, an amphitheater that hosts summer concerts and sports fields where immigrant families line up to play soccer in the evenings and on weekends. A thoroughfare on the east side is often crammed with food stands selling tacos and other delicacies, along with vendors speaking multiple languages and hawking T-shirts, toys, knickknacks and household items. Fernando Rodriguez closed down his variety store near the park on Monday after seeing flyers in the Westlake neighborhood warning of immigration enforcement happening that day. 'You look Latino, they take you. Even if you show papers, they say they're fake," he said. 'What they're doing is evil." He was open again Tuesday but said nearby businesses including Peruvian and Thai restaurants have been quiet in the weeks since the federal crackdown began. 'There's no people anymore,' he said, gesturing to the street he said would usually packed with pedestrians on a sunny morning. Group warned of enforcement action Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said there had been rumors that there could be an enforcement action around MacArthur Park, and the LA Rapid Response Network had volunteers monitor the area starting at 6 a.m. Monday. The network sends out observers who communicate via the messaging app Signal. Cabrera said the group does not post content to the public at large or run its own website. He said Tuesday that the streets surrounding the park have been unusually empty in recent weeks as many vendors have not been out. He wasn't sure if they left the area because of concerns about stepped-up immigration raids. 'This was a reality show to intimidate Los Angeles,' Cabrera said. 'This was an attempt to show the administration's military might, cause as much chaos as possible, remind Angelenos that the president is in charge and that he can cause terror at any moment's notice.' More than 4,000 California National Guard and hundreds of U.S. Marines have been deployed in Los Angeles since June — against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last week, the military announced about 200 of those troops would be returned to their units to fight wildfires. Trump has pledged to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally and shown a willingness to use the nation's military might in ways other U.S. presidents have typically avoided. Melisa Doag, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who sells jewelry from a stand near the park, said she doesn't plan to stay in the U.S. for much longer given the political climate. She would rather leave on her own terms than be deported, she said. 'I've only been here two years, and they already want to send me back,' Doag said. "I don't want to be treated as a criminal.' ___ Associated Press journalists Damian Dovarganes in Los Angeles and Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, contributed to this report.
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Startup founders and others in tech call on Sequoia Capital to act after a partner called Zohran Mamdani an 'Islamist'
Sequoia Capital is facing backlash after partner Shaun Maguire called Zohran Mamdani an "Islamist." Founders, tech workers, and business leaders are demanding that Sequoia take action in an open letter. Maguire said his criticism of Mamdani was political, not religious or racial. Sequoia Capital, one of the largest and oldest global VC firms, is facing pressure over a partner's online remarks. Meanwhile, the partner at the center of the controversy appears to be doubling down amid the backlash. Signatories self-identified as founders, investors, and tech workers have signed an open letter calling for Sequoia Capital to take disciplinary action against its partner, Shaun Maguire, after he called New York City mayoral Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani an "Islamist" on X. "Mamdani comes from a culture that lies about everything," Maguire posted on X on July 4. He included a screenshot referencing The New York Times' reporting about how Mamdani marked his identity on a college application. "It's literally a virtue to lie if it advances his Islamist agenda," Maguire wrote in a post. Maguire's post was met with backlash on X, and the open letter appeared over the weekend. It demands a public apology from Sequoia, a formal investigation into Maguire's conduct, a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech, and the creation of a hotline for reporting discriminatory behavior. The letter gives Sequoia Capital until July 14 to respond. "As founders building the future of technology, we cannot accept leadership from a firm whose partners engage in hate speech and spread bigotry," the letter states. "Maguire's conduct not only tarnishes Sequoia's reputation, it also undermines your ability to serve a global, diverse founder ecosystem." Maguire has said that his criticism was political, not religious or racial, adding that "Islamist" was a political ideology and not the same as Muslim. The letter has hundreds of signatures, though at least several of them appeared to be trolls using made-up or fake names. Some tech workers who self-identified as working for prominent companies such as Microsoft, Turo, Google, and Apple also appeared to have signed the petition. The list includes some business leaders who have previously raised capital from Sequoia-linked funds. That includes Hosam Arab, CEO of Dubai-based fintech Tabby; Hisham Al-Falih, CEO of Lean Technologies; and Ahmed Sabbah, cofounder of Egyptian payments company Telda. They did not respond to requests for comment from BI but confirmed to Bloomberg that they had signed the letter. Maguire has dug in amid the criticism, addressing the controversy in posts on X. He said that his critics "only embolden me" and that he has also received support from people reaching out. "To the Haters and Losers, You cannot imagine how much Love and Support I've received over the last 48 hours," he wrote on X early Tuesday morning. "We have cancelled cancel culture." Maguire said the letter's signatories were either "Marxists," "Pro-Palestine," or "Leftists." "All of these groups want me cancelled because I'm a loud and effective voice," he wrote Tuesday morning. Sequoia Capital declined to comment when reached by Business Insider on Monday. When previously reached by BI, Maguire also declined to comment but noted several follow-up posts he made in response to the backlash, including a 28-minute video he posted early Sunday morning defending calling Mamdani an Islamist. He has also criticized Mamdani's father, Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, accusing him of "radical left-wing Islamism." "To any Muslim that is not an Islamist, and to any Indian that took offense to this tweet, I am very, very sorry," he said in the video. Mamdani's team did not respond to a request for comment. The candidate has previously teared up when speaking with CBS News about the comments he gets, being the first Muslim to run for mayor of New York City. "I get messages that say 'the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim,'" he said. "I get threats on my life, on the people that I love." Mamdani, an outspoken critic of the Israel government, has been accused of anti-Jewish sentiment by some — accusations he has denied. He has declined to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada" in interviews. When asked about it recently on NBC News' "Meet the Press," he said, "That's not language that I use." This week, Mamdani came under fire over a 2024 post in which he reshared a 2015 music video by a Canadian comedy group that parodied Hanukkah. In response to the video, Maguire wrote on X that it "doesn't really bother me" and "I think people get offended too easily these days." "But I think Mamdani is a master at hiding his true nature and people are underestimating him," Maguire added. Mamdani's affordability-focused platform does not advance any religious ideals. He seeks to expand protection for the LGBTQ+ community, raise the minimum wage, and implement free childcare, among other initiatives. Maguire has previously been vocal about politics and sparked controversy online. In 2024, he wrote in a lengthy post on X, saying that he donated $300,000 to get Trump elected as president shortly after Trump was convicted of falsifying business records, though he said at the time his political donations were personal and "did not reflect the views of Sequoia." He also said late last year that he donated another $500,000 to the America PAC founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In January, he called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies "structural racism" in another post on X. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘200 per cent': Fresh tariffs blow to Aus
Donald Trump says he might slap tariffs of 200 per cent on pharmaceuticals and 50 per cent on copper - two of Australia's key exports. Australia is among the top copper producers in the world, but the bulk of exports go to southeast Asia. Last year Australia exported just $55m in copper to the US. Pharmaceuticals is another matter, with Australia's exports to the US totalling north of $2bn in 2024. The US President announced the new levies at a cabinet meeting overnight. 'I believe the tariff on copper - we're going to make it 50 per cent,' Mr Trump told reporters, with officials later adding it would come into effect by August. The timeline for the new rate on pharmaceuticals could be later, Mr Trump said. 'We're going to give (drugmakers) about a year, a year and a half to come in, and after that, they're going to be tariffed,' he said. 'They're going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 per cent. 'We'll give them a certain period of time to get their act together.' More to come.
