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Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
South American bloc looks to Asia, Europe in face of Trump trade war
South America's Mercosur bloc sought Thursday to expand its markets in the face of US President Donald Trump 's global trade war, with Brazil calling for closer ties with dynamic Asian economies. "It's time for Mercosur to look toward Asia," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, extolling the potential benefits of deeper relations with Japan, China, South Korea, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. In a reflection of regional tensions, however, Argentina's President Javier Milei threatened to go it alone if necessary to secure a free trade deal with the United States. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Нов таблет с Android Pro 14 Murreice Купете сега Undo "We will embark on the path of freedom, and we will do so together or alone because Argentina cannot wait," Milei warned, calling for "more freedom" to negotiate. The libertarian leader, a huge fan of Trump, has made no secret of his disdain for Lula, referring to him in the past as "corrupt" and a "Communist." Live Events Lula, on his first trip to Argentina since Milei took office in December 2023, had no bilateral talks with the self-declared "anarcho-capitalist." The veteran Brazilian leftist, who took over Mercosur's rotating presidency from his Argentine counterpart, has accused Milei of talking "nonsense." Lula said that under his leadership, Mercosur would aim to "strengthen inter-bloc trade with external partners" and to implement a landmark trade agreement with the European Union. Brussels in December struck a deal with Mercosur's founding members -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- to create a free trade zone of around 700 million consumers. The agreement has been 25 years in the making, but still needs to be ratified by EU member states. It has faced stiff opposition from France, where farmers worry about being undercut by less-regulated Latin American peers. Climate change on agenda Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi said that it was now "time to resume negotiations with key partners such as South Korea and Canada." Uruguay has for decades sought a relaxation of the bloc's rules, which prevent agreements with other countries without the consent of all partners. Climate change, the energy transition, combating organized crime and promoting technological development would be Mercosur's main objectives during the next six months, Lula said. Steps were discussed to make progress on trade agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Canada, as well as update accords with Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and to advance regional gas integration. On Wednesday, Mercosur foreign ministers announced a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association, made up of non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Adding to the tense atmosphere surrounding the summit, Lula took the time to visit his ally Cristina Kirchner, the former Argentine president who is under house arrest. Lula, who was granted permission by a court to see Kirchner, spent almost an hour at her apartment in Buenos Aires. He found her "in good health, strong and determined to fight," he said on social media platform X. "In addition to expressing my solidarity with her for everything she has been through, I wished her all the strength she needed to continue fighting, with the same determination that has characterized her career," he wrote. Kirchner hailed the visit as "much more than a personal gesture: it was a political act of solidarity," in her own message on X. Kirchner, the standard-bearer of the Argentine left for over two decades, was convicted of "fraudulent administration" while president between 2007 and 2015. The 72-year-old, who says her trial was an attempt to silence her criticism of the right, began a six-year sentence last month after losing a Supreme Court appeal.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Democrats demand answers as Palantir faces heat over Trump deals to build massive American data hub
A group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Palantir's CEO Alex Karp on Monday, asking for answers about huge government contracts the company got. The lawmakers are worried that Palantir is helping make a huge database of Americans private information, which might break U.S. laws, according to reports by the Associated Press and New York Times. Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York wrote the letter and was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey. They pointed to a New York Times report that said Palantir got hundreds of millions of dollars in new government contracts during Trump's second term, as per the report by Common Dreams. According to the letter, Palantir employees are working inside the IRS to help build a single, searchable database of taxpayer records. This private taxpayer data could be shared across the government, even when it's not related to tax stuff, which is likely illegal under U.S. law. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Домашен мини електротрион - лесно рязане на всякакъв вид дърво Murreice Научете повече Undo Palantir's tools were reportedly chosen for this project by a group called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by Elon Musk. Several people in DOGE are said to be former Palantir employees. Why lawmakers are alarmed The lawmakers called the mega-database plan a 'surveillance nightmare', saying it could help Trump spy on people he sees as enemies. They warned that Palantir's software could be used in domestic spying that violates Americans' rights, according to the report by Common Dreams. Live Events The letter listed Trump's past actions that they believe show he misused power, including threatening to arrest the governor of California, using National Guard troops for immigration raids without approval, sending Marines to Los Angeles against local wishes, and calling the press 'the enemy of the people'. Palantir's controversies The lawmakers said Palantir also helped with ICE deportation operations and deadly military actions carried out by the U.S. and its allies. The letter didn't mention Palantir's role in Project Nimbus, a cloud deal with Israel's military, Amazon, and Google, which some say is linked to human rights abuses, as stated in the report by Common Dreams. But the lawmakers did say that other big companies like IBM, Cisco, and Honeywell have also been part of human rights abuses in places like Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa, China, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. They asked the CEO to provide a full list of Palantir's government contracts. The amount of money for each and the federal agencies involved. Whether Palantir has any limits when it comes to working with groups that violate human rights, as reported by Common Dreams. FAQs Q1. Why are Democrats asking questions about Palantir? Because they think Palantir is helping build a big database of Americans' private info that might break U.S. laws. Q2. What do they want from Palantir's CEO? They want details about the company's government contracts and whether it follows human rights rules.
