Top World News

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was so adamant that neither Europe nor the UK would buy American-grown lobsters that he continued arguing even after CNN's Pamela Brown waved the proof right in front of him.Lutnick appeared on CNN Wednesday to defend President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs that economists fear could trigger a recession. "The world should stop exploiting the United States of America," Lutnick proclaimed. "Let our farmers sell their products, let our ranchers sell their products. They won't take lobster in Europe or the UK. I mean, why won't they take American lobster?""They do actually now. They do," Brown pushed back. "They didn't for a while, but now they do.""But they don't!" Lutnick continued. "They don't, because Downing Street said they're going to start — if they change their trade policy — they're going to start having lobster dinners in Downing Street. All right? So, that's what they told me."ALSO READ: The new guy in charge of USAID doesn't believe in foreign aidLutnick continued, "So, the point is, let's let American workers succeed and prosper. Let's build factories in America. Let's let us export to the world. You can't really fight with the United States. We are the customer of the world."Brown then shuffled through some papers, saying, "OK, let me just follow up with you. And by the way, in August 2020, the EU did agree to eliminate tariffs on fresh and frozen American lobsters. Just fact — quick fact check there."She continued, "But, hold on, hold on. No, no, no, no," as Lutnick continued to argue his point."It's not tariffs! It's non-tariff trade barriers! Come on, remember they wouldn't let — Korea wouldn't let french fries come in —"Brown interjected, "Secretary, I understand. Let me just follow up because I want to just be very clear here, because allies and adversaries alike are looking at everything you're saying right now about whether there's room to negotiate on these tariffs before they announce what they're going to do. What I hear from you is that there isn't room for negotiation. Is that right?"Lutnick claimed "the president is not going to back off," before declaring that the U.S. is "the sumo wrestler of this world. We are the biggest economy, the biggest customer. You can't fight back against your customer."Watch the clip below via CNN or click here.

Canadian prime minister says country will impose taxes on US vehicles not compliant with continental free trade dealCanada will retaliate against “unjustified, unwarranted” tariffs imposed by the United States with a 25% tax on US vehicles, says Mark Carney.On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs on dozens of countries, but did not add new trade levies to Canada or Mexico. Despite the reprieve, however, the US has placed 25% taxes on Canadian steel, aluminum and vehicles. Continue reading...

Police say man landed on island in attempt to meet the Sentinelese people – a tribe untouched by the industrial worldIndian police said on Thursday they had arrested a US tourist who sneaked on to a highly restricted island carrying a coconut and a can of Diet Coke to a tribe untouched by the industrial world.Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel – part of India’s Andaman Islands – in an attempt to meet the Sentinelese people, who are believed to number only about 150. Continue reading...

The Pentagon's independent watchdog announced Thursday that it will launch an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's use of the commercial messaging app Signal to discuss upcoming military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.

CNBC "Squawk Box" host Andrew Ross Sorkin fired back at Donald Trump in real time on MSNBC Thursday after the president crowed about the success of his "Liberation Day" on Truth Social.Appearing on "Morning Joe" to discuss the president's decision to impose tariffs worldwide –– including two islands that contain no human inhabitants –– the normally unflappable Sorkin was explaining the economic chaos Trump set in motion on the U.S and world markets when he was alerted to the Trump social media post.ALSO READ:'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffsWith "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski reading Trump's post that stated in all-caps, "The operation is over! The patient lived, and is healing. The prognosis is that the patient will be far stronger, bigger, better, and more resilient than ever before. Make America great again!!!" she asked her guest, "How are the markets reacting?""The markets are not healing, no, no!" he exclaimed. "We are down–– we're down 3 percent on the Dow, if not more. And the big question, we've talked about this before is, you know, to bring back manufacturing to the U.S., for companies to actually have to make real decisions now about what to do.""Some of them are going to bring back manufacturing to the U.S. and they may do it quickly, but there's going to be a lot more who are going to try to play politics and play chicken and say, 'You know what? I don't know whether in 3 or 4 years from now, these tariffs will still be the same and if they're not, it's going to take me 3 or 4 years for my factory that I'm going to build to be online anyway. So you know what? I'm going to take the chance that things are going to not go so well,' and therefore these will get changed or eliminated or shifted, or the politics in the United States will otherwise adjust."He then advised, "And if that's the case, the next couple of years is going to be very complicated because it means that nobody's going to make any investment –– it's going to freeze that investment."You can watch below or at the link. - YouTube youtu.be

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) released an "Emergency Video" to his Substack readers Thursday about President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs that he claimed could finally wake up even Trump's most ardent supporters."This will show the American people that his ideas and his thoughts on this are insane, and also his thoughts on other things are insane," Kinzinger said. "So, if there is a bright side, it's that this could be the beginning of a large awakening of his base, and generally, the American people."On Wednesday, after the markets closed, Trump held a "liberation day" celebration in the Rose Garden to announce he was signing a “historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world.” During his speech, Trump falsely claimed that a lack of tariffs directly led to the Great Depression in 1929."It would have never happened if they had stayed with the tariff policy; it would have been a much different story," Trump claimed. "They tried to bring back tariffs to save our country, but it was gone. It was gone. It was too late. Nothing could have been done."ALSO READ: 'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffsKinzinger called Trump's action, "one of the dumbest self-owns that this country has done in a very long time.""But here's the thing," Kinzinger said, "He's been talking about this forever. Now, MAGA gets to see. Maybe it does work. Maybe this goes against everything, any economics system, economics professor, or theorist, or anybody that's ever studied economies, or, frankly, any past history of economies. Smoot-Hawley. Maybe this goes against that, and maybe this is a miracle. That would be great! All of a sudden, everybody gets a great, high-paying job at a factory if they want it."Kinzinger then issued a warning: "But, if it's not — if this is going to damage the economy — MAGA now owns this. Donald Trump now owns this. And the damage that's going to be done is on his hands, and we can never forget that. We can never forgive that."Kinzinger predicted that once it appears his plans have irrevocably soured and the U.S. has plunged into a recession, "Trump's going to find some made-up reason why he's changed his mind on tariffs, and he's going to play like that was his five-dimensional chess game he's been playing all along. But it's not true. He thinks this is going to work. He really thinks...the economy's going to shine."Watch Kinzinger's Substack video.

Munther Abed, 27, was in the first ambulance on the scene of an airstrike near Rafah when Israeli soldiers opened fire• Gaza paramedic killings: a visual timelineA survivor from a massacre of Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza has said he saw Israeli troops open fire on a succession of Red Crescent ambulances and rescue vehicles and then use a bulldozer to bury the wreckage in a pit.Munther Abed, a 27-year-old Red Crescent volunteer, was in the back of the first ambulance to arrive on the scene of an airstrike in the Hashashin district of Rafah before dawn on 23 March, when it came under intense Israeli fire. His two Red Crescent colleagues sitting in the front were killed but he survived by throwing himself to the floor of the vehicle. Continue reading...

Investors are holding their collective breaths over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs that experts and consumers alike fear could plunge the economy into a recession. CNN reporter Matt Egan declared Thursday, "Clearly the president's trade war is freaking out Wall Street. It's sending shockwaves across global markets." Egan pointed out huge drops in future Thursday morning, with the Dow down 3%, with a nearly 4% drop in the S&P 500, and a nearly 5% drop for the NASDAQ. After the markets closed on Wednesday, Trump held a Rose Garden "celebration" as he prepared to sign his executive order. "While specifics about enforcement and duration of the new tariffs remain unclear, a document distributed to reporters included a list of 65 countries with calculated reciprocal rates," Newsweek reported. ALSO READ: 'The Hard Reset': Here's how the U.S. is exporting terrorism around the world "I guess this answers one question: why the White House waited until after the closing bell for the president to actually roll out his trade plan," Egan said. Egan added that investors "were bracing for some rough news on tariffs yesterday, but I think this reaction shows that the result was even worse than they had anticipated." "Look at this!" Egan exclaimed in front of a chart showing the U.S. tariff rate going back 200 years. "And what you can see here is one, it's going straight higher. Fitch ratings says that it's going to be at at least 22% because of these new Trump tariffs — that is the highest level since around 1910, even surpassing Smoot-Hawley, which infamously made the Great Depression even worse." Egan said JP Morgan financial services issued a note to their clients Wednesday night, "and they say look, if these policies are sustained and they're implemented, it's likely going to push the U.S. and the global economy into recession this year." Egan also quoted Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, saying, "If they follow through, i would buckle up and brace for impact. He said a recession seems more likely than not." Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link.