China has reduced shipments of rare earth magnets to the United States just days before President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet in Washington. The timing is drawing attention because rare earth magnets are critical to industries ranging from electric vehicles and electronics to defence equipment. Chinese customs data released…
US President Donald Trump has said the US-Iran war may be nearing an end, raising fresh hopes for diplomacy after months of fighting, disruption to energy markets and growing pressure across the Middle East. Trump made the comments on September 16, saying he hoped the conflict was moving towards its conclusion and claiming that Iranian…
The Trump administration has paused US visa applications and appointments for immigrant visas at American embassies and consulates worldwide as it prepares to introduce tougher screening rules. The pause is part of a wider Trump immigration crackdown that could affect people seeking to move to the United States, as well as foreigners already in the…
Canada has avoided a major new trade shock, but only for three days. President Donald Trump has paused planned 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, hours before the duties were due to take effect. Trump said the United States and Canada had reached a deal, but the agreement still depends on…
The latest US-Iran confrontation is no longer just about Tehran and Washington. It is now putting Oman, one of the region’s key diplomatic intermediaries, directly in the middle of the crisis. President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Oman if it interferes with US efforts to reach an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz….
President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the drills are expensive and send an unnecessarily hostile message to North Korea. But the most interesting part of the decision may be what it means for South Korea itself. Rather than simply weakening Seoul, Trump’s move could…
Osun State goes to the polls on Saturday, August 15, for a governorship election that has become increasingly defined by security concerns. The killing of Dele Ayegbo, nephew of APC campaign Director-General Wole Oke, in Esa-Oke has intensified fears just days before voting, with the APC alleging political involvement in the attack. Those allegations have…
The latest US-Iran confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz is becoming a battle not only over a strategic waterway, but over who gets to define what “control” actually means. President Donald Trump says the United States has “total control” of the Strait, declaring that the American naval presence is a “wall of steel” and suggesting…
The latest tensions in the Middle East are revealing a problem that could become more important than the fighting itself: the countries involved increasingly disagree on what an acceptable end to the conflict actually looks like. US President Donald Trump has backed a 15-point framework for Gaza that would involve Hamas disarming, followed by a…
The Trump administration has launched another attempt to narrow who can receive U.S. citizenship at birth, signaling that becoming American could become significantly harder for some families if the policy survives the legal challenges expected to follow. On August 6, President Donald Trump signed two executive actions targeting birthright citizenship and so-called “birth tourism”. The…
