LONDON: Britain&#39;s King Charles III and wife Queen Camilla wrapped up their diplomatically sensitive state visit to the United States on Thursday. Here are five takeaways from their four days in America. Opposites attractDespite being polar opposites in character, Charles and President Donald Trump appeared to share a genuine bonhomie. Charles laughed, albeit slightly embarrassingly, when Trump said in a speech at the White House that his Scottish-born mother had had a crush on the then-prince. The monarch was also photographed laughing in the Oval Office when Trump reached out and patted his knee. Protocol dictates that it is unconventional to touch a member of the royal family. &quot;There&#39;s a personal rapport, because I think Charles is a very skilled diplomat,&quot; royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP. The jokerCharles showed off his cheeky side when he cracked a number of jokes during the state dinner, which landed well with a receptive audience. He likened Trump&#39;s demolition of the East Wing to British troops setting fire to the White House in 1814 and ahead of this summer&#39;s FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, quipped that he and Trump were &quot;joint hosts&quot;. The British monarch is also Canada&#39;s head of state, and the remark could be seen as a subtle reminder to Trump, who has soured relations with his neighbour to the north after last year threatening to make it the &quot;51st state&quot;. Charles also referenced how Trump has said if it was not for the United States, then European countries would be speaking German, adding: &quot;Dare I say that, if it wasn&#39;t for us, you&#39;d be speaking French.&quot; Points scoredDuring a separate speech to Congress, the king politely delivered several pointed messages from the UK government amid tensions with Trump over the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Charles urged the United States to stand firm with its Western allies, adding that &quot;unyielding resolve&quot; was needed to secure a &quot;just and lasting peace&quot; in Ukraine. Trump has berated European leaders in recent weeks for their failure to back his and Israel&#39;s war against Iran and has threatened to pull the United States out of NATO. Charles -- the commander-in-chief of the UK armed forces -- also spoke of his pride at Britain&#39;s Royal Navy in which he served, which was recently mocked by Trump, and stressed the importance of protecting the environment. Awkward momentsTrump set a cat among the pigeons when he claimed that Charles &quot;would have probably helped&quot; the United States in its military offensive against Iran. The president has repeatedly lambasted the UK for failing to join the initial strikes and has branded Prime Minister Keir Starmer as weak and indecisive. Trump also claimed that Charles had agreed with him on the need to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear bomb. Conversations with the monarch are usually kept private. Before meeting in New York, the city&#39;s leftist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, called on Charles to &quot;return&quot; the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s. Rift repaired?While the Times newspaper hailed Charles&#39;s performance as a &quot;masterclass in effective diplomacy&quot;, it remains to be seen whether the trip will help repair relations between Trump and Starmer, as British officials hope. In an initial sign of improved US-UK ties, Trump announced Thursday he was removing tariffs on Scottish whisky in honour of the departing royals and the state visit. Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think-tank, told AFP the four-day trip &quot;may buy the UK some temporary reprieve from Trump&quot;. But she predicted it &quot;will not fundamentally change what remains a very fractured so-called special relationship&quot;. While the visit highlighted that &quot;Trump feels warmly towards the royals, he remains &quot;deeply frustrated at the UK government&quot;, Aspinall noted. Fitzwilliams agreed. &quot;It would have put a positive spin on matters... (but) there&#39;s so many different points of disagreement,&quot; he said.

Americas

United Kingdom

King Charles III and Queen Camilla conclude a US visit marked by warm exchanges with Donald Trump, amid underlying tensions over foreign policy and bilateral ties.

Five takeaways from King Charles III's US visit

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;Britain&#39;s King Charles III will receive a full ceremonial welcome from Donald Trump at the White House and deliver a rare address to Congress on Tuesday as he seeks to mend a transatlantic rift over the war in Iran. On the second day of a four-day state visit, Charles is expected to call for &quot;reconciliation and renewal&quot; in his speech, with the so-called special relationship between Washington and London under strain. Much of the day will be given over to pomp and ceremony, with King Charles and Queen Camilla receiving a traditional arrival ceremony that&#39;s expected to feature a 21-gun salute and an inspection of troops. The US leader and First Lady, Melania Trump, will then host the royals in the Oval Office behind closed doors. In the evening, they will return to the White House for a grand state dinner. The first day of the trip featured a more informal welcome, with the Trumps treating Charles and Camilla to tea and cakes in the White House before showing them beehives on the famed lawn. In a symbolic moment just two days after a shooting at a gala dinner attended by Trump, the US president showed off a painting of the assassination attempt he narrowly escaped in 2024. The royals then attended a garden party at the British embassy, with cucumber sandwiches and scones on the menu. But the second day will feature perhaps the most public-facing moment, when Charles becomes the first British monarch to address Congress since his mother, queen Elizabeth, in 1991. It comes at a hugely delicate moment, with Britain trying to repair ties after Trump raged over London&#39;s refusal to help with his war in Iran. &#39;Liberty and equality&#39;&nbsp;In the 20-minute speech, Charles is expected to appeal to Trump in guarded terms, saying that defending common democratic ideals is &quot;crucial for liberty and equality&quot; in a time of international challenges. The king will also stress the importance of the long-standing US-UK alliance, in a visit which marks the 250th anniversary of US independence from its British ancestors. &quot;Time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together,&quot; he is expected to say. Charles, 77, will stress &quot;reconciliation and renewal&quot; over the past 250 years that has given rise to &quot;one of the greatest alliances in human history.&quot; Charles is also expected to give a shorter speech at the state dinner in the White House. It is expected to be held in the State Dining Room, whose small size prompted Trump to start construction on a massive and controversial $400 million ballroom. The UK government is hoping to capitalize on Trump&#39;s fascination with the royals. His mother hailed from Scotland, and Trump received a gala state visit to Britain last year. But it will have its work cut out to placate the mercurial Republican. Trump has repeatedly lambasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his war opposition, alongside his government&#39;s immigration and energy policies. Starmer has publicly criticized the war, but defended the state visit. An early April YouGov poll found 48% of Britons supported cancelling it. The royals will visit New York on Wednesday, touring the 9/11 memorial, before departing Thursday for Bermuda.

Europe

With such tensions simmering, Charles will address a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, when he will tell US lawmakers that the long history between the two countries is one of "reconciliation and renewal," according to a released excerpt from the king's speech.

King Charles to urge Trump to 'come together' with Britain

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump asked lawmakers on Friday to approve a massive $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, as the United States faces rising costs from its war with Iran and mounting global security commitments. The proposal would lift Pentagon spending by more than 40 percent in a single year -- the sharpest increase since World War II -- as Washington seeks to sustain military operations and rebuild depleted weapons stockpiles. The request highlights the growing financial pressure of a conflict now in its fifth week, and sets up a political battle in Congress over how to fund a dramatic expansion of military spending. US media -- citing closed-door congressional briefings -- have reported that the Iran war could be costing as much as $2 billion per day, underscoring the scale of the burden even before longer-term reconstruction and resupply costs are factored in. To offset part of the increase, the administration is proposing around $73 billion in cuts to non-defense spending -- roughly 10 percent -- targeting a range of domestic programs including environmental initiatives, housing assistance and education funding. White House officials say the reductions would eliminate what they describe as wasteful spending and shift some responsibilities back to state and local governments. Trump has framed the defense increase in urgent terms, arguing that military investment must take precedence during wartime, even at the expense of federal social programs. &quot;It&#39;s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare,&quot; Trump said at a recent private event, adding that such responsibilities could be handled at the state level while Washington focuses on &quot;military protection.&quot;<h2 style="line-height: 2;"> </h2><h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Reckless war&#39;</h2>The budget outline, released in summary form, is not binding but serves as a statement of the administration&#39;s priorities as Congress begins drafting spendilegislation. Lawmakers retain the power to rewrite or reject the plan. Trump is urging Congress to approve the bulk of the defense budget -- more than $1.1 trillion -- through the standard appropriations process, while seeking to pass a further $350 billion using a party-line mechanism that would bypass Democratic support. Republican leaders have shown openness to that approach, particularly as they push for higher defense and immigration enforcement spending. But the plan may face resistance within Trump&#39;s own party, where some lawmakers are wary of deepening federal deficits. The United States is already running annual shortfalls approaching $2 trillion, with total debt exceeding $39 trillion, leaving limited fiscal space for new spending without further widening the gap. Lawmakers from both parties have also raised concerns about the scale of the proposed military increase, particularly as the administration has provided limited detail on the trajectory of the Iran conflict. There is similar skepticism about the domestic cuts, many of which Congress has previously rejected. Spending bills passed earlier this year largely preserved funding for programs the White House is again seeking to reduce or eliminate. Beyond defense, the administration is also proposing increased funding for federal law enforcement, including a boost of more than $40 billion for the Justice Department. Even so, the plan could add trillions more to the federal debt over the coming decade if enacted in full, highlighting the trade-offs facing lawmakers as they weigh wartime demands against long-term fiscal pressures. &quot;The American people want health care, not warfare. The Trump administration has spent billions on a reckless war with Iran but REFUSES to increase funding for health care,&quot; House Democrats said in a statement on social media. &quot;It&#39;s heartless and House Democrats will not stand for it.&quot;

US President Donald Trump asks lawmakers to approve a massive $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, as the United States faces rising costs from its war with Iran and mounting global security commitments.

White House seeks $1.5 trillion defense budget as Iran war drives costs

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US President Donald Trump said Friday &quot;Cuba is next&quot; in his latest threat against the Caribbean island, as he dismissed concerns that recent American military actions would cost him political support. Cuba&#39;s communist government has faced mounting pressure from Trump, who imposed a de facto oil blockade in January and mused about &quot;taking&quot; the country. Speaking at the Saudi-backed FII Priority investment forum in Miami, Trump said his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement wanted &quot;strength&quot; and &quot;victory,&quot; citing the January raid where US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. &quot;I built this great military. I said, &quot;You&#39;ll never have to use it,&quot; but sometimes you have to use it,&quot; Trump said. &quot;And Cuba is next, by the way. But pretend I didn&#39;t say that.&quot; Trump did not specify what he planned to do with Cuba, telling the media to &quot;disregard that statement&quot; before repeating &quot;Cuba&#39;s next&quot; to laughter from the audience. In his Friday speech, the Republican president also made a teasing comment dubbing the Strait of Hormuz the &quot;Strait of Trump.&quot; Cuba&#39;s leader Miguel Diaz-Canel said last week that any external aggressor would face &quot;unbreakable resistance,&quot; even as the country was hit with two nationwide blackouts in a week. Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro&#39;s 1959 revolution. Relations thawed in recent years but have plunged again since Trump took office for his second term, with the US president seeking to tighten Washington&#39;s grip on Latin America. A top Cuban diplomat earlier said Havana was willing to continue talking with Washington, but discussing changes to its political system was out of the question. Two sailboats that were part of an international convoy delivering medical supplies, food, solar panels and other goods to Cuba were reported missing and remained unaccounted for on Friday.

Donald Trump says “Cuba is next” in fresh remarks, escalating pressure on the island while offering no details on potential US action amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Trump says 'Cuba is next', denies losing MAGA support

HONG KONG: Oil prices rose Friday and stocks were mixed as initial optimism over Donald Trump&#39;s decision to again push back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz petered. The tepid response came as governments around the world looked to shore up their economies against surging energy costs and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned US inflation would top four percent. The US president warned last Saturday he would strike the Islamic republic&#39;s energy sites if it did not unblock the crucial waterway within 48 hours, but pushed that back five days citing positive peace talks, which Tehran denied had taken place. But after days of attacks by both sides and mixed reports of negotiations -- including the exchanging of multi-point demands -- he announced Thursday that he would again delay the attacks to April 6 after a request from Tehran. &quot;Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,&quot; Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. &quot;As per Iranian Government request... I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,&quot; he posted. Trump earlier denied he was desperate for a deal to end the war, despite Tehran&#39;s cool response to an American peace plan and fears the oil spike would fan inflation. Trump later told a cabinet meeting Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers passage through the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of world oil and gas pass -- to show it was serious about talks. Iran&#39;s Tasnim news agency said the country&#39;s response to Washington&#39;s 15-point plan to end the war &quot;was officially sent last night through intermediaries&quot;. The report, citing an unnamed official, said officials had called for an end to US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran-backed groups elsewhere in the region. It also called for war reparations and Iran&#39;s &quot;sovereignty&quot; over the Strait of Hormuz be respected. However, Trump&#39;s announcement came as the Wall Street Journal cited Department of Defense officials as saying the Pentagon was considering sending up to 10,000 extra ground troops to the Middle East. Oil prices initially fell more than one percent Friday but reversed course to turn higher as Europe opened for business, with Brent back near $110. Brent is up almost 50 percent since the war began on February 28, while West Texas Intermediate has risen about 40 percent. Time but &#39;not clarity&#39;Shares in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Jakarta and Manila were sharply lower, but Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok rose with London, Frankfurt and Paris. Investors are increasingly sceptical about the messaging from the White House, with Trump often flipping between threats and talk of peace. &quot;A 10-day extension sounds like breathing room, but in market terms, it feels more like a trader rolling a losing position forward, hoping the next candle delivers what the last one refused to give,&quot; said SPI Asset Management&#39;s Stephen Innes, referring to an investors analysis tool. &quot;Time has been purchased, not clarity. And the market knows the difference.&quot; The World Trade Organisation warned the global trading system was experiencing the &quot;worst disruptions in the past 80 years&quot;, while the World Bank said it was prepared to provide immediate financial assistance to emerging market countries. That came as the OECD warned US inflation could hit 4.2 percent this year as a result of the spike in crude prices. That compares with its previous projection of 2.8 percent. And several Federal Reserve officials expressed concern about the outlook for the world&#39;s top economy and suggested interest rates were unlikely to come down any time soon. Meanwhile, Australian oil and gas giant Woodside said a third major LNG processing plant in the country had closed as a cyclone approached. With the crisis continuing to cause havoc, governments around the world have unveiled a range of support measures. Vietnam temporarily waived an environmental levy on fuel to cut petrol prices by more than a quarter, India said it had lowered fuel taxes and Japan plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants in a bid to ease an energy crunch. Spain, Poland and South Korea earlier this week announced support plans that included fuel tax cuts. Key figures at around 0815 GMTTokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 53,373.07&nbsp;(close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 24,951.88 (close)Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,913.72 (close)London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,992.82West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5&nbsp;percent at $94.95 a barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.8 percent at $109.91 a barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1520 from $1.1523 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3312 from $1.3313Dollar/yen: UP at 159.95 yen from 159.83 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.51&nbsp;pence from 86.55 penceNew York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 45,960.11 (close)

Business

Oil prices rise and global markets turn mixed as Donald Trump delays action on Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while uncertainty over talks and supply risks fuels inflation concerns worldwide.

Oil rises, stocks mixed as joy over Trump Iran strike pause fades

CHAPPAQUA: Former US president Bill Clinton will be grilled by a Congressional panel on Friday on his well-documented links to Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton features prominently throughout the latest <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bill-gates-admits-affairs-but-denies-involvement-in-epstein-crimes" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Epstein</a>&nbsp;files disclosures, with the former president insisting that he <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-arrest-exenvoy-peter-mandelson-in-epstein-case" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">broke ties</a> with him well before the disgraced billionaire&#39;s 2008 conviction for sex offenses. Mere mention in the files released by the US Department of Justice does not imply wrongdoing, and Clinton has not been accused of a crime or formally investigated. He follows his wife, former secretary of state <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/tell-me-why-jeffrey-epstein-mossad-the-missing-answers" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hillary Clinton</a>, who testified Thursday. &#39;Kangaroo court&#39;The depositions are being held behind closed doors even though the Clintons called for them to be open and televised, a move <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/epstein-estate-agrees-to-settle-victim-claims-for-up-to-35-mn" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bill Clinton</a> denounced as akin to a &quot;kangaroo court.&quot; The grilling comes with greater peril for the former president than for his wife, as he has acknowledged extensive interactions with Epstein, but said he never visited the shady financier&#39;s private Caribbean island. Epstein associated with the world&#39;s rich, famous and powerful, and was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. He died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is probing those who were linked to Epstein, particularly in light of the Justice Department&#39;s disclosures of millions of new documents related to its investigation of him. Hillary insisted that she had neither flown on Epstein&#39;s plane nor visited his island. The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel&#39;s probe, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Newly released pictures&nbsp;</h2>Hillary Clinton said in her opening statement to the panel that it &quot;justified its subpoena to me based on its assumption that I have information regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.&quot; &quot;Let me be as clear as I can. I do not.&quot; Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack Trump&#39;s political opponents rather than to conduct legitimate oversight. Bill Clinton features prominently in the trove of investigative files related to Epstein released by the Justice Department, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Previously unseen photographs from the files include one showing the former president reclining in a hot tub, part of the image obscured by a stark black rectangle. In another, Clinton is pictured swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein&#39;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. &#39;Innocent of any wrongdoing&#39;Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein&#39;s private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work. David Markus, an attorney for Maxwell, said recently that Clinton and Trump are &quot;innocent of any wrongdoing.&quot; The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside. Dozens of journalists have converged on the wealthy hamlet, and the Secret Service erected metal barricades around the arts center where the depositions are happening. Republican committee chair James Comer said at the conclusion of Hillary&#39;s appearance that lawmakers had &quot;a lot of questions for her husband tomorrow.&quot;

The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel's probe, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Former US president Bill Clinton to face grilling on significant Epstein ties

HONG KONG: Gold prices soared to a fresh record near $5,600 on Thursday, while oil rallied after Donald Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with his threatened military strike on Iran. The surge in safe-haven precious metals also saw silver hit another peak and has been helped by a softer dollar sparked by speculation that the US president is happy to see the world&#39;s reserve currency weaken. An uneventful policy announcement by the Federal Reserve did little to inspire buying, though observers said traders are optimistic that interest rates will come down as Trump prepares to name his pick for the next governor. Bullion piled on more than $300 at one point to top $5,595 after Trump said Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb. &ldquo;Hopefully Iran will quickly &#39;Come to the Table&#39; and negotiate a fair and equitable deal -- NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!&rdquo; he wrote on his Truth Social platform. &quot;The next attack will be far worse! Don&#39;t make that happen again,&quot; he added, referring to US strikes against Iranian targets in June. A US naval strike group Trump described as an &ldquo;armada,&rdquo; led by aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln, is now in Middle East waters, with the president saying it was &ldquo;ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.&rdquo; CNN said he was mulling an attack after nuclear talks failed to advance. Iran&#39;s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned on Wednesday that Tehran would respond immediately and forcefully to any US military operation -- adding that its forces have their &ldquo;fingers on the trigger&rdquo; -- but did not rule out a new nuclear deal. International benchmark Brent crude oil briefly topped $70 a barrel Thursday for the first time since September with a gain of more than two percent.&nbsp;On stock markets, Meta jumped in after-hours trade after the US parent of Facebook and Instagram published quarterly earnings that topped expectations, as revenue grew along with investments in artificial intelligence. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Inverse of confidence&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Stephen Innes said the surge in gold indicated deeper structural concerns. &ldquo;After blowing through $5,500 in early Asia, bullion is no longer trading like a commodity. It is trading like a referendum. Not on inflation. Not on rates. On trust,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Gold is the inverse of confidence. When belief in policy coherence weakens, gold ceases to behave like a hedge and instead acts as an alternative. That is what we are watching now. This is not fear of recession. There is doubt about fiat stewardship.&rdquo; Rising tensions sent oil prices up by more than 1% -- with WTI at its highest since September and Brent at levels not seen since July -- amid supply worries. On equity markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, and Seoul rose, while Tokyo was flat. Sydney, Wellington, Taipei and Bangkok dropped. London and Frankfurt edged up at the open but Paris fell. Manila sank as data showed the Philippines economy grew last year at its slowest non-pandemic rate since 2011. Jakarta tanked 8%, prompting a temporary halt and extending Wednesday&#39;s collapse, which followed index compiler MSCI&#39;s call for regulators to look into ownership concerns.&nbsp; Stocks later pared those losses to trade around 3% lower. MSCI also said it would hold off on adding Indonesian stocks to its indexes or increasing their weighting, while there are concerns it could announce a downgrade from emerging markets to frontier markets, which could spark an outflow of foreign capital. &ldquo;I think this sharp downward pressure may last one or two days,&rdquo; said Hans Kwee, a stock analyst at PasarDana.&nbsp; &ldquo;It was yesterday and today; at most, tomorrow it starts to move sideways. &ldquo;Then next week the market should be more normal.&rdquo; The dollar remained under pressure, even after Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC that &ldquo;the US always has a strong dollar policy,&rdquo; a day after Trump appeared to welcome its recent weakness. The Fed&#39;s policy meeting ended with few surprises as boss Jerome Powell said officials were keeping tabs on data. But Matthias&nbsp;Scheiber and Rushabh Amin at Allspring Global Investments said attention was now on Trump&#39;s choice to take the helm when Powell steps down in May. &ldquo;The big focus will remain on the announcement of the new Fed chair, with the race wide open though a general expectation of someone more dovish to succeed Jerome Powell,&rdquo; they wrote in a commentary. Hong Kong-listed property stocks surged on a report that Chinese leaders had rowed back on stringent measures aimed at reining in borrowing, which helped spark a chronic debt crisis in the country&#39;s real estate sector that is still weighing on the economy. Troubled developers soared, with Country Garden up around 17%, Sunac rocketing 30%, and Agile Group 15% higher. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Key figures at around 0815 GMT&nbsp;</h2>Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 53,375.60 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5% at 27,968.09 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2% at 4,157.98 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4% at 10,189.97 West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6% at $64.24 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5% at $69.43 per barrel Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.21&nbsp;yen from 153.38 yen on Wednesday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1974 from $1.1944 Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3829 from $1.3797 Euro/pound: UP at 86.58 pence from 86.56 pence New York - Dow: FLAT at 49,015.60 (close)

Bullion piled on more than $300 at one point to top $5,595 after Trump said Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

Gold soars toward $5,600 as Trump rattles sabre over Iran

BRUSSELS: NATO chief <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-cannot-negotiate-for-denmark-on-greenland-danish-govt" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Rutte</a>&nbsp;warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-leaders-take-stage-in-davos-as-trump-rocks-global-order" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Danish territory </a>-- before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.&nbsp;The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.&nbsp;&quot;If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US -- keep on dreaming. You can&#39;t,&quot; Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.&nbsp;He said that EU countries would have to double defence spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend &quot;billions and billions&quot; on building nuclear arms.&nbsp;&quot;You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,&quot; Rutte said. &quot;So hey, good luck.&quot;&nbsp;The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO&#39;s Article Five mutual defence clause remained &quot;total&quot;, but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.&nbsp;&quot;They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defence spending.&nbsp;He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU&#39;s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defence force that could replace US troops on the continent.&nbsp;&quot;It will make things more complicated. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will love it. So think again,&quot; Rutte said.&nbsp;On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would &quot;take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic&quot;, but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.&nbsp;&quot;I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn&#39;t, and I will not,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.&nbsp;&quot;For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.&quot;

Mark Rutte warns Europe cannot defend itself without the US, dismissing calls for strategic autonomy. He urged defence spending, reaffirmed NATO’s nuclear umbrella and Article Five, rejected a European army, and said Washington remains committed.

'Keep dreaming': NATO chief says Europe can't defend itself without US

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Thursday he will sue The New York Times over an unfavorable opinion poll and suggested that what he called &quot;fake&quot; surveys should be criminalized. Trump lashed out after the publication of a New York Times/Siena University poll finding only 40% approval for the 79-year-old Republican, in line with multiple other polls showing declining support a year into his second term. &quot;The Times Siena Poll...will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,&quot; Trump said on his Truth Social platform. &quot;They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!&quot; Expanding on the threat, Trump posted that &quot;Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense.&quot; Trump has fired off multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-will-file-lawsuit-against-bbc-by-tuesday" style="color:#0073e6;">BBC</a>, CNN, Wall Street Journal, CBS, and ABC. Some have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements. He first filed a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-files-15-billion-defamation-lawsuit-against-nyt" style="color:#0073e6;">$15 billion defamation suit</a> against the Times in September 2025, claiming the leading US newspaper had run false stories to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign and reputation. The complaint was thrown out by a federal judge before being refiled in amended form in October. The Times responded by calling that new lawsuit &quot;an attempt to stifle independent reporting&quot; and &quot;intimidation.&quot; Thursday&#39;s Times/Siena poll was the latest opinion survey finding that Trump&#39;s popularity continues to slide over his handling of the economy and a military-style crackdown on illegal immigration. Times/Siena is considered to be among the most accurate and highest profile of US political surveys. Its latest findings were especially notable for laying out what the Times called the unraveling of Trump&#39;s winning 2024 coalition. Young and non-white voters who turned out for Trump in the election against Democrat Kamala Harris have now left him, the poll found, leaving him with his previous core base of older and white voters.

US president lashes out after publication of New York Times/Siena University poll finding only 40% approval for the 79-year-old Republican; Times responded by calling the new lawsuit "an attempt to stifle independent reporting" and "intimidation."


Trump to sue New York Times over unfavorable opinion poll

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ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for negotiations on the acquisition of Greenland while explicitly ruling out the use of force, using a sweeping address at the World Economic Forum to link US economic strength, energy policy and security guarantees to what he described as America&rsquo;s renewed global leadership.&nbsp;Speaking on the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trump said the United States was undergoing the &ldquo;fastest economic turnaround in its history,&rdquo; citing strong growth, low inflation and record stock market gains.&nbsp;&ldquo;When America booms, the entire world booms,&rdquo; he told business and political leaders gathered in Davos. &ldquo;The United States is now the hottest country in the world.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump sharply criticized European climate and energy policies, branding them the &ldquo;Green New Scam&rdquo; and blaming them for economic decline.&nbsp;He said Europe had replaced affordable energy with wind power that &ldquo;destroys your land,&rdquo; adding: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re supposed to make money with energy, not lose it.&rdquo;&nbsp;The US president pointed to falling electricity production in Germany and restrictions on drilling in the North Sea as evidence of what he called policy failure, while accusing China of profiting from selling wind turbines abroad while relying on coal and gas at home.&nbsp;Turning to Greenland, Trump said the vast Arctic territory was a &ldquo;core national security interest&rdquo; for the United States and argued that only Washington could properly defend it.&nbsp;&ldquo;Every NATO ally has to defend its territory, but only the United States can secure Greenland,&rdquo; he said. Trump said the US had protected the island during World War II and later returned it to Denmark, calling that decision &ldquo;a mistake.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;I have tremendous respect for the people of Greenland and Denmark,&rdquo; Trump said, adding that he was seeking negotiations for Greenland&rsquo;s acquisition by the United States.&nbsp;He stressed, however, that he would not use military force. &ldquo;This would not be a threat to NATO,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump repeated complaints that NATO had treated the United States &ldquo;very unfairly,&rdquo; while saying he had done more than any previous president to strengthen the alliance by pushing members to increase defense spending.&nbsp;He also highlighted a major military buildup, including new aircraft, missile defense systems and what he described as a &ldquo;golden dome&rdquo; to protect the US and its allies.&nbsp;On foreign policy, Trump said he was meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on Wednesday in an effort to end what he called a &ldquo;bloodbath&rdquo; in Ukraine, claiming 30,000 soldiers were dying each month.&nbsp;He said he had settled eight other conflicts in his first year back in office and argued that US military power was central to global stability.&nbsp;Trump closed by portraying the United States as &ldquo;back bigger, stronger and better than ever before,&rdquo; urging allies to follow Washington&rsquo;s economic and energy model while warning that American strength would determine the trajectory of the global economy.

The US president returns to Davos after six years as Europe rallies behind Denmark, rejecting any Washington claim to Greenland and warning against escalation.

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