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Australia boosts military spending as Iran war makes global impact

The Iran war had greatly complicated the global strategic landscape, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday as he announced a major increase in Australian military spending. Marles released the latest two-year update of Australia’s defense strategy and said an additional 53 billion Australian dollars ($38 billion) in spending on defense was planned over the next decade. Australia’s defense budget would grow from 2.8% of GDP this year to 3% by 2033 as “Australia faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances since the end of World War II

Could more cattle cause record beef prices to drop? Ranchers say it's not that simple

China's economy grows at 5% in first quarter, shrugging off initial impact of Iran war

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A dispatch from inside the Vatican bubble during a remarkable exchange between pope and president

There is an odd sense of isolation when you are covering Pope Leo XIV from inside the Vatican’s traveling press pool: Escorted from venue to venue with police motorcades that clear even the most congested of traffic jams, it’s a membership that has many privileges. But during Leo’s epic four-nation trip to Africa, being inside the Vatican “bubble” has been an almost surreal experience, as an unprecedented back-and-forth plays out between U.S. President Donald Trump and history’s first American pope. Every morning this week, waking up to developments in

The Latest: Pakistan’s army chief to meet Iranian officials in Tehran to push new US-Iran talks

Asian stocks mostly higher after Wall Street hits record and oil steadies

Pakistani army chief visits Tehran in bid to broker renewed talks between US and Iran

Pakistan’s army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war. The White House said any further talks would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports continued as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would ramp up economic pain on Iran wi

Trump to promote tax breaks in Las Vegas, where residents feel the pinch of high gas prices

LIV Golf leader says the show will go on amid reports of Saudi funding uncertainty

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It's Tax Day. Treasury says 53 million filers used new Trump tax breaks before the deadline

It's Tax Day on Wednesday, the deadline for most Americans to file taxes, and the Trump administration says millions of people have already used new breaks such as no tax on tips and overtime, exemptions for interest on certain car loans, deductions for some seniors, and Trump Accounts for children’s savings. More than 53 million filers claimed a deduction under one of those provisions from Republicans' massive tax and spending law, a Treasury official told reporters Tuesday before the deadline, with 6 million people claiming no tax on tips, 21 million claiming

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From dropping bombs to pressuring banks: US pivots to economic warfare on Iran

If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that the U.S. plans to ramp up economic pain on Iran, and said the new moves will be the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign. The threat of secondary economic sanction

Homeland Security worker and another woman are killed in a series of Atlanta-area attacks

Inside the sudden downfall of Eric Swalwell

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Sonia Sotomayor apologizes for ‘hurtful’ public comments about Brett Kavanaugh on immigration

Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a highly unusual public apology to a colleague Wednesday, saying her criticism of Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his writing in an earlier immigration case was unfair.“At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate,” Sotomayor said in a statement. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”Sotomayor’s statement followed remarks she made last week in Kansas in which she criticized Kavanaugh for his conc

Senate Republicans reject effort to halt Iran war, but some eye future war powers votes

The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime leadership, for now, citing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the potential for ongoing talks and

American Eagle rallies again after launching second Sydney Sweeney campaign

‘Textbook blasphemy’: Notre Dame students surprised and dismayed by Trump’s feud with Pope Leo

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FIFA president Infantino says Iran will participate in World Cup 'for sure' despite war

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will participate in the World Cup “for sure” despite its war with the United States. Speaking at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup even though its participation has been in doubt since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on the country. “The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. B

Africa|Political|World

African Catholics recoil at Trump's spat with Pope Leo

With his previous insults towards African countries and his gutting of foreign assistance, U.S. President Donald Trump has offended the continent's Catholics more than once before, but his spat this week with Pope Leo has raised eyebrows nevertheless."I was utterly shocked to read President Trump's remarks about the pope. Nowhere in modern history have we witnessed such verbal recklessness against an institution as revered as the papacy," said Blaise Bebey Abong, 38, a Cameroonian diplomat in Yaounde, where Leo arrived on Wednesday for the second stop of his four-country Africa tour.Since lat

Why is Sudan at war, and what is the impact?

Japan offers $10 billion support to help Asian neighbours secure oil

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After criticizing the pope, Trump slams Italy's Meloni over lack of support for Iran war

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni was supposed to be Europe’s bridge to U.S. President Donald Trump. It may be burning. After chastising Pope Leo XIV, Trump turned his ire on Meloni, long one of his closest European allies, for calling his papal broadside “unacceptable” and not backing the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. “I thought she had courage,’’ Trump said in an interview with leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera. “I was wrong.” Meloni has not directly responded to Trump’s attacks. But they may be to her advantage as she recovers f

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Snapchat owner cuts 16% of global staff in latest round of job cuts

The owner of social media platform Snapchat said Wednesday it's eliminating about 16% of its global workforce, or about 1,000 jobs that will be culled in its latest round of layoffs. Snap Inc. said in a regulatory filing that the job cuts will cost about $95 million to $130 million in severance payments and related costs. “The headcount reduction is designed to further streamline our operations and reallocate resources toward our highest-priority initiatives, leveraging increased operational efficiencies to accelerate our path toward net-income pr