Author: ALJAZEERA

Consumer confidence in the United States has continued its sharp 2025 decline as Americans’ views about their financial futures slumped to a 12-year low, driven by rising anxiety over tariffs and inflation. The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.2 points in March to 92.9, the fourth straight monthly decline and its lowest reading since January of 2021. The reading was short of analysts’ expectations for a reading of 94.5, according to a survey by FactSet. The business group found that the measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell 9.6 points…

JD Vance’s visit to Greenland comes amid US President Trump saying he wants to take over the Arctic territory.Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has accused the United States of exerting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland in advance of a provocative high-level visit to the Arctic territory led by US Vice President JD Vance. Vance, who has become the attack dog of US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, will travel with his wife, Usha, and other senior officials to the US’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday, “to receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet with US servicemembers”, his…

World leaders have denounced United States President Donald Trump for unveiling a new tariff measure, this time aimed at the automobile industry. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney offered one of the most frank assessments, saying it signalled an end to the tight bonds his country and the US once enjoyed. “The old relationship we had with the United States – based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation – is over,” Carney said. “We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere. And…

Prime Minister Albanese’s Labor Party has introduced new tax cuts in advance of general election due before May 17.Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he plans to call a national election “imminently” as the May 17 deadline for electing a new parliament is fast approaching. “It will be in May, I can guarantee that. And it will be called pretty imminently,” Albanese told radio station Triple M on Thursday. “I’m not calling it today but I will call it soon. I think that Australians want to get on with it,” he said. Separate reports from The Sydney Morning Herald and…

United States President Donald Trump has announced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and car parts, his latest salvo in a widening trade war that has stoked tensions with partners and allies. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said the tariffs would “take back” money from foreign countries that have been “taking our jobs” and “our wealth”. “They’ve taken so much out of our country – friend and foe. And, frankly, friend has oftentimes been much worse than foe,” he said at the Oval Office. “This is very modest.” Calling the move “exciting”, Trump, who has pledged…

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 MAX crashesA United States judge has abruptly set a June 23 trial date in the Department of Justice’s criminal fraud case against Boeing stemming from the plane maker’s alleged misrepresentations to US regulators about a key system on the 737 MAX. The judge set the trial date on Tuesday. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 MAX crashes, and to pay a fine of up to $487.2m. US District Judge Reed O’Connor had previously…

Officials, including California’s attorney general, question what will happen to the data collected by the firm.Genetic testing firm 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States amid weak demand and losses from a 2023 data breach. Its co-founder and CEO has resigned. San Francisco-based 23andMe announced on Sunday that it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganisation plan. The company’s shares fell 50 percent to 88 cents in Monday trading after co-founder Anne Wojcicki, who made multiple failed takeover bids, resigned as CEO. 23andMe did not say whether there are…

Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s economic management amid stock market turmoil, polls show.United States President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy is facing growing pushback from Americans amid wild swings in the stock market and growing fears of a recession, new polling shows. In a CNN/SSRS poll released on Wednesday, 56 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s economic management – higher than at any point during his first term in office. The poll had better news for Trump on his other signature issue of immigration, with 51 percent of respondents expressing support for his strict enforcement policies.…

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the imports of steel and aluminium by the United States are sending shockwaves through global markets and escalating tensions with key trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Some countries are fighting back with retaliatory tariffs, others are seeking exemptions, and a few are trying to negotiate their way out of the 25 percent tariffs. So, who is escalating the trade war, who is trying to avoid it, and what does this mean for the industries that rely on these metals? Who supplies steel and aluminium to the US? Canada, Brazil, and Mexico…

Is Elon Musk planning to use artificial intelligence to run the US government? That seems to be his plan, but experts say it is a “very bad idea”. Musk has fired tens of thousands of federal government employees through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and he reportedly requires the remaining workers to send the department a weekly email featuring five bullet points describing what they accomplished that week. Since that will no doubt flood DOGE with hundreds of thousands of these types of emails, Musk is relying on artificial intelligence to process responses and help determine who should remain…