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Rapper A$AP Rocky found not guilty in assault trial

Rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of two counts of felony assault at the conclusion of a trial in Los Angeles on Tuesday.The musician, who has two children with singer Rihanna, had faced more than two decades in prison if he had been convicted of the alleged attack on a former friend in Hollywood in 2021.There was commotion in the courtroom as the jury’s verdict was read out, with the Grammy-nominated hip hop star, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, hugging people in relief as he was declared not guilty.During the weeks-long trial, prosecutors said Mayers had shot a nine-millimeter semi-automatic weapon during a confrontation with Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, on November 6, 2021, in the heart of Hollywood, grazing Ephron’s hand.Mayers, 36, had insisted he had been carrying only a harmless prop gun.The two had previously been friends, and had both been part of A$AP, a rap collective from New York, but had fallen out because other members of the group felt Mayers’ commercial success had made him arrogant.Ephron told the jury he had been lured to a parking garage for an encounter that was partially caught on grainy surveillance video.He claimed that after the two exchanged words, Mayers pulled a gun from his waistband, put it toward Relli’s stomach and said, “I’ll kill you right now.”Ephron said two bullets were fired, with one of them grazing his knuckles.Defending attorney Joe Tacopina said the weapon was “absolutely nothing more than a prop gun… a starter gun, a blank gun, a fake gun. It’s used in pop movies and music videos.”Describing Ephron as “a criminal and a perjurer,” Tacopina said seven police officers searched the scene of the shooting hours later but found neither shell casings nor a weapon. Yet, after officers left, Ephron returned to the scene and discovered a pair of nine-millimeter shell casings he said he had picked up from the street where he was shot at, Tacopina said.Neither side was able to produce the gun they said had been used on the night.- ‘Extortion’ -Tacopina said the whole story of a shooting had been manufactured to extort money from his wealthy and successful client.Speaking after the verdict, Tacopina told reporters the jury had seen through the “mirage of a case.””I’ve always said this was an extortion. The extortion played out live in court,” he said.”The district attorney should look long and hard at prosecuting Terell Ephron.”Tacopina paid tribute to Mayers and Rihanna, whom he described as “the greatest people.”There was no immediate reaction from either Mayers or Rihanna, who had been in court frequently during the trial. A$AP Rocky shot to fame in the first half of the last decade with two mega-selling albums: “Long. Live. A$AP” and “At. Long. Last. A$AP.” In 2019, he was given a suspended prison sentence in Sweden after a fight, in an affair that caused diplomatic tensions between Stockholm and Washington, pushing then-president Donald Trump to intervene.

‘City killer’ asteroid now has 3.1% chance of hitting Earth: NASA

An asteroid that could level a city now has a 3.1-percent chance of striking Earth in 2032, according to NASA data released Tuesday — making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded by modern forecasting. Despite the rising odds, experts say there is no need for alarm. The global astronomical community is closely monitoring the situation and the James Webb Space Telescope is set to fix its gaze on the object, known as 2024 YR4, next month.”I’m not panicking,” Bruce Betts, chief scientist for the nonprofit Planetary Society told AFP. “Naturally when you see the percentages go up, it doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy and good,” he added, but explained that as astronomers gather more data, the probability will likely edge up before rapidly dropping to zero.2024 YR4 was first detected on December 27 last year by the El Sauce Observatory in Chile.Astronomers estimate its size to be between 130 and 300 feet (40–90 meters) wide, based on its brightness. Analysis of its light signatures suggests it has a fairly typical composition, rather than being a rare metal-rich asteroid.The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), a worldwide planetary defense collaboration, issued a warning memo on January 29 after the impact probability had crossed one percent. Since then, the figure has fluctuated but continues to trend upward.NASA’s latest calculations estimate the impact probability at 3.1 percent, with a potential Earth impact date of December 22, 2032.That translates to odds of one in 32 — roughly the same as correctly guessing the outcome of five consecutive coin tosses.The last time an asteroid of greater than 30 meters in size posed such a significant risk was Apophis in 2004, when it briefly had a 2.7 percent chance of striking Earth in 2029 — a possibility later ruled out by additional observations.Surpassing that threshold is “historic,” said Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency’s planetary defense office, which puts the risk slightly lower at 2.8 percent.- Webb observations in March -“It’s a very, very rare event,” he told AFP, but added: “This is not a crisis at this point in time. This is not the dinosaur killer. This is not the planet killer. This is at most dangerous for a city.”Data from the Webb telescope — the most powerful space observatory — will be key in better understanding its trajectory, said the Planetary Society’s Betts.”Webb is able to see things that are very, very dim,” he said — which is key because the asteroid’s orbit is currently taking it out towards Jupiter, and its next close approach will not be until 2028.If the risk rises over 10 percent, IAWN would issue a formal warning, leading to a “recommendation for all UN members who have territories in potentially threatened areas to start terrestrial preparedness,” explained Moissl.Unlike the six-mile-wide (10-kilometer-wide) asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, 2024 YR4 is classified as a “city killer” — not a global catastrophe, but still capable of causing significant destruction.Its potential devastation comes less from its size and more from its velocity, which could be nearly 40,000 miles per hour if it hits.If it enters Earth’s atmosphere, the most likely scenario is an airburst, meaning it would explode midair with a force of approximately eight megatons of TNT — more than 500 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.But an impact crater cannot be ruled out if the size is closer to the higher end of estimates, said Betts.The potential impact corridor spans the eastern Pacific, northern South America, the Atlantic, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South Asia — though Moissl emphasized it is far too early for people to consider drastic decisions like relocation.The good news: there’s ample time to act. NASA’s 2022 DART mission proved that spacecraft can successfully alter an asteroid’s path, and scientists have theorized other methods, such as using lasers to create thrust by vaporizing part of the surface, pulling it off course with a spacecraft’s gravity, or even using nuclear explosions as a last resort.

US tariffs threat a ‘shock’ to Canadian businesses

Donald Trump’s threats of import tariffs have sent shockwaves through Canada, forcing businesses to question their dependence on the United States — a reassessment that is creating headaches for many sectors.”It was an absolute shock,” Matthew Holmes, vice president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told AFP. “There’s an incredible anxiety that comes from the unpredictability and the uncertainty.””It got everybody talking in Canada about (how) we can’t trust this partnership anymore,” he added.Earlier this month US President Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, then granted a 30-day reprieve.The pause, however, has done little to reassure Canadian businesses that send more than 75 percent of Canada’s exports to the United States, and who worry that a trade war would lead to a recession and hundreds of thousands of job losses.Canada must prepare for the tariffs by removing barriers to trade between provinces and diversify its export markets, Holmes said. “We need to be ready and have the infrastructure and relationships and start building those out now.”Otherwise, he said, Canadian businesses will be “really, really screwed.”- ‘No quick fix’ -According to a recent survey, nine out of 10 Canadians agree on the need to lessen Canada’s trade reliance on the United States.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently hosted a summit in Toronto that brought business leaders together to discuss ways of growing the Canadian economy, including removing internal trade barriers, diversifying export markets and boosting productivity.Provincial governments and business leaders, he told delegates, must “step up and push hard” to make Canada more competitive, while acknowledging that it has been easy to just sell to the country’s southern neighbor.But that may be easier said than done, according to Robert Gillezeau, an economics professor at the University of Toronto.”The two economies are extremely interconnected with over a trillion dollars in trade between the two countries,” he told AFP, pointing to their close proximity and “longstanding good relations” for how ties developed.”For some sectors, it’ll be a little bit easier” to disentangle from the United States, Gillezeau said.For others, “it’s going to be a mess,” he added. “You can’t just snap your fingers and take that integrated industry and have it work with someone else or have it become fully domestic… There is no quick fix.” The food industry is a case in point.”We’ve frozen our purchases of some American goods and we’re looking elsewhere for alternatives,” explains Mike Bono of Can-Am Food Services.But it is not possible for the company — which is one of the largest distributors of fruits and vegetables in Quebec and Ontario with nearly 3,000 customers including restaurants and hotels — to find substitutes for all of its American offerings.- Interprovincial trade barriers -The removal of interprovincial trade barriers was flagged in a report as a way to boost Canada’s economy as far back as 1940.Ottawa led efforts to dismantle them in 2017 but hundreds of exceptions were kept in an agreement signed by the provinces.Removing these barriers would improve productivity and increase Canadian GDP, but “would take a level of effort and coordination that we rarely see in the federation,” Gillezeau said.Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand, who wants to see these barriers abolished as soon as possible, believes that “in the face of Donald Trump’s repeated threats, we must choose Canada.”She explained that removing the barriers — such as alcohol sales restrictions, different labelling rules, varying professional licensing certifications, and independent dairy marketing boards in each province — could lower prices by 15 percent, boost productivity and inject up to Can$200 billion into the economy.Some are also calling for east-west oil and gas pipeline projects to be revived in order to lessen dependency on US infrastructure. Oil from western Alberta, for example, is currently shipped via a pipeline that dips into the United States before emerging in Ontario.

US judge declines to block Musk from accessing data, firing workers

A US judge on Tuesday declined a request to temporarily block Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from firing federal employees and accessing agency data, a victory for President Donald Trump in his bid to shrink the government workforce.Fourteen Democratic-ruled states had filed suit last week contesting Musk’s legal authority but District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied their emergency request to pause his actions.”Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order,” Chutkan said.DOGE is a free-ranging entity run by Musk, the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor. The billionaire has taken an assertive role in the new administration, with his agency aiming to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending.His plans have effectively shuttered some federal agencies, sent thousands of staff members home and sparked legal battles across the country.In their suit, the 14 states claimed that Musk and DOGE lacked statutory authority for their actions because he had not been formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.”(Musk) exercises virtually unchecked power across the Executive Branch, making decisions about expenditures, contracts, government property, regulations, and the very existence of federal agencies,” they said.In addition, Musk and DOGE have gained access to “sensitive data, information, systems, and technological and financial infrastructure across the federal government,” they added.The 14 states had sought to block DOGE from accessing the data systems of the Office of Personnel Management and the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation and Commerce, and from terminating any of their employees.- ‘Considerable uncertainty’ -Chutkan, in her ruling, said “the court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents.”But the ‘possibility’ that Defendants may take actions that irreparably harm Plaintiffs ‘is not enough,'” she said.Musk’s cost-cutting spree has been met with legal pushback on a number of fronts and a mixed bag of rulings.A different federal judge last week lifted a freeze he had temporarily imposed on a mass buyout plan offered by the Trump administration to federal workers.In the mass buyout case, labor unions representing federal employees had filed suit to block the scheme masterminded by Musk to slash the size of government by encouraging federal workers to quit.In an email titled “Fork in the Road,” the more than two million US government employees were given an offer to leave with eight months’ pay or risk being fired in future culls.According to the White House, more than 75,000 federal employees signed on to the buyout offer from the Office of Personnel Management.Trump’s executive actions have been challenged in dozens of court cases and the White House has accused “judges in liberal districts” of “abusing their power” to block the president’s moves.The decisions have come from judges nominated by both Republican and Democratic presidents, including Trump himself during his first term.Chutkan, an appointee of Democratic former president Barack Obama, presided over the now-abandoned case against Trump on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

US lawmakers confirm Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary

The US Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Wall Street billionaire Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary, a key step towards the rollout of President Donald Trump’s “America First” trade agenda, which uses tariffs as a broad negotiation tool.Trump has threatened sweeping levies on US allies and competitors alike, looking to tariffs not only as a way to raise revenue but also pressure other countries to act on US priorities.Lutnick, who was chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is a close ally of Trump’s and has been a defender of imposing tariffs on US imports.On Tuesday, he was confirmed by a vote of 51-45. A spokesman for Lutnick told AFP that he has stepped down from Cantor.He takes the helm at a department that advocates for US business interests and oversees an apparatus restricting the export of certain technology — including semiconductors — to adversaries, including China and Russia.The role will place him at the frontier of Washington’s tariff and trade agenda too, working with the US Trade Representative’s office.The Commerce Department is in charge of a nearly $53 billion program involving subsidies to stimulate the US chipmaking sector, which Lutnick earlier called an “excellent downpayment” despite stressing the need to review investments.During his confirmation hearing last month, Lutnick backed sweeping tariffs targeting countries rather than specific products and signaled a hawkish approach to Beijing.”We can use tariffs to create reciprocity, fairness and respect,” he told lawmakers.He also denied that tariffs would cause widespread inflation, despite economists’ concerns that duties could add to consumer costs in the short term and weigh on growth in the longer haul.The commerce secretary has a broad agenda to implement, and negotiations with some of the United States’ biggest trading partners to contend with.Trump has unveiled blanket duties of up to 25 percent on immediate US neighbors Canada and Mexico, threatening to snarl supply chains in key sectors like automobiles and setting off a flurry of negotiations.The levies, which Trump said were imposed over immigration and drug smuggling concerns, are due to take effect in early March after a month-long pause as talks continue.Separately, Trump also announced 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12, which officials said would pile atop the hefty rates threatened on Canada and Mexico.Looking ahead, Lutnick has signaled his willingness for broad “reciprocal tariffs” against US trading partners to start as early as April 2.These levies, which Washington said are aimed at correcting “long-standing imbalances” in trade, would be tailored to each country.Officials would consider both the tariffs countries impose on US goods as well as taxes seen as “discriminatory” — such as value-added taxes.

Trump bashes Zelensky, ‘confident’ on Ukraine deal

President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion — even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.Trump increased pressure on Zelensky to hold elections — echoing one of Moscow’s key demands — and chided the Ukrainian for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia.The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.”I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.”Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.Zelensky had earlier Tuesday criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelensky, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings. “They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.”That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.- ‘Power to end this war’ -European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.””I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war. “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said. “I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” added Trump, saying that Britain had made a similar offer.The United States would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away.”Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”

Trump orders firing of all ‘Biden-era’ US attorneys

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered the firing of all remaining US attorneys nominated by his predecessor Joe Biden.”Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.”Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys,” he said.”We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump added. “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”It is standard practice for an incoming president to replace the federal prosecutors, known as US attorneys, nominated by their predecessor.There are 93 US attorneys, one for each of the 94 federal court districts in the country. Two districts share a US attorney.US attorneys are the top federal law enforcement officer in each district.A number of US attorneys nominated by Democrat Biden resigned following Trump’s November election victory in anticipation of being replaced.The Justice Department, which Trump has accused of unjustly prosecuting him, has been the target of a sweeping shakeup since the Republican took office and a number of high-ranking officials have been fired, demoted or reassigned.Among those sacked were members of the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two now-abandoned criminal cases against Trump.The acting US attorney for the powerful Southern District of New York, a Trump appointee, resigned last week after being asked by the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Panama denies depriving ‘freedom’ to migrants deported by US

Panama’s government denied Tuesday that migrants deported by the United States who were seen holding up signs to hotel windows pleading for help were being held against their will.Public Security Minister Frank Abrego said the migrants were not being “deprived of their freedom” while they await repatriation.”They are in our custody for their protection,” he said.Police were seen guarding the Decapolis Hotel in Panama City, where women believed to be part of the group held up handwritten signs to journalists below saying “Please help us” and “We are not safe in our country.”According to Abrego, the group includes migrants from China, India, Iran and Vietnam.Those who do not go home voluntarily would be transferred to a shelter in the Darien jungle, near the border with Colombia, while the International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency organize their relocation to another country, Abrego said.”We’re providing them with all the necessary medical care and comforts, and we will continue to do so until the last of them leaves our country, which is what was agreed with the United States government,” he added.Panama has complied “with all international regulations,” Abrego said.The minister appeared before the press after The New York Times reported that the migrants had their passports and most of their cellphones taken from them.They were “locked in a hotel, barred from seeing lawyers and told they would soon be sent to a makeshift camp near the Panamanian jungle,” the newspaper said.At least one person at the hotel “tried to commit suicide,” according to the newspaper, which said it had spoken to several people inside who identified themselves as asylum seekers and alleged that they were detained against their will.On his first day in office last month, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern US border and vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.During a recent Latin American tour by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panama and Guatemala agreed to serve as a bridge for migrants of other nationalities deported by Trump’s administration.On Monday, Costa Rica also agreed to collaborate on such migrant repatriations. 

Trump moves to widen IVF access, risking conservative fury

US President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to increase access to in vitro fertilization, a move likely to be welcomed by many Americans but which risks a backlash from conservatives and the religious right.The Republican leader signed an executive order giving his advisors 90 days to find recommendations for protecting IVF access and “aggressively” reducing out-of-pocket and insurance costs for the treatment.”My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” the order stated.”Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options,” it continued. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, shortly after signing the order, that “I think the women and families, husbands, are very appreciative of it.”The president — whose billionaire top donor and ally Elon Musk has had several children by IVF — has long held conflicting stances on reproductive rights. He frequently boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who ended federal protections for abortion access in 2022, a seismic move that made him a hero to the anti-abortion movement, which has driven conservative voters to the polls for decades.But he drew fury from that same movement when, during last year’s presidential campaign, he announced that in a second term he would ensure free IVF, and claimed to be the “father of IVF.”At the time Trump voiced worries that Republicans were out of step with voters on the issue. Republicans are divided on fertility treatments such as IVF, with many hailing them as a boost to American families.Others, with strong beliefs that life begins at conception, oppose IVF because the procedure can produce multiple embryos, not all of which get used.Almost every Senate Republican voted against assuring IVF access in a vote in June last year — including then-Ohio senator JD Vance, now Trump’s vice president.Reproductive rights activists had feared that the Supreme Court decision on abortion threatened IVF, especially after a court in Alabama last year ruled that frozen embryos could be considered people, leading to several clinics briefly pausing treatments.Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris had put reproductive rights at the heart of her election platform, warning that Trump’s moves on abortion also jeopardized access to fertility treatments. 

China condemns US ‘tariff shocks’ at WTO

The sweeping tariffs threatened or already imposed by US President Donald Trump risk triggering inflation, market distortions, and even a global recession, China said Tuesday at the World Trade Organization.After returning to office on January 20, Trump hit China, the world’s second-biggest economy, with an additional 10 percent levy on products entering the United States.Trump signed executive orders last week imposing new 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium, due to come into effect on March 12.And he said Tuesday that US tariffs on imported cars would be around 25 percent, providing new information on duties he is expected to unveil around April 2.”The world faces a series of tariff shocks,” said Li Chenggang, China’s ambassador to the WTO, at the first meeting of the year of the global trade body’s decision-making General Council.”The US has imposed or threatened tariffs on its trading partners, including China, unilaterally and arbitrarily, blatantly violating WTO rules. China firmly opposes such measures.”These tariff shocks heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession.”Li went on to say that US unilateralism threatened to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system.- ‘Wrongful’ tariffs -Imposing punitive tariffs on countries with high trade surpluses with the United States has been at the heart of Trump’s economic policy.He paused 25 percent levies against Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.But Trump went ahead with tariffs on China, which in return imposed retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquified natural gas. Li said: “We cannot lose sight of the root cause of today’s trade turbulence and threats to all members: it is US arbitrary tariffs and unilateral measures.”He urged Washington to withdraw the tariffs and “engage in multilateral dialogues based on equity, mutual benefit, and mutual respect”.A Geneva-based trade official said Washington voiced concerns that China was operating a non-market economic system and habitually breached WTO rules.”The US highlighted the issues stemming from China’s lack of transparency and its disregard for WTO oversight,” the official said.”The US also pointed out that the WTO’s current inability to address China’s market-distorting policies, such as unfair subsidies, significantly diminishes the organisation’s effectiveness.”- ‘Cool heads’ call -WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged the WTO’s 166 members to keep “cool heads”, and keep talking to one another.”The world has changed. We cannot come here to continue doing the same things we’ve been doing,” she said.The former Nigerian finance minister urged countries to use the new trade landscape as an “inflection point” to press on with long-sought reforms to the WTO.The WTO is upgrading its tariff analysis database and will launch the new version on March 4.The General Council meeting continues on Wednesday.