Trump bans transgender service members from military. President...
Trump bans transgender service members from military. President Donald Trump signed new executive orders yesterday aimed at revamping the US military. One order bars transgender people from serving—something Trump also did during his last term that Joe Biden reversed—while another order eliminates DEI initiatives from the Defense Department. The president also signed an order reinstating people who were discharged during the pandemic for refusing to get Covid vaccines, and one calling for the US to develop its own version of Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system.
The Justice Department said it fired “a number of DOJ officials” involved in prosecuting President Donald Trump.
Perplexity AI is among the suitors hoping to buy TikTok, and it presented ByteDance with a new merger proposal that would give the US government a 50% stake in the company if it IPOs in the future.
Survivors marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz with a solemn ceremony at the site of the Nazi death camp attended by several world leaders.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s controversial pick to head the US Department of Health and Human Services, will face senators at a confirmation hearing tomorrow.
New Zealand eased its visa rules to allow foreigners to work while traveling in the country in an effort to boost tourism, in case your digital nomad dreams include working from a hobbit hole.
Oil prices end lower on Trump’s tariff talk, concerns over AI-related power demand
Oil futures settled lower on Monday, as the Trump administration’s...
Oil futures settled lower on Monday, as the Trump administration’s ongoing tariff threats and their potential economic impact, along with concerns over the potential for a slowdown in AI-related power demand, contributed to a 2% drop in U.S. benchmark crude prices.
President Donald Trump paused steep retaliatory tariffs that he had threatened against Colombia, a key source of U.S. crude imports, but the risk of U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico remained.
Meanwhile, the emergence of Chinese startup DeepSeek, which has cheaply trained high-performing artificial-intelligence models, raised concerns about the outlook for AI-related spending and power needs.
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery declined by $1.49, or 2%, to settle at $73.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
March Brent crude , the global benchmark, shed $1.42, or 1.8%, to $77.08 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
February gasolinelost 1% to $2.03 a gallon, while February heating oil fell 2.2% to $2.46 a gallon.
Natural gas for February delivery settled at $3.70 per million British thermal units, down 8.2%, after gaining 2% last week.
Dow ends higher while Nasdaq, S&P 500 each post worst day since Dec. 18
U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Monday, as attention...
U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Monday, as attention on Chinese startup DeepSeek raised the prospect of cheaper AI development, sparking a tech selloff.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 289.33 points, or 0.7%, to end at 44,713.58, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The S&P 500 declined 88.96 points, or 1.5%, to finish at 6,012.28, for a back-to-back loss. The index saw its largest one-day point and percentage decline since Jan. 10.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 612.47 points, or 3.1%, to close at 19,341.83, for a back-to-back loss. The index recorded its largest one-day point and percentage decline since Dec. 18, 2024.
The Dow outperformed the Nasdaq Composite by 3.7%, the largest outperformance since Nov. 9, 2020, when the margin was 4.5%.
President Donald Trump has pledged to ensure reliable liquefied natural...
President Donald Trump has pledged to ensure reliable liquefied natural gas supplies to Europe and brushed off concerns about potential hikes in domestic gas prices. However, ExxonMobil Europe President Philippe Ducom cautioned that Europe's reluctance to sign long-term contracts and limited US LNG capacity until 2026 may jeopardize supply security and exacerbate energy costs for vulnerable industries.
Trump urges Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza
On Saturday, President Trump said he’ll ...
On Saturday, President Trump said he’ll encourage the two US allies to receive Palestinian refugees from the devastated enclave, which he described as a “demolition site,” and that the goal would be to “just clean out that whole thing.” Egypt and Jordan—as well as Palestinians themselves—have forcefully rejected that proposal. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that an agreement had been reached for the release of six Israeli hostages this week, resolving a weekend dispute that led Israel to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza. They’ll be able to move back starting today.
