The BRICS nations will be hit with 100% tariffs on their goods if they try to introduce a reserve currency to rival the dollar, US President-elect Donald Trump has warned. Trump has repeatedly threatened to use tariffs to achieve his geopolitical goals. ”The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. Trump went on to say that he would ask the BRICS nations to promise not to create a common currency, “nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar,” or they will face 100% tariffs. ”They can go find another ‘sucker!’” he continued. “There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.” BRICS previously comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and was expanded in January to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Around 30 other nations have expressed interest in joining the group of emerging economies. Russia, which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency, floated the idea of introducing a BRICS currency in 2022. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed Moscow’s proposal last year, arguing that having the option of trading in another reserve currency would reduce the BRICS countries’ “vulnerability” to fluctuations in the dollar’s exchange rate. BRICS leaders stopped short of announcing plans for such a currency at their summit in the Russian city of Kazan last month. Instead, the group pledged to set up a cross-border payment system to function alongside the Western SWIFT network, and to increase their use of local currencies in international trade. ”Cooperation within BRICS is not directed against anyone or anything – neither against the dollar nor against other currencies,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in October. “It pursues the main goal of ensuring the interests of those countries that participate in this format.” Using local currencies to settle bilateral trade bills “helps to keep economic development free from politics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time. Trump has vowed to use tariffs to settle US trade deficits, force offshore manufacturers to return, and achieve a range of geopolitical goals. In addition to proposing a blanket tariff of 20% on all incoming goods, Trump has threatened Canada and Mexico with additional 25% tariffs if they fail to reduce the flow of migrants and drugs into the US. Trump also declared this week that “we will be charging China an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs,” until Beijing “follows through” on punishing the producers and smugglers of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.Friday's Mega Millions drawing is worth an estimated $1.15 billion, one of the game's top jackpots
First openly trans rep-elect claims GOP spotlighting transgender issues an 'attempt to distract' votersOne Day After Black Friday, Amazon Crashes MacBook Air M2 and M3 Prices to New LowsThe BRICS nations will be hit with 100% tariffs on their goods if they try to introduce a reserve currency to rival the dollar, US President-elect Donald Trump has warned. Trump has repeatedly threatened to use tariffs to achieve his geopolitical goals. ”The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. Trump went on to say that he would ask the BRICS nations to promise not to create a common currency, “nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar,” or they will face 100% tariffs. ”They can go find another ‘sucker!’” he continued. “There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.” BRICS previously comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and was expanded in January to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Around 30 other nations have expressed interest in joining the group of emerging economies. Russia, which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency, floated the idea of introducing a BRICS currency in 2022. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed Moscow’s proposal last year, arguing that having the option of trading in another reserve currency would reduce the BRICS countries’ “vulnerability” to fluctuations in the dollar’s exchange rate. BRICS leaders stopped short of announcing plans for such a currency at their summit in the Russian city of Kazan last month. Instead, the group pledged to set up a cross-border payment system to function alongside the Western SWIFT network, and to increase their use of local currencies in international trade. ”Cooperation within BRICS is not directed against anyone or anything – neither against the dollar nor against other currencies,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in October. “It pursues the main goal of ensuring the interests of those countries that participate in this format.” Using local currencies to settle bilateral trade bills “helps to keep economic development free from politics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time. Trump has vowed to use tariffs to settle US trade deficits, force offshore manufacturers to return, and achieve a range of geopolitical goals. In addition to proposing a blanket tariff of 20% on all incoming goods, Trump has threatened Canada and Mexico with additional 25% tariffs if they fail to reduce the flow of migrants and drugs into the US. Trump also declared this week that “we will be charging China an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs,” until Beijing “follows through” on punishing the producers and smugglers of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed close, as gains for tech stocks nudged the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to more records. The S&P 500 eked out a gain of under 0.1% Tuesday, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. The value of the South Korean won sank against the dollar after its president declared martial law and then later said he’ll lift it. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records on Tuesday as Wall Street's white-hot rally lets off the accelerator. The S&P 500 was virtually flat in afternoon trading, a day after rising tech stocks helped it set an all-time high for the 54th time this year. It's climbed in nine of the last 10 days and is on track for one of its best years since the turn of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 56 points, or 0.1%, with 45 minutes remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.2% to its own record set a day earlier. AT&T rose 3.9% after it boosted its profit forecast for the year. It also announced a $10 billion plan to send cash to its investors by buying back its own stock, while saying it expects to authorize another $10 billion of repurchases in 2027. On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 7.9%. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on social media that he would not let Japan’s Nippon Steel take over the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker. Nippon Steel announced plans last December to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden also came out against the acquisition. Tesla s sank 2.1% after a judge in Delaware reaffirmed a previous ruling that the electric car maker must revoke Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package. The judge denied a request by attorneys for Musk and Tesla’s corporate directors to vacate her ruling earlier this year requiring the company to rescind the unprecedented pay package. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could keep avoiding a recession that many investors had earlier thought was inevitable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22 from 4.20% from late Monday. Yields have seesawed since Election Day amid worries that Trump's preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation along with economic growth. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group. Lower rates can help give the economy more juice, but they can also give inflation more fuel. The key report this week that could guide the Fed’s next move will arrive on Friday. It’s the monthly jobs report , which will show how many workers U.S. employers hired and fired during November. It could be difficult to parse given how much storms and strikes distorted figures in October. Based on trading in the options market, Friday's jobs report appears to be the biggest potential market mover until the Fed announces its next decision on interest rates Dec. 18, according to strategists at Barclays Capital. Since his victory, Trump has broadcasted his plans for tariffs , including for goods coming from China . Trade relations between the U.S. and China took another step backward after China said it is banning exports to the U.S. of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. The counterpunch came swiftly after the U.S. Commerce Department expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software. The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. In financial markets abroad, the value of South Korea's currency fell 0.9% against the U.S. dollar following a frenetic night where President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and then later said he'd lift it after lawmakers voted to reject military rule. Stocks of Korean companies that trade in the United States also fell, including a 1.3% drop for SK Telecom. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to help lead global markets. Some analysts think Japanese stocks could end up benefiting from Trump’s threats to raise tariffs on China and other countries. Indexes rose 1% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai amid unconfirmed reports that Chinese leaders would meet next week to discuss planning for the coming year. Investors are hoping it may bring fresh stimulus to help spur growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In France, the CAC 40 rose 0.3% amid continued worries about politics in Paris , where the government is battling over the budget. ___ AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated PressWhatsApp is widely used where I live, making it hard to avoid entirely . Fortunately, if you’d like to limit interactions and keep a low-key presence, WhatsApp provides privacy options that can help keep interactions on your terms, as I’ll show in this article. With most people always connected to social media, it can feel like someone is always watching your online moves. I don’t particularly appreciate feeling under surveillance, so I opted to enable the Last Seen & Online stamps in WhatsApp. These show you when a person has visited WhatsApp last or whether they are currently online on the app. Note that if you turn off these features, you will also lose the ability to see your friends’ last seen and online timestamps. For me, this is actually a relief – it helps ease my anxiety. Instead of constantly checking WhatsApp to see if the person I’m waiting on has been online, I can shift my attention to other things. Note : Most privacy options such as these can only be modified from the WhatsApp mobile app. On Android, press on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings . On iPhone tap on the Settings tab at the bottom. Go to Privacy . Select the first option called Last seen and online . Switch to Nobody under Who can see my last seen . At the same time, tap on the same as last seen under Who can see when I’m online . On WhatsApp, anyone who saves my number can see my profile picture, which I find unsettling, as it may attract unwelcome attention. To address this, I customize my privacy settings to ensure only select people can view it. Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Profile photo . Select one of the options available, such as My contacts . If you want to have only a select group of contacts view your profile pic, opt for My contacts except... For complete profile pic anonymity, you can opt for Nobody . The WhatsApp About message is like a mini personal statement. A good number of people may have sensitive or personal notes written in the statement, including myself, meaning they don’t want everyone to be able to view it. If you fall into this category, then follow the steps below. Go to Settings -> Privacy -> About . Change the visibility from the default Everyone to something else. Tip : check how to create and share a WhatsApp profile link . The WhatsApp Status feature allows you to share pictures, notes, or short videos on your account. It’s similar to Instagram stories, and like on Instagram I prefer to keep these moments private and only share them with a handful of people. Navigate to Settings -> Privacy -> Status . Here you can opt to share your status with your full list of contacts or create a custom list by either using the My contacts except or Only share with options. In the era of instant messaging, there’s a growing expectation for immediate responses. Personally, though, I don’t enjoy the pressure to reply right away. Which is why I have disabled read receipts for messages. This means that I can read messages without the tick boxes underneath each message turning blue. Like in the case of last seen, turning this option off will also prevent you from seeing when others have read your messages. To disable read receipts, head to Settings -> Privacy . Turn the switch next to Read receipts off. Sometimes I like to limit how long a sensitive message remains accessible via the app. For instance, if I am planning to make a surprise gift to a loved one and I am discussing with other family members the specifics via chat. To minimize the chances of any details leaking out and the surprise getting ruined, I may opt to enable disappearing messages for certain conversations. This ensures that messages automatically delete themselves from the chat after a chosen period (ranging from 24 hours to 90 days.) To start sending disappearing messages to someone, open their chat window in WhatsApp. Then press on the three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select Disappearing messages . Select a message timer. That’s it, now the messages you sent to this particular person will self-destruct once the time has elapsed. When it’s time to disable this feature, follow the same steps and opt for the Off option. I really dislike being randomly added to groups on WhatsApp. That happens because, by default, anyone can add you to their group, without asking. Fortunately, you can modify your privacy settings and restrict who can add you to groups. Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Groups . You can opt to have only your contacts add you to groups. Or you can create a custom list of contacts who can do so. Note that admins who can’t add you to a group can invite you privately instead. Don’t want to be bothered by strange calls while using WhatsApp? I have enabled protection against this nuisance by silencing unknown callers. Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Calls . Toggle on the Silence unknown callers options at the top. A similar option can be found under Settings -> Privacy -> Advanced . From here, enable Block unknown account messages to minimize random people contacting you. FYI : did you know you can message yourself on WhatsApp ? Here’s how. To keep my WhatsApp chats more secure, I have enabled a lock on the app. This way, if someone gets hold of my phone, they’ll need to enter an additional password (or use biometric authentication) to view my conversations. Navigate to Settings -> Privacy -> App lock . Because my phone supports biometric authentication, the option I see is Unlock with biometric . This means you can unlock the app using a fingerprint or other unique identifiers. Once enabled, make sure you turn the Show content in notifications toggle off too. At times, I open WhatsApp without knowing who’s behind me, potentially exposing sensitive information on my screen. To avoid that, when I’m traveling, for instance, I enable chat lock for some of my most intimate conversations. To enable chat lock for a conversation, open WhatsApp and press on the person’s profile picture at the top. Turn on the Chat lock toggle. Press Continue on the pop-up message that appears at the bottom. WhatsApp notifies you that in order to open a secret chat, you will need to use your fingerprint (or other biometrics.) Or you can opt for PIN. Once you select and verify your option, WhatsApp will lock your chat. In addition, it will remove the chat thread from the inbox and hide the notification content too. To find these chats, swipe from the top of WhatsApp. This will reveal a Locked chats folder at the top. Tap on it and authenticate yourself. You can now access your locked chats. To disable Chat lock , follow the steps above and toggle off the option. I also suggest that you enable two-factor authentication for WhatsApp. This way you’re making it harder for unauthorized users to access your account even if they somehow get hold of your login credentials. Refer to our article to learn how to turn on 2FA on WhatsApp and other social media apps. When someone tests my patience past a certain point on WhatsApp, I will choose to protect my peace by blocking them and thus avoiding any further negativity. On mobile Open the chat with the contact you wish to block. Tap on their name to show their details. Scroll to the bottom of the page and press Block . Tap Block again in the pop-up to confirm. To unblock a contact, go to Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked contacts . Select the contact you wish to unblock and complete the unblocking process. On PC You can also block a contact from the WhatsApp desktop app. Open a chat with the person in question and click on their profile picture at the top. Press Block under Overview . To manage your Blocked contacts list, you’ll need to revert to your phone. Your IP address can reveal your general location and other information about your internet connection. By protecting it, you can keep your location info and browsing habits private from unwanted tracking or surveillance. WhatsApp has a couple of options for addressing potential IP address breaches that I suggest you to enable. Navigate to Settings -> Privacy -> Advanced in WhatsApp on your phone. Turn on Protect IP address in calls and Disable link previews . The last one will protect your IP address from being inferred by third-party websites. Now that you know how to make your WhatsApp experience a more private one, perhaps you’d also like to learn a few more tricks to make your WhatsApp experience better. You can check our post on how to create Lists on WhatsApp . Or perhaps you’d like to get up to speed on how to format text in WhatsApp chats . Image credit: DepositPhotos All screenshots by Alexandra Arici Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company. She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone.Aaron Judge wins second AL MVP in 3 seasons. Shohei Ohtani expected to win NL honor
Oliver Glasner: Crystal Palace are heading in right direction after Ipswich win
WASHINGTON (AP) — One year after the Jan. 6, 2021 , U.S. Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department was committed to holding accountable all perpetrators “at any level” for “the assault on our democracy.” That bold declaration won't apply to at least one person: Donald Trump. Special counsel Jack Smith's move on Monday to abandon the federal election interference case against Trump means jurors will likely never decide whether the president-elect is criminally responsible for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 campaign. The decision to walk away from the election charges and the separate classified documents case against Trump marks an abrupt end of the Justice Department’s unprecedented legal effort that once threatened his liberty but appears only to have galvanized his supporters. The abandonment of the cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats he was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. “We always knew that the rich and powerful had an advantage, but I don’t think we would have ever believed that somebody could walk away from everything,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official. “If there ever was a Teflon defendant, that’s Donald Trump.” While prosecutors left the door open to the possibility that federal charges could be re-filed against Trump after he leaves office, that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Trump's presidential victory has thrown into question the future of the two state criminal cases against him in New York and Georgia. Trump was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case , but it's possible the sentencing could be delayed until after Trump leaves office, and the defense is pushing to dismiss the case altogether. Smith's team stressed that their decision to abandon the federal cases was not a reflection of the merit of the charges, but an acknowledgement that they could not move forward under longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Trump's presidential victory set “at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. The move just weeks after Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Trump accused prosecutors of bringing the charges in a bid to keep him out of the White House, and he promised revenge on his perceived enemies if he won a second term. “If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vice President-elect JD Vance, wrote in a social media post on Monday. “These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again.” After the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured, Republican leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republicans who voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial said it was up to the justice system to hold Trump accountable. The Jan. 6 case brought last year in Washington alleged an increasingly desperate criminal conspiracy to subvert the will of voters after Trump's 2020 loss, accusing Trump of using the angry mob of supporters that attacked the Capitol as “a tool” in his campaign to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — many of whom have said they felt called to Washington by Trump — have pleaded guilty or been convicted by juries of federal charges at the same courthouse where Trump was supposed to stand trial last year. As the trial date neared, officials at the courthouse that sits within view of the Capitol were busy making plans for the crush of reporters expected to cover the historic case. But Trump's argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution quickly tied up the case in appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution , and sent the case back to the trial court to decide which allegations could move forward. But the case was dismissed before the trial court could get a chance to do so. The other indictment brought in Florida accused Trump of improperly storing at his Mar-a-Lago estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map. But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July on grounds that Smith was illegally appointed . Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but abandoned that appeal on Monday. Smith's team said it would continue its fight in the appeals court to revive charges against Trump's two co-defendants because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” In New York, jurors spent weeks last spring hearing evidence in a state case alleging a Trump scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. New York prosecutors recently expressed openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term, while Trump's lawyers are fighting to have the conviction dismissed altogether. In Georgia, a trial while Trump is in office seems unlikely in a state case charging him and more than a dozen others with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The case has been on hold since an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.Thematic mutual fund schemes bear the brunt of market meltdown
Florida State continues torrid star with rout of UMass