Washington — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said African nations are going to lower their tariffs and that the US treats Africa better than China does, adding that five African countries were unlikely to face US tariffs.
Trump, meeting with the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal at the White House, added that he did not think those countries at the gathering were likely to see any US tariffs. Reuters
US measles cases at highest level since 1992
Confirmed measles cases in the US reached 1,288, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Wednesday, the highest number since 1992.
The childhood disease was declared eliminated from the country in 2000, a status given when there has not been a continuous spread for more than a year. There were 2,126 measles cases at the peak in 1992.
Outbreaks this year have primarily been driven by a drop in vaccination rates, particularly among children in states such as Texas and New Mexico, where coverage has fallen well below the 95% threshold required for herd immunity.
“The US is at risk of losing its measles elimination status should cases continue at this rate,” said William Moss, a paediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Reuters
IRS allows churches to endorse political candidates
Washington — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed the Internal Revenue Service’s decision that houses of worship could endorse political candidates to their congregations without risking losing their status as tax-exempt nonprofit.
“I love the fact that churches could endorse a political candidate,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “If somebody of faith wants to endorse, I think it’s something that I’d like to hear.”
In a court filing on Monday to resolve a lawsuit by two Texas churches and the National Religious Broadcasters, the IRS said traditional religious communications are exempt from a decades-old provision in the US tax code that bars nonprofit — religious and secular — from endorsing political candidates. Reuters
Russia seized $50bn in assets over three years
Moscow — Russian authorities have confiscated assets worth about $50bn over the past three years, underscoring the scale of the transformation into a "fortress Russia" economic model during the war in Ukraine, research showed on Wednesday.
The conflict has been accompanied by a significant transfer of assets as many Western companies fled the Russian market, others’ assets were expropriated and the assets of some major Russian businesses were seized by the state.
In response to what Russia called illegal actions by the West, President Vladimir Putin signed decrees over the past three years allowing the seizure of Western assets, entangling firms ranging from Germany’s Uniper to Danish brewer Carlsberg. Reuters
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