Trump gestures at worker over Epstein criticism
Dearborn — US President Donald Trump raised his middle finger and appeared to direct profanity towards a factory worker who expressed criticism of his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy at a Michigan auto plant on Tuesday, video circulating online showed.
The entertainment site TMZ first published video capturing the exchange and the White House did not dispute its authenticity.
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage and the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said. Trump was touring the Ford F-150 assembly facility in Dearborn when a worker on the plant floor shouted what sounded like “paedophile protector” as the president stood on an elevated walkway, the video showed. Trump turned towards the individual and appeared to respond with an expletive before making a hand gesture with his middle finger as he walked off. Reuters
Wells Fargo opposes cap on credit card interest rates
Bengaluru — Wells Fargo CFO Mike Santomassimo said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates would affect credit availability for consumers.
“As others have really pointed out over the last few days, there would be significant negative impact on credit availability for a wide spectrum of people and it would have a negative impact on economic growth if this type of cap was mandated,” Santomassimo told reporters on an earnings call. Reuters
Outdated system behind Greek airports’ radio outage
Athens — An eight-hour radio outage at Greek airports last week that forced authorities to clear the country’s airspace and divert dozens of incoming flights was in part due to an outdated communications system, investigators said in a report.
Flights were suspended into and over Greece on January 4 when air traffic controllers lost contact with most planes, including dozens heading for Greek airports, as radio frequencies went down and were replaced by static.
Aviation experts said the incident was unprecedented in the southern European country.
The exact cause of the outage, which occurred when multiple systems fell out of sync, causing a scramble in communications between airport towers and planes, remains unclear, the report from a five-member investigating committee commissioned by the government found.
It ranked the incident as “low risk” regarding flight safety, ruled out a cyberattack and said that pilots and air traffic controllers responded effectively. Reuters
Japan prime minister calls snap general election
Tokyo — Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve parliament next week and call a snap general election, the secretary general of her ruling party said on Wednesday.
Takaichi is considering an election date of February 8, a source with knowledge of the matter said, in line with media reports.
“We need to seek a fresh mandate,” Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters after meeting Takaichi on Wednesday.
Parliament is unlikely to pass the budget for fiscal 2026 by the end of this fiscal year in March if the election is held and Takaichi is considering a stopgap budget, as she has pledged to roll out inflation countermeasures as soon as possible, the Yomiuri newspaper said earlier. Reuters
Coalition urges removal of X from Google and Apple
Washington — A coalition of women’s groups, tech watchdogs, and progressive activists is calling on Alphabet owner Google and Apple to remove the social media site X and its related chatbot, Grok, from their app stores.
In open letters published on Wednesday, the coalition accused the Elon Musk-owned apps of generating illegal content that violates both companies’ terms of service.
The push, whose backers include the feminist group UltraViolet, the National Organization for Women, the liberal group MoveOn and the parent advocacy group ParentsTogether Action, is aimed at piling pressure on Musk after Grok began generating sexually charged, degrading, or violent images of women and children. Reuters
China orders halt of US, Israel cybersecurity software
Beijing — Chinese authorities have told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by roughly a dozen firms from the US and Israel due to national security concerns, two people briefed on the matter said.
As trade and diplomatic tensions flare between China and the US and both sides vie for tech supremacy, Beijing has been keen to replace Western-made technology with domestic alternatives.
The US companies whose cybersecurity software has been banned include Broadcom-owned VMware, Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet, while the Israeli companies include Check Point Software Technologies, the sources said. Reuters
