Author: Press Room

The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was flying to Beijing for a meeting “upon invitation” with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on May 6. The announcement from the Ministry, which rarely offers information on foreign officials visiting before they arrive, did not give any other information on Araghchi’s itinerary or what both sides are expected to discuss during his time in the Chinese capital. The top diplomat is widely expected, however, to discuss ongoing attempts at negotiating with the United States to extend the current ceasefire into a permanent peace. Iran…

The labor market showed renewed vigor in March as hiring surged while job openings held steady, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers added 5.6 million hires during the month, up 655,000 from February and more than reversing the prior month’s decline. The hires rate jumped to 3.5 percent from 3.1 percent. The gains were broad-based, with notable increases in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+108,000), professional and business services (+165,000), and accommodation and food services (+124,000). The hiring surge is consistent with the March employment report, which showed nonfarm…

Democrats on the Los Angeles City Council are hoping to potentially open the door to foreigners, including illegal aliens, voting in city elections. The proposal, put forward by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez (D), would ask voters on the November election ballot whether the Los Angeles City charter should be amended so that the council could discuss the plan to allow foreign nationals to vote in city elections. “It just says, ‘Should we amend the city charter to allow the city council to explore this in the future,’” Soto-Martinez told local media. The motion still has to pass the council’s rule committee and…

Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into fjords match the raw discharge of millions of people, according to a new study Fish farms in Norway release three times more waste into fjords than the country’s entire population produces, new research has suggested.The findings come from the Sunstone Institute, an Oslo-based research group, which calculated the volume of fish excrement and uneaten feed discharged directly into coastal waters by nearly a thousand fjord-based farms in Norway.Last year, “the nitrogen and phosphorus in this waste were equivalent to the raw sewage from 17.2 million and 20 million people, respectively,” the report said. “Triple the…

Concerns over availability will soon replace fears about price, according to Mike Wirth Physical oil shortages could begin to emerge worldwide within weeks due to the Middle East war and continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has warned.Attacks on energy infrastructure and a dual shipping blockade in the critical waterway – which carries about a fifth of global seaborne oil and LNG – have sharply cut deliveries and pushed prices to multi-year highs. Multiple tankers have remained stranded in Hormuz since the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Washington and Tehran remain…

Chancellor Merz’s bid to bolster his domestic image by appearing tough on President Trump appears to have gained him little traction, with the German leader enjoying rock-bottom approval domestically and the lowest approval of any major European leader. The German government is now one year old, the coalition agreement was signed on April 5th 2025, and the first day of government commenced on the 6th. While the so-called ‘grand coalition’ between the legacy establishment left and right-wing parties never scored especially highly in the opinion polls, it has now plunged to new depths, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz deeply unpopular even…

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed plans to lay off about 14 percent of its workforce, with CEO Brian Armstrong citing market volatility and the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence on company operations. CNBC reports that the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase revealed plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 14 percent on Tuesday, with CEO Brian Armstrong citing market volatility and the accelerating impact of AI on company operations. The announcement comes just days before the company is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday. Following the news, Coinbase shares rose in premarket trading but are down about 3.5 percent in…

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily paused a lower court order that had halted a Biden-era policy allowing abortion pills to be sent via mail. Conservative-leaning Justice Samuel Alito issued two orders in response to appeals from two drug companies, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, pausing the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit until 5:00 p.m. on May 11, 2026. Alito also ordered Louisiana, who is suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the mail-order abortion policy, to file a response by May 7. On Friday, a three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit issued…

London would gain access to defense contracts funded by the scheme but must help cover financing costs, Brussels says The UK is considering joining an EU scheme providing €90 billion ($105 billion) to Ukraine to gain access to lucrative military contracts funded through the program. The plan was announced in a joint statement by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the European Political Community summit in Armenia on Monday.The so-called loan scheme, backed by joint EU borrowing, is structured on the assumption that it would be repaid…

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) is leading his opponents ahead of the Republican primary for a Georgia U.S. Senate seat, new polling shows.  Collins, the frontrunner, who represents Georgia’s 10th congressional district and owns a trucking company, is up against Gov. Brian Kemp (R)-endorsed Derek Dooley, former University of Tennessee football coach, lawyer, and a first-time candidate; and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), a pharmacist and longtime GOP lawmaker representing the state’s 1st congressional district. Republicans are hoping to snag the seat of Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who was first elected in 2021 and has been dubbed the “most vulnerable” Democrat…