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Trump vows to reach a ‘fantastic deal’ with China after future meeting with Xi
Technology

Trump vows to reach a ‘fantastic deal’ with China after future meeting with Xi

By DIDI TANG WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. commands “great respect” from Beijing and that he will reach a “fantastic deal” with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders meet soon. Trump’s remarks come after Beijing infuriated him by expanding export controls on rare earth products that are used in smartphones, fighter jets, electric vehicles and more. Trump spoke as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, celebrating an agreement with the U.S. ally as a potential counterpoint to China’s near-monopoly in processing those critical minerals. “I think we’re going to end up having a fantastic deal with China,” Trump said. “It’s going to be a great trade deal. It’s going to be fantastic for both countries, and it’s going to be fantastic for the entire world.” When asked about China’s leverage, Trump said Beijing “threatened us with rare earths, and I threatened them with tariffs.” But he insisted his good relationship with Xi means they would work out ”a very fair deal.” All eyes are on a potential meeting between Trump and Xi because any failure to reach some agreement raises the risk of destabilizing not only relations between the two superpowers but also the global economy. Trump affirmed that he would meet with Xi this month on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a grouping of 21 economies. Beijing has not announced plans for Xi to make the trip to South Korea, but it’s not unusual for such details to emerge closer to the travel date. Trump touts tariffs as a powerful tool with China The president has threatened to impose a new 100% tariff on China in response to Beijing’s expanded rules on rare earth products. And he said Monday that it has already had results. “Now, they’re treating us with great respect,” Trump said. “Now, we’ll see what happens. I said, if we don’t make a deal, I’m putting on an additional 100% on November 1. I think we’ll make a deal.” Since returning to the White House, Trump has levied additional 30% across-the-board tariffs on China. Trump said the total rate on Chinese goods is about 55% to 57% and the country has paid the U.S. “hundreds of billions of dollars worth of money for tariffs.” Beijing, however, has indicated it would play hardball. “Threatening high tariffs is not the right way to deal with China,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said last week in response to Trump’s new tariffs threat. When asked if the 100% tariff could stand and how it could affect the economy, Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo last week that “it’s not sustainable.” At the meeting with Albanese, Trump said he has other options to use against China: “They can’t get parts for their airplanes. We build their airplanes.” Still, he said he prefers reaching a deal. “I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi,” Trump said. Trump isn’t worried about China attacking Taiwan Trump also dismissed concerns that Beijing could soon attack the self-governed island of Taiwan. That is because, he said, the U.S. is far superior in military power. “It’s not even close,” Trump said. “We have the best equipment. We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that.” The United States is obligated by its own laws to give military support to Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 during a civil war. Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and vows to seize it by force if necessary to achieve what it says to be “the unification of the motherland.” Trump acknowledged that Taiwan is “the apple of his eye” for Xi but said: ”I don’t see anything happening. We have a very good trade relationship.” When asked if he could yield to Beijing’s pressure not to support Taiwan independence in exchange for a deal, Trump said, “Well, I’m not going to talk about that.” Beijing removes a top trade negotiator Meanwhile, Li Chenggang has been ousted as China’s top trade negotiator after co-leading the last four rounds of talks with the U.S. In a routine, bullet-style announcement of removals and appointments, Beijing said Monday that Li was removed from his post as China’s permanent representative to the World Trade Organization. No reason was given. He was replaced by Li Yongjie, deputy international trade representative, who recently held trade talks with Ecuador. The announcement coincided with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s recent criticisms of Li Chenggang. At a press conference last week, Bessent made a rare public airing of displeasure, saying Li “showed up here with very incendiary language on August 28,” has “gone rogue” and was “very disrespectful.” “He showed up uninvited in Washington and said, quote, China will cause global chaos if the port shipping fees go through,” Bessent said, referring to the U.S. plan to charge port fees on China-linked vessels. Late last week, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had a video call with Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The sides held a “candid, in-depth and constructive exchange” and agreed to hold a new round of trade talks as soon as possible, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. Bessent said last week that he and his Chinese counterpart would likely meet in Malaysia soon to prepare for a leaders summit.

Nuclear security agency begins furloughing workers as part of shutdown, energy secretary says
Technology

Nuclear security agency begins furloughing workers as part of shutdown, energy secretary says

By MATTHEW DALY WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday. In a visit to Nevada, Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers as part of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. Nearly 400 federal workers will remain on the job, along with thousands of NNSA contractors, the Energy Department said. The NNSA, a semi-autonomous branch of the Energy Department, also works to secure nuclear materials around the world. “Tough day today," Wright said in Las Vegas before a scheduled visit to the Nevada National Security Site in Mercury, Nevada. ”We’re working hard to protect everyone’s jobs and keep our national stockpile secure,” Wright said. The furloughs do not pose an immediate threat to national security, Wright said, adding: “We have emergency employees and the current nuclear stockpile is safe.” President Donald Trump’s Republican administration fired hundreds of NNSA employees earlier this year, before reversing course amid criticism the action could jeopardize national security. Similar criticism emerged Monday after Wright’s announcement. Wright said the disruption would affect employees and their families and will delay testing of commercial reactors, including some small modular reactors that the Trump administration has pushed as a cheaper alternative to costly nuclear plants that can take years or even decades to bring online. “These are jobs of great gravity,” Wright said, urging congressional leaders to reopen the government as soon as possible. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said it was “dangerously unacceptable that the Trump administration claims it will have to temporarily suspend certain nuclear security programs because of the ongoing government shutdown.” “There is no justification for relaxing security and oversight when it comes to our nuclear stockpile,” Markey said. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said lawmakers were informed of the pending furloughs late last week. “These are not employees that you want to go home,” he said at a news conference Friday. “They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.” Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the furloughs unacceptable. “We cannot allow delays or interruptions to our nuclear programs during this shutdown. This is not a partisan issue, and for the sake of our national security” Congress should immediately reopen the government, Wicker said in a statement. “In the interim, it is incumbent upon Secretary Wright to work with Congress, OMB and the White House to ensure our nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe, secure and capable of deterring our adversaries.” At the heart of the government shutdown are looming health insurance spikes for millions of people. Democrats are seeking negotiations on expiring health care subsidies while Republicans say they won’t discuss it, or any other policy, until the government reopens. The February firings, which initially included NNSA workers, were part of a massive purge of federal workers led by then-Trump adviser Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. One of the hardest-hit offices at the time was the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. Those employees work on reassembling warheads, among the most sensitive jobs across the nuclear weapons enterprise, with the highest levels of clearance. Employees received furlough notices dated Sunday for 30 days or less, with an expiration date of Nov. 18. Employees who are not involved in performing critical functions such as those related to the safety of human life and the protection of property or working on the orderly suspension of operations were being placed in a furlough status without pay. Jennifer McDermott in Providence, R.I., and Ty ONeil in Las Vegas contributed to this story.

US appeals court says Trump can take command of Oregon troops though deployment blocked for now
Technology

US appeals court says Trump can take command of Oregon troops though deployment blocked for now

By CLAIRE RUSH and GENE JOHNSON PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An appeals court on Monday put on hold a lower court ruling that kept President Donald Trump from taking command of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. However, Trump is still barred from actually deploying those troops, at least for now. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued two temporary restraining orders early this month — one that prohibited Trump from calling up the troops so he could send them to Portland, and another that prohibited him from sending any National Guard members to Oregon at all, after the president tried to evade the first order by deploying California troops instead. The Justice Department appealed the first order, and in a 2-1 ruling Monday, a panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the administration. The majority said the president was likely to succeed on his claim that he had the authority to federalize the troops based on a determination he was unable to enforce the laws without them. However, Immergut’s second order remains in effect, so no troops may immediately be deployed. The administration has said that because the legal reasoning underpinning both temporary restraining orders was the same, it will now ask Immergut to dissolve her second order and allow Trump to deploy troops to Portland. The Justice Department argued that it is not the role of the courts to second-guess the president’s determination about when to deploy troops. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, said he would ask for a broader panel of the appeals to reconsider the decision. “Today’s ruling, if allowed to stand, would give the president unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification,” Rayfield said. “We are on a dangerous path in America.” The Justice Department did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Trump’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops in Democratic-led cities have been mired in legal challenges. A judge in California ruled that his deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a longstanding law that generally prohibits the use of the military for civilian policing, and the administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area, Mostly small nightly protests, limited to a single block, have been occurring since June outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. Larger crowds, including counter-protesters and live-streamers, have shown up at times, and federal agents have used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. The administration has said the troops are needed to protect federal property from protesters, and that having to send extra Department of Homeland Security agents to help guard the property meant they were not enforcing immigration laws elsewhere. Immergut previously rejected the administration’s arguments, saying the president’s claims about Portland being war-torn are “simply untethered to the facts.” But the appeals court majority — Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, both Trump appointees — said the president’s decision was owed more deference. Bade wrote that the facts appeared to support Trump’s decision “even if the President may exaggerate the extent of the problem on social media.” Judge Susan Graber, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton appointee, dissented. She urged her colleagues on the 9th Circuit to “to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur.” “In the two weeks leading up to the President’s September 27 social media post, there had not been a single incident of protesters’ disrupting the execution of the laws,” Graber wrote. “It is hard to understand how a tiny protest causing no disruptions could possibly satisfy the standard that the President is unable to execute the laws.” Johnson reported from Seattle.

Chinese Communist Party expels nine top generals in anti-corruption crackdown
Technology

Chinese Communist Party expels nine top generals in anti-corruption crackdown

China's second-highest ranking general and eight other senior officials have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and the military on suspicion of serious misconduct linked to corruption, the defence ministry said on Friday. He Weidong, who was the vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the most senior official targeted so far in an ongoing anti-graft drive against Chinese military leaders. The nine officials are suspected of serious crimes involving exceptionally large sums of money, defense ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said in a statement posted online. Their cases have been investigated and referred to military prosecutors for review and prosecution, Mr Zhang said. Government anti-corruption drives have become a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. Thousands of officials have been purged, including high-profile political rivals. Mr He, who was elevated to the Central Military Commission in 2022, has not been seen in public for months – often the first indication an official is in trouble. The announcement on Friday was the first confirmation of what had happened to him. He also was one of the 24 members of the Politburo, the second-highest Communist Party body after the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. He was formerly head of the Eastern Theatre Command, which holds primary responsibility for operations against Taiwan should hostilities break out. The eight other dismissed officials include the director of the Central Military Commission's political work department, Miao Hua, who was put under investigation last November. The commission, chaired by Mr Xi, is the top military body in China. “The offenses were of grave nature, with extremely harmful consequences,” Mr Zhang said. He did not provide details of the alleged crimes. The announcement comes just days before the party's Central Committee holds a major meeting in Beijing to map out the country's goals for the next five years. Eight of the nine military leaders removed on Friday were members of the Central Committee. High-ranking officers occupy an elevated position in Chinese politics and can command extensive privileges, official and unofficial. Analysts say the anti-corruption campaign, which is popular with the public, has also been used to enforce loyalty to Mr Xi among party and government officials. In June last year, China announced that former defence minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe had been expelled from the Communist Party over charges of corruption.

British naturalist David Attenborough becomes oldest Emmy winner at 99
Technology

British naturalist David Attenborough becomes oldest Emmy winner at 99

David Attenborough has broken Dick Van Dyke’s record for oldest Daytime Emmy winner, taking the trophy for daytime personality, non-daily as host of Netflix’s Secret Lives of Orangutans. Attenborough, who is 99, was not on hand to collect his award on Friday. The British broadcaster’s career as a writer, host and narrator spans eight decades. Van Dyke was 98 when he won as guest performer in a daytime drama series for Days of Our Lives in 2024. He is the oldest actor to win a Daytime Emmy. Jonathan Jackson of General Hospital and first-time nominee Susan Walters of The Young and the Restless won supporting acting honours. Jackson accepted the trophy for playing Lucky Spencer, a role he originated in 1993 and has played on and off ever since. The ABC show also claimed trophies for Alley Mills as guest performer in a daytime drama and its writing team. It was Mills’ second career win for playing Heather Webber. The 74-year-old, who first won in 2023, is best known as the mother on The Wonder Years. “We’re living in really dark times right now. Everything’s crazy,” Mills told the audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. “We just got to keep our spirits high.” Walters plays Diane Jenkins on CBS’ Y&R, which she has appeared in during three different stints. “I’m so happy that I won so I can thank my husband of 40 years,” she said, singling out Linden Ashby, who has appeared on the same show. The Young and the Restless brought a leading 19 nominations into the 52nd annual show. It is just one of three shows nominated for best daytime drama, along with General Hospital and Days of Our Lives.

States are redistricting to help one party but sometimes the move can backfire
Technology

States are redistricting to help one party but sometimes the move can backfire

By MARGERY A. BECK, Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As states consider redrawing their congressional district lines to favor one political party, some politicians warn that attempts to gerrymander can devolve into “dummymandering,” when partisan goals end up helping the opposing party in neighboring districts. Pushed initially by President Donald Trump, state legislators across the country are discussing and at times agreeing to change boundaries in hopes of helping members of their party and ultimately deciding control of the U.S. House in 2026. Some are finding it’s not as easy as it seems. “Trying to win more seats comes with a risk, because in order to win more seats, they have to draw districts more competitively,” said University of Texas at Dallas political science professor Thomas L. Brunell, who helped coin the term dummymander. Republicans could try redistricting Nebraska U.S. House districts are typically redrawn once a decade, immediately after a census, but some states allow it to happen more frequently. And the U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no federal curb on political gerrymandering, in which districts are intentionally drawn to favor one party. Nebraska is among a number of states being targeted for mid-decade redrawing of congressional district lines, with the head of the National Republican Redistricting Trust last week naming Nebraska among its top candidates for change. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said he supports the idea. The focus would be the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, a “blue dot” with Nebraska’s highest concentration of Democratic voters in a state otherwise dominated by Republicans. Republicans hold all three of Nebraska’s U.S. House seats, including the 2nd District, but the Omaha seat is considered vulnerable. Incumbent Rep. Don Bacon eked out wins in the last two elections and won’t seek reelection in 2026, bolstering Democratic hopes. Gerrymandering in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 2-1 ratio would seem simple, but state Sen. John Cavanaugh said it’s not. Cavanaugh, a Democrat who worked on Nebraska’s last redistricting effort following the 2020 U.S. Census and is now seeking the 2nd District seat, said Nebraska’s congressional districts already heavily favor Republicans following decades of GOP-led redistricting efforts. “They’ve gone to great lengths to make the 2nd District less competitive,” Cavanaugh said. Redistricting and the 2026 midterm elections This summer, Trump urged Republican-led Texas to reshape districts so the GOP could win more seats in next year’s elections, jump-starting an offseason redistricting battle. The Republican Party typically loses congressional seats in midterm elections and the president is trying to buck that trend. Democrats need to gain just three seats to take control of the House. In August, Texas lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional districts to give Republicans a shot at winning five more seats. Democratic-led California responded with a redistricting plan intended to help Democrats win more seats, though it still needs voter approval. Leaders in other Democratic-leaning states, such as Maryland, New York and Illinois, have said they’re considering their own mid-decade redistricting plans. Last month, Republican-led Missouri adopted revised districts aimed at helping the GOP win another seat. North Carolina Republican legislative leaders also have announced plans to vote next week on redrawing the state’s House district map. Redistricting remains under consideration in several other states, including Indiana and Kansas, where Republican lawmakers are gathering petition signatures from colleagues in an effort to call a special session for congressional redistricting. The effort could backfire Some Republicans remain hesitant, partially because of concerns that mid-decade redistricting could backfire. To make Democratic-leaning districts more favorable to Republicans, map drawers would have to shift some Democratic areas into districts currently held by Republicans, making them more vulnerable. In South Carolina, Republican leaders worry that redrawing its seven U.S. House districts could be dangerous in a state where the GOP hovers at roughly 55% in competitive elections. Republicans hold all seven seats but lost one for a term in 2018. Kansas had already attempted to make the state’s four districts an all-GOP congressional delegation when it redrew the lines in 2022 to weaken the Democratic stronghold on the Kansas City-area. But Democratic incumbent Rep. Sharice Davids still won easily in 2022 and 2024. Trump’s push to redraw the maps comes as his administration’s policies face skepticism among many voters, according to polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Moon Duchin, a computer and data science professor at the University of Chicago and redistricting expert, said creating reliably partisan congressional maps in a large state like Texas is easier because the state has 38 districts, offering plenty of options to tinker. It’s tougher in states like Nebraska or Kansas, she said. “You have fewer lines; you’re not going to be able to put them as far out of reach without creating opportunities elsewhere,” Duchin said. “And so, yes, you have to do it really carefully because it can backfire.” Even in Texas, Republicans saw the effects of dummymandering after they aggressively redrew political lines in the 2010s that helped pad the GOP’s House majority. That lasted until 2018, when a backlash against Trump in his first term led Democrats to flip two seats that Republicans had thought safe. “That’s the thing about gerrymandering — people are still going to vote, and you have to make guesses about future voting behavior,” Duchin said. Nebraska has other challenges After initial reluctance, Republicans in states including Texas and Missouri came around to support redistricting. That could happen in Nebraska, too, but some key Republican lawmakers remain opposed. Republican state Sen. Merv Riepe said he’s not inclined to support such a measure, leaving Republicans with too few votes to overcome a filibuster. That’s in line with Republicans’ failure last year to pass a bill that would have made Nebraska the 49th state to award its Electoral College votes on a winner-take-all basis. Currently, only Nebraska and Maine allow presidential electoral votes to be split by congressional district. Nebraska’s 2nd District’s vote has gone to Democrats three times in the last two decades — to Barack Obama in 2008, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024. Associated Press writers David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina contributed.

Microsoft: Russia, China increasingly using AI to escalate cyberattacks on the US
Technology

Microsoft: Russia, China increasingly using AI to escalate cyberattacks on the US

By DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have sharply increased their use of artificial intelligence to deceive people online and mount cyberattacks against the United States, according to new research from Microsoft. This July, the company identified more than 200 instances of foreign adversaries using AI to create fake content online, more than double the number from July 2024 and more than ten times the number seen in 2023. The findings, published Thursday in Microsoft’s annual digital threats report, show how foreign adversaries are adopting new and innovative tactics in their efforts to weaponize the internet as a tool for espionage and deception. AI’s potential said to be exploited by US foes America’s adversaries, as well as criminal gangs and hacking companies, have exploited AI’s potential, using it to automate and improve cyberattacks, to spread inflammatory disinformation and to penetrate sensitive systems. AI can translate poorly worded phishing emails into fluent English, for example, as well as generate digital clones of senior government officials. Government cyber operations often aim to obtain classified information, undermine supply chains, disrupt critical public services or spread disinformation. Cyber criminals on the other hand work for profit by stealing corporate secrets or using ransomware to extort payments from their victims. These gangs are responsible for the wide majority of cyberattacks in the world and in some cases have built partnerships with countries like Russia. Increasingly, these attackers are using AI to target governments, businesses and critical systems like hospitals and transportation networks, according to Amy Hogan-Burney, Microsoft’s vice president for customer security and trust, who oversaw the report. Many U.S. companies and organizations, meanwhile, are getting by with outdated cyber defenses, even as Americans expand their networks with new digital connections. Companies, governments, organizations and individuals must take the threat seriously if they are to protect themselves amid escalating digital threats, she said. “We see this as a pivotal moment where innovation is going so fast,” Hogan-Burney said. “This is the year when you absolutely must invest in your cybersecurity basics.” US is a popular target The U.S. is the top target for cyberattacks, with criminals and foreign adversaries targeting companies, governments and organizations in the U.S. more than any other country. Israel and Ukraine were the second and third most popular targets, showing how military conflicts involving those two nations have spilled over into the digital realm. Russia, China and Iran have denied that they use cyber operations for espionage, disruption and disinformation. China, for instance, says the U.S. is trying to “smear” Beijing while conducting its own cyberattacks. In a statement emailed to The Associated Press on Thursday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Iran rejects allegations that it is responsible for cyberattacks on the U.S. while reserving the right to defend itself. “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not initiate any form of offensive cyber operation against any state,” the mission wrote in the statement. “However, as a victim of cyber operations, it will respond to any such threat in a manner proportionate to its nature and scale.” North Korea has pioneered a scheme in which it uses AI personas to create American identities allowing them to apply for remote tech jobs. North Korea’s authoritarian government pockets the salaries, while the hackers use their access to steal secrets or install malware. It’s the kind of digital threat that will face more American organizations in the years to come as sophisticated AI programs make it easier for bad actors to deceive, according to Nicole Jiang, CEO of Fable, a San Francisco-based security company that uses AI to sniff out fake employees. AI is not only a tool for hackers, but also a critical defense against digital attackers, Jiang said. “Cyber is a cat-and-mouse game,” she said. “Access, data, information, money: That’s what they’re after.”

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