US President Donald Trump during his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday said that he hoped the newly-announced Gold Cards would "sell like crazy." "Maybe it will sell like crazy. I happen to think it's going to sell like crazy. It's a bargain," he said. When he was asked about the Gold Card plan, Trump jokingly remarked, "I hope you liked it." Trump said that the immigration system has not been properly monetised or run. He also lamented the plight of companies who want to hire non-American students but do not go forward with it as uncertainty looms over their immigration status. "Well not so much monetised. It hasn't been properly run. I get calls from example companies where they want to hire the number one student at a school. A person comes from India, China, Japan -- lots of different places and they go to Harvard, the Wharton School of Finance, they go to Yale they go to all great schools and they graduate number one in their class and they made job offers, but the offers immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether or not that person can stay in the country," he said. To tackle this issue, he came up with the Gold Card system. Trump said that a company can buy a Gold Card and use it for this recruitment matter. "I want to be able to have that person stay in the country, these companies can go and buy a Gold Card and they can use it as a matter of recruitment. At the same time, the company is using that money to pay down debt we're going to we're going to pay down a lot of debt with that and I think the gold card is going to be used by not only for that. I mean, they'll be used by companies," he said. Trump further added that if a business is in the US, they do not have to pay any tariffs, and those operating outside would have to pay those. "If you're in the country, there is no tariff. If you're out of the country you got to pay tariffs and that's going to be a great investment I think that he's making I know it's going to be a great investment but we have to be able to get people in the country," he said. Trump said that he wanted 'productive' people in the US, and those USD 5 million would create jobs and pay off the US debt. "We want people that are productive people and I will tell you the people that can pay USD 5 million they're going to create jobs. They're going to spend a lot of money on jobs. They're going to have to pay taxes on that too so they're going to be hiring people, they're going to be bringing people in and companies in," he said. As per the US Treasury fiscal data, the federal government of the US currently has USD 36.22 trillion in federal debt. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:28 AM IST | Washington | ANIUS President Donald Trump said the US will be reversing "concessions" on "the oil transaction agreement" with Venezuela under the Biden administration, citing unmet electoral conditions by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, CNN reported on Wednesday (local time). CNN also cited dissatisfaction with the pace of transporting violent undocumented Venezuelan criminals back to their home country as a reason for the reversal decision by Trump. "We are hereby reversing the concessions that crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolas Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime. Additionally, the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole' USA) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to. I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden "Concession Agreement" be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" he said on Truth Social. The license was a part of the Biden administration's effort to ease restrictions on certain financial transactions involving Venezuela, particularly in the oil sector, amid ongoing negotiations between the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition to promote free and fair elections in Venezuela. However, some sanctions were reimposed after Maduro blocked the opposition candidate, Maria Corina Machado, from the presidential election. Though Trump does not explicitly mention Chevron, the Biden administration authorised US-based Chevron to "resume limited natural resource extraction operations in Venezuela," according to the Treasury Department at the time. Trump said that this authorisation would not be renewed on March 1, as it normally would be, but terminated. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez criticised what she called Trump's "damaging and inexplicable decision." "The United States government has made a damaging and inexplicable decision by announcing sanctions against the US company Chevron. In its attempt to harm the Venezuelan people, it is in fact hurting the United States, its population and its companies, and also calling into question the legal security of the US's international investment regime," she said in a statement. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:27 AM IST | Washington | ANIThe Trump administration says it is eliminating more than 90 per cent of the US Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and USD 60 billion in overall US assistance around the world, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. It details the outcome of a 90-day review ordered by President Donald Trump of all the money provided by USAID and the State Department for development and aid work overseas. The move leaves few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles. The Trump administration outlined its plans in both the memo and court filings Wednesday. The Washington Free Beacon was the first to report the cuts. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:24 AM IST | Washington | APPope Francis was sitting upright and receiving therapy for double pneumonia on Wednesday, the Vatican said. The Vatican said that it hoped to have information later in the day about the results of a CT scan taken on Tuesday evening to check on the status of the complex lung infection that has kept him hospitalised since February 14. The Vatican said the pope had a peaceful night and was up, sitting in his armchair on Wednesday receiving therapy. Doctors said he remained in critical condition, but hasn’t had any further respiratory crises since Saturday. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:17 AM IST | Rome | AgenciesHamas will return the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire. Israel has delayed the release of some 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas. Israel hits weapon storage sites in Syria Israel struck military targets, including command centres and weapon storage sites inside Southern Syria in the past few hours. Israel said it would continue its operations to “remove any threat to Israelis”. Scores attend Bibas family funerals Holding flags, balloons and signs that said “forgive us”, Israelis lined highways as the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons—9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel—killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip, were taken for burial. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:16 AM IST | Cairo | AgenciesThe death toll from a Sudanese military plane crash in the city of Omdurman increased to at least 46 people, officials said on Wednesday. The Khartoum Media Office said the crash also injured 10 others. The Antonov aircraft crashed on Tuesday while taking off from the Wadi Sayidna air base north of Omdurman. The military said that armed forces personnel and civilians were killed in the crash, and that the aircraft crashed over a civilian house. Planes nearly collide at Chicago airport A Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet nearly collided at Chicago Midway Airport on Tuesday morning. Footage showed the Southwest Boeing 737pulling up within feet of touching down, just yards before the Challenger 350 jet in its path. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:16 AM IST | Cairo | AgenciesUS President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (local time) that he plans to offer a ‘gold card’ visa with a path to citizenship for $5 million, replacing a 35-year-old visa for investors. “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump said in the Oval Office. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the ‘Trump Gold Card’ would replace EB-5 visas in two weeks. EB-5s were created by Congress in 1990 to generate foreign investment and are available to people who spend about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people. Lutnick said the gold card—actually a green card, or permanent legal residency—would raise the price of admission for investors and do away with fraud and “nonsense” that he said characterise the EB-5 program. Like other green cards, it would include a path to citizenship. AI-video of Gaza revamp President Trump shared a video created through AI, showing the transformation of the Gaza Strip from rubbles to a tourist excavanza. The video presents scenes of skyscrapers and children looking up to the sky as dollar bills rain down. Elon Musk appears eating hummus on the beach in Gaza, and a boy can be seen holding a golden balloon depicting Trump’s face. The video also represents a larger-than-life statue of Donald Trump in gold, with people looking up to him. The US President is seen dancing in a nightclub, and the entrance to one tower bears the inscription ‘Trump Gaza’. Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can also be seen on a deck chair along with Trump, sipping beverages near a swimming pool with ‘Trump Gaza’ written in the background. Illegal immigrants’ registry The Trump administration is creating a registry for all people who are in the US illegally, and those who don’t self-report could face fines or prosecution, immigration officials announced on Tuesday. Everyone who is in the US illegally must register, give fingerprints and provide an address. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 February,2025 08:15 AM IST | Washington | AgenciesDiplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday. The meeting comes on the heels of Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia last week, which marked an extraordinary shift in US foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. At the talks, Moscow and Washington agreed to start working toward ending the war and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. That included restoring the staffing at the embassies, which in recent years were hit hard by mutual expulsions of large number of diplomats and other restrictions. Prior to Trump's second administration, ties between Moscow and Washington had fallen to Cold War lows after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022. No Ukrainian officials were present at last week's talks, but the Kremlin insisted that the meeting was about restoring relations and dialogue with the United States, something it said would pave the way for the eventual peace talks. Speaking to journalists while on a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, Lavrov said that "diplomats of high level experts" will meet in Istanbul on Thursday. He said they will discuss "the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the unlawful activities of the previous (US) administration to create artificial obstacles for the work of the Russian embassy," to which we, naturally, reciprocated and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow." Lavrov added that based on the outcome of the meeting, "it will be clear how quickly and effectively we can move forward." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 February,2025 06:41 PM IST | Doha | APA US air base in Italy went on lockdown Wednesday over an unspecified incident. Online posts described Naval Air Station Sigonella as being locked down "due to an ongoing situation." The online posts suggested whatever happened occurred at a gate for the base. It urged service members to "avoid travelling on highway SP105 between Marinai Housing Complex" and a part of the base. "A lockdown/shelter-in-place remains in effect," the posts said. The posts didn't elaborate. Calls to the US Navy's 6th Fleet, which oversees European operations, weren't answered and an email to the fleet wasn't immediately acknowledged. NAS Sigonella is outside of Catania on the island of Sicily. It's on a base for the Italian Air Force. NAS Sigonella hosts US Navy P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, as well as MQ-4C Triton drones. There's also a US Space Force personnel based there who work on identifying possible missile threats in the region. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 February,2025 05:26 PM IST | Rome | APTens of thousands of Israelis, some holding flags and signs that read "Forgive us," lined the highways as the bodies of an Israeli mother and her two children who were killed in Gaza were transported to their burial. Shiri Bibas was kidnapped with her two sons — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old — from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas released their bodies last week as part of a fragile ceasefire deal, though initially the militant group did not release the correct body for Shiri Bibas. Yarden Bibas, their father, was taken separately, and released during the ceasefire last month. The three will be buried on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Wednesday afternoon. Hamas says the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denies this and said Ariel and Kfir Bibas were killed by their captors. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 February,2025 04:06 PM IST | Tel Aviv | APPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the suspension of any security clearances held by lawyers at a prominent Washington law firm who provided legal services to special counsel Jack Smith, the latest move in the Republican's campaign of retribution over the criminal investigations that dogged him before he returned to office. Trump's memo signed at the White House seeks to punish the law firm Covington & Burling days after it was revealed that the firm provided pro bono legal services to Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases that were later dismissed after Trump won back the presidency in November. Covington & Burling is an international law firm whose current attorneys include former Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, an ex-Justice Department official who in 2010 hired Smith to lead the agency's Public Integrity Section. The firm had no role in Smith's investigation of Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation. The firm recently agreed to represent Smith 'when it became apparent that he would become subject of a government investigation," it said in a statement Tuesday. 'Covington serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity,' a spokesperson for the firm said. 'We look forward to defending Mr. Smith's interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so.' The move is part of Trump's effort to exact revenge on his perceived political enemies, and Smith in particular. After signing the directive, Trump suggested the pen he used be sent to Smith, eliciting laughter in the Oval Office. It's not the first time that Trump as president has sought to suspend clearances of Washington figures who have provoked his ire. Last month, for instance, he moved to revoke the clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials who signed onto a letter who said the Hunter Biden laptop saga bore the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign. The memo directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend any active security clearances held by Peter Koski, an attorney representing Smith, and 'all members, partners, and employees' of Covington who assisted Smith during his time as special counsel. It says they will be suspended 'pending a review and determination of their roles and responsibilities, if any, in the weaponization of the judicial process.' Asked by a reporter Tuesday about the targeting of the law firm, Trump replied: 'I've been targeted for four years, longer than that, so don't you tell me about targeting. I was the target of corrupt politicians for four years and then four years after that, so don't talk to me about targeting.' A financial disclosure firm filed by Smith and reported on by Politico earlier this month revealed that Smith had disclosed receiving $140,000 in pro bono legal services from Covington & Burling before he left his position in January after more than two years on the job. It follows the firings of members of Smith's team and appears designed to deter lawyers and major law firms from offering legal services to the investigators who investigated Trump, many of whom -- like Smith -- have sought their own counsel from attorneys. Bondi and other Republicans have argued the Justice Department under President Joe Biden had become 'weaponized' against conservatives and Trump in particular. In one of her first actions in office, Bondi announced the creation of a 'weaponization working group' that will examine Smith's work and the prosecutors and law enforcement who participated in what Bondi's memo described as the 'unprecedented raid on President Trump's home.' Smith was appointed in November 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to take over in-progress investigations into Trump's hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Both investigations resulted in indictments, though the classified documents case was dismissed by a judge who concluded that Smith's appointment was illegal and the election interference prosecution was significantly narrowed by a Supreme Court opinion last summer. Smith dismissed both shortly after Trump's election win in November, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 February,2025 08:42 AM IST | Washington | APADVERTISEMENT