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1. Trump team abandons US$1.8 billion ‘slush fund’ to compensate supporters

   The US Justice Department on Tuesday dropped a contentious plan to create a US$1.8 billion compensation programme that critics had denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s political allies. “We are not moving forward with the fund,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said during testimony before a House committee. The about-face is a setback for one of Trump’s most divisive...

2. Can China fill funding and leadership gaps after America quit the WHO?

   Vanuatu had a clear goal at last month’s annual assembly of the World Health Organization in Geneva – securing new international aid for the Pacific island nation. “I’m here to lobby for support,” said Jenny Stephens, Vanuatu’s director of public health. “We are experiencing the global funding cuts – it’s affecting our programmes like malaria, TB and HIV. We’re already struggling.” Vanuatu’s...

3. Trump-Netanyahu relationship under growing strain over Iran: ‘you’re crazy!’

   They went to war together against Iran, but Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship is under strain after the US president reportedly called the Israeli premier “crazy”. Trump unleashed a profane tirade over the phone at Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported. It...

4. China-Kazakhstan grain-trading deal shows shifting Asian food order

   In a move that could rattle global grain markets, China and neighbouring Kazakhstan – Central Asia’s largest grain producer and a key Belt and Road Initiative partner – agreed last week to establish a joint grain-trading platform during talks in Astana. The two sides also discussed long-term supply contracts, logistics hubs, dry ports and technology cooperation in storage and...

5. China clears Brazilian beef of foot-and-mouth disease, but quota limits profits

   Brazil has won wider access to the world’s biggest beef market after China recognised the entire country as free of foot-and-mouth disease, though a new quota will still cap prices. The decision was announced on Tuesday by China’s General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and was communicated during Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s visit to...

6. Trump’s AI order seeks security safeguards without slowing race with China

   US President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday, which asked technology companies to voluntarily share advanced models before they are released, signalling a shift in the administration’s largely laissez-faire approach to the industry. The voluntary framework allows the government to vet powerful new AI systems up to 30 days before their...

7. Rubio says US and China must keep talking despite deep differences

   US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “significant irritants” remained in the US-China relationship but that Washington and Beijing needed to keep talking to stop flashpoints from erupting. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rubio said both countries – the world’s two largest economies and most powerful militaries – must communicate to “de-escalate potential points of...

8. Trump to attend press gala dinner rescheduled in wake of shooting incident

   US President Donald Trump will attend ⁠the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on July 24, he said in a social media post on Tuesday, after the annual event was postponed following a shooting. The black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians in Washington was postponed after a ‌suspect stormed a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun outside the event on April 25,...

9. UN warns world to prepare for El Nino extreme weather

   There is an 80 per cent chance of the warming El Nino phenomenon developing between June and August, increasing the risk of extreme weather events, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday. “Fuelled by unusually warm ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, El Nino conditions are developing and are set to influence global temperature and rainfall patterns,” the United Nations’ WMO...

10. Trump taps housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief

    US President Donald Trump has named federal housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, entrusting oversight of America’s intelligence agencies to a close political ally whose career has been rooted in housing finance rather than national security. Trump announced the appointment on Tuesday, saying Pulte would replace Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down last month after...