The Latest: Trump hosts African leaders as aid cuts threaten millions of deaths

U S President Donald Trump is hosting five West African leaders on Wednesday for a multilateral lunch as the region reels from the impact of U S aid cuts The surprise meeting with leaders of Liberia Senegal Gabon Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau follows the dismantling of the U S Agency for International Enhancement as the administration switches from a charity-based foreign aid model to partnerships showing that other nations have both the ability and willingness to help themselves A assessment published in the Lancet curative journal projects Trump s shift will lead to more than million additional deaths globally by including million children West Africa possesses untapped materials They re also among countries that might fall under an expansion of Trump s passage ban Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seems to have a conflict of interest He oversees the federal ruling body s efforts to monitor and predict the weather while the financial firm he ran stands to benefit if weather forecasting is privatized The deadly weekend flooding in Texas is drawing criticism over budget cuts and staff reductions at the National Weather Provision and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The Latest The European Union s chief agreement negotiator expresses optimism A exchange deal to avert higher tariffs on European goods imported to the U S could be reached even in the coming days Maros Sefcovic explained EU lawmakers in Strasbourg France on Wednesday The EU was spared the increased tariffs contained in the letters Trump sent on Monday and his extension of talks until Aug provides additional space to reach a satisfactory conclusion Sefcovic declared Trump on April proposed a tariff for EU goods and then threatened to raise that to after negotiations did not move as fast as he would have liked Sefcovic did not mention any tariff figures The higher tariffs as well as any EU retaliation have been suspended as the two sides negotiate However the base rate of for preponderance business partners as well as higher rates of on autos and on steel and aluminum have gone into effect US sanctions companies it accuses of Iranian shadow banking The Treasury Department says firms based in Hong Kong the United Arab Emirates and Turkey allegedly facilitated the sale of sanctioned Iranian oil and acted as a sprawling shadow banking arrangement for Iran s military Included in the sanctions imposed Wednesday are firms that act as front companies for oil purchases and bank transfers which have helped Iran s military and cabinet gain illicit access to the international financial system according to Treasury The sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U S and prevent U S companies and citizens from doing business with them It s part of a larger campaign to pressure Iran Secretary Scott Bessent commented Treasury remains focused on disrupting this shadowy infrastructure that allows Iran to threaten the United States and our allies in the region Mike Waltz gets UN confirmation hearing after months of delay Trump s former national guard adviser and current nominee for U S ambassador to the United Nations will absolutely take the hotseat The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled the hearing for July more than two months after Trump s initial announcement Unlike his previous post Waltz will now face the wrath of questioning about his decision to invite a journalist into a private text chain where U S functionaries discussed strikes on Houthi rebels The U N job has been vacant the entirety of Trump s second term His first nominee Rep Elise Stefanik of New York was withdrawn from consideration over concerns about holding onto the Republican majority in the House Republicans also narrowly control the Senate but Waltz still likely faces a rocky road to confirmation Israeli leader sees a good chance for a ceasefire shortly with Hamas in Gaza He made that comment Wednesday in an interview with Fox Business Mornings with Maria before he and his wife met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife at the Pentagon A new U S -backed proposal would pause Israel s -month war against Hamas free Israeli hostages and send much-needed aid flooding into Gaza It also aims to open broader talks about ending the conflict Israel and the U S since late May have been backing a substitute food-delivery system that leading aid organizations condemn for allegedly operating outside humanitarian principles The U N and others say hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to reach the Israeli-backed aid sites Solicited whether he would allow the U N to again take charge of humanitarian deliveries as part of a ceasefire Netanyahu announced I think it ll likely end up for the days with both Senate committee advances Susan Monarez to be Trump s CDC director The Senate s physical condition committee s approval on Wednesday of Susan Monarez to be Trump s director of the U S Centers for Illness Control and Prevention takes her one step closer to confirmation Monarez was named acting director and then nominee after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice David Weldon She holds a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Wisconsin and her postdoctoral training was in microbiology and immunology at Stanford University The CDC has been hit by widespread staff cuts resignations and argument over CDC vaccine policies being upended by Soundness Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr The committee voted - all Republicans in favor all Democrats opposed to advance her nomination to the full Senate Unfortunately Dr Monarez who has served as Trump s acting CDC director has done nothing to stand in the way of Kennedy s actions Sen Bernie Sanders explained Wednesday Read more about the CDC director nomination The US is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades The U S has now had measles cases nationally just six months into the year as the vaccine-preventable illness spreads the U S Centers for Disorder Control and Prevention reported Wednesday Three people have died two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico and dozens of people have been hospitalized The measles mumps and rubella vaccine is effective at preventing measles after two doses and widespread vaccination enabled the World Soundness Organization to declare in that measles had been eliminated from the U S Now the U S could lose that status this year if the virus continues to spread nonstop for months SNAP cuts will disproportionately harm children advocates say The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Undertaking faces the largest cut in its history under Trump s budget law It will for the first time require parents to work to qualify for the benefit if their children are or older But even households with younger children could feel the impact The law kicks particular immigrants with legal status off food assistance and makes qualifying more complex by changing how it considers utility bills States will now have to shoulder several of federal burden and may make it even more complex for people to qualify or exit the scheme altogether disclosed Katie Bergh a senior procedures analyst with the Center on Budget and Guidelines Priorities When young children lose access to that healthy nutrition it impacts them for the rest of their lives Bergh announced This bill fundamentally walks away from a long-standing nationwide commitment to making sure that low-income children in every state can receive the food assistance that they need Former President Joe Biden s physician refuses to answer House questions President Joe Biden s former White House physician is refusing answer questions as part of the House Republican assessment into Biden s strength in office Dr Kevin O Connor invoked doctor-client privilege and his rights under the Fifth Amendment during an appearance Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee That s according to the professional s attorneys Republicans are conducting a sweeping research into Biden s actions in office and questioning whether the Democratic president s use of an autopen may have been invalid Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office calling the suggests ridiculous and false Medicaid cuts could add to strains on families Over million Americans rely on Medicaid for vitality care About of births are covered by Medicaid Newborns too qualify for it when their mothers have it Pediatricians say the cuts will be felt broadly even by those who do not use Medicaid since the financial strain will force vitality care providers to cut their least profitable services which are often pediatrics The ripple effects could exacerbate an existing shortage of pediatricians and hospital beds for children disclosed Lisa Costello a West Virginia pediatrician who chairs the federal framework committee for the American Association of Pediatrics And if parents lose their medical insurance due to the bureaucratic barricades imposed by having to document work requirements they ll be less likely to take their kids to the medical practitioner advocates say Here s how Trump s massive budget law could impact the youngest Americans The bill Trump signed into law on Independence Day will impact infants and toddlers who are particularly vulnerable to cuts to the federal social safety net A multitude of middle-class and wealthy families will see benefits from the new decree but programs that help low-income families keep babies healthy have been cut back To pay for tax cuts and frontier prevention the law cuts Medicaid and food stamps which poor households with children rely on by more than trillion The law increases tax deductions to per child and introduces funding accounts for newborns dubbed Trump Accounts each seeded with Still advocates say they do not make up for what children are likely to lose under the new law And they fear what comes next as the next Trump budget proposes more cuts to programs that help parents and babies Read more about the impact on the youngest kids Trump administration calls for a review of Harvard s accreditation Trump s departments of Instruction and Strength and Human Services urged the New England Commission of Higher Coaching to examine whether Harvard no longer meets its standards for accreditation now that the Trump administration has determined that the university tolerated antisemitism Accreditors work on behalf of the federal ruling body to decide which colleges can accept federal financial aid Without an accreditor s seal of approval Harvard could no longer accept students federal grants or loans The Trump administration made a similar move against Columbia University to its accreditor Harvard mentioned it strongly disagrees with the establishment s findings and is committed to fighting bias as the White House presses universities to accept its demands The commission did not straightaway respond to a request for comment Malaysia draws red lines in pact talks with US Malaysia will not compromise on its national interest or sovereignty in tariff talks with the U S Exchange Minister Zafrul Aziz commented Wednesday Trump raised his threatened tariffs against Malaysia to from this week but Zafrul reported Malaysia won t cross specific red lines involving U S requests in strategy and laws in areas such as regime procurement halal certification anatomical standards and digital taxes Zafrul declared he and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim would meet with Rubio to discuss the tariff issue Malaysia s offer includes a pledge by Malaysia Airlines to buy Boeing jets as well as deals on semiconductors and other device but he reported that if the deal does not benefit Malaysia we should not have a deal Europe is hoping to seal a deal and preparing to retaliate if not The -nation bloc is hoping to strike a deal with Trump soon but is preparing retaliatory measures on hundreds of American products from beef to beer to Boeing jets if talks aren t prosperous We stick to our principles We defend our interests We continue to work in good faith and we get ready for all scenarios European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at an EU meeting in Strasbourg France on Wednesday She announced the American imposition of tariffs on arrangement from the EU is unprecedented and requires that our line has to be very clear We will be firm We do prefer a negotiated approach Sweeping tariffs may overshadow Rubio s prevention goals in Asia Trump s latest threat of higher tariffs to countries including several Asian nations if they don t make commerce deals with the U S came just a day before Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations safeguard conference in Malaysia on Thursday and Friday Rubio s talking points on the China threat will not resonate with functionaries whose industries are being battered by - tariffs noted Danny Russel vice president of the Asia Society Protocol Institute and a former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific during the Obama administration Compared to China s representative Rubio is a rookie trying to sell an America First message to a deeply skeptical audience Russell revealed Read more about Rubio s first official trip to Asia Russia says threat of US tariffs against BRICS violate free bargain principles Russia s Foreign Ministry accused the U S Wednesday of hinting at anticipated tariffs against the commerce alliance of Brazil Russia India and China as a form of political pressure Spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated unilaterally applying such tariffs would destroy the existing architecture for international economic cooperation She accused Washington of hiding behind principles such as fair competition and national precaution Trump s threat grossly violates the rules of the WTO and the principles of free business which until of late Washington insisted on as a universal truth Zakharova described journalists Trump avoids talk of scrapping FEMA after more than killed in Texas flash flood The president has avoided talking about his plan to scrap the federal calamity response agency after the catastrophic flash flood in Texas that killed more than people including children attending a girls-only camp Demanded shortly after the mishap whether he still intended to phase out the Federal Urgency Management Agency Trump commented it wasn t the right time to talk about it Nor did he mention such plans during a nearly two-hour meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday Instead Trump opened the meeting by having Homeland Assurance Secretary Kristi Noem talk about her visit to Kerrville Texas a day after floodwaters swept away riverside campers and homeowners in the wee hours of the Fourth of July holiday Read more about Trump FEMA and the Texas floods Source