BEIJING (AP) – U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that his country doesn’t have to choose between relations with the United States and China as he started a four-day trip to China aimed at repairing ties and expanding opportunities for British companies in the world’s second-largest economy.
NEW YORK (AP) – As layoffs pile up, workers are feeling increasingly anxious about the job market. In the U.S., economists have said that businesses are largely at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill, leading many to limit new work, if not pause openings entirely amid economic uncertainty. Hiring has stagnated overall – with the country adding a meager 50,000 jobs last month.
WASHINGTON (AP) – When the Supreme Court granted an unusually quick hearing over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a similarly rapid resolution seemed possible. After all, Trump’s lawyers told the court that speed was of the essence on an issue central to the president’s economic agenda.
Jan. 19 – The Washington Post says Congress has dropped the ball regarding oversight of ICE, DHS. Geraldo Lunas Campos died at a Texas detention center on Jan. 3 while pleading for air as guards choked him, according to a fellow detainee. The local medical examiner’s office is considering classifying his death as a homicide, The Post reports.
BERLIN (AP) – The German government on Wednesday trimmed its 2026 forecast for the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, as growth picks up more slowly than previously hoped.
PARIS (AP) – France’s finance minister is urging French tech company Capgemini to be fully transparent over a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as calls grow for scrutiny of the agency’s role in enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that his recent public comments against U.S. trade policy could backfire going into the formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal that protects Canada from the heaviest impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Dutch semiconductor chip machine maker ASML recorded a record net profit of 9.6 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in 2025 on sales of 32.7 billion euros fueled by AI-driven demand, the company reported Wednesday as it also announced plans to slash its workforce by about 1,700, about 4% of its workforce.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration soon will allow Venezuela to sell oil now subject to U.S. sanctions, with the revenue initially dedicated to basic government services such as policing and health care and subject to Washington’s oversight, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.