Xinhua
24 May 2025

Trump announces "planned partnership" of U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that there will be a "planned partnership" between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, with substantial investment from the Japanese manufacturer in the U.S. company.

"US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add 14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy. The bulk of that Investment will occur in the next 14 months," Trump said.

The president also noted that he will attend a big rally at the U.S. Steel headquarters in Pittsburgh on May 30.

Boeing, U.S. DOJ reach deal over 737 Max crashes to avoid prosecution

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it has reached a non-prosecution agreement with Boeing stemming from the two fatal crashes of its 737 Max aircraft, which together claimed 346 lives.

In its filing in the federal court in Texas, the DOJ described the agreement as "a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest," emphasizing that it ensures immediate accountability and substantial benefits for affected families while sidestepping the uncertainties and risks of litigation. Under the deal, Boeing will avoid a felony conviction and the scheduled trial next month.

Boeing will have to "pay or invest" more than 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to the filing.

It includes a 487.2-million-dollar criminal fine. A 243.6-million-dollar fine it already paid in an earlier agreement would be credited. It also includes 444.5 million dollars for a new fund for crash victims, and 445 million dollars more on compliance, safety and quality programs.

After the fatal crashes, Boeing was accused of conspiring to defraud regulators by withholding critical information about the 737 Max's flight-control system, which was implicated in both crashes.

UN says many trucks recently cleared into Gaza looted

A lot of trucks cleared into Gaza lately were looted by desperate Gazans, a UN spokesman said Friday.

"We moved another batch of around 100 full truckloads to Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) and picked up about 35 from the Palestinian side of the crossing to bring them closer to where people need them in Gaza," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Six trucks containing flour were intercepted by residents and had their contents removed on Wednesday. The same thing happened to 15 trucks on Thursday night, Haq said. "And our understanding is that these are not instances of organized criminal looting. This is looting driven by people who are facing desperation and hunger."

Israel has long argued that much of the international aid to Gazans was diverted by Hamas, the armed de facto authority in the strip with tacit approval by the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees. The United Nations strongly denied the allegation.

Trump threatens potential tariffs on smartphones not made in U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on Samsung and other smartphone producers, following an earlier announcement targeting Apple.

"It would be more, it would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair," Trump told reporters at the White House Friday afternoon, when asked whether the president has the power to tariff one single company.

"That'll start on, I guess, the end of June ... I think we have that appropriately done by the end of June," Trump said.

Samsung is a South Korean company, with its Galaxy series a major competitor to Apple's iPhones.

Iranian FM says 5th round of Iran-U.S. talks "one of most professional"

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the fifth round of Iran-U.S. indirect talks was "one of the most professional rounds."

"I think the American side at present has a better and more clear understanding of our positions," Araghchi told Iran's state-run IRIB TV at the end of the fifth round held earlier in the day in Rome.

Different ideas were discussed in the fifth round, and it was decided that the two sides further review the ideas and make the arrangements for the next round, which will hopefully "enter details to some extent" if both sides accept new solutions, he said.

The indirect talks will not conclude in two or three rounds due to their complexity, said the foreign minister, adding that "the fact that we are now treading along a reasonable path is (a kind of) progress."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on the social media platform X that the fifth round was held in a "calm and professional" atmosphere, and the date and venue of the next round will be decided and announced later.

U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump Administration's bid to end Harvard's enrollment of international students

A federal judge in Boston issued a Temporary Restraining Order on Friday, blocking the Trump Administration's policy that aimed to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students, and saying that such an order is "justified" to preserve the status quo pending a hearing.

Unless Harvard's Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order is granted, "it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties," Judge Allison Burroughs from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said in a court document.

Accordingly, the Trump administration is hereby enjoined from: Implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving effect to the revocation of Plaintiff's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification; Giving any force or effect to the Homeland Security Department's May 22 Revocation Notice, she said.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the decision on Thursday. "Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country," Noem said in a statement. "Enrolling international students is a privilege -- not a right -- and that privilege has been revoked due to Harvard's repeated failure to comply with federal law."