Latest Epstein file dump rocks UK royals, politics

Costa Rican President-elect Laura Fernandez on Monday welcomed guidance from El Salvador's gang-busting Nayib Bukele in her own country's fight against a surge in drug-related violence.

Costa Rica continued a rightward lurch in Latin America through a landslide election victory for Fernandez on Sunday, and is a country better known for its idyllic beaches than its emerging role as a logistics hub for the global narco trade.

Long considered one of the safest countries in Latin America, Costa Rica, which has no military, ended 2025 with a rate of 17 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants -- nearly triple the global average. 

Fernandez has taken a page from Salvadoran President Bukele's iron-fisted anti-gang approach. On the campaign trail, she pledged to crack down on organized crime and build a mega-prison modeled on Bukele's CECOT "Terrorism Confinement Center."

The facility will cost $35 million and house 5,000 of the most dangerous inmates.

Bukele, who many in Latin America consider a hero for his crackdown on gangs, is credited with restoring security to a nation traumatized for decades by horrific crime.

He declared a state of emergency that allows for warrantless arrests and rounded up over 90,000 people since March 2022, many of them innocent or minors, according to rights groups that have also denounced instances of torture.

On Monday, Fernandez told reporters that she spoke to Bukele, who was the first to congratulate her on her election win. He underlined "his commitment to continue helping," particularly on the prison project, she said.

"We need to cut organized crime's connection... with the outside world" which is why "this prison must become a reality," Fernandez added.

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New York has counted 13 hypothermia-related deaths as the city faces an exceptional cold snap that swept large parts of the United States in late January, its mayor said Monday.

The metropolis "could very well be in the middle of the longest period of consecutive sub 32 degree (0C) weather in our city's entire history," said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He told reporters that 16 New Yorkers have died during the cold weather spell. Hypothermia is believed to have "played a role" in 13, while three are considered drug overdoses. 

None of these people were camping on the street at the time of their deaths, the mayor added. Some had previously been in contact with emergency shelter services.

Mamdani said the city has activated emergency warming centers and a fleet of 20 vehicles staffed with healthcare professionals. 

"As of this morning, we have made more than 930 placements to shelters and safe havens. We have also involuntarily transported 18 New Yorkers who were determined to be a danger to themselves or to others," he said. 

Between 2005 and 2021, New York recorded between 9 and 27 cold-related deaths per year, according to official statistics. That number rose to 34 in 2021 and 54 in 2022.

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Supporters and opponents of Venezuela's government protested on Monday for better salaries and pensions, marching separately although united in their demand for a decent income.

The monthly minimum wage in Venezuela is 35 US cents -- the same as the state pension, in a country whose gross domestic product is reeling.

The government hands out discretionary bonuses as a supplement, but it's not nearly enough to make ends meet in Venezuela, where GDP dropped 80 percent in a decade and millions emigrated in search of a better life.

The Latin American country's leaders have promised an oil-led economic boom following the ouster of long-term leader Nicolas Maduro.

"We fight for wages, democracy, and freedom!" professors chanted at a rally outside the Supreme Court, which is weighing a case filed by Central University of Venezuela (UCV) staff against the state for insufficient wages.

"If oil income is going to increase, it must be invested in all workers," Gregorio Alfonzo, president of the UCV professors' association, said at the march.

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who stepped into Maduro's shoes after his toppling in a deadly American military operation a month ago, has made deals on oil and other topics with US President Donald Trump's administration.

Last week, lawmakers passed reforms to reopen Venezuela's nationalized hydrocarbons industry to private players, a move immediately reciprocated with a loosening of US sanctions.

Promising better days ahead for her long-suffering compatriots, Rodriguez has ploughed $300 million from a first US sale of Venezuelan crude into shoring up the country's ailing currency, the bolivar.

At a separate demonstration, which also gathered outside the Supreme Court, pro-regime workers called for Maduro's release from a New York jail cell, where he is awaiting trial on drug-trafficking charges. 

But they also submitted a 10-point plan for the urgent improvement of workers' financial plight. 

"We have the opportunity, through negotiations with oil companies, the reform of the Hydrocarbons Law, and a renewed national dialogue, to achieve economic recovery and wage growth," said their representative, Oliver Rivas.

Police separated the two groups to prevent any confrontation, which was limited to an exchange of slogans.

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(The Center Square) – Those hoping to catch a show at the Trump Kennedy Center will only have a few months before it closes for a two-year renovation, President Donald Trump announced.

The performing arts center, which opened in 1971 and was dedicated as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, will close July 4, marking the nation's 250th birthday.

The president says that a partial shutdown of the arts center would take longer and the “quality of construction” would not be “nearly as good.”

For months, the president has argued that the center needs repairs and renovations.

“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before,” the president posted on his Truth Social account.

Trump Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell confirmed the renovations, adding that Congress has appropriated $257 million for the upgrades.

Grenell said the center “desperately needs” the renovation, describing the two-year closure as temporary.

The Trump Kennedy Center “must raise $80 million to support performances, programming and educational opportunities," according to its website.

It hosts over 1,500 events each year; however, since Trump added his name to the center in December, several performers have pulled out of scheduled performances.

Among the artists withdrawing from the center is Washington National Opera, citing its desire to go out as an independent nonprofit. Grenell said it was the decision of the Trump Kennedy Center, citing financial reasons as the main reason.

“The Trump Kennedy Center has made the decision to end the EXCLUSIVE partnership with the Washington Opera so that we can have the flexibility and funds to bring in operas from around the world and across the U.S. Having an EXCLUSIVE relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell posted on X. “We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera’s exclusivity, and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole - and getting worse.”

Grenell added that the opera concluded fiscal year 2025 with a $7.2 million deficit, while “not accounting for $5.8 million additional expenses” provided by the center.

“Additionally, Washington Opera ticket sales in 2024 comprised only 4% of total revenue across the Center – making the Opera 8% of combined revenue, but 16% of combined expenses for us,” he said.

The Center Square reached out to the Trump Kennedy Center requesting projected renovation costs, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

(The Center Square) – As the federal government enters its third day of a partial shutdown, House Republicans are bickering over Senate changes to the $1.2 trillion funding package, jeopardizing the upcoming vote.

The Senate-passed package includes five of the six remaining appropriations bills – funding State-Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD – and a short-term Continuing Resolution in place of the Homeland Security bill. 

But that deal, brokered by Senate party leaders and the White House, received no input from either party in the House, and many lawmakers on both sides are taking issue with it.

The CR will freeze DHS funding at current levels for the next two weeks. During that time, lawmakers will restructure the House-passed Homeland Security bill to appease Democrats’ demands for immigration reform.

Those include barring agents from wearing masks, requiring body-worn cameras, and implementing stricter warrant requirements, and other changes.

Dozens of House Republicans, represented by the House Freedom Caucus, are vehemently rejecting such a plan, arguing it will cripple immigration enforcement efforts.

“We are not going to let Chuck Schumer defund Homeland Security to protect criminal illegal aliens,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “One way or another, we will make sure that ICE, Border Patrol, FEMA, TSA, Coast Guard, Secret Service, etc. get the funding they need.”

The planned changes to the Homeland Security bill are not the only Republican holdup, however. 

Republicans have a one-vote margin in the House, and three Republican House members – Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.; Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.; and Chip Roy, R-Texas; – are insisting that the appropriations bill include the SAVE Act. 

The bill, widely popular with Republicans but decried by Democrats, would mandate voters present identification at the polls.

But if the SAVE Act amendment passes, the entire funding package would have to return to the Senate for approval. The legislation would be “dead on arrival,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

“House Republicans shouldn't let Schumer dictate the terms of government funding,” Burlison fired back Monday. “If Dems want to play games, no spending package should come out of the House without the SAVE Act attached—securing American elections must be a non-negotiable.”

Before the package can even make it to the House floor for a vote, the House Rules Committee must pass it. Republican leaders are hoping the committee can do so Monday night, enabling a vote as soon as Tuesday.

Cuba's tourism sector suffered a sharp decline in 2025, with shortages of basic goods repelling visitors even before the United States began strangling the island's fuel supply.

Around 1.8 million people visited the Caribbean island last year, down 17.8 percent from the previous year, the national statistics office ONEI said.

The government of the cash-strapped nation of 11 million people, which relies on tourism to bring in hard currency, had been hoping for 2.6 million arrivals.

The country's main tourist markets all shrank last year.

Visits by Cubans living abroad, mostly in the United States, fell 22.6 percent.

Arrivals from Germany, Russia and Canada were down 50.5 percent, 29 percent and 12.4 percent respectively.

Last year "was terrible for international tourism to Cuba," Cuban economist Pedro Monreal wrote on X, adding: "We knew that would happen."

Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades, marked by power outages of up to 20 hours a day and critical shortages of fuel, medicines and food.

The outlook has worsened sharply since the January 3 overthrow of Cuba's closest ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

US President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Havana ever since, predicting its communist leadership is "ready to fall."

He has vowed to cut off the flow of Venezuelan oil to Havana -- for years the island's main supplier -- and threatened tariffs on any other countries that provide oil to the country.

Several countries have revised their travel advice for Cuba since the start of the year.

While most advise caution due to the shortages of fuel, power and other basics, Argentina has advised its nationals to avoid the island altogether.

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(The Center Square) – Amazon is cutting approximately 2,200 corporate roles from the Seattle area as part of the company’s broader 16,000-person global layoff, according to a filing with the state Employment Security Department.

Of the nearly 2,200 employees laid off in the Jan. 30 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, filing, more than 1,400 were based in Seattle, more than 600 in Bellevue, and the rest, including some based remotely, were spread across various locations in Washington state.

The layoffs are to take effect from late April through late June.

“While WARN requires only 60 days’ advance notice, Amazon is providing at least 90 days’ notice to all affected employees before their separations are scheduled to occur,” the filing states. “Affected employees who accept internal transfer opportunities at Amazon prior to their separation date will not be separated as a result of this action.”

When Seattle-based Amazon announced its plan to shed 16,000 corporate jobs last week, The Center Square asked the tech giant how many of those lost jobs were in the Seattle area, and was told by company spokesperson Zoë Hoffmann that “We aren’t breaking down by city, so [we] would point you back to Beth’s letter."

In a memo to employees last week announcing the 16,000 layoffs, Amazon Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology Beth Galetti explained that the workforce reduction was part of the company’s restructuring to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy.

In October 2025, Amazon announced the elimination of approximately 14,000 corporate roles.

The company’s corporate restructuring is driven by a desire to reverse pandemic-era over-hiring, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate the adoption of generative AI.

Amazon is also laying off approximately 400 workers in Washington as part of its decision to shutter all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores nationwide. The layoffs, which take effect in late April, will impact nearly a dozen facilities in Seattle, Bellevue, Mill Creek and Puyallup.

Amazon isn’t the only tech company that is handing out layoff notices locally. Expedia Group, which is also based in Seattle, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, have also recently announced job cuts in the Seattle area.

T-Mobile is laying off 393 employees across Washington, according to a WARN filing filed on Monday.

Significant tech layoffs at major Seattle employers like Amazon, Expedia and Meta have sparked fears of a severe economic downturn in Seattle and Washington.

"The tech side layoffs are caused by AI and normal downsizing; however, the tech companies are certainly looking at other states to relocate employees to," Mark Harmsworth, director of the Small Business Center at the Washington Policy Center think tank, emailed The Center Square last week. "I suspect we will continue to see small layoff batches this year (quiet quitting) and at some point something more significant if Olympia continues to pursue the head, wealth and income tax direction.”

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Monday he would immediately slash tariffs on imports, which could mean lower costs for consumers on goods from the U.S. ally and trade partner.

Trump announced a framework of the trade deal with India on Monday after talking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump said Modi agreed to stop buying oil from Russia and agreed to buy more from the U.S. and Venezuela.

Trump recently directed the U.S. military to capture longtime Venezuelan Prime Minister Nicolás Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges in the U.S.

Trump also said the deal would end the long-running war between Russia and Ukraine.

"This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!" Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday.

Trump also agreed to significantly reduce tariffs on imports from India, which were among the highest in the world at 50%, including a 25% levy for buying Russian oil.

Going forward, Indian imports will face an 18% tariff, closer to the rates Trump has imposed on other nations. For example, Trump agreed to a 15% rate with the 27-member European Union last year.

Trump said India agreed to cut tariffs on U.S. goods to zero and limit other non-tariff trade barriers. As with other trade deals, Trump said India will buy more American products.

"The Prime Minister also committed to 'BUY AMERICAN,' at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products," Trump wrote in a social media post. "Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward."

Modi said it was a good deal for the world's third-largest nation of 1.4 billion people.

"Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%," Modi wrote in a social media post. "When two large economies and the world's largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation."

Modi also said he supports Trump's "efforts for peace."

The White House did not immediately release details of the framework deal with India.

France adopted a 2026 government budget on Monday following months of fraught negotiations after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived the latest in a string of no-confidence motions.

Lawmakers rejected two no-confidence motions from the hard left and far-right parties tabled after the premier on Friday forced his budget through parliament without a vote for the third and final time.

The outcome cleared the way for the budget's final approval after four months of political deadlock over government spending.

The stalemate had pushed Lecornu last month to make an about-face on his pledge not to force the budget through parliament without a vote, a decision he called a "partial failure".

But the 39-year-old premier survived the latest challenges after making concessions to gain the backing of the Socialists -- a key swing group in parliament.

He had weathered two previous rounds of no-confidence motions, also triggered by his use of the constitutional provision known as Article 49.3 to push the bill through parliament in earlier stages of the process.

Speaking ahead of Monday's votes, Lecornu criticised what he called those who want to "reject everything", targeting the far-right National Rally and the hard-left France Unbowed who sought to bring his government down.

Motions tabled by the France Unbowed, the Greens and other left-wing groups drew 260 of the 289 votes needed to oust the the government. The far-right motion secured only 135 votes.

- Deficit-cutting effort -

The bill aims to cut France's deficit to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 from 5.4 percent in 2025, after the government eased back from an earlier target of 4.7 percent.

The budget includes higher taxes on some businesses, expected to bring in about 7.3 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in 2026, though the Socialists failed to secure backing for a proposed wealth tax on the super-rich.

The Socialists did, however, win several sought-after measures, including a one-euro meal for students and an increase in a top-up payment for low-income workers.

The plan boosts military spending by 6.5 billion euros, a move the premier last week described as the "heart" of the budget.

- State spending row -

In December, lawmakers narrowly adopted the social security budget, part of the broader spending plan, postponing an unpopular pensions reform until January 2028, after President Emmanuel Macron's term ends.

They failed to reach a compromise on state expenses, complicated by a tug-of-war between a right-leaning Senate pushing for savings and the lower house where no wing has a majority and the left has demanded more tax income.

France is under pressure from the European Union to rein in its debt-to-GDP ratio -- the bloc's third-highest after Greece and Italy -- which is close to twice the EU's 60-percent ceiling.

The country has been bogged down in political crises since Macron called a snap poll in 2024, in which he lost his parliamentary majority.

Lecornu was named premier in September -- then renamed the following month having stepped down -- after his two predecessors were both toppled by parliament over cost-cutting measures.

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US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India on Monday, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine.

Trump said he was cutting tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent. He had previously levied 25 percent reciprocal tariffs, plus an additional 25 percent for New Delhi's purchases of Moscow's oil.

Modi said Monday he had a "wonderful" phone call with Trump and thanked him for reducing levies on Indian products -- but made no reference to Trump's assertion about halting Russian oil purchases.

India's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia -- which Washington says funds Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- has been a bone of contention for months as Trump seeks an elusive end to the war.

"Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said that the United States would lower the reciprocal tariff imposed on India during his waves of global "Liberation Day" tariffs last year from 25 percent to 18 percent.

A White House official told AFP that an additional 25 percent tariff Trump had slapped on India for its purchase of Russian oil in August would also be dropped.

Trump added that Modi "agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine." 

The United States is effectively overseeing Venezuelan oil exports since toppling the South American country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation in January.

- 'Greatest friends' -

Trump called Modi "one of my greatest friends" and said they spoke about "many things" including trade and ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Modi was one of the first leaders to visit the White House after Trump's inauguration for his second term in January 2025, but that did not stop difficult trade negotiations over the past year.

Russian oil has been the major hurdle. 

As recently as December, Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to New Delhi that he was ready to continue "uninterrupted shipments" of fuel to India despite US pressure.

Trump also said in October that Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil, but an agreement did not materialize at the time.

"Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 percent," Modi said in a post on X on Monday.

The Indian leader however made no mention of oil sales.

India emerged as a major buyer of Russian oil after the start of the Ukraine war, providing Moscow with a crucial export market as Europe sharply reduced purchases.

In 2024, Russia supplied nearly 36 percent of India's total crude imports, around 1.8 million barrels of discounted oil per day.

Modi added however that "President Trump’s leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity."

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for ending the brief but intense armed conflict between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan in May.

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