As it happened: Troubling new US data could spark panic

There have been new questions raised about the qualifications of the new White House press secretary after doubts emerged on her qualifications as a lawyer.

Katie Zacharia has long described herself as a lawyer as she has worked to establish herself as a commentator for conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax. But so far, she and the White House have offered no evidence that she passed the bar exam in any state or in China, where she worked for a large law firm years ago.

President Donald Trump was asked by reporters where Zacharia had passed the bar exam, following a report by the independent outlet Popular Information that she did not appear to be licensed in any state.

Trump stepped aside to allow Zacharia to answer.

“When I moved to China,” she responded over the sound of Marine One whirring in the background. It is not clear what she had intended to say or whether she had finished the sentence.

China’s notoriously difficult National Unified Legal Professional Qualification Examination can only be taken by Chinese citizens.

Asked what credentials she held, the White House passed along a statement from Zacharia, who received a bachelor of arts degree from Pepperdine University in 2007 and received her law degree from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2011, according to the school and her LinkedIn bio.

“I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,” it read.

The speculation comes off the back of Zacharia's poor performance in her first press briefing since taking over as press secretary from Karoline Leavitt.

A lawsuit has been launched over Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s role as a top US government envoy.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington group claims he should only continue in the post if he reveals his personal finances and potential conflicts of interest.

The organisation argues Kushner’s role as a chief negotiator in vital US foreign policy spheres means he should be considered an official government employee and comply with all relevant requirements.

Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, are considered to be the president’s closest and most influential diplomats.

Neither has been confirmed by the Senate, and Witkoff is a formal employee, although the wealthy businessman does not draw a taxpayer-funded salary.

The White House has insisted Kushner remains a private citizen and is performing diplomatic duties in a volunteer capacity.

But the lawsuit claims he is representing the US while at the same time managing an investment company that overseas billions of dollars of foreign-owned assets.

Kushner diplomatic duties including negotiations in the US-Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He is married to Ivanka Trump.

Trump has echoed a far-right Islamophobic attack on Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, falsely claiming he was “part of the Muslim Brotherhood”, branches of which have ties to terror organisations.

“Yeah, he’s a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdul, or as I call him Mohammed, Mohammad Al Sayed, he’s a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac as he prepared to board Air Force One in Arizona.

“He said that years ago. He was a proud member, and you can’t have a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Congress being on one of our security committees, right?“

The allegation that El Sayed or his family have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have been lobbied by conservative pundits, but the BBC says a fact check revealed no personal ties between El Sayed and the organisation.

El Sayed has been doing well in the polls in Michigan against Republican Mike Rogers.

Multiple Republican senators have urged Trump to back out of a deal to buy Russian diesel.

Trump announced the deal, which would see the US make multiple purchases of Russian stock, as part of an effort to quench voter anger over high prices. Experts have said all the purchases at up to less than a week’s worth of diesel usage.

Now, six Republican senators including Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Mitch McConnell, have all signed a letter urging Trump to halt the agreement.

They say it will offer limited relief for Americans, while helping Putin fund his war with Ukraine.

Eight US states have sued OpenAI, alleging the company deceived parents about the risks ChatGPT posed for teens.

The attorneys general for Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana all filed suits seeking financial compensation and safeguards for ChatGPT.

According to CNN, the Iowa filing claims ChatGPT is too “agreeable” to suggestions that children harm themselves or others.

Trump has declared that he never intended to send the US military to attack Greenland, despite having repeatedly alluded to just such a measure multiple times in the past.

The president was speaking at a rally in Arizona, where he’s campaigning for the Republican party in the midterms.

“You heard about Greenland. Oh, it’s terrible. It’s so terrible what President Trump has done, you know, it was owned by Denmark, very good country, good, beautiful country, but they’re pretty far away and we’re right next to it and it’s a massive piece of land, you know, it’s much bigger than Texas and it just adds to the, to our beautiful plate,” he told the crowd.

“Our plate is getting larger all the time. How about Venezuela? We’re doing pretty good there too.

“But you know, they took a lot of heat from the fake news back there. They said, what a terrible way to talk about Greenland. This is terrible. Remember, they thought I was going to send my military out to attack Greenland.

“I wasn’t, but I complained about it very strongly to NATO. And really strongly, and I said, not that NATO hasn’t helped us because we don’t need any help with Iran. We’ve done so well there.”

Pope Leo XIV has resumed his regular diet, began walking and celebrated Mass in the hospital as he recovered from surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his lung, the Vatican said.

Questions remained about whether the cancer had spread, while Peru’s president suggested Leo might have to alter his planned visit to Latin America next month.

Blood tests and a chest X-ray showed the 71-year-old pope was recovering normally, his two doctors said.

“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physiotherapy and has begun walking in his room. He resumed his regular diet and had breakfast and lunch,” Dr Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, and Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the head thoracic surgeon at Gemelli hospital, said.

“Recovery is proceeding as planned.”

Yesterday's surgery confirmed that Leo has lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner has poured scorn on Donald Trump’s claims he should have been awarded the prize.

Navi Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was announced as the awardee for her efforts to promote international law and global peace, the Nobel committee said recently.

Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, slammed the decision, and the US soon after placed additional sanctions on the ICC.

Speaking to CNN overnight, South Africa-born Pillay referred to Trump’s declaration the prize should have gone for him, and to his oft-repeated claim to have settled eight wars.

“Firstly, none of that is true. The people watching this program must realise that,” she said.

“So it’s just fictional that he’s resolved these conflicts - conflicts, particularly in Africa (have) been raging for some time.

“The UN has been involved there and now of course Ukraine and Russia is, is the conflict there is continuing unabated, so that’s not true at all.“

Pillay said she hadn’t applied for or asked for the award, but she hoped it would help her continue her work in “protecting and advancing human rights”.

Acclaimed Irish novelist Sally Rooney has pulled her books from UK shelves over her support for Palestine Action, a protest group the UK has declared a terrorist organisation after an RAF base break-in.

Rooney’s publisher Faber said in a statement that the outlawing of the organisation, which Rooney had previously openly declared she would donate money to, meant they were unable to pass on any money her books earned in the UK.

“To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher. As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format,” the statement read.

In her own statement, Rooney said she was in full agreement with the publisher.

“I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences,” she said.

The 35-year-old is the author of four much-praised novels, including Normal People and her latest, Intermezzo.

The UK Labour government declared Palestine Action a terror group in June last year after members of the group broke into a RAF base to protest UK support for the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

More than 1200 people have since been charged for their connections with the group, though none have been convicted as the UK Supreme Court prepares to hear a bid to overturn the ban in November.