Ukraine imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies on Friday, a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alleged that China had been supplying weapons to Russia.
China's foreign ministry earlier on Friday dismissed Zelenskiy's accusation as groundless. While maintaining close economic ties with Russia during Moscow's three-year war in Ukraine, China has sought to project an image of neutrality and denies any involvement in the war.
Zelenskiy's administration on Friday published an updated list of sanctioned entities. The list, which also includes Russian companies, named Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd, all described as registered in China.
It did not give details of why they had been added to the sanctions list, which bans companies from doing business in Ukraine and freezes their assets there.
Ukraine exported $8 billion of goods to China in 2021, mostly raw materials and agricultural products, while it imported from China just under $11 billion, mainly in manufactured goods, according to the Ukrainian government.
On Thursday, Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv his government had evidence that Chinese firms were supplying what he described as artillery and gunpowder to Russia, and that Chinese entities are making some weapons on Russian soil.
He did not offer any evidence for the assertion.
A week earlier, Zelenskiy had said Chinese nationals were fighting on Russia's side in the war with Ukraine, including two who had been taken prisoner. A Chinese diplomat was summoned to the Ukrainian foreign ministry to provide an explanation.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials later said the men had signed up on their own initiative for money.
The magician’s greatest trick isn’t speed; it’s misdirection, dazzling the audience with one hand while the other reshapes reality. The debate over PresidentTrump’stariffs follows the same script.
Since Mr. Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, the stock market has consumed media headlines. The real news isn’t being told: Mr. Trump’s free market policies are working and making a real impact on working families. Most significantly, inflation is being defeated.
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on April 10, the Consumer Price Index fell for the first time in half a decade.
After relentless price hikes, where, under President Biden’s watch, inflation hit a 40-year high and overall inflation clocked in at an annual rate of 21%, the average American family is spending less on everyday essentials, not more. It all happened because Mr. Trump is going after the real driver of inflation: the runaway government printing press and regulatory state.
As Milton Friedman said, inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. It begins in Washington, and that was exactly where Trump started. He and his team launched an aggressive overhaul to eliminate waste, fraud and unneeded programs from the federal government. Billions of dollars are being saved, and progress is tracked daily on the Department of Government Efficiency website. This has enabled the president to follow through on his commitment to bring down inflation, and in less than 100 days, he has already brought it to its knees.
Energy prices, driven by regulations designed to restrict exploration, transportation and drilling, went through the roof during the Biden years and hit record highs. Upon assuming office, Mr. Trump immediately implemented executive orders to end the “war on energy.” Regulations were loosened. Prohibitions were lifted. Exploration was allowed once again. Right before Mr. Trump took office, the average price for Brent crude oil was $79.50. Prices approached $139 a barrel during the Biden presidency. Now, a barrel of oil is less than $60. Lower gas prices mean less money being spent at the pump and more money in your pockets.
The best Mr. Biden could do was blame Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Mr. Trump didn’t point fingers. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
The housing market tells the same story. Before Mr. Biden took office, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.77%. When he handed the White House back to Mr. Trump, it was 7%. For a family with a $400,000 mortgage, the difference in pay between those two rates is more than $1,000 a month. Now, mortgage rates are dropping again under Mr. Trump’s watch. Many analysts say they will creep back to 5% in the coming months.
Believe it or not, it’s Mr. Trump’s tariffs that caused this. They pushed more investors to buy safe U.S. Treasury bonds instead of stocks. The increased demand for these bonds caused mortgage rates to drop because mortgage lenders use Treasury yields as their benchmark when determining their rates.
Even the financial sector under Mr. Trump is stabilizing and showing economic relief. The Biden administration and its Department of Justice scapegoated payment processors such as Visa for “raising the cost of everything” through debit fraud prevention fees, which amount to a mere 2 cents for a $10 transaction, but Mr. Trump has taken a different approach. Instead of pointing fingers at private companies, his administration has focused on rolling back burdensome financial regulations, dialing down the adversarial tone toward fintech and payment networks, and signaling a return to a market-first approach. Put another way, Mr. Trump pointed the finger the other way at the government, and the early results were astounding.
Entrepreneurs are building again. Companies are hiring. Investment is flowing into sectors paralyzed for years by regulatory uncertainty.
Although critics obsess over stock tickers and sensational headlines, they miss the forest for the trees. Mr. Trump’s economic revival is already showing up in paychecks, gas pumps and mortgage statements. Ironically, it’s the very tariffs the media loves to fearmonger about that are helping make it happen. By pairing targeted tariffs with serious regulatory reform and government restraint, Mr. Trump isn’t causing inflation over the long term; he is solving it, and it is benefiting the people who need relief the most.
• Michael Glassner is the president of C&M Transcontinental LLC. He served as chief operating officer and deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President Inc. in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns and was a senior adviser on the 2024 campaign.
President Donald Trump at an Oval Office press availability with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
QUESTION: Mr. President, yesterday, Judge Boasberg, in a case against your administration, said the Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial order. Do you agree with that statement?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you're going to have to speak to the lawyers. We have great lawyers.
I can tell you this, we're doing a fantastic job of getting criminals out of this country who Biden allowed into the country. Hundreds of thousands of criminals, murderers and drug dealers. And I was elected because of the fact, I would say maybe that was the number one factor, a lot of reasons, the economy, a lot of things.
But one of the primary reasons I was elected is because I said, I'm going to get the criminals that he allowed to come into our country so stupidly through open borders. I'm going to get them out. And I got a lot of votes, record-setting numbers of votes, as you know.
We won everything, the popular vote, all seven swing states, we won everything. And that's what the public wanted. That's what I'm doing.
But you'll have to speak to the lawyers because it's up to them.
Google operates illegal monopolies over two separate markets related to digital advertising technology, a federal judge ruled on Thursday – dealing the Big Tech giant another historic antitrust loss that could result in a breakup of its online empire.
The bombshell ruling by US Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia determined that Google violated the Sherman Act by dominating the online publisher ad server market and the ad-exchange market that connects ad buyers to sellers.
“Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anticompetitive practices on its customers and eliminating desirable product features,” Brinkema wrote.
Google was found to have violated the Sherman Act by dominating the online publisher ad server market and the ad-exchange market that connects ad buyers to sellers.AFP via Getty Images
“In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web,” the judge added.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet were off 1.2% at $153.64 on Thursday.
A Google breakup “looks likely” in light of the court rulings, according to Mike Davis, an antitrust adviser to President Trump and founder of the conservative Internet Accountability Project.
The Justice Department has argued that the court should force Google to sell off its digital advertising products, especially the Google Ad Manager, which includes both its publisher ad server and its ad exchange.
“Google made its trillions by monopolizing the online advertising market, then Google uses its market power to crush competition, shutter small businesses and cancel conservatives,” Davis said. “That’s coming to an end.”
The News/Media Alliance, a nonprofit that represents more than 2,200 publishers including The Post and a longtime critic of Google’s business practices, said Brinkema’s ruling marked “a big day for our industry.”
“The news media industry hails the court’s decision to again hold Google accountable for decades of abuse of its market power,” said Danielle Coffey, the nonprofit’s president and CEO. “Google’s monopolistic tactics—this time in the advertising market—have starved content creators of the revenues they deserve and need to sustain quality journalism.”
Google claimed partial victory and vowed to challenge the rest of the judge’s determinations. CEO Sundar Pichai, above.AP
Brinkema said the DOJ had failed to prove that Google has a monopoly over a third market for advertiser ad networks during the three-week nonjury trial, which was originally brought in 2023 by the DOJ and a coalition of US states.
As a result, Google claimed partial victory and vowed to challenge the rest of the judge’s determinations.
“We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half,” Google vice president of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a statement.
“We disagree with the Court’s decision regarding our publisher tools. Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective,” Mulholland added.
Online watchdogs lauded Brinkema’s ruling as a major victory for Google’s critics.
“This ruling is an unequivocal win for the American people that will help lower prices, increase competition, and lead to a better internet for everyone,” said Sacha Howarth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project.
Judge Leonie Brinkema said the DOJ had failed to prove that Google has a monopoly over a third market for advertiser ad networks during the three-week nonjury trialGoldfarb Center for Public Affairs
“We applaud Judge Brinkema’s decision that Google must face accountability for its illegal and exclusionary conduct in the advertising technology sector,” Yelp General Counsel Aaron Schur said in a statement. “We are hopeful that the DOJ will propose significant remedies that provide a path to fair competition and an open internet for all.”
“With this decision, and the remedies the Court decides to impose, Gannett anticipates that balance will be restored to the digital advertising market and that publishers like Gannett will have the ability to compete fairly without having to contend with Google’s market manipulation,” a Gannett spokesperson said.
DOJ attorneys argued during trial that Google has harmed online publishers and businesses alike by abusing its power as primary gatekeeper for online ad deals. During the trial, the feds said Google leverages monopoly power to siphon up to 35 cents for every dollar spent on its ad platforms.
The Justice Department has argued that the court should force Google to sell off its digital advertising products, especially the Google Ad Manager, which includes both its publisher ad server and its ad exchange.Christopher Sadowski
Meanwhile, Google’s attorneys had argued that the DOJ’s case was based on an outdated understanding of the internet and warned that it carried a “serious risk of error or unintended consequences” if the government intervened.
A second trial phase will be held to “determine the appropriate remedies” to tackle Google’s monopoly, Brinkema said.
The ruling is another major legal blow for Google. Last year, a federal judge ruled in a separate case that Google has an illegal monopoly over the online search market.
The remedies phase for that trial is set to begin Monday, with prosecutors seeking a forced selloff of its Chrome web browser, among other fixes.
The father ofslain 17-year-old Austin Metcalfcrashed a press conference held by the family of his son’s accused killer before he was ultimately given the boot by Dallas police Thursday.
Jeff Metcalf, whose son was stabbed to death after he and 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony got into an argument at a track meet in Frisco earlier this month, made his presence known — delaying the event and leading to sharp criticism from a supporter of Anthony.
“The father being at this press conference … is a disrespect to the dignity of his son,” said Dominique Alexander, the leader of a local activist group, before Anthony’s parents broke their silence for the first time.
Jeff Metcalf, the father of the victim, crashed the press conference and was subsequently escorted out.CBS News Texas
“That was disrespectful and just shows you all the character – he was not invited, he knows that it’s inappropriate to be near this family, but he did it,” the Next Generation Action Network president added once the press conference began — which was streamed by Fox 4.
Moments earlier, Dallas police escorted Jeff Metcalf from the premises, according to reports.
One video showeda few officers standing around the grieving father as he left without incident. He reportedly did not say a word to the media during his brief appearance.
Anthony is facing a first-degree murder charge after police said he fatally knifed Metcalf, a football and track star, and left him to die in his twin brother’s arms at the athletic event on April 2.
The fatal confrontation at Frisco Memorial High School began when Metcalf reportedly asked Anthony to move out of his school’s tent during a rain delay, a police report states.
Anthony was in custody until this week after his bail was reduced and he was set free — but placed under house arrest.
His mother, Kala Hayes, said her family is “under attack” during the press conference.
“Whatever you think that happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boys, my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about,” she said in prepared remarks with her husband by her side.
“The lies and the false accusations that have been said about us, especially over the past week, has been overwhelming,” Hayes said, claiming it has put her family in danger.
At one point, Hayes became overcome with emotion and spoke through tears.
The high-profile killing has flamed racial tensions because Metcalf was white and Anthony is black.
The alleged killer’s mother other Kayla Hayes.WFAA
Anthony has claimed that he stabbed Metcalf in self-defense.
During the argument, Anthony allegedly told Metcalf to “touch me and see what happens,” before witnesses saw the victim grab or push Anthony, sparking the stabbing, according to a police report obtained by the Dallas News.
“I don’t know why we are being targeted and discriminated against before a fair trial,” Hayes said while expressing condolences to Metcalf’s family.
“Our son deserved the same rights under the law that everyone is afforded to.”
