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CNN  —  A crush of domestic and global confrontations initiated by Donald Trump could be decided by this question: How much power does the president really have? Imagery from Trump’s trip to the Persian Gulf this week built on three months of the White House’s aggressive flexing of often-questionable authority at home. Purple carpets, fighter jet escorts and opulent state banquets laid on by monarchs and princes all fueled the chosen rationale of Trump’s second term — that he’s a president of exceptional, even unique power. But if his presidency is to move beyond personality-cult stunts into genuine legislative achievements…

Bangkok, Thailand CNN  —  Police in Thailand have arrested a man on suspicion of wildlife trafficking after he was found with two baby orangutans in a basket at a gas station in the Thai capital. The 47-year-old suspect was apprehended Wednesday as he was about to deliver the two primates to a customer, Thai police said in a statement on Thursday. Officers discovered the orangutans – one about 1-year-old and the other 1 month-old – in plastic baskets, police said. Images released by authorities showed one of the orangutans in a plastic basket, wearing a diaper and hugging a soft…

Talks between Russia and Ukraine — two countries locked in a bloody conflict for more than a decade — are set to take place in Turkey on Friday, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to skip the summit. The Kremlin announced Thursday that Putin would not travel to Turkey after days of speculation he could show up for a meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The US has played down expectations for a breakthrough but the fact that the two sides will be in the same room is significant. Here is what we do – and don’t – know:…

Hong Kong CNN  —  A surprise breakthrough in US-China trade tensions has unleashed a flurry of activity across Chinese factories and ports as companies in both countries rush to make the most of a 90-day rollback of heavy tariffs announced earlier this week. For Niki Ye, a salesperson in southern China who sources toys for sale on Amazon, a 30% spike in orders since that announcement has meant her company is staffing up to meet demand. “And this is only the first week,” she said. Liu Changhai, a sales manager at an export-oriented agency in eastern China that specializes in…

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East visit.An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble.The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel.There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is…

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service are investigating a social media post by former FBI Director James Comey that several U.S. officials interpreted as calling for the assassination of President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday.In a now-deleted post on Instagram, Comey shared a photo of what he described as a “shell formation” on a beach that formed the numbers “8647.” The post was swiftly condemned by administration officials, Republican lawmakers and Trump allies who said it blatantly targeted Trump, the 47th president of the United States.According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “eighty-six” can…

As Donald Trump gears up for his big trade battle with Xi Jinping’s China, is the US president fighting the wrong economic war?A perusal of Federal Reserve data shows, rather convincingly, that the US now imports roughly four times as much from Global South nations, ex-China, than from Asia’s biggest economy. In March, for example, the US imported about US$29.3 billion worth of goods from China and $114 billion from the Global South.This is no aberration, as the accompanying chart shows. US-bound shipments from Latin America, Africa, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and elsewhere are, taken together, increasingly bigfooting those…

CNN  —  Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has made several moves to crack down on immigration, and one of his efforts was in front of the Supreme Court on Thursday. The justices heard arguments in a case around Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for those born in the United States to parents who are either unlawfully present in the US or on a temporary visa. Though, the court also narrowed in more specifically on a procedural question around lower court judges’ methods for blocking Trump orders. Several of the Trump administration’s actions on…

New York CNN  —  President Donald Trump isn’t pleased with Apple CEO Tim Cook’s plan to manufacture iPhones bound for the United States at newly built plants in India. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said Thursday in Qatar. “I said to him, ‘Tim, you’re my friend. I treated you very good. You’re coming in with $500 billion.’ But now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’” Trump has levied historic tariffs on practically all goods coming into the United States to boost domestic manufacturing, improve the balance of…

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — As Romania braces for a high-stakes presidential runoff this weekend between two starkly different candidates, 25-year-old medical resident Alexandra Bejinariu is anxious about which direction her European Union nation will choose in the closely watched vote.Like many voters, the young medic views Sunday’s ballot between hard-right nationalist frontrunner George Simion and pro-Western reformist and incumbent Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan as a choice for the country’s geopolitical future.It’s a choice between “East or West,” she told The Associated Press in Bucharest. “It has divided my family, my relatives, my friends,” she said.Romania is gripped by a deep…