[🇺🇸] USA News/Views

[Saif]

US startup Apptronik raises $350 mln to create humanoid robots

US-based robotics firm Apptronik has secured $350 million in a recent funding round, spearheaded by B Capital and Capital Factory, with additional backing from Google’s parent company Alphabet. The funding will be used to scale production of the company’s humanoid robot, Apollo, which is...

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US startup Apptronik raises $350 mln to create humanoid robots

Apollo, the humanoid robot built by Apptronik, Inc. at Austin, Texas, US. Photo: Reuters/Evan Garcia/File photo

US-based robotics firm Apptronik has secured $350 million in a recent funding round, spearheaded by B Capital and Capital Factory, with additional backing from Google's parent company Alphabet.

As per a report by Reuters, the funding will be used to scale production of the company's humanoid robot, Apollo, which is designed to automate tasks in supply chains, such as moving packages in warehouses and manufacturing facilities.

The investment places Apptronik alongside other robotics players, such as Tesla and Nvidia-backed Figure AI, in the rapidly evolving field of humanoid robotics, states the report. With AI advancements at the forefront, these companies are racing to develop robots capable of performing increasingly complex tasks. Elon Musk's Tesla, for instance, has made significant strides in its Optimus robot, which is intended to assist with household chores.

As per Reuters, Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas described the funding as a pivotal moment for the robotics industry, likening it to the rapid growth seen in large language models (LLMs) in 2023. He pointed to 2025 as a key year for robotics, anticipating major developments in the field.

Apptronik aims to extend Apollo's use beyond logistics, with plans to explore applications in sectors like healthcare and elder care. The company has also confirmed partnerships with Google DeepMind's robotics team, automotive giant Mercedes-Benz, and logistics firm GXO. However, details regarding these commercial agreements remain under wraps, adds the report.​

 

[Saif]

Trump deporting people at a slower rate than Biden's last year in office

US President Donald Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, previously unpublished US Department of Homeland Security data show, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden's administration. A senior Trump administratio

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump deporting people at a slower rate than Biden's last year in office
REUTERS
Published :
Feb 22, 2025 01:10
Updated :
Feb 22, 2025 01:10

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conduct an arrest as part of US President Donald Trump's wide-ranging immigration crackdown in Chicago, Illinois, US January 26, 2025 in a still image from video. Photo : Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS/Files

US President Donald Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, previously unpublished US Department of Homeland Security data show, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden's administration.

A senior Trump administration official and experts said deportations were poised to rise in coming months as Trump opens up new avenues to ramp up arrests and removals.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Biden-era deportation numbers appeared "artificially high" because of higher levels of illegal immigration.

Trump campaigned for the White House promising to deport millions of illegal immigrants in the largest deportation operation in US history. Yet initial figures suggest Trump could struggle to match higher deportation rates during the last full year of the Biden administration when large numbers of migrants were caught crossing illegally, making them easier to deport.

The deportation effort could take off in several months, aided by agreements from Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica to take deportees from other nations, the sources said.

The US military has assisted in more than a dozen military deportation flights to Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and India. The Trump administration has also flown Venezuelan migrants to the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. Trump said in late January that his administration would prepare to detain up to 30,000 migrants there despite pushback from civil liberties groups.

The military-assisted deportations could grow considering the Pentagon's vast budget and ability to surge resources, according to Adam Isacson, a security expert with the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

EXPANDING DEPORTATIONS

Meanwhile, the administration is moving to make it easier to arrest deportable migrants without criminal records and to detain more people with final deportation orders.

Last month, the Justice Department issued a memo allowing ICE officers to arrest migrants at US immigration courts, rolling back a Biden-era policy that limited such arrests.

On Wednesday, the US State Department designated Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and seven other criminal gangs and cartels as terrorist organizations. Under US immigration law, alleged gang members designated as terrorists and people with ties to the groups could become deportable.

The Trump administration is also pulling from ICE’s investigative arm, the Justice Department, the IRS, and State Department to assist with arrests and investigations.

Jessica Vaughan, a policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors lower levels of immigration, said those investigative agents could help crack down on employers who hire workers without legal status and people who have final deportation orders.

“Those are all harder cases,” Vaughan said. “In the case of a worksite operation, you've got a lot of planning to do, some investigation that precedes it, all of which takes a lot of time.”

During Trump’s first three weeks in office, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 14,000 people, border czar Tom Homan said last week. That amounts to 667 per day - twice last year’s average but on pace for a quarter million arrests annually - not millions.

ICE arrests spiked to around 800-1,200 per day during Trump’s first week in office, then fell off as detention centers filled up and officers surged to target cities returned home.

“It's going to be like turning a supertanker for the first few months,” Isacson said. “The civilian part of the US government can only do so much.”

During Trump's first month in office, ICE doubled arrests of people with criminal charges or convictions compared with the same period a year ago, according to data provided by DHS.

While arrests have risen, ICE detention space remains a limiting factor. The agency currently holds around 41,100 detainees, with funding to hold 41,500.

About 19,000 of those detainees were arrested by ICE while about 22,000 were picked up by US border authorities, according to agency data published in mid-February.

Of the 19,000 arrested by ICE, around 2,800 had no criminal record, according to the same agency data. The figure was up from 858 in mid-January, before Trump took office.

The Republican-led US Senate on Friday passed a bill to provide $340 billion over four years for border security, deportations, energy deregulation and additional military spending. But the party remains divided on how to move forward with the funding plan, with Trump pressing for the funding to be combined with tax cuts.​

 

[Saif]

Trump urges Musk to be more aggressive in bid to shrink US government

US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged billionaire Elon Musk to be more aggressive in his efforts to shrink the federal government despite uproar over layoffs and deep spending cuts. “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” Trump posted all in

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump urges Musk to be more aggressive in bid to shrink US government
REUTERS
Published :
Feb 22, 2025 21:22
Updated :
Feb 22, 2025 21:22

Elon Musk listens to US President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb 11, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged billionaire Elon Musk to be more aggressive in his efforts to shrink the federal government despite uproar over layoffs and deep spending cuts.

“Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” Trump posted all in uppercase letters on his Truth Social platform. “Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA!”

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE - an entity created by Trump - has swept across federal government agencies, firing tens of thousands of federal government workers from scientists to park rangers, mostly those on probation.​

 

[Saif]

UN rights chief laments ‘shift in direction’ in United States

The UN rights chief yesterday voiced deep concern over the United States’ “fundamental shift” in direction since Donald Trump returned to power, and decried the “unchecked power” of “unelected tech oligarchs”.

www.thedailystar.net

UN rights chief laments ‘shift in direction’ in United States

The UN rights chief yesterday voiced deep concern over the United States' "fundamental shift" in direction since Donald Trump returned to power, and decried the "unchecked power" of "unelected tech oligarchs".

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk voiced his strongest rebuke to date of the dramatic about-face seen in the United States in recent weeks.

"We have enjoyed bipartisan support from the United States of America on human rights over many decades," he said, before adding: "I am now deeply worried by the fundamental shift in direction that is taking place domestically and internationally".

Without naming Trump, he decried that "policies intended to protect people from discrimination are now labelled as discriminatory".

"Progress is being rolled back on gender equality. Disinformation, intimidation and threats, notably against journalists and public officials, risk undermining the work of independent media and the functioning of institutions."

Turk also lamented that "divisive rhetoric is being used to distort, deceive and polarise".

"This is generating fear and anxiety among many," he warned. "On these issues and more, my office will continue building on our long history of constructive engagement."

Since returning to the White House on January 20, Trump has signed a whopping 79 executive orders touching on issues from foreign policy to transgender rights.​

 

[Saif]

Greenland rejects Trump pledge to make the island American

Greenland’s prime minister on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump’s pledge to take the Arctic territory ‘one way or the other’, insisting that islanders did not see their future with the United States or even Denmark...

www.newagebd.net

Greenland rejects Trump pledge to make the island American
Agence France-Presse . Nuuk, Denmark 05 March, 2025, 22:08

Sermitsiaq Mountain looms behind a row of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday. US president Donald Trump has strained relations with Denmark by repeatedly signalling that he wants control over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory which will hold legislative elections on March 11. | AFP photo

Greenland’s prime minister on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump’s pledge to take the Arctic territory ‘one way or the other’, insisting that islanders did not see their future with the United States or even Denmark.

Mute Egede rejected Trump’s expansionist ambitions to annex the sparsely populated but mineral-rich and strategically placed island, in a partisan address to the US Congress in Washington on Tuesday.

‘We don’t want to be Americans, or Danes either. We are Greenlanders. The Americans and their leader must understand that,’ Egede wrote in a Facebook post.

‘We are not for sale and can’t just be taken. Our future is decided by us in Greenland,’ he said, six days before the island’s legislative elections where the longstanding question of independence tops the agenda.

Trump offered only passing lines on world affairs in his speech, focusing on his domestic goals like rounding up undocumented immigrants and slashing government spending.

But he repeated his aspirations to take Greenland and claimed an initial victory on retaking control of the Panama Canal.

Trump said he had a message for the ‘incredible people’ of Greenland. ‘We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,’ he added.

But he made clear he would not give up if persuasion fails, saying: ‘One way or the other we’re going to get it.

‘We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.’

Denmark, of which self-governing Greenland is part, also rebuffed Trump’s aspirations to take the island, with China and Russia increasingly active in the Arctic, as climate change opens up sea routes.

In Copenhagen, Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen told public broadcaster DR that US annexation of Greenland ‘won’t happen’.

‘The direction that Greenland wants to take will be decided by Greenlanders,’ he said.

Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called for cool heads to prevail.

‘I think everyone, including us, should be cautious about having all kinds of opinions about the future’ of Greenland, he told Danish television TV2.

US threats to take Greenland would once have been unthinkable, with Denmark a treaty ally of the United States under NATO.

But Trump has made clear he has little patience for European allies, which he again denounced for not spending more on their militaries, with Trump instead seeing a return to an era of big powers taking what they want.

He has similarly vowed to take back the Panama Canal, the crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that the United States handed to Panama at the end of 1999.

Trump declared triumph after Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison decided to sell its Panama ports to a US-led consortium.

Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio had complained that rival China had gained too much influence over the canal and could shut it down in a conflict with the United States.

‘To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,’ he said, as he mentioned the port deal.

‘We didn’t give it to China. Gave it to Panama — and we’re taking it back,’ he said.

Trump had earlier not ruled out military force to seize either the Panama Canal or Greenland.

Trump has paradoxically sought to cast himself as a peacemaker. He has vowed to end the war in Ukraine and has rattled allies by suspending aid to the country, which Russia invaded three years ago.

Trump and vice president JD Vance berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky when he visited the White House on Friday, calling him ungrateful.

Addressing Congress, Trump read a message from Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader sought to repair the damage and voiced a willingness to a sign a deal in which the United States would take much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

‘It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides,’ Trump said.

The Trump administration at the same time has cancelled more than 90 per cent of US development assistance, traditionally a key source of US non-military influence.

Trump has described aid as not in the US interest.​

 

[Saif]

Panama president says Trump ‘lying’ about reclaiming canal

Panamanian president Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday accused his US counterpart Donald Trump of ‘lying’ about Washington taking back the Panama Canal...

www.newagebd.net

Panama president says Trump ‘lying’ about reclaiming canal
Agence France-Presse . Panama City 05 March, 2025, 22:02

Panamanian president Jose Raul Mulino on Wednesday accused his US counterpart Donald Trump of ‘lying’ about Washington taking back the Panama Canal.

‘Once again, president Trump is lying. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery,’ Mulino wrote on X.

‘I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation,’ Mulino added, after Trump said that his administration had started to take back the vital waterway.

‘To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,’ Trump said in a speech to Congress Tuesday. ‘We’re taking it back.’

Under mounting pressure from Washington, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium.

CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-per cent stake in the Panama Ports Company and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by asset manager BlackRock.

The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said.

Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway.

But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal — a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran.

He has refused to rule out a military invasion of Panama to regain control, sparking angry protests and a complaint to the United Nations by the Central American nation.

Since 1999, the canal has been run by the Panama Canal Authority — an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by Panama’s president and National Assembly.

The 80-kilometer long canal handles five per cent of global maritime trade, and 40 per cent of US container traffic.

Beijing has consistently denied interfering in the canal.​

 

[Saif]

French deputy asks for return of Statue of Liberty

France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said Sunday.

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French deputy asks for return of Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on 28 October 1886 for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi

A plane is seen during take off in New Jersey behind the Statue of Liberty in New York`s Harbor as seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York on 20 February 2016 Reuters file photo

France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said Sunday.

“Give us back the Statue of Liberty”, centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement.

“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” he told cheering supporters.

“‘We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,’” he added.

The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on 28 October 1886 for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi.

Paris does have a far smaller copy of the statue on a small island on the Seine in Paris.

Glucksmann, a staunch defender of Ukraine, has strongly criticised President Donald Trump’s radical change of US policy on the war.

He also took aim at Trump’s cuts to US research institutions, which has already prompted a French government initiative to attract some of them to work in France

“The second thing we’re going to say to the Americans is: ‘if you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them,’” continued Glucksmann.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his government has cut federal research funding and sought to dismiss hundreds of federal workers working on health and climate research.

Glucksmann also criticised far-right leaders in France, accusing them of being a “fan club” for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president’s efforts to cut spending.​

 

[Saif]

US senator and Trump supporter Daines meets China’s vice premier in Beijing

U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng with warm exchanges in front of journalists on Saturday even as tensions between their countries spiked over trade tariffs and the handling of the illegal trade in fentanyl. Daines, the firs

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

US senator and Trump supporter Daines meets China’s vice premier in Beijing
AP
Published :
Mar 22, 2025 20:18
Updated :
Mar 22, 2025 20:18

U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng with warm exchanges in front of journalists on Saturday even as tensions between their countries spiked over trade tariffs and the handling of the illegal trade in fentanyl.

Daines, the first member of Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office in January, will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday and the nation’s No. 2 official will give him an introduction to China’s policies, according to He.

Daines, who previously worked for American consumer goods company Procter & Gamble in south China’s economic hub of Guangzhou, said this trip marked his sixth visit to China. He had met Li in 2018, when he served as the Communist Party secretary of Shanghai.

He said this visit comes at a time when there are some important issues to discuss between China and the U.S.

“I’ve always believed in having constructive dialogue and that has been the nature of all my visits to China over the course of many years,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in China posted on X later Saturday that Daines voiced Trump’s ongoing call for Beijing to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors from China. Daines also expressed hopes that further high-level talks between the two countries will take place in the near future.

Vice Premier He said that China firmly opposes the politicization and weaponization of economic and trade issues, and is willing to engage in candid dialogue with the U.S. on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, official news agency Xinhua reported. He said the two countries have many common interests and they can become partners and friends to achieve mutual success.

Ahead of the trip that began on Thursday, Daines’ office said he is coordinating closely with the White House and will be “carrying President Trump’s America First agenda.” Daines served as a go-between during the first Trump administration when tariffs were also a major issue.

Daines, a senator for Montana, said on X earlier this week that he would be talking with Chinese officials about curbing the production and distribution of fentanyl and “the need to reduce the trade deficit and ensure fair market access for our Montana farmers, ranchers and producers.”

Just months into Trump’s second term, tensions between the world’s two largest economies have risen after the U.S. imposed 20% duties on Chinese goods and drew retaliatory tariffs of 15% on U.S. farm goods from China. Additionally, the U.S. accuses China of doing too little to stop the export of precursor materials for fentanyl, a highly potent opiate blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S.

In response, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this month accused Washington of “meeting good with evil” and said China will continue to retaliate for the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs.”

Beijing also responded with a report detailing its efforts to control the illegal trade in fentanyl, specifically the ingredients for the opioid that are made in China.

The report said that China and the U.S. have held multiple high-level meetings since early last year to promote cooperation, and that its Narcotics Control Bureau holds regular exchanges with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

China is committed to cooperation, the report said, “but firmly opposes the U.S. imposition of unlawful sanctions and unreasonable pressure on China on the pretext of responding to fentanyl-related issues.”

Daines arrived in Beijing on Thursday and met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. His trip to the Chinese capital followed a visit to Vietnam where he met top leaders.​

 

[Saif]

Trump signs election order calling for proof of US citizenship to vote

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that would require voters to prove they are US citizens and attempts to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The sweeping order also would seek to take federal funding away from states that do not c

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump signs election order calling for proof of US citizenship to vote
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 26, 2025 23:04
Updated :
Mar 26, 2025 23:04

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that would require voters to prove they are US citizens and attempts to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

The sweeping order also would seek to take federal funding away from states that do not comply.

Trump has long questioned the US electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.

The president and his Republican allies also have made baseless claims about widespread voting by non-citizens, which is illegal and rarely occurs.

Last year the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a bill that would ban non-citizens from registering to vote in federal elections, a practice that is already illegal. It did not pass the Senate, which was then controlled by Democrats.

The White House's order seeks to achieve similar goals. Voting rights groups argued that it, like the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that did not become law, would disenfranchise voters, particularly people of color, who do not have access to passports or other required identification.

"We've got to straighten out our elections," Trump said on Tuesday as he signed the order at the White House. "This country is so sick because of the elections, the fake elections and the bad elections, we're going to straighten that out one way or the other."

The order is likely to draw legal challenges.

"This is a blatant attack on democracy and an authoritarian power grab," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of advocacy group Public Citizen.

In recent years Republicans have tried to put more restrictions on voting, while Democrats have sought to make it easier to vote by supporting mail-in ballot access and early voting opportunities.

Public Citizen noted that about 146 million Americans do not have a passport, and Brennan Center research showed 9 percent of US citizens who are eligible to vote, or 21.3 million people, do not have proof of citizenship "readily available."

According to US law, the US secretary of state can unilaterally cancel passports if it determines they were "illegally, fraudulently, or erroneously obtained" or created through illegality or fraud.

The White House argued that Trump's order would prevent foreign nationals from interfering in US elections. Under the new directive, voters would be asked a citizenship question on the federal voting form for the first time.

"Federal election-related funds will be conditioned on states complying with the integrity measures set forth by federal law, including the requirement that states use the national mail voter registration form that will now require proof of citizenship," a White House fact sheet about the order said.

The order criticized policies allowing mail-in ballots to arrive and be counted after Election Day. The order said Trump's policy is to "require that votes be cast and received by the election date established in law."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 18 states along with Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, DC, will count ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day, regardless of when they arrive.

Trump's order also requires the secretary of Homeland Security to ensure states have access to systems that verify the citizenship or immigration status of people who register to vote.

It also directs the Department of Homeland Security and an administrator from the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency to review states' voter registration lists, using a subpoena if necessary, to make sure they are consistent with federal requirements.

The Republican National Committee said on Tuesday it had requested public records from 48 states and Washington, DC, to check how they maintain their voter registration lists.

"Voters have a right to know that their states are properly maintaining voter rolls and quickly acting to clean voter registration lists by removing ineligible voters," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.​