The US President has been increasingly taking action against the media since the beginning of his second term in office. The Justice Department had already tried this year to force statements from journalists from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post in investigations into revelations. After legal resistance from the media companies, these subpoenas were later withdrawn.
Warner Brothers takeover further postponed
The takeover of Hollywood veteran Warner Brothers by competitor Paramount has been postponed until mid-August by court order. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin extended the compulsory break that she had ordered just a few days ago by another two weeks.
The trigger for the timeout was the lawsuit filed by twelve US states that want to overturn the deal worth more than $100 billion. They first demand a long-term interim injunction against the completion of the takeover. The judge explained that the extended break until August 17th was necessary in order to decide on the parties’ applications regarding the interim injunction.
USA announces new tariffs against 60 trading partners
The US government has announced new tariffs against dozens of trading partners due to allegedly inadequate measures against forced labor. This also includes certain products from the European Union, as the office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced. Read more here.
House of Representatives opposes Trump
US President Donald Trump is increasingly feeling headwind from parliament for his Iran course. The House of Representatives again passed a resolution on the conflict and called on the Republican to end the military operation. The decision has no immediate consequence, but shows that the political pressure on Trump is increasing – especially since the midterm elections for Congress are approaching in November. The resolution was passed in the parliamentary chamber with 214 votes in favor and 208 MPs voted against.
The House of Representatives had already spoken out against the war in June. The resolution stated that a formal declaration of war by Congress was required for combat operations. There had also already been a resolution in the Senate to oppose the Iran war and Trump’s conduct of the war.
- Bab al-Mandab blocked: Plan B becomes a trap
Recently the war escalated again with new attacks. The USA and Israel launched their airstrikes on February 28th Iran started. In mid-June, the USA and Iran agreed on a framework agreement that was intended to pave the way to ending the war through in-depth negotiations. A ceasefire had also been in effect since April, but Trump recently declared it to be over after numerous violations. Tehran also no longer feels bound by the preliminary declaration of intent.
