KEY POINTS

China reduced its stash of Treasury to $652.3 billion, the lowest level since September 2008.

Japan, the single largest foreign holder, shed approximately $47 billion to $1.191 trillion.

The U.S.-Iran conflict and a subsequent surge in crude oil prices sent currencies tumbling.

China has been gradually reducing its direct Treasury exposure since its peak in 2013, “shadow holding” in custodial countries.

Federal agents can no longer make arrests without exceptional circumstances in and around three Manhattan buildings where immigration proceedings occur, a judge ruled Monday.

The decision by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel brings an abrupt halt to a practice begun under the Trump administration that enabled agents to take into custody individuals who follow requirements to appear before immigration judges.

The arrests have resulted in dramatic scenes in courthouse hallways as those being detained were sometimes pulled away from emotional family members.

Trump has repeatedly made false claims that white Afrikaners facing genocide with costs of resettling them at $100m

The US government has said it will increase the number of white South Africans it admits as refugees this year from about 7,500 to 17,500, claiming that “unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation.”

Since starting his second term in office last year, Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims that white Afrikaners are racially targeted and face a “white genocide”, which South Africa’s government has furiously rebutted.

His administration also cut aid to South Africa, boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg last year and disinvited South Africa from this year’s G20, which will be held at one of Trump’s resorts in Miami.

Rising volume of components imported from China prompts warning of cannibalisation of European industries

Europe is facing a fresh China shock that threatens to cannibalise local factories, leading to job losses and de facto colonisation of industry by Beijing, trade analysts and representatives have said.

They fear the plunging exchange rate and support for Chinese “zombie firms” has echoes of the crisis in the US 25 years ago when the term “China shock” was coined. It referred to the impact of China bursting on to the global trade stage after becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, with soaring imports displacing local industries and causing the loss of up to 2.5m jobs.

Jens Eskelund, the president of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing and a seasoned China watcher, said: “When people think of China imports, they think of finished goods like EVs [electric vehicles] but that is not where the problem is. It is the sheer volume of components being imported from China. If anything, Europe is getting more dependent on China.”

The New York Times sued the Defense Department on Monday for the second time in five months, arguing that a requirement that journalists be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment.

The escort policy is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs,” a Times spokesman, Charlie Stadtlander, said in an email to The Associated Press.

“As we have said before: Americans deserve visibility into how their government is being run, and the actions the military is taking in their name and with their tax dollars.”

EPA outlines effort to kill Biden-era rules as critics condemn RFK Jr and Lee Zeldin’s ‘hocus pocus’

The Trump administration has announced a plan to kill Biden-era drinking water limits on four Pfas “forever chemicals”, and to delay the implementation of standards for two other compounds.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing two separate rules to delay and rescind the limits. The rules must go through an approval process that can take several years, and almost certainly will be challenged in court.

The Trump administration’s plan comes just two years after the US Environmental Protection Agency set legally enforceable drinking water limits for six of the most dangerous Pfas compounds that have been studied. The chemicals include some of the most toxic substances, and are linked to a range of cancers and other serious health problems.

Health minister in Nuuk condemns doctor’s presence in US delegation as ‘deeply problematic

Greenland’s government has criticised the arrival of a US doctor in Nuuk alongside Donald Trump’s special envoy, Jeff Landry, saying that Greenlanders are not “experimental subjects”.

Joseph Griffin said he had joined the delegation as a volunteer to “assess the medical needs” of the Arctic island, which the US president has repeatedly threatened to invade.

Greenland’s health minister, Anna Wangenheim, immediately condemned his presence, describing it as “deeply problematic”.

“The health sector in Greenland has historically been the subject of geopolitical interest,” she said in a statement hinting at deep sensitivities in the now largely autonomous territory, which as a Danish colony experienced repeated health-related abuses of Indigenous Greenlandic people.

The number of executions worldwide reached its highest level in more than four decades in 2025, driven largely by a sharp increase in Iran, Amnesty International said.

At least 2,707 people are known to have been put to death, according to the rights group's annual review. That marks a 78% jump from 2024 and is the highest figure Amnesty has recorded since 1981, when 3,191 executions were logged.

The figures exclude China, which Amnesty believes executed thousands of people, making it the world's top executioner. The country refuses to disclose data.

The group attributed the surge to governments using capital punishment to project authority, saying they had placed "this cruel punishment at the center of flawed public security and 'tough on crime' narratives to assert control, project state power and score political points."

Proposed IRS data sharing with immigration authorities and ICE raids have made filing risky for those who are undocumented

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could cause the US to potentially lose up to $479bn in lost tax revenue over the the next 10 years, with enforcement deterring undocumented workers from filing their taxes this year, according to tax experts.

Tax advisers say major changes, including proposed data sharing with immigration enforcement, have made filing taxes risky for undocumented immigrants. Tax benefits for immigrant parents have also been removed, further removing incentive to file taxes at all.

Experts believe that a drop in tax filings could cost the federal government billions of dollars in lost revenue. According to Yale's Budget Lab, the losses could range from $147bn to $479bn over the next 10 years. At the same time, up to 2.7 million children who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents might lose access to the credit due to these policy changes.

After being excommunicated from the GOP, Geoff Duncan is trying for a comeback on the Democratic ticket

In the Georgia governor’s race, Geoff Duncan’s candidacy tests American politics as much as it tests his political appeal.

The former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia is a current Democratic candidate for governor, with former Biden official and Atlanta ex-mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms currently holding the lead in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. A Republican is still favored to win, with billionaire Rick Jason up against the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and the lieutenant governor, Burt Jones.

Though his candidacy might not prove successful on 19 May, in offering himself to the public, Duncan is asking Democratic voters to consider what the off-ramp for Republican leaders should look like in the waning days of the Trump era. Can it be as simple as switching parties and rearranging one’s political values?

China’s deep relationship with Russia remains a continuing cause for concern in the west, particularly since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine

Cuba has also discussed plans to use drones to attack US targets such as the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, according to Axios news outlet.

Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones, according to classified intelligence cited by Axios news outlet.

The report published on Sunday alleges that Cuba had discussed plans to use military drones to attack the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay as well as military vessels and possibly Key West, Florida.

The Trump administration is concerned because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, Axios cited a senior US official as saying.