China Restricts Critical Minerals to Western Defense Companies
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The Trump administration doubles down on its move to fire a top labor statistician, plus pressure mounts on Israel to end the war in Gaza after Hamas releases videos of emaciated hostages.
Those videos basically create pressure on the government by whipping up a lot of anger and frustration within the Israeli population, which they hope will press the Israeli government to give in to their demands.
And China is squeezing the supplies of key minerals for the U.S. defense industry. It's Monday, August the 4th. I'm Azhar Sukri for The Wall Street Journal. Here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The Trump administration has defended the president's controversial move to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following Friday's weaker-than-expected job number. Trump's chief economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, told NBC's Meet the Press that the dismissal is part of Trump's plan for further changes at the agency.
The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable. And if there are big changes and big revisions, we expect more big revisions for the jobs data in September, for example, that we want to know why. We want people to explain it to us.
Trump asserted without evidence that the government's job numbers have been manipulated for political purposes. Last week's data showed that hiring slowed dramatically in July and that job seekers are out in the cold for longer. The number of people unemployed for at least 27 weeks topped 1.8 million, the highest level since 2017. Later this week, jobless claims will provide investors with further insights into U.S. hiring. In the meantime, markets will be on tenterhooks as President Trump moves to name a new head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics within days, as well as a replacement for Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, who said she would resign from her post this week. The vacant board seat opens a slot for Trump to nominate an eventual successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell to join the central bank.
Thank you.
Dozens of Texas House Democrats fled the state late yesterday in order to block Republican plans to redraw the state's congressional map, a move that would give the GOP five new seats.
What are the top headlines introduced at the start of the AM edition?
In response, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to remove the Democrats from office or charge them with felonies. Republicans have called their plan fair game and necessary to hold their national majority. But Democrats, including Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu... have argued that the unusual mid-decade redistricting amounts to cheating, heard here courtesy of ABC7 Chicago.
Their attempts to disenfranchise Texans is being used... The tool they're using is a racist, gerrymandered map. A map that seeks to use racial lines to divide hard-working communities who have spent decades... building up their power and strengthening their voices. And Governor Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump.
Democrats expect to remain out of state for two and a half weeks until the end of the special session to prevent the House from meeting. In Israel, photos and videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages, Eviatar David and Ram Breslavsky, have led to fresh protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with families and the international community once again calling for an end to the war. Our correspondent in Tel Aviv, Dov Lieber, has the details.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:03
2
What are the top headlines introduced at the start of the AM edition?
3:03–7:32
3
Why did the Trump administration defend firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief?
7:32–9:40
4
What did economists say about July's weaker-than-expected jobs numbers?
9:40–12:57