President Donald Trump ordered the termination of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of manipulating the employment data.
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| âNumberless are the world's wonders, but none more wonderful than man.â |
â Sophocles, "Antigone" |
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President Donald Trump ordered the termination of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of manipulating the employment data. The firing followed the release of a report which revised job totals in May and June numbers lower by a combined 258,000.
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Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler is resigning early from her term and will exit on Aug. 8, creating a vacancy on the central bankâs 12-member interest rate setting committee that President Donald Trump will have an opportunity to fill.
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The White House plans to expand its support for domestic rare-earth businesses to counter Chinaâs near-monopoly on rare-earth minerals. Senior officials informed a group of rare-earth companies at a recent meeting that the Trump administration intends to form public-private partnerships to boost domestic production and extend a minimum price guarantee for their products.
- President Trump on Friday ordered U.S. nuclear submarines to be moved in response to comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who suggested that Russia and the United States are on a path to war.
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| Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor |
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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on August 1, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) |
President Donald Trump ordered the termination of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of manipulating the job data and falsifying the employment numbers before the 2024 election in order to âboostâ then-candidate Kamala Harris.
âWe need accurate jobs numbers,â the president said. âShe will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. âImportant numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they canât be manipulated for political purposes,â he added.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 73,000 new jobs last month, below the consensus forecast. The federal agency also revised the May and June numbers lower by a combined 258,000, which places the three-month employment growth rate at just 35,000. In the first six months of 2025, downward revisions have totaled 461,000. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer confirmed the firing in a social media post, saying that Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as acting commissioner as the administration looks for a replacement. McEntarfer did not immediately return a request for comment by The Epoch Times. Trump also criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, stating that he âshould also be put âout to pasture.ââ The bureauâs data collection methods have come under fire in recent years amid the routine and sizable revisions to employment data. Last year, following the Department of Laborâs annual benchmark revisions, which found that U.S. job creation was overstated by 818,000, GOP lawmakers alleged that the administration had been âseemingly cooking the books to boost public supportâ ahead of the election. (More) More Politics: |
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Washington made good on its promise to enact higher tariffs on countries that did not negotiate a new trade deal with the United States by the Aug. 1 deadline. Hereâs what we know about the sweeping global levies.
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Former special counsel John Durham assessed that two emails describing a 2016 Clinton campaign plan to smear then-candidate Donald Trump by linking him with Russian hackers were likely fake, even though the Clinton campaign appeared to be carrying out the very plan described within. The revelation is part of a newly declassified annex to the Durham report released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on July 31.
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American factory employment sank in July to the lowest level since mid-2020, underscoring a deepening manufacturing downturn driven by dwindling demand and persistent trade policy uncertainty, according to closely watched industry surveys released Aug. 1 by ISM and S&P Global. The drop in hiring came amid a broader deterioration in operating conditions. Both surveys reported soft orders and reduced output as factories cut back on inventories and workers. ISMâs employment index slid 1.6 points to 43.4 percentâits lowest reading since June 2020 and well below the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contractionâmarking the sixth straight month of job losses in the sector. âFor every comment on hiring, there were two on reducing head countsâa fairly wide ratio, historically speakingâreflecting companiesâ continuing focus on accelerating staff reductions due to uncertain near- to mid-term demand,â Susan Spence, chair of ISMâs manufacturing survey committee, said in a statement.
The ISMâs headline manufacturing index registered 48.0 in July, signaling contraction for a fifth consecutive month and the sharpest drop since late 2024. All six of the largest manufacturing industries reported weaker new orders, and none saw growth. âOverall, new orders continue to slow amid tariff uncertainty,â Spence said. âWhich party will pay tariff costs is still the prime issue in negotiations between buyers and sellers.â
S&P Globalâs manufacturing index told a similar story, sliding to 49.8 in Julyâthe first reading below 50 this yearâafter six months of modest growth. Chief business economist Chris Williamson described the downturn as a sharp reversal from earlier in the year, when companies had rushed to build inventories ahead of looming tariffs.
âJuly saw the first deterioration of manufacturing operating conditions since last December as tariff worries continued to dominate the business environment,â Williamson said in a statement. (More) More U.S. News: |
- The U.S. economy created a smaller-than-expected 73,000 new jobs in July, causing concerns that the labor market could be in trouble. Here are the key takeaways from the new data.
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A majority of Americans said they will likely not receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine this fall, according to a poll released Friday.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the repeal of a Biden-era policy which rewarded hospitals for reporting staff vaccination rates.
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The U.S. Senate on Aug. 1 passed a spending package to fund the government in the upcoming fiscal year, approving a slate of non-controversial spending items, with $187 billion in appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, legislative branch operations, military construction, and rural development.
- A District of Columbia disciplinary panel recommended on July 31 that former Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, an ally of President Donald Trump, be disbarred for writing a proof-of-concept letter that said the Department of Justice had âidentified significant concernsâ about the 2020 presidential election.
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President Donald Trump on Friday ordered U.S. nuclear submarines to be moved in response to comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he has âordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.â
The move was in response to âhighly provocative statementsâ made by Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chief of Russiaâs Security Council, in recent days, the president said. âWords are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,â Trump added. Earlier this week Trump warned Medvedev after he criticized current U.S. foreign policy.
âI donât care what India does with Russia,â Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday morning. âThey can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.â
Trump then added that the United States and Russia âdo almost no business togetherâ and said he wants Medvedev âto watch his wordsâ because he is âentering very dangerous territory.â Responding to Trumpâs warning, Medvedev criticized Trump for making ultimatums to the Kremlin.
âTrumpâs playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10. ... He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isnât Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,â Medvedev wrote on X. âNot between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.â (More)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he hopes peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will continue, though he touted Moscowâs progress in the ongoing conflict, signaling no change in policy despite a looming U.S. sanctions deadline.
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Panamanian President JosĂ© RaĂșl Mulino signaled that the Central American nation may take control of two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, potentially threatening the $22.8 billion sale plans of the portsâ current owner, Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison, to a U.S.-based investment company.
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U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited sites in Gaza connected with the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and other entities at the request of President Trump. The visit came amid growing international pressure to resolve what the United Nations has called âwidespread starvation, malnutrition, and diseaseâ in Gaza.
- El Salvadorâs Legislative Assembly approved constitutional changes on July 31, allowing a president to seek re-election indefinitely and extending presidential terms from five to six years, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele to serve potential future terms.
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A container ship arrives at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 1, 2025. President Donald Trump announced that his August 1 deadline for trade deals will not be extended and sweeping tariffs will be imposed on certain countries beginning today. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) |
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đ” 100 Days of Mozart: Day 3âEarly Symphonies, Part 3 (Listen)
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Abu Raed (Nadim Sawalha) surrounded by neighborhood kids, in âCaptain Abu Raed.â (GJW+) |
Jordan (officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) has long been celebrated for its ancient ruins, Bedouin traditions, and cultural legacy carved deep into the desert, but the country has never been known for its cinema. That began to change with the release of âCaptain Abu Raedâ in 2007, the first feature film produced in Jordan in half a century.
Like many enduring stories, this film doesnât rely on spectacle. Instead, it unfolds with subtle confidence, infusing simplicity with depth. Director Amin Matalqa brings a storytellerâs eye to the screen, crafting a film that is both tender and sometimes devastating. It speaks to big themes such as hope, imagination, and sacrifice, without ever losing sight of the small moments that make them real. Abu Raed (Nadim Sawalha) is a janitor who works at Ammanâs international airport by day and returns each night to a small, book-filled home still echoing with the absence of his late wife. A quiet man who is seemingly overlooked by the world, his life takes an unexpected turn when he discovers an old pilotâs cap in a trash can.
As he begins to wear the cap on his walk home, he catches the attention of a group of neighborhood kids. They instantly assume heâs a globe-trotting pilot, despite living in a rather run-down area. At first, he tries to correct them. Eventually, he gives in to their fascination and begins spinning tales of far-off places heâs âvisited,â stimulating their sense of wonder and imagination.
What starts as innocent storytelling becomes something deeper. For the children, many of whom face poverty or live in turbulent homes, Raedâs made-up adventures offer not just escape but also a connection to someone who listens and believes in them. (More)
âCaptain Abu Raedâ is now available on Gan Jing World. As an exclusive to our subscribers, the film will be available to watch for free until Sun, Aug. 3. |
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Thanks for reading đ Have a wonderful day! |
âIvan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li. |
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