WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S Treasury Department on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program, just days before senior American and Iranian officials are expected to hold talks in the Middle East sultanate of Oman.

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Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the new sanctions for their support of Iran’s nuclear program. The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and subordinates Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Thorium Power Company, Pars Reactors Construction and Development Company and Azarab Industries Co.

“The Iranian regime’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a grave threat to the United States and a menace to regional stability and global security,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Treasury will continue to leverage our tools and authorities to disrupt any attempt by Iran to advance its nuclear program and its broader destabilizing agenda.”

The new sanctions come as President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that he was dispatching senior envoys to hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program, while warning the Iranians they would be in “great danger” if the talks don’t succeed in persuading them to abandon their nuclear weapons program.

For its part, Tehran confirmed talks would happen but insisted they would be indirect discussions through a mediator.

The United States is increasingly concerned as Tehran is closer than ever to a workable weapon.

The U.S. and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

But Trump unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”

Iran and the U.S., under President Joe Biden, held indirect negotiations in Vienna in 2021 aimed at restoring the nuclear deal. But those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, failed to reach any agreement.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The global economy appeared to be in open rebellion against President Donald Trump’s tariffs as they took effect Wednesday.

Business executives are warning of a potential recession caused by his policies, some of the top U.S. trading partners are retaliating with their own import taxes and the stock market is quivering after days of decline.

Trump’s tariffs kicked in shortly after midnight, including 104% on products from China, 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan and 25% on South Korea. Administration officials have tried to reassure voters, Republican lawmakers and CEOs that the rates are negotiable, but by their own admission that process could take months.

When a downturn appears on the horizon, investors typically crowd into U.S. Treasury notes as a safe haven, viewing the federal government as a source of stability. Not this time. Government bond prices are down, pushing up the interest rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note to 4.39% in a sign that the world is increasingly leery of Trump’s moves.

John Bowers works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The Republican president was publicly defiant as the stock market recovered slightly and then sold off in morning trading.

“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” he posted on Truth Social, his social media site. “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”

Presidents often receive undue credit or blame for the state of the U.S. economy as their time in the White House is subject to financial and geopolitical forces beyond their direct control. But by unilaterally imposing tariffs, Trump is exerting extraordinary influence over the flow of commerce, creating political risks that could prove difficult to avoid if his plans do not pan out. After early success in exerting control over American institutions, from law firms and universities to federal agencies and cultural organizations, he is now facing off with global markets that will not simply bend to his will.

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon said there would “probably” be a recession, although he also deferred to his economists.

“I do think fixing these tariff issues and trade issues would be a good thing to do,” he said in an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, left, is interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on the “Mornings with Maria Bartiromo” program, on the Fox Business Network, in New York Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

On CNBC, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the administration was being less strategic than it was during Trump’s first term.

“Trying to do it all at the same time has created chaos in terms of being able to make plans,” he said, noting that demand for air travel has weakened.

Economic forecasters say Trump’s return to the White House has had a series of negative and cascading impacts that could put the country into a downturn.

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“Simultaneous shocks to consumer sentiment, corporate confidence, trade, financial markets as well as to prices, new orders and the labor market will tip the economy into recession in the current quarter,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the consultancy RSM.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has previously said it could take months to strike deals with countries on tariff rates, and the administration has not been clear on whether the baseline 10% tariffs imposed on most countries will stay in place. But in an appearance on “Mornings with Maria,” Bessent said the economy would “be back to firing on all cylinders” at a point in the “not too distant future.”

He said there has been an “overwhelming” response by “the countries who want to come and sit at the table rather than escalate.” Bessent mentioned Japan, South Korea, and India. “I will note that they are all around China. We have Vietnam coming today,” he said.

Even as the administration has tried to calm the world, new risks are forming.

China imposed 84% tariffs on goods from the United States. Canada now has auto tariffs to match the 25% being charged by Washington. The EU approved new taxes on U.S. goods after the 25% steel and aluminum tariffs from Trump.

Trump is already calling for more tariffs, looking at copper, lumber and computer chips. In a Tuesday night speech, he said taxes on imported drugs would happen soon.

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Prosecutors and attorneys for a man charged in the killings of four University of Idaho students in 2022 will argue some of the final ground rules they want for Bryan Kohberger’s trial in a two-day hearing set to begin Wednesday morning.

Kohberger, 30, is accused in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors say the four were killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, and their bodies were discovered later that day.

Kohberger, then a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.

When asked to enter a plea to the charges, Kohberger stood silent, prompting the judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

Here’s what to know about the case and the motion hearing as his trial is set to begin this summer.

What will happen at the hearing?

Attorneys on both sides of the case have filed hundreds of pages of legal motions, including whether Kohberger should face the death penalty if he is convicted, whether witnesses should be allowed to testify about things like “touch DNA,” and about who should be allowed in the courtroom during the trial.

The hearing will give the attorneys a chance to make their case in person, discussing the legal reasoning behind their requests. It will also give 4th District Judge Steven Hippler a chance to ask the attorneys questions as he weighs their arguments.

What will the judge be deciding?

Many of the motions are focused on what evidence can be presented to jurors during the trial.

For instance, defense attorneys have asked the judge to find that an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis would make Kohberger ineligible for the death penalty. The defense and prosecution will also likely present arguments over whether jurors should hear audio of a 911 call made by two women in the house roughly eight hours after the killings, as they realized one of their roommates wasn’t waking up.

Legal filings also show that prosecutors want to introduce evidence of Kohberger’s “click history” at Amazon.com showing that he purchased a Ka-Bar brand fixed-blade knife eight months before the killings. A Ka-Bar knife sheath was found next to one of the victims.

Kohberger’s attorneys have asked the judge to exclude that online shopping history, saying it could be taken out of context or not reflect the influence of algorithms that recommend purchases.

Prosecutors also want to introduce a photo that Kohberger took of himself hours after the time of the killings because they say it shows what he looked like at that time. A roommate who was in the rental home told police she woke up and saw a stranger with “bushy eyebrows” wearing a face mask inside the home.

Defense attorneys want the judge to bar any testimony about “bushy eyebrows,” because they say it could prejudice the jury against him.

Other topics that could come up include what kinds of questions will be asked during the jury selection process. Attorneys on both sides have submitted proposed questionnaires that could be used to narrow the jury pool down to a small group of candidates, but so far those documents have been sealed from public view.

Will the judge issue rulings during the hearing?

Hippler can “rule from the bench” — simply telling the attorneys what his decision is on each request — but he can also decide to issue a written ruling sometime after the hearing is over. Sometimes written rulings can be particularly helpful in complicated legal cases like this one, because they can help attorneys quickly find and refer to the judge’s decisions months or even years down the road.

When is the trial?

Jury selection in the case is expected to begin July 30, with the trial starting Aug. 11 in the Ada County Courthouse in downtown Boise.

The trial is expected to take nearly three months to complete, lasting into the start of November.

By JUAN ZAMORANO, Associated Press

PANAMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday focused again on China’s presence in the western hemisphere, one day after calling the world power a threat to the Panama Canal.

Speaking at a regional security conference, Hegseth said that China-based companies were controlling land and critical infrastructure in strategic sectors.

“China’s military has too large of a presence in the western hemisphere,” Hegseth said. “Make no mistake, Beijing is investing and operating in this region for military advantage and unfair economic gain.”

He called on the region’s governments to work together to deter China and address threats posed by transnational drug cartels and mass immigration.

Hegseth was speaking a day after meeting Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino and touring the Panama Canal. The two countries agreed to step up security coordination and appeared to say they would work toward a way to pay back fees that U.S. warships pay to pass through the Panama Canal.

The visit comes amid tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that the U.S. is being overcharged to use the Panama Canal and that China has influence over its operations — allegations that Panama has denied.

Shortly after Hegseth and Mulino met, the Chinese Embassy in Panama criticized the U.S. government in a statement on X, saying Washington had used “blackmail” to further its own interests and that who Panama carries out business with is a “sovereign decision of Panama … and something the U.S. doesn’t have the right to interfere in.”

China’s concern was provoked by Hong Kong-based consortium CK Hutchison holding a 25-year lease on ports at either end of the canal. The Panamanian government announced that lease was being audited and late Monday concluded that there were irregularities, which CK Hutchison denied in a statement Wednesday.

CK Hutchison had already announced that it would be selling its controlling stake in the ports to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control once the sale is complete.