Trump says U.S. strongly considering NATO exit, Telegraph newspaper says

LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he ‌was strongly considering pulling ‌the United States out of NATO ​after allies failed to back U.S. military action against Iran, according to an interview with Britain's ‌Daily Telegraph.

Trump ⁠described the alliance as a "paper tiger" and said ⁠removing the United States from the defence pact was now "beyond ​reconsideration," the ​newspaper reported. ​He said he ‌had long held doubts about NATO's credibility.

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"Oh yes, I would say [it's] beyond reconsideration," Trump told the newspaper when asked about ‌whether he would ​reconsider U.S. membership ​of the ​alliance after the conflict.

"I ‌was never swayed by ​NATO. ​I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin ​knows ‌that too, by the way."

(Reporting ​by Sam Tabahriti; editing ​by Michael Holden)

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April 01, 2026

Trump says U.S. strongly considering NATO exit, Telegraph newspaper says

LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he ‌was strongly considering pulling ‌the United States out ...

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Chinese chipmakers claim nearly half of of local market as Nvidia's lead shrinks, IDC says

By Che Pan and Laurie Chen

BEIJING, April 1 (Rtrs) - Chinese GPU and AI chip makers captured nearly 41% of China's AI accelerator server ‌market last year, erodingNvidia's once-dominant position in one of its ‌most important overseas markets, according to data from an IDC report reviewed by Reuters.

The gains ​come as Beijing grows increasingly cautious about dependence on foreign chips, pushing government agencies and companies to adopt domestic alternatives after successive waves of U.S. export controls cut China off from Nvidia's most advanced products.

Total shipments of AI accelerator cards ‌by Nvidia, AMD, and ⁠Chinese chipmakers reached approximately 4 million units in China in 2025, the data showed.

Nvidia remained the market leader, shipping around ⁠2.2 million cards and holding a 55% share. But that figure marks a significant retreat for the U.S. chipmaker, which held a dominant market share in China's ​AI chip ​market. AMD carved out a modest ​presence, shipping roughly 160,000 cards for ‌a 4% share, the IDC data showed.

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Chinese vendors collectively shipped 1.65 million cards, accounting for 41% of the total market — a milestone that underscores how aggressively domestic players have moved to fill the void left by tightening U.S. export controls.

Huawei Technologies emerged as the runaway leader among Chinese vendors, shipping ‌around 812,000 AI chips, roughly half of all ​domestically branded shipments. Alibaba's chip design unit ​T-Head claimed second place, shipping ​approximately 265,000 cards.

Baidu's Kunlunxin and Cambricon each shipped around 116,000 ‌cards, ranking them jointly third among ​Chinese vendors.

Hygon, GPU startups ​MetaX and Iluvatar CoreX accounted for 5%, 4% and 3% of total Chinese vendor shipments, respectively.

In 2025, the central government launched a new ​wave of AI infrastructure ‌spending, with local governments accelerating intelligent computing centers across provinces, many ​of which carried implicit directives to "buy Chinese."

(Reporting by Che Pan and ​Laurie Chen, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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April 01, 2026

Chinese chipmakers claim nearly half of of local market as Nvidia's lead shrinks, IDC says

By Che Pan and Laurie Chen BEIJING, April 1 (Rtrs) - Chinese GPU and AI chip makers captured nearly 41% of Chi...

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South Korea and Indonesia expand cooperation on defense and energy as Mideast war disrupts markets

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and Indonesia agreed Wednesday to expand cooperation in defense industries, technology and supply chains as their leaders pledged to upgrade their strategic partnership in face of uncertainties stemming from the war in the Middle East, Seoul's presidential office said.

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After a summit in Seoul between PresidentLee Jae Myungand Indonesian PresidentPrabowo Subianto,the two governments issued a joint statement pledging deeper economic ties and continued cooperation on joint defense projects, including fighter jets, trainer aircraft and anti-tank missile systems.

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The two countries agreed to deepen cooperation on supply chains for energy, critical minerals and other resources. Lee described Indonesia as a vital source of natural gas and coal amid global energy disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.

According to Lee's government, South Korean companies will receive about 820,000 tons of liquefied natural gas from Indonesia this year, enough to power all of the country's gas-fired plants for about 12 days.

The leaders expressed satisfaction with the two countries' cooperation in developing South Korea's homegrown KF-21 supersonic fighter, a program launched in 2015 with Indonesia as a partner. The first of these planes were rolled out last week and South Korea reportedly plans to export 16 of them to Indonesia.

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April 01, 2026

South Korea and Indonesia expand cooperation on defense and energy as Mideast war disrupts markets

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and Indonesia agreed Wednesday to expand cooperation in defense industries, technol...

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Jose Fernandez has finest major-league debut in Arizona Diamondbacks history

PHOENIX — One day, he's waking up in Reno, Nevada, and is told he's going to the big leagues.

The next,Jose Fernandezis celebrating the greatest day of his 22-year-old life, with his teammates dousing him with beer and everything else they could find for their overnight hero, who Tuesday night produced the finest major-league debut inArizona Diamondbackshistory.

Fernandez, ranked as only the 27th-best prospect in theDiamondbacksorganization, became the eighth player in major-league history to hit two home runs in his debut, with the last one a game-winning, three-run homer in the eighth inning off future Hall of Famer Kenley Jansen in the Diamondbacks' dramatic comeback7-5victory over theDetroit Tigers.

"Grateful, grateful to God,'' Fernandez said. "More than I could have expected. ... Just a dream come true.''

This is a kid who was signed as an international player out of Venezuela at the age of 17, spent the past four years in the lower minor leagues, never advancing past Class AA until spending one day at Triple-A this year. He had a strong enough minor league season last year, slashing .272/.321/454 with 17 homers to be placed on the 40-man roster, and opened eyes this spring hitting .280 with an .840 OPS, and three doubles, a triple and three home runs in 25 at-bats.

"He was impressive this spring,'' Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfadt said, "so we figured we'd see him at some point.''

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Just not in the first week of the season, playing in place of Nolan Arenado, and putting on one of the greatest hitting exhibitions in a debut in baseball history. He stepped to the plate in the second inning and reached base on an infield single off Tigers starter Casey Mize. He took Mize deep in the fourth inning on a 408-foot homer. And in the eighth, with two outs and two runners on with the D-backs trailing 5-4, he started to walk to the plate. He stopped when Tigers manager A.J. Hinch went to the mound and summoned Jansen, who has 477 career saves, just one shy of Lee Smith for third-place onthe all-time saves list.

"I thought it was a unique look against a very young hitter,'' Hinch said, "who I know was going to be in swing mode would be a tough matchup for him.''

Fernandez walked back to the dugout and was summoned by D-backs veterans Carlos Santanta and James McCann. They told him to watch out for Jansen's funky delivery.

"I just tried to talk to him about what kind of movement on the ball Kenley would be throwing,'' Santanta said. "He's tough. I just told him to be calm. He can do it.''

Said D-backs manager Torey Lovullo: "They prepared him the best way they could. And the thing about Jose is that he wasn't panicking. He wanted to see a pitch, see what they were talking about, and then zeroed in on it. That's a very mature approach.''

Fernandez watched Jansen throw a first-pitch cutter over the plate for strike 1. He watched the second pitch for ball 1, another cutter below his knees. Jansen threw another cutter, this one up in the strike zone, and Fernandez sent it 409 feet over the left-field fence for a three-run homer.

"Not the location I wanted,'' Jansen said, "but sometimes you come in with no room for error, it's tough. Give credit to him. He put the ball in play and the ball went out."

The Chase Field crowd erupted, and Pfaadt was back in the clubhouse screaming with the players and clubhouse attendants.

"Everybody in here was jumping up and down,'' Pfaadt said. "Special day for the whole team, especially him and his family. We all cheered for him when he came in. It was really cool.''

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The celebration was so emotional and lasted so long that D-backs manager Torey Lovullo had to tear himself away just to attend the press conference. They were down 5-1 entering the eighth inning, and then a guy who was called up only because first baseman Pavin Smith went on the injured list with elbow inflammation, fulfills a childhood dream.

"What a day for him,'' Mize said. "It'll be a part of his story for his whole life, which is unfortunate for me.''

But one that could be remembered for an awful long time in D-backs folklore.

"What a good moment for this team, this organization,'' Lovullo said, "for all the people that have been around Jose pushing him, teaching him, and then ultimately it falls on Jose to go out there and let it all shine.

"We're so proud of him. He's a player that came through or system, through our academy, and it's a great story.

"It's a great baseball story.''

One that Fernandez can't wait to share with his family back home in Venezuela, knowing that for a country who took great pride inwinning the World Baseball Classic, they now have another reason to celebrate.

"Thankful for the opportunity," Fernandez said. "It's a dream I've had ever since I was five years old, and just thankful for the opportunity that was given to me.''

He was hoping that he could have shared the joy of being on that WBC championship team, but he wasn't invited. Instead, he spent the spring opening a whole lot of eyes, paving the way for the most glorious night of his young baseball career.

"Not yet,'' Fernandez said, "hopefully ..."

Yet, before he could even finish his answer, Diamondbacks teammate Eduardo Rodriguez, and the starting pitcher in Venezuela's 3-2 championship victory over Team USA, jumped in and provided the answer.

"Oh, he'll be at the next one all right,'' Rodriguez said.

Hey, with nights like these, Fernandez just might find himself playing third base for Venezuela in the 2028 Olympics, too.

And, if you're Fernandez, why stop dreaming now?

Follow Bob Nightengale onBlueskyand X@Bnightengale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jose Fernandez has incredible MLB debut in Diamondbacks win vs. Tigers

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April 01, 2026

Jose Fernandez has finest major-league debut in Arizona Diamondbacks history

PHOENIX — One day, he's waking up in Reno, Nevada, and is told he's going to the big leagues. The next,...

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Are the Knicks heading for a postseason roadblock?

Shortly before New York's prime-time loss in Oklahoma City, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about his assimilation under head coach Mike Brown's system — roughly eight months after the coach's hire.

"I'm still working through it," Towns said. "Still trying to figure out where I could impact our team and winning the most. Right now, I'm just utilizing my experience so I can do the best I can."

A simple, brief, yet powerful statement. Towns' words offered a sliver of understanding into a season of existential crisis, contextualized within the construct ofwhothe Knicks think they are,whatreality presents and the widening gap between the two. It's simply shocking to realize Towns still finds himself attempting to fit 76 games into the regular season, but adaptability and viability have been two underlying storylines this season out of the Big Apple.

Following Tuesday's humbling 111-94 loss to the Rockets, New York (48-28) finds itself just half a game ahead of Cleveland for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The game itself was a mess: Jalen Brunson struggled to generate any real offensive threat, finishing with 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting; Towns ended his night with 22 but needed 17 shots to get there, with the bulk of his scoring coming in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach; New York shot a woeful 29% from behind the arc; and the team, despite a hefty advantage on the offensive glass (23 second-chance points on 12 offensive boards), scored a measly 80.7 points per 100 half-court possessions — good for 10th percentile of all games this season.

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But therealissue, a growing concern about performances against tougher competition as the postseason nears, is expanding itself at a rapid rate. Earlier this month, the Knicks were riding the highs of a seven-game winning streak — including convincing wins over Denver and San Antonio at the beginning of March. But their third straight loss to a playoff team (New York also lost back-to-back games to the Lakers and Clippers and twice to the Thunder in March) is loud enough to raise concerns, especially this close to the playoffs.

From the 50,000-foot view, the Knicks, much like New Yorkers, are a confident, arrogant bunch. And why shouldn't they be? On paper, they're an easy sell as a contender: An uber-efficient offensive hub in Brunson; aggressive, switchable, lengthy point-of-attack defenders in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart; a generational second-chance opportunist in Mitchell Robinson in an era predicated on winning the possession battle; and an elite floor-spacing unit with nine rotational players shooting 36% or better from deep, with six of them essentially at or beyond the 40% mark.

Need more? New York is fifth in points scored per-100-possessions against top 10 defenses and sixth in points allowed per-100-possessions against top-10 offenses, according to Cleaning the Glass. It's everything you should desire in a team built to win at the highest level.

The problems, the more you dig, are worrisome. The Knicks' 3-point defense is essentially non-existent, 27th in opponent attempt rate and 21st in conversion rate, numbers that won't get better after allowing Houston — which takes the fourth fewest 3s per game — to knock down 15-of-35 from deep, a 43% clip. But that's not even scratching the surface of where their defensive issues reside.

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The pairing of Brunson and Towns, which of course has a plethora of offensive perks, has become increasingly difficult to construct a Finals-worthy scheme to sustain them for 48 minutes. Houston repeatedly ran actions that involved either Brunson, Towns or both of them in pick-and-roll scenarios, extracting the worst attributes of both time and time again. Oklahoma City forced Towns to attempt to cover ample ground, which he's clearly unable to do, exposing his backside for cuts, lobs and easy finishes at the rim. Brown bemoaned his team's inability to contain the Rockets' offensively, which is saying something considering Houston has hovered around the bottom five in half-court efficiency since October.

"Our pick-and-roll defense was not good tonight," Brown said. "We tried a lot of different things. We tried to blitz, we tried to switch the matchups, we went to a little zone, too. But it was to no avail, and we have to do a better job in that area going forward, because it was really bad tonight."

The Knicks are 16th in defensive rating over the last two weeks, they're 16th in defensive rating since March 1 and … they're 16th in defensive rating since the All-Star break. New York's biggest strength (Brunson's offense) is also their biggest weakness (Brunson's defense). Its offense simply falls apart with him off the floor, 7.2 points per 100 possessions better in his minutes, 93rd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. But the Knicks are surrendering nearly six more points defensively at the same time. (Hart, Jordan Clarkson and Robinson have all been net negatives at that end of the floor, too.)

"Mental lapses," Brunson said. "And things that shouldn't be happening in game 75 or 76 in the season. We got a long way to go."

The challenge for Brown between now and when the playoffs commence will be figuring outifthere's a way to make all of this work. In the postseason, teams will take pages from Houston's book, consistently hunting Brunson and Towns either separately or in tandem. Figuring out rotations might be an issue too, especially considering some of New York's issues with double-big lineups and finding anyone who can actually initiate offense outside of Brunson, etc. Consider this: Towns, according to Synergy tracking data, is allowing opponents to shoot 62.5% on shots he directly defended. For context, former teammate Donte DiVincenzo, close in quantity of shots defended, has fared better.

Could this mean Brown puts more trust in his bench lineups? Prior to Tuesday, New York was outscoring opponents by nearly 18 points per 100 possessions when Jose Alvarado and Clarkson shared the floor, per PBP Stats. So far, however, Brown has been hesitant to play, say, Alvarado and Miles McBride together, likely because of the lack of size. He has, however, loved pairing Brunson with either of those — which has produced a+16and+15.9efficiency advantage, respectively, on a sizable sample size.

Still, context matters. We're talking about a top-four seed in the East heading into the playoffs with arguably the deepest roster in basketball and three elite players, according to advanced analytics — Brunson 12th inEstimated Offensive Plus-Minus, Anunoby 17th inDARKOand Towns 26th inEstimated Plus-Minus. History tells us that teams with impactful players of this frequency — combined with above-average coaching — do well in playoff settings. But time is running out for the Knicks to find their groove.

"Overcommunication and holding each other accountable," Brunson said. "Just not getting discouraged. This is obviously a bump in the road, but we can't let outside noise mess us up internally. Just have to continue to fight."

"The last few games, we haven't had [a rhythm] and teams go through stretches like that," Brown added. "We got seven more games to try to find it."

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April 01, 2026

Are the Knicks heading for a postseason roadblock?

Shortly before New York's prime-time loss in Oklahoma City, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about his assi...

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Shohei Ohtani’s quest for Cy Young Award begins with 6 shutout innings as Dodgers beat Guardians

LOS ANGELES (AP) —Shohei Ohtanigot started on his bid to win aCy Young Award— just about the only major prize to elude him — with six shutout innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first outing on the mound this season.

Guardians Dodgers Baseball

At the plate, the two-way superstar went 1 for 3 with two walks and a strikeout Tuesday night in a rainy4-1 winover the Cleveland Guardians.

The Dodgers have been waiting to see a full-time, two-way version of Ohtani since he joined them on a $700 million, 10-year deal before the 2024 season. He didn't pitch that year while recovering from a second major elbow surgery in September 2023 while with the Los Angeles Angels.

Last season, the team took a methodical approach to his return to the mound. Ohtani was 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts. His fastball averaged a career-high 98.4 mph.

"Last year, I felt good," Ohtani said through a translator. "But this year I do feel a lot more loose and easy pitching overall. Looking back at today's outing specifically, that wasn't necessarily the case. So that's something I want to work on. But compared to last season I felt more loose and easy."

Ohtani was limited to two spring training starts for the Dodgers because he played — but didn't pitch — for Japan in theWorld Baseball Classic.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts has noticed Ohtani is more critical of himself as a pitcher than a hitter.

"He's never going to be satisfied," Roberts said. "There's always something that he can improve on or get better at and that's what fuels him."

Ohtani has thrown 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the regular season, dating to Aug. 27, 2025, against Cincinnati — the longest shutout streak of his career. He bettered his previous high of 21 2/3 innings set in June 2022 with the Angels.

"If he's able to do it the whole year, that's just a huge boost to our pitching staff," third baseman Max Muncy said. "I expect nothing short of almost a Cy Young out of him."

"I think he's got enough pressure already," Muncy said, "but it doesn't seem to faze him at all."

The only hit Ohtani allowed was a two-out double by Rhys Hoskins in the fourth. The right-hander struck out six and walked three.

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He was even successful on his first ABS challenge.

Ohtani retired his first seven batters before walking Gabriel Arias in the third. With two outs, he walked Steven Kwan to put runners on first and second. Ohtani had a 1-1 count on CJ Kayfus when he challenged a ball call. It was overturned, putting Ohtani ahead 1-2 in the count, and he got Kayfus on a swinging strike with his next pitch to end the third.

Heavy drizzle picked up over Ohtani's last couple of innings. The grounds crew groomed the front slope of the mound, specifically his landing spot, after he issued his third walk with two outs in the sixth. He used a metal tool to dislodge dirt from the bottom of his spikes. Ohtani then retired Hoskins with one pitch to end the inning.

"He's unflappable," Roberts said.

Offensively, Ohtani has yet to break out in his first five games. The four-time MVP is batting .167 with no home runs and no RBIs. He had 55 homers in 2025.

He extended his on-base streak to 36 games, tying the longest of his career.

"I've been able to get on base and that's a good thing," Ohtani said. "But on pitches that I should be making impact I'm not quite able to do that to the extent that I should be able to. That's the part that I'm not quite happy about."

Observing Ohtani's work habits on a daily basis has convinced Muncy that his first love is pitching.

"He's really bought into everything with pitching — his mechanics, how to attack hitters. He just focuses on it so much. You can really, really tell he loves it," Muncy said.

Roberts said Ohtani will get six days' rest before his next start.

"I believe the team should be prioritizing Yoshinobu (Yamamoto), (Tyler) Glasnow and (Blake) Snell when he's back," Ohtani said. "So I think it's easy to kind of fit me into that schedule whenever the team feels that's a good thing. What's most important is that we're all healthy in October."

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

byNeo

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April 01, 2026

Shohei Ohtani’s quest for Cy Young Award begins with 6 shutout innings as Dodgers beat Guardians

LOS ANGELES (AP) —Shohei Ohtanigot started on his bid to win aCy Young Award— just about the only major prize to elude hi...

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