After Iran's knife-edge missile strike Trump says 'no more hate'
IT WAS THEATRE with ballistic missiles. On June 23rd Iran fired a salvo of 14 projectiles at al-Udeid air base in Qatar, which serves as the regional headquarters for America's central command. The barrage was Iran's first act of retaliation against America for its strikes, one day earlier, on Iranian nuclear facilities. It was clearly intended to avoid casualties and thus allow Donald Trump, America's president, to avoid any further response of his own. Following the attack Mr Trump stated that it was 'a very weak response' but added 'I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice' and 'perhaps Iran can now proceed to peace'. That suggests the fighting between America and Iran could be over—for now.
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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Japan tariff negotiator arranging seventh US visit, sources say
TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Japan's tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is arranging his seventh visit to the United States for as early as June 26, aiming to end tariffs that are hurting Japan's economy, two Japanese government sources said on Tuesday. The main focus of the visit is expected to be on U.S. tariffs imposed on Japanese automobiles, which have a severe impact on the Japanese economy. Akazawa will also meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others who oversee this area, one of the sources said. The meeting would be the first ministerial-level tariff negotiation since the Japan-U.S. summit held in Canada on June 16. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to push ahead with trade talks when they met in Canada but failed to achieve a tariff deal. Last month, Japan's trade negotiator said U.S. defence equipment purchases, shipbuilding technology collaboration, a revision of automobile import standards and an increase in agricultural imports could be bargaining chips in tariff talks. In a bid to reach an agreement with the U.S., Japan is also proposing a mechanism to reduce the auto tariff rate based on how much countries contribute to the U.S. auto industry. Japan faces a 24% tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with Washington.
Sky News
22 minutes ago
- Sky News
PM warns of 'era of radical uncertainty' - and says UK will increase defence spending
Sir Keir Starmer said the UK is set to increase spending on defence, security and resilience to 5% of GDP by 2035 to meet an "era of radical uncertainty" - but without promising any additional cash. The move - part of a new spending pledge by the NATO alliance - was panned as deceptive "smoke and mirrors" by critics, who pointed to the very real risk of escalating conflict between Iran, the US and Israel, as well as Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Sky News the timeline for the increase was "very slow" and warned Russia could attack a NATO country within five years. "In my view, this is slow because we believe that starting from 2030, Putin can have significantly greater capabilities," he told chief presenter Mark Austin. 1:32 The prime minister, Donald Trump and the other leaders of NATO's 32 member states are expected to approve the investment goal when they meet at a summit in The Hague, which opens later today. It replaces a previous target to spend 2% of GDP purely on defence. The announcement will be celebrated as a win for the US president, who has been demanding his allies spend more on their own defences instead of relying on American firepower. Overnight, he claimed to have secured another success, declaring that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire - just hours after Iran launched missiles against two American military bases in retaliation to a US decision to attack three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Perhaps it will mean he will switch attention back to achieving a goal to end Russia's war in Ukraine, which will be another key focus of the gathering in the Dutch capital. NATO planners have crunched the summit down to a short main session tomorrow, with a final communique much briefer than usual - all steps designed to reduce the chance of the US president leaving early. He is already scheduled to arrive late and last this evening, provided he turns up. There is huge nervousness about Mr Trump's commitment to an alliance that has been the bedrock of European security since it was founded more than 75 years ago. He is not a fan though, and has previously accused Europe and Canada of an overreliance on American firepower for their own security, calling for them to do more to defend themselves. This pressure has arguably been a bigger motivator in prompting certain allies to agree to spend more on their militaries than the threat they say is posed by Russia, Iran, China and North Korea. Spain's position could create friction this week. The Spanish prime minister, while agreeing to the new investment goal, has said his country is not obliged to meet it. The UK was also slow to say yes - a stance that was at odds with a defence review endorsed by Sir Keir that was centred around a "NATO-first" policy. As well as agreeing to the defence and security investment goal, the British government is also publishing a new national security strategy on Tuesday that will highlight the importance of a wider definition of what constitutes security, including energy, food and borders. There will also be a focus on a whole-of-society approach to resilience in an echo of the UK's Cold War past. It described the commitment to invest in defence, security and national resilience as an aligning of "national security objectives and plans for economic growth in a way not seen since 1945". Sir Keir said: "We must navigate this era of radical uncertainty with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest to deliver security for working people and keep them safe. "That's why I have made the commitment to spend 5% of GDP on national security. This is an opportunity to deepen our commitment to NATO and drive greater investment in the nation's wider security and resilience." The funding will be split, with 3.5% of GDP going on core defence and 1.5% on homeland security and national resilience - a new and so far less clearly defined criteria. Progress on investment will be reviewed in 2029. The defence goal is higher than the government's current ambition to lift defence expenditure to 3% of GDP by 2034, from 2.3% currently. The only solid commitment is to spend 2.6% on defence by 2027 - a figure that has been boosted by the addition of the whole of the budget for the intelligence agencies. This level of intelligence spending had not previously been included and has drawn criticism from defence experts because it is not the same as tanks, artillery and troops. The government, in its statement, is now focusing on an even higher-sounding number, claiming that it will hit 4.1% of the new NATO target by 2027. However, this is merely based on adding the new 1.5% spending goal for "resilience and security" to the already stated 2.6% defence spending pledge. A Downing Street spokesperson was unable immediately to say how much of GDP is currently spent on whatever is included in the new resilience category. It could include pre-announced investment in civil nuclear energy as well as infrastructure projects such as roads and railways. For the UK, 1.5% of GDP is about £40bn - a significant chunk of national income. Sir Ben Wallace, a former Conservative defence secretary, accused the government of "spin" over its spending pledge because it does not include any new money anytime soon. "The threat to our country is real not spin," he told Sky News. "This government thinks it can use smoke and mirrors to deceive the public and Donald Trump. This is an insult to our troops who will see no significant new money. It fools no one."
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: Supreme court hands Trump immigration victory as president declares Iran-Israel ceasefire
The US supreme court on Monday paved the way for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries they are not from, including to conflict-ridden places such as South Sudan. In a brief, unsigned order, the court's conservative supermajority paused the ruling by a Boston-based federal judge who said immigrants deserved a 'meaningful opportunity' to bring claims that they would face the risk of torture, persecution or even death if removed to certain countries that have agreed to take people deported from the US. The court ruling was handed down as Donald Trump claimed Israel and Iran had agreed to a 'Complete and Total CEASEFIRE' and that in the future the conflict would be known as the 'THE 12 DAY WAR'. Here are the key stories at a glance. The US supreme court cleared the way on Monday for Donald Trump's administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show harms they could face, handing him another victory in his aggressive pursuit of mass deportations. The justices lifted a judicial order that required the government to give migrants set for deportation to so-called 'third countries' a 'meaningful opportunity' to tell officials they are at risk of torture at their new destination, while a legal challenge plays out. Read the full story Donald Trump claimed that Israel and Iran had negotiated a ceasefire, halting a two-week war that has killed hundreds in tit-for-tat strikes by Israeli warplanes and Iranian ballistic missiles. The ceasefire was set to begin late on Monday, Trump said, with Iran halting its attacks first and then Israel set to cease offensive operations in the coming hours. Read the full story A group of 12 House Democratic military veterans have thrown their weight behind efforts to constrain Donald Trump's military authority, announcing they will support a War Powers Act resolution in response to the US president's go ahead for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The veterans – some of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan – were strongly critical of Trump's decision to launch what they called 'preventive airstrikes' without US congressional approval, drawing explicit parallels to the run-up to some of America's longest recent wars. Read the full story Advocates are urging Senate Republicans to reject a proposal to cut billions from American healthcare to extend tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations. The proposal would make historic cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people that covers 71 million Americans, and is the Senate version of the 'big beautiful bill' act, which contains most of Donald Trump's legislative agenda. Read the full story The WhatsApp messaging service has been banned on all US House of Representatives devices, according to a memo sent to House staff on Monday. Read the full story Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, has drawn level with Andrew Cuomo in the city's primary, according to a new poll, as voters brave record-breaking temperatures to cast their ballots. Read the full story New York governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to build a nuclear-power plant, the first major US plant in over 15 years. Three years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, the number of abortions performed in the US is still rising – including in some states that ban the procedure. A federal judge on Monday blocked Donald Trump's administration from implementing his plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the United States to study at Harvard University. Catching up? Here's what happened on 22 June 2025.
