Hamas Says It Will Release Last Living American Hostage in Gaza
The release of Israeli solider Edan Alexander, who's an American citizen, is a step toward reaching a new ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the militant group said late Sunday in a statement on Telegram. The Palestinian group said it also seeks to open border crossings and allow aid deliveries into the war-ravaged enclave.
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A pause on higher tariffs for China is due to expire Tuesday. Here's what to know.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A 90-day pause on imposing higher tariffs on China is due to expire on Tuesday and it is unclear if it will be extended. After the most recent round of China-U.S. trade talks, held late last month in Stockholm, Chinese and U.S. officials said they expected the deadline to be extended for another 90 days. The U.S. side said the decision was up to President Donald Trump. So far there has been no formal announcement about whether he will endorse an extension or push ahead with the higher tariffs. The uncertainty has left businesses in limbo and a decision to raise the import duties could jolt world markets. SILENCE FROM WASHINGTON AND BEIJING Trump has repeatedly shifted deadlines and tariff rates, and neither side has indicated what it plans for Tuesday. Extending the Aug. 12 deadline for reaching a trade agreement with China would forestall earlier threats of tariffs of up to 245%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump was deciding about another 90-day delay to allow time to work out details of an agreement setting tariffs on most products at 50%, including extra import duties related to illicit trade in the powerful opiate fentanyl. Higher tariffs are aimed at offsetting the huge, chronic U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a 21-year low in July as the threat of tariffs bit into Chinese exports. It's not unusual for the U.S. to give hints on where talks stand, but it's rare for China to make announcements until major decisions are set. CHINA RESISTED CUTTING AN EARLY BARGAIN Prohibitively high tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States would put huge pressure on Beijing at a time when the Chinese economy, the world's second largest, is still recovering from a prolonged downturn in its property market. Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have left around 200 million of its workers reliant on 'gig work,' crimping the job market. Higher import taxes on small parcels from China have also hurt smaller factories and layoffs have accelerated, But the U.S. relies heavily on imports from China for all sorts of products, from household goods and clothing to wind turbines, basic computer chips, electric vehicle batteries and the rare earths needed to make them. That gives Beijing some powerful leverage in the negotiations with Washington. Even with higher tariffs, China remains competitive for many products. And its leaders are aware that the U.S. economy is only just beginning to feel the effects of higher prices from Trump's broad tariff hikes. For now, imports from China are subject to a 10% baseline tariff and a 20% extra tariff related to the fentanyl issue. Some products are taxed at higher rates. U.S. exports to China are subject to tariffs of around 30%. Before the two sides called a truce, Trump had threatened to impose 245% import duties on Chinese goods. China retaliated by saying it would hike its tariff on U.S. products to 125%. MUCH IS AT STAKE A trade war between the world's two largest economies has ramifications across the global economy, affecting industrial supply chains, demand for commodities like copper and oil and geopolitical issues such as the war in Ukraine. After a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June, Trump said he hoped to meet with Xi later this year. That's an incentive for striking a deal with Beijing. If the two sides fail to keep their truce, trade tensions could escalate and tariffs might rise to even higher levels, inflicting still more pain on both economies and rattling world markets. Businesses would refrain from making investment commitments and hiring, while inflation would surge higher. Companies are in an 'extended wait-and-see mode,' Oxford Economics said in a recent report. Christopher Bodeen, The Associated Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
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Voices: The killing of Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif in Gaza is an attack on truth itself
The news of Anas al-Sharif's killing hit me like a physical blow. A journalist with Al Jazeera, Anas was not my friend in the everyday sense – we never shared coffee, never walked the streets of Gaza together. But he was my neighbour. He was born in the same place I was born: Jabalia refugee camp. His family's home stood in the same crowded lanes where I grew up, among the same walls scarred by decades of displacement and war. Over the past 677 days, I saw him every single day – not in person, but through my screen. When the rest of the world looked away, Anas was still there, reporting from the very heart of my city, from the streets where my family still lives. At a time when no one else dared to enter northern Gaza, he walked through the rubble, speaking into his camera, delivering not just the news, but fragments of home. When Israel plunged Gaza into darkness, cutting communications and severing people from the outside world, Anas's voice broke through like oxygen. Through his reports, I could see the neighbourhoods I knew, hear the voices I recognised, and feel the pulse of a place I am exiled from but can never leave in my heart. He was more than a journalist – he was the thread that connected me to my people in their darkest hour. That made him a target. The Israeli army threatened Anas several times. They warned him to stop reporting from the north. They told him his life was in danger. He knew exactly what they meant – in Gaza, such threats are never empty. Yet he never stopped. He refused to be silenced. Instead, he doubled down, documenting every bombing, every destroyed home, every lifeless child carried from the ruins. He understood better than anyone that Israel does not just want to erase lives – it wants to erase the record of those lives. And it has made sure of that by banning international journalists from entering Gaza, leaving Palestinian reporters like Anas to bear the entire, deadly weight of telling the world what is happening. Israel even accused him of being Hamas – an accusation as absurd as it was predictable – despite the fact that Anas spent most of the past 23 months in front of the camera, reporting live, his location always known. I often knew exactly where he was, just by following his social media and Al Jazeera broadcasts. The question is: why did Israel kill him now? Is it because what is coming to Gaza is even darker, with the latest announcement of invading Gaza City and displacing more than a million people? Anas even pleaded publicly with the international community to protect journalists in Gaza so they could continue to expose Israeli war crimes. He was not asking for special treatment. He was asking for the basic right to do his job without being killed for it. That plea, like so many others from Gaza, went unanswered. On 10 August 2025, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent outside al-Shifa Hospital where Anas and his colleagues were covering the famine and starvation gripping Gaza. The strike killed Anas along with four other journalists – Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. It was not just an attack on individuals; it was an attack on the truth itself. Anas's killing is part of a relentless pattern. Since the war began in October 2023, over 230 journalists have been killed in Gaza – the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history. The vast majority were Palestinian reporters, camera operators, and media workers, many of whom were the sole remaining eyes and ears for the outside world. But journalists are not the only ones targeted. Israel has also killed over 400 aid workers, including UN staff and Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers. It has bombed clearly marked ambulances and convoys. More than 700 doctors, nurses, and paramedics have been killed. Hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or rendered inoperative. These are not 'collateral damage' – these are deliberate strikes on the people and infrastructure meant to protect life. And still, no one has been held accountable. Not for Anas. Not for the executed medics in Rafah. Not for the aid workers buried in mass graves. The world issues statements of concern, but statements cannot stop bombs. Words without action are just noise – and in Gaza, the noise is already deafening. For me, this loss is deeply personal. Anas and I shared the same streets growing up, the same camp, the same stubborn will to survive. I have lived in exile for years, but through his reporting, I could still feel close to Gaza. Every time he went live, I knew I was watching someone who was not just doing his job – he was carrying the burden of speaking for an entire people. He filmed not as an outsider looking in, but as someone living the nightmare alongside those he reported on. He showed the world mothers digging through rubble for their children. Fathers carrying tiny bodies wrapped in white cloth. Children searching for food among the debris. And he showed it without flinching, without sanitising, without letting anyone look away. That is why they killed him. And that is why we must remember him. If there is any award, any honour, any recognition worth giving, it belongs to the Palestinian journalists of Gaza. They have risked – and given – their lives so the truth could survive. Their work has been done under constant bombardment, without protective gear, without safe corridors, and often while their own families were being killed. Anas al-Sharif will never report another story. But his courage remains. His words remain. And his example must remain a rallying cry – not just for press freedom, but for justice. Because the killing of journalists is not just a crime against the press. It is a crime against history itself. It is an attempt to ensure that what happened in Gaza can one day be denied. We cannot allow that to happen. For Anas. For every journalist, aid worker, and medic killed. For the people of Gaza still living – and dying – under siege. Ahmed Najar is a Palestinian economist and commentator originally from Gaza, now based in London
Yahoo
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Trump escalates crime rhetoric ahead of Washington crackdown announcement
By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has spent days escalating his rhetoric on crime in Washington, calling the U.S. capital "totally out of control" and ordering a federal law enforcement surge ahead of a Monday press conference to outline a sweeping crackdown. On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong." The Democratic mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, pushed back on Trump's claims, saying the city is "not experiencing a crime spike" and highlighting that violent crime has fallen to a 30-year low. Trump called Bowser "a good person who has tried" but said she's been given many chances while crime numbers continue to worsen. Violent crime fell 26% in the first seven months of 2025 and overall crime dropped 7%, according to the city's police department. But gun violence remains an issue. In 2023, Washington had the third-highest gun homicide rate among U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, according to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. Over the past week, Trump has intensified his messaging, demanding the swift eviction of homeless residents and vowing to jail offenders. He has raised the prospect of stripping the city of its local autonomy and signaled a possible full federal takeover. The Trump administration is also preparing to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, a U.S. official told Reuters, a controversial tactic that Trump used recently in Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests over the objections of local officials. Trump has not made a final decision, the official said, adding that the number of troops and the role they would play are still being determined. The District of Columbia, established in 1790, operates under the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress ultimate authority but allows residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump said last week that lawyers are examining how to overturn the law, a move that would likely require Congress to revoke it and him to sign off. Trump has cited a recent assault on a federal staffer and viral videos of youth crime to argue the nation's capital is in crisis. His response marks a renewed focus on crime as a political priority and grounds for increased federal intervention, which could challenge Washington's autonomy and reshape the balance of local and federal power. The president's order last week to deploy more federal law enforcement also marks a major escalation. Officers from over a dozen agencies, including the FBI, ICE, DEA, and ATF, have already spread across the city. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said multiple arrests were made on Friday, with over 450 federal officers deployed throughout the city on Saturday. The official added the deployment targets "high-traffic tourist areas and known hotspots," with officers "highly visible," referencing criticism of previous immigration crackdowns involving masked agents and unmarked vehicles. The White House has not clarified what legal authority Trump would use to evict people from Washington, where he only controls federal land and buildings. Since the 1980s, Trump has used crime, especially youth crime in cities, as a political tool. His 1989 call for the death penalty in the Central Park jogger case, involving five Black and Latino teens later exonerated, remains one of the most controversial moments of his public life. Trump is expected to outline further details during a press conference at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) Monday at the White House.
