US Senate pushes ahead on Trump tax cuts as nonpartisan analysis raises price tag
02:03
30/06/2025
Irish MEP urges EU to 'hold Israel to the same standards as other nations'
Middle East
30/06/2025
Trump calls for a Gaza ceasefire deal as some Palestinians are skeptical
30/06/2025
Spain hits new June temperature record of 46 degrees Celsius
30/06/2025
Algeria sentences French sports journalist to seven years in jail
Africa
30/06/2025
Southern Europe broils as heatwave sends temperatures above 40°C
Europe
29/06/2025
Red alert: Soaring temperatures prompt stay-home warnings across Europe
Europe
29/06/2025
Iranians flee to seek safety in Turkey amid Israeli strikes
Middle East
29/06/2025
Major heatwaves sweep Southern and Western Europe
Europe
29/06/2025
At least 71 killed in Israel's attack on Tehran's Evin prison
Middle East
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France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
White House says Canada 'caved' to Trump on tech tax
"It's very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President Trump and the United States of America," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a daily briefing. Leavitt said Trump "knows how to negotiate," adding that "every country on the planet needs to have good trade relationships with the United States." "And it was a mistake for Canada to vow to implement that tax that would have hurt our tech companies here in the United States." Canada announced late Sunday that it would rescind taxes impacting US tech firms and said trade negotiations with Washington would resume. The digital services tax, enacted last year, would have seen US service providers such as Alphabet and Amazon on the hook for a multi-billion-dollar payment in Canada by Monday. But Trump, who has weaponized US economic power in the form of tariffs, abruptly said on Friday that he was ending trade talks with Canada in retaliation for the levy. Then over the weekend Trump revived his rhetoric about wanting Canada to become the 51st US state, which had strained ties between the two countries. "Frankly, Canada should be the 51st state, okay? It really should, because Canada relies entirely on the United States. We don't rely on Canada," Trump told Fox News show "Sunday Morning Futures." The blow-up over the tech tariffs came despite what had been warming relations between Trump and Carney. The Canadian leader came to the White House on May 6 and had a cordial meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. They met again at the Group of Seven summit earlier this month in Canada, where leaders pushed Trump to back away from his punishing trade war. A July 9 deadline that Trump has set for countries to negotiate trade deals is now rapidly approaching before harsh tariffs kick in. "He is going to set the rates for many of these countries if they don't come to the table to negotiate in good faith, and he is meeting with his trade team this week to do that," Leavitt said. © 2025 AFP
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Eight-country coalition aims to tax luxury air travel
The coalition, which also brings together Somalia, Benin, Sierra Leone and Antigua and Barbuda, said it would work to increase the number of countries taxing plane tickets, including business-class travel, and private jets. The air industry is a major source of the polluting emissions that contribute to global warming, which inflicts its worst impacts on vulnerable developing countries that are least responsible. Ahead of November's UN climate summit in Brazil, the French presidency said in a statement the group would work on making the aviation sector contribute more to funding climate adaptation. The aim would be to plough at least some of the tax proceeds into "resilient investments and fair transitions" and help poorer countries raise more domestic revenue, a key factor for development, the statement added. France, Kenya and Barbados have previously lobbied for such "solidarity levies" to raise money for climate action, suggesting taxes on shipping, fossil fuels, plastic and cryptocurrency. The group has suggested levies on flying could raise up to 187 billion euros ($220 billion) if they were applied across the board. Greenpeace welcomed an "important step" to raise more money from "the most elite and polluting form of travel", which has remained "undertaxed". "Bold, cooperative action that makes polluters pay is not just fair -- it's essential," Greenpeace's global political lead Rebecca Newsom said in a statement. The announcement came during a UN development conference in Spain that aims to deliver fresh impetus for a sector reeling from severe cuts to foreign aid, which have repercussions for poor countries' battle against climate change. Wealthy nations that have historically done the most to drive climate change are obliged to provide finance to help poorer countries adapt to its consequences under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
‘It felt like earthquakes': Israel pounds Gaza, killing dozens as Trump pushes for ceasefire
Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza on Monday as residents in the enclave's north reported one of the heaviest bombardments in weeks, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration. A day after US President Donald Trump urged an end to the 20-month-old war, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals. But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, there was no sign of fighting letting up. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday to residents in large districts in the northern Gaza Strip, forcing a new wave of displacement. "Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes," said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City. "In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground we see death and we hear explosions." Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said. At least 60 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people killed in Zeitoun and at least 13 killed southwest of Gaza City. Medics said most of the 13 were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an air strike. Twenty people, including women, children and a local journalist were killed in an Israeli air strike on a beachfront cafe in Gaza City, medics said. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said more than 220 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023. The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centers, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. There was no immediate word from Israel on the reported casualties southwest of the Gaza Strip and the beachfront cafe. The bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction. The military ordered people there to head south, saying that it planned to fight Hamas militants operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City. 'Make the deal' A day after Trump called to "Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back", Israel's strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu's, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, an Israeli official said. In Israel, Netanyahu's security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza. On Friday, Israel's military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks. A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas. He told reporters: "Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza." Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, speaking in Jerusalem alongside her Israeli counterpart, said Vienna was very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which she described as 'unbearable'. 'The suffering of civilians is increasingly burdening Israel's relations with Europe. A ceasefire must be agreed upon,' she said, calling for the unconditional release of hostages by Hamas and for Israel to allow the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel says it continues to allow aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing it. The group denies that accusation and says Israel uses hunger as a weapon against the Gaza population. The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees ending the war. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80% of the territory is now an Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders, according to the UN.
