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France 24
25 minutes ago
- France 24
Live: US will set up 'food centres' in Gaza, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will set up "food centres" in Gaza to help avert a deepening hunger crisis in the conflict-ravaged Palestinian territory. Gaza is facing mass starvation following months of an Israeli military blockade that has only recently allowed restricted amounts of aid to enter the devastated enclave. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
France 24
25 minutes ago
- France 24
EU defends Trump trade deal facing backlash
"I'm 100 percent sure that this deal is better than a trade war with the United States," top EU trade negotiator Maros Sefcovic told journalists. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched the framework accord with Trump Sunday after dashing to Scotland as the August 1 deadline loomed for steep levies that threatened to cripple Europe's economy. EU exports are now set to face across-the-board tariffs of 15 percent -- higher than customs duties before Trump returned to the White House, but much lower than his threatened 30 percent. The 27-nation bloc also promised its companies would purchase energy worth $750 billion from the United States and make $600 billion in additional investments -- although it was not clear how binding those pledges would be. "This is clearly the best deal we could get under very difficult circumstances," Sefcovic said. Full details of the agreement -- and crucially which sectors could escape the 15-percent levy -- will be known in coming days, although the EU says it has avoided steeper tariffs on key exports including cars and medicines. But the reaction from European capitals -- which gave von der Leyen the mandate to negotiate -- ranged from muted to outright hostile. French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said it was a "dark day" for Europe and said the accord was tantamount to "submission". Speaking for Europe's biggest economy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave a warmer welcome to a deal he said had avoided "needless escalation". Industry groups in both countries made plain their disappointment however, with Germany's main auto sector body saying the 15-percent levy "burdens" carmakers while its VCI chemical trade association said the rates were "too high". Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban attacked the deal in blunt terms, saying "Trump ate Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast". 'Not only about trade' "It looks a bit like a capitulation," said Alberto Rizzi of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). "The EU accepted a fairly unbalanced deal," he added, saying it delivered a "political victory for Trump". Von der Leyen had faced intense pressure from EU states to strike a deal quickly with the bloc's biggest partner and protect a $1.9-trillion trading relationship. Defending Brussels' approach, Sefcovic warned that a no-deal scenario -- meaning a 30-percent tariff and the prospect of further escalation -- would have risked up to five million jobs in Europe. Throughout the months-long talks, Brussels prioritised stability and maintaining good relations with Washington, over escalation. That line of thinking has support: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, said the deal had avoided "potentially devastating" consequences. Markets in Asia and Europe welcomed the certainty and rose following the announcement -- reflecting the 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion) worth of daily transatlantic goods and services trade that were at stake. Hanging over the negotiations was the risk to other areas of cooperation -- like Ukraine -- if the EU descended into a trade war with its closest security partner. "It's not only about the trade -- it's about security, it's about Ukraine," Sefcovic told reporters Monday. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics acknowledged it was "clearly an imbalanced deal" if judged purely on trade terms. "But if you're trying to avoid worse national security outcomes, well then maybe the deal is not so bad," he said. Cautious approach The EU had sought to ramp up the pressure in the final stretch of talks, fearing a bad deal and higher levies, with countries approving a $109-billion package of counter-tariffs at the last minute. And states led by France were pushing for a more robust response including the option to deploy the trade "bazooka" known as the anti-coercion instrument. But the threat of retaliation was consistently framed by Brussels as a last resort should talks fail, and experts suggested the hardening stance may have come too late to make a real difference.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Syria investigation finds more than 1,400 killed in March sectarian violence
More than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed in several days of sectarian violence on Syria 's coast earlier this year, a government committee tasked with investigating it said Tuesday. The violence was the first major incident to emerge after the ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad in December. It said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials told journalists. They didn't say how many suspects were members of security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which again has threatened to upend the country's fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The violence on the coast began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238 of them, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilised, the committee said. As they entered neighbourhoods and villages, some – including members of military factions – committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians", committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this", the spokesperson said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology", he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chair, said that 'we have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations". He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There have been ongoing, although scattered, reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since the violence. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighbouring have been echoes of the coastal violence in the new clashes in southern Sweida province over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the UN says more than 128,500 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chair said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee. 'Time will reveal what happened and who is responsible for it,' he said.
