Can Donald Trump force a ceasefire in Gaza?
T WO WEEKS after Israel's dramatic war against Iran, Binyamin Netanyahu is arriving in Washington to bask in glory alongside Donald Trump. But to receive a victor's reception at the White House, Israel's prime minister may have to yield to America's president on another matter.
Peace deals may be elusive, and Gulf states fear the war is far from over
William Ruto's tenure is a how-to guide for sowing cynicism about democracy
But today transnational political Shiism is struggling for its survival
Making peace with the Palestinians looks much harder than with Iran's regime or Shias in Lebanon
The truce signed by Congo and Rwanda leaves out some important details
The government is failing to protect them
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The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump steps up trade wars with 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea
Donald Trump unveiled plans to step up his trade wars on Monday, announcing Japan and South Korea will soon face US tariffs of 25% in a significant escalation of his controversial economic strategy. The US president, who indicated that he would notify as many as as 15 countries of new, higher rates on Monday, posted copies of letters addressed to the leaders of Japan and South Korea on social media. Trump said the rates are set to go into effect August 1. The letters were largely identical and informed the leaders that there will be no tariffs if their countries 'decide to build or manufacture product within the United States'. Trump also threatened higher tariffs if the countries place additional tariffs on US exports. 'If for any reason you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto that 25% we charge,' he wrote. Trump initially announced a slate of so-called reciprocal tariffs in April, on what the White House dubbed 'liberation day', with some countries facing rates as high as 50% While he paused those tariffs for 90 days amid market turmoil, this reprieve is do to expire on Wednesday, 9 July. Trump officials initially suggested they would strike dozens of deals with key economies during the pause, but have since indicated that they would use an extension to continue talks. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said last month the administration was aiming to wrap up negotiations by Labor Day on 1 September. The US has so far settled deals with three countries: the UK, China and Vietnam, and Bessent said there are over a dozen countries the US is still trying to negotiate with. The new August deadline for countries without a deal amounts to a further three-week reprieve, but also triggers fresh uncertainty for importers because of the lack of clarity around the tariffs. As the July deadline has approached, Trump's officials have been racing to broker deals. Over the weekend, one European diplomat said the US may have to 'show muscle if the deal is not good enough'. The White House also reached an impasse in negotiations with Japan, despite initial optimism. Trump on Friday said it is 'much easier to send a letter' and that the offers are 'take it or leave it'. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 sank by almost 0.9% after Trump posted his first letters. Though the US stock market has largely recovered from the uncertainty around Trump's trade war, the US dollar still remains weakened after months of trade fights. At the beginning of this year, the dollar had its worst six months in over 50 years, falling 10.8% since the start of 2025.
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
US justice department finds no Epstein 'client list'
The US Department of Justice and FBI have concluded that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not have a so-called client list that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life - contradicting long-held conspiracy theories about the infamous case. While campaigning last year, President Donald Trump promised to release files relating to the disgraced financier. But since he returned to office in January, some of his supporters have grown frustrated with the administration's handling of the case and for failing to deliver new revelations. The issue re-emerged earlier this year amid a public spat between Trump and his former adviser Elon Musk. Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex to a two-page Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI memo, investigators found no "incriminating list" of clients and "no credible evidence" that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals. Investigators also released footage they say supports the medical examiner's conclusion that Epstein died by suicide while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New conspiracy theorists have suggested that Epstein was murdered to stop him from implicating government officials, celebrities and other business tycoons who were involved in his Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino had previously questioned the official narrative regarding Epstein's death - although since joining the Trump administration, both have acknowledged that Epstein took his own life. The memo adds that investigators "did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties". Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Some conservative supporters of Trump have already voiced frustration with the administration's handling of disclosures regarding the Epstein files, particularly after Attorney General Pam Bondi released a tranche of case documents that had already been available publicly. "This is not what we or the American people asked for and a complete disappointment," conservative lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X at the time. "Get us the information we asked for." Following the disclosure, Bondi accused federal investigators of withholding thousands of documents related to the case. More recently, she told reporters at the White House that the FBI was reviewing "tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn", although she did not provide further details. In late April, Trump was also asked when new information regarding the case would be released. "I don't know. I'll speak to the attorney general about that," Trump responded. "I really don't know."Debate about the Epstein case broke out again last month - amid a public spat with the president - tech billionaire Musk claimed, without evidence, that Trump appears in unreleased government files linked to the late sex offender. The White House rubbished those claims, and the post was deleted by Musk. He later said he regretted some of the content he posted about Trump online during their row, saying he went "too far".
Sky News
36 minutes ago
- Sky News
UK farmers have 'nothing more to give' as they fear govt will compromise welfare in US-UK trade deal
UK farmers have "nothing more to give" as they fear the government will use agriculture to further reduce US tariffs in a trade deal with the White House. The UK is trying to reduce steel tariffs to zero, from a current reduced rate of 25%, but Downing Street refused to confirm if it was confident ahead of Donald Trump's deadline of 9 July. Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), said UK agriculture had already been used to reduce Trump-imposed tariffs on cars but any other concessions would have serious repercussions for farmers, food security and the UK's high animal welfare standards. He told Sky News: "It just feels like we, as the agricultural sector, had to shoulder the responsibility to reduce the tariffs on cars from 25%. "We can't do it anymore, we have nothing more to give. "It's clear the steel quotas and tariffs aren't sorted yet, so we just want to be very clear with the government: if they're sitting around the negotiating table - which we understand they are - they can't expect agriculture to give any more." 'Massively undermine our standards' Since 30 June, the US has been able to import 13,000 tonnes of hormone-free British beef without tariffs under a deal made earlier this year, which farmers feel was to reduce the car import levy Mr Trump imposed. The UK was also given tariff-free access to 1.4bn litres of US ethanol, which farmers say will put the UK's bioethanol and associated sectors under pressure. Allowing lower US food standards would "massively undermine our standards" and would mean fewer sales to the European Union where food standards are also high, Mr Bradshaw said. It would leave British farmers competing on a playing field that is "anything but fair", he said, because US food can be produced - and sold - much cheaper due to low welfare which could see a big reduction in investment in UK farms, food security and the environment. 5:08 'The US will push hard for more access' He said the US narrative has always suggested they want access to British agriculture products "as a start and they'll negotiate for more". "The narrative from the White House on 8 May, when a US-UK trade deal was announced, was all about further access to our agriculture products - it was very different to what our government was saying," he added. "So far, the UK has stood firm and upheld our higher welfare standards, but the US will push very hard to have further access. "No country in the world has proved they can reduce the 10% tariffs further." US 'will target poultry and pork' The Essex farmer said he expects the US to push "very hard" to get the UK to lower its standards on poultry and pork, specifically. US poultry is often washed with antimicrobials, including chlorine, in an attempt to wash off high levels of bacteria caused by poor hygiene, antibiotic use and low animal welfare conditions not allowed in UK farming. US pig rearing methods are also quite different, with intensive farming and the use of feed additive ractopamine legal, with both banned in the UK. A government spokesperson told Sky News: "We regularly speak to businesses across the UK to understand the impact of tariffs and will only ever act in the national interest. "Our Plan for Change has delivered a deal which will open up exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market for the first time ever and all agricultural imports coming to the UK will have to meet our high SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) standards."
