
US approves $510m bomb guidance kits sale to Israel amid tensions
'The proposed sale will enhance Israel's capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel's borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers,' the DSCA said. The agency emphasized Washington's commitment to Israel's security, calling it vital to US national interests.
The State Department greenlit the potential sale, with the DSCA notifying Congress for final approval. Israel recently conducted airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, targeting scientists and military leaders in an effort to halt Tehran's nuclear program. Iran maintains its nuclear activities are peaceful, but the US and allies suspect weapons development.
Former President Donald Trump initially sought diplomacy to replace the 2018-abandoned nuclear deal but ultimately authorized military strikes. A ceasefire paused hostilities last week, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against Iran rebuilding nuclear sites, signaling possible future clashes.
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New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
West Bank Christian village prays for help after Israeli settler attacks
TAYBEH, Palestinian Territories: Clerics and diplomats walked as if in a religious procession through the streets of Taybeh, a small Christian village in the occupied West Bank where residents blame Israeli settlers for a spate of recent attacks. In cassocks and suits respectively, they answered the call from the local town hall and priests to meet residents affected by the violence and to see for themselves the arson damage on the remains of a Byzantine church. "It became every day more clear that there is no law. The only law is power," said Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa. "Israeli authorities have a role to play in conducting the necessary investigations to find the perpetrators and charge them," French Consul General in Jerusalem Nicolas Kassianides said. As he walked through the village on Monday, a resident thanked the French diplomat for his presence at the previous olive harvest -- a common practice for Israeli activists and foreigners hoping their presence will deter settler attacks on Palestinians. The European Union's representative in the Palestinian Territories, Alexandre Stutzmann, pointed to the sanctions imposed by the bloc on certain settlers and their organisations, and said attacks were "undermining the process for peace". DAILY PROVOCATIONS The United Nations keeps a record of the routine violence committed by some of the nearly half a million Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank, excluding annexed east Jerusalem. Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are deemed illegal under international law. From July 1-7, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, documented at least 27 settler attacks against Palestinians. In the villages and communities around Taybeh, Palestinian authorities reported that settlers had killed three people and damaged or destroyed multiple water sources in the past two weeks alone. The July 7 arson attack on the remains of the Church of Saint George, which date back to the 5th century, was the last straw for many villagers. "We struggle with daily provocations," said Father Bashar Basiel as he described the damage done to village lands by the settlers' livestock, or the aggressive visits by young hardliners. "How long will these attacks last?" he asked. On the sidelines of the visit, residents and officials exchanged photographs and videos of recent attacks and the damage done. Many questioned how the situation could have got so bad in a quiet village known more for its beer festival and picturesque alleyways than political activism or confrontations with the Israeli army. "We want peace," local elders recited like a mantra from the sidelines of Monday's procession. SETTLER VIOLENCE Yet few harbour hope that Monday's visit will change the direction in which Taybeh seems headed. Daoud Khoury, Taybeh's mayor for eight years, asked the foreign guests how they could combat settler violence "in concrete terms" and "protect Christians". "In my opinion, the answer is that they can't do much", Khoury said later in the visit. He said he feared the worsening security situation would prompt more local families to emigrate abroad, severing the connection between Palestinians and their land. "What do people need? They need a roof over their head and they need a job," said Khoury, who is now in his seventies. "That's what I expected from the patriarchs. You know, trying to create jobs, trying to build houses." Like most of Taybeh's elderly residents, he has no plans to leave but feels powerless in the face of gradual settler expansion. "This is something that's been going on for a while but right now it's expanding... they're just going everywhere, even closer, very close to the houses," he said. Implicit is the fear that few residents dare to speak out loud -- the potential disappearance of the village. From a corner of the local cemetery that was also damaged by a fire blamed on settlers, Qassam Muaddi pointed to the latest Israeli settlements on the horizon. The young journalist was irritated by the day's formalities and said he felt like the situation had reached a deadend. "The message that we are getting (from the international community) is that we don't matter... and that whether or not we still exist in the coming 50 years doesn't change anything," he said. - AFP


New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Trump announces Indonesia 'deal' after tariff threats
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had struck a deal with Indonesia – without providing specifics of the agreement – a week after threatening steeper tariffs on the Southeast Asian country. "Great deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, saying that he worked with the country's president directly. "DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!" The Trump administration has been under pressure to finalise trade pacts after promising a flurry of deals, as countries have sought negotiations with Washington to avoid Trump's tariff threats. But the US president has so far only unveiled deals with Britain and Vietnam, alongside an agreement to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China. Last week, Trump renewed his threat of a 32 per cent levy on Indonesian goods, saying in a letter to the country's leadership that this level would take effect August 1. It remains unclear what Indonesia's new tariff level will be under the latest deal with Washington, Indonesia's former vice minister for foreign affairs, Dino Patti Djalal, told a Foreign Policy event Tuesday. But he added that insiders from the Indonesian government indicated they were happy with the new deal, adding that he expected further information in the coming hours. Trump, in April, imposed a 10 per cent tariff on almost all trading partners, while announcing plans to eventually hike this level for dozens of economies, including the European Union and Indonesia. However, just days before the steeper duties were due to take effect, he pushed the deadline back from July 9 to August 1. This marked his second postponement of the elevated levies. Instead, since the start of last week, Trump began sending out letters to partners, setting out the tariff levels they would face come August. The levy he cited to Indonesia last week was unchanged from the figure first unveiled in April. To date, Trump has sent more than 20 such letters to partners including the EU, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. Canada and Mexico – both countries that were not originally targeted in Trump's "reciprocal" tariff push – also received similar documents outlining updated tariffs for their products. However, existing exemptions covering goods entering the United States under a North American trade pact are expected to remain in place. Analysts have warned that without trade agreements, Americans could conclude that Trump's strategy to reshape US trading ties with the world has not worked. "In the public's mind, the tariffs are the pain, and the agreements will be the gain. If there are no agreements, people will conclude his strategy was flawed," William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told AFP.


The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Factbox-Some of the big US investments being made in AI and energy
FILE PHOTO: A building complex that houses Compass Datacenters is partially visible from a nearby neighborhood in Broadlands, Virginia, U.S., March 13, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -American companies rolled out a series of big ticket AI and energy investment pledges on Tuesday, part of a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain America's edge in the booming technology sector. Here are some of the biggest announcements timed around the Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, which is expected to include $90 billion in investments in and around Pennsylvania. Alphabet-owned Google has struck a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management for electricity generated from two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania. The tech giant will also invest $25 billion in data centers across Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years, Semafor reported on Tuesday. Asset management firm Blackstone plans a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, its President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray told a panel at the summit. On Monday Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers, including a multi-gigawatt data center dubbed Prometheus, which is planned for Ohio. Cloud infrastructure technology company CoreWeave plans to spend up to $6 billion on building a new artificial intelligence data center in Pennsylvania, the company said on Tuesday. The pledges come amid a surge in investments for AI startups, a sign that the field continues to thrive even as venture capital firms are struggling to raise money, a report from PitchBook on Tuesday showed. (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )