US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Chinese FM at Asia summit
11/07/2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at ASEAN summit in Malaysia
Asia / Pacific
11/07/2025
Marco Rubio met with Russian & Chinese counterparts during ASEAN summit
Asia / Pacific
11/07/2025
Texas officials are trying to figure out who's really missing from the floods
Americas
11/07/2025
'Brazil is ours!': Protests in Sao Paulo after Trump threatens 50% levy
Americas
10/07/2025
'Tribal politics: If Trump can claim victory to MAGA base domestically that's all that matters'
Americas
08/07/2025
John Bolton deems Trump's lack of philosophy and coherent policy 'disconcerting to US allies'
Americas
07/07/2025
Texas deadly floods: A state 'can't deal with this scale of disaster' without federal resources
Americas
07/07/2025
White House visit: 'For Netanyahu the issue is mostly about domestic politics, not Israeli security'
Middle East
07/07/2025
Deadly floods killed dozens in Texas
Americas
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France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Ukraine says Russian strike on training camp kills 3 soldiers
The Kremlin has come under intense pressure to end its war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year, with US President Donald Trump issuing a 10-day ultimatum to act or face sanctions. On social media, the Ukrainian army said a Russian missile hit one of the ground force's training units, without specifying the location. At least "three servicemen are dead and 18 wounded," it said Tuesday. Over the previous night, a series of Russian attacks killed at least 25 civilians, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen inmates at the Bilenkiska penal colony in southern Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting the prison, which the justice ministry said killed 17 people and wounded another 42. The Kremlin denied the claim, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters, "the Russian army does not strike civilian targets". The attacks came hours after Trump said he was shortening the deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war from 50 days to 10-12 days. Hours later, Trump solidified the 10-day timeline, threatening "tariffs and stuff", while also conceding to not knowing if the measures would work. Peskov said Moscow had "taken note", and that it remained "committed to the peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and secure our interests". 'Prolonging the war' The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight into Tuesday, with 32 of the drones successfully downed. Zelensky also accused Russia of targeting a hospital in the town of Kamyanske in Dnipropetrovsk region, killing three people and wounding 22. Other Russian attacks killed six in the Kharkiv region, where the city of Kharkiv faced another attack at dawn on Wednesday. "Putin is rejecting a ceasefire, avoiding a leaders' meeting and prolonging the war," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media. "He will only end his terror if we break the spine of his economy," he added, calling on Western allies to impose sanctions. Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the invasion in February 2022. The Russian defence ministry claimed advances across the front line on Tuesday, saying its forces had taken two more villages -- one in the Donetsk region, and another in Zaporizhzhia. Tuesday's prison strike fell on the third anniversary of an attack on the Olenivka detention centre in Russian-occupied Donetsk. Ukraine and Russia traded blame for that nighttime strike, which Kyiv said killed dozens of soldiers who had laid down arms after a long Russian siege of the port city of Mariupol. burs-jxb-tc/lb © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Five products to be hit by Trump's incoming tariffs
Economists have warned that steeper US tariffs, paid for by importers of foreign products, could add to business costs and trickle down to households. The risk is a dampening of consumption -- a key driver of the world's biggest economy. Trump's tariffs could impact everything from coffee beans and rice to cocoa, seafood or even electronics. Here are some examples of products in the crosshairs: Coffee Over 99 percent of America's coffee is imported, according to the National Coffee Association. It told AFP that two-thirds of US adults drink coffee daily. Top suppliers of coffee beans include Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). But Brazil, which accounted for over 30 percent of such imports in recent years, faces a 50 percent tariff threat come August 1. In a letter to Brazil's leadership, Trump cited a judical "witch hunt" against his right-wing ally, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, in unveiling the rate. Imports from Vietnam, meanwhile, face a 20 percent additional tariff even after a deal the Southeast Asian country recently struck with Trump. Shirts Clothing like shirts and sweaters could also become pricier. China, Vietnam and Bangladesh accounted for more than half of US apparel imports from January through May this year, said the American Apparel & Footwear Association. All three countries face different tariff levels under the Trump administration. Chinese goods, which account for nearly a third of apparel imports, were hit by a fresh 30 percent duty this year -- piling atop existing ones. If an existing truce expiring August 12 is not extended, tariffs on products from China could surge even higher, causing companies to halt imports or be forced to pass on more costs. Vietnamese goods accounted for nearly 20 percent of clothing imports while those from Bangladesh made up about 11 percent, the association said. Trump has threatened to impose a 35 percent duty on Bangladesh goods. Jasmine rice The United States is the biggest rice importing country in the Western Hemisphere, bringing in some 1.3 million tons, according to the USDA. More than 60 percent of the country's rice imports are aromatic varieties, mostly jasmine from Thailand and basmati from India and Pakistan. Thailand faces a prospective 36 percent tariff come Friday, India 26 percent and Pakistan, 29 percent. The United States also takes in smaller quantities of medium and short-grained rice from Asia and some products from South America. Cocoa US imports of cocoa beans -- mostly from places like the Ivory Coast and Ecuador -- averaged over $1.1 billion annually from 2017 to 2021, according to the USDA. Among them, the Ivory Coast faces a 21 percent tariff. Cocoa butter shipments were valued at $576 million annually and mainly supplied by Indonesia and Malaysia, facing fresh duties of 19 percent and 25 percent respectively. Electronics Besides tariffs on imports from specific countries, Trump has also threatened a 50 percent duty on copper imports come August 1. Consulting firm BCG warned that this would add $8.6 billion to the cost of raw copper and refined copper imported into the country -- and more if tariffs extended into derivative products. BCG expects material costs to jump for the construction industry -- which uses 42 percent of copper products consumed domestically -- and makers of electronics goods. © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Trump's MAGA base defies conservative pro-Israel doctrine
Images of starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has been simmering in Trump's "MAGA" movement over whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president's "America First" platform. Trump's first significant break with Israel came on Monday, when he acknowledged that "real starvation" is happening in Gaza and vowed to set up food centers in the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by Israel's war with Hamas. Asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said: "Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry." It was a notable retort and prompted commentators to speculate that unwavering US support for Israel might end up as just another conservative sacred cow slayed by MAGA. Vice President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing "heartbreaking" images of "little kids who are clearly starving to death" and demanding that Israel let in more aid. Political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift might in part be emotional -- with TV images of starving children resonating more profoundly than the aftermath of air strikes. "Perhaps it is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war," the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP. Israel has always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the isolationist MAGA movement under Trump has challenged the ideological foundations of the "special relationship." MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in particular the "left behind" working class that makes up Trump's base. 'Almost no support' Pro-Trump think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to "re-orient its relationship with Israel" from a special relationship "to an equal strategic partnership." Stronger expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts -- especially after the October 7 Hamas attacks. But there is a new urgency in the debate in MAGA circles following dire warnings from leading NGOs and the UN World Food Program's finding that a third of Gaza's population -- of about two million -- go for days without eating. One sign of the new thinking came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pushed to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel's rocket defense system. Greene this week went further than any Republican lawmaker has previously in using the word "genocide" to describe Israel's conduct and slamming the "starvation of innocent people and children in Gaza." While Greene's credibility has been undermined by an extensive record of conspiratorial social media posts, there is no denying that she knows what makes the MAGA crowd tick. A new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel's actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68 percent in 2023 to 52 percent. Youth seems to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April, when food shortages had yet to become a humanitarian catastrophe. While Republicans over age 50 haven't changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since 2022, the survey showed that the US ally's unfavorability among younger adults has climbed from 35 percent to 50 percent. "It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support," former White House strategist Steve Bannon told Politico, adding that Trump's rebuke would solidify his supporters' enmity. Democratic strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as "one of those rare moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock." "You're seeing people across the political spectrum who just can't stomach it anymore," he told AFP.
