A volcanic eruption, floods in India and Hiroshima: photos of the day
Makeshift tents erected by displaced Palestinians among buildings damaged by Israeli attacks Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Police arrest activists taking part in a protest against the war in Gaza outside the Trump International hotel in Manhattan Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Pedestrians protect themselves from the sun on a hot day in the Japanese capital Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
A pedestrian walks past an overflowing drain after heavy rain in the Quarry Bay area of the territory Photograph: Tommy Wang/AFP/Getty Images
A woman walks past a tree felled by strong winds brought on by Storm Floris in the Chorlton area of the city Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
A cow stands in flooded street after heavy monsoon rains caused the water level of the Ganges to rise Photograph: Niharika Kulkarni/AFP/Getty Images
The Klyuchevskaya volcano erupts Photograph: Vladimir Shadrin/UGC/AFP/Getty Images
Shakira performs onstage as part of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour Photograph:for Live Nation
The former UK prime minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech at the Ketagalan forum Photograph: ChiangYing-ying/AP
The flightdeck of HMS Prince of Wales Photograph: LPhot Bill Spurr/Royal Navy/PA
Soldiers stand guard as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visits the Anıtkabir mausoleum Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Omar Mbaw creates a sand sculpture on a local beach Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
People celebrate the first anniversary of the student-led protests that ousted the country's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
A nomadic couple pose in front of their yurt Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Crows sit on a park bench as a dense fog all but obscures the city skyline behind them
Photograph: Mark Baker/AP
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Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
India's Modi says will not compromise interests of farmers, amid Trump's tariff salvo
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country's farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price for it, in his first comments after U.S. President Donald Trump's salvo of a 50% tariff on Indian goods. Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on the South Asian nation on Thursday, taking the total levy on Indian goods being exported to the U.S. to 50% - among the highest levied on any U.S. trading partner. "For us, our farmers' welfare is supreme," Modi said in a function in New Delhi. "India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy (sector) and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it," he said. Trade talks between India and the United States collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India's vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases. Modi did not directly refer to the U.S. tariffs or trade talks. The new tariff, effective from Aug. 28, was to penalise India for its purchase of Russian oil, Trump has said. India's foreign ministry has said the decision was "extremely unfortunate," and that "India will take all necessary steps to protect its national interests." The U.S. is yet to announce any similar tariff for China, which is the biggest buyer of Russian oil. Experts have said China has been spared so far as it has a bargaining chip with the U.S. over its reserves of rare earth minerals and other such commodities, which India lacks. "The U.S. tariff hike lacks logic," Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India's foreign ministry, told reporters. "So this is a temporary aberration, a temporary problem that the country will face, but in course of time, we are confident that the world will find solutions." India has started making moves to signal that it might have to consider other partnerships in the coming months in the face of Trump's tariffs, which have led to the worst diplomatic showdown between the two countries in years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing for his first visit to China in over seven years, suggesting a potential realignment in alliances as relations with Washington fray. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump's tariffs. He said he planned to call Modi on Thursday, and China's Xi Jinping and other leaders. The BRICS group also includes Russia and South Africa. Ravi said "like-minded countries will look for cooperation and economic engagement that will be mutually beneficial to all sides."
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Myanmar's acting President Myint Swe dies after a long illness
Myint Swe, who became Myanmar's acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died on Thursday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyitaw, on Thursday morning, according to a statement from Myanmar's military information office. Myint Swe's death came more than a year after he stopped actively carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral will be held at the state level but the date has not been disclosed, a separate statement from the military information office said. State media reported on Tuesday that he had been in critical condition and receiving intensive care since July 24 at a military hospital in Naypyitaw. State media announced in July last year that Myint Swe was suffering from neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, which left him unable to carry out normal daily activities, including eating. A few days later, he authorized Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, to assume his presidential duties while he was on medical leave, the reports said. Myint Swe became acting president on Feb. 1, 2021, after the military arrested former President Win Myint along with Myanmar's top leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, when the army seized power. Myint Swe, a member of a pro-military party, took over the presidency under the constitution because he held the post of first vice president. Legal experts questioned the legitimacy of the move because Win Myint neither stepped down from his post nor was incapacitated. As acting president, Myint Swe chaired the National Defense and Security Council, which is nominally a constitutional government body, but in practice is controlled by the military. The council operates as the country's top decision-making body related to national security, with the authority to declare a state of emergency and oversee military and defense affairs. Myint Swe's appointment and acquiescence to the army's demands allowed the council to be convened to declare a state of emergency and hand over power to Min Aung Hlaing, who led the army's takeover. During his time in office, Myint Swe could only perform the pro forma duties of his job, such as issuing decrees to renew the state of emergency, because Min Aung Hlaing controlled all government functions. Myint Swe, a former general, was a close ally of Than Shwe, who led a previous military government but stepped down to allow the transition to a quasi-civilian government beginning in 2011. Myint Swe was chief minister of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, under the quasi-civilian government between 2011 and 2016, and headed its regional military command for years under the previous military government, which stepped down in 2011. During Buddhist monk-led popular protests in 2007 known internationally as the Saffron Revolution, he took charge of restoring order after weeks of unrest in the city, overseeing a crackdown that killed dozens of people. Hundreds of others were arrested. Though he did not have a prominent international profile, Myint Swe played a key role in the military and politics. In 2002, he participated in the arrest of family members of former dictator Ne Win, according to accounts in Myanmar media. He also arrested former Gen. Khin Nyunt at Yangon Airport during a 2004 purge of the former prime minister and his supporters that involved a power struggle inside the military. Soon afterward, Myint Swe took command of the sprawling military intelligence apparatus that had been Khin Nyunt's power base. Myint Swe was among military leaders sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department following the military takeover and arrest of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians in February 2021. He was survived by his wife and two children.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Bank of Korea governor says US trade deal removes 'huge burden'
SEOUL, Aug 7 (Reuters) - South Korea's trade deal with the U.S. will "take a huge burden off" monetary policymakers at their upcoming meeting later this month, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday. "I thought we would be in a difficult situation if things went wrong with tariffs before the policy meeting, and while there might be different opinions, I think you did a difficult job at a difficult time," Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said at his first meeting with Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, according to a media pool report of his opening remarks. Koo visited the U.S. last week, just a week after he took office, as head of South Korea's negotiation team and clinched a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that set import tariffs on South Korean goods at 15%, on par with Japan and the European Union. Trump had earlier threatened a tariff of 25%. Rhee did not elaborate when asked by local reporters what he meant by saying the agreement had removed a "huge burden". At the meeting at the Bank of Korea, Rhee and Koo agreed to communicate closely on policy coordination as well as to cooperate on long-term structural reforms, Koo's ministry said in a statement. The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50% last month, but a majority of board members signalled another rate cut in the next three months and warned of "significant" economic uncertainty from the U.S. tariffs. Later in July, the Bank of Korea said a trade deal similar to that of Japan's would be marginally worse than the central bank's base-case growth projection, after data showed Asia's fourth-largest economy grew in the second quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year. The central bank next meets on August 28.
