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Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Politics
- Reuters
State Department investigates Harvard's participation in exchange visitor program
July 23 (Reuters) - The United States Department of State opened an investigation into Harvard University's eligibility as a sponsor in its exchange visitor program, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday. "The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation's interests," he said.
L'Orient-Le Jour
17 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
US envoy to discuss finalizing Gaza aid 'corridor': State Dept
The United States said Tuesday that a top envoy will travel to Europe for talks on a ceasefire and finalizing an aid "corridor" for war-ravaged Gaza, where authorities said people are dying of starvation. Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's globe-trotting negotiator, will head this week to a European destination for talks on Gaza, according to U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. Clarifying an earlier statement, officials said Witkoff may travel after Europe to the Middle East to continue diplomacy. Witkoff comes with "a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. Bruce declined to give further details on the corridor. She did not say how the diplomacy would relate to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an initiative backed by Israel and the United States that has seen chaotic scenes of troops firing on hungry Palestinians racing for food. The U.N. on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the GHF began its operations in late May, with most near the foundation's sites.
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First Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Pakistani delegation to visit US, State Department confirms but doesn't reveal what's on agenda
A senior US State Department official on Tuesday (July confirmed that a Pakistani delegation is scheduled to visit Washington for a bilateral meeting read more US has confirmed that a Pakistani delegation is set to visit. Representational image/Reuters A senior US State Department official on Tuesday (July 22) confirmed that a Pakistani delegation is scheduled to visit Washington for a bilateral meeting, but stopped short of saying whether the United States would play any role in resolving the long-standing tensions between India and Pakistan, particularly over Kashmir. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce responded to a question at a press briefing about Donald Trump's past offer to mediate on Kashmir, an offer the US president had linked to his claim of having helped prevent a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We have Pakistan who is going to be here for a bilat, and I'll participating in that, so I'm looking forward to that as well,' said Tammy Bruce. The remarks came in response to a query that linked Trump's mediation offer with the United States' stated willingness to encourage direct communication between India and Pakistan on issues such as the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). The reporter asked whether contentious matters like Kashmir would also be on the agenda. The upcoming bilateral talks follow a rare one-on-one lunch hosted by Trump for Pakistan's military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, marking a significant moment in Washington-Islamabad ties. Trump's claims on ceasefire and trade Since May 10, when Trump took to social media to announce that India and Pakistan had agreed to a 'full and immediate' ceasefire after a 'long night' of talks mediated by the United States, he has repeatedly claimed credit for defusing the crisis. He has also said on multiple occasions that he told the South Asian rivals that the United States would do a 'lot of trade' with them if they deescalated tensions. India, however, has firmly denied any American involvement in the ceasefire. Officials in New Delhi have maintained that the agreement was reached bilaterally through direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries. No talk of mediation, says India A long-anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June did not materialise as Trump cut short his visit and returned to Washington. However, before Modi concluded his own visit, the two leaders had a 35-minute telephonic conversation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, speaking from Kananaskis, said PM Modi clearly conveyed to Trump that at 'no point' during the days following Operation Sindoor was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US trade deal or any proposal for mediation by the US between India and Pakistan. The upcoming bilateral meeting in Washington is expected to cover a wide range of regional and strategic issues, though it remains unclear whether Kashmir will feature in the discussions. With inputs from PTI
The Star
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
News Analysis - Philippines gets minor US tariff cut, but defence ties remain intact
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr flew to Washington on Sunday (July 20), hoping to turn warm diplomatic ties with the US into tangible economic gains. But instead of a breakthrough, he is returning to Manila with a modest concession: a 1-percentage point cut in the reciprocal tariff rate on Philippine exports to the US, from 20 per cent to 19 per cent. In exchange, the Philippines agreed to remove tariffs on key American goods, including cars. It was not the outcome Manila had hoped for. The new rate is still higher than the 17 per cent announced in April by US President Donald Trump, and analysts say it spotlights the Philippines' limited bargaining power when dealing with an unpredictable but transactional US partner. Philippine trade negotiators had initially aimed to secure a free trade agreement or a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership deal. 'Well, that's how negotiations go,' Marcos told reporters hours after Trump announced the revised tariff rate on his Truth Social platform. 'When we arrived here in Washington, the tariff rate was 20 per cent... so we tried very hard to see what we can do,' he added, referring to the 1-percentage-point decrease. That cut came at a cost. Marcos confirmed the Philippines would open up previously protected sectors, including car imports from the US. Other American goods set to receive zero tariffs are still being determined. The Philippines also committed to buying more US products such as soya beans, wheat and medication, which Marcos framed as a move to help Filipinos access more affordable essential goods. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on July 23 that the US is set to give the Philippines some US$60 million (S$76 million) in foreign assistance funding to support energy, maritime and economic growth programmes. Rubio said the State Department also plans to work with the US Congress to allocate US$15 million to support investments and job creation along the Luzon Economic Corridor, a trilateral initiative with Japan and the Philippines launched in April 2024 to boost infrastructure and connectivity across Manila and surrounding provinces. Lopsided deal? Still, the asymmetry in the deal is hard to ignore. While Trump praised Marcos as a 'strong negotiator' during their joint press conference ahead of their bilateral meeting, he also quipped that the Philippine President was 'negotiating too tough', hinting that a larger concession had been left on the table. The result, analysts say, was not a clear win for Manila, but a strategic compromise. Dr Aries Arugay, visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and chairman of the University of the Philippines' Political Science Department, described the outcome as underwhelming. 'We are worse off than the original' position of the Philippines, he told The Straits Times, noting that South-east Asian neighbours like Vietnam and Indonesia had secured steeper tariff reductions from the Trump administration. 'Marcos was really hoping to make economic gains out of this trip. Unfortunately... the general outcome was not really what was expected,' Dr Arugay said. For Washington, success in this negotiation was always going to be measured differently. Trump appeared content with the outcome, and he did not press the Philippines to increase its defence spending, as he has done with other allies. Manila may have accepted the limited economic gain to preserve goodwill with its treaty ally amid rising tensions with Beijing over the South China Sea, said Georgi Engelbrecht, senior analyst for the Philippines at the International Crisis Group. 'I have a feeling (the Marcos government) was also thinking the priority is to keep Trump close to us, and what we can get is what we can get... It's not perfect, but it could have been worse,' Engelbrecht told ST. Strong military ties Still, the Philippines was able to reaffirm its longstanding defence ties with the US, one of the key goals of Marcos' trip. In that sense, both Dr Arugay and Engelbrecht said Marcos achieved what he needed: a reaffirmation of military cooperation with the US, no public scolding from Trump, and enough progress to signal continuity in the alliance – even if it fell short of a clear economic win. Both Trump and Marcos voiced support for a planned US-funded ammunition production and logistics hub in Subic, a former US military base turned freeport zone located north-west of Manila. Touting America's military stockpiles, Trump said the ammunitions hub is 'very important' and part of broader US efforts to bolster its posture in the Indo-Pacific, where Washington is locked in a rivalry for influence with China. Marcos cast the project as part of his administration's 'self-reliant defence programme', aimed at modernising the Armed Forces of the Philippines and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. 'It will help the Philippine modernisation of the military,' said Dr Arugay, but added that it also 'really reinforces American presence in the country through the EDCA sites'. He was referring to the Filipino military bases that American troops have access to under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement. The US initially had access to five bases, but Marcos expanded that to nine in 2023. The proposed ammunition facility, initiated under the Biden administration with bipartisan support in the US Congress, is not without risks. Its location in Subic places it within striking distance of the South China Sea, raising concerns over potential escalation. But Engelbrecht downplayed those fears, saying: 'China's not going to launch a rocket just because of that alone.' What matters more is Philippine control over how such facilities are used, he added. 'These are still Philippine bases. Marcos would still need to green-light any activity that the US wants to do,' Engelbrecht said. Despite failing to get a steeper tariff cut, Marcos was the first South-east Asian leader to meet Trump at the White House since his re-election in 2024. That alone sent a signal that Marcos remains a reliable US partner, said the analysts. Yet the challenge moving forward is clear: The Philippines cannot afford to rely on the US alone. 'The Philippines must hedge and diversify, like Indonesia did with its EU trade deal,' said Engelbrecht. Dr Arugay agreed, saying: 'The Marcos administration should not put all its strategic economic and security eggs in the US basket. We must look for new markets.' - The Straits Times/ANN
New York Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
What to Know About the U.S. Move to Withdraw From UNESCO
The State Department announced on Tuesday that the United States would withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, by the end of 2026. UNESCO is the third U.N. agency that President Trump has pulled out of this year, following the World Health Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Council. The latest move reflects his distaste for multilateralism and deep distrust of international institutions, especially those connected to the United Nations. This is not the first time the United States has broken ties with UNESCO. A congressional mandate cut off U.S. funding for UNESCO under the Obama administration after the agency included Palestine as a full member. It then announced that it was pulling out completely during President Trump's first term in 2017. The Biden administration reversed that decision and rejoined in 2023, arguing that leaving an empty chair at UNESCO created a vacuum that competing powers, most notably China, were filling. What is UNESCO? UNESCO, or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is headquartered in Paris, and is best known for designating World Heritage sites. It has designated more than 1,200 of them since 1972, including Yosemite National Park in California and the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan. It also keeps an 'intangible cultural heritage' list of humanity's most worthy creations, like the French baguette and opera singing in Italy. The organization is also known for its educational programs and promotes sex education, literacy, clean water and equality for women. It also helps to set standards on a range of issues, including ocean protection and the ethics of artificial intelligence. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
