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President Donald Trump ordered the reimposition of tariffs on dozens of trading partners Thursday — his cornerstone strategy for reshaping global trade to benefit the US economy.However, in a minor reprieve that opens the door to further negotiations, the White House said these measures will take effect in a week, not Friday as previously expected.The …

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A senior leader of Turkey’s beleaguered main opposition party accused the government of fabricating enemies in a politically motivated crackdown to reassert control after its election defeat last year, in an interview with AFP.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party “politically named the new enemy on March 19 — (and) the new enemy is the CHP,” said Burhanettin Bulut, a deputy leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).Bulut, in charge of the party’s public relations and media, said Erdogan was threatening the country’s democratic foundations through his government’s campaign of arrests and lawsuits.Turkish authorities have detained a string of elected officials on charges ranging from graft to terror-related offences, including, on March 19, Istanbul’s powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — Erdogan’s main rival.”This government keeps itself alive by constantly defining an enemy,” Bulut told AFP in an interview at the party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara.The government “sustains its political strategy through polarisation — manufacturing a foe and launching relentless perception campaigns in a bid to consolidate its voter base”, he said.A year after Erdogan’s allies suffered heavy losses in local elections, Imamoglu’s detention triggered the country’s largest street protests in over a decade.”This isn’t just about the CHP,” Bulut added.”From the grocery store clerk to the apprentice, from businesspeople to artists and journalists — people across this country are afraid.”- ‘Dynamite’ for republic -Since Imamoglu’s arrest, Turkish authorities have detained 16 CHP mayors, including ones in key districts of Istanbul, and replaced elected officials in at least three municipalities with government-appointed trustees.Among those detained is the acting mayor of Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece district, a party source told AFP.CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, re-elected at an emergency party congress a month after Imamoglu was jailed, has come under mounting legal pressure meanwhile.He faces lawsuits on alleged offences including “insulting the president” and vote-buying at a party congress.Media reports have suggested efforts were under way to lift Ozel’s parliamentary immunity so he could face prison.Bulut alleged the crackdown “creates a smokescreen for the real issues facing society — poverty, injustice, the erosion of democracy and individual rights — that are pushed out of the public agenda”.Arresting Ozel, he said, would be “like planting dynamite under the foundations of the Republic” — but he played down concerns for its impact on the CHP, which he said was “not a leader-centred party”.He dismissed government claims of a crisis in the CHP as “political theatre”.”It’s a founding party, with a deep-rooted history, led by some of the most important figures in Turkish political life — starting with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,” founder of the modern Turkish republic, he said.”That’s why interfering with the leadership of this party is not something that can be done easily.”- Turkish democracy and justice -The government’s crackdown started with a key arrest seven months after the March 2024 local elections.Authorities detained the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s working-class district of Esenyurt, Ahmet Ozer, accusing him of membership of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).They have since removed CHP mayors in three districts in Ovacik in the east as well as in Esenyurt and Sisli and replaced them with trustees.The government has insisted the arrests have judicial legitimacy but critics say they are aimed at neutralising dissent in big cities where the opposition won in the elections.The government recently claimed a historic breakthrough by overseeing the disarmament of the PKK, ending its decades-long campaign of attacks.In that context, Bulut argued: “You can’t claim to support democracy and justice while appointing trustees at the same time.”If you’re serious about democracy, then local consensus must be part of the process.”Despite pressure and fear tactics, he insisted the CHP would “be the clear winner” in the next election, expected by 2028.

Nvidia chips do not contain “backdoors” allowing remote access, the US tech giant has said, after Beijing summoned company representatives to discuss “serious security issues”.The California-based company is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, and this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value.But it has become entangled in trade tensions …

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A Stockholm court on Thursday handed down a life term to Swedish jihadist Osama Krayem over the 2015 murder of a Jordanian pilot burned alive by the Islamic State group in Syria.The Swedish court was the first to try a person over the killing that sparked outrage around the world.Judge Anna Liljenberg Gullesjo said “the investigation has shown that the defendant was at the execution site, uniformed and armed, and allowed himself to be filmed.”Although video evidence showed that another man lit the fire, the judge said the “defendant’s actions contributed so significantly to the death of the victim that he should be considered a perpetrator”.Krayem, who is serving long prison sentences for his role in the Paris and Brussels attacks in 2015 and 2016, was given a life sentence for “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes”On December 24, 2014, an aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force crashed in Syria.The pilot, Maaz al-Kassasbeh, was captured the same day by IS fighters near the central city of Raqqa and was burned alive in a cage sometime before February 3, 2015, when a slickly-produced video of the gruesome killing was published, according to the prosecution.Gullesjo said Krayem’s actions consisted of “guarding the victim both before and during the execution and taking him to the cage where he was set alight while still alive”.The court also awarded compensation to the parents and siblings of the Jordanian pilot, amounting to 80,000 Swedish kronor ($8,200) each.- ‘Comfort’ for family -Prosecutors have been unable to determine the exact date of the murder, but the investigation has identified the location.The 32-year-old jihadist remained silent throughout the hearings, which lasted between June 4 and June 26, though segments from interrogations with Krayem conducted during the investigation were read out and played during the trial.The fact that the defendent did not speak did not “significantly impact the ruling, as the prosecution presented solid evidence, and the investigation was thorough,” Gullesjo told AFP.According to his lawyer, Krayem insisted he had spent only 15 to 20 minutes on-site, unaware of what was going to happen until he saw the cameras.”This verdict somewhat comforts the family,” the pilot’s brother Jawdat al-Kassasbeh, who was a civil party to the case, told AFP.”We thank Sweden and the impartial Swedish judiciary for their efforts in pursuing this case,” the brother added.He travelled from Jordan for the trial to testify to the pain, still raw, that he shares with his loved ones.- No remorse -The family’s lawyer lamented in court that Krayem showed no empathy or remorse for his actions.”Most people who witnessed what Maaz went through would undoubtedly need lifelong, or at least long-term, treatment to overcome the trauma that this causes in a normal individual,” Mikael Westerlund told the court.”Krayem, on the other hand, does not seem to have been traumatised, but inspired. Inspired to continue his terrorist activities, which led him to participate in and then be convicted of terrorist acts in Europe,” Westerlund added.Krayem, who is from Malmo in southern Sweden, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in France for helping plan the November 2015 Paris attacks and to life imprisonment in Belgium for the 2016 attacks at Brussels’ main airport and metro station.On March 12, France agreed to hand him over to Sweden for nine months, the time needed for the investigation and trial. He must be returned to France by December 27 at the latest, the Stockholm court said Thursday.”Jordanians will always remember this horrible crime,” Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani told AFP.”This decision is a significant step towards achieving justice.”

President Donald Trump’s envoy met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ahead of a visit to inspect aid distribution in Gaza, as a deadly food crisis drove mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.Steve Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader’s office said. On Friday, he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who visited Gaza in January, would inspect “distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground”.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also met Netanyahu in Jerusalem, and afterwards declared: “The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination.”Here, the Israeli government must act quickly, safely and effectively to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality,” he said.”I have the impression that this has been understood today.”In an example of the deadly problems facing aid efforts in Gaza, the territory’s civil defence agency said that at least 58 Palestinians were killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy.- Hostage video -The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad meanwhile released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski. In the six-minute video, Braslavski, speaking in Hebrew, is seen watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza. He identifies himself and pleads with the Israeli government to secure his release.Braslavski was a security guard at the Nova music festival, one of the sites targeted by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters in the October 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.”They managed to break Rom. Even the strongest person has a breaking point,” his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel.”Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now.”- Hungry crowd -The Israeli military said troops had fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks. An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after “people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some”.Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but talks in Doha broke down last week and Israel and the United States recalled their delegations.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.- International pressure -Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas.”The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” declared Trump, one of Israel’s staunchest international supporters.Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces “real starvation”.UN-backed experts have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage.The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — the core of any future Palestinian state.- ‘This is what death looks like’ -The October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people seized, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.”Enough!” cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.”We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?”Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that “this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives.””If the crossings were opened… food could reach us. But this is nonsense,” Zaqot said of the airdrops.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/rlp/sla

Global stocks mostly fell Thursday despite strong earnings from US tech giants Microsoft and Meta as markets girded for a key US tariff deadline.US President Donald Trump has set August 1 as the date when trading partners need to reach agreement with the United States in order to avert major tariffs. While Washington has reached tentative …

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President Donald Trump’s dream of a new world trade order faced a crucial test Thursday, with dozens of economies –- including key commercial partners like Canada — yet to secure US tariff deals ahead of a midnight deadline.The last-gasp scramble to strike bilateral accords came as an appeals court in Washington considered the legality behind …

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President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Israel on Thursday ahead of a rare US visit to aid distribution sites in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire food shortages have sparked an international outcry.Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader’s office said. On Friday he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who previously visited Gaza in January, would “inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground”. Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 58 Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy — the latest in a spate of near-daily shootings of desperate aid seekers.The Israeli military said troops had fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks.An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after “people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some”.Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.- International pressure -Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.”The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” declared Trump, one of Israel’s staunchest international supporters.Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces “real starvation”.UN-backed experts have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage.Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters.Germany’s top diplomat Johann Wadephul, who met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, warned before setting off that: “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority”.Wadephul noted that Germany’s European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood, which Israel opposes.After the meeting, Saar’s office said he had told his German guest that countries queueing to recognise Palestinian statehood were merely rewarding Hamas.And he insisted “a Palestinian state will not be established for the simple reason that Israel will not be able to forfeit its own security.”The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — the core of any future Palestinian state.- ‘This is what death looks like’ -The Hamas attack that triggered that war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.”Enough!” cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.”We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?”Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that “this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives”.”If the crossings were opened… food could reach us. But this is nonsense,” Zaqot said of the airdrops.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/kir