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BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy. Emerging nations, which represent about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output, have united over “serious concerns” about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP on Saturday.Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties.His latest salvo comes in the form of letters informing trading partners of new tariff rates that will soon enter into force.The draft summit declaration does not mention the United States or its president by name, and could yet be amended by leaders gathering for talks Sunday and Monday.But it is a clear political shot directed at Washington from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules,” the draft text says. It warns that such measures “threaten to further reduce global trade” and are “affecting the prospects for global economic development.”- Xi no show -Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power. But the summit’s political punch will be depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.That absence has prompted fevered speculation in some quarters.”The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing,” said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank.The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee. War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay away, but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.Hass said Putin’s non-attendance and the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a guest of honor in Brazil could also be factors in Xi’s absence.”Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi,” who will receive a state lunch, he said.”I expect Xi’s decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors.”Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage.In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit, and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run.Lula warmly welcomed leaders and dignitaries on Saturday, including China’s Premier Li Qiang, as the leftist president hosted a pre-summit business forum in Rio.”Faced with the resurgence of protectionism, it is up to emerging countries to defend the multilateral trade regime and reform the international financial architecture,” Lula told the event.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose nation is still reeling from a 12-day conflict with Israel, is also skipping the meeting and will be represented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.A source familiar with the negotiations said Iran had sought a tougher condemnation of Israel and the United States over their recent bombing of Iranian military, nuclear and other sites. But one diplomatic source said the text would give the “same message” that BRICS delivered last month.Then Iran’s allies expressed “grave concern” about strikes against Iran, but did not explicitly mention Israel or the United States. Artificial intelligence and health will also be on the agenda at the summit.Original members of the bloc Brazil, Russia, India, and China have been joined by South Africa and, more recently, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was sending a team to Qatar Sunday for talks on a truce and hostage release in Gaza, after Hamas said it was ready to start negotiations “immediately”.But Netanyahu, who is due to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, said the Palestinian Islamist group’s proposals for changes to a draft US-backed ceasefire deal were “unacceptable”.Trump has been making a renewed push to end nearly 21 months of war in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said 42 people were killed in Israeli military operations on Saturday.Hamas said Friday it was ready “to engage immediately and seriously” in negotiations, and was sending its responses to the truce proposal.”The changes that Hamas is seeking to make in the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.”In light of an assessment of the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the invitation to proximity talks be accepted and that the contacts for the return of our hostages — on the basis of the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to — be continued,” the statement added.Hamas has not publicly detailed its responses to the US-sponsored proposal, which was transmitted by mediators from Qatar and Egypt.Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.Trump, when asked about Hamas’s response aboard Air Force One, said: “That’s good. They haven’t briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.”The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive in the territory that aimed to destroy the group and bring home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants.Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.- ‘Comprehensive deal’ -The Egyptian foreign ministry said Saturday that top diplomat Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with Washington’s main representative in the truce talks, Steve Witkoff, to discuss recent developments “and preparations for holding indirect meetings between the two parties concerned to reach an agreement”.Meanwhile, at a weekly protest demanding the return of the hostages, Macabit Mayer, the aunt of captives Gali and Ziv Berman, called for a deal “that saves everyone”, without exception.But recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire.The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.Karima al-Ras, from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, said people were “happy that Hamas responded positively, and we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid. “People are dying for flour, and young people are dying as they try to provide flour for their children,” she said.A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.The group said two of its US staff members were wounded “in a targeted terrorist attack” at one of its aid centres in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis on Saturday. The Israeli military said it had evacuated the injured.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Friday that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.- Civil defence says 42 killed -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 42 people across Gaza on Saturday.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.burs/dcp/smw/jhb/sst

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the outbreak of his country’s recent 12-day war with Israel, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran, state media reported.The octogenarian leader was shown in a video broadcast by state television greeting people and being cheered at a mosque as worshippers marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, an important date for Shia Muslims.Khamenei, 86, can be seen on stage dressed in black as the crowd before him, fists in the air, chants “The blood in our veins for our leader!”State TV said the clip was filmed at central Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosque, named for the founder of the Islamic republic.Khamenei, in power since 1989, spoke last week in a pre-recorded video, but had not been seen in public since before Israel initiated the conflict with a wave of surprise air strikes on June 13.His last public appearance was two days before that, when he met with members of parliament.Israel’s bombing campaign followed a decades-long shadow war with Iran, and was aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.The strikes killed more than 900 people in Iran, its judiciary has said, while retaliatory Iranian missile barrages aimed at Israeli cities killed at least 28 people there, according to official figures.

BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy. Emerging nations, which represent about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output, are set to unite over “serious concerns” about US import …

BRICS nations voice ‘serious concerns’ over Trump tariffs Read More »

French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal will not appeal his five-year prison sentence to Algeria’s Supreme Court, sources close to the author said Saturday, as Paris stepped up its calls for him to be pardoned.The 80-year-old dual national was sentenced to five years in March on charges related to undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet.”According to our information, he will not appeal to the Supreme Court,” the president of the author’s support committee, Noelle Lenoir, told broadcaster France Inter.”Moreover, given the state of the justice system in Algeria… he has no chance of having his offence reclassified on appeal,” the former European affairs minister added.”This means that the sentence is final.”Sources close to Sansal told AFP the writer had “given up his right to appeal”.His French lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said earlier this week he hoped Algeria would pardon the author, whose family has highlighted his treatment for prostate cancer.But Sansal was not on a list of thousands of people pardoned by Algeria’s president on Friday, the eve of the country’s independence day.- ‘Intolerable’ -Bayrou returned the subject on Saturday.”Boualem Sansal has not been convicted for what he might have done but for opinions expressed,” he told members of his party at a Paris meeting, the Parisien newspaper reported.”And that one of our compatriots, 80 years old and ill, is thus imprisoned is intolerable,” he added.Lenoir said she remained hopeful.”We believe he will be released. It is impossible for Algeria to take responsibility for his death in prison,” she said.A prize-winning figure in north African modern francophone literature, Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.The case against him arose after he told the far-right outlet Frontieres that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period from 1830 to 1962.Algeria views that claim as a challenge to its sovereignty and one that aligns with longstanding Moroccan territorial assertions.Sansal was detained in November 2024 upon arrival at Algiers airport. On March 27, a court in the town of Dar El Beida sentenced him to a five-year prison term and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).Appearing in court without legal counsel on June 24, Sansal said the case against him “makes no sense”, as “the Algerian constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience”.The writer’s conviction has further strained France-Algeria relations, already complicated by issues such as migration and France’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, an armed separatist movement.

Israel was considering its response on Saturday after Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.The security cabinet was expected to meet after the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown to discuss Israel’s next steps, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to head to Washington for talks on Monday with US President Donald Trump.Israeli media reported the cabinet would discuss sending a delegation to Doha for talks as early as Sunday.Trump has been making a renewed push to end nearly 21 months of war in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said 35 people were killed in Israeli military operations on Saturday.”No decision has been made yet” regarding Hamas’s positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal, an Israeli government official told AFP.Hamas made its announcement late Friday after holding consultations with other Palestinian factions.”The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the US-backed truce proposal, the militant group said in a statement.Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP that the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.Trump, when asked about Hamas’s response aboard Air Force One, said: “That’s good. They haven’t briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.”The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive in the territory that aimed to destroy the group and bring home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants.Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.- ‘Comprehensive deal’ -The Egyptian foreign ministry said Saturday that top diplomat Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with Washington’s main representative in the truce talks, Steve Witkoff, to discuss recent developments “and preparations for holding indirect meetings between the two parties concerned to reach an agreement”.Meanwhile, at a weekly protest demanding the return of the hostages, Macabit Mayer, the aunt of captives Gali and Ziv Berman, called for a deal “that saves everyone”, without exception.But recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire.Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.Karima al-Ras, from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, said people were “happy that Hamas responded positively, and we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid. “People are dying for flour, and young people are dying as they try to provide flour for their children,” she said.A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.The group said two of its US staff members were wounded “in a targeted terrorist attack” at one of its aid centres in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis on Saturday. The Israeli military said it had evacuated the injured, while Netanyahu wished them a “speedy recovery” in a statement.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. Its operations have been marred by near-daily reports of Israeli fire on people waiting to collect rations. UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Friday that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.- Civil defence says 35 killed -Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 35 people across Gaza on Saturday.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.burs/dcp/smw

US President Donald Trump hosts Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to press the Israeli prime minister to end the war with Hamas in Gaza.Trump has vowed to be tough on Netanyahu as he hopes to use the momentum from the truce between Iran and Israel to secure a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, too.Trump says Israel is committed to a 60-day halt in fighting and Hamas says it has responded positively to a US-backed proposal — but sealing a final deal to end the 21-month-old war will be easier said than done.Netanyahu, who is making his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power in January, has vowed to crush Hamas before ending the conflict.Yet Trump, determined to win the Nobel peace prize and riding a wave of recent foreign and domestic policy victories, is making a renewed push for a result.”There could be a Gaza deal next week,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. He said he was “very optimistic” about a deal but added that “it changes from day to day. It’s been changing for years.”In response to reports that Hamas had responded positively to proposed truce talks, Trump said “that’s good,” although he said he had not yet been fully briefed on this development.Trump and Netanyahu were in lockstep during the recent Iran-Israel war, which culminated in the US president ordering stealth bombers to strike three crucial Iranian nuclear sites.Washington says the sites were “obliterated” and Iran’s nuclear program put back years, although Iran has denied any significant setback. The West accuses Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies.But on Gaza, Trump is showing signs of increasing unease with the death and destruction still happening as Israel wages the conflict triggered by a huge Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.”We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza,” Trump said on Friday.- ‘Grand bargaining’ -Trump seems to have parked, for now, his extraordinary proposal for a US takeover of Gaza that he floated during Netanyahu’s first visit in February.”I want the people of Gaza to be safe, more importantly,” Trump said when asked about the plan earlier this week. “They’ve been through hell.”Trump has also pushed for the release of hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza. He met one released hostage, Edan Alexander, at the White House on Thursday.But while the author of the book “Art of the Deal” prides himself on his negotiating skills, Trump in many ways has an equal in Netanyahu, a political survivor of his own ilk.”I think we’re going to see a strategic meeting in the style of ‘grand bargaining’, as Trump likes them,” Michael Horowitz, an independent geopolitical analyst, told AFP. “Even Mr Netanyahu is aware that we are reaching the end of what can be done in Gaza, and that it is time to plan an exit. Netanyahu surely wants it to be gradual.”Trump however will be pushing for something quicker and more comprehensive.He boasted on the 2024 campaign trail that he would end both the war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion shortly after taking office, but peace in both cases has eluded him so far.Two previous Gaza ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, only to break down.The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.