US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the European Union do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. The rates will “boomerang back” to the sometimes very high levels that President Donald Trump had announced on April 2 — before he suspended the levies to …
US tariffs to kick in Aug 1, barring trade deals Read More »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he hoped an upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump could “help advance” a Gaza ceasefire deal, after sending negotiators to Doha for indirect talks with Hamas. Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, the Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down on Monday with Trump, who has recently made a renewed push to end the fighting.Speaking before boarding Israel’s state jet bound for Washington, Netanyahu said: “We are working to achieve this deal that we have discussed, under the conditions that we have agreed to.”He added he had dispatched the team to Doha “with clear instructions”, and thought the meeting with Trump “can definitely help advance this (deal), which we are all hoping for”.Netanyahu had previously said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal contained “unacceptable” demands.Later Sunday, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told AFP that indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas towards a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip had started in Qatar.”Negotiations are about implementation mechanisms and hostage exchange, and positions are being exchanged through mediators,” the official said.Speaking to reporters Sunday, Trump said: “I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week, during the coming week.”- ‘Enough blood’ -Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian official told AFP that Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded. Hamas’s top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was leading the delegation in Doha, the official told AFP.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.On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency reported 26 people had been killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.It said 10 had been killed in a pre-dawn strike on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where AFP images showed Palestinians searching through the debris for survivors with their bare hands.”The rest of the family is still under the rubble,” Sheikh Radwan resident Osama al-Hanawi told AFP.”We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now. Enough blood has been shed.”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.Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack sparked the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in the fighting during which hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.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.- ‘Hunger as a weapon’ -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 “we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid.”People are dying for flour,” 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.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.The UN human rights office said last week that more than 500 people had been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.The Gaza health ministry on Sunday put the toll at 751 killed.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a frequent critic of Israel, again accused it of committing “genocide” in Gaza at a meeting of the 11 BRICS emerging nations in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.”We cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as the Brazilian president, popularly known as Lula, told leaders from China, India and other nations. Hamas’s October 2023 attack 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 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.burs-jj/gv
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm.His speech came ahead of a visit Monday by US envoy Thomas Barrack during which Lebanese authorities are due to respond to a request to disarm Hezbollah by year’s end, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity.”This (Israeli) threat will not make us accept surrender,” Qassem said in a televised speech to thousands of his supporters in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, during the Shiite Muslim religious commemoration of Ashura.Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between Israel and Hezbollah last year that left the Iran-backed group severely weakened have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire that sought to end the hostilities.Qassem, who succeeded longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah after an Israeli strike killed him in September, said the group’s fighters would not abandon their arms and asserted that Israel’s “aggression” must first stop.Israel’s military has continued to occupy positions in Lebanon and to strike the country despite the November ceasefire, saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group.Lebanon’s official National News Agency Sunday reported a series of Israeli strikes in the country’s south and east, a day after authorities said one person was killed and six others wounded in Israeli raids in the south.Later Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed it had carried out strikes in the eastern Bekaa valley and in the south against what it called Hezbollah military sites and weapons systems.- ‘Not now, not later’ -Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier.Israel was to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five areas that it deemed strategic.Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south near the Israeli border.Qassem said Israel must abide by the ceasefire agreement, “withdraw from the occupied territories, stop its aggression… release the prisoners” detained during last year’s war, and that reconstruction in Lebanon must begin.Only then “will we be ready for the second stage, which is to discuss the national security and defence strategy” which includes the issue of group’s disarmament, he added.Supporters dressed in black for Ashura marched through Beirut’s southern suburbs before his speech, waving Hezbollah banners as well as the Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian flags.Some also carried posters of the slain leader Nasrallah.Hussein Jaber, 28, originally from south Lebanon, said the group’s weapons “can’t be handed over, not now, not later. Those who think Hezbollah will turn in its arms are ignorant.”In his speech, Qassem also said his movement “will not accept normalisation with the Israeli enemy”, after Israel’s top diplomat said his government was “interested” in such a move.Lebanon, which is technically still at war with Israel, did not comment.Syria, also mentioned by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, said it was “premature” to discuss normalisation.- ‘No pilgrims’ -Shiites in other countries around the region were also marking Ashura, which commemorates the death of the Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in a seventh century battle in modern-day Iraq.Iraq saw the largest commemorations on Sunday, particularly in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.In south Lebanon, hundreds of people participated in commemorations in Nabatiyeh, an area regularly targeted by Israeli strikes.In Sunni Muslim majority Syria, several hundred faithful marked Ashura under the protection of security forces at the Sayyida Zeinab shrine south of Damascus, an AFP correspondent said.Syria’s Shiite minority has been worried since Sunni Islamists in December toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who was backed by Iran.Unlike in previous years, there were no processions in the Sayyida Zeinab area, where pro-Iran groups used to be heavily entrenched before Assad’s ousting.”The Syrian state has bolstered its protection at this time,” said Jaafar al-Amine, an official at the holy site.”This year, there have been no pilgrims from other countries” like Iran, Iraq or Lebanon, he added.
BRICS leaders descended on sunny Rio de Janeiro Sunday, but issued a dark warning that US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs risk hurting the global economy.The 11 emerging nations — including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — represent about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output.The bloc is …
Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) of forest had “turned to ash” in wildfires as firefighters from neighbouring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia.Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain in the coastal province and the danger of explosive war remnants, in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.An AFP correspondent in Latakia’s Rabiaa region saw emergency workers battling a blaze near homes, while vast swathes of forest and olive groves were burnt and smoke filled the air over a long distance.Jordanian civil defence teams crossed into Syria on Sunday morning, the Syrian ministry for emergencies and disaster management said, after Turkey sent assistance a day earlier.Minister Raed al-Saleh said on X that “hundreds of thousands of forest trees over an estimated area of around 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) in 28 locations have turned to ash”. He later decried “a real environmental disaster” at a press conference in the province.More than 80 teams including civil defence personnel have been helping battle the blaze, he said, noting local organisations and residents were also providing assistance, in addition to teams and firefighting aircraft from neighbouring Jordan and Turkey.Saleh said it would take days to declare the blazes completely extinguished once the fire was brought under control, calling them “catastrophic”.- More assistance needed -Syria’s defence ministry said the air force was assisting, publishing images of a helicopter collecting and dropping water.Jordan’s public security directorate said in a statement that the “specialised firefighting teams from the civil defence… have been provided with all the modern equipment and machinery necessary to carry out their duties to the fullest extent”.Swathes of forested area and farmland have burnt and some villages evacuated as the fires raged including near the Turkish border.The United Nations deputy envoy to Syria Najat Rochdi said in a statement Sunday on X that Damascus “needs more international assistance” to face the fires.A statement from the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula said that “UN teams are on the ground conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the disaster and to identify the most immediate humanitarian needs”.Nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Syria is still reeling from more than a decade of civil war that ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation told AFP that Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years”.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are set to resume Sunday in Doha for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.Netanyahu had earlier announced he was sending a team to Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict, though he said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire deal contained “unacceptable” demands.Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet on Monday with US President Donald Trump, who has been making a renewed push to end the fighting.A Palestinian official familiar with the talks and close to Hamas said international mediators had informed the group that “a new round of indirect negotiations… will begin in Doha today”.The talks would focus on conditions for a possible ceasefire, including hostage and prisoner releases, and Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded, the official told AFP.Hamas’s delegation, led by its top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, was in Doha, the official told AFP. Israel’s public broadcaster said the country’s delegation had left for the Qatari capital in the early afternoon.Netanyahu met Israeli President Isaac Herzog for talks on Gaza and efforts to expand ties with Arab states before his departure for the United States at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT).In Tel Aviv on Saturday, protesters gathered for a weekly rally demanding the return of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war.Macabit Mayer, the aunt of captives Gali and Ziv Berman, called for a deal “that saves everyone”.- ‘Enough’ -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.On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency said 14 people were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.The agency said 10 were killed in a pre-dawn strike on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radawn neighbourhood, where AFP images showed Palestinians searching through the rubble for survivors with their bare hands.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.Sheikh Radawn resident Osama al-Hanawi told AFP: “The rest of the family is still under the rubble.””We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now. Enough blood has been shed.”Since the Hamas attack sparked a massive Israeli offensive with the aim of destroying the group, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in fighting, during which hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.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.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.- ‘Dying for flour’ -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 “we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid.”People are dying for flour,” 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.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.The UN human rights office said more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.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 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.burs/dv/ami
