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US Treasury chief expects China tariff impasse to de-escalate

The trade standoff between Washington and Beijing is not sustainable, the US Treasury chief said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump predicted sky-high tariffs on many Chinese imports would come down “substantially.”Speaking at a closed-door event hosted by JPMorgan Chase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the enormous tariffs the world’s two biggest economies placed on each other’s …

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Islamist leader among 2 dead in Israeli strikes on Lebanon

A leader from Hamas-aligned Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya was among two people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, the group and Israel’s military said.Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November truce with militant group Hezbollah that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the foes including two months of all-out war.Lebanon’s civil defence said “an Israeli drone targeted a car” near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man’s body.An AFP photographer saw the charred wreckage of a car at the scene. The Lebanese army cordoned off the area and forensic teams conducted an inspection.Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya in a statement announced the death of Hussein Atwi, calling him “an academic leader and university professor” and saying an Israeli drone strike “targeted his car as he was travelling to his workplace in Beirut”.The Israeli army said the air force had “eliminated” Atwi, describing him as “a significant terrorist in the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organisation”.A Lebanese security official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Atwi was a leader of Jamaa Islamiya’s armed wing, the Al-Fajr Forces.The official said Israel had previously targeted Atwi during its recent war with Hezbollah.Jamaa Islamiya, closely linked to both Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel before the November 27 ceasefire.- Local ‘commander’ -Also on Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy” strike in south Lebanon’s Tyre district killed one person.The Israeli military said the air force “eliminated” a local Hezbollah “commander” in the same area.The Israeli army said Jamaa Islamiya’s Atwi had been “involved in planning and advancing terrorist activity from Lebanon into Israeli territory” and had operated “in coordination with Hamas in Lebanon”.It said he had “carried out rocket attacks, coordinated terrorist infrastructure… and advanced attempts to infiltrate into Israeli territory”.Hamas in a statement condemned the “criminal Zionist strike” that killed Atwi and extended its condolences to the Jamaa Islamiya leadership.Hezbollah in a statement condemned the strike, without saying whether one of its members was killed in the second raid, also criticising the “failure of countries sponsoring the ceasefire deal”.The United States chairs a committee, which also includes France, tasked with overseeing the truce.Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, but troops remain in five positions that it deems “strategic”.Lebanese authorities have said Israeli fire has killed some 190 people since the ceasefire.After unclaimed rocket launches at Israel in late March, Lebanon’s army said last week it had arrested several Lebanese and Palestinian suspects, while a security official said they included three Hamas members.

Man missing after reported shark attack off Israel’s coast

Israeli police have been searching for a man reported missing following a suspected shark attack off the country’s Mediterranean coast, the force said on Tuesday.Shark attacks have not been reported in Israel for decades.Police spokesman Aryeh Doron said that “several findings have been sent for examination”, without specifying the nature of the recovered evidence.Search operations continued Tuesday in the southeastern Mediterranean, near the area of the central city of Hadera where the swimmer had disappeared.”The search area is very large, very complex, especially due to the danger posed by diving near sharks,” said Doron Elmashali, commander of the fire and rescue unit involved in the operation.He said underwater cameras were being used in the operation.Emergency organisations Magen David Adom and Zaka on Monday said they had been informed of a man’s disappearance off the coast near Hadera, after witnesses said he had been attacked by a shark.An AFP journalist at the site saw shark silhouettes with dorsal fins breaking through the water’s surface.Israeli media have broadcast several videos in recent days showing sharks swimming near bathers, including children. One video appears to show a swimmer being attacked.Police said Tuesday that a ban on entering the sea along large stretches of the coast would remain in effect.Shark attacks in the calm waters of the Mediterranean are rare, but shark sightings, particularly off the coast of Hadera, are well documented, as dozens are known to gather near the local power station in winter months.The plant uses sea water to cool its turbines, then discharges the warm water which is believed to attract sandbar and dusky sharks.Although these species can grow to several metres in length, they are generally not aggressive toward humans.The seasonal shark population off Hadera has increased in recent years, likely due to the expansion of the power plant and the implementation of legislation prohibiting their capture.The Israeli Nature and Parks Authority and the Israeli diving association have issued warnings urging divers drawn by the presence of the sharks not to approach them.bur-crb-phy-reg-jd/ami

Trump says ‘on the same side of every issue’ with Netanyahu after call

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that they were united on issues including trade and Iran.”The call went very well — We are on the same side of every issue,” Trump said on his social media platform.The United States and Iran launched talks this month on Tehran’s nuclear program, first in Oman and then in Rome, and these discussions are due to resume this week.Trump told reporters Monday his administration had had good meetings with the Iranians.Iran the same day accused Israel of trying to “undermine” the discussions.The New York Times reported last week that Trump had dissuaded Israel from attacking Iranian nuclear sites in the short term, saying he wanted to give diplomacy a chance.Netanyahu warned that even if Washington continued talks with Iran, Israel would never allow it to develop a nuclear weapon.Western powers and Israel, considered by experts the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, have long accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.Iran has always denied the charge, insisting its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal signed three years earlier that eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.A year later, Iran began to gradually breach the terms of the deal, most notably by enriching uranium to high levels.According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has enriched uranium to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent level needed to manufacture weapons, and continues to accumulate large stocks of fissile material.The 2015 nuclear deal restricted it to 3.67 percent.