Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to begin talks Monday on a second phase of the ceasefire with Hamas as he visits the new Trump administration in Washington. Before departing, Netanyahu told reporters he would discuss “victory over Hamas”, countering Iran and freeing all hostages when he meets President Donald Trump on Tuesday. It will be Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since returning to the White House in January, a prioritisation Netanyahu called “telling”. “I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance,” he said before boarding his flight. With fragile ceasefires holding…
Author: Osas Monday
Read More
Mexican agricultural and auto-parts producers called Sunday for “dialogue” to head off the trade war prompted by US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum meantime said that she was waiting for a response from Trump to her proposal for talks and to form a working group on migration and drug trafficking. She said she would detail her government’s next steps by Monday. The agriculture and auto-parts industries are expected to be among the hardest hit by Trump’s action, which he says is designed to pressure the…
A car bomb on Monday killed 15 people, mostly women farm workers, in the northern Syrian city of Manbij where Kurdish forces are battling Turkey-backed groups, state media reported. Citing White Helmet rescuers, SANA news agency said there had been a “massacre” on a local road, with “the explosion of a car bomb near a vehicle transporting agricultural workers” killing 14 women and one man. The attack also wounded 15 women, some critically, SANA said, adding the toll could rise. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. It was the second such attack in recent days in war-ravaged Syria,…
US President Donald Trump on Sunday asserted South Africa was “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly” as he announced he was cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation. The land issue in South Africa has long been divisive, with efforts to redress the inequality of white-rule drawing criticism from conservatives including Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, who was born in South Africa and is a powerful Trump adviser. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month signed a bill that stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for…
US President Donald Trump said he will discuss the punishing tariffs he has levied on Canada and Mexico with both countries on Monday, as markets sank on fears over the impact on the global economy. The 25 percent duties — footed by American companies importing from Mexico and Canada — sent European and Asian stocks slumping at the open Monday. The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar also sank against the greenback, while oil jumped despite Trump placing the levy on Canada’s energy imports at 10 percent to limit a spike in fuel prices. Besides the US neighbors, Trump also…
A Pakistan police officer travelling to guard polio vaccinators was shot dead Monday, police said, on the first day of a nationwide immunisation effort after a year of rising cases. The officer was travelling to guard polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when he was killed, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP. “Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him,” he said. “The constable died instantly at the scene.” Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security…
Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong was cleared again Monday of a raft of charges linked to a controversial 2015 merger which prosecutors claimed was designed to seal his control of the South Korean tech giant. Lee was orginally cleared of the charges in a trial last year, but prosecutors appealed against the verdict. “The evidence presented was not sufficient to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” court documents seen by AFP said. Lee was cleared of charges including stock price rigging, breach of trust, and accounting fraud. They relate to the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T — a…
Fast-moving floodwaters rose Monday in northeastern Australia after forcing many to flee, blacking out homes, and sweeping away a chunk of a critical bridge. Storms have already dumped more than a metre (39 inches) of rain in two days in parts of Queensland, engulfing homes, businesses and roads in muddy waters, authorities said. Aerial footage showed rural communities surrounded by the floodwaters, cut off from nearby roads. “We are going to see widespread rain and storms spread across much of northern Queensland,” the state’s premier, David Crisafulli, warned in a news conference. “We remain prepared for the ongoing prospect…
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will on Monday try to force through his government’s budget without a vote using a controversial parliamentary mechanism, which might lead to a no-confidence motion from the left. The National Assembly will on Monday afternoon examine a text drawn up by a committee of 14 deputies and senators from the two parliamentary chambers. Although all opposition deputies voted against the text and the government does not have a parliamentary majority, Bayrou has decided to press forward regardless. The budget had to be passed without delay, he told the Sunday newspaper La Tribune Dimanche. “A…
With a Mediterranean coastline, natural thermal springs, clement weather and affordability, Tunisia has become the world’s second-largest destination for seawater-based treatments known as thalassotherapy. Now, it is setting its sights on overtaking France to claim the top spot. “The main advantage of Tunisia is its coast and thalassotherapy,” compared with neighbouring countries, said Mario Paolo, an Italian, at the Korbous thermal spa, perched on a hill an hour’s drive from the capital, Tunis. A 78-year-old retiree who has lived in Tunisia for the past five years, Paolo said he frequently visits Tunisian thalassotherapy centres “to get back in shape”.…