Category: 2. World

United States President Donald Trump has continued to publish letters announcing individualised tariff hikes for foreign trading partners.

But on Wednesday, one of those letters was different from the rest.

While most of the letters are virtually identical, denouncing trade relationships that are “far from reciprocal”, Trump’s letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a decidedly more personal — and more confrontational — approach.

“Due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans”, Trump wrote that he would be charging Brazil an extra 50-percent tax on any goods it exports to the US, separate from existing “sectoral tariffs”.

“Please understand that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country,” Trump added. “And it is necessary to have this to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.”

The letter marked the biggest attack yet in Trump’s escalating feud with Lula, as he seeks to pressure Brazil to drop criminal charges against a fellow far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

Known as the “Trump of the Tropics”, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, led Brazil for a single term, from 2019 to 2023.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro refused to concede his election loss to a left-wing rival. Like Trump, Bolsonaro also raised questions about the accuracy of the results, including by voicing doubts about electronic voting machines.

And like Trump, Bolsonaro has faced legal repercussions, with court cases weighing whether he could be criminally liable for alleged actions he took to overturn his defeat.

In Bolsonaro’s case, the election in question took place in October 2022, against the current president, Lula. The results were narrow, but Lula edged Bolsonaro out in a run-off race, earning 50.9 percent of the vote.

Still, Bolsonaro did not acknowledge his defeat and instead filed a legal complaint to contest the election results.

Meanwhile, his followers attacked police headquarters, blocked highways, and even stormed government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, in an apparent attempt to spark a military backlash against Lula.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, have accused Bolsonaro of conspiring with allies behind the scenes to stage a coup d’etat, one that might have seen Supreme Court justices arrested and a new election called.

According to the indictment, Bolsonaro, as the outgoing president, considered provoking these changes by calling a “state of siege”, which would have empowered the military to take action.

One of the other possibilities reportedly discussed was poisoning Lula.

Bolsonaro and 33 others were charged in February, and the ex-president’s case is ongoing before the Brazilian Supreme Court.

The charges came as the result of a federal police investigation published in November 2024, which recommended a criminal trial. Bolsonaro, however, has denied any wrongdoing and has framed the trial as a politically motivated attack.

Trump himself has faced two criminal indictments – one on the state level, the other federal – for allegedly seeking to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. He, too, called those cases attempts to derail his political career.

In recent days, Trump has highlighted what he sees as parallels between their cases. On July 7, he wrote on social media that he empathised with what was happening to Bolsonaro: “It happened to me, times 10.”

He reprised that theme in Wednesday’s letter, announcing the dramatic increase in tariffs against Brazil.

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his term, including by the United states, is an international disgrace,” Trump said.

“This trial should not be taking place,” he added. “It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”

In addition to ramping up tariffs against Brazil, Trump revealed in his letter that he had directed US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to investigate Brazil for unfair practices under the Trade Act of 1974.

This is not the first time that Trump has lashed out at Brazil, though. In February, the Trump Media and Technology Group filed a Florida lawsuit against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, arguing that his decisions curtailed online freedom of speech in the US.

De Moraes had also overseen the investigation into Bolsonaro’s alleged coup attempt, and he is a target of criticism among many on the far right.

While Trump’s tariff letter contained the standard language alleging that the US’s trading relationship with Brazil was “very unfair”, the US actually enjoys a trade surplus with the South American country.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, in 2024, the US imported a total of $42.3bn from Brazil. But that was dwarfed by the amount it exported to the country: $49.7bn.

In short, Brazil’s purchases from the US amounted to about $7.4bn more than US purchases from Brazil.

Still, Trump has cited uneven trade relationships as the motivation for his tariffs, though he has also used them to influence other countries’ policies, particularly with regards to immigration, digital services and transnational drug smuggling.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro took to social media to once again proclaim his innocence. In a separate case, he was barred from holding public office in Brazil for a period of eight years.

“Jair Bolsonaro is persecuted because he remains alive in the popular consciousness,” the ex-president wrote in the third person. “Even out of power, he remains the most remembered name – and the most feared. That’s why they try to annihilate him politically, morally, and judicially.”

He also reposted a message from Trump himself: “Leave the Great Former President of Brazil alone. WITCH HUNT!!!”

Lula, meanwhile, responded to Trump’s previous tariff threats on Monday by saying, “The world has changed. We don’t want an emperor.”

CNN
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Brazil with a crippling tariff of 50% starting August 1, according to a letter he sent to the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In the letter posted on Truth Social, Trump alleged Lula is undertaking a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” over charges against its right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, who has bragged about his closeness with Trump, is facing trial for allegedly attempting to stage a coup against Lula.

CNN has reached out to Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Unlike the 21 other countries that have received letters from Trump this week, Brazil was not set to face “reciprocal” tariffs in April. Goods from there have instead been tariffed at a minimum of 10%, which is the rate Trump has been taxing most goods from countries that were set to face “reciprocal” tariffs.

And unlike the other 21 countries, the US ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, meaning the US exported more goods to there than it imported from there.

This is not the first time Trump has used the threat of tariffs to try to change other countries’ domestic policy decisions.

Earlier this year, he threatened 25% tariffs on Colombian exports that would grow to 50% if the country didn’t accept deportees from the US. (Colombia ultimately accepted the deportees and avoided those tariffs.) Trump also imposed tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China over the role he alleges they play in facilitating illegal migration to the US and enabling fentanyl to reach the country.

But despite Trump’s discontent with the Bolsonaro trial, he wrote that “there will be no Tariff if Brazil, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States.” Trump’s made nearly identical offers in a slew of other letters he sent to heads of state this week.

Other recipients of tariff letters on Wednesday included the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Algeria, Libya and Iraq, with rates going as high as 30% on goods they ship to the United States. The new tariffs go into effect August 1, pending negotiations.

The rates Trump said would be imposed on goods from Sri Lanka, Moldova, Iraq and Libya were lower than those he announced in early April. The rates on goods from the Philippines and Brunei were higher, compared to April levels. Meanwhile, the rate on goods from Algeria was the same (30%) as April levels.

The US and various trading partners have been negotiating new trade agreements since Trump announced so-called “reciprocal” tariffs back in April. Yet few deals have come to fruition.

During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said “a letter means a deal.” But that doesn’t appear to be how some countries are perceiving the missives.

In all the letters except the one sent to Brazil’s Lula, Trump wrote that he takes particular issue with the trade deficits the United States runs with other nations, meaning America buys more goods from there compared to how much American businesses export to those countries. Trump also said the tariffs would be set in response to other policies that he deems are impeding American goods from being sold abroad.

Trump has encouraged world leaders to manufacture goods in the United States to avoid tariffs. If they chose to retaliate by slapping higher tariffs on American goods, Trump threatened to tack that onto the rate charged on their country’s goods shipped to the United States.

Trump has now sent 22 letters on tariff rates to heads of state this week, and more could still come.

JPMorgan economists said in a note to clients on Wednesday titled “Another day, another step closer to Liberation Day” that the 50% tariff threat on Brazilian goods was “most surprising.” (“Liberation Day” refers to April 2, the day Trump held a Rose Garden event to announce “reciprocal” tariff rates.)

“It is possible these tariffs will never be implemented, as some in the market are hoping for,” the economists said, referring to Trump’s latest threats.

Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET was the initial deadline Trump set three months ago for countries to ink trade deals with the US or instantly face higher tariff rates. However, on Monday he extended that deadline to August 1.

Bolsonaro, often dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” is on trial in Brazil for charges related to an alleged plot to overturn the 2022 election results. He and dozens of associates have been charged with attempting a coup d’état, which prosecutors allege involved a plan to potentially assassinate elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it was issuing sanctions against an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza.

The state department’s decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, comes after a recent US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post failed.

Albanese, a human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she has described as the “genocide” that Israel is waging against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the US, which provides military support, have strongly denied that accusation.

In recent weeks, Albanese has issued a series of letters, urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Italian national has also been a strong supporter of the international criminal court’s indictment of Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several US giants among companies aiding what she described as Israel’s occupation and war on Gaza.

“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, posted on social media. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”

Albanese has been the target of criticism from pro-Israel officials and groups in the US and in the Middle East. Last week, the US mission to the UN issued a scathing statement, calling for her removal for “a years-long pattern of virulent anti-Semitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias”.

The statement said that Albanese’s allegations of Israel committing genocide or apartheid are “false and offensive”.

It is all a culmination of an extraordinary and sprawling campaign of nearly six months by the Trump administration to quell criticism of Israel’s handling of the deadly war in Gaza, which is closing in on two years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration began arresting and deporting faculty and students of American universities who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities.

The war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians.

Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say.

“We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while also profiteering from the killing machine devised to perform it,” Albanese said in a recent post on X. “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”

Hamas says it has agreed to release 10 Israeli captives as part of continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, but warned that ongoing talks for a truce were “tough” due to Israel’s “intransigence”.

The Palestinian group said on Wednesday that the ceasefire talks, spearheaded by key mediators Qatar and the United States and held in the Qatari capital Doha, have several sticking points, including the flow of desperately needed aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and “genuine guarantees for a permanent ceasefire”.

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the group agreed to the latest truce proposal and “offered the necessary flexibility to protect our people, stop the crime of genocide, and allow the free and dignified entry and flow of aid to our people until we reach a complete end to the war”.

He added that the areas Israeli troops should withdraw to as part of the first phase of a ceasefire had to be drawn up in a way that does not affect Palestinian lives and “paves the way for the second phase of negotiations”.

The comments come as Israeli forces continued to pound various parts of the enclave, killing at least 74 people on Wednesday, eight of whom died while waiting for GHF aid.

“Unfortunately, this has become the norm: characterised by the ongoing bombardment and forced starvation and dehydration. People are getting killed trying to get food,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said.

The number of Palestinians killed at the US- and Israeli-backed GHF sites has surpassed 770, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

“From day one of GHF operations there’s been an orgy of killing either by the Israeli military or the documented incident of GHF officers opening fire.”

The killings also come as health officials once again plead for the entry of much-needed fuel as hospitals are on the verge of collapse and patients’ lives are at risk.

Nasser Hospital, the main health facility in southern Gaza, issued a desperate warning as its fuel supplies run dry, saying it has entered “the crucial and final hours”.

“With the fuel counter nearing zero, doctors have entered the battle to save lives in a race against time, death, and darkness,” the hospital said in a statement.

“They work in operating rooms without air conditioning, the boiling heat, their faces are sweating, their bodies are weary of hunger and fatigue. But their eyes are still burning with hope and determination.”

Gaza’s already battered healthcare system has repeatedly come under Israeli attack throughout the assault. Hospitals and clinics have been bombed or damaged, medical staff killed or forced to flee, and vital supplies cut off.

‘Quake bombs’

The World Health Organization (WHO) says there have been more than 600 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the conflict began in 2023.

The besieged health sector is “on its knees” with severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies, and the constant influx of mass casualties.

Just 18 of Gaza’s 36 general hospitals are partially functioning, according to the UN agency.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, said there is a “very good chance” of a ceasefire in Gaza this week or next.

Earlier, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised speech that “conditions have been created” for the advancement of a deal that is set to see the release of 10 captives – and the bodies of nine others.

Despite the prospects of a possible ceasefire, Israel has launched a barrage of missiles targeting densely populated residential areas in Gaza City.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said an estimated 20 bombs were dropped on buildings in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

“These were ‘quake bombs’, they shook the buildings,” he said.

Israeli forces also launched another major assault in battered northern Gaza, specifically Beit Hanoon, after five Israeli soldiers were killed in a surprise Hamas attack on Tuesday.

The army has in recent days issued numerous forced evacuation orders for residents of northern Gaza, an area that has come under repeated ground and aerial assault throughout this deadly war.

This includes Shati refugee camp, an area in the north of Gaza that was struck overnight in an attack that killed at least 30 people.

A local, Mohamed Jouda, recounted the attack.

“We were sitting at home, around midnight. Suddenly, the house collapsed on everyone inside – children, adults, and elderly people in their 70s and 80s,” Jouda told Al Jazeera as he sat on the rubble of his destroyed home.

Another survivor, Ismail al-Bardawil, said the attack “felt like an earthquake”.

“A whole neighbourhood collapsed,” he said from the densely populated camp west of Gaza City, where structures are built right next to each other.

“Seven little kids died here. Over there, 10 more children. The only adult was an old man, around 70 years old. What was their fault?” al-Bardawil said.

US President Donald Trump said he was planning to impose a 50% tax on goods made in Brazil, escalating his fight with the South American country.

He announced the plan in his latest tariff letter, which was shared on social media.

In it, Trump accuses Brazil of “attacks” on US tech companies and of conducting a “witch hunt” against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the 2022 election.

Trump sparred with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about Bolsonaro’s trial earlier this week.

At the time, President Lula said Brazil would not accept “interference” from anyone and added: “No one is above the law.”

He had also said Trump was “irresponsible” for threatening tariffs on social media.

Trump has posted 22 letters to countries around the world this week, including trade partners such as Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka, outlining new tariffs on their goods which he says will come into force on 1 August.

The moves have largely served to revive plans he had put forward in April, but that were put on hold after financial markets recoiled at the measures.

But the message to Brazil was a far more targeted missive and threatened a significant increase from the 10% tariff the White House had previously announced on goods from the country.

Unlike many other countries, the US enjoyed a trade surplus with Brazil last year, selling more goods in the country than it purchased from it.

In the letter, Trump called the 50% rate “necessary … to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime”.

He said he would order the US Trade Representative to launch a so-called 301 investigation into Brazil’s digital trade practices.

Such a move would mark a turn towards a more established legal process that the US has used to impose tariffs in the past, toughening the threat. In his first term, Trump took a similar step over Brazil’s consideration of a tax targeting tech firms.

Trump, in the letter, accused the Brazilian government of “insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans” including the censorship of “US Social Media platforms”.

Trump’s social media company, Trump Media, is among the US tech companies fighting Brazilian court rulings over orders that suspending social media accounts.

The country had also temporarily banned Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, after the platform refused to ban accounts that were deemed by Brazil to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Brazilian presidential election.

Last month, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that social media companies can be held responsible for content posted on their platforms.

In his letter, Trump also spoke favourably of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro, saying he “respected him greatly”. He added that the ongoing trial against him is “an international disgrace”.

Trump and Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, with the pair meeting in 2019 at the White House during Trump’s first term. Bolsonaro is often dubbed “Trump of the Tropics”.

Both men subsequently lost presidential elections and both refused to publicly acknowledge defeat.

Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is standing trial for allegedly attempting a coup with thousands of his supporters storming government buildings in the capital in January 2023 after Lula was victorious in the election.

Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time and has denied any links to the rioters or any involvement in the plot.

Earlier this week, Trump had compared Bolsonaro’s prosecution to the legal cases he has similarly faced.

“This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent – Something I know much about!” Trump had said. In response, Bolsonaro thanked the US president for his support.

President Lula fired back on Monday against Trump’s social media threats.

“He needs to know that the world has changed,” Lula said. “We don’t want an emperor.”

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM – 10th Jul, 2025) ABU DHABI, 9th July, 2025 (WAM) – Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), and Chairman of the National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations, stated that the European Union’s decision to remove the UAE’s name from the list of high-risk third countries in the area of money laundering and terrorist financing, reflects the vision of wise leadership.

‘’These aim at establishing an advanced financial ecosystem based on a forward-looking national vision and effective governance that ensures the safety and integrity of the financial sector,” said Balama in a statement following the EU’s decision.

He commended the diplomatic efforts led by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Higher Committee Overseeing the National Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, which resulted in this important achievement.

This decision, he emphasised, reflects the UAE’s firm commitment to addressing challenges and risks in the financial system as a priority to enhance the UAE’s competitiveness and development journey.

‘’We appreciate the commitment of regulatory entities and authorities, licensed financial institutions and the private sector for their cooperation to achieve this progress and success for the UAE,’’ he added.

The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, an outspoken critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio linked the move to her support for the International Criminal Court (ICC), some of whose judges have already been sanctioned by the US.

Rubio said the US was sanctioning Ms Albanese for directly engaging with the ICC in its efforts to prosecute American or Israeli nationals, accusing her of being unfit for service as a UN Special Rapporteur.

The sanctions are likely to prevent Ms Albanese from travelling to the US and would block any assets she has in the country.

It is the latest escalation by the Trump administration as it wages a campaign against the ICC, having already sanctioned four its judges after the court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza, accusations they reject.

Mr Rubio also accused Ms Albanese of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West”.

The move is likely to provoke a fierce backlash from those who argue for accountability over the civilian death toll from Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

The special rapporteur has long argued that Western governments are not doing enough to support the rights of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories, and with her outspoken stance has attracted significant support among those who accuse Israeli and US leaders of weaponising accusations of antisemitism in order to silence criticism of their policies.

Rubio also said Ms Albanese showed contempt for the US by writing “threatening letters” to several US companies, making what he called unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue prosecutions of the companies and their executives.

“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” Rubio said.

Earlier this month Ms Albanese called on dozens of multinational companies to stop doing business with Israel, warning them they risk being complicit in war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

She said the companies “profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid, and now genocide” in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel rejected her report as “groundless”, saying it would “join the dustbin of history”.

Ms Albanese has criticised Donald Trump’s plan, announced in February, to take over the Gaza Strip and displace its residents elsewhere.

“It’s unlawful, immoral and… completely irresponsible because it will make the regional crisis even worse,” she said in February.

The timing of the sanctions announcement is notable with Netanyahu currently in Washington, where he on Wednesday received an extended honour cordon at the Pentagon.

Ms Albanese has previously rejected similar claims against her, telling the BBC in October: “I don’t take these remarks and the defamation they carry lightly, but at the same time, I know this is not about me, as my predecessors knew that it was not about them.

“I also know these member states [making accusations of antisemitism] have done absolutely nothing to abide by international law.”

Her office has been approached for comment.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,575 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times. More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.