Category: 2. World

Getty Images

‘Busy couple of days’

US President Donald Trump said Monday he was slapping 25 per cent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, in his first letters to trading partners ahead of a deadline to reach a deal with Washington.

Trump had said at the weekend that starting from Monday he would send a first batch of up to 15 letters to countries informing them that he would reimpose harsh levies that he had postponed in April.

In near-identically worded letters to the Japanese and South Korean leaders, Trump said the tariffs would apply from August 1 because their trading relationships with Washington were “unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”

Trump warned the countries, both key US allies in East Asia, of an escalation if they responded to the new US tariffs. But he also said he was ready to modify levies “downwards” if Japan and South Korea changed their trade policies.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.

Trump originally announced sweeping tariffs on world economies on what he called “Liberation Day” on April 2, claiming the United States was being “ripped off.”

Read More: Rubio to attend ASEAN meeting in first visit to Asia

Amid market turmoil, Trump then suspended the initial tariffs for 90 days, a deadline that expires on Wednesday. But the Trump administration has said that the duties will not “boomerang” back until August 1, apparently extending the deadline despite denials from officials.

While the Trump administration has signaled hopes of striking dozens of deals by early July — at one point boasting of “90 deals in 90 days” — there have been limited results so far.

Washington has unveiled pacts with only Britain and Vietnam, while the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower tariff levels on each other’s products that earlier reached three-digits.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there would be a number of deals coming up.

“We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview Monday. “We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” he said.

There was no immediate response from the White House on whether Trump would formally extend the Wednesday deadline for the tariffs to snap back.

Asked about Trump’s letters, Bessent said these would inform partners of the tariff rate their products face when trading with the United States, unless they want to “come back and try to negotiate.”

Bessent told CNBC Monday that he would “be meeting with my Chinese counterpart sometime in the next couple of weeks.”

Also Read: US professors take Trump’s immigration policies to court over pro-Palestinian activities

The two sides have so far held high-level talks in Geneva and London. But Washington and Beijing’s pause on tit-for-tat tariffs is due to expire in mid-August.

On whether he was disappointed in the number of trade deals achieved so far, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro maintained that he is “happy with the progress we’ve had.” “Every country that we run a major deficit with is fully engaged,” he told CNBC on Monday.

Trump has also threatened another 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.

For now, partners are still rushing to avert Trump’s tariffs altogether. The European Commission said that EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump on trade when the pair spoke Sunday.

CNN
 — 

Israel has carried out its first strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since the Israel-Iran ceasefire, attacking ports and a power plant around midnight local time Sunday night into Monday morning.

The strikes come after at least three Houthi ballistic missiles were launched at Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including one missile that was intercepted Saturday.

The Iran-backed Houthis also claimed responsibility for an attack on the bulk carrier ‘Magic Seas’ in the Red Sea on Sunday, the first on commercial shipping in the region by the rebels this year.

Israel struck the ports of Hodeida, Ras Isa, Salif and the Ras Kanatib power plant along the Red Sea. The IDF also hit the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship seized by the Houthis in November 2023.

“Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities,” the IDF said in a statement following the strikes.

A short time before the wave of attacks, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation warning for the ports and the power station.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were part of the newly named Operation “Black Flag.” In a statement on social media, Katz said, “The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions” and promised more attacks would follow if the Houthis kept launching drones and ballistic missiles at Israel.

The Houthi military confirmed the strikes but said, “Yemeni air defenses effectively confronted the Israeli aggression,” using, “a massive barrage of locally manufactured surface-to-air missiles,” in a short statement on early Monday morning.

There are no immediate reports of casualties from the strikes.

Houthi political bureau member Mohammed Al Farah said targeting Yemeni ports, power stations, and other “civilian facilities is an attempt to harm civilians and has no connection to any military activity,” according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.

Since Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza started in October 2023, the country has come under fire from missiles and rockets from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who claim to strike Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

On Sunday, the Houthis attacked the ‘Magic Seas’ ship, claiming that the its owner had used Israeli ports.

The rebels said they had struck the vessel with unmanned boats, missiles and drones, and it had now sunk. They have warned that they will target shipping that uses ports in Israel, which they describe as “occupied Palestine.”

The vessel’s operator – Stem Shipping – told Reuters that the ‘Magic Seas’ had made a port call to Israel in the past, but the latest transit of the region appeared low-risk as it had nothing to do with Israel.

The ‘Magic Seas’ crew of 19 left the boat on Sunday and were being taken by another ship to Djibouti.

The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said an Emirati operation rescued everyone aboard the ship, in close coordination with organizations like the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). A vessel responded to a distress call from the ‘Magic Seas’ after it came under attack and sustained “damage” to its structure, causing its crew to abandon ship under “difficult maritime conditions” the ministry said.

In May, the Houthi group – which controls much of northern and central Yemen – agreed to halt attacks on US warships in the Red Sea after more than a month of airstrikes by US forces on its strongholds and missile infrastructure.

But it did not pledge to end attacks on other shipping with alleged connections to Israel and has continued to fire ballistic missiles at Israel in support of the Palestinian population in Gaza.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

TEHRAN – The Israeli occupation regime’s aggression against Yemen prompts a surprisingly widespread retaliation.

Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that Yemen’s missile and drone units carried out a joint, high-level military operation using eleven missiles and drones.

Saree confirmed that all missiles and drones successfully reached their intended targets, while enemy interception systems failed to stop them.

He added that the missile and drone forces targeted the power station “in the occupied Ashkelon” area with a hypersonic ballistic missile.

Additionally, they struck the Port of “Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat)” with eight drones.

The operation also included targeting Ben Gurion Airport with a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile, and the Port of Ashdod with another hypersonic missile.

Following this operation and for the second consecutive day, Yemeni missile and UAV forces targeted a ship which belonged to a company “that violated the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine, with two unmanned boats, five ballistic and cruise missiles, and three drones.”

According to Saree, the ship (Magic Seas) sustained a direct hit, water leaked into it, and it is now at risk of sinking.

“Our forces allowed the crew to safely disembark,” he noted.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that they will not hesitate to use appropriate force to prevent any ship belonging to companies that deal with the Zionist enemy and violate the ban on access to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that they will not hesitate to use appropriate force to prevent any ship belonging to companies that deal with the Zionist enemy and violate the ban on access to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

Saree warned, “Our operations will continue to target the depth of the Israeli entity in occupied Palestine, as well as to prevent Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas and to disrupt Umm al-Rashrash port (Eilat), until the aggression against Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.”

In yet another operation earlier on Monday, the Israeli military reported detecting two missiles launched from Yemen, triggering sirens in multiple regions. Alarms were also heard around the Dead Sea and to its west.

The occupation regime’s Home Front Command confirmed the launch, and its military stated: “We attempted to intercept two missiles launched from Yemen, and we are currently reviewing the results.”

According to the flight tracking website FlightRadar, departures and arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv were temporarily suspended following the missile launches from Yemen.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarallah movement reaffirmed its continued missile strikes and issued a stark warning: “Anyone who attacks Gaza and Yemen will not sleep.”

Nassreddin Amer, a senior Ansarallah official stated that the Israeli regime’s aggression has not, and will not, succeed in halting Yemen’s strikes deep into the occupied territories.

He emphasized that “not a single ship will pass through the operational zone of our armed forces.”

“Zionists should head to shelters, those who assault Gaza and Yemen will know no rest.”

In a post on social media, Amer declared: “Zionists should head to shelters, those who assault Gaza and Yemen will know no rest.”

He added, “Gaza is not alone, and Yemen will not remain silent in the face of injustice,” stressing that Yemen’s support for Gaza will continue until the genocide ends and the blockade is lifted.

The escalation came just hours after Israeli occupation regime targeted several Yemeni ports, including the key port of Hodeidah. The attacks consisted of approximately 20 air raids, struck Hodeidah as well as the ports of As-Salif and Ras Issa, in addition to a power station in Ras Kathib.

The Yemeni Air Force responded forcefully to the assault. Saree declared that Yemen’s air defenses effectively repelled the aggression, forcing a significant portion of the attacking aircraft to retreat.

He said the defense relied on a large salvo of domestically produced surface-to-air missiles, causing severe confusion among Israeli pilots and command centers.

Military sources told regional media that Yemeni air defenses thwarted much of the occupation regime’s attack during the first wave of missile launches, forcing ten enemy warplanes to flee before they could complete their missions.

The sources added that the regime’s aircraft withdrew from Hodeidah’s airspace after being intercepted and were unable to penetrate further into Yemeni territory.

Reports indicate that the aerial confrontation between the Yemeni Air Force and the Israeli occupation regime’s jets lasted for over 30 minutes over the Red Sea.

Israeli regime media reported that one of the targets was the Galaxy Leader, a ship seized by Yemeni forces two years ago. They said dozens of bombs were dropped on Yemen during the assault. The same ports had reportedly been targeted three times previously.

However, Saree emphasized that Yemen successfully countered the Israeli occupation regime’s aggression and thwarted its objectives, stating, “We forced the enemy to leave the airspace using domestically manufactured surface-to-air missiles.”

“Our air defense succeeded in confronting the Zionist aggression against our country and thwarting its plan to target several Yemeni cities.”

He added, “Our air defense succeeded in confronting the Zionist aggression against our country and thwarting its plan to target several Yemeni cities.”

This, he said, was achieved “by forcing a number of combat formations participating in the aggression to leave the airspace, preventing them from launching raids.”

The defensive measures were carried out with several locally manufactured surface-to-air missiles.

“The criminal enemy will realize that the aggression against  beloved Yemen will cost it dearly and will only push the Yemenis toward greater steadfastness and perseverance, and to more supportive operations for the oppressed Palestinian people,” a government statement read.

“We are fully prepared for a sustained and prolonged confrontation, to confront hostile warplanes, and to counter attempts to break the naval blockade imposed by our armed forces on the enemy, in triumphing for our people in Gaza,” the statement added.

On Sunday, Ansarallah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi reiterated Yemen’s unwavering commitment to Palestine. He declared that supporting the Palestinian cause is a non-negotiable stance and affirmed Yemen’s alignment with the Axis of Resistance in confronting the “U.S.-Israeli project” in the region.

‘Incredibly heartbreaking’ – local campaigns for warning sirens after flood tragedypublished at 19:12 British Summer Time

19:12 BST

Gary O’Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent, reporting from Texas

As the search continues, the focus is increasingly moving to
what could have been done, if anything, to prevent this tragedy.

One local campaigner, Nicole Wilson, has already set up a
petition with 450 signatures calling for flood sirens to be
set up in Kerr County along the Guadalupe River – something in place in other counties.

Such a system has been debated in Kerr County for almost a
decade but funds have never been allocated for it.

Nicole told me she thought sirens could have prevented the
tragedy: “When you’re a child, you expect somebody, an adult’s
going to come save you… It’s incredibly heartbreaking.”

Nicole, who has children who also go to summer camps in the
area, says she’s saddened by the decisions over the years not to invest.

“To have camps, to have RV camps, to have houses that
close to a river and it flood like that, I don’t understand why Kerrville and
Kerr County hadn’t invested in flood sirens,” she says.

President Trump is expected to visit the area later in the
week and Nicole says she wants him to arrive with, as she puts it, “a blank
cheque”.