Category: 2. World

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a “30% or 35%” tariff on Japan if a deal between the two countries is not reached before a deadline next week.

That would be well above the 24% tariff Japan was hit with as part of Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” on 2 April, when he announced steep import duties on countries around the world.

The tariffs on most US trading partners, including Japan, were later lowered to 10% for 90 days to give them time to negotiate deals with Washington.

That pause is due to expire on 9 July and Trump has said he is not planning to extend the deadline.

Trump also continued to cast doubt that an agreement could be reached with Tokyo.

“We’ve dealt with Japan. I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal. I doubt it,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.

Japan declined to comment on Trump’s threat to hike tariffs during a news conference on Wednesday.

“We are aware of what President Trump said, but we don’t comment on every remark made by US government officials,” the country’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki said.

Like many other countries, most of Japan’s exports to the US currently face a 10% levy. There is also a 25% import tax on Japanese vehicles and parts, while steel and aluminium are subject to a 50% tariff.

On Tuesday, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said he would not make concessions that could hurt his country’s farmers to strike an agreement with Washington.

The comments came after Trump criticised countries over their trade policies towards the US, focussing on Japanese rice imports.

“To show people how spoiled Countries have become with respect to the United States of America, and I have great respect for Japan, they won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump originally said he would sign 90 trade agreements during the pause on the new tariffs but since then only the UK has struck a deal with the US.

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received a written message from his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on relations and ways to support and boost them across all fields.

The message was received on behalf of Prince Faisal by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Eng. Waleed El-Khereiji during a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati at the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The officials reviewed bilateral ties and discussed issues of mutual interest.

MNA/6518034

July 1, 2025, Washington, DC: The text of the following statement was released by the Secretary of State of the United States, the Foreign Minister of Australia, the External Affairs Minister of India, and the Foreign Minister of Japan.

Begin text: We, the Secretary of State of the United States, and the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan met in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025, to reaffirm our steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. We underscore our commitment to defending the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. As four leading maritime nations in the Indo-Pacific, we are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region. We are committed to a region where all countries are free from coercion and strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.

We discussed the opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific and how to further harness the strengths and resources of the Quad to advance peace, security, and prosperity, working with our regional partners. To ensure the Quad’s enduring impact, we are pleased to announce today a new, ambitious, and strong agenda focused on four key areas: maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance and emergency response. Through this renewed focus, we will sharpen the Quad’s ability to leverage our resources to address the region’s most pressing challenges.

As we advance our shared objectives for the region, our cooperation with and support for ASEAN and its centrality and unity, the Pacific Islands Forum and Pacific-led regional groupings, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) remain unwavering.

We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea. We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion. We express our serious concerns regarding dangerous and provocative actions, including interference with offshore resource development, the repeated obstruction of the freedoms of navigation and overflight, and the dangerous maneuvers by military aircraft and coast guard and maritime militia vessels, especially the unsafe use of water cannons and ramming or blocking actions in the South China Sea. These actions threaten peace and stability in the region. We are seriously concerned by the militarization of disputed features. We emphasize the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We affirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, and reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016 is a significant milestone and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.

We are deeply concerned about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals. This includes the use of non-market policies and practices for critical minerals, certain derivative products, and mineral processing technology. We underscore the importance of diversified and reliable global supply chains. Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security.

We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing launches using ballistic missile technology and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula consistent with relevant UNSCRs, and we urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the UNSCRs. We also express grave concern over North Korea’s malicious cyber activity, including cryptocurrency theft and use of workers abroad to fund North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. We will continue to support efforts to address contraventions of North Korea-related UNSCRs. We urge all UN Member States to abide by their international obligations under the UNSCRs to implement sanctions, including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel. We express deep concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which directly undermines the global nonproliferation regime. We reconfirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the abductions issue.

We remain deeply concerned by the worsening crisis in Myanmar and its impact on the region. We call on the regime to adhere to its commitment to a ceasefire, and call on all parties to implement, extend and broaden ceasefire measures. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN’s efforts, including calling for the full and effective implementation of the Five Point Consensus in seeking an inclusive, durable, and peaceful resolution to the crisis. We call on all parties to allow safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance. We are also concerned about the impact of the crisis on regional security and the spread of transnational crimes. We are committed to fighting cybercrime and online scam operations.

The Quad unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and renews our commitment to counterterrorism cooperation. We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured. We call for the perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UNSCRs, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

In the face of these challenges, we are proud to announce today key initiatives that the Quad is advancing to strengthen maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and support humanitarian assistance and emergency response across the Indo-Pacific. We are launching today the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, an ambitious expansion of our partnership to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating to secure and diversify critical minerals supply chains. We continue to deepen our cooperation on maritime law enforcement cooperation through regional training initiatives, maritime legal dialogues, and Coast Guard cooperation. We plan to host the first Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network field training exercise this year to strengthen shared airlift capacity and leverage our collective logistics strengths to respond to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently, providing support for regional partners. We also plan to launch the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership in Mumbai this year. We continue to coordinate rapid responses to regional disasters and collectively contributed over USD $30 million in humanitarian assistance to support communities affected by the earthquake that struck central Myanmar in March 2025. We will continue to counter foreign efforts to push false narratives and interfere with Quad interests in the Indo-Pacific.

As the Quad continues to evolve, our four democracies remain committed to deepening our cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and ensuring our cooperation has an enduring impact on the region’s top challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. We look forward to the next Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India later this year and the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting hosted by Australia in 2026.

End text.

By2 July, 2025 | Topics: News | Tags: Secretary of State Marco Rubio

It was a Thai court decision last year that swept Paetongtarn Shinawatra into the prime minister’s office and now, once again, the fate of the 38-year-old novice politician lies in the hands of the judiciary.

The Constitutional Court suspended Paetongtarn – Thailand’s youngest prime minister – from office on Tuesday, pending a case that seeks her dismissal over a controversial phone call last month with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen.

“I want to apologize to people who are upset by all of this,” Paetongtarn told reporters on the steps of Government House in Bangkok, where she only took office last August after the shock dismissal of her predecessor by a court order.

“I will continue to work for the country as a Thai citizen,” she said, “I don’t have any bad intentions.”

The suspension order capped two tumultuous weeks in Thai politics, triggered by the leak of the call between Hun Sen and Paetongtarn, in which she appears to pander to the Cambodian strongman and then denigrate a Thai military commander.

Criticism of the military, which holds an outsized influence over domestic affairs, including politics, crossed a red line for many in Thailand and instantly drew a backlash, particularly from the conservative-royalist camp.

The June 15 leak, and the subsequently release of the entire call by Hun Sen, came at a delicate time for Paetongtarn and her ruling Pheu Thai party, already struggling with a floundering economy and a shaky coalition as well as a festering border dispute with Cambodia.

Although Paetongtarn apologised for the call and described its contents as a negotiation tactic, a major coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai party, walked out of the government just hours after the leak, leaving her alliance’s parliamentary majority hanging by a thread.

Still, Paetongtarn – the daughter of Thailand’s influential but divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – dug in, and managed to hold together the remainder of her coalition.

“The country must move forward,” she said on June 22. “Thailand must unite and push policies to solve problems for the people.”

By then, a group of 36 senators had already submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court seeking the premier’s dismissal.

The judicial push coincided with growing public discontent against the prime minister, which culminated in a massive anti-government rally on Saturday.

Several thousand people gathered in the heart of the Thai capital, braving intensive monsoon rains, to rally for hours.

“Ung Ing, get out,” they chanted occasionally in unison, calling the prime minister by a nickname.

In an opinion poll released on Sunday, Paetongtarn’s approval stood at 9.2% in June, sharply down from 30.9% in March.

‘DADDY’S GIRL’

The youngest of Thaksin’s three children, Paetongtarn has spent much of her life in the shadow of the father’s political career, which began in 1994 and led to him becoming prime minister in 2001.

Thaksin was ousted in a coup five years later, but went on to push his younger sister, Yingluck into the premiership in 2011. But she was forced out of office by a court ruling.

The decades-long power struggle between Thailand’s conservative-royalist camp and the Shinawatra clan featured in Paetongtarn’s campaign to help her family win back power in the 2023 general election, where Pheu Thai only came second.

After the election-winning Move Forward party was blocked by military-appointed lawmakers from taking power, Pheu Thai engineered a parliamentary majority to form a government led initially by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

It was Srettha’s dismissal last August that allowed Paetongtarn to take his place – although she had never held any government position before becoming prime minister.

Educated at Chulalongkorn University and Britain’s University of Surrey, she was primarily involved in the Shinawatra family businesses.

Much of her 10-month premiership has also been overshadowed by the looming presence of Thaksin, who returned to Thailand in 2023 after over a decade-and-a-half in self-exile to avoid a prison term – and now potentially again faces jail time.

For Paetongtarn, however, that appeared to be of little concern.

“I’m a daddy’s girl,” she told parliament in March, referring to Thaksin. “I am like that completely. I am a daddy’s girl, 100%.”

PARIS:

Nearly 2,000 schools were shut in France, monuments closed to tourists, and cities across Europe put on high alert as a record-breaking early summer heatwave spread across the continent Tuesday.

Withering conditions that have baked southern Europe for days crept northward where such extremes are much rarer, with Paris on “red alert” and warnings issued in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.

Tens of thousands of people have died in Europe during past heatwaves, prompting authorities to issue warnings for old and young, the sick, and others vulnerable to what experts call a “silent killer”.

On Tuesday, police in Spain said a two-year-old died in the country’s northeast after being left in a car in the sun for several hours.

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) warned that millions of Europeans were exposed to high heat stress, and that temperatures would remain “well above average” across most of the continent in coming days.

“This event is unusual because it’s extreme, because it’s very early on in the summer period, and climate change has almost certainly made it worse than it otherwise would have been,” climate scientist and C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess told AFP.

Records have already tumbled, with the Netherlands experiencing its hottest opening day of July, France and Portugal their highest-ever single-day temperatures in June, and Spain and England their warmest June months.

On Sunday, in a case of two extremes, the Mediterranean Sea hit a new June temperature record while Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe, went above freezing, a rarity for this time of year.

The summit of the Eiffel Tower was shut for a second straight day while in Brussels the city’s Atomium monument — famed for its giant stainless steel balls — was exceptionally shut as temperatures reached 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).

Under scorching skies, Paris imposed its first “red alert” in five years, empowering officials to limit or ban sporting events, festivals and school outings for children.

The heat is expected to peak on Tuesday, with Paris facing highs of 38C, but authorities have extended the alert into Wednesday.

“We’re living a bit like moles,” Nicole, 85, told AFP in the stifling air of her apartment in a tower block in Paris.

Some parks will remain open all night, pools have extended visiting hours, and cooling centres in churches and museums are offering respite from the lack of greenery and concrete surfaces that amplify the heat.

Nearly 2,000 schools were closed at midday on Tuesday across France, according to the Ministry of Education, with teachers complaining that overheated and unventilated classrooms were making students unwell.

Authorities are fanning out to check on the elderly, chronically ill and the homeless.

“When it’s cold, I add blankets and hats. But when it’s hot like this, what can I do?” said Jo, a 55-year-old homeless man in Bordeaux, in southwestern France.

As far north as the Netherlands, some regions were on the second-highest alert Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 38C.

“I also live in a rooftop apartment, which means it gets insanely hot during the day, and it’s unbearable,” student Liva Freimane told AFP in The Hague.

Schools in Rotterdam and across West Brabant province adopted “tropical schedules” to ensure students started and finished earlier to avoid the worst of the day’s heat.

In Germany, temperatures could peak at 40C on Wednesday.