Category: 2. World

United States President Donald Trump has scrapped plans to attend an upcoming summit of the ‘Quad’ grouping in India amid deteriorating ties between Washington and New Delhi, US newspaper The New York Times (NYT) reported on Saturday.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted, with 50 per cent levies on many Indian imports into the US taking effect this week as punishment for New Delhi’s massive purchases of Russian oil; a part of US efforts to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine.

As ties between both nations deteriorate, NYT reported on Saturday that the breakdown in relations was caused after a phone call on June 17.

“After telling [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall, according to people familiar with the president’s schedule,” the NYT reported, citing “interviews with more than a dozen people in Washington and New Delhi”.

The NYT mentioned how Trump’s repeated claims about having ended the recent brief conflict between India and Pakistan reportedly “infuriated” Modi. The paper added that the dispute “dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr Trump was making it out to be”.

India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence, triggering a military escalation. On May 6–7, New Delhi launched air strikes that killed civilians, followed by a week-long missile exchange. A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war.

“During a phone call on June 17, Mr Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation,” the NYT reported.

“He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr Modi should do the same.”

It added that the “bristled” Indian premier told Trump that American involvement had nothing to do with the ceasefire and the conflict had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.

“Mr Trump largely brushed off Mr Modi’s comments, but the disagreement — and Mr Modi’s refusal to engage on the Nobel — has played an outsize role in the souring relationship between the two leaders, whose once-close ties go back to Mr Trump’s first term,” the report reads, adding that the two leaders have not spoken since the June 17 phone conversation and Trump has only doubled down on taking credit for the ceasefire.

Amid this dispute, India has grown closer to Beijing and Moscow. Modi is currently in Tianjin, China, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of State summit, where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“At its core, the story of Mr Trump and Mr Modi is about two brash, populist leaders with big egos and authoritarian tendencies, and the web of loyalties that help keep both men in power,” the NYT reported.

“But it is also the tale of an American president with his eye on a Nobel Prize, running smack into the immovable third rail of Indian politics: the conflict with Pakistan.”

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Modi turned down an invitation from Trump to visit the White House after a G7 meeting in Canada, over concerns that he would set up a meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, who was visiting the US at the time.

Reporting the same, NYT said: “Modi declined an invitation from Mr Trump to stop by Washington before he flew home. His officials were scandalised that Mr Trump might try to force their leader into a handshake with Pakistan’s army chief, who had also been invited to the White House for lunch around the same time. It was another clear sign, a senior Indian official said, that Mr Trump cared little for the complexity of their issue or the sensitivities and history around it.”

The COAS carried out two visits to the US. The first, in June, saw him meet Trump at the White House for luncheon, making him the first sitting army chief to do so.

The field marshal termed his second visit to the US in just one-and-a-half months a “new dimension” in ties between Washington and Islamabad. During this trip, the COAS engaged in high-level interactions with senior political and military leadership, as well as members of the Pakistani diaspora.

Pakistan and the US also finalised a trade deal at the start of August, lowering tariffs to 19pc from the previously announced 29pc and helping develop Pakistan’s oil reserves while trade talks between the US and India have stalled.

Donald Trump suffered the biggest defeat yet to his tariff policies on Friday, as a federal appeals court ruled he had overstepped his presidential powers when he enacted punitive financial measures against almost every country in the world.

In a 7-4 ruling, the Washington DC court said that while US law “bestows significant authority on the president to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency”, none of those actions allow for the imposition of tariffs or taxes.

It means the ultimate ruling on the legality of Trump’s tariffs, which were famously based on spurious economic science and rocked the global economy when he announced them in April, will probably be made by the US supreme court.

Here’s what to know.

Which tariffs did the court knock down?

The decision centers on the tariffs Trump introduced on 2 April, on what he called “liberation day”. The tariffs set a 10% baseline on virtually all of the US’s trading partners and so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on countries he argued have unfairly treated the US. Lesotho, a country of 2.3 million people in southern Africa, was hit with a 50% tariff, while Trump also announced a tariff of 10% on a group of uninhabited islands populated by penguins.

The ruling voided all those tariffs, with the judges finding the president’s measures “unbounded in scope, amount and duration”. They said the tariffs “assert an expansive authority that is beyond the express limitations” of the law his administration used to pass them.

Tariffs typically need to be approved by Congress, but Trump claimed he has the right to impose tariffs on trading partners under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which in some circumstances grants the president authority to regulate or prohibit international transactions during a national emergency.

The court ruled: “It seems unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the president unlimited authority to impose tariffs.”

Trump invoked the same law in February to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, claiming that the flow of undocumented immigrants and drugs across the US border amounted to a national emergency, and that the three countries needed to do more to stop it.

Are the tariffs gone now?

No. The court largely upheld a May decision by a federal trade court in New York that ruled Trump’s tariffs were illegal. But Friday’s ruling tossed out a part of that ruling that would have struck down the tariffs immediately.

The court said the ruling would not take effect until 14 October. That allows the Trump administration time to appeal to the majority-conservative US supreme court, which will have the ultimate say on whether Trump has the legal right, as president, to upend US trade policy.

What does this mean for Trump’s trade agenda?

The government has argued that if Trump’s tariffs are struck down, it might have to refund some of the import taxes that it has collected, which would deliver a financial blow to the US treasury.

Revenue from tariffs totaled $159bn by July, more than double what it was at the same point last year. The justice department warned in a legal filing this month that revoking the tariffs could mean “financial ruin” for the United States.

The ruling could also put Trump on shaky ground in trying to impose tariffs going forward. The president does have alternative laws for imposing import tariffs, but they would limit the speed and severity with which he could act.

In its decision in May, the trade court said that Trump has more limited power to impose tariffs to address trade deficits under another statute, the Trade Act of 1974. But that law restricts tariffs to 15% and to just 150 days on countries with which the United States runs big trade deficits.

How has Trump responded

He’s not happy. Trump spent Friday evening reposting dozens of social media posts that were critical of the court’s decision. In a post on his own social media site, Trump claimed, as he tends to do when judges rule against him, that the decision was made by a “highly partisan appeals court”.

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country,” Trump wrote. He added: “If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.”

Trump claimed “tariffs are the best tool to help our workers”, despite their costs being typically borne by everyday Americans. The tariffs have triggered economic and political uncertainty across the world and stoked fears of rising inflation.

Key Facts

Trump loads the motorcade with granddaughter Kai Trump and grandson Spencer Frederick Trump.

AFP via Getty Images

Trump enters his motorcade.

AFP via Getty Images

Why Did Social Media Users Say Trump Was Dead?

Most social media users pointed to Trump having not been seen publicly since his Cabinet meeting Wednesday and his schedule being cleared for the weekend—though that is not unusual. Others noted Vice President JD Vance told USA Today on Thursday he was prepared to step in as president should a “terrible tragedy” occur, though Vance emphasized he believed Trump was in “good shape” and in “incredibly good health.”

Key Background

Concerns have swirled in recent months surrounding the health of Trump, who became the oldest president at the time of swearing in in January. Earlier this month, Trump, 79, was spotted with bruising on the back of his right hand in the Oval Office, days after his other hand was photographed with a smaller bruise. Trump has been seen with bruising on his right hand several times over the last year, including in February and November, though the White House has dispelled health concerns by claiming the bruising is “from shaking hands with thousands of people.” Sean Barbabella, Trump’s physician, elaborated on the bruising in July and said it was “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking” and use of aspirin. Barbabella also revealed Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a “prevalent” disease that, in most cases, results in “diminished quality of life and loss of work productivity” if left untreated, according to the National Institutes of Health. Trump’s apparently swollen ankles, which were photographed at the FIFA Club World Cup Final in July, have been connected to the condition.

Further Reading

ForbesTrump Seen With Bruised Right Hand Again—Here’s Everything We Know About The ConditionBy Sara DornForbesTrump’s ‘Excellent Health’ Touted By White House Physician Who Praises His ‘Frequent Victories In Golf’By Alison Durkee

Yemen’s Houthi rebel movement has confirmed that its self-proclaimed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was killed in an Israeli air strike earlier this week.

The Iran-backed group said several other senior officials were killed when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Thursday.

The IDF said at the time that it attacked a Houthi “military target” in the Sanaa area, giving no further details.

The Houthis have controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, after ousting the internationally recognised government from Sanaa and triggering a devastating civil war.

The Houthis said Rahawi had been killed alongside several Houthi ministers, though it did not name the others.

Saudi Arabian news site al-Hadath reports the Houthis’ foreign minister, as well as the ministers for justice, youth and sports, social affairs and labour, were killed.

The office of Mahdi al-Mashat, the Houthis’ president, that several other ministers “sustained moderate and serious injuries” as a result of the strike.

It added that Muhammad Ahmed Miftah, the Houthi deputy prime minister, would assume Rahawi’s role.

Rahawi had held his post since August 2024, and was largely seen as a figurehead of the movement instead of being part of the top decision-making circle that plans military operations.

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the movement’s ultimate leader, as well as the group’s defence minister and the chief of staff, were not said to be among the casualties in Thursday’s attack.

The IDF is yet to publicly comment on the latest developments.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis have regularly launched missiles at Israel and targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel has, in turn, carried out air strikes on targets in Houthi-held parts of Yemen, with the stated aim of curtailing Houthi attacks.

Last week, Israel said it had hit Houthi targets in Sanaa, in response to the movement’s missile attack which Israel said carried cluster munitions.

Getty Images

What did the appeals court say?

What is the IEEPA?

Why is this important?

What happens next?

What if the tariffs are ruled illegal?

Are there still tariffs in place?

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of Starlink services and related equipment and Patriot air defence sustainment and related equipment to Ukraine, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The transactions are worth $150 million and $179 million, respectively.

On Thursday, the Pentagon announced US approval for the sale of air-launched cruise missiles and related equipment to Ukraine for an estimated $825 million.

The Trump administration has agreed with European allies to step up military support for Kyiv as US President Donald Trump seeks to pressure Russia into agreeing to a peace deal to end its war in Ukraine.

Under the agreement, European governments will pay for US weapons on Ukraine’s behalf.

Starlink has been integral to Ukraine’s communications on the battlefield, including its control of drones, the backbone of its military’s strikes on Russian forces.

The Patriot systems have proven effective at destroying Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Ukraine’s cities.

Despite approval by the State Department, the notifications do not indicate that contracts have been signed or that negotiations have concluded.

An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of Yemen’s rebel-controlled government, the Iran-backed Houthi militant group said Saturday.

Ahmed al-Rawahi was killed Thursday alongside other ministers during a strike on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, the rebels said in a statement.

“We declare the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghalib Al-Rahawi, Prime Minister in the Government of Change and Construction, along with a number of his fellow ministers,” it said.

Al-Rahawi, who had served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since 2024, was killed during a government workshop evaluating “its activities and performance during a year of its work,” the statement added.

Following his death, Houthi President Mahdi Al-Mashat appointed Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed Muftah, the first deputy prime minister, to serve as acting prime minister.

The Israeli military said Thursday it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.”

The Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles at Israel during its war with Hamas, framing their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping as part of an allied defense of Palestinians in Gaza.

In response to Houthi attacks, Israel has bombarded rebel-held areas in Yemen.