• Malik Ahmad Khan cites precedent, legal powers to refer cases to ECP • Rejects claims of bias, terms comments on meeting with CEC contrary to facts • Federal law minister backs speaker’s ‘unlimited authority’
LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan on Monday vehemently defended his neutrality and constitutional authority amid ongoing objections from the opposition regarding his powers to forward references to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Meanwhile, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also strongly defended Punjab Assembly speaker’s constitutional powers to de-seat members. At a ceremony in Lahore, Tarar asserted that the speaker, as the head of the House, possesses “unlimited powers”.
Addressing a press conference at the Punjab Assembly, Speaker Khan recalled a past precedent where the then-opposition demanded the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. “Members now ask, if a prime minister could be removed on the basis of a controversial judgement like Panama, why can’t action be taken against others under similar circumstances?” he questioned, highlighting what he described as a double standard.
He firmly rejected accusations of bias, stating, “I am not a representative of any political party; I listen to everyone’s point of view. My priority is ensuring the smooth and fair functioning of the House. The speaker reiterated his commitment to honestly fulfilling his role as the custodian of the House, admitting that some members were suspended and others served with notices strictly in accordance with the rules and procedures.
He refuted the opposition’s claim that he lacks the authority to send references to the ECP, asserting that such powers had been exercised in the past and were legally valid. He also criticised media editorials for misinterpreting his constitutional role and authority.
Mr Khan lamented the repeated disruptions in the assembly, noting that for the past 22 years, no finance minister has been able to deliver a complete budget speech without interruption. “Is it acceptable that for 22 years neither a finance minister nor the president can speak without constant disturbance?”
He stressed the importance of maintaining discipline within the House, reminding the opposition members that while their rights are protected, government representatives also deserve respect and space.
He noted that many misunderstandings could have been avoided through earlier consultation with the assembly secretariat.
He lamented being labeled as the “opposition’s speaker” merely for granting them extended time and privileges, asserting that he had pledged to serve with honesty and fairness from the onset. While acknowledging that parliament allows for protest, he underscored the importance of setting limits to ensure order.
He urged members to listen to his stance, reiterating his constitutional oath and the need for the assembly to function according to its rules. He also stated that before issuing any suspension orders, he wanted to share his perspective with everyone.
He called on all members to avoid repeating past mistakes and urged both government and opposition to ensure mutual respect and adherence to constitutional boundaries within the assembly.
The speaker clarified that while he is not in favour of expelling any individual from the House, saying he will issue an order regarding the 26 opposition members’ references under the Article 63(2) of the Constitution within the next 27 days.
He expressed optimism that meaningful negotiations between the government and opposition can still improve the assembly’s environment.
Drawing a parallel to the disqualification of a prime minister in the Panama case, the speaker said that if a premier can be removed for violating oath under Article 63(2), then it remains a powerful mechanism for holding elected representatives accountable. “I am not Imran Khan, and I don’t want to disqualify people, but I am bound by the Constitution and the law,” he said.
Addressing concerns about his recent meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, the speaker dismissed the speculation as factually incorrect.
ECP clarification
An ECP spokesperson, in a statement, clarified that various constitutional and administrative office holders routinely meet with the Election Commission to discuss official matters.
He cited numerous past meetings between former president Arif Alvi ECP members, particularly concerning electronic voting machines (EVMs) and internet voting — issues that were outside the president’s mandate.
Similarly, the CEC has met with numerous PTI leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, and former chief minister of KP Mahmood Khan, as well as former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar.
The spokesperson questioned why such meetings were acceptable at the time but are now being criticised, asserting that no ECP official met anyone for personal reasons and that it is not against protocol for politicians and political parties to approach the Election Commission.
‘Unlimited powers’
On the other hand, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar strongly defended Punjab Assembly speaker’s constitutional powers to de-seat members. At a ceremony in Lahore, Tarar asserted that the speaker, as the head of the House, possesses “unlimited powers.”
“If any member violates oath, then the speaker can suspend that member,” he stated. While acknowledging the opposition’s right to protest, Mr Tarar warned that “vandalism inside the assembly” would not be considered a peaceful demonstration.
Regarding the reference against 26 MPAs, he affirmed that the speaker has the authority to send such references to the chief election commissioner.
The law minister emphasised that while the speaker must remain neutral, he hoped Mr Khan would find a constructive path forward while upholding democratic traditions.
DOHA: Israel and Hamas held indirect talks in Qatar on Monday, according to a Palestinian official, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump, who is pushing for a ceasefire deal on Gaza.
The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
A Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP a second session was held on Monday and ended with “no breakthrough”.
The Hamas and Israeli delegations were due to resume talks later on Monday, the official said.
Palestinian group’s response to US-backed ceasefire proposal, had ‘unacceptable’ demands, says Israeli PM
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the delegations had exchanged views on Sunday via mediators, with representatives of the two sides seated in different rooms in the same building.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s third visit since Trump’s return to office this year, the US president said there was a “good chance we have a deal with Hamas… during the coming week”.
“We’ve gotten a lot of the out, but pertaining to the remaining [prisoners], quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists.
Netanyahu, speaking before heading to Washington, said his meeting with Trump could “definitely help advance this” deal after 21 months of war.
Netanyahu said he had dispatched the team to the Qatari capital with “clear instructions” to reach an agreement “under the conditions that we have agreed to”.
He previously said Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained “unacceptable” demands.
Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living Israeli prisoners and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.
Trump is scheduled to meet the Israeli premier on Monday, the White House said, without the usual presence of journalists.
In Israel’s coastal hub of Tel Aviv, hours before the meeting, an AFP photographer said dozens of people including relatives of Israeli prisoners demonstrated to demand their release.
“President Trump — make history. Bring them all home. End the war,” read a sign held by protesters outside the US diplomatic mission in the city.
Of the 251 Israeli prisoners taken by Palestinian fighters during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military believes that 27 of them are dead.
Recent efforts to broker a truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire.
In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing people displaced by the war.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean media are unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.
Salman Qudum, who survived the attack on the clinic in Gaza City, said: “We don’t know where to go or what to do.” Qudum said the negotiators and mediators in Doha must “apply pressure” to secure a ceasefire “because the people can’t take this anymore”.
In a statement on Monday, the Israeli military claimed it had struck “dozens of terrorists, weapons depots, observation posts, military buildings and other terror infrastructures” across Gaza over the past 24 hours.
The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.
A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.
But its operations have had a chaotic rollout, with repeated reports of aid seekers killed near its facilities while awaiting rations.
HUNT: Rescuers in Texas searched on Monday for bodies swept away by flash floods that killed more than 90 people, including 27 girls and counsellors at a summer camp destroyed by torrents of water.
The United States was shocked at the disaster over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and forecasters warned of more flooding as rain falls on saturated ground.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” Camp Mystic said in a statement confirming the 27 deaths at the all-girls camp, located next to a river.
The White House on Monday put the overall number of dead from the flooding at 91, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz told reporters that the toll was continuing to rise.
27 girls, camp counsellors among the deceased
“Texas is grieving right now — the pain, the shock of what has transpired these last few days has broken the heart of our state,” Cruz told reporters.
“The children, little girls, who were lost at Camp Mystic, that’s every parent’s nightmare.” Camps are a beloved tradition in the long US summer holidays, with children often staying in woods, parks and other rural areas.
Cruz described them as a chance to make “lifetime friends — and then suddenly it turns to tragedy.”
President Donald Trump is planning to visit Texas on Friday, the White House said, as it slammed critics claiming his cuts to weather agencies had weakened warning systems.
Helicopters and boats were taking part in the grim search across an area popular with tourists as well as summer camps.
Camp Mystic was a Christian camp where about 750 people had been staying when the floodwaters struck.
In a terrifying display of nature’s power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins as girls at the camp slept.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
Months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours on Thursday night into Friday, and rain has continued in bouts since then.
The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight metres) — more than a two-story building — in just 45 minutes.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement on Monday.
Richard Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children at his camp during the flood.
“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” Eastland’s grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Instagram.
In Hill County, where the worst flooding occurred, two to four inches of more rain were expected to fall, with isolated areas getting up to 10 inches of rain.
The weather service issued a flood watch through Monday night in the region. State emergency management officials had warned on Thursday, ahead of the July 4 holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of heavy showers and flash floods based on weather forecasts.
Confluence of disaster
But twice as much rain as was predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, a local official said. Governor Greg Abbott said the circumstances of the flooding, and the adequacy of weather forecasts and warning systems, would be scrutinised once the immediate situation was brought under control.
In the meantime, search-and-rescue operations were continuing, with hundreds of emergency personnel on the ground contending with a myriad of challenges.
• Takes notice of broadcast of interview with accused in custody • Wants authorities to put an end to such practices
ISLAMABAD: Highlighting the legal and ethical ramifications of media coverage during criminal investigations, the Supreme Court on Monday urged media professionals to exercise responsibility in order to safeguard the rights of both the accused and victims while reporting on criminal proceedings.
“A disproportionate and excessive media spotlight and the manner it is presented is likely to create perceptions of guilt and influence the public as well as those who are associated with the criminal proceedings,” observed Justice Athar Minallah in a 25-page judgement.
Justice Minallah headed a three-judge bench that took up the appeal of accused Shahid Ali against the March 15, 2021, decision of the Sindh High Court which had upheld the death sentence earlier awarded by the trial court.
The case involved the gruesome murder of a seven-year-old boy, Wasim Akram, in Karachi. The boy’s body was discovered in a water tank on March 9, 2014. The appellant, Shahid Ali, was convicted under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sentenced to death by the trial court. However, the Supreme Court acquitted him, extending the benefit of doubt, and directed that he be released forthwith.
The controversy arose when a journalist interviewed the appellant while he was on physical remand and in the custody of the investigating officer (IO). This interview was later aired on a private television channel on March 27, 2014, in its programme Jurm Bolta Hai.
Calling the case a classic example, the judgement pointed out that the accused was in custody under a court-ordered physical remand solely for investigation purposes. He was presumed to be innocent, but the in-charge of the police station and the IO granted a journalist access to interview him in custody.
The statement was recorded on camera and disseminated to the general public via the television broadcast. The judgement expressed concern for the victim’s family, who may also have been adversely affected by this act.
The court found that the police officials had adopted a process they were presumed to know was unlawful and one that could lead to grave violations of the rights of the accused. Their actions created a perception of guilt, despite the fact that the accused was in custody solely for investigation and had not yet been charged, nor had the investigation concluded.
Takes notice of broadcast of interview with accused in custody
The inadmissible purported confession was broadcast to the public, the judgement said, even though the accused had not been produced before a competent magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure
Code (CrPC).
The judgement also criticised the frequent practice of electronic media showing accused persons paraded before cameras or being questioned by reporters while in custody. Such practices gravely violate the rights of the accused and undermine the fairness of criminal trials, the court observed.
The court emphasised that both federal and provincial governments must take immediate and effective measures to ensure such practices come to an end.
The judgement also reminded the media — both print and electronic — of their responsibility to self-regulate their reporting and adopt standard operating procedures aligned with international best practices.
It called on regulatory authorities to propose such SOPs in consultation with stakeholders, with the aim of protecting the rights of the parties involved, particularly during investigations.
The court ordered its office to dispatch copies of the judgement to the interior and information secretaries, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), and the chief secretaries of the provinces, directing them to take immediate steps to protect the rights of those involved in criminal proceedings and to safeguard the integrity and fairness of investigations and trials.
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has rejected India’s insinuation of Chinese support to Pakistan during the clashes between the two neighbours in May, calling it a “shoddy attempt” by New Delhi to repudiate Pakistan’s military capabilities.
Indian deputy army chief Lt Gen Rahul Singh had claimed last week that China gave Islamabad “live inputs” on key Indian positions.
India fought two adversaries during the conflict, with Pakistan being the ‘front face’ while China provided ‘all possible support’, Lt Gen Singh said at a recent defence industry event in New Delhi.
Addressing military officers at the National Defence University (NDU), Field Marshal Munir called the remarks “irresponsible and incorrect”.
He said the insinuations about external support to the army during Operation Bunyanum Marsoos reflected New Delhi’s “chronic reluctance” to acknowledge Pakistan’s “indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence”.
“Naming other states as participants in the purely bilateral military conflict is also a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics and desperately trying that India remains the beneficiary of larger geopolitical contestation as the so-called net security provider in a region which is getting increasingly weary of its hegemonic and extremist Hindutva ideology”, he said.
Field Marshal Munir noted that India’s “inability to achieve its stated military objectives” during Operation Sindoor and the subsequent attempt to rationalise this shortfall through convoluted logic spoke volumes of its “lack of operational readiness and strategic foresight”.
The COAS declared the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty or territorial integrity will be met with “swift and resolute response without any constraints or inhibitions”. “Any attempt to target our population centres, military bases, economic hubs and ports will instantly invoke a deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response”, he remarked.
‘Normal’ military cooperation
Meanwhile, China on Monday said its military cooperation with Pakistan was “normal”, without posing any threat to a third country.
“…China and Pakistan are close neighbours enjoying traditional friendship. Defence and security cooperation is part of the normal cooperation between the two countries and does not target any third party,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference.
She was responding to the Indian general’s claims about Beijing’s alleged military support to Islamabad during the latest hostilities.
She added India and Pakistan “are and will always be each other’s neighbours and were also “important neighbours of China”.
“Over the past weeks and months, China has closely followed the developments between India and Pakistan, actively promoted talks for peace, and worked to maintain regional peace and stability.”
Ms Ning said China would support India and Pakistan in settling differences through dialogue and consultation. “China stands ready to continue playing a constructive role to this end.”
• July 9 deadline set to be postponed until next month: White House • Countries aligning with BRICS threatened with steeper tariffs
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 25 per cent on Japan and South Korea on Monday, stepping up pressure on the two key US allies and a dozen other economies to reach trade deals with Washington.
Trump issued similar letters to Malaysia, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Laos, saying he would slap duties on their products ranging from 25pc to 40pc.
However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Trump would sign an executive order later in the day to delay his original July 9 deadline for steeper tariffs to take effect — postponing their imposition to August 1.
Besides Japan and South Korea, she added, there would be approximately 12 other partners receiving letters from Trump soon.
With the deadline extension, Leavitt noted that Trump would set out the “reciprocal tariff rate” for partners in the coming month as negotiations continue.
Asked why Trump opted to start with South Korea, Leavitt said: “It’s the President’s prerogative, and those are the countries he chose.”
“This announcement will send a chilling message to others,” said Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler, referring to Trump’s initial announcements on Tokyo and Seoul.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believed there would be a number of deals coming up: “We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours.”
Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on imports from almost all trading partners in early April, but some economies including the European Union were slated to have this rate increase further. As markets plunged at the time, Trump halted the steeper levies to allow for talks. That pause expires on Wednesday.
‘Anti-American policies’
Also, in a social media post on Monday, Trump threatened another 10pc tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.
Screengrab from Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump
On Sunday, BRICS leaders described Trump’s stop-start tariff wars as “indiscriminate”, damaging, and illegal, drawing a quick rebuke from the pugilistic US president.
The 11-nation grouping — which also includes US allies Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia — is concluding a two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro.
BRICS members account for about half the world’s population and 40pc of global economic output.
Some US allies inside the bloc had tried to blunt criticism by not mentioning Trump by name in their summit statement.
Saudi Arabia — one of the world’s biggest purchasers of US high-tech weapons — even kept its foreign minister away from Sunday’s talks and a BRICS “family photo” of leaders, seemingly to avoid Washington’s ire.
Climate financing
Earlier, the leaders of the BRICS addressed the shared challenges of global warming on Monday, the final day of their summit in Rio de Janeiro, demanding that wealthy nations fund mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in poorer nations.
In his opening remarks, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blasted denialism of the climate emergency, indirectly criticising President Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“The Global South is in a position to lead a new development paradigm without repeating the mistakes of the past.”
A joint statement from BRICS leaders released on Sunday argued that petroleum will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, particularly in developing economies.
In their joint statement, BRICS leaders also underscored that providing climate finance “is a responsibility of developed countries towards developing countries,” which is the standard position for emerging economies in global negotiations.
The BRICS leaders also blasted policies such as carbon border taxes and anti-deforestation laws, which Europe recently adopted, for imposing what they called “discriminatory protectionist measures” under the pretext of environmental concerns.
ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday opened an avenue for senior bureaucrats to amass virtually unlimited financial gains, while simultaneously imposing austerity measures on these very entities.
In a notification, the finance ministry said that an earlier order dated July 10, 2014 which capped earnings through board meetings of corporate entities at Rs1 million per annum, stood “withdrawn ab-initio” — meaning it was never issued.
The order, issued on June 12, 2024 with the approval of the then-federal cabinet, said that “government servants appointed to the board of companies/organisations and who become entitled to [a] fee, shall only be allowed to retain remuneration to a maximum of Rs1m in a financial year”.
Any amount in excess of Rs1m so received was required to be deposited by the officer in the government treasury.
The decision on capping meeting fees was originally announced by then finance minister Ishaq Dar almost a decade ago.
That order remained in the field for a couple of years and then ignored. It was categorically reiterated last year, but has now been ‘withdrawn ab-initio’, meaning that the amounts earned throughout FY2024-25 would become legalised as the earnings of those officers.
The finance ministry issued another notification for continuation of austerity measures, which have now also been extended to federal government’s attached departments, SOEs and statutory bodies including regulatory authorities.
In case of SOEs, “these austerity measures shall be considered a direction of the federal government under Section 35 of the SOEs (Governance & Operations) Act 2023 and under the relevant sections of their respective organic laws in the case of statutory bodies”, the notification said.
The restrictions include a complete ban on purchase of all types of vehicles. The ban also includes creation of new posts, treatment abroad and non-obligatory foreign visits at government expense.
Separately, the ministry also notified an increase of 7pc in net pension of all civil pensioners, including civilians paid from defense estimates, as well as retired armed forces personnel and civil armed forces personnel.
Trump to put 25 percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, new import taxes on 12 other nations.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25 percent tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other nations that would go into effect on Aug. 1.
Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase tariffs.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25 percent that we charge,” Trump wrote in the letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
The letters were not the final word from Trump on tariffs, so much as another episode in a global economic drama in which he has placed himself at the center. His moves have raised fears that economic growth would slow to a trickle, if not make the US and other nations more vulnerable to a recession. But Trump is confident that tariffs are necessary to bring back domestic manufacturing and fund the tax cuts he signed into law last Friday.
He mixed his sense of aggression with a willingness to still negotiate, signaling the likelihood that the drama and uncertainty would continue and that few things are ever final with Trump.
Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40 percent, Cambodia and Thailand at 36 percent, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35 percent, Indonesia at 32 percent, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30 percent and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25 percent.
Trump placed the word “only” before revealing the rate in his letters to the foreign leaders, implying that he was being generous with his tariffs. But the letters generally followed a standard format, so much so that the one to Bosnia and Herzegovina initially addressed its woman leader, Željka Cvijanović, as “Mr. President.” Trump later posted a corrected letter.
Trade talks have yet to deliver several deals
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was by setting the rates himself creating “tailor-made trade plans for each and every country on this planet and that’s what this administration continues to be focused on.”
Following a now well-worn pattern, Trump plans to continue sharing the letters sent to his counterparts on social media and then mail them the documents, a stark departure from the more formal practices of all his predecessors when negotiating trade agreements.
The letters are not agreed-to settlements but Trump’s own choice on rates, a sign that the closed-door talks with foreign delegations failed to produce satisfactory results for either side.
Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute who formerly worked in the office of the US Trade Representative, said the tariff hikes on Japan and South Korea were “unfortunate.”
“Both have been close partners on economic security matters and have a lot to offer the United States on priority matters like shipbuilding, semiconductors, critical minerals and energy cooperation,” Cutler said.
Trump still has outstanding differences on trade with the European Union and India, among other trading partners. Tougher talks with China are on a longer time horizon in which imports from that nation are being taxed at 55 percent.
The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that the tariff rates announced by Trump mischaracterized the trade relationship with the US, but it would “continue with its diplomatic efforts toward a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States” after having proposed a trade framework on May 20.
Higher tariffs prompt market worries, more uncertainty ahead
The S&P 500 stock index was down 0.8 percent in Monday trading, while the interest charged on 10-year US Treasury notes had increased to nearly 4.39 percent, a figure that could translate into elevated rates for mortgages and auto loans.
Trump has declared an economic emergency to unilaterally impose the taxes, suggesting they are remedies for past trade deficits even though many US consumers have come to value autos, electronics and other goods from Japan and South Korea. The constitution grants Congress the power to levy tariffs under normal circumstances, though tariffs can also result from executive branch investigations regarding national security risks.
Trump’s ability to impose tariffs through an economic emergency is under legal challenge, with the administration appealing a May ruling by the US Court of International Trade that said the president exceeded his authority.
It’s unclear what he gains strategically against China — another stated reason for the tariffs — by challenging two crucial partners in Asia, Japan and South Korea, that could counter China’s economic heft.
“These tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” Trump wrote in both letters.
Because the new tariff rates go into effect in roughly three weeks, Trump is setting up a period of possibly tempestuous talks among the US and its trade partners to reach new frameworks.
“I don’t see a huge escalation or a walk back — it’s just more of the same,” said Scott Lincicome, a vice president at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank
Trump initially roiled the financial markets by announcing tariff rates on dozens of countries, including 24 percent on Japan and 25 percent on South Korea. In order to calm the markets, Trump unveiled a 90-day negotiating period during which goods from most countries were taxed at a baseline 10 percent. So far, the rates in the letters sent by Trump either match his April 2 tariffs or are generally close to them.
The 90-day negotiating period technically ends on Wednesday, even as multiple administration officials suggested the three-week period before implementation is akin to overtime for additional talks that could change the rates. Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday to delay the official tariff increases until Aug. 1, Leavitt said.
Congressionally approved Trade agreements historically have sometimes taken years to negotiate because of the complexity.
Administration officials have said Trump is relying on tariff revenues to help offset the tax cuts he signed into law on July 4, a move that could shift a greater share of the federal tax burden onto the middle class and poor as importers would likely pass along much of the cost of the tariffs. Trump has warned major retailers such as Walmart to simply “eat” the higher costs, instead of increasing prices in ways that could intensify inflation.
Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at The Atlantic Council, said that a three-week delay in imposing the tariffs was unlikely sufficient for meaningful talks to take place.
“I take it as a signal that he is serious about most of these tariffs and it’s not all a negotiating posture,” Lipsky said.
Trade gaps persist, more tariff hikes are possible
Trump’s team promised 90 deals in 90 days, but his negotiations so far have produced only two trade frameworks.
His outline of a deal with Vietnam was clearly designed to box out China from routing its America-bound goods through that country, by doubling the 20 percent tariff charged on Vietnamese imports on anything traded transnationally.
The quotas in the signed United Kingdom framework would spare that nation from the higher tariff rates being charged on steel, aluminum and autos, though British goods would generally face a 10 percent tariff.
The United States ran a $69.4 billion trade imbalance in goods with Japan in 2024 and a $66 billion imbalance with South Korea, according to the Census Bureau. The trade deficits are the differences between what the US exports to a country relative to what it imports.
According to Trump’s letters, autos would be tariffed separately at the standard 25 percent worldwide, while steel and aluminum imports would be taxed on 50 percent.
This is not the first time that Trump has tangled with Japan and South Korea on trade — and the new tariffs suggest his past deals made during his first term failed to deliver on his administration’s own hype.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term, his administration celebrated a revamped trade agreement with South Korea as a major win. And in 2019, Trump signed a limited agreement with Japan on agricultural products and digital trade that at the time he called a “huge victory for America’s farmers, ranchers and growers.”
Trump has also said on social media that countries aligned with the policy goals of BRICS, an organization composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, would face additional tariffs of 10 percent.
[This story contains major spoilers from Part 1 of season two of The Sandman, including episode five, “The Song of Orpheus,” and six, “Family Blood.”]
In the world of The Sandman, the Endless are strictly prohibited from spilling family blood. But in the first volume of the hit Netflix fantasy drama’s second and final season, protagonist Dream a.k.a. Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) decides to break that sacred vow out of love for his estranged son Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor), even if doing so could force the former to pay the ultimate price.
Adapted from DC Comics’ seventh collection in the Sandman series, Brief Lives, along with single-issue stories such as The Song of Orpheus and Thermidor,the fifth and sixth episodes of Part 1 shed light on the heartbreaking yet heartwarming relationship between Dream and Orpheus, whose mother was the Greek muse Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut).
In 1700 BC, the Endless siblings gathered in Greece to watch Orpheus marry Eurydice (Ella Rumpf) — only for Eurydice to die of a viper bite on the night of their wedding. Consumed by his own grief, Orpheus went against his father’s wishes and made a deal with his aunt, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). In exchange for an opportunity to journey to the Underworld to plead for Eurydice’s return, Orpheus naively agreed to become immortal, telling everyone he encountered that he would give anything to spend “a lifetime or an hour more” with the love of his life. Orpheus is even able to charm Hades and Persephone with a love song in the Underworld, but Orpheus’ failure to meet their one condition for Eurydice’s release — he wasn’t allowed to look back at her until they were both back in the living world — meant that the two lovers would be separated forever.
With nothing left to live for, Orpheus put himself in the path of the Sisters of the Frenzy, a vicious cult of Dionysus, who attacked and dismembered him, reducing him to only a severed head. Desperately wanting to be put out of his misery, Orpheus begged his father to kill him, but Dream could not bring himself to administer the coup de grâce. Instead, Dream left Orpheus’ head in the indefinite care of priests on an uncharted island off the coast of Greece and told his son they could never see each other again.
“Orpheus was idealistic, and he hoped he could go down to the Underworld and rescue Eurydice and everything would be OK — and certainly not that he’d be separated from Eurydice,” O’Connor, who was already “really familiar with Greek mythology in general” prior to auditioning for The Sandman, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “If he died in a normal time, he would’ve gone to the Underworld and he would’ve possibly been with Eurydice down there. But now, it’s almost guaranteed he’s one of the only people who will never see Eurydice, and he won’t be able to move his body because it’s gone. His father had warned him that this would happen.”
Like Father, Like Son
As a superfan of the original Sandman comics for decades, showrunner Allan Heinberg had always wanted to adapt Dream’s relationship with Orpheus, whose arrival was teased during the press run for season one. “With Orpheus, Dream is warmer and more unguarded than he is even with Calliope,” Heinberg tells THR, remarking that Dream’s discouragement of Orpheus’ plan to sacrifice his life for Eurydice’s was what any protective parent would have done in Dream’s position. (Read THR’s full interview with Heinberg about volume one here.)
After Orpheus was decapitated in the comics, Heinberg says, Dream always seemed like “an Old Testament God” who was punishing his rebellious son for disobeying an order. But in his two-season adaptation of creator Neil Gaiman’s comics, Heinberg has been more interested in exploring the emotional cost of the King of Dreams’ job on his relationships as a brother, lover and father. In keeping with that theme, although the dialogue onscreen is nearly identical to that of the comics, the showrunner wanted to show Dream’s heartbreak over not being able to help save his son.
“The reason [Dream] says, ‘We will not see each other again,’ is that Dream can’t handle [seeing him like that],” says Heinberg. “From that point of view, as Dream’s walking away from Orpheus, we can see that he is absolutely shattered instead of stone-faced and punishing. You understand how hard this is for him.”
Through his extensive discussions with Heinberg, O’Connor came to understand that Orpheus’ initial, childlike animosity toward Dream stemmed from feeling abandoned by his father, who had chosen to prioritize his responsibilities to humanity over his own family. “It reminded me a bit of, like, if Abraham Lincoln was your father — he belongs to you a little bit because he’s your father, but he belongs to everybody else as well. I think that can be quite hard on a child,” explains O’Connor. “It’s such a surprise for [Dream] to be at [Orpheus’] wedding that it’s a little bit overwhelming — and almost foreboding that he is there as well.”
Heinberg adds, “The way that Dream and Orpheus speak to each other at the end of episode six is very different from the way they speak to each other in episode five. You’ve got hundreds of years of regret and recrimination in episode five. They’re very much father and son — ‘I tell you what to do and how to behave, and you do it because I am your father, and I know more than you.’ By the end of it, there are just two people who love each other enormously.”
O’Connor could feel the weight of that father-son relationship when acting opposite Sturridge, whom he first saw perform opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the Broadway production of Sea Wall/A Life in 2019. Even though Sturridge is only five or six years older, “it felt like I was coming to play with someone who was a good few steps above me. I had the reverence to feel like, ‘This man’s a thousand years older than me in certain regards,’” O’Connor says. “I think that energy — that struggle — of really trying to live up to him and not being able to do it, but honestly trying to do it, helped [those scenes].”
He adds of Sturridge, “He also looks amazing. You look at his face and you’re like, ‘Why can’t my face look like that?’ I really respect him and am envious of him in many ways, and I hope that gels with what we were trying to do.”
The Song — and Disembodied Head! — of Orpheus
O’Connor, on more than one occasion, tells THR that he thinks the gods were smiling down on him during his time on The Sandman. Last year, after multiple rounds of self-tape auditions, the Irish actor — best known for his work in The Spanish Princess and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It — landed the role just weeks before he was scheduled to begin filming. He began obsessively poring over all the comics involving Orpheus. He even learned how to play the lyre, even though he never had to play his character’s instrument of choice on camera.
But the most challenging aspect of the role was learning how to sing in Greek. “It was just impossible, so I ended up chanting and listening to it. It became hypnotic, almost like mantras in my head,” O’Connor recalls. “I felt like I was going crazy just trying to get the Greek into me, and then knowing on the day that I was going to have to sing it and that it’s going to have to certainly match my mouth movements and everything as much as possible.”
In addition to singing live on the day, the actor recorded the final version of Orpheus’ songs at Abbey Road Studios. “I’m not religious, so music is probably the closest thing. My voice was a bit rough that day, so [the producers] were like, ‘Come down to studio two where the Beatles recorded, and we’ll warm up your voice,” O’Connor recalls, sheepishly revealing that he ended up bringing his best friend that day and the two sang “Hey Jude” on the piano as a warm-up. “I don’t know — it made me feel like music does have the power that Orpheus imbues in it, that it changes lives.”
Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus and Barry Sloane as Destruction in season two, episode five.
Courtesy Of Netflix
To play Orpheus after his body has been ripped apart, O’Connor had to get a cast made of his own head. “The amazing thing with the casts is they have all the other heads they’ve done over the years. I had Brad Pitt’s head in my hands, and I was looking at the shape of his head to see why he’s so handsome,” O’Connor quips. “It is a surprisingly small head! I was like, ‘Maybe that’s the key.’
“They had three heads that they made up, and one of them was impeccably me and the others were for more wide shots, and I was like, ‘Is that what people think I look like? Hopefully not!’ But the main one was definitely a better version of me,” he continues. “It was great because my costume before [the decapitation] had all of these spindly bits. I was wearing four wedding dresses basically on the side of a mountain, often tripping up over it. And now, I was just wearing a green bodysuit, but, of course, I was locked in with a thing around my neck so I wouldn’t move.”
While some actors in his position may have been daunted, O’Connor found the experience of acting with just his head to be “strangely liberating.” The crew found creative ways to maintain the illusion of a literal talking head — holes were cut into tables at perfect angles, his co-stars had to pretend to lift his head while he stood up slowly — which was then improved in post-production.
“My hands didn’t have to be onscreen at all, so I could do whatever I wanted because they would take it out. It took away a lot of the avenues for mistakes you could make or for going over the top,” O’Connor says, adding that he’d “actually love to do another role” like that. “If Return to Oz 2 ever happens or something where they need a king that changes his heads, maybe I could get that to be my niche,” he jokes.
A Bittersweet Reunion
Episode six began with Dream contacting Lady Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) in the late 18th century with an urgent request: He needed her to go to Paris and retrieve Orpheus’ head, which Maximilien Robespierre had confiscated during his Reign of Terror and was planning to destroy for being “an object of superstition and decadence.” Upon being found out, Johanna was thrown in prison and even faced the threat of being executed by guillotine, but she had cleverly chosen to hide Orpheus in a pile of heads belonging to Robespierre’s other victims. At Dream’s suggestion, Johanna asked Orpheus to sing in front of Robespierre and his men, who were then left frozen in their tracks, allowing Johanna to flee with Orpheus’ noggin.
As they began the journey back to Orpheus’ temple, Johanna and Orpheus took a special liking to each other as friends. In fact, Johanna’s sole request for successfully completing her mission was to spend more time with Orpheus — a wish that Dream clearly granted, since she was buried near the temple after her death.
Speaking about what Johanna saw in Orpheus, O’Connor points out that his character seemed to have “found a peace, a maturity and an acceptance to living and existing possibly forever with no means to do anything for himself.”
“I think Johanna comments that there’s something inspiring about what he’s been able to do,” O’Connor says. “I watched that [documentary] recently with Christopher Reeve, and of course he had his horse accident and you can see it’s awful, but there’s a liberation as well in knowing he could overcome that for so long. Orpheus has been doing something akin to that for thousands of years, and he can appreciate Johanna because she’s the opposite. She’s alive and vivacious, and moving and tricking people. I think they appreciate the opposite in each other.”
Heinberg adds, “Orpheus, at that point, is so philosophical about his fate and trying to spend his days as best he can. Even though he longs for the peace of death, he’s not an unhappy man. He’s not suffering, and Dream is suffering and has been suffering since he left him on the beach.”
In the present day, Dream has no choice but to visit Orpheus, because he is the only living person who can locate Dream’s brother, Destruction (Barry Sloane), who abandoned his realm some 300 years ago. While Orpheus would have good reason to be angry or resentful with his father, he chooses instead to be “loving, accepting and forgiving,” Heinberg says. “It’s such a relief for Dream in that moment because he’s been dreading having to face the biggest mistake he’d ever made.”
In exchange for Orpheus’ help in locating Destruction, Dream agrees to grant Orpheus the one boon he has always wanted. So, after Dream and Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles) track down Destruction to confirm that he will not helm his realm again, Dream returns to the temple and — out of love — ends his son’s life.
“I think him saying, ‘I’m ready now, father,’ was the important thing — for him to have agency,” O’Connor says of shooting Orpheus’ final moments. “He wasn’t begging him to kill him. He knows that he will do it for him, but he gets to finally make a decision and be the adult, and asks his father to do it. His father was robbed of being a father because of who he was, and in this moment, it’s clear that he’s doing something that only a father would do for his son.”
Dream solemnly bids farewell to Delirium and returns to his palace, where he instructs his librarian and property manager Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) to relieve the priests of their duties after they bury Orpheus’ head in an unmarked grave. He then returns to his own room and finally breaks down while washing Orpheus’ blood off his hands.
Heinberg reveals that Dream’s decision to hide behind a bookcase while delivering the orders to Lucienne was not scripted: “It was our DP Will Baldy’s idea in the moment, like, ‘What if it’s too much for him and he can’t face her? And his not showing himself to her shatters her.’ It was such a lovely collaborative idea, and it sets up that scene in his private quarters where he’s washing the blood off his hands in such a beautiful way.”
In volume two, Dream will inevitably have to answer to the Fates — a.k.a. the Furies — for spilling family blood. But, true to form, he will not take his fate lying down. “Dream is going to do everything he possibly can to keep his life and his kingdom, and the people who work with him, whole and safe and alive,” Heinberg teases. (He is specifically hinting at a line in the season premiere where Dream says he has made arrangements for the Dreaming to survive, even if he does not.) “He’s going to fight for the next five episodes, because that’s who he is. So it’s not over, and there are lots of surprises along the way.”
***
The Sandman is now streaming on Netflix. The next five episodes, which will conclude Dream’s story, will drop on July 24, with a bonus episode centered around Death dropping on July 31.Read THR’s full interview with Heinberg about Part 1.
Understanding the importance of a healthy diet is crucial for managing high blood pressure.
Eat more potassium-rich fruits and vegetables and cut back on sodium.
Cook more of your meals at home and consider following a DASH or Mediterranean diet.
If you know you have high blood pressure, you’re already a step ahead. Although high blood pressure (hypertension) affects nearly half of American adults, it doesn’t cause symptoms at first—so many people don’t even know they have it.
Read on to learn more about what high blood pressure means, the biggest thing to avoid doing if you have it and proven strategies you can take to improve it.
What Is High Blood Pressure?
Your blood pressure is the force of blood pushing through your arteries. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg. The top number, systolic blood pressure, measures pressure when the heart beats. The bottom number, diastolic blood pressure, is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.
High blood pressure can lead to several health complications, such as stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, vision loss and more. “If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, lifestyle modification is key. Assess your diet, weight and exercise habits,” says Maria Elena Fraga, RD, CDCES, director of the Diabetes Alliance at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
The #1 Thing to Avoid
The No. 1 thing to avoid if you have high blood pressure is underestimating the impact your nutrition habits can have on your levels. Knowing that you can make a big difference in your blood pressure by changing some aspects of your diet is positive and empowering news.
Actionable habits for lowering blood pressure include limiting sodium, eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in potassium, cooking more at home and following blood-pressure-lowering eating plans. “Getting a handle on your blood pressure requires behavior and lifestyle changes, which can take time, effort, consistency and patience,” says Sarah Currie, M.S., RD, a personal trainer and co-owner of Physical Equilibrium in New York City. With that said, here are the impactful changes you can start making to your diet.
Cut Back on Sodium
Over time, eating a high-sodium diet can narrow blood vessels and increase blood pressure. “You’d be surprised how many food items contain hidden sources of sodium,” says Fraga. Packaged foods are often packed with sodium, and some of the top culprits are canned soups, frozen meals and deli meat, adds Currie.
The American Heart Association suggests that cutting out 1,000 milligrams per day of sodium can have a beneficial impact on blood pressure. For people with high blood pressure, the AHA recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
To reduce your sodium intake, try replacing a portion of salt in your recipes with garlic, fresh herbs and spices. Read package labels and restaurant menus before buying or ordering to help make lower-sodium choices. When you’re reading labels, look at the Daily Value percentage for sodium and aim for lower-sodium foods when possible. Foods with a sodium DV of 5% or less per serving are considered a low-sodium foods, while those with 20% DV or more of sodium per serving are considered high-sodium and should be limited.
Eat Potassium-Rich Foods
Potassium counteracts sodium by helping your body excrete it through your urine. (In short, you pee it out.) The mineral also helps relax blood vessel walls, which lowers blood pressure. The AHA recommends consuming 3,500 to 5,000 milligrams of potassium daily to prevent or treat high blood pressure.
Boost your potassium intake by eating more fruits and vegetables. Aim to eat 4½ cups of fruits and vegetables every day. Foods rich in potassium include:
Lentils
Prunes
Bananas
Kidney beans
Orange juice
Cantaloupe
Squash
Apricots
Soybeans
Raisins
Potatoes
Spinach
Chicken breast
Low-fat dairy products
Cook More Meals at Home
Restaurant meals are often high in sodium, which can make it difficult to stay within the recommended limits. One study found that the average sodium content in a fast-food meal was about 1,300 milligrams—nearly all of the recommended sodium limit for someone with high blood pressure. Cooking at home gives you control over all the ingredients. Whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, dried legumes, unsalted nuts and seeds and fresh sources of protein contain little to no sodium. When cooking you can flavor foods with fresh and dried herbs and spices, including basil, oregano, cumin, rosemary, turmeric and more.
This doesn’t mean you can’t eat out—it just takes a little planning. If the restaurant provides nutrition information, check it ahead of time to plan out a meal that’s lower in sodium. Avoid or limit fried foods, which tend to be higher in sodium, says Currie, and ask for sauces and dressings on the side. Opt for baked, broiled, grilled or steamed proteins paired with green and other colorful vegetables.
Consider the DASH or Mediterranean Style of Eating
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was created to intentionally treat high blood pressure. This eating style focuses on eating fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy, lean protein and limited saturated fats, red meat, added sugar and sodium. The DASH diet is rich in important nutrients that help lower blood pressure, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber and protein.
The Mediterranean diet is very similar to the DASH eating plan, as it’s full of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich beans and whole grains, nuts and seeds. This eating plan also recommends limiting foods that contain higher amounts of saturated fat, such as red meat. One food that’s famously associated with the Mediterranean diet is extra-virgin olive oil, which is rich in polyphenols that can protect the heart.
Strategies to Improve Blood Pressure
Improving the quality of your diet is one effective way to manage hypertension. Other lifestyle factors that help bring down blood pressure include:
If lifestyle factors are not enough to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range, you may need medication. Reach out to a health care provider for guidance.
Recipes to Help Lower Blood Pressure
Our Expert Take
High blood pressure is a common condition affecting many Americans, yet, you can take steps to improve your numbers and prevent hypertension. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not realizing how important nutrition is for managing blood pressure and maintaining a healthy heart.
Small, consistent steps—like reading labels to cut down on sodium, cooking at home more often and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables—can make a big difference. For personalized support and guidance, ask a health care provider about working with a registered dietitian who can create an individualized eating plan and set goals that work for you.
