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EU to impose counter tariffs on $28 billion in US goods

EU to impose counter tariffs on $28 billion in US goods
The EU will impose counter tariffs on US goods from next month after US President Donald Trump increased tariffs of 25 percent on all steel and aluminum imports. (Reuters)
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Updated 12 March 2025

EU to impose counter tariffs on $28 billion in US goods

EU to impose counter tariffs on $28 billion in US goods
  • The European Commission will also put forward a new package of countermeasures on US goods by mid-April
  • The proposed target products include industrial and agricultural products such as steel and aluminum, textiles

The European Union will impose counter tariffs on $28 billion (€26 billion) worth of US goods from next month, the European Commission said on Wednesday, ramping up a global trade war in response to blanket US tariffs on steel and aluminum.
US President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs of 25 percent on all steel and aluminum imports took effect on Wednesday as prior exemptions, duty free quotas and product exclusions expired.
The European Commission said it will end the current suspension of tariffs on US products on April 1 and will also put forward a new package of countermeasures on US goods by mid-April.
The suspended tariffs apply to products ranging from boats to bourbon to motorbikes, and the EU said it would now start a two-week consultation to pick other product categories.
The new measures will target around €18 billion in goods, with the overall objective to ensure that the total value of the EU measures corresponds to the increased value of trade impacted by the new US tariffs, the EU said.
The proposed target products include industrial and agricultural products, such as steel and aluminum, textiles, home appliances, plastics, poultry, beef, eggs, dairy, sugar and vegetables.
“Our countermeasures will be introduced in two steps. Starting with 1 April and fully in place as of 13 April,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a statement.
“We are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue. I have entrusted Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to resume his talks to explore better solutions with the US,” von der Leyen added.


Afghanistan has its ‘sharpest surge’ ever of child malnutrition, UN agency says

Afghanistan has its ‘sharpest surge’ ever of child malnutrition, UN agency says
Updated 23 sec ago

Afghanistan has its ‘sharpest surge’ ever of child malnutrition, UN agency says

Afghanistan has its ‘sharpest surge’ ever of child malnutrition, UN agency says
  • Almost 10 million people, a quarter of Afghanistan’s population, face acute food insecurity
  • Rise in child malnutrition was linked to a drop in emergency food assistance over the past two years
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan is seeing its sharpest-ever surge of child malnutrition, the World Food Program said Monday, adding it needed $539 million to help the country’s most vulnerable families.
Almost 10 million people, a quarter of Afghanistan’s population, face acute food insecurity. One in three children is stunted.
The WFP said the rise in child malnutrition was linked to a drop in emergency food assistance over the past two years because of dwindling donor support. In April, the administration of US President Donald Trump cut off food aid to Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries.
The US had been the largest funder of the WFP, providing $4.5 billion of the $9.8 billion in donations last year. Previous US administrations viewed such aid as serving national security by alleviating conflict, poverty, extremism and curbing migration.
Food insecurity in Afghanistan is being worsened by mass returns from neighboring countries, which are deporting foreigners they say are living there illegally.
The WFP said it has supported 60,000 Afghans returning from Iran in the last two months, a fraction of those crossing the border.
“Going forward, the WFP does not have sufficient funding to cover the returnee response at this time and requires $15 million to assist all eligible returnees from Iran,” said WFP Communications Officer Ziauddin Safi. He said the agency needs $539 million through January to help vulnerable families across Afghanistan.
Climate change is also hurting the population, especially those in rural areas.
Matiullah Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, said last week that drought, water shortages, declining arable land, and flash floods were having a “profound impact” on people’s lives and the economy.

Russia urges caution in nuclear ‘rhetoric’ after Trump comments

Russia urges caution in nuclear ‘rhetoric’ after Trump comments
Updated 12 min 42 sec ago

Russia urges caution in nuclear ‘rhetoric’ after Trump comments

Russia urges caution in nuclear ‘rhetoric’ after Trump comments
  • Trump said he had ordered the deployment in response to what he alleged were highly provocative comments by Medvedev, saying the submarines would be positioned in “appropriate regions.”

MOSCOW: Russia urged caution on Monday after US President Donald Trump said he would deploy two nuclear submarines following an online row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
Trump said he had ordered the deployment in response to what he alleged were highly provocative comments by Medvedev, saying the submarines would be positioned in “appropriate regions.”
Trump did not say whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines.
He also did not elaborate on the locations, which are kept secret by the US military.
“Russia is very attentive to the topic of nuclear non-proliferation. And we believe that everyone should be very, very cautious with nuclear rhetoric,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including from AFP, on Monday.
The row between Medvedev and Trump erupted against the backdrop of the US leader’s ultimatum for Russia to end its military offensive in Ukraine or face fresh economic sanctions, including on its remaining trading partners.
Medvedev — one of Russia’s most prominent anti-Western hawks — accused Trump of “playing the ultimatum game” and said that Trump “should remember” that Russia was a formidable force.
“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step toward war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” he said.
Medvedev, who has not posted on social media since the spat, is currently the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
He served one term as president from 2008 to 2012, effectively acting as a placeholder for Putin, who was able to circumvent constitutional term limits and de facto remain in power.
The chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday backed Trump’s actions.
“The concept of peace through strength works,” Andriy Yermak wrote on social media.
“The moment American nuclear submarines appeared, one Russian drunk — who had just been threatening nuclear war on X — suddenly went silent.”


German interior ministry reviewing projects to treat children from Gaza

German interior ministry reviewing projects to treat children from Gaza
Updated 04 August 2025

German interior ministry reviewing projects to treat children from Gaza

German interior ministry reviewing projects to treat children from Gaza
  • The German cities of Hanover and Duesseldorf have said in recent days that they would accept children from the Gaza Strip and Israel who are particularly vulnerable or traumatized

BERLIN: Germany’s interior ministry is reviewing the feasibility of projects that would involving bringing children from Gaza to Germany for treatment, a ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
“The feasibility of such initiatives depends crucially on the security situation, the possibility of leaving the country, and other factors,” said the spokesperson.
The German cities of Hanover and Duesseldorf have said in recent days that they would accept children from the Gaza Strip and Israel who are particularly vulnerable or traumatized.
The ministry has not yet received any inquiries from German cities about the issue, the spokesperson said at a regular government press conference in Berlin.


Spain breaks up ring smuggling Yemenis to UK, Canada

Spain breaks up ring smuggling Yemenis to UK, Canada
Updated 04 August 2025

Spain breaks up ring smuggling Yemenis to UK, Canada

Spain breaks up ring smuggling Yemenis to UK, Canada
  • The group allegedly facilitated more than 40 irregular migration attempts, charging up to 3,000 ($3,250) per person

MADRID: Spanish police said Monday they have dismantled a criminal network suspected of smuggling mainly Yemeni migrants into Britain and Canada with fake passports.
After obtaining refugee documents in Greece, the migrants went to European airports where gang members would deliver them counterfeit passports to allow them to “irregularly” go to the two countries, police said in a statement.
The group allegedly facilitated more than 40 irregular migration attempts, charging up to 3,000 ($3,250) per person.
Police said they started investigating in September after Canada’s border agency alerted Spanish authorities to multiple cases of Yemeni nationals trying to enter from Spanish airports using forged travel documents.
Officers arrested 11 suspected gang members, including its alleged leader, in raids in northern Spain and Madrid.
Police said they traced flight bookings, money transfers, credit card payments, airport surveillance footage, and electronic travel authorizations as part of their probe into the network.
Authorities in Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Britain helped the investigation, and the European Union’s Europol agency helped analyze data from mobile devices that were seized from the suspects.


Cambodia and Thailand begin talks in Malaysia amid fragile ceasefire

Cambodia and Thailand begin talks in Malaysia amid fragile ceasefire
Updated 04 August 2025

Cambodia and Thailand begin talks in Malaysia amid fragile ceasefire

Cambodia and Thailand begin talks in Malaysia amid fragile ceasefire
  • The ceasefire, which came after five days of border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand, was reached at a meeting in Malaysia last Monday
  • The worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors in over a decade included exchanges of artillery fire and jet fighter sorties

BANGKOK: Preliminary talks between Thailand and Cambodia defense officials started on Monday in Malaysia ahead of a key ministerial level meeting on Thursday, as a fragile truce continues to hold a week after the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.

The ceasefire, which came after five days of border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand, was reached at a meeting in Malaysia last Monday, with help from the United States and China also observing.

The worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors in over a decade included exchanges of artillery fire and jet fighter sorties, claiming at least 43 lives and leaving over 300,000 people displaced on both sides of the border.

The ministers of defense of both countries are due to hold a meeting of the General Border Committee to discuss how to maintain the ceasefire, authorities on both sides said.

The Thursday meeting will be observed by representatives from the United States, Chinna and Malaysia.

Mistrust between the two neighbors has lingered despite the ongoing talks, with the Cambodia defense ministry accusing Thailand in a statement of violating the ceasefire agreement by using excavators and laying barbed wire in a contested border area.

Thailand said both sides are maintaining their position without any significant movements.

But “there are reports that the Cambodian side has modified their positions and reinforced their troops in key areas... to replace personnel lost in each area,” said Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a Thai military spokesperson.

Cambodia also demanded that Thailand releases 18 of its captured soldiers as soon as possible. Thailand said in a statement that the group are being treated well as “prisoners of war” and will be released after “a complete cessation of the armed conflict, not just a ceasefire.”