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US not rushing trade deals ahead of August deadline, will talk with China, Bessent says

US not rushing trade deals ahead of August deadline, will talk with China, Bessent says
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Reuters)
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Updated 34 sec ago

US not rushing trade deals ahead of August deadline, will talk with China, Bessent says

US not rushing trade deals ahead of August deadline, will talk with China, Bessent says

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Treasury’s Bessent says higher tariffs pressure countries to make deals

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EU exploring broader counter-measures, diplomats say

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Trump to meet with Philippine President Marcos on Tuesday

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Japanese trade negotiator to return to Washington

By Andrea Shalal and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, July 21 : The Trump administration is more concerned with the quality of trade agreements than their timing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday ahead of an August 1 deadline for countries to secure trade deals or face steep tariffs.
“We’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals,” Bessent told CNBC.
Asked whether the deadline could be extended for countries engaged in productive talks with Washington, Bessent said US President Donald Trump would decide.
“We’ll see what the president wants to do. But again, if we somehow boomerang back to the August 1 tariff, I would think that a higher tariff level will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements,” he said.
Trump has upended the global economy with a trade war that has targeted most US trading partners, but his administration has fallen far short of its plan to clinch deals with dozens of countries. Negotiations with India, the European Union, Japan, and others have proven more trying than expected. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump could discuss trade when he meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House on Tuesday.
She said the Trump administration remained engaged with countries around the world and could announce more trade deals or send more letters notifying countries of the tariff rate they faced before August 1, but gave no details.
Leavitt’s comments came as European Union diplomats said they were exploring a broader set of possible counter-measures against the US, given fading prospects for an acceptable trade agreement with Washington.
An increasing number of EU members, including Germany, are now considering using “anti-coercion” measures that would let the bloc target US services or curb access to public tenders in the absence of a deal, diplomats said.
“The negotiations over the level of tariffs are currently very intense,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told a press conference. “The Americans are quite clearly not willing to agree to a symmetrical tariff arrangement.”

US-CHINA TALKS SOON
On China, Bessent said there would be “talks in the very near future.”
“I think trade is in a good place, and I think, now we can start talking about other things. The Chinese, unfortunately ... are very large purchasers of sanctioned Iranian oil, sanctioned Russian oil,” he said.
“We could also discuss the elephant in the room, which is this great rebalancing that the Chinese need to do.” US officials have long complained about China’s overcapacity in various manufacturing sectors, including steel.
Bessent told CNBC he would encourage Europe to follow the United States if it implements secondary tariffs on Russia.
The Treasury chief, who returned from a visit to Japan on Sunday, said the administration was less concerned with the Asian country’s domestic politics than with getting the best deal for Americans. Japan’s chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa departed for trade talks in Washington on Monday morning, his eighth visit in three months, after the ruling coalition of Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba suffered a bruising defeat in upper house elections shaped in part by voter frustration over US tariffs.
Indian trade negotiators returned to New Delhi after almost a week of talks in Washington, but officials were losing hope of signing an interim trade deal before the August 1 deadline, government sources said.


Sentencing hearing set for ex-Kentucky officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid

Sentencing hearing set for ex-Kentucky officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid
Updated 35 sec ago

Sentencing hearing set for ex-Kentucky officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid

Sentencing hearing set for ex-Kentucky officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: A federal judge prepared Monday afternoon to sentence an ex-Kentucky police officer convicted of using excessive force during the deadly Breonna Taylor raid, days after the US Justice Department recommended he receive no prison time in the Black woman’s fatal shooting.
Brett Hankison fired his weapon the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid. His shots didn’t hit or injure anyone, but flew through Taylor’s walls into a neighboring apartment.
The 26-year-old’s death, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide that year.
Though the sentence could amount to several years, if US District Judge Grady Jennings heeds the Justice Department’s request, it would mean none of the Louisville police officers involved in the raid would face prison time.
Last week, the US Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison, in an abrupt about-face by federal prosecutors that has angered critics after the department spent years prosecuting the former detective.
The Justice Department, which has changed leadership under President Donald Trump since Hankison’s conviction, said in a sentencing memo last week that “there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public” from Hankison. Federal prosecutors suggested time already served, which amounts to one day, and three years of supervised probation.
Prosecutors at his previous federal trials aggressively pursued a conviction against Hankison, 49, arguing that he blindly fired 10 shots into Taylor’s windows without identifying a target. Taylor was shot in her hallway by two other officers after her boyfriend fired from inside the apartment, striking an officer in the leg. Neither of the other officers was charged in state or federal court after prosecutors deemed they were justified in returning fire into the apartment. Louisville police used a drug warrant to enter the apartment, but found no drugs or cash inside.
A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison in 2023, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022.
In their recent sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that though Hankison’s “response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant’s fellow officers, or anyone else.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor’s family secure a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville, has called the Justice Department recommendation “an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision.” He added in a social media post that it “sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity.”
On Monday, the Louisville Metro Police Department arrested four people in front of the courthouse who it said were “creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, or otherwise creating an unsafe environment.” Authorities didn’t list the charges those arrested would face.
“We understand this case caused pain and damaged trust between our department and the community,” a police statement said. “We particularly respect and value the 1st Amendment. However, what we saw today in front of the courthouse in the street was not safe, acceptable or legal.”
A US Probation Office presentencing report said Hankison should face a range of 135 to 168 months imprisonment on the excessive force conviction, according to the memo. But federal prosecutors said multiple factors — including that Hankison’s two other trials ended with no convictions — should greatly reduce the potential punishment.
The memorandum was submitted by Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and a Trump political appointee who in May moved to cancel settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis that had called for overhauling their police departments.
In the Taylor case, three other ex-Louisville police officers have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant, but have not gone to trial. None were at the scene when Taylor was shot.


French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support

French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support
Updated 21 July 2025

French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support

French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support
  • Jean-Noel Barrot met his counterpart Andriy Sybiga, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and newly nominated Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko
  • Barrot: ‘It is by putting pressure on Russia on the one hand, and providing resolute support to Ukraine on the other, that we will succeed in ending this cowardly and disgraceful war’

KYIV, Ukraine: France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday emphasized France’s support to Ukraine in a surprise visit, over three years into Russia’s invasion.
Barrot met his counterpart Andriy Sybiga, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and newly nominated Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
He arrived in Kyiv just hours after a fresh Russian barrage on the Ukrainian capital, the latest in a record number of drone and missile attacks Russia has recently fired on Ukrainian cities.
“It is by putting pressure on Russia on the one hand, and providing resolute support to Ukraine on the other, that we will succeed in ending this cowardly and disgraceful war,” Barrot said.
He was speaking at a press conference shortly after visiting the Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, which sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe in 1986.
In February, Ukraine accused Russia of using an explosive drone to damage the confinement arch protecting the structure — prompting France to pledge 10 million euros ($11.7 million) to help fix the cover.
Accompanied by a small group of journalists including AFP, Barrot inspected the structure, where the hole in the arch was still clearly visible.
Barrot briefly got stuck in the elevator on his way out of the building with some of his team — though the group managed to operate the elevator manually, and emerged unharmed.
Back from Chernobyl, Barrot said Russia “targets energy infrastructure in defiance of international law, security and nuclear safety.”
He also blasted the latest wave of Russian attacks, which killed two people and damaged an entryway to the capital’s Lukyanivka metro station, which he visited earlier.
“This inhumane, cynical and cruel violence has no military purpose,” Barrot said. “Its sole aim is to terrorize civilians in a failed attempt to undermine Ukrainian morale.”


UK must recognize Palestine: Senior Labour MP

UK must recognize Palestine: Senior Labour MP
Updated 21 July 2025

UK must recognize Palestine: Senior Labour MP

UK must recognize Palestine: Senior Labour MP
  • Head of House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee: Two-state solution is the ‘only way’
  • Emily Thornberry: ‘The Israelis can’t continue just to say no and not have any credible alternative’

LONDON: Former Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry has called on the UK government to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Thornberry told the BBC on Monday that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a long-term political solution to the crisis.

“The only way through this is for there to be an Israeli state that’s safe and secure, alongside a Palestinian state that’s recognized,” she told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program.

Thornberry, who heads the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was speaking following the state visit of Emmanuel Macron to London.

France’s president, whose country will co-host an international conference on Palestine at the UN, told British MPs that a two-state solution is the “only way” forward. The UK is expected to attend the conference.

Thornberry said the UK and France “are the two parties to that ancient treaty more than 100 years ago, the secret Sykes-Picot agreement that carved up the Middle East in the first place.

“I think there is some kind of political significance to those two countries coming together again.”

She added: “If we recognize a Palestinian state, I think we show ourselves to be a country that wants to be involved, that wants to be an honest broker, that wants to be a force for good, and we think a way forward is two states and we’ve always thought that.”

The war in Gaza has been raging since October 2023, with health authorities in the Palestinian enclave saying around 60,000 people have died.

Thornberry said: “Too many people have been killed. There has to be peace. Peace can only be achieved through political conversation, through negotiations.”

The UK Foreign Office has refused to be drawn on when or if the government will recognize a Palestinian state, but Thornberry said: “It’s just a question of when.”

She added that the UK needs to use its relationship with the US to move the situation on Palestinian statehood forward, and clarify to Israel that continued settlement expansion in the West Bank is illegal, and individuals responsible would be sanctioned.

“We’ve been a force for good when it comes to Ukraine, but I do think we should also be saying to (US) President (Donald) Trump: ‘We need you. You have the power of 100 presidents. You can do what all the other presidents couldn’t do,’” Thornberry said.

“But the Israelis have to come onboard, and they can’t continue just to say no and not have any credible alternative.”


Taliban sends envoys to Germany to coordinate deportations

Taliban sends envoys to Germany to coordinate deportations
Updated 21 July 2025

Taliban sends envoys to Germany to coordinate deportations

Taliban sends envoys to Germany to coordinate deportations
  • Germany does not recognize the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan but does have “technical contacts” on the deportations
  • Spokesman said the German government “has committed to systematic expulsions of those convicted of crimes”

BERLIN: The German government said Monday that two new envoys had been sent by Afghanistan’s Taliban administration to help coordinate deportations, days after 81 convicted Afghans were sent back to their homeland.
The flight on Friday was the second from Germany since expulsions to Afghanistan resumed last year.
Germany does not recognize the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan but does have “technical contacts” on the deportations, which have been facilitated by Qatar.
Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said that during the exchanges “it has been agreed that two representatives of the Afghan administration will be incorporated” into Afghanistan’s missions in Germany.
A foreign ministry source later confirmed to AFP that the two envoys had arrived in Germany over the weekend.
“They are currently going through the normal registration process before they begin their work,” the source said.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) daily, the two envoys will work at the Afghan embassy in Berlin and at the country’s consulate in the western city of Bonn.
The Taliban authorities demanded this step in return for making last Friday’s flight possible, the paper reported.
The FAZ said that the envoys had already worked in consular services and were not considered extremists.
Germany stopped deportations to Afghanistan and closed its embassy in Kabul following the Taliban movement’s return to power in 2021.
However last year the last German government resumed expulsions with a flight in August carrying 28 Afghans.
Current chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to continue deportations, having made a tougher line on immigration a key campaign theme in February’s general election.
Kornelius said that further flights were in the offing.
“The government has committed to systematic expulsions of those convicted of crimes and this will not be accomplished with just one flight,” he said.


Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for nearly $2.3 billion

Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for nearly $2.3 billion
Updated 21 July 2025

Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for nearly $2.3 billion

Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for nearly $2.3 billion
  • Romania, a NATO member and Ukraine neighbor, looks to boost its defense posture and replace its aging Soviet-era equipment
  • It is set to purchase six integrated Shorad-Vshorad anti-aircraft systems from an Israeli company

BUCHAREST: Romania announced Monday it has signed a deal with an Israeli company to buy six anti-aircraft systems, as the NATO member and Ukraine neighbor looks to boost its defense posture.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Romania has gained in strategic importance and exposure to defense risks, with Russian drone fragments regularly falling on its soil.
Under a framework agreement signed with Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems last week, Romania is set to purchase six integrated Shorad-Vshorad anti-aircraft systems for more than two billion euros ($2.3 billion).
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is one of Rafael’s best-known products.
According to the deal, three further contracts will need to be signed under the framework agreement, which runs for seven years.
The procurement deal, which was rubber-stamped by Romania’s parliament in 2020, “aims to equip the army with advanced weapon systems designed to protect against air threats, including drones and cruise missiles,” the eastern European country’s defense ministry said in a statement.
In a recent interview on public television, Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu likened the anti-aircraft systems to “the Iron Dome... when the Iranians attack,” saying “that’s Shorad-Vshorad and it protects Tel Aviv.”
In 2024, Romania signed a deal with the United States to purchase 32 F-35 fighter jets for an estimated $6.5 billion.
The Black Sea nation has been striving for years to bolster its defense forces and replace its aging Soviet-era equipment.