Trump issues Russia deadline as Gaza truce talks enter second week
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Al Arabiya
32 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Russia's Medvedev dismisses Trump's ‘theatrical ultimatum' on sanctions
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that Moscow 'didn't care' about what he described as the 'theatrical ultimatum' US President Donald Trump issued to the Kremlin a day earlier. Trump on Monday announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees a peace deal on Ukraine. The sanctions threat came with a 50-day grace period. 'Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences,' Medvedev wrote on X. 'Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn't care,' he added.
Al Arabiya
33 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Netanyahu in tight spot after party quits Israeli coalition
One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties has quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition in a long-running dispute over a new military conscription bill. The move by the six United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party members leaves Netanyahu's nationalist-religious government extremely vulnerable with just a one-seat majority in the Knesset. Has Netanyahu's government collapsed? No. But it might. UTJ is allied with another ultra-Orthodox coalition member called Shas, which has traditionally kept in lockstep with UTJ. If Shas quits, Netanyahu will lose his majority in parliament and his government will find it hard to function. However, UTJ's withdrawal from the coalition will only go into effect 48 hours after submission of its ministers' resignation letters, which gives the prime minister some time to seek a compromise. Even if that fails, parliament goes on summer break at the end of July, giving Netanyahu around three months to try and resolve the crisis. A lot can happen in that time and Netanyahu has shown extraordinary political survival skills over the years. How do Israeli governments work? Governments rarely complete a full four-year term in Israel. No single party has ever won an outright majority in an election, so governments are formed by a coalition of parties. Prime ministers have often had to contend with sectarian demands and ideological clashes within their coalitions. When divisions emerge, coalitions can quickly unravel and governments fall. Will there be an early election? Possibly. But not for several months. There are a few political paths that would lead to the ballot being brought forward. They include parliament voting to dissolve itself and the government failing to pass an annual budget. In no scenario would an election be immediate. Some political analysts have predicted that a ballot will likely be brought forward from the end of 2026 to early next year. How do elections work? Israel's elections are parliamentary. The 120 Knesset seats are allocated by proportional representation to national party lists, which may secure seats after passing a threshold of 3.25 percent of the vote. Since 2019, Israel has held five national elections. The last one, which gave Netanyahu a decisive victory, was in November 2022. Successive polls of voter intentions have shown his coalition would lose an election, were it to be held today. Coalition shape Although Netanyahu's coalition has fluctuated over the past 2-1/2 years, with political shifts, finding replacements for UTJ to join the ranks of his government, which is made up of right-wing and religious Jewish parties, would be extremely difficult. The opposition includes centrist, left-wing, right-wing, liberal and conservative factions. Coalition composition Total Knesset seats: 120 Number of factions: 13 Total coalition seats: 61 Seats held by Netanyahu's Likud party: 32 Seats held by ultra-Orthodox party Shas: 11 Seats held by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party: 7 Seats held by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party: 6 Seats held by National Right party: 4 Seats held by Noam party: 1 Will political turmoil affect the war in Gaza? This is still unclear. US-backed ceasefire talks are underway in Qatar. Israelis have become increasingly weary of the war against Hamas in Gaza and surveys show popular support for ending it with a deal that will bring back remaining hostages held by the Palestinian militant group. Netanyahu still has enough support within his government to secure a ceasefire. However, the two far-right parties in Netanyahu's coalition - Jewish Power and Religious Zionism - are unlikely to back ending the war entirely anytime soon.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Oil Updates — Crude falls as Trump's 50-day deadline for Russia eases supply fears
LONDON : Oil prices fell on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump's lengthy 50-day deadline for Russia to end the Ukraine war and avoid sanctions eased immediate supply concerns. Brent crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $69.09 a barrel by 09:10 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 16 cents, also 0.2 percent, to $66.82. Both contracts settled more than $1 lower in the previous session. 'Trump's milder stance on sanctions over Russian oil eased fears of a supply crunch while his tariff plan continues to mount economic pressures,' said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. Oil prices had climbed on the potential sanctions, but later gave up their gains as the 50-day deadline raised hopes that sanctions could be avoided, and traders dwelled on whether the US would actually impose steep tariffs on countries continuing to trade with Russia. If Trump does follow through and the proposed sanctions are implemented, 'it would drastically change the outlook for the oil market,' analysts at ING said in a note on Tuesday. 'China, India and Turkiye are the largest buyers of Russian crude oil. They would need to weigh the benefits of buying discounted Russian crude oil against the cost of their exports to the US,' the ING note said. Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine on Monday, and had said on Saturday he would impose a 30 percent tariff on most imports from the European Union and Mexico from August 1, adding to similar warnings for other countries. Tariffs risk slowing down economic growth, which could sap global fuel demand and drag oil prices lower. China's economy slowed in the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday, with markets bracing for a weaker second half as exports lose momentum, prices continue to fall, and consumer confidence remains low. Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, said economic growth in China came in above consensus, largely due to strong fiscal support and the front-loading of production and exports for the US to beat tariffs. 'Economic data released today was concerning. Today's tepid Chinese data has direct implications for commodities including iron ore and crude oil,' he said. Elsewhere, oil demand is set to stay 'very strong' through the third quarter, keeping the market balanced in the near term, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' secretary general said, according to a Russian media report.
