Serbia's Embattled Leader Looks to Leverage Trump Family Ties
The conspicuously untouched site of the bombed-out former Yugoslav military headquarters is now slated to become a shrine of a very different kind: a commemoration of Serbia's deepening ties to Donald Trump. The American president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has the Serb government's blessing to develop a $500 million Trump hotel there.
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New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Announces Preliminary Trade Pact With Vietnam
President Trump said on Wednesday that the United States had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, one that would roll back some of the punishing tariffs he had issued on Vietnamese products in return for that nation agreeing to open its market to American goods. The preliminary deal will also indirectly affect China, an important trading partner of Vietnam. 'It will be a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries,' Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the deal. According to Mr. Trump, the deal imposes a 20 percent tariff on all imports from Vietnam and a 40 percent tariff on any 'transshipping.' That provision is aimed at addressing Trump administration criticisms that countries like Vietnam have become a channel for Chinese manufacturers to bypass U.S. tariffs and funnel goods into the United States. Which products would fall under the higher tariff rate is unclear. It could refer to goods imported to the United States from Vietnam that actually originated in China. But it could also apply to Vietnamese products that use a certain amount of Chinese parts. The deal could include a lower tariff on goods that are made in Vietnam with fewer Chinese parts and materials, and a higher tariff rate for Vietnamese goods that contain many Chinese components. Vietnam was soon scheduled to face a 46 percent tariff rate as part of the 'reciprocal' tariffs that the Trump administration unveiled on April 2. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
News24
20 minutes ago
- News24
Hamas says it's discussing proposals after Trump Gaza ceasefire push
Hamas is discussing a ceasefire proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from Donald Trump, to address the Gaza conflict. Israeli airstrikes in Gaza continue to kill civilians, including children, amid worsening humanitarian conditions in the region. Trump stated that Israel supports a 60-day ceasefire and urged Hamas to finalise the deal to end the war. Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was discussing proposals for a Gaza ceasefire received from mediators, after US President Donald Trump said Israel backed a 60-day ceasefire in the war-ravaged territory. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations against Hamas militants. The civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 33 people on Wednesday. Trump urged Hamas on Tuesday to accept a 60-day ceasefire, saying Israel had agreed to finalise such a deal. The Israeli government has not commented on that claim. Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday it was "conducting national consultations to discuss what we received from the proposals of the... mediators". READ | Israel steps up campaign in Gaza ahead of Netanyahu's US visit It said it aimed "to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israel from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip". Without directly mentioning Trump's remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that "a large majority within the government and the population is in favour" of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. "If the opportunity arises, it must not be missed!" Saar wrote on X. Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas' 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images On the ground in southern Gaza, civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that hit a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area. Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. Children covered in blood AFP footage from the area showed makeshift tents blown apart as Palestinians picked through the wreckage, trying to salvage what was left of their belongings. One man held a pack of nappies, asking: "Is this a weapon?" Another resident, Maha Abu Rizq, against a backdrop of destruction, said: They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed... What did they do? AFP footage from nearby Khan Yunis city showed infants covered in blood being rushed into Nasser Hospital. One man carrying a child whose face was smeared with blood screamed: "Children, children!" Some appeared terrified while others lay still on hospital beds in bloodied bandages and clothes as medics treated them. Further north, Bassal said four people from the same family were killed in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, and another five in a drone strike on a house in the central Deir el-Balah area. Bassal later reported seven killed in a strike in Gaza City, five more killed by Israeli army fire near an aid distribution site close to the southern city of Rafah, and a further death following Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of the territory. They are the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people waiting for food. Bassal said a further four people were killed in an air strike on a tent for displaced people southwest of Gaza City and two in an air strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it "is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" in line with "international law, and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". On Tuesday, the military said that in recent days its forces had expanded operations across Gaza. Ceasefire push After months of stalled mediation efforts to bring an end to the war, Trump said on social media on Tuesday that a new ceasefire push has Israel's support. "Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War," Trump said. He added that Qatari and Egyptian mediators, who have been in direct contact with Hamas throughout the war, would deliver "this final proposal". I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better - IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. Trump is due to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week. Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1 219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57 012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
Politico
21 minutes ago
- Politico
Republicans tear into Pentagon's Ukraine weapons freeze
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a longtime proponent of shifting U.S. military resources away from Ukraine in order to beef up Taiwan's defenses. She argued the pause undermines Trump's commitments at NATO and urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is simultaneously serving as White House national security adviser, to enforce a strategy. 'The Trump administration's mixed messaging is undermining its own agenda to bring Putin to the negotiating table, and this move under Secretary Hegesth's leadership will only make a just and lasting peace harder to obtain,' Shaheen said in a statement. 'Now is not the time for rogue actors undermining our national security interests.' Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior Senate Armed Services Committee member, called the rationale behind the freeze 'fallacious and maybe even disingenuous.' He said he and colleagues in both parties were surprised by the news — and that Ukrainians will suffer. 'They're going to lose more lives, more people will be maimed and injured — more homes, hospitals, schools will be destroyed,' he said in an interview. 'The Russians … are not even making a pretense of going after military targets.' Other top Republicans were less troubled by reports of the stalled weapons shipments. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who chairs the panel that controls much of the Pentagon budget, said he still needed to examine what munitions Ukraine has in its inventory, but suggested supply concerns might be warranted. 'I think part of it is the supply. So we've been running through a lot of Standard Missiles, the whole Patriot system,' Calvert said. 'The other part of it is that the Europeans are beginning to pick up the slack. 'I don't know what they have in inventory right now, the Ukrainians. I'll find that out,' he said. House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he hadn't been informed of a pause on munitions shipments, but he noted the Trump administration has 'done it several times.'
