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West Asia News Live: Australia's shift and Netanyahu's Gaza plan stir diplomatic storm
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Economic Times
6 minutes ago
- Economic Times
'25% not enough': Trump says he may increase tariffs on India in the next 24 hours
Donald Trump may increase tariffs on Indian imports. The increase could happen soon. The US President mentioned this in a CNBC interview. Current tariffs are at 25 percent. A substantial rise is expected within 24 hours. This follows the recent imposition of tariffs on India. The move could impact trade relations between the two countries. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Days after imposing a blanket 25% tariff on all Indian imports, US President Donald Trump signaled a sharp escalation in his trade stance against New Delhi, saying the tariff rate is likely to be raised "substantially" within the next 24 hours.'We settled on 25% for India, but I think I am going to raise that substantially within the next 24 hours," Trump revealed in an exclusive interview with CNBC on had earlier threatened to make the move as India continues to buy Russian crude oil despite the 25% so-called "reciprocal tarifffs" from the US as well as additional "penalty" tariff for trade relations with Russia."With India, what people don't like to say is they have the highest tariffs of anybody. We do very little business with India," Trump said. 'India is not a good trading partner,' he added bluntly, before linking India's continued energy trade with Moscow to the ongoing war in Ukraine: 'They are buying Russian oil and fueling the Russian war machine.'Meanwhile, New Delhi has called the threat of additional tariffs 'unjustified and unreasonable,' while the Kremlin responded strongly on Tuesday, labelling such US pressure tactics as 'illegitimate.'"Sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trading partners," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to AFP. Without naming Trump directly, Peskov criticized efforts to 'force countries to sever trading relations' with Russia as unlawful interference in global Trump's ultimatum had also been extended to Moscow, warning that unless there is 'meaningful movement' toward a peace deal with Kyiv by Friday, fresh US economic penalties would follow — potentially targeting countries like India that continue to buy Russian mounting Western sanctions since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has successfully redirected much of its oil and gas exports toward Asia, with India and China emerging as major buyers — helping sustain the Kremlin's wartime returning to the White House in January, the businessman-turned-politician has refrained from imposing new sanctions on Russia, instead promoting direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. While three rounds of talks have been held in Istanbul, little progress has been achieved.
Indian Express
8 minutes ago
- Indian Express
The life of Ghislaine Maxwell: Poor little rich girl to Epstein aide to convict
The downfall of Ghislaine Maxwell, once a prominent British socialite, happened well in the public eye. A media mogul's daughter, Maxwell lived a jet-setting life. She maintained her opulent lifestyle as the former girlfriend and majordomo of American financier Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, by most accounts, that was her life till her arrest in July 2020 for her role in orchestrating the sexual exploitation of young girls. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after a New York court, in 2022, found her guilty of scheming with Epstein to 'sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls'. In April this year, she filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction on the grounds of unlawful prosecution. The case has once again come under the limelight with the Donald Trump administration facing backlash for not releasing the so-called Epstein files, which many believe would expose high-profile predators. Epstein is known to have rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew and Trump himself. While Trump has acknowledged ties with Epstein, he claims that their friendship soured long before the latter's crimes came to light. Amid the renewed political intrigue over the case and Epstein's alleged suicide in 2019, Maxwell now finds herself at the centre of this sordid saga. Though she long dominated headlines for her role in Epstein's empire, much of her personal life has been riddled with conspiracies and contradictions. We trace the arc of her life. Though born into opulence, Maxwell had a troubled childhood. In a 1994 memoir, titled A Mind of My Own, Elizabeth Maxwell, Ghislaine's mother, recounts her daughter's birth on Christmas Day of 1961, which was followed by the death of her eldest son just days later. Elizabeth admits to the toddler Ghislaine being 'hardly given a glance' and turning 'anorexic'. Things turned around only when she was three. Her lawyers have also detailed a tough father figure of Robert Maxwell, accusing him of inflicting 'painful dressing downs' and 'corporal punishment' on his children. However, years later, Maxwell went on to become her father's favourite, assisting him in his businesses. Robert, a former parliamentarian, had a series of media companies, including British Print Corporation, Mirror Group Newspapers and Macmillan Publishers. An Oxford graduate, Maxwell arrived in New York in 1991 on her father's bidding to launch an international magazine called the European. But by the year's end, her fortunes had somewhat turned. Robert was found dead near his yacht, Lady Ghislaine (named after his daughter), off the Canary Islands. In the following months, it was revealed that Robert had been embezzling millions from his businesses' pension funds. It was at this time that Maxwell found support from Epstein, one of her new associates in the US. The Jeffrey Epstein saga There are differing accounts of when Maxwell met Epstein. The Washington Post has reported, citing an associate, that Robert introduced his daughter to Epstein in the late 1980s. According to court documents, Maxwell and Epstein were in an 'intimate relationship' between 1994 and 1997. She also managed his various properties at the time. In 1994, Maxwell began 'enticing and grooming' minor girls to 'engage in sex acts' with Epstein. Court documents detail that the couple would befriend the victims, taking them to the movies or shopping. In harrowing accounts, Maxwell is alleged to have 'normalised' sexual abuse for the minors by discussing sexual topics, undressing in front of them, being present while they were undressed or during sex acts between the victim and Epstein. The underage girls largely belonged to broken or troubled families, and Epstein would assist them financially in some cases to make them indebted to him. Maxwell has also been accused of participating in the sexual abuse of the minors on the pretext of 'massages' for Epstein. The activities were spread across the various properties owned by Epstein in New York, Florida and New Mexico, and Maxwell's personal residence in London. Maxwell has denied knowledge of Epstein's sexual abuse of minors. A New Yorker profile of Maxwell calls her Epstein's 'right-hand woman', who had notable managerial skills and 'many, many rules' around the house. One of the victims testified that her real job 'was to take care of Jeffrey's needs', which ranged from mundane administrative tasks to procuring young victims for his 'massages'. Maxwell also benefited financially from her relationship with Epstein. Besides access to his many properties and private jet, Epstein reportedly paid her large sums to the tune of $30.7 million between 1999 and 2007. Post-Epstein era According to reports, Maxwell's relationship with Epstein ended in the early 2000s. However, she was embroiled in the many legal cases against the financier in the years that followed. In 2007, Epstein struck a non-prosecution agreement with the United States Attorney's Office in Florida when he was facing federal indictment for sexually abusing dozens of girls, including as young as 14 years old. The deal allowed Epstein to escape a possible life sentence and protected 'co-conspirators'. By then, Maxwell was facing massive negative publicity for her association with Epstein. In 2009, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, accused Epstein and Maxwell of recruiting her as part of their sex-trafficking ring. She claimed that Maxwell had approached her in 2000, when she was working as a locker room attendant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, to become a travelling masseuse. She further claimed that Epstein and Maxwell had forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew (a charge he has denied). Giuffre also filed a defamation case in 2015 against Maxwell when she called the former a 'liar'. The case was later settled. Since then, Maxwell has been named as the co-accused in several cases against Epstein filed by the victims, including Sarah Ransome, Maria Farmer, Jennifer Araoz, and others who have chosen not to disclose their identity. Reports state that in the years before the FBI began investigating her role in the charges against Epstein in 2019, Maxwell seemed to have disappeared from public life. She was finally arrested in July 2020. She was denied bail repeatedly, owing to her multiple citizenships — in the US, the UK and France — and 'opaque finances'. In one of her bail hearings, lawyers argued that she wouldn't flee because of her marriage — a fact that had remained undisclosed until then. While she has not revealed the identity of her spouse, he's widely believed to be Scott Borgerson, an American tech entrepreneur. Notably, Maxwell had started her own venture, an ocean conservation group, the TerraMar Project, in 2012. According to a New York Times report, the organisation gave out no money in grants between 2013 and 2017. The group was disbanded in 2019. However, it put her in the same circles as Borgen, who runs a maritime investments company. The UK-based Telegraph reports that the couple likely got married in 2016, though no records have been found as proof. A New York Times report suggests that they were living together at a five-bedroom home in Manchester. Maxwell has now filed a plea in the US Supreme Court, contending that the non-prosecution agreement reached by Epstein in 2007 should have been extended to her. A New York court of appeals had earlier ruled that an agreement made with prosecutors in Florida did not bind authorities in New York. However, Maxwell has challenged the decision, questioning if an agreement with the United States was nationally binding. If the Supreme Court admits her appeal, it could hear the case in October, with a ruling expected by next June, according to Reuters. Notably, the Department of Justice, which has urged the court to reject her appeal, interviewed Maxwell just three days before her attorneys filed their final brief in the matter on July 28. Days later, on August 1, Maxwell was moved from a low-security prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. The specifics of the meeting and the reasons for the transfer are unclear. However, there have been concerns that Maxwell may seek the President's pardon in exchange for providing details on the Epstein case. The speculation has triggered backlash, with critics emphasising that her past record of perjury makes her an unreliable witness. When Trump was asked about pardoning Maxwell, he stated he is 'allowed' to give her one, but nobody had asked him about it. Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take. ... Read More
News18
18 minutes ago
- News18
Medvedev Warns of 'Further Steps" as Russia Exits Nuke Pact With US, Ukraine "Blows Up" S-300
Russia formally announced its withdrawal from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on August 4. The Kremlin blamed US deployment of nuclear submarines and 'the actions of Western countries' for creating a 'direct threat' to Russia's security. The move came days after US President Donald Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to "be positioned in the appropriate regions" near RussiaRussia's Foreign Ministry declared that the conditions for obliging to the Soviet-era treaty had "disappeared.'Former Russian President and Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has blamed NATO's 'anti-Russia policy' for Moscow's exit from 1987 INF Treaty with America. 'This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,' the Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman said. n18oc_world n18oc_crux0:00 INTRODUCTIONMEDVEDEV POINTS TO 'NEW REALITY, WARNS OF 'FURTHER STEPS'RUSSIA HITS UKRAINIAN MILITARY FIELDS, KYIV DESTROYS RUSSIAN S-300KYIV SECURES MASSIVE DUTCH MILITARY AID PACKAGE
