Hamas flags possible ceasefire deal with Israel
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The Australian
2 hours ago
- The Australian
EU ministers weigh response to latest Trump tariff threat
EU ministers on Monday will debate the bloc's approach to trade talks with the United States, as Brussels scrambles to head off 30-percent tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump. The US leader Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with sweeping 30-percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted the EU still wants to reach an accord -- and on Sunday delayed retaliation over separate US tariffs on steel and aluminium as a sign of goodwill. "We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution," the president of the commission, which handles trade issues on behalf of the EU's 27 countries, said. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1." The move by von der Leyen spurs hope that Trump's latest threat -- in which he also targeted Mexico -- has not killed off the progress made in negotiations that have taken place so far between Brussels and Washington. But EU officials insist the bloc remains clear-eyed on the challenges of dealing with the unpredictable US leader, and ready to hit back. Diplomats said that an additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers at their meeting in Brussels on Monday that could be rolled out if Trump imposes the 30-percent tariffs. The EU threatened in May to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros ($117 billion), including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement -- although one diplomat said the finalised list was expected to be worth 72 billion euros. - 'Defend European interests' - EU nations -- some of which export far more to the United States than others -- have sought to stay on the same page over how strong a line to take with Washington in order to get a deal. French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged von der Leyen's commission to "resolutely defend European interests" and said the EU should step up preparation for countermeasures. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed and said he had spoken to Macron, Trump and von der Leyen in the past few days and would "engage intensively" to try to find a solution. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Sunday that a "trade war within the West" would weaken everyone. The EU's suspension of its retaliation over US steel and aluminium tariffs had been set to expire overnight Monday to Tuesday. Brussels readied duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros in response to the levies Trump slapped on metal imports earlier this year. But it announced in April it was holding off on those measures to give space to find a broader trade agreement. Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping stop-start tariffs on allies and competitors alike, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global economic downturn. But his administration is coming under pressure to secure deals with trading partners after promising a flurry of agreements. So far, US officials have only unveiled two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, alongside temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China. The EU, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on Wednesday, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1. In a letter published on Saturday, Trump cited the US's trade imbalance with the bloc as justification for the new 30-percent levies. The EU tariff is markedly steeper than the 20 percent levy Trump unveiled in April -- but paused initially until mid-July. del/ec/gv/rsc
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘Brutal': New claim on ‘attacked' protester
Lawyers have claimed a police officer used excessive force with 'brutal and life-changing consequences' when former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas was allegedly 'punched in the face' during a scuffle at an anti-Israel protest. Ms Thomas was involved in a protest picketing SEC Plating in Belmore in Sydney's southwest on June 27, following reports the company provided jet components used by the Israel Defence Forces. Police issued a move-on order to about 60 people, but a scuffle broke out when some failed to comply with directions, a NSW Police spokesperson previously said. Ms Thomas was pictured with a swollen eye and blood caked on her face following the protest, with the former Greens candidate claiming she may have suffered permanent vision damage as a result. Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas was charged over an anti-Israel protest in June. Supplied. Credit: Supplied She was spotted with a swollen eye and blood dripping down her face following the protest. Supplied. Credit: Supplied Ms Thomas was charged with hinder/resist police and refuse to comply with direction to disperse, with an additional charge related to a rarely-used emergency anti-riot power since dropped. Her lawyer, Peter O'Brien from O'Brien Solicitors, has since called for all charges against Ms Thomas to be dropped, claiming he is 'satisfied' his client was 'punched in the face'. 'My office has now viewed all available footage of the incident giving rise to the moments leading to the injury to Ms Thomas' eye on the 27th of June, and I am satisfied that Ms Thomas was punched in the face by a male police officer, causing extensive and serious injury to her eye,' Mr O'Brien said in a statement. Mr O'Brien claimed Ms Thomas was an 'innocent victim of gratuitous police brutality', condemning the actions of police as 'completely and entirely unjustifiable'. He said he's called on the NSW Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to withdraw all the charges, and confirmed Ms Thomas would file a civil claim for compensation against the state over her 'apprehension, injury, detention, and prosecution'. 'It is our position that the charges against Ms Thomas are wholly unsustainable and should be immediately withdrawn,' Mr O'Brien said. Ms Thomas challenged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the federal seat of Grayndler at the federal election earlier this year. Tim Hunter. Credit: News Corp Australia He argued the charge of resisting police could not hold up, citing claims police were acting outside their powers by enforcing an unlawful direction and using excessive force 'with brutal and life-changing consequences'. Further, failing to comply with a direction would 'most certainly fail', he claimed. 'The charge of failing to comply with a direction will most certainly fail as the direction was plainly and on its face unlawful, and reflected the directing police officer's complete misunderstanding of the law,' Mr O'Brien said. He noted it was 'not ordinary' for lawyers to comment on cases against their clients, but that there were 'such stark and serious concerns' raised by evidence which required an immediate public response. 'This is especially so where comments have been made by senior police officials and politicians downplaying the gravity of the incident, apparently justifying police actions and comments that have been detrimental to my client's position,' Mr O'Brien said. Peter O'Brien from O'Brien solicitors has called for all charges against Ms Thomas to be dropped. Supplied Credit: Supplied Ms Thomas earlier claimed her injuries were a result of the 'draconian anti-protest laws' currently subject to a constitutional challenge in the NSW Supreme Court launched on behalf of the Palestine Action Group. The laws in question gave police fresh powers to prevent protesters from harassing, intimidating or threatening people accessing or leaving — or attempting to access or leave — places of worship, with a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. The laws were brought in less than a month after news of an explosives-laden caravan being found in Dural broke, which later proved to be a fake terrorism plot rather than an anti-Semitic attack. Mr O'Brien claimed it was 'noteworthy' the incident at the June protest happened amid an attempt by the state government to broaden police powers regarding public assemblies, which he called 'arguably contrary to constitutional principles'. 'It cannot be known what goes through the mind of a police officer who uses gratuitous violence like this, but the context and timing appear unavoidably revealing,' Mr O'Brien said. Ms Thomas is set to face Bankstown Local Court on August 12. Four others were handed various charges following the protest in June. NSW Police were unable to comment on calls for the charges to be dropped, or Mr O'Brien's claims, as a critical incident investigation remains ongoing. The ODPP declined to comment on the matter as it's before the court.
7NEWS
5 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Gazan children collecting water killed by Israeli missile
At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, have been killed and more than a dozen wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water, in an Israeli strike which the military said missed its target. The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area on Sunday, but a malfunction had caused it to fall 'dozens of metres from the target'. 'The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians,' it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review. The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital Ahmed Abu Saifan said. Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centres where they can fill up their plastic containers. Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack. Gaza's health ministry says more than 58,000 people have been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally, but says over half of those killed are women and children. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he was 'hopeful' on Gaza ceasefire negotiations underway in Qatar. He told reporters in Teterboro, New Jersey, that he planned to meet senior Qatari officials on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup final. However, negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire have been stalling, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said. The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence. Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands — releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive. Netanyahu and his ministers were also set to discuss a plan on Sunday to move hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the southern area of Rafah, in what Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has described as a new 'humanitarian city' but which would be likely to draw international criticism for forced displacement. An Israeli source briefed on discussions in Israel said that the plan was to establish the complex in Rafah during the ceasefire, if it is reached. On Saturday, a Palestinian source familiar with the truce talks said that Hamas rejected withdrawal maps which Israel proposed, because they would leave around 40 per cent of the territory under Israeli control, including all of Rafah.
