While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 13, 2025
US President Donald Trump has threatened a 30 per cent tariff on European goods starting Aug 1, unless the US and EU agree a trade deal.
EU says it still wants US trade deal, will defend interests
The European Union said on July 12 it was ready to retaliate to defend its interests if the United States pressed ahead with imposing a 30 per cent tariff on European goods from Aug 1.
US President Donald Trump latest salvo surprised the bloc, the United States' largest trading partner, which had hoped to avoid an escalating trade war after intense negotiations and increasingly warm words from the White House.
Dr Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU executive which handles trade policy for the 27 member states, said the bloc was ready to keep working towards an agreement before Aug 1, but was willing to stand firm.
EU ambassadors will discuss next steps on July 13, before trade ministers meet in Brussels on July 14 for an extraordinary meeting.
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Gaza truce talks in the balance as sides trade blame
PHOTO: AFP
Gaza ceasefire talks hung in the balance as Hamas and Israel on July 12 accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a deal, nearly a week into an attempt to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory.
A Palestinian source with knowledge of the indirect talks in Qatar told AFP that Israel's proposals to keep its troops in the war-torn territory were holding up a deal for a 60-day pause.
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But on the Israeli side, a senior political official, also speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivities of the talks, accused the militants of inflexibility and deliberately trying to scuttle an accord.
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Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship
US President Donald Trump on July 12 said he might revoke talk show host Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship after she criticised his administration's handling of weather forecasting agencies in the wake of the deadly Texas floods, the latest salvo in a years-long feud the two have waged over social media.
'Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,' Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, invoking a deportation rationale the administration has used in attempts to remove foreign-born protesters from the country.
'She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!' he added.
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Japan's Hokkaido issues highest-level bear warning
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
Hokkaido on July 12 issued a strong warning of brown bears in one of its towns after a fatal attack on a newspaper deliveryman there, making it the first time that the highest level of alert has been sent out in the northern prefecture.
The warning, affecting the town of Fukushima in south-western Hokkaido, is expected to be effective for a month through Aug 11.
The highest level of a three-stage alert is issued when a bear attacks a human in an urban area or its vicinity.
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Iga Swiatek revels in special Wimbledon triumph
PHOTO: AFP
Iga Swiatek bulldozed her way to a maiden Wimbledon title on July 12 to take her Grand Slam tally to six and although the Pole preferred not to rank her wins, she said her latest one felt a little more special than the others.
The 24-year-old has won four Suzanne Lenglen Cups in the last six editions of the French Open to establish herself as the 'Queen of Clay' and conquered the hardcourts of the US Open in 2022, but the grasscourts of Wimbledon have always proved slippery.
Having crossed the quarter-final hurdle for the first time this year, she brutally dismantled Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in the final to confirm herself as a versatile virtuoso of the women's game.
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Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen looks on during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Council President Antonio Costa, during an EU-Canada summit in Brussels, Belgium June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo BRUSSELS - The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement, after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up his trade war on the bloc. Trump said on Saturday he would be imposing a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU from August 1, though his deadline gave the EU, like other targeted countries, time to hammer out agreements that could lower the threatened tariff rate. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's executive Commission which handles trade policy for the 27 member states, said the bloc would maintain its two-track approach: keep talking and prepare retaliatory measures. "We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now," von der Leyen told a press conference, adding that the bloc would extend its halt on countermeasures until August. Von der Leyen's decision to resist immediate retaliatory measures points to the European Commission's desire to avoid a spiralling tit-for-tat escalation in the trade war while there remains a chance of negotiating an improved outcome. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump had seen some trade deal offers and thinks they need to improve, adding that without that, he would proceed with the threatened tariffs on Mexico, the EU and other countries. "These tariffs are real if the president doesn't get a deal that he thinks is good enough," Hassett told ABC's This Week programme. "But you know, conversations are ongoing, and we'll see where the dust settles." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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French President Emmanuel Macron said the Commission needed more than ever to "assert the Union's determination to defend European interests resolutely", and that retaliation might need to include so-called anti-coercion instruments. Germany's economy minister called for a "pragmatic solution" immediately after Trump's latest threat, though on Sunday the country's finance minister said the EU should be ready to take firm action if talks failed. "If a fair negotiated solution does not succeed, then we must take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe," Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, also vice chancellor in the ruling coalition, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. While the EU has held back from retaliating against the U.S. in the months since Trump hit the bloc with tariffs, it has readied two packages that could hit a combined 93 billion euros of U.S. goods. A first package, in response to U.S. levies of 50% on imported steel and aluminium that would hit 21 billion euros in U.S. goods was suspended in April for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. The suspension had been due to expire on Monday before the extension was announced. A second package in retaliation against Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs has been in the works since May and was set to target 72 billion euros of U.S. goods. These measures have not been made public and the final list requires approval by member states. ANTI-COERCION INSTRUMENT Von der Leyen said on Sunday that the use of the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument was not yet on the table. The instrument allows the bloc to retaliate against third countries that put economic pressure on EU members to change their policies. "The (anti-coercion) instrument is created for extraordinary situations, we are not there yet," she said. Possible retaliatory steps could include restricting EU market access to goods and services, and other economic measures related to areas including foreign direct investment, financial markets and export controls. In a sign of the EU's desire to strike deals with more trading partners at a time of deepening uncertainty in trans-Atlantic relations, von der Leyen said a political agreement had been reached to advance an EU-Indonesia trade deal. France's cheese producers warned of the damaging consequences of a 30% tariff for the local dairy industry, which exports nearly half its produce, including to the United States. "It's a new environment we will have to get used to - I don't think this is temporary," Francois Xavier Huard, CEO of dairy association FNIL, told Reuters. REUTERS
