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Perth Now
42 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Protest and travel mark 4th of July
Recent polls will tell you there's been a drop in national pride among Americans, particularly Democrats in the Trump era, with some questioning whether to celebrate July Fourth at all this year. But Scott Allen, a registered Democrat in southern California, isn't one of them. He planned to commemorate the nation's 249th birthday with a politically mixed group of neighbours who will grill out and light off fireworks. He'll be thinking of his US Marine father, and about how proud he is that "we have the freedom to do all the things we do." "We can have protests. We can have free speech," said Allen, 60, who lives in Lakewood, just south of Los Angeles. This Independence Day may feel different for many Americans. Around the country, there are protests planned against Trump's polices, and in places like southern California, where immigration raids have rattled communities, some July Fourth celebrations were cancelled. Fireworks retailers are also dealing with tariffs. But at the same time, holiday travel is expected to break records. Several communities in the Los Angeles area have cancelled Independence Day festivities due to safety concerns over Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The raids have triggered weeks of protests across the city and led Trump to deploy National Guard troops and Marines. The Los Angeles neighbourhood of El Sereno cancelled its parade after 90 per cent of participants dropped out. Organiser Genny Guerrero said the majority Latino community is "very patriotic." But many people are avoiding events out of fear of immigration agents. "The fact that they're taking anyone that is brown, regardless of citizenship, that puts everyone in jeopardy," Guerrero said. A downtown block party, which drew 20,000 people last year, was postponed. Suburbs in southeastern Los Angeles, such as Bell Gardens, have cancelled celebrations altogether. Meanwhile, Independence Day events are scheduled in protest of Trump's policies, including slashes to Medicaid, said Tamika Middleton, managing director of Women's March. The group had organised the Women's March on Washington in 2017, the day after Trump's first inauguration. This year's events will range from low-key pot lucks to rallies in large cities. For instance, a gathering will be held at a naturalisation ceremony in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to show support for new citizens. But there will be larger protests in bigger cities, including one outside Houston's City Hall. The vast majority of fireworks in the US are made in China, said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. As the trade war with China escalated, tariffs on Chinese-made fireworks reached 145 per cent in April, Heckman said. Trump issued a 90-day pause in May, leaving current tariffs on Chinese fireworks at 30 per cent. The tariffs will have little impact on city fireworks shows because the shells were purchased months ago, Heckman said. But it'll be a different story next year, Heckman added, because 30 per cent tariffs — or anything higher — are not sustainable for business. The industry is casting a wary eye toward 2026. "Every small town in America is going to want a special firework display to honour America's 250th," Heckman said. Auto club AAA expected more than 72 million people to travel at least 80km from home. AAA's forecast includes two weekends to better reflect the holiday travel. Nearly 62 million people will travel by car, a 2.2 per cent bump over 2024, making it the highest volume on record, AAA said. Drivers have seen some price increases at the pump, but summer gas prices are still the lowest they've been since 2021. Meanwhile, nearly six million people will fly — four per cent more than last year, AAA said. The Federal Aviation Administration said this will be the busiest July Fourth week in 15 years.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Hamas has 'positive' response to ceasefire proposal
Hamas has submitted its response to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations says, describing the response as a positive one that should "facilitate reaching a deal." US President Donald Trump earlier announced a "final proposal" for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours. "We have handed the mediators, Qatar and Egypt, our response to the ceasefire proposal," a Hamas official told Reuters on Friday, on condition of anonymity. "The Hamas response is positive and I think it should help and facilitate reaching a deal." Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalise" a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the US ally's war in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Trump's announcement and in their public statements, the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss. Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. Asked early on Friday US time if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, Trump said: "We are going to know over the next 24 hours." Trump has said he would be "very firm" with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well. "We hope it's going to happen... We want to get the hostages out," he told reporters earlier this week. Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city in the early hours of the morning, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US Embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Friday night Shabbat dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" Israel's retaliatory war against Hamas has devastated Gaza, which the militant group has ruled for almost two decades but now only controls in parts, displacing most of the population of more than two million and triggering widespread hunger. More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly two years of fighting, most of them civilians, according to local health officials.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
‘I have more power': Donald Trump flexes after huge win in Congress
A law that will have sweeping effects across the United States. And about as clear an expression of Donald Trump's political power as we have ever seen. Today America's House of Representatives passed Mr Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill', the gargantuan piece of budget legislation that contains much of the President's domestic agenda. That includes the extension of tax cuts, funding for immigration enforcement measures, and cuts to Medicaid, the government program that provides health insurance for low-income Americans. It contains other stuff as well – the thing is almost a thousand pages long, after all – but those are the headline elements. Merits of the bill aside, its passage through Congress today is indisputably a political flex. While Mr Trump's Republican Party controls both the House and the Senate, in the former chamber, its majority is precipitously narrow. And enough Republican members of Congress to scupper the legislation had expressed firm opposition to it, mostly citing its projected multi-trillion dollar cost to America's already bloated federal debt. Yet after days of bickering, and grandstanding, and presumably the odd twisting of an arm behind the scenes, almost all of those members ultimately voted for it anyway. A mere two of them remained immovable in their opposition. 'Rarely have so many members of Congress voted for a measure they so actively disliked,' veteran political journalist Susan Glasser noted in The New Yorker afterwards. Speaking to the media a short time afterwards, Mr Trump was in a jubilant mood. 'You met with a lot of House Republicans yesterday. What got them to yes?' a reporter asked him on the tarmac. 'I think when you go over the bill, it was very easy to get them to a yes,' Mr Trump replied. 'Biggest tax cut in history. Great for security. Great on the southern border. Immigration is covered. We covered just about everything. It's the biggest bill ever signed of its kind.' To be clear, though, the concerns of recalcitrant Republicans were never really addressed. The bill's ballooning effect on America's deficit remains. The worries about political consequences from kicking millions of constituents off Medicaid remains. What happened here, and why it is such a demonstration of power from the President, is: a bunch of Republicans said the bill was unacceptable, Mr Trump did nothing to mollify them, and then they voted yes. In Australian terms, his argument was, 'Yeah nah, the bill is pretty good though mate.' And it worked! 'I think I have more power now. I do,' Trump said when asked about the contrast with his first term in office. That included some legislative wins, including the tax cuts that are now being extended. But Congress did defy Mr Trump on, for example, his effort to repeal the signature healthcare law of his predecessor, Barack Obama. 'You know, I could say, 'Oh gee, I don't know.' I think I probably do, because we have had the greatest record of success. 'We've proven certain things, and yeah, I think probably it's got more gravitas, more power.' Later in his exchange with the press, Trump discussed the bill's signing on Friday, US time. 'So we're signing at about five o'clock, and at about five o'clock, we're going to have B-2s and F-22s and F-35s flying right over the White House,' he said. 'And the Speaker and I and (Republican Senate Majority Leader) John Thune, we are all there together with most Republican senators and congressmen and women. 'And it's going to be a great day. So we'll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads, all right?' That puts the signing ceremony at about 7am AEST, should you wish to rouse yourself from bed on a Saturday morning to witness it. I should give you some examples of the backflipping here. Some illustrative remarks from the Republicans who crapped on the bill, then promptly turned around and voted for it. The two who did not engage in such impressive gymnastics are Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was worried about the national debt, and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who didn't like the cuts to health spending. As for the rest, we have a litany of statements contradicted by subsequent actions. Congressman Keith Self, of Texas, said Speaker Mike Johnson and the others lobbying on Mr Trump's behalf were shoving a 'broken bill down our throats'. Mr Self called it 'morally and fiscally bankrupt'. He voted yes. Congressman Ralph Norman, of South Carolina, said it would 'mortgage our future'. Mr Norman voted yes. Congressman Andy Harris, of Maryland, called it 'not ready for prime time'. Yes. California Congressman David Valadao was among 15 Republicans who signed a letter stressing they 'could not support a final bill' that threatened people's access to healthcare. He, and all 14 other signatories, voted yes. Indiana Congresswoman Victoria Spartz said the bill violated 'the minimum fiscal framework, signed by over 30 Republicans, by roughly half a trillion dollars'. Voted yes. 'If the Senate tries to jam the House with this version (of the bill), I won't vote 'present'. I'll vote NO,' said Marlyand Congressman Andy Harris. He voted yes. Congressman Andrew Clyde, of Georgia, called the national debt a serious threat to 'the security, prosperity, and future of our country', vowing to 'fight until the very end'. A few hours later, he voted yes. Over in the Senate, Missouri's Josh Hawley called the legislation's cuts to health insurance 'morally wrong'. He voted yes. Senator Mike Lee, of Utah, warned that 'the deficit will eat us alive'. He voted yes. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the most consistently anti-Trump voice left in her caucus, said the bill was 'not good enough for the rest of our nation', and expressed her hope that it would be amended by the House after being passed by the Senate. She voted yes. And had she gone the other way, the bill would have died. Nothing above includes those Republicans who fumed over the chaotic process, such as Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called it a 's***show'. To overcome all those objections from his own side of politics, without conceding anything? Quite the success for any politician. One last, telling example: Senator Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, who stood by his opposition to the bill's $US700 billion in Medicaid cuts and voted against it. When Mr Tillis announced his decision, Mr Trump promptly threatened to end his political career. The Senator instead chose to quit, abruptly saying he would not seek re-election. 'The choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington, or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family,' he said. ''It's not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.'
