ֱ

Trump says he’s in ‘no rush’ to end tariffs as he holds talks with Italy’s Meloni

US President Donald Trump greets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the West Wing entrance to the White House in Washington, on Apr. 17, 2025. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump greets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the West Wing entrance to the White House in Washington, on Apr. 17, 2025. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 17 April 2025

Trump says he’s in ‘no rush’ to end tariffs as he holds talks with Italy’s Meloni

Trump says he’s in ‘no rush’ to end tariffs as he holds talks with Italy’s Meloni
  • Trump administration has indicated that offers are coming from other countries and it is possible to do 90 deals during the 90-day tariff pause
  • “We know we are in a difficult moment," Meloni said this week in Rome

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is in “no rush” to reach any trade deals because of the revenues his tariffs are generating, but suggested while meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni that it would be easy to find an agreement with the European Union.
His administration has indicated that offers are coming from other countries and it is possible to do 90 deals during the 90-day tariff pause, but the president played down the likelihood of an accelerated timeline, saying any agreements would come “at a certain point.”
“We’re in no rush,” Trump said.
Meloni’s meeting with Trump will test her mettle as a bridge between the European Union and the United States. She is the first European leader to have face-to-face talks with him since he announced and then partially suspended 20 percent tariffs on European exports.
Meloni secured the meeting as Italy’s leader, but she also has, in a sense, been “knighted” to represent the EU at a critical juncture in the trade war. She was in close contact with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the trip, and “the outreach is … closely coordinated,” a commission spokeswoman said.
“We know we are in a difficult moment,” Meloni said this week in Rome. “Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent, and what I am defending.”
The EU is defending what it calls “the most important commercial relationship in the world,’’ with annual trade reaching 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion).
Trade negotiations fall under the authority of the commission, which is pushing for a zero-for-zero tariff deal with Washington. Trump administration officials, in talks with the EU, have yet to publicly show signs of relenting on the president’s insistence that a baseline 10 percent tariff be charged on all foreign imports. Trump paused for 90 days his initial 20 percent tax on EU products so that negotiations could occur.
The EU has already engaged with Trump administration officials in Washington. Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commissioner for trade and economic security, said he met on Monday with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Šefčovič said afterward on X that it would “require a significant joint effort on both sides” to get to zero tariffs and work on non-tariff trade barriers.
Meloni’s margins for progress are more in gaining clarity on the Republican president’s goals rather than outright concessions, experts say.
“It is a very delicate mission,” said Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist at the European Policy Center think tank in Brussels. “There is the whole trade agenda, and while she’s not officially negotiating, we know that Trump likes to have this kind of informal exchange, which in a sense is a negotiation. So it’s a lot on her plate.”
As the leader of a far-right party, Meloni is ideologically aligned with Trump on issues including curbing migration, promoting traditional values and skepticism toward multilateral institutions. But stark differences have emerged in Meloni’s unwavering support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the war and Italy’s role in an eventual postwar reconstruction of Ukraine. Trump is expected to press Meloni to increase Italy’s defense spending, which last year fell well below the 2 percent of gross domestic product target for countries in the NATO military alliance. Italy’s spending, at 1.49 percent of GDP, is among the lowest in Europe.
Despite the differences on Ukraine and defense spending, Meloni is seen by some in the US administration as a vital bridge to Europe at a difficult moment for trans-Atlantic relations.
Trump is looking not only to discuss with Meloni how “Italy’s marketplace can be opened up, but also how they can help us with the rest of Europe,” according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters before the visit. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
After being the only European leader to attend Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, Meloni has responded with studied restraint as abrupt shifts in US policy under Trump have frayed the US-European alliance. She has denounced the tariffs as “wrong” and warned that “dividing the West would be disastrous for everyone,” after Trump’s heated White House exchange with Ukraine’s president.
“She has been very cautious,’’ said Wolfango Piccoli, an analyst at the London-based Teneo consultancy. “It is what we need when we have a counterpart that is changing every day.’’
Italy maintains a 40 billion euro ($45 billion) trade surplus with the US, its largest with any country, fueled by Americans’ appetite for Italian sparkling wine, foodstuffs like Parmigiano Reggiano hard cheese and Parma ham, and Italian luxury fashion. These are all sectors critical to the Italian economy, and mostly supported by small- and medium-sized producers who are core center-right voters.
“All in all, I think she will focus on the very strong economic and trade relations that Italy has with the United States, not just in terms of exports, but also services and energy,” said Antonio Villafranca, vice president of the ISPI think tank in Milan. “For example, Italy could even consider importing more gas from the US”
The meeting comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over global uncertainty generated by the escalating tariff wars. Italy’s growth forecast for this year has already been slashed from 1 percent to 0.5 percent as a result.


Scottish first minister calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘genocide’

Scottish first minister calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘genocide’
Updated 17 sec ago

Scottish first minister calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘genocide’

Scottish first minister calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a ‘genocide’
  • Made comment at Edinburgh Fringe event repeatedly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters
  • Swinney’s statement follows similar language used last month by Northern Ireland First Minister O’Neill

LONDON: Scottish First Minister John Swinney has for the first time described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” becoming the second UK national leader to do so after Northern Ireland’s Michelle O’Neill, it was reported on Saturday.

Speaking at an Edinburgh Fringe event that was repeatedly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, Swinney told reporters: “It’s quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine, it can’t be disputed. I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being genocide. I’ve expressed that and obviously it’s not reached all those individuals, but that’s my feeling.”

Swinney made his remarks following a disrupted appearance at the Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh, where protesters stood up holding letters spelling “GENOCIDE” and chanted slogans including “Call it genocide.”

Security staff prevented demonstrators from approaching the stage as interruptions became increasingly forceful throughout the event.

His comments, , come amid mounting pro-Palestinian pressure from within the governing Scottish National Party, including from elected representatives in both Holyrood and Westminster.

Stephen Flynn, leader of the SNP’s nine MPs in the House of Commons in Westminster, recently urged the UK government to recognize the situation in Gaza as a genocide during a parliamentary exchange.

Israel has consistently denied committing genocide, maintaining that its military operations in Gaza are acts of self-defense in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks led by Hamas that left almost 1,200 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, and more than 250 kidnapped.

About 50 of those hostages remain in Gaza, with only 20 believed to be alive.

More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent military action by Israel against Hamas, with a further 1,350 queuing for aid killed by Israeli troops since May, according to UN data published this week.

On Friday, at least 91 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in Gaza ahead of a visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff to Israel.

Two leading Israeli human rights organizations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have also accused Israel of committing genocide, asserting that western allies have a legal and moral duty to act.

Swinney’s statement follows similar language used last month by Northern Ireland First Minister O’Neill, who said: “It is inhumanity, it is genocide, it is wrong.” She also described Israel’s actions as “state terrorism.”

The Scottish government has previously faced criticism over public money being used to support apprenticeships at firms involved in weapons manufacturing, though it does not directly fund the production of munitions.

Defending that policy, Swinney said Scottish Enterprise, the government’s commercial investment body, applies “the strictest assessments imaginable about the purpose and the use of public expenditure in companies who may be related to defense industries.”

Pressed on funding staff who could end up building munitions, he added: “We are trying to enable companies to diversify their activities, that’s the purpose. That’s why the due diligence checks are applied and they are applied unreservedly.”


Serbia rejects confirmation of Bosnian Serb leader’s jail sentence

Serbia rejects confirmation of Bosnian Serb leader’s jail sentence
Updated 14 min 54 sec ago

Serbia rejects confirmation of Bosnian Serb leader’s jail sentence

Serbia rejects confirmation of Bosnian Serb leader’s jail sentence
  • Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the court decision undermined security in the Balkan region
  • Speaking after an emergency meeting of Serbia’s National Security Council, Vucic said the rulings were “a destabilising factor“

BELGRADE: Serbia rejected on Saturday a Bosnian appeals court ruling upholding a prison sentence for Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnia’s ethnic Serb entity, the Republika Srpska (RS).

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the court decision undermined security in the Balkan region.

In February, a court in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, sentenced Dodik to one year behind bars for defying rulings by the international envoy overseeing Bosnia’s 1995 peace accords.

It also banned Dodik, who has not so far been arrested, from holding office for six years.

Bosnia’s appeals court said on Friday it had upheld the lower court ruling and no further appeal was allowed.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of Serbia’s National Security Council, Vucic said the rulings were “a destabilising factor.”

“The security situation in the region has been seriously undermined,” he alleged.

Since the end of Bosnia’s ethnic conflict in the 1990s, the country of 3.5 million has consisted of two autonomous halves — the Serb-dominated RS and a Muslim-Croat federation.

The two are linked by weak central institutions, while each has its own government and parliament.

Dodik has repeatedly threatened to pull the Serb statelet out of Bosnia’s central institutions — including its army, judiciary and tax system.

Asked on Saturday asked whether Dodik would be arrested if a warrant were issued and he entered Serbian territory, Vucic said he would not.

“All relevant state authorities are obliged to respect the decision of the National Security Council,” he said.

“Milorad Dodik is welcome on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. He is the legitimately, legally elected president of Republika Srpska.”

In its conclusions, which Vucic read out, the security council said the Bosnian appeal court ruling was undemocratic, immoral and “a serious attack on the Serbian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“The political and security situation in the region has been seriously destabilized,” the council continued.

“There is a tendency toward further deterioration and an incitement to ethnic conflict directly targeting the Serbian people,” it alleged.

The council “urged all actors in the region to remain calm and approach the situation rationally“

It added: “Such acts directly undermine the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established by the Dayton peace agreement.”

Vucic said Serbia would continue to insist on full respect for the 1995 Dayton accords and said the current situation was the most difficult for the country in many years.

Reacting on X, Dodik thanked Vucic and the security council.

“Serbia has always been committed to Republika Srpska and has never done anything against
Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.

Dodik’s conviction set off a crisis that many observers considered the worst since Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.

He has rejected the trial and his conviction as “political.”

In response, the RS parliament passed a law prohibiting Bosnia’s central police and judicial authorities from operating in the Serb entity.

Bosnia’s constitutional court annulled those laws in May.


Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme

Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme
Updated 39 min 16 sec ago

Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme

Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme
  • NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of national guard personnel taking bribes
  • None of them were identified in the statement

KYIV: Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies said on Saturday they had uncovered a major graft scheme that procured military drones and signal jamming systems at inflated prices, two days after the agencies’ independence was restored following major protests.

The independence of Ukraine’s anti-graft investigators and prosecutors, NABU and SAPO, was reinstated by parliament on Thursday after a move to take it away resulted in the country’s biggest demonstrations since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

In a statement published by both agencies on social media, NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of national guard personnel taking bribes. None of them were identified in the statement.

“The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,” it said, adding that the offenders had received kickbacks of up to 30 percent of a contract’s cost. Four people had been arrested.

“There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose corruption and, as a result, a just sentence,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Zelensky, who has far-reaching wartime presidential powers and still enjoys broad approval among Ukrainians, was forced into a rare political about-face when his attempt to bring NABU and SAPO under the control of his prosecutor-general sparked the first nationwide protests of the war.

Zelensky subsequently said that he had heard the people’s anger, and submitted a bill restoring the agencies’ former independence, which was voted through by parliament on Thursday.

Ukraine’s European allies praised the move, having voiced concerns about the original stripping of the agencies’ status.

Top European officials had told Zelensky that Ukraine was jeopardizing its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities.

“It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them every opportunity for a real fight against corruption,” Zelensky wrote on Saturday after meeting the heads of the agencies, who briefed him on the latest investigation.


Thai storm kills six

Thai storm kills six
Updated 02 August 2025

Thai storm kills six

Thai storm kills six
  • Since 21 July, heavy rains have inundated 12 provinces
  • Images on social media showed murky floodwaters, sandbags stacked outside homes

BANGKOK: Floods and landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Wipha since last month have killed six people and affected more than 230,000 people across Thailand, disaster management officials said Saturday.

Since 21 July, heavy rains have inundated 12 provinces, mostly in the northern and central regions, according to Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

“We are closely monitoring the impact of rainstorm Wipha and coordinating with affected provinces to assist those in need,” the agency said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

Images on social media showed murky floodwaters, sandbags stacked outside homes, and residents using plastic boats to navigate submerged streets.

However the kingdom’s meteorological department predicts rainfall will ease in the coming days.

While Thailand experiences annual monsoon rains between May and October, scientists say man-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.

Widespread flooding across Thailand in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes around the country.


Fire near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant brought under control, says Russian management

Fire near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant brought under control, says Russian management
Updated 02 August 2025

Fire near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant brought under control, says Russian management

Fire near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant brought under control, says Russian management
  • The plant’s administration said on Telegram that a civilian had been killed in the shelling
  • No plant employees or members of the emergency services had been injured

MOSCOW: A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling has been brought under control, the Russian-installed administration of the Russia-held plant in Ukraine said on Saturday.

Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant in the first weeks of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Both sides have accused each other of firing or taking other actions that could trigger a nuclear accident.

The plant’s administration said on Telegram that a civilian had been killed in the shelling, but that no plant employees or members of the emergency services had been injured.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian report.

The station, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, is not operating but still requires power to keep its nuclear fuel cool.

The plant’s Russia-installed management said radiation levels remained within normal levels and the situation was under control.