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US gives Israel 30 days to boost Gaza aid or risk cut to military support

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The US has written to Israel, giving it 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

The letter, sent on Sunday, amounts to the strongest known written warning from the US to its ally and comes amid a new Israeli offensive in northern Gaza that has reportedly caused a large number of civilian casualties.

It says the US has deep concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, adding that Israel denied or impeded nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between the north and south last month.

Israel is reviewing the letter, an Israeli official was reported as saying, adding the country “takes this matter seriously” and intends to “address the concerns raised” with US counterparts.

Israel has previously said it is targeting Hamas operatives in the north and not stopping the entry of humanitarian aid.

On Monday, the Israeli military body responsible for managing crossings into Gaza, Cogat, said 30 lorries carrying aid from the World Food Programme had entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing.

That ended a two-week period during which the UN said no food aid was delivered to the north, and supplies essential for survival were running out for the 400,000 Palestinians there.

A UN official has said that Gaza is in a state of “constant peak emergency”.

Antoine Renard, head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the occupied Palestinian territories, told the AFP news agency people in the north of the territory were “relying solely on assistance” with practically no access to fresh food other than that provided by UN agencies.

(BBC News)

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Acropolis closes as heatwave grips Greece

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The Acropolis is closing temporarily on Tuesday as soaring temperatures continue to grip Greece.

The popular site in the capital city of Athens was shutting from 13:00-17:00 local time (11:00-15:00 BST), the country’s culture ministry said.

Highs of 42C (107F) are forecast for parts of the European country on Tuesday and a category four wildfire warning, signalling a very high risk, is in place in several regions.

It comes as wildfires were reported in other parts of the continent, including France and Spain’s Catalonia region, weeks after they were hit by a deadly early summer heatwave.

Changes to the Acropolis’ opening hours were announced on Monday after extreme heat returned to Greece on Sunday.

Its closure on Tuesday – with highs of 38C expected in the city – is not the first time extreme heat has shut the popular attraction – having done so in June and last July.

Authorities said the closure was for the “the safety of workers and visitors” at the site, which is visited by tens of thousands of people every day, totalling 4.5m in 2024.

The country’s labour ministry has also imposed a mandatory five-hour work stoppage for manual, outdoor workers between 12:00-17:00 on Tuesday in the areas set to see the worst heat.

The current heatwave is due to continue into Wednesday, with forecasts of 40-42C for southern parts of the country, before starting to break on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 41 wildfires broke out across Greece on Monday, according to the country’s fire service. Of those, 34 were contained early while seven remained active into Monday evening.

A Category 4 wildfire warning was issued late on Monday for five regions: Attica, the Peloponnese, central Greece, Thessaly and western Greece.

The public was urged to remain vigilant and emergency services were on high alert, the country’s civil protection said.

Elsewhere, more than 1,000 fire fighters were tackling a wildfire in southwestern France early on Tuesday. Residents near the town of Narbonne evacuated their homes, and a motorway linking France and Spain was shut.

In Catalonia, more than 2,000 people were under lockdown early on Tuesday as a wildfire that broke out on Sunday continued to rage in the eastern province of Tarragona, according to local media.

Much of western and southern Europe was hit by a scorching early summer heatwave, which saw thousands evacuated, and homes and business destroyed.

Heatwaves are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

It has said hot weather will happen more often – and become even more intense – as the planet continues to warm.

(BBC News)

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Netanyahu visits US as Trump puts pressure to agree Gaza ceasefire deal

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After 21 months of war, there are growing hopes of a new Gaza ceasefire announcement as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Trump previously told reporters he had been “very firm” with Netanyahu about ending the conflict and that he thought “we’ll have a deal” this week.

“We are working to achieve the deal that has been discussed, under the conditions we have agreed,” the veteran Israeli PM said before boarding his plane. “I believe that the conversation with President Trump can definitely help advance this outcome, which we all hope for.”

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a US-sponsored proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal resumed in Qatar on Sunday evening.

However, it is unclear whether key differences that have consistently held up an agreement can be overcome.

Only cautious optimism is being expressed by weary Palestinians living in dire conditions amid continuing daily Israeli bombardment, and the distressed families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

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Trump threatens extra 10% tariffs on BRICS as leaders meet in Brazil

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US President Donald Trump said the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the “Anti-American policies” of the BRICS group of developing nations, whose leaders kicked off a summit in Brazil on Sunday.

With forums such as the G7 and G20 groups of major economies hamstrung by divisions and the disruptive “America First” approach of the U.S. president, BRICS is presenting itself as a haven for multilateral diplomacy amid violent conflicts and trade wars.

In opening remarks to the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva drew a parallel with the Cold War’s Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted joining either side of a polarized global order.
“BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement,” Lula told leaders. “With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is in check once again.”

In a joint statement released on Sunday afternoon, the group warned the rise in tariffs threatened global trade, continuing its veiled criticism of Trump’s tariff policies.

Hours later, Trump warned he would punish countries seeking to join with the grouping.
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump did not clarify or expand on the “Anti-American policies” reference in his post.Trump’s administration is seeking to finalize dozens of trade deals with a wide range of countries before his July 9 deadline for the imposition of significant “retaliatory tariffs”. India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BRICS nations now represent more than half the world’s population and 40% of its economic output, Lula noted in remarks on Saturday to business leaders, warning of rising protectionism.The original BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as members. This is the first summit of leaders to include Indonesia.
More than 30 nations have expressed interest in participating in the BRICS, either as full members or partners.

Expansion of the bloc has added diplomatic weight to the gathering, which aspires to speak for developing nations across the Global South, strengthening calls for reforming global institutions such as the United Nations Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.

“If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to BRICS to help bring it up to date,” Lula said in his remarks, which highlighted the failure of U.S.-led wars in the Middle East.

Urging the BRICS to take the lead on reforms, Lula reflected on the G20 summit hosted in the same locale last November: “In a short period of time, the international scene has deteriorated to the point that some of the initiatives we approved then would no longer be possible now.”Stealing some thunder from this year’s summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to send his premier in his place. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending online due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court related to his war in Ukraine.

Still, several heads of state were gathered for discussions at Rio’s Museum of Modern Art on Sunday and Monday, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

However, there are questions about the shared goals of an increasingly heterogeneous BRICS group, which has grown to include regional rivals along with major emerging economies.

In the joint statement, the leaders called attacks against Iran’s “civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities” a “violation of international law.”

The group expressed “grave concern” for the Palestinian people over Israeli attacks on Gaza, and condemned what the joint statement called a “terrorist attack” in India-administered Kashmir.

The group voiced its support for Ethiopia and Iran to join the World Trade Organization, while calling to urgently restore its ability to resolve trade disputes.

The leaders’ joint statement backed plans to pilot a BRICS Multilateral Guarantees initiative within the group’s New Development Bank to lower financing costs and boost investment in member states, as first reported by Reuters last week.

In a separate statement following a discussion of artificial intelligence, the leaders called for protections against unauthorized use of AI to avoid excessive data collection and allow mechanisms for fair payment.

Brazil, which also hosts the United Nations climate summit in November, has seized on both gatherings to highlight how seriously developing nations are tackling climate change, while Trump has slammed the brakes on U.S. climate initiatives.China and the UAE signaled in meetings with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Rio that they plan to invest in a proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions about funding conservation of endangered forests around the world.

(Reuters)

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