International
Implement Biden truce plan, Hamas tells Gaza mediators, rejects ‘more negotiations’
Implement Biden truce plan, Hamas tells Gaza mediators, rejects ‘more negotiations’
GAZA: Hamas on Sunday called on US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators to implement a ceasefire plan for Gaza put forward by US President Joe Biden, instead of holding “more negotiations.”
Hamas “demands that the mediators present a plan to implement what they proposed to the movement… based on Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution, and compel the occupation (Israel) to comply, rather than going through more negotiation rounds or new proposals,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
Mediators have invited both Israel and Hamas for a round of negotiations on Thursday.
Last week, shortly after the killing of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Israel agreed to a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks to facilitate the release of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing of Haniyeh.
Several rounds of negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza have failed until now, except for a one-week truce that was observed at the end of November.
That truce saw the release of scores of hostages in exchange of dozens of Palestinians prisoners who were held in Israeli jails.
On May 31, Biden unveiled what he said was a three-stage plan for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The first phase of the plan includes a “full and complete ceasefire” lasting six weeks, with Israeli forces withdrawing from “all populated areas of Gaza.”
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Hamas would release “a number” of hostages captured in the October 7 attacks, including women, the elderly and the wounded. The remains of some hostages who had been killed would also be returned.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange.
Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their “homes and neighborhoods” throughout Gaza, including in the north, which has been devastated by months of Israeli bombing.
During the initial six-week period, Israel and Hamas would “negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end to hostilities.”
The ceasefire would also be extended if the negotiations continue, with mediators working to ensure they continue, Biden said at the time.
In phase two, also lasting around another six weeks, Israeli forces would completely withdraw from Gaza.
Hamas would release “all remaining living hostages” including male Israeli soldiers. This has been a key sticking point for Hamas in the past.
If both sides keep to the deal it will lead to the “cessation of hostilities permanently,” Biden said, quoting what he said had been an Israeli proposal.
In the third and final stage, a major reconstruction and stabilization plan for Gaza would begin, backed by the US and the international community.
The October 7 Hamas attacks resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,790 people, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
Implement Biden truce plan, Hamas tells Gaza mediators, rejects ‘more negotiations’
International
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland has temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in Poland via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced it would be happening after the controversial bill, which will allow Polish authorities to suspend this right for up to 60 days at a time, was signed into law by President Andrzej Duda.
Tusk had said it would be adopted “without a moment’s delay” while Duda said the changes were needed to strengthen security on the country’s borders.
But the law has been criticized by rights groups including Human Rights Watch, which said the EU should take legal action against Poland if it was implemented.
The group urged the country’s parliament last month to reject the bill, saying it “flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations” and could “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border, where Polish authorities already engage in unlawful and abusive pushbacks”.
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The government said previously the suspension would only be applied temporarily to people who pose a threat to state security, for example large groups of aggressive migrants trying to storm the border.
Exemptions will be made for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, the elderly or unwell, anyone exposed to “real risk of serious harm” by being returned and citizens of countries accused of conducting the instrumentalization of migration – like Belarus
Tusk has dismissed criticism from human rights groups.
“Nobody is talking about violating human rights, the right to asylum, we are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by Lukashenko,” he said in October.
Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have seen a huge increase in the number of people crossing into their countries illegally from Belarus and Russia.
Polish authorities have sent thousands of troops and border guards to police its border with Belarus and built a 5.5-metre-high steel fence along 186 km of the frontier where at times several thousand migrants have been left stranded.
Rights groups estimate more than one hundred people have died on the borders between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia since 2021.
EU eastern flank countries and the European Commission have accused the Belarusian and Russian authorities of weaponising migration to create a new route into the EU to destabilize the bloc.
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
BBC
International
Trump slaps 25% tariffs on car imports to US
Trump slaps 25% tariffs on car imports to US
US President Donald Trump has slapped new 25% import duties on autos and car parts entering the US, threatening to escalate the global trade war.
Trump said the additional duties would go into effect on April 2, with levies on businesses importing autos beginning the next day. Charges for parts are scheduled to begin in May or later.
The president stated that the proposal would result in “tremendous growth” for the auto industry, saying that it would boost jobs and investment in the United States.
However, analysts believe the measure will result in a temporary stoppage of significant US vehicle production, higher costs, and strained relations with allies.
Last year, the US imported approximately eight million cars, accounting for approximately $240 billion (£186 billion) in trade and roughly half of total sales.
Mexico is the top foreign supplier of cars to the US, followed by South Korea, Japan, Canada, and Germany.
Trump’s latest move could disrupt global car trade and supply chains. Many US car companies have operations in Mexico and Canada under the terms of the long-standing free trade agreement.
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However, the new taxes on parts from Canada and Mexico are exempt until US Customs and Border Patrol establish a method to assess the duties, according to the White House. Every day, billions of dollars in goods cross borders between neighbouring countries.
On Wednesday, General Motors’ stock fell almost 3%. The sell-off spread to other firms, including Ford, following the president’s speech that reaffirmed the tariffs.
When asked during a news conference if there was any chance he would change his mind, Trump responded no, later adding, “This is permanent.”
“If you build your car in the United States there is no tariff,” he said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated that his government would consider all measures in reaction to the taxes.
Japan, home to several major automakers, is the world’s second-largest vehicle exporter.
Japanese automakers’ shares, including Toyota, Nissan, and Honda, sank in early trading in Tokyo.
A tariff is a levy on imports levied by the government and paid by the company importing the goods.
Trump has welcomed the instrument, intending to use it to target a wide range of imported goods as part of a larger effort to defend American industries and increase production.
However, while the rules can protect domestic industries, they also increase costs for businesses that rely on imported parts, such as carmakers.
According to the Anderson Economic Group, 25% tariffs on parts from Mexico and Canada alone could increase the cost of a car by $4,000 to $10,000, depending on the type.
Trump slaps 25% tariffs on car imports to US
International
Three girls arrested for attempting to stab mother
Three girls arrested for attempting to stab mother
Three teenage sisters in Texas have been charged with trying to stab their mom to death for turning off the Wi-Fi.
The sisters, ages just 14, 15, and 16, were busted after chasing their 39-year-old mother from their Houston home late Sunday allegedly bashing her with a brick and then knocking over their grandmother when she tried to stop them, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
“The three siblings allegedly coordinated a plan to try and kill the mother,” Gonzalez wrote on X.
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“The mother was struck with a brick” and ” In the process, “the grandmother was knocked over while trying to protect” her, the sheriff said, without further identifying any of those involved.
Luckily, both adults escaped serious injury, he said.
All three sisters were arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and were booked into the Harris County Juvenile facility.
Three girls arrested for attempting to stab mother
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