President Donald Trump has directed the US Trade Representative to prepare new tariffs on $200bn in Chinese imports as the two nations moved closer to a wider trade war, with Beijing promising retaliation.

The tariffs, which Trump wants set at a 10 percent rate, would be the latest round of punitive measures in an escalating dispute over the large trade imbalance between the two countries.

Trump recently ordered tariffs on $50bn in Chinese goods in retaliation for what he claimed is theft of intellectual property.

Are US and China on the brink of a trade war?
The tariffs were quickly matched by China on US exports, including lobsters and soybeans, a move that drew the president’s ire.

“China apparently has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology,” Trump said in a statement Monday announcing the new action

“Rather than altering those practices, it is now threatening United States companies, workers, and farmers who have done nothing wrong.”

Trump added: “These tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced.”

China’s Commerce Ministry on Tuesday criticised the latest threat of tariffs, saying it was an “act of extreme pressure and blackmail that deviates from the consensus reached by both parties after many negotiations, and is a disappointment to the international community.”

“If the US becomes irrational and issues this list, China will have no choice but to adopt strong countermeasures of the same amount and quality,” the ministry statement said.

‘Dangerous game of bluff’
Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, described Trump’s statement as a “dangerous game of bluff”.

US-China trade war
“President Donald Trump has raised the stakes once more. I think it is going to make the chances of a negotiated settlement in the next 17 days that much more difficult,” our correspondent said.

Brown also said that there are no signs of the two nations resuming their stalled trade talks “in just about every level”.

“At the moment, both sides seemed to have backed themselves into a corner with no way out,” he added.

Trump said that if China responds to this fresh round of tariffs, then he will move to counter “by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200bn of goods”.

It was not immediately clear when the new tariffs could be put in place, as the trade office has yet to identify the Chinese goods to be penalized or conduct a legal review.

The first round of penalties announced by both nations is set to take effect July 6.

The intellectual property sanctions were the latest in a spate of protectionist measures unveiled by Trump in recent months that included tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US and a tough rhetoric on trade negotiations from North America to Asia.

The escalation in the dispute with China may also serve as a warning to other trading partners with whom Trump has been feuding, including Canada and the European Union.

Wall Street has viewed the escalating trade tensions with wariness, fearful they could strangle the economic growth achieved during Trump’s watch.

Gary Cohn, Trump’s former top economic adviser, said last week that a “tariff battle” could result in price inflation and consumer debt — “historic ingredients for an economic slowdown”.

At least 38 foreign fighters allied to Syria’s regime were killed in an overnight bombing raid near the country’s eastern border with Iraq, a monitor said today.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike on the town of Al-Hari was one of the deadliest on forces allied with Syria’s government, but could not immediately identify who carried it out.

Syrian state media reported the attack overnight and accused the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, saying a number of people were killed.(AFP)

President Donald Trump has once again lambasted the “fake” communications media as the country’s “biggest enemy” because of their alleged attempts to “downplay” the results of his recent summit with North Korea.

“So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN. They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have ‘begged’ for this deal-looked like war would break out,” Trump said on Wednesday on Twitter, regarding the time before he came into the White House.

“Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!” the President continued, just hours after landing in Washington after his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, although its ramifications are not yet clear, Efe reported.

Trump’s meeting with Kim was the first between leaders of the two countries and came after months of heated rhetoric and mutual military – including nuclear – threats.

At their meeting, however, the two leaders agreed to begin the process of denuclearizing North Korea, although the details remain to be worked out in future encounters, and – in a surprising development – Trump promised to end joint US military maneeuvres with South Korea.

In addition, Trump invited Kim to the White House, a proposal that the North Korean leader accepted, according to that country’s state-run KCNA news agency.

Since he took office, the US president has repeatedly criticized this country’s main media outlets – except for conservative Fox News, for instance – for providing what he says is unfair coverage of his administration, reporting that he has called “fake news.”

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed an agreement on Tuesday pledging to support a peaceful resolution to seven decades of hostilities between the two countries and a de-escalation of nuclear tensions.

Under the agreement, the US committed to providing security guarantees to its old enemy while North Korea “commits to working towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.

That provision falls short of the hoped-for “complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation” of North Korea that had been urged by the US and its allies in the build-up to Tuesday’s talks.

Trump defended the agreement at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, saying both he and Kim are committed to its provisions.

“Today is the beginning of an arduous process,” Trump told reporters. “Our eyes are wide open, but peace is always worth the effort, especially in this case.”

Trump said economic sanctions against the country will remain in effect until North Korea reverses its nuclear programme, and added there are no short-term plans to reduce the number of US troops – some 28,500 – stationed in South Korea.

Trump and Kim capped a one-day peace summit by signing the agreement without immediately disclosing the terms. Trump stayed on to detail the agreement at a later news conference while Kim left the summit for a return flight to Pyongyang.

Four major points covered in the Trump-Kim agreement:

The US and North Korea will pursue better relations “in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity”.
The US and North Korea “will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace” on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea commits to “work towards denuclearisation”.
The countries agree to recover and repatriate POW/MIA remains to date back to the Korean War.
Earlier, at a signing ceremony, Kim said: “We had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind. The world will see a major change.”

Trump added: “A lot of work and a lot of preparation went into this. The meeting went better than expected and no one could’ve expected this.”

As both leaders stood on a hotel veranda to say their final goodbyes, Trump said: “We’ll meet again. We will meet many times.”

Analysts are divided over the agreement, with some saying it does nothing to avoid repeating past mistakes in similar attempts at a denuclearization deal.

Others see the summit as a welcome reversal to decades of hostility and harsh language between the US and North Korea.

“An important first step has been taken with the historic agreement even if it is scant on details,” said Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University.

“Much work remains to be done and there will be obstacles ahead for sure given what is at stake for all stakeholders.”

‘Short on details’
Geoffrey See, a founder of the Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based non-profit that organizes business workshops in North Korea, said: “The summit is still short on details on how both sides will achieve their objectives. But the summit has reversed a process [by] putting trust, relationship and aspiration at the start rather than at the end.”

Tuesday’s summit, which began about 9 am local time and ended with the signing shortly before 2 pm (06:00 GMT), was punctuated by handshakes, smiles and upbeat comments from both Trump and Kim.

Trump met Kim on Singapore’s Sentosa Island at the Capella Hotel, a former British colonial barracks converted into a high-end hotel, starting with a carefully choreographed handshake greeting against a backdrop of US and North Korean flags.

Following initial comments to reporters Tuesday morning, Trump and Kim went into a private meeting accompanied solely by their translators, then a larger meeting with aides to both men, and finally a working lunch.

Before heading into the private meeting with Trump, Kim said: “The way to come to here was not easy. The old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles on our way forward, but we overcame all of them and we are here today.”

After coming face to face for the first time in history, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump signed a joint statement here on Tuesday.

“We’re signing a very important document, pretty comprehensive document, and we’ve had a really great time together, a great relationship… More will be discussed at a press conference soon,” The New Straits Times quoted Trump as saying.

“We have developed a special bond,” he said. “The meeting was far better than anybody ever predicted.”

Kim said in response: “The world will see a major change.”

Kim and Trump became the first leaders of their countries to hold a one on one meeting. They met at the British colonial style Capella Hotel in Sentosa Island.

The two leaders first met alone and were later joined by their aides for an expanded bilateral meeting and a working lunch.

The Pakistan Supreme Court has extended the deadline given to an accountability court for the completion of trial in corruption references against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law.

A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, on Sunday also allowed Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz to visit his ailing wife Kulsoom Nawaz in London, reports Dawn news.

Taking up an application moved by Judge Mohammad Bashir of the accountability court, the court granted a one-month extension to the trial court.

The previous deadline given to the court for concluding the trial expired on June 9.

Appearing on behalf of Sharif, Advocate Khwaja Harris said that at least six more weeks were required to complete the proceedings.

In March, the Supreme Court had granted a two-month extension to the accountability court to conclude the proceedings, Dawn reported.

However, the trial court failed to complete its proceedings within the given timeframe.

Finally, the apex court gave a one-month extension to the trial court enabling it to complete the proceedings by June 9.

At least 41 people were killed and 14 others injured in separate violent attacks across two Afghan provinces, authorities said on Monday.

In Nangarhar province, 12 civilians were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

In a different incident also in Nangarhar, 34 Taliban militants were killed after Afghan forces raided a hideout on Sunday night.

In Jawzjan province, seven police personnel were killed and two others injured after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint on Sunday night.

The attacks came after the Taliban on June 9 announced a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr when no attack will be carried out on Afghan forces.

The Taliban’s announcement came after President Ashraf Ghani on June 7 announced a ceasefire with the militant group and said no operations will be carried out against the fighters of the group starting from the 27th day of Ramadan (June 13) till the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr.

For clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at
+91-120-4822400

United States President Donald Trump’s call to readmit Russia to the rich nations club G7 failed to yield any result as the European members have unanimously opposed it.

Moscow was expelled from the G7 club over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May and new Italian premier Giuseppe Conte unanimously agreed to oppose Trump’s call during joint talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit, being held in Canada.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

The Afghan government on Thursday announced an eight-day ceasefire with the Taliban in response to a historic ruling issued by hundreds of religious scholars.

The ceasefire starting from the 27th day of Ramadan (June 13) will continue until the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in a statement.

“With the ceasefire announcement, we epitomize the strength of the Afghan government and the will of the people for a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict,” Tolo News quoted Ghani as saying,

“This ceasefire is an opportunity for the Taliban to introspect that their violent campaign is not wining them hearts and minds but further alienating the Afghan people from their cause.”

On Monday, more than 2,000 Afghan religious scholars from across the country gathered in Kabul and issued the ruling, saying “the ongoing war in Afghanistan is forbidden under Islamic law”.

However, at the end of the gathering, a suicide bomber detonated himself where 14 people were killed and 17 others wounded.

The Taliban has denied any involvement in the attack.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has unanimously elected Hessa Al Ateibi, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the UAE, as Vice-Chair of the Economic and Financial Committee during its 73rd session.

The Committee addresses topics relating to sustainable development, science, technology and innovation, globalization, eradication of poverty and development and humanitarian assistance.

In this capacity, Al Ateibi could be tasked by the Chair of the Committee to facilitate the negotiations and discussions on UN processes.

The Assembly also elected Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, as President for the 73rd Session of the Assembly which will begin in September.