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川普對日韓加徵25%關稅 談判期限再展延

null 周子馨
2025-07-08T04:33:08.951Z
川普週一公布對14個國家的新關稅稅率

(德國之聲中文網)週一(7月7日),美國總統川普在社群平台「真實社群」(Truth Social)公布他發送給14國領導人的信件,其中日本及韓國將面臨25%的稅率,其他12國則面臨25%至40%不等的關稅。跟川普4月宣布的對等關稅相比,日本面臨更高稅率,韓國則與先前相同。

根據川普公開的內容,此次收到通知信的還包含:馬來西亞、哈薩克、緬甸、寮國、突尼西亞、南非、波士尼亞與赫塞哥維納(簡稱波士尼亞)、印尼、孟加拉、塞爾維亞、柬埔寨、泰國。

美方給14國的信件內容用字幾乎完全相同,僅有稅率的差異,其中日本、韓國、馬來西亞、哈薩克及突尼西亞都被徵收25%的關稅;南非及波士尼亞為30%;印尼、孟加拉、塞爾維亞、泰國、柬埔寨介於32%至36%。稅率最高的為寮國及緬甸,均被加徵40%的關稅。

白宮發言人萊維特(Karoline Leavitt)稱,此次稅率是由川普親自設定,「為每一個國家量身打造貿易方案,這正是本屆政府持續專注的目標」。

川普在信中警告,若貿易夥伴想透過上調關稅報復,那美方將在原本的稅率上「等價奉還」。儘管如此,他也保留了談判空間,稱關稅可能會根據雙邊關係上修或下調。

亞洲社會政策研究所(ASPI)副所長卡特勒(Wendy Cutler)指出,川普對日本和韓國這兩個親近盟友的進口商品加徵關稅令人遺憾。卡特勒稱,日韓兩國「一直是美國在經濟安全領域的親密夥伴,在造船、半導體、關鍵礦產與能源合作等優先議題上,有許多可以為美國所用的資源與專業」。

第一波收到川普信函的國家包含許多東南亞國家。7日,美國國務院宣布國務卿盧比奧將於8日至12日造訪馬來西亞,與東南亞國協(ASEAN)各國官員舉行會議。

當前美國僅和英國越南達成貿易協議;與中國則是達成協議框架

日韓如何回應?

韓國產業通商資源部週二(8日)稱,川普週一宣布的稅率與早前持平,實際上等同於延長寬限期,暫緩徵收關稅至8月1日。該部門強調,接下來將加快談判進程,盡力達成互利的談判結果,消除關稅引發的不確定性。

日本首相石破茂週二也表示,日方將繼續與美國談判,尋求達成對兩國都有利的雙邊貿易協議。石破茂在與內閣部長召開的會議上也強調,雖然還沒達成雙邊貿易協議,但談判已經有所進展,幫助日本避免了川普此前宣稱要將關稅提高至30%或35%的威脅。

石破茂說:「我們已經收到美方的提議,要求在新設定的8月1日截止日前迅速展開談判,且根據日本的回應,信函中的內容可能會有所修正。」

南非總統拉馬福薩(Cyril Ramaphosa)則批評,30%的關稅並不合理,因為美國商品中有77%進入南非時並未被徵稅。拉馬福薩的發言人表示,南非政府將繼續與美國保持接觸。

歐盟爭取壓線達協議

路透社週一引述消息人士報導稱,歐盟並不在川普的關稅通知信名單之列。歐盟重申,希望與在週三前與美國達成貿易協議。歐盟委員會發言人基爾斯馬克(Stefan De Keersmaecker)週一在記者會上透露,主席馮德萊恩週日與川普通話,雙方有「良好的交流」。

歐盟內部目前對於是否應迅速達成一項貿易協議,或利用其經濟實力爭取更佳結果仍有分歧。

川普延長7月9日大限

美方此前宣布的關稅談判期限原定在本週三(9日)到期,不過川普週一再度簽署了一項行政命令,把截止日期延後至8月1日

卡托研究所(Cato Institute)分析師林西科姆(Scott Lincicome)認為,川普政府此舉並非象徵重大的升級或退讓,「只是延續之前的模式而已」。

美國財政部長貝森特(Scott Bessent)週一稍早也表示,他預計未來48小時內會有多項貿易公告發布,並補充說他收到了來自多國最後一刻的提議。

相关图集:特朗普关税战2.0时间线梳理

2025年2月1日 |对墨、加、中加征关税:特朗普上任后首次大规模加征关税:自2月1日开始对美国三大贸易伙伴加拿大、墨西哥和中国加征关税。特朗普宣布对邻国加拿大和墨西哥进口商品加征25%的关税,指责两国未能阻止非法移民进入美国;对来自中国商品加征10%的关税,指责中国在芬太尼生产中扮演重要角色。
2025年2月10日 |加征钢铝关税 无例外豁免:特朗普2月10日签署行政令,对所有进口至美国的钢铁和铝制品加征25%关税,并取消加拿大、墨西哥和巴西等钢铝主要供应国的免税额度。
2025年3月26日|宣布对进口汽车全面征税:特朗普于3月26日宣布,自4月3日起,对所有进口汽车与轻型卡车征收25%的关税。全球汽车供应链受冲击,日韩汽车产业首当其冲。受此消息影响,丰田、本田、现代和起亚等汽车制造商股价大幅下跌,总市值蒸发约165亿美元。
2025年4月2日|宣布“对等关税”:特朗普4月2日在白宫玫瑰花园举行“让美国再次富有”(Make America Wealthy Again)记者会,宣布“对等关税”措施。美国对大多数国家征收10%的基准关税,但针对特定国家征收更高税额。中国、欧盟和越南分别面临34%、20%和46%的关税; 日本、韩国、印度、柬埔寨和台湾,分别受到24%、25%、26%、49%和32%进口关税的打击。
2025年4月9日|暂缓关税90日 中国除外:特朗普4月9日在大规模“对等关税”上路不到24小时后出现政策大转弯,宣布暂缓征收“对等关税”90天,在此期间,税率将统一降至10%的基准关税。但中国被排除在暂缓名单之外,不仅如此,还将对中国的关税加码至145%,其中包含了美国此前指控中国打击芬太尼不力而征收的20%关税。
2025年5月4日 | 对美国境外制作的电影征收100%关税:特朗普5月4日以“国安威胁”为由,宣布将对非美国制作的电影征收100%关税,理由是要“拯救美国电影业”。
2025年5月12日|中美关税战90天“停火协议”:美中高层在瑞士进行谈判后于5月12日发布联合声明,就90天的“暂停期”达成协议:美国对大多数中国输美商品加征145%的关税将在5月14日前下调至30%,30%关税里包括针对芬太尼问题额外施加的20%惩罚性关税;中国对美产品加征的125%关税则将降至10%。美中双边早前不断叠加的报复性关税,在这波协商中几乎都被取消。(图为美财政部长贝森特与贸易谈判代表格里尔出席美中贸易会谈)
2025年5月13日|美大幅下调中国“小包裹”关税:白宫5月13发布行政命令,将从5月14日起将对中国低价值货物(不超过800美元)征收的“最低限度”关税从120%下调至54%,原计划的200美元固定费用征税方案被搁置,现行的100美元固定费用将继续执行。
5月23日 对阵欧盟:特朗普威胁自6月1日起对欧盟商品加征50%的统一关税。他同时警告苹果公司,若其在美国销售的手机是在海外生产的,将面临25%的关税。两天后,特朗普收回了对欧盟加征50%关税的威胁,他表示,与欧委会主席冯德莱恩通电话后,同意将美国和欧盟的谈判期限延长至7月9日。
5月28日 美国法院裁定特朗普对等关税“越权”:美国联邦国际贸易法庭裁定,特朗普今年4月2日对多国征收的对等关税,以及早前向中国、加拿大和墨西哥加征的报复性关税都属于“非法”。判决认定,特朗普征收全球关税的行为超出了《国际经济紧急权力法》(IEEPA)赋予总统的权限。美政府表示将对该裁决提出上诉。
5月29日 美国上诉法院暂准特朗普关税恢复执行:美国联邦上诉法院一天后推翻该判决,让特朗普的关税政策得以持续实施。上诉法院指出,为了审理特朗普政府的上诉,将先暂缓此前法院的裁决,并命令原告及特朗普政府分别在6月5日和6月9日前提交回应文件。
5月30日 特朗普全面上调钢铝关税:美国总统特朗普宣布将对全球钢铁和铝产品的进口关税提高至50%。中国是美国的第三大铝供应国。他指责中国未按约降低关税,取消针对稀土等产品的贸易限制。他说:“中国完全违反了与我们达成的协议。不能再做好好先生了!”
6月10日 美中谈判双方宣布原则上达成贸易框架协议:中国和美国官员在英国伦敦举行贸易谈判,经过两天的会议,6月10日,双方宣布原则上已达成贸易框架协议,以落实5月在瑞士日内瓦的共识、还有两国领袖上周的通话内容。特朗普在社交媒体Truth Social上表示,按照美中达成的新的贸易协议,美国将从中国获得稀土磁体。他还表示,将允许中国学生在协议达成后继续留在美国大学学习。

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US delays higher tariffs but announces new rates for some nations

Getty Images US President Donald Trump announces tariffs at the White House in AprilGetty Images

The US plans to impose a 25% tax on products entering the country from South Korea and Japan on 1 August, President Donald Trump has said.

He announced the tariffs in a post on social media, sharing letters he said had been sent to leaders of the two countries.

The White House has said it expects to send similar messages to many countries in the coming days as the 90-day pause it placed on some of its most aggressive tariffs is set to expire.

The first two letters suggest that Trump remains committed to his initial push for tariffs, with little change from the rates announced in April.

At that time, he said he was looking to hit goods from Japan with duties of 24% and charge a 25% on products made in South Korea.

Those tariffs were included in a bigger "Liberation Day" announcement, which imposed tariffs on goods from countries around the world.

After outcry and turmoil on financial markets following the initial tariffs announcement, Trump suspended some of the import taxes to allow for talks. That deadline is set to expire on 9 July.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected "a busy couple of days".

"We've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," he told US business broadcaster CNBC.

Trump upbeat on Gaza ceasefire talks as he hosts Netanyahu

Reuters US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington DC on 7 July 2025.Reuters

US President Donald Trump has said he thinks talks to end the war in Gaza have been "going along very well", as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC.

Trump also expressed confidence that Hamas was willing to end the 21-month conflict. "They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire," he said in unexpected remarks to reporters at the White House.

Both leaders were asked about potential plans to relocate Palestinians, with Trump saying he has co-operation from countries neighbouring Israel.

The meeting came after the latest rounds of indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar ended without a breakthrough, though negotiations were expected to continue this week.

In Monday's remarks, Trump was asked by a journalist what was preventing a peace deal in Gaza, and he said: "I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well."

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he was working with the US on finding countries that will "give Palestinians a better future".

The Palestinian presidency has previously rejected plans to relocate Palestinians, which it pointed out would violate international law.

Netanyahu also appeared to play down prospects of full Palestinian statehood, saying that Israel will "always" keep security control over the Gaza Strip.

"Now, people will say it's not a complete state, it's not a state. We don't care," Netanyahu said.

At the meeting, the Israeli PM also said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, reportedly a long-held goal of the US president.

"He's forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other," Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a letter he sent to the prize committee.

Watch: Moment Benjamin Netanyahu hands Donald Trump nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

Trump has previously said he would be "very firm" with the Israeli PM about ending the war and indicated that "we'll have a deal" this week.

The White House initially said it would not make the meeting between the two leaders open to media, with officials describing it as a private dinner during which Trump would prioritise the push for an end to the war and the return of all hostages.

Keeping the meeting closed to journalists would have been unusual for a president who likes to platform his positions with foreign leaders in front of the world's press.

The US-backed ceasefire proposal would reportedly see Hamas release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages in five stages during a 60-day truce.

Israel would be required to release an unknown number of Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from parts of Gaza, where it now controls about two-thirds of the territory.

Obstacles to a deal remain significant.

The main outstanding issue relates to aid, as Hamas insists on ending the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, while the Israeli delegation refuses to discuss the issue, saying they are not authorised to discuss it.

During his visit, Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

As Netanyahu's armoured limousine travelled to the White House, dozens of protesters gathered at security gates, waving Palestinian flags and shouting calls for the Israeli's PM's arrest.

Netanyahu, along with his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, were made subjects of an arrest warrant in November from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Netanyahu has rejected the allegations, calling the warrants antisemitic, while the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on four ICC judges for what it called "baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel".

Getty Images Protesters wave Palestinian flags during Benjamin Netanyahu's visit with Donald Trump in Washington DC on 7 July 2025.Getty Images
Protesters wave Palestinian flags during Benjamin Netanyahu's visit with Donald Trump in Washington DC

The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives seated in different rooms in the same building.

A second session was held on Monday and ended without a breakthrough, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

Witkoff was due to join the talks in Doha later this week in an effort to get a ceasefire over the line as the Gaza conflict nears its 22nd month.

Speaking to the BBC, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee declined to say whether Trump would give a written guarantee that a proposed 60-day ceasefire would be extended, so long as negotiations continue.

"I simply don't know," Huckabee said.

This is one of Hamas's key demands and a stumbling block in the current negotiations.

When asked whether he believes Trump can achieve a breakthrough with the Israeli leader, Huckabee said: "I'm not a prophet. I cannot predict the future, so I won't try to tell you what will happen."

Netanyahu is visiting the White House for the third time since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.

But the leaders are meeting for the first time since the US joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and then brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

There is a strong sense that the recent 12-day war has created more favourable circumstances to end the Gaza war.

Witkoff said at Monday's dinner that a US meeting with Iran would take place in the next week or so. Trump also said he would like to lift sanctions on the Islamic Republic at some point.

The US president has expressed increasing concern over the conflict in Gaza in recent weeks and believes there is a "good chance" of reaching a ceasefire.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it was Trump's "utmost priority" to end the war in Gaza and that he wanted Hamas to agree to the 60-day deal "right now".

From India to Britain and back: The cartoonist who fought censors with a smile

BBC A cartoon strip by Abu. BBC
Abu's cartoons sharply captured the media's servility during the Emergency

"It's unfair to lift censorship suddenly," growls a grizzled newspaper editor into the phone, a copy of The Daily Pulp sprawled across his desk. "We should be given time to prepare our minds."

The cartoon capturing this moment - piercing and satirical - is the work of Abu Abraham, one of India's finest political cartoonists. His pen skewered power with elegance and edge, especially during the 1975 Emergency, a 21-month stretch of suspended civil liberties and muzzled media under Indira Gandhi's rule.

The press was silenced overnight on 25 June. Delhi's newspaper presses lost power, and by morning censorship was law. The government demanded the press bend to its will - and, as opposition leader LK Advani later famously remarked, many "chose to crawl".

Another famous cartoon - he signed them Abu, after his pen name - from that time shows a man asking another: "What do you think of editors who are more loyal than the censor?"

In many ways, half a century later, Abu's cartoons still ring true.

India currently ranks 151st in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders. This reflects growing concerns about media independence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Critics allege increasing pressure and attacks on journalists, acquiescent media and a shrinking space for dissenting voices. The government dismisses these claims, insisting that the media remain free and vibrant.

A cartoon strip by Abu.
One of Abu's iconic Emergency cartoons shows President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signing the proclamation from his bathtub

After nearly 15 years drawing cartoons in London for The Observer and The Guardian, Abu had returned to India in the late 1960s. He joined the Indian Express newspaper as a political cartoonist at a time when the country was grappling with intense political upheaval.

He later wrote that pre-censorship - which required newspapers and magazines to submit their news reports, editorials and even ads to government censors before publication - began two days after the Emergency was declared, was lifted after a few weeks, then reimposed a year later for a shorter period.

"For the rest of the time I had no official interference. I have not bothered to investigate why I was allowed to carry on freely. And I am not interested in finding out."

Many of Abu's Emergency-era cartoons are iconic. One shows then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signing the proclamation from his bathtub, capturing the haste and casualness with which it was issued (Ahmed signed the Emergency declaration that Gandhi had issued shortly before midnight on 25 June).

Among Abu's striking works are several cartoons boldly stamped with "Not passed by censors", a stark mark of official suppression.

In one, a man holds a placard that reads "Smile!" - a sly jab at the government's forced-positivity campaigns during the Emergency. His companion deadpans, "Don't you think we have a lovely censor of humour?" - a line that cuts to the heart of state-enforced cheer.

Another seemingly innocuous cartoon shows a man at his desk sighing, "My train of thought has derailed." Another features a protester carrying a sign that reads "SaveD democracy" - the "D" awkwardly added on top, as if democracy itself were an afterthought.

A cartoon strip by Abu.
Among Abu's striking works are several censored cartoons, stamped with the censor's ink
A cartoon strip by Abu.
A cartoon strip by Abu.
A cartoon strip by Abu.

Abu also took aim at Sanjay Gandhi, the unelected son of Indira Gandhi, who many believed ran a shadow government during the Emergency, wielding unchecked power behind the scenes. Sanjay's influence was both controversial and feared. He died in a plane crash in 1980 - four years before his mother, Indira, was assassinated by her bodyguards.

Abu's work was intensely political. "I have come to the conclusion that there's nothing non-political in the world. Politics is simply anything that is controversial and everything in the world is controversial," he wrote in Seminar magazine in 1976.

He also bemoaned the state of humour - strained and manufactured - when the press was gagged.

"If cheap humour could be manufactured in a factory, the public would rush to queue up in our ration shops all day. As our newspapers become progressively duller, the reader, drowning in boredom, clutches at every joke. AIR [India's state-run radio station] news bulletins nowadays sound like a company chairman's annual address. Profits are carefully and elaborately enumerated, losses are either omitted or played down. Shareholders are reassured," Abu wrote.

In a tongue-in-cheek column for the Sunday Standard in 1977, Abu poked fun at the culture of political flattery with a fictional account of a meeting of the "All India Sycophantic Society".

The spoof featured the society's imaginary president declaring: "True sycophancy is non-political."

The satirical monologue continued with mock proclamations: "Sycophancy has a long and historic tradition in our country… 'Servility before self' is our motto."

A cartoon strip by Abu about Sanjay Gandhi, the unelected son of Indira Gandhi.
Abu also took aim at Sanjay Gandhi, the controversial unelected son of Indira Gandhi

Abu's parody culminated in the society's guiding vision: "Touching all available feet and promoting a broad-based programme of flattery."

Born as Attupurathu Mathew Abraham in the southern state of Kerala in 1924, Abu began his career as a reporter at the nationalist Bombay Chronicle, driven less by ideology than a fascination with the power of the printed word.

His reporting years coincided with India's dramatic journey to independence, witnessing firsthand the euphoria that gripped Bombay (now Mumbai). Reflecting on the press, he later noted, "The press has pretensions of being a crusader but is more often a preserver of the status quo."

After two years with Shankar's Weekly, a well-known satire magazine, Abu set his sights on Europe. A chance encounter with British cartoonist Fred Joss in 1953 propelled him to London, where he quickly made a mark.

His debut cartoon was accepted by Punch within a week of arrival, earning praise from editor Malcolm Muggeridge as "charming".

Freelancing for two years in London's competitive scene, Abu's political cartoons began appearing in Tribune and soon attracted the attention of The Observer's editor David Astor.

A cartoon strip by Abu.
Abu's cartoon marks Gandhi calling the 1977 election, ending the Emergency. She lost the election
Abu spent a decade at The Observer and three years at The Guardian before returning to India in the late 1960s, later describing British politics as "boring".
Abu spent a decade at The Observer and three years at The Guardian

Astor offered him a staff position with the paper.

"You are not cruel like other cartoonists, and your work is the kind I was looking for," he told Abu.

In 1956, at Astor's suggestion, Abraham adopted the pen name "Abu", writing later: "He explained that any Abraham in Europe would be taken as a Jew and my cartoons would take on slant for no reason, and I wasn't even Jewish."

Astor also assured him of creative freedom: "You will never be asked to draw a political cartoon expressing ideas which you do not yourself personally sympathise."

Abu worked at The Observer for 10 years, followed by three years at The Guardian, before returning to India in the late 1960s. He later wrote he was "bored" of British politics.

Beyond cartooning, Abu served as a nominated member of India's upper house of Parliament from 1972 to 1978. In 1981, he launched Salt and Pepper, a comic strip that ran for nearly two decades, blending gentle satire with everyday observations. He returned to Kerala in 1988 and continued to draw and write until his death in 2002.

But Abu's legacy was never just about the punchline - it was about the deeper truths his humour revealed.

As he once remarked, "If anyone has noticed a decline in laughter, the reason may not be the fear of laughing at authority but the feeling that reality and fancy, tragedy and comedy have all, somehow got mixed up."

That blurring of absurdity and truth often gave his work its edge.

"The prize for the joke of the year," he wrote during the Emergency, "should go to the Indian news agency reporter in London who approvingly quoted a British newspaper comment on India under the Emergency, that 'trains are running on time' - not realising this used to be the standard English joke about Mussolini's Italy. When we have such innocents abroad, we don't really need humorists."

Abu's cartoons and photograph, courtesy Ayisha and Janaki Abraham

The Papers: 'PM to press Macron' and 'mushroom murders' trial

BBC "PM set to press Macron for 'one in, one out' deal," is the headline on the front page of the Times. BBC
Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK is splashed across several of the front pages, with the French president due to arrive on Tuesday. The Times reports that Sir Keir Starmer will urge Macron to agree a "one in, one out" migrant returns deal, despite warnings that announcing it before it is ready will lead to a surge in crossings. Also featured is a poignant picture of the girls who died or are missing after floods in Texas swept through their summer camp.
"No borders between us, King to tell Macron," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Telegraph
Macron's visit also leads the Daily Telegraph, with the paper reporting what King Charles III will tell Macron when the French president visits. There are "no borders" between us, the King will say, in a plea for co-operation as Sir Keir fights to save a migrant returns deal. The main image shows the moment a police officer is alleged to have been assaulted as CCTV footage of the incident at Manchester Airport was played to jurors. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, are said to have struck out after police were called to an incident at the Starbucks cafe in Terminal 2 arrivals on 23 July last year. Both men, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny the allegations.
"Hand back out £771 million, Mr Macron ... s'il vous plait," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Mail.
"Hand back out £771 million, Mr Macron ... s'il vous plait," says the Daily Mail ahead of the French president's visit. The paper says Macron will "face questions over his country's failure to make a dent in illegal Channel crossings - despite being handed more than three quarters of a billion pounds of British taxpayers money". Also splashed across the front page is the face of Erin Patterson, the Australian woman who was found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill another by serving wild mushrooms at a lunch.
"Air Miles Andy cleared for take-off," is the headline on the front page of the Sun.
The Sun leads with the latest development in the Jeffrey Epstein case. The paper reports that a leaked memo reveals the FBI is closing its investigation into Prince Andrew over his links to Epstein, meaning Andrew is free to travel abroad without fearing arrest. Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Prince Andrew has always denied any misconduct.
"Victims' fury as Epstein probe shut down," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Mirror.
The closure of the inquiry into Prince Andrew also leads the Daily Mirror, with a "furious victim" of the late financier saying they have been "silenced all over again". The US Department of Justice and FBI have concluded that sex offender Epstein did not have a so-called client list that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life - contradicting long-held conspiracy theories about the infamous case.
"Bosses face ban on non-disclosure deals that silence victims of abuse," is the headline on the front page of the Guardian
The Guardian reports that bosses in the UK will be banned from using non-disclosure agreements to silence employees who have suffered harassment and discrimination in the workplace if changes to the government's overhaul of workers' rights are approved. An amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to become law later this year, will void any confidentiality agreements seeking to prevent workers from speaking about allegations of harassment or discrimination.
"'Hypocrisy' of Labour's homes plan," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Express.
Labour's planning legislation has been branded "hypocrisy on stilts", the Daily Express reports, with ministers pushing to build 1.5 million new homes - despite previously opposing developments in their own constituencies. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and housing minister Matthew Pennycook are leading the push for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which has sparked a widespread backlash for threatening protected habitats and wildlife. The pair are among half a dozen Labour MPs who have opposed similar developments in the past.
"Trump grants three-week reprieve on return of 'reciprocal' trade tariffs", is the headline on the Financial Times front page.
Donald Trump's tariffs lead the Financial Times, with the US president extending his deadline for "reciprocal" levies. The US announced a new 25% tax on products entering the country from South Korea and Japan, which will come into force when the latest reprieve ends on 1 August. Trump began sharing a batch of letters to leaders of countries around the world outlining his tariff plans. The paper's main image centres on Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan and Sir Keir laying wreaths at the 7 July Memorial on the 20th anniversary of the London bombings.
"50,000 children will be lifted out of poverty due to rebellion on welfare reforms," is the headline on the i Paper.
The i Paper reports that the Labour government's revised welfare bill, which came after a backbench rebellion in the Commons, will lift 50,000 children and 50,000 adults out of relative poverty. Before the government's climbdown last week, it was predicted that the bill would put 250,000 people into poverty.
"Mushroom murderer targeted me four times," is the headline on the front page of the Metro.
The guilty verdict of Erin Patterson in Australia leads the Metro's front page. It reports that the ex-husband of the "mushroom murderer" says she tried to poison him at least four times before the deadly dinner that killed his parents and aunt.
"The Hangover Cured," is the headline on the front page of the Daily Star
And finally, the Daily Star says scientists have invented a wearable "drunk patch", which triggers a phone alert to tell you if you're at risk of dehydration and a future hangover.

The doctor fighting for women's health on Ukraine's front line

Serhii Baksheiev A doctor smiles as he takes a selfie with a woman patient inside a mobile medical unit. His hair is dyed the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, and medical paraphernalia is in the background.Serhii Baksheiev
Dr Baksheiev has carried out over 1,000 gynaecological examinations in his mobile ambulance since 2022

In a rural village close to the Ukrainian front line, a group of women queue quietly outside a purple and white ambulance, waiting to be seen by a doctor with his shaved head dyed the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

For many of them, it's their first time seeing a doctor since the war began more than three years ago.

Since 2022, Dr Serhii Baksheiev, 53, has carried out more than 1,000 gynaecological examinations on women throughout front-line and occupied areas in his kitted out mobile clinic - named 'The Feminine Shuttle' and complete with a bright pink examination chair.

Serhii Baksheiev Five women warmly wrapped up in thick coats and hats stand in the snow outside the mobile clinic.Serhii Baksheiev
The 'Feminine Shuttle' has an ultrasound machine and other equipment to carry out minor surgery

"This is a humanitarian volunteering mission. It's for people who need help, in places where there are no doctors or hospitals, and it's absolutely free," he says.

The war with Russia has placed a huge strain on Ukraine's healthcare system, with more than 1,940 attacks on health facilities since the invasion, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) - making it the highest number in any humanitarian crisis to date - and with a significant increase in those attacks since December 2023.

When the war began, Dr Baksheiev, who is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, initially spent his days in a bunker in Kyiv helping to deliver babies as bombs fell above.

The idea for an on-the-road clinic came to him, he says, after later medical volunteer missions to the front line revealed the lack of facilities because medical centres and hospitals had been completely destroyed.

"We went to Kharkiv and Chernihiv, which were very damaged, and the most difficult thing was not being able to provide gynaecological services because there were no tools and equipment, because everything was ruined," he says.

Dr Baksheiev and his team would have to use anything available as an examination table, including old sofas, meaning he would have to kneel on the floor to conduct examinations.

Today, walking around the electric vehicle, it's clear Dr Baksheiev is incredibly proud of its capabilities: it's been kitted out with everything he and his team could need in these remote areas, including an ultrasound machine and medical equipment to carry out minor surgeries.

Serhii Baksheiev A woman lays on a sofa with a blue hospital sheet placed over it. Next to it are two chairs, one with an ultrasound machine balanced on top and the other covered in medical equipment. A small Ukrainian flag hangs off the back of one of the chairs.

Serhii Baksheiev
Before the mobile clinic, Dr Baksheiev had to use whatever was available to perform examinations

During a two-day mission the team can perform up to 80 colposcopies - where they examine the cervix and vulva for signs of cancerous or pre-cancerous tissue.

The work is crucial to the people living in these remote areas.

His visits to small rural villages occupied by the Russians are often carried out in secret. He and his team slip in for a day or two to carry out their examinations and leave before they are detected.

Figures provided by Ukraine's public health ministry and seen by the BBC show detection rates for ovarian and cervical cancers are down by 17% and 10% respectively since 2020.

And when doctors like Dr Baksheiev do get into those areas to perform examinations, they are finding a higher than average incidence of malignant tumours.

Serhii Baksheiev A woman lies face down on a table with a blue operating sheet over her body with three medics wearing gloves standing around her.Serhii Baksheiev
Previously Dr Baksheiev's medical team had to use alternative spaces - like this theatre

On average, up to 4% of all women are diagnosed with malignant tumours after being examined, according to FRIDA Ukraine, the medical organisation Dr Baksheiev volunteers for.

Dr Ulana Supron was Ukraine's health minister from 2016 to 2019. She says there is a concern about the "ticking time bomb" of health outcomes as the war drags on.

"In the public health community, there definitely is a lot of worry about what's going to happen as the war continues," she says.

"Not only in terms of physical health, but also mental health - because there is a constant stress, constant psychological trauma happening."

Dr Supron says the government has managed to partially or fully rebuild as many as 964 medical facilities that were damaged by Russia.

"They're working closely with the WHO and with other international organisations to try to come up with a plan on how we can rebuild the health system that was in place prior to Russia's invasion," she adds.

Despite a cancer diagnosis himself in September 2024, Dr Baksheiev continues to volunteer and provide treatment to women across the country.

"Apart from the medical examination, you also hear them out because a lot of patients have stories about how the Russians attacked their villages," he says.

"So we are not only doctors, we're the therapists for these patients."

Trump Pledges to Send More Weapons to Ukraine

“They have to be able to defend themselves,” the president said, appearing to signal a reversal after his administration paused some weapons transfers just last week.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

President Trump said on Monday that he was disappointed with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has bombarded Ukrainian cities in recent days. “I’m not happy with President Putin at all,” he said.

Trump upbeat on Gaza ceasefire talks as he hosts Netanyahu

Reuters US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington DC on 7 July 2025.Reuters

US President Donald Trump has said he thinks talks to end the war in Gaza have been "going along very well", as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC.

Trump also expressed confidence that Hamas was willing to end the 21-month conflict. "They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire," he said in unexpected remarks to reporters at the White House.

Both leaders were asked about potential plans to relocate Palestinians, with Trump saying he has co-operation from countries neighbouring Israel.

The meeting came after the latest rounds of indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar ended without a breakthrough, though negotiations were expected to continue this week.

In Monday's remarks, Trump was asked by a journalist what was preventing a peace deal in Gaza, and he said: "I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well."

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he was working with the US on finding countries that will "give Palestinians a better future".

The Palestinian presidency has previously rejected plans to relocate Palestinians, which it pointed out would violate international law.

Netanyahu also appeared to play down prospects of full Palestinian statehood, saying that Israel will "always" keep security control over the Gaza Strip.

"Now, people will say it's not a complete state, it's not a state. We don't care," Netanyahu said.

At the meeting, the Israeli PM also said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, reportedly a long-held goal of the US president.

"He's forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other," Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a letter he sent to the prize committee.

Watch: Moment Benjamin Netanyahu hands Donald Trump nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

Trump has previously said he would be "very firm" with the Israeli PM about ending the war and indicated that "we'll have a deal" this week.

The White House initially said it would not make the meeting between the two leaders open to media, with officials describing it as a private dinner during which Trump would prioritise the push for an end to the war and the return of all hostages.

Keeping the meeting closed to journalists would have been unusual for a president who likes to platform his positions with foreign leaders in front of the world's press.

The US-backed ceasefire proposal would reportedly see Hamas release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages in five stages during a 60-day truce.

Israel would be required to release an unknown number of Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from parts of Gaza, where it now controls about two-thirds of the territory.

Obstacles to a deal remain significant.

The main outstanding issue relates to aid, as Hamas insists on ending the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, while the Israeli delegation refuses to discuss the issue, saying they are not authorised to discuss it.

During his visit, Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

As Netanyahu's armoured limousine travelled to the White House, dozens of protesters gathered at security gates, waving Palestinian flags and shouting calls for the Israeli's PM's arrest.

Netanyahu, along with his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, were made subjects of an arrest warrant in November from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Netanyahu has rejected the allegations, calling the warrants antisemitic, while the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on four ICC judges for what it called "baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel".

Getty Images Protesters wave Palestinian flags during Benjamin Netanyahu's visit with Donald Trump in Washington DC on 7 July 2025.Getty Images
Protesters wave Palestinian flags during Benjamin Netanyahu's visit with Donald Trump in Washington DC

The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives seated in different rooms in the same building.

A second session was held on Monday and ended without a breakthrough, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

Witkoff was due to join the talks in Doha later this week in an effort to get a ceasefire over the line as the Gaza conflict nears its 22nd month.

Speaking to the BBC, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee declined to say whether Trump would give a written guarantee that a proposed 60-day ceasefire would be extended, so long as negotiations continue.

"I simply don't know," Huckabee said.

This is one of Hamas's key demands and a stumbling block in the current negotiations.

When asked whether he believes Trump can achieve a breakthrough with the Israeli leader, Huckabee said: "I'm not a prophet. I cannot predict the future, so I won't try to tell you what will happen."

Netanyahu is visiting the White House for the third time since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.

But the leaders are meeting for the first time since the US joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and then brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

There is a strong sense that the recent 12-day war has created more favourable circumstances to end the Gaza war.

Witkoff said at Monday's dinner that a US meeting with Iran would take place in the next week or so. Trump also said he would like to lift sanctions on the Islamic Republic at some point.

The US president has expressed increasing concern over the conflict in Gaza in recent weeks and believes there is a "good chance" of reaching a ceasefire.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said it was Trump's "utmost priority" to end the war in Gaza and that he wanted Hamas to agree to the 60-day deal "right now".

Did US government cuts contribute to the Texas tragedy?

BBC A boat on a river in Texas with four rescue workers on boardBBC

In the aftermath of the fatal Texas floods, some Democrats have warned about the "consequences" of the Trump administration's cuts to the federal government workforce, including meteorologists, with Senator Chris Murphy saying that: "Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters."

The suggestion is that the cuts may have impeded the ability of the National Weather Service (NWS) - the government agency which provides weather forecasts in the US - to adequately predict the floods and raise the alarm.

But the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said on Monday: "These offices [of the NWS] were well staffed… so any claims to the contrary are completely false."

BBC Verify has examined the impact of cuts under President Trump in this area and while there has been a reduction in the workforce at the NWS, experts who we spoke to said the staffing on hand for the Texas floods appears to have been adequate.

What are the cuts?

The Trump administration has proposed a 25% cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) current annual budget of $6.1bn (£4.4bn). NOAA is the agency which oversees the NWS.

This would take effect in the 2026 financial year which begins in October this year - so these particular cuts would not have contributed to the Texas tragedy.

However, the staffing levels of the NWS have already been separately reduced by the Trump administration's efficiency drive since January.

The Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), previously run by Elon Musk, offered voluntary redundancies, known as buyouts, as well as early retirements to federal government workers. It also ended the contracts of most of those who were on probation.

As a result, about 200 people at the NWS took voluntary redundancy and 300 opted for early retirement, according to Tom Fahy, the director of the NWS union. A further 100 people were ultimately fired from the service, he said.

In total, the NWS lost 600 of its 4,200 staff, says Mr Fahy, causing several offices across the country to operate without the necessary staffing.

In April 2025, the Associated Press news agency said it had seen data compiled by NWS employees showing half of its offices had a vacancy rate of 20% - double the rate a decade earlier.

Despite this, climate experts told BBC Verify that the NWS forecasts and flood warnings last week in Texas were as adequate as could be expected.

"The forecasts and warnings all played out in a normal manner. The challenge with this event was that it is very difficult to forecast this type of extreme, localised rainfall," says Avantika Gori, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University in Texas.

And Andy Hazelton, a climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths for the NOAA until he was fired during the layoffs in February, says: "I don't think the staffing issues contributed directly to this event. They got the watches and the warnings out."

What about the impact on offices in Texas?

However, some experts have suggested that staffing cuts may have impeded the ability of local NWS offices in Texas to effectively co-ordinate with local emergency services.

"There is a real question as to whether the communication of weather information occurred in a way that was sub-optimal," says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California Los Angeles.

"The impact might have been partially averted if some of the people at the weather service responsible for making those communications were still employed - which they were not in some of these local offices," he adds.

The San Angelo and San Antonio offices, which cover the areas affected by the flooding, reportedly had some existing vacancies.

For example, the San Antonio office's website lists several positions as being vacant, including two meteorologists.

Getty Images Search and recovery workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding at Camp Mystic on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. Getty Images
Rescue efforts are ongoing along the Guadalupe River in central Texas

The NSW union director told BBC Verify that the San Angelo office was missing a senior hydrologist, a scientist who specialises in flooding events.

The San Antonio office also lacked a "warning coordinating meteorologist", who coordinates communications between local forecasting offices and emergency management services in communities, Mr Fahy said.

However, he noted that both offices had temporarily upped their staffing in anticipation of a dangerous weather event, which is typical in these circumstances.

"The NWS weather forecast offices in Austin/San Antonio and San Angelo, Texas had additional forecasters on duty during the catastrophic flooding event," NWS spokeswoman Erica Grow Cei said in a statement to BBC Verify. "All forecasts and warnings were issued in a timely manner," she added.

NWS meteorologist Jason Runyen, who covers the San Antonio area, also said in a statement that where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had "up to five on staff".

When asked on Sunday if government cuts had left key vacancies unfilled at the NWS, President Trump told reporters: "No, they didn't."

Were weather balloon launches reduced?

In a video shared thousands of times on social media, US meteorologist John Morales said: "There has been a 20% reduction in weather balloon releases, launches... What we're starting to see is that the quality of the forecasts is becoming degraded."

Some social media users have been pointing to Mr Morales' words as evidence that budget cuts have limited forecasters' ability to anticipate extreme weather events like the floods in Kerr County, Texas.

Weather balloons are an important tool used by meteorologists to collect weather data - from temperatures, to humidity, pressure, or wind speed - from the upper atmosphere.

In the US, NWS stations would typically launch them twice a day.

In a series of public statements released since February, the NWS confirmed that it either suspended or reduced weather balloon launches in at least 11 locations across the country, which it attributed to a lack of staffing at the local weather forecast offices.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that any of those changes directly affected weather balloon launches in the areas impacted by the floods in Texas.

Publicly available data shows that, in the lead-up to the floods, weather balloon launches were carried out as planned at Del Rio, the launch station nearest to the flood epicentre, collecting data that informed weather forecasts which experts say were as adequate as they could be.

The BBC Verify banner.

US delays higher tariffs but announces new rates for some nations

Getty Images US President Donald Trump announces tariffs at the White House in AprilGetty Images

The US plans to impose a 25% tax on products entering the country from South Korea and Japan on 1 August, President Donald Trump has said.

He announced the tariffs in a post on social media, sharing letters he said had been sent to leaders of the two countries.

The White House has said it expects to send similar messages to many countries in the coming days as the 90-day pause it placed on some of its most aggressive tariffs is set to expire.

The first two letters suggest that Trump remains committed to his initial push for tariffs, with little change from the rates announced in April.

At that time, he said he was looking to hit goods from Japan with duties of 24% and charge a 25% on products made in South Korea.

Those tariffs were included in a bigger "Liberation Day" announcement, which imposed tariffs on goods from countries around the world.

After outcry and turmoil on financial markets following the initial tariffs announcement, Trump suspended some of the import taxes to allow for talks. That deadline is set to expire on 9 July.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected "a busy couple of days".

"We've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," he told US business broadcaster CNBC.

How King Charles is helping to 'reinvigorate' the shaken UK-France friendship

BBC Treated image of King Charles and Emmanuel Macron.BBC

Few scenes convey British pomp and soft power more than the King and Queen in a carriage procession through the picturesque streets of Windsor. They are being joined on Tuesday by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron for the first state visit by a French president since 2008, and the first by a European Union leader since Brexit.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will be there too — a Royal Salute will be fired and Macron will inspect a guard of honour. But at a time of jeopardy in Europe, this three-day visit to Windsor and London promises much more than ceremony.

There is a genuine hope that the coming days will make a difference to both countries.

Getty Images Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer meets with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz onboard a train to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where all three were due to hold meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Getty Images
Macron and Starmer joined the German chancellor on a train ride to Kyiv recently, sending a powerful message of support for Ukraine at a time when US commitment appeared to be flagging

Macron will address MPs and peers at Westminster, and he and Brigitte will be treated to a state banquet back at Windsor. The trip will culminate with a UK-France summit, co-chaired by Sir Keir Starmer and Macron, during which the two governments hope to reach an agreement on the return of irregular migrants.

They will also host Ukraine's leader by video as they try to maintain arms supplies to his military.

But the wider question is how closely aligned they can really become, and whether they can put any lingering mistrust after Brexit behind them.

And, given that the trip will involve much pageantry — with the tour moving from the streets of Windsor, the quadrangle of the Castle and later to the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster — how crucial is King Charles III's role in this diplomacy?

Resetting a 'unique partnership'

It was less than two months ago that the UK and EU agreed to "reset" relations in London. Ties with France in particular had warmed considerably, driven partly by personal understanding but also strategic necessity.

The two neighbours have much in common: they are both nuclear powers and members of the United Nations Security Council.

They are also both looking to update a 15-year-old defence pact known as the Lancaster House treaties, which established a 10,000-strong Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF), and they have recently been working on broadening it to include other Nato and European countries.

Getty Images Keir Starmer is greeted by Emmanuel Macron ahead of the 'Coalition Of The Willing' summit in support of Ukraine at Elysee Palace on 27 March 2025 in Paris, France.Getty Images
Macron has seen much of Sir Keir lately at summits in London, Canada and The Hague — and Starmer has visited France five times since becoming PM

"It has always been a unique partnership," says former French ambassador to the UK Sylvie Bermann. "I think this partnership will be crucial in the future."

All of this is unlikely to escape the notice of US President Donald Trump, who is also promised a state visit, his second to the UK, probably in September.

King Charles is 'more than a figurehead'

King Charles, who is 76, has already navigated some complex royal diplomacy this year.

Macron was the first European leader to visit Trump in the White House in February, but it was Sir Keir who stole the show days later, handing him a personal invitation from the King.

Then, when Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Europe fresh from a bruising meeting with Trump at the White House in February, it was King Charles who welcomed him to Sandringham, and then met him again at Windsor in June.

He has spoken in the past of the heroism of Ukrainians in the face of "indescribable aggression".

Even before ascending the throne, King Charles amassed decades of experience in international affairs (he is also fluent in French). He was only 21 when he attended the funeral in 1970 of Charles de Gaulle, the wartime general who became the architect of France's current Fifth Republic.

He went on to become the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history, and now he is King he has weekly audiences with the prime minister. "The choreography is a strange dance, I suspect, between Number Ten and the Palace," says royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.

"There's no doubt at all that Charles is considerably more than a figurehead."

Getty Images The Shah of Iran, Prince Charles and Prince Harald of Norway attend Mass for General de Gaulle at Notre Dame, on 13 November 1970 in Paris, France.Getty Images
King Charles at 21, attending the Mass for Charles de Gaulle in Paris

Windsor Castle, which dates back to the first Norman king, William the Conqueror, has hosted French presidents before. But there is a quiet significance in the appearance of the Prince and Princess of Wales in welcoming Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, as Catherine recovers from treatment for cancer.

Between them, the King and Macron have played their part in resetting relations between the two neighbours, and by extension with the European Union too.

The King is a francophile, says Marc Roche, a columnist and royal commentator for French media: "He has always had a good relationship with France."

A year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, it was France that King Charles and Queen Camilla chose for their first state visit in September 2023.

AFP via Getty Images Queen Camilla plays table tennis, next to King Charles III and Brigitte Macron, during a visit to the Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, on 21 September 2023.AFP via Getty Images
Queen Camilla played table tennis at a sports centre in Paris with Brigitte Macron

Macron had reminded the world in 2022 that the late Queen had "climbed the stairs of the Élysée Palace" six times — more than any other foreign sovereign. His words were warmly received in the UK.

The King received a standing ovation after an address in French to the Senate, and the Queen played table tennis at a sports centre with Brigitte Macron. France's first lady has since visited her in London for a cross-Channel book award.

Gentle touches they may have been, but it followed a very rough period in Franco-British relations.

Brexit negotiations soured relations

The mood had soured during negotiations over Brexit, which the French president said was based on a lie.

Then four years ago, Australia pulled out of a deal to buy 12 French submarines and signed a defence pact with the UK and US instead. The French foreign minister called it a "stab in the back".

Boris Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, told the French they should "prenez un grip" and "donnez-moi un break".

Getty Images Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron point at each other on 18 June 2020 in London, England.Getty Images
French-British relations soured during negotiations over Brexit, which Macron (pictured with Johnson in 2020) said was based on a lie

It had been Macron's idea for a European Political Community (EPC) in 2022 that brought the UK into a broad group of countries all seeking to respond to Russia's full-scale invasion.

In 2023 the then-Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, sought to turn the page on several years of frosty relations at a Franco-British summit in Paris.

British and French prime ministers have come and gone: the UK had three in 2022, and last year France had four. It was Sunak's team that organised last year's EPC summit at Blenheim, but it was Starmer as new prime minister who chaired it.

Sébastien Maillard, who helped advise the French presidency in setting up the EPC, said he believed "on both sides there is still a lack of trust… The memory of these difficult times has not vanished".

"Trust needs time to build and perhaps the Russian threat, support for Ukraine and how to handle Trump are three compelling reasons to rebuild that trust," says Maillard, who is now at the Chatham House think tank.

Susi Dennison, of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris, agrees relations with France are not back to pre-Brexit levels, but suggests some things the UK and France are "bickering" about were being argued over even before the Brexit vote.

For Macron, this is a chance to not only improve the relationship but also to shine on the international stage when his popularity at home has sunk, Mr Roche believes. "It's a very important visit, especially the first day, because the French are fascinated by the Royal Family."

After eight years in power, Macron's second term still has almost two years to run, but he has paid the price politically for calling snap elections last year and losing his government's majority. His prime minister, François Bayrou, faces a monumental task in the coming months in steering next year's budget past France's left-wing and far-right parties.

As president, Macron's powers - his domaine réservé - cover foreign policy, defence and security, but traditionally France's prime minister does not travel with the head of state, so Macron comes to the UK with a team of ministers who will handle far more than international affairs.

The difficult question of migration

During the summit, the two teams will also work on nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and cultural ties. Differences still have to be sorted over "post-Brexit mobility" for students and other young people, and France is expected to push the Starmer government on that.

But most of the headlines on Thursday's UK-France summit will cover the two main issues: defence and migration.

Defending Ukraine will take pride of place. An Élysée Palace source said it would discuss "how to seriously maintain Ukraine's combat capability" and regenerate its military.

"On defence our relationship is closer than any other countries," says former ambassador Sylvie Bermann. "We have to prepare for the future… to strengthen the deterrence of Europe."

And if a ceasefire were agreed in Ukraine, the two countries could provide the backbone of the "reassurance force" being proposed by the "coalition of the willing". Sir Keir and Macron have played a prominent part in forming this coalition, but so too have the military chiefs of staff of both countries.

Migration is the stickiest problem the two countries face, however. How they deal with their differences on it — particularly on small boats — is crucial to their future relationship.

They are especially keen to sign an agreement on migrant returns and on French police stopping people boarding "taxi boats" to cross the Channel.

Getty Images French Police enter the water to try and stop migrants boarding small boats that had come to collect them from further down the coastline on 13 June 2025 in Gravelines, France.Getty Images
Both countries want to sign an agreement on migrant returns. More than 20,000 people have arrived in the UK in small boats in the first six months of 2025

France has long argued that the UK has to address the "pull factors" that drive people to want to risk their lives on the boats — the UK, for its part, already pays for many of the 1,200 French gendarmes to patrol France's long northern coastline to stop the smugglers' boats.

The countries are believed to have been working on the terms of a "one-in, one-out" agreement, so that for every small-boat arrival in the UK that France takes back, the UK would allow in one asylum seeker from France seeking family reunification.

Several countries on the southern coasts of Europe are unimpressed because it could mean France sending those asylum seekers handed back by the UK on to their country of entry into the EU, bordering the Mediterranean.

In the UK, the opposition Conservatives have branded the idea "pathetic", accusing the government of a "national record - for failure" on curbing small-boat crossings.

And yet every country in Europe is looking for a way to cut illegal border crossings. Meghan Benton, of the Migration Policy Institute, believes a Franco-British deal could work as a possible pilot for the rest of Europe: "What works for the Channel could also work for the Mediterranean."

Getty Images Macron and King Charles toast glasses, while looking happy and wearing black tie outfitsGetty Images
King Charles previously called on France and the UK to find common ground "to reinvigorate our friendship"

Any agreement on this tricky issue could also signal a real, practical improvement in the countries' political relationship. France's right-wing Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, has already been working with Labour's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to try to find a workable solution.

How far they get, and its wider impact on Europe, is still to be decided, but it does reflect a new willingness between the two neighbours to tackle the divisions between them.

Boris Johnson once accused France of wanting to punish the UK for Brexit. That difficult chapter appears to be over.

As Susi Dennison puts it: "There's a certain distance that will always be there, but things are operating quite well."

During King Charles' 2023 state visit to France he called on the two countries to find common ground, "to reinvigorate our friendship to ensure it is fit for the challenge of this, the 21st Century".

And so this visit will help show — both in the relationships between individuals and on concrete policy debates — whether his call has been answered.

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'It became pop culture': Inside the sleepy towns left reeling by the mushroom murders

Watch: Australia’s mushroom murder case... in under two minutes

The winters in Victoria's Gippsland region are known for being chilly. Frost is a frequent visitor overnight, and the days are often overcast.

But in the small town of Korumburra - a part of Australia surrounded by low, rolling hills - it's not just the weather that's gloomy; the mood here is plainly subdued.

Korumburra is where all of Erin Patterson's victims made their home. Don and Gail Patterson, her in-laws, had lived there since 1984. They brought up their four children in the town of 5,000. Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson lived nearby - her husband Ian was the pastor at the local Baptist church.

The four were invited to Erin's house on 29 July 2023 for a family lunch that only Ian would survive, after a liver transplant and weeks in an induced coma.

And on Monday a jury rejected Erin's claim she accidentally served her guests toxic mushrooms, finding her guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

Her 10-week trial caused a massive stir globally, but here in Korumburra they don't want to talk about it. They just want to return to their lives after what has been a difficult two years.

"It's not an easy thing to go through a grieving process... and it's particularly not easy when there's been so much attention," cattle farmer and councillor for the shire Nathan Hersey told the BBC.

"There's an opportunity now for a lot of people to be able to have some closure."

Reuters A road runs throught eh centre of a town with single storey buildings, which appear to be shops. White cars are parked along both sides, a church can be seen about half way down. Two men can be seen crossing about half way down the road. A green tree grows in the central reservationReuters
The small town of Korumburra was home to all Patterson's victims

The locals are fiercely loyal - he's one of the few people who is willing to explain what this ordeal has meant for the many in the region.

"It's the sort of place that you can be embraced in very quickly and made to feel you are part of it," he explains.

And those who died clearly helped build that environment.

Pretty much everyone of a certain generation in town was taught by former school teacher Don Patterson: "You'll hear a lot of people talk very fondly of Don, about the impact he had on them.

"He was a great teacher and a really engaging person as well."

And Mr Hersey says he has heard many, many tales of Heather and Gail's generosity and kindness.

Pinned to the Korumburra Baptist Church noticeboard is a short statement paying tribute to the trio, who were "very special people who loved God and loved to bless others".

"We all greatly miss Heather, Don and Gail whether we were friends for a short time or over 20 years," it read.

It's not just Korumburra that's been changed by the tragedy though.

A memorial plaque on the grave site for Don and Gail Patterson at the Korumburra General Cemetery, with pink and white flowers
The family were well-known in the community

This part of rural Victoria is dotted with small towns and hamlets, which may at first appear quite isolated.

The reality is they are held together by close ties - ties which this case has rattled.

In nearby Outtrim, the residents of Neilson Street – an unassuming gravel road host to a handful of houses – have been left reeling by the prosecution claim their gardens may have produced the murder weapon.

It was one of two locations where death cap mushrooms were sighted and posted on iNaturalist, a citizen science website. Pointing to cell phone tracking data, the prosecution alleged that Erin Patterson went to both to forage for the lethal fungi.

"Everyone knows somebody who has been affected by this case," Ian Thoms tells the BBC from his small farm on Nielson Street.

He rattles off his list. His son is a police detective. His wife works with the daughter of the only survivor Ian. His neighbour is good friends with "Funky Tom", the renowned mushroom expert called upon by the prosecution – who coincidentally was also the person who had posted the sighting of the fungi here.

Down the road another 15 minutes is Leongatha, where Erin Patterson's home sits among other sprawling properties on an unpaved lane.

She bought a plot of land here with a generous inheritance from her mother and built the house assuming she would live here forever.

It has been sitting empty for about 18 months, a sign on the gate telling trespassers to keep out. A neighbour's sheep intermittently drop by to mow the grass.

Getty Images A general view of the Korumburra general cemetery, with trees and rolling hills in the backgroundGetty Images

This week, the livestock was gone, and a black tarpaulin had been erected around the carport and the entrance to her house.

There's a sense of intrigue among some of the neighbours, but there's also a lot of weariness. Every day there are gawkers driving down the lane to see the place where the tragic meal happened. One neighbour even reckons she saw a tour bus trundle past the house.

"When you live in a local town you know names - it's been interesting to follow," says Emma Buckland, who stops to talk to us in the main street.

"It's bizarre," says her mother Gabrielle Stefani. "Nothing like that has [ever] happened so it's almost hard to believe."

The conversation turns to mushroom foraging.

"We grew up on the farm. Even on the front lawn there's always mushrooms and you know which ones you can and can't eat," says Ms Buckland. "That's something you've grown up knowing."

The town that's felt the impact of the case the most in recent months, though, is Morwell; the administrative capital of the City of Latrobe and where the trial has been heard.

Watch: CCTV and audio shown to court in mushroom trial

"We've seen Morwell, which is usually a pretty sleepy town, come to life," says local journalist Liam Durkin, sitting on a wall in front of Latrobe Valley courthouse.

He edits the weekly Latrobe Valley Express newspaper, whose offices are just around the corner.

"I never thought I'd be listening to fungi experts and the like for weeks on end but here we are," he says.

"I don't think there's ever been anything like this, and they may well never be in Morwell ever again."

While not remote by Australian standards, Morwell is still a two-hour drive from the country's second largest city, Melbourne. It feels far removed from the Victorian capital – and often forgotten.

Just a few months before that fateful lunch served up by Erin Patterson in July 2023, Morwell's paper mill - Australia's last manufacturer of white paper and the provider of many local jobs - shut down. Before that, many more people lost their jobs when a nearby power station closed down.

Older people here have struggled to find work; others have left to find more lucrative options in states like Queensland.

So locals say being thrust in the spotlight now is a bit bizarre.

Laura Heller has dark hair in bunches, is wearing a black top and has tattoos on both her upper arms. She is stood in what appears to be a cafe - a coffee machine can be seen behind her
Laura Heller says her town is used to crime - just not like this

In Jay Dees coffee shop, opposite the police station and the court, Laura Heller explains that she normally makes about 150 coffees a day. Recently it's almost double that.

"There's been a lot of mixed feelings about [the trial]," she says.

There's been a massive uptick for many businesses, but this case has also revived long-held division in the community when it comes to the police and justice systems, she explains.

"This town is affected by crime a lot, but it's a very different type of crime," Ms Heller says, mentioning drugs and youth offending as examples.

"Half the community don't really have much faith in the police force and our magistrates."

Back in Korumburra, what has been shaken is their faith in humanity. It feels like many people around the globe have lost sight of the fact that this headline-making, meme-generating crime left three people dead.

"Lives in our local community have changed forever," Mr Hersey says.

"But I would say for a lot of people, it's just become almost like pop culture."

Though the past two years has at times brought out the worst in the community, it's also shone a light on the best, he says.

"We want to be known as a community that has been strong and has supported one another... rather than a place that is known for what we now know was murder."

Additional reporting by Tiffanie Turnbull

Trump accuses Brazil of 'witch hunt' against Bolsonaro

Getty Images Trump, with a waving hand, stands next to Bolsonaro outside the White House. Getty Images
The former Brazilian president visited Washington during Trump's first term in 2019

US President Donald Trump has urged Brazilian authorities to end their prosecution of the country's former President Jair Bolsonaro, accusing them of carrying out a "WITCH HUNT".

Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is standing trial for allegedly attempting a coup against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The former leader has denied involvement in any alleged plot.

In a social media post, Trump said Bolsonaro was "not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE" and told prosecutors to "LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!"

President Lula said Brazil is a sovereign country that "won't accept interference or instruction from anyone."

"No one is above the law. Especially those that threaten freedom and the rule of law," he wrote in a post on X.

In his earlier post on Truth Social, Trump praised Bolsonaro as a "strong leader" who "truly loved his country".

The US president compared Bolsonaro's prosecution to the legal cases he himself faced between his two presidential terms.

"This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent - Something I know much about! It happened to me, times 10," Trump said.

Bolsonaro thanked Trump for his comments, describing the case against him as "clear political persecution" in a social media post.

Responding to Trump's remarks, Minister of Institutional Affairs Gleisi Hoffmann said: "The time when Brazil was subservient to the US was the time of Bolsonaro."

"The US president should take care of his own problems, which are not few, and respect the sovereignty of Brazil and our judiciary," she added.

The back and fourth comes as Lula hosted representatives from China, Russia and other nations at a Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Trump had earlier threatened to levy additional tariffs against countries aligned with what he called the bloc's "anti-American" policies.

Getty Images Bolsonaro hands Trump a Brazil football shirt, with Trump's name on it, in the White House.Getty Images
Bolsonaro and Trump exchanged gifts in the White House in 2019

Trump and Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, with the pair meeting at the White House in 2019.

Both men subsequently lost presidential elections and both refused to publicly acknowledge defeat.

A week after Lula's inauguration in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, in what federal investigators say was an attempted coup.

Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time and has always denied any links to the rioters.

He has been barred from running for public office until 2030 for falsely claiming Brazil's voting system was vulnerable to fraud, but he has said he intends to fight that ban and run for a second term in 2026.

Speaking in court for the first time last month, Bolsonaro said a coup was an "abominable thing". The 70-year-old could face decades in prison if convicted.

At least 11 dead in Kenya protests as central Nairobi sealed off

Anadolu via Getty Images Police officers are seen during the clashes between protesters and security forces as people stage a protest to commemorate the victims of "Finance Bill 2024" protests in Nairobi, Kenya on June 25, 2025.Anadolu via Getty Images
There has been a wave of anti-government protests over the past year

Kenya's security forces have blocked all major roads leading into central Nairobi, ahead of planned nationwide protests.

Much of the city centre is deserted, with businesses shut and a heavy security presence on the streets. Some schools have advised students to stay at home.

Hundreds of early-morning commuters and overnight travellers were stranded at checkpoints, some located more than 10km (six miles) from the city centre, with only a few vehicles allowed through.

Within the city, roads leading to key government sites - including the president's official residence, State House, and the Kenyan parliament - are barricaded with razor wire.

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the police said it was their constitutional duty to protect lives and property while maintaining public order.

Monday's protests, dubbed Saba Saba (Swahili for 7 July), commemorate the 1990s struggle for multiparty democracy in Kenya.

These demonstrations have been organised primarily by young people, demanding good governance, greater accountability, and justice for victims of police brutality. They are the latest in a wave of anti-government protests that began last year.

On 25 June, at least 19 people were killed and thousands of businesses looted and destroyed in a day of nationwide protests that were being held in honour of those killed in last year's anti-tax protests.

Recent demonstrations have turned violent, with reports of infiltration by "goons", who are accused of looting and attacking protesters. Civil society groups allege collusion between these groups and the police - accusations the police have strongly denied.

On Sunday, an armed gang attacked the headquarters of a human rights NGO in Nairobi. The Kenya Human Rights Commission had been hosting a press conference organised by women calling for an end to state violence ahead of Monday's protests.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the original Saba Saba protests - a key moment that helped usher in multiparty democracy in Kenya after years of one-party rule.

The response by the then government under President Daniel arap Moi was brutal. Many protesters - including veteran politician Raila Odinga, who is now working with the government, were arrested and tortured, while at least 20 people were reportedly killed.

Since then, Saba Saba has come to symbolise civic resistance and the fight for democratic freedom in Kenya.

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台湾能承受与中国经济脱钩吗

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台湾能承受与中国经济脱钩吗

MEAGHAN TOBIN, AMY CHANG CHIEN, XINYUN WU
台湾的许多大企业都是依靠在中国的制造业投资发展起来的。
台湾的许多大企业都是依靠在中国的制造业投资发展起来的。 Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
长期以来,中国一直是台湾最重要的贸易伙伴,是台湾出口产品的主要买家,也是台湾许多企业的产品生产地。同时中国也是台湾最大的威胁,宣称这个民主岛屿是其领土的一部分。
现在,台湾执政党表示,希望采取更多措施来减少两者的商业联系,而正是这种联系在过去数十年助推了台湾经济的发展。
台湾总统赖清德呼吁台湾主要产业——半导体制造公司停止与中国的交易往来。赖清德表示,台湾企业制造了全球大多数的先进芯片,因此应该建立一个只由民主国家企业组成的供应链。
上个月,台湾政府告诉台湾企业,它们需要获得许可才能向中国两家最重要的科技公司销售产品:电信巨头华为中芯国际。这两者都是中国推动芯片自主生产的关键。
台湾总统赖清德加强了对中国威胁的警告。
台湾总统赖清德加强了对中国威胁的警告。 I-Hwa Cheng/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
此举与华盛顿长期以来的目标一致,即切断中国获得先进芯片的渠道。这也凸显了台湾是如何卷入两个超级大国博弈困境的。美国总统特朗普威胁最快将于本周对台湾和其他数十个美国贸易伙伴征收关税。
台湾执政党希望被华盛顿视为美国可靠的伙伴,“即使这意味着要付出短期的经济代价,”斯坦福大学智库胡佛研究所的研究员祁凯立(Kharis Templeman)说。
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但是,台湾经济与中国脱钩可能要付出高昂代价。
几十年来,台湾企业几乎所有的对外投资都流向了中国。包括台积电和电子巨头富士康在内的台湾最大企业,都是依靠在中国的制造业投资和对中国企业的销售业绩不断壮大的。
台积电首席执行官魏哲家(右)3月在白宫宣布,该公司将为在美国的业务再投入1000亿美元。
台积电首席执行官魏哲家(右)3月在白宫宣布,该公司将为在美国的业务再投入1000亿美元。 Leah Millis/Reuters
为苹果和英伟达代工的富士康在中国中部的工厂生产的消费电子产品占全球很大份额。多年来,它受益于中国政府支持的基础设施投资。该公司创始人郭台铭曾在2024年竞选台湾总统。
台湾首富林百里通过其公司广达电脑在中国生产笔记本电脑而发家致富。台湾食品饮料企业集团旺旺的大部分销售来自中国市场。它的创始人蔡衍明直言不讳地支持中国对台湾的主权主张,并经营着亲北京的电视台和YouTube频道。
两岸经济的紧密联系在台湾被视为对中国侵略行为的一种威慑,也是中国对台湾施加影响的一种方式。这种联系是双向的。
在过去的十年里,一些台湾公司开始重新考虑他们对中国的依赖。2014年,当台湾领导人提出与中国建立更紧密的经济联系时,数以千计的台湾人因担心变得过于依赖北京而上街抗议。这个计划最终被搁置了。
富士康位于中国中部的工厂生产着全球大部分电子产品。公司创始人郭台铭是台湾最富有的人之一,曾短暂竞选过总统。
富士康位于中国中部的工厂生产着全球大部分电子产品。公司创始人郭台铭是台湾最富有的人之一,曾短暂竞选过总统。 An Rong Xu for The New York Times
贸易紧张局势和新冠疫情使台湾企业进一步减少对中国的投资。去年,台湾新增对外投资中只有略高于7%流向中国,而在2010年,这个比例曾经超过80%。
尽管如此,分析人士表示,两岸经济完全脱钩将是困难的。中国仍然是台湾出口产品的最大买家,尤其是半导体。
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同时,台湾依靠美国的政治和军事支持来抵抗来自北京的压力。特朗普要求台湾大幅提高军费开支,并指责台湾从美国窃取了半导体制造业的领先地位。台湾官员已承诺略微增加军事开支,台积电表示,将把在美国的投资增加一倍以上,达到1650亿美元。
向中国出售技术设备可能会成为台湾与特朗普政府之间摩擦和谈判的持续来源。
去年,尽管美国实行出口管制,但台积电制造的芯片最终被用在了华为的设备上,这激怒了华盛顿的官员。台湾将华为和中芯国际列入限制贸易清单,是朝着切断继续流向中国的业务迈出的一步。
尽管种种压力使得台湾与中国渐行渐远,但仍有强大的吸引力促使企业前往中国发展。
几十年来,台湾企业的大部分对外投资都流向了中国。2018年,台湾领先的芯片制造商台积电在中国南京设厂。
几十年来,台湾企业的大部分对外投资都流向了中国。2018年,台湾领先的芯片制造商台积电在中国南京设厂。 Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
36岁的袁皓天是上海山珀公司的经理。他的家族在台湾创办了这家服装制造商,并于上世纪80年代将业务扩展到中国。他说,中国的供应商难以取代。
32岁的陈玟婷说,在中国创业比在台湾容易。在过去的三年里,她在中国山东经营一家以中医为主的保健公司。
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“这里很适合创业小白,”陈玟婷说,她为想在山东创业的台湾商人举办训练营。她说:“我就是一个一般的小家庭出来的小资女,身上有一点存款。”

Meaghan Tobin是时报科技记者,常驻台北,报道亚洲地区的商业和科技新闻,重点关注中国。

Amy Chang Chien是《纽约时报》记者/研究员,常驻台北,报道台湾和中国新闻。

Xinyun Wu是《纽约时报》记者/研究员,常驻台北,报道科技、台湾和中国新闻。

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如果苏莱曼尼没死,以色列就不敢动伊朗了?丨军事

(本文首发于南方人物周刊)

南方人物周刊特约撰稿 朱江明

责任编辑:李屾淼

2016年9月18日,伊朗德黑兰,伊斯兰革命卫队下属圣城旅指挥官卡西姆·苏莱曼尼(视觉中国/图)

五年前的2020年1月3日,时任美国总统特朗普下令暗杀伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队下属圣城旅指挥官卡西姆·苏莱曼尼少将。这引发了中东地区的一系列重大变化,包括间接引发了近期伊朗与以色列之间的一连串冲突。

网上继而开始讨论一个很有趣的问题,如果苏莱曼尼还没死,以色列与伊朗的战争还会不会爆发?或者说如果苏莱曼尼没死,以色列到底还敢不敢打伊朗?

这种“但使龙城飞将在,不教胡马度阴山”的讨论自然很容易有流量,但这种判断合理吗?要搞清楚这个问题,我们首先需要回顾一下,为什么美国人要杀死苏莱曼尼。

时任美国中央司令部司令的肯尼斯·麦肯齐将军在其著作《降级与摧毁》中详细描述了此次行动。他指出,仅在2019年,苏莱曼尼指挥的部队就对美国驻伊拉克基地发动了19次袭击,其中201

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校对:赵立宇

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Texas floods death toll climbs to more than 100

Watch: Volunteers help lead search for their neighbours after Texas flooding

The death toll from flash floods that struck central Texas on Friday has now climbed to more than 100 people and an unknown number of others are missing.

Search and rescue teams are wading through mud-piled riverbanks as more rain and thunderstorms threaten the region, but hope was fading of finding any more survivors four days after the catastrophe.

Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls' summer camp, confirmed at least 27 girls and staff were among the dead. Ten girls and a camp counsellor are still missing.

The White House meanwhile rejected suggestions that budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) could have inhibited the disaster response.

At least 84 of the victims - 56 adults and 28 children - died in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River was swollen by torrential downpours before daybreak on Friday, the July Fourth public holiday.

Some 22 adults and 10 children have yet to be identified, said the county sheriff's office.

Camp Mystic said in a statement on Monday: "Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy."

Richard Eastland, 70, the co-owner and director of Camp Mystic, died trying to save the children, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Local pastor Del Way, who knows the Eastland family, told the BBC: "The whole community will miss him [Mr Eastland]. He died a hero."

In its latest forecast, the NWS has predicted more slow-moving thunderstorms, potentially bringing more flash flooding to the region.

Critics of the Trump administration have sought to link the disaster to thousands of job cuts at the NWS' parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NWS office responsible for forecasting in the region had five employees on duty as thunderstorms brewed over Texas on Thursday evening, the usual number for an overnight shift when severe weather is expected.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected attempts to blame the president.

"That was an act of God," she told a daily briefing on Monday.

"It's not the administration's fault that the flood hit when it did, but there were early and consistent warnings and, again, the National Weather Service did its job."

She outlined that the NWS office in Austin-San Antonio conducted briefings for local officials on the eve of the flood and sent out a flood watch that afternoon, before issuing numerous flood warnings that night and in the pre-dawn hours of 4 July.

Watch: First responders save people caught in Texas flooding

Trump pushed back when asked on Sunday if federal government cuts had hampered the disaster response, initially appearing to shift blame to what he called "the Biden set-up", referring to his Democratic predecessor.

"But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either," he added. "I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe."

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, told a news conference on Monday that now was not the time for "partisan finger-pointing".

Watch: Senator Ted Cruz talks about the children lost at Camp Mystic

One local campaigner, Nicole Wilson, has a petition calling for flood sirens to be set up in Kerr County - something in place in other counties.

Such a system has been debated in Kerr County for almost a decade, but funds for it have never been allocated.

Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick acknowledged on Monday that such sirens might have saved lives, and said they should be in place by next summer.

Meanwhile, condolences continued to pour in from around the world.

King Charles II has written to President Trump to express his "profound sadness" about the catastrophic flooding.

The King "offered his deepest sympathy" to those who lost loved ones, the British Embassy in Washington said.

Trump delays tariffs on 14 countries until August

Getty Images US President Donald Trump announces tariffs at the White House in AprilGetty Images

The US plans to impose a 25% tax on products entering the country from South Korea and Japan on 1 August, President Donald Trump has said.

He announced the tariffs in a post on social media, sharing letters he said had been sent to leaders of the two countries.

The White House has said it expects to send similar messages to many countries in the coming days as the 90-day pause it placed on some of its most aggressive tariffs is set to expire.

The first two letters suggest that Trump remains committed to his initial push for tariffs, with little change from the rates announced in April.

At that time, he said he was looking to hit goods from Japan with duties of 24% and charge a 25% on products made in South Korea.

Those tariffs were included in a bigger "Liberation Day" announcement, which imposed tariffs on goods from countries around the world.

After outcry and turmoil on financial markets following the initial tariffs announcement, Trump suspended some of the import taxes to allow for talks. That deadline is set to expire on 9 July.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected "a busy couple of days".

"We've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," he told US business broadcaster CNBC.

Drugs smuggling 'destabilising' prisons, watchdog says

PA Media A CCTV camera sits at the top of one of the outside walls of HMP Pentonville in London. Above it, the brick wall is lined with barbed wire.PA Media

An overwhelming amount of drugs being smuggled into prisons in England and Wales is "destabilising" the system and hindering efforts to stop re-offending, a watchdog has warned.

Prisons are being targeted by criminal gangs using drones to fly in contraband to sell to bored inmates being kept in cramped conditions, according to the chief inspector of prisons' annual report.

"This meant in many jails, there were seemingly uncontrolled levels of criminality that hard-pressed and often inexperienced staff were unable to contain," Charlie Taylor wrote.

Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said the report showed the "scale of the crisis we inherited" and that the government was working to end the "chaos".

The damning report published on Tuesday found overcrowding and staffing shortages were contributing to a lack of purposeful activities for prisoners to do that would aid their rehabilitation, with many turning to drugs to keep themselves occupied.

Both staff and prisoners have been saying for several years that far too little is being done to keep drugs out of prisons.

A survey of 5,431 prisoners found 39% said it was easy to acquire drugs, while 30% of random drug tests came back positive.

In one prison, HMP Hindley, this rate was almost double.

An inspection of HMP Bedford found random drug testing had not been conducted for 12 months despite drugs being a "significant threat to safety".

Drugs are smuggled into prisons by visitors or staff, thrown over fences or flown in using drones.

An inmate serving time for a violent offence told the BBC that getting drugs inside was "super easy".

Speaking from his cell on an illegal phone, he said: "If you want spice [synthetic cannabis] or weed or something stronger, you can get it in a jiffy. Everyone inside knows who's got some. You can smell it across the wings.

"The boredom is too much and sometimes you just want something to take your mind off it so you'll get high."

The report said drones were being used to make regular deliveries to HMP Manchester and Long Lartin - which hold "some of the most dangerous men in the country, including terrorists and organised crime bosses".

It said that physical security measures were inadequate, while at HMP Manchester "inexperienced staff were being manipulated or simply ignored by prisoners".

Mr Taylor said the failure to tackle these issues presented a threat to national security.

"The challenge for the prison service must be to work in conjunction with the police and security services to manage prisoners associated with organised crime," Mr Taylor said.

"This is a threat that needs to be taken seriously at the highest levels of government."

West Midlands Police/Handout A handout photo issued by West Midlands Police of a drone and bag of drugs seized as a drug smuggling gang attempted to smuggle it into a prison in 2018.West Midlands Police/Handout
Criminal gangs are often using drones to smuggle drugs into prisons

The report also found:

  • Prisoners were spending too long locked in cells, with limited opportunities to spend time in fresh air or take part in recreational activities
  • Prisoners in full-time work or education missed out on other activities
  • Prisoners released early to ease overcrowding had placed a "huge burden on already-overstretched" probation units
  • The population is growing "faster than new [prison] spaces can be made available"

Lord Timpson said the report highlighted the "unacceptable pressures faced by our hardworking staff".

Addressing the issue of overcrowding, he said the government was building 14,000 extra places, with 2,400 already delivered, and "reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again".

He added that the government had pledged £40m to improve prison security, including enhanced CCTV, new windows and floodlighting.

The Prison Service is also employing x-ray body scanners and detection dogs to combat smuggling.

The government hopes reforms to sentencing will allow more prisoners to be released early, freeing up prison spaces.

But drugs in prison are nothing new, and as long as there is a demand, new ways are likely to be created to bring them in.

With drug dealers and addicts doing time, and a constant appetite to make cash, drugs are something that will continue to be an irresistible temptation to those inside.

Postmasters await compensation report, but findings on blame months away

Getty Images A Post Office signGetty Images

Tuesday will mark another big milestone in the long road to justice for the victims of the Post Office IT scandal.

The chair of the inquiry into it – Sir Wyn Williams – will publish the first part of his final report, focusing on compensation and the human impact of the scandal.

Thousands of sub-postmasters were wrongly blamed for financial losses from the Post Office's faulty Horizon computer system, which was developed by Fujitsu.

More than 900 people were prosecuted and 236 were sent to prison in what is believed to be one of the biggest miscarriages of justices in UK history.

Sir Wyn put those victims at the heart of the inquiry's work, which has pored over several decades worth of technical evidence and grilled many of those who had a role in ruining so many lives.

Dozens of sub-postmasters gave evidence too - many who had lost their businesses, their homes and some who served prison sentences.

Sir Wyn's findings on their treatment will surely be damning given everything he has heard since the inquiry began in 2022.

The inquiry became almost box office viewing - racking up more than 20 million views on YouTube, with people with no connection to the Post Office following it closely.

However, it is going to be months before we find out who Sir Wyn will point the finger of blame at.

That will come in part two of the report, meaning that accountability is still a long way off.

'Patchwork quilt'

Sir Wyn has taken a big interest in compensation for the victims, admitting at one point that he'd stretched his terms of reference on the issue, "perhaps beyond breaking point".

He held four separate hearings on redress and issued an interim report in 2023, likening the various schemes to a "patchwork quilt with a few holes in it".

Victims and their legal representatives still battling to secure final payouts will be looking to see what his conclusions are on compensation and whether it is living up to the mantra of being full and fair.

They hope his recommendations will result in more action.

Still, you might be wondering why we're only getting the first part of the final report.

Sir Wyn knows how pressing compensation is to many of the victims and that's why he wants to publish his recommendations on the issue as soon as possible.

"It's something I am very keen to say as much about as I reasonably can," he told the inquiry last year.

But the implication from this is that part two - establishing what happened and who is to blame - isn't coming out any time soon.

This second report may not be published until 2026 given the sheer volume and complexity of the evidence as well as the need to give those who are criticised the chance to respond.

As for justice, any criminal trials may not start until 2028. Police investigating the scandal confirmed last month that files won't be handed to prosecutors until after the final inquiry report is published.

After years of waiting, even after part one of Sir Wyn's report is published, the sub-postmasters' long road to justice will continue.

Did US government cuts contribute to the Texas tragedy?

BBC A boat on a river in Texas with four rescue workers on boardBBC

In the aftermath of the fatal Texas floods, some Democrats have warned about the "consequences" of the Trump administration's cuts to the federal government workforce, including meteorologists, with Senator Chris Murphy saying that: "Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters."

The suggestion is that the cuts may have impeded the ability of the National Weather Service (NWS) - the government agency which provides weather forecasts in the US - to adequately predict the floods and raise the alarm.

But the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said on Monday: "These offices [of the NWS] were well staffed… so any claims to the contrary are completely false."

BBC Verify has examined the impact of cuts under President Trump in this area and while there has been a reduction in the workforce at the NWS, experts who we spoke to said the staffing on hand for the Texas floods appears to have been adequate.

What are the cuts?

The Trump administration has proposed a 25% cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) current annual budget of $6.1bn (£4.4bn). NOAA is the agency which oversees the NWS.

This would take effect in the 2026 financial year which begins in October this year - so these particular cuts would not have contributed to the Texas tragedy.

However, the staffing levels of the NWS have already been separately reduced by the Trump administration's efficiency drive since January.

The Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), previously run by Elon Musk, offered voluntary redundancies, known as buyouts, as well as early retirements to federal government workers. It also ended the contracts of most of those who were on probation.

As a result, about 200 people at the NWS took voluntary redundancy and 300 opted for early retirement, according to Tom Fahy, the director of the NWS union. A further 100 people were ultimately fired from the service, he said.

In total, the NWS lost 600 of its 4,200 staff, says Mr Fahy, causing several offices across the country to operate without the necessary staffing.

In April 2025, the Associated Press news agency said it had seen data compiled by NWS employees showing half of its offices had a vacancy rate of 20% - double the rate a decade earlier.

Despite this, climate experts told BBC Verify that the NWS forecasts and flood warnings last week in Texas were as adequate as could be expected.

"The forecasts and warnings all played out in a normal manner. The challenge with this event was that it is very difficult to forecast this type of extreme, localised rainfall," says Avantika Gori, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University in Texas.

And Andy Hazelton, a climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths for the NOAA until he was fired during the layoffs in February, says: "I don't think the staffing issues contributed directly to this event. They got the watches and the warnings out."

What about the impact on offices in Texas?

However, some experts have suggested that staffing cuts may have impeded the ability of local NWS offices in Texas to effectively co-ordinate with local emergency services.

"There is a real question as to whether the communication of weather information occurred in a way that was sub-optimal," says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California Los Angeles.

"The impact might have been partially averted if some of the people at the weather service responsible for making those communications were still employed - which they were not in some of these local offices," he adds.

The San Angelo and San Antonio offices, which cover the areas affected by the flooding, reportedly had some existing vacancies.

For example, the San Antonio office's website lists several positions as being vacant, including two meteorologists.

Getty Images Search and recovery workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding at Camp Mystic on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported. Getty Images
Rescue efforts are ongoing along the Guadalupe River in central Texas

The NSW union director told BBC Verify that the San Angelo office was missing a senior hydrologist, a scientist who specialises in flooding events.

The San Antonio office also lacked a "warning coordinating meteorologist", who coordinates communications between local forecasting offices and emergency management services in communities, Mr Fahy said.

However, he noted that both offices had temporarily upped their staffing in anticipation of a dangerous weather event, which is typical in these circumstances.

"The NWS weather forecast offices in Austin/San Antonio and San Angelo, Texas had additional forecasters on duty during the catastrophic flooding event," NWS spokeswoman Erica Grow Cei said in a statement to BBC Verify. "All forecasts and warnings were issued in a timely manner," she added.

NWS meteorologist Jason Runyen, who covers the San Antonio area, also said in a statement that where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had "up to five on staff".

When asked on Sunday if government cuts had left key vacancies unfilled at the NWS, President Trump told reporters: "No, they didn't."

Were weather balloon launches reduced?

In a video shared thousands of times on social media, US meteorologist John Morales said: "There has been a 20% reduction in weather balloon releases, launches... What we're starting to see is that the quality of the forecasts is becoming degraded."

Some social media users have been pointing to Mr Morales' words as evidence that budget cuts have limited forecasters' ability to anticipate extreme weather events like the floods in Kerr County, Texas.

Weather balloons are an important tool used by meteorologists to collect weather data - from temperatures, to humidity, pressure, or wind speed - from the upper atmosphere.

In the US, NWS stations would typically launch them twice a day.

In a series of public statements released since February, the NWS confirmed that it either suspended or reduced weather balloon launches in at least 11 locations across the country, which it attributed to a lack of staffing at the local weather forecast offices.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that any of those changes directly affected weather balloon launches in the areas impacted by the floods in Texas.

Publicly available data shows that, in the lead-up to the floods, weather balloon launches were carried out as planned at Del Rio, the launch station nearest to the flood epicentre, collecting data that informed weather forecasts which experts say were as adequate as they could be.

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