Qatar PM meeting Trump after Isarel's deadly strike on Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met US President Donald Trump in New York after Israel’s strike on Doha killed a Qatari security officer and five Hamas members. The group had been discussing Trump’s proposed Gaza ceasefire plan, Al Jazeera reported.
Before the dinner meeting, Sheikh Mohammed spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the attack and US-Qatar security ties. Washington considers Qatar, host of the Al Udeid airbase, a key Gulf partner.
Trump said he was “very unhappy” with Israel’s move, calling it an attempt to derail ceasefire talks. According to Al Jazeera, his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed is expected to focus on the strike and ways to push forward efforts to end the Gaza war.
US calls on G7, EU to impose tariffs on China, India over Russian oil purchases
US has urged its G7 and EU partners to impose tariffs on China and India, accusing them of propping up Moscow’s war in Ukraine through continued Russian oil purchases.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said only coordinated tariffs can choke off the revenues funding Russian President Putin’s invasion. The call came as G7 finance ministers agreed to speed up the use of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv, according to Reuters.
Washington has already doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 percent but has so far held back on Beijing amid ongoing trade talks. Bessent is set to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid next week, where trade and security issues will be high on the agenda.
Japanese lawmakers prep leadership bids after PM resigns, yen sinks
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faces a leadership scramble after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned following electoral losses blamed on rising living costs, Reuters reported.
Former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced his candidacy Monday, urging party unity. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi also plans to run, but frontrunners are expected to be Sanae Takaichi and Shinjiro Koizumi. Takaichi could become Japan’s first female leader; Koizumi, 44, its youngest in modern times.
Takaichi, a fiscal dove opposing Bank of Japan rate hikes, supports increased spending and has advocated revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, drawing attention from investors and China. Markets reacted with a weaker yen and rising stocks amid uncertainty over economic policy, according to Reuters.
Palestinian prisoners not being given adequate food, Israel top court says
Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the state must provide adequate food to Palestinian prisoners, citing a legal obligation to ensure a “basic level of existence.” The decision comes amid long-standing concerns over prison conditions, with human rights groups reporting that changes in food policies have led to malnutrition and starvation, according to BBC.
Thousands of Palestinians remain detained in Israeli prisons, including those held on terror charges and others arrested since the conflict in Gaza began in October 2023. Palestinian detainees released earlier have described mistreatment and torture by Israeli military and prison staff.
The ruling was criticized by Israel’s Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who argued that Israeli hostages in Gaza lack similar protections and vowed to maintain the “minimum conditions required by law” for imprisoned terrorists. Human rights groups, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, called for immediate implementation of the court’s verdict, BBC reported.
