Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes more steps to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza, including agreeing to a ceasefire.
Published On 29 Jul 202529 Jul 2025
The state of New York has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit from an ex-aide to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo who alleged he sexually harassed and groped her while he was in office.
The former aide, Brittany Commisso, had sued Cuomo and the state, alleging sexual harassment from the then-governor and retaliation against her after reporting the incidents. The allegations were part of a barrage of similar misconduct claims that forced Cuomo to resign as governor in 2021.
Commisso’s lawyers said that the settlement announced Friday “is a complete vindication of her claims” and that she is “glad to be able to move forward with her life.”
The settlement came as Cuomo is in the midst of a so-far bruising political comeback with a run for mayor of New York City. Cuomo lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani by more than 12 percentage points, and this week he relaunched his campaign to run in the general election as an independent candidate, beginning a potentially uphill battle in a heavily Democratic city where support is coalescing behind Mamdani.
Cuomo, who has denied wrongdoing, has been dogged by the scandal during his campaign for mayor.
“The settlement is not a vindication, it is capitulation to avoid the truth,” Cuomo’s lawyers said Friday in a statement in which they called Commisso’s allegations false.
The attorneys, Rita Glavin and Theresa Trzaskoma, added that they “oppose the dismissal of Ms. Commisso’s lawsuit.”
“Until the truth is revealed, the lawsuit should not be dismissed,” they said in the statement.
Cuomo resigned as governor after a report from the state attorney general determined that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women, with some alleging unwanted kissing and touching, as well as remarks about their appearances and sex lives.
Commisso filed her lawsuit in late 2023, just before the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a special law that created a yearlong suspension of the usual time limit to sue over an alleged sexual assault.
She later filed a criminal complaint accusing Cuomo of groping her but a local district attorney declined to prosecute, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
The Associated Press doesn’t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Commisso has done.
Anthony Hogrebe, a spokesperson for current Gov. Kathy Hochul, said Friday that the state “is pleased to have settled this matter in a way that allows us to minimize further costs to taxpayers.”
Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola will use cane sugar in its iconic beverage. File Photo by Billie Jean Shaw/UPI
July 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has announced that Coca-Cola has agreed to use cane sugar in its iconic drink instead of high-fructose corn syrup, though the Atlanta-based conglomerate has yet to confirm the move.
Trump, a known heavy consumer of Diet Coke, made the announcement on his Truth Social media platform on Wednesday.
“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” he said. “I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”
High-fructose corn syrup is used as a sweetener in Coca-Cola in the United States. The move to cane sugar would align the U.S. product with Coca-Cola sold in other countries, including Mexico.
Coca-Cola has not confirmed that it is adopting cane sugar for its U.S. drinks.
In a statement, the company said: “We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand. More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Paramount Global has agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to end his lawsuit over edits to a “60 Minutes” interview — a legal tussle that roiled CBS News, spurred high-level departures and threatened to derail the company’s hoped-for sale.
The money will be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library. As part of the deal, Paramount did not offer an apology or express regret for CBS News’ reporting or edits.
“No amount will be paid directly or indirectly to President Trump,” Paramount said in a statement. “The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action.”
Paramount decided to buy peace with the president rather than wage a costly fight to defend “60 Minutes” and its journalists in court. The move prompted an outcry by 1st Amendment experts who denounced the lawsuit as frivolous and the talks to reach Tuesday’s settlement as a shake-down.
The company’s leaders hope the settlement will clear a path for the company’s sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media — a deal that needs the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission.
Instead of fast-tracking the review of the proposed Paramount-Skydance merger, the Trump-appointed FCC chairman opened an inquiry into whether edits of the October “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris rose to the level of news distortion.
“The Company has agreed that in the future, ’60 Minutes’ will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns,” Paramount said.
The two sides have participated in mediation sessions for the past two months. Paramount said the terms of the settlement were proposed by the mediator. Paramount’s $16 million payment will include Trump’s attorneys fees.
Trump has long maintained last fall’s “60 Minutes” interview was edited to make Harris look smarter to boost her November election chances. CBS denied the allegations, saying the edits were routine.
The unedited footage confirmed that Harris was accurately quoted.
But Trump’s team said the edits caused Trump “mental anguish.” After returning to the White House this year, Trump doubled his lawsuit damages demand to $20 billion.
“Her answer was horrendous,” Trump told reporters last month on the White House lawn. “I would say election-threatening. … Her answer was election-threatening it was so incompetent.”
Trump’s lawsuit called the edits “malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.” The trims, the suit alleged, were “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference.”
CBS has acknowledged editing the interview, which is routine in the news business. Longstanding 1st Amendment interpretations give news producers wide latitude to decide what material to broadcast as long as they don’t distort the information presented to viewers.
Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone pushed for a settlement. The Redstone family’s investment firm, which holds the controlling Paramount shares, is juggling more than $400 million in debt and she wanted to facilitate the sale of Paramount, as well as her family’s holding firm, to Skydance.
Family members are counting on their portion of the Paramount sale proceeds. A representative has said Redstone recused herself from decisions dealing with Trump’s lawsuit but the mogul had made clear her desire for a settlement.
The Redstone family controls 77% of Paramount voting shares.
Skydance executives and their private equity partners also agitated for Paramount to end the bickering with Trump to resolve a key headache before the new owners take over.
Paramount, in a statement, said it has treated Trump’s lawsuit “completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process.”
It’s been nearly a year since Redstone and fellow Paramount directors approved Skydance’s two-phased $8-billion deal that would hand the company to tech billionaire Larry Ellison and his family.
His son David Ellison is eager to run the company that boasts the legendary Melrose Avenue film studio, Paramount+ streaming service, CBS and cable channels including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET.
Skydance operations and personnel are expected to be folded into Paramount in the second phase of the transaction.
Paramount Pictures studio lot on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
The deal faces one last regulatory hurdle. Paramount must win FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s consent to transfer more than two dozen CBS station licenses to the Ellisons. FCC approval has been held up for months.
Skydance and Paramount face an October deadline to finalize the deal or risk its collapse.
Redstone would then have to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to satisfy her creditors, including Larry Ellison, giving her another reason to favor a settlement.
Her willingness to set aside free speech values prompted push-back from journalists. The nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation decried Paramount’s decision to cede 1st Amendment freedoms in an effort to advance the Skydance deal. It vowed to sue Paramount if it settled.
But the deal’s months-long delay was wearing.
Redstone separately disclosed in early June that she was being treated for thyroid cancer.
The saga began last fall when CBS News invited both Harris and Trump to sit down with “60 Minutes,” a campaign season tradition. After initially agreeing, Trump backed out.
CBS went forward with the Harris piece but got into hot water after the network broadcast two portions of her response to a question by CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker. When he challenged Harris about the Biden Administration’s struggles dealing with Israel’s prime minister, Harris gave a three-sentence answer.
CBS’ Sunday morning show, “Face the Nation” aired her first sentence, which was convoluted. The following night, “60 Minutes” ran the second part of her answer, which was forceful and succinct.
Trump and his supporters cried foul, pointing to the discrepancies.
The showdown accelerated a week before the election when Trump filed his lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas. He accused CBS of trying to cover up Harris’ “word salad” to manipulate the results of what was expected to be a tight election.
Trump won decisively, and CBS sought to have the case dismissed.
The network’s lawyers said its journalists were protected by the 1st Amendment. It also argued that the case should be moved from west Texas, where it was heard by a Trump-appointed federal judge. The lawyers sought to get the case moved to a New York court, where CBS and “60 Minutes” is based.
The interview in question didn’t even mention Texas. In February, Trump added U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, his former doctor, to the lawsuit as an additional plaintiff. Jackson is a Texas resident.
Tuesday night’s settlement stipulated that Jackson would not receive any money.
Earlier this year, the Texas judge ordered the two sides to present their cases to a mediator. A retired judge who handles complex litigation began hearing the matter April 30.
The controversy stabbed at the heart of CBS News and its legacy of fearless broadcast journalism.
CBS News producers have long maintained they did nothing wrong. Journalists refused to sign any apology, which was long seen as a key demand from Trump and his team.
Inside the company, a pitched battle raged for months.
Vice President Kamala Harris talks to “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker.
(CBS News)
In late April, the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, quit. That prompted longtime CBS newsman Scott Pelley to inform “60 Minutes” viewers the show had faced increased corporate oversight because of Paramount’s desire to win the Trump administration’s approval of the Skydance deal.
“None of our stories has been blocked,” Pelley told viewers. “But Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
Some corporate executives were furious over Pelley’s public statements, insiders have said.
The Trump dispute also contributed to the departure of Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News and Stations. She stepped down under pressure in May.
There were other sore points. Redstone, who also serves as the chair of the Paramount board, had also expressed dissatisfaction with CBS News’ coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Fallout from the settlement could prompt additional headaches.
Three Democrat U.S. senators warned Redstone that Paramount could face allegations of bribery if it wrote a big check to mollify Trump in an effort to facilitate the FCC’s review of the Skydance deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount offered Trump $15 million to make the lawsuit go away, but he declined.
The issue became an unexpected pain point in Skydance’s pursuit of FCC approval to take over the CBS licenses.
Early this year, the FCC’s Carr opened an inquiry into whether the “60 Minutes” edits constituted “news bias” despite a longstanding acknowledgment by the FCC that it had little authority to act on complaints about accuracy or bias of reporters and news networks.
“The agency is prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press,” FCC said in guidelines posted on its website. “Those protected rights include, but are not limited to, a broadcaster’s selection and presentation of news or commentary.”
Carr ordered CBS to release the raw footage.
Video of the unedited interview confirmed the network’s account. But the footage also revealed that Harris’ jumbled answer was clipped to its most cogent sentence.
“It is troubling anytime a news organization settles a suit that was plainly winnable,” RonNell Andersen Jones, a 1st Amendment expert and law professor at the University of Utah, said in an interview earlier this year. “It represents lost 1st Amendment ground that didn’t have to be ceded.”
Paramount becomes the latest media company to settle, rather than risk incurring the president’s wrath or face an ugly courtroom confrontation.
Walt Disney Co.’s ABC News in December settled a Trump suit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos by agreeing to pay $1 million for legal fees and donating another $15 million for Trump’s future presidential library.
The resolution came after Stephanopoulos asserted during an on-air interview that a jury had found Trump “liable for rape” in a civil case. Jurors had actually determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse.”
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Some news outlets have fought back, including the Associated Press, which has vigorously defended its reporters’ ability of to cover the president.
Gannett’s Des Moines Register and independent pollster J. Ann Selzer also have battled Trump’s legal challenges to an Iowa poll that overstated Harris’s support. The poll was published just days before the election, suggesting Harris was leading in the Hawkeye state but she lost convincingly.
This week, Trump and his fellow plaintiffs moved to have their federal case dismissed.
The president revised his claims — that the poll’s publication amounted to election interference and violated Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act — with a new lawsuit in state court.
Israeli forces have killed at least 109 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump claimed that Israel had agreed to “the necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social site on Tuesday that the US would work “with all parties” to end the war on Gaza during the ceasefire, and called on Hamas to agree to the deal.
Trump’s comments came after a particularly bloody day in Gaza, as Israeli attacks destroyed clusters of homes in the north and south of the enclave, amid fears of yet another looming ground invasion.
The attacks come ahead of a planned visit next week by Netanyahu to Washington, DC. Trump said on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister wanted to end the war on Gaza, even as his forces ramp up attacks in Gaza.
Among the Palestinians killed were 16 hungry aid seekers who died when Israeli soldiers attacked crowds at aid distribution hubs run by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to medical sources.
They are the latest victims in a wave of daily killings at these sites, which have killed nearly 600 Palestinians since GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a crippling Israeli blockade.
More than 170 major international charities and nongovernmental organisations have called for an immediate end to GHF, which rights groups say is operating in violation of international principles.
“Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families,” a joint statement read.
GHF brings “nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza,” it added.
Israeli forces also attacked Gaza City in the north, where it recently issued forced evacuation orders for residents of the area, which has already been bombarded into rubble. At least five people were killed when an Israeli quadcopter struck a gathering of people, local news agency Wafa reported.
At least 82 percent of Gaza is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under forced displacement threats, according to the United Nations, warning people have nowhere to go.
Ismail, a resident of the Sheikh Radwan suburb of Gaza City, said that newly displaced families were setting up tents in the road, after fleeing from areas north and east of the city and finding no other ground available.
“We don’t sleep because of the sounds of explosions from tanks and planes. The occupation is destroying homes east of Gaza, in Jabalia and other places around us,” he said.
In Khan Younis and its al-Mawasi area in the south, at least 12 Palestinians were killed when a home belonging to the al-Zanati family was targeted. Separately, a child was killed and several others wounded when an Israeli air strike struck a displacement camp.
Several more were killed in an Israeli attack west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to sources at al-Awda Hospital, while two others were killed and several wounded in a separate attack on a UN-run school sheltering displaced families in the al-Maghazi refugee camp.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it attacked Gaza more than 140 times in the past 24 hours, claiming all those hit were “terror targets” and “militants”.
The attacks come as hospitals in the devastated enclave struggle to cope with the influx of people amid a severe shortage of medical supplies and much-needed fuel.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said critical services at the al-Shifa Hospital – which has come under attack and besieged several times throughout Israel’s assault on Gaza – will soon come to a halt.
“Critical services at al-Shifa Hospital have either stopped or will stop in the coming hours as backup generators are running out of fuel,” Mahmoud said.
“This hospital was once the largest healthcare facility in Gaza, but has slowly turned into a waiting room for death, not just because of the war wounds, but because of a lack of fuel that keeps everything running,” he said.
The desperate situation in Gaza is increasing the pressure on world leaders to secure a deal that would end the war.
Trump continues to maintain that a ceasefire deal is close, and that he hopes one will be secured “sometime next week”, during Netanyahu’s White House visit.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close Netanyahu ally, is in Washington this week for talks with senior officials on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said pressure by Trump on Israel would be key to any breakthrough in stalled ceasefire efforts.
“We call upon the US administration to atone for its sin towards Gaza by declaring an end to the war,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said there is “cautious optimism” in Israel regarding a ceasefire.
“But there are still a lot of concerns, especially among family members of Israeli captives who have been calling for a deal,” Salhut said, adding that Netanyahu “has never signalled he wants to end the war”.
But Hamas has insisted it would not agree to any deal that does not include a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a permanent halt to the war, which has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023.
Meanwhile, key mediator Qatar has reportedly sent an updated proposal to Hamas and Israel. According to Axios, the proposal includes a 60-day truce and the release of 10 captives, and would serve as the basis for negotiations aimed at a permanent end to the war and new governance for Gaza.
June 29 (UPI) — Group of Seven nations agreed to exempt U.S. companies from a 15% minimum corporate tax rate, the countries said in a joint statement.
The nonbinding deal was announced Saturday but still requires approval from the 38-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that established the 2021 agreement on taxing companies. G-7 nations are part of the OECED.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had proposed a “side-by-side solution” for American-headquartered companies that would be exempt from the Income Inclusion Rule and Undertaxed Profits Rule “in recognition of the existing U.S. minimum tax rules to which they are subject.”
The massive spending bill now being considered in Congress originally included a “revenge tax” that would have imposed a levy of up to 20% on investments from countries that taxed U.S. companies.
“I have asked the Senate and House to remove the Section 899 protective measure from consideration in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” Bessent wrote in a multi-post thread on X on Thursday.
The House has approved the massive legislation and the Senate is considering it.
“It is an honorable compromise as it spares us from the automatic retaliations of Section 899 of the Big, Beautiful Bill,” Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told local media.
“We are not claiming victory, but we obtained some concessions as the U.S. pledged to engage in OECD negotiations on fair taxation,” an unnamed French official told Politico Europe. The official called the “revenge tax” a potentially “huge burden for French companies.”
Trump has criticized this provision because he said it would limit sovereignty and send U.S. tax revenues to other countries.
“The Trump administration remains vigilant against all discriminatory and extraterritorial foreign taxes applied against Americans,” Bessent wrote Thursday.
Trump has imposed a July 9 deadline for U.S. trading partners to lower taxes on foreign goods, threatening high duties on the worst offenders, including 50% on goods from the 27 European Union members. In April, a baseline tariff was imposed on most U.S. trading partners, with higher rates on certain companies and products.
In 2021, nearly 140 countries agreed to tax multinational companies at the 15% minimum, regardless of where they were headquartered.
In late April, the European Union, Britain, Japan and Canada agreed to exempt the United States from the 15% minimum tax on companies.
“Delivery of a side-by-side system will facilitate further progress to stabilize the international tax system, including a constructive dialogue on the taxation of the digital economy and on preserving the tax sovereignty of all countries,” the joint statement read.
The agreement, according to the statement, would ensure that any substantial risks identified “with respect to the level playing field, or risks of base erosion and profit shifting, are addressed to preserve the common policy objectives of the side-by-side system.”
The G-7 includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy in Europe, as well as Canada, Japan and U.S. Before 2014, the group was known as the G-8 until Russia was expelled after annexing the Crimea region of Ukraine.
The chairs of the House and Senate committees responsible for tax policy cheered the agreement.
“We applaud President Trump and his team for protecting the interests of American workers and businesses after years of congressional Republicans sounding the alarm on the Biden Administration’s unilateral global tax surrender under Pillar 2,” Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a press release.
The agreement also, however, has its critics.
“The U.S. is trying to exempt itself by arm-twisting others, which would make the tax deal entirely useless,” Markus Meinzer, director of policy at the Tax Justice Network, told Politico Europe. “A ship with a U.S.-sized hole in its hull won’t float.”
June 25 (UPI) — Following a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in The Hague Wednesday, the alliance announced its member nations have agreed to each invest 5% of their Gross Domestic Product toward defense.
“This is a significant commitment in response to significant threats to our security,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a press conference.
Rutte said the 5% breaks down to 3.5% of each country’s GDP invested in “core defense requirements” such as tanks, drones, ammunition and troops, among other items. The 1.5% remainder is to go into investments that will strengthen defense.
“All to ensure we can effectively deter aggression and defend ourselves, and each other, should anyone make the mistake of attacking,” Rutte added.
The previous financial benchmark for NATO was 2%, which has either been met or is expected to be met this year by all members.
“It means that no matter the challenges we face — whether from Russia or terrorism, cyberattacks, sabotage or strategic competition — this Alliance is and will remain ready, willing and able to defend every inch of Allied territory, said Rutte. “And ensure that our one billion people can continue to live in freedom and security.”
Rutte’s statements followed the meeting Wednesday, during which U.S. President Donald Trump reassured NATO allies Wednesday that the United States was fully committed to the defense alliance’s so-called Article 5 under which members pledge to come to the military defense of any NATO country that is attacked.
“We’re with them all the way,” Trump told a joint briefing with Secretary General Mark Rutte at a NATO summit in The Hague, responding to a question on his commitment to NATO and the mutual defense pact at its heart.
Trump added that he was happy to commit because other members of the 32-country alliance had heeded his long-standing call to ramp up their defense budgets and would now meet his demand that they spend 5% of GDP on defense.
“If you look at the numbers, I’ve been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years and they’re going up to 5%. That’s a big jump from 2% and a lot of people didn’t even pay the 2%, so I think it’s going to be very big news. NATO is going to become very strong with us and I appreciate doing it,” he said.
Earlier, Trump sparked consternation after comments made mid-Atlantic aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that his commitment to Article 5 “depends on your definition.”
The situation in the Middle East dominated most of the rest of the briefing, setting the tone for a gathering that alternated between shows of NATO unity and discussion of the U.S. strikes on Iran and how the situation would play out, despite not being on the agenda.
That left little room for the issue of Ukraine, which was relegated well down the agenda.
In his opening remarks to the leaders’ session Rutte did set out the challenges facing NATO, from Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s “massive” military build-up to conflict in the Middle East, but hailed what he said were the historic, transformative decisions that would be made at the meeting to “make our people safer through a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO.”
He said the additional funds from the 5% spending commitment would go toward bolstering “core” hard defense expenditure, as well as defense and security-related investments, and ensure every country contributed their fair share to the security umbrella NATO provided.
“For too long, one Ally, the United States, carried too much of the burden of that commitment. And that changes today,” Rutte said.
“President Trump, dear Donald, you made this change possible. Your leadership on this has already produced $1 trillion in extra spending from European Allies since 2016. And the decisions today will produce trillions more for our common defenses, to make us stronger and fairer by equalising spending between America and America’s allies.”
Shortly after the meeting ended, the NATO heads of state and government issued a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to NATO, the transatlantic bond and “ironclad commitment to collective defense as enshrined in Article 5” of the 1947 Washington Treaty.
“An attack on one is an attack on all.”
It said the leaders were united in the face of “profound security threats and challenges”, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism allies had therefore committed to invest 5% of GDP in defense annually by 2035.
“Our investments will ensure we have the forces, capabilities, resources, infrastructure, warfighting readiness, and resilience needed to deter and defend in line with our three core tasks of deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security,” the declaration stated.
Members also reaffirmed a joint pledge to accelerate efforts to ramp up transatlantic defense-industrial cooperation, harness new technology and embrace out-of-the-box thinking on defense, as well as working to remove defense trade barriers between allies.
Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker agrees to join Everton, Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo favours Manchester United over Tottenham Hotspur, and Newcastle United open talks with Brighton over Joao Pedro.
Manchester City and England defender Kyle Walker, 35, has agreed to join Everton on a one-year deal. (Sun), external
Brentford and Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo, 25, is leaning towards a move to Manchester United over Tottenham Hotspur, despite his former manager Thomas Frank joining the latter. (Sky Sports News), external
Newcastle have opened talks with Brighton over the signing of Brazil forward Joao Pedro, 22, and are also interested in Sporting Lisbon and Ivory Coast centre-back Ousmane Diomande, 21. (Telegraph – subscription required), external
Juventus have offered Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres an £11m-a-year contract as they try to beat Arsenal and Manchester United to a deal for the 27-year-old Sweden international. (Mirror), external
Tottenham are set to open talks with Rennes over French striker Arnaud Kalimuendo, 23. (L’Equipe – in French), external
Manchester United have held initial talks with Eintracht Frankfurt over the signing of France striker Hugo Ekitike, 22, but no formal bid has been made yet. (Sky Sports, external)
Napoli are aiming to sign either Manchester United and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho, 20, or Manchester City and England midfielder Jack Grealish, 29, but the Italian champions are only willing to spend £45m. (Sun), external
Atletico Madrid will target Aston Villa and France full-back Lucas Digne, 31, if they do not sign Scotland and Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, 31. (Times – subscription required, external)
Chelsea have opened talks with Lyon over Belgian winger Malik Fofana, 20. Nottingham Forest have also shown interest. (L’Equipe – in French) , external
Barcelona and Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 33, has turned down an offer from Turkish champions Galatasaray. (Sport – in Spanish), external
Athletic Bilbao, Marseille, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Inter Milan, and Napoli have all shown interest in Al Nassr and Spain defender Aymeric Laporte, 31, formerly of Manchester City. (AS – in Spanish), external
Liverpool have joined Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle in the race for Southampton and England U21s winger Tyler Dibling, 19. (CaughtOffside), external
Real Betis want to enter into a joint-ownership agreement with Manchester United for Brazil winger Antony, 25, that would see the Spanish club buy increasing percentages of his playing rights from next summer. (ABC – in Spanish), external
June 15 (UPI) — British officials said Sunday that they have never dismissed reports of child grooming gangs in the country, and vowed to release the results of an investigation Monday.
“These are the most important people in the discussions,” chancellor Rachel Reeves said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg program.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been criticized for ignoring reports about grooming gangs, and initially appeared to resist an independent investigation, but did agree to open an inquiry after months of pressure from conservatives.
The results of a previous report are to be released Monday, and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is scheduled to address the findings with Parliament.
When promoted, Reeves said Sunday that Starmer has long been focused on the grooming gang activity, and she shifted the blame to the Conservative party that held office prior to Starmer’s election, intimating that the previous administration had not taken action to address the issue, either.
“Our prime minister has always been really focused on the victims, and not grandstanding but actually doing the practical things to ensure something like this never happens again,” she said Sunday.
Maggie Oliver, a former detective with the Greater Manchester Police who resigned over the way the said grooming cases were handled in Rochdale, said both parties have been “dragged kicking and screaming to this point” to address grooming gang allegations.
“For me, I can only look at them with contempt, because I see on the ground the suffering their neglect has caused,” she said on the Sunday program.
A prior report seven years in the making conclude that child sexual abuse was “epidemic” across the nation, and made 20 recommendations in 2022. Advocates said many of the victims have been waiting years for justice.
June 13 (UPI) — Shaquille O’Neal, the retired basketball star and NBA analyst, has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle claims that he misled investors by promoting the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
O’Neal, who urged fans to trust the platform in a commercial, won’t admit wrongdoing. He reportedly earned much less to make the commercial that aired in June 2022: around $750,000, Front Office Sports reported.
The settlement Monday marks one of the first high-profile settlements over FTX’s collapse, CNBC reported.
The civil case in Miami federal court. O’Neal must pay the amount within 30 days. An initial settlement was reached in November.
In the class-action suit, O’Neal is accused of presenting FTX as a trustworthy and legitimate investment tool while allegedly helping drive the adoption of unregistered securities.
Eligible are users who deposited money into FTX or held its proprietary token, FTT, between May 2019 and late 2022.
O’Neal’s $1.8 million payout will cover all legal fees, notice and administration costs, and payouts to those eligible. Also, he is released from future liability and is barred from seeking reimbursement from the FTX bankruptcy estate.
“We are pleased to have this matter behind us,” O’Neal’s attorney said in a statement.
In 2022, O’Neal told CNBC he “was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
At the time he said he didn’t know much about crypto currency.
“I don’t understand it, so I will probably stay away from it until I get a full understanding of what it is,” he told CNBS. “From my experience, it is too good to be true.”
Other FTX endorsers, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry, had claims against them largely dismissed.
FTX, a company in the Bahamas, was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange three years ago but it racked up billions of dollars or losses and filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, 2022.
Founder Sam Bankman-Fried isserving a 25-year prison sentence for seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the FTX collapse.
O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson are moving from TNT next season when “Inside the NBA” appears on ESPN.
On this date in history:
In 1935, U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. The park opened to visitors July 1, 1944.
In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.
In 1963, a sniper killed civil rights leader Medgar Evers outside his home in Jackson, Miss.
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t outlaw interracial marriages.
In 1971, Tricia Nixon, daughter of U.S. President Richard Nixon, married Edward Finch Cox in the first wedding in the Rose Garden of the White House. The event featured a 7-foot-tall, 350-pound lemon wedding cake.
In 1974, after 35 years of existence, the Little League organization asked Congress to change the wording of its charter to allow girls to play on teams. A decade later, Belgian outfielder Victoria Roche became the first girl to play on the championship roster of the Little League Baseball World Series.
In 1979, Bryan Allen, 26, pedaled the 70-pound Gossamer Albatross 22 miles on the first human-powered flight across the English Channel.
In 1982, an estimated 700,000 people gathered in New York’s Central Park to call for world nuclear disarmament.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan asked Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”
UPI File Photo
In 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first freely elected Russian president. Yeltsin, a key figure in the demise of the Soviet Union, was president until his resignation in 1999.
In 2010, Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old California girl trying to sail solo around the world, was rescued by a French fishing vessel after her boat lost its mast in rough weather in the Indian Ocean.
In 2012, Ron Barber, former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was seriously wounded in a shooting rampage, won a special election to replace her. Six people were killed and a dozen others, including Barber, were wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011, attack by Jared Lee Loughner.
In 2014, former President George H.W. Bush parachuted from a helicopter near his summer home at Kennebunkport, Maine, on his 90th birthday. Bush jumped in tandem with Mike Elliott, a retired member of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team.
File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
In 2016, gunman Omar Mateen killed 50 people in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. It was the deadliest attack on the American LGBTQ community in U.S. history and the shooter pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
In 2018, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took part in a summit in Singapore to discuss denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
In 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation banning police from using chokeholds on citizens and making race-based false police reports a crime.
In 2022, MJ, Company, Take Me Out and A Strange Loop each won multiple statues at the Tony Awards, which were held for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
May 27 (UPI) — Officials at San Francisco-based Salesforce have agreed to pay $8 billion to buy tech firm Informatica.
Informatica is a data management firm based in Redwood City, Calif., and agreed to accept Salesforce’s offer of $25 per share for Class A and Class B-1 common stock, the tech firms announced on Tuesday.
Salesforce is the world’s top-ranked artificial intelligence customer relationship management system and will use Informatica’s AI-powered data management tools to improve services for client organizations.
The proposed transaction would enhance Salesforce’s data foundation and improve its AI-powered services for clients, company officials said on Tuesday in a joint news release with Informatica.
“This is a transformational step in delivering enterprise-grade AI that is safe, responsible and deeply integrated with the world’s data,” said Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s chairman and chief executive officer.
“This combination brings together Salesforce’s Einstein and Informatica’s CLAIRE AI engines to forge the ultimate AI-data platform -trusted, explainable and built to scale,” Benioff added.
He said the merger would “supercharge” Salesforce’s Agentforce, Data Cloud, Tableau, MuleSoft and Customer 360 services by enabling autonomous agents to act with “intelligence, context and confidence across every enterprise.”
The proposed deal also fulfils a “shared vision” for helping organizations make the best use of data during the AI era, Informatica Chief Executive Officer Amit Walia said.
The merger “represents a significant leap forward in our journey to bring data and AI to life by empowering businesses with the transformative power of their most critical asset – their data,” Walia added.
If completed, the proposed merger enables Salesforce to:
“Truly trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data,” said Steve Fisher, president and chief technology officer at Salesforce.
“Imagine an AI agent that goes beyond simply seeing datapoints to understand their full context – origin, transformation, quality and governance,” Fisher said.
“This clarity … will allow all types of businesses to automate more complex processes and make more reliable AI-driven decisions.”
Investors responded well to the proposed merger, resulting in a 17% increase in Informatica share prices on Friday, Bloomberg reported.
The tech firm’s share price continued its climb on Tuesday with a 6.08% increase to $23.92 at the close of trading on Tuesday, according to MarketWatch.
Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal put forth by the United States for Gaza, according to Al Jazeera’s sources, but an American official rejected the claim and said the deal being discussed was “unacceptable” and “disappointing”.
Israeli officials also denied that the proposal was from the US, saying on Monday that no Israeli government could accept it, according to the Reuters news agency.
The conflicting reports came as Israeli forces kept up their relentless bombardment of starving Palestinians in Gaza, and continued to severely restrict the entry of aid into the besieged enclave.
Medical sources say at least 81 people, including many children, were killed in Israel’s attacks on Monday alone.
Al Jazeera’s sources said Hamas and the US’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, agreed to the draft deal at a meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha. They said it includes a 60-day ceasefire, and the release of 10 living captives held in Gaza, over two stages.
US President Donald Trump would guarantee the terms of the deal and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The agreement would also allow for the entry of humanitarian aid, without conditions, from day one, the sources said.
Witkoff, however, rejected the notion that Hamas had accepted his offer for a captive and truce deal, telling Reuters that what he had seen was “completely unacceptable”.
A US source close to Witkoff also told Al Jazeera that Hamas’s claims were “inaccurate” and the deal from the Palestinian group was “disappointing”.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, cited the US official as saying that the proposal on the table is only a “temporary ceasefire agreement” with Israel.
“What this would do is allow for half of the living captives, as well as half of the deceased, to be returned,” she said.
“In turn, the White House believes this would lead towards a diplomatic path of discussions that could result in a permanent ceasefire. And this is the deal that the source tells Al Jazeera is what Hamas should take,” she added.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a recorded message on social media, promising to bring back the 58 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza, of whom some 20 are believed to still be alive.
“If we don’t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up,” Netanyahu said.
“We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead,” he added.
The Israeli leader made no mention of the proposed deal.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from the Jordanian capital, Amman, said Netanyahu has long rejected Hamas’s calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and pledged to continue the war until “total victory” is achieved against the Palestinian group.
“The Israeli premier has even added new red lines for what to him would bring an end of the war,” Salhut said.
“That includes the return of the Israeli captives, the demilitarisation of Hamas [and] the exile of military and political leaders. And, also, the implementation of Trump’s plan for Gaza. This is a plan that has been widely condemned as ethnic cleansing, and the White House even walked it back several months ago,” she said.
“But Netanyahu says that’s what he wants if there is to be an end of the war.”
For its part, Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining captives all at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. It has also said it is willing to cede control of the Gaza Strip to an interim government, as proposed in an Arab League-backed $53bn plan for the enclave’s reconstruction.
The Palestinian group, however, has refused to lay down arms or exile its leaders from Gaza, saying the demand is a “red line” as long as Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory continues.
In Gaza, Palestinians said they were desperate for any deal to bring an end to Israel’s relentless bombardment and blockade, which has left the enclave’s entire population on the brink of famine.
“All Palestinian eyes are on Doha,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“Since Israel resumed the war, Palestinians have been attacked in their homes, schools, makeshift tents and also in so-called safe humanitarian zones… They are also saying they are not able to even secure one meal for their families,” Khoudary said.
“Palestinians here are saying they do not have any options left, and they are trying to survive the Israeli air strikes and the mass starvation that has been imposed on them.”
Israel resumed the war on Gaza on March 18, two weeks after imposing a total blockade on the enclave.
Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,822 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s renewed offensive, and the confirmed overall death toll has now reached 53,977. Some 122,966 people have been wounded.
Israel eased its blockade last week, saying it has let in some 170 aid trucks into Gaza, but humanitarian officials say they are nowhere near the amount needed to feed the enclave’s two million people after 11 weeks of a total siege.
May 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said he has agreed to delay imposing a 50% tariff on European goods until July 9 to allow more time for trade negotiations.
Trump announced the decision in a post on his Truth Social media platform, saying he made the decision following a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who had requested the extension.
“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so,” he said in the statement. “The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
In a statement of her own published prior to Trump’s announcement, von der Leyen said she had a “good call” with the American president, and that to reach a “good” trade deal, they would need until July 9.
“The EU and U.S. share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship,” she said on X.
“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively.”
The delay is the latest from the American president, who has turned to the threat of imposing tariffs as a negotiating tool to bring about a new deal with terms more favorable for the United States.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that an agreement had been reached with China to reduce most of their tariffs for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. That agreement saw U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods drop from 145% to 30% and China’s reciprocal tariffs on American goods fall from 125% to 10%.
Trump had originally announced 20% tariffs on EU imports in April as part of his so-called reciprocal tariffs, which sought to use the tax to level out trade disparities.
He then reduced those tariffs to 10% for 90 days later.
On Friday, Trump announced that a 50% tariff on EU goods would go into effect June 1, claiming the 27-member bloc was being “very difficult to deal with.”
“Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,” he said on Truth Social.
According to the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. goods trade deficit with the EU last year was $235.6 billion, an increase of nearly 13% from the year prior.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that Ashli Babbitt’s family filed over her shooting by an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a person with knowledge of the settlement. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss with the Associated Press terms of a settlement that have not been made public.
The settlement would resolve the $30-million federal lawsuit that Babbitt’s estate filed last year in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, 2021, a Capitol police officer shot Babbitt as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby.
The officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.
Settlement terms haven’t been disclosed in public court filings. On May 2, lawyers for Babbitt’s estate and the Justice Department told a federal judge that they had reached a settlement in principle but were still working out the details before a final agreement could be signed.
Justice Department spokespeople and two attorneys for the Babbitt family didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was unarmed when she was shot by the officer. The lawsuit alleges that the plainclothes officer failed to de-escalate the situation and did not give her any warnings or commands before opening fire.
The suit also accused the Capitol Police of negligence, claiming the department should have known that the officer was “prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.”
“Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone,” the lawsuit said.
The officer said in a televised interview that he fired as a “last resort.” He said he didn’t know if the person jumping through the window was armed when he pulled the trigger.
Thousands of people stormed the Capitol after President Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters at his Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. More than 100 police officers were injured in the attack.
In January, on his first day back in the White House, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the riot.
Tucker and Kunzelman write for the Associated Press. AP writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has agreed to pay a $329,794 fine to settle an ethics board’s complaint that he misspent public funds on his security detail during his brief, failed run for U.S. president.
The deal, announced Wednesday by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, is the costliest repayment order in the ethics board’s history. But it allows de Blasio to avoid an even steeper penalty of $475,000 that was previously imposed, a reduction the board said came in light of the former mayor’s “financial situation.”
In exchange, de Blasio agreed to drop his appeal of the board’s finding. And for the first time, he admitted that he received written warning that his out-of-state security expenses could not legally be covered by city taxpayers.
“In contradiction of the written guidance I received from the Board, I did not reimburse the City for these expenses,” de Blasio wrote in the settlement, adding: “I made a mistake and I deeply regret it.”
The payments concern the $319,794.20 in travel-related expenses — including airfare, lodging, meals — that de Blasio’s security detail incurred while accompanying him on trips across the country during his presidential campaign in 2019. He will also pay a $10,000 fine.
The campaign elicited a mix of mockery and grousing by city residents, who accused the Democrat of abandoning his duties as second-term mayor for the national spotlight. It was suspended within four months.
Under the agreement, de Blasio must pay $100,000 immediately, followed by quarterly installments of nearly $15,000 for the next four years. If he misses a payment, he will be deemed in default and ordered to pay the full $475,000.
The funds will eventually make their way back into the city treasury, according to a spokesperson for the Conflicts of Interest Board.
An attorney for de Blasio, Andrew G. Celli Jr., declined to comment on the settlement.
De Blasio had previously argued that forcing him to cover the cost of his security detail’s travel violated his 1st Amendment rights by creating an “unequal burden” between wealthy candidates and career public servants.
Since leaving office in 2021, de Blasio has worked as a lecturer at multiple universities, most recently the University of Michigan, and delivered paid speeches in Italy.
Offenhartz writes for the Associated Press.
May 10 (UPI) — Google will pay $1.375 billion to settle a 2022 data privacy lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.
The lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas accused Google of unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data on their geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data.
“In Texas, big tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a news release. “This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”
Paxton said the lawsuit is part multistate effort to hold Google accountable for data privacy violations.
“For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services,” Paxton said. “I fought back and won.”
He said Google agreed to pay Texas much more than it did to settle similar lawsuits filed by other states.
No other state received more than $93 million from Google to settle data privacy violations claims, and a coalition of 40 states split a $391 million settlement, which is nearly $1 billion less than the Texas settlement.
Paxton did not say how the settlement would be used or if Texans would receive a portion of it.
Texas similarly secured a $1.4 billion settlement from Facebook-owner Meta for data privacy violations after Paxton sued the tech firm for collecting and using Texans’ facial recognition data.
Parent corporation Alphabet’s share price tumbled slightly on Friday following the announcement of the $1.375 billion settlement.
The share price initially rose to a high of $156.14 shortly after trading opened Friday morning by tumbled to a low of $153.95 during afternoon trading, according to NASDAQ.
The share price recovered slightly during after-hours trading with a final price of $154.17.
The share price continued declining on Saturday with a low of $152.27 and remained generally level into the afternoon hours.
Google did not respond to a request for comment made on Saturday afternoon.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has reached a preliminary agreement to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt over her shooting by an officer who was protecting lawmakers during the U.S. Capitol riot, attorneys said Friday.
Lawyers for Babbitt’s estate and the Justice Department told a judge in Washington’s federal court that they have reached a settlement in principle, but the details are still being worked out and the final agreement has not yet been signed. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.
Babbitt’s estate filed the $30-million lawsuit last year over her fatal shooting when she attempted to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Capitol Police officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was unarmed when she was shot by the police lieutenant when she tried to climb through the door as others in the mob pressed to get into the lobby outside the House chamber.
The lawsuit alleges that the officer, who was not in uniform, failed to de-escalate the situation and did not give her any warnings or commands before opening fire. It also alleges negligence on the part of Capitol Police. The lawsuit says the department “should have known” that the officer was “prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.”
“Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone,” the lawsuit said.
The Capitol Police officer said in a televised interview that he fired as a “last resort.” When he pulled the trigger, he said, he had no idea whether the person jumping through the window was armed.
Capitol Police officials and an attorney for Babbitt’s estate didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.
President Trump in January pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of all of the cases of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the riot, in which a mob tried to disrupt Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Trump.
In addition to Babbitt, four fellow rioters and five police officers died as a consequence of the Jan. 6 violence. More than 100 officers were injured, many seriously.
Trump, a convicted felon, was charged with additional felonies related to his role in the insurrection, but the case was dropped after he won the November presidential election.
Richer writes for the Associated Press.
April 29 (UPI) — Mexico has agreed to immediately transfer water to the United States and increase the U.S. share of water flow from their shared rivers, after the Trump administration threatened its southern neighbor with tariffs if it did not fulfill its end of a water-sharing agreement.
The United States and Mexico announced the agreement in separate statements on Monday.
The 1944 Water Treaty between the two countries states that the United States is obligated to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually to Mexico from the Colorado River, and in return Mexico will deliver to the United States a minimum of 350,000 acre-feet of water each year, totaling 1.75 million acre-feet of water over a five-year cycle.
However, Mexico has only delivered less than 500,000 acre-feet of water since October 2020, attracting the anger of President Donald Trump, who earlier this month threatened to impose tariffs and potentially sanctions against Mexico until it fulfilled its treaty obligations.
President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico had responded to Trump by blaming the water deficit on a three-year drought.
In a statement Monday, her foreign ministry said, “With a strong desire to continue fulfilling the commitments outlined in the 1944 Treaty … Mexico has agreed with the United States to implement a series of measures aimed at mitigating a potential shortfall in Mexico’s water deliveries by the end of the cycle.”
“These measures include immediate water transfers as well as transfers during the upcoming rainy season,” the foreign ministry said.
Mexico will also increase the U.S. share of flow in six of Mexico’s Rio Grande tributaries, according to the U.S. State Department, which said these measures will help American farmers, ranchers and municipalities in Texas’ Rio Grande valley “get much-needed water and reduce shortfalls in deliveries.”
“The United States and Mexico also committed to develop a long-term plan to reliably meet treaty requirements while addressing outstanding water debts,” it said in a statement.