US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) and Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2013. (AFP)
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) and Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2013. (AFP)
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Updated 11 September 2024
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US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen

US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen
  • A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hard-line settler movement

LONDON/JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as they decried the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.




Turkish-American woman Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a graduate of the University of Washington, poses wearing her mortarboard and keffiyeh in a family photograph taken at the University of Washington's 2024 commencement ceremony, in Seattle, Washington, U.S,  June 8, 2024. (REUTERS)

Israel’s military said on Tuesday that its initial inquiry found it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.

President Joe Biden later told reporters “it ricocheted off the ground” and a US official said that was the conclusion of the Israeli investigation, the results of which were presented to the United States on Tuesday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Eygi's family demands independent US investigation

• Blinken and Austin call Eygi's killing unprovoked and unjustified

• Israeli military says gunfire aimed at another individual

Palestinian officials say that Eygi was struck in the head.

Eygi’s family called Israel’s preliminary inquiry “wholly inadequate” and demanded an independent US investigation.

Hamid Ali, Eygi’s partner, in response to Biden’s comments, said her death “was no accident and her killers must be held accountable.”

“The White House has not spoken with us. For four days, we have waited for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing,” Ali said.

Blinken and Austin, in their strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington’s closest Middle East ally, described Eygi’s killing as “unprovoked and unjustified.” They separately said said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operated in the West Bank.


SPOTLIGHT

Killing of US-Turkish citizen shows high price of expressing solidarity with Palestinians in occupied West Bank


“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken told reporters in London.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable,” Blinken said.

An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken’s remarks.

Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said late on Tuesday, adding he expressed “grave concern for the IDF’s responsibility for the unprovoked and unjustified death” of Eygi. He also urged Gallant “to reexamine the IDF’s rules of engagement while operating in the West Bank,” according to the Pentagon.



The Israeli military earlier said an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division was under way and its findings would be submitted for higher-level review once completed.

“We’re going to be watching that very, very closely,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, saying a criminal probe was an unusual step by Israel’s military.

“We’re going to want to see where it goes now in terms of the criminal investigation and what they find, and if and how anyone is held accountable,” Kirby added.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an initial investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called “the key instigator of the riot.”

“The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction,” it said.

Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.

“We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional,” Eygi’s family said in a statement. A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hard-line settler movement. Tensions have been heightened amid Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza.

Palestinians have held weekly protests in Beita since 2020 over the expansion of nearby Evyatar, a settler outpost. Ultra-nationalist members of Israel’s ruling coalition have acted to legalize previously unauthorized outposts like Evyatar, a move Washington says threatens the stability of the West Bank and undercuts efforts toward a two-state solution to the conflict.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.

Israel has built a thickening array of settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the territory.

 


Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession

Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession
Updated 8 sec ago
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Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession

Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession
  • “Let’s...not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform
  • The “Epstein Files” were a hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party for political gain, he told his MAGA supporters
  • Trump has denied allegations that he was named in the files or had any direct connection to the notorious sex offender

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump urged his political base on Saturday to stop attacking his administration over files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a case that has become an obsession for conspiracy theorists.

Trump’s Department of Justice and the FBI said in a memo made public last week there was no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful figures.

They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide at a New York prison in 2019, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.

The move was met with incredulity by some on the US far-right — many of whom have backed Trump for years — and strident criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump said Saturday in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.

“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” he added, referring to his “Make America Great Again” movement.

Many among the MAGA faithful have long contended that so-called “Deep State” actors were hiding information on Epstein’s elite associates.
“Next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,’” furious pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tweeted after last week’s move. “This is over the top sickening.”
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer called for Trump to fire Bondi over the issue, labeling her “an embarrassment.”
But on Saturday, Trump came to the defense of his attorney general, suggesting that the so-called “Epstein Files” were a hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party for political gain, without specifying what benefits they hoped to attain.

On Saturday, Trump struck an exasperated tone in his admonishment of his supporters.

“For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” he said. “Let’s...not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. (AFP)

The US president called for Patel and Bondi to instead focus on what he terms “The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020,” which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The Republican has repeatedly perpetuated unfounded conspiracy theories about his loss being due to fraud.

He called for the FBI to be allowed to focus on that investigation “instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein. LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!“

Trump, who appears in at least one decades-old video alongside Epstein at a party, has denied allegations that he was named in the files or had any direct connection to the financier.

“The conspiracy theories just aren’t true, never have been,” said FBI Director Patel on Saturday, hours before Trump’s social media post.

Not everyone, however, seemed to be on the same page.

US media reported that Dan Bongino — an influential right-wing podcast host whom Trump appointed FBI deputy director — had threatened to resign over the administration’s handling of the issue.


Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing

Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing
Updated 28 min 59 sec ago
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Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing

Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing
  • Counterterrorism agency says it has now secured a total of 785 convictions involving terrorism-related offenses
  • Nigeria is listed as a “gray list country” by world monitors due to deficiencies in preventing money laundering and terrorism financing

 

KANO, Nigeria: Nigeria on Saturday slapped 44 Boko Haram jihadists with jail terms of up to 30 years for funding terrorist activities, a spokesman for a counterterrorism agency said.

The convicted were among 54 suspects arraigned in four specially-constituted civilian courts set up at a military base in the town of Kainji in central Niger state, Abu Michael, a spokesman for Nigeria’s counterterrorism center said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Nigeria resumed trials of the suspects seven years after it suspended prosecution of over 1,000 people suspected of ties with the jihadist group that has been waging an insurgency since 2009 to establish a caliphate.

“The verdicts delivered from the trials resulted in prison sentences ranging from 10 to 30 years, all to be served with hard labor,” Michael said.

“With the latest convictions, Nigeria has now secured a total of 785 cases involving terrorism financing and other terrorism-related offenses,” said the statement.

The trial of the remaining 10 cases was adjourned to a later date, he said.

Nigeria is listed as a “grey list country” by international monitors alongside South Sudan, South Africa, Monaco and Croatia due to deficiencies in preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Nigerian military’s 16-year campaign to crush the jihadists in the northeast has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes, according to the United Nations.

The violence has also spilt over into neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

In October 2017, Nigeria began mass trials of the Islamist insurgents, more than eight years after the start of the violence.

That phase of the trials, which lasted five months, saw the convictions of 200 jihadist fighters with sentencing ranging from “death penalty and life imprisonment to prison terms of 20 to 70 years,” Michael said.

The offenses for the convictions included attacks on women and children, the destruction of religious sites, the killing of civilians, and the abduction of women and children.

Human rights groups accused the military of arbitrarily arresting thousands of civilians, with many being held for years without access to lawyers or being brought to court.

 


A look at the countries that received Trump’s tariff letters

A look at the countries that received Trump’s tariff letters
Updated 13 July 2025
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A look at the countries that received Trump’s tariff letters

A look at the countries that received Trump’s tariff letters
  • Nearly every country has faced a minimum 10 percent levy on goods entering the US since April, on top of other levies on specific products like steel and automobiles. And future escalation is still possible

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has sent letters this week outlining higher tariffs countries will face if they don’t make trade deals with the US by Aug. 1.

Some mirror the so-called “reciprocal” rates Trump unveiled against dozens of trading partners in April — the bulk of which were later postponed just hours after taking effect. But many are higher or lower than those previously announced amounts.

So far, Trump has warned the European Union and 24 nations, including major trading partners like South Korea and Japan, that steeper tariffs will be imposed starting Aug. 1.

Nearly all of these letters took the same general tone with the exception of Brazil, Canada, the EU and Mexico, which included more specifics about Trump’s issues with those countries.

Nearly every country has faced a minimum 10 percent levy on goods entering the US since April, on top of other levies on specific products like steel and automobiles. And future escalation is still possible. In his letters, which were posted on Truth Social, Trump warned countries that they would face even higher tariffs if they retaliated by increasing their own import taxes.

Here’s a look at the countries that have gotten tariff letters so far — and where things stand now:

Brazil

Tariff rate: 50 percent starting Aug. 1. Brazil wasn’t threatened with an elevated “reciprocal” rate in April — but, like other countries, has faced Trump’s 10 percent baseline over the last three months.

Key exports to the US: Petroleum, iron products, coffee and fruit juice.

Response: In a forceful response, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Trump’s tariffs would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law — which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness. He also noted that the US has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years.

Myanmar

Tariff rate: 40 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 44 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Clothing, leather goods and seafood

Response: Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government said it will follow up with negotiations.

Laos

Tariff rate: 40 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 48 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Shoes with textile uppers, wood furniture, electronic components and optical fiber

Cambodia

Tariff rate: 36 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 49 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Textiles, clothing, shoes and bicycles

Response: Cambodia’s chief negotiator, Sun Chanthol, said the country successfully got the tariff dropped from the 49 percent Trump announced in April to 36 percent and is ready to hold a new round of negotiations. He appealed to investors, especially factory owners, and the country’s nearly 1 million garment workers not to panic about the tariff rate announced Monday.

Thailand

Tariff rate: 36 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Computer parts, rubber products and gemstones

Response: Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said Thailand will continue to push for tariff negotiations with the United States. Thailand on Sunday submitted a new proposal that includes opening the Thai market for more American agricultural and industrial products and increasing imports of energy and aircraft.

Bangladesh

Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 37 percent announced in April.

Key export to the US: Clothing

Response: Bangladesh’s finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said Bangladesh hopes to negotiate for a better outcome. There are concerns that additional tariffs would make Bangladesh’s garment exports less competitive with countries like Vietnam and India.

Canada

Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 25 percent imposed earlier this year on goods that don’t comply with a North American trade agreement covering the US, Canada and Mexico. Some of Canada’s top exports to the US are subject to different industry-specific tariffs.

Key exports to the US: Oil and petroleum products, cars and trucks

Response: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X early Friday that the government will continue to work toward a trade deal by the new Aug. 1 deadline.

Serbia

Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 37 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Software and IT services; car tires

Indonesia

Tariff rate: 32 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Palm oil, cocoa butter and semiconductors

Algeria

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Petroleum, cement and iron products

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 35 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Weapons and ammunition

The European Union

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 20 percent announced in April but less than the 50 percent Trump later threatened.

Key exports to the US: Pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits.

Iraq

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 39 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Crude oil and petroleum products

Response: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tariffs would disrupt essential supply chains “to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.” She said the EU remains ready to continue working toward an agreement but will take necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including countermeasures if required.

Libya

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 31 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Petroleum products

Mexico

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 25 percent imposed earlier this year on goods that don’t comply with the free trade agreement covering the US, Mexico and Canada. Some of Mexico’s top exports to the US are subject to other sector-specific tariffs.

Key exports to the US: Cars, motor vehicle parts and accessories, crude oil, delivery trucks, computers, agricultural products

South Africa

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Platinum, diamonds, vehicles and auto parts

Response: The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that the tariff rates announced by Trump mischaracterized the trade relationship with the US, but it would “continue with its diplomatic efforts toward a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States” after having proposed a trade framework on May 20.

Sri Lanka

Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 44 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Clothing and rubber products

Brunei

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Mineral fuels and machinery equipment

Moldova

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 31 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Fruit juice, wine, clothing and plastic products

Japan

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Autos, auto parts, electronic

Response: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the tariff “extremely regrettable” but said he was determined to continue negotiating.

Kazakhstan

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 27 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Oil, uranium, ferroalloys and silver

Malaysia

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s up from 24 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Electronics and electrical products

Response: Malaysia’s government said it will pursue talks with the US A cabinet meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

South Korea

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s the same rate that was announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Vehicles, machinery and electronics

Response: South Korea’s Trade Ministry said early Tuesday that it will accelerate negotiations with the United States to achieve a deal before the 25 percent tax goes into effect.

Tunisia

Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 28 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Animal and vegetable fats, clothing, fruit and nuts

Philippines

Tariff rate: 20 percent starting Aug. 1. That’s down from 17 percent announced in April.

Key exports to the US: Electronics and machinery, clothing and gold

 


North Korean leader Kim reaffirms support for Russia on Ukraine, KCNA says

North Korean leader Kim reaffirms support for Russia on Ukraine, KCNA says
Updated 13 July 2025
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North Korean leader Kim reaffirms support for Russia on Ukraine, KCNA says

North Korean leader Kim reaffirms support for Russia on Ukraine, KCNA says

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed Pyongyang’s “unconditional support” for all actions taken by the Russian leadership to fundamentally resolve the Ukraine situation, the North’s state media reported on Sunday.

Kim made the comment during his meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, state news agency KCNA said.


Unhealthy smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets the Upper Midwest when people want to be outside

Unhealthy smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets the Upper Midwest when people want to be outside
Updated 13 July 2025
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Unhealthy smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets the Upper Midwest when people want to be outside

Unhealthy smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets the Upper Midwest when people want to be outside

BISMARCK, N.D.: Much of the Upper Midwest on Saturday was dealing with swaths of unhealthy air because of drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, covering the northern region of the US at a time when people want to be enjoying lakes, trails and the great outdoors.

Most of Minnesota and parts of Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin were ranked “unhealthy” for air quality on a US Environmental Protection Agency map. Part of North Dakota that is home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and other tourist attractions was ranked “very unhealthy,” some of the worst air quality in the nation.

In Minnesota, “If you have a nice pork loin you can hang from a tree, it’ll turn into ham,” quipped Al Chirpich, owner of the Hideaway Resort near Detroit Lakes, where people come to enjoy tree-lined Island Lake for fishing and other water activities.

Normally there would be boats and jet skis all over, but on Saturday he couldn’t see a boat on the lake, where the smoke impaired visibility and curtailed his camper business. None of his 18 RV sites was occupied. His seven rental cabins drew a handful of customers.

“I suspect when the weather clears, we’ll be swamped again. Fourth of July, I had probably 20 boats here lined up at my docks, and today my boat is the only one,” Chirpich said.

The conditions started Friday, dragging smoke from the Canadian wildfires down to the surface, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Jennifer Ritterling, in Grand Forks. Periods of bad air quality are expected to last through the weekend in the region, she said.

Limiting time outdoors, keeping windows closed and running air purifiers are good ideas for people with lung conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and even healthy people, Ritterling said.

“Our summers up here are fairly short and so everyone wants to get out and enjoy them, and it’s a little frustrating when there’s this smoke in the air,” she said.

Fires in Canada prompt state of emergency for some

All of Manitoba is under a state of emergency because of the wildfires, which have led to 12,600 people evacuating their homes in the province. The fires in the central Canadian province have burned over 3,861 square miles , the most land burned in 30 years of electronic record-keeping.

Under 1,000 people have evacuated their homes in Saskatchewan, where wildfires also continue to burn.

North Rim in Grand Canyon still closed

In Arizona, the North Rim in Grand Canyon National Park is still closed because of a 2.3 square-mile  wildfire and another fire nearby on Bureau of Land Management land that has burned nearly 17 square miles .

More than 200 firefighters and support personnel worked to halt the uncontained fire Saturday as it burned across a high-altitude plateau between the communities of Lonesome, White Sage and Jacob Lake.

In Colorado, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park remains closed because of a 4.4-square-mile  wildfire burning on the South Rim of the park, known for its dramatic, steep cliffs. A few miles from the fire, an evacuation was ordered for the community of Bostwick Park, and a nearby highway also was shut.

The fires in and near both national parks led to evacuations of hundreds of people.

Chirpich, the Minnesota resort owner, said he has plans to go to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on Thursday and is “a bit pensive about how that’s going to be there.”

“I’m going to leave one smokehouse for another, I guess,” he said.