Details of a US-EU trade deal published Thursday showed Brussels secured a tariff reduction for cars exported to the United States but failed to win a reprieve for its cherished wine sector.US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy. But many aspects remained unclear, as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others.A joint statement Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over as the EU said it would seek more tariff reductions.The “maximum, all-inclusive” 15-percent rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said.”This is the most favourable trade deal the US has extended to any partner,” EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs.In recent weeks Trump had raised the possibility of additional tariffs hitting certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20 percent of the EU’s exports to the United States, and semiconductors.- Bison and wine -Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 percent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart.But this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was “working very hard” on.The 15-percent rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption.”Unfortunately, here we didn’t succeed,” Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue. “These doors are not closed forever”.The French wine exporters federation said it was “hugely disappointed”.”We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector,” said the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS Gabriel Picard.Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as “bad news” — but better than the worst case scenario, with Trump that had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200 percent.”It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States,” which is by far their largest market, Chateau told AFP. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek “additional exemptions” in the trade deal.Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat.On the other hand, a special more favourable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US including “unavailable natural resources” such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals.These would effectively face a “zero or close to zero” rate, the commission said.”This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential,” said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear before California’s parole board to seek freedom this week, more than 35 years after the shotgun murders of their parents in the family’s luxury Beverly Hills home.The separate hearings — Erik on Thursday, Lyle on Friday — are the latest chapter in a long campaign waged by friends, family and celebrities like Kim Kardashian to get the brothers out of prison.They come after a Los Angeles judge this year reduced their original open-ended sentence to a term of 50 years, and as the men said, they accepted full responsibility for the grisly 1989 killings.Now the brothers will be seeking to convince parole panels that they are reformed and pose no danger to the public.”For more than 35 years, they have shown sustained growth. They have taken full accountability,” said a statement from The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a support group that includes family members.”They express sincere remorse to our family to this day and have built a meaningful life defined by purpose and service.”- ‘Mafia hit’ -Blockbuster trials in the 1990s heard how the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt to get their hands on a large family fortune.After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, the men shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.This status was nourished by a parade of docudramas and TV shows, including the hit Netflix miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”- ‘Horrific’ -The hearings in Sacramento, which will be closed to the public, are expected to last two to three hours each. One reporter will be present to act as a pool on behalf of the dozens of media outlets around the world which are expected to cover the hearings.Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, will appear by video link from the San Diego prison where they are being held.Two or three panel members, whose identity is not being publicly released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), will quiz the men on their behavior and their attitudes towards their crimes.”The hearing panel will consider all relevant, reliable information available to the panel, which includes… criminal history, department records concerning the incarcerated person, and statements from the incarcerated person, victims’ family, the district attorney’s office, and the public,” the CDCR said.Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposed resentencing this year, and is expected to oppose parole.He has insisted that the men’s shifting explanations for the double deaths — they gave five different accounts in the course of the murder investigation — means they have not truly admitted their guilt.”The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents,” Hochman said in a statement Wednesday.”Instead continuing to promote a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury decades ago.”Even if the panel grants parole, the men will not be freed immediately, with the decision subject to review by the board’s top lawyer in a process that can take up to four months.After that, the final decision rests with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has 30 days in which he “may affirm, reverse, modify, or refer back to the Board any parole grant,” the CDCR says.In 2022, Newsom rejected a parole recommendation in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.