US President Donald Trump unveiled a “breakthrough” trade agreement with Britain on Thursday, the first deal with any country since he launched his global tariffs blitz.The deal reduces tariffs on British cars and lifts them on steel and aluminum, while in return Britain will open up markets to US beef and other farm products.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also hailed it as a “historic day”, although the agreement is thin on details and both sides said there would be more negotiations.A 10 percent baseline tariff on Britain imposed by Trump as part of the sweeping worldwide “Liberation Day” levies he announced in April also remains in place.Trump said the British deal would be the first of many, and that he hoped difficult talks with China and the European Union could soon produce results too.”I’m thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom,” Trump said as he spoke with Starmer by phone from the Oval Office.”The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture.”- ‘Historic day’ -The deal came through at the last minute, with Starmer saying he learnt that Trump had given it his approval when he called him on Wednesday night as he watched a football match.”This is a really fantastic, historic day,” Starmer said during the call with Trump.He noted that it coincided with the 80th anniversary of “Victory Day” for allied forces — including Britain and the United States — over Nazi Germany in World War II.The trade deal slashes export tariffs for British cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, Britain said. The move will apply to 100,000 vehicles from luxury makers like Rolls Royce and Jaguar, billionaire Trump added.”That is a huge and important reduction,” PM Starmer said during a visit to a Jaguar Land Rover factory in the central Midlands area of England.The British government also insisted that the deal to allow in more US agricultural products would not dilute British food standards, amid concerns over chlorinated US chicken and hormones in US beef.Both sides said there would be further negotiations on a fuller deal, but Trump denied overselling the agreement.”This is a maxed-out deal — not like you said it really incorrectly,” he added, answering a reporter’s question on whether he was overstating the breadth of the deal.The British ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, jokingly thanked Trump in the Oval Office for a “very typical 11th hour intervention… demanding even more out of this deal than many of us expected.”- Charm offensive -The deal follows a charm offensive by Starmer, who came to the White House in February armed with an invitation from King Charles III for a historic second state visit for Trump.It is also a fresh win for the Labour leader after Britain this week struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.Torturous negotiations between London and Washington in the years since the Brexit vote failed to produce a deal until now.London had also been keen for some kind of deal ahead of an EU-UK summit on May 19 due to reset ties with the 27-nation bloc.Trump described the British leader, who like the US president won power last year, as a tough negotiator following the latter’s visit to Washington in February.The president slapped 10 percent tariffs on imports from around the world in April, including Britain, but he temporarily froze higher duties on dozens of nations to allow for negotiations.But Trump has also been in need of a win after weeks of insisting that countries were lining up to make deals with the United States.Trump told reporters at the White House he was “working on three of them” and that the British deal could act as a template.Top US and Chinese officials are due to meet in Switzerland over the weekend to kickstart trade officials, the first official meeting since Trump’s tariffs plunged the world’s two largest economies into a trade war.burs-dk/jbr

India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks, as deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed foes drew global calls for calm.The fighting comes two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.On Thursday, Pakistan’s army said it shot down 28 Indian drones, while New Delhi accused Islamabad of launching raids with “drones and missiles”, and claimed it destroyed an air defence system in Lahore.At least 48 people have been killed on both sides of the border since India launched air strikes on Wednesday that it said targeted “terrorist camps”, sparking the worst violence in decades between the South Asian neighbours.The majority of the casualties have been in Pakistan, where authorities said at least 32 were killed, including 12 children.The countries have fought two of their three full-scale wars over Kashmir, a disputed territory that both claim in full but administer separate portions of since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.- Drone strikes -“Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets… using drones and missiles,” India’s defence ministry said in a statement Thursday, adding that “these were neutralised”.The defence ministry said earlier its military had “targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan”, adding it had destroyed an air defence system in Lahore, Pakistan’s second city.On Thursday evening, explosions were reported at the airport of Jammu, a key city in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a security source who was not authorised to speak to the media told AFP, without giving further details.Pakistan denied that it had launched any strikes on India on Thursday, with the top military spokesman terming India’s drone strikes a “phantom defence”.- Blasts in Lahore -Pakistan termed India’s drone attacks “another act of aggression”, and said it had neutralised 28 out of 29 Israeli-made Harop drones that crossed into the country on Thursday.Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the drones “made attempts to attack military installations” and “targeted civilians”, killing one and injuring four, with four army personnel also wounded.Among the cities targeted was Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered and the cricket stadium is hosting the Pakistan Super League. Residents in Lahore reported hearing the sound of blasts, and aviation authorities briefly shut down operations at the main airport there and in the capital Islamabad.- ‘Shrapnel pierced her chest’ -India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said New Delhi had a “right to respond” following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba — a UN-designated terrorist organisation for the Pahalgam shooting, and the nations traded days of threats and diplomatic measures.Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation into the April 22 attack.Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.There was trauma on both sides of the disputed border after the exchange of heavy artillery in darkness on Wednesday.”A missile struck the mosque nearby, and a piece of shrapnel from the blast pierced my daughter’s chest,” 50-year-old Safeer Ahmad Awan told AFP in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir that was hit by Wednesday’s Indian strikes.”It was only when her clothes were soaked in blood that we discovered the injury,” he added of the 15-year-old girl, who still had the metal lodged in her body.On the other side of the border in Poonch, a town in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir that was bombarded by Pakistan on Wednesday, Madasar Choudhary said his sister saw two children killed.”She saw two children running out of her neighbour’s house and screamed for them to get back inside,” said Choudhary, 29.”But shrapnel hit the children — and they eventually died.”- Global pressure -Diplomats and world leaders have pressured both countries to step back from the brink.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with leaders of both countries Thursday and urged “immediate de-escalation,” his spokeswoman said.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi, days after visiting Pakistan, as Tehran seeks to mediate.Pakistani authorities insist they have the right to retaliate to India’s initial strikes. In a late Wednesday TV address to the nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned they would “avenge” those killed by Indian air strikes.”We make this pledge, that we will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs,” he said.burs-ecl-aha/des

The “breakthrough” US-UK trade deal announced Thursday by President Donald Trump is the first agreement to be unveiled since he slapped steep tariffs on allies and adversaries alike on April 2.Here is what we know about the new trade deal for goods:- ‘Increased market access’ -The 10 percent “baseline” tariff imposed on most US trading partners in early April remains in effect for most goods, with the largest reductions in trade barriers coming on items recently subjected to new sector-specific tariffs of 25 percent.The new deal includes “billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports,” Trump said during the Oval Office announcement, which was attended by Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the United States.The agreement will bring in an additional $6 billion to the Treasury Department’s coffers from new tariff revenue, the White House said in a statement.The deal is sure to be closely scrutinized ahead of the Trump administration’s self-imposed July deadline for talks, with some nations facing a far higher rate of tariffs if no deal is struck.”This was the lowest hanging fruit available to the administration,” Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, told AFP. “It sends the message that negotiations are going to be complicated going forward, because the UK situation is unique in many ways and will be hard to replicate for other countries,” he added. – Boost for British auto sector -The British automotive industry is a clear winner. The sector, which employs a quarter of a million people in the United Kingdom, was facing 27.5-percent tariffs before this announcement, according to a statement from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office. Under the deal announced Thursday, car export tariffs will be slashed to 10 percent on the first 100,000 cars shipped from Britain to the United States, with any additional exports taxed at 25 percent. The 100,000 figure is “almost the total” the UK exported to the United States last year, the British prime minister’s office said.- Steel and aluminum -Another key development in the deal is the agreement from the United States to eliminate its recently-imposed levies of 25 percent on UK-made steel and aluminum, according to the British government.The new agreement “furthers shared national security interests, creating a new union for steel and aluminum,” the US Commerce Department said, without confirming the zero percent tariff rate. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the elimination of all steel and aluminum tariffs. – Agriculture -Trump said the new agreement would create a new $5 billion “opportunity” for US farmers, ranchers and producers, including $700 million in ethanol exports, and $250 million in other agricultural exports, including beef.Agricultural exports from the United States have long been a key sticking point in trade negotiations, with British farmers — and consumers — voicing concerns about chlorine-washed chicken, and hormone treated beef from the United States.The two countries have agreed to “new reciprocal market access for beef — with UK farmers given a tariff free quote for 13,000 metric tonnes,” according to the British prime minister’s office. The agreement will “exponentially increase our beef exports,” US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters. Despite the new and expanded US access to British markets, “there will be no weakening of UK food standards,” Downing Street said. – What is excluded? -Trump’s threats to impose pharmaceutical tariffs have not been covered by this arrangement, other than a commitment from the White House to create “a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products.” “I think that it tells people that in terms of negotiation, what’s on the table is what is actually implemented, not what’s being threatened,” said Lipsky from the Atlantic Council.Another key area not covered by the agreement is digital services, with the White House keen to tackle a recent digital services tax imposed by Britain on US tech giants like Google and Meta.”Instead the two nations have agreed to work on a digital trade deal that will strip back paperwork for British firms trying to export to the US,” Downing Street said.”The ‘full and comprehensive’ trade deal between the US and the UK announced in a rush today by President Donald Trump and PM Keir Starmer is no such thing,” Capital Economics chief North America economist Paul Ashworth wrote in a note to clients. “As Trump admitted in his press conference, the ‘final details’ still need to be ‘written up in the coming weeks.'”

Robert Francis Prevost became the first pope from the United States on Thursday, picking the papal name Leo XIV after cardinals from around the world elected him leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.Tens of thousands of people packed in St Peter’s Square cheered as Prevost appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, waving with both hands, smiling and bowing.”Peace by with you,” he told the crowds.White smoke from the Sistine Chapel had billowed into the sky on the cardinals’ second day of voting to announce his election in a secret conclave, while the bells of St Peter’s Basilica and churches across Rome rang out.Crowds of people rushed towards the square to watch the balcony of the basilica, which has been fitted out with red curtains for the first address to the world by the 267th pope.The new pontiff, who succeeds Argentine reformer Pope Francis, was introduced in Latin with his chosen papal name.”It’s an amazing feeling,” said an elated Joseph Brian, a 39-year-old chef from Belfast in Northern Ireland, who came with his mother to Rome for the spectacle. “I’m not an overly religious person but, being here with all these people just blew me away,” he told AFP as people around him jumped up and down in excitement.There were euphoric scenes as one priest sat on someone’s shoulders waving a Brazilian flag and another lifted a heavy crucifix into the air in jubilation.- ‘Habemus Papam’ -“Habemus papam, woooo!” howled Bruna Hodara, 41, from Brazil, echoing the words to be spoken on the balcony as the new pope is introduced.She, like others, recorded the historic moment on her phone, as others waved flags and cried out “Viva Il Papa!” — “Long live the pope!” in Italian.”It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be here to see the pope. It’s really special… I’m excited!” said Florian Fried, a 15-year-old from Munich, in Germany.Pope Francis died last month aged 88 after a 12-year papacy during which he sought to forge a more compassionate Church — but drew anger from many conservatives with his progressive approach.The new pope now faces a momentous task: as well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn global stage, he must try to unite a divided Church and tackle burning issues such as the the continued fall-out from the sexual abuse scandal.Some 133 “Princes of the Church” from five continents — the largest and most international conclave ever — began voting on Wednesday afternoon.Sworn to secrecy, on pain of excommunication, their only means of communicating their progress to the outside world was by sending up smoke through the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.On Wednesday evening and then again on Thursday lunchtime, the smoke was black, eliciting disappointed sighs from the tens of thousands watching.But on Thursday afternoon just after 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) the smoke emitted was white, confirming that the Catholic Church has a new spiritual leader.It was unknown how many ballots it took to elect the new pope, but it followed recent history in wrapping up in less than two days.In 2005, Benedict XVI, a German theologian, was elected in four ballots and Francis, in 2013, was elected in five ballots.While the details of the election will forever remain secret, the new pope had to secure at least two-thirds of votes to be elected.By tradition, he now enters the Room of Tears — where freshly-elected popes give free rein to their emotions — to don a papal cassock for the first time, before returning to the Sistine Chapel so the cardinals can pledge their obedience.He will then appear on the balcony along with a senior cardinal, who will announce to the waiting crowds “Habemus Papam” (“We have a pope”).The pope will then give a short speech and impart his first “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) blessing.- Pastor or diplomat -The election has come at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty, which was seen as a key voting issue, along with the rifts within the Church.Francis was a compassionate reformer who prioritised migrants and the environment, but he angered traditionalists who wanted a defender of doctrine rather than a headline-maker.Some 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis. Hailing from 70 countries around the world, it was the most international conclave ever.That was no guarantee, however, that the cardinals would pick someone in his vein.The question was whether to choose a pastor or diplomat, a liberal or conservative, someone versed in the Curia — the Church’s governing body — or a relative outsider from areas of the world where Catholic faith is thriving.Before the cardinals were locked into the Sistine Chapel Wednesday, their dean Giovanni Battista Re urged them to choose someone able to protect the Church’s unity.The next pope must also be able to lead “at this difficult and complex turning point in history”, amid raging conflicts around the world and the rise of ultra-nationalist parties.The Church has also had difficulty in adapting to the modern world, with declining priest numbers and increasingly empty pews in the West.The papal inauguration usually takes place less than a week after the election with a mass celebrated before political and religious leaders from around the world.The new pope will likely do a tour of St Peter’s Square in his popemobile for the first time, before delivering a homily outlining his priorities.