Attacks on Obama criticised as 'dangerous'; US goods worth $109bn face EU tariffs without trade deal

Witkoff to hold Gaza ceasefire talks with Israeli and Qatari officials

Over to Italy now, where Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is set to hold talks over a ceasefire in Gaza.

Witkoff had been due to meet Israel's Ron Dermer and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani in Rome, but those talks have been moved to Sardinia.

According to Italian foreign ministry sources, the talks are due to get under way shortly.

The meeting is expected to take place on a vessel off the coast of northern Sardinia.

It comes as the US has been pushing for a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Earlier this month, Trump said Israel agreed to the terms of the 60-day pause in fighting, and urged Hamas to accept a deal before conditions worsen.

US car manufacturers say Trump's tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage

American car manufacturers have said that Donald Trump's tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage - as it creates an easier path for Japanese imports than for some cars built in the US.

Trump's agreement to tariff Japanese vehicles at 15% "will charge lower tariffs on Japanese [cars] with no US content", said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council.

The council represents the three main American car manufacturers - General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis.

The so-called big three have been paying up to 25% tariffs on cars imported from Mexico or Canada, depending on how much US content is in the vehicles.

Blunt said a 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, as well as a 25% tariff on parts and finished vehicles, was putting US companies and workers at a disadvantage in comparison to their Japanese counterparts.

This is because vehicles produced in Mexico and Canada by the big three face higher levies than cars shipped in from Japan, industry consultant and former General Motors executive Warren Browne explained. 

That could allow foreign brands like Toyota or Honda to undercut US car companies on price.

The United Auto Workers union said it was "deeply angered" by the deal, adding that "American workers are once again being left behind".

Trump framed the tariff deal with Japan as a major win, saying it would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to the US economy.

Under the deal, Japan will allow American vehicles to be sold in the country.

The White House highlighted that cars built in Detroit could be shipped directly to Japan, ready to be sold.

But Blunt expressed doubt that US manufacturers would be able to penetrate the market in Japan, where foreign car producers have just a 6% share. "Tough nut to crack," he said.

EU backs potential counter-tariffs on $109bn of US goods

Retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth $109.4bn (93bn euros) have been approved by the European Union's member states, if the two sides can't agree a trade deal.

The counter-tariffs could be imposed should the bloc fail to reach a deal with Washington in the next week, according to EU diplomats.

Donald Trump's 30% tariffs on EU goods coming to the US are due to be imposed again on 1 August - unless the president changes his mind, which he has done before.

Trump hit pause on his newly-announced tariffs earlier this year to allow for trade deals to be negotiated.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that its primary focus was to reach a deal with Washington, but added that it would press on with plans for potential countermeasures at the same time.

The $109.4bn counter-tariffs, consisting of two packages of proposed tariffs of $24.7bn (21bn euros) and $84.7bn (72bn euros), would not come into force until 7 August.

Donald Trump declares US is going to 'win' AI race as administration unveils action plan

Donald Trump has declared the United States is going to "win" the artificial intelligence race, as his administration unveiled its AI Action Plan.

The new blueprint is designed to speed up the building of energy-intensive data centres - which run AI products - by loosening environmental rules, while also vastly expanding the sale of AI technologies overseas.

The plan, which includes 90 recommendations, comes as America attempts to maintain its edge over China, with both superpowers investing heavily in the industry to secure economic and military superiority.

It calls for the export of US AI software and hardware abroad, as well as urging the removal of "red tape" that could be seen as stopping the industry from flourishing.

'Welcome to hell': Singer scarred by months in maximum security prison alongside some of the world's most dangerous men

Arturo Suarez, 34, was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, despite having no criminal record in any of the four countries he has lived in.

Last week, he was released as part of a prisoner swap with 10 American citizens and permanent residents detained in Venezuela. 

But he is scarred by the four months he spent at the CECOT prison, a terrorism confinement centre, in El Salvador, alongside some of the world's most dangerous men.

"We were constantly beaten," he says. "We suffered physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.

"There wasn't a day the wardens didn't tell us that the only way we'd leave that place was if we were dead. In fact, the first words the head of the prison said to us after the first beating was 'welcome to hell'."

Congress subpoenas justice department for Epstein files

Republicans have joined Democrats on a congressional committee to subpoena the US Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

A House Committee on Oversight subcommittee voted 8-2, and an order is now being drafted, according to chairman Clay Higgins.

The vote came just hours before Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned major business in the House ahead of Congress's August recess to avoid contentious votes on Epstein-related matters.

Trump's Obama attacks condemned as 'desperate and dangerous' distraction from Epstein files

Democrats have condemned the Trump administration's unsubstantiated claims that Barack Obama sought to undermine the 2016 election as a desperate attempt to distract from the Epstein controversy.

Donald Trump's failure to follow through on his promise to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein has split the MAGA base and proved a thorn in the administration's side for several weeks.

When pressed on the matter earlier this week, Trump attempted to pivot by claiming, without any evidence, that Obama tried to rig the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Last night, national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard fell in line behind the president, accusing the Obama administration of manufacturing an intelligence analysis to show Russia tried to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election.

Numerous investigations have found Russia tried to interfere for Trump's benefit, including by US national intelligence.

Gabbard said she would declassify a partisan Republican congressional report that sought to cast doubt on the intelligence assessment.

Claim 'as dangerous as it is baseless'

"It seems as though the Trump administration is willing to declassify anything and everything except the Epstein files," Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, said in response to Gabbard's comments.

"The desperate and irresponsible release of the partisan House intelligence report puts at risk some of the most sensitive sources and methods our intelligence community uses to spy on Russia."

House democrat Jim Himes called Gabbard's claims "a transparent effort to distract from bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration’s refusal to release the Jeffrey Epstein files".

"As part of her effort to rewrite history, she has accused President Obama and other former officials of engaging in a conspiracy to commit treason - a claim as dangerous as it is baseless."

-SKY NEWS