International
South Africa reacts to US expulsion of ambassador Ebrahim Rasool

The South African presidency on Saturday said the expulsion of its Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, is “regrettable.”
The presidency disclosed this in a short statement published on X on Saturday.It also called for decorum on both sides to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool,” the statement read.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter.
“South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America.”
The ppolitician was expelled after he was seen as a race-baiting politician” who hates the US and President Donald Trump.
Rubio wrote on X that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country”, adding: “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.
”Rubio linked his remarks to an article by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, wherein Rasool is quoted as saying Trump mobilised a “supremacist instinct” and “white victimhood” as a “dog whistle” during the 2024 elections.
But South African political analyst Sandile Swana said the “core of the dispute” was Pretoria’s decision to form a genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, a close US ally, over its war on Gaza.
In February, Rasool, an anti-apartheid campaigner, told the Zeteo news site that what South Africans experienced during apartheid rule “is on steroids in Palestine”.
Moreover, Swana explained that in the fight against apartheid, the US “supported the apartheid regime”.
“[So] Rasool continues to point out the behaviour of the United States, even now is to support apartheid and genocide,” he added.
Land policy
Still, the decision by Washington to expel the South African ambassador comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, since Trump cut financial aid to South Africa after citing his disapproval of its land policy that he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.
Last week, Trump pushed this further and said South Africa’s farmers were welcome to settle in the US, repeating that the South African government was “confiscating” land from white people.
South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, has also accused the country of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the policy, saying the government was not confiscating land but aiming to level racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation.
International
U.K.–India set to boost bilateral trade by over $34 billion a year
The FTA, which slashes duties on goods including textiles, alcohol and automobiles, was signed Thursday in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer.

•Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer.
U.K. and India’s bilateral trade is set to get a more than $34 billion annual boost over the long term following their free trade agreement, with the countries’ leaders calling it a “historic” deal.
CNBC reported that the FTA, which slashes duties on goods including textiles, alcohol and automobiles, was signed on Thursday in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer.
Both sides had finalized the trade pact in May after three years of intense negotiations — marked by thorny issues such as visas, tariff reduction and tax breaks.
Talks gained momentum and both governments accelerated to seal the deal as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats sent the world in disarray.
The agreement between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies is expected to boost their bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds per year by 2040.
Trade in goods and services stood at over 40 billion pounds in 2024.
The deal offers “huge benefits to both of our countries,” boosting wages, raising living standards and bringing down prices for consumers, Starmer said.
India’s Modi lauded the agreement as “a blueprint for our shared prosperity,” highlighting how Indian goods including textiles, jewelry, agricultural products and engineering items would benefit from a better access to the U.K. market.
International
Russian missing plane found in Forest – No Survivors
Amur’s regional governor Vasily Orlov said five children were among those on board and declared three days of mourning.

Russian officials say 48 people were killed when an Angara Airlines plane went down in a dense forest in the far-eastern Amur region.
The Antonov An-24 plane, carrying 42 passengers and six crew, had left Blagoveshchensk close to the Chinese border and vanished from radar screens as it approached Tynda airport, officials said.
A Russian civil aviation helicopter then spotted burning fuselage from the plane on a remote hillside about 16km (10 miles) from Tynda.
Amur’s regional governor Vasily Orlov said five children were among those on board and declared three days of mourning.
Orlov said that according to preliminary data, there were 43 passengers, including five children, and six crew members on board the plane operated by a Siberian airline.
International
EU ready to hit US with 21-billion-euro tariff list
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.

MILAN (Reuters) -The European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods if the two sides fail to reach a trade deal, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a newspaper interview on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive deal.
Tajani also told daily Il Messaggero that to help the euro zone economy the European Central Bank should consider a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying-programme, and more interest rate cuts.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.
Tajani said the 21-billion-euro package of tariffs the EU has already prepared could be followed by a second set if a deal with the U.S proves impossible.
He added, however, that he was confident that progress could be made in negotiations.
“Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States,” he said. “If stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans.”
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
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