US low-cost airlines seek temporary tax relief to address soaring fuel costs
The CEOs of major low-cost airlines are set to meet Tuesday with US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as they urge Congress to provide temporary tax relief to partially offset the soaring cost of jet fuel sparked by the war with Iran.
A group representing Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Allegiant Air, Sun Country and Avelo last week wrote leaders in Congress asking lawmakers to pass legislation to suspend the 7.5 percent federal excise tax on airline tickets and $5.30 per segment tax. Waiving the fees would offset about one-third of the incremental cost of higher jet fuel, said the Association of Value Airlines.
Israel confirms its soldier destroyed Jesus statue in Lebanon
The Israeli military confirmed a viral photo of one of its soldiers smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon is authentic and said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” and that disciplinary action would follow. The statue’s defacing also triggered outrage in the US, particularly amongst right-wing voices.
FRANCE 24’s Vedika Bahl goes through what we know in Truth or Fake.
‘Trump has boxed himself into a corner’, expert says as fate of Iran peace talks uncertain
Speaking with FRANCE 24’s Jennie Shin, Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East programme at the think tank Defense Priorities, says that US President Donald Trump “has boxed himself into a corner”.
What exit strategy? Trump, Iranians send mixed signals as truce deadline looms
A container ship seized in the Gulf, a ceasefire deadline that’s running out fast and plenty of bargaining table brinkmanship between the US and Iran. With the price of oil back on the rise, de-escalation would certainly offer relief to US President Donald Trump’s constitutents.
So what’s the plan of a US president who’s proved impulsive – at times threatening civilizational erasure, at others floating the idea of splitting the profits with Iran on a Strait of Hormuz toll for tankers?
Iran says ‘no decision’ on joining new talks, with US delegation set to depart
Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend a new round of peace negotiations with the US, as Washington’s delegation prepared to depart for Pakistan.
The uncertainty over the talks on ending the war that engulfed the region came as US President Donald Trump suggested he could resume attacks should the current temporary ceasefire – now in its final days – lapse.
FRANCE 24’s Reza Sayah reports from Tehran.
US ‘continued violations of ceasefire’ an obstacle to continuation of diplomatic process, Iran tells Pakistan
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar that the US “continued violations of the ceasefire” are a major obstacle to the continuation of the diplomatic process, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said.
Araqchi told Dar in a phone call that Iran, while taking all aspects of the matter into account, will decide on how to proceed further.
Trump says will not lift Hormuz blockade until deal with Iran made
US President Donald Trump said the US would not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran had agreed a peace deal to end the war.
“THE BLOCKADE, which we will not take off until there is a ‘DEAL,’ is absolutely destroying Iran,” Trump said on social media. “They are losing $500 Million Dollars a day, an unsustainable number, even in the short run.”
Traffic has again seized up in the Strait of Hormuz as both Tehran and Washington impose separate blockades.
Pakistan confident Iran will attend US talks, senior Pakistani government source says
Pakistan is confident it can get Iran to attend talks with the US, a senior Pakistani government official told Reuters.
“We have received a positive signal from Iran. Things are fluid but we are trying that they should be here when we start the talks tomorrow or a day after,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The source added Pakistan is actively engaged with Tehran and Washington as US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire deadline looms.
Lebanon says 2,387 people killed in 6 weeks of Israel war
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,387 people since the war with Hezbollah erupted six weeks ago, a Lebanese government body said in a new toll.
The disaster risk management unit added that 7,602 people had been wounded over the same period.
Since a 10-day ceasefire went into force on Friday, authorities and rescuers have been recovering bodies under the rubble of buildings in areas that were subjected to heavy Israeli strikes.
Trump says new deal with Iran will be better than old one
US President Donald Trump said he believed a nuclear deal the US is negotiating with Iran will be better than the international agreement agreed to in 2015 to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as “The Iran Nuclear Deal,” Trump wrote in a social media post after criticism from Democrats and some nuclear experts that he is rushing negotiations on a highly complex topic.
Euro zone economy not yet in ECB’s adverse scenario, Lagarde says
The economic implications of the war in Iran are large but have not reached the levels corresponding to the European Central Bank’s adverse scenario for prices and growth, ECB President Christine Lagarde said.
“While both oil spot and futures prices are above what we assumed in our baseline, markets appear to be betting that the disruption will be short-lived,” Lagarde said in a speech. “European natural gas prices are below our baseline.”
“So far, we have not seen energy prices rise far enough to push us squarely into our adverse scenario,” she added.
France ‘not specifically targeted’, Macron says of soldier’s Lebanon killing
President Emmanuel Macron said France was not specifically targeted in the killing of a French UN soldier in Lebanon, while blaming pro-Iranian group Hezbollah for the attack.
“It was Hezbollah, in fact, that targeted our soldiers,” Macron said of Saturday’s attack.
“They didn’t target them because they were French. They targeted them because they were on a mission to stand alongside the civilian population,” Macron told journalists in Gdansk, Poland.
EU to gauge member states’ willingness to take measures against Israel
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the bloc will gauge the willingness of member states to take measures against Israel, after Spain re-upped demands to suspend a cooperation deal.
Foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc are expected to discuss the matter at a meeting in Luxembourg Tuesday after a call from Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Attitudes towards Israel among key EU member states, hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
‘Hierarchy of sovereignty’: Israel claims authority over ‘which Lebanese areas are inhabitable’
FRANCE 24’s Carys Garland welcomed Nadim Houry, Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI).
According to Houry, the “Yellow Line doctrine” is not a security measure, but rather a military tool for territorial control. Drawing on recent developments in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon, he argues that this doctrine operates as a legal façade for expanding occupation under the language of self-defence.
Lebanon state media reports Israeli drone strike in south
Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike hit a town in the country’s south despite a 10-day ceasefire in force between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The state-run National News Agency said that “an enemy drone targeted the vicinity of the Litani River in the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr”, without immediately reporting casualties. Under the ceasefire, Israel reserves the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.
Russia’s Lavrov spoke with Iran’s Araghchi, Moscow FM says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Lavrov reiterated the need to uphold the ceasefire and stressed the importance of continued diplomatic efforts, while the Iranian side confirmed its readiness to do everything in its power to ensure the uninterrupted passage of Russian ships and cargo through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Pezeshkian says ‘deep historical mistrust in Iran towards US government conduct remains’
France’s Macron urges Iran, US to de-escalate amid Hormuz tensions
French President Emmanuel Macron called for the US and Iran to de-escalate amid increased tensions over the weekend over the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our position remains the same. We need to settle things through diplomacy. Everyone must calm down,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The US has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
Macron also said that France was not specifically targeted in the strait after Iran fired shots on ships on Saturday, including a container ship belonging to the CMA CGM. CMA CGM had described them as “warning shots” and said at the time the crew was safe.
Ceasefire at risk after US seizes Iranian ship, Iran shuns peace talks
The US-Iran ceasefire appears in jeopardy after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington has shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands, adding that it did not believe in deadlines or ultimatums when safeguarding national interests.
FRANCE 24’s International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley tells us more.