Reuters World News - Tariffs, Palestinian statehood diplomacy and Russia-Ukraine

Episode Date: August 1, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump slaps steep tariffs on exports from dozens of countries including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan. International pressure grows on Israel over possible recognition of a Palestinian state if the fighting in Gaza does not stop. An eastern Ukrainian town is evacuated as Russia’s invasion moves closer each week.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, it's Tariff deadline day, with dozens of countries hit by steep duties. The US imposes sanctions on Palestinian officials they accuse of undermining peace efforts with Israel. And Trump caused Russia's behaviour against Ukraine disgusting. It's Friday, August 1st. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaks in London. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order slapping steep tariffs on exports from dozens of countries, including a 35% duty on many goods from Canada and 50% for Brazil.

US Research Group, the Yale Budget Lab, estimates that consumers face an effective US tariff rate of over 17%, the highest since 1934. Mexico has had a reprieve for now with a 90-day delay to allow for more negotiations. Here's President Claudia Scheinbaum. Here's our correspondent David Loder with the latest. I think one of the most significant takeaways is that he is actually plowing ahead with these higher rates. There's been talk about it. There's been also, you've heard of the term taco, Trump always chickens out, which is kind of a market term for, well, he's not actually going to do the worst of it.

So Trump is moving ahead here. and he's not afraid to punish those countries that he feels are not cooperating in Canada being one of them. Thus far, this has not had a huge effect on prices. And the tariff collections don't actually start until a week from now. How is this going to affect countries that Trump hasn't made a deal with? One of the interesting aspects of this tariff order is that the collections of the duties don't actually start for another seven days. So that actually gives Trump more time to negotiate deals with countries that maybe are close, but not quite there yet. India has been one of those.

Taiwan is another training partner that's been close to a trade deal, but not quite there yet. So it was on a call about this. Officials denied that this was an actual delay, but it has the effect of sort of allowing more time for negotiations. U.S. Special envoy Steve Whitkoff is in Israel, where the government is facing mounting international pressure over Gaza. France, the UK and Canada are indicating they will recognize a Palestinian state if fighting in Gaza continues. Israel is criticising the moves, saying the decisions reward Hamas.

And, in the wake of the announcements by their allies on Palestinian statehood, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Palestinians. Palestinian officials, accusing them of undermining peace efforts with Israel. To look at what impact the recognition announcements could have on the US, here's our foreign policy editor, Don Durfey. Now, these are all close allies, but we don't know if this was a coordinated effort. So there is a possibility that UK and Canada were waiting to see what kind of reaction France got from the United States.

Was there a harsh retaliatory action? And then they decided to make their moves when it was just some criticism from the US. but nothing more than that. So how does this affect the U.S. and President Trump? Yeah, I think there's definitely an intention to put a little bit of pressure on him. I mean, first, the pressure is on Israel, but also on the Trump administration. Trump had come out to say that he believes there's starvation happening in Gaza, right? Which is something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denied

when Trump had come out to say that seeing the images of starving children, this is clearly something that was happening. So it could be that the Allies see an opening there, willingness of Trump to put a little bit more pressure on Israel. But I have to say it's really unclear what the U.S. is prepared to do here. After these announcements came out, Trump had said that doing this really would reward Hamas for its bad actions. Russia, I think it's disgusting what they're doing.

I think it's disgusting. President Trump criticizing Russia's wave of missiles and drones on Kiev on Thursday, killing 16 people and wounding over 100 others. At one location, rescuer spent more than three hours reaching a man trapped in rubble. The man talked to the emergency services during the operation and was pulled out alive. Trump has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8th to make a deal, or else he says he'll respond with economic pressure. From the capital, we head to eastern Ukraine, where evacuations continue in the small town of Doppopilia.

People boarding buses, carrying bags filmed with what they can say. And for many, it's a difficult goodbye. As she sits on the bus, a woman named Leobov says it's hard to tear herself away from her home, but that she has no choice. The front line of Russia's invasion is moving closer each week. And that's emptying this small town of 30,000 people. Age worker Denise Naumov has been helping move people out of their homes and says the once-quiet mining town is under constant threat.

18 months ago, Russian troops were over 50 kilometers away. Today, they're just 15 kilometers from the edge of town. Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Russia says it's captured the town of Chassivya after nearly 16 months of fighting, opening the way for potential further advances. Elon Musk's brain implant company, Neurrelink, has announced the launch of a clinical study in Great Britain. The company says it'll test how chips can enable patients with severe paralysis to control digital and physical tools with their thoughts. In central Spain, hundreds of firefighters and migrants. military units have been battling raging wildfires.

This is the largest wave of blazers in the Iberian Peninsula this year. Hot and dry summer weather is fuelling the fires, which have led to evacuations. Police officers salute the casket of NYPD officer did a rule Islam in New York. Thousands of mourners lined the streets in New York City to watch the funeral procession. Islam was one of four people killed in a mass. shooting in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. He was an immigrant from Bangladesh and leaves behind a pregnant wife and two young sons. Justin Timberlake has revealed he is living with Lyme disease.

In a post on Instagram, he says he's a pretty private person, but was sharing the news to do his part to help others experiencing this disease too. And for today's recommended read, why European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on scientific data from the United States. As the EU tries to tackle the US government's retrieve from scientific research under President Trump's administration, we'll put a link to that story in today's podcast description. And a recommended listen to.

Big news from us, Reuters World News Daily Briefing will now be out seven days a week. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters to hear us on Saturday and Sunday too. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player, and we'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.