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17 Pinoy seamen in Yemen safe

THE DEPARTMENT of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday said that Filipino seafarers that escaped an attack by alleged Houthi rebels last week have been safely accommodated in a hotel in Djibouti.

“17 Filipino seafarers and two other crew members on board a bulk carrier are now safe from harm after escaping an armed attack by alleged Houthi rebels on their ship while they were sailing in the Red Sea near Hodeidah, Yemen on July 6,” the DMW said in a statement.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac said that the Filipino seafarers and the Romanian ship master and Vietnamese chief engineer were all accounted for and are now in a hotel in Djibouti.

The Liberian-flagged vessel MV Magic Seas came under assault from small boats with men armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, when it was sailing about 51 nautical miles southwest of Yemen.

“The ship’s security team, composed of four armed personnel, was able to repel the attack by returning fire. This led to the escape of the ship’s crew, who were later rescued by the passing container ship Safeen Prism,” it added.

He said that the DMW remain in close coordination with relevant government agencies and the licensed manning agency Crewcare, Inc., “to facilitate the safe and swift repatriation of the affected Filipino seafarers.”

Separately, Mr. Cacdac said that another vessel, the MV Eternity C, was also assaulted by alleged Houthi rebels near Hodeidah, last Sunday. There were 21 Filipinos on board the ship.

“We are still confirming (the reports) at this hour. We are in close coordination with the manning agent, the principal, or the ship owner. We’re having difficulty communicating with them,” he said in a livestreamed brief-ing.

He added that there were two missing and two more crew members injured following the attack.

Mr. Cacdac said that the DMW had reached out to more than half of the seafarers affected. — Adrian H. Halili

Keep mum on VP trial, senators told

BW FILE PHOTO

SENATORS should refrain from commenting on the merits of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial, a congressman said on Tuesday, urging them to limit their statements over concerns that they could sway public perception.

“Maybe let’s limit our statements to how the process should go about during the trial, and not on the substance, especially our position with regard to the impeachment and the articles of impeachment” Iloilo Rep. Lorenz R. Defensor, a member of the prosecution team for Ms. Duterte’s trial, told reporters.

It would be “unbecoming” for a senator to comment on the impeachment trial, he said, as issuing statements regarding the merits of the impeachment may “telegraph” their biases to the public.

Ms. Duterte, who emerged as a contender in the 2028 presidential election, was impeached by the House of Representatives in February, and is facing a slew of accusations ranging from budget anomalies to plotting the assassination of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., his wife and the Speaker. She has denied any wrongdoing.

The senators who would act as jurors for the trial are expected to hear Ms. Duterte’s trial in late July.

“I hope those senator-judges exercise some self-control,” Party-list Rep. Leila M. de Lima told reporters in Filipino. “They should be careful about what they say, because it reflects their prejudices, biases and predisposition on how they might decide the case.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Climate research groups say increasing LNG imports could raise power prices

REUTERS

THE PHILIPPINES’ growing imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is vulnerable to market shocks, in the next four years raises concerns over electricity prices as it may push up generation costs, according to climate research groups.

LNG imports in the Philippines could increase by 508% by 2029, according to a joint analysis of international research group Zero Carbon Analytics (ZCA) and Philippine-based Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Tech-nology (CREST).

The groups warned that the country’s increasing reliance on imported LNG “could worsen electricity affordability.”

Based on the analysis, the growth in LNG imports is set to cost the country an estimated $3.9 billion (P218 billion) by 2029.

“The cost of building five new LNG terminals for the imports will add an additional $1.5 billion (P83.7 billion), bringing the total investment for LNG imports to $5.4 billion (P301.5 billion) for the above period,” the groups said.

LNG imports are estimated to increase gas-fired power generation costs by 11-24%, which could impact generation costs — the cost of producing electricity accounting for over half of total electricity bills, the groups added.

“LNG is a globally traded commodity subject to market shocks. Price surges in the past three years, from geopolitical instability and increased European demand, have shown how vulnerable import-dependent countries can be,” the analysis read.

With the concerns raised, the groups said that the downward trend in the cost of generating power from solar and wind make it more cost-competitive than gas in the Philippines, which signals “a long-term structural advantage for renewables.”

“Renewables such as solar and wind are cheaper options than gas both in terms of the upfront costs and generation. Renewables are also a cleaner choice compared to LNG, a fossil fuel that emits significant amounts of green-house gases such as methane,” said CREST President Rei Panaligan.

Mr. Panaligan said that the country has the potential to generate enough indigenous renewable power to meet its own energy demands. “The Philippine government should invest further for more renewables and to start clos-ing permanently the door to fossil fuels.”

“Our analysis shows that importing more gas will likely raise those prices. Instead of importing LNG and building costly LNG infrastructure, the government should look instead to the country’s huge potential for solar and wind, which can now produce electricity more cheaply than gas,” said ZCA Asia Regional Researcher Yu Sun Chin. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

PMA: ‘Continue trust in us’

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City — The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is appealing for a continued trust in the country’s premier military officer training institution following the recent maltreatment of a fourth-class cadet that sent him to collapse and spend several months in the hospital.

PMA, through spokesman Philippine Navy Lt. Jesse Nestor B. Saludo, insists, “the professional institution steadfastly (is) committed to the highest standards of integrity, discipline, and excellence in the service of the.”

Mr. Saludo reiterated that PMA does not condone maltreatment. “Since 2018, we have implemented comprehensive reforms in training systems, policies, supervision, and monitoring mechanisms to prevent such incidents and foster a culture of respect, discipline, and professionalism among our cadets,” the PMA official statement, issued Monday, read.

The official PMA statement was issued after news already broke out on the complaint against cadets who allegedly physically harmed fourth-lass cadet Mauee Bumagat Maraggun for almost a month in September 2024 and made him perform heavy exercises which led to his collapse.

He was hospitalized at the V. Luna Medical Center in Quezon City and transferred to the PMA Hospital until his medical discharge on June 30.

Mr. Maraggun, 22, from Sta. Maria town in Isabela, filed a complaint before the Baguio City police on July 2 and was referred to the Office of the Baguio City Prosecutor on that day.

Mr. Saludo said the PMA has not seen a copy of the police report or formal complaint. “The victim is currently on indefinite leave while awaiting discharge orders based on AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Medical Board findings unrelated to the injuries sustained.”

Appropriate punishments have been meted out against the three cadets, Mr. Saludo said, detailing, Mr. Maraggun’s upperclassman, in fact his squad leader, was meted out with 60 demerits, 210 touring hours and 210 confinement days in his room though he can still attend class, eat at the mess hall and perform official duties like parades and other tasks. Only his privileges were waived.

“This is the maximum punishment given to a class 1 offense,” Mr. Saludo explained.

The two other cadets, his own “mistahs” (classmates) and in fact roommates, were suspended for a year for “inflicting physical injuries to a classmate.”

The fourth was freed from any punishment because he was found not guilty of any offense. — Artemio A. Dumlao

5 more NPAs yield in Agusan del Sur

COTABATO CITY — Five more members of the now apparently weakened New People’s Army (NPA) have surrendered to a unit in Agusan del Sur province of the 4th Infantry Division.

Senior officials of the 4th ID and the 401st Infantry Brigade told reporters on Tuesday that the five NPA members agreed to return to the fold of law through the joint intercession of the commanding officer of the 75th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Earl C. Pardillo, and local executives in different towns in Agusan del Sur in Region XIII.

The five NPAs, all from Barangay Bolhoon in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, first turned over a light machinegun, four AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles and an M14 rifle to officials of the 75th IB, led by Mr. Pardillo, before they pledged alle-giance to the government during a symbolic rite on Sunday.

The five NPAs had told local officials that they want to get reintegrated into mainstream society, like what more than 300 of their companions, who yielded in batches to different units of the 4th ID in the past three years, did.

The five men had promised to help units of the 4th ID convince the few remaining members of the NPA in Agusan del Sur to avail of the government’s reconciliation program for communist insurgents for them to be reunited with their families and thrive peacefully in their hometowns. — John Felix M. Unson

Glencore to sell copper smelter to Villar family

MANUEL B. VILLAR, JR. — VISTARESIDENCES.COM.PH

Glencore Plc has agreed to sell its struggling copper refinery in the Philippines to the family of the country’s richest man as the smelting industry reels from the lowest processing fees on record.

The commodities trading giant is selling Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp., or Pasar, to the Villar family, headed by real estate billionaire Manny Villar, Jr., according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the sale has not been made public yet.

A spokesperson for Glencore declined to comment. A representative for Mr. Villar didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Thanks to its location, Pasar has long been a key trading asset for Glencore. It’s an outlet to place copper concentrates from Pacific producers in Australia and Indonesia, while also taking distressed cargoes en-route from South America to China.

Still, smelters have been reeling from a collapse in the fees they get from miners as there’s too much refining capacity fighting for not enough feedstock.

Glencore has launched a sweeping review of its global copper and zinc smelting assets and has written down the value of its metal processing business.

The trading house has been exploring a sale of Pasar since at least late last year, and has already placed the copper refinery on care and maintenance earlier this year.

Mr. Villar, a former lawmaker worth over $23 billion, owns the largest home builder in the Philippines, as well as stakes in a shopping mall operator, a home-improvement chain and a supermarket chain. — Bloomberg

Japan, S. Korea face 25% tariffs as Trump ramps up trade war

REUTERS

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS — US President Donald J. Trump on Monday ramped up his trade war telling 14 nations, from powerhouse suppliers such as Japan and South Korea to minor trade players, that they now face sharply high-er tariffs from a new deadline of Aug. 1.

The imposition of a levy of 25% on US importers of all goods rattled Wall Street, with the S&P 500 Index knocked back sharply, though markets in Asia were taking the news in their stride.

In letters so far to 14 countries, Mr. Trump hinted at opportunities for additional negotiations, even while warning that reprisals would draw a like-for-like response.

“If, for any reason, you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added on to the 25% that we charge,” Mr. Trump told Japan and South Korea in letters released on his Truth Social platform.

The higher tariffs take effect from Aug. 1, and notably will not combine with previously announced sectoral tariffs, such as those on automobiles and steel and aluminum.

Countries have been under pressure to conclude deals with the US after Mr. Trump unleashed a global trade war in April that roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies.

Mr. Trump’s executive order on Monday extends to Aug. 1 the Wednesday deadline for negotiations.

Asked if the deadline was firm, Mr. Trump replied, “I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”

It was unfortunate that Mr. Trump was hiking tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea, two of the closest US allies, but there was still time for a breakthrough in negotiations, said former US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler.

“While the news is disappointing, it does not mean the game is over,” added Ms. Cutler, the vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Mr. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of 25% on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30% on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32% on Indonesia, 35% on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36% on Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos and Myanmar. A deal with India was close, Mr. Trump added.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said some progress had been made on avoiding higher tariffs of up to 35% that Mr. Trump had suggested recently.

“We have received a proposal from the United States to swiftly proceed with negotiations towards the newly set August 1 deadline, and that depending on Japan’s response, the content of the letter could be revised,” Mr. Ishiba told a cabi-net meeting on Tuesday.

South Korea said it planned to step up trade talks with the United States, and that exemptions or reductions in auto and steel tariffs must be included in any trade deal.

Thailand said it was confident it can get a competitive tariff similar to those on other countries.

In neighboring Malaysia, the trade ministry said it acknowledged US concerns on trade imbalances and market access, while believing that constructive engagement and dialogue remained the best path forward.

In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, an official said Jakarta still had room to negotiate on tariffs, and its top negotiator would meet US trade representatives in Washington.

A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said.

The US is the main export market for Bangladesh’s readymade garments industry, which accounts for more than 80% of its export earnings and employs 4 million people.

“This is absolutely shocking news for us,” Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. “We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20%. This will hurt our industry badly.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 30% US tariff rate was unjustified, since 77% of US goods face no tariffs in his country. Mr. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said his government would continue to engage with the United States.

MARKET DROP
US stocks fell in response to Monday’s news, with the S&P closing down about 0.8%, although Asian share markets were mostly resilient, with Japan’s Nikkei recouping early losses and South Korean stocks jumping 1.8%.

“There’s going to be a lot of volatility as the headlines start to emerge, as more of these letters come out, and as the negotiations really come to the fore ahead of that August 1 deadline,” said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.

Earlier on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected several trade announcements in the next 48 hours.

Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam.

China has until Aug. 12 to reach a deal with the White House to prevent Mr. Trump from reinstating additional import curbs after Washington and Beijing agreed in June on a tariff framework. On Tuesday, China warned the United States against reinstating tariffs on its goods, and said it could retaliate against countries striking deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains.

Vietnam and China agreed to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil, Vietnam’s government said on Tuesday.

TRADING BLOCS
The European Union (EU) will not be receiving a letter setting out higher tariffs, EU sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The EU still aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mr. Trump had a “good exchange,” a commission spokesperson said.

The EU has been torn over whether to push for a quick and light trade deal or leverage its economic clout for a better outcome.

Mr. Trump also threatened leaders of developing nations in the BRICS grouping meeting in Brazil, with an additional 10% tariff if they adopt “anti-American” policies.

The bloc includes Brazil, Russia, India and China among others. — Reuters

Alien planet lashed by huge flares from its ‘angry beast’ star

The International Space Station. Image via nasa.gov

WASHINGTON — Scientists are tracking a large gas planet experiencing quite a quandary as it orbits extremely close to a young star — a predicament never previously observed.

This exoplanet, as planets beyond our solar system are called, orbits its star so tightly that it appears to trigger flares from the stellar surface — larger than any observed from the sun — reaching several million miles (kilometers) into space that over time may strip much of this unlucky world’s atmosphere.

The phenomenon appears to be caused by the planet’s interaction with the star’s magnetic field, according to the researchers. And this star is a kind known to flare, especially when young.

“A young star of this type is an angry beast, especially if you’re sitting as close up as this planet does,” said Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy astrophysicist Ekaterina Ilin, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.

The star, called HIP 67522, is slightly more massive than the sun and is located about 407 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilo-meters).

This star and planet, as well as a second smaller gas planet also detected in this planetary system, are practically newborns. Whereas the sun and our solar system’s planets are roughly 4.5 billion years old, this star is about 17 million years old, with its planets slightly younger.

The planet, named HIP 67522 b, has a diameter almost the size of Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet, but with only 5% of Jupiter’s mass. That makes it one of the puffiest exoplanets known, with a consistency reminiscent of cotton candy (candy floss).

It orbits five times closer to its star than our solar system’s innermost planet Mercury orbits the sun, needing only seven days to complete an orbit.

A flare is an intense eruption of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the outermost part of a star’s atmosphere, called the corona. So how does HIP 67522 b elicit huge flares from the star? As it orbits, it apparently interacts with the star’s magnetic field — either through its own magnetic field or perhaps through the presence of conducting material such as iron in the planet’s composition.

“We don’t know for sure what the mechanism is. We think it is plausible that the planet moves within the star’s magnetic field and whips up a wave that travels along magnetic field lines to the star. When the wave reaches the stellar co-rona, it triggers flares in large magnetic field loops that store energy, which is released by the wave,” Ms. Ilin said.

“As it moves through the field like a boat on a lake, it creates waves in its wake,” Ms. Ilin added. “The flares these waves trigger when they crash into the star are a new phenomenon. This is important because it had never been observed before, especially at the intensity detected.”

The researchers believe it is a specific type of wave called an Alfvén wave, named for 20th century Swedish physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Hannes Alfvén, that propagates due to the interaction of magnetic fields.

The flares may heat up and inflate the planet’s atmosphere, which is dominated by hydrogen and helium. Being lashed by these flares could blast away lighter elements from the atmosphere and reduce the planet’s mass over perhaps hundreds of millions of years.

“At that time, it will have lost most if not all the light elements, and become what’s called a sub-Neptune — a gas planet smaller than Neptune,” Ms. Ilin said, referring to the smallest of our solar system’s gas planets.

The researchers used observations by two space telescopes: NASA’s TESS, short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS, short for CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite.

The plight of HIP 67522 b illustrates the many circumstances under which exoplanets exist.

“It is certainly no sheltered youth for this planet. But I am not sad about it. I enjoy diversity in all things nature, and what this planet will eventually become — perhaps a sub-Neptune rich in heavy elements that did not evapo-rate — is no less fascinating than what we observe today.” — Reuters

US measles cases hit 6-year high at 1,277 cases, Johns Hopkins data show

MEASLES CASES in the United States have already reached a six-year high this year, data from Johns Hopkins University’s outbreak response center showed, as a drop in vaccination rates causes a surge in the disease once elimi-nated from the country.

The US had 1,277 cases of measles, the data showed on Friday, surpassing the last record of 1,274 cases from 2019.

Measles was declared eliminated from the country in 2000, meaning there were no cases spreading within the country that year. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continued identifying individual cases tied to international travel, and outbreaks have occurred every year since elimination.

This year’s surge, one of the worst outbreaks in the US, has primarily been driven by a drop in vaccination rates, particularly among children in states such as Texas and New Mexico, where coverage has fallen well below the 95% threshold required for herd immunity.

Johns Hopkins’ data showed 790 confirmed cases in Texas — the epicenter of the current measles outbreak — while 95 cases were reported in New Mexico.

Data from the CDC does not yet reflect the record as it is updated weekly on Wednesdays. As of July 1, a total of 1,267 confirmed measles cases and three deaths were reported by 38 jurisdictions, according to the CDC.

Last week’s CDC data showed there has been a slowdown in spread of the infection, but it has spread to surrounding states.

There have been 27 outbreaks reported in 2025, and 88% of confirmed cases are outbreak-associated, according to CDC’s data.

Experts have urged public health officials to provide urgent endorsement for highly effective vaccines. The measles vaccine is 97% effective after two doses, according to the CDC. — Reuters

Hopes fade for missing Texas flood victims as death toll hovers around 100

KERRVILLE, Texas — Search teams plodded through muddy riverbanks and flew aircraft over flood-ravaged central Texas on Monday as hopes dimmed of finding survivors among dozens still missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives, many of them children.

Three days after a torrential predawn downpour transformed the Guadalupe River into a raging, killer torrent, a Christian girls’ summer camp devastated by the flash flood confirmed that 27 campers and counselors were among those who had perished.

Ten girls and a camp counselor were still unaccounted for, officials said on Monday, as search-and-rescue personnel faced the potential of more heavy rains and thunderstorms while clawing through tons of muck-laden debris.

The bulk of the death toll from Friday’s calamity was concentrated in and around the riverfront town of Kerrville and the grounds of Camp Mystic, situated in a swath of Texas Hill Country known as “flash flood alley.”

By Monday afternoon, the bodies of 84 flood victims — 56 adults and 28 children — were recovered in Kerr County, most of them in the county seat of Kerrville, according to the local sheriff.

As of midday Sunday, state and local officials said 12 other flood-related fatalities had been confirmed across five neighboring south-central Texas counties, and that 41 other people were still listed as missing outside Kerr Coun-ty.

The New York Times, one of numerous news media outlets publishing varying death tolls, reported that at least 104 people had been killed across the entire flood zone.

Debate also intensified over questions about how state and local officials reacted to weather alerts forecasting the possibility of a flash flood and the lack of an early warning siren system that might have mitigated the disaster.

On Monday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick vowed that the state would “step up” to pay for installing a flash-flood warning system in Kerrville by next summer if local governments “can’t afford it.”

“There should have been sirens,” Mr. Patrick said in a Fox News interview. “Had we had sirens here along this area… it’s possible that we would have saved some lives.”

‘ROUGH WEEK’ AHEAD
While authorities continued to hold out hope that some of the missing would turn up alive, the likelihood of finding more survivors diminished as time passed.

“This will be a rough week,” Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. said at a briefing on Monday morning.

Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian girls’ retreat on the banks of the Guadalupe was at the epicenter of the disaster.

“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” the camp said in a statement on Monday.

Richard “Dick” Eastland, 70, Mystic’s co-owner and director, died trying to save children at his camp from the flood, local news media reported. He and his wife, Tweety Eastland, have owned the camp since 1974, according to its website.

“If he wasn’t going to die of natural causes, this was the only other way, saving the girls that he so loved and cared for,” Eastland’s grandson, George Eastland, wrote on Instagram.

MISHAP IN THE SKY
Authorities lost one of their aviation assets on Monday when a privately operated drone collided in restricted airspace over the Kerr County flood zone with a search helicopter, forcing the chopper to make an emergency landing. No injuries were reported, but the aircraft was put out of commission, according to the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.

National Weather Service forecasts on Monday predicted that up to 4 more inches of rain could douse Texas Hill Country, with isolated areas possibly receiving as much as 10 inches (25 cm).

Officials said the region remained especially vulnerable to renewed flooding due to the saturated condition of the soil and mounds of debris already strewn around the river channel.

State emergency management officials had warned on Thursday, ahead of the July 4 holiday, that parts of central Texas faced the possibility of flash floods based on National Weather Service forecasts.

But twice as much rain as was predicted ended up falling over two branches of the Guadalupe just upstream of the fork where they converge, sending all of that water racing into the single river channel where it slices through Kerrville, City Manager Dalton Rice said.

Mr. Rice said the outcome was unforeseen and unfolded in a matter of two hours, leaving too little time to conduct a precautionary mass evacuation without the risk of placing more people in harm’s way.

Authorities in flood-prone areas like the Guadalupe River basin also must balance the odds of misjudging a catastrophe against not wanting to “cry wolf,” he said.

Still, a team of European scientists said climate change has helped fuel warmer, wetter weather patterns that make extreme rain and flood events more likely.

“Events of this kind are no longer exceptional in a warming world,” said Davide Faranda, of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). “Climate change loads the dice toward more frequent and more intense floods.”

The Houston Chronicle and New York Times reported that Kerr County officials had considered installing a flood-warning system about eight years ago but dropped the effort as too costly after failing to secure a $1 million grant to fund the project. — Reuters

UK plans to ban employers from using NDAs to silence workers subject to abuse

REUTERS

LONDON — Britain plans to ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that are used by employers to silence those who are subject to harassment or discrimination, as part of a broader bill to protect workers’ rights, the government said on Monday.

The government is due to table amendments to its employment rights bill, which is passing through parliament, to void NDAs which are used by employers against employees who have been subjected to harassment, including sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace, it said in a statement.

If passed, any confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements or other agreements that seek to prevent a worker speaking about an allegation of harassment or discrimination would be null and void, allowing victims to speak freely about their experiences.

“We have heard the calls from victims of harassment and discrimination to end the misuse of NDAs. It is time we stamped this practice out… The Employment Rights Bill will ban any NDA used for this purpose, so that no one is forced to suffer in silence,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in the statement.

The government has called the planned legislation, which was set out in October, the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. — Reuters

Netanyahu meets Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas discuss ceasefire

Supporters of bereaved family members and the families of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, protest on a Day of Disruption by anti-government protest groups outside the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament in Jerusalem, May 20, 2024. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV — US President Donald J. Trump, hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, said the United States had scheduled talks with Iran and indicated progress on a con-troversial effort to relocate Palestinians out of Gaza.

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a dinner between US and Israeli officials, Mr. Netanyahu said the United States and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians a “better future,” suggesting that the residents of Gaza could move to neighboring nations.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

“We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.”

Mr. Trump, who initially demurred to Mr. Netanyahu when asked about the relocating of Palestinians, said the countries around Israel were helping out. “We’ve had great cooperation from… surrounding countries, great coop-eration from every single one of them. So something good will happen,” Mr. Trump said.

The president earlier this year floated relocating Palestinians and taking over the Gaza Strip to turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Gazans criticized the proposal and vowed never to leave their homes in the coastal en-clave. Human rights groups condemned the plan as ethnic cleansing.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu met for several hours in Washington while Israeli officials continued indirect negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Mr. Netanyahu re-turned to the Blair House guest house late on Monday, where he is due to meet Vice-President JD Vance at 9:30 EDT on Tuesday.

Mr. Netanyahu’s visit follows Mr. Trump’s prediction, on the eve of their meeting, that such a deal could be reached this week. Before heading to Washington, the right-wing Israeli leader said his discussions with Mr. Trump could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.

It was Mr. Trump’s third face-to-face encounter with Mr. Netanyahu since returning to office in January, and came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. Mr. Trump then helped arrange a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Mr. Trump said his administration would be meeting with Iran. “We have scheduled Iran talks, and they… want to talk. They took a big drubbing,” he said.

Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the meeting would take place in the next week or so.

Mr. Trump said he would like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point. “I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off,” he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview released on Monday that he believed Iran could resolve its differences with the United States through dialogue.

Mr. Trump and his aides appeared to be trying to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough in the 21-month Gaza war.

The two leaders, with their top advisers, held a private dinner in the White House Blue Room, instead of more traditional talks in the Oval Office, where the president usually greets visiting dignitaries.

Outside, hundreds of protesters, many wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and waving Palestinian flags, gathered near the White House, waving banners that read “Stop Arming Israel” and “Say No to Genocide.” They also called for Mr. Netanyahu’s arrest, referring to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu met earlier on Monday with Mr. Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He planned to visit the US Capitol on Tuesday to see congressional leaders.

During their meeting, Mr. Netanyahu gave Mr. Trump a letter that he said he had used to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture, thanked him.

Ahead of their visit, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

Israeli officials also hope the outcome of the conflict with Iran will pave the way for normalization of relations with more of its neighbors such as Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

SECOND DAY OF QATAR TALKS
Mr. Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the 60-day ceasefire proposal at the center of the Qatar negotiations, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions there, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told report-ers earlier on Monday.

In a sign of continued gaps between the two sides, Palestinian sources said Israel’s refusal to allow the free and safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains the main obstacle to progress in the indirect talks. Israel insists it is taking steps to get food into Gaza but seeks to prevent militants from diverting supplies.

On the second day of negotiations, mediators hosted one round and talks were expected to resume in the evening, the Palestinian sources told Reuters.

The US-backed proposal envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely.

Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are released and Hamas dismantled.

Mr. Trump told reporters last week that he would be “very firm” with Mr. Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza deal and that the Israeli leader also wanted to end the war.

Some of Mr. Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners oppose halting military operations but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the Gaza war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire if he can secure ac-ceptable terms.

A ceasefire at the start of this year collapsed in March, and talks to revive it have so far been fruitless. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza and sharply restricted food distribution.

Gazans were watching closely for any sign of a breakthrough. “I ask God almighty that the negotiating delegation or the mediators pressure with all their strength to solve this issue, because it has totally became unbearable,” said Abu Suleiman Qadoum, a displaced resident of Gaza city.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Mr. Trump has been strongly supportive of Mr. Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics last month by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Mr. Netanyahu denies. — Reuters

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