Mud thrown at Tamil Nadu Minister during relief distribution in Villupuram
Villupuram (Tamil Nadu), Dec 3: Unidentified persons threw mud at Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K Ponmudy and his entourage during his visit to a village in the district on Tuesday to distribute flood relief.
State Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Minister P K Sekar Babu, accused a political party member and her relative of throwing mud to obstruct Ponmudy from distributing relief to the flood-affected people.
During his visit to Iruvelpattu village, Ponmudy was confronted by several residents who claimed that officials had not visited their isolated village for two days after Cyclone Fengal hit the district. Suddenly, someone from the crowd threw mud at the Minister, soiling his white shirt and the clothes of several officials and police officers, who were accompanying Ponmudy.
Reacting to the incident, Sekar Babu told reporters in Chennai that such an act would not have been carried out by ordinary citizens. "The mud was thrown by a member of a political party and her relative," Babu said, without naming the party.
Ponmudy remained unfazed by the incident and continued his people-focused efforts by distributing relief and consoling the flood-affected families, Babu claimed.
This is the current state of affairs in Tamil Nadu. The CM and the Deputy Chief Minister were busy taking photos in the streets of Chennai while the city received very little rain and did not bother to keep track of the happenings beyond Chennai. The DIPR behaves like the media… pic.twitter.com/DvZN3UT1f0
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) December 3, 2024
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
