Hook News Brief | 30.07.25
Tsunami warnings issued after 8.7-magnitude earthquake in Russia
The US and Japan have issued a tsunami warning after a powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.
US authorities warned of three-metre waves hitting Hawaii, alongside tsunami warnings for Alaska and the US island territory of Guam. Meanwhile the Japanese government warned that waves one to three meters high could threaten Japan.
Ghislaine Maxwell willing to testify before Congress with certain conditions
Shifting focus, Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, declared she is willing to testify before Congress but only if certain conditions are met.
Conditions such as being granted immunity, according to a new letter sent to the House oversight committee by Maxwell’s legal team. Her team argues that since Maxwell is actively pursuing post-conviction relief and “any testimony she provides now could compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her legal claims, and potentially taint a future jury pool”.
“Epstein ‘stole’ young female workers”: Trump
Staying with the Epstein case, Trump told reporters Epstein “stole” young female workers from his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump said that despite warning Epstein about poaching his female spa staff, the deceased sex offender persisted, which led to their acrimonious split.
US may extend 90-day tariff truce with China but Trump to have final say
Moving on, officials from the US and China agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce. Though both sides described the talks in Stockholm as constructive, no major breakthroughs were announced.
US officials said it was up to President Trump to decide whether to extend a trade truce that expires on August 12 or potentially let tariffs shoot back up to triple-digit figures.
UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September
Shifting focus, the UK will finally recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”, according to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu though decried the move as one that “rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism”.
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