Emergency teams respond to plane ‘collision’ at London Southend Airport

(TOKYO) — While the European Union has vowed to impose countermeasures if the Trump administration moves forward with its planned 30% tariffs on all EU exports to the U.S., another key strategic ally, Japan, is taking a different approach.

Unlike the European Union, the Japanese government has made no indication it plans to impose any kind of reciprocal tariff on the U.S., even if the U.S. does move forward with its planned 25% tariffs on all Japanese exports.

“We have no intention to change” the Japan-U.S. ally relationship, a Japanese government official told ABC News. “We will cooperate with the United States to make a win-win situation.”

While the European Union has vowed to impose countermeasures if the Trump administration moves forward with its planned 30% tariffs on all EU exports to the U.S., another key strategic ally, Japan, is taking a different approach.

Unlike the European Union, the Japanese government has made no indication it plans to impose any kind of reciprocal tariff on the U.S., even if the U.S. does move forward with its planned 25% tariffs on all Japanese exports.

“We have no intention to change” the Japan-U.S. ally relationship, a Japanese government official told ABC News. “We will cooperate with the United States to make a win-win situation.”

Japan has attempted to remain calm since President Donald Trump first announced potential tariffs on all Japanese exports this spring, sticking with a strategy of steady diplomacy, a promise to invest further in the U.S. and patience.

Japanese government officials have met with their U.S. counterparts seven times since Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s initial meeting with Trump at the White House in February, the Japanese government official said. Trump and Ishiba also met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June before Trump cut his trip short.

Ishiba was the second world leader to visit Trump at the White House after he took office in January.

Hideo Kumano, Japanese chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, warned if the U.S. tariffs are imposed on Japanese goods, Japan will likely see a recession.

“It’s inevitable to see some kind of damage,” Kumano told ABC News. “There is a possibility that we will fall into recession.”

But Kumano said he doesn’t think Japan should retaliate like some other countries have to Trump’s tariff threats.

“Trump is emotional, and countries like India or Brazil, they reacted in the same manner, and they also wanted to punish such a policy and impose high tariffs in response,” Kumano said. “Europe is insinuating something like that, but I don’t think Japan should do the same.”

Instead, Kumano believes Japan should “smile superficially” and then “behind the scenes,” prepare for the potential impacts of the coming tariffs.

“Behind the scenes, Japan or Japanese companies should react to potential impact of the tariffs and control or manage the transactions with the U.S.,” Kumano said.

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(LONDON) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged large waves of attack drones overnight into Sunday as the two combatants maneuvered ahead of Friday’s planned summit in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 100 drones into the country overnight, of which 70 were shot down or otherwise suppressed. Thirty drones impacted across 12 locations, it said in a statement posted to Telegram.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops shot down at least 126 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Temporary restrictions on flights were introduced at airports in the southwest of the country in Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Saratov and Kaluga, Russia’s federal air agency Rosaviatsiya said, during the attacks.

In Saratov, regional Gov. Roman Busargin said one person was killed and several injured by a drone that fell near a residential building. An industrial facility was also damaged, Busargin said.

The Ukrainian General Staff later confirmed the attack on Saratov, saying in a statement that it targeted an oil refinery there. “Saratov oil refinery is one of the key facilities of the Russian Federation’s fuel infrastructure involved in providing oil products to the occupation troops,” the General Staff said. “Its annual processing capacity is up to 7 million tons of oil.”

“The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to systematically take measures aimed at reducing the military and economic potential of the enemy in order to force it to stop the armed aggression against our state,” it added. “Every affected object on the territory of the Russian Federation involved in securing its criminal war against Ukraine brings us closer to just peace.”

Ukraine appears to have been ramping up its drone strikes in recent days. So far in August, Russia’s Defense Ministry has reported downing 1,117 Ukrainian drones — an average of around 117 per day, marking a notable increase on July’s daily average of 97 drones downed.

For Ukrainian defenders, August has thus far been quieter than July. Kyiv has reported facing 749 drones and 11 missiles so far this month, an average of approximately 75 drones and one missile each day.

July saw Russia set a new record number of aerial attacks, launching a total of 6,443 drones and missiles into Ukraine across the month, with a daily average of around 201 drones and six missiles per day.

While long-range strikes and grinding frontline combat continues, both Kyiv and Moscow are also maneuvering on the diplomatic front.

Since Trump announced that he would meet with Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian officials have gone on a diplomatic offensive to bolster the Western coalition in support of its peace demands.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have insisted that any negotiations must include Ukraine. Kyiv will also not officially cede any territory, accept limitations on its armed forces, or jettison its ambitions to join NATO and the European Union, Zelenskyy has said.

Putin, though, is demanding that Ukraine cede several regions — not all of which are controlled by Russian troops — in the south and east of the country, accept curbs on the size and sophistication of its military and be permanently excluded from NATO.

Russia’s demands, Zelenskyy has said, constitute an attempt to “partition Ukraine.”

Speaking from the White House on Friday, Trump suggested a settlement could include “some swapping of territories.” Zelenskyy swiftly rejected the proposal, saying Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done” and that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”

“Our positions were clear: a reliable, lasting peace is only possible with Ukraine at the negotiating table, with full respect for our sovereignty and without recognizing the occupation,” Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s influential chief of staff, said in a Saturday statement after taking part in talks with Vice President JD Vance in the U.K.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk were among the European leaders to sign a joint statement expressing their support for Kyiv in any peace negotiations.

“We welcome President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine, end the Russian Federation’s war of aggression and achieve just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine,” the statement read.

“We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed,” it added.

“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the joint statement said. “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force. The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”

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(LONDON) — Talking with ABC News for his first-ever interview, the new executive chairman of the controversial United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) discussed dozens of people being killed near the aid distribution centers and one of the sites being shut down within 10 days of opening.

Reverend Dr. Johnnie Moore — who has twice been appointed by President Donald Trump as a commissioner on the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom — said the organization “can’t control what happens outside” the distribution points and added that there have been incidents, “as one would expect, in a war, outside of our distribution sites.”

Israel Defense Forces said that its troops opened fire on both Sunday and Tuesday of this week in areas near GHF aid distribution sites in Gaza, stating it has fired shots “towards” people but not at them. The IDF said “suspects” had deviated from specific routes towards the aid hub.

According to Moore, “some” deaths in one of the incidents did “come from the IDF” although he also blamed “some” of the deaths on Hamas.

At least 57 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, health officials said, between Sunday and Tuesday’s shootings, leading GHF to pause its distribution for 24 hours.

When asked if GHF’s aid plan was part of the problem, given that desperate, hungry people had been killed on their way to pick up food, Moore answered, “No, I think that’s a quite cynical point of view.”

“I fundamentally disagree with the premise that our operation is somehow disproportionately imperiling people,” he said.

According to Moore, GHF — since it was set up 10 days ago — had distributed “10 million meals to Gazans, to thousands and thousands and thousands of people.”

The population of Gaza is around 2.2 million.

Addressing the two incidents, Moore said, “Somehow people veered off the secure corridor,” and referred to the deaths as “a tragedy.”

In the wake of such deadly incidents, GHF has since closed its distribution centers. Moore said his organization was “working with others” to make such incidents “less likely to happen” in the future.

“I’m not doing this for anybody to die,” GHF’s executive chairman said.

Moore pushed back on the implication that the new aid plan, which was set up at the behest of Israel to counter the alleged looting of aid by Hamas, had been mismanaged.

Moore confirmed that Gazans arriving at the aid distribution points didn’t need to show any form of ID to get access to aid. When asked by ABC News how he could be sure that Hamas would not profit from aid distributed under his plan, he said there was “no evidence” any of their aid had been seized.

The GHF executive said his organization was “very much solving the problem” and, over time, GHF would “put more energy on verification.”

International aid agencies have refused to participate in GHF’s aid distribution operation, stating that it breaches fundamental humanitarian principles, such as the notion that aid should always be distributed at the point of need.

The GHF operation has been accused by multiple U.N. organizations of forcing people to have to travel long distances through a perilous war zone to reach the distribution points, which are located in tightly restricted areas. The most vulnerable people in Gaza would appear to be the least likely to be able to access the aid.

Moore rejected that premise and said, “over time” he believed they would be able to get aid to the most vulnerable people.

International aid agencies have also accused GHF’s aid distribution operation of being part of Israel’s military strategy, which Moore said was “simply not true.”

“Palestinians have been presented the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This militarized system endangers lives and violates international standards on aid distribution, as the United Nations has repeatedly warned,” Turk’s statement continued.

Moore said GHF was communicating with the IDF to “manage” the “secure corridors,” but he described GHF as an “American organization” with “American contractors.”

When asked if Israel was funding the organization, at least to some extent, he refused to comment.

“There’s certain things that we’re not gonna talk about or focus on now,” Moore told ABC News.

GHF has been mired in controversy from the beginning, and it lost Executive Director Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran, who resigned just before the aid plan launched nearly two weeks ago. Wood cited concerns over the group’s impartiality.

In an interview days before his resignation, Wood had suggested on CNN that GHF would only be able to scale up its operation to the necessary level to cater for Gaza’s population if major aid agencies were to join the operation, something they have all refused to do.

As a new executive, Moore said he believed they could scale up the operation to the necessary degree, but said it was not their goal to do it without the cooperation of major aid agencies.

“I mean, they’re the ones who have said that they won’t work with us,” he added. “My message to them [international aid agencies] is like, stop criticizing us, just join us, and we can learn from them if people have better idea.”

As of Thursday, the aid sites were shut down and then briefly re-opened and then closed again at two sites in Rafah, Gaza, GHF said. The GHF says that some sites have been reopened on Saturday but it is currently unclear how much aid is being distributed.

Moore said the ultimate aim was to have significantly more than eight distribution centers and said he thought that “big organizations” would eventually cooperate with GHF.

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