Pompeo Urges UN Arms Embargo on Iran’s ‘Terrorist Regime’
Calling Iran “the world’s most heinous terrorist regime,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the UN Security Council on Tuesday to extend the UN arms embargo against Tehran, which expires in October, and reject “extortion diplomacy.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif countered calling President Donald Trump’s administration “an outlaw bully” that is waging “economic terrorism” on his country to satisfy domestic constituencies and “personal aggrandizement.” He called for the United States to compensate the Iranian people for the damage and vehemently opposed any extension of the arms embargo, warning that Iran’s options “will be firm” if it is maintained and the United States will bear full responsibility. The United States has circulated a draft Security Council resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely, and Pompeo said the United…
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insists there is no plan to raise the GST after his NSW counterpart backed wide-ranging tax reform to boost the economy.
Former Telstra boss David Thodey has recommended raising the goods and services tax from its rate of 10 per cent, or expanding it to include fresh food, education and health.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet commissioned the review and is making the case to revitalise the economy through tax reform.
Frydenberg said the federal government’s focus was getting people back to work after coronavirus shutdowns.
“We’ve got no plans to increase the GST,” he told Sky News on July 2.
The federal treasurer welcomed the Thodey tax review.
“It’s not the first and it’s not the last report into our tax system,” Frydenberg said.
The GST rate has stayed at 10 percent since coming into place 20 years ago.
But the share of household spending subject to it has fallen from 60.8 percent in 2001/02 to 55.4 percent in 2018/19.
The review also calls for the replacement of stamp duty with broad-based land tax, payroll tax reform and a national road user charge.
Matt Coughlan in Canberra
Focus News: No Plans for GST Hike: Federal Treasurer
UK Offers Path to Citizenship to 3 Million Hongkongers After China Imposes National Security Law
LONDON鈥擳he United Kingdom said China’s imposition of a security law on Hong Kong was a “clear and serious” violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration and that London would offer around 3 million residents of the former colony a path to British citizenship. Hong Kong police fired water cannons and tear gas and arrested nearly 200 people as protesters took to the streets in defiance of sweeping security legislation introduced by China that they say is aimed at snuffing out dissent. “The enactment and imposition of this national security law constitute a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament on July 1. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London, UK, on June 23, 2020. (Toby Melville/ Reuters)Johnson said Britain…
