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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened trade penalties, including tariffs, against Spain, saying he is unhappy with its refusal to raise defense spending to 5 percent and calling the move disrespectful to NATO. “I’m very unhappy with Spain. They’re the only country that didn’t raise their number up to 5 percent... so I’m not happy with Spain,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that,” Trump added.
Trump has repeatedly pushed NATO members to spend more on their own defense and cast doubt on Washington’s willingness to come to the aid of members who do not spend enough. He said last week while meeting Finland’s president that NATO should consider throwing Spain out of the alliance over its refusal to agree to the new commitment.
Citing the great threat posed by Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, NATO members have argued that their previous spending commitment of 2 percent of GDP is no longer sufficient.
Spain was the only member of the 32-nation alliance not to commit to increasing military spending to 5 percent of GDP.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez secured a last-minute exemption at the time, saying Spain would only spend up to 2.1 percent, which he called “sufficient and realistic.”
Madrid, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1982, has argued it compensates for the lower spending with strong troop contributions to NATO missions, including deployments in Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkiye.

DHAKA: A fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh and a chemical warehouse adjacent to it on Tuesday killed at least 16 people and injured several, with the death toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continued, an official said.

“Sixteen bodies have been recovered from the second and third floors of the garment factory,” fire service director Tajul Islam Chowdhury said, adding that the number of deaths could rise as recovery operations were continuing.

He said the cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known.

The fire broke out at around midday on the third floor of the seven-story factory in the Mirpur area of the capital Dhaka, before spreading to a chemical warehouse storing bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, Talha Bin Jashim, another fire department official said, citing witnesses.

Grief-stricken relatives gathered in search of their loved ones, some clutching photographs.

Chowdhury said the factory owners had not yet been identified. “The police and the army are looking for them.”

Asked whether the chemical warehouse had a license to operate, he said: “We don’t know about the license yet. However, as far as we have heard, it is illegal. We will be able to confirm once the investigation is completed.”

In a condolence message, Bangladesh’s interim government head Muhammad Yunus expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy. He directed authorities to investigate the cause of the fire and to ensure that victims and their families receive all necessary assistance.

Poor fire and building safety standards lead to dozens of such disasters in Bangladesh each year, and past accidents have tarnished the country’s textiles sector, which employs 4 million people and makes up more than 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

In 2013, more than 1,100 people were killed when the multi-story Rana Plaza building housing garment factories suddenly collapsed.

On Tuesday, 12 firefighting units brought the blaze at the factory under control after nearly three hours, though the fire at the warehouse continued. Members of the Bangladesh Army, police and border guard joined the rescue operation, officials said.