31 h. ago Trump says he is ready to impose new sanctions on Russia. What might happen now?

Measures so far have not induced Moscow to stop the war in Ukraine. Will fresh sanctions finally halt Putin’s advance?EU officials are meeting their US counterparts to discuss what could be the first coordinated transatlantic sanctions against Russia since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The US president, who has previously stepped back from financial threats to Russia, has this week said he is ready to move to a second stage of sanctions. Their form, if they were to come, is however not yet clear. Continue reading...

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35 h. ago EU and US officials meet as Trump says he is ready to impose further sanctions on Russia

Europe and US consider further actions to weaken Russia after it launched its largest-ever air attack on Ukraine over the weekendThe EU’s most senior sanctions envoy is holding talks in Washington with US officials after Donald Trump said he was ready to take further action against Russia over the war in Ukraine.David O’Sullivan, the EU sanctions envoy, is meeting US counterparts on Monday, as Europe and the US look for tougher measures to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine after Russia launched its largest-ever air attack on Ukraine over the weekend. Continue reading...

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45 h. ago Trump prepares for second phase of Russia sanctions following major Ukraine attack

Donald Trump said he's ready for the second phase of sanctions against Russia

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48 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Trump says ready for more Russia sanctions

US treasury secretary foreshadows oil tariffs in cooperation with Europe; Alaska meeting gave Putin the publicity he wanted, says Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,293Asked by a reporter at the White House on Sunday if he was ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions targeting Russia, Donald Trump responded: “Yeah, I am.” The US president stopped short of saying he was committed to such a decision or what a second phase might entail. The White House did not immediately respond to an email on Sunday asking what steps Trump was contemplating. Trump said on Sunday night that “certain European leaders are coming over to our country on Monday or Tuesday individually” and he would also speak to Vladimir Putin soon.The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Sunday that the US and the EU could put “secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil”, pushing the Russian economy to the brink of collapse and bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. China is a major ...

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4 d. ago Inside the gun absolutists’ bold plot to repeal one of America’s strongest firearms laws

Gun Owners of America, which sees the NRA as soft, has the National Firearms Act in its sights – and it’s ready for battleBefore Donald Trump had even won last year’s presidential election, Gun Owners of America, one of the country’s most aggressive second amendment champions, saw an opportunity to use the coming budget bill to overturn one of the country’s core gun laws. Their target: the National Firearms Act.Passed in 1934 in response to gangster-era crime, the NFA imposed registration and a $200 tax on machine guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles and shotguns. The tax roughly equaled nearly $5,000 back then, acting as a de facto ban for most would-be buyers. Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Trump and his team had children sitting on planes ready for deportation

The unaccompanied children could suffer ‘irreparable harm’ if they are removed to Guatemala, their lawyers argued

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1 week ago Ukraine war briefing: US says strikes ‘cast doubt’ on Russia’s ‘desire for peace’ as Dnipropetrovsk attacked

US diplomat John Kelley tells UN security council Washington could impose sanctions on Moscow if war continues. What we know on day 1,283Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region came under a “massive attack” early on Saturday, the region’s governor said, reporting strikes in Dnipro and Pavlograd. “The region is under a massive attack. Explosions are being heard,” Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram, warning residents to take cover. He said overnight Russian strikes killed two people in Dnipropetrovsk, which had been largely spared from intense fighting since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Kyiv acknowledged on Tuesday that Russian troops had entered the region.The United States has warned Russia to move toward peace and meet with Ukraine or face possible sanctions at an emergency meeting of the UN security council called on Friday after missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least 23 people overnight on Thursday. US diplomat John Kelley told the meeting the strikes “cast doubt on the seriousness of Ru...

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1 week ago EU accuses Putin of undermining peace talks after deadly strikes on Kyiv

All member states except Hungary back statement saying Russian ‘war crimes’ only increase EU support for UkraineEurope live – latest updatesEuropean leaders have accused Vladimir Putin of undermining peace talks, after Russian missile strikes on Kyiv this week killed at least 23 people and damaged diplomatic buildings, including EU and British Council offices.A day of mourning was observed in Kyiv on Friday, after the Russian air attack the day before that killed 23 people, including at least four children. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said eight people were still missing and 53 had been injured. “When instead of diplomacy, Russia chooses ballistics the world must respond accordingly,” he said, urging western allies to impose further sanctions. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Want to work for National Weather Service? Be ready to explain how you agree with Trump

As the National Weather Service scrambles to hire up to 450 people to restore deep cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, potential applicants are being asked to explain how they would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda if hired

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1 week ago 'If there's a terrible tragedy': JD Vance says he's ready for presidency ... in 2025

Vice President JD Vance said he's ready to be president should the worst happen to President Donald Trump, but reassured the public that the president was in good health.

Events

1 week ago UK, France and Germany to revive sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme

The three European powers plan to impose sweeping sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation after efforts to restart diplomatic talks stalled.

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2 w. ago Postal services around the world suspend deliveries to US: how will it affect you?

Suspensions from Australia to Europe come after Donald Trump removed a rule exempting parcels worth less than US$800 from his tariffsPostal services around the world have stopped sending some mail to the United States as they ready for expanded tariffs, after Donald Trump removed an exemption on packages worth under US$800.Carriers have been temporarily suspending services since Friday to avoid delivering packages after 29 August, when they will start to be charged full tariff rates for most parcels. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Donald Trump and RFK Jr could 'ban Covid vaccine in months' despite 'chaos' risk

Dr Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist, a close associate of Robert F Kennedy Jr, claims that the Trump administration is ready to ban the Covid vaccine even amid fears of "chaos"

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2 w. ago Trump again mulls Russia sanctions as Ukraine peace remains elusive one week after Alaska summit

Russia’s foreign minister says no meeting planned between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr ZelenskyyDonald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there was no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, as Moscow said there remained “no meeting planned” between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.“I’m going to make a decision as to what we do and it’s going to be a very important decision, and that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it’s your fight,” Trump said, showing apparent frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Putin is not ready to meet Zelensky for talks, says Lavrov in blow to Trump

Russia’s foreign minister said an agenda for a potential summit between the two leaders was ‘not ready at all’

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2 w. ago US imposes sanctions on international court officials in ‘flagrant attack’

Secretary of state Marco Rubio announces US assets frozen over efforts to prosecute Americans and IsraelisThe Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to hobble the international criminal court in what the ICC has denounced as a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution”.The US state department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, saying they had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets that the targets hold in US jurisdictions are frozen. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Jimmy Lai has ‘unwavering intent’ to solicit foreign sanctions, Hong Kong court told

Prosecution makes closing arguments in media mogul’s national security trial, which has lasted more than 140 daysProsecutors in Jimmy Lai’s marathon national security trial have wrapped up their closing arguments in Hong Kong, telling the court that the elderly media mogul and activist had “unwavering intent” to solicit foreign sanctions.Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to commit foreign collusion under the Beijing-designed national security law, and another charge under the colonial-era laws of conspiring to publish seditious materials. Prosecutors say Lai used his media outlet and foreign political connections to lobby for governments to impose sanctions and other punitive measures against Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Trump is ready to ‘crush’ the Russian economy if Putin doesn’t meet with Zelensky, says Lindsey Graham

Republican insists sanctions could become necessary to punish Kremlin leader for snubbing diplomatic discussions on ending Ukraine war

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s tariffs replace diplomacy as other US tools of statecraft are discarded

Measures meant to rebalance America’s economy are wielded instead against the likes of Canada, India and Brazil ‘to compel loyalty to the president’On the campaign trail, Donald Trump pledged to use tariffs to revitalise American industry, bringing jobs home and helping to make America great again. But more than six months into his administration, experts say the president’s trade war is increasingly being wielded as a political cudgel, in lieu of more traditional forms of diplomacy.The president’s current target, India, has been unable to reach a trade agreement and Trump appears ready to follow through with his threat to impose a further 25% tariff on Delhi – bringing the total to 50% – the joint highest levy on any country, along with Brazil. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago There is no ‘Trump Doctrine’ in foreign policy. Just chaos | Sidney Blumenthal

The recent summit meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin was nothing short of a theater of the absurdAll the elaborate efforts of the European allies to prevent Donald Trump from prostrating himself before Vladimir Putin came to naught at their summit meeting in Alaska. Flattering, coddling and petting the big baby appeared to have been in vain. Before the 15 August summit, the Europeans persuaded Trump to impose new sanctions if Putin would not agree to a ceasefire, which would serve as a prerequisite for any negotiations. But Trump willfully tossed policy like a stuffed animal out of the window of “the Beast,” the presidential car as he eagerly invited Putin to join him for a triumphant chariot ride.The Europeans scrambled once again, trying to get the addled Trump back on the page he was on before the summit. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sped to Washington to confer with Trump to try to pick up the pieces. At their last encounter, Trump jibed: “You don’t have any ...

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