Author: AFP
The European Union’s member states announced on Thursday sanctions on a further 25 individuals and seven entities over what the EU said was the undermining of democracy and rule of law in Belarus. Among those being sanctioned is the Belarus Central Election Commission, the EU Council said. In January, Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election which Western governments rejected as a sham.
The United States said Tuesday it will support Russian fertilizer exports, a grievance for Moscow after sweeping sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. “The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions,” a White House statement said following conflict talks in Saudi Arabia.
Russia and Ukraine agreed Tuesday to halt military strikes in the Black Sea and on energy sites during talks brokered by the United States, which offered as a first concrete incentive for Moscow to ease pressure on agricultural exports. With President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the war that has killed tens of thousands of people, US negotiators shuttled separately over three days in the Saudi capital Riyadh between delegations from Ukraine and Russia. In parallel statements, the White House said that each country “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the…
The Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” was attacked by settlers and arrested by the Israeli army on Monday in the occupied West Bank, according to his co-director Yuval Abraham. In a post on X, Abraham said a “group of settlers” had set upon Ballal. “They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since,” Abraham wrote. The incident took place in the southern West Bank village of Susiya, according to the anti-occupation NGO Center for Jewish Nonviolence, whose members…
The White House on Monday confirmed that a journalist was included in a group chat in which US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels. President Donald Trump announced strikes on March 15, but in a shocking security breach, The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat on Signal. “The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said. Goldberg did not…
President Donald Trump said Monday he knew nothing about a journalist being included in a group chat in which top US officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels. “I don’t know anything about it,” Trump told reporters when questioned on the apparent security breach. “You’re telling me about it for the first time.”
President Donald Trump, fresh from railing against “partisan” judges thwarting his agenda, threw his weight Sunday behind a Republican running for an open spot on the supreme court of the politically heavyweight state of Wisconsin. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the race for the seat on Wisconsin’s top court is “really big and important” and “could have much to do with the future of our Country.” He called on voters there to embrace Republican Brad Schimel over opponent Susan Crawford. Using language reminiscent of his own race against Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Trump called…
US President Donald Trump’s envoy said Sunday he expects Ukraine and Russia to make progress on a ceasefire in the Black Sea when they talk Monday in Saudi Arabia. “I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,” Steve Witkoff told Fox News.
The Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations for a rapid resolution to the Ukraine conflict, saying talks were just beginning and that “difficult negotiations” were ahead. Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold separate talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia over the next 48 hours as President Donald Trump pushes for a rapid end to more than three years of fighting. “We are only at the beginning of this path,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV. He said there were many outstanding “questions” and “nuances” over how a potential ceasefire might be implemented. Russian President Vladimir…
US President Donald Trump’s envoy said on Sunday that he does not see President Vladimir Putin wanting to invade beyond Ukraine and described fears of broader Russian aggression as “academic.” “I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe,” Steve Witkoff told Fox News. “I take him at his word in this sense, so, and I think the Europeans are beginning to come to that belief, too. But it sort of doesn’t matter. That’s an academic issue…. The agenda is, stop the killing, stop the carnage. Let’s end this thing.”