How Russia Put Its Future at Risk by Remaking Its Economy for War
About half of the country’s federal budget goes toward the fight in Ukraine, money that does little to support its long-term development.
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Trump’s new global tariffs kick in at 10% – business live
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsWhile many exporters around the world cheered when the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs last week, the unintended consequence could be that the trade war escalates further, says Neil Wilson at the broker Saxo Markets.Trump warned countries not to ‘play games’ and threatened ‘a much higher tariff’ than they had agreed to...the unintended consequence of the Supreme Court ruling could be an escalatory trade war that markets hadn’t anticipated. Or as Trump put it the Supreme Court had ‘unwittingly’ handed him ‘far more powers and strength’ to levy fresh tariffs than before the ruling.…The White House insists it’s working on a 15% levy at a later date, which gives the president a degree of optionality, but this is evolving into a far messier situation than we had a week ago.We can all agree that the US is not facing a balance of payments crisis, which is when countries experience an exorbitant increase in international borrowing costs and lose access to financial markets. Continue reading...
China Amps Up Pressure on Japan With Restrictions on Exports
Beijing placed the restrictions on 20 Japanese entities with ties to the defense industry, the latest ratcheting up of its monthslong feud with Tokyo.
Kremlin vows to press ahead with Ukraine war aims as Europe marks four years since invasion – Europe live
Four years ago today, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, hoping to take the country in a matter of daysZelenskyy says “we must be just as determined and strong as we were when the invasion began,” as “the threat hasn’t become smaller.”He says Europe can only respond to this war working together with the US, even as he remarks it “is not an easy task to maintain transatlantic unity and cooperation in the current conditions.”“So there must be no place in the free world for Russian oil, for Russian tankers, Russian banks, Russian sanctions …, schemes, or for any Russian war criminals. The time has come to fully ban all participants in Russia’s aggression from entire Europe.” Continue reading...
Minister signals government won’t stop MPs voting to publish Andrew trade envoy documents – UK politics live
MPs to debate the release of documents relating to the appointment of ex-prince Andrew as UK trade envoyKeir Starmer has paid tribute to the “the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians” and urged people to “defeat the falsehood that Russia is winning” the war it started four years ago.Addressing cabinet this morning, he said:I wanted also to pay tribute to the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians, and it is incredible resilience.When this conflict broke out four years ago, it was assumed it would be a matter of weeks before Putin took the whole of Ukraine. That’s what everybody believed.The second etched in my memory was last year when I went to one of the busiest hospitals in Kyiv and saw for myself the incredibly awful burns on some of those who had returned from the frontline. Burns the like of which I’d never seen in my life before.And at the same time, I went to a primary school and these children who were five, six, seven years old, had lost both their parents to the conflict. Continue reading...
France blocks US ambassador’s access to officials after he fails to attend meeting
Charles Kushner, father of president’s son-in-law Jared, had been summoned to explain US comments relating to death of far-right activistDonald Trump’s envoy to Paris will not be permitted to carry out his diplomatic duties until he has explained his refusal to comply with a foreign ministry summons over US comments about the killing of a far-right activist, France’s top diplomat has said.Charles Kushner “needs to be able to have this discussion with us, with [the foreign ministry], so that he can resume the normal exercise of his duties as ambassador in France”, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Is It Safe to Travel to Mexico Right Now, Given the Cartel Violence?
A wave of unrest after the killing of a cartel leader has rattled tourists at popular destinations in Mexico, prompting travelers to reconsider their plans. Here’s what to know.
How Bookbinders Helped the Nazis Track Holocaust Victims
Conservation experts helped the Nazi regime inspect church and civil archives to track down people they sought to persecute, a researcher concluded.
Trump to deliver State of the Union address in deeply polarized country
Speech comes as midterms loom and opinion polls show more voters disapprove than approve of his performanceThe last time Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union address, it produced the memorable optics of Nancy Pelosi ripping up his speech after he finished talking.Pelosi’s theatrical gesture at the end of the February 2020 address (his 2025 speech was technically a joint session of Congress, not a State of the Union) eloquently expressed the Democrats’ contempt for Trump’s rosy description of the union he presided over, when he boasted of a booming economy and restoring US strength in characteristic Maga (make America great again) rhetoric. Continue reading...
Missing North Carolina woman found ‘alive and well’ after 24 years
Daughter was ‘heartbroken’ after Michelle Hundley Smith requested her location not be disclosed to family she had walked away fromA North Carolina woman says she was simultaneously “ecstatic … pissed … [and] heartbroken” to learn authorities recently found her mother living safely and well – while also wanting her location kept secret – more than 24 years after she suddenly vanished from her family.“I am all over the map!” Amanda Smith, the daughter of Michelle Hundley Smith, wrote in a lengthy statement on a social media page dedicated to searching for her mother. “Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly, I can’t answer that [because] I don’t even know. Continue reading...