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Trump envoy to visit Moscow this week before deadline for ending Ukraine war

Steve Witkoff to travel to Moscow before US president’s Friday deadline after which new sanctions could be imposed
Donald Trump’s special envoy is expected in Moscow days before the US president’s deadline on Friday for Russia to make progress on ending the war in Ukraine or face increased US sanctions.
Trump said Steve Witkoff would visit Moscow on Wednesday or Thursday. When asked what message Witkoff would take to Russia and what Vladimir Putin could do to avoid new sanctions, the US president answered: “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
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Trump’s demand that India stop buying Russian oil puts Modi in tight spot

Prime minister faces a choice between high tariffs or giving up cheap oil, putting New Delhi’s non-alignment policy under severe strain
The relationship between India and the US is facing one of its most significant challenges in decades, as the Trump administration doubles down on its demands that India stop buying Russian oil or face punitive tariffs.
The US president, Donald Trump, has refused to cut tariffs on Indian exports to the US, as he has for other countries, and on Monday said he would significantly raise them over its purchases of cheap Russian oil, which now account for one-third of its imported oil.
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Hundreds of ex-Israeli security officials urge Trump to help end war in Gaza

Open letter calls on US president to pressure Israel to end conflict as Netanyahu mulls expanding offensive
About 600 former Israeli security officials, including previous heads of the Mossad and the military, have urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, considers expanding the conflict.
In an open letter, the former officials said an end to the war was the only way to save hostages still held by Hamas.
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Swiss president under fire after Trump call leads to US tariffs shock

Karin Keller-Sutter accused of mishandling talks as shares dive after Switzerland hit with 39% tariff
US live – latest updates
The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has held crisis talks and the country’s president, Karin Keller-Sutter, has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.
Switzerland, home to some of the world’s best-known luxury brands, was left stunned after the US president on Friday imposed one of the highest tariff rates in his global trade reset. Industry associations said tens of thousands of jobs were at risk.
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Hamas releases second video of Israeli hostage and says it will not disarm until Palestinian state established

Family of Evyatar David condemn video as protesters in Tel Aviv call for a deal to be made to return hostages
Starvation takes hold in Gaza after a week of appalling milestones
Hamas has reaffirmed that it will not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established, as the group released its second video in two days of an Israeli hostage.
Responding to one of the key Israeli demands to end the war in Gaza, Hamas – which has dominated the territory since 2007 – said it could not yield its right to “armed resistance” unless an “independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” is established.
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Durham disclosures further undermine Gabbard’s claims of plot against Trump

Declassified document contains deflating conclusion for DNI director that Russian spies were behind key 2016 emails
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US national intelligence, hoped to uncover evidence that Barack Obama and his national security team conspired to undermine Donald Trump in a slow-motion coup.
But if her crusade was aimed at proving that Obama embarked on a “treasonous conspiracy” to falsely show that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump, Gabbard made a mistake. A previously classified annexe to a report by another special counsel, John Durham – appointed towards the end of Trump’s first presidency – has further undermined Gabbard’s case.
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Growing number of Jewish American groups speak out over Gaza famine

Prominent groups, including traditional defenders of Israel, urge action on aid as Gaza humanitarian crisis worsens
‘We are dying slowly, save us’: starvation takes hold in Gaza after a week of appalling milestones
As global outrage intensifies over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a growing number of prominent Jewish American organizations, including some traditional defenders of Israel, are speaking out and imploring the country to ensure that humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza.
This week, a UN-backed food security group warned that a “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza and health authorities there report dozens of deaths from starvation.
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Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff visits Gaza aid ‘death trap’

Witkoff says he is helping ‘craft a plan’ to deliver aid as UN reports that Israeli forces have killed 1,353 Palestinians who were waiting for food
Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has visited Gaza and been shown one of the controversial food distribution sites around which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.
Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy for the Middle East, had earlier met the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, amid mounting international horror over conditions of starvation in Gaza occurring after months of Israeli-imposed aid restrictions.
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Putin offers no hint of concessions as he says he wants ‘stable’ peace in Ukraine

Russian president’s remarks come as Kyiv rescuers find more than a dozen dead in apartment block after strikes
Vladimir Putin has said he wants a “lasting and stable peace” in Ukraine but given no indication that he is willing to make any concessions to achieve it, after a week in which Russian missiles and drones again caused death and destruction across Ukraine.
“We need a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries,” said Putin, speaking to journalists on Friday, a week before a new deadline imposed by Donald Trump for hostilities to cease.
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‘These are dark days’ Biden warns in speech criticising Trump administration – video

Joe Biden has said ‘these are dark days’ in the US, and accused the Trump administration of ‘doing its best to dismantle the constitution’ with the help of the Republican-controlled Congress and the supreme court.
‘We see the apparent glee of some of our politicians while watching immigrants who are in this country legally torn from the arms of their family, dragged away in handcuffs from the only home they’ve ever known,’ the former president said
Joe Biden says US is facing ‘existential’ fight with marginalized groups ‘dramatically under attack’
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