The Guardian

His patience exhausted, the US president has taken action that could bite, but is unlikely to alter Moscow’s course in Ukraine
For once, a phone call with Vladimir Putin did not lead to a thaw.
By imposing sanctions on Russia this week, Donald Trump broke from his usual pattern of easing tensions with the Kremlin after conversations with the Russian leader, when threats of pressure often give way to talk of renewed dialogue.
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The US secretary of state has confirmed Donald Trump’s announcement that all trade negotiations with Canada have been suspended. Marco Rubio spoke during a visit to a civil-military coordination centre in southern Israel
US politics live – latest updates
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President says he ‘may go to the Congress and tell them … but I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it’
Donald Trump said on Thursday that his administration could soon expand its military attacks on alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela and also begin pursuing them on land.
Trump, who has faced questions over whether he has the legal authority to use lethal force against the people in boats from Venezuela, said during a press conference he was not sure whether the administration would seek approval from Congress to attack people from the South American country over land.
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US president accuses Canada of ‘egregious behaviour’ after release of ad featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs
Donald Trump has said he is ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada after the release of a television ad opposing US tariffs. The US president accused Canada of “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing US court decisions.
The Thursday night post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.
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Donald Trump is offering a $20bn currency swap to bail out Argentina’s president, Javier Milei. Harriet Barber reports
He’s the dog-cloning, chainsaw-wielding libertarian president of Argentina who was the darling of the Maga world with his promise to wrestle his country’s economy into shape by slashing waste and pushing down inflation. But Javier Milei has been facing a currency crisis, and discontent at how his policies have hurt the poorest, and midterm elections are looming. Things were looking bleak before an unexpected offer from Donald Trump: a $20bn currency swap.
Putting aside his ‘America first’ attitude, Trump promised to go through with the deal – as long as Argentina votes for Milei in the midterms. Annie Kelly speaks to the journalist Harriet Barber about what life is like in the country after Milei’s huge cuts to spending, and to the Argentinian economist Miguel Kegel about what the currency swap means for the country.
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Around the Cook Islands, the world’s two most powerful countries are exploring the possibility of deep-sea mining for critical minerals
Deep below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, the seafloor is dotted with clusters of brown and black rocks, each containing valuable metals.
The rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, hold reserves of critical minerals that could be used to power clean energy and fuel a new industrial future. In the Cook Islands, a nation halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, exploration vessels are mapping the mineral-rich seabeds.
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Donald Trump will travel to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea for the Apec and Asean summits. Will he meet Xi Jinping, and what tariff deals might be secured?
Donald Trump is about to embark on a tour of Asia that many hope will ease trade tensions with countries in the region and repair damaged ties with China. Trump will begin his trip on Sunday at a meeting of south-east Asian nations in Malaysia, before flying to Japan to meet its new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, early next week.
But the most important stop on his itinerary will come at the end of the month, when he is expected to discuss trade, and possibly Taiwan, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Apec summit in South Korea.
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US vice-president suggests votes were ‘stupid political stunt’ as Israeli PM orders a stop to any further work on bills
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”.
The bills applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which would be tantamount to the annexation of land Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, barely a week after Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli offensive in Gaza.
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A negotiated settlement would be unfair and frustrating. But after nearly four years of fighting, it may be the best option
On Wednesday, President Trump imposed substantial new sanctions on Russia’s giant oil and gas companies, and lifted restrictions on the use of certain long-range missiles by Ukraine, which will now be able to strike more freely into Russia itself. These moves come on the heels of Trump’s conversations last week with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after which the US president expressed his frustration at both side’s intransigence. Trump had hoped to end this war long ago. Will this be enough?
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US and its allies chose a strategy that aimed to use Washington’s awesome political, economic and military power to impose such high costs on Russia that the Kremlin would sue for peace on Ukraine’s terms. This “cost-imposition” strategy makes sense in theory. The problem is that, in practic..

US vice-president has criticised Israel’s parliament vote on West Bank annexation, calling the move a ‘stupid political stunt’ after a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to the annexation of land Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday. Speaking on the tarmac of Tel Aviv’s international airport before departing at the end of his visit to Israel, JD Vance insisted that ‘the policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that but we certainly weren’t happy about it,’ adding:’I personally take some insult to it’

Marco Rubio warns Israel not to annex West Bank after Knesset vote in favour
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