List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

New Zealand’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for the first time in almost two years amid signs

Yen bulls that have reaped nothing but disappointment in 2023 are finally eyeing gains as the currency climbs

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he expects to discuss with the government’s senior leadership team “soon” whether Reserve

Japan’s plan to release more than 1 million cubic meters — enough to fill 500 Olympic-size swimming pools

Donald Trump was dealt a blow in E. Jean Carroll’s remaining lawsuit against him after the US Justice

The European Union and Australia deadlocked in negotiations aimed at wrapping up a free-trade deal this week, putting

The top US consumer watchdog will closely monitor whether credit-card issuers follow through on their marketing promises of

Las Vegas police have arrested a man who was barricaded inside a Caesars Palace hotel room with a female hostage, ending a standoff that spanned most of the day. “SWAT made entry into the hotel room and has taken the subject into custody,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Tuesday in a statement on Twitter. “The female who was also in the room is safe and with officers.” Earlier in the day, the man, who claimed he was armed, “forcibly” dragged the woman into his room, according to the LVMPD. The assailant was seen throwing large pieces of room furniture out of a broken window in his 21st-floor room. Police have not announced the identity of those involved in the standoff, or said whether any guns were found at the scene. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.

Four days after he claimed a “very credible witness” had emerged to provide the Justice Department with derogatory information about President Joe Biden and his family, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer questioned the timing of charges that the alleged whistleblower was actually spying for the Chinese government and attempting to broker illegal arms sales to Libya. The alleged unregistered foreign agent, Gal Luft, was arrested in February by authorities in Cyprus on arms trafficking charges, but he subsequently disappeared after jumping bail. Mr Luft, who is a citizen of both the United States and Israel, is accused of paying a former adviser to Donald Trump on behalf of principals in China in 2016 without registering as a foreign agent. Prosecutors say that Mr Luft pushed the former government employee, who is not named, to push policies that were favourable to China, and further accuse him of having set up meetings between officials of Iran and a Chinese energy company to discuss oil deals, which would violate US sanctions. Mr Comer, who appeared on Fox News late Monday, insinuated that the charges against the think tank founder were meant to silence him when asked about the timing by host Laura Ingraham. “The timing is always coincidental, according to the Democrats at the Department of Justice,” he said. The Kentucky Republican claimed that Mr Luft was being paid by the same company which entered into a failed business venture with Mr Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and suggested that the speed at which the department moved against Mr Luft is suspicious. “So there are a lot of questions here and it's just amazing. The Department of Justice moves so quickly against some people,” he said, adding that it is ironic that Mr Luft is charged with being an unregistered foreign agent — the same allegation Republicans have levelled against Hunter Biden. The indictment announced on Monday also alleges that Mr Luft “conspired with others and attempted to broker illicit arms transactions with, among others, certain Chinese individuals and entities” by working as a middleman to find both buyers and sellers for “certain weapons and other materials” in violation of the US Arms Control Act. Specifically, prosecutors say he attempted to broker a sale of anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers and mortar rounds to Libya by Chinese companies, and also pushed to arrange for the United Arab Emirates to purchase bombs and rockets, and for Kenya to acquire unmanned aerial vehicles capable of striking targets on the ground. They further alleged that Mr Luft lied to FBI agents during an interview in 2019, when he claims to have provided the bureau with derogatory information on the Biden family. Asked whether the charges that Mr Luft made false statements to FBI agents in any way impacts his credibility as an alleged whistleblower against the president or his son, Mr Comer replied: “Did he lie to the FBI? I don’t know!” He also accused FBI leadership of lying to him “three times this year”. “I have no confidence in the FBI,” he said, adding that his lack of confidence in the country’s premier law enforcement agency was “sad”. One of his Republican colleagues on the House Oversight Committee, South Carolina Nancy Mace, also downplayed the charges in a TV appearance in which she accused the Biden administration of using the prosecution to stop Mr Luft from speaking out. Speaking on Fox Business Network on Tuesday, Ms Mace said Mr Luft “deserves to testify before the Oversight Committee” and accused the department of trying to keep him from doing so. “No one should be surprised here. I don’t trust the DOJ or the FBI, they are trying to silence our witness and this is a way to do that,” she said. She added that it is “obscene” that the government is not charging Hunter Biden with the same crimes despite the fact that Mr Biden has never attempted to broker arms sales or violate US sanctions on Iran. Read More ‘Whistleblower’ who accused Bidens of corruption is charged with arms trafficking and violating Iran sanctions Marjorie Taylor Greene introduces amendment directing Biden to withdraw from Nato Joint Chiefs nominee wins over lawmakers but faces uncertain fate because of senator's hold Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner

Money-market funds are set for a reprieve on “swing pricing” when Wall Street’s top regulator votes Wednesday to

A convicted Colorado pipe bomber will receive a fresh trial after spending 30 years behind bars for a string of attacks that killed two people. James Genrich, 60, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombings which killed Maria Delores Gonzales, 12, and 43-year-old Henry Ruble in Grand Junction in 1991. Genrich was found guilty in 1993 of three counts of use of an explosive or incendiary device to commit a felony, one count of third-degree assault and two counts of first-degree murder -extreme indifference. He was convicted after a prosecution expert – Agent John O’Neil of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – told the jury that marks on the bombs must have been made by the suspect’s tools, ruling out the possibility of any other tools being responsible. Now Judge Richard Gurley of the 21st Judicial District has ruled that advances in forensics and science mean that the expert’s testimony was flawed, reported The Denver Post. In a 30-page order, the judge ruled that the expert could not accurately say that no other tools could have made the marks on the bomb. The judge ruled that the testimony violated Genrich’s constitutional due process and right to a fair trial. “The court finds that the conclusion that the defendant’s tools caused the cuts to the wires from the bombs to the exclusion of every other tool was a crucial piece of evidence in the defendant’s case and without it, the people’s case would have been almost entirely circumstantial,” the judge wrote. Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein says that his office stands by the tool evidence and plans to appeal the ruling. “There was a lot of other evidence in the case other than that, and that’s part of my disagreement with the decision,” he said. “The evidence in the case was very strong and went well beyond the tool-mark evidence.” Genrich was represented in his appeal by the Innocence Project, a non-profit dedicated to overturning convictions of wrongly convicted prisoners. “Mr Genrich is very pleased that the court granted his request for a new trial,” said Tania Brief, a senior staff attorney on his legal team. The judge set a hearing in the case for 28 July and stated that he intends to formally vacate the conviction for first-degree murder at that time. The pipe bombings started in Mesa County in 1989, with an undetonated device found outside a hotel in April of that year. Three bombs would detonate in 1991, killing the two victims and injuring others. Genrich’s home was raided after investigators received a tip, and they found pliers, fuses, a circuit board and a multi-tool. The jury was also told that Genrich lived within walking distance of two of the three bombing locations, and had been seen in the area. Prosecutors also said that he had threatened to kill in the past and had expressed frustration with women. Genrich is currently being held at the state’s Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley County. Read More Colorado lawmakers sue colleagues over closed-door meetings Could a ‘fake’ same-sex couple force the Supreme Court to revisit a case targeting LGBT+ rights? Automaker Stellantis signs deal company seeking to mine in Nebraska for rare earths needed in EVs

Nato leaders have refused to offer Ukraine a timetable or clear conditions for membership – a stance the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called absurd. A communique released on the first afternoon of a two-day summit in Lithuania said only that Kyiv would join the alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met”. It came despite Mr Zelensky denouncing delays to the process, accusing Nato of handing Russia “motivation” in its invasion. “It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set, neither for the invitation, nor for Ukraine’s membership,” he said as the summit began. He also claimed the alliance was leaving a “window of opportunity” for Ukraine to be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with its invaders and expressed anger at a “vague” draft agreement. “Uncertainty is weakness,” he said. Later, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg insisted the alliance had taken “key decisions at a critical moment” and that allies have agreed “a strong, united and positive message for Ukraine” as well as a “positive path forward for membership”. Asked about Mr Zelensky’s concerns, Mr Stoltenberg said it was important to ensure that Ukraine wins the war because “unless Ukraine prevails, there is no membership to be discussed at all”. “There has never been a stronger message from Nato at any time, both when it comes to the political message of the path forward for membership and the concrete support from Nato allies,” he said, adding that previous members had joined without a timeline. “They are conditions-based, have always been,” he said. Mr Stoltenberg could not disguise the differences between the 31 members over Ukraine’s pathway to membership. Britain had been pushing for the US and other more hesitant allies, such as Germany, to agree to language signalling bolstered support for Ukraine to join, while many eastern European nations have pushed for swift resolution. However, all attendees – including Ukraine – agree the country cannot join during the war, as to do so would risk pulling the group into direct conflict with Russia. Nato did not specify conditions Ukraine needs to meet, but said members would help Kyiv to make progress on military matters as well as on additional democratic and security sector reforms. The US, in particular, has been keen for Ukraine to make progress against corruption. Later, speaking to a crowd of thousands in central Vilnius – many waving Ukrainian flags – Mr Zelensky’s disappointment was clear. “I embarked on a trip here with faith in decisions, with faith in partners, with faith in a strong Nato. In a Nato that does not hesitate, does not waste time and does not look back at any aggressor,” he said. “And I would like this faith to become confidence – confidence in the decisions that we deserve – all of us deserve, and every warrior, every citizen, every mother, every child expects,” he added. “Is that too much to expect?” President Joe Biden has stressed Nato needs to stay united. “I still think that President Putin thinks the way he succeeds is to break Nato and we’re not going to do that,” Mr Biden said. Rishi Sunak told reporters that both Britain and Ukraine recognised Kyiv could not join the alliance “in the midst of a conflict”. Mr Sunak said: “I’ve always said that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato and that we stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008. I think what is important at this summit is that that commitment is reaffirmed and also that there is demonstrable progress towards that goal.” He also appeared to confirm reports Ukraine would be offered an "Israel-style" security deal, as part of a multi-year plan to defend itself from Russia. Mr Sunak told reporters he was “keen to try and get this over the line”. He said it was “distinct from the Nato conversation” and would “send a very strong signal of deterrent to Putin, that he can't wait people out, in terms of this conflict”. The UK and its G7 allies will agree a new framework to guarantee Ukraine’s long-term security on Wednesday, in a system that has been dubbed “Nato-lite”. Under the plans, Ukraine receives more defence equipment, intelligence, support for cyber and hybrid threat defences as well as expanded training programmes. The move will also help develop Ukraine’s industrial base. The UK will also announce new support for Ukraine, including thousands of extra rounds of ammunition for Challenger 2 tanks and more than 70 combat and logistics vehicle. As the war takes its toll on Ukraine’s military resources there will also be a £50m package to help repair equipment and a new military rehabilitation centre will be established. Mr Sunak said countries were “stepping up our formal arrangements to protect Ukraine for the long term”. Wednesday will also see the first meeting of the new Nato-Ukraine Council. Western nations continued to pledge arms and monetary support to Ukraine’s fight against Russia. President Emmanuel Macron said France would begin supplying long-range cruise missiles, following a similar announcement by Britain. With a range of 250km (155 miles), the missiles nearly triple Ukraine’s previous capabilities, allowing forces to hit Russian troops and supplies deep behind the front lines. Defence secretary Ben Wallace said Ukraine has already “successfully” used the UK missiles, known as Storm Shadow. Germany, too, announced new aid worth €700m (£600m), including two Patriot air defence missile launchers, and more tanks and fighting vehicles. A coalition of 11 nations will also start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training centre will be set up in Romania. The summit was also buoyed by the prospect of Sweden joining as its newest member after Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan abruptly dropped his objections to the move, while pushing to revive talks for Turkey to join the European Union. Finland also attended the summit as a member for the first time after its own entry into the alliance in April. Moscow, which has disingenuously cited Nato’s eastern expansion as a factor in its decision to invade Ukraine, said Europe would be the first to face “catastrophic consequences” should the war escalate. “Potentially, this issue [of Ukraine joining Nato] is very dangerous for European security... and therefore those who will make the decision must be aware of this,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary G7 allies set to announce security package for Ukraine at Vilnius Nato summit Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner Ukraine still has conditions to meet before it can join Nato, leaders say