Some European Allies Fear Trump Is Out to Destroy Them
During his first term in office, President Trump described the European Union “as a foe,” established “to hurt the United States on trade.” He repeated the charge at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but in more vulgar terms: “The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it, … Read more
Pope’s Illness Is Surrounded by Intrigue Over Possible Resignation
Earlier this week, two top Vatican officials made a secret visit to see Pope Francis in the hospital. At first, the Vatican said it had no information about the meeting but then confirmed it, explaining the two prelates had come to secure the pope’s signature to move forward on assembling cardinals to approve new saints. … Read more
How Trump and Biden Pursued Critical Minerals in Ukraine, Greenland and Other Countries
President Trump’s intense interest in Ukraine’s minerals seemed to come from out of the blue. He dispatched his Treasury secretary to Kyiv this month to negotiate with Ukraine’s leader, then began ratcheting up the pressure publicly in what appeared to critics like a Mafia don’s extortion scheme. “I want security of the rare earth,” he … Read more
U.S. and Russian Officials to Meet to Discuss Restoring Embassy Staffing
Officials from the United States and Russia will meet Thursday in Istanbul to discuss resolving issues hindering their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Embassy in Washington have been operating with skeletal staffing after years of expulsions of … Read more
Rare Protest at U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Reflects Fears Over Trump
Maryna Tymchenko walked to the U.S. embassy on Wednesday morning and held up a homemade cardboard sign over her head: “Reagan would have hated it,” the sign read, alluding to the former president who famously called the Soviet Union “an evil empire.” She said she felt whiplash from the past two weeks as the United … Read more
A Woman Died Midflight. They Had to Sit Next to Her Body.
An Australian couple’s dream trip to Venice turned into a nightmare when flight attendants asked them to stay seated next to a dead body for the final four hours of a 14-hour flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Doha, Qatar. What happened? When a passenger collapsed during a flight, flight attendants tried to save her but … Read more
UK’s Starmer to Meet Trump With a Boost on Defense and Pleas for Ukraine
Now it’s Keir Starmer’s turn. After President Emmanuel Macron of France navigated his meeting with President Trump on Monday, skirting the rockiest shoals but making little headway, Mr. Starmer, the British prime minister, will meet Mr. Trump on Thursday to plead for the United States not to abandon Ukraine. Mr. Starmer will face the same … Read more
U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal Draft Features Vague Reference to Security Guarantees
A draft of an agreement calling for Ukraine to hand over to the United States revenue from natural resources includes new language referring to security guarantees, a provision Kyiv had pressed for vigorously in negotiations. But the reference is vague and does not signal any specific American commitment to safeguarding Ukraine’s security. A copy of … Read more
What We Know About the U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal
Ukraine has agreed to a deal to turn over the revenue from some of its mineral resources to the United States, an American and a Ukrainian official said on Tuesday, after an intense pressure campaign from President Trump. Terms of the agreement The final details of the agreement, including the amount of money that Ukraine … Read more