Ron Desantis to sit down with CNN's Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview Tuesday
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will sit down with CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday for an exclusive interview, the network announced Sunday. The interview will air on "The Lead" on Tuesday, July 18, at 4 p.m. ET.
2023-07-16 21:57
Crucial deal on Ukraine grain exports on the brink of expiring
A crucial deal allowing the export of grain from Ukraine is set to expire Monday unless Russia agrees to an extension.
2023-07-16 21:46
Ron DeSantis campaign fires staff as Florida governor trails Trump in the polls
Ron DeSantis’ campaign has dismissed a number of staffers in an effort to trim costs months after the Florida governor entered the crowded 2024 GOP field. Politico first reported that around 10 staffers have parted ways in recent days. Some of the staffers may join an outside group affiliated with the DeSantis campaign, according to the report. Despite cruising to re-election in Florida on a hardline conservative agenda, Mr DeSantis has struggled to gain traction in the GOP primary. He consistently trails Donald Trump in polls as the former president has increased his attacks on Mr DeSantis. Campaign manager Generra Peck is under scrutiny for early staffing decisions, according to NBC News. “They never should have brought so many people on, the burn rate was way too high,” a GOP source told the network. “People warned the campaign manager but she wanted to hear none of it.” Mr DeSantis has focused his attention on Iowa in recent weeks, even telling reporters that he would consider Governor Kim Reynolds as a running-mate. The crucial first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses are less than six months away. The DeSantis campaign said the moves will allow the campaign to be more “nimble”. “Americans are rallying behind Ron DeSantis and his plan to reverse Joe Biden’s failures and restore sanity to our nation, and his momentum will only continue as voters see more of him in person, especially in Iowa,” Andrew Romeo said in a statement to The New York Times.. Defeating Joe Biden and the $72 million behind him will require a nimble and candidate-driven campaign, and we are building a movement to go the distance.” Read More 2024 GOP candidates desperate to make debate stage are finding creative ways to boost donor numbers DeSantis would consider Iowa's Reynolds as running mate, calls Trump's attack of her 'out of hand' Fundraising takeaways: Trump and DeSantis in their own tier as Pence and other Republicans struggle
2023-07-16 20:59
'The day has finally come': Years in the making, evidence leads investigators to Rex Heuermann
Rex Heuermann left his office near the Empire State Building and strolled down a still-bustling Fifth Avenue as the sun set on a hot Thursday evening in Manhattan.
2023-07-16 20:51
Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Putin’s cluster bomb threat to Kyiv as drones ‘shot down over Crimea’
Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and reserves the right to use them in retaliation against Ukrainian forces, after Washington supplied Kyiv with the widely banned munitions. The Russian president’s threat, during an interview with state TV, came as an Estonian intelligence chief claimed that Ukraine was on the brink of a major breakthrough in its counteroffensive, after destroying Kremlin command posts and making gains near Bakhmut. Meanwhile, pro-Russian authorities in Crimea claimed to have thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack overnight at the port of Sevastopol, which houses Moscow’s Black Sea fleet, as Ukrainian officials said one civilian had been killed and eight wounded in Russian attacks in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Elsewhere, Ukrainian and Polish officials said that a large convoy carrying fighters from the Wagner private army was spotted entering Belarus from Russia, as Minsk’s defence ministry released footage showing what it claimed were Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military camp. Polish deputy minister Stanislaw Zaryn said Warsaw believed there “may be several hundred” Wagner fighters currently in Belarus. Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about dire situation on Ukraine frontlines What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'
2023-07-16 20:25
Iraqi PM Sudani, Syria's Assad hold talks on security, water in Damascus
By Timour Azhari BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus
2023-07-16 20:25
Iraqi premier in Syria to discuss boosting cooperation during the first visit in over a decade
Iraq’s prime minister held talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus during the first trip of its kind to the war-torn country since the 12-year conflict began. Iraq and Syria have had close relations for years even after many Arab countries withdrew their ambassadors for Damascus and Syria’s membership in the 22-member Arab League was suspended because of the crackdown on protesters in 2011. Assad received Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who was heading a high-ranking delegation, at the presidential palace in Damascus. They discussed mutual relations and cooperation between the two neighboring countries among other issues, according to the office of Syria’s president. Al-Sudani’s office said in a statement that talks revolved around ways of expanding cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, transportation, tourism, how to combat climate change and collaboration to fight terrorism. Security cooperation against extremist groups was likely to be on top of the two-day visit's agenda. The two countries, where Iran enjoys wide influence, have a joint 600 kilometers-long (373 miles) border. In June 2014, the Islamic State group declared the establishment of a self-styled “caliphate,” a traditional model of Islamic rule, in wide areas under its control in Iraq and Syria. After a yearslong campaign that left tens of thousands dead in both countries, IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in March 2019 in Syria. Over the past years, Syrian government forces regained control of much of Syria with the help of Russia and Iran. Earlier this year, Syria’s membership in the Arab League was reinstated and Assad attended the Arab summit that was held in Saudi Arabia in May. Al-Sudani was invited to visit Damascus during a trip by Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad to Baghdad last month. The U.S. has a presence in both Syria and Iraq and Syrian officials have been calling for the withdrawal of American troops from the country who first arrived in 2015. On any given day there are at least 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors attempting to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State group. U.S. special operations forces also move in and out of the country but are usually in small teams and are not included in the official count. U.S.-led coalition forces have officially ended their combat mission in Iraq, but continue to play an advisory role to Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide
2023-07-16 20:20
Why Biden worries about a third-party rival in 2024
2024 is shaping up to be the kind of election Joe Biden could lose primarily because of a third-party candidacy.
2023-07-16 20:15
Why Janet Yellen’s frequent stops in India are important at a time of tensions with China
US treasury secretary Janet Yellen is back in India for the third time in nine months, this time to meet finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations about global economic challenges like the increased threat of debt defaults facing low-income countries. Ms Yellen will use her time in Gandhinagar to try to foster warming relations between the US and India. She also plans a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam, to address supply chain reliability, clean energy transition and other matters of economic resilience. Ms Yellen's goals for her time in India: press for debt restructuring in developing countries in economic distress, push to modernize global development banks to make them more climate-focused and deepen the ever-growing US-India relationship. Ms Yellen’s frequent stops in the country signal the importance of that relationship at a time of of tensions with China. India’s longstanding relationship with Russia also will loom as the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine continues despite US and allied countries’ efforts to sanction and economically bludgeon Russia's economy. India has not taken part in the efforts to punish Russia and maintains energy trade with that country despite a Group of Seven agreed-upon price cap on Russian oil, which has seen some success in slowing Russia's economy. Still, the US increasingly relies on India and has courted its leaders. President Joe Biden hosted a White House state visit honoring Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in June, designed to highlight and foster ties. The two leaders pronounced the US-India relationship never stronger and rolled out new business deals between the nations. Raymond Vickery Jr, a policy expert on US-India relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Ms Yellen's coming to India shortly after visiting China is meaningful in that Indian officials “are going to want to know in great detail what happened in the meetings with her Chinese counterparts and see where it fits with their perspective on economic relations with China.” “They’re going to want to know whether or not the United States is serious about moving some of its sourcing activity from China to India.” A senior Treasury official, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview Ms Yellen’s trip, said there was hope that debt treatments for Ghana and Sri Lanka will be discussed and completed quickly at the meetings. Sri Lanka and Ghana defaulted on their international debts last year, roughly two years after Zambia defaulted. And more than half of all low-income countries face debt distress, which hurts their long-term ability to function and develop. Last month, Zambia and its government creditors, including China, reached a deal to restructure $6.3bn in loans, on the sidelines of a global finance summit in Paris. The agreement covers loans from countries such as France, the U.K., South Africa, Israel and India as well as China – Zambia’s biggest creditor at $4.1bn of the total. The deal may provide a roadmap for how China will handle restructuring deals with other nations in debt distress. Ms Yellen’s trip comes shortly after she spent a week in China, meeting the nation’s finance ministry and discussing mutual trade restrictions and national security concerns. Harold W Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Ms Yellen's trip to India “is a reflection of a naturally developing alliance.” “India has a great deal of tension with China – they have constant border disputes,” he said. “And India wants to develop and has developed into sort of an Indian Ocean naval power, which is also a region that China wants to develop." Read More What Britain needs is a ‘grown-up’ relationship with China US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China as part of efforts to sooth strained relations Yellen says Washington might 'respond to unintended consequences' for China due to tech export curbs Janet Yellen expresses hopes her Beijing visit has put US-China ties on a ‘surer footing’ Janet Yellen highlights record US-China trade and talks ‘fair rules’ during Beijing visit Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide
2023-07-16 19:24
South Korea Storms Leave at Least 46 Dead, Missing: Yonhap
At least 37 people have died and nine are missing in flooding and landslides across storm-battered South Korea,
2023-07-16 19:16
US, China Seek Climate Reset With Kerry’s Beijing Trip
US Climate Envoy John Kerry arrived in China on Sunday for three full days of talks that will
2023-07-16 18:49
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says he'll quit government and stand down as a lawmaker
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Sunday he plans to resign at the next Cabinet reshuffle after four years in the job. Wallace has served as defense secretary under three prime ministers and played a key role in the U.K.'s response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He told The Sunday Times his departure was due to the strain his job had put on his family. He also said he would stand down as a lawmaker at the next general election. Wallace is the longest continuously serving minister in government. He was security minister under former Prime Minister Theresa May, before being promoted to defense secretary by her successor Boris Johnson. Wallace drew criticism last week when he suggested that Ukraine should show “gratitude” for the West's military support. He made the remark at the NATO summit in Lithuania after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed frustration about when his country could join the military alliance. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak distanced himself from Wallace's comments, saying Zelenskyy had “expressed his gratitude for what we've done on a number of occasions.” Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide
2023-07-16 18:18
