For months, high-ranking Russian officials insisted that a path to ending the war in Ukraine — largely on Moscow’s maximalist terms — had been decided at a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump last August in Anchorage. Only Ukraine’s intransigence stood as an obstacle. Source link
Wyndham Clark eyes US Open redemption as Rory McIlroy’s challenge stalls Source link
One month ago, Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group, was forced to downsize plans for a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake after facing hesitation from some creditors. Today, it couldn’t even get that done after talks with potential creditors to raise the downsized $6 billion stalled amid rising concerns about the collateral value, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. As a result, the company is now considering various different fundraising options, although it could still move forward with the margin loan at a later stage, they added. It’s unclear why the margin loan discussions stalled. SoftBank had allegedly secured some $5 billion for the loan before the development, although it was unclear if those were verbal or written commitments. Judging by the outcome, the commitments were tenuous at bet. According to the report, the current inaction on the margin loan comes even after some of the potential lenders who had been pitched on it – and who did not view it in an all too favorable light to start – said that …
PARIS, May 21 (Reuters) – France has drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution on setting up an international mission to restore movement in the Strait of Hormuz and could submit it if conditions are right, the foreign ministry said on Friday, as Washington struggles to bring to a vote a text Russia and China may say is biased against Tehran. Control of the narrow waterway, a vital artery for global energy trade whose virtual closure has led to spiralling oil prices, is a major obstacle in talks to end the three-month-old U.S.-Iran war. A U.S.-Bahraini resolution on the strait has been under discussion for more than two weeks, with a vote repeatedly delayed as China and Russia signal they could veto it. The U.S.-Bahraini draft resolution demands Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait. China and Russia vetoed a similar U.S.-backed text in April, arguing it was biased against Tehran. Washington has secured almost 140 countries to co-sponsor its text in the hope of avoiding a veto, two European diplomats said. France, another veto-wielding power, …
If Venezuela proved easier than Iran where Donald Trump’s still looking for a win, could that explain why the attention seems to be turning to Cuba? The United States last week dispatching its CIA director to Havana and offering aid, while its crippling blockade plunges the Communist island nation in the dark. We’ll ask about carrots and sticks in the latest in a long, very long list of pressure campaigns. History’s littered by failed US attempts at regime change in Cuba, dating all the way back to 1959 and the revolution led by Fidel Castro – who would have turned 100 this year. We’ll ask our panel if this time’s any different for a regime that’s survived embargoes and the end of the Cold War, the decline of agriculture and sugar cane exports, successive waves of mass emigration. It’s the son of Cuban immigrants Marco Rubio who’s been front and center in this standoff. Just how much does the US Secretary of State’s push jibe with what citizens of Cuba want or need? Produced …
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood. Rod Lamkey/AP hide caption toggle caption Rod Lamkey/AP WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump railed against a federal judge’s decision on Thursday that continues to block above-ground construction of a $400 million White House ballroom, allowing only below-ground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s latest ruling comes in response to an appeals court’s instruction to clarify an earlier decision on the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom planned for the site where it demolished the East Wing of the White House. Trump on social media called Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, a “Trump Hating” judge who “has gone out of his way to undermine National Security, and to make sure that this Great Gift to America gets delayed, or doesn’t get built.” The administration filed a notice that it will ask the U.S. Court of …
Mall restroom sparks backlash over stalls with no partitions Source link
Russia’s army recorded no territorial gains on the front line in Ukraine in March for the first time in two and half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed. Ukrainian forces managed to recapture 9 square kilometres in March as Moscow’s forces slowed down across the entire front line, according to the analysis. This figure excludes infiltration operations conducted by Russian forces beyond the front line, as well as advances claimed by the Russian side but neither confirmed nor denied by the ISW. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again © FRANCE 24 The ISW worked with the Critical Threats Project (part of the American Enterprise Institute, or AEI), another US think-tank specialising in conflict. The Russian army has been slowing its advance since late 2025 due …
Inflation stalls ahead of Iran war price shock Source link
Homes in suburban Chicago, April 26, 2023. Brian Cassella | Tribune News Service | Getty Images A major housing affordability bill poised to clear the Senate as soon as Thursday will hit a wall in the House, in part over concerns about a ban on major investors from buying single-family homes. During a meeting at the House Republican retreat this week attended by the party’s leaders and committee chairs, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., predicted the housing measure is likely to bog down due to differences between the House and Senate versions. He said that if the Senate doesn’t address wide-ranging concerns from House members and House Financial Services Chair French Hill, R-Ark., the bill is likely to require discussions between the House and Senate before it could become law. “If the Senate thinks we’re gonna take this medicine, we’re gonna go to conference” committee, Scalise said, according to three attendees, who asked not to be named because they were speaking about a closed-door meeting. A conference committee is made up of lawmakers from both …
