Russia says US has given it green light to appoint a new ambassador to Washington
MOSCOW, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the United States had given Moscow its official blessing to appoint Alexander Darchiyev as its new ambassador to Washington.
The American side had handed over an official note green-lighting Darchiyev's appointment during talks with Russia in Istanbul on Thursday, the ministry said.
Darchiyev, currently head of the Foreign Ministry's North America Department, will leave for Washington soon. Moscow has not had an envoy in the U.S. since the last ambassador left his post in October.
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Spectator
41 minutes ago
- Spectator
Why the Israel-Iran war could raise your taxes
If Rachel Reeves is to have any chance of making it to her autumn budget without U-turns or raising taxes, the improved economic forecasts of recent months need to come true. Missiles flying between Israel and Iran may destroy that hope. Things had been getting better for the Chancellor. Look at economic forecasts from the aftermath of Trump's 'liberation day', and there was a common theme when it came to Britain. Because of the nature of our economic relationship with America – as a massive exporter in services (we're their call centre) and with more or less balanced trade in goods – we would be shielded against the worst impacts of a trade slowdown. Global GDP growth would suffer, but the effects would not come to Britain. The real boon, if one was being positive, though was what effect these tariffs might have on inflation. While raising prices in the shops for American consumers, the view of the economic world was that for the UK they may in fact be disinflationary. That's because, as the consultancy firm Oxford Economics explained to their clients last month, dampening demand for commodities such as oil and gas would reduce the cost of products consumed in Britain. But all that was before the first Israeli missiles landed in Iran. A barrel of Brent crude now goes for over $70. On Monday it went for $65 – so there has been a 9 per cent in just five days. On Friday morning, it briefly spiked to nearly $80 in what was the sharpest price spike since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago. Within hours of Reeves delivering what director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson yesterday called an 'incomprehensible' spending review speech, economists were warning that tax rises in the autumn were becoming likely. Just a day later, a worse-than-expected GDP contraction turned likely into very likely. If oil prices continue climbing as the war escalates, tax rises could become certain. Some 20 billion barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz, or about 30 per cent of total global trade. So it's easy to see how if Tehran tried to attempt to close the Strait – as Iranian news reports it is considering – or even attacked a few tankers, the oil price would quickly head northwards again. Indeed the FT reported yesterday that the world's largest oil tanker company has stopped accepting new contracts to sail through the Strait. If oil prices do continue to rise – and some say disruption in the Strait could send the price over $100 a barrel – it would be mere days before Brits start paying the cost at the petrol forecourt. But oil supplies are crucial to much more than petrol and diesel and taken together, it's easy to see how the rate of inflation remains sticky or even begins to rise again. Given that the bond markets are keeping the cost of UK debt far higher than the Treasury has been used to – much more because of inflation worries and the after effects of money printing than is understood in Westminster – any signal that prices were rising again are not going to give them faith in Britain as a debtor. If that were to happen and gilt yields remain high, or even climb further, then Reeves could find herself in heaps of trouble. It surprises many City economists just how unequivocal the government has been about sticking to fiscal rules and indeed keeping Labour's manifesto promise not to 'raise taxes on working people' given how hard that is when Reeves only has £9.9 billion of headroom. Before her Spring Statement the chancellor talked of the economic challenges posed by a 'changing world'. Things in the middle east have a habit of spilling over and the world seems to be changing again. Could this once more be the excuse the chancellor has to reach for?
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Americans don't see Supreme Court as politically neutral, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - Americans are divided on major issues that the U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on in the coming weeks, but most agree on one thing - neither Republicans nor Democrats see the nation's top judicial body as politically neutral, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 20% of respondents to the poll agreed that the Supreme Court is politically neutral while 58% disagreed and the rest either said they did not know or did not respond. Among people who described themselves as Democrats, only 10% agreed it was politically neutral and 74% disagreed, while among Republicans 29% agreed and 54% disagreed. The two-day poll, which closed on Thursday, was based on responses from 1,136 U.S. adults. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The court has issued major rulings in recent years including in cases rolling back abortion rights, expanding gun rights, recognizing presidential immunity from prosecution for official acts, rejecting race-conscious collegiate admissions and curbing the power of federal agencies. Its 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Republican President Donald Trump in his first term in office. In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 44% of respondents expressed a favorable view of the court, including 67% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats. The Supreme Court's popularity has declined since its June 2022 decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide. Some 57% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the end of 2021 expressed a favorable opinion of the court. By the end of June 2022, that figure had fallen to 43%. The justices are expected to issue rulings in major cases in the coming weeks as they near the end of their current term that began in October. Among these cases are one on the legality of Tennessee's Republican-backed law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and one involving Trump's executive order restricting automatic birthright citizenship, part of his hardline approach to immigration. Some 53% of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they supported "laws that prevent transgender children under the age of 18 from getting medical treatment related to gender identity and gender transitioning." Another 28% opposed such laws and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question. Among Republicans, support for such laws was at 57% and opposition at 28%, while among Democrats support was at 23% and opposition at 54%. The Tennessee law prohibits medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors. During December 4 arguments in the case, the court's conservative justices signaled their willingness to uphold the law. The eventual ruling could affect other state laws targeting transgender people. After Trump signed his birthright citizenship directive in January, 22 states as well as immigrant rights advocates and pregnant immigrants sued, arguing that it was a violation of citizenship language in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 24% of all respondents supported ending birthright citizenship and 52% opposed it. Among Democrats, 5% supported ending it, with 84% opposed. Among Republicans, 43% supported ending it, with 24% opposed. The rest said they were unsure or did not respond to the question. The court also by the end of this month is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of a Texas law that requires people to verify the age online before accessing pornographic websites. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found strong support for such laws. Among all respondents, 70% were in support and 14% opposed. Among Democrats, 65% supported and 18% opposed, while among Republicans 80% supported and 7% opposed. During January 15 arguments in the case, the justices seemed to agree that states can try to keep adult material from minors but also voiced concern over burdens imposed on adults to view constitutionally protected material.
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
'I'm a conservative dad who voted for Trump - I'd do anything for my trans child
Rick Colby, 64, does everything with his son. Hockey games, Ohio State football matches, mountain hikes. All 'typical American guy' stuff. The Republican also stood by his son's side when he was bed-bound after undergoing a mastectomy, or top surgery, to have his breasts removed when he was 19. 'Ashton is 32, so he's transitioned successfully,' Rick told Metro of his son, who is trans. 'Was it a challenge being his dad as he transitioned at age 19? Yes, but only because I didn't know what I was doing.' Ashton, however, did. Rick helped his son get whatever healthcare he needed to transition, seeing Ashton as his 'guide'. 'My son was meant to be a man,' Rick added. 'He has a masculine soul, I really believe that.' But a growing number of politicians and pundits say otherwise. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! Over the past five years, Republican state lawmakers have pushed a barrage of bills to restrict the lives of trans people, including prohibiting their choice of public toilets and withdrawing the medical care they receive. Since Donald Trump came to power, the White House has joined them by limiting the sports teams they can play for and pledging to remove them from serving in the army. 'The current political environment is awful right now,' Rick said. 'Transgender people are being villainised, mocked, insulted and blocked from receiving healthcare. 'One trans woman Ashton and I know left the country to start over somewhere else.' Outlining his reasons for voting for Trump, he said: 'I believed the United States was staring into the abyss – and if Kamala Harris got elected, the nation would be destroyed. She would continue the failed and destructive policies of Biden, who I believe was the worst president in American history. 'That was the choice I had to make. Destroy the country or support transgender people. And the battle at the state level would continue, no matter how I voted.' He added he was surprised by his party's actions following Trump's second election to office, stating that he wasn't expecting the party to be as rigid as they have been over trans rights. 'Republicans are terrible on transgender issues, yes, but I didn't think they would go as extreme as they have,' he said. 'Many of the policies enacted by President Trump and at the state level by Republicans are malevolent and outright harassment, serving no public policy benefit. 'Does that distress me? Of course it does. But we still have free speech in America and Ashton and I will continue to advocate and do all we can. 'Do I believe we will eventually win? Yes. When my son Ashton's generation takes the reins of leadership in our society, being transgender won't be a big deal at all. But it's going to be rough going until that time.' Many are leaving Tennessee, too, after a law was passed in 2023 prohibiting medical providers from prescribing puberty-delaying medication, providing hormone therapy or performing surgery to treat what the law calls 'purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity'. Colby, who voted for Trump last year, is one of countless families closely watching a lawsuit that hopes to overturn the Tennessee ban. LW v Skrmetti, referring to Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti, was filed in 2023 and has made its way to the Supreme Court. A ruling is expected this month. The plaintiffs, three families and a doctor, say the law violates the Constitution by denying equal protection to trans people. J Matthew Rice, Tennessee's solicitor general, has argued the law was passed for medical reasons and is not sex discrimination. A verdict in favour of the ban could further jeopardise trans children, Rick said, leaving them two options: pull their kids out of school and move out of state, or stay and cut back expenses to afford out-of-state healthcare. 'I have no idea how the court will rule,' Rick said. 'It would be a great thing if they ruled on behalf of the family with a transgender child.' Sean Madden, the 59-year-old independent-conservative father of a trans daughter in North Carolina, said he hopes the same. Born and raised in New York City, his daughter, Allie, came out as trans when she was 16. 'My wife and I had a very superficial understanding of what it meant to be trans, so we did what almost all parents would do under the circumstances – try and understand,' he told Metro. 'It was clear she had been suffering and alone with this secret for some time.' Together with his wife, Anne Madden, 60, the couple researched healthcare options for Allie, including a therapist. 'The number one objective for your child is to keep them happy and healthy,' he said. Allie, now 25, recently graduated from New York University and is an aspiring electronic dance music producer. Sean knew he had to do something when he first heard of the Tennessee trans youth healthcare ban, thinking of what would have happened to Allie if she didn't have access to the healthcare she needed. So he spoke with 28 families of trans young people for an amicus, a brief offering expertise, in the Skrmetti case. 'My view is that it's a gross abuse of power to take away the decision away from parents and impose a one-size-fits-all remedy when there are no medically-approved alternatives,' Sean said. The Tennessee law bans medical providers from giving puberty blockers, which act like a pause button for puberty, to trans youth. But doctors can write up prescriptions to cisgender youngsters with precocious puberty, which can spur puberty as early as infancy. 'I spoke to a family who had twins, one twin is trans and the other is cisgender with precocious puberty,' said Sean. 'The cisgender twin can be prescribed Lupron… the trans twin in Tennessee and other states like it can't get the same safe and effective drug.' Sean, who works with the Gender Research Advisory Council & Education, pointed to how 40% of trans teens (about 118,300 people) live in a state that restricts their healthcare. More could follow. According to the monitoring service TransLash, of the 701 proposed anti-trans bills sitting in state Houses and Senates today, 189 aim to restrict trans healthcare. How many trans people live in Tennessee is unclear, but a 2022 survey found it is one of the top 10 states people are leaving because of its anti-trans laws, which include bans on updating gender markers on birth certificates and driving licences. One of the families Sean spoke to, a single mum in Utah, drove over state lines to get puberty blockers for her child, only to be unable to afford them. 'So she procured them in Mexico instead,' Sean said. 'These families rise above incredible obstacles and do what they can to get care. It shouldn't be that hard. 'It is not an overstatement to say that if this medically necessary care is taken away or unavailable, kids will die,' Sean added. 'It will fall on the most vulnerable families who can't travel out of state. You're going to have a two-tier health system.' Sean said that one way legislators try to justify their bans is 'dehumanising' trans people by coughing up so much disinformation that the community no longer seems like 'actual humans'. More Trending He worries the Supreme Court may do the same, with the conservative majority justices appearing poised to uphold the ban. To them, Sean has a simple question. 'Ask yourself, if you were in this position, you have an adolescent child with gender dysphoria, what do you do?' he said. 'I think most parents, regardless of their feelings, understand they have to care for their child. That's the job as a parent.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Putin calls Trump to say 'happy birthday' but there was 'no time to talk about Ukraine' MORE: Iran issues stark threat to UK and US if they help Israel deflect revenge strikes MORE: Florida sheriff warns rioters 'we will kill you' as protests spread across US
