US justice department to open grand jury to investigate Obama officials, source says
The justice department said late last month it was forming a strike force to assess claims made by director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about "alleged weaponisation of the US intelligence community".
Republican US President Donald Trump has leaped on comments from Gabbard in which she threatened to refer Obama administration officials to the justice department for prosecution over an intelligence assessment of Russian interference.
Fox News first reported that Bondi personally ordered an unnamed federal prosecutor to initiate legal proceedings, and the prosecutor is expected to present department evidence to a grand jury, which could consider an indictment if the justice department pursued a criminal case. The report cited a letter from Bondi and a source. A justice department spokesperson declined to comment.
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eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Trump hikes India levy as tariff deadline approaches
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered steeper tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil, opening a new front in his trade wars just hours before another wave of duties takes effect. Trump's additional 25-percent tariff on Indian goods, set to come into place in three weeks, stacks atop a separate 25-percent duty entering into force Thursday. This takes the level to 50 percent for many products. Trump's order also threatens potential penalties on other countries for "directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," a key source of revenue for Moscow's war in Ukraine. But exemptions remain for goods targeted under sector-specific duties such as steel and aluminum, and categories that could be hit later, like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Smartphones are also among this list of exempted products for now, notably shielding Apple from a major hit as the US tech titan shifts production from China to India. India's foreign ministry condemned Trump's tariff announcement Wednesday, calling the move "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable." The ministry had previously said that India began importing from Russia as traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. It noted that Washington at that time had "actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy market stability." But Trump recently ramped up pressure on India over its purchases of Russian oil, threatening new tariffs as part of a campaign to force Moscow into ending its devastating invasion of Ukraine. India's national security adviser was in Moscow on Wednesday, media in New Delhi reported, coinciding with a visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff. The latest 25-percent additional tariff is notably lower than a 100-percent level Trump floated last month when he told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions. The Republican said at the time that these would be "secondary tariffs" targeting Russia's remaining trade partners, seeking to impede Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions. - Tariff turmoil - Trump's latest salvo targeting India came after he separately took aim at Brazil over the trial of his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro -- who is accused of planning a coup. On Wednesday, US tariffs on various Brazilian goods surged from 10 percent to 50 percent, although broad exemptions including for orange juice and civil aircraft are expected to soften the blow. Come Thursday, a new wave of tariffs on imports from dozens of other economies, ranging from the European Union to Taiwan, is set to kick in. These updated "reciprocal" tariffs, meant to address trade practices Washington deems unfair, go as high as 41 percent for countries like Syria. Other major US trading partners face varying increases from a current 10-percent level, starting at 15 percent for economies like the EU, Japan and South Korea. Countries not targeted by these "reciprocal" tariff hikes continue facing a 10-percent US levy Trump imposed in April. Trump's plans have sparked a rush to avert the steeper duties, with Switzerland's President Karin Keller-Sutter hurrying to Washington this week ahead of the Thursday deadline. Though she secured a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it was unclear if she would meet Trump or any top economic officials. Her Alpine country faces a 39-percent duty on many of its exports, and while its key pharmaceutical sector has been spared for now, Trump has said a potential separate tariff could eventually rise to 250 percent. Some of Trump's sweeping tariffs face legal challenges over his use of emergency economic powers, with the cases likely to ultimately reach the Supreme Court. By Beiyi Seow
TimesLIVE
4 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Putin and Witkoff hold 'useful' talks as Trump's sanctions deadline nears
US envoy Steve Witkoff held 'useful and constructive' talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, a Kremlin aide said, two days before the expiry of a deadline set by President Donald Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions. Witkoff met Putin for about three hours on a last-minute mission to seek a breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides had exchanged 'signals' on the Ukraine issue and discussed the possibility of developing strategic co-operation between Moscow and Washington, but declined to give more details until Witkoff had reported back to Trump. Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who earlier greeted Witkoff on arrival and strolled with him in a park near the Kremlin, posted on social media: 'Dialogue will prevail.' There was no immediate comment from the US side. Trump, increasingly frustrated with Putin over the lack of progress towards peace, has threatened to impose heavy tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports.
IOL News
5 hours ago
- IOL News
War draws closer in Ukraine's central region
Local residents wait during their evacuation from combat areas at the evacuation centre in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk region, on July 18, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops try to advance to the Ukrainian central region of Dnipropetrovsk, which has largely been spared fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. Gazing out at his vast, sun-drenched field of wheat in eastern Ukraine, farmer Sergii Dozhenko is nervous. "Each year, the front line gets closer," he said. "I'm scared." One year ago, he said, it was some 60 kilometres away. Russian forces have closed in half that distance since. What's more, their drones have in recent weeks killed farmers across his central region of Dnipropetrovsk which has largely been spared fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. Following months of clashes, Russian troops claimed to have captured three villages in the region in July - a first in nearly three and a half years of war. Ukraine has denied those claims, but Sergii is still constantly scanning the sky for Russian explosive drones. "Fields are burning. People are fleeing, leaving behind barren land," he said. To counter the advances, Kyiv is building defensive lines further westwards, and parts of Sergii's land have been dug up for trenches and lined with barbed wire. "This might be the last year we harvest here ... It will probably be the last," he said. In Mezhova, a garrison town close to the fighting, Ukrainian soldiers reject Russia's claim of having captured the village of Dachne. They said the troops only entered before being driven out. "Russians love symbols. They send soldiers to die just to plant a flag," said Andrii, a regiment commander, who declined to give his last name. But few civilians venture south of the town onto a road that leads to the battles some 12 kilometres away. Sitting on a bench, pensioners Olga and Zoya watched a cloud of black smoke rising above a charred field -- another farmer targeted by a drone. A week earlier, one of their friends was killed the same way, they said. Olga, 71, said the situation worsened in early July when Moscow reached the region's border. Zoya, who like Olga declined to give her last name, said she was reluctantly planning to evacuate but did not want to leave behind her cow, Lypka. "I don't know how much time I have left," she said, breaking into tears. "Not enough to see Ukraine's victory," she added. Eighty kilometres away, a large centre for displaced people is now always full. AFP reporters saw evacuees being dropped off in vans. Their suitcases, plastic bags and pets piled up. Some were crying on the phone, others had a vacant stare. Among them were some who had already fled their homes further east and are now forced to move again. Local authorities said that in several villages threatened by Russian advances, 2 628 people - including 212 children - were evacuated over June and July. Alla Ryabtseva, a 57-year-old co-ordinator at the centre who is herself a displaced person from eastern Ukraine, said these people had no hesitation about moving again. "They have already experienced fear and understand the danger," she explained. She said the first large wave of displaced people arrived at the centre in early June as fighting intensified near the region and the authorities issued evacuation orders. The Kremlin has already laid claim to five regions of Ukraine -- an annexation not recognised by the international community. Dnipropetrovsk would be a sixth. At a Pavlograd hospital, Natan, a psychiatrist, said people living in the region were suffering from "anxiety, excessive worry, insomnia". Above all, he said, there is a "fear of not knowing what will happen next -- whether to stay or leave". Even though there is daily anxiety from air strikes "when reports say our troops have pushed back the Russians, people become more calm," the 44-year-old doctor, who declined to give his last name, said. In the hospital corridors, men with drawn faces waited outside the office of Marina Huebner, head of the rehabilitation department. "The front is getting closer. There are bombings, sleepless nights," she said. The hospital is the last before the front line and it sends out medical teams closer to combat areas to help stranded civilians. "We are essentially like a fortress here, on the first line," Huebner said. | AFP
