Russian attacks kill 18 civilians in Ukraine as Zelenskyy seeks more Western help
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones, missiles and artillery killed at least 18 civilians and injured more than 100 others in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought guarantees of further Western military aid for his country's efforts to repel Russia's invasion.
Russian forces have relentlessly blasted civilian areas of Ukraine throughout the war, which is now in its fourth year. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations. Ukraine has also launched long-range drones against Russia, hitting residential areas.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What's in and out of Trump's big bill as Senate races to meet Fourth of July deadline
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says 'NO ONE GOES ON VACATION' until the big, beautiful bill is on his desk by the Fourth of July deadline. And Republicans in Congress are staying put to get it done. The Senate is gearing up for weekend work, while House Speaker Mike Johnson told lawmakers Tuesday to keep their schedules 'flexible' as they prepare for more votes. 'We are making good headway,' said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. He expects the Senate will 'get it across the finish line' by the end of the week, sending it back to the House for swift action. But Republicans who have majority control of the House and Senate are finding that their push to move fast and change things — namely cuts to federal government programs including Medicaid and SNAP food stamps used by millions of Americans — is easier said than done. Not all GOP lawmakers are on board, and the Senate parliamentarian has advised that several key proposals violate procedural rules. With Democrats flatly opposed, it's all leaving GOP leaders scrambling days before final votes. Here's the latest on what's in, out and still up for debate as lawmakers work to finish the massive 1,000-page plus package. What's the goal of the big bill? Tax cuts. The top priority for Republicans is preventing what they warn would be a massive tax hike, some $3.8 trillion, after December when the tax breaks they put in place during Trump's first term, in 2017, expire. The big bill seeks to make existing tax rates and brackets permanent, while also temporarily adding new ones Trump campaigned on — no taxes on tips, overtime pay or some automotive loans, along with a bigger $6,000 deduction in the Senate draft for seniors who earn no more than $75,000 a year. The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase, while the bill would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Middle income taxpayers would see a tax break of $500 to $1,500, CBO said. One provision for families would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 under the Senate proposal or $2,500 in the House. But families at lower income levels won't see the full amount, if any. And one unresolved issue is the House's proposed $40,000 cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, that GOP senators say is too high and want limited. The bill also funds deportations, border wall and Trump's heroes garden There's also some $350 billion of new funding in the package for Trump's border and national security agenda. Trump promises the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and the package proposes money to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 signing bonuses, and for 100,000 immigration detention beds with a goal of deporting some 1 million people a year. Additionally, the House bill proposes $12 billion for the Homeland Security secretary to provide grants to states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions. The Senate package also provides the attorney general with $3.5 billion to create a similar state fund — called Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide, or Biden, referring to the former president. There's also money for the development of Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense system over the U.S., and quality of life measures for servicemen and women. And there are extras: One provision from the Senate would provide $40 million to establish Trump's long-sought 'National Garden of American Heroes.' How to pay for it? Cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and green energy programs To help partly offset the lost tax revenue, Republicans are seeking to cut back some long-running government programs — Medicaid, food stamps and green energy incentives — basically unraveling the accomplishments of the past two Democratic presidents: Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Republicans argue they are trying to right-size the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve — mainly pregnant women and children — and root out waste, fraud and abuse. The package includes new 80 hour a month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and food stamps, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children older than 10 would have to work to qualify for food aid, and those with teens would have to comply with the work requirement for Medicaid. 'It's wildly popular,' Johnson said Tuesday, noting people can work, volunteer or go to school or job training programs. 'For heaven's sake, do something constructive.' Some 80 million Americans rely on Medicaid, which expanded under Obama's Affordable Care Act, and 40 million use the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, and most already work, according to analysts. All told, the CBO estimates at least 10.9 million more people would go without health coverage, and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps. Deeper SNAP cuts that would shift cost-sharing to the states were called into question by the Senate parliamentarian and undergoing revisions. And more Medicaid changes are up for debate — including a Senate plan to reduce the so-called provider tax that most states impose on hospitals and other entities. Key GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warn that lower Medicaid provider tax cuts will hurt rural hospitals. 'We cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage,' said 16 House GOP lawmakers in a letter to leadership. Senators are considering the creation of a new rural hospital fund, but the plan remains a work in progress. Both the House and Senate bills propose a dramatic rollback of the Biden-era green energy tax breaks for electric vehicles and also the production and investment tax credits companies use to stand up wind, solar and other renewable energy projects. All told, the cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs are expected to produce some $1.3 trillion in savings over the decade, CBO said. What's the final cost? Altogether, keeping the existing tax breaks and adding the new ones is expected to cost $3.8 trillion over the decade, CBO says in its analysis of the House bill. The Senate draft is slightly higher. The spending cuts tally nearly $1.3 trillion. The CBO estimates the package from the House would add $2.4 trillion to the nation's deficits over the decade. Or not, depending on how one does the math. Senate Republicans are proposing a unique strategy of not counting the existing tax breaks as a new cost, because they're already 'current policy.' They argue the Budget Committee chairman has the authority to set the baseline for its preferred approach. Under the Senate GOP view, the cost of tax provisions would be $441 billion, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Democrats and others argue this is 'magic math' that obscures the costs of the GOP tax breaks. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget puts the Senate tally at $4.2 trillion over the decade. 'Current policy baseline' is a budget gimmick,' said Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. 'This bill will add trillions upon trillions of dollars to the national debt to fund tax breaks for billionaires.' Trump, en route to Europe for a NATO meeting, told senators to lock themselves in a room if needed, and 'GET THE BILL DONE.' __ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
This is what could happen next after an Israel-Iran ceasefire
WASHINGTON (AP) — The whipsaw chain of events involving Iran, Israel and the United States that culminated in a surprise ceasefire has raised many questions about how the Trump administration will approach the Middle East going forward. Yet, the answer to the bottom line question — 'what's next?' — remains unknowable and unpredictable. That is because President Donald Trump has essentially sidelined the traditional U.S. national security apparatus and confined advice and decision-making to a very small group of top aides operating from the White House. While there is uncertainty about whether the ceasefire between Iran and Israel will hold, it opens the possibility of renewed talks with Tehran over its nuclear program and reinvigorating stalled negotiations in other conflicts. Watching for next steps on Trump's social media Outside experts, long consulted by presidential administrations on policy, have been forced like the general public to follow Trump's social media musings and pronouncements for insights on his thinking or the latest turn of events. Even Congress does not appear to be in the loop as top members were provided only cursory notifications of Trump's weekend decision to hit three Israeli nuclear facilities and briefings on their impact scheduled for Tuesday were abruptly postponed. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, whose agency has played a key role in formulating Iran policy for decades, repeatedly on Tuesday deferred questions to the White House and Trump's posts. 'The secretary of state was in a dynamic with the president that is a private dynamic as that team was addressing a war and the nature of how to stop it,' she told reporters. 'I can't speak to how that transpired or the decisions that were made.' Trump's announcement Monday that Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire took many in the administration by surprise — as did his post Tuesday that China is now free to import Iranian oil. It's an apparent 180-degree shift from Trump's 'maximum pressure campaign' on Iran since he withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement during his first term. U.S. officials were left wondering if that meant wide-ranging sanctions aimed at cutting off Iran's energy revenue were being eased or reversed. Assessing the damage to Iran's nuclear program While the extent of the damage from 11 days of Israeli attacks and Saturday's strikes by U.S. bunker-buster bombs is not yet fully known, a preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency said the nuclear program had been set back only a few months and was not 'completely and fully obliterated' as Trump has said. According to people familiar with the report, it found that while the strikes at the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites did significant damage, they were not totally destroyed. Still, most experts believe the facilities will require months or longer to repair or reconstruct if Iran chooses to try to maintain its program at previous levels. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, who has been nominated to lead forces in the Middle East, told lawmakers Tuesday that Iran still possesses 'significant tactical capability' despite the American strikes. He pointed to Iran's attempt to retaliate with missile launches at a U.S. base in Qatar. In response to a question about whether the Iranians still pose a threat to U.S. troops and Americans worldwide, Cooper replied, 'They do.' Trump, after announcing the ceasefire, boasted that Iran will never again have a nuclear program. However, there are serious questions about whether Iran's leadership, which has placed a high premium on maintaining its nuclear capabilities, will be willing to negotiate them away. Restarting US-Iran nuclear talks is possible Another major question is what happens with negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. It is not entirely clear who in Iran has the authority to make a deal or even agree to reenter talks with the U.S. or others. Ray Takeyh, a former State Department official and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Iranian leadership is at a moment of disarray — making it difficult to return to the table. 'The country's leadership and the regime is not cohesive enough to be able to come to some sort of negotiations at this point, especially negotiations from the American perspective, whose conclusion is predetermined, namely, zero enrichment,' he said. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed, saying that 'the biggest challenge right now is who is in charge in Tehran.' 'Is there an Iranian negotiation team empowered to make consequential decisions?' he said. 'The issue is that (Trump) is dealing with an Iranian government whose longtime identity has been based on hostility toward the the United States.' Still, a U.S. official said Tuesday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is ready to resume negotiations if Trump tells him to and Iran is willing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. Witkoff has maintained an open line of direct communication via text messages with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. In the aftermath of the U.S. strikes, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both stressed that diplomacy is still Trump's preferred method for ending the conflict permanently. 'We didn't blow up the diplomacy,' Vance told NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. 'The diplomacy never was given a real chance by the Iranians. And our hope … is that this maybe can reset here. The Iranians have a choice. They can go down the path of peace or they can go down the path of this ridiculous brinksmanship.' Rubio echoed those comments. 'We're prepared right now, if they call right now and say we want to meet, let's talk about this, we're prepared to do that,' he said. 'The president's made that clear from the very beginning: His preference is to deal with this issue diplomatically.' The Israel-Iran ceasefire could affect Trump's approach to other conflicts If it holds, the ceasefire could offer insight to the Trump administration as it tries to broker peace in several other significant conflicts with ties to Iran. An end — even a temporary one — to the Iran-Israel hostilities may allow the administration to return to talks with mediators like Egypt and Qatar to seek an end to the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas. In Syria, a further shift away from now-weakened Iranian influence — pervasive during ousted leader Bashar Assad's reign — could open new doors for U.S.-Syria cooperation. Trump already has met the leader of the new Syrian government and eased U.S. sanctions. Similarly, tense U.S. relations with Lebanon also could benefit from a reduced Iranian role in supporting the Hezbollah militant group, which has been a force of its own — rivaling if not outperforming the Lebanese Armed Forces, particularly near the Israeli border. If an Iran-Israel ceasefire holds, it also could allow Trump the time and space to return to stalled efforts to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Russia and Iran have substantial economic and military cooperation, including Tehran providing Moscow with drones that the Russian military has relied on heavily in its war against Ukraine. Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine in recent days as Israel attacked sites in Iran, perhaps expecting the world's attention to shift away from its three-year-old invasion. ___ AP writers Aamer Madhani and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Fragile ceasefire appears to hold between Iran and Israel as Trump vents frustration with both sides
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold Tuesday after initially faltering, and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they had fought 'for so long and so hard' that they do not know what they are doing. But even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had brought Iran's nuclear program 'to ruin,' a new U.S. intelligence report found that the program has been set back only a few months after U.S. strikes over the weekend, according to two people familiar with the assessment.
