Trump's road to failure in Ukraine
'Vladimir, I told you in January that if you didn't stop the war in Ukraine, I would impose sanctions. You ignored me. You are disrespecting me and my presidency. BIG MISTAKE!!!'
President Donald Trump could post a message like that tomorrow and begin to rescue his failing Ukraine peace initiative. He could impose the sanctions he has threatened for months — and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that he means business about stopping what he calls a 'bloodbath.' Tragically, if he doesn't, his most important foreign policy initiative will probably collapse — with violent aftershocks that could plague his entire term.
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33 minutes ago
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Trump wants Canada's digital services tax gone before trade talks resume
U.S. President Donald Trump says he's ending all trade discussions with Canada to hit back at Ottawa for slapping a tax on web giants — and he wants it removed before negotiations can begin again. Canada and the U.S. have been locked in talks to get Trump to lift his punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, levies that have already led to major economic dislocations, job losses and a drop in southbound exports. Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed at the G7 last week to reach some agreement on the trade dispute within 30 days. Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. has "such power over Canada," and that he's upset the country is following a taxation strategy similar to Europe's. "It's not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it," he said of imposing the DST, which was passed into law last year with a delayed application."We're going to stop all negotiations with Canada right now until they straighten out their act," he said. Asked if there's anything Canada can do to appease him, Trump said Ottawa could remove the tax. "They will," he said. "They do most of their business with us. When you have that circumstance, you treat people better." Earlier Friday, Trump posted on social media he may impose some sort of blanket tariff on Canadian goods as retribution for the DST, which will primarily hit U.S. firms since it targets only the biggest earners. Speaking briefly to reporters before Trump's Oval Office comments, Carney said he hadn't talked with Trump that day. "We'll continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interest of Canadians," Carney said. He did not address a reporter's question about whether his government is prepared to drop the DST — something the Business Council of Canada is calling on Ottawa to do in exchange for U.S. tariff relief. Set to take effect on June 30, the DST would have U.S. companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb pay a three per cent levy on revenue from Canadian users. The policy will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2-billion US bill due at the end of the month. These global digital firms are often able to skirt paying taxes in the countries where they operate, and the last Liberal government pitched the DST as a way to bring the tax code up to date and capture revenues earned in Canada by firms located abroad. U.S. long opposed DST It's been a bone of contention between Canada and the U.S. for years, with former president Joe Biden's ambassador to Canada warning during his tenure that, if a DST was enacted, the U.S. would hit back. While Canada and other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries had been discussing some sort of global DST, the Trudeau government decided to move ahead with its own tax rather than wait for co-ordinated action. Carney's finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said last week Ottawa planned to enact the tax even while negotiations with Trump are ongoing. That's what's prompted the president's ire. "We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country," Trump said. WATCH | Foreign Affairs minister on the trade war: As he has done in the past, Trump mischaracterized Canada's tariff regime on U.S. dairy products. The high tariff rates Trump frequently cites are only applied if U.S. exports exceed a set "tariff-rate quota," something that has never happened. Trump's own Department of Agriculture noted earlier this year that almost all agricultural products traded between the United States and Canada are free of tariffs. In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said supply management, which places limits on certain products, including dairy, to ensure stable prices, is a "cornerstone" Canadian economic policy that is "extremely important." Anand said that despite Trump's threats, Canada will push ahead with trying to broker a deal that's in the best interest of workers and businesses, "while at the same time ensuring we diversify our supply chains so we are never again dependent on one economy." She touted the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future that Carney brokered with the European Union earlier this week. Trump's abrupt decision to call off negotiations may have caught Canadian officials off guard. Speaking to CBC Radio's The House hours before Trump's post, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada's negotiators "continue to be optimistic about the constructive tone" between the two countries. Still, Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said there have been signs the "tone and tenor of talks has improved in recent months." Trump and Carney have had two friendly meetings in that time, and she hopes to see "progress continue" despite Trump's apparent attempt to derail the talks. "Negotiations go through peaks and valleys. With deadlines approaching, some last-minute surprises should be expected," Laing said.
Yahoo
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North Korea just opened a beach resort for 20,000 people. But who will visit?
Kim Jong Un personally cut the ribbon on a new resort hailed by state media as a 'national treasure-level tourism city' — a lavish seaside development set against what human rights observers describe as stark realities of hunger and hardship across North Korea. According to the country's official KCNA news service, Kim opened the sprawling Kalma beachside resort with waterparks, high-rise hotels, and accommodation for nearly 20,000 guests — a sweeping display of extravagance in one of the world's most reclusive nations. The Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, unveiled in a ceremony on June 24, is on North Korea's eastern coast. KCNA reported 'service for domestic guests will begin July 1,' but gave no details on eligibility or transportation. Earlier this month, North Korea announced the opening of Kalma train station, reporting it was built to 'ensure a high level of convenience for travelers to the coastal tourist area.' The Kalma beach resort is next to an international airport, another indication the project is aimed at attracting foreign currency. International attendance at the ribbon-cutting was limited to the Russian ambassador and staff, a nod to Pyongyang's growing alignment with Moscow amid deepening isolation from the West under Kim's authoritarian regime. In 2024 UN human rights chief Volker Turk described North Korea under Kim's rule as 'a stifling, claustrophobic environment, where life is a daily struggle devoid of hope.' Last year, small groups of Russian tourists visited North Korea for three-day ski holidays at Maskiryong resort, which has been a long-standing tourist attraction since its opening in December 2013. These, like all tourist experiences in North Korea, were heavily monitored and controlled by the government. Returning tourists told CNN that they were subject to strict rules about what they could and could not photograph and were required to watch a choreographed dance performance by North Korean children in addition to the outdoor activities. 'Wonsan-Kalma is open to just North Koreans for now, but we should not be surprised to see Russians at the resort in the not-too-distant future,' said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a non-resident fellow with the 38 North program at the Stimson Center. 'More broadly, the opening of a major beach resort like Wonsan-Kalma helps to reinforce the state media narrative of Kim's people-first policy and helps to balance out his greater focus on building up national defense,' Lee added. In a country where international tourism has been open mostly to Russian nationals since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and where domestic travel is heavily restricted, the new development raises familiar questions about access, audience, and economic feasibility. 'The initial target for this resort is going to be the privileged domestic elite of Pyongyang, such as party officials and other high-ranking figures,' said Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean Studies at South Korea's Kyungnam University. 'The ceremony of the Wonsan-Kalma resort reflects Kim Jong Un's vision of 'socialist civilization' and is part of his strategic effort to seek economic breakthroughs through the tourism industry.' North Korea's most notable experiment with international tourism came in the late 1990s, when it opened the scenic Mount Kumgang area on its southeastern coast to visitors from South Korea. The project was hailed as a rare symbol of inter-Korean engagement during a period of cautious rapprochement. Nearly two million South Koreans traveled to the site over the next decade, providing Pyongyang with a critical stream of hard currency. But the initiative came to an abrupt halt in 2008, after a North Korean soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist who had reportedly wandered into a restricted military zone – an incident that underscored the fragility of cross-border cooperation and led Seoul to suspend the tours indefinitely. Many of the sites were demolished in 2022, including the Onjonggak Rest House hotel which had hosted cross-border family reunions. Kim had previously called the area 'shabby' and 'backward' during a visit. Indeed, a central question surrounding the new resort is if one of the world's most secretive and repressive countries is prepared to make a greater foray into international tourism, potentially adding to its foreign cash reserves and prestige. So far, Russians appear to be the only foreign tour groups granted access to the beach resort. Vostok Intur, a Vladivostok-based travel agency, is promoting three tour packages - one in July and two in August - priced at around $1,840. According to its website, the first tour is scheduled to begin on July 7 and will last eight days. Travelers will fly from Pyongyang to Wonsan, spend four nights at the resort, and visit the nearby Masikryong Ski Resort. Kim said an expansion of North Korea's tourism zones would be formalized during the ruling party's next congress, likely in the next few months. The lessons learned at Kalma would also be used to develop 'promising large-scale tourist and cultural zones' in other parts of the country, Kim noted. The personal investment of North Korea's leader was underscored by at least seven visits to the Kalma construction site, where Kim offered what state media called 'on-the-spot guidance' and pushed for 'world-class' standards. For Kim's regime, the resort's completion is perceived at home as a significant win and opportunity to showcase development amid stiff international sanctions. In another dimension of symbolism, the nation's leader was joined by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, who is widely seen as his likely successor. 'The apparent full attendance of Kim Jong Un's family at the event implies that the project is intended to carry forward the legacy of his predecessors and be sustained for future generations,' explained Lim of Kyungnam University. Plans for the resort were first announced in 2013 as part of Kim's broader vision to transform Wonsan, a historically significant port city, into a hub of economic and leisure activity. The project was delayed several times, most recently because of the pandemic and international sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Despite the projections of glamour across the new resort and images of an enigmatic leader touring wave pools and waterslides, experts expressed skepticism about the destination's prospects. 'Whether this resort will provide Kim Jong Un with his much-needed economic gain in the long-term, however, remains to be seen: Wonsan-Kalma is hardly a tourist hotspot in the first place,' said Dr. Edward Howell, a North Korea expert at the University of Oxford. 'Of note, since 2020, Kim Jong Un has adopted an increasingly severe approach towards social control; quashing any signs of the virus of outside information and ideologies entering the DPRK,' Howell emphasized. 'If any Western tourists do come to the resort, the ruling regime will no doubt want to ensure that their actions and movements remain regulated and controlled.'
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
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Tehran is coming back to life, but its residents are deeply shaken
In the heart of the Iranian capital, the Boof cafe serves up refreshing cold drinks on a hot summer's day. They must be the most distinctive iced Americano coffees in this city – the cafe sits in a leafy corner of the long-shuttered US embassy. Its high cement walls have been plastered with anti-American murals ever since Washington severed relations with Tehran in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis – which still cast a long shadow over this tortuous relationship. Inside the charming Boof cafe, Amir the barista says he'd like relations to improve between America and Iran. "US sanctions hurt our businesses and make it hard for us to travel around the world," he reflects as he pours another iced coffee behind a jaunty wooden sign - "Keep calm and drink coffee." Only two tables are occupied - one by a woman covered up in a long black veil, another by a woman in blue jeans with long flowing hair, flouting the rules on what women should wear as she cuddles with her boyfriend. It's a small snapshot of this capital as it confronts its deeply uncertain future. A short drive away, at the complex of Iran's state TV station IRIB, a recorded speech by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was broadcast to the nation on Thursday. "The Americans have been opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran from the very beginning" he declared. Iran carries out wave of arrests and executions in wake of Israel conflict 'We are exhausted' - how Iranians are feeling after fragile ceasefire "At its core, it has always been about one thing: they want us to surrender," went on the 86-year Ayatollah, said to have taken shelter in a bunker aer Israel unleashed its unprecedented wave of strikes targeting Iran's nuclear and missile sites and assassinating senior commanders and scientists. We watched his speech, his first since President Donald Trump suddenly announced a ceasefire on Tuesday, on a small TV in the only office still intact in a vast section of the IRIB compound. All that's le is a charred skeleton of steel. When an Israeli bomb slammed into this complex on 16 June, a raging fire swept through the main studio which would have aired the supreme leader's address. Now it's just ash. You can still taste its acrid smell; all the TV equipment - cameras, lights, tripods - are tangles of twisted metal. A crunching glass carpet covers the ground. Israel said it targeted the propaganda arm of the Islamic Republic, accusing it of concealing a military operation within - a charge its journalists rejected. Its gaping shell seems to symbolise this darkest of times for Iran. You can also see it in the city's hospitals, which are still treating Iranians injured in Israel's 12-day war. "I am scared they might attack again, " Ashraf Barghi tells me when we meet in the emergency department of the Taleghani General hospital where she works as head nurse. "We don't trust this war has ended" she says, in a remark reflecting the palpable worry we've heard from so many people in this city. When Israel bombed the threshold of the nearby Evin prison on 23 June, the casualties, both soldiers and civilians, were rushed into Nurse Barghi's emergency ward. What we know about the Iran-Israel ceasefire "The injuries were the worst I've treated in my 32 years as nurse," she recounts, still visibly distressed. The strike on the notorious prison where Iran detains most of its political prisoners was described by Israel as "symbolic". It seemed to reinforce Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's repeated message to Iranians to "stand up for their freedom". "Israel says it only hit military and nuclear prison but it's all lies," insists Morteza from his hospital bed. He had been at work in the prison's transport department when the missile slammed into the building. He shows us his injuries in both arms and his backside. In the ward next door, soldiers are being cared for, but we're not allowed to enter there. Across this sprawling metropolis, Iranians are counting the cost of this confrontation. In its latest tally, the government's health ministry recorded 627 people killed and nearly 5,000 injured. Tehran is slowly returning to life and resuming its old rhythms, at least on the surface. Its infamous traffic is starting to fill its soaring highways and pretty tree-lined side streets. Shops in its beautiful bazaars are opening again as people return to a city they fled to escape the bombs. Israel's intense 12-day military operation, coupled with the US's attacks on Iran's main nuclear sites, has le so many shaken. "They weren't good days, " says Mina, a young woman who immediately breaks down as she tries to explain her sadness. "It's so heart-breaking, " she tells me through her tears. "We tried so hard to have a better life but we can't see any future these days." We met on the grounds of the soaring white marble Azadi tower, one of Tehran's most iconic landmarks. A large crowd milling on a warm summer's evening swayed to the strains of much-loved patriotic songs in an open air concert of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. It was meant to bring some calm to a city still on edge. Supporters and critics of Iran's clerical rulers mingled, drawn together by shared worry about their country's future. "They have to hear what people say," insists Ali Reza when I ask him what advice he would give to his government. "We want greater freedoms, that's all I will say." There's defiance too. "Attacking our nuclear bases to show off that 'you have to do as we say' goes against diplomacy," says Hamed, an 18-year-old university student. Despite rules and restrictions which have long governed their lives, Iranians do speak their minds as they wait for the next steps by their rulers, and leaders in Washington and beyond, which carry such consequences for their lives. Additional reporting by Charlotte Scarr and Nik Millard. Lyse Doucet is being allowed to report in Iran on condition that none of her reports are used on the BBC's Persian service. This law from Iranian authorities applies to all international media agencies operating in Iran. 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