Russia responds to Trump's sanction threat
Russia has reacted cooly to US President Donald Trump's threat of sanctions, and his commitment to provide Ukraine with US weapons via NATO. BBC Monitoring's Russia and Ukraine specialist Vitaly Shevchenko spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
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RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Texas Republicans advance map that reignited US redistricting wars
Protesters yell at members of the National Guard outside Union Station on 19 August 19 in Washington, DC after Trump deployed federal officers and the US National Guard in the capital. Photo: Alex Wong / Getty via AFP The Texas legislature's lower chamber passed a contentious new electoral map on Wednesday that aims to help Donald Trump's Republican Party retain its razor-thin US House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. The vote had been delayed by two weeks after Democratic legislators fled the southern state to halt the redistricting drive, which carves out five new Republican-friendly districts. More than 50 Democrats walked out, stalling legislative business and generating national headlines as they sought to draw attention to the rare mid-decade redistricting push. The Democratic lawmakers returned this week, but not before their protest had set off a national map-drawing war, with Trump pressuring his party's state-level officials to do everything they can to protect the majority in the US House of Representatives. The stakes are sky-high for Trump, who will be bogged down in investigations into almost every aspect of his second term if Democrats manage to flip the handful of districts nationwide needed to win back the House in next year's midterm elections. Trump hailed the "Big WIN for the Great State of Texas" on Wednesday night. "Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Texas never lets us down." The president also suggested Florida, Indiana and other states were looking into pursuing similar redistricting to benefit Republicans while once again calling to "STOP MAIL-IN VOTING." Trump - who has long railed against postal ballots, even though they have benefited his party and he has voted by mail - said in a separate post: "END MAIL-IN VOTING, AND GO TO PAPER BALLOTS. 100 additional seats will go to Republicans!!!" As lawmakers in Texas debated the electoral map, Democratic representative Chris Turner called it a "clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and the constitution," according to Austin-based news site The Texas Tribune. Republican leaders of the Texas House sped up the normal legislative process, bringing the new map to a final vote Wednesday evening. It passed along party lines 88-52. After the state House's green light, it moves to the state Senate, where it has passed in a previous session, before heading to Republican Governor Greg Abbott's desk. Individual states redraw their own congressional districts, usually only once every 10 years, after the US Census. But "redistricting can be done at any point in time," argued the Texas map's sponsor, Republican Todd Hunter, according to the Tribune . "The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance." There is little Democrats in Texas can do to thwart the map change, but it has prompted retaliation in California, and serious discussions in other Democratic-led states alarmed that the Texas maneuver could be replicated nationwide. California Governor Gavin Newsom says they'll fight fire with fire. Photo: AFP Republicans are mulling drawing at least 10 new seats and are targeting Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Carolina and Florida. Trump on Monday posted the proposed map of Texas on Truth Social, calling it "one of the most popular initiatives I have ever supported." State lawmakers in Democratic stronghold California - the most populated and richest US state - introduced three bills on Monday to create a voter referendum this year for a new congressional map that would effectively counteract Texas. If approved, the referendum would appear on California's November 4 ballot. "Nothing about this is normal, and so we're not going to act as if anything is normal any longer," Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters Wednesday. "Yes, we'll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It's not about whether we play hardball anymore, it's about how we play hardball." New York Democrats may follow suit, with Governor Kathy Hochul calling the Texas redistricting plan nothing short of a "legal insurrection." - AFP
Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Uganda to take people who may not get US asylum
Uganda, an ally of the US in East Africa, also hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers. Uganda has entered an agreement with the United States to take in nationals from third countries who may not get asylum in the US but are reluctant to return to their countries of origin, the foreign affairs ministry says. President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who entered the US illegally and his administration has sought to increase removals to third countries, including by sending convicted criminals to South Sudan and Eswatini. "This is a temporary arrangement with conditions including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted," Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, the ministry's permanent secretary, said in a statement on Thursday. Waiswa added that Uganda would prefer to receive people from African nationalities under the agreement. "The two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented," he said. On Wednesday, another Ugandan foreign affairs official had denied a US media report that the East African country had agreed to take in people deported from the United States, saying it lacked the facilities to accommodate them. Uganda, a US ally in East Africa, also hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, who mostly hail from countries in the region such as Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Zelensky says he wants 'strong' US reaction if Putin not ready to meet
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (File photo) Photo: Maxym Marusenko / NurPhoto via AFP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would like a "strong reaction" from Washington if Russian President Vladimir Putin was not willing to sit down for a bilateral meeting with him. US President Donald Trump is seeking to broker peace between the two warring countries but has conceded that Putin, with whom Zelensky has sought a one-on-one sitdown, may not be willing to make a deal. "I responded immediately to the proposal for a bilateral meeting: we are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?" Zelensky said in comments released on Thursday from a briefing with reporters in Kyiv a day earlier. "If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States." Despite a flurry of diplomacy in recent days between Trump and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, the path to peace remained uncertain as Washington and allies worked out what security guarantees for Kyiv might look like. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now holds just under 20 percent of its neighbour, making gradual advances in the east of late though the conflict has become largely attritional. Zelensky said it was unclear what concessions regarding territory Moscow was willing to make to end the war. Trump has previously said Kyiv and Moscow will both need to cede land. "To discuss what Ukraine is willing to do, let's first hear what Russia is willing to do," Zelensky said. "We do not know that." Responding to a question about the Hungarian capital Budapest serving as a potential location for future Ukrainian-Russian talks, Zelensky said it would be "challenging". Hungary, Russia's closest ally in the European Union, has twice offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday. - Reuters
