Trump picks former Sydney councillor for ambassador role
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
8 minutes ago
- West Australian
US and Ukraine in talks on drone investment deal
Ukraine and the United States are in detailed talks on a deal involving US investment in Kyiv's domestic drone production, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Friday. The announcement comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tasked a reshuffled new government with scaling up Ukraine's arms industry and strengthening ties with its strategic partners. Svyrydenko, speaking to reporters alongside several other new ministers in the capital Kyiv, said the deal would also lead to the US, Ukraine's biggest military backer in its war with Russia, purchasing Ukrainian drones. "We plan to sign a 'drone deal' with the United States. We are discussing investments in the expansion of production of Ukrainian drones by the US," she said. "That is, we are talking about the purchase of a large batch of Ukrainian drones." Svyrydenko added that a political decision on the deal had been made by Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump, and that officials were already hashing out the details. Zelenskiy told the New York Post this week that he and Trump were considering a deal for Washington to buy battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US. The Ukrainian government under Svyrydenko is expected to shore up ties with the Trump administration, which has grown increasingly critical of Russia since it stepped up air strikes on Ukraine. Svyrydenko is well-known in Washington, having negotiated a high-level deal offering the US preferential access to Ukraine's mineral wealth that will feed a reconstruction fund. At the briefing in Kyiv, economy minister Oleksiy Sobolev said the board of a joint US-Ukrainian fund will meet for the first time by the end of the summer. Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday predicted the Russian economy would withstand the European Union's latest sanctions package and said Moscow would intensify its strikes against Ukraine. Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, made his comments after the European Union agreed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including measures aimed at dealing further blows to the Russian oil and energy industry. In a post on his official Telegram channel, Medvedev said the new sanctions would do little to alter Russia's stance on the conflict, just as previous rounds of sanctions had failed to make an impact. Medvedev, who has emerged as one of the Kremlin's top hawks, said Russia planned to intensify its strikes on Ukraine. "Strikes against targets in so-called Ukraine, including Kyiv, will be carried out with increasing force", Medvedev said. US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry, including Patriot missile defence systems capable of destroying Russian ballistic missiles. He also gave Russia 50 days to sign up to a ceasefire or face new sanctions.
Perth Now
8 minutes ago
- Perth Now
US and Ukraine in talks on drone investment deal
Ukraine and the United States are in detailed talks on a deal involving US investment in Kyiv's domestic drone production, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Friday. The announcement comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tasked a reshuffled new government with scaling up Ukraine's arms industry and strengthening ties with its strategic partners. Svyrydenko, speaking to reporters alongside several other new ministers in the capital Kyiv, said the deal would also lead to the US, Ukraine's biggest military backer in its war with Russia, purchasing Ukrainian drones. "We plan to sign a 'drone deal' with the United States. We are discussing investments in the expansion of production of Ukrainian drones by the US," she said. "That is, we are talking about the purchase of a large batch of Ukrainian drones." Svyrydenko added that a political decision on the deal had been made by Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump, and that officials were already hashing out the details. Zelenskiy told the New York Post this week that he and Trump were considering a deal for Washington to buy battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US. The Ukrainian government under Svyrydenko is expected to shore up ties with the Trump administration, which has grown increasingly critical of Russia since it stepped up air strikes on Ukraine. Svyrydenko is well-known in Washington, having negotiated a high-level deal offering the US preferential access to Ukraine's mineral wealth that will feed a reconstruction fund. At the briefing in Kyiv, economy minister Oleksiy Sobolev said the board of a joint US-Ukrainian fund will meet for the first time by the end of the summer. Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday predicted the Russian economy would withstand the European Union's latest sanctions package and said Moscow would intensify its strikes against Ukraine. Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, made his comments after the European Union agreed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including measures aimed at dealing further blows to the Russian oil and energy industry. In a post on his official Telegram channel, Medvedev said the new sanctions would do little to alter Russia's stance on the conflict, just as previous rounds of sanctions had failed to make an impact. Medvedev, who has emerged as one of the Kremlin's top hawks, said Russia planned to intensify its strikes on Ukraine. "Strikes against targets in so-called Ukraine, including Kyiv, will be carried out with increasing force", Medvedev said. US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry, including Patriot missile defence systems capable of destroying Russian ballistic missiles. He also gave Russia 50 days to sign up to a ceasefire or face new sanctions.
Courier-Mail
an hour ago
- Courier-Mail
Brazil police raid home of Bolsonaro, accused of plotting coup
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Brazilian police on Friday raided far-right ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro's home, his son said, after a judge curtailed his freedom while he stands trial on coup charges that have vexed US President Donald Trump. Son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman who recently moved to the United States to lobby for his father, wrote on X that federal police carried out a "raid on my father's home this morning." And he lashed out at Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, a Bolsonaro adversary who on Friday ordered the ex-president to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and not leave his home at night. Moraes, one of the judges in Bolsonaro's trial for allegedly seeking to nullify leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 2022 election victory, said the measures were necessary given the accused and his son's "hostile acts" against Brazil. This came after Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on the South American powerhouse for what he said was a "witch hunt" against his ally Bolsonaro. Moraes, said Eduardo Bolsonaro, "has long abandoned any semblance of impartiality and now operates as a political gangster in robes, using the Supreme Court as his personal weapon." The judge was "trying to criminalize President Trump and the US government. Powerless against them, he chose to take my father hostage," he added in a letter he signed as a "Brazilian congressman in exile." - 'Supreme humiliation' - Bolsonaro described Morae's order Friday as a "supreme humiliation." It also prohibited him from approaching foreign embassies or leaving his home between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am, on weekends or public holidays. "I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, Bolsonaro insisted on emerging from the justice secretariat offices in Brasilia. The former army captain denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula as part of an alleged coup plot that prosecutors say failed only for a lack of military backing. After the plot fizzled, rioting supporters known as "Bolsonaristas" raided government buildings in 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula. Bolsonaro was abroad at the time. The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump's failed prosecution over the January 6, 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss. Both men have claimed to be victims of political persecution, and Trump has stepped in in defense of his ally, to the anger of Lula who has labeled the tariff threat "unacceptable blackmail." Washington also announced an investigation into "unfair trading practices" by Brazil, a move that could provide a legal basis for imposing tariffs on South America's largest economy. On Tuesday, prosecutors asked the trial judges of the Supreme Court to find Bolsonaro guilty of "armed criminal association" and planning to "violently overthrow the democratic order." The defense must still present its closing arguments, after which a five-member panel of judges including Moraes will decide the ex-president's fate. Bolsonaro and seven co-accused risk up to 40 years in prison. He has repeatedly stated his desire to be a candidate in presidential elections next year, but has been ruled ineligible to hold office by a court that found him guilty of spreading misinformation about Brazil's electoral system. Moraes has repeatedly clashed with Bolsonaro and other rightwing figures he has accused of spreading fake news. Last year, Moraes shut tech titan Elon Musk's X network in Brazil for 40 days for failing to tackle the spread of disinformation shared mainly by Bolsonaro backers. jss/mlr/dw Originally published as Brazil police raid home of Bolsonaro, accused of plotting coup
