Vladimir Putin tells Donald Trump he will not step back from his war goals
Russian president Vladimir Putin told US president Donald Trump in a phone call yesterday that Moscow wants a negotiated end to the Ukraine war but will not step back from its original goals, a Kremlin aide said.
In a wide-ranging conversation that also covered Iran and the Middle East, Mr Trump 'again raised the issue of an early end to military action' in Ukraine, the aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters.
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Russia hits Ukraine with large number of drone strikes
Russia hit Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, injuring at least 23 people and damaging buildings across the capital, according to officials. Air raid sirens, the sound of kamikaze drones and booming detonations reverberated from early evening until dawn as Russia launched what Ukraine's Air Force said was a total of 539 drones and 11 missiles. Residents huddled with families in underground metro stations for shelter during the attack, which happened only hours after US President Donald Trump spoke with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Following the call, the Kremlin said that the Russian leader told Mr Trump that Moscow will not "give up" on its aims in Ukraine while pledging it will also keep up a negotiating process on the conflict. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to speak to Mr Trump later about the war and a US pause in some deliveries of air defence missiles, called the attack "deliberately massive and cynical". "Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin," Mr Zelensky said in a post on X. "Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror," he added, calling for increased pressure on Russia and more air defence equipment. Kyiv officials said the attack damaged about 40 apartment blocks, passenger railway infrastructure, five schools and kindergartens, cafes and many cars in six of Kyiv's ten districts. Poland said the consular section of its embassy was damaged in central Kyiv, adding that staff were unharmed. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that 14 of the injured were hospitalised. Ukraine's state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia, the country's largest carrier, said on Telegram that the attack on Kyiv forced them to divert a number of passenger trains, causing delays. Damage was recorded on both sides of the wide Dnipro River bisecting the city and falling drone debris set a medical facility on fire in the leafy Holosiivskyi district, Mr Klitschko said. Russian air strikes on Kyiv have intensified in recent weeks and included some of the deadliest assaults of the war on the city of three million people. Call for sanctions Mr Trump said that the call with Mr Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war, while the Kremlin reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict's "root causes". A decision by Washington earlier this week to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying airstrikes and battlefield advances. Mr Zelensky has called for increased pressure on Moscow to change its "dumb, destructive behaviour". "For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure," he said. Ukraine's Air Force said that it destroyed 478 of the air weapons Russia launched overnight. However, air strikes were recorded in eight locations across the country with nine missiles and 63 drones, it added. Social media videos showed people running to seek shelter, firefighters fighting blazes in the dark and ruined buildings with windows and facades blown out. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Many more soldiers are believed to have died on the frontlines, although neither side releases military casualty figures. Late yesterday, Russian shelling killed five people in and near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a key target under Russian attack for months, Ukraine said. Meanwhile, Russia has announced a fresh swap of prisoners of war with Ukraine, saying it was part of agreements reached between Moscow and Kyiv during talks in Istanbul last month. Russia's defence ministry said Kyiv handed over a "group of Russian servicemen" and that Moscow "handed a group of Ukrainian soldiers in return". It did not say how many soldiers were exchanged.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Iran's ‘medieval' fatwa demanding Trump be CRUCIFIED could spark homegrown terror attacks in West, top politicians warn
IRAN'S "medieval" regime demanding Donald Trump be crucified could provoke "homegrown terrorist attacks", top politicians warn. Warped Ayatollahs issued a call to arms to Muslims urging them to make the US president "regret his actions" - branding him an "enemy of God". Advertisement 6 Donald Trump was shot at during an assassination attempt last year Credit: AP 6 Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi issued a horrifying Fatwa Credit: Alamy 6 A picture of the fatwa released by the Iranian mullah Fatwas - religious edicts - have been levelled against Trump and Sharia law states those charged must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and limb amputation. Senior cleric Najmuddin Tabasi vowed Trump "must be executed" and said "the same hand that fired a shot past his ear can put a bullet through his throat" - referring to A sickening fundraiser has even been set up by hardline Iranian cleric Abdolmajid Kharahaani to hire an assassin to murder Trump and Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. Advertisement More on Iran It comes in the wake of the so-called 12-day war which saw Trump and Israel "obliterate" much of Iran's nuclear empire. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Governor Jeb Bush, CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, and Senior Advisor Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MP insisted the mullahs must be urgently sanctioned. They also warned how high-ranking regime enforcers are in contact with individuals in both the US and Europe. In a statement shared exclusively with The Sun, Bush, Wallace and Tugendhat said: "The Iranian regime's medieval and barbaric threats against the US president and others cannot be ignored – and must not go unanswered. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Breaking "The US government and its allies should immediately sanction Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, Makarem-Shirazi, Hamedani, Tabasi, and Panahian, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. 'None of these men have been sanctioned to date under counterterrorism authorities. Iran executes three prisoners accused of spying for Israel in brutal crackdown in wake of 12-day war "Additionally, the US Justice Department should seek indictments against these me and American law enforcement should partner with its allies to request INTERPOL Red Notices for issuing threats to internationally protected individuals." The trio also urged US authorities to conduct national security-based immigration review on named clerics, Iranian officials and their families to stop them from traveling to America and allied nations. Advertisement "UANI has revealed that these senior Iranian regime mullahs are in direct communication with individuals and entities in the West, including in the US and Europe," they added. "Against this backdrop, there is an added urgency to implement stringent measures against them. "These calls are incitements to homegrown terrorist attacks and pose a serious threat to the president and US nationals—they should be treated accordingly." 6 Smoke rises from a fire following a strike on Tehran in June Credit: Reuters Advertisement 6 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing the nation in June during Israel's strikes Credit: AFP What is a fatwa? A FATWA is a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law by a Marja - a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric. It calls on all Muslims, including the Islamic governments and individuals, to ensure its enforcement. In countries where Islamic law is the basis of the legal system, a fatwa can be binding. A fatwa issued by Iran's first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini led to the massacre of 30,000 prisoners including some as young as 13 in a shocking two-month purge. The 1988 executions were revealed in the memoirs of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, one of Ayatollah Khomeini's closest advisors who went on to condemn his murderous act. In it, he accused prisoners of "waging war against God" and urged Death Commissioners in charge of the mass killings to "show no mercy". Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi unleashed the fatwa on Sunday in response to Trump's comments on possible intentions to kill Ayatollah Khamenei. It comes after the US leader, 79, warned last month that he knew where Khamenei was hiding but wouldn't target him - "at least not for now". A day earlier, Netanyahu had said killing the supreme leader would not "escalate the conflict", but instead "end it". Advertisement Furious Shirazi said 'any person or regime that threatens the leadership and religious authority' is considered a 'mohareb' – one who wages war against God. The sick fatwa also forbids any Muslim to cooperate with or support the two leaders - and says that any jihadist who is killed while attacking them will receive a reward from Allah. Shirazi's ruling came following an inquiry on how Muslims should react to threats made against the Supreme Leader and other Shia leaders. Timeline of assassination attempts on Donald Trump July 13 , 2024 - Thomas Crooks shot at Donald Trump after hiding on a roof overlooking the former President's outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers after he fired eight shots at Trump and killed one rallygoer and injured two others. The bullet came less than a quarter of an inch from striking Trump's head, Ronny Jackson, the former president's physician, said. September 15 - Ryan Routh was seen by a Secret Service agent hiding in the bushes with a rifle at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida. Trump was playing a round of golf when the alleged would-be assassin managed to get within 400 yard of Trump. Routh fled the scene in an SUV but was caught by cops and arrested. September 25 - Donald Trump posts on social media that he's been informed of an Iranian plot against his life. October 7 - Farhad Shakeri is given an order by an official in Iran's Revolutionary Guard to come up with a plan to kill Donald Trump within seven days. He told the FBI that he never intended to devise a plan in that timeframe, but allegedly discussed it with two hired guns in New York. November 7 - Carlisle Rivera of Brooklyn and Jonathan Loadholt of Staten Island are arrested in New York for being part of the plot to kill Donald Trump along with three other Americans Iran deemed targets. Shirazi, one of Tehran's chief religious authorities, called on Muslims worldwide to "make these enemies regret their words and actions". Advertisement A fatwa was previously handed down on author Salman Rushdie in 1989 after his book The Satanic Verses infuriated then Ayatollah Khomeini - who put a $3million bounty on his head. The novelist, 77, faced numerous death threats and was forced to live largely in hiding for years before an assassination attempt in 2022. He lost sight in one eye after he was repeatedly stabbed on stage during a lecture in New York. It comes amid fears the fatwas are being used to stoke fears among domestic dissidents who dare to rebel against the regime. Advertisement Hundreds Campaigners have warned the wounded regime is ramping up repression of its own people in a bid to stamp out any chance of an uprising. At a funeral for military top brass killed during Israel's strike, haunting chants of "Death to America" rung out. 6 Advertisement United Against Nuclear Iran statement in full Chairman Governor Jeb Bush, CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, and Senior Advisor Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MP said: UANI vehemently condemns the Iranian regime's barbaric fatwas calling for thecrucifixion of President Trump and other US nationals. Over the last few days, some of the most senior Iranian regime ayatollahs and officials — Naser Makarem-Shirazi, Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Najmuddin Tabasi, and Alireza Panahian — have issued fatwas (religious decrees) calling on Islamists worldwide to carry out barbaric, homegrown terrorist attacks against President Trump and US nationals. Senior regime mullahs Makarem-Shirazi and Hamedani have specifically issued fatwas calling for the assassination and crucifixion of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others under the Islamic penal code of mohareb (waging war against God). Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. Panahian, who is a senior member of the Office of the Supreme Leader and a close associate of his son Mojtaba Khamenei, has amplified these calls for the killings of American officials. Likewise, Tabasi, who is a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, proclaimed President Trump 'must be executed' and said, 'the same hand that fired a shot past his ear can put a bullet through his throat.' A mullah on Iran's state TV has even announced the creation of a fund to collect money for the 'killing of Trump and Netanyahu,' which he stated could be achieved with $10–20 million. The Iranian regime's medieval and barbaric threats against the U.S. president and others cannot be ignored – and must not go unanswered. The U.S. government and its allies should immediately sanction Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, Makarem-Shirazi, Hamedani, Tabasi, and Panahian, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. None of these men have been sanctioned to date under counterterrorism authorities. Additionally, the US Justice Department should seek indictments against these men and American law enforcement should partner with its allies to request INTERPOL Red Notices for issuing threats to internationally protected individuals. The US government and its allies should also conduct national security-based immigration reviews on these clerics, Iranian officials, and their families to ensure they are prohibited from traveling to the territories of the U.S. and its allies. UANI has revealed that these senior Iranian regime mullahs are in direct communication with individuals and entities in the West, including in the US and Europe. Against this backdrop, there is an added urgency to implement stringent measures against them. Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against the author Salman Rushdie was handed down in 1989. In 2022, Rushdie was almost killed after his eye was gouged out by an individual seeking to carry out the fatwa at a talk in Chautauqua, New York. "These calls are incitements to homegrown terrorist attacks and pose a serious threat to the president and US nationals—they should be treated accordingly.'
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
US tariff receipts surge in Donald Trump's trade war
US tariff revenues surged almost fourfold from a year earlier to a record $24.2 billion (€20.55 billion) in May, the first full month in which US president Donald Trump's 10 per cent global tariff was in effect. The figure represented a rise of more than 25 per cent from the previous month, while the total value of US goods imports remained broadly unchanged from April. The figures suggest the president's trade war could provide a much-needed boost to the US government's coffers as Republicans in Congress secured passage of his flagship tax and spending bill. The bill, which extends vast tax cuts from Mr Trump's first administration but makes steep cuts to public healthcare for low-income Americans, is forecast to add $3.4 trillion to the US government deficit over the next decade. READ MORE But the data also underscored the potential for his aggressive tariff increases to distort global trade flows. Imports to the US from China fell to $19.3 billion, a 21 per cent drop from the previous month and 43 per cent down from the same month in 2024, reflecting a significant decline in trade between the world's two largest economies. Earlier this year, Mr Trump imposed new tariffs of 145 per cent on all Chinese goods before cutting the rate to 30 per cent after US officials held talks with their Chinese counterparts in London and Geneva. The slump in trade brought Chinese imports destined for domestic consumption to their lowest level in 19 years. The US leader has particularly targeted China as he seeks to reshape global trade, saying both that he wants to bring manufacturing back to the US and that the levies will raise money and make the country 'very rich'. Mr Trump has insisted that the revenues raised from tariffs can reduce reliance on income taxes. But despite the rise in sums collected, the receipts represented only about 7.7 per cent of May's federal deficit of $316 billion. The deficit figure oscillates from month to month, however. The sum raised in May was equivalent to about 14.5 per cent of the typical $166 billion shortfall between federal spending and revenues over the past year. Despite singling out China for the steepest tariffs, Mr Trump triggered a global stock market rout with April's so-called liberation day, when he unleashed tariffs of 10 per cent to 50 per cent on most US trading partners, before later temporarily lowering them to 10 per cent for 90 days. Since April 9, a baseline rate of 10 per cent has been applied on almost all goods imports. Certain products, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, are exempted but may face a separate tariff in future, while steel, aluminium and automobiles are charged a higher rate of 25 per cent to 50 per cent. If the 90-day pause expires as planned on July 9, the US is set to increase tariffs on dozens of countries without special agreements. Mr Trump has threatened the EU with a 50 per cent levy if a deal is not reached, while Vietnam has successfully negotiated a 20 per cent rate, down from the original 46 per cent the US had threatened to impose. The effective tariff rate, calculated as the average duty raised across all imports as a share of their value, increased to 8.8 per cent in May, its highest figure since 1946. For Chinese goods, the tariff rate reached a record 48 per cent. At the end of May, the US doubled steel and aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent and later expanded its definition to include steel derivative products such as freezers, dishwashers and washing machines. Analysis by Yale Budget Lab suggests that if the rates in place as of June 16 were to remain, with no further increase on July 9, the effective tariff rate would settle at about 15 per cent, even after accounting for changes in consumer behaviour. Taking into account various effects of the tariffs on the US economy, the think-tank projected that the current tariff policy would raise $2.2tn between 2025 and 2034, but thanks to reductions in tax revenue streams elsewhere, would result in net revenues of $1.8tn during those years. Although a large sum, it is significantly less than the $3.4 trillion forecast to be added to US federal debt over the same period by implementing Mr Trump's tax bill, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
