Top Pentagon spy pick rejected by White House, Politico reports
It is not clear why the White House decided not to move forward with Army Lieutenant General Richard Angle's nomination, Politico reported.
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The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump-Putin summit live: Delegations head to Alaska after Trump says Putin ‘will not mess me around' on Ukraine
Russian and American delegations have arrived in Alaska ahead of the crucial summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin later today. Ahead of the summit, Mr Trump claimed the Russian leader was 'not going to mess around with me', as the US president hopes to seal a Ukraine ceasefire deal. The US president also floated the idea that European leaders could be invited to participate in a second meeting, which would include Volodymyr Zelensky. The main aim of today's meeting is to set up talks between Putin and the Ukrainian president, Mr Trump told Fox News Radio, adding that he has three locations in mind for such a meeting. The US president, who is gearing up to meet his Russian counterpart for the first time since 2018, said that he thinks both leaders 'will make peace'.Friday's talks between the presidents will include a one-on-one meeting, a bilateral lunch with both delegations and a press conference, the White House announced. Earlier on Thursday, the Russian leader praised Mr Trump's 'sincere efforts' towards ending the war in Ukraine, telling Kremlin officials the US is making 'quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting'. Trump hopeful of reaching Ukraine ceasefire deal Speaking on the eve of today's summit with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said that he thought the Russian leader would do a deal on Ukraine – but the US president has blown hot and cold on the chances of a breakthrough in recent days. Mr Trump and Mr Putin hold talks in Alaska today, where the US president hopes to seal a ceasefire agreement on Ukraine. The meeting at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska comes amid Ukrainian and European fears that Trump might sell Kyiv out. A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters it looked as if the two sides had been able to find some unspecified common ground beforehand. "Apparently, some terms will be agreed upon tomorrow (Friday) because Trump cannot be refused, and we are not in a position to refuse (due to sanctions pressure)," said the source. Mr Putin has set stringent conditions for a full ceasefire, but one compromise could be a phased truce in the air war, although both sides have accused the other of flouting a previous accord. Analysts say Mr Putin could try to look like he's giving Mr Trump what he wants while remaining free to escalate in Ukraine if he wants to. "If they (the Russians) are able to put a deal on the table that creates some kind of a ceasefire but that leaves Russia in control of those escalatory dynamics, does not create any kind of genuine deterrence on the ground or in the skies over Ukraine... that would be a wonderful outcome from Putin's perspective," said Sam Greene, director of Democratic Resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar15 August 2025 06:30 Ukraine supporters held at rally against Trump-Putin summit in Alaska Alisha Rahaman Sarkar15 August 2025 06:10 Trump to meet Putin at 3pm ET today US president Donald Trump's meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin will take place at 3pm ET (1900 GMT) in Anchorage, Alaska, the White House said in a press schedule statement. Mr Trump will depart the White House at 6.45am ET (1045 GMT) and leave Anchorage at 5.45pm Alaska Time the same day. He is scheduled to return to the White House early Saturday morning. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar15 August 2025 05:50 Trump says 25% chance that summit with Putin will fail US prresident Donald Trump yesterday said there was only a 25 per cent chance that the summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin would fail. The US president will meet his Russian counterpart today at the Alaska summit for the first time since 2018. Mr Trump said if the meeting with Mr Putin succeeds, he could bring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting. In a radio interview with Fox News, Mr Trump also said he might be willing to stay in Alaska longer, depending on what happens with Mr Putin. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar15 August 2025 05:35 Explosions at Russian oil refinery A Russian oil refinery was set ablaze in an overnight drone attack in Samara Oblast, according to reports. There was no official confirmation whether the drone attack was launched by Ukraine. Local residents said they heard at least ten explosions around 4am local time, UNN reported. The drone struck an oil refinery in Syzran, the third-largest city in Samara Oblast, located about 811km from the Ukrainian border. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar15 August 2025 05:21 Can Zelensky the warrior cut it as a peacetime leader? Short, sweet, and largely symbolic' might be a reasonable summary of Volodymyr Zelensky's Downing Street visit on the eve of the US-Russia summit in Alaska. There will be those who take issue with Zelensky's swanning around foreign parts at such a time. There will also be those – some, if not many of them, in Russia – who hope that the coming days will, one way or another, spell the end of Zelensky's power. For all the missteps and failings on the part of his government in Kyiv, Zelensky is likely to be the person who has to try to shepherd Ukraine from war into peace, and he needs to be supported as perhaps the only one who can. Can Zelensky the warrior cut it as a peacetime leader? Whatever the fallout from the US-Russia summit in Alaska, the Ukrainian president – his public image and reputation having been forged in conflict – is the only person to shepherd his country into a new era, says Mary Dejevsky Holly Evans15 August 2025 05:20 Inside Putin's ruthless 'winning' mindset – and the major risk to Trump Understanding how Vladimir Putin thinks in the run-up to the crucial summit with Donald Trump in Alaska is about understanding what the Russian leader is accustomed to: being dominant at home, but seen as a pariah in most of the democratic world. In his view, this Friday's summit is about his grand re-entry onto the international stage and a complex psychological interplay with a US leader who is also fixated on what a 'win' over ending (or rather stalling) the war in Ukraine would do for his personal brand. The dynamics of a summit that has already sidelined Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky – and reduced European leaders to holding their own meeting in Berlin – will be driven by the needs of two men with immense but fragile egos. Read the full analysis here: Inside Putin's ruthless 'winning' mindset – and the major risk to Trump While Donald Trump boasts that he is the master of the deal, it is Putin who has perfected the art of the 'win' – which often includes humiliation through gestures, slights and power moves, writes Anne McElvoy Holly Evans15 August 2025 05:05 Donbas: Why Russia is desperate to capture eastern Ukraine's industrial heartland The future of Ukraine's industrial heartland in the east will almost certainly play a key role in talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump as they prepare to meet in Alaska on Friday. The Russian leader has demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donetsk as part of any any ceasefire deal, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president has said that Mr Putin wants the remaining 30 per cent of the eastern region, which has seen some of the fiercest battles in the three-and-a-half year long war. Donbas: Why Russia is desperate to capture eastern Ukraine's industrial heartland Fully giving up Donbas could have 'catastrophic consequences', according to experts Holly Evans15 August 2025 04:50 Trump 'must be prepared' to meet with Putin, European officials warn ahead of summit European officials insisted to CNN that US President Trump come prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin while the pair discuss Ukraine while the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky is not present. 'He must be prepared because Putin is very, very well prepared,' one European official told the network about Friday's meeting. There is a 'vulnerability' for Trump to be alone in the room with Putin because the Russian president is 'an excellent player,' the official added. Another official acknowledged the US President has been tougher on Russia recently. On Thursday, for example, Mr Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Mr Putin doesn't agree to peace in Ukraine. Still, this official warned: 'It seems Trump doesn't really believe in the possibility of Ukrainian success.' Kelly Rissman15 August 2025 04:35 What has Trump said ahead of the summit with Putin? One day before the two world leaders were scheduled to meet, US President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'not going to mess around' with him. 'I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me,' he said during a press conference at the White House. 'I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes... whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting. And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.' The US president remained cautiously optimistic that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine 'will make peace.' "We're going to see what happens," he said. "And, I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along and if they can, it'll be great." Meanwhile, earlier in the day on Thursday, Mr Putin praised Mr Trump for making "quite an energetic and sincere effort, in my opinion, to stop hostilities, to stop the crisis and to reach an agreement that is of interest to all those involved in this conflict.' Kelly Rissman15 August 2025 04:20
The Guardian
10 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Who are the US and Russian delegates meeting in Alaska to discuss Ukraine?
When Vladimir Putin lands in Alaska on Friday for his high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump, he will be flanked by some of the most powerful figures in the Kremlin's inner circle – a team of seasoned political operators, financial strategists and diplomatic enforcers who have helped shape Russia's foreign and economic policy for more than two decades. The delegation, a mix of old guard loyalists and younger financial power-brokers, hints at Putin's desire to woo Trump and dangle financial incentives for siding with Moscow on Ukraine. Trump will also be accompanied by a cadre of his most trusted advisers, among them a property mogul, a former Fox News host and the country's top diplomat. The US leader has long prized loyalty over experience, and many in Kyiv and the west are uneasy about the lack of seasoned Russia experts with real influence in the White House. Ultimately, though, the summit will come down to a face-to-face meeting between the two men – and putting Trump alone in a room with Putin has always been an unpredictable, and potentially dangerous, affair. Foreign minister The 75-year-old has been in post since 2004, making him one of the longest-tenured senior diplomats in the world. Known for his gravel-voiced delivery and combative press conferences, Lavrov has been central to crafting and defending Moscow's foreign policy from the Iraq war to the annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A career diplomat who joined the Soviet foreign service in 1972, he spent a decade as Russia's ambassador to the United Nations before assuming his current post. Once regarded in western capitals as a pragmatic and highly capable diplomat, Lavrov has adopted an increasingly confrontational and at times belligerent tone in tandem with the radicalised politics of Putin's Kremlin. Foreign policy adviser Ushakov, 78, is a veteran presidential aide and one of Putin's most trusted foreign policy advisers. A career diplomat with fluent English and a long focus on Washington, he served as Russia's ambassador to the US from 1998 to 2008. Known for his calm demeanour and deep institutional memory, Ushakov has served as a behind-the-scenes strategist, coordinating Putin's international engagements and frequently supplying the president's talking points to state media. Defence minister The 66-year-old is one of the few technocrats to ascend to the Kremlin's top security posts. His surprise appointment in 2024 to replace the longtime incumbent Sergei Shoigu was seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to rein in corruption in the armed forces and to accelerate the transformation of Russia's militarised economy into a full-scale war economy, now expanding at double-digit rates. An economist by training, contemporaries describe him as a deeply religious and loyal technocrat who keeps Orthodox icons and theological books in his modest office. Russian Direct Investment Fund chief At 50, Dmitriev is a relatively new kid on the Kremlin block, yet has emerged as a key operator between Moscow and the business-oriented Trump administration. US-educated, with stints at Stanford University and Harvard Business School, Dmitriev heads the Kremlin's $10bn sovereign wealth fund and has openly boasted of his links to American business elites. He has personal ties to Putin's family – his wife, Natalya Popova, is a close friend of one of the president's daughters. In Alaska, he is expected to pitch ambitious plans for economic and infrastructure cooperation in the Arctic, tempting Trump with the prospect of a lucrative entente between two great powers. Dmitriev's rapid rise and overt outreach to Washington have unsettled the Kremlin's old guard, with reports of friction with senior foreign ministry figures, including Lavrov. Finance minister Siluanov, 62, has been in his post since 2011 and is a key architect of the Kremlin's efforts to keep the economy afloat in the face of the invasion of Ukraine and western sanctions. Siluanov has been tasked with making Russia's economy as sanction-proof as possible, and he popularised the term 'fortress economy' in Kremlin circles to describe this drive for sanction resilience. But while sanctions have not brought Russia's economy to its knees, growth has slowed sharply, and Siluanov's surprise inclusion in the Alaska delegation signals Moscow's priority of securing the lifting of western restrictions as part of any peace deal. Secretary of state Once a staunch critic of Trump, the 54-year-old former Florida senator is now one of his closest allies. Over time, Rubio's influence has grown, with his appointment in May as acting national security adviser making him the first person since Henry Kissinger to hold both posts simultaneously. His more traditional hawkish stance on China and Russia has made him a valued interlocutor in Europe and Kyiv, but it could set him on a collision course with pro-Russia voices in Trump's inner circle. Special envoy to Ukraine and the Middle East Trump's 68-year-old special envoy is a name that sends shivers through Kyiv and European capitals. Appointed in 2025, he has swiftly become Trump's de facto interlocutor with Putin, despite having no diplomatic experience. In past interviews, Witkoff – who travels to the Kremlin alone and without his own interpreters – has echoed Moscow's talking points on the war and appeared to legitimise Russia's territorial gains in Ukraine. A former New York real-estate lawyer turned property tycoon, Witkoff met Trump in the 1980s while working on one of his Manhattan deals. The two have remained close ever since, with Witkoff fiercely loyal to the president. Secretary of defence From the outset, former Fox News host and army veteran Pete Hegseth's tenure as Trump's secretary of defence has been dogged by controversy. The 45-year-old's appointment drew scrutiny over past allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive workplace drinking and a call for women to be banned from military service. Hegseth's position was further undermined when he sent detailed information about a planned attack in Yemen to a private Signal chat group, to which an American journalist had been added in error. Linked by critics to extremist strands of far-right Christianity, Hegseth has nonetheless retained his post, buoyed up by his steadfast loyalty to Trump. In conversations with European allies, he has made clear that Washington is no longer 'primarily focused' on European security, saying that the burden of defending Ukraine will fall increasingly on Europe itself.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Skipping a job interview could land you on a 'black list' under new proposal in Ohio
A new bill in Ohio would expose anyone who skips out on a job interview without providing prior notice. The bill - introduced by Republican Reps. Brian Lorenz and Jennifer Gross - would task the state Department of Job and Family Services with creating a simple way to report applicants who do not show up for job interviews. Lorenz told WCMH he drafted the proposal after hearing from local business owners who complained about an increase in people skipping out of job interviews. The problem persists nationwide as 90 percent of applicants were reported missing interviews in 2021, according to a study by Business Insider. Lorenz's new legislation seeks to protect employers as well as the state unemployment services. He argues it will simply keep people accountable. 'The bill rewards professionalism,' he said. 'If you value employers' time, this process is going to value you. 'And it just modernizes the employment process, and it holds applicants accountable and it helps employers thrive.' But opponents say the proposal could be detrimental to job seekers and is not necessary, as the state already prohibits people from receiving unemployment benefits if they are not doing enough to get a new job - including by skipping interviews or 'ghosting' employers. A spokesperson for the Department of Job and Family Services also noted that it already offers a way to report interview no-shows online. 'It is something that's not needed, I mean there are procedures in line already for unemployment compensation,' argued Senate Democrat Bill DeMora, who represents the city of Columbus. He noted that he recently almost missed an appointment due to car trouble, and disagrees with penalizing Ohioans in a similar situation. Tracking those issues are not the government's responsibility, the Democrat claimed, arguing the General Assembly should instead be prioritizing protections for workers and local governments. 'All this is going to do is make somebody less likely to actually want to get unemployment compensation,' DeMora said. 'It's just something else that penalizes people.' Lorenz, however, has claimed he is not trying to 'black list' anyone as he argued that it is the General Assembly's responsibility to protect Ohio's businesses. 'We're not looking to black list anybody or anything like that, we're just trying to build and foster a culture of respect and accountability and stop wasting employers' valuable time.' His proposal to give employers more information about applicants and the state more information about those who are receiving unemployment benefits will now 'modernize and update Ohio to the 21st century,' Lorenz said. 'When we do things like this, it makes our state more competitive against the other states from an economic standpoint.' He added on social media that his system would also help catch fraud in the state unemployment system. 'If you're collecting unemployment, you should be actively looking for work. Period,' he wrote on X. 'HB 395 isn't controversial - it's common sense,' Lorenz continued. 'Wasting employers' time and taxpayer dollars helps no one. Time to bring accountability back to the system.' Ohio ranks 44th in the country for unemployment, with roughly five percent of the population without a job, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. In just the last week of July alone, nearly 50,000 residents filed for unemployment benefits. But the Ohio State Legislature is not expected to return until October, and it is unlikely the bill would be brought for a vote before then.
