US sanctions Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, other officials for human rights violations
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media platform X that the State Department also would impose visa restrictions on Cuban judicial and prison officials 'responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of the July 2021 protesters.'
US will continue to stand for the human rights, says Rubio
The protests, which were not led by an opposition group, developed July 11 and 12, 2021, drawing attention to the depths of Cuba's economic crisis.
'The U.S. will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba, and make clear no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere,' Rubio said in the statement.
The Trump administration has taken a harder line against Cuba's government than the Biden administration.
In addition to Díaz-Canel, the U.S. sanctioned Cuban Defense Minister Álvaro López Miera and Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas.
Shortly after the announcement, Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. department in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, lashed out at Rubio, calling him a 'defender of genocide, prisons and mass deportations.'
The rare protests in 2021 came about after repeated blackouts in Havana and other cities. One man died and some marches ended in vandalism.
Groups supporting the government responded along with authorities to repress the protests. Human rights groups estimated there were more than 1,000 arrests but the government gave no official figures.
At the time, the Cuban government said it was the result of a U.S. media campaign and decades of U.S. sanctions.
In 2022, Cuban prosecutors said some 790 people were investigated for acts related to the protests ranging from disorder to sabotage and vandalism.
The advocacy group 11J, whose name alludes to the protests, said late last year there were 554 people serving sentences related to the protests, but some were given conditional release in January after an appeal from Pope Francis.
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First Post
39 minutes ago
- First Post
Is Donald Trump likely to announce sanctions on Russia today over Ukraine war?
US President Donald Trump is set to make a major announcement today (July 14) when it comes to Russia and the Ukraine war. The development comes after Trump on Sunday slammed Russia's President Vladimir Putin. But what do we know? Will Trump impose tariffs on Russia's oil and gas? Or will he send offensive weapons to Ukraine? Let's take a closer look read more Will Donald Trump announced sanctions on Russia today? There are reports that the US President is set to make a major announcement when it comes to Russia today (July 14). Trump on Sunday had slammed Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Trump last week too had taken aim at Putin on similar lines. 'We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth', Trump said. 'We're not happy with Putin. I'm not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now, because he's killing a lot of people.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump came to office vowing to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov twice last week regarding the war with Ukraine. But what did Trump say? What do we know about Trumps announcement? Will he likely sanction Russia today? Let's take a closer look Will Trump unveil sanctions on Russia? 'Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening,' Trump said. 'So, there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it.' 'I am very disappointed with President Putin. I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,' Trump said when asked about sanctions. There are reports that bipartisan bill sanctioning Moscow could be forthcoming. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has unveiled one such bill – which he described as a 'sledgehammer'. 'This congressional package that we're looking at would give President Trump the ability to impose 500 percent tariffs on any country that helps Russia and props up Putin's war machine,' Graham told CBS News. 'He can dial it up or down. He can go to zero, to 500. He has maximum flexibility.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India here may find itself an unintentional target. 'As for sanctions, the bill which will not only be against Russia, but will also target countries like China and India that buy Russian energy products that finance Putin's war machine," Graham added. India has saved billions of dollars by purchasing Russian crude oil – which is facing sanctions from the West – in the last financial year. Reuters In 2024, Russian oil comprised around a third of India's total crude imports and nearly a fifth of China's oil imports. 'I think I'll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,' Trump told NBC News in a telephone interview. 'It's at my option if I want to use it,' Trump said of the measure. 'They're going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill, but it's up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it. Asked about such a bill last week, Trump played coy. 'I'm looking at it very strongly', he said. Will US send offensive weapons? According to reports, the US could also send Ukraine offensive weapons. Trump has thus far insisted on sending Ukraine only weapons it can use to defend itself. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The plan was likely to include long-range missiles that could reach targets deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow,' the sources told Axios. Trump on Sunday had said that Washington could send Kyiv 'various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment'. 'We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need,' Trump added. While Trump said he hadn't decided about the number of Patriot batteries, he added that 'they're going to have some because they do need protection'. Trump said these would be sent via Nato. Representational image. Reuters 'We're sending weapons to Nato, and Nato is paying for those weapons, a hundred percent,' the president said. 'We're going to be sending Patriots to Nato and then Nato will distribute that,' he added. Asked what he would do earlier this week, Trump responded, 'I wouldn't be telling you. Don't we want to have a little surprise?' There are also reports that Trump is considering additional funding for Ukraine. Kviv currently receives weapons by through funding provided by the previous Joe Biden administration. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What do experts say? Some say he has grown weary of being unable to do so and increasingly frustrated with Putin – whom he has previously repeatedly praised. Trump appeared to grow testy in public when asked about why the US previously stopped the flow of weapons to Ukraine. 'I don't know, why don't you tell me?' Trump said last week. Pentagon officials claimed that the White House was not in the loop when it came to defence shipments being paused to Ukraine. The original decision was seemingly made by deputy defence secretary Stephen Feinberg which then signed off by defence secretary Pete Hegseth. Ukrainian president Vlodomyr Zelenskyy and Trump had a disastrous meeting at the White House in February when US Vice-President JD Vance claimed Ukraine was 'ungrateful' for the help against Russia. Some think that Trump has had an awakening when it comes to Putin. Experts believe no matter what Donald Trump thinks, Vladimir Putin will not put his relationship with the US president over his aims in Ukraine. Reuters 'I think Trump gets it now,' Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations told John Vause on CNN International. 'He's got to put more pressure on Russia if he's going to get a deal with Ukraine.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If a new sanctions bill does pass, and the United States does impose costs on Moscow for the first time during the current administration, this would be a radical departure from Trump's consistent policy,' Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera. 'It remains to be seen whether Trump will in fact allow this, or whether his deference to Putin will mean he continues to resist any possible countermeasures against Moscow.' 'Western media is full of commentary on what it calls Trump's 'changing stance' on Putin. But as yet, there is no reason to think that anything has changed at all,' Giles said. 'There is a wave of optimism across the world that this might finally lead to a change in US policy. But, on every previous occasion, this has not happened.' Experts believe no matter what Trump thinks, Putin will not put his relationship with the US president over his aims in Ukraine. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'He will not sacrifice his goals in Ukraine for the sake of improving relations with Trump," Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, told The New York Times. With inputs from agencies
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Crypto exchanges rushed to list Trump's coin leaving many losers and some big winners
Agencies Crypto exchange Coinbase assures users on its website that it puts any new digital coin through "rigorous" vetting before allowing it to trade. It's an at-times lengthy process meant to protect customers by examining the people connected to the project and the risk of market manipulation or other scams. With President Donald Trump's crypto token, $TRUMP, Coinbase made up its mind in just one day. The $TRUMP token, which launched three days before his inauguration in January, is a meme coin. Based on cultural fads or celebrities, these coins have no intrinsic value and - past experience has shown - are prone to large price swings that can leave investors with losses. A Reuters analysis of crypto market data and industry announcements found that, compared to other recent large meme coins, the biggest crypto exchanges took Trump's to market with unusual speed, despite stating they vet risky coins thoroughly to protect small investors. Some also approved the listing in spite of the high share of coins concentrated in the hands of Trump and his partners, which would normally represent a red flag because of the risk that dumping of tokens by insiders could collapse the price and hurt other investors, some executives said. After reaching an all-time high of $75.35 on April 19, just two days after its launch, $TRUMP crashed to the $7 range by early April, leaving many holders nursing losses. It was trading around $9.55 Thursday. "When the president of the United States launches a meme coin, I thought I might as well put some money inside," said Carl "Moon" Runefelt, a Dubai-based crypto investor who runs a bitcoin trading channel on YouTube called the "Moon Show." Runefelt said he bought $300,000 worth of the meme coin in tranches at between $50 and $60: "It's probably one of my worst trades, unfortunately." The Reuters analysis showed that eight of the 10 largest crypto exchanges by market share listed the coin within 48 hours of its release. The ninth, Coinbase, added $TRUMP to its listings roadmap on January 18 - indicating it had decided to accept it - and listed the coin three days later. The tenth, Upbit, listed $TRUMP on February 13. That was much faster than they've done on average with the biggest meme coins. Reuters examined how long it took the same 10 exchanges - Binance, Bitget, MEXC, OKX, Coinbase, Bybit, Upbit, and HTX - to list the four other largest meme coins launched since 2022. These, measured by market cap on May 29, are Pepe, Bonk, Fartcoin and dogwifhat. All 10 exchanges listed Pepe and Bonk. Nine listed dogwifhat, and seven listed Fartcoin. On average, the 10 exchanges took 129 days to list those coins. For $TRUMP, they took an average of four. Asked for comment about why they listed $TRUMP so quickly, Bitget, MEXC, OKX, Coinbase and Upbit all said they had not cut any corners with their vetting process. The other five exchanges did not respond to Reuters' questions. Three - Bitget, Coinbase, MEXC - said they moved fast to respond to overwhelming demand for the $TRUMP coin. "The crypto space was buzzing with the hype and, as any other token with a growing craze, it was imperative to add TRUMP," Gracy Chen, Bitget's CEO, said in a statement. Chen said the fact that Trump himself announced the coin on his social media accounts "should kind of solve the compliance issue," citing the fact that "he's the president of the United States." No conflicts of interest Reuters found no suggestion that Trump or anyone related to his businesses exerted pressure on the exchanges. In response to a request for comment, a White House press official told Reuters the president's assets had been placed in a family trust: "There are no conflicts of interest because the president isn't managing the assets. Any insinuation that there is a conflict of interest is irresponsible." The official referred specific questions about the meme coin to the Trump Organization, which did not respond to Reuters. Coinbase said the $TRUMP token got no special exceptions and the exchange followed its normal process when listing the coin. Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, said many people had to work over the weekend to get the listing done quickly, but no steps were skipped. "Given the information that was shared publicly, we were confident that users could engage with the token positively and safely," Grewal told Reuters. Coinbase listed $TRUMP as an "experimental" token to indicate it comes with "certain risks, including price swings," according to the company's website. The vetting of coins often focuses on how well-known the issuer is, how likely they are to remain in the public eye and how much they engage with the online community to sustain interest in the coin, metrics that $TRUMP would score highly on, according to Santa Clara University finance professor Seoyoung Kim, who specializes in crypto analytics. She cautioned that focusing on vetting speed alone could provide an incomplete picture of investor protection. A more holistic analysis, Kim said, would also involve factors such as the average market cap at which a coin is listed, for how long it has sustained that level before its listing, and its daily trading volumes. With $TRUMP listed so soon after launch, there was little such data for exchanges to parse. $TRUMP's market cap has since fallen to around $1.9 billion, down sharply from its peak above $15 billion on January 19. But that still ranks it amongst the largest meme coins launched since 2022. Reuters ran its listing-speed analysis past five academics with crypto expertise, including Kim, who all said its methodology was sound. David Krause, Emeritus Professor of Finance at Marquette University, who has studied Trump's crypto ventures, said the quickness of the $TRUMP listing "suggests either a dramatic acceleration of due diligence or corners being cut." "Either scenario has significant implications for investor protection and market integrity," he said. You don't say no to the President The president's rush of business ventures in a lightly-regulated sector that his government is responsible for overseeing has drawn criticism from Democrats, consumer advocacy groups and former financial enforcement officials. "You don't say no to hosting the president's new meme coin," said Corey Frayer, a former senior crypto advisor at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Frayer is now director of a non-profit advocacy group, the Consumer Federation of America. "The president controls who oversees your business and how they enforce the law." Under former President Joe Biden, the SEC maintained that most crypto tokens, including meme coins, should be regulated as securities, making exchanges cautious about listing them. That began to change, quickly, after Trump was elected last November. The Republican has styled himself as the "crypto president," pledging to overhaul regulation of the sector. Following Trump's election, Coinbase - the largest publicly traded crypto exchange in the United States - and several of its rivals began listing more meme coins. In Trump's second term, the SEC has paused or withdrawn high-profile enforcement actions against crypto operators, including a major investor in a Trump family crypto project, and issued a staff statement concluding that meme coins do not constitute securities. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the agency's crypto policy and Trump's coin. Trump's family has launched multiple crypto ventures, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. The $TRUMP token quickly earned an estimated $320 million in fees, though it's not publicly known how that amount has been divided between a Trump-controlled entity and its partners. Overlooked concerns Exchanges have been major beneficiaries of Trump's embrace of the industry. $TRUMP has generated significant revenue for the 10 exchanges in Reuters' review: more than $172 million in trading fees, according to estimates based on standard fees compiled for the news agency by CoinDesk Data, a crypto industry data provider. Trade in the coin, meanwhile, has favored a small group of investors. At the top, 45 crypto wallets cleared about $1.2 billion in profits overall, while another 712,777 wallets have collectively lost $4.3 billion, according to trading data analyzed by crypto analysis firm Bubblemaps as of June 18. In the middle, more than half a million wallets made an average of $5,656 profit each. In listing $TRUMP, some exchanges proceeded despite a factor they'd previously labelled as a red flag: 80% of the coin's supply was held by the Trump family and its partners. Such a high concentration of ownership can allow the team behind a coin to sell large amounts of it at once, collapsing the price for retail investors. The terms of the $TRUMP coin specified that its total supply would be gradually unlocked over three years after initial release. On January 16, the day before $TRUMP was released, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued an alert to consumers about the risks of meme coins. Such coins, the notice said, are carried by platforms not licensed by the state and the supply of the digital tokens is often controlled by a small number of people. That opens the door to "pump-and-dump schemes," the regulator noted, in which public hype by their issuers leads to a jump in price - with big, early investors exiting and smaller retail buyers left holding the losses that follow. The NYDFS declined to comment beyond the guidance. Coinbase, which is subject to New York regulations, blocked state residents from accessing the token, but allowed U.S. customers elsewhere to trade. To list $TRUMP in New York, the exchange would have faced a long list of risk assessment and governance requirements. Some other exchanges acknowledged they looked past concerns about the concentration in a bid to serve customer demand. MEXC's chief operating officer, Tracy Jin, told Reuters that, because of the concentration of tokens, $TRUMP did not meet its usual standards for a full listing on its main board, but the exchange pushed ahead anyway due to strong demand. In a follow-up written statement, an MEXC spokesperson said that a "faster-than-usual" listing was possible because the coin had clear market momentum and it met "our listing standards early." Commenting on the Reuters listing-speed analysis, the spokesperson said market conditions and demand for political meme tokens had changed since 2022, "making direct comparisons less relevant." Bitget also had concerns about the 80% figure, CEO Chen told Reuters. "Eighty percent held by the team, even though there's a little bit of a lock-up period, is in my opinion very risky," said Chen. "Ultimately, user trading volume, demand ... overrode the so-called risky factor here." Like some exchanges, Bitget, based in the Seychelles, does not have a business presence in the U.S. or serve clients who reside there, Chen said. "Globally," she added, "people are generally aware of the risks associated with trading meme coins." Upbit, which operates in South Korea, said it does not comment on specific coin listings but that it has "a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process." Erald Ghoos, CEO for Europe of OKX, said the exchange's legal and compliance teams stayed up all night over different time zones to work on the listing. Seychelles-registered OKX says its diligence process requires "meticulous preparation." It decided to list $TRUMP within 26 hours. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. The 10-second mystery: Did the Air India crash report hide more than what it revealed? Can Indian IT's 'pyramid' survive the GenAI shake-up? Zee promoters have a new challenge to navigate. And it's not about funding or Sebi probe. The deluge that's cooling oil prices despite the Iran conflict Stock Radar: Natco Pharma stock showing signs of momentum after falling over 30% from highs – what should investors do? 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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Two-thirds of the Department of Justice unit defending Trump's policies in court have quit
The U.S. Justice Department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature Trump administration policies - such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding to Harvard University - has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, according to a list seen by Reuters. Sixty-nine of the roughly 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch have voluntarily left the unit since President Donald Trump's election in November or have announced plans to leave, according to the list compiled by former Justice Department lawyers and reviewed by Reuters. The tally has not been previously reported. Using court records and LinkedIn accounts, Reuters was able to verify the departure of all but four names on the list. Reuters spoke to four former lawyers in the unit and three other people familiar with the departures who said some staffers had grown demoralized and exhausted defending an onslaught of lawsuits against Trump's administration. "Many of these people came to work at Federal Programs to defend aspects of our constitutional system," said one lawyer who left the unit during Trump's second term. "How could they participate in the project of tearing it down?" by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Saidpur: 1 Trick to Reduce Belly Fat? Home Fitness Hack Shop Now Undo Critics have accused the Trump administration of flouting the law in its aggressive use of executive power, including by retaliating against perceived enemies and dismantling agencies created by Congress. The Trump administration has broadly defended its actions as within the legal bounds of presidential power and has won several early victories at the Supreme Court . A White House spokesperson told Reuters that Trump's actions were legal, and declined to comment on the departures. Live Events "Any sanctimonious career bureaucrat expressing faux outrage over the President's policies while sitting idly by during the rank weaponization by the previous administration has no grounds to stand on," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement. The seven lawyers who spoke with Reuters cited a punishing workload and the need to defend policies that some felt were not legally justifiable among the key reasons for the wave of departures. Three of them said some career lawyers feared they would be pressured to misrepresent facts or legal issues in court, a violation of ethics rules that could lead to professional sanctions. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics and avoid retaliation. A Justice Department spokesperson said lawyers in the unit are fighting an "unprecedented number of lawsuits" against Trump's agenda. "The Department has defeated many of these lawsuits all the way up to the Supreme Court and will continue to defend the President's agenda to keep Americans safe," the spokesperson said. The Justice Department did not comment on the departures of career lawyers or morale in the section. Some turnover in the Federal Programs Branch is common between presidential administrations, but the seven sources described the number of people quitting as highly unusual. Reuters was unable to find comparative figures for previous administrations. However, two former attorneys in the unit and two others familiar with its work said the scale of departures is far greater than during Trump's first term and Joe Biden's administration. HEADING FOR THE EXIT The exits include at least 10 of the section's 23 supervisors, experienced litigators who in many cases served across presidential administrations, according to two of the lawyers. A spokesperson said the Justice Department is hiring to keep pace with staffing levels during the Biden Administration. They did not provide further details. In its broad overhaul of the Justice Department, the Trump administration has fired or sidelined dozens of lawyers who specialize in prosecuting national security and corruption cases and publicly encouraged departures from the Civil Rights Division. But the Federal Programs Branch, which defends challenges to White House and federal agency policies in federal trial courts, remains critical to its agenda. The unit is fighting to sustain actions of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency formerly overseen by Elon Musk; Trump's order restricting birthright citizenship and his attempt to freeze $2.5 billion in funding to Harvard University. "We've never had an administration pushing the legal envelope so quickly, so aggressively and across such a broad range of government policies and programs," said Peter Keisler, who led the Justice Department's Civil Division under Republican President George W. Bush. "The demands are intensifying at the same time that the ranks of lawyers there to defend these cases are dramatically thinning." The departures have left the Justice Department scrambling to fill vacancies. More than a dozen lawyers have been temporarily reassigned to the section from other parts of the DOJ and it has been exempted from the federal government hiring freeze, according to two former lawyers in the unit. A Justice Department spokesperson did not comment on the personnel moves. Justice Department leadership has also brought in about 15 political appointees to help defend civil cases, an unusually high number. The new attorneys, many of whom have a record defending conservative causes, have been more comfortable pressing legal boundaries, according to two former lawyers in the unit. "They have to be willing to advocate on behalf of their clients and not fear the political fallout," said Mike Davis, the head of the Article III Project, a pro-Trump legal advocacy group, referring to the role of DOJ lawyers in defending the administration's policies. People who have worked in the section expect the Federal Programs Branch to play an important role in the Trump administration's attempts to capitalize on a Supreme Court ruling limiting the ability of judges to block its policies nationwide. Its lawyers are expected to seek to narrow prior court rulings and also defend against an anticipated rise in class action lawsuits challenging government policies. Lawyers in the unit are opposing two attempts by advocacy organizations to establish a nationwide class of people to challenge Trump's order on birthright citizenship. A judge granted one request on Thursday. FACING PRESSURE Four former Justice Department lawyers told Reuters some attorneys in the Federal Programs Branch left over policy differences with Trump, but many had served in the first Trump administration and viewed their role as defending the government regardless of the party in power. The four lawyers who left said they feared Trump administration policies to dismantle certain federal agencies and claw back funding appeared to violate the U.S. Constitution or were enacted without following processes that were more defensible in court. Government lawyers often walked into court with little information from the White House and federal agencies about the actions they were defending, the four lawyers said. The White House and DOJ did not comment when asked about communications on cases. Attorney General Pam Bondi in February threatened disciplinary action against government lawyers who did not vigorously advocate for Trump's agenda. The memo to Justice Department employees warned career lawyers they could not "substitute personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election." Four of the lawyers Reuters spoke with said there was a widespread concern that attorneys would be forced to make arguments that could violate attorney ethics rules, or refuse assignments and risk being fired. Those fears grew when Justice Department leadership fired a former supervisor in the Office of Immigration Litigation, a separate Civil Division unit, accusing him of failing to forcefully defend the administration's position in the case of Kilmar Abrego, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador. The supervisor, Erez Reuveni, filed a whistleblower complaint, made public last month, alleging he faced pressure from administration officials to make unsupported legal arguments and adopt strained interpretations of rulings in three immigration cases. Justice Department officials have publicly disputed the claims, casting him as disgruntled. A senior official, Emil Bove, told a Senate panel that he never advised defying courts. Career lawyers were also uncomfortable defending Trump's executive orders targeting law firms, according to two former Justice Department lawyers and a third person familiar with the matter. A longtime ally of Bondi who defended all four law firm cases argued they were a lawful exercise of presidential power. Judges ultimately struck down all four orders as violating the Constitution. The Trump administration has indicated it will appeal at least one case.
