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Trump says he is willing to impose sanctions on Russia

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Morristown, N.J. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Morristown, N.J. (AP)
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Updated 11 sec ago

Trump says he is willing to impose sanctions on Russia

Trump says he is willing to impose sanctions on Russia
  • "Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil," Trump told reporters on Sunday

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is willing to impose sanctions on Russia but Europe has to act in a way that is commensurate with the United States.
"Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil," Trump told reporters on Sunday. "And the sanctions ... that they're putting on are not tough enough, and I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing."

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Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit

Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit
Updated 5 sec ago

Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit

Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit
  • Among the other investments expected to be announced is a deal for UK-based Urenco to supply an advanced type of low-enriched uranium to the US market

LONDON: Britain and the United States will sign a deal to work together on boosting nuclear power during US President Donald Trump’s state visit this week, the British government said, helping secure investment to fund new plants.
Britain’s government has launched a major push to expand nuclear power in recent months, pledging to invest 14 billion pounds ($19 billion) in a new plant at Sizewell C and advancing plans for a Rolls-Royce unit to build the country’s first small modular reactors (SMR).
Trump arrives in Britain for a two-day visit on Tuesday, during which he and Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce the nuclear power tie-up. The collaboration aims to speed up new projects and investments, including plans expected to be announced by US nuclear reactor company X-Energy and Britain’s Centrica to build up to 12 advanced modular reactors in northeast England.
An 11 billion pound ($15 billion) project to develop advanced data centers powered by SMRs in central England at the former Cottam coal-fired power station set to be announced by US company Holtec International, France’s EDF and real estate partner Tritax, is also on the cards, the statement added.
“These major commitments set us well on course to a golden age of nuclear that will drive down household bills in the long run,” Starmer said on Monday.
Trump and Starmer discussed working more closely together on SMRs when they met at the US president’s golf resort in Scotland in July.
“Today’s commercial deals set up a framework to unleash commercial access in both the US and UK,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the statement.
The new tie-up will cover nuclear regulation, meaning if a reactor passes safety checks in one country, the other can use the findings to support its own checks, cutting licensing time to two years from three to four years at present.
Commenting on its new partnership deal with X-Energy, Centrica’s Group CEO Chris O’Shea said it would build a resilient, affordable, low-carbon energy system, while X-Energy’s CEO J. Clay Sell said Hartlepool was the right place for it to scale its technology in Britain given its experienced workforce and local services.
Holtec chair and CEO Kris Singh said its plan with EDF would create thousands of local jobs while drawing on the lessons from its Palisades project in Michigan, while Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said the plan would benefit energy security.
In a related announcement, Rolls-Royce said it had entered the US regulatory process for its SMR, paving the way for potential new jobs and investment in the US
Among the other investments expected to be announced is a deal for UK-based Urenco to supply an advanced type of low-enriched uranium to the US market.


Chicago area residents mourn immigrant fatally shot after injuring ICE agent

Chicago area residents mourn immigrant fatally shot after injuring ICE agent
Updated 15 September 2025

Chicago area residents mourn immigrant fatally shot after injuring ICE agent

Chicago area residents mourn immigrant fatally shot after injuring ICE agent
  • The death of Villegas-Gonzalez has angered community members like Repa and heightened safety fears among the region’s Latino residents

FRANKLIN PARK, Illinois: Rudy Repa, a 27-year-old resident of Franklin Park, Illinois, placed a single marigold at a makeshift memorial near the spot where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a man from Mexico during an attempted arrest in the Chicago suburb.
The US Department of Homeland Security said an officer shot Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, 38, during a traffic stop on Friday in Franklin Park. In a statement, the agency said Villegas-Gonzalez was in the country illegally and had attempted to flee in his car, dragging and injuring the officer.
The death of Villegas-Gonzalez has angered community members like Repa and heightened safety fears among the region’s Latino residents.
On Saturday, about 100 people, including Repa, turned out for a vigil for Villegas-Gonzalez in Franklin Park, a community in which around half of the residents are Hispanic or Latino.
“I’m incredibly mad and I want justice for our community,” said Repa.
DHS on September 8 launched a deportation crackdown in Illinois that it said was targeting criminals among immigrants in the US without legal status. The department said the operation was necessary because of city and state “sanctuary” laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have called for an accounting of the incident involving Villegas-Gonzalez. On Saturday, Johnson said on X it was an “avoidable tragedy.”
US Representative Delia Ramirez said at a press conference Villegas-Gonzalez was shot immediately after dropping off his children at a nearby school.
ICE declined to provide more details on the incident over the weekend. It referred to a press release that said Villegas-Gonzalez had a history of reckless driving and the ICE agent fired his weapon because he feared for his life.
Alexandra Calleja, 34, teared up as she spoke at Saturday’s vigil about the killing.
“I think he might have gotten scared,” she said. “He might have wanted to leave because it crossed his mind that, ‘If I get taken away I’ll never see my kids again’.”
Many residents attending the vigil on Saturday were also immigrants, born in places like Guatemala and Chile.
Pritzker said last month he thought President Donald Trump’s administration was timing ICE operations to coincide with celebrations for Mexican Independence Day, which falls on September 16 and is a major event in Chicago’s large Mexican-American community.
A large Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Sunday still drew thousands of attendees to enjoy music, singing and dancing. There were anti-ICE signs along the route and volunteers on the lookout for federal agents.
Marco Villalobos, 46, who was part of the parade, said he did not bring his three children because he worried ICE agents might be there.
“It’s a terrible thing; they’re trying to hunt people down,” he said of Villegas-Gonzalez’s death.


Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’

Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’
Updated 15 September 2025

Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’

Brazil’s Lula pushes back against tariff, tells Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’
  • US President Donald Trump imposed the tariff on Brazil in July, citing what he called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who at the time stood accused of trying to illegally hang onto power

BRASILIA, Brazil: Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday pushed back against a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imported goods to the United States, arguing that it was “political” and “illogical.”
Lula said in a New York Times op-ed that his government is open to negotiating anything that can bring mutual benefits. “But Brazil’s democracy and sovereignty are not on the table,” he said.
US President Donald Trump imposed the tariff on Brazil in July, citing what he called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who at the time stood accused of trying to illegally hang onto power.
The trial came to an end on Thursday after a panel of Supreme Court justices ruled that Bolsonaro had attempted a coup after his 2022 electoral defeat to Lula, sparking fears of further US measures against Brazil.
Lula said he was proud of the Supreme Court for its “historic decision” which safeguards Brazil’s institutions, the democratic rule of law and is not a “witch hunt.”
“(The ruling) followed months of investigations that uncovered plans to assassinate me, the vice president and a Supreme Court justice,” Lula said.
Lula added that the tariff increase was “not only misguided but illogical,” citing the surplus of $410 billion in bilateral trade in goods and services the US has accumulated over the past 15 years.
The op-ed is a sign that Brazil is bracing for more possible sanctions after the Supreme Court’s decision.
After Thursday’s ruling, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that Trump’s government “will respond accordingly.”
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called Rubio’s comments an inappropriate threat that wouldn’t intimidate the government, saying the country’s judiciary is independent and that Bolsonaro was granted due process.
Bolsonaro on Sunday briefly left his home in Brasilia where he is under house arrest to undergo a medical procedure at a nearby hospital, his first public appearance since Thursday’s ruling.
Escorted by police, Bolsonaro went to the DF Star hospital in Brazil’s capital in the morning for procedures related to skin lesions — a temporary release granted by Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Sept. 8.
He was later discharged, doctors from the hospital said in a statement. Medical staff removed eight skin lesions that will be sent for analysis to establish a definitive diagnosis and assess the need for further treatment.
The 70-year-old far-right politician was placed under house arrest in early August, after de Moraes said that Bolsonaro had violated precautionary measures imposed on him in the context of the coup trial. He had already been wearing an ankle monitor.
In late August, de Moraes increased security measures further and ordered that police conduct inspections of all vehicles leaving Bolsonaro’s residence and monitor the exterior of the house.
After the medical visit, Bolsonaro must file a certificate of attendance, indicating the date and times of the appointments, to the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro’s son Carlos took to social media to complain about what he deemed to be excessive policing around his father’s trip to the hospital.
“I’m with my father and witnessing the continuation of the biggest circus in Brazilian history,” he wrote on X. “A convoy with more than 20 men ostensibly armed with rifles (
) just to promote the humiliation of an honest man.”
Die-hard supporters of Bolsonaro awaited the ex-president when he arrived at the hospital on Sunday and greeted him with shouts of “Amnesty now!” The chant is in reference to the push of Bolsonaro’s allies in Congress to grant the former president some kind of amnesty.
“We’re here to provide spiritual and psychological support,” said DeusĂ©lis Filho, 46, the president of a group of Bolsonaro supporters called Influencers of Brazil.
Thursday’s sentence doesn’t mean that Bolsonaro will immediately go to prison. The court panel has now up to 60 days to publish the ruling. Once it does, Bolsonaro’s lawyers have five days to file motions for clarification.
His lawyers have said that they will try to appeal both the conviction and sentence before the full Supreme Court of 11 justices, although some experts think it’s unlikely to be accepted.

 

 


Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors

Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors
Updated 15 September 2025

Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors

Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors
  • In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment”

NEW YORK: President Donald Trump on Sunday said foreign workers sent to the United States are “welcome” and he doesn’t want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.”
Some 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory, operated by Hyundai-LG, in the southeastern US state of Georgia on September 4.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials alleged South Koreans had overstayed their visas or held permits that didn’t allow them to perform manual labor.
The Georgia raid was the largest single-site operation conducted since Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Though the United States decided against deportation, images of the workers being chained and handcuffed during the raid caused widespread alarm in South Korea.
Seoul repatriated the workers on Friday.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called the raid “bewildering” and warned Thursday that the raid could discourage future investment.
In his post, Trump described the circumstances for temporarily allowing foreign experts into the US to build “extremely complex products.”
“Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn because we used to be great at it, but not anymore,” Trump wrote.
“We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own ‘game,’ sometime in the not too distant future,” Trump added.
Korea’s trade unions have called on Trump to issue an official apology.


Spain PM proud of pro-Palestinian protests at Vuelta

Spain PM proud of pro-Palestinian protests at Vuelta
Updated 15 September 2025

Spain PM proud of pro-Palestinian protests at Vuelta

Spain PM proud of pro-Palestinian protests at Vuelta
  • Spain today shines as an example and a source of pride, setting an example for the international community that sees Spain taking a step forward in the defense of human rights

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday said pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked the Vuelta a Espana filled him with “pride” as large demonstrations await the race’s final stage in Madrid.
The protests, which have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over the devastating war in Gaza, have disrupted several stages of one of cycling’s three grand tours and cast doubt on whether the 21-day race could be completed.
The activism has forced some stages to be shortened and occasionally caused crashes as demonstrators burst onto the course, prompting criticism for threatening rider safety and harming Spain’s image.
In his first public comments on the debate, Sanchez expressed his “recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for people like Spain’s, which mobilizes for just causes, like Palestine.”

 

Spain “today shines as an example and as a source of pride, an example to an international community where it sees Spain taking a step forward in the defense of human rights,” he told a Socialist party gathering in Malaga.
Several members of the leftist government have publicly supported the movement in a country where support for the Palestinian cause is strong.
The authorities have ramped up security for Sunday’s final stage in Madrid, which was slightly shortened and will see 1,100 police officers deploy in the Spanish capital.
Protesters briefly breached reinforced security and attempted to block the road during the penultimate stage of the race in the Guadarrama mountains outside Madrid on Saturday, forcing cyclists to swerve around them.
The leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, lashed out on X at the protest, which he said “gave such a shameful image.”
“Instead of ministers encouraging it, the government should condemn, denounce and prevent it,” he added.