Trump’s criticism of Putin. Trump wrote “Vladimir, STOP!” on social media yesterday after a Russian strike killed at least twelve people in Kyiv—a rare direct criticism from Trump of President Vladimir Putin’s actions in the war. Even so, a Russian drone attack overnight killed three people in southeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. Russian officials said a car bomb also killed a top Russian military officer. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow today.
China’s trade de-escalation. China notified companies it is exempting certain U.S. imports from 125 percent duties and asked firms to name additional items for potential exemptions, Reuters reported. Trump said yesterday that Washington and Beijing held a meeting about trade that morning. Meanwhile, China is considering lifting sanctions on European lawmakers, while European Union officials are considering swapping tariffs on Chinese car imports for minimum price quotas, unnamed European officials told Bloomberg.
Indian army chief in Kashmir. The head of India’s armed forces is visiting the site of Tuesday’s attack in India-administered Kashmir today. The killings have ruptured a relative calm in relations with Pakistan; New Delhi blames Islamabad for connections to the attack, which it denies. Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire in Kashmir today for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, unnamed Indian officials said. Pakistan’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
Clash over seabed mining. Trump ordered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to expedite permits for mining in international waters yesterday. The move sets the United States up for conflict with the International Seabed Administration (ISA), which governs deep sea mining and includes most world countries but not the United States. The ISA has been slow to authorize mining because it has not agreed on regulations.
World leaders at the Vatican. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are among the more than fifty heads of state who will attend Pope Francis’s funeral tomorrow. The leaders of Argentina, Brazil, France, the Philippines, Poland, and Slovakia will also be in attendance, as will ten reigning monarchs. Rome is deploying a stepped-up security operation for the event.
UK lifts more Syria sanctions. The United Kingdom (UK) announced it is lifting sanctions on Syrian security agencies. The sanctions relief is meant to support Syria’s reconstruction, London said. It had previously lifted restrictions on the country’s energy sector and central bank. Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund’s head said it hoped to help Syria reenter the global economy.
Pre-election detentions in Tanzania. Security forces detained two top opposition figures as they traveled to a judicial hearing for jailed opposition leader Tundu Lissu, their party said. A police spokesperson did not immediately comment. Lissu declined to participate in the hearing after he was told the trial would be virtual, his party said, calling the decision a violation of “the right of the accused.”
iPhones in India. Apple plans to move the assembly of all iPhones destined for the U.S. market to India by as soon as 2026, unnamed sources told the Financial Times. Hitting the target would require doubling the current level of assembly in India. Apple did not comment. Trump has targeted India less than China—where most iPhones are currently assembled—in the current trade war.
