North America
Sanctions hit economic nerve:
Russia typically brushes off new US sanctions. Not this time.
The Trump administration announcement of export restrictions in response to accusations Moscow used a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy in Britain sent the ruble tumbling to a two-year low and drew a stern warning from its prime minister. While the initial sanctions may have a limited impact, a second batch expected within months could hit the Russian economy much harder and send already tense relations into a tailspin.
If sanctions are expanded even further to target Russia’s top state-controlled banks, freezing their dollar transactions - as proposed under legislation introduced in the Senate this month - it would amount to a “declaration of economic war,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.
So much for President Donald Trump’s hopes for better relations with Moscow.
On his watch, the US has imposed a slew of sanctions on Russia for human rights abuses, meddling in the U.S. election and Russian military aggression in Ukraine and Syria. For the most part, they have punished Russian officials and associates of President Vladimir Putin rather than targeting broad economic sectors.
In 2014, both the US and European Union introduced sanctions that restricted Russia’s access to global financial markets and to equipment for new energy projects. Those measures were punishing, but the sanctions announced by the Trump administration this past week could be even worse. (AP)
Rubio looks for his place:
After flaming out in the GOP presidential primary – and enduring rival Donald Trump’s taunts along the way – Sen Marco Rubio is entering his next act in politics.
The once-rising star used to be criticized for being in too much of a hurry, but now he’s hunkered down in the Senate with nothing, it seems, but time.
Rubio passes his days buried in the work of the Senate Intelligence Committee and is a leading advocate of bolstering election security and slapping sanctions on Russians if they interfere again in 2018. In the hallways of the Capitol, he brushes past reporters looking for reaction to the news of the day, focusing instead on legislative proposals or policy speeches on the Senate floor. And back in Florida, he’s involved in long-running disputes over the Everglades and toxic algae blooms.
But one thing Rubio isn’t doing, he says,
is gearing up for a White House run in 2020. (AP)
Cooler weather helps crews: Aided by slightly cooler temperatures, firefighters
made steady progress Sunday in battling a wildfire that destroyed 16 structures as it raged through Southern California’s Cleveland National Forest.
The Holy Fire was 41 percent contained Sunday afternoon after burning across 35.5
square miles (92 kilometers) of dry timber and brush, said Lynne Tolmachoff of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“The weather out here in California seems to be cooling down today and over the next couple days, and that should hopefully help firefighters get even more containment,” Tolmachoff said. “They should make better progress over the next couple of days.”
They’ll need to, with temperatures, expected to again reach 100 degrees or more by the end of the week. (AP) Trudeau meets victims’ families: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Sunday with the families of victims of a fatal shooting in eastern Canada -- but said “now is not the time” to discuss gun control.
Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, opened fire in the sleepy city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, early Friday, killing four people, including two police officers.
Trudeau met the families privately, and laid a wreath at a makeshift memorial in front of the city’s police headquarters.
“This is a moment to remember the two brave officers who fell in the line of duty and the other two victims and all of their families and the communities that are pulling together,” he said.
“Obviously, reflecting on this loss, but remembering that resilience comes from leaning on each other and being there for each other.” (AFP)