The U.S. has spent 20 years promising ‘crippling sanctions’ on Iran. But the latest effort comes with a reverse twist, after military action failed to accomplish President Trump’s goals.
The U.S. has spent 20 years promising ‘crippling sanctions’ on Iran. But the latest effort comes with a reverse twist, after military action failed to accomplish President Trump’s goals.
In announcing Operation Economic Outcast, the Trump administration said on Monday that it would involve choking off every last transaction that funnels money to Tehran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would “tighten the noose” around Iran by imposing sanctions on every source or facilitator of its revenue.
Ukraine celebrated 35 years of independence on 24 August, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the day with an address listing what the invasion has cost Russia, published by the President's Office. He said Putin is mortal and out of time to understand Ukraine, and said Ukraine will not hand over Donbas or save the Kremlin half a million soldiers. He also asked partners for sanctions and weapons strong enough to force an end to the war.
Russia has been inv
Ukraine celebrated 35 years of independence on 24 August, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the day with an address listing what the invasion has cost Russia, published by the President's Office. He said Putin is mortal and out of time to understand Ukraine, and said Ukraine will not hand over Donbas or save the Kremlin half a million soldiers. He also asked partners for sanctions and weapons strong enough to force an end to the war.
Russia has been invading Ukraine since 2014 and fighting a full-scale war on it since 2022, and Ukraine now supplies a growing share of the missiles and drones it fights back with, while the air defense shielding its cities still hangs on decisions taken in Washington and European capitals—which is what makes a holiday speech a statement of what Kyiv will not trade and what it needs built or delivered next.
The losses he read back to Moscow
President Zelenskyy turned from his own citizens to Russia partway through the speech.
"You wanted to take all our Ukraine, all our land; instead, you lost your oil refineries, your fleet, your profits, your entire generation that you sent into the meat grinder," he said.
A country that wanted Ukraine erased from the map, he added, is now absent from the international agenda of the future civilization.
For five years now, Russia has tried to exhaust and break Ukrainians — cutting light and heat, destroying homes, Kyiv Mayor Klitschko said on Ukraine's 35th Independence Day
"The aggressor failed to understand one fundamental thing: above all else, Ukrainians love freedom," he… pic.twitter.com/NvVVKSKIK1
He set Moscow's self-image against its filling stations.
"For 27 years, the head of Russia has talked about greatness, while Russia is standing in lines for gasoline," Zelenskyy said.
Moscow and St. Petersburg brought back gasoline rationing this month, and Rosneft capped fills at every station in the country.
On the Russian leader he was blunt.
"Putin hopes that we are tired. But we know that he is mortal," he said, adding that Putin never understood Ukraine and now will not have the time to.
A fifth Independence Day at war
Before the holiday, Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv and its main airport hub twice in 24 hours. A solution to Russian ballistic terror must be found, Zelenskyy said, and that gamble must not pay off.
Russia does not want peace, it wants mobilization, the president said. Ukraine will not let Moscow seize the initiative or convince Europe that surrendering Donbas ends the war. Russia keeps pushing back the dates for taking all of Donetsk Oblast and will keep pushing them back, he said.
The president called Ukraine's defense industry a giant that forges independence around the clock, and demanded more from it. Mid-range strikes cut Russian logistics and long-range weapons cut Russian profits, he said, listing Moscow, Tuapse, Tula, Ryazan, Olenya, and Omsk among the places already hit.
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Ukraine's home-built Flamingo cruise missiles should stop being a rare species and arrive en masse: "They must 'winter' in Russia," Zelenskyy noted.
Previously, Flamingos have hit defense plants more than 1,000 km from the border, though they still appear in strikes in small numbers.
"China should no longer remain silent"
Ukraine is not asking anyone to fight for it, the president said — only for everything needed to stop the war before Putin starts the next one. He wants sanctions that make Russians howl and Moscow at a negotiating table, and said Washington has lost its illusions about Russian intentions. Europe must be Europe, he said: united, ambitious, brave.
"China should no longer remain silent," he added, saying Beijing must cool the ardor of someone who puts on a sailor's uniform and cap and talks about a nuclear strike—a description that fits Putin.
China’s humanoid robots are achieving superhuman feats of athleticism. But how that translates into the real world is still an open question, experts said.
China’s humanoid robots are achieving superhuman feats of athleticism. But how that translates into the real world is still an open question, experts said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that countries that continue to do business with Iran would face the “full might and force” of the U.S. government.
China-based retailer swung to $99m loss in first quarter and faces scrutiny over its environmental footprintBusiness live – latest updatesShein, which built a fast-fashion empire on what seemed like impossibly low prices, has been forced to lower its own valuation in a cut-price stock market float, after falling into the red earlier this year.The online retailer will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September at a valuation of close to $27bn (£19.8bn), significantly down from a near-$10
Shein, which built a fast-fashion empire on what seemed like impossibly low prices, has been forced to lower its own valuation in a cut-price stock market float, after falling into the red earlier this year.
The online retailer will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September at a valuation of close to $27bn (£19.8bn), significantly down from a near-$100bn private market peak four years ago.
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