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US President Donald Trump put plans to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest on hold Tuesday, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine ran into yet another roadblock.Trump said just days ago that he would meet Putin within two weeks, while at the same time pressuring Ukraine to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace, a senior Kyiv official told AFP.But Trump has now made yet another abrupt reversal in his bid to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion, with the Kremlin reportedly still sticking to all of its demands despite his call with Putin last week.”There are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” a White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called off an expected meeting to arrange the Budapest summit after speaking by phone on Monday.”An additional in-person meeting between the secretary and foreign minister is not necessary,” the White House official said, adding that the call was nonetheless “productive.”The Kremlin said Tuesday there was no “precise” date for any new meeting between Trump and Putin, who held talks in Alaska in August but failed to reach a breakthrough on Ukraine.- ‘Going in circles’ -Trump had shown growing frustration with Putin despite what he says is their personal chemistry, but after meeting Zelensky at the White House last week the US president appeared to shift back to Moscow’s side.The US leader pushed Zelensky during the talks to cede Donbas during the “tense” talks last Friday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.The source added that the talks with Trump were “not easy,” and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being “dragged out” and “going in circles.”Trump called last week for both Moscow and Kyiv to stop the war at their current battle lines, and publicly made no references to Kyiv giving up territory.But when asked if Trump urged Zelensky to pull out of land that Ukraine still controlled — one of Putin’s key demands — a senior Ukrainian official told AFP: “Yes, that’s true.”Zelensky left the meeting empty-handed after Trump, who spoke with Putin the day before, denied his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and pressured him into making a deal.Ukraine considers the Donbas — a largely industrial area spanning its eastern Lugansk and Donetsk regions — an inseparable part of its territory and has rejected the idea of ceding it many times.- ‘Line of contact’ -European leaders have meanwhile rejected the idea of Ukraine giving up land — instead backing the proposal for fighting should be frozen on the current front lines.In a joint statement published Tuesday, leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Britain’s Keir Starmer warned that Russia was not “serious about peace.””We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,” the statement said.Zelensky, who is pushing to attend any summit after being shut out of Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska, has ruled out territorial concessions.EU leaders are set to close ranks in support of Ukraine at a Brussels summit on Thursday — followed a day later by a “coalition of the willing” meeting of European leaders in London to discuss the next steps to help Kyiv.Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarize the country and prevent the expansion of NATO.Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory — much of it ravaged by fighting — while tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed.A Russian drone attack earlier Tuesday on the town of Novgorod-Siverskyi in Ukraine’s northern Chernigiv region killed four people, the state emergency service said.

A New York man who took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and was pardoned by President Donald Trump has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a top Democratic member of Congress, police said.Christopher Moynihan, 34, was arrested over the weekend on a felony charge of making a “terroristic threat” against Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, according to a criminal complaint from state police.Moynihan, of Clinton, New York, allegedly sent text messages on Friday to an unidentified individual stating that he planned to “eliminate” Jeffries at a speaking event in New York on Monday, the complaint said.”Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” it quoted a message as saying. “Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future.”Jeffries, who addressed the Economic Club of New York on Monday, said in a statement Tuesday that he was the target of a “credible death threat” by a “dangerous individual.””The person arrested, along with thousands of violent felons who stormed the US Capitol during the January 6th attack, was pardoned by Donald Trump on the President’s very first day in office,” the New York lawmaker said.”Since the blanket pardon that occurred earlier this year, many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country,” he said. “Threats of violence will not stop us from showing up, standing up and speaking up for the American people.”Moynihan was among the more than 1,500 participants in the attack on the US Capitol who received a pardon from Trump.Moynihan was sentenced in February 2023 to 21 months in prison for taking part in the assault on Congress by Trump supporters who were seeking to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.His arrest comes amid a rise in political violence in the United States.Prominent right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, 31, was assassinated last month during a speaking event at a university in Utah.In June, a masked shooter killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband at their home. Another elected Democratic official and his wife were also targeted and seriously injured.Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro — touted last year as a potential Democratic presidential hopeful — had his home set alight in April in an alleged assassination attempt.Trump was targeted by a would-be assassin in July 2024 during an election campaign rally in Pennsylvania and escaped with a minor injury to his right ear. 

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to seal a “good” trade deal with China’s Xi Jinping at a regional summit next week — even as he warned the highly anticipated sit-down might yet be cancelled.Trump has repeatedly changed his mind on meeting the Chinese president at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea since first announcing the encounter.”So now we’re going to have a fair deal, and I think we’re going to have a very successful meeting. Certainly, there are a lot of people that are waiting for it,” Trump told a lunch event with Republican senators at the White House.But he then added: “Maybe it won’t happen. Things can happen where, for instance, maybe somebody will say, ‘I don’t want to meet. It’s too nasty.'” But it’s really not nasty.” Trump first announced on September 19 that he would meet Xi in South Korea — which would be their first encounter since his return to the White House — and travel to China early next year.But on October 10 he threatened to scrap the Xi talks and threatened China with massive tariffs after Beijing imposed export curbs on rare earth minerals, only to reverse course.The US president has apparently softened his stance again though, saying as recently as Monday that they would meet and that his trip to China “fairly early next year” was “sort of set.”Xi is not the only leader the 79-year-old Trump has blown hot and cold on recently.He said on Thursday that he would meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine. But the White House said Tuesday that there were now no plans for a meeting “in the immediate future.”

The upcoming Sundance film festival will feature multiple tributes to its late co-founder Robert Redford including a screening of his first independent movie, organizers said Tuesday.Hollywood legend Redford, who starred in hits like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” before becoming an Oscar-winning director, died last month at the age of 89.Redford’s passing caused an outpouring of grief from the US filmmaking community — many of whose leading lights got their start at the indie movie festival he created, including Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.”Robert Redford’s dedication to the power of storytelling shaped independent cinema,” said a festival statement.”In honor of his memory, a commemorative screening of Downhill Racer (released in 1969) will be presented, his first independent film and a passion project that was his catalyst for the creation of Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival,” it said.Starring Redford as an obsessive skier competing in the Winter Olympics, “Downhill Racer” was described by critic Roger Ebert as “the best movie ever made about sports — without really being about sports at all.”In his first significant venture behind the camera, Redford pitched and developed the film, though he did not receive a formal producer credit.Multiple other celebratory events for Redford will be held throughout the festival, which starts January 22.It will be the final Sundance held in Utah, before the festival — having outgrown its base in the ski resort of Park City — moves to Boulder in neighboring Colorado.A screening series of “legacy films” that first premiered at the festival, including the Oscar-winning “Little Miss Sunshine” and horror sensation “Saw,” will be attended by their directors and cast.The festival’s lineup of new feature film and documentary premieres will be announced in the coming weeks, with tickets on sale from Wednesday.

General Motors shares soared Tuesday after reporting strong results as it adjusts strategy over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and slashing of economic support for electric vehicles.The giant US automaker — which has faced tough questions over the impact of Trump’s policy pivots — reported better than expected third-quarter profits and boosted some full-year projections.The good results came despite a $1.6 billion hit to write down EV investments and $1.1 billion in tariff costs in the third quarter.Profits fell 56.6 percent to $1.3 billion, while revenues dipped 0.3 percent to $48.6 billion.But shares rocketed up more than 15 percent in a sign investors believe better profitability lies ahead after GM’s heavy lifting in recent months to reposition the company.”When we have a clear challenge in front of us, that’s when the team does their best work,” Chief Executive Mary Barra said on a conference call.”We don’t sit around and you know look to blame others. We just say, ‘Okay, here’s the situation, how are we going to adjust to it and how quickly can we do it?”- Pivot away from EVs -GM reported increased deliveries in the United States and China compared with the prior-year period, while vehicle pricing remained solid, with dealer inventories below year-ago levels.Executives described the US market as “resilient” with still-healthy demand for GM’s fleet of gasoline-powered vehicles, which is dominated by sport utility vehicles and trucks. GM also scored a jump in EV sales in the United States in a quarter that culminated with the September 30 expiration of a US tax credit of up to $7,500 for vehicle purchases. Executives said EV sales are on track for a drop in the fourth quarter but are expected to stabilize in 2026.GM earlier this month announced the $1.6 billion cost hit from the changes in EVs.The automaker had been aggressively investing in EV capacity throughout the presidency of Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden. It announced in 2021 a target of having its cars and trucks emissions-free by 2035.Barra, in a letter to shareholders, said EVs “remain our North Star,” but that the company’s pivot was needed in recognition that the transition in the United States will take longer.”By acting swiftly and decisively to address overcapacity, we expect to reduce EV losses in 2026 and beyond,” Barra said.At the same time GM has pulled back some EV capacity, it has bolstered investments in US plants in response to the tariffs.In June, GM announced $4 billion in investments to expand production of plants in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee in a plan that also shifts towards a greater mix of vehicles with internal combustion engines.- Tariff policy tweaks -Barra had a trying relationship with the White House during Trump’s first term. On Tuesday, she thanked “the President and his team” for adjusting tariff policies, including a shift on Friday that lets the company offset some of the costs of tariffs on imported parts through 2030.GM now sees its 2025 tariff cost hit at between $3.5-$4.5 billion, down $500 million from an earlier forecast.The company projected full-year adjusted profits of between $12 billion and $13 billion, up from the prior range of $10-$12.5 billion.Executives declined to go into detail on their outlook for next year, but Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said “we do expect that 2026 can be better than 2025.”Analysts at JPMorgan Chase have estimated that GM’s 2026 results could benefit $1 billion from a US-South Korea trade agreement that has yet to be finalized and another $1 billion annually from Trump’s watered down fuel economy rules.”The overall impression is of a company firing on all cylinders within the context of those factors that management can control, and with improving visibility with regard to those factors outside management’s control,” said the JPMorgan note.

Colombia’s president met with the top US diplomat in his country and discussed anti-drug efforts, Bogota said Tuesday, after a renewed public feud with counterpart Donald Trump frayed relations between the historic partners.President Gustavo Petro had a “long, frank, and constructive” meeting on Monday with US Charge d’Affaires John McNamara, Colombia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, after Trump threatened to revoke all aid and impose punishing tariffs on the South American nation.”Representatives from both countries agreed that this is the first step toward resolving the current impasse in bilateral relations and that further meetings will be held with the aim of reaching a prompt solution,” the statement said.Trump, who has launched a lethal naval campaign in the Caribbean against alleged drug traffickers, lashed out on Sunday at leftist Petro, calling him an “illegal drug dealer.”In addition to halting aid and imposing tariffs, Trump threatened unspecified action to “close up” drug cultivation in the country — the world’s largest cocaine producer — if Petro failed to act.At the meeting with McNamara, Petro “reiterated the importance of the United States basing its assessment on actual figures from the fight against drugs in Colombia,” the statement said.Petro’s administration contends that, counter to Trump’s assertions, it has continued to combat drug production, touting record seizures.The leftist government has nonetheless championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs, away from forced eradication to focus on underlying social problems and aiding coca producers to substitute other crops.At the meeting between Petro and McNamara, the “senior officials reaffirmed the commitment of both parties to improve drug fighting strategies,” Colombia’s foreign ministry said.”It is desirable that these efforts continue to be made in coordination with the United States,” the statement added.

The memoir of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s main accusers whose claims sparked the downfall of Britain’s Prince Andrew shot to the top of Amazon UK’s bestseller list Tuesday as it went on sale, ratcheting up pressure on the disgraced royal.The publication of Virginia Giuffre’s book has refocused attention on the Epstein saga in both Britain and the US, where a row is raging over the release of files on the convicted sex offender.In the UK, the re-emergence of allegations that Giuffre was forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was only 17, prompted the prince on Friday to renounce his royal title and honours. It followed reported pressure from his brother King Charles III and nephew, heir-to-the-throne Prince William.Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, took her own life in April aged 41, leaving behind her posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl”.”She would view it as a victory that he was forced — by whatever means — to voluntarily give them up,” the book’s ghostwriter, Amy Wallace, told the BBC, referring to Andrew’s titles.”His life is being eroded because of his past behaviour.”In another interview Tuesday, the ghostwriter urged Andrew to cooperate with US authorities still probing Epstein’s crimes.  “He saw things that were going on,” she told Times Radio, adding “he could share that information with investigators”.- ‘The prince had fun’ -US Congressman Pete Sessions, who is on a congressional oversight committee investigating Epstein, echoed the sentiment.”It would be interesting to see what he did know, what he did see,” he told the BBC.Andrew, 65, who denies wrongdoing, agreed to pay Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.Her chart-topping memoir recounts three sexual encounters with Andrew — one of which she claims was an orgy on Epstein’s island that included Epstein, the prince and “eight other young girls”.At their first alleged meeting in March 2001, Giuffre recounts having sex with the prince at the London mews house of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed two decades later for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls.”He seemed in a rush to have intercourse,” she said of Andrew. “Afterward, he said thank you in his clipped British accent.”She recalled Epstein snapping the notorious photograph of the prince with his arm around her, side-by-side with Maxwell, earlier in the evening. Giuffre said Maxwell praised her the next morning, telling her: “You did well. The prince had fun.” Giuffre alleged Epstein soon gave her $15,000 for “servicing” Andrew.She painfully recounts another incident on Epstein’s island with a man she describes as “a former minister”, without giving his nationality.”He wanted violence. He repeatedly choked me until I lost consciousness,” she wrote, adding she emerged bleeding from different parts of her body.- Mansion furore -The prince relinquished his royal duties and HRH title in 2019 following a disastrous TV interview about Giuffre’s claims.He now faces renewed calls to lose his title of prince, alongside demands for more transparency about his finances and housing arrangements. Charles is preparing for a two-day Vatican state visit starting Wednesday.A Buckingham Palace source told AFP the book’s claims were of “very serious and grave concern” and should be “examined in the appropriate way”.Meanwhile, British newspaper the Times reported on Tuesday that Andrew had not paid rent for two decades on the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, west of London, where he lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. It stems from a seemingly favourable 2003 deal for the mansion owned by the Crown Estate, the royal family’s independently run land and property holdings. In return for spending £8.5 million ($11.4 million) upfront on a lease and refurbishments, Andrew was not required to pay annual rent and can stay there until 2078, according to The Times.Senior Conservative MP Robert Jenrick was among those to hit out, telling the newspaper it was “about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private” as “the public are sick of him”.In the US, the so-called Epstein files have been the focal point of the controversy engulfing Trump’s second presidency.Epstein, the president’s one-time friend, took his own life in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.Giuffre was recruited into Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking network by Maxwell while working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2000. She revealed in the book her subsequent treatment by Epstein and others led her to fear she would “die a sex slave”. burs-jj/jkb/jxb

European leaders Tuesday threw their support behind President Donald Trump’s peace push for Ukraine, while reaffirming their red lines, as the Kremlin cast doubt on chances of an imminent summit between the US leader and Vladimir Putin.Fresh from his Gaza peace deal, Trump has resumed the search for an elusive breakthrough in Ukraine, as the war grinds into its fourth year since Russia’s invasion, through contacts with both Kyiv and Moscow.The likelihood of a Trump-Putin summit taking place in Budapest within two weeks, as promised by the US leader, appeared to recede Tuesday as Moscow warned laying the groundwork “could take time”.But the mooted sit-down has revived the prospect of Washington and Moscow cutting a deal that could disadvantage Kyiv and threaten broader European security interests.The US leader asserted, after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday, that peace talks should begin based on the current frontline with Russia — but multiple reports said US officials had in private pushed Kyiv to concede territory.In a joint statement on Tuesday, leaders including Zelensky, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz threw their weight behind Trump’s peace effort — while appearing to seek to hold him to his public comments.”We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,” said a statement signed by Zelensky, EU chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, Macron, Merz, Britain’s Keir Starmer and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.”We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,” said the leaders, who also included those of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Poland.- Closing ranks -In comments made on board Air Force One on Sunday, Trump made no references to Kyiv ceding territory.”What I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines,” Trump told reporters, adding: “They can negotiate something later on down the line.”Zelensky, who is pushing to attend any summit in Budapest after being shut out of Trump’s last meeting with Putin, in Alaska, has ruled out territorial concessions.France’s Macron said Tuesday Ukraine’s Western allies were ready to provide security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, but that Kyiv alone would decide on any territorial negotiations.”No one else can do this. Therefore, it is up to Ukraine to decide for itself and its territory,” Macron said in Slovenia.EU leaders are set to close ranks in support of Ukraine at a Brussels summit on Thursday — followed a day later by a “coalition of the willing” meeting of European leaders in London to discuss the next steps to help Kyiv.Their statement on Tuesday was about “clearly” reiterating Europe’s position, expressed during a visit by the leaders to Washington following the US president’s talks with Putin in August, an EU official told AFP.- ‘Strongest’ Ukraine position -In the text, European leaders slammed “Russia’s stalling tactics” which “have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace”.”Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position — before, during, and after any ceasefire,” they said.The European Union is considering a new 140-billion-euro ($163-billion) loan for Ukraine funded by frozen Russian central bank assets, which will be discussed at Thursday’s summit in Brussels.Officials are hoping the summit will produce a green light to move ahead with a detailed legal proposal on the loan.”We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace,” the leaders said.burs-raz/ec/st

A memoir by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s main accusers whose claims led to the downfall of Britain’s Prince Andrew was released Tuesday, promising to keep Epstein’s ties to President Donald Trump in the spotlight.While Trump features minimally in Virginia Giuffre’s book, pre-publication publicity has refocused attention on the Epstein saga in the United States where a row rages over the release of files on the disgraced financier and sex offender.Andrew on Friday renounced his royal title under pressure from King Charles III, following further revelations about his ties to Epstein and repeated allegations in Giuffre’s book that she was forced to have sex with the prince three times, including when she was 17.The ghostwriter of “Nobody’s Girl,” Amy Wallace, said that Giuffre — who died by suicide in April aged 41 — told the Washington Post that the prominent campaigner against sexual abuse had admired Trump.”She was a huge Trump fan… There were two reasons for it: One, she’d met him. She worked at Mar-a-Lago. Her dad worked at Mar-a-Lago. She met Trump several times, and he was always very kind to her,” Wallace told the Post.”And secondly, he said he was going to release the Epstein files. He was on her side. That’s how she felt.”The BBC reported that in the book Giuffre alleges three sexual encounters with Andrew — one of which she claims was an orgy including Epstein, the prince and “eight other young girls.”The so-called Epstein files have been the focal point of the controversy engulfing the second presidency of Trump, who was a longtime friend of Epstein.In 2019 Epstein took his own life while in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.Giuffre was recruited into Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking network when she was a 17-year-old minor while working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in 2000, saying in the book she feared she would “die a sex slave.” Giuffre claimed she was approached there by Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later jailed in 2022 for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls.Trump appeared to be on good terms with Epstein during this time, praising him as a “terrific guy” in a 2002 New York Magazine profile.In the book, Giuffre recounts being introduced to Trump by her father, with the property developer asking her “do you babysit at all.””Soon I was making money a few nights a week, minding the children of the elite,” she said in an excerpt published by Vanity Fair.The publication of a now-infamous photo taken in London appearing to show Prince Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist set in motion the former military helicopter pilot’s downfall.Andrew, 65, has long denied the assault accusations, which have caused considerable embarrassment to the British monarchy and seen the prince virtually banished from royal life in recent years.Prince Andrew reached a financial settlement with Giuffre in 2022.”The hope was that once the book was published for the first time since 2011, she could say: ‘I respect your wish to know my memories of Prince Andrew, Ghislaine, Jeffrey, etc, all the other men. I respect that need. I have done the best version of my story,'” Wallace said.

The chess world has been plunged into mourning following the sudden death of prominent US grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky aged 29.Governing body the International Chess Federation (FIDE) remembered Naroditsky, who was also a chess commentator and streamer, as someone “whose influence extended far beyond the chessboard”.Fellow grandmaster and world number two Hikaru Nakamura wrote on social media: “I’m devastated. This is a massive loss for the world of chess.”Charlotte Chess Center announced the death of California-born Naroditsky on Monday, saying: “Daniel was a talented chess player, commentator and educator, and a cherished member of the chess community.”It said he was “admired and respected by fans and players around the world”.It did not say how he died.FIDE said that Naroditsky “played a pivotal role in popularizing chess content online, bridging the gap between professional and amateur chess”.”There are not many people in the world who manage to achieve so much before turning 30.”Naroditsky was ranked number one in his native United States when he was just nine years old, The New York Times said.