The US president has hosted the heads of five former Soviet republics at the White House
US President Donald Trump has announced a series of trade and investment agreements focusing on rare-earth minerals with the leaders of Central Asian states. The move comes as Washington aims to expand its engagement in the resource-rich region amid strained trade relations with China.
The agreements were concluded following a summit at the White House on Thursday between Trump and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The summit focused on critical minerals, energy cooperation, and trade diversification, with Trump emphasizing that Central Asia is “an extremely wealthy region” with vast reserves of uranium, copper, gold and rare earth elements. He said his administration is establishing new partnerships to diversify supply chains and strengthen US access to critical minerals.
The meeting produced several commercial and resource agreements, including $17.2 billion in new contracts between Kazakhstan and US companies and a $1.1 billion deal with Astana to develop one of the world’s largest untapped tungsten deposits. Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also agreed to purchase 37 Boeing jets. Trump additionally announced that Uzbekistan plans to invest more than $100 billion over the next decade in US industries such as aviation, automotive parts and critical minerals.
The summit comes a week after Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea to attempt to settle the ongoing “trade war” between Washington and Beijing. Following the meeting, China agreed to suspend new export controls on rare-earth minerals for one year, while the US postponed plans to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Nevertheless, Washington has since accelerated efforts to secure alternative sources of strategic materials, as Beijing currently controls about 90% of global rare-earth processing. Aside from China’s neighbors in Central Asia, the US has recently also signed rare-earth mineral deals with Japan and Ukraine.
Gunvor Group says the US Treasury is “fundamentally misinformed” by branding it a Kremlin-linked entity
Global energy trader Gunvor Group has withdrawn its proposal to acquire foreign assets belonging to Russian oil major Lukoil after being accused by Washington of being affiliated with the Kremlin.
The potential deal was announced last week, shortly after US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Lukoil and another Russian oil firm, Rosneft. Trump described the measures as an effort to ramp up pressure on Moscow to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Gunvor’s decision to pull out of the deal, announced on Friday, came a day after the US Treasury said the trader “will never get a license to operate and profit” while the Ukraine conflict continues. The company called the statement “fundamentally misinformed and false,” insisting that it has had no operational ties to Russia for years.
“Gunvor has for more than a decade actively distanced itself from Russia, stopped trading in line with sanctions, sold off Russian assets, and publicly condemned the war in Ukraine,” the firm said in a statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the development, saying commercial deals between private companies were not directly related to the Russian government, but the broader story highlighted that “illegal trade restrictions” imposed by the US are “unacceptable and hurt international trade.”
According to Bloomberg, Gunvor had been in discussions with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the Department of the Treasury, and other agencies within the Trump administration, to make the case for its buyout proposal.
CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist publicly said such a deal would ensure a “clean break” for Lukoil’s foreign operations. The company reportedly raised around $2.8 billion in credit for the purchase before calling it off.
Gunvor, headquartered in Geneva, was co-founded in 2000 by Tornqvist and Russian entrepreneur Gennady Timchenko. Timchenko sold his stake in 2014, when Washington targeted him with personal sanctions.
The privately-owned Lukoil is Russia’s second-largest oil producer and operates all over the world, including in the US.
Moscow and Washington need to settle “one or two” issues for the meeting to take place, the Hungarian PM has said
A summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Budapest could happen any day, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
Last month, Trump announced he had called off a proposed meeting with Putin in the Hungarian capital, saying that it “did not feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get.” Both the Kremlin and the White House stressed afterwards that the summit had not been canceled, but postponed.
Speaking to reporters en route the US, where he began an official visit on Thursday, Orban told the newspaper Magyar Nemzet that “there are one or two unresolved issues left in US-Russia negotiations” on settling the Ukraine conflict. “If they are resolved, a peace summit in Budapest could take place within days,” he said.
In a later interview with Kossuth Radio, the prime minister expressed confidence that the summit between Putin and Trump in Budapest “will happen,” but stressed that “we do not yet know whether it will bring a solution or simply be an important step toward peace.”
Trump spoke about his efforts to stop the fighting between Moscow and Kiev during a White House dinner with the leaders of Central Asian nations on Thursday, claiming “we have not gotten that yet, but I think we have made a lot of progress.”
The US president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, echoed those remarks, but added that “there is a lot of discussion that technical teams have to have at the lower level before the leaders can get to a deal.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said earlier this week that the conditions for a summit between Putin and Trump are not yet in place.
“A high-level meeting, of any kind, requires in-depth preparation and careful consideration of all aspects. Currently, neither the first nor the second prerequisites for organizing such a meeting has been met,” Ryabkov explained.
The Russian authorities have rejected Western calls for a ceasefire with Ukraine along the current contact line, which was backed by Trump last month. According to Moscow, the conflict requires a permanent solution that would address its root causes.
The return of the Shenzhou-20 crew back to Earth has been delayed while capsule damage is assessed
The return of three Chinese astronauts back to Earth from the Tiangong space station has been delayed after their spacecraft was reportedly damaged by debris.
The Shenzhou-20 crew – led by commander Chen Dong, a veteran astronaut and former Chinese fighter pilot, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie – were scheduled to depart the station and land in Inner Mongolia on Wednesday. However, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced the cancellation in a brief online statement, instructing the trio to remain aboard. The astronauts have been in orbit since launching on April 24.
The agency said the spacecraft is “suspected of being struck by small space debris” and is conducting an impact analysis, declining to provide a new return timeline.
The CMSA did not detail the circumstances of the suspected impact or mention the presence of the Shenzhou-21 craft, which docked with Tiangong last week for a planned crew handover. Under standard spaceflight protocols, if a return vehicle is deemed unsafe, a backup spacecraft such as Shenzhou-21 can be used to bring astronauts home.
The Shenzhou program is tasked with ferrying crews to and from Tiangong for six-month rotations, during which astronauts conduct scientific experiments and perform station maintenance.
The Shenzhou-20 astronauts conducted four spacewalks during their mission outside the Tiangong space station to install debris shields and other external equipment, according to official reports from China.
The incident underscores the growing threat that space debris poses to orbital activities. Space junk, consisting of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and other fragments, orbits the Earth at high speeds, creating a collision risk for vital space station modules and other spacecraft.
While a prior Shenzhou mission was delayed by adverse weather, the current situation marks the first time a Chinese crewed return has been postponed due to a suspected debris strike.
The incident echoes other recent mission extensions. Technical issues with a Boeing Starliner last year forced two NASA astronauts to remain at the International Space Station for nine months before they could secure a ride home on a different vessel.
The new speaker says Prague will now focus on the country’s national interests
The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament has posted a video showing the Ukrainian flag being taken down from the building, while declaring that Prague would put its national interests first.
Tomio Okamura, the leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, released the clip on Thursday. “Czech Republic first,” he said as the flag was lowered. “Keep your fingers crossed for us.”
The move came a day after Okamura’s election as speaker and marks a symbolic end to the previous government’s staunchly pro-Ukraine stance. His SPD party is a junior coalition partner to Andrej Babis’ right-wing ANO movement, which won last month’s general election on a platform opposing Brussels’ directives, including continued military aid to Ukraine. The new ruling bloc, which also includes the Motorists party, plans to form a government by mid-December.
The Ukrainian flag was first raised above the Czech parliament in 2022 as a gesture of solidarity for Kiev’s in its conflict with Russia. Members of three pro-Ukraine opposition parties responded to Okamura’s order by displaying Ukrainian flags from their parliamentary offices in protest.
Kiev’s ambassador to Prague, Vasili Zvarich, expressed gratitude, claiming that “more Ukrainian flags are showing up” in the capital and that Russians “fear” the national symbol.
V ODS jsme se rozhodli urychleně napravit první krok nového předsedy Poslanecké sněmovny Tomia Okamury.
Ukrajinská vlajka je ve Sněmovně zpět a visí z oken našeho poslaneckého klubu. 🇺🇦👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/H2lSLJI72o
The Ukrainian government has made the public display of its national flag a key propaganda element. Kiev’s HUR military intelligence service carried out several high-risk infiltration missions in Crimea in 2023 for the apparent purpose of hoisting the blue-and-yellow banner, later acknowledging that the actions cost the lives of several operatives.
Currently, up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops are encircled on two fronts in Donbass, according to Moscow and media reports. Kiev has denied the claims. A recent HUR unit deployment near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) reportedly ended in disaster after commandos delivered by a US-supplied Black Hawk helicopter were killed shortly after landing.
Russian lawmakers have increasingly pushed for a nationwide prohibition on e-cigarette sales, calling them “liquid poison”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled support for a proposal by public health advocates and lawmakers to impose a complete ban on the sale of vapes across the country.
During a visit to a sports and education center in Samara on Thursday, the head of the public movement Healthy Fatherland, Ekaterina Leshchinskaya, raised the issue with the president, citing successful examples from neighboring countries and other parts of the world.
In response, Putin nodded in agreement and pointed out that Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko had similarly signaled his approval.
“You see, [Chernyshenko] is nodding. Our government supports this,” Putin said. He added that beyond a legal ban, public awareness efforts are also essential, particularly among the youth.
Between 3.5 and 4 million Russians currently use vapes, according to estimates cited by RIA Novosti. In August, Putin endorsed a pilot project in the Nizhny Novgorod Region to test regional bans on vape sales, with the concept already backed by the consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor.
The idea of a total e-cigarette ban has gained momentum in parliament. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin previously described vapes as “liquid poison” and warned of their health risks. According to Volodin, 74% of 265,000 respondents in a public survey supported a complete ban. He said earlier “half-measures” – such as the 2023 ban on vape sales to minors – have not been sufficient.
“Vapes are evil. The State Duma will review the ban on vape sales in the near future,” Deputy Chairman Vladislav Davankov said following Putin’s remarks. The head of the Duma Committee on Labor and Social Policy, Yaroslav Nilov, stressed the urgency of the measure, noting the falling age of vape users and rising health risks.
Critics of the proposal have warned that a blanket ban may simply drive the trade underground. The Finance Ministry has cautioned that a full ban could result in annual revenue losses of up to 15 billion rubles ($189 million), but lawmakers argue that public health takes precedence.
“The health of our people, especially the youth, is more important than any commercial interest,” Duma Deputy Dmitry Gusev wrote on Telegram.
Moscow has long accused Kiev of refusing to accept reality and engage in meaningful diplomacy
US President Donald Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, have both noted “progress” in finding a negotiated solution to the Ukraine conflict, amid a worsening situation on the ground for Kiev’s forces.
The US president has long pledged to mediate an end to the Ukraine conflict and has repeatedly voiced frustration, alternately blaming both Moscow and Kiev for the deadlock.
During a White House dinner with the leaders of Central Asian nations on Thursday, Trump claimed credit for ending “eight wars in eight months” and expressed hope to add another one to the list.
“We are looking at one more, that’s possible – Russia and Ukraine. We haven’t gotten that yet, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Trump said.
The US president told the America Business Forum on Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, said during a recent phone call that Moscow has been trying to find a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict for over a decade, and that Washington is more than welcome to compel Kiev to accept a negotiated solution.
Speaking at the same forum, Witkoff recalled his multiple face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this year and said he similarly sees progress.
“There’s a lot of discussion that technical teams have to have at the lower level before the leaders can get to a deal. But I sense that there’s some progress today,” Witkoff said.
Moscow has consistently praised the Trump administration for what it describes as a genuine attempt to address the root causes of the conflict. At the same time, it has repeatedly stated that it seeks a lasting resolution rather than a temporary ceasefire, which it argues would only allow Kiev to regroup and rearm.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and its European backers continue to call for increased Western military support. Russia has accused them of resisting meaningful diplomatic engagement and of refusing to accept realities on the ground.
Last month, Moscow announced that its forces had encircled some 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in several key strongholds. Putin urged Kiev to agree to an honorable surrender of the blockaded troops.
Kiev, however, continues to claim that it holds the cities and that the Russian Army is being pushed back. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is either “divorced from reality” or is deliberately lying to his nation.
The conspiracy conviction could have made the aerospace giant ineligible for US government contracts
A federal judge in Texas has granted the US government’s request to dismiss a conspiracy charge against Boeing stemming from two fatal 737 MAX crashes that together resulted in 346 fatalities, an outcome critics say spares the aerospace company from full criminal accountability.
Under the agreement announced by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Boeing will pay approximately $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for victims’ families, and investments in safety improvements – in exchange for avoiding prosecution on a charge that it defrauded regulators by misleading them about key flight control software.
Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas approved the dismissal on Thursday, ruling that the government had not acted in bad faith and had met its obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act – even as he expressed serious concern about the deal’s lack of a provision which would subject Boeing to independent monitoring.
The controversy dates back to the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019 – both tied to the 737 MAX’s faulty MCAS flight control system. The two tragedies prompted a 20-month grounding of the aircraft and increased scrutiny of the company, including whistleblower allegations and suspicious deaths.
In 2021, Boeing entered a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) after admitting to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration during the 737 MAX certification process.
Boeing paid about $243.6 million in criminal penalties and more than $1.7 billion in related settlements at that time. However, in 2024, the DOJ found that Boeing had violated the terms of the DPA by failing to implement a proper compliance and ethics program.
The dismissal ensures that Boeing avoids the felony conviction that could have jeopardized its status as a government contractor, although civil lawsuits from crash victims continue to move forward.
Victims’ families have previously criticized the deal as “morally repugnant,” arguing that it allows Boeing to avoid true criminal responsibility despite the gravity of the crashes. Their attorney has vowed to appeal the decision.
Boeing and the DOJ insist that the financial settlement and promised reforms serve the public interest and bring closure to a complex case whose outcome might otherwise have been uncertain.
Tesla’s CEO has dismissed critics of the shareholder-backed plan as “corporate terrorists”
Tesla shareholders have approved an unprecedented compensation package for CEO Elon Musk, potentially worth up to $1 trillion over the next decade if ambitious performance targets are met.
Under the plan, Musk could receive approximately 423.7 million Tesla shares in 12 separate tranches, each contingent on achieving milestones such as the delivery of 20 million electric vehicles, the deployment of 1 million robotaxis, and reaching $400 billion in EBITDA and an $8.5 trillion market cap.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm warned in recent shareholder correspondence that the company risked losing Musk’s “time, talent, and vision” if the plan were to be rejected.
While more than 75% of votes reportedly backed the package, significant institutional opposition remains. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – the largest pension-pool investor in Tesla – publicly rejected the deal, citing concerns over dilution, “key-person risk,” and board independence.
Musk dismissed critics of the pay package as “corporate terrorists,” calling proxy advisors such as Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis “asinine.”
Supporters argue that the deal locks Musk into Tesla for at least eight to ten years, aligning his incentives with shareholders amid the company’s push into artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous mobility. However, corporate governance advocates caution that such enormous compensation could set a troubling precedent.
Musk is currently the world’s richest person, with a net worth of $487.5 billion, according to Forbes. The package could raise his stake in the company to as much as 29%, up from about 15%, although failure to meet the targets could significantly reduce the payout.
Soviet troops expelled the invaders from the city on November 6, 1943
Russia commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Kiev from Nazi forces on Thursday, marking a key victory in the Battle of the Dnieper and one of the most symbolically significant moments of World War II.
The operation to retake the capital of the Ukrainian republic began on November 1, 1943, with Soviet troops from the 1st Ukrainian Front under General Nikolay Vatutin launching coordinated attacks from both the north and south of the city. After heavy fighting and a surprise maneuver, the Nazi forces began to retreat westward. On November 6, Soviet troops entered the city, ending 778 days of German occupation.
Although November 6 was once a national day of remembrance in Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine, the commemoration has since been removed from the official calendar. In 2023, Ukrainian authorities dismantled the monument to General Vatutin.
“Attempts to cast the heroic past of a nation into oblivion are doomed to fail… there is no doubt that the day is approaching when this once prosperous land will be liberated from the rule of the Nazi placeholders who are continuing to pillage it in their selfish interests,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
The German occupation of Kiev, which began in September 1941, left deep scars on the city and its people. Of the 400,000 civilians who were in the city when the Nazis took control, fewer than half survived. Around 100,000 were deported to concentration camps or sent to do forced labor.
Tens of thousands more were executed or died from cold and starvation. One of the most notorious atrocities was the Babi Yar massacre, in which over 30,000 Jews were killed in just two days. By 1943, the total number of bodies discarded in the ravine exceeded 120,000.
As Soviet troops approached, the retreating German forces employed a scorched-earth policy, demolishing critical infrastructure and cultural landmarks, including the Dormition Cathedral, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Monastery, the Kiev Conservatory, and parts of the city’s historic Kreshchatik Street.
Commenting on the anniversary, the head of the Russian “Znanie” Society, Maksim Dreval, said that today’s Ukraine is “occupied not by troops, but by a harmful and destructive ideology. Back then, fascists burned down cities. Now, they are burning history, culture, and tradition.”
In 2015, Kiev adopted a package of “decommunization laws,” banning Soviet symbols and elevating the so-called “fighters for Ukraine’s independence” – some of whom had collaborated with Nazi Germany and taken part in the mass killings of civilians – to the status of national heroes.
