Sanctions

Earlier, the previous US president, Donald Trump, criticized Biden on his Afghanistan policy, as the former wondered out loud whether anyone in the US had begun to miss him in the White House as the Taliban advances in the Central Asian country following the US military's exit.

Gov. Abbott insists 'Texas can do this'

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blocked a middle-of-the-night/early Wednesday morning attempt by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to pass a revised version of the “For The People” Act.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blocked the quick confirmation of dozens of State Department nominees on Wednesday morning, guaranteeing that they will stay in limbo until next month when the Senate returns from its summer break.

There is an old Soviet tale about Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. At lunchtime, he would retreat into his office and stare at the map of the world. The map was centered on the Soviet Union. The old Bolshevik would just glare at it as if it were a giant chessboard awaiting Moscow’s next move.

"You are not alone," says an association of police officers from all the territories of Switzerland.

U.S. technology companies are still supplying China’s surveillance state with equipment and software for monitoring populations and censoring information, including in the Xinjiang region, despite damning revelations that have led to genocide accusations against Beijing, according to researchers.

China’s foreign ministry announced new sanctions on seven Americans on Friday, including former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in retaliation for U.S. sanctions on seven Chinese officials last week.

After earlier this week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken somewhat pessimistically portrayed that it remains "unclear" whether Iran is actually willing to restore the nuclear deal, prompting angry words from Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who again pointed out that it's only Washington not in compliance due to Trump-era sanctions which the Biden White House refused to "bury" in order to make a renewed deal possible, Blinken's newest statements are pouring more cold water on all the recent speculation that prematurely hailed a Vienna agreement as imminent.

Direct exports from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region to the US surged 113% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 despite Washington’s import ban on cotton and other products.