European countries vow billions in military support for Ukraine as US envoy meets Putin

BRUSSELS (AP) — European countries are vowing to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion. At the same time, a U.S. envoy pursued peace efforts Friday in a trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war. Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine. Ukraine has endorsed a U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it. U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media, “Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war.In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was in Russia and would meet with Putin in St. Petersburg.

Israel’s army says it will fire air force reservists who condemned the war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s military says it will fire air force reservists who signed a letter condemning the war in Gaza and claiming it only serves political interests instead of bringing the hostages home. In a statement to The Associated Press, an army official said there was no room for any body or individual, including reservists in active duty, “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting,” calling it a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates. Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists and retirees signed a letter, published in Israeli media Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the fighting.

China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%

BEIJING (AP) — China has announced that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125%. It was the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown. While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday. A Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new measures Friday that Washington’s repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy.”

Italy sends rejected migrants to detention centers in Albania

SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — Italian authorities on Friday transferred 40 migrants with no permission to remain in the country to Italian-run migration detention centers in Albania. It was the first time a European Union country sent rejected migrants to a nation outside the EU that is neither their own nor a country they had transited on their journey, migration experts said. A military ship with the migrants departed the Italian port of Brindisi and arrived hours later in the Albanian port of Shengjin, about 40 miles northeast of the capital, Tirana.