Wall Street ends down; Zions sparks worries about regional banks
Wall Street closed lower on Thursday as renewed concerns about regional banks and intensifying U.S.-China trade tensions weighed on investor sentiment...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has firmly rejected claims that the Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline as part of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“This is unequivocally false,” Rubio posted on X. “Neither [special envoy] Steve Witkoff nor I have had any conversations about lifting sanctions against Russia as part of a deal with Ukraine.”
Rubio went further, accusing Politico — which first published the story — of “journalistic malpractice” and called for a full retraction.
The Politico article, citing anonymous sources said to be familiar with internal discussions, claimed the Trump administration was internally debating the idea of lifting sanctions on Russian energy infrastructure — specifically the Nord Stream 2 pipeline — as part of broader talks about ending the Ukraine war.
According to the report, Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine negotiations, had allegedly been a leading voice in raising the option and had requested a full list of current energy-related sanctions on Russia. However, one of the unnamed sources admitted the idea “has not found much traction in the White House” and that Rubio had actively opposed it.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, completed in 2021, was sanctioned under the Trump administration in 2019 and later shelved due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite being physically complete, the pipeline has never become operational.
Rubio’s swift denial comes amid heightened scrutiny over potential shifts in U.S. policy toward Russia. As peace negotiations continue behind closed doors, the Trump administration has emphasized that no concessions will be made that undermine Ukraine or reward Russian aggression.
While the Politico report raised questions about whether sanctions relief could be used as a bargaining chip, Rubio’s response suggests the administration remains committed to maintaining pressure on Moscow until significant concessions are made.
The State Department and the White House have not yet issued formal statements beyond Rubio’s post.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by killing Palestinians while Israel says it wants the bodies of all hostages returned
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will speak in the coming days to prepare a new summit between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday.
Catastrophic floods in central and eastern Mexico have claimed 70 lives, left 75 people missing, and displaced thousands, as survivors plead for government assistance while navigating streets covered in mud and debris.
Russian attacks have forced Ukraine to suspend activities at several major gas facilities this month, the state energy company said on Thursday, leaving Kyiv in need of more imports.
Britain’s top intelligence officer has revealed MI5 thwarted an attack from China within the past week, as he issued a stark warning that Beijing presents a “daily” threat to the UK’s national security.
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