Año: 2024

While the measures expand the scope of the U.S. sanctions program, the Biden administration has so far refrained from imposing sanctions on Chinese or European banks it believes are helping Russia. The new measures do not prevent banks from facilitating transactions related to Russia's energy exports, which the Biden administration has allowed to continue out of fear that restricting them could stoke inflation. Announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a statement that “Russia's war economy is deeply isolated from the international financial system, leaving the Kremlin's military desperate for access to the outside world.” At the…

Still battling Israel's external enemies on multiple fronts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu awoke Monday to a new political battlefield at home.The departure this weekend of Benny Gantz and his centrist National Unity party from Israel's wartime emergency government is unlikely to immediately break Netanyahu's power. The prime minister's ruling coalition still holds a narrow majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament. But Gantz's move means Netanyahu is now totally dependent on his far-right and ultra-Orthodox coalition partners as he pursues the war in Gaza despite growing international disapproval, leaving him increasingly isolated and exposed at home and abroad. .…

Summer at the spa - a ritual that has lasted nearly 200 years - began early in Saratoga Springs, New York, with the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, held Saturday for the first time at Saratoga Race Course, a relic revered where elites and others mingle, but horses dominate. Broadway, the city's central thoroughfare, was abuzz with activity. Lines for picnic tables along the trail formed before dawn. A new color, Belmont Green, blends with the track's signature red and white coating. Owners, trainers, runners and loyalists all hailed the break with tradition for the 156th…

Israeli troops have overrun much of Gaza since their ground invasion began in late October. But they managed to save only seven living hostages in three separate military operations, with around 120 prisoners remaining in Gaza. Several proposed rescue missions did not go ahead for fear that hostages or law enforcement would die in the process, according to two Israeli defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation. In December, Israeli special forces attempted to rescue a hostage from Hamas captivity, according to the two defense officials. Sahar Baruch, an Israeli hostage, was killed during…