The U.S. on Monday unveiled an expansion of sanctions that it said would cut off Iran's economic lifeline but stopped short of the most punishing measures, instead putting the world on notice to cease doing business with the Islamic Republic. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said other countries would need to sever business ties with Iran or risk being forced out of the dollar-based financial system.President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday it planned to revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the U.S., marking its latest step in a sweeping immigration crackdown. A State Department spokesman said it was coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security "to identify and revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently."French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon is seen as the most likely rival to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in next year's presidential run-off, a Monday poll showed, underlining a deeply polarised electorate as Emmanuel Macron's presidency draws to a close. Melenchon, the candidate of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, is seen reaching a run-off in at least three of the five scenarios polled, while he tied for second place in a fourth scenario. Le Pen is seen beating him easily in a run-off.South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Monday, and Seoul said they agreed to maintain close communication and cooperation on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The U.S. State Department issued only a brief statement on the phone call, which comes at a period of tension between the allies. President Donald Trump recently announced a scaling back of joint military exercises and praised nuclear-armed North Korea, while saying that Seoul had not helped his efforts to try to denuclearize Iran.Two U.N. peacekeepers from Ethiopia were killed and seven other people injured in an ambush on Monday in South Sudan's Jonglei State, bringing to nine the number of peacekeepers killed in the line of duty worldwide this year, the United Nations said. Among the injured were three U.N. peacekeepers, two police officers from South Sudan and two civilian staff members, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a press briefing.The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a judicial decision blocking President Donald Trump's administration from implementing his executive order to restrict the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of Congress — though another remains. The justices granted a Justice Department emergency request to put on hold an injunction that Boston-based U.S. Judge Indira Talwani imposed in June preventing the Republican president from proceeding with his directive in a coalition of 23 mostly Democratic-governed states and Washington, D.C. that had sued to stop it.At least 47 people were killed and 22 more injured in an overnight gang raid on a neighborhood overlooking Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.N. said on Monday, prompting anger over the lack of protection from repeated deadly attacks. The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said estimates could still change.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons, but gave no details about when the alleged plot took place, which son was targeted or how close it came to being carried out. Netanyahu's allegation underscores the heightened tensions since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in February, during which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders were killed.The U.S. military said on Monday two people had been killed in a strike it launched on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific over the weekend, the latest in a series of similar attacks that Washington says target "narco-terrorists" but human rights groups say amount to extrajudicial killings. FURTHER DETAILS:Mexico is bolstering its screwworm containment campaign in northern border states where recent cases have been detected, heightening scrutiny of livestock exports as cross-border trade resumed on Monday under a phased U.S. reopening. The reopening marks the first easing of a U.S. ban imposed more than a year ago to keep out the flesh-eating pest, as imports resumed initially through Arizona.Analysis-Trump's Kim gambit deepens doubts over US reliability at a key moment for AsiaDonald Trump's olive branch to North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the expense of a long-standing ally comes at a pivotal moment for U.S. security ties in Asia, as partners from Japan to India reassess how much they can rely on Washington. The U.S. president's abrupt decision to cut back military drills with South Korea last week, which he described as hostile to Pyongyang, has reinforced fears that Trump's unpredictability could strain alliances that have long maintained peace in the region, government officials and security experts said.
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to Reuters.
