Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks aimed at halting his country's invasion of Ukraine and demanded a swift response from Moscow after weeks of U.S. efforts to secure a truce.
A Russian drone attack late Thursday on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, killed five civilians and dramatized the diplomatic insistence on a ceasefire. Emergency crews carried black body bags from a burning apartment building as onlookers wept and hugged in the dark. Some of the 32 injured, bloodied and in shock, limped out into the street or were carried on stretchers as flames shot from the windows of their homes.
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Countries and industries were scrambling Friday to respond as President Donald Trump's latest tariffs hikes upend global trade and world markets.
China responded to the 34% tariffs imposed by the U.S. on imports from China by announcing it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10.
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President Donald Trump offered a rosy assessment after the stock market dropped sharply Thursday over his tariffs, saying, "I think it's going very well."
"The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom," he said when asked about the market as he left the White House to fly to one of his Florida golf clubs.
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Parts of the Midwest and South faced the possibility of torrential rains and life-threatening flash floods Friday, while many communities were still reeling from tornadoes that destroyed whole neighborhoods and killed at least seven people.
Forecasters warned of catastrophic weather on the way, with round after round of heavy rains expected in the central U.S. through Saturday. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lined up like freight trains to take the same tracks over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the national Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
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Indonesian rescuers recovered 10 bodies after a landslide struck vehicles on a hilly road on the country's main island of Java, police said Friday.
Torrential rains pushed mud, rocks and trees down the mountainside road on Thursday, burying a van with seven people aboard and a pickup truck with three traders and full of vegetables near Watu Lumpang, a resort area in East Java's Mojokerto district, said local police chief Andi Yudha Pranata.
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Extreme weather is dangerous weather, and that's particularly true for the heavy rainfall events that experts say are becoming more frequent with climate change. The powerful storms can pose threats ranging from falling limbs to downed power lines to drowning.
Experts say disaster preparation and good planning can help protect lives and property.
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Lebanon's new central bank governor vowed Friday that the institution will fight money laundering and the financing of "terrorism" and will work independently away from political intervention.
Karim Souaid, who was speaking after officially taking office in Beirut, added that he will work on restructuring the banking sector and public debt and returning money to depositors.
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A crackdown on foreign students is alarming colleges, who say the Trump administration is using new tactics and vague justifications to push some students out of the country.
College officials worry the new approach will keep foreigners from wanting to study in the U.S.
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Top congressional Democrats on Thursday protested the reported firing of Gen. Tim Haugh as director of the National Security Agency, with one lawmaker saying the decision "makes all of us less safe."
The Washington Post reported late Thursday that Haugh and his civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, had been dismissed from those roles. Haugh also headed U.S. Cyber Command, which coordinates the Pentagon's cybersecurity operations. The Post report cited two current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official who requested anonymity.
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Israeli aircraft carried out two strikes on military targets near Damascus late Thursday, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Humans Rights said.
"Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes on military positions and posts" in the vicinity of Al-Kiswah and Al-Muqaylibah outside Damascus, the Observatory said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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