Europe Joins U.S. in New Sanctions on Russia; Rubio Visits Israel; Trump Halts SF Federal Agent Deployment

New Sanctions on Russia

• 🇪🇺 European officials have approved new economic measures targeting key sectors of Russia's economy, following the U.S. lead.
• 💰 These sanctions aim to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine and include a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports and port bans on over 100 Russian ships.
• 🏦 For the first time, sanctions are being imposed on Chinese and Indian banks accused of supporting Russia's war economy.
• 🇺🇸 The U.S. sanctions, targeting Russia's largest oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, mark a significant policy shift, which Russia's President Putin called an "unfriendly act."
• 🗣️ China rejected the unilateral sanctions, stating that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable paths to resolving the Ukraine crisis.

Middle East Diplomatic Efforts

• 🇺🇸 Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel to help preserve the fragile Gaza cease-fire deal.
• 🇮🇱 Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both criticizing a preliminary vote in Israel's Parliament to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
• ⚠️ Vance called the annexation vote an "insult and a political stunt," reiterating that the U.S. policy is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.

Domestic U.S. News

• 🌉 President Trump has called off plans to send federal agents into San Francisco for now, after speaking with the city's mayor and major tech leaders.
• 🤝 Trump mentioned conversations with leaders like Marc Benioff of Salesforce and Jensen Huang of Nvidia.
• ⚖️ President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served four months for charges related to allowing illicit financial transactions on his platform.
• 💡 The White House stated the pardon corrects an "overreach" by the Biden administration, which they characterized as hostile to the cryptocurrency industry.
• 🏞️ The Trump administration is moving to open a large portion of Alaskan wilderness in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, a move opposed by conservationists and tribal groups.

Market and Arts News

• 📈 Stocks ended higher on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all closing in positive territory after strong corporate results.
• 🩰 Misty Copeland has officially retired from the American Ballet Theatre after 25 years, having made history as the company's first Black female principal dancer.