Flight-tracking data confirmed on Tuesday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow, his first known visit to Russia as intelligence chief, after a US military aircraft was seen routing through Latvia to the Russian capital. Neither the CIA nor the White House has commented. The visit comes as US-brokered talks to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine have stalled, and after Moscow's recent release of a US Marine held since 2022.
Iranian and Omani foreign ministers agreed on what they called a 'phased framework' for a temporary joint shipping corridor and mine-clearing plan through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely paralysed since war broke out on 28 February and normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and gas exports. Iran says it will not fully reopen the strait until Washington lifts its naval blockade and sanctions and unfreezes Iranian assets; President Trump says US forces have already cleared all mines from the waterway.
Canada announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on US steel and aluminium and 15 to 25% on appliances, dairy and other goods, effective September 8, after President Trump imposed 50% duties on roughly US$20 billion of Canadian goods last weekend. 'Canada must respond, and today we are, in a proportionate, targeted and strategic way,' Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, as Ottawa also unveiled a C$5.4 billion support package for affected industries and workers.
