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booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
Bota
Symbolic image: US Senate passes Russia and Iran sanctions billSymbolic image

US Senate passes Russia and Iran sanctions bill

6 sources

The US Senate passed the "Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026" on Friday by 86 votes to 11. It would let the president impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

What happened

  • Bill named after the Republican senator who died on 11 July; a Democratic senator co-authored it, Politika reports.
  • Senators rejected an amendment stripping the president's authority to tariff importers of Russian energy, TASS reports.
  • Text targets Russia's central bank, Sberbank, Gazprombank, Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG projects and the shadow tanker fleet.
  • Iran section extends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 for five years, with a presidential waiver option.
  • House vote expected no earlier than early September; Congress is in recess until 31 August. Trump endorsed the text on 29 July.

The view from outside

Outlets outside the conflict parties name different targets: Al Jazeera lists China and India among at least five affected importers, The National adds Japan and some EU states, and The Hindu headlines India plus four others. The National also notes that the June memorandum establishing the US-Iran ceasefire barred new sanctions, while Tehran says Washington must first honour it.

What could happen next

  • Two Democratic House members call the tariff powers unrestrained and the adopted version unacceptable, signalling a harder passage.
  • Which five buyer countries and which five alleged sanctions-evaders would be hit is not settled in the reporting.
  • Trump has said repeatedly this week that an Iran deal will come "soon"; the House text could still change.
  • Bloomberg reports the US Treasury separately sanctioned Iranian digital-asset exchanges.
How the camps see it

  • US Senate majority: Bipartisan senators say cutting Russia's energy cash flow will do more than the battlefield can and force Moscow to negotiate.

  • Russia: Moscow's embassy in Washington condemned the bill, arguing it will deepen an energy crisis and raise US gas prices before the midterms.

  • Ukraine: Kyiv calls strong American sanctions the most effective help available and thanks both parties for what it calls proof of US global leadership.

  • Iran: Tehran says Washington must better commit to the June ceasefire memorandum, one section of which stipulated no new sanctions.

Also involved

European CommissionBuyers of Russian energy

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