new video loaded: The Danish Model for Immigration Crackdown
For European governments, Denmark’s hard-line immigration policy is a model for how to get a grip on contentious issue and stay in power. Our reporter Jeanna Smialek reports from Copenhagen on the the effects of the policy.
By Jeanna Smialek, Katrin Bennhold, Nikolay Nikolov, Leila Medina and James Surdam
Reservoir Media has acquired the music catalog of American singer-songwriter Bertie Higgins, adding publishing and master recording rights to works that include the 1981 hit Key Largo to its portfolio.
The transaction marks the independent music company’s latest deal to expand its holdings of legacy catalogs. In September, the company acquired the music publishing catalog of Miles Davis.
The New York Times reported at the time that Reservoir Media has spent $876 million on M&A (across catalogs and other companies) since its inception in 2007.
Financial terms of the Higgins acquisition were not disclosed.
Reservoir noted in its announcement that Higgins “cemented himself as an icon” in the yacht rock movement, a soft rock subgenre. Key Largo reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 and held the top position on the Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the single Gold after it spent 17 weeks in the Top 40.
Then in 1983, Higgins dropped his debut album, Just Another Day in Paradise, which reached the Top 40 on the Billboard 200. The album featured the title track and Casablanca, which Japanese singer HiromiGo later covered.
“Reservoir, and particularly DonnaCaseine, demonstrated commitment to preserving and expanding my legacy, which is now of the utmost importance me.”
Bertie Higgins
Higgins went on to release more than 20 albums over his career, including several compilation records.
Higgins, born in Tarpon Springs, Florida, started as a touring drummer with the Roemans, opening for acts including the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. After returning to Florida, he drew attention from producers BobCrewe, PhilGerhard and FeltonJarvis. The Florida Music Hall of Fame inducted him in January 2016 with a Lifetime Achievement Award, followed by induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2019. He has received recognition in Germany and China and continues to perform globally.
Commenting on the deal with Reservoir, Higgins said: “I am extremely pleased to be working with Reservoir Media for the next phase of my musical journey. Above all else, Reservoir, and particularly DonnaCaseine, demonstrated commitment to preserving and expanding my legacy, which is now of the utmost importance me. I could not be happier with my decision.”
“Bertie Higgins is a staple figure of the yacht rock genre, whose songwriting legacy, from the global success of ‘Key Largo’ to his enduring international appeal, represents a unique and valuable addition to our catalog.”
Donna Caseine, Reservoir Media
Reservoir EVP Global Creative Director Donna Caseine added: “Bertie Higgins is a staple figure of the yacht rock genre, whose songwriting legacy, from the global success of ‘Key Largo’ to his enduring international appeal, represents a unique and valuable addition to our catalog.
“We are honored to bring his body of work to Reservoir and further reinforce our commitment to strategically expanding our portfolio through meaningful partnerships with legacy artists.”
The acquisition comes as Reservoir continues to expand its catalog through acquisitions. In 2021, Reservoir acquiredTommy Boy Music in a deal valued at approximately $100 million. In February, the company acquired UK dance and electronic label NewState, and the label’s entire recorded music catalog of over 13,000 tracks.
In May, the company revealed that it spent over $115 million on acquisitions and advances in its latest fiscal year (ended March 31, 2025).
In its earnings report published in August, Reservoir Media posted$37.2 million in revenue for Q1 of its fiscal 2026, which corresponds to Q2 of calendar 2025. That’s an increase of 8% YoY, or 5% YoY on an organic basis excluding acquisitions.
Dhaka says New Delhi has an ‘obligatory responsibility’ to hand over the former leader, who was recently sentenced to death for last year’s deadly crackdown on student-led uprising.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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Bangladesh has again asked India to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was recently sentenced to death in absentia over last year’s deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising.
Touhid Hossain, who holds the foreign affairs portfolio in Bangladesh’s interim administration, on Sunday said Dhaka had sent a letter two days ago, urging New Delhi to hand over the fugitive ex-leader.
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Hasina, 78, has been in hiding in India – her close ally when she was the prime minister of Bangladesh for 15 years, until her autocratic rule was overthrown in a mass uprising in August 2024, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, according to the United Nations.
On Monday, a special International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka convicted Hasina of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to death, fulfilling a key pledge by the interim government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Following the court ruling, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that India had an “obligatory responsibility” under a bilateral extradition treaty signed in 2013 to facilitate the former leader’s return.
The ministry said keeping Hasina is a “grave act of unfriendly behaviour”, and called it “a travesty of justice for any other country to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity”.
India’s Foreign Ministry responded by saying it had “noted” the Hasina verdict. But India has so far not commented on the prospects of her extradition. Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo says Dhaka has made at least three such extradition requests so far.
India’s past support for Hasina has frayed relations between the two South Asian neighbours since her overthrow.
But tensions appear to have eased slightly this week after Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman visited India for a regional security summit, where he also met his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval.
Media reports in Bangladesh said Rahman has invited Doval for a visit.
Bangladesh will hold its first general elections since the protests in February. Hasina’s party, the Awami League, is barred from any political activity.
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Israel’s military says it has killed a senior member of the militant group Hezbollah in an air strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, despite a ceasefire.
It described Ali Tabtai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, as a veteran of the group who had held a series of senior positions.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least five people were killed and 28 others wounded in the strike, which hit an apartment building in the densely populated Dahieh district.
Hezbollah confirmed the strike targeted a senior commander but didn’t disclose their identity.
The strike is Israel’s first on southern Beirut for months.
It comes as Israel has escalated its campaign on people and targets it says are linked to Hezbollah – a Shia Muslim group supported by Iran – despite a ceasefire brokered by the US and France that came into effect last November.
Israeli officials say Hezbollah has been trying to rebuild its military capabilities, is smuggling weapons into Lebanon and stepping up the production of explosive drones as an alternative to rockets and missiles, and there are growing fears of an escalation of hostilities.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has urged the international community to put pressure on Israel – which continues to occupy at least five locations in southern Lebanon – to stop the attacks and withdraw from the country, saying the Israeli actions are a violation of the agreement that put an end to 13 months of conflict.
The Lebanese government has vowed to disarm Hezbollah, but the group has rejected calls to discuss the future of its weapons before Israel stops its attacks, fully withdraws from Lebanon, and releases Lebanese prisoners.
A Western diplomatic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the BBC the authorities are under pressure from the Trump administration, which is growing impatient with what they see as the slow progress against the group, considered a terrorist organisation by countries including the US and UK.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted after the Lebanese group started firing rockets at Israeli positions the day after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023. Hezbollah said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Lebanese authorities said Israel’s attacks killed about 4,000 people there – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents. Israeli authorities said more than 80 of its soldiers and 47 of its civilians were killed in the hostilities.
The US government imposed sanctions on Tabtai in 2016 and designated him a terrorist. It has a $5m (£3.8m) award on offer for information about him.
The US described him as a key Hezbollah military leader who once commanded the group’s special forces in Syria and Yemen, adding his actions in these countries were part of a larger Hezbollah effort to provide training, material, and personnel “in support of its destabilising regional activities”.
Youngstown, Ohio – The Youngstown State men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs wrapped up the three-day YSU Invite on Saturday in very impressive fashion.
Hanna Held and Rafael Serey-Cormier began the day by setting school records in the platform diving events. Held won the women’s section as the only participant, scoring 240.20 in the finals. Her score of 245.55 in the prelims set the school record.
Rafael-Serey Cormier won the men’s platform diving event with a score of 326.10, setting a new school record.
The Penguin women placed one-two-three in the 1650 free, while the men captured the top two spots in their section. Olivia Sweetman won the women’s event with a time of 16:58.62, followed by Derin Donmez in second with a time of 17:25.17, and Nehir Guler in third with a time of 18:01.87. Poyraz San Askin won the men’s 1650 with a time of 15:49.87, while Seif Elbatal finished runner-up with a time of 16:13.75.
YSU swept the top two spots in both the men’s and women’s 100 IM events. Hannah Murray led the women with a first-place finish, clocking a time of 58.48, while Owynn Lafollete finished second with a time of 1:03.00. Elliot Elmore won the men’s section with a time of 50.46, followed by Adrian Andres-Moreno, who finished runner-up with a time of 51.65.
The Penguins also swept victories in the 50 butterfly. Ximena Young won the women’s section with a time of 25.87. Finishing runner-up was Abby Perry, as she clocked a time of 26.10. Jacob Gramer won the men’s event with a time of 21.58. Chase Fyffe finished third with a time of 23.42.
The men and women finished one-two in both the men’s and women’s 200 butterfly. Quinn Cynor won the men’s event with a time of 1:46.35, followed by Valer Kennedy, who was second with a time of 1:46.61. Allison Ramirez Romero won the women’s event, clocking a pool-record time of 2:03.41. Orla Maccines finished second with a time of 2:03.70.
YSU won both the men’s and women’s 200 breaststroke events. Hannah Murray won the women’s section with a time of 2:20.63, while Adrian Andres-Moreno won the men’s section with a time of 2:00.82. James Slessor finished runner-up for the men with a time of 2:03.63.
Lara Lilic won the women’s 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.43, while Pablo Santos won the men’s section with a time of 1:48.12.
Santos also won the men’s 50 breaststroke with a time of 23.25, outlasting teammate Ethan Ferroni, who finished second with a time of 24.75.
Lorenz Beck finished first in the men’s 100 free with a time of 44.89, followed by Jacob Gramer, who was runner-up with a time of 44.94.
Chloe Moore finished second in the 100 free with a time of 52.29, while Olivia Sweetman finished third with a time of 52.47.
Final Team Scores
Men:
Youngstown State – 1693
IUP – 883.5
PennWest Edinboro – 665.5
Pitt-Johnstown – 59
Women:
Youngstown State – 1354
IUP – 1023
PennWest Edinboro – 666
Pitt-Johnstown – 80
Up Next
The Penguins will return to the pool for the four-day Zippy Invite in Akron, Ohio on Dec. 4-7.
For news and updates throughout the 2025-26 season, follow @YSUSwimDive on X.
Courtesy of IUP Athletics
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — IUP swimming closed out the YSU Invite with one of its strongest collective performances of the three-day meet Saturday, stacking up top-five finishes and showcasing depth in multiple events as both the men’s and women’s teams secured runner-up finishes.
The distance group delivered early momentum for the Crimson Hawks. In the women’s 1650-yard freestyle, Benedetta Bellini led the way with a fourth-place finish in 18:09.37. Avital Flaishman followed in fifth, while Bella Rhoades, Becca Ramos and Brenna Bonnett also placed inside the top nine, giving IUP five scorers in the event.
On the men’s side of the 1650, Ty Uhlig turned in one of the highlight swims of the day, grabbing third in 16:14.52 and closing strong over the final 200 yards. James Taylor added a ninth-place finish to bolster the Hawks’ distance scoring.
IUP shined in the backstroke finals, where the women claimed four of the top eight spots in the 200 back. Lilly Farmer placed second in 2:06.04, and Summer Esson took third shortly behind her. Jordan Crupie and Julie Zaffiro added sixth- and eighth-place times. The men’s 200 back followed with another standout pairing, as Alexander Roth finished second in 1:51.31 and Uhlig added a third-place 1:52.99.
The breaststroke group kept the momentum with three top-six finishes in the women’s 200 breaststroke. Kyla Kramer led the charge in second place at 2:21.42, with Catrina Miller fifth and Tina Cudina sixth. Freshman Zoe Welsh added a ninth-place finish in the B final, and Ellie Speer placed 11th.
In the butterfly events, Gem Crittenden continued her strong weekend by placing third in the 200 fly at 2:03.93. Jensen Westrick and Bonnett added scoring efforts from the B final. On the men’s side, Trent Powell posted a fourth-place finish in 1:54.58, while Jeffrey McArthur placed sixth.
The Hawks also found points in the sprint freestyle. Katie Crosscut finished sixth in the women’s 100 free, and freshman Kaleese Jallow won the B final in 53.34. For the men, Stephen Goff posted a fourth-place mark in the 100 free, and teammates Nick Vaow, Rey Nunez and Riley Yute contributed additional scoring positions.
IUP closed the weekend with competitive relay efforts. The top women’s 400 freestyle relay team placed fifth in 3:41.20, while two additional relay squads finished sixth and seventh. The men’s A relay secured fourth in 3:13.17, with the B relay close behind in fifth.
At the conclusion of the meet, both IUP programs finished securely in second place in the team standings, trailing only host Youngstown State. The women compiled 1,023 points, while the men finished with 883.5.
IUP returns to action in December as the program continues its midseason progression toward championship preparation.
What if you could draw energy from the night sky without effort? That’s the question that researchers at the University of California, Davis are trying to answer with a new engine that generates power simply by sitting under the clear starry heavens.
If you look up Stirling engines on the internet, you’ll immediately find a load of toys and hobby kits for a device that runs seemingly by magic. It’s a strangely simple machine, usually configured with a piston and a flywheel, that burns no fuel, is self-contained, and can be set in motion simply by warming it with a mug of hot water or, paradoxically, cooling it with a block of ice and giving the wheel a light push to get it going. So long as the mild heat or cold source is present, it will run.
It was invented in 1816 by Reverend Dr. Robert Stirling, a Scottish clergyman and engineer, as an alternative to steam engines, which, in those days, tended to get a bit explody. His Stirling engine was much safer because it worked on a different principle than steam. Instead of relying on the expansion of high-pressure steam, the Stirling engine is a closed system with a working gas, usually air, that generates power by having one part of the engine cycle relatively hotter than another part. As the gas moves between the hot and cold spaces, it moves a piston, which moves the wheel.
Stirling
The clever bit is the temperature differential. Steam engines and internal combustion engines (indeed, most thermal engines) need a very large gap in temperature between the hot engine and the colder outside world to generate power. Think of it as being something like a waterfall. The taller the falls the further the water drops and the harder it hits when it reaches the bottom. This is why you do not shower under Niagara Falls unless you want a fatal pummeling.
The Stirling engine also needs the temperature gradient to work, but its design means that this can be much lower, so it can run by setting it on a nice cup of tea. That’s because it can exploit very small temperature differences with great efficiency. It’s also very quiet, self-contained, and has few components. This is why, though the technology failed to compete with later steam engines and internal combustion engines, these days it’s used for cryocooler systems, auxiliary submarine propulsion, heat recycling, and radioisotopic power systems for spacecraft.
Now, UC Davis is taking the Stirling engine a step beyond by using it to generate power by setting it outside after dark.
If you’ve ever gone for a walk after the Sun goes down in a dry region with clear skies, like a high desert, you’re likely to discover that you should have brought a jacket because, though the ground is warm to the touch, the air is freezing.
That’s because without any water vapor in the air, there’s not much between the ground and outer space to keep the heat that’s accumulated during the day from radiating away – especially in the 8 to 13 µm range of the light spectrum. And since the temperature of space is about -270 °C (-454 °F) things can definitely get chilly.
It also means that there’s a heat gradient for the Stirling engine to work off of.
What the engineering team did was equip the engine with a sheet of specially designed material to insulate between the warm ground and the cold air. Using an undisclosed paint, they made the sheet radiate heat into space, resulting in a hot reservoir below and a cold reservoir above with a variant in excess of 10 °C (18 °F) in most months.
The upshot is that this arrangement allowed the engine to produce 400 milliwatts of power per square meter, or enough to run a small fan that could shift enough air to circulate carbon dioxide in a greenhouse.
Indeed, the team says that running air ventilators is one application for the provisionally patented, low-power system, though it might find other uses for similar low-demand tasks that work best without external power and minimal supervision.
Top United States officials are holding talks with Ukrainian and European diplomats in Geneva to discuss US President Donald Trump’s peace plan aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine.
But the so-called 28-point plan pushed by the Trump administration has alarmed Ukraine and its European allies, who see it as a capitulation to Russian demands, particularly territorial concessions and limits on the size of Ukraine’s military.
Trump had set a November 27 deadline for Ukraine to accept his peace plan, but after pushback from European leaders, Washington appears to have softened its stance, with Trump saying the plan did not represent a “final offer” for Ukraine.
This will likely create some wriggle room for diplomacy at the high-stakes talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
So, why are Ukraine’s European allies opposed to the draft plan? Who’s participating? What’s on the agenda in Geneva? And does the plan favour Moscow?
European Council President Antonio Costa, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb speak ahead of a meeting at the G20 Leaders’ Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 22, 2025 [Henry Nicholls/Reuters]
What’s on the agenda at the US-Ukraine talks in Geneva?
The talks are an attempt to reconcile the contentious draft peace plan, as Kyiv and its European allies want Kyiv’s long-term security interests protected.
Representatives from Ukraine, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the European Union will join top US officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to discuss how to end the war – Europe’s deadliest since World War II. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said there will also be a Russian presence.
The talks, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said, “could be the most decisive moment for Ukraine”.
“There is a great deal of anxiety among Ukrainians and Europeans about the nature of the 28-plan drafted by the Americans,” said Ahelbarra, reporting from Geneva.
“The concerns are about the territorial concessions: We’re talking about Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea, which the Ukrainians, as per the plan, have to give up in exchange for the potential of a permanent deal with Russia. They have to freeze the front lines, particularly in Kherson and Zaporizhia.
“The third element is the reduction of the capacity of the Ukrainian armed forces from 900,000 soldiers to 600,000, and this is widely perceived by the Ukrainians as a major concession they cannot afford to make,” Ahelbarra said.
In a post on X on Sunday, Zelenskyy said he hopes “there will be a result”.
“The bloodshed must be stopped, and we must ensure that the war is never reignited,” the Ukrainian leader said. “I am awaiting the results of today’s talks and hope that all participants will be constructive. We all need a positive outcome.”
Who is participating in the talks?
The US’s Rubio and Witkoff are leading the Geneva talks, which will also include US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
Nine Ukrainian officials are attending the talks, including Ukraine’s presidential office chief Andriy Yermak and top envoy Rustem Umerov, who have been empowered to deal directly with Russia by the president.
National security advisers from the E3 alliance of France, Britain and Germany will also join the discussions, alongside other officials from the EU, including Italy.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (second from right) and US President Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2025, as the Trump administration puts the military alliance between the US and Western Europe into question [Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via AFP]
Why are European leaders raising concerns about Trump’s peace plan?
Ukraine’s European allies say the current peace plan does not address Ukraine’s security concerns. They say Russia cannot be rewarded with territory for invading Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that “any credible and sustainable peace plan should first and foremost stop the killing and end the war, while not sowing the seeds for a future conflict”.
She spelled out three elements required for a just and lasting peace, stating that borders should not be changed by force, that there should not be a cap on Ukraine’s military, and that the EU should be central to securing peace for Ukraine.
“Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny,” von der Leyen said.
On the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday, European and other Western leaders pushed back against Trump’s plan, saying it required “additional work”.
“We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force,” said a joint statement signed by the UK, Canada, Finland, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and the Republic of Ireland.
The statement noted that the allies were “concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack”, adding that any decisions regarding NATO and the EU would require the consent of member states.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since captured large parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk region. Moscow had annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
According to Trump’s draft plan, Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian territory. Ukrainian forces will be required to withdraw from parts of Donetsk that they currently control, while Kherson and Zaporizhia will be frozen along the line of contact.
The proposed plan would also see Ukraine cut its army and renounce its ambitions to join NATO, which has been a major sticking point in the earlier proposals. The size of the Ukrainian armed forces will be limited to 600,000 personnel.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he spoke with Trump in a long phone call on Friday and conveyed that Europe needed to be a part of any peace process.
“An end to the war can only be achieved with the unconditional consent of Ukraine,” Merz said during the G20 summit briefing. “But we are still quite a way from a good outcome for everyone.”
Von der Leyen noted that a key principle for Kyiv’s European allies was “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine”.
Speaking with reporters ahead of the G20 summit, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but their actions never live up to their words.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that Russia would “betray” its promise and “come back” if there are no elements of deterrence and if Ukraine were to cut its army size and follow Trump’s plan.
In a post on X, Macron welcomed US efforts to bring peace, but said that the current proposal “must be strengthened” and “Ukraine must never be left vulnerable”.
Macron wrote, “Everyone wants peace – except Russia, which continues to stubbornly bomb Ukraine”, adding that support for Ukraine was “decisive”.
EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said: “Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded.”
But US Vice President JD Vance has rebuked criticism of the peace plan.
“There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand,” the vice president posted on X on Saturday. “Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land. It might be made by smart people living in the real world.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a video address to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 21, 2025 [Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP]
What has Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said about the plan?
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was trying to defend its sovereignty while retaining the support of its most important ally, the United States. Trump had said Zelenskyy can “fight his little heart out” if he rejected the proposal.
“Now is one of the most difficult moments of our history. Now, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the heaviest. Now, Ukraine can face a very difficult choice — either losing dignity or risk losing a major partner,” Zelenskky said.
In a 10-minute speech outside the presidential palace, Zelenskyy said that if his country follows through on the proposed plan, it would leave Kyiv “without freedom, dignity and justice”.
Accepting the plan, which has been widely viewed as favouring Moscow, would also mean believing “someone who has already attacked us twice”, said Zelenskyy.
“I will present arguments, I will persuade, I will propose alternatives,” said the Ukrainian president. He then referred to the Russian invasion in February 2022, saying: “We did not betray Ukraine then, we will not do so now.”
On Sunday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s focus at the talks is “on working as constructively as possible on the steps proposed by the United States”.
“We are working to ensure that the path toward ending the war is real and that the principled elements are put into action,” he said after a call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Does Trump’s peace plan favour Moscow?
European leaders are concerned that Trump’s proposal heavily favours Russia, which has been seeking to control all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Moscow currently holds parts of that territory, though it has been slowly gaining more ground on the battlefronts.
A group of US senators said on Saturday that they were told by Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, that the widely leaked draft peace plan did not reflect the US position, but was a Russian “wish list”.
“It looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with,” Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said at a security conference in Canada.
However, Rubio denied the assertions, insisting that the plan was “authored by the US” and it was “based on input” from both Russia and Ukraine.
Rounds said he had been assured that the plan was presented to Witkoff, Trump’s overseas envoy, by “someone … representing Russia”. The senator continued: “It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan.”
Later, a US Department of State spokesperson said Rounds’s account of his conversation with Rubio was “blatantly false”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, said Washington’s 28-point plan could “lay the foundation for a final peace settlement”.
Putin also threatened to seize more territory if Ukraine does not accept the proposal, warning that the reported capture of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk “will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front line”.
Speaking from Kyiv, journalist Audrey MacAlpine said Russia has been making battlefield gains in regions of Ukraine where the peace proposal would hand it territory along the line of contact.
She told Al Jazeera that Moscow had carried out overnight attacks on Kherson and Zaporizhia, two regions where Russia would gain de facto control under the 28-point plan being discussed in Geneva.
“No doubt Russia is trying to make gains in these particular regions, and they’ve been successful,” she said. “They’ve been making slow but concerted gains.”
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on March 13, 2025 [Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via AFP]
Is Trump likely to seal the peace deal this time?
We do not know yet.
During his presidential campaign leading up to the 2024 US election, Trump claimed that he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine within a day. But a deal proved elusive despite Washington’s diplomatic push.
Since returning to power for a second term in January, Trump has made resolving foreign conflicts central to US foreign policy. He claimed to have helped end several wars, including Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the India-Pakistan war, and the Thailand-Cambodia war, among others. Trump even asked for a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping wars.
But he has struggled to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite holding a summit with Putin in Alaska in August.
Trump’s first meeting with Zelenskyy ended in acrimony back in February. The US president made up with the Ukrainian leader, hosting him twice at the White House since the February White House meeting. But his attempt to organise a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy has not materialised.
In August, Trump warned Russia of severe consequences if Putin refused to end the war. He even announced sanctions on Moscow to force it to end the war. He also slapped hefty tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, which he said was financing Moscow’s war efforts.
As the talks were under way in Geneva on Sunday, Trump again took aim at Ukraine, saying Kyiv has not been grateful for American efforts related to the war with Russia.
“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA. THE USA CONTINUES TO SELL MASSIVE $AMOUNTS OF WEAPONS TO NATO, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UKRAINE,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on X, echoing remarks he made during a heated exchange in the White House in February in which Trump and US Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy.
Wall Street’s risk machine didn’t break this week — Friday’s rebound spared it. But it flinched. And in doing so, it revealed how fragile the current market cycle has become.
The shift was subtle, then sudden. For weeks, the riskiest trades in finance — crypto, AI stocks, meme names, high-octane momentum bets — had been slipping. On Thursday, that slow-motion retreat snapped. The Nasdaq 100 sank nearly 5% from its intraday peak, its sharpest reversal since April. Nvidia Corp. at one point shed nearly $400 billion despite beating earnings expectations. Bitcoin hit a seven-month low. Momentum names dropped in near-perfect sync.
It was a vivid reminder of how easily pressure can cascade through crowded trades, and how markets powered by momentum and retail enthusiasm can buckle without warning.
There was no obvious trigger. No policy shift. No data surprise. No earnings miss. Just a sudden wave of selling, and an equally abrupt recovery. What rattled investors wasn’t just the scale of the moves, but their speed, and what that speed suggested: a momentum-driven market, prone to synchronized swings and fragile under strain.
“There are real cracks,” said Nathan Thooft, chief investment officer at Manulife Investment Management, which oversees $160 billion. “When you have valuations at these levels and many assets priced for near perfection, any cracks and headline risks cause outsized reactions.”
Thooft began paring back equity exposure two weeks ago, reducing exposure to equity risk in tactical portfolios from overweight to neutral as volatility picked up. He now sees a market that’s splintering, not with a single story, but with “plenty to cheer about for the optimists and plenty of worries for the pessimists.”
The numbers are hard to ignore. Bitcoin is down more than 20% in November, its worst month since the 2022 crypto crash. Nvidia is heading for its steepest monthly decline since March. A Goldman Sachs index of retail-favored stocks has fallen 17% from its October high. Volatility has surged. Demand for crash protection has returned.
But the most visible tremors, and perhaps the most amplified, are playing out in crypto. The selloff in Bitcoin has mirrored the fall in high-beta stocks, strengthening the case that crypto is now moving in lockstep with broader risk assets.
The short-term correlation between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq 100 hit a record earlier this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Even the S&P 500 showed unusual synchronicity with digital assets.
“There is perhaps an investor base — the more speculative and more levered segment of retail investors — that is common to both crypto and equity markets,” wrote JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, noting that blockchain innovation underpins a growing bridge between the two spheres.
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Ed Yardeni tied part of Thursday’s equity drop to Bitcoin’s plunge, calling the connection too tight to dismiss. And billionaire investor Bill Ackman offered his own comparison — claiming that his stake in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effectively acts as a kind of crypto proxy.
That dynamic — in which digital tokens rise and fall alongside speculative equities — tends to fade in quiet markets, only to return in moments of stress. “Like the Rockettes, they all dance in lockstep,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “Bitcoin is a representative of the risk-on, risk-off sentiment on steroids.”
While some claim crypto is leading the downturn, the case is thin. Institutional exposure is limited, and the asset’s price action tends to be more sentiment-prone than fundamental. Rather than setting the tone, crypto may simply register market stress in its most visible — and visceral — form: a highly leveraged, retail-heavy barometer where speculative nerves show first.
Other explanations for febrile stock trading are technical: volatility-linked funds shifting exposure, algorithmic flows tipping thresholds, options positioning unwinding. But all point to the same conclusion: in a crowded market, even small tremors can cascade.
Thursday’s sharp reversal only magnified that anxiety. The so-called fear gauge, the VIX, spiked to its highest level since April’s “Liberation Day” selloff. Traders rushed to buy crash protection. Adrian Helfert, chief investment officer at Westwood, was among those who had already begun repositioning in recent weeks, adding tail-risk hedges in anticipation of a regime shift. The crypto slump reinforces the broader retreat from risk assets, he said.
“Investors are viewing it less as a safe haven and more as a speculative holding to shed as market fear rises, leading to deleveraging and rapid ‘despeculation’ across high-risk segments,” Helfert said. “This is reinforcing the move away from risk assets.”
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Even Nvidia’s blowout earnings couldn’t hold the line. Despite topping expectations, the AI heavyweight fell sharply during the week, underscoring the broader pressure on tech valuations. The Nasdaq 100 notched its third straight weekly loss, shedding about 3%. Retail flows into single-name stocks also flipped negative for the week, according to JPMorgan estimates. And though the market bounced Friday — following dovish comments from New York Fed President John Williams — the rebound did little to erase the deeper sense of unease.
All of it points to a retreat from the frothiest parts of the market, where AI exuberance, speculative positioning, and cheap leverage have powered much of this year’s gains — and where conviction is now harder to find. And until recently, crash protection was difficult to justify. Risk assets had rallied hard since May, and those betting against the boom had repeatedly been burned. But now, even long-time bulls are looking over their shoulders.
“A lot of folks who have done well are right now discussing 2026 risk budgets, and obviously AI concerns are top of mind,” said Amy Wu Silverman, head of derivatives strategy at RBC Capital Markets. “A number of investors I have spoken with have wanted to hedge for a while. We jokingly call them the ‘fully invested bears.’”
