Any country doing business with Russia will be 'very severely' sanctioned: Trump
New York/Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has warned that any country that does business with Russia will be “very severely sanctioned”, as his administration and Republican lawmakers push ahead with tough legislation targeting Moscow.
Responding to questions from reporters on Sunday on whether it was time for Congress to pass measures aimed at pressuring Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Trump said, “I hear they're doing that, and that’s okay with me.”
“They're passing legislation... the Republicans are putting in legislation... very tough sanctioning... on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that... I suggested it,” he said.
“So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may add Iran to the formula,” Trump reiterated.
The Trump administration has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, among the highest in the world, including 25 per cent levies for its purchases of Russian energy.
A bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil. The proposal has near-unanimous backing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have jointly introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which seeks to impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine". The proposed legislation has 85 cosponsors in the Senate.
“President Trump and his team have made a powerful move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine... However, the ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas,” Graham and Blumenthal had said in a joint statement in July.
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Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.
"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.
The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.
"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.
The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.
The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.
The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.
A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.
