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This is the World and Brief from The Economist.

Our top stories.

America's Coast Guard reportedly boarded a vessel off Venezuela's coast, days after Donald Trump

ordered a complete blockade of oil tankers under sanctions that enter or

leave the country. It follows the seizure of another tanker earlier this month. Exports of

Venezuelan crude have fallen as oil tankers remain offshore to avoid seizure, squeezing revenue

for Nicolas Maduro's oil-dependent regime.

Velodemir Zelensky, Ukraine's president, said America has proposed trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia in Florida. Mr. Zelensky said that European officials, already in Florida

for the peace talks, could also take part. Earlier, Vladimir Putin said there would be no peace until the root causes

of the conflict were addressed. Russia demands that Ukraine seed large chunks of its eastern

territory. Russia stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, targeting the port of Pivdegnia

and infrastructure in the Odessa region.

The assault damaged reservoirs and a bridge linking the area to Moldova, disrupting trade and energy supplies. Ukraine, meanwhile, said it used drones to strike a Russian oil rig operated

by Luke Oil in the Caspian Sea. Democrats criticised the Trump administration after

America's Department of Justice released

heavily redacted files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019.

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