Category Archives: Trump administration

Israel says IDF is staying in southern Lebanon, undermining Iran peace talks

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Defence minister says troops not withdrawing though Tehran sees end to war in Lebanon as part of deal with US

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that Israeli troops would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, further complicating Iran peace talks as fighting in Lebanon continues to be an obstacle to permanent peace.

Speaking on stage in an interview in Tel Aviv, Katz said Israeli troops would remain in south Lebanon – echoing sentiments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Federal judge blocks Trump policy that allows immigration court arrests

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Judge vacates administrations policies, finding actions of ICE and another government arm ‘arbitrary and capricious’

A federal ⁠judge in California vacated the ⁠Trump administration’s ​nationwide policies expanding arrests at immigration courthouses and the duration for detaining noncitizens in short-term facilities, finding the actions of US Immigration ⁠and Customs Enforcement and another government arm “arbitrary and capricious”.

US district judge P Casey Pitts of the northern district of California on Tuesday vacated ICE’s ⁠policies that had rescinded previous strictures on arrests at immigration courthouses and allowed detainees to ​be held in short-term cells for up ‌to 72 hours. He ‌did the same for a similar policy undertaken by the US Department of Justice’s ‌executive office for immigration review that removed limits on courthouse arrests.

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Kenyan minister orders halt to construction of US Ebola facility

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Decision comes after Aden Duale was held in contempt for ignoring previous high court ruling to stop work

Kenya’s health minister told a court he had ordered preparations for a US-run Ebola quarantine facility to stop, after being held in contempt for ignoring a previous order to end work.

Many Kenyans strongly oppose the facility, with deadly protests erupting since the complex was announced in May for US citizens evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is grappling with a widespread Ebola outbreak.

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Judge blocks subpoenas for Walz and others over Minnesota immigration crackdown

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Federal judge rules subpoenas linked to Trump’s immigration operation were ‘issued for unlawful reasons’

A federal judge agreed to quash the US federal government’s subpoenas of leaders in Minnesota issued during the Trump administration’s controversial immigration crackdown on the state earlier this year.

The US Department of Justice issued subpoenas to the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz; the attorney general, Keith Ellison; the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey; and other local officials in the Twin Cities in January.

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Trump claims ‘vandals’ foiled his $14m revamp of DC’s reflecting pool. What actually happened?

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Trump’s pre-Fourth of July renovation project has endured problems with algae, peeling paint and an inflating price tag

Donald Trump’s rush to repaint the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, a symbol of Washington DC, has hit roadblock after roadblock as the country’s 250th anniversary nears.

The public has been gripped by the ill-fated $14m attempt to renovate the reflecting pool, which the US president vowed to make “beautiful” in time for this summer’s birthday celebrations at the capital.

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At least seven people killed in Chicago shootings as Trump renews military call

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Mayor says ‘violence has no place in our city’ as president criticizes governor for not accepting national guard troops

At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured in several shootings in Chicago since Friday, police said, with Donald Trump once again calling for military intervention in the midwestern city.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump questioned why Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker, had not welcomed military deployment.

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Canada’s policies force asylum seekers into US to face deportation, critics say

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Advocates say the Safe Third Country Agreement forces immigrants to head to an unsafe country: the United States

It was the threat of gang violence in Honduras that pushed Carlos and Antonia to flee their home. In 2021, with their toddler, Alejandro, and a handful of belongings, the married couple ventured north hoping to reach safety in the US.

The journey, through Guatemala and Mexico, was filled with danger and uncertainty.

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US treasury chief urged Trump not to host ‘Mr Bean on crack’ Zelenskyy, book says

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Suggestion that Scott Bessent so described a world leader included in Regime Change, by New York Times reporters

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book.

The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday.

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What lessons will Iran’s new leadership draw from the 110-day war?

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Now fighting is over, the question is how Iran’s government will behave. Early clues point to more authoritarianism and prioritising relations with China

The precise ideological lessons that Iran’s new leadership draws from the 110-day war may prove to be the overriding factor in determining whether negotiations with the US culminate in an agreement that verifiably prevents the country from developing a nuclear weapon – an outcome that could usher in a new era for the Iranian economy while also reshaping the Middle East.

Does this rapidly assembled leadership team, forged in the fire of war, still represent an Islamic ideological crusade – a description coined by Henry Kissinger – or does the acceptance of the memorandum of understanding, in the words of JD Vance, denote a desire for pragmatism?

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Israel and Hezbollah renew ceasefire after deadly flareup disrupts opening of Iran talks

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JD Vance pulls out of US-Iran meeting in Switzerland on implementation of peace deal after clashes in southern Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict.

A meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday between Washington and Tehran in Switzerland to discuss implementation of the new deal was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.

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Revolt in small Georgia town appears to ward off ICE detention center

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Social Circle announces homeland security has canceled plans to convert warehouse to detain up to 10,000 people

The small town of Social Circle in rural Georgia has announced that the Department of Homeland Security has cancelled plans to turn a warehouse into what would have been one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.

The cancellation appears to be one of seven around the country, according to reporting elsewhere, and part of a reversal under new homeland security director Markwayne Mullin in the Trump administration’s plans to buy up warehouses and boost detention capacity – after spending $1bn on the effort in recent months.

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Barack Obama says US is ‘worse off’ than before war with Iran

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Former president nevertheless said in an interview that he was happy to see a ceasefire with Iran and hopes it holds

Barack Obama has said that after 15 weeks of war with Iran, the US is now “worse off” than before the conflict started in February.

“We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,” the former US president told NBC News in an interview that aired on Friday.

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US military kills three people in boat strike in Pacific Ocean

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Attack brings to at least 211 number of people killed as Trump administration targets alleged ‘narcoterrorists’

The US military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing three people, as the Trump administration wages a months-long campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.

The latest attack brings the number of people the US military has killed in boat strikes to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting people it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

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JD Vance tells Iran deal critics in Israel: Trump is your only ally left in the world

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In a sharp rebuke to critics of Trump’s deal with Iran, the vice-president referenced the billions in defence aid Israel recieves from the US

US vice-president JD Vance has lashed out at Israeli critics of the Iran deal, saying Donald Trump is Israel’s only ally left in the world, in a sharp rebuke that referenced the billions in defence aid ⁠the country receives from America.

Vance was defending the deal ⁠reached this week to end the war ​with Iran that critics in the US and Israel have slammed for failing to curb Iran’s missile program and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

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Gas prices fall below $4 on average after Trump’s signing of Iran deal to end war

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Drivers feel some relief but prices still a dollar more per gallon overall since before US-Israel attack on Iran

The average price of US gasoline fell to just under $4 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since March, following the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The development has provided some relief to drivers who have seen soaring costs amid Washington’s war with Iran. But filling up still remains more expensive than it was before the conflict began.

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CDC to tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola response in DRC and Uganda

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Number of people infected now tops 1,000 though health officials say the global risk remains low

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will tap $107m in emergency funding for Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, officials said on Thursday.

The continued Ebola outbreak in the DRC comes as Canada, Mexico and the US jointly host the Fifa World Cup, attracting visitors from around the world. The officials said the outbreak, now the third largest on record, required “strong immediate support”, but that the global risk remained low.

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Pete Hegseth accuses Nato countries of ‘free riding’ in combative address

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US defence secretary addresses allies in latest attempt to get Europe to raise military budgets

Pete Hegseth has announced a review of the US military presence across Europe, in a combative address to Nato allies where he threatened to cut force numbers in countries spending the least on defence.

The US defence secretary, speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, accused some countries of “free riding” and others of being shameful for not allowing their airbases to be used by US jets bombing Iran in the spring.

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Trump’s Department of Labor claims without data that states defrauded government

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Keith Sonderling, acting head of the agency, threatens to withhold administrative funds from states for first time in history

Keith Sonderling sent letters to 53 states and US territories demanding action to “combat waste, fraud, and abuse” within the unemployment insurance program, threatening to withhold administrative funds from states for the first time history.

“We are officially putting governors on notice,” said the acting US secretary of labor. “The American people will no longer tolerate the blatant waste, fraud, and abuse of their hard-earned tax dollars – no state should allow it either. If states allow it, they will suffer the consequences. This department is no longer afraid to use every lever available to ensure taxpayer money is protected.”

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Brazilian court convicts Jair Bolsonaro’s son of seeking US help for his father

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Supreme court finds Eduardo Bolsonaro tried to get sanctions put on judges trying ex-president over coup plot

A panel of ⁠Brazil’s supreme court has voted ⁠to convict Eduardo Bolsonaro of courting US ⁠interference in the coup plot trial of his father, the former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The panel’s four justices each backed the conviction on Tuesday and were expected to discuss the sentence later in the day.

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‘Everyone is angry for different reasons’: scepticism in Iran as peace deal nears

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Any sense of relief is offset by doubts over durability of agreement and feelings of betrayal by Trump administration

In the rural town of Sirik, in southern Iran, temperatures over the past week have climbed to 45C (113F), and residents were still queueing to fill buckets of water days after US strikes reportedly damaged two drinking water facilities serving nearby villages.

Amid the water shortages and the looming fear of war came news of a possible deal between Washington and Tehran. But for those struggling to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, the announcement brought little relief.

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