Category Archives: US News

‘Desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp’: US political leaders react as Trump announces ceasefire

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Chuck Schumer attacks president’s ‘ridiculous bluster’ while Republicans cast decision as shrewd tactical move

Political leaders and many Americans breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday evening, after Donald Trump announced a provisional ceasefire deal following threats to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” if Tehran failed to reopen the strait of Hormuz by a self-imposed deadline.

The announcement of the agreement, mediated by Pakistan, came roughly 90 minutes before the 8pm ET deadline by which Trump pledged to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move legal and military scholars said would be considered a war crime.

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American journalist released a week after being kidnapped in Iraq

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Freelancer Shelly Kittleson was reportedly held by Iran-backed militia which says she must now leave country

The US journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, has been released, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday.

“We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he said on social media.

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Republican to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, but Democrats hail gains in vote

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Voters pick Clay Fuller for US House over Democrat who opposes Iran war, but by smaller margin than in the past

Republican Clay Fuller supports the war in Iran. Democrat Shawn Harris opposes it. Voters in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former district in north-west Georgia decided that this distinction was not enough to propel a Democrat into a conservative-leaning House seat on Tuesday night.

But Fuller won with 56% of the vote, against Harris’s 44%, according to the Associated Press, a result that comes after Greene secured the district by 28 points in 2024 and 32 points two years earlier. Democrats claim the swing to the left in the north-western corner of Georgia is a notable shift that’s worth celebrating.

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US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire with Tehran saying it will reopen strait of Hormuz

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Last-minute intervention led by Pakistan cancels Trump ultimatum for Iran to surrender or face annihilation

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday evening after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the US president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the Pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.

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New Zealand asks US to send fuel tankers to Pacific to alleviate pressure caused by Iran war

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After meeting with Marco Rubio, foreign minister Winston Peters says he made sure US understands ‘significant economic impacts on New Zealand and Pacific’

New Zealand has called on the US to send fuel tankers to the Pacific to help alleviate some of the significant economic and fuel pressure caused by the war in the Middle East.

Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, met the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, in Washington on Tuesday, where they discussed bilateral relations, the war in Iran and the Pacific.

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US seeks to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia despite new Costa Rica deal

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Man born in El Salvador has been fighting removal to series of ‘third’ countries after mistaken deportation last year

US government attorneys on Tuesday told a federal judge the Department of Homeland Security still intends to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia, despite a new agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home countries.

The Salvadorian national’s case has become a focal point in the immigration debate after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year. Since his return, he has been fighting a second deportation to a series of African countries proposed by homeland security officials.

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Stork warning: woman gives birth midair on Jamaica-to-New York flight

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Baby was delivered during Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston to the US; nationality of child to be determined

A routine passenger flight from Jamaica landed at New York’s John F Kennedy international airport with one more person than it took off with after a woman gave birth in midair, potentially setting up a tricky situation over the newborn’s citizenship.

The “medical event” occurred on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston on Saturday, according to a news release from the carrier.

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ICE arrested more than 800 people after tips from TSA, investigation shows

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Reuters uncovers that the TSA shared more than 31,000 traveler records with ICE for immigration enforcement

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 800 people following tips shared by federal airport security officials from the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency through February 2026, according to internal agency data reviewed by Reuters – a figure far above what was previously publicly known.

The leads came from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers for possible immigration enforcement, the data showed.

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Artemis II crew describe ‘overwhelming’ emotions after soaring past the moon

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Nasa astronauts begin journey home having collected eagerly awaited images of impact craters and ridges

Nasa’s Artemis II astronauts have described the powerful emotion felt when soaring over the moon as they photographed impact craters, cracks and ridges and began their long journey home.

Among the eagerly awaited images captured by the crew, who worked in pairs at the Orion capsule windows, are those of the Earth rising from behind the moon, a solar eclipse and parts of the 590-mile (950km) wide Orientale impact basin that have never been observed with the naked eye.

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Donald Trump says ‘a whole civilisation will die’ if Iran ignores demands

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Attacks on Iran increase and Israel tells Iranians to avoid train travel as deadline to reopen strait of Hormuz looms

Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran does not accept his demands, amid a wave of bombing as Israel told Iranians their lives would be at risk if they used the country’s railways.

A rail bridge in the central Iranian city of Kashan was one of the first reported bombed on Tuesday by Iranian state media, with two people reportedly killed as Israel’s military said it had launched “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting dozens of infrastructure sites”.

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Hedge fund borrowing exposes emerging markets to greater Iran war risk, says IMF

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Analysis shows developing economies more likely to experience higher interest rates and currency shocks

Emerging economies are at greater risk of higher interest rates and currency shocks resulting from the Iran war because of increased reliance on market investors such as hedge funds, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The IMF’s analysis shows that a cumulative $4tn flowed into emerging markets last year from outside the formal banking sector – including from hedge funds and investment funds.

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Trump tells Artemis II crew he saved Nasa despite trying to slash agency’s budget

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Astronauts had a call with the US president from space after setting record for the farthest-traveled humans from Earth

The crew of Artemis II phoned home from above the moon on Monday night after their record-breaking day, to find Donald Trump musing about how he had saved the US space agency, Nasa, from closing down and telling the astronauts how much they deserved the honor of the president seeking their autographs.

The intermittently uncomfortable 12-minute Earth-to-space call, facilitated by the Nasa administrator and Trump acolyte, Jared Isaacman, featured a lengthy period of silence, several references by the president about his friendship with the retired Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, and how “America is the hottest country in the world right now”.

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Artemis II swings back around after completing record-setting moon flyby

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Four astronauts become Earth’s farthest travelled and exceed a 1970 record on the fifth day of the mission

Artemis II astronauts broke Apollo 13’s distance record at 1.57pm eastern time on Monday, hugging each other in the cramped capsule as they made history for being the first four humans to travel the farthest from Earth than anyone before them.

About five hours later, at 7.02pm ET, the crew reached the furthest point in its mission, before swinging back around, at 252,756 miles from Earth – 4,111 miles farther than the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

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Second ex-staffer accuses Texas lawmaker of sending sexually explicit messages

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Republican Tony Gonzales ended re-election bid in March after admitting to having affair with a different aide

A second former female staffer for Tony Gonzales, a Republican congressman from Texas, has come forward claiming Gonzales sent her sexually explicit messages.

The San Antonio Express-News first reported the text messages on Monday and NBC News later confirmed the report.

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Down the rabbit hole: Trump offers dark Iran warnings after Easter bunny act

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President’s press conference after White House Easter egg roll did little to dispel fears he has lost touch with reality

Donald Trump began his day standing with a person in a giant bunny costume and boasting about the Iran war to an audience of children.

The annual Easter egg roll on the White House South Lawn conjured a fitting Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland image for a US president who has disappeared down what many would call a rabbit hole.

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California county records sixth person bitten by rattlesnake in under a month

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Two fatalities reported in southern California so far, with warmer spring bringing reptiles out on trails earlier

A sixth person has been bitten by a rattlesnake in southern California’s Ventura county in just under a month, two-thirds of the number of people bitten in all of 2025.

Andrew Dowd, a Ventura county fire department spokesperson, said paramedics responded to a call on Sunday for a man who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. The victim said he had been bitten near California State University Channel Islands.

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Hatchings of two California bald eagle chicks delight vast livestream audience

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Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets emerged from eggs on Easter weekend in Big Bear Valley as watched by thousands online

Over Easter weekend, thousands of people tuned in to celebrate something spectacular unfolding 145 feet up a pine tree in southern California’s San Bernardino national forest – the hatchings of two bald eagle chicks.

Two eaglets were born to Jackie and Shadow, the southern California pair that have become avian celebrities thanks to the webcam that has livestreamed their activities since 2018.

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Trump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimes

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Legal experts say attacking Iran’s infrastructure would constitute a war crime – but would military officers be held responsible?

Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass bombing of civilian infrastructure in Iran present US military officers with a dilemma: disobey orders or help commit war crimes.

It is an urgent matter for the US chain of command. In an expletive-laden threat, Trump set a Tuesday 8pm Washington time deadline for the Iranian government to open the strait of Hormuz or face “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one”.

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Trump uses Neville Chamberlain jibe to mock Starmer over stance on Iran

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As UK PM resists pressure to back airstrikes, US president invokes British leader known for his policy of appeasement

Donald Trump has appeared to compare Keir Starmer to Neville Chamberlain in his latest disparaging remarks about the prime minister, who has refused to back the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

The comments, during an Easter Monday event at the White House, underline Trump’s continued annoyance at Starmer’s scepticism about the aims and legality of the conflict, a view that has not been shifted by the US president’s jibes.

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House Democrats demand end to ‘cruel’ US energy blockade after visit to Cuba

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Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson denounce ‘collective punishment’ amid vast disruption s from US oil blockade

Two Democratic US lawmakers on Monday called for an end to the “cruel collective punishment” of Cuba after they visited the island to witness the effects of an US energy blockade.

The US House members Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois met with the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, as well as members of Cuba’s parliament during a five-day trip ending on Sunday.

“This is cruel collective punishment – effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country – that has produced permanent damage,” Jayapal and Jackson said in a statement released on Sunday. “It must stop immediately.”

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