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The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution calling for an end to the war with Iran, a move representing a political setback for President Donald Trump, who ordered military operations against Iran on February 28.Introduced by Democrats, the resolution requires congressional approval before further military action against Iran, amid growing concerns within the legislative body about the consequences of war.The resolution passed by a vote of 215-208 after four Republican representatives joined the Democrats in voting for it. Source link
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level 4 national emergency response to address geological disasters in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces, amid forecasts of heavy rain and storms in the coming days.The weather forecast indicates that parts of north-central Jiangxi, central Hunan, and south-central Guizhou are likely to experience heavy rain and storms until Friday.Areas in northeastern Jiangxi, central Hunan, and western Guizhou also face a relatively high risk of geological disasters.The ministry urged local authorities in the affected areas to intensify monitoring of rainfall levels, flooding, and geological disaster risks, and to take necessary measures to mitigate their impact. Source link
President Donald Trump appointed a loyalist with no national security experience as head of US intelligence on Tuesday — and said he would also retain his existing jobs overseeing federal housing and mortgage policies.Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte — who is known for publicly attacking Trump’s political enemies — was named as the acting director of national intelligence (DNI), replacing Tulsi Gabbard.Gabbard, herself a controversial pick for the job, resigned in late May, ending a tenure that saw her appear to be at odds with Trump over his war on Iran.The DNI — who heads the US intelligence community and serves as the president’s main advisor on intelligence issues — is legally required to have “extensive national security expertise,” which Pulte lacks.Trump hailed Pulte in a social media post announcing the appointment, saying he “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets.”The president added that Pulte, who also leads mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will continue to serve in his housing-related roles.Pulte, 38, has been described by some US media as the president’s “attack dog.”Pulte has accused Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.The Wall Street Journal reported that, according to an internal complaint at Fannie Mae, Pulte had improperly accessed the mortgage records of James and other Democratic officials.A federal grand jury indicted James in October, but the case was dismissed without prejudice — which leaves open the possibility of the charges being filed again — a month later by a federal judge.— ‘Political retribution’ —Pulte has also championed a mortgage fraud case against US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, based on which Trump attempted to fire the monetary policy maker. That case is pending before the Supreme Court.The heir to a home-building fortune, Pulte has polarized many, even within Trump’s circle, with his aggressive and public political actions.US Democratic lawmakers quickly took aim at Pulte’s lack of experience and history of targeting Trump’s opponents.Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Pulte appears to have been chosen “because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.””The president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution,” Warner said.Elizabeth Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, said Pulte has spent the past year “abusing his authority to attack the president’s perceived political enemies.”Pulte has fired internal ethics watchdogs who were investigating his own allies, characterizing those moves as a way to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies — which Trump has sought to purge from the US government — at Fannie Mae.On housing finance, he has championed the introduction of a 50-year mortgage in the US, a proposal that has enraged many in the MAGA movement.Pulte has fallen out with his family over the future of their PulteGroup company. Bill Pulte left the company’s board in 2020.US media report that he has fallen out with those in Trump’s inner circle, too.In 2025, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to punch Pulte at a dinner at a private club, according to the Wall Street Journal and Politico. Source link
Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles yesterday, killing at least 23 people and reducing buildings to rubble, officials and AFP reporters said.Authorities in the Ukrainian capital had warned that Russia was preparing the latest in a string of massive deadly strikes that have escalated the four-year-old war and dimmed slim hopes for peace.The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones through the night into yesterday morning, adding that 54 drones and 33 missiles had penetrated its multi-layered air defence system.Sixteen of those killed were in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where a four-storey apartment building collapsed, officials announced. Two children were among the dead, and 42 people were wounded.Seven people were killed in Kyiv, where around 50 people were also wounded, according to the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens wail before a series of loud explosions that lasted through the night into early yesterday sent residents with bags and blankets rushing to shelter in crowded metro stations.Anastasia, whose residential building was damaged in the attack, said she spent a “loud” and “terrifying” night huddled in her bathroom.”All the windows were blown out completely; there are no windows at all. It wasn’t just one explosion here all night. The night here was just a nightmare,” she told AFP.”It was a brutal strike,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his address yesterday, warning that Russia may follow up that same night with another assault from the skies.”Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defence does not allow us to shoot down a significant share of the missiles,” he said, giving a toll of 130 wounded overall in yesterday’s blitz.”We are preparing additional measures for our counteraction,” Zelensky said.The Ukrainian leader used the attack to make a new appeal for military support from the United States and from Europe.”All partners together, everyone in Europe, must continue working so that there are (we obtain) missiles for our air defence,” he said.The French foreign ministry denounced Moscow’s “utter contempt” for peace efforts while the United Nations said Moscow’s “inflammatory rhetoric and escalation of attacks should stop”.Moscow has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022, a war that is now the bloodiest on European soil since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced.Russia said that it had carried out a huge strike, including with hypersonic missiles, targeting Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.It denies that its forces target civilians.Kyiv’s metro service said more than 40,000 residents had sheltered in various underground stations throughout the assault — the highest number in years.A maternity hospital with newborns and women in labour was struck in the southern port city of Odesa, authorities said, adding there were no casualties.AFP journalists saw explosions and huge plumes of smoke billowing across Kyiv’s skyline at dawn yesterday, while rescue workers cleared debris beneath residential buildings gutted in the attack.Fifteen people, including a child, were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv that lies near the Russian border, according to the mayor, Igor Terekhov.The intense strikes have dulled already distant peace prospects, particularly with the White House distracted by fighting with Iran.But Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told reporters in the Estonian capital of Tallinn that Kyiv was still hoping for a long-awaited visit from US envoys to her country to restart negotiations.Ukraine also struck targets in Russia.One person was killed in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.And a drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the southwestern city of Krasnodar, its authorities said on Telegram.An earlier warning by Moscow to foreigners, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv had sparked an outcry including at the United Nations.Despite the uptick in Russian long-range strikes, Moscow’s forces have been struggling to make meaningful gains across the front line.Last month, Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces for the second straight month, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. Related Story Source link
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that President Donald Trump’s negotiating team has not offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and insisted that any sanctions relief was tied to Tehran giving up its nuclear program.”Right now, everything that’s been discussed with them (Iran) is that … any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program,” Rubio told a Senate hearing.Testifying in Congress publicly for the first time since the Iran war began, Rubio said there will be sanctions relief for Iran if they agree to give up their nuclear activities.”Iran is being sanctioned because they’ve highly enriched uranium. Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities. If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief associated with their commitment and compliance with those agreements,” he said. Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning as the Trump administration seeks congressional approval for its proposed 30% cut to the foreign affairs budget and a 50% increase in military spending.He was to appear at three other hearings later on Tuesday and on Wednesday, as his fellow Republicans have been showing signs of concern about the Iran war.Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was a senator from Florida until January 2025, and lawmakers said they hoped their former colleague would spell out a strategy for ending the Iran conflict, which started with strikes by the US and Israel on February 28.Rubio has joined other top administration officials in speaking to members of Congress about the Iran war behind closed doors, but has not testified publicly on the conflict.Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel, blasted Rubio for failing to provide information to Congress about the administration’s plans.”When I talk to my constituents, they asked for economic relief at home, not regime change in Havana or Caracas or Tehran,” she said.”Instead, you sent Congress a war powers notification saying we are not in active hostilities with Iran, while the US was conducting strikes against Iran, and Iran was bombing US embassies and bases throughout the Middle East. That was not consultation, it was an attempt to avoid answering to this committee and this Congress about this war.”Americans have voiced mounting frustration over rising prices, and Trump’s fellow Republicans hope he can get the Strait of Hormuz reopened and lower US gasoline prices before November elections that will decide whether the party retains its slim majorities in Congress.Trump must also contend with Iran hawks in his party who oppose any concessions to Tehran.Trump and his supporters insist the war will have been worthwhile if it keeps Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump also insists that gasoline prices will come down and has insisted for weeks that he will reach a good deal to end the conflict. Iran wants an interim agreement with sanctions relief that would allow it access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, but Washington has continued to add sanctions against Iranian actors while talks have taken place.Rubio did not specify when there might be such a deal. He said Iran had intended to build up its conventional weapons capabilities as a “shield” for its nuclear program. “What they tried to do is they were going to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield,” he said, spelling out why Trump felt it was imperative to launch the war.Lawmakers, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, have been increasingly questioning the fighting, as the Iran conflict enters its fourth month. Last month, the Senate voted to advance a war powers resolution that would end the Iran conflict unless Trump obtains Congress’ authorization. Days later, House leaders abruptly postponed a vote on a similar resolution when it looked likely to pass. Senators also asked about US forces firing on boats off Venezuela since September, in a campaign the administration says is intended to stop “narco-traffickers” that has killed more than 200 people.Some criticized the administration for sharp cuts to US foreign aid, citing reports saying hundreds of thousands of children have died since the US abruptly ended foreign aid programs last year, and the severity of an Ebola outbreak in Africa.Rubio said the US would re-engage with the global vaccine alliance Gavi. He said the decision had been made a few weeks ago to re-engage, after the Trump administration pulled funding from Gavi last year. Related Story Source link
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 01: A general view of the U.S. Capitol on June 01, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Senate is navigating President Donald Trump’s…
Nepal’s ruling party chief called for closer economic and strategic co-operation with India yesterday, on the first high-level visit since deadly 2025 anti-corruption youth protests toppled the previous government.But this trip to a key ally was not by Nepal’s new prime minister — 36-year-old rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah.Shah has shunned meetings with several foreign envoys to Nepal and, according to his aides, has said he will not travel abroad for his first year in power to focus on the many domestic challenges, not least the ailing economy.The first visit to key ally India instead was made by Rabi Lamichhane, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister, who is president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).It won a landslide victory in March parliamentary elections, led by Shah.Former television host Lamichhane retains a pivotal role in power, and the lawmaker is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSP spokesman Manish Jha told AFP.Nepal, a landlocked Himalayan nation of 30mn people, must ensure a delicate diplomatic balance between its two giant neighbours, India and China.India has long considered Hindu-majority Nepal as a traditional ally, with open borders along the plains.Kathmandu’s largest trading partner is India, accounting for 63% of imports, or $8.6bn, followed by China at 13%, or $1.8bn, according to World Bank figures.”A stable and prosperous Nepal is a natural guardrail along India’s northern border, whereas a politically fractured Nepal makes India nervous about instability in the neighbourhood,” Lamichhane wrote in The Hindustan Times yesterday.”Nepal’s economic development is, therefore, a strategic necessity for India.”— Hydropower and cricket —Shah has spoken little since coming to power, and issued his victory message in a rap song, where he promised to “run like a leopard” to ensure his nation’s success.The visit takes place as a long-running border controversy resurfaced, over Nepali territorial claims to the Lipulekh Pass, where India, China and Nepal meet.The icy 5,334 metres-high (17,500 feet) pass has been used by Indian pilgrims to visit Mount Kailash — sacred to Hindus and Tibetan Buddhists, but also connects India to China directly.In 2020, protests erupted in Nepal after India inaugurated a new road leading to the pass.On Sunday, Shah said in parliament that both India and Nepal had “encroached” on each other’s territory, and said they should “resolve the issue as friends”. The comments sparked uproar in Kathmandu’s parliament.Analysts say Lamichhane’s visit could help renew ties.”There has been a vacuum of political dialogue between Nepal and India for a while,” Kathmandu-based foreign affairs analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta said.”So this visit is a positive step towards opening engagements and clearing any misunderstandings.”Lamichhane said that Nepal could offer energy-hungry India hydropower, from its many dams on rivers running off the Himalayas.”Nepal’s hydropower potential is no longer just a domestic asset; it is a clean, green engine capable of powering the industrial corridors of a rising India,” he wrote.He also noted that Nepal shared the same love of cricket as India, with fans watching the just completed India Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament.”We have also been deeply contemplating how Nepali players and Nepali stadiums can be integrated into the IPL franchise,” he said.Nepal are cricketing minnows — but came within a nail-biting single ball of one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history in February, when they lost to England by only four runs. Source link
The US is discussing whether to deploy nuclear weapons in additional European Nato states, the Financial Times reported yesterday.US officials have signaled openness to additional deployments beyond the existing six countries hosting nuclear-capable bombers, the FT said, citing three people briefed on the discussions.The move would involve more countries to host so-called US dual-capable aircraft (DCA), which are able to deliver nuclear strikes, the newspaper said, while cautioning that an agreement to expand US nuclear hosting was not imminent.Countries on Nato’s eastern flank including Poland and some Baltic states were interested in potentially hosting DCA bases, the report said, adding that discussions were ongoing in Nato channels.Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House, Department of Defense and Nato did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has previously said publicly that the US will continue to use its nuclear weapons to protect Nato members, even as European allies take the lead on conventional forces.US President Donald Trump and many of his aides have criticised European allies for not spending enough on their militaries and relying on the US for conventional defence. (Reuters) Source link
US President Donald Trump has confirmed a tense exchange with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he reportedly berated his close ally with expletives.In an interview published Wednesday in the New York Post, Trump was asked about the conversation he had with Netanyahu over the phone on Monday.”You said, ‘Are you f-ing crazy? What are you f-ing doing? I helped you stay out of jail.’ Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms?” the interviewer asked.”I did,” Trump responded. “I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.””I said, ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this.'”Trump went on to say he had a “very good relationship” with Netanyahu. “We’ve done well together… I like Bibi a lot.”Trump unleashed the profane tirade over Israel’s threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported.The exchange underscored the shaky ties between two right-wing allies who started the war by launching an attack on Iran in late February that spread to Israel striking Lebanon.Israeli media have rejected the account of the conversation.A White House official referred AFP to Trump’s Truth Social posts from Monday in which he thanked Netanyahu for what he said was an agreement to pull troops back from Beirut.Iran had reportedly halted peace talks because of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Source link
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing conerning the fiscal year 2027 budget for the State Department, on Capitol…