What a difference a week makes: Trump falls into the Netanyahu trap

People were starting to laud the US president for his resistance to the Israeli PM’s pull, but what now?
Middle East crisis – live updates
When he was elected, Donald Trump suggested he could hammer out a new relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who was used to getting his way with the White House. But after just over 150 days in office, it appears Trump has fallen into the same trap as his predecessors – and launched the most consequential strike on Iran in generations.
From early suggestions that the Trump administration would rein in Netanyahu’s military ambitions, it now appears that the Israeli PM has manoeuvred the US into striking Iranian uranium enrichment sites directly after a series of military attacks that Washington was unable to deter the Israeli PM from. And the US is now bracing for a retaliation that could easily bring it into a full-scale war.
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Trump’s military attack on Iran reveals split among Maga diehards

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon lead voices on right seeing airstrikes as break with ‘America first’ doctrine
Middle East war –live updates
Saturday’s US strikes on Iran provoked conflicting reactions from isolationist Republicans who support Donald Trump’s Make America great again (Maga) movement, catching them – like many Democrats – between supporting efforts against nuclear proliferation and opposing American intervention in foreign conflicts.
The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – a loyalist to the president – reacted to the strikes by urging those in the US to pray that terrorists do not attack “our homeland” in retaliation.
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US attacks on Iran inflicted major destruction, Pentagon officials say

Defence secretary denies US is pursuing policy of regime change after strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
Middle East crisis – latest updates
The surprise overnight US attack on Iran inflicted major damage and destruction on three of its key nuclear sites, senior Pentagon officials said, as the US defence secretary denied that the Trump administration was pursuing a policy of regime change in the Middle East.
In a press conference in Washington, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven B-2 Spirit bombers flew 18 hours from the US to sites in Iran to drop 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in strikes that were said to have caused “extremely severe damage” to Iranian uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
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Democrats say they were left in dark about plans for US strikes on Iran

Leading figures on Senate and House intelligence committees not briefed in advance in break with custom
Middle East war – live updates
Senior Democrats have claimed they were left in the dark about operation Midnight Hammer, the US’s highly coordinated strike on Saturday on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
Neither Mark Warner, a US senator of Virginia, nor Jim Himes, a representative of Connecticut, both top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence panels, were briefed before the attack, according to reports.
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Blasts heard in Isfahan as US strikes Iranian nuclear sites – video

Blasts were heard in Isfahan after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. Explosions from the direction of the Isfahan nuclear site could be heard in a video posted on social media, and at least one fiery ball illuminated the night sky
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and ‘totally obliterated’ them
Keir Starmer backs US strike on Iran and calls for Tehran to return to talks
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US defence secretary says strikes on Iran nuclear sites were ‘overwhelming success’ – video

Pete Hegseth said overnight airstrikes targeting the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities ‘devastated’ Iran’s nuclear programme. At a press conference at the Pentagon, he said the strikes, which followed a ‘focused, powerful and clear’ order from the US president, Donald Trump, did not target Iranian troops or civilians
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump says US strikes ‘totally obliterated’ three Iranian nuclear sites
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Donald Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and ‘totally obliterated’ them

Strikes hit uranium enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan; Iran says US has ‘blown up diplomacy’
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Explainer: What is Iran’s Fordow nuclear site and why was a US strike needed?
Donald Trump has announced that the US has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s effort to destroy the country’s nuclear programme, in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror,” Trump said in a speech from the White House.
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Global alarm at US strikes on Iran amid fears conflict could spiral out of control

Politicians express ‘grave concern’ and urge all parties to de-escalate and return to talks on Iran’s nuclear programme
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Nations in the Middle East and beyond responded with alarm after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night as the EU and the UN called for immediate diplomacy, amid mounting fears that the war could trigger a wider escalation that could spiral out of control.
Qatar, which hosts the biggest US military base in the Middle East, said on Sunday that it feared there could be serious repercussions regionally and internationally.
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No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences | Simon Tisdall

Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likely
Bombing will not make Iran go away. US bombs will not destroy the knowhow needed to build a nuclear weapon or the will do so, if that is what Tehran wants. The huge attack ordered by Donald Trump will not halt ongoing open warfare between Israel and Iran. It will not bring lasting peace to the Middle East, end the slaughter in Gaza, deliver justice to the Palestinians, or end more than half a century of bitter enmity between Tehran and Washington.
More likely, Trump’s rash, reckless gamble will inflame and exacerbate all these problems. Depending on how Iran and its allies and supporters react, the region could plunge into an uncontrolled conflagration. US bases in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the region, home to about 40,000 American troops, must now be considered potential targets for retaliation – and possibly British and allied forces, ..

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How effective was the US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites? A visual guide

Trump claims the assault ‘totally obliterated’ the key facilities, but what do we know about its impact?
Middle East crisis – latest updates
Donald Trump was quick to claim that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had “completely and totally obliterated” them. Still, it remains unclear how much physical damage has been done or what the longer-term impact might be on Iran’s nuclear programme.
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From shipping, to proxies, to targeting US bases, Iran’s options to strike back are limited

Trump has warned of broader US involvement in Israel’s war if Iran attempts to strike back against US military sites in the region
Full report: Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites
Live coverage: Iran strikes Israel after US attack
Iran had sought to deter Donald Trump from joining Israel’s bombing campaign with dire threats of retaliation, but its options now are limited and fraught with risk.
Iranian officials have said specifically that US ships and military bases would be targeted, but much of the capacity it had relied on as a deterrent has been stripped away over the past few days by Israeli strikes. Those strikes however, have focused on long-range ballistic missile launchers. Iran still has a formidable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and drones.
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Trump raises specter of further attacks against Iran after US military operation

President warned that Tehran must start peace negotiations with Israel and stop enriching uranium
US strikes Iran – follow it live
Explainer: What is Iran’s Fordow nuclear site and why was a US strike needed?
Fresh from ordering military strikes on Iran, Donald Trump on Saturday raised the specter of further attacks against the country if its leadership did not engage in peace talks in a sweeping and at times ominous televised late night address delivered from the White House.
The remarks suggested that the president, who has repeatedly said he wanted to bring peace to global conflicts, at least partly viewed the strikes against Iran’s enrichment facilities as a tactic to force negotiations – just days after he had suggested he would give Iran two weeks before deciding on an attack.
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Trump says US strikes on Iran were a ‘success’: what we know so far

US president Donald Trump has said the US has successfully struck three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran. This is what we know so far
US strikes Iran: follow it live
Full story: Trump announces strikes on three sites in Iran
Donald Trump announced on Saturday the US had successfully completed strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, and claimed that key enrichment facilities there had been “totally and completely obliterated”. The sites struck were Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.
Iranian officials said there was no danger to the residents living near the nuclear facilities hit by US strikes, according to Iranian state media. Quoting the Crisis Management Headquarters in the province of Qom, where the Fordow facility is located, the IRNA news service said “there is no danger to the people of Qom and the surrounding area”. Al Jazeera reported earlier that another official said Fordow has “long been evacuated and has not suffered any irreversible damage”. Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear and Radiologic..

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Israel says it has killed two top al-Quds officials as diplomatic efforts to reach Iran ceasefire stall

Senior military figures targeted overnight as talks between Iran and Europe in Geneva end with no breakthrough
Israel’s military has said it killed two top Iranian military officials in overnight strikes as European diplomatic efforts to bring the US and Iran back to the negotiating table stalled.
An Israeli military official said on Saturday that Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine Corps of al-Quds, the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had been killed in a strike on a flat in the city of Qom, central Iran.
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US reportedly moving B-2 bombers to Guam as Trump considers Iran strikes

Officials tell Reuters bombers moving to Pacific Island but unclear whether deployment tied to Middle East tensions
The United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, two US officials told Reuters on Saturday, as Donald Trump weighs whether the United States should take part in Israel’s strikes against Iran.
It was unclear whether the bomber deployment is tied to Middle East tensions.
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Thousands of Afghans face expulsion from US as Trump removes protections

‘Profound concern’ as administration says Afghanistan safe to return to despite dangers posed by Taliban regime
Thousands of Afghans who fled to the US as the Taliban grabbed power again in Afghanistan are in mortal dread of being deported back to danger in the coming weeks amid the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown.
Many, including some who assisted US forces in Afghanistan before the botched withdrawal by the military in 2021, are contending with threats to their legal status in the US on several fronts.
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Pakistan to nominate Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize

Islamabad says US president helped resolve India conflict but critic says ‘Israel’s sugar daddy in Gaza’ not candidate for any prize
Pakistan has said it will recommend Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize for his work in helping to resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
The move, announced on Saturday, came as the US president mulls joining Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
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Trump’s coalition is self-destructing over the Iran war question | Moustafa Bayoumi

You don’t have to be a fan of Tucker Carlson to enjoy the spectacle of a Republican civil war
You have to admit that there’s something delicious about watching Ted Cruz get served his just deserts by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In a nearly two-hour long interview on Carlson’s own channel and in Cruz’s Washington office, Carlson repeatedly grilled, roasted, and fried the Texas senator, exposing a deepening rift within the Maga movement and showing us the hollowness of our so-called leaders along the way.
You don’t have to be a fan of Carlson to enjoy the spectacle of a Republican civil war. Carlson, who once hosted a show on CNN, established his reputation on Fox News and then became “a racist demagogue and promoter of far-right disinformation and dangerous conspiracy theories”, as a 2023 profile in Mother Jones described him. While at Fox, he was for a time the highest rated personality on cable TV and was deeply influential in setting the conservative agenda. On air at Fox – ..

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Israel-Iran war live: Iran president says US must ‘receive a response’ to attack on nuclear sites as Israel renews bombing

US defense secretary Pete Hegseth says attacks have devastated Iran’s nuclear programme
Hegseth claims US ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear sites
We’re also still awaiting reactions from the Democratic leadership in the US.
Trump’s closest supporters have posted their support for the attack on social media.
South Carolina senator Lindsay Graham says:
Good. This was the right call. The regime deserves it. Well done, President @realDonaldTrump
To my fellow citizens: We have the best Air Force in the world. It makes me so proud. Fly, Fight, Win.
The prospect of an Iranian regime acquiring nuclear weapons represents the most acute immediate threat to America and our allies.
President Trump has persistently and unequivocally stated that those threats cannot be countered without dismantling the Iranian regime’s enrichment capacity.
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How Germany changed its mind about America, thanks to Donald Trump

Five days after his election victory in February, Friedrich Merz’s world collapses. That’s how he will describe it later.

That Friday evening, he steps off the stage at a large conference center in Hamburg’s port, where cruise ships usually moor. He has just been hailed as “the future federal chancellor,” and more than a thousand party supporters have cheered on their chairman at a rally of the local chapter of the Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s main center-right party. At around 8:15 p.m., he shakes a few hands in farewell, then drops into the backseat of his official car for the three-hour drive home. It is February 28, 2025.

Merz checks his phone and notices a message from his spokesperson. He should watch a video, preferably immediately. Merz pulls out his iPad, opens the link, and recognizes a room familiar to anyone who follows politics. Two armchairs upholstered in gold damask sit in front of a fireplace with no fire burning. In front of the fireplace is a table made of..

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White House wary of Iran counterattack as Trump strikes triumphant tone

U.S. President Donald Trump was triumphant Saturday night during his Oval Office address but within the administration the mood was less sanguine as officials braced for a potential Iran counterattack.

The decision to send American B-2 bombers to attack Iran, the most significant military action of Trump’s presidency, threatens to inject the United States into another Middle East conflict, the kind that Trump and Vice President JD Vance have long promised to avoid.

“We don’t know how much this is going to get us into something protracted,” said an administration official, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberation. “Right now the message is we want to get rid of the nuclear capacity and focus on negotiations.”

Trump over the last few days had become increasingly convinced that he had a rare opportunity to take out Tehran’s nuclear capability with minimal risk to U.S. personnel, according to a senior White House official.

Plans for the attack, which Trump..

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Italian defense minister says NATO ‘as it is’ has no reason to exist

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Friday that NATO “as it is, no longer has a reason to exist,” and that the EU does not count on the global stage.

Crosetto made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference in Padua, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

“Before, U.S. and Europe used to be the center of the world — now, there is everything else with which a relationship must be built,” he said, adding: “We often talk as if we were still living 30 years ago, but everything has changed.”

Crosetto’s comments come ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague next week, where the alliance is likely to agree on a higher spending target of 5 percent of GDP to placate U.S. President Donald Trump.

Among the leaders attending is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. At a meeting in Rome earlier this month with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, her office “reaffirmed support for Ukraine and the Atlantic Alliance’s role as an essential pillar for collective defence.”

But accor..

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MAGA allies deride attacking Iran — but won’t criticize Trump directly

As Republicans battle over direct military engagement with Iran, prominent conservatives and allies of the president have emerged as forceful voices against intervening, lashing out at a host of political players — except for President Donald Trump.

Warring factions within the Republican Party have sought to pull Trump in opposing directions on how to deal with Iran. Isolationists are seeking to hold Trump to his repeated campaign promises to not involve the U.S. in another major Middle East war, while interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham have urged the president to go tougher on Iran — an approach that appears to be winning Trump’s favor.

Even as Republicans have spoken up against engaging in a conflict with Iran, criticizing everyone from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Graham for their role in the unfolding conflict, few dared to directly attack the president over his approach.

“Take screenshots of every single right winger who is shit talking Trump right now,” ..

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Vance: Trump may ‘take further action’ to stop Iran

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday warned that President Donald Trump may “take further action” to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and urged people who don’t support such action to trust the president.

Trump “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”

Iran has increased its uranium enrichment to near weapons-grade levels, according to a report from a United Nations nuclear watchdog. The country has been the subject of Israeli bombardment in recent days over its refusal to give up its nuclear capabilities.

The Trump administration has attempted to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran in recent months but talks halted after Israel struck Tehran last week.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!..

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Trump’s political offensive on European allies will have long-lasting consequences

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder.” He writes POLITICO’s From Across the Pond column.

In the next few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with America’s main allies for the first time since returning to office. On Sunday, he flew to Canada for the annual G7 meeting, and later this month, he’ll go to the Netherlands for the annual NATO Summit.

At both meetings, America’s allies will try to placate him on issues ranging from trade and security to the preservation of these forums as a means of coordination and cooperation in the face of critical challenges. And while Trump regularly sought to blow up such meetings in his first term, allies are growing confident they’ve done enough to avoid mishaps this time around.

Even if these meetings proceed without incident, however, they’d be wrong to assume all is right and well in their relations with the U.S. The gl..

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MAGA warned Trump on Iran. Now he’s in an impossible position.

President Donald Trump campaigned on ending what his base has long derided as U.S. foreign adventurism, leading the rebellion against an establishment that long favored international interventions.

Now some of his most vocal supporters fear Israel may have trampled his ability to make good on that promise.

The Jewish nation’s decision to conduct a pre-emptive strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities on Thursday night threatens to draw the United States into a Middle East conflict — and split the MAGA coalition that catapulted Trump back into the Oval Office.

While administration officials say the U.S. played no part in the offensive, it was unclear as of Thursday night whether the U.S. will be able to actually stay on the sidelines. Trump will almost certainly feel compelled to help defend Israel against counter-attacks by Iran.

And there are real questions about how Tehran — which was slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for the latest round of peace talks on Sunday —..

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The global impact of Trump vs. Musk

Could Elon Musk’s online slapfight with President Donald Trump put a dent in his global telecom ambitions?

Musk’s satellite broadband company Starlink has reaped massive gains since he became “first buddy” to Trump. Numerous countries have cut red tape to approve Starlink this year, some reportedly under pressure from Trump’s State Department. In some cases, countries appeared to be giving Starlink a green light in order to ingratiate themselves with the White House.

Vietnam approved the service in February. In early May, the Democratic Republic of Congo granted Starlink a license. Later that month, South Africa eased laws that required telecom companies to provide 30 percent equity to groups that were historically marginalized — which could allow Starlink to start service without meeting the requirement.

Now, Musk’s feud with Trump raises the question of how Starlink will fare in future negotiations. Will countries feel the need to let it in? Will Trump go to bat for the company?

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Mark Carney says Canada will meet NATO spending target this year

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday announced an ambitious defense spending target that would end Canada’s status as a NATO laggard and mollify frustrated Americans.

Carney committed to meeting the alliance’s current spending target of 2 percent in 2025, half a decade ahead of Ottawa’s previous commitment.

Carney’s announcement comes less than a week before he hosts President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Alberta. The accelerated spending also follows amplified calls from the U.S. president and his Canadian ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, for Ottawa to honor its unfulfilled 11-year-old commitment to the target.

Carney framed the new spending as a necessary response to a more dangerous world that has left Canada more vulnerable to threats in the Arctic — and less protected by Americans.

“A new imperialism threatens. Middle powers must compete for interests and attention, knowing that if they’re not at the table, they’re on the menu,” Carney said, repeating a go-to line from ..

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Can Merz have an effective foreign policy?

John Kampfner is a British author, broadcaster and commentator. His latest book “In Search of Berlin” is published by Atlantic. He is a regular POLITICO columnist.

“He’s a very good man to deal with. He is difficult, but he is a very great representative of Germany.”

Wannabe “macho bro” Chancellor Friedrich Merz beamed as U.S. President Donald Trump handed down his version of praise. The compliment could not have been more appreciated. Given that anything could have happened in the Oval Office — with many a humiliation already meted out to several world leaders — Merz emerged surprisingly unscathed. In fact, he did better than that: He acquitted himself as well as any visitor to MAGA HQ could.

Unlike French President Emmanuel Macron or British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — his two closest counterparts — he also avoided false pretense. He didn’t put his hand on Trump’s knee or whip out a royal letter. In fact, by comparison, his gift — a framed copy of Trump’s grandfather’s birth cer..

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Trump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ – as it happened

This blog is closed. Follow our new blog here for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict
Israel-Iran conflict: live updates
Full report: Trump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’
Living in Israel: how have you been affected?
Living in Iran: how have you been affected?
Donald Trump has encouraged vice president JD Vance and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to offer to meet the Iranians this week, the New York Times has reported, citing a US official.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier indicated that Tehran was open to negotiations, also suggesting Trump could stop the war with “one phone call” to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. In a post on X he wrote:
If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential. Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.
It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netany..

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No, South Africa’s HIV care is not ‘under control’. To pretend so recalls the dark days of Aids denialism | Yvette Raphael and Sibongile Tshabalala

It is not just Trump’s funding cuts that have led the country to a health crisis. The real collapse comes from a lack of political courage to act
No one should be surprised that the health system in South Africa is straining in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s cruel gutting of HIV funding. What is shocking is the political will to pretend otherwise.
As public health workers, researchers, academics, people living with HIV and civil society organisations, we reject the narrative put forward by the government that things are “under control”. Testing has dropped. Frontline workers are being dismissed. Clinics that served our most marginalised communities have closed or are struggling to keep their doors open. And those most affected, such as transgender people, sex workers and drug users, have not been meaningfully included in any transition planning. The National Treasury and the Department of Health are at odds with each other. Officials within the health department are at odds with each ..

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Trump’s Yemen bombings killed nearly as many civilians as 23 previous years of US attacks, analysis shows

Monitoring group says high death rate in two months indicates change in US policy that could affect Iran
• Middle East crisis – live updates
The US bombing campaign of Yemen under Donald Trump led to the deaths of almost as many civilians in two months as in the previous 23 years of US attacks on Islamists and militants in the country.
An analysis of Operation Rough Rider by the monitoring group Airwars has concluded that 224 civilians were killed between March and the end of the campaign in May, compared with 258 between 2002 and 2024.
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The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran | Owen Jones

Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this reality
As the G7 issues a statement declaring that Israel has a “right to defend itself”, you have a right to ask if you are losing your mind. Israel launched an unprovoked onslaught on Iran. Its excuse – that Tehran may acquire a nuclear weapon – renders its attack illegal under the UN charter, which forbids wars justified by the claim of a future threat.
“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” declares the G7 statement. Even though Donald Trump’s intelligence chief testified three months ago that the US intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”. Even though it’s Israel that actually possesses nuclear weapons, while refusing to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and refusing International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. Even though, as progress was being made in nuclear talks between Ira..

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America is sleepwalking into another unnecessary war | Eli Clifton and Eldar Mamedov

Here we are, on the brink of another Middle East conflict with Iran – one that was entirely preventable
As the United States inches closer to direct military confrontation with Iran, it is critical to recognize how avoidable this escalation has been. “We knew everything [about Israel’s plans to strike Iran], and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” said Donald Trump on Friday. “I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out.”
As two of the last analysts from an American thinktank to visit Iran, just three weeks ago, we can report that Iran’s own foreign ministry and members of the nuclear negotiating team were eager to work out a deal with Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, and showed no indication they were interested in slow-walking talks.
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Most Trump supporters want to keep US military out of Israel-Iran conflict, poll finds

Findings show public appetite for peaceful approach to aim of forcing Iran to give up ambition of acquiring nuclear arms
A majority of supporters of Donald Trump are against US military involvement in Israel’s conflict with Iran, a poll published on Wednesday found, reflecting a growing Republican backlash to the president’s threats to utilize American firepower.
A wide-ranging Economist/YouGov poll conducted over the weekend revealed that 53% of voters who backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election do not want the country to join in Israel’s strikes.
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‘I may do it, I may not’: Trump gives update on US response to Iran – video

President Donald Trump has declined to say whether the US is planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities. He said the Iranians had reached out but he felt ‘it’s very late to be talking … There’s a big difference between now and a week ago. Nobody knows what I’m going to do’
US politics live – latest updates
Middle East crisis – live updates
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Israel’s assumption US would get drawn into Iran war is being put to the test

Donald Trump initially appeared to discourage attacks but Israeli officials claim they always had his support
Along the Ayalon highway, in the centre of Tel Aviv, two huge illuminated signs have appeared, portraying Donald Trump against a billowing stars-and-stripes backdrop and bearing the blunt appeal: “Mr President, finish the job!”
Israel’s attack on Iran may have been carried out with Trump’s approval, as government officials in Israel claim, but it appears to have been unleashed only in the expectation – rather than any certainty – that the US will ultimately be drawn into the war.
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Trump edges closer to war: could he drag the UK in? – Politics Weekly UK

As Israel and Iran trade escalating blows, and the horrific situation in Gaza continues, Trump has suggested the US could get directly involved. So how is Keir Starmer going to handle all this? And what could it mean for millions of Iranians? John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, and an Iranian woman who now lives in the UK.
Plus, it’s a rare week in British politics, with the House of Commons voting on two big social issues: abortion and assisted dying. Deputy political editor Jessica Elgot joins John to discuss
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Iranian opposition supporters grapple with US and Israeli regime change plans

‘We want freedom on our own terms,’ says one Tehran resident, while another writes, ‘Someone is helping us’
Despite a substantial internet blackout, news spread quickly in Iran on Tuesday night: the US was considering joining Israel in its war on Iran.
The US president, Donald Trump, wrote on Truth Social: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now … Our patience is wearing thin.” Three minutes later, in a second post, he added: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
When Mehnaz*, a 24-year-old student activist in east Tehran, heard the news, she did not think of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Instead, she thought of her fellow students who were detained, shot and executed by Iranian security forces during the “woman, life, liberty” protests in 2022.
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US intelligence told senators Iran not building nuclear weapon despite Trump claim, top Democrat says – as it happened

This blog has now closed. Follow our Middle East live blog here
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Wednesday that direct US military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East, where an air war between Israel and Iran has raged for six days.
In separate comments, the head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, was quoted as saying that the situation between Israel and Iran was now critical.
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Trump undecided on joining war on Iran as Khamenei warns him not to attack

‘I may do it, I may not do it,’ US president says as Tehran reportedly prepares to strike US bases in response
Donald Trump said he had not decided whether or not to take his country into Israel’s new war, as Iran’s supreme leader said the US would face “irreparable damage” if it deployed its military to attack.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel had made a “huge mistake” by launching the war, in his first comments since Friday.
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Trump caution on Iran strike linked to doubts over ‘bunker buster’ bomb, officials say

Exclusive: The likelihood of a successful US strike on the Iranian nuclear facility buried deep underground at Fordow is a topic of deep contention, defense officials say
Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called “bunker buster” bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations.
Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks.
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Trump claims Iran was ‘a few weeks away’ from nuclear weapon – as it happened

This live blog is closed
Trump undecided on joining war on Iran as Khamenei warns him not to attack
British, German and French foreign ministers plan meeting with Iranian counterpart
Analysis: Israel’s assumption US would get drawn into Iran war is being put to the test
Iran said on Wednesday it had detained five suspected agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency on charges of “tarnishing” the country’s image online, Iranian news agencies reported.
“These mercenaries sought to sow fear among the public and tarnish the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran through their calculated activities online,” Tasnim and SNA news agencies quoted a statement from the Revolutionary Guards as saying.
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Shell boss warns of ‘huge impact on trade’ if Israel-Iran conflict escalates

Blockage of strait of Hormuz, through which about 25% of world’s oil passes, could shock energy market, says Wael Sawan
• Business live – latest updates
An escalation in the Middle East conflict could have a “huge impact on global trade”, the boss of the oil company Shell has warned, as Donald Trump suggested the US could enter the air war between Israel and Iran.
Shell, one of the biggest traders of oil and natural gas in the world, said it had contingency plans in case the conflict disrupted flows from the region. There is a risk that a blockage in the strait of Hormuz could shock the energy market.
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Thawing of relations between Pakistan and US raises eyebrows in India

Army chief’s effusive welcome in Washington hints at strategic recalibration amid Middle East turmoil
After years in the diplomatic deep freeze, US-Pakistan ties appear to be quickly thawing, with Donald Trump’s effusive welcome for Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, signalling a possible major reset.
Once snubbed so badly that former prime minister Imran Khan had to board an ordinary airport shuttle after arriving in the US rather than being whisked off in a limousine, Pakistan is now enjoying top-level access in Washington, including a White House lunch for Munir on Wednesday and meetings with top national security officials.
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Trump’s plan for Iran divides Republicans – podcast

What is Donald Trump’s plan for Iran? Is he about to break his campaign pledge for ‘no more wars’? And if he does, could this be the moment he loses some of his most loyal Maga supporters?
The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang and Andrew Roth discuss
Archive: ABC News, AP, BBC News, CBS Mornings, CNN, KTLA 5, MSNBC, NBC News, PBS Newshour, Tucker Carlson, The War Room
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Trump denies approving Iran attack plan but will make decision ‘within two weeks’

President denies report in Wall Street Journal and says newspaper has ‘no idea’ of his plans for Israel and Iran
Middle East crisis – live
Donald Trump has denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that he has approved US plans to attack Iran, saying that the news outlet has “no idea” what his thinking is concerning the Israel-Iran conflict.
He also confirmed, later on Thursday, via his press secretary, that he’d be making a decision within the “next two weeks”.
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Israel-Iran conflict live: Israeli military issues evacuation warning to residents in Iranian industrial area

Trump to make decision on whether to attack Iran ‘within two weeks’, says White House
Israel’s defence minister orders attacks on Iran to ‘undermine regime’
Living in Israel: how have you been affected?
Living in Iran: how have you been affected?
The leader of Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service has said that a directive had been issued to reduce the number of people on the floor that was hit at Soroko hospital in Beersheba, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
He added that there had been no hazardous materials incident at the hospital and that for now Magen David Adom was transferring patients to other hospitals in southern Israel instead of Soroka.
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An AIDS orphan, a pastor and his frantic search for the meds that keep her alive

June 13, 20255:00 AM ET
Pastor Billiance Chondwe has known 9-year-old Diana Lungu since she was born. He helped her mother through a rough pregnancy and during Diana’s early years. Diana’s mother died of AIDS when Diana was nearing her third birthday.

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Night had fallen hours ago, but Billiance Chondwe was not slowing down.
On Feb. 20, he frantically tapped out texts on WhatsApp, dialed distant acquaintances and left voice messages from his home in Zambia. He’d pause only to close his eyes and think of whom else he could reach out to for help.
He urgently needed to find medication for Diana Lungu. She’s an orphan, she’s 9 — and she’s HIV-positive. She’d run out of the daily pills she takes to suppress the virus. Without the pills, the virus would surge back.
“I called the whole night … calling everyone,” remembers Chondwe, 53, a reverend known in his community simply as Pastor Billy. “I slept around..

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Protests erupt in Kenya’s capital over blogger’s death in police custody

June 12, 20255:08 PM ET
A protester holds a banner and shouts at a Kenyan police officer during a demonstration over the death of Kenyan blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody. June 12 2025

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NAIROBI, Kenya —Protests erupted across Kenya Thursday over the death of 31-year-old blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody under suspicious circumstances.
Ojwang was arrested last week in Homa Bay, in western Kenya, after criticizing Kenya’s Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, on social media. Ojwang was transported over 200 milesto Nairobi, the capital, on Friday, where he died hours later.
A former teacher, turned blogger, Ojwang had been writing about Lagat’s alleged involvement in a bribery scandal which had previously been reported by the press.
Police initially claimed Ojwang”hit his head on a cell wall,” but an autopsy revealed he was tortured to death. Dr. Bernard Midia, one of five..

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Torture and treason trials: what’s happening in Tanzania?

June 7, 20257:00 AM ET
Kenyan journalist and human rights activist Boniface Mwangi (R) and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire (L) during a joint press conference in Nairobi on June 2, 2025 following their three-day detention and alleged torture by Tanzanian authorities.

Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

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JOHANNESBURG —At a packed press conference this week two East African activists wiped away tears as they detailed their alleged sexual assault and torture while in detention in Tanzania.
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire – who was given an “International Woman of Courage” award by the US State Department last year – said they had traveled to neighboring Tanzania in mid-May to monitor the “sham” court case of an opposition leader there.
They allege they were both subsequently detained by a state security official and men in plain clothes. Mwangi described in graphic detail ho..

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World Reaction to the Latest U.S. Travel Ban

June 5, 20256:01 PM ET
Enlarge this imagePresident Trump announced a new travel ban on 12 countries.

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President Trump announced a new travel ban on 12 countries.

Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump has issued a new travel ban, barring travelers from 12 countries and partially restricting travelers from seven others from coming to the U.S. We hear from reporters in Asia, Latin America and Africa to hear how targeted countries might be affected.

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Darfur: bearing the brunt of over two years of civil war in Sudan

June 4, 20254:29 PM ET
People who fled violence in Darfur walk through a makeshift encampment in the western Darfur region on April 13, 2025.

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JOHANNESBURG — The food that a United Nations convoy was taking to the besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher would have been the first humanitarian aid desperate families there had received in over a year.
But they never got it.
The 15-truck convoy was on its way to the city in the Darfur region on Monday when it came under attack. Five UN staff were killed, several others injured, and the supplies damaged.
The UN condemned “in the strongest possible terms this horrendous act of violence against humanitarian personnel who literally put their lives at risk in an attempt to reach vulnerable children and families in the famine-impacted areas of Sudan.”

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“It is devastating that the supplies have not reached the civilians in need,” it said in a statement.
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What Trump’s fixation on ‘white genocide’ in South Africa tells us about the U.S.

June 4, 20253:00 AM ET
Enlarge this imageSouth African President Ramaphosa meets President Trump amid tensions over Washington’s resettlement of white Afrikaners that the U.S. president claims are the victims of “genocide.”

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South African President Ramaphosa meets President Trump amid tensions over Washington’s resettlement of white Afrikaners that the U.S. president claims are the victims of “genocide.”

Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

How the false notion of “white genocide” traveled from the political fringes to the Oval Office. The week on Code Switch, we’re talking to a reporter who was in the room during a meeting when President Trump pushed this conspiracy theory on the president of South Africa. And we’re digging into what Trump’s fixation on white South Africans tell us about anxieties over white replacement here in the U.S.

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“White genocide” isn’t a thing. Trump disagrees.

June 4, 20253:00 AM ET
Enlarge this imageWhy is the Trump administration offering refugee status to white Afrikaners?

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Why is the Trump administration offering refugee status to white Afrikaners?

Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

You may have heard that the U.S. gained 59 new residents last month from South Africa – and that more came this past weekend. They’re all white Afrikaners: a white minority group descended from European colonists. Trump has given some of these white Afrikaners refugee status because he claims a “white genocide” is happening against them in South Africa. This claim is untrue. So where is it coming from?
And why might this claim be politically expedient for the Trump administration? And what parallels can we see between some of the white Afrikaners and the American right? Brittany sits down with South African journalist Kate Bartlett and Sean Jacobs,..

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Why Trump Is Trying to Send Deportees to South Sudan

On May 20th, a flight with eight deportees left Texas headed to South Sudan, a country on the brink of civil war. But mid-flight, a judicial battle began to unfold that forced the flight to land in Djibouti. Katrin Bennhold, speaks with Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times reporter covering Homeland Security and Immigration, to understand what’s going on and how it fits into President Trump’s larger immigration plan.

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Healthcare System Collapses in Sudan’s Capital

May 28, 20253:56 PM ET
Enlarge this imageDr .Sara Abdurahaman at Al-Buluk Pediatric Hospital treats an 8-month old baby in the critical care unit of a malnutrition ward.

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Dr .Sara Abdurahaman at Al-Buluk Pediatric Hospital treats an 8-month old baby in the critical care unit of a malnutrition ward.

Faiz Abubakr for NPR

The civil war in Sudan has been ongoing for more than two years causing some fifteen million people to be displaced and the collapse of the country’s healthcare system in many places. In the capital Khartoum, there were once nearly 100 public and private medical facilities, now none are operational. We go to Khartoum to see how residents are coping with the lack of medical care.

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Trump’s debunked ‘burial site’ video reopens ‘wounds,’ says victim’s son

May 24, 20258:00 AM ET
US President Donald Trump, right, and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, second right, as a video plays during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

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JOHANNESBURG — President Trump claims a “genocide” of white people, particularly Afrikaner farmers, is taking place in South Africa.
When he met the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump played him a video — previously shared at least twice on social media byhis advisor Elon Musk — that he said was evidence of this.
“Now this is very bad, those are burial sites right there. Burial sites. Over a thousand. Of white farmers,” Trump said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The video showed a road lined on either side with scores of white crosses and a procession of cars carrying mourners paying their respects.

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South Africa’s president is praised for staying calm during Trump’s Oval Office ambush

May 22, 20258:54 AM ET
President Trump meets South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday.

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JOHANNESBURG — “All in all it was awful but it could have been worse,” was how one South African newspaper summed up President Cyril Ramaphosa’s extraordinary Oval Office meeting with President Trump on Wednesday.
Africa Trump ambushes South Africa’s president with false claims of ‘white genocide’Many South Africans — including members of the government delegation visiting Washington — had feared a repeat of February’s heated exchange between Trump and and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But despite what another newspaper called “serious provocation” by Trump — which included the dramatic moment he asked to dim the lights and played a lengthy video montage purporting to prove what Trump falsely claimed was a “genocide” against South African white farmers..

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Trump ambushes South Africa’s president with false claims of ‘white genocide’

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

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JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa walked into an ambush when he met President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Africa Trump to meet South African president amid deteriorating relationsAfter a cordial beginning, where Ramaphosa was at pains to stress his desire to improve relations with the United States, things turned hostile. Trump repeated false claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa and then ordered the lights dimmed to play videos he said supported his allegation.
Ramaphosa attempted to correct the U.S. leader, but mostly got talked over. He explained the videos of opposition politician Julius Malema singing an apartheid-era struggle song called “Kill the Boer” — which means farmer or Afrikaner — did not represent government policy.

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