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President Trump suspended a plan to have the military escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Saudi Arabian officials warned Riyadh would not allow the US to use its airspace or air bases to support the initiative.“Project Freedom,” which the president announced Sunday evening, was paused Tuesday following pushback from the Gulf nation — as well as a phone conversation between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that did not resolve the issue, NBC News reported. The military operation had been intended to stop Iran from blocking the vital waterway, through which at least one-fifth of...

Fresh questions are being raised over why US President Donald Trump abruptly paused “Project Freedom,” the naval mission launched to secure commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports, Saudi Arabia refused to allow US military aircraft involved in the operation to use its airspace or bases, forcing Washington to halt the mission days after it began. The developments come as the US claims progress in talks with Iran over a possible deal. However, Tehran has pushed back against reports of a breakthrough, with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf mocking US media coverage of the negotiations as...

A Green Party candidate who has pushed for Britain to pay trillions of pounds in slavery reparations is descended from a Nigerian royal family that traded slaves, it has been claimed. Antoinette Fernandez is the “reparations officer” for the Green Party’s Global Majority Greens group, which works towards “racial and environmental justice”. Ms Fernandez is also the daughter of a billionaire - Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez - who was one of Africa’s richest men. The candidate for Lea Bridge, Hackney, has campaigned for taxpayers to pay reparations for the transatlantic slave trade, and has previously said politicians who oppose it “show...

Vietnam appealed to Beijing over its looming jet fuel shortage. The Philippines asked China not to restrict fertilizer exports. After a visit to China last month to press the subject, Australia’s foreign minister said Beijing would cooperate with Australian companies on jet fuel shipments. The outreach produced assurances from China to address regional energy security issues as well as commitments from other countries to advance diplomatic dialogue with Beijing and, in some cases, cooperate on future renewable energy projects, according to government readouts. The diplomacy kept some Chinese fuel flowing, helping Asia avoid some of the worst-case scenarios that experts...

Recently we learned that President Putin is spending more time in bunkers and cracking down on internal security as he fears the possibility of a drone strike or a coup.In addition to seeking to preserve his own personal security, Putin has cracked down on people's personal freedoms by shutting off social media and private messaging accounts and pushing everyone toward Kremlin-monitored accounts.But there are signs that this repression is starting to backfire as people are increasingly willing to oppose Putin publicly. Case in point, Ilya Remeslo, a former Putin supporter who spent years harassing Putin's enemies.Remeslo was once part of...

Could this be the endgame? On Wednesday, while talking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump implied that a deal with Iran was imminent - and stated that they have agreed to give up their nuclear weapons program..@POTUS: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't — and, they've agreed to that, among other things." pic.twitter.com/Z8ynfQpS7Y— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 6, 2026The Center Square's Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief, Sarah Roderick-Fitch, has more.During a Wednesday afternoon news conference in the Oval Office, Trump indicated that Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon – a stipulation in...

President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials. Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing “Project Freedom” on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran will be bombed “at a much higher level” if it doesn’t agree to a peace deal, raising tensions even as news outlets reported that Washington and Tehran are nearing an agreement to end the war. Trump in a Truth Social post said the U.S. military offensive known as Operation Epic Fury “will be at an end” if Iran “agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption.” ... But “if they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity...

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) announces she has been working with foreign countries to supply oil to Cuba, in defiance of President Trump. She says Trump's economic sanctions against the Communist regime are equivalent to illegally bombing the nation's infrastructure. VIDEO AT LINK...............

Rising optimism surrounding a potential diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran placed renewed focus on the Strait of Hormuz early Wednesday, as traders monitored signs of easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Reports indicate Washington and Tehran are nearing a one-page memorandum of understanding aimed at de-escalating the conflict between the two nations. The development sparked a shift in market expectations regarding global shipping activity through the strategically critical waterway, which handles a significant share of the world’s oil flows. On prediction platform Kalshi, traders increased the probability that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will normalize...

Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported. The threat of air attacks rendered some of the U.S. bases in the region too dangerous to staff at normal levels, and commanders moved most of the personnel from these sites...

Donald Trump is on the verge of securing a sweeping peace deal with Iran that would lift US sanctions, free billions in frozen assets and open a path to uranium enrichment, mirroring the Barack Obama pact he spent years trashing. If signed, a 30-day window would open for both countries to negotiate a larger agreement covering the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of all US sanctions on Iran, and new limits on its nuclear program. The deal calls for Iran to halt all uranium enrichment for 12 to 15 years with automatic extensions if Tehran violates the...

The United States and Iran are closing in on a one-page memo to end their war, a Pakistani source involved in the peace efforts told Reuters on Wednesday, confirming an Axios report citing two US officials."We will close this very soon. We are getting close," the source said, with Pakistan's Foreign Minister adding that the country is working to ensure the agreement would lead to a "permanent end" to the conflict.According to Axios, the US expects a response from Iran within 48 hours regarding the key points of a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told...

Donald Trump is on the verge of securing a sweeping peace deal with Iran that would lift US sanctions, free billions in frozen assets and open a path to uranium enrichment, mirroring the Barack Obama pact he spent years trashing. A one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding is being negotiated between senior Iranian officials and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The White House believes the memo could finalize a framework to end the war within 48 hours. If signed, a 30-day window would open for both countries to negotiate a larger agreement covering the reopening of the Strait of...

WASHINGTON — The US and Iran are nearing agreement on a memorandum of understanding to end their nine-and-a-half-week war and lay out plans for talks about the future of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, a Pakistani source familiar with mediation efforts told The Post Wednesday.“There are documents,” the source said, referring to multiple versions of the potential agreement. “Which one will be approved is under discussion.”Separately, Reuters quoted a Pakistani source as saying of a potential deal: “We will close this very soon. We are getting close.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening he was pausing the U.S. effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz to allow time for a deal to end the Iran war, but that the American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing on Wednesday morning, the official Xinhua news agency reported, without providing further details. It was the first time since the start of the war that Araghchi has traveled to China, whose close economic and political ties to Tehran...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran."We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will ‌remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom ... will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump wrote on social media.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is pausing “Project Freedom,” the U.S. military’s effort to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after the operation began. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said the decision was based in part on “the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement” with Iran. Stock futures rose following Trump’s announcement, which raised hopes for a peace agreement that would end the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and reopen the economically vital strait. It also represented a surprising about-face from the Trump administration, which just hours...

The suspected hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which has killed three people and sickened at least seven others, has two likely causes — and both are bad news for the 150 passengers on board, experts said. The more likely scenario would be passengers contracting the virus from the feces, urine or saliva of infected rats or mice. That’s the usual transmission vector, according to physician Zaid Fadul, a former Air Force flight surgeon — although the World Health Organization insisted Tuesday that no rodents have been found on the stranded liner. But there’s one strain of the...

We have an update on the missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco. As WLT Report previously reported, two U.S. service members went missing during African Lion 2026, the annual training operation led by the U.S. Africa Command. Now, new details have emerged regarding how the soldiers went missing. According to an exclusive report by CBS News, one of the soldiers, while on a hike, fell into the ocean and, in an effort to save the soldier who fell, another soldier jumped into the ocean to rescue him, but was also swept away. CBS News provided exclusive details on how the soldiers...