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  • What’s in the US-Iran agreement?

    What’s in the US-Iran agreement?

    Nearly four months after open hostilities broke out between the United States and Iran, senior American officials have publicly released the full text of a landmark bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to cement a lasting ceasefire, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, and ultimately end the ongoing conflict between the two nations.

    The Trump administration has framed the 14-clause agreement as strictly performance-based, meaning Iran will only access the concessions laid out in the text after it fulfills all of its binding commitments under the deal. Speaking from the G7 summit hosted in Evian-les-Bains, France, former President Donald Trump told reporters that the formal signing of the agreement would take place “shortly”, with an indicative target date as early as June 18.

    The opening clause of the MoU requires the US, Iran, and their respective allied partners to declare an immediate and permanent end to all military operations across every active front, including the ongoing conflict in Lebanon. From the Trump administration’s perspective, growing anxiety has mounted in recent days that expanded Israeli military operations against the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement could derail the fragile agreement with Tehran. For its part, Iranian officials have long maintained that any ceasefire must explicitly include Lebanon, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson warning Wednesday that any continued Israeli military activity in the country would count as a clear violation of the understanding, prompting unspecified “necessary measures” in response. The agreement codifies that neither side will launch offensive military action or issue threats of force against the other moving forward, while committing both parties to upholding the full territorial integrity and sovereign authority of the Lebanese state. The end goal of the agreement is a full, permanent end to the bilateral conflict, though the reaction of Israeli leadership to this core requirement remains unconfirmed as of Wednesday.

    A second core clause reaffirms that both nations will respect each other’s full sovereignty and territorial integrity, and commit to refraining from any interference in each other’s internal domestic affairs. Analysts note this provision is likely to draw pushback from Iranian dissident groups, who have previously received public support from Trump, who promised “help is on the way” to anti-government protesters that demonstrated across major Iranian cities earlier this year.

    Under the third provision, the US and Iran have agreed to work toward a comprehensive final peace deal within a maximum 60-day window, a timeline that can be extended if both sides consent to an extension. The countdown will officially begin once leaders from the two countries sign the MoU during a planned ceremony in Geneva scheduled for later this week. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed Wednesday that “so far, our plans for the Geneva meeting have not changed”, adding that a proposal to have the two national presidents sign the agreement is currently under active review. The Iranian foreign ministry has also formally confirmed its commitment to reaching a final understanding within the 60-day timeline.

    The fourth clause outlines a phased rollback of American maritime restrictions: once the MoU enters into force, the US will begin lifting its naval blockade and all other disruptions or impediments on Iranian commercial ports, with full completion of the blockade removal scheduled for 30 days. During this transition period, the number of vessels the US permits to access Iranian ports will be calibrated to match the rate of traffic restoration Iran achieves in the Strait of Hormuz. Once a comprehensive final deal is signed, the US has committed to withdrawing all American military forces from areas in proximity to Iran within 30 days, returning the US military posture and asset positioning to the status it held before hostilities began on February 28.

    Parallel to the American blockade rollback, the MoU requires Iran to deploy its best efforts to organize immediate, unrestricted free passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, with no transit fees charged for crossing. This has been a top priority for the US since the outbreak of war, when the closure of the strategic chokepoint triggered a sharp spike in global oil prices. The agreement requires commercial traffic to resume immediately once the MoU is signed, with technical, military obstacles and existing mines to be cleared as a priority. American officials repeatedly emphasized during an off-camera briefing Wednesday that all vessels will be guaranteed free, toll-free access to the strait under the terms of the deal. Long-term, Iran will cooperate with Oman and other Gulf Cooperation Council states to negotiate a broader multilateral framework for managing navigation access and security in the Strait of Hormuz. A senior US official noted that while Washington expects Iran to push aggressively to assert its sovereign rights over the waterway, Gulf states would never accept a permanent tolling system for transit.

    A sixth key provision commits the US and its regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually approved reconstruction and economic development plan for Iran valued at a minimum of $300 billion. The formal funding and implementation mechanism will be finalized within 60 days of a comprehensive final deal, with all necessary US licenses, waivers and regulatory approvals to be granted. Notably, the agreement does not require direct American financial contribution to the fund: a senior administration official stressed that the US is not required to pay “a cent of money” to Iran. To illustrate, the official offered a hypothetical example: if Iran complies fully with its commitments, Emirati authorities could move forward with constructing a new power plant in Iran with American diplomatic approval, no US public funds required. Trump and other senior officials have gone out of their way to stress to the American public that no direct US taxpayer funds will go to Iran, a stark contrast the administration says to the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

    Under the agreement’s seventh clause, the US will terminate all existing economic sanctions on Iran, including those imposed via UN Security Council resolutions and unilateral American sanctions. The exact timeline for sanctions removal remains to be negotiated as part of the final deal, though both sides have confirmed their shared intention to address the issue immediately once the MoU takes effect. Iran’s economy has already suffered severe damage from years of crippling sanctions, exacerbated by the recent American campaign, Operation Economic Fury, which has sought to cut Tehran off entirely from the global financial system.

    On the nuclear issue, the eighth clause codifies Iran’s commitment to not pursue or acquire a nuclear weapon, and both sides have agreed to implement a framework to manage the existing stockpile of enriched uranium held by Iran. The specific mechanism for managing the material has not been finalized, with the agreement noting that details will be settled in subsequent negotiations. At a minimum, the existing enriched uranium will be downblended domestically under continuous supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A senior US official called this baseline requirement a “major win” for American negotiating positions, with Trump previously stating that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon accounted for 99% of his objectives when he launched Operation Epic Fitry earlier this year. As the deal is structured to be performance-based, all sanctions relief laid out in the seventh clause is directly tied to Iran fulfilling its nuclear commitments under clause eight.

    The ninth and tenth clauses establish a nuclear status quo during the transition period before the enriched uranium stockpile is fully addressed, freezing the current state of Iran’s nuclear program until a final deal is reached. In practical terms, this means the US will not impose new additional sanctions on Iran during the transition, and will issue temporary waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and associated services including international banking transactions and commercial transportation.

    The eleventh clause addresses the longstanding sticking point of Iranian frozen assets, a core demand for Tehran that has represented a major obstacle to progress in negotiations for months. Under the agreement, the US commits to making all frozen and restricted Iranian funds fully available once the MoU is signed, with specific release procedures to be negotiated during the transition talks. A senior US official confirmed Wednesday that assets will be released incrementally as Iran complies with specific commitments during the post-MoU negotiations, such as beginning the process of downblending its highly enriched uranium stockpile, as an incentive for continued adherence to the deal.

    The final three clauses lay out the procedural and governance framework for the agreement. First, the US and Iran will establish a joint monitoring mechanism to oversee MoU implementation and compliance with any future final deal, though the exact structure and authority of this body remains undetermined. Once the MoU is signed and implementation begins, formal negotiations for a comprehensive final deal will launch immediately. Finally, the agreement requires that any final bilateral deal will receive formal endorsement via a binding UN Security Council resolution to cement its international legitimacy.

  • Ex-Nigeria oil minister cleared in UK bribery trial

    Ex-Nigeria oil minister cleared in UK bribery trial

    After a high-profile 13-year investigation and a months-long trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court, a jury has delivered a stunning acquittal for Diezani Alison-Madueke, the 65-year-old former Nigerian oil minister and the first woman to lead OPEC, clearing all bribery and conspiracy charges against her. The verdict marks a major setback for the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which spent more than a decade building its case against one of Africa’s most recognizable former political leaders.

    Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s oil minister from 2010 to 2015 and assumed the OPEC presidency in 2014, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Prosecutors alleged that she allowed powerful oil executives holding lucrative Nigerian government contracts to fund her extravagant lifestyle, including luxury accommodations and high-end shopping sprees in the UK. Six oil tycoons were named in the indictment, but none have been charged to date. Crucially, however, prosecutors failed to prove that Alison-Madueke awarded any contracts to these individuals in exchange for improper gifts or payments.

    Two other co-defendants were also fully acquitted: Doye Agama, 69, Alison-Madueke’s older brother and a Pentecostal archbishop based in Manchester, was cleared of conspiracy to commit bribery, while 54-year-old Nigerian-British oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde was found not guilty of bribery and bribing a foreign public official. Ayinde’s case drew particular attention, as she had been working as an informant for Nigerian anti-corruption authorities when she was charged. An EFCC investigator confirmed to the court that Ayinde provided “vital information that assisted the investigation,” leading her legal team to condemn her inclusion in the prosecution as a profound injustice.

    From the opening of the trial in January, Alison-Madueke’s defense team mounted a vigorous attack on the fairness and credibility of the prosecution’s case. They argued that key documents proving their client’s innocence had disappeared during investigations in Nigeria, and that the 13-year delay in bringing the case to trial was inherently unjust, describing the prolonged process as evidence of a “broken criminal justice system” in Britain. Defense barrister Jonathan Laidlaw KC emphasized that Alison-Madueke had effectively been confined to the UK for nearly 11 years, barred from working or traveling freely, while the NCA never took steps to extradite the six uncharged oil executives alleged to have paid the bribes. The jury was never given an explanation for why those men were never prosecuted.

    Alison-Madueke said in court that she had been targeted because of her gender in Nigeria’s deeply patriarchal society, noting that her rise to the country’s second-most senior political role and the top position at OPEC made her a target for male political opponents. She framed herself as a lifelong anti-corruption advocate, so committed to procedural rigor that she earned the nickname “Madam due process,” and pointed to her trailblazing history as the first woman to sit on the board of Shell’s Nigerian operations in 2006.

    Addressing the allegations of improperly funded luxury stays and purchases, Alison-Madueke told the court that under Nigerian rules, ministers were prohibited from holding foreign bank accounts for official overseas work, and her department’s London office was so disorganized that she had to rely on advances from wealthy business contacts for living expenses. She insisted all advances were fully reimbursed in Nigeria, and that the critical evidence proving reimbursement was seized from her Abuja home in 2015 but never turned over to the court. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who appointed Alison-Madueke to the oil ministry post, submitted a statement confirming that it was standard practice for third parties to cover travel, accommodation and other expenses for Nigerian ministers on official overseas business.

    The investigation was ultimately undermined by unresolved inconsistencies and gaps in evidence, the defense argued. The NCA was denied direct access to the 2015 search of Alison-Madueke’s Abuja home, forcing it to rely entirely on evidence collection by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Yet the prosecution asked the jury to trust EFCC evidence against Alison-Madueke while simultaneously urging them to dismiss the commission’s exculpatory evidence for co-defendant Ayinde, a contradiction the defense highlighted heavily during the trial.

    Following the delivery of the verdict, Alison-Madueke called the ruling the end of a decade-long nightmare. “For 11 long, gruelling years this case has hung over my head and has tormented me and my family,” she said in a post-verdict statement. “But today, the past decade of relentless and unjust vilification, condemnation and scrutiny has finally come to an end.”

  • In Belfast, ancient grudges and new furies leave a city burned

    In Belfast, ancient grudges and new furies leave a city burned

    In the residential streets branching off east Belfast’s Newtownards Road, the aftermath of last week’s brutal sectarian-tinged riots hangs heavy. Charred, boarded-up house facades line the road, burned-out car shells sit abandoned at curbsides, and the acrid scent of ash still lingers in the air. What began with the stabbing of local man Stephen Ogilvie quickly exploded into coordinated violence targeting migrant and immigrant communities, leaving dozens of families displaced and a city already grappling with historic divisions confronting a fresh wave of racial hatred.

    The violence unfolded almost exclusively in loyalist Protestant working-class areas, where pro-British paramilitary groups that first formed during Northern Ireland’s 30-year Troubles have maintained a persistent, though altered, presence decades after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended large-scale conflict. Investigations and local testimonies reveal the riot was not a spontaneous outburst, but a coordinated action: rioters were instructed to wear black, cover their faces, disable doorbell surveillance, and avoid carrying personal phones that could identify them. Migrants’ home addresses were circulated across social media platforms and encrypted WhatsApp groups, forcing many minority families to send their children to stay with white neighbors for safety.

    Among those who lost their homes to arson were a Ukrainian woman who fled Russia’s full-scale invasion of her country, a Polish family, and a Romanian family. The Sudanese man charged with the attempted murder of Ogilvie has been identified as Hadi Alodid, but a subsequent Belfast Telegraph investigation has exposed a stark hypocrisy at the heart of the rioters’ justification: Ogilvie himself was a longtime target of loyalist paramilitaries linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the notorious Shankill Butchers unit, who had tortured him repeatedly and forced him out of Northern Ireland years before the stabbing. Ogilvie’s family has publicly expressed disgust that his attack was exploited to justify racist violence.

    While the stabbing served as the immediate trigger, campaigners, academics and local residents who spoke to Middle East Eye say this wave of violence was the predictable outcome of years of growing far-right extremism, anti-immigrant disinformation, and the merging of historic paramilitary networks with modern far-right ideology. Unlike the Troubles, when intercommunal violence targeted Catholic communities, this new wave of violence has reoriented old sectarian hatred toward foreign-born residents.

    Multiple actors have been linked to enabling and emboldening the unrest, mirroring a pattern seen in recent racist riots across mainland Britain from Southampton to Southport. Far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, whose legal bills are currently covered by X owner Elon Musk, shared details of planned demonstrations within days of the stabbing, framing the incident as “yet another invader attack on our people.” Musk, the world’s first trillionaire, reposted the call to action on his own platform with the caption: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!” The post came just weeks after Robinson met Musk’s father in a luxury Moscow hotel.

    Mainstream far-right political figures have also amplified rhetoric that local activists say laid the groundwork for violence. Traditional Unionist Voice MP Jim Allister decried what he called “an importation of an alien culture that thinks it is appropriate to behead someone within the United Kingdom,” while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage warned that “if there is no urgent action taken to remove discriminatory and dangerous anti-White policies, we will see another Belfast.” Critics point out that this rhetoric of collective blame stands in stark contrast to the silence from these same figures when 30 women were violently killed across Northern Ireland over four years ending in 2024 – a case where the vast majority of attackers were white.

    Data underscores how unfounded many of the anti-immigrant claims circulating in Belfast are. Northern Ireland is over 96 percent white, a higher proportion than England, Wales or Scotland, and hosts just one percent of all asylum seekers housed in UK hotels. Still, systemic failures have created a vacuum that disinformation has rushed to fill. Luqman Saeed, a Pakistan-born lecturer at Ulster University, notes that most working-class loyalist residents have little daily interaction with immigrants, so their perceptions are shaped almost entirely by skewed media coverage that only highlights immigrants in the context of crime or asylum claims. Few are aware that temporary migrants pay a mandatory health surcharge to access the NHS, or that many work in critical frontline health and social care roles across the region.

    For Saeed, who has lived in Belfast since 2022 and raises children born there who attend local schools, the rise in racism has been tangible and worrying. “Things are definitely worse now,” he says. “That sense of security has faded away. It’s hard to know how to re-establish it. There is a co-ordinated, systematic campaign in the media to demonise immigrants.”

    Official bodies have previously warned of the link between persistent paramilitary structures and rising racist violence. In December 2025, the Independent Reporting Commission – a joint UK-Irish body created to monitor post-Good Friday Agreement disarmament – found that “the intimidation, coercive control, and threats linked to paramilitary groups persist, and the structures of paramilitary groups that continue intact can be used to facilitate organised crime and other forms of violence.” The commission specifically noted that “a particularly serious manifestation of that reality over the last two years has been the link between paramilitarism and racist violence connected to the issue of immigration.”

    Amnesty UK’s head of nations and regions Patrick Corrigan says paramilitary involvement is the unique factor that distinguishes Belfast’s current unrest from far-right violence elsewhere in the UK. “Paramilitaries are the element that exists here but nowhere else. It is clear they have been involved in racist violence,” Corrigan says. Local residents also note that paramilitary-linked organised crime groups stand to profit from the unrest, exploiting social division for their own gain.

    Not all local loyalist leaders agree that paramilitary groups centrally controlled the riots. Mervyn Gibson, grand secretary of the Protestant Orange Order and a Presbyterian minister who has negotiated with paramilitaries for decades, acknowledges that individual members took part, but argues the violence was not formally directed by paramilitary leadership. He describes much of the unrest as “recreational rioting” where teenagers and young men were drawn to the chaos for an adrenaline rush, directed by older men with ties to fringe fascist groups as much as traditional paramilitarism.

    Gibson also points to long-simmering grievances in working-class loyalist communities that have created fertile ground for division. He notes that the UK government often places migrant and asylum-seeking families in working-class neighbourhoods without any advance consultation or explanation to existing residents, leaving a information gap that disinformation fills. Systemic housing failures also exacerbate tension: Northern Ireland has more than 20,000 vacant homes, but more than 50,000 people remain on social housing waiting lists. Local residents report that private landlords routinely rent properties to migrant families because the government pays a premium rate, feeding a perception that existing residents’ housing needs are being sidelined.

    Community organiser Conol Matthews says these economic and social grievances are deliberately diverted toward immigrants instead of the political leadership that created the housing crisis. His approach when working with local residents is to redirect anger toward “the boys in suits” in government who have failed working-class communities on all sides of the historic divide. Still, he acknowledges the weight of Belfast’s violent history, noting: “Realistically, what this place is always teetering on the edge of is war.”

    Kashif Akram, an executive committee member at the Belfast Islamic Centre, echoes calls for systemic change to reverse rising hatred. “The government needs to educate them. The importance of migrants needs to be understood. Why are people not being educated about this?” he asks. He notes that for paramilitaries, little has changed except the target of their violence: “it looks like the same individuals and same leaders. The target has changed but the ideology is the same. The violence is directed not at Catholics but people of colour.”

    Despite the wave of violence, many Belfast residents remain optimistic that unity can push back against hatred. Over the weekend following the riots, thousands of people from across all communities took to the streets of central Belfast for an anti-racism march. Akram, a lifelong Belfast resident, puts it simply: “There’s more decent people than racists. We can stop it, but all communities need to come together.”

  • US is interested in a Polish offer for a permanent US military base, Polish official says

    US is interested in a Polish offer for a permanent US military base, Polish official says

    On NATO’s strategically critical eastern flank, Poland has taken a formal step to open the door for a long-term American military presence, with a senior Polish defense official confirming Wednesday that U.S. authorities have signaled preliminary interest in establishing a permanent base on Polish territory.

    Cezary Tomczyk, Poland’s deputy defense minister, shared the update with The Associated Press in an interview at the Polish Defense Ministry in Warsaw. His comments came one day after the Polish government approved a series of regulatory and administrative measures to clear the way for the permanent base, framing Tuesday’s government resolution as a formal invitation to the United States.

    Tomczyk noted that the joint financing model for the base, which would see costs split between the two allied nations, has drawn U.S. engagement with the proposal. “The Americans are interested in the Polish offer to place a permanent base here,” he told reporters. When reached for comment on Tomczyk’s remarks, U.S. Department of Defense officials based in Washington declined to share any new announcements regarding the potential deployment.

    Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has reiterated that Polish authorities are moving forward with all necessary preparations to facilitate the base, though he emphasized that the final decision rests entirely with U.S. leadership. Currently, approximately 10,000 U.S. military personnel are deployed in Poland, with the vast majority serving on rotational deployments rather than permanent assignments. As the U.S. undertakes a full review of its European force posture, covering both troop levels and weapons deployments, Polish officials are pushing to convert the current rotational presence into a permanent deployment of thousands of additional troops.

    The current talks mark the latest development in a turbulent series of shifts in U.S. force planning for Central Europe that began earlier this year. In May, the Trump administration unexpectedly paused the deployment of 4,000 additional troops to Poland, a move that confused policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic even as the White House labeled Poland a “model ally” for meeting NATO’s defense spending target. The sudden halt came on the heels of then-President Donald Trump’s public threat to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, a decision widely attributed to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism of a U.S. military strike on Iran.

    Within days of the canceled deployment, Warsaw dispatched a high-level delegation led by Tomczyk to Washington for emergency talks. While Tomczyk was still in the U.S. capital, Trump announced via social media that the U.S. would instead deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, reversing the earlier pause. Since that reversal, U.S. officials have only confirmed that they are reorganizing their European troop footprint, but have released no concrete details about where specific units will be reassigned.

    Despite the lack of clarity from Washington, Polish defense leaders have repeatedly expressed optimism that Poland will secure a permanent increase in U.S. troop presence. Speaking in mid-May, Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that transitioning the existing rotational deployment model to a permanent status would bring significant strategic benefits to both nations, adding “Sometimes a rotating model can change into a permanent model and this is always much better.”

    When asked whether the recent Polish government resolution was prompted by clear, formal interest from the U.S. side, Tomczyk said that Warsaw and Washington have maintained ongoing working-level dialogue about the proposal. “The next step, after the two sides confirmed they are interested in this, is the official offer from the Polish state,” he said. He declined to predict a final timeline or outcome, noting “We can’t tell fortune from tea leaves. But we are a serious state which is presenting a serious offer to the Americans, in connection with the dialogue we are having with the Americans.”

  • Fed holds US interest rates steady as uncertainty over Trump’s Iran deal remains

    Fed holds US interest rates steady as uncertainty over Trump’s Iran deal remains

    In Kevin Warsh’s first meeting at the helm of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the central bank’s rate-setting committee has voted unanimously to hold benchmark interest rates steady in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%, a decision that breaks with pressure from the White House for immediate rate cuts while reflecting persistent above-target inflation driven by Middle East conflict-related energy price shocks.

    The decision comes as the Fed navigates tangled crosscurrents: growing uncertainty around the Trump administration’s still-unresolved framework to end hostilities linked to Iran, inflation that currently sits at 3.8% – well above the Fed’s long-term 2% target – and ongoing political pressure from President Donald Trump, who has openly pushed for rate cuts after successfully pushing former chair Jerome Powell for looser monetary policy. FOMC governors were initially divided heading into the meeting, with some factions arguing for an immediate hike to cool stubborn price growth, while others backed a cut to stimulate economic expansion as Trump demanded.

    In the end, the committee aligned around holding rates steady, citing resilient economic fundamentals even amid elevated geopolitical risk. In its new, condensed official statement – a core campaign promise from Warsh, who has long criticized the Fed’s overly verbose past communication practices – the FOMC noted that “Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.” The statement concluded with a simple, direct commitment: “The Committee will deliver price stability.”

    Clocking in at just 132 words, the new statement is less than half the length of the 350-word statement released after the committee’s April meeting, fulfilling Warsh’s pledge to cut redundant messaging and let policy action speak for itself. Beyond the shorter format, the Fed also removed prior language that hinted at a future bias toward rate cuts, a clear shift in monetary policy posture.

    The closely watched dot-plot summary of committee members’ rate projections underscored that hawkish shift: nine of the 18 participating central bankers now expect at least one rate hike before the end of 2026, while only one projects a cut, and eight see rates holding steady at current levels. Warsh, who has publicly opposed the dot-plot as an unhelpful forward guidance tool, declined to submit his own personal projection but said he supported colleagues continuing to publish the summary.

    Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, called the shifted dot-plot projections the “big news” emerging from Wednesday’s meeting, marking a notable turn from the Fed’s prior stance toward potential rate cuts.

    Speaking at a post-meeting press conference, Warsh framed the leadership transition as an opportunity to reset the central bank’s operations and reaffirm its core mandate. “This is a natural and timely opportunity to reaffirm its mission, to review current practices,” he said, adding that the Fed’s traditional forward-looking guidance has done more to confuse than clarify monetary policy debates. “My new, slimmed-down statement just gives you the facts as best we can judge it,” he added.

    Warsh also announced immediate plans to restructure the Fed’s policy-making process, launching five internal task forces to review core central bank operations: communication practices, the appropriate size of the Fed’s balance sheet, the use of economic data in policy decisions, the relationship between productivity growth and labor market outcomes, and the central bank’s inflation management framework.

    The current inflation surge traces back to President Trump’s decision to launch military strikes against Iran earlier this year, which prompted Iranian forces to close the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s busiest and most critical global shipping lanes for oil. The closure triggered a sharp spike in global energy prices, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified as the single largest driver of the recent jump in year-over-year inflation, which hit 3.8% in May.

    In a surprising public comment at the White House earlier this June, Trump downplayed the inflation risk, telling reporters “I love the inflation. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.” Economists widely note that high inflation erodes household purchasing power, particularly for low- and middle-income families, and that central banks typically raise interest rates to cool excess demand and bring price growth back to target. Rate cuts, which Trump has repeatedly called for, tend to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and stimulate spending and growth, but can also further fuel inflation when price growth is already above target.

  • Israeli official says Iran war may not have been worth launching

    Israeli official says Iran war may not have been worth launching

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing unprecedented domestic and strategic pressure after the recent US-Iran peace deal, with a senior Israeli government official openly casting doubt on the decision to launch the 12-day military operation against Iran last June. The official, speaking to Israeli broadcaster i24News amid surging public anger across the country, stated that if Israeli leadership had foreseen the eventual political outcomes of the campaign, it is extremely unlikely the operation would have ever been initiated. This public questioning from within the establishment underscores the deep rifts that have opened up in Israel’s political and security circles following the deal, which leaves Netanyahu confronting pushback from both the Iranian side and his own inner circles. The emerging agreement has sparked fierce criticism of the Netanyahu administration’s handling of tensions with Iran, prompting the prime minister to defend his long-standing stance in a press conference held Tuesday. Reaffirming his commitment to countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Netanyahu framed the issue as his lifelong mission. “For decades, I have been fighting against Iran’s efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I can define it as my life’s mission. I have met this challenge to this day, and I will continue to meet it in the future,” he told reporters. Netanyahu doubled down on his justification for Operation Rising Lion, the 12-day campaign launched against Iran last June, claiming that Israeli strikes destroyed Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure worth billions, even trillions of dollars. He argued that the damage set back decades of Iranian development and delivered a crippling blow to Tehran’s strategic ambitions. Most critically, he asserted, the operation prevented what would have been an existential threat to Israel. “But here is the most important thing: we saved the State of Israel from the threat of nuclear annihilation,” he added. “Because, it is crucial to understand, Iran was racing toward a nuclear weapon just before Operation Rising Lion; it was racing toward a nuclear weapon and racing to bury its missile and nuclear industry deep underground.” Public discontent boiled over after Pakistan announced the US-Iran peace agreement late Sunday, with widespread anger across Israeli society directed at Netanyahu and his cabinet. Beyond public backlash, security and regional experts have issued stark warnings about the long-term implications of the deal, arguing that it will allow Iran to consolidate its position as a dominant regional power. Alon Ben David, a veteran military correspondent for Israel’s Channel 13 News, warned that the new agreement could undermine Israel’s strategic standing across the Middle East, with consequences that will stretch across generations. “This is a dramatic day for Israel and for generations to come,” he said, noting that the agreement “marks a turning point in the Middle East.” Other military analysts and economic commentators have echoed these concerns, arguing that the costly, inconclusive war has ultimately left Tehran more emboldened than before, amounting to a clear strategic defeat for Netanyahu and his government.

  • World Cup hat tricks: Messi’s was the latest, an American scored the first and other key facts

    World Cup hat tricks: Messi’s was the latest, an American scored the first and other key facts

    ATLANTA – For soccer legend Lionel Messi, a sixth World Cup appearance has brought a long-awaited first: his debut hat trick at soccer’s most prestigious global tournament, launching Argentina’s title defense with a dominant 3-0 victory over Algeria on Tuesday.

    At 38 years old, Messi’s three-goal haul does more than just get the defending champions off to a flying start. It catapults him into a tie with German great Miroslav Klose as the men’s World Cup’s all-time joint top goalscorer, with 16 total tournament goals to his name. This milestone marks the first hat trick of the current tournament, and the 55th in the 100-plus-year history of men’s World Cup soccer. What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that Messi becomes the oldest player ever to record a World Cup hat trick, checking the rare box off a career already stuffed with every honor the sport has to offer.

    This match was also Messi’s 27th World Cup appearance, extending his own record for the most tournament outings by any male player – two more than the previous record holder, Germany’s Lothar Matthäus, across his entire World Cup career. Messi first stepped onto a World Cup pitch back in 2006, making this six-appearance streak a testament to his two-decade stretch of elite-level performance. With this hat trick, he joins an exclusive club of all-time greats to have notched three goals in a single World Cup match, including Pelé, Eusébio, Gerd Müller, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé. Next, Messi could join an even more rarefied group: only four players in history – Sándor Kocsis, Just Fontaine, Müller and Gabriel Batistuta – have managed multiple World Cup hat tricks across their careers.

    Beyond the milestone for Messi, the moment offers a chance to unpack the history of the “hat trick” term itself, a phrase familiar to sports fans across the globe. While modern fans most commonly associate it with three goals in a single soccer or ice hockey match, its origins actually stretch back to 1858 in English cricket. Historians widely trace the first use to H.H. Stephenson, an English bowler who took three wickets across three consecutive deliveries. To celebrate the unprecedented feat, fans raised a collection to buy Stephenson a new hat, giving the achievement its enduring name.

    The term gradually spread across nearly all major sports, expanding beyond three straight wickets or three goals to describe any trio of consecutive wins, championships, or even losses. In ice hockey, the first documented use in NHL play dates back to the 1930s, per the Hockey Hall of Fame, when a Toronto businessman named Sammy Taft launched a promotion offering a free hat to any player who notched three goals in a single home game.

    Looking back at the history of World Cup hat tricks, the first ever recorded came at the inaugural 1930 tournament, when American striker Bert Patenaude scored three times in a 3-0 win over Paraguay. FIFA did not officially recognize the achievement for decades, however, due to a long-running dispute over who had actually scored one of the match’s goals. It was only after soccer historian Colin Jose worked with the U.S. Soccer Federation to present new evidence that FIFA updated its official records to confirm Patenaude’s place in history.

    For decades, England’s Geoff Hurst held the unique distinction of being the only player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final, a feat he achieved when England won the 1966 tournament. That stood alone until the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Mbappé matched Hurst’s achievement – even as he ended the match on the losing side, with Messi and Argentina lifting the trophy that day.

    Stats show that World Cup hat tricks have grown increasingly rare over the decades. The 1954 tournament holds the all-time record for the most hat tricks in a single edition, with eight players notching three goals. The only World Cup in history to see zero hat tricks was the 2006 tournament in Germany. It has been nearly 40 years since a World Cup hosted more than two hat tricks: the 1986 edition in Mexico saw four, a mark that has not been matched in the seven tournaments held since.

  • Iran team blames US for ‘disastrous’ restrictions at World Cup

    Iran team blames US for ‘disastrous’ restrictions at World Cup

    As one of the qualified teams competing in football’s biggest global tournament, Iran’s national squad, commonly known as Team Melli, has emerged as one of the unlikeliest stories of this World Cup — not for on-pitch performance, but for a cascade of off-field obstacles that players and coaching staff blame on politically motivated restrictions imposed by United States authorities. The roster and support personnel have faced repeated logistical disruptions and entry barriers since the tournament launched last week, with the team’s leadership saying these hurdles have directly undermined their ability to prepare properly for matches.

    The most recent disruption followed the team’s opening intercontinental playoff against New Zealand in Los Angeles this Monday. Immediately after the final whistle, the squad was ordered to depart the city the same day to return to their pre-tournament base camp in Mexico, a mandatory move that upended the team’s planned recovery schedule. Speaking to reporters after the match, striker Mehdi Taremi and goalscorer Mohammad Mohebi confirmed the last-minute travel order was not the team’s choice; the squad had arranged to stay an extra day in Los Angeles to hold a low-intensity recovery session to help players recover from match fatigue. “They have said we have to leave immediately,” Iranian head coach Amir Ghalenoei confirmed in his remarks to the press.

    The rushed post-match travel is far from the only logistical issue the team has encountered. Ahead of the New Zealand match, the squad was also forced to adjust their travel plans, only arriving in Los Angeles 24 hours before kickoff — a day later than the team had originally scheduled. The tight timeline left players with almost no time to acclimate to the time change and venue before taking the pitch. Ghalenoei described the cumulative disruption as deeply disorienting for the squad, noting “We are really troubled by that. We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. It seems very strange. It seems others are doing the planning for us. Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.” Taremi echoed that frustration, adding that “Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us.”

    When the squad finally arrived in Los Angeles for the match, they were also met by a small protest organized by members of the Iranian diaspora, who displayed American, Israeli, and pre-1979 revolution Iranian flags. According to Taremi, the visa and travel restrictions facing the team were put in place months before the tournament even began, and the squad has grown exhausted of navigating the constant barriers. An anonymous official from the Iranian Football Federation confirmed that 11 members of the team’s official delegation have been denied entry to the United States, a gap that has left the squad short of key off-field support. “Our president isn’t here, our media isn’t here, many of our management team aren’t here,” Ghalenoei explained.

    According to reporting from The Athletic, even the team’s post-match press conference addressing these issues was interrupted, with FIFA officials attempting to cut the interview short as players and the head coach outlined their frustrations to assembled journalists. After the match, FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited the Iranian team in their locker room to acknowledge their struggles. Taremi told reporters that while Infantino has expressed a willingness to assist, the core issues stem from outside of FIFA’s control, hinting that US political pressure is the root cause of the restrictions. “For sure, he wants to try to help us, but it’s about other things too. You know, everyone knows. (I don’t) need to mention that, because you know where we are,” Taremi said. Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that Infantino told the squad “I know what you go through, I understand. But you are stronger than everything, and you send a strong message to the entire world.” In response, Ghalenoei pushed for FIFA to take a stronger stance to protect the team from non-sporting political interference.

    The disruptions to the Iranian squad extend beyond travel and visa issues. Just days before the tournament kicked off, FIFA revoked the Iranian Football Federation’s allocated ticket allotment — equal to 8% of the relevant stadium capacity — at the last minute, barring most Iranian supporters from attending the team’s matches in person. The Iranian federation directly blamed US pressure for FIFA’s decision, saying in a statement that “The United States has now taken steps to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums. The incident raises serious questions about the influence of non-sporting and political considerations on the organisation of the world’s biggest football event.”

    Despite the string of obstacles, the Iranian team has stressed that the unfair treatment will not stop them from putting forward their best performance in the tournament. Taremi emphasized that the situation is not just bad for his squad, but for the integrity of global football itself. “It’s not good for us, you know? It’s not good for football, because in a World Cup, you have to prepare well for the next game, because it is a lot of stress for the players, staff, and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think Fifa has to help us more than this,” he told reporters.

  • Karst peaks, warm lakes glow under Puzhehei summer sunsets

    Karst peaks, warm lakes glow under Puzhehei summer sunsets

    As summer settles across Southwest China’s Yunnan province, one of the region’s most beloved natural destinations is drawing crowds of travelers seeking tranquility and stunning visual beauty: the Puzhehei scenic area, located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, is gaining acclaim for its dreamlike, golden-hued summer sunsets that transform its iconic karst landscape.

    Unlike crowded peak-season tourist hotspots that prioritize man-made attractions, Puzhehei’s main draw lies in its untouched natural charm this time of year. As the daytime heat fades and the sun begins its slow descent toward the horizon, it glides gently over the area’s signature jagged karst peaks, spilling a soft, warm amber glow across the region’s network of calm, clear lakes. Visitors often gather along the lake shores to soak in the moment, feeling the gentle summer breeze brush their skin as they watch the sky shift through a sweeping gradient of colors.

    The sky’s transformation unfolds gradually: starting as a soft pale yellow that hugs the outline of the karst formations, it deepens into vivid, striking oranges and blushing pinks that reflect off the still lake water, before fading into muted, calming shades of lavender and deep indigo as dusk approaches. The combination of distant mist-shrouded mountains, glassy nearby waters, and a sky streaked with sunset tones creates a immersive, soothing atmosphere that helps travelers shake off the stress and fatigue of daily urban life.

    For tourists looking to escape the hustle of city living and reconnect with nature, this seasonal natural spectacle has cemented Puzhehei’s status as a must-visit summer getaway, with visitors returning year after year to experience the quiet romantic allure of its sunsets.

  • UN food agencies warn acute hunger will worsen in 13 hot spots as famine risks rise

    UN food agencies warn acute hunger will worsen in 13 hot spots as famine risks rise

    In a stark joint warning released Wednesday, two leading United Nations food security agencies have sounded the alarm that catastrophic acute hunger is on track to escalate dramatically across 13 vulnerable global hotspots over the coming months. Driven by a toxic combination of persistent conflict, plummeting humanitarian funding, and climate-related extreme weather, the crisis threatens to push millions more people to the brink of famine by the end of 2026.

    The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) outlined the grim outlook in their latest analysis, projecting that food insecurity conditions will deteriorate sharply between June and November 2026. Currently, an estimated 266 million people across the globe already face high levels of acute hunger, a figure that stands to grow rapidly without urgent intervention.

    Four nations — Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Palestine — remain the four highest-priority areas of greatest concern, according to the report. Two additional countries, Nigeria and Somalia, have been newly added to this highest-risk category amid rapidly declining conditions and soaring famine risks.

    The agencies identified conflict and widespread violence as the single largest driver of acute hunger in nearly all the identified hotspots. These catastrophic conditions are being compounded by overlapping cascading crises: crippling economic shocks, drastic cuts to global humanitarian funding, and the looming disruptive impacts of the El Niño weather pattern, which is forecast to bring severe droughts and destructive floods to already vulnerable regions.

    One of the most troubling trends highlighted in the report is the dramatic collapse in funding for life-saving food assistance and related support programs. Since 2022, global funding for these critical initiatives has plummeted by approximately 59%, even as global need for aid has surged to unprecedented levels.

    “The warnings in this report cannot be ignored,” stated Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director of the WFP. “Without action now, millions more are expected to face worsening levels of hunger in the months ahead, pushing some closer to famine.”

    The report noted that conditions in the Gaza Strip have shown modest improvement following a ceasefire implemented in October 2025, but the overall situation remains extremely fragile. Earlier this year, around 1.6 million people in Gaza — equal to roughly 77% of the territory’s analyzed population — experienced acute food insecurity and required urgent life-saving assistance. More than 500,000 of those people faced emergency-level hunger, with a smaller group already confronting catastrophic famine conditions.

    Agency officials also warned that additional emerging pressures are further worsening the bleak outlook. Spillover instability from the ongoing broader Middle East conflict and an active Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have disrupted local food markets, destroyed livelihoods, and blocked critical aid access to vulnerable populations, exacerbating an already severe crisis.

    In closing, the FAO and WFP called for swift, coordinated international action to scale up life-saving aid, protect vulnerable local livelihoods, and stop further deterioration of food security across the affected regions. The agencies emphasized that without immediate, targeted intervention, millions more people will face catastrophic hunger in the near future.