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Vice President JD Vance suggested that Iran had the desire to blow up grocery stores with nuclear suicide vests.During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Vance praised the U.S. military strikes on Iran for creating options for negotiations."What we have now that we didn't have when the president took over just a little over a year ago is the ability to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon," he explained. "Because when I say options, I think it's important the American people know, options, and it's options to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.""You talk about people who walk into a crowded supermarket and have a vest on, for what? And they blow up the vest, and a couple of people get killed, and that's a terrible tragedy. What happens when what's on the vest, it's not something that can kill a couple of people but can kill many, many tens of thousands of people?" he added. Vance reiterated a Trump administration talking point about preventing Iran from building or obtaining a nuclear weapon. "That is the most important American national security objective that exists for any administration at any time is you don't want the worst people in the world to have a nuclear weapon."

Nigeria and UK look to strengthen trade and economic ties amid growing calls from Africa and Caribbean for reparative justice“There are chapters in our shared history that I know have left some painful marks,” King Charles said during a state banquet to welcome the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, to the UK, in a year in which the monarch is expected to come under renewed pressure to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery and colonialism.But while demands grow from African and Caribbean nations for the UK to further reparative justice, Nigeria and the UK are looking to the future of global trade. Continue reading...

During a discussion on the multiple crises that Donald Trump’s White House is facing, MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire pointed out that there are questions about the president’s ability to understand that his war in Iran is not going as well as he appears to think it is.With the panel pointing out the high cost of gas for Americans due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, combined with chaos in US airports because the president is holding up legislation that pays TSA agents, Lemire suggested the president may be overwhelmed.“This is another example of the president simply being detached from what's actually going on,“ he told the “Morning Joe“ panel. “We have chronicled for a year and a half now that even more than most presidents, this one lives in a bubble; he only hears good news. No aide ever gives him something that's going to be upsetting. We'll get into it later.”“The story from NBC about how he's basically given a highlight reel of war videos. He just sees explosions, and there's some questions as to how much he's really comprehending what is going on in that conflict,” he elaborated. “And this is another moment where he's bought into this idea that ICE, though he recognizes some of the mass deportations have gone poorly politically, he still believes in ICE. He still, every day on Truth Social, three or four times yesterday, supporting them, supporting their efforts and trying to blame Democrats for what we're seeing here. But all polls suggest it's not working, and his party is going to pay the price this November.” - YouTube youtu.be

Donald Trump’s promises that negotiations with Iran are going well have been falling flat and he appears to have lost patience.Earlier in the week, the president postponed plans to conduct wide-range bombing of Iran’s energy infrastructure because he said he saw an opening in negotiations — a claim Iran quickly refuted.On Thursday morning, the president lost his temper on Truth Social.“The Iranian negotiators are very different and ‘strange.’ They are ‘begging’ us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only “looking at our proposal.” WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty! President DJT,” he wrote.That came just moments after he snarled, “NATO NATIONS HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP WITH THE LUNATIC NATION, NOW MILITARILY DECIMATED, OF IRAN. THE U.S.A. NEEDS NOTHING FROM NATO, BUT “NEVER FORGET” THIS VERY IMPORTANT POINT IN TIME! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Academics and human rights experts were aghast on Tuesday as President Donald Trump condemned an advocate to what amounts to a "civil death." Francesca Albanese, who worked as a special rapporteur for the United Nations in Palestine, has faced significant public pressure from the Trump administration since she recommended that the International Criminal Court issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's defense minister Yoav Gallant, and three leaders of Hamas for committing war crimes during the war in Gaza, five experts wrote in a new op-ed for The Guardian. The Trump administration has imposed sweeping sanctions against Albanese for her recommendation, the experts noted. For instance, she can't open a bank account or draw a salary from the university where she teaches. "As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized 60 years ago, the threat of sanctions can deter speech as effectively as the sanctions themselves – and this violates both the U.S. Constitution and international human rights law," they wrote in the op-ed. "Trump’s retribution against Albanese should concern far more than those focused on Israel’s human rights record," they added. "It should trouble anyone who believes in free speech. Today, the target is a UN expert. Tomorrow it could be journalists, scholars, peaceful protesters – or any citizen who challenges those in power. When a government claims the authority to police ideas, everyone’s liberty is on the line."

Political analysts and observers were astounded by a new report on Tuesday that included leaked details about a potential peace deal for the war in Iran. Phil Stewart, chief national security correspondent at Reuters, posted a few details leaked to Israel's Channel 12 on X. The 15-point plan includes stipulations that Iran agree not to enrich uranium, close three nuclear facilities, stop funding regional proxies, and agree to a "free trade zone" in the Strait of Hormuz. The details were released at a time when the Trump administration is facing significant scrutiny for its shifting story about why the war was started and the fallout from rising energy prices due to the Iranian regime effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Political analysts and observers shared their reactions on social media. "With what leverage, sir?" military veteran John Jackson posted on X. "Iran promised Obama the same thing," Pradheep Shanker, National Review contributor, posted on X. "I have no idea why anyone thinks that #Iran will agree to this. Feels like the White House is negotiating with itself," Nadav Pollak, lecturer on the Middle East at Reichman University, posted on X. "Big question will be, how many of these 15 points are recycled from Trump 1.0’s 12-points on Iran. And if so, what are the 3 new ones, as well as how much have these points been adjusted to account for the new regional/domestic reality," Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran program senior director for FDD, a nonpartisan think tank, posted on X.

A 15-point document containing terms of a potential peace deal for the war in Iran was leaked to Israel's Channel 12 on Tuesday, according to a report. Phil Stewart, chief national security correspondent at Reuters, posted four of the deal terms on X. They include Iran agreeing not to enrich any uranium in the country, agreeing to decommission the Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow nuclear plants, stopping funding of proxies in the region like Hezbollah, and agreeing to a "free maritime zone" in the Strait of Hormuz. The terms were released at a time when President Donald Trump was facing significant scrutiny for the administration's decision to start the war by coordinating a bombing campaign with Israel in late February. Global oil markets have also been rocked by the war. Over the last month, the price of a barrel of crude oil has increased by nearly 30%, reaching $88.70 at the end of trading on Tuesday. While that price is the lowest since March 11, some economists are increasingly concerned that the war could tip the U.S. economy into a recession.

Iranian officials have apparently refused to continue talks with President Donald Trump's two closest allies behind key negotiations in the Middle East, according to reports on Tuesday. Negotiations involving Iran, Pakistan and the United States were expected to take place in Islamabad as early as this week or next; however, Trump's picks to discuss the ongoing military conflict were reportedly not wanted at the table, The Guardian reported.Instead, another top Trump administration official was under consideration to join the talks: Vice President JD Vance. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has suggested his country would be willing to help "facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks" and end the conflict. "Pakistani sources said the US vice-president, JD Vance, was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator from the US side if talks went ahead," according to The Guardian. "Iranian sources have said they would refuse to sit down with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, or Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war."Kushner and Witkoff were involved in talks with Iran prior to the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched on Feb. 28. Since the war started, Iranian officials have reportedly decided they do not want to engage with the two men. Iran has suggested that the two knowingly misled Iranian officials during prior negotiations and were planning the attack all along, despite the closed-door conversations. "With the previous negotiating team, there’s no chance," one diplomatic source told The Guardian. "The Iranian side regards the request for negotiations as another round of deception for the US-Israeli regime to find out a loophole to aggravate the strikes again."