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Trump's approach to the Iran question has been irrational. He reacted to the failure at Islamabad saying that he wanted not 90% or 95% but 100% satisfaction. This is dictation, not negotiation.

During this stressful time, "aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn't be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments."

Tehran also accused Washington of playing a "blame game" and lying about Iran's participation in a second round of talks in order to put pressure on the country.

During discussions, Wilson suggested branding the project as a "Trump National Golf Course" to catch the president's attention.

Non-appearance of Pam Bondi and remarks from Todd Blanche suggest full accounting may never be revealedIn the days since Pam Bondi’s exit from Donald Trump’s justice department, Jeffrey Epstein survivors and transparency advocates have been confronted by mixed messaging, prompting questions about whether a full accounting of his crimes would ever be revealed.Legal veterans told the Guardian that authorities’ decisions – such as Bondi’s failure to appear for a congressional subpoena about her handling of Epstein investigative files – portend poorly for accountability. Moreover, her replacement’s comments about the status of Epstein investigations has been perceived by some as an effort to acknowledge prior missteps without presenting definitive solutions. Continue reading...

After Guardian reports about danger to V2X employees, sources say state department raised concerns with defense contractorSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US government has called on the defense contractor V2X to evacuate its employees from Kuwait and Iraq, warning the company that they could be targeted by Iran-backed militias, four sources said.The intervention follows reporting by the Guardian that V2X employees were stationed at US military bases in Kuwait, and at Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih airbase and Erbil in Iraq. Employees claimed having inadequate protections, receiving limited communications from the company about evacuation plans and being pressured to remain in the Middle East. In Iraq, workers say they are targets of Iran-allied attacks, and one employee was killed in a night-time drone attack in March. Continue reading...

Donald Trump said on Sunday that US marines had taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian portsTehran has ‘no plans to participate’ in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefireThe US has just released some more footage of the encounter with the Iranian flagged vessel, the M/V Touska.In a post on X, US Central Command said US Marines had departed the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli by helicopter and rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel. Continue reading...

Douglas Alexander defends PM ahead of Commons showdown over Mandelson scandalJudgment day for PM over Mandelson scandalAt his press conference Nigel Farage was asked about reports saying that Keir Starmer knew about the security concerns about Peter Mandelson that led to him failing his security vetting interview. That was a reference to the Telegraph splash, which says:Senior Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that the UKSV [UK Security Vetting] findings largely restated security risks that had already been drawn to Sir Keir’s attention.One senior source with knowledge of the process said: “The reality is that Starmer had already been warned about the major risks and he had waved them away.”Sources have told The Independent that MI6 failed to clear the Labour peer largely because of concerns over his business links to China.However, there were also worries that his past links to the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “would compromise him”.It’s impossible for the prime minister to say the warning lights weren’t flashing.And if you were prime minister and there were news reports last September that your ambassadorial choice had failed vetting, you would have thought perhaps he might have had some curiosity to try to find out whether this had really happened or not. I just find the whole thing totally incredible. Incredible. There is no way the prime minister couldn’t have known.The Labour backbenchers are not yet of a mood to get rid of their prime minister, although after 7 May they just might be. Continue reading...