“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York state.

“It’s true,” he added.

Trump, together with Israel, launched a war against Iran on February 28 with the stated aims of ending the country’s controversial nuclear program and sparking a popular uprising.

However, Iran struck back by establishing de facto control over much of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for large amounts of global energy and other commodity shipping.

The United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over the strait, with Iran denying access to much of the civilian shipping and the US Navy mounting a blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to cripple its economy.

“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” Trump the cheering crowd of supporters and police.

The guilty plea will avert a federal trial in the closely watched case over the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a brazen crime that was condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans’ frustration with health insurance industry practices. It could also allow him to seek dismissal of state murder charges and delay an upcoming trial in that case. Mangione, 28, previously pleaded not guilty in April 2025 to murder, weapons and stalking charges brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors.

US District Judge Margaret Garnett threw out the murder and weapons charges over legal technicalities in a surprise ruling in January 2026. The decision eliminated the possibility that Mangione would face the death penalty in the federal case, though he still faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted on the remaining stalking charges. His federal trial was most recently set for January. Mangione separately pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to state terrorism, murder, weapons and forgery charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The terrorism charges were thrown out by a judge in September 2025. A trial in that case is scheduled for September 8 before Justice Gregory Carro in Manhattan. Mangione would face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Resolving the federal case could allow Mangione to seek dismissal of the murder charge under New York’s double jeopardy law, which protects people from being prosecuted twice for the same conduct. Bragg’s office would oppose the move, arguing that the murder charge is legally distinct from the federal charges. Whoever loses would likely seek an emergency appeal. Thompson led UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit before he was shot dead in the early morning of December 4, 2024, outside a hotel where an investor conference was taking place. Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social media sensation. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania.

The warnings, passed to ‌US intelligence agencies and in some cases relayed directly by Israeli officials to senior White House officials, included possible plots to shoot Trump with a sniper or recruit someone to attack him with a knife at a large public event, the sources said.

The tips began in the lead-up to the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified prior to the US decision to go to war in Iran in February, the sources said.

The most detailed warning came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, the ​US official and the other person familiar with the matter said. Israeli officials briefed the White House about intelligence that indicated Iran may try to kill Trump, potentially with a shoulder-launched missile, while he ​traveled on Air Force One for the summit, the officials said.

The US intelligence community has long assessed that Iran wants to retaliate for Trump’s killing of Iranian ⁠military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

But the Central Intelligence Agency has not been able to corroborate some of the specific threats against Trump’s life shared by Israeli intelligence since early last year, the officials said.

Trump flew secretly from Turkiye due to Iranian threat, the Washington Post reports

In the ​case of the NATO episode, a Turkish official said the country’s intelligence agencies also did not have any evidence to corroborate the Israeli claim about the threat to Trump’s life, an assessment the host country shared with ​Americans.

Despite the lack of verification, White House officials and the Secret Service have taken steps to mitigate the threats out of an abundance of caution, including an extraordinary deception operation during the Turkey trip that involved moving Trump from Air Force One to a different aircraft for his flight out of the country.

That episode underscores how Israeli intelligence is influencing the Trump administration’s decision-making about Iran at a time of heightened tensions with Tehran — and broader disagreement between US and Israeli intelligence assessments on Iran’s ​threat overall.

Jared Kushner may visit Israel next week for talks on Gaza, source says

Earlier this year, American intelligence agencies assessed that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon, even as Israel argued Tehran posed an urgent threat.

Despite the reports from the US intelligence community, Trump moved forward ​with strikes in Iran in February.

Trump also took into consideration intelligence shared by Israel that Tehran had tried to assassinate him before launching the military campaign, Reuters previously reported.

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy disputed that Israel was using ‌its intelligence to ⁠influence US policy on Iran.

“The same people who claim that Israel is trying to influence US policy through alleged intelligence sharing would just as soon accuse Israel of concealing critical information if it benefited their own agenda,” the spokesperson said.

The White House and CIA both declined comment.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to discuss specific intelligence matters but said the agency remains focused on Trump’s security amid recent assassination attempts and an increase in threats against the president.

“The US Secret Service continuously analyzes a wide range of information to guide our protective operations in real time and across every location we secure,” he said.

Close alliance

The US has long relied heavily on Israeli ​intelligence on Middle East matters, particularly as they relate ​to Iran.

The current and former officials said Israeli ⁠intelligence on Iran typically flows to the CIA or the National Security Agency through formal channels and is subsequently analyzed, two former US officials said.

Makkah agreement purely defensive, designed to ensure regional peace: PM

The US intelligence agencies often cannot verify Israeli intelligence but will use other forms of information to make judgment calls on its authenticity and accuracy, the officials said.

In several instances over ​the course of the two US military offensives in Iran, the CIA assessed it had “low confidence” in the Israeli intelligence about the threats posed by Iran, ​including any plans to assassinate Trump, ⁠according to one former official and another person familiar with the matter.

It is unclear how widely those assessments have been circulated inside the administration.

The NSA declined to comment.

Two of the former US officials described to Reuters several instances in which senior Israeli officials and representatives over the last year called the White House, including in the Situation Room, to brief senior Trump officials on Iranian threats directly.

Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia will form political, military mechanisms to coordinate under defence pact: Ankara

The direct engagement comes amid a breakdown in US intelligence sharing inside ⁠the Trump administration.

Last ​year, amid increased tension with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA stopped working on joint assessments with ​the National Intelligence Council, the former officials said.

The council is the US intelligence community’s elite analytical group overseen by ODNI to turn out reports reflecting the view of the broader intelligence community, with the CIA being the largest contributor to its assessments.

Fewer recent Iran assessments by ​the NIC have stemmed partly from recent layoffs at ODNI, the officials and another person familiar with the matter added.

The plans were reported earlier by Axios, which ​also said that Kushner was planning to meet mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye ​as well next week in Cairo.

“We agree with the Israelis on the goal ⁠of disarming Hamas but they have expressed concerns which are valid and we have been ​working through them,” the source told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

The goal of a Kushner ​visit to Israel will be to “find a pathway to move forward with implementation of the 20 point plan” that Trump put forward for Gaza in late 2025, the source added.

Oil steadies after US threatens to blockade Iran indefinitely

Trump said in late July a deal was ​reached for the complete disarmament of Palestinian Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

Trump had ​said the deal would be carried out in phases, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza as disarmament proceeded and ‌an International ⁠Stabilization Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election at a vote due in October, has publicly rejected Trump’s plan.

Hamas has said it agreed to the plan but the deal’s implementation would depend on Israel first ​meeting its own commitments, ​including withdrawal and halting attacks.

The ⁠Gaza ceasefire has been repeatedly violated, with more than 1,250 Palestinians, mostly civilians, being killed by Israeli attacks and four Israeli soldiers being killed ​by militants since the truce began in October, according to Gaza health ​officials and ⁠Israeli tallies, respectively.

Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.

Gaza plan rejected by Netanyahu ‘only way forward’: Trump board

Gaza has been left devastated by an Israeli military assault that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and ⁠led to ​assessments of genocide by rights experts, scholars and UN inquiries.

Among those named are the European Union and Taiwan, alongside US neighbors Mexico and Canada. Others include India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

The White House report takes aim at its longstanding concern surrounding “illegal transshipment,” where goods could be sent through a third country that faces lower US tariffs to avoid paying higher levies imposed by President Donald Trump.

“For years, the great transshipment scam has let Communist China launder its exports through more than 40 countries,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told reporters.

The US report released Thursday pointed to “more than 40 countries associated with elevated illegal transshipment risk.”

For some economies, transshipment risk is “embedded within broad legitimate trade flows,” the report said.

Pakistan among countries hit with Trump’s new 10% US forced labour tariff

Others were found to be more integrated with China-linked supply chains, while a third group had advantages such as preferential US access that make them “attractive opportunistic targets” for rerouting.

Navarro added that the White House is working closely with US Customs and Border Protection on an AI-enabled “detective border” to help assess whether a shipment involves transshipped goods.

This system would tap information like shipment data, routing histories and other tools, the report said.

Experts have long noted supply chain diversions from China since Trump’s first presidency, when Washington and Beijing engaged in a tariffs war around 2018.

Among those who benefited as businesses diversified their supply chains were countries like Vietnam, economists added.

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, adding to existing duties that Chinese imports face.

The threat emerged on the final day of Trump’s visit to Ankara for the NATO summit amid heightened tensions with Iran, the source said.

The Secret Service deemed the threat to be credible and imminent, prompting an extraordinary operation to conceal the US president’s movements.

The source declined to say where the intelligence came from but said officials had little time to prepare and devised the plans at ​the last minute.

A second source briefed on the matter said there was not a clear plan by those hostile to Trump for executing the threat, but only an intent, ​which is why the planes were allowed to fly.

Trump and a small group of aides used a catering truck to surreptitiously switch from the big ⁠blue-and-white presidential aircraft to a smaller, nondescript C-32A jet for the flight out of Turkiye on July 8, while Air Force One departed separately carrying senior administration officials, White House staff and ​the traveling press corps, according to the first source.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he made the switch at the direction of the Secret Service, which is charged with presidential security.

He flew from Ankara ​to a refueling stop in Britain without incident.

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters, without providing evidence. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

The threat may have been a new type of heat-seeking missile that homes in on hot aircraft engines and has become an increasing concern for military planners, said ​Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

They are harder to detect than traditional radar-guided threats and “can kind of come out of nowhere” because they don’t send out detectable ​radio waves.

One version, the Iranian SA-67, has a simple rail launcher and is believed to use heat-seeking as well as laser guidance systems, Birkey said.

A shoulder-mounted heat-seeking weapon, the 9K333 Verba, is made in Russia, ‌he said.

Secret travel

US ⁠presidents, including Trump, have occasionally traveled under secrecy when visiting war zones or high-risk regions in order to maintain security. But those trips typically involved advance notice for journalists traveling with the president.

Some members of the press got a heads-up ahead of a Thanksgiving 2003 trip by President George W. Bush to Baghdad. Other members of the press corps covering Bush’s Thanksgiving holiday in Crawford, Texas, were misled, however.

Told that Bush was spending the feast day with family, they were shocked when the president abruptly surfaced in Iraq.

The first source on Wednesday said the Secret Service did not have the ​luxury of time in Turkiye.

“They were scrambling to ​head off what they thought was a ⁠credible, imminent threat,” the source said.

The Washington Post first reported details of the operation this week, more than a month after it was carried out.

The New York Times reported that U.S. officials were alarmed to discover that Iranians knew where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the exact floor of ​his hotel.

Trump says will demand conflict compensation from Iran

On board the Air Force One jet now seen as a decoy were U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who the first source ​said was briefed on ⁠the maneuver; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; White House communications director Steven Cheung; and a number of other aides plus the typical 13-person press pool that included a Reuters correspondent and photographer.

White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, executive assistant Natalie Harp and director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta made the move in the catering truck with Trump, the source said.

Some media commentators and lawmakers have questioned whether the operation ⁠left Trump’s aides ​and journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president.

The first source said ​it was determined that it was in Trump’s best interests to keep the ruse secret as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkiye.

Turkish officials did not immediately comment on the threat.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck on Monday, the strongest the South American country has seen in decades. At least 250 people have been killed, with many more injured or still missing.

Largo hoped his daughter, 32-year-old Daniela, had simply been delayed on the bus ride home to Riosucio, a town in Caldas province in western Colombia. But as the hours dragged on and her phone stayed silent, dread gave way to certainty.

“I knew something had happened to her,” the woman’s father said. “One way or another, she would have contacted the family. And she wasn’t answering her phone.”

He spoke outside the collapsed budget lodging house in downtown Pereira where his daughter had been buried under debris. The building stood on the same street as the furniture store where she worked.

Largo and his wife began searching for the missing woman with a poster bearing her photograph. People who saw it told them they had seen Daniela on the morning of the earthquake.

“We came looking for her when she didn’t arrive at our house, on the very day her son was turning 12,” he told Reuters. “We were all supposed to go to a shopping mall in Manizales to celebrate together.”

Instead, Daniela spent nearly 38 hours trapped beneath slabs of concrete after the four-story building she was in pancaked to the ground. Rescuers found her almost by accident while searching for another man who, as of Wednesday morning, was still believed to be under the rubble.

Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills 181

Freeing her took 10 grueling hours. Dozens of rescue specialists and around 50 volunteers worked to reach Daniela, whose arm was pinned by a metal door.

When she finally emerged alive on a stretcher and was lifted into an ambulance headed to San Jorge Hospital, the crowd around the site erupted in cheers and applause.

For her father, the moment was almost beyond words.

“It is devastating that my daughter had to go through this,” he said through tears. “But the joy that she survived is overwhelming. For me, it feels like the day she was born all over again. And now she has the chance to keep raising my grandson.”

Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, US media reported.

The White House did not disclose the change and it remained a secret until the Washington Post first reported it on Monday.

Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump’s aides and journalists traveling with him at risk aboard the plane presumed to be carrying the president.

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump flew secretly from Turkiye due to Iranian threat, the Washington Post reports

“I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

After a day of social media memes portraying Trump as hiding out in the catering truck, the image-conscious president, who often promotes memes of himself as a bold and courageous leader, said he was following the direction of the Secret Service, the agency that protects the president.

“Well, it’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump said.

“I guess there was a threat out there.

I didn’t really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats,“ Trump said.

The White House said at the time that the president was flying aboard Air Force One from Turkiye to Britain.

But moments after Trump boarded the plane, he left it in secret via the catering truck and boarded another aircraft for the flight to Britain, the Post said on Monday, quoting unnamed sources.

Trump had taken a newly renovated Qatari-donated jet to

 Ankara for the NATO summit but unexpectedly announced he would use an older Air Force One when departing the country, a move that prompted questions about the newer plane’s security.

The trip to NATO was the first international travel for the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost and security, and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkiye.

The quake struck several cities across Colombia’s coffee region and Pacific belt at 7:34 am (1234 GMT) Monday, toppling structures, swaying towers and tossing roof tiles to the ground. 

Pereira, a city of half a million people, was the hardest hit.

Throughout the night, residents navigated blacked-out streets with torches.

Volunteers searched the ruins of a six-story building of shops and offices where two girls were believed to be trapped.

“It’s so sad to see the whole city like this, knowing that there may still be people alive under there,” said Juana Marin, 25, who joined dozens of volunteers clearing rubble by hand.

This was Colombia’s strongest earthquake in a century, according to the US Geological Survey, and one of its deadliest natural disasters in years.

In a joint statement, the mayors of major affected cities said at least 181 had been killed, and more than 1,300 people had been injured.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella – just days into the job – declared a state of emergency and vowed a concerted rescue effort.

At least 111 killed after powerful earthquake hits western Colombia

‘Someone whistled back’

In Cali, volunteers quickly went to work with picks, basic tools and their own hands to try to find survivors.

Rescuers formed human chains to remove bricks and masonry, stopping every few minutes to listen for signs of life from those trapped below.

Andres Felipe Mejia was among those who joined a makeshift crew.

“We are trying to get everyone out alive,” he told AFP.

“One of the rescuers asked anyone trapped to whistle, and someone whistled back,” he said near a pancaked building.

“They pulled out a man and a baby, but the wife is still in there.”

“A lot of people have come, with supplies, with food, helping the firefighters, helping the people,” he said.

Hospitals in five Colombian cities were put on red alert Monday and a nighttime curfew was declared in Cali, according to local authorities.

“It felt like the end of the world – cars and motorcycles driving the wrong way, everyone searching for their loved ones,” said volunteer rescue worker Nelson Moreno.

‘Overwhelming’

Colombian pop megastar Shakira led the calls for unity.

“All my strength and love to my homeland. Let’s hold each other tight,” she said.

At least six local airports suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.

Tattoo artist Andres Hernandez said he was worried about his family and friends, adding that he would stay awake because structures around him were “on the verge of collapsing.”

There were scenes of destruction in several cities, with furniture and fabric sandwiched between concrete walls, floors tossed and resting on irregular angles, and cabling strewn across roads.

In Manizales, the quake crumpled a tower of the city’s beloved neo-Gothic cathedral.

In Quibdo, the capital of Colombia’s Choco department, local official Jenny Rivas said public services and communications had been “virtually shut down.”

“People ran out naked, people jumped from the second floor of their homes,” Quibdo resident and law student Wilmer Cuesta said.

Dentist Julian Pena said he “ran outside carrying nothing” after feeling strong tremors and found hundreds doing the same.

“People were praying in the street. It was overwhelming,” he told AFP.

“There are many buildings with gaps, with cracks. There are others that have completely collapsed.”

Overnight searches

The quake was felt across Colombia, including the capital Bogota, where crowds rushed out into the street in their pajamas.

At a depth of 110 kilometers (68 miles), the quake was also felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama.

Experts at the US Geological Survey said the quake was likely caused by movement along a deep fault within the Nazca tectonic plate.

The devastation comes less than two months after powerful twin quakes rattled neighboring Venezuela, killing more than 6,300 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Messages of support came in from countries across the region and the world.

Pope Leo XIV is “deeply saddened” and “raises his prayers to the Lord for the prompt recovery of those affected by this tragedy,” the Vatican said Tuesday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the United States was “closely monitoring” the situation and “stands ready to support the people of Colombia.”

The US announced $15.5 million in emergency relief.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had mobilized Copernicus, a satellite service, to help with rescue operations.

Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.

“The relationship is very good,” Trump said in response to a shouted question from a journalist at the end of an Oval Office event.

After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism, Netanyahu explicitly stated on Sunday that he opposed the Gaza plan, which called for Israel to begin pulling back forces in tandem with disarmament by Hamas.

Also read: Gaza plan rejected by Netanyahu ‘only way forward’: Trump board

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is running even or trailing in some polls ahead of October 27 elections, the country’s first since the devastating 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

Polls show that the Gaza plan is unpopular with Netanyahu’s right-wing base, and far-right members of his cabinet had urged him to kill it.

One crew member and one passenger sought medical attention, airline ​spokesperson says via email.

Crew ​members on Florida-bound Flight 2204 declared an ‌emergency ⁠shortly after takeoff, and the plane returned to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Delta Air to resume flights to Israel starting June 7

Delta said ​in ​a statement ⁠that passengers evacuated from the plane by ​slides and were being ​transferred ⁠to a new flight to Orlando.

The plane carried six ⁠crew ​members and 199 ​customers, Delta said.

“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden told ​BBC’s “Newsnight,” according to video posted online on ​Friday. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating ⁠in many respects.”

A spokesman for the 83-year-old Democrat declined ​on Saturday to comment on Hunter Biden’s ​interview.

Biden revealed in May 2025, less than four months after he left the White House, that he had ​been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate ​cancer, saying at the time that it had spread to ‌his ⁠bones.

A Biden spokesman said in October he was undergoing radiation treatment and hormone therapy.

‘Strongest in the broken places’: Biden breaks silence on cancer diagnosis

Biden was the oldest person to win the US presidency ​at the ​time of ⁠his election in 2020.

Biden’s physical health and mental acuity drew scrutiny during ​his 2021 to 2025 presidency.

Biden attended ​the ⁠dedication of Barack Obama’s presidential library in June in Chicago. Biden served as Obama’s vice ⁠president ​from 2009 to 2017.

Biden’s presidential ​memoir is scheduled for release on November 17.

Blanche won confirmation in a 50-49 vote, with Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski opposing him. Senator Bill Cassidy was the deciding vote after announcing Friday he thought Blanche was the best option Trump would put forward.

The vote was the culmination of a weeks-long standoff between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration over Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April and previously ran day-to-day Justice Department operations as its second-ranking official.

Republican senators had raised concerns about Blanche’s handling of the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, as well as his role in establishing Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and a related tax-immunity agreement for Trump and his sons.

Blanche confirmation vote scheduled for Tuesday after Trump says ‘weaponization’ fund is dead

But Blanche overcame those challenges in frantic meetings around Capitol Hill over the last several weeks, ultimately agreeing in writing to narrow the tax-immunity agreement and end the “weaponization” payments, which critics have called a slush fund for Trump’s allies, including those who rioted at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Both the tax-immunity agreement, which barred the IRS from auditing previous tax returns of Trump, his sons and their family business, and the fund emerged from Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Concern over slush fund

Questions remain, though, about whether that commitment is legally binding, and whether Trump, who has said he loves the idea of the fund, could later press Blanche, his former personal attorney, to revive a similar program under another name.

That concern was central to the last two Republican senators Blanche needed to convince — Bill Cassidy and Lisa Murkowski — both of whom met with Blanche on Wednesday after signaling they had not yet decided how they would vote. Murkowski had cited her lack of confidence in Blanche to “check the worst impulses of this administration.”

“I take issue with the handling ‌of ⁠the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators,” Murkowski said in a post on social media platform X.

Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche as US Attorney General

Cassidy, who represents Louisiana, criticized Blanche’s role in settling Trump’s IRS lawsuit but said he ultimately trusted Blanche to give the president ​candid legal advice.

Blanche will take the helm of a Justice Department that has undergone significant change in the first year and a half of Trump’s second term. Under Blanche’s leadership, the department has sought prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies, caused the mass departures of career prosecutors and stated that it served at the direction of the president, a break with longstanding norms of independence.

Crime at record lows

Federal judges have on multiple occasions criticized prosecutors for bringing what they described as weak cases, and grand juries have declined to indict in some instances. Political appointees also removed senior career officials seen as resistant to the administration’s agenda, significantly reducing staff in the civil rights division, the ethics office and other divisions.

Blanche has argued that he has helped bring crime to record lows and righted what he says are wrongs brought by the Biden administration against Trump and his conservative allies. Blanche’s supporters say he is committed to the Justice Department’s core mission of keeping the country safe.

“Mr. Blanche is a tough, fair prosecutor dedicated to the rule of law, and his leadership instills that same zeal throughout the entire Justice Department,” Senator Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee who shepherded Blanche’s nomination, said on Friday.

Some Republican skeptics have said Blanche, who spent nearly a decade as a career prosecutor in New York, is likely the most palatable nominee Trump could have put forward, and that in a permanent capacity, he is more likely to resist White House pressure.

The world’s largest economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed, signalling potential labor market weakness after months of steady growth.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent, likely a result of falling labor supply as the US economy grapples with an aging population and lower net migration.

Since taking office for his second term, Trump has unleashed a spate of policies aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing and curbing surging inflation.

Republicans face a stiff test in November’s midterm elections, with the state of the economy a key issue for Democrats who are seeking to wrest back control of both houses of Congress.

Friday’s data will also pose a question to the US Federal Reserve, which has been signalling it was preparing for a rate hike later this year.

Implications for Fed

The bulk of the loss in July was attributed to the local government education sector, which sees thousands of teachers drop off payrolls in the summer months.

Still, analysts had expected overall job growth, including economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal anticipating 83,000 new jobs to be added in July.

In addition to the loss of jobs last month, the BLS revised down job growth in the previous two months by 103,000, showing the labor market to be less robust than previously reported.

Based on the new figures, job growth hit a peak in March before declining in the next three months and entering negative territory in July.

The decline and the revisions to the previous months will spark concern that the labor market may not be as strong as was previously reported.

The unemployment rate has remained relatively steady through choppiness in the labor market, due to the overall drop in labor supply.

Friday’s figures showed the labor force participation rate — a key metric — dropped to its lowest level since the height of pandemic-related closures in the spring of 2020.

Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve watch the labor market closely, as their dual mandate requires them to deliver maximum employment while ensuring inflation remains at a long-term target of two percent.

The Fed has missed that target for five years, as inflation has battered US households since the pandemic.

Last month, the central bank held interest rates steady, but three regional Fed presidents dissented in favor of a rate hike.

“This morning’s report is a game changer in the sense that all of the recent focus has been on inflation and this report highlights the risks that are embedded in the labor market as well,” said Chris Zaccarelli of Northlight Asset Management.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, said the Fed would not be swayed by a single job report from its inflation focus.

“The soft labor market report should lower market expectations for a Fed rate hike in the coming months, but the inflation reports will be the key focus for Fed officials,” she said.

Wages lag inflation

Sector-wise, retail trade lost 19,000 jobs, with employment declining in warehouse retailers — firms like Costco, Sam’s Club and others that offer discounts for wholesale quantities of household goods — and general merchandise stores.

Employment in the financial activities sector continued its downward trend, having lost 121,000 jobs from its May 2025 peak.

The health care sector has buoyed the US labor market over the last year, with more Americans aging and requiring medical assistance.

In July, the sector added 22,000 jobs, but it was a slower pace than its average gain over the last year.

Average hourly earnings increased by 3.2 percent year-on-year, lagging inflation and therefore leaving workers with less income in real terms.

The Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a divided 2-1 order upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year after the administration tore down the East Wing and began building a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ballroom without seeking authorization from Congress.

The appeals court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court. Trump appealed after US District Judge Richard Leon twice blocked above-ground construction on the site while allowing underground work to continue.

Leon, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, had ruled that no federal statute “comes close to giving the President” the required authority to construct the ballroom without congressional approval.

The ballroom plan, which the administration has described as necessary for large formal functions and to preserve the safety of the White House, is the grandest of several Trump efforts to reshape central Washington’s landscape of government buildings and national monuments.

A judge in a separate lawsuit recently said Trump’s name was illegally added to the exterior of the Kennedy Center performing arts center and ordered its removal.

In the ballroom case, Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said during D.C. Circuit arguments on June 5 that the courts have no role in weighing the privately funded project and that it would have been improper to block it at any point.

Roth said the National Trust’s “architectural preference” against the ballroom shouldn’t take precedence over national security concerns, claiming evidence that the former East Wing left the president and others in the White House vulnerable to attack.

“They just don’t want to go to Congress,” countered Thaddeus Heuer, a lawyer for the preservation group. Trump has defended his ballroom and its price tag, which has doubled from initial projections. Trump said in a post on Truth Social last month that the cost rose because “it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal” and promised “it will be magnificent, safe, and secure!”

Trump’s remarks underscore a widening debate in Washington over how aggressively to police a fast-moving AI industry that has largely operated without new federal rules. Lawmakers have released a range of proposals that have not yet moved forward, including a bill that would require developers of the most powerful AI models to submit them for independent security audits.

The debate over AI regulation became more urgent in the last few weeks, after developers OpenAI and Anthropic said their AI systems escaped containment during security testing. The OpenAI agent triggered a hack that compromised the infrastructure of the AI startup Hugging Face, a platform where developers store and collaborate on code for AI models.

Govt unveils National AI Initiative with seven innovation hubs

The incident signaled that AI’s expanding capabilities are already fueling the security threat experts long feared and that even top developers can be caught off guard by flaws their models can exploit.

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology separately proposed guidelines on Friday for evaluating AI systems, and asked for public feedback. NIST’s job is to write standards for science and technology. The guidelines are for organizations that want to “measure the impact of their AI systems,” according to NIST.

Nvidia in talks with OpenAI to guarantee $250 billion financing for data center, WSJ reports

The guidelines are “the first step in standardizing the way the federal  government evaluates AI systems both for itself and for its contractors,” said Ike Harris, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Frontier Security Institute, a nonprofit focused on AI and national security.

“I think ​it’s going to end pretty soon. I ⁠don’t think they can go much ​longer,” Trump said in the Oval Office ​in a reference to Iran.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the US Army had used up much of its ​global stockpile of highly accurate long-range ​missiles during its five-month war with Iran.

When asked about ‌the ⁠status of munitions stockpiles, Trump said the country had an almost unlimited supply of certain weapons but acknowledged inventories of others ​were limited.

Iran says new Hormuz route agreed with Oman

“We ​have certain ⁠types of munitions that are very powerful, that we have ​unlimited, virtual unlimited supply. We have ​others ⁠where it’s a little bit tighter,” Trump said.

Trump said US defence companies were building ⁠more ​production plants, including facilities ​for Patriot and Tomahawk missiles.

The Republican leader lashed out on his Truth Social platform at media reports about the dwindling weapons stockpile, saying that the United States has “massive amounts of ‘munitions’ especially of certain types,” without giving further detail.

“Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” he said.

The Washington Post reported that Trump demanded answers about the munitions shortages from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth last Friday, when they attended a cabinet meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat.

US and Iran having ‘very good discussions’, Trump says

Trump told Hegseth that he thought the munitions issue “had been fixed,” the Post reported, citing two unidentified sources familiar with the exchange.

Trump railed against the media reports, threatening on Thursday that “the ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down” and “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”

CNN also reported that shortages of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors had affected Trump’s strategy in the conflict with Iran, with the US military having “nearly exhausted 80%” of its stock of THAAD interceptors.

The Post also said that the shortages led Trump to call off fresh strikes against Iran, despite having threatened to hit the Islamic republic “very hard”.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt branded coverage of the exchange with Hegseth “FAKE NEWS!”

Trump tells Iranians to make deal or surrender

“I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. This literally never happened,” she wrote on X.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the reports about Trump’s clash with Hegseth and the weapons shortages were “equally fictional.”

Iran’s foreign ministry has denied there are any negotiations underway with Washington, even as Trump said Tehran was keen for a deal.

“I hear they are doing very well,” Trump said in an interview on the “FOX5 1-ON-1” show with FOX5 Las ​Vegas journalist Tom Durian. The interview was published on Wednesday ​evening.

Even as the Iran war has entered its sixth ⁠month and the two sides have so far failed to reach ​a permanent end to the conflict, Trump has repeatedly attempted to ​portray the talks positively.

Trump has said a deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for energy supplies that Iran blocked after the war ​began, is imminent.

“I am not looking to kill people and totally ​obliterate everything, and that’s where we were headed. And they wanted to negotiate ‌and ⁠we’re doing that, and it seems to be working out quite well,” Trump said in the interview.

Human rights experts have condemned Trump’s threats to target civilian infrastructure.

Iran has warned that if the US ​carried out the threats, ​Tehran would ⁠target regional critical infrastructure.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential ​for civilians.

Such attacks could amount to war crimes, international ​law experts ⁠in the US said in April, after Trump’s previous threats.

The war began on February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran. ⁠

Tehran responded ​with strikes on Israel and Gulf ​states with US bases.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands ​and displaced millions.

El-Sayed, whose message focused on healthcare, the economy and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel, was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that President Donald Trump carried in 2024. He will face Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in November.

Tuesday’s vote, billed as a defining test of the party’s direction, became an election-night cliffhanger, with El-Sayed notching a narrow victory over US Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate supported by Democratic leaders and pro-Israel groups. With 99% of the estimated votes counted as of 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Wednesday, El-Sayed was leading Stevens 48.5% to 47.5%, according to the Associated Press.

READ MORE: Michigan primary offers key test of Democratic voters’ views on Israel

The AP and CNN both called the race for El-Sayed, hours after NBC News did the same. “Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All,” El-Sayed wrote on X early on Wednesday, declaring victory.

Midwestern swing state

The race served as a battleground between progressives and moderates over support for Israel, an issue that has played out in primaries nationwide this year. But unlike contests in liberal bastions, this was a statewide race in a Midwestern swing state for a seat Democrats must win if they have any hopes of securing a Senate majority in November.

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in spending by a pro-Israel super PAC, and her supporters argued she was the more electable candidate in the general election.

Analysts had said one significant factor in El-Sayed’s favor was that Michigan is home to some of the country’s largest Arab American communities, where hostility to Israel runs deep.

The result is likely to be scrutinized by prospective 2028 presidential contenders searching for a message to reconnect with voters after the party’s loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

El-Sayed’s victory could intensify debate within Democratic ranks over the political appeal of economic populism, anti-establishment campaigning and a tougher approach toward Israel.

Tuesday’s results are consistent with broader signs of a leftward shift among Democratic voters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday found self-described liberal voters now make up 71% of Democrats, up from 55% in 2012, while large majorities said universal healthcare, expanded abortion access and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy are essential policy positions.

The poll also found deep Democratic skepticism of US support for Israel. Only 16% of Democrats backed continued military and economic aid to Israel, while 57% opposed it, suggesting El-Sayed’s criticism of US policy aligned with views that have become increasingly common within the party.

Ballots cast in Michigan and four other states

Voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state also decided on US House candidates in Democratic primaries on Tuesday, including a handful that could determine whether the party retakes the lower chamber. Four of those races are considered general election toss-ups.

In a Lansing-area swing district in Michigan, progressive climate activist William Lawrence won the Democratic nomination after two moderate candidates split the center-left vote. Lawrence will face US Representative Tom Barrett in November.

Democratic US Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and state Senate Republican Leader John Braun advanced to the general election in the state’s top-two primary. The progressive candidate, Brent Hennrich, finished a distant third.

In two Virginia districts expected to be competitive in November, Democrats nominated former US Representative Elaine Luria and Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.

In Missouri, progressive Democrat Cori Bush failed in her bid to take back her seat from US Representative Wesley Bell in a rematch of 2024. A pro-Israel super PAC spent more than $8 million to help oust Bush, a vocal critic of Israel, in 2024 and more than $3 million this year to keep Bush out of Congress. Bell is heavily favored to win in November, as the St. Louis-area district is safely Democratic.

The move comes days after the United States imposed fresh tariffs on China and 59 other countries, adding to a series of recent trade measures.

The US actions “seriously harm China’s legitimate rights and interests”, a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

“China can only take necessary countermeasures in response, including strengthening export controls on drones, and their key components and technology to the US.”

Beijing’s measures also include suspending factory follow-up inspections by Chinese certification bodies, blacklisting US compliance testing companies, and launching national security investigations into imports of office printers and copiers, according to the ministry.

It also imposed sanctions on six US businesses, including biotech company Applied DNA Sciences and geoscience research firm Stratum Reservoir, barring organisations and individuals within China from “engaging in relevant transactions, cooperation, or other activities with them”.

The six entities “have assisted and supported illegal US sanctions related to Xinjiang; the nature of their actions is egregious”, the commerce ministry said.

The UN has warned of possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang region targeting the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority – accusations China vehemently denies.

China’s top trade official He Lifeng expressed “serious concern” to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a call over the recent restrictions, state news agency Xinhua reported.

China also accused the United States last week of seeking to “suppress” Chinese companies, after Washington banned imports of humanoid and quadruped robots manufactured abroad in a move separate from the new tariffs.

China and the United States spent much of last year embroiled in an escalating trade war but reached a truce when US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met last October.

The latest US tariffs against China and other trade partners however have threatened that truce, with Beijing warning Washington against waging a trade war.

The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace toward the moon in January 2025.

Weighing 4 metric tons (4,000 kg), the rocket body had been due to hit the moon around 2:35 a.m. ET (0635 GMT), travelling at 5,400 miles per hour (8,690 kph), but none of the spacecraft orbiting the moon were expected to be in a position to capture images of the impact live.

The space junk would have kicked up a plume of lunar dust that would likely be illuminated by sunlight, but difficult to spot with the naked eye from Earth. It was likely to be at least several hours before scientists would be able to confirm the crash by studying images from telescopes in the Americas, the BBC reported.

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The impact was unintentional, SpaceX said. The rocket piece was expected to hit Einstein Crater on the moon’s western limb, which is often difficult to see from Earth.

Cosmic forces nudged piece to moon

Such stages typically fall back into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up or plunge into the ocean after boosting the rocket’s payload to a precise spot in orbit.

But because the January lunar lander mission required more thrust than missions closer to Earth, the rocket’s second stage remained in space, floating aimlessly among thousands of other pieces of space junk that active satellites must steer clear of.

It was not until earlier this year that astronomers determined that the rocket stage, which had dumped its remaining fuel and could not be controlled, was on an orbital trajectory ending at the moon.

“What has happened is essentially a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces have put it on a path toward the moon,” Julianna Scheiman, SpaceX director of NASA science and Dragon programs, told reporters on Monday.

“This may be of some — probably minor — scientific interest, and we may learn some things from it,” said Bill Gray, creator of widely used astronomy software who published a report on the stage’s impact in April.

“It doesn’t present any danger to anyone, though it does highlight a certain carelessness about how leftover space hardware (space junk) is disposed of.”

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Space junk impacts on the moon are rare. A Chinese rocket stage crashed into the moon in March 2022 after completing a lunar test mission. In 2009, NASA intentionally crashed a rocket stage into the moon to study the plume of lunar material kicked up by the impact.

Several spacecraft intending to softly land on the moon in recent years have crashed instead. Russia’s nuclear-powered Luna-25 mission spun out of control and crashed in 2023. Its small power source of plutonium-238 likely remains harmlessly on the lunar surface.

India’s Chandrayaan-2 lander mission crashed in 2019. Israel’s Beresheet lander crashed that same year. Among the Israeli lander’s payloads were tiny tardigrades, microscopic animals known for surviving radiation and other harsh environments and which may still be on the surface.

NASA intentionally crashed stages from its Saturn V moon rocket into the moon in the 1970s to study the impacts’ seismic effects.

NASA and SpaceX are discussing ways to prevent future lunar impacts, Scheiman said. The U.S. space agency plans to build a lunar base and send routine astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning later this decade under its multibillion-dollar Artemis program. It would not want errant pieces of space junk impacting those assets.

The contest pits Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official who wants to end unconditional US military aid to Israel and accuses it of genocide, against US Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate backed by pro-Israel groups and a longtime outspoken supporter of Israel.

The race is the latest battleground between progressives and moderates over US support for Israel, an issue that has played out in primaries nationwide this year. But unlike contests in liberal bastions, this is a statewide race in a critical Midwestern swing state ahead of November’s midterms — a seat Democrats must win in the fight for Senate control.

The outcome could offer the clearest signal yet of whether Democratic voters are more receptive to an anti-establishment message hostile to Israel and big money in politics, or a more moderate approach supportive of Israel, according to analysts and party strategists interviewed by Reuters.

Frank Lowenstein, a former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama, said the primary was a bellwether for Democrats’ ideological future and could shape how their 2028 presidential candidates approach relations with Israel.

“This will help inform them about how tough to be on Israel,” he said. “It’s teed up to be a pretty clear choice.”

Israel’s favorability rating among Democrats fell from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

But, the primary is also a test of broader voter frustrations over economic concerns and the party establishment, Democratic strategists said.

An El-Sayed win would underscore the anger fueling demand for new leadership — and the appeal of his call to reinvest taxpayer dollars at home rather than in Israel’s war in Gaza.

A Stevens win would signal she made her case despite anti-establishment headwinds, with economic concerns and the desire to beat Republicans outweighing Israel.

“Either way, Democratic leaders shouldn’t ignore the anger at the status quo fueling El-Sayed’s campaign or assume a Stevens win lets the party off the hook,” Democratic strategist Karen Finney said.

Voters in Michigan, Virginia and Washington State will also be deciding on US House candidates in Democratic primaries on Tuesday, including a handful that could decide if the party retakes the lower chamber. Four of those races are considered general election toss-ups.

Progressives and moderates take sides

The winner of the Senate primary will face former Republican Representative Mike Rogers, a vocal supporter of Israel in a state President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2024.

El-Sayed has been endorsed by and held rallies with two high-profile progressives: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Analysts say one significant factor in his favor is that Michigan is home to some of the country’s largest Arab-American communities, where hostility to Israel runs deep.

Recent polls show El-Sayed leading by an average of 8 percentage points, although one Detroit News survey in early July had Stevens up by 7 percentage points.

El-Sayed supports progressive causes like universal healthcare, abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and getting corporate money out of politics. He told Reuters in an interview that ending unconditional US military aid to Israel was not just a human rights issue, but about helping American families.

“Gaza and Israel is an affordability issue. I would rather spend our money on healthcare and schools and infrastructure here at home rather than bombing other people elsewhere.”

El-Sayed said he had focused on issues affecting Michigan voters, while Democratic leaders had sought to recast the race as a national referendum on the party’s future.

Stevens and her allies argue that she would make a stronger general election candidate against Rogers because she is more likely to appeal to independents in a race expected to be decided at the margins.

Stevens has been backed by the party establishment, including Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, and Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s two-term governor.

In emailed responses to Reuters, Stevens largely declined to answer questions about Israel or the money she has taken from pro-Israel groups, including over $30 million from the main super PAC for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of Washington’s most influential foreign-policy lobbying organizations.

“No one influences my vote other than the people of Michigan,” she said.

Stevens has been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including in a July debate. “Mr. Netanyahu has not made us safer, has not brought us closer to peace. And he’s endangered Jews here in America and around the world,” she said.

“The recent improvement in some inflation data is welcome” and “it is a step in the right direction, but it is only one step,” the official said in a statement from her bank.

When it comes to what the central bank will do next with monetary policy in the current environment, Paulson said: “I am committed to keeping an open mind as I assess the evidence and determine the appropriate path for policy.“

“My highest priority is delivering 2 percent inflation while sustaining full employment,” she added.

It was her first public comment since last week’s interest-rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Officials then held their overnight interest rate target range steady at between 3.5% and 3.75% amid inflation pressures that remain well above the Fed’s 2% target. Paulson said she supported the Fed’s call to hold its target rate steady.

US economic growth slows in second quarter, missing expectations

The persistence of inflation above target helped drive three officials to dissent and vote in favor of a rate hike.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, in a press conference following the Fed’s meeting, declined to provide guidance on where he thinks monetary policy should be heading.

In her statement, Paulson said the data suggests Fed policy is putting some restraint on the economy and that she will be watching the data to help her form her decision on monetary policy.

“If policy is appropriately calibrated, I would expect to see growing signs that inflation is coming down,” Paulson said, adding, “if instead underlying inflation remains stubbornly elevated, the passage of time without progress would itself signal that more restrictive policy is needed.”

Paulson said the job market has stabilized and inflation is “too high.”

On the energy front, “oil prices have since jumped and remain volatile, but the brief period of Middle East stability demonstrated that supply shocks can be temporary, reinforcing the case for looking through such disruptions when setting monetary policy.”

The official said that underlying inflation is around 2.4% to 2.8%, noting this type of price pressure “has been elevated for a long time, and it is what I am most focused on as I evaluate our progress toward the 2 percent target.”

“We are in talks with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalised position in this conflict,” Bessent said Tuesday in an interview with CNBC.

Asked if a deal would allow Iran to charge a toll on shipping using the strait, Bessent said: “I think it would be freedom of movement.”

Bessent’s comments echoed those of US President Donald Trump on Monday, who insisted the waterway could reopen within hours after he pulled back from threats of a massive military strike on Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry has denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place, and on Tuesday, an unknown projectile hit a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a key point of tension in the US-Iran conflict.

Bessent was upbeat on the impact a deal with Iran over the strait would have on energy prices, where he said hundreds of ships are waiting to go out.

“Even though things are still a little dicey there over the past few days, we’ve (seen) quite a few ships coming out even now,” Bessent said.

“So you know, I’d expect the energy prices to settle back down, which, as I said, will be good for the entire world.”

In the notice sent to some congressional committees late last week, the State Department said it planned to close its posts in St. George’s, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. The people familiar with ​the notice spoke on the condition of anonymity because the notice was not public.

The expected closures, which have not ​been previously reported, represent a rare example of the US closing multiple foreign missions in a ⁠downsizing that is not tied to a particular geopolitical event.

Early last year, during the opening months of the Trump administration, ​the State Department began preparations to shut down nearly a dozen foreign missions, Reuters and other media outlets reported at the ​time, as part of a broader push by the Republican president to transform the U.S. bureaucracy so that it is fully aligned with his “America First” agenda.

The White House Office of Management and Budget had advocated for an even more ambitious closure program, targeting up to 30 foreign missions. Some ​administration officials have privately argued that some smaller foreign missions are inessential and not cost effective.

Democrats and some former foreign ​policy and national security officials argue that cuts to the U.S. diplomatic footprint - coupled with the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, ‌which ⁠provided billions of dollars worth of aid globally - risks undermining American leadership, while leaving a dangerous vacuum for adversaries like China and Russia to fill.

While the State Department did undergo a broad bureaucratic overhaul last year – cutting dozens of bureaus and hundreds of staff – no foreign missions were shuttered.

Asked for comment on Sunday, the State Department issued a statement that did not confirm the ​closures but said it was ​focused on ensuring that the ⁠nation’s diplomatic footprint was efficient and effective. The department added that it was committed to following congressional notification procedures.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has portrayed cost-cutting measures as necessary to right-size ​an organization many conservatives see as bloated and overly bureaucratic.

The US mission in St. George’s, ​Grenada, is an ⁠embassy. The posts in Medan, Winnipeg and Nagoya are consulates, while the post in Douala is an “embassy branch office.” Consulates and branch offices typically represent U.S. interests in regions outside a foreign country’s capital city, where the U.S. embassy is typically located.

During the administration ⁠of former ​President Joe Biden, the US government opened several foreign missions, all of ​them in the Pacific region, where the US is competing for influence with China.

While China does not have a functioning foreign mission in Douala or Winnipeg, it ​does have a diplomatic presence in St. George’s, Nagoya and Medan.

The Spokane ​Area Fire, which contains three separate blazes, was ⁠threatening the areas under evacuation orders, Spokane Fire ​Chief Tom Williams told Reuters.

The fires had burned ​5,390 acres (2,180 hectares) by Sunday, according to a federal incident management team.

Williams said the fires had yet ​to be contained.

No injuries or deaths had ​been reported, officials said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.

Spokane ‌Mayor ⁠Lisa Brown called it “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.”

Fires on more than 250,000 acres of Washington state prompt evacuations

Around 10,000 electricity customers in the region had no power as of ​Sunday afternoon, ​Avista Utilities ⁠CEO Heather Rosentrader said.

State officials have said that more than 250,000 acres (101,171 ​hectares) are burning across Washington state.

Washington Governor ​Bob ⁠Ferguson said he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday and requested ⁠assistance ​from the Federal Emergency Management ​Agency. The governor has declared a statewide emergency.

Also read: Trump’s on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own words

“Obviously, they don’t want to be attacked. They knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming,” Trump told reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One. “Now what we’re doing is we’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.”

About 4,000 people were fighting more than a dozen fires throughout the state, Dave ‌Upthegrove, the state’s commissioner of public lands, said during a virtual press conference.

Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and burn ban on Saturday morning. No injuries or fatalities related to the fire were known at this point, ​officials said.

Spokane, home to about 230,000 residents of eastern Washington, is dealing with the Old ​Trails Fire, which Washington State Forester George Geissler said was active on 3,000 ⁠acres and threatened 4,000 structures.

Some major facilities in Spokane have been evacuated, Mayor Lisa Brown said, ​including water reclamation facilities, a waste-energy plant and the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.

As of 3:30 p.m. (2230 ​GMT), about 200 homes in Spokane had been evacuated, but officials expected that figure to change. “These are large areas of the city, so I assume it’s going to be more than that,” Brown said.

Utilities company Avista, which services ​eastern Washington, reported that 60,000 people were without power, according to Stacey McClain of the Washington ​State Emergency Management Division.

“Our state is facing a very serious situation with multiple fires,” Ferguson said, noting that high ‌winds and ⁠high temperatures throughout the weekend would make fighting the fires more challenging.

For the summer so far, about 450,000 acres have burned in Washington state, Upthegrove said. “This is not normal. … Throughout the state of Washington we’re seeing fires raging,” he said.

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The fire in Spokane is one of five “major complex fires” in ​the state, Geissler said. ​The biggest, the Kaiser ⁠Canyon Fire in the northeastern part of the state, is approximately 134,000 acres, he said.

Wildfires this summer have been a problem in other parts of ​the Pacific Northwest. Nearly 34,000 lightning strikes last month led to a ​series of fires ⁠and evacuation orders in the southern part of British Columbia.

In addition to the National Guard, firefighters from more than a dozen states are helping, Washington officials said during the news conference.

“It’s a tragedy what we’re ⁠seeing over ​there,” said Major General Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the ​Washington National Guard. “When the sun sets and the sun rises in the morning, I think we’re going to be in shock ​to see some of the scenes that emerged out there.”

Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks told reporters the shooter was dead and the threat ​to the community was over.

An active ​shooter incident was reported at around 2:30 ⁠p.m. local time (2030 GMT) near an In-N-Out Burger ​restaurant in a high-traffic commercial area, the city’s ​public information coordinator, Josh Palmer, told Reuters.

About an hour later, “it was determined that the shooter was no ​longer a threat,” Palmer said.

During a press conference, Hicks ​said he did not know the exact death toll, but ‌Palmer ⁠told Reuters that three people were dead and at least two injured.

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The shooter was among the dead, Hicks said. Police are working to identify the ​gunman and ​determine motives ⁠for the shooting, he said.

The Twin Falls Police Department said on ​Facebook that roads in the area ​and ⁠a nearby bridge were closed in the immediate aftermath of the report.

The town of about 47,400 ⁠people ​lies in the central ​Idaho region of Magic Valley.