World News

(WASHINGTON) – President Donald Trump meets with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux. Closure to his war of choice may be unsatisfactory, putting off many critical issues to be resolved later.

Elsewhere, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton easily defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the latest contest where Trump sought to oust an incumbent he saw as insufficiently loyal. The scandal-plagued Republican now faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November, with control of the Senate an open question.

And, the 79-year-old president emerged from another medical exam saying “Everything checked out PERFECTLY” after working to dismiss concerns about his age and stamina. The White House said his more than three hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center were spent doing preventive medical and dental checkups.

Here’s the Latest:

President Donald Trump will meet with his Cabinet on Wednesday at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war with Iran, just days after insisting that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement but with the negotiations still in a state of flux.

As he prepares to huddle with his top aides, Trump is projecting confidence that he’s closing in on a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans.

The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran’s hard-line leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened.

Yet another White House construction project is underway. Crews are erecting a temporary octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn for next month’s UFC bout, timed to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary — and President Donald Trump ’s 80th birthday.

Online renderings depict what the completed, wire-mesh-fence-ringed fight space is expected to look like ahead of the June 14 event, ringed by a red, white and blue stage under a towering arch featuring stars and stripes patterns and two large screens carrying the action live. Thousands of temporary seats will surround the cage and stage, including ringside space for a full marching band.

“I have never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets,” Trump said recently. “That’s gonna be something.”

In a social media post, Trump congratulated Paxton on a “tremendous win” and promised that “I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken. Texas, this will be FUN!

Trump also congratulated Cornyn “for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career.”

In his endorsement of Paxton, Trump said Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”

But Trump said Wednesday that, “John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common-sense Senator.”

Joe Biden sued the Justice Department on Tuesday in an effort to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of the former president’s interview with a ghostwriter that were obtained by the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents.

Biden’s lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in Washington’s federal court that the Justice Department plans to release the files to Congress and a conservative group, the Heritage Foundation, after the department had previously argued that they were exempt from disclosure under the public records law.

Biden’s lawyers argued that the disclosure would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”

“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” his attorneys wrote. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”

The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media.

A proposed notice, announced Tuesday on the Office of Personnel Management website, is expected to be officially published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, seeking comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”

“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard nonpublic, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.

The proposed notice seeks comment on several questions, including whether the NDA should cover only unclassified information and what appropriate actions, if any, agencies should consider for new or current employees who choose not to sign the agreement.

Trump is on a winning streak in Republican primaries, but now he must win in the November midterms, when Republicans face a broader electorate that is concerned about the president’s second term and the economy.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, easily defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the latest contest where Trump sought to oust an incumbent he saw as insufficiently loyal.

Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.” Paxton’s victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn — who was first elected to the Senate in 2002 — the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.

Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton’s election night party when the race was called, and he took the stage to supporters chanting his name. He quickly gave credit to Trump.

“When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn’t listen,” Paxton said. “President Trump is the leader of our party, and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics.”

source

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia threw pebbles at a large pillar in a symbolic ritual on Wednesday, one of the final days of the Hajj as Muslims around the world started celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Pilgrims in Mina, Saudi Arabia, at the annual Islamic pilgrimage chanted “Allahu akbar,” or God is great, while throwing pebbles in a ritual seen as a symbolic stoning of the devil. The act also is seen as a symbol of rejecting evil and a commemoration of the Prophet Ibrahim’s rejection of temptation when the devil tried to dissuade him from submitting to God’s will.

Large crowds of pilgrims moved through the sprawling Jamarat complex after arriving from Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles overnight following a day of worship and prayer at Arafat on Tuesday.

Pakistani pilgrim Aamar Shakur said he saw the pebble throwing as a symbol of confronting personal struggles in which he was “throwing the stone to my own devil.”

The last days of the Hajj in Saudi Arabia coincide with Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” which marks the willingness of Ibrahim, known as Abraham to Christians and Jews, to sacrifice his son. During the holiday, Muslims typically slaughter sheep or cattle and distribute some of the meat to poor people.

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able. Performed over several days, the Hajj can be a deeply moving spiritual experience and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness.

This year, the physically demanding Hajj has been held in intense heat, which appeared to take a toll on some as they moved between holy sites. Medical teams stationed across Mina were seen treating several pilgrims.

Many poured water over their heads and faces to cool themselves under the scorching sun, while others carried umbrellas. Some pushed elderly relatives and loved ones in wheelchairs through the crowds toward the pillars so they could complete the ritual.

More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived from abroad, a Saudi official said Friday.

This year’s Hajj takes place against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related uncertainty throughout the region.

___

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

source

TORONTO (AP) — Canada will buy early warning radar planes built by Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier over two American options, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday.

Carney said his government has entered negotiations to procure Saab’s Airborne Early Warning & Control Aircraft, which is built on the Canadian-manufactured Bombardier Global 6500 aircraft and will support domestic production.

Carney also noted it is made with 20% U.S. content. The federal government has previously said it’s in the market for six radar aircraft.

Canada joined a major European Union defense fund last year, and Carney has made a point of diversifying its military spending away from the United States.

Equipped with powerful radar, the Saab planes provide situational awareness about aircraft and missile movements for hundreds of miles (kilometers). They can detect hostile activity in the air or from ships are able to direct fighter jets to their targets.

“Saab’s GlobalEye will be a key resource for the Canadian Armed Forces to detect and deter threats across the Arctic,” Carney said.

The other options would have been to buy the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance planes built by U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing or the Aeris X by L3Harris.

NATO is also considering the Saab plane over the American options.

Carney has previously said that no more will over 70 cents of every dollar of Canadian military capital spending go to the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions — including launching a trade war and suggesting Canada become the 51st U.S. state — infuriated Canadians and created the political environment for Carney to win the job of prime minister after promising to confront Trump’s increased aggression.

The Canadian government is reviewing the planned purchase of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to explore other options. Carney has said the potential for having more production in Canada is a factor. A proposal by Saab promised that assembly and maintenance of the Saab Gripen fighter jet would take place in Canada.

source

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dozens of previously undeclared chemical bombs and rockets left over from when then-President Bashar Assad ruled Syria have been found in the country in the past few weeks, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a report Wednesday.

The OPCW, the global chemical weapons watchdog based in The Hague, said in its May report that its inspectors were able to inspect “high-priority undeclared locations” since the start of month. “Dozens of undeclared chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets … have been found at several of these undeclared locations,” the report said.

When Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, it claimed chemical weapons were present at 26 locations in the country, but the watchdog has said it has reason to believe the country has an additional 100 sites.

Following the overthrow of Assad in December 2024, the government under interim-President Ahmad al-Sharaa has pledged to destroy any remaining chemical weapons from the Assad regime.

While speaking to the OPCW in The Hague last year, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani asked for help from the international community in ridding his country of the illegal munitions.

Syria’s new rulers have committed to “destroy any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime, to put an end to this painful legacy, to bring justice to victims, and to ensure that the compliance with international law is a solid one,” he said.

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 to ward off the threat of airstrikes in response to a chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus. Assad’s government denied using chemical weapons, but the OPCW previously has said that it found evidence of their repeated use by Syria in the grinding civil war.

The organization also has found that the Islamic State group used chemical weapons during the war.

source

NAIROBI, May 27 (Reuters) – Uganda has decided to close its border with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo with immediate effect to try to contain an Ebola outbreak, Uganda’s government said on Wednesday.

The border would be closed for four weeks, senior health official Diana Atwine told a news conference.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema and Vincent Mumo Nzilani;Editing by Alexander Winning)

source

TORONTO (AP) — Canada has reached a deal to export liquefied natural gas to Germany from a planned Pacific Coast terminal, an official familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The official confirmed Canada will sign the agreement with Germany’s SEFE group, which stands for Securing Energy for Europe, from the proposed KSI Lisims export facility on the coast of British Columbia. The official spoke on condition anonymity as they were not authorized to speak ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

The said up to 1 million metric tons (1.1 million US tons) of liquefied natural gas per year will be exported.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has set a goal to double non-U.S. trade in a decade. Oil and gas-rich Canada exports almost all of energy oil and gas to the U.S. currently.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said earlier Tuesday a deal to supply Canadian liquefied natural gas to Germany would be a key step toward the partners behind the Ksi Lisims project deciding to go ahead with their $10-billion Canadian (US$ 7.2 billion) plant and export terminal.

Ksi Lisims, on Pearse Island by the border with Alaska has the permits it needs but the consortium has yet to make a final investment decision paving the way for construction to begin.

Eby said sealing up offtake agreements with buyers is a key step before Ksi Lisims can reach that milestone.

The partnership has already signed supply agreements with a unit of London-based Shell and France-based TotalEnergies.

SEFE is a leading German energy utility. It is the former German subsidiary of Gazprom which Germany nationalized in 2022 as Europe struggles with an energy crisis tied to the war in Ukraine and now the Mideast.

As European countries supported Ukraine, Russia slashed supplies of natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry, creating an energy crisis that is fueling inflation and forcing some factories to shut down as prices have risen.

Germany was a major importer of Russian gas before the war.

source

SEOUL, May 27 (Reuters) – Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui on Tuesday in Pyongyang and discussed strengthening bilateral ties, KCNA state news agency said on Wednesday.

Balakrishnan and Choe also exchanged views on regional and global affairs, KCNA said without elaborating.

Balakrishnan is expected to visit South Korea following his stop in the North, a rare trip to both Koreas by a Singaporean envoy.

Balakrishnan was a member of cabinet in Singapore when it hosted the first summit meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States in 2018.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement agreeing in June 2018 to open new peaceful relations and work on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

Trump has said he wants to meet Kim again for talks and that they have a good relationship, but North Korea has not directly responded to the overtures.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Nia Williams and Stephen Coates)

source

RAQQA, Syria (AP) — Water levels of the Euphrates River in northern and eastern Syria rose over the past two days, causing flooding, officials said Tuesday, spurring authorities to urge residents living on the banks to move inland.

There were no reports of casualties in the flooding, which has been rare in Syria since Turkey built dams decades ago that control the flow of the Euphrates into Syria and Iraq. The floods affected the northern province of Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

State media reported that the floods caused damage to agricultural fields as well as to homes and businesses in the region that earlier this year witnessed clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters.

The floods are the result of rain levels that were higher than usual this year prompting authorities to open some of the gates at the Euphrates Dam to reduce pressure on it.

State news agency SANA said with the opening of the gates, about 1,800 cubic meters (63,566 cubic feet) of water were flowing per second in what could lead water levels to rise more.

It said in the coming hours, water levels in the river could rise about 2 meters (6.5 feet).

One of those affected was Mohammed Amin, 65, whose famous Greek House restaurant in Raqqa was partially covered with water causing thousands of dollars in damage. In the restaurant’s main hall, where water was several centimeters high, fish could be seen swimming.

“Our losses are huge,” said Amin, who added that refrigerators were not working and more than 200 chairs that were on the edge of the river were washed away by the floodwaters.

For Sabha Mohammed, 50, who was displaced from the town of Maadan in Raqqa province, much of her belongings were washed away from the tent where she lives on the edge of the river. “It was early in the morning when the flood began,” she said.

Syria’s Civil Defense warned people not to swim in the river and avoid passing on small bridges or using boats at the time of the flood. It also called on residents to move with their cattle to higher areas.

source

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The head of an inquiry into antisemitism in Australia on Tuesday said Jewish witnesses who appeared before it are facing online harassment and bigotry and issued a condemnation.

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was created in response to two gunmen allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group slaying 15 people at a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December. Royal commissions are Australia’s highest form of public inquiry.

The commission’s head, former High Court judge Virginia Bell, said Jewish witnesses who testified about their experiences of antisemitism since public hearings began on May 4 have been subjected to online “harassment and intimidation.”

“We have received reports from a number of witnesses concerning a dramatic increase in online hate messages after they have given evidence,” Bell said.

“Quite what this undiluted level of hatred and bigotry directed towards members of the Jewish community is thought to benefit by those who post these remarks is lost on me,” she added.

The commission was recording the “offensive social media posts,” Bell said, and in one case the harassment has been referred to police.

“The commission has, as one of its principal objects, understanding and assessing the lived experience of antisemitism by members of the Jewish community and it is being informed by conduct of this character,” she said.

The first two weeks of hearings scrutinized the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in Australia’s institutions and society.

During the first week of hearings, a 68-year-old man was charged with wearing a shirt emblazoned with a “prohibited Nazi symbol” outside the commission in Sydney, a police statement.

The design appeared to incorporate a Star of David superimposed over a swastika with the slogan: “Antisemitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!”

The commission said in a statement at the time it was “appalled” that an “antisemitic shirt” had been worn in its vicinity. The commission assured witnesses that safety protocols were in place around the building.

“The royal commission is determined to investigate antisemitism in Australia without fear or intimidation,” the statement said.

source

By Jekaterina Golubkova

May 27 (Reuters) – Russia has handed Kazakhstan four Amur tigers, two of them cubs, to help the country restore its numbers of the animals, President Vladimir Putin said in an article issued ahead of his visit to the Central Asian nation this week.

Rich in energy resources and critical minerals, Kazakhstan shares a border with Russia and is a close ally of Moscow in a region where China and the United States are also expanding their influence.

The four animals captured in Russia’s far eastern region of Khabarovsk were flown to Kazakhstan, Putin said on the Kremlin’s website on Tuesday, and are soon to be released into the wild.

Putin is no stranger to using animals to advance diplomatic efforts.

In 2022, Russia sent 30 grey thoroughbred horses to North Korea, as the nations have boosted ties since Ukraine’s invasion that year. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a keen horseman.

Kazakhstan, which is trying to restore the tiger population in Central Asia, sees the Amur tiger as a close relative of the extinct Caspian tiger. The Russian gesture boosts the country’s tally of the animals previously sent by the Netherlands.

On his visit, Putin will oversee the signing of a deal for a nuclear power project in Kazakhstan, which has no nuclear power generation now, and will discuss efforts to boost the transit of Russian oil to China through the country, the Kremlin has said.

(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

source