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Category: Associated Press

  • Senators head for the exits without meeting Trump’s demands for voting bill

    Senators head for the exits without meeting Trump’s demands for voting bill

    WASHINGTON — Senators headed for the exits in the predawn hours Saturday, ending for now a crushing standoff over President Donald Trump’s demands that they stay in session to pass a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill before the summer recess.

    While they wrapped up many key priorities in the overnight votes, advancing Trump’s SAVE America Act was not among them.

    Instead, Republican senators who had brought the chamber to a standstill spoke to Trump late in the evening about an alternative plan: They would try again to approve elements of the voting bill as part of a broader GOP budget package to fund the Iran war and replenish the Pentagon when they return to work in September.

    “Obviously, with the president at his direction, this is what he wants to do,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the GOP budget committee chairperson, flanked by Sens. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rick Scott (R., Fla.) after their phone call with the president.

    The sudden wind-down after weeks of Trump ramping up his demands shows just how deeply the president is able to reach into the halls of Congress to set the agenda or disrupt it, the executive directing the affairs of the legislative branch. While Trump is often seen as a de facto speaker of the House, he is trying his hand at mastering the Senate.

    Trump had poked and prodded Senate Majority Leader John Thune for weeks to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that does not have enough support from the Republicans who hold majority power, let alone the Democrats whose votes would be needed to advance it in the Senate.

    The president has gone so far as to insist the Senate abandon its filibuster rules to jam the SAVE America Act past the 60-vote threshold that is typically needed to advance legislation in the chamber — something Thune and most senators have no interest in doing.

    “John’s trying. He’s trying hard. I really believe that. But if he doesn’t get there, it would be unfortunate,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that posted Friday.

    Trump’s pressure couldn’t overcome Thune’s reality

    Thune himself has worked to carefully balance the often unusual demands of the president with the political reality of his slim GOP majority. Republicans are down one vote with the prolonged absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former leader, who said this week he was released from a rehabilitation center and is recovering at home.

    “I think everybody’s, for the most part, on the same page,” Thune (R., S.D.) said about the trio’s call with Trump, adding that eventually the Senate would have to tackle another budget bill.

    During a daylong session that dragged for nearly 20 hours, Thune successfully powered through a lengthy list of other Trump priorities. Senators confirmed the president’s pick of Todd Blanche as the attorney general, passed a sweeping Russian sanctions package to aid Ukraine, and approved a bipartisan package to fund the government into December in an early step toward avoiding a government shutdown.

    The Republicans also tried to push forward a slimmer voting bill that would require people to show IDs before casting ballots for federal elections. It failed to advance, largely on a party-line vote with Democrats opposed.

    But the failure to make progress on the SAVE America Act had erupted as an online crusade for Trump’s allies in Congress, amplified by activists urging them on.

    Led by Lee, a growing group of senators was refusing to adjourn for the summer break without passing Trump’s priority voting bill.

    At dinnertime, Thune gathered all the Republican senators for a meeting as the standoff deepened at the Capitol. There was no immediate way forward for the SAVE America Act or the broader budget bill. Thune encouraged the trio of senators to talk to the president, which they did, before regrouping back at Thune’s office.

    “We had about a two-hour conference meeting trying to figure out, you know, what we need to do to, to come to an agreement, to accomplish what the president wanted,” Johnson said. “Then we had discussion with the president, he agrees.”

    Lee acknowledged he was disappointed by the outcome, but said he understood the political reality of the situation.

    “We are not in a position right now where we have the wherewithal to pass it,” Lee told reporters at the Capitol, after the three senators emerged from Thune’s office following their call with Trump.

    Near daybreak, when the Senate did call for the vote to adjourn, Lee and others objected with hearty nos.

    On the simple voice vote, the ayes had it, and the motion to adjourn was adopted.

  • Iran makes new strait demands, the UAE says a ship was targeted

    Iran makes new strait demands, the UAE says a ship was targeted

    Iran issued dramatic new demands for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen as the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile. Yemen’s military attacked the country’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. And Turkey’s Kurdish peace bill won approval in parliament.

    Here’s a look at developments across the Middle East on Saturday.

    Iran says strait won’t open until the U.S. ‘corrects’ behavior

    Iran’s politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council said the Strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behavior,” issuing new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway and traffic on it.

    Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

    The U.S. must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The U.S. must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area. It also must “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions, and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.

    There was no immediate comment from the U.S., which has wanted an acceptable deal first on the strait before ending the blockade. According to the interim deal signed in June, a schedule to end sanctions and plan on compensation would be part of the final deal, and negotiations would address frozen assets.

    The end of a 60-day period to negotiate a final deal will end in just over a week but could be extended.

    Iran has said it was close to reaching a separate deal with Oman to manage the strait, which runs between the two countries. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier Saturday said they were close to reaching an agreement on navigation, “specifically the determination of a transit route.” But the waterway’s reopening is contingent on other conditions, he said in remarks shared on social media.

    Oman, a mediator Gulf Arab country which has said relatively little on the talks, said in a statement Saturday that the discussions were ongoing “in a positive and constructive atmosphere,” and condemned attacks on ships on the strait.

    The strait, crucial to global supplies of oil and natural gas, had been considered an international waterway before the war.

    Iran attacks vessel in Strait of Hormuz, UAE says

    A vessel owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC oil and gas company was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Emirati authorities said earlier Saturday. The Foreign Ministry said Iran fired the missile as part of attacks on commercial shipping.

    ADNOC in a statement said there were no casualties following the attack early Saturday. The company said over a dozen of its vessels have been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the strait since the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. One crew member has been killed and 20 others wounded, it said.

    ADNOC didn’t elaborate on the attack’s location or any damage.

    Later, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a vessel east of the town of Khasab, Oman, had been struck by a projectile that caused a fire that was put out, with the vessel and crew safe. It was not clear whether this was the ADNOC incident.

    Yemen’s military attacks Iran-backed Houthis

    The attacks were in response to the Houthis’ recent strikes in central and eastern Yemen. Col. Majed al-Nazili, spokesperson for Yemen’s military, said the attacks targeted the rebels’ “sites and capabilities” on multiple front lines, without elaborating.

    The escalation between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government and its backer, a Saudi-supported coalition, threatens to reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce.

    Turkey’s Kurdish peace bill wins approval in parliament

    A Turkish draft law aimed at advancing a peace effort with the country’s Kurdish insurgents passed its first hurdle in parliament on Saturday. A committee approved the measure. It is expected to be approved in the general assembly next week.

    Last year, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, declared its decision to disarm and disband as part of the peace initiative aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with the Turkish state.

    The draft legislation defines the procedures for the group’s disarmament and rehabilitation of some PKK members. The measures would come into effect once Turkey’s National Security Council confirms that the group has disbanded and surrendered all weapons.

    The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since it began in the 1980s. Turkey and its Western allies consider the group a terrorist organization.

  • A Russian retail giant’s warehouse burns after Ukraine’s latest long-range drone attack

    A Russian retail giant’s warehouse burns after Ukraine’s latest long-range drone attack

    Ukrainian long-range drones hit a warehouse of Russia’s biggest online retailer in the Ural Mountains, more than 1,200 miles from the two countries’ border, local officials and the company said Friday.

    Ukraine has regularly hit targets in the distant Urals this year and has even struck a Russian oil refinery in western Siberia, nearly 1,550 miles from the border. The attacks are examples of how Kyiv has used drone innovation as a key part of its response to the invasion by its much bigger enemy more than four years ago.

    Its successes have drawn international interest and drone cooperation agreements with nine countries, with further deals being negotiated with 15 other countries, according to Kyiv officials.

    Wildberries said its warehouse in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, was set ablaze by the attack. Most merchandise wasn’t damaged, the company said, unlike at some of the more than a dozen other Wildberries depots struck by Ukraine in recent weeks that have burned down.

    The regional governor, Denis Pasler, said three drones hit the warehouse’s roof. Artyom Zhoga, the Kremlin’s representative in the region, said that 800 people were evacuated from the warehouse and nobody was hurt.

    Kyiv is trying to rattle the Russian public and the Kremlin with the attacks.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting Friday of the country’s Security Council. He said in televised opening remarks that the meeting would focus on additional measures to “strengthen … protection of infrastructure facilities” but gave no further details.

    Ukraine presses on with plans for new weapons

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for his country to keep up the pace of technological development, especially in air defense systems to help stop Russian ballistic missiles that are exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of American-made Patriot interceptor missiles and battering civilian areas.

    A joint European anti-ballistic development program is already underway, Zelensky said late Thursday, with 10 countries engaged in developing an anti-ballistic shield. Europe is concerned about Moscow’s ambitions on the continent beyond Ukraine.

    “Ukraine is capable of producing its (anti-ballistic) missile and launcher, while our partners will provide the necessary components and critical elements — radars, sensors, and everything else required,” Zelensky said on social media. “An anti-ballistic program of our own — one that is truly large-scale — will greatly benefit everyone in Europe.”

    At the same time, Ukraine is working on manufacturing its own ballistic missiles to use against Russia. “The tests have shown strong potential. We need to turn this into a real weapon,” Zelensky said.

    Defenders are under pressure in eastern Ukraine

    Ukrainian front-line defenses in eastern regions, meanwhile, remain under strain as Russia’s bigger army looks for a breakthrough after months of minimal advances that Western analysts and officials say have had a high cost for Moscow in troop casualties.

    Ukraine has been evacuating children from Kramatorsk, one of the four eastern Donetsk region cities that make up the Ukrainian so-called Fortress Belt. The line of four large and heavily defended cities, about 30 miles long, has been key to denying Moscow its goal of seizing Ukraine’s industrial heartland.

    The head of the Donetsk region’s regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said Friday that more than 800 people, including 91 children, were evacuated over the previous 24 hours.

    Ukraine has been deploying midrange strike drones to disrupt Russia’s supply lines and slow its advance.

    Zelensky said that the recently appointed commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, reported to him Friday about the military situation in Donetsk.

    He said in a social media post that they reached “an understanding of how to strengthen” Ukraine’s defenses there but gave no details.

    Russia and Ukraine sustain nightly drone attacks

    Russia’s air defenses downed 203 Ukrainian drones from late Thursday through early Friday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.

    Over the past week, the Russian military struck 31 bulk cargo vessels and three tugboats that operated “in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces,” it said.

    It added that late Thursday two ships were hit by Geran-4 drones in the Black Sea east and southeast of Odesa and one was struck in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.

    In other attacks, the ministry said that the military hit a facility assembling long-range drones in Okhtyrka in the Sumy region on Thursday. It also released a video of a train purportedly carrying military equipment struck by a Geran drone and then an Iskander ballistic missile near Vyshneve in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

    Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 147 long-range strike drones overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

    In Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, a Russian drone struck a busy market Friday morning, wounding 10 people, authorities said.

    Russia also launched glide bombs and drones of various types at the regional capital, according to the head of regional administration, Oleh Hryhorov.

    The attack targeted residential buildings, transport, and infrastructure, wounding two people, he said.

  • Student kills at least 7 people at a high school and a home outside Bangkok, officials say

    Student kills at least 7 people at a high school and a home outside Bangkok, officials say

    NONTHABURI, Thailand — A student opened fire at a high school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding more than 20, according to authorities, who said he also appeared to have killed his two grandparents at the family home earlier in the morning.

    The 14-year-old shooter took his own life at the school, officials said.

    Five school staff members, including teachers and administrators, died in the shooting around 10 a.m. at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of Bangkok, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said at the scene.

    The boy also killed his grandparents at the home he shared with them prior to the school shooting, Polapee said.

    Bangyai Hospital, about 3 miles from the school, said 23 people were wounded, of whom 10 were in critical condition, with most suffering gunshot wounds. Earlier reports gave conflicting casualty numbers.

    A witness said students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building.

    Amporn Niamfuang, who owns a restaurant 160 feet from the school, said there was the sound of a single gunshot and then a pause.

    “And then there were multiple continuous shots,” Amporn said, recalling the narrow road outside the restaurant filling with fleeing students. “Students were running scared and pouring onto the street. Young girls were holding each other’s hands and crying. I went inside to hide.”

    Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking after touring the school, confirmed reports that the shooter was 14 and had killed himself. He said the student had shown signs of stress connected to school.

    The gun, described by police as small and compact, was legally registered to the student’s grandfather, he said.

    About an hour after the shooting, people stood outside comforting one another as police and first responders walked around the co-educational state school, which has an enrollment of about 3,000 students ranging from 12 to 18 years old.

    All classes will be suspended from Monday through Friday, and school staff have been instructed to work from home during that time, the school said.

    Police find grandparents dead at family home

    After the shooting, police went to the student’s home and found both grandparents dead of apparent gunshot wounds, regional police Commander Wattana Yeejeen said.

    The student appeared to have shot them before attending school as normal. He waited until classes started and began shooting inside his classroom before walking out and firing more shots, police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan said.

    The boy fired more than 20 shots and police found he still had 30 rounds after shooting himself, he said.

    Several family members, including his uncle and sisters of the grandfather who were at the family home while police investigated, said he usually kept to himself and was a good student.

    The family members said they were unaware of any troubles he faced at home or school.

    Thailand has high rate of gun owners

    Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan and far surpassing its other Southeast Asian neighbors.

    Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org in their last extensive international study found civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia.

    Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. That puts it well behind parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, but relatively high in Asia. Only the Philippines is higher in Southeast Asia.

    In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.

    A 14-year-old boy was accused of a 2023 shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall.

  • Beloved author Benjamin Alire Sáenz, first Latino PEN/Faulkner winner, dies at 71

    Beloved author Benjamin Alire Sáenz, first Latino PEN/Faulkner winner, dies at 71

    NEW YORK — Benjamin Alire Sáenz, an award-winning fiction writer and poet who drew upon his sexuality and his life on the Southern border, has died at age 71. He was the first Latino to win the PEN/Faulkner prize.

    Mr. Sáenz, who produced a story collection that won the PEN/Faulkner prize and a young adult novel that received acclaim from readers and reviewers and condemnation from censors, died last week in El Paso, Texas, after a lengthy illness, according to a spokesperson for Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Additional details were not immediately available.

    Mr. Sáenz, born in Old Picacho, N.M., was an ordained Catholic priest who eventually left the order and came out as gay. His Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, the story of two Mexican American boys falling in love, was published in 2012 and received a pair of citations for outstanding LGBTQ+ literature: a Stonewall Honors Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

    Hamilton playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, who narrated the audio edition and helped produce a 2023 film adaptation, wrote in an Instagram post that he was “heartbroken” over Mr. Sáenz’s death.

    “Rest easy, maestro,” Miranda wrote. The movie starred Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as the title characters and also featured Eva Longoria.

    The novel’s love story led to its being removed temporarily from a school district in Granbury, Texas, and to bans in Russia and in Belarus.

    Mr. Saenz’s other books included the sequel Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, the poetry collection The Book of What Remains, and such adult novels as In Perfect Light and Names on a Map.

    He received the PEN/Faulkner award in 2013 for Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club, a story collection set in El Paso, and across the border in Juarez, Mexico. Starting in the 1990s, he taught for decades at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he had received a master’s degree in creative writing. He served as chair of the school’s creative writing department before retiring in 2016.

    Next month, Simon & Schuster will publish When the World Was Happy, which draws in part upon the loss of his niece in 1990 in a Las Cruces, N.M., bowling alley shooting. He was reminded of that tragedy by the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

    “That was when I decided that this was not gonna leave me alone until I wrote about it,” he wrote in an author’s note shared by the publisher. “I wanted to write a book about how people survive and live through something as senseless as this.”

  • Sydney Towle, content creator who documented life with cancer, dies at 26

    Sydney Towle, content creator who documented life with cancer, dies at 26

    Sydney Towle, a social media content creator who projected enduring optimism as she chronicled her life with a rare form of cancer, has died, according to her family. She was 26.

    Ms. Towle was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer in the bile ducts, in August 2023. Her mother, Elizabeth Morrow, and brother, Austin Towle, posted a video to her TikTok account confirming she died Wednesday.

    “Syd went peacefully last night after an almost three-year long battle with cholangiocarcinoma,” her brother said. “She fought really hard, and we’re so proud of her, and we thank all of you for your support over the years.” Ms. Towle’s mother said they appreciated the messages of support and that “she will not be forgotten.”

    Her family described her as “an endless ray of sunshine” and a friend to many. Sydney Elizabeth Towle was born in Newburyport, Mass., on Nov. 15, 1999, and grew up in Hobe Sound, Fla., according to the New York Times. The newspaper reported that she died at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

    At the time of her diagnosis, Ms. Towle already had a presence on social media where she shared videos from her everyday life. She often posted from the beach and loved the outdoors. She was an avid surfer and runner.

    Once she received the diagnosis at age 23, she began posting her unvarnished reality of the disease and treatment while holding fast to her hobbies, style, and positive attitude. She had over 1 million followers on TikTok alone.

    In a video posted days after she was diagnosed, Ms. Towle said, “I’m in good spirits, I’m smiling. If anything, it just makes me appreciate life more.” That essentially became the ethos that guided her online presence, where she shared videos of herself running, going out with friends, and traveling alongside videos from a hospital bed or at chemotherapy appointments.

    In a column this year advocating for increased funding for research of the rare disease, Ms. Towle’s mother wrote that she had seen her daughter become “a beacon of hope for so many” through her candid online presence. “Thousands of people send her messages, stop her on the street, and leave comments on her videos, describing how her vulnerability has helped them through their own struggles,” Morrow wrote in February.

    Ms. Towle graduated from Dartmouth College in 2022, where she studied government and environmental studies. She worked as a social media manager at Epic Games.

    She had posted on her LinkedIn account about plans to run the 2026 New York City Marathon in November to raise money for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. She had raised more than $10,000 for the nonprofit that advocates for research and provides patients and caregivers with resources.

    “I know it might seem crazy to try to run a marathon with everything going on,” she wrote on the platform months ago. But she noted the importance of hope in her experience with the disease. “Hope keeps us alive, it keeps us going, it makes the impossible seem possible.”

    Ms. Towle is survived by her mother and brother. Her father, Philip Towle, died in 2016.

  • Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have signed a key defense agreement

    Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have signed a key defense agreement

    ANKARA, Turkey — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a defense agreement on Friday that would treat an attack on one as an attack on all three, officials said, solidifying cooperation among the three regional powers at a time of growing security concerns.

    The agreement was signed in the Saudi holy city of Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to statements from all three countries.

    The so-called Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between the three Sunni Muslim-majority states brings together oil-rich Saudi Arabia and nuclear power Pakistan as well as Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a rapidly growing defense industry. It would increase cooperation and deterrence at a time of increased regional uncertainty and threats from the war in Iran.

    Commitment to joint deterrence

    “The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” the statements read.

    “It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defense cooperation among the three States,” the statements said.

    Saudi Arabia, whose critical infrastructure and oil facilities have come under attack as part of the war in Iran, has been looking to diversify its defense partnerships.

    In September, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact that also defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both.

    The agreement also comes amid rising tensions between Turkey and Israel over Gaza and other regional conflicts, including the war in Iran and Lebanon.

    The deal highlights how far relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have shifted toward alignment and partnership, after being highly strained just a few years ago, including over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul by Saudi operatives.

    Iran criticizes the deal

    In Iran, Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, criticized the deal on X, saying it would not bring security to Saudi Arabia.

    “The Saudis should know that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided ‘milking’ by the Americans did not bring them security. Change your policies so that you do not have to #BegForSecurity from others,” he wrote.

    Saudi Arabia says deal is not a military axis or religious bloc

    A statement from Saudi Arabia insisted that the agreement does not amount to a military pact and would not affect the kingdom’s existing partnerships.

    “The agreement does not represent any orientation toward building a military axis or sectarian/religious bloc, and it is not linked to nuclear endeavors or an arms race, but rather to building sustainable self-reliant capabilities,” the statement read. “The agreement does not come at the expense of the Kingdom’s strategic and strong relations at the Gulf, Arab, and international levels.”

    Erdogan said the agreement was based on “collective deterrence” and would deepen cooperation in defense, support joint defense industry projects, and bolster efforts to combat terrorism.

    “The agreement, which also reaffirms the right of defense as defined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, targets no country and is open to the participation of all brotherly countries that aim for the peace, prosperity, and stability of our region,” the Turkish president said on X.

    A Turkish government official described the agreement as “purely defensive in nature” and “not against any specific actor.” The deal does not annul or replace any bilateral or multilateral agreements between these states or with other states and organizations, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

    Long‑standing security ties

    Sharif described the agreement as a “historic pact” that would serve as a “shield of peace” for the three countries and the wider Muslim community.

    In a post on X, he also praised Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, saying his “untiring efforts and utmost dedication” had contributed significantly to the agreement.

    In Islamabad, defense analyst Abdullah Khan described the agreement as a natural evolution and formalization of decades of strategic ties among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, saying a changing regional security environment and the evolving nature of warfare had increased the need for closer cooperation.

    Khan said the pact was “purely defensive” and not directed against any country, with collective deterrence intended to raise the cost of aggression and prevent conflict.

    The analyst said the three countries bring complementary strengths to the arrangement: Pakistan’s military experience and expertise in managing escalation, Saudi Arabia’s economic strength and regional influence, and Turkey’s advanced defense technology and industrial capabilities.

    Abdolreza Davari, an Iranian analyst and former politician, downplayed the risks the new defense pact poses to Tehran as it seeks to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has already shown it can stand up to two of the world’s leading military powers, the U.S. and its ally Israel, he said.

    “What difference does it make? Will it be more difficult than the pressure the U.S. and Israel have created on Iran? Is the power of the U.S. and Israel greater or these three countries?” he said in a phone call from Tehran.

    Turkey and Pakistan unlikely to engage in large troop deployment

    Hamish Kinnear, a Middle East analyst for the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said Turkey and Pakistan were unlikely to send large numbers of troops to assist Saudi Arabia. The deal was expected to allow deeper coordination in diplomacy, defense production, and technology transfer.

    “Token deployments are possible, but it is doubtful that Ankara and Islamabad want to become heavily involved in an anti-Houthi military operation. Pakistan, which already held a bilateral collective defense pact with Saudi Arabia, has not been a significant partner in anti-Houthi operations so far,” Kinnear said in an emailed note.

    “More likely is increased Ankara-Islamabad-Riyadh coordination on diplomacy, weapons development, and technological transfer, with Saudi capital boosting the defense sectors of Turkey and Pakistan,” he added.

    Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the Ankara office for The German Marshall Fund think tank, said the agreement was the culmination of the countries’ shared concerns over regional fragmentation, civil conflict, and armed nonstate groups.

    “This is a reflection of their growing desire for greater regional stability,” Unluhisarcikli said.

  • Senate confirms Hamilton to lead FEMA and clears more than 70 other Trump nominees

    Senate confirms Hamilton to lead FEMA and clears more than 70 other Trump nominees

    The Senate on Friday confirmed Cameron Hamilton as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, returning the former Navy SEAL to the embattled agency he led temporarily last year only to be fired after he publicly opposed eliminating it.

    Hamilton was among a group of 74 nominations approved by the Senate, including President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Transportation Security Administration, David Cummins, and his choice for ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Perez.

    Upon his swearing in, Hamilton will take over an agency whose future has been uncertain since Trump threatened to get rid of it days into his second term. Hamilton’s nomination signaled that Trump may be moving on from that idea, but his Republican administration is still promising drastic changes in how the government handles disasters.

    Hamilton will have to shepherd that overhaul while stabilizing an agency of more than 20,000 employees recovering from Kristi Noem’s chaotic tenure as Department of Homeland Security secretary, during which FEMA saw mass staff departures, disruptions to grant programs, and delays of disaster aid.

    While her successor, former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, has worked to reverse some of the upheaval, Democrats are accusing Trump of politicizing disaster relief. Trump has approved 80% of disaster requests from Republican governors but only about 60% from Democratic governors, a July analysis by the Associated Press found.

    In his June hearing before a Senate committee, Hamilton pledged to advocate for FEMA and its workforce while promising to ensure FEMA is “objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent in the approach to how we adjudicate and process claims and requests for disasters.”

    He also maintained that the agency is burdened by bureaucracy and cannot be expected to respond to every disaster. “We would need to strike a new balance to encourage cost reasonableness and cost savings,” he said.

    Hamilton was fired from a temporary role leading FEMA

    Hamilton had limited emergency management experience before Trump named him FEMA’s temporary leader in January 2025. Formerly a critic of the agency, Hamilton has said he came to appreciate FEMA’s mission. His tenure proved short after he broke with Noem and other DHS officials over FEMA’s future.

    “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told a House panel in May 2025. He was fired the next day.

    His stand drew admiration among some emergency management professionals.

    “It tells you exactly who he is and how he will lead when the pressure is highest and the easy answer is the wrong one,” Pete Gaynor, FEMA administrator in Trump’s first term, said in a statement supporting Hamilton’s confirmation.

    The National Emergency Management Association said it welcomes Hamilton as the FEMA administrator.

    Still, some FEMA staffers have remained wary of Hamilton’s role in controversial decisions last year like canceling a multibillion-dollar resilience grant program.

    FEMA has been an agency under siege

    Hamilton will take over in the middle of a busy summer disaster season that has already brought destructive wildfires and dangerous flooding and as FEMA manages more than 1,000 open disaster declarations. He will be FEMA’s first permanent administrator in Trump’s second term, overseeing an agency eager for stability.

    More than 4,300 employees separated from FEMA in the 2025 budget year, more than 1,500 through voluntary reductions, resulting in a “loss of institutional knowledge and experienced personnel,” according to a Government Accountability Office report.

    Since replacing Noem in March, Mullin has rehired for some eliminated positions and rescinded a rule that any expense greater than $100,000 needed to be approved by the secretary’s office — a requirement that backlogged billions of dollars in disaster aid.

    But DHS has also introduced policies stirring up new controversy. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration last month over new election security requirements in FEMA counterterrorism grants to states.

    The Trump administration and lawmakers are advocating for sweeping changes to federal disaster response. At a meeting of governors last weekend, Mullin called FEMA “bloated.”

    “The biggest reform you’re going to see is more responsibility is going to go back to your states,” Mullin said, with “FEMA there for worst of the worst, not every storm.”

    In May, a Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council recommended major changes to how the federal government supports states, tribes, and territories during disasters. That could speed assistance but might reduce how much and how often FEMA helps. Many of the suggested changes require congressional action.

    Gaynor told the AP he expects that Hamilton will work quickly to make changes within his authority. “I think his biggest priority in general is making the whole recovery system simpler for disaster survivors, for states and locals to navigate, to make it less of mystery, and cut out red tape,” Gaynor said.

    Senate approves 74 nominations, including for airport security

    Other nominees confirmed included Cummins as head of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency also facing persistent challenges, particularly after this year’s record partial government shutdown left TSA employees working for weeks without pay. The funding lapse prompted thousands of officers to call out of work and about 1,100 to quit.

    Cummins is a former senior vice president at the government contractor Serco, which runs air traffic control towers at 60 American airports. He is taking over as the Trump administration seeks to expand private airport screening and cut thousands of TSA jobs.

    The Senate also confirmed Perez, a close friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a former speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

    Perez has been central to an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the Trump administration and the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

    Earlier this week, the State Department said the Brazilian government’s refusal to accept Perez’s appointment was a main reason for its decision to revoke the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States. International diplomatic protocols demand that host countries approve any foreign ambassadors before they can take their posts.

  • Appeals court rules Trump can’t build White House ballroom without congressional approval

    Appeals court rules Trump can’t build White House ballroom without congressional approval

    WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to halt construction of its $400 million ballroom at the White House because the project lacks congressional approval.

    Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the White House’s East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

    The Republican president said in a post on social media that he would be appealing what he called an “unjust decision” to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Friday’s ruling marked the second time this week the Trump administration has made headlines for construction plans that have been called into question. An assessment by the National Park Service found that a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch that Trump has proposed building could compromise the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location on a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

    In a 2-1 decision on the ballroom, the appeals court sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the massive structure, which has begun to rise aboveground on the east side of the White House, according to the most recent aerial photos of the site. The court said it would stay its ruling for two weeks to give the administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote.

    “This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom.

    “What it does mean,” the court continued, “is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the Constitution and laws require.”

    Trump insists Congress’ approval is unnecessary

    The president reacted to the ruling with a lengthy post on social media in which he quoted from a dissenting opinion issued by Judge Neomi Rao, whom he nominated. He also described the plans for the facility to include bomb shelters, a hospital and medical facilities, “Top Secret Military Facilities,” and other security features.

    “The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents,” Trump wrote.

    After the lower court earlier this year ordered a halt to aboveground construction, the president argued that permission from Congress to build the ballroom was unnecessary because public money was not being used to pay for it.

    Trump has said he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations and wealthy people, including himself, to cover the construction costs.

    But the Trump administration requested $1 billion for the ballroom, which Congress refused in May. In June, Democrats warned that $350 million in funds from a tax cuts law appeared to have been redirected for the ballroom.

    The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit organization that brought the lawsuit against the Trump administration, said Friday’s decision affirmed “the American people’s right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish,” including the White House.

    “From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: the law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House,” Brent Leggs, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are pleased with the DC Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the District Court’s preliminary injunction, which although stayed for 14 days will block any above-ground ballroom construction unless and until Congress takes action.”

    The divided appeals court panel upheld an April 16 order from Leon for the Trump administration to halt aboveground work on the ballroom. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, allowed construction to continue on underground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

    The appeals court case was assigned to Judges Rao, Patricia Millett, and Bradley Garcia. Millett was nominated to the court by Democratic President Barack Obama. Garcia was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden. Both Millett and Garcia backed the decision, while Rao opposed it.

    Preservationists challenge Trump in court

    The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to challenge the project in December 2025, a week after completion of the East Wing demolition to make way for a ballroom that Trump says would hold 999 people.

    Government lawyers have argued that the project — the biggest structural change to the White House in more than 70 years — must move forward because it includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles, and biohazards.

    “These upgrades, alterations, and improvements are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them,” government attorneys wrote in a court filing.

    Attorneys for the preservation group countered that the lack of a White House ballroom doesn’t constitute a national security emergency.

    “That commonsense conclusion is not clearly erroneous, and there is no basis to disturb it,” they wrote.

    In an initial ruling that the government also appealed, Leon barred aboveground work on the ballroom from proceeding without congressional approval. In response, the appeals court instructed the judge to reconsider the national security implications of stopping construction.

    In his most recent decision, Leon ordered a stop only to the aboveground construction of the planned ballroom. The judge stressed that the White House is free to proceed with underground work, including the construction of any bunkers, military installations, and medical facilities.

    On April 2, Trump’s ballroom won final approval from the 12-member National Capital Planning Commission, which is charged with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region.

  • Senate passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham

    Senate passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham

    WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a punishing Russian sanctions package Friday, the result of a yearlong campaign by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham to reinforce U.S. support for Ukraine and try to force President Vladimir Putin’s hand as the grinding war drags on.

    The bipartisan legislation, which passed the Senate 86-11, would penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, and other exports, seeking to deprive Putin of revenues fueling the war. It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Capitol hours after Graham’s funeral, met with senators from both parties, and watched from the gallery as the Senate took the first procedural votes last week on the sweeping legislation.

    “Today, President Zelensky is watching from Ukraine — and Putin is watching from Moscow,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), who had worked with the late South Carolina senator on the package.

    “I would like to think Lindsey Graham is watching, too,” he said. “Today we say to the people of Ukraine: You are not alone. And today we say to Vladimir Putin: You will not conquer Ukraine.”

    The sweeping show of force from the Senate is the most substantial move yet during President Donald Trump’s second term to shift the dynamic of the more than four-year war, which has now churned longer than World War I. Congress has struggled to ensure U.S. funding and munitions flow to Ukraine, but Trump has given a nod to the sanctions package, putting pressure for the House to take it up for a vote and send it to the White House for his signature.

    Graham and Blumenthal had announced a deal with the White House on the sanctions legislation on July 10 after more than a year of negotiations with the White House. Graham, who had just returned from Ukraine, died suddenly the next day, likely from an aortic tear.

    The bipartisan package that carries Graham’s name allows the president to impose tariffs on the world’s top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas, including China and India. It provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.

    The legislation also includes sanctions on Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, Russian financial institutions, and Russian energy projects. It would expand U.S. sanctions to target older, reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues.

    Democrats and some Republicans have been wary of giving Trump broad authority to slap tariffs on imports that have spiked prices for goods, worried about inflation and high costs of living for Americans. Those voting against the final package were mostly progressive Democrats.

    The negotiated bill also includes waiver authority for the president, allowing the White House to waive sanctions or restrictions if the president certifies to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest.

    Sen. Darline Graham (R., S.C.), who was appointed by the state’s governor to fill her brother’s seat, said he was determined to bring an end to the Ukraine war, and she was honored to carry on his work. “This legislation hits Putin where it hurts,” she said.

    Bill sends ‘a moral signal’ to Ukraine and its allies

    Zelensky told senators during last week’s private meeting at the Capitol that Ukraine is making gains in the war, but still needs more help from the U.S. He publicly thanked them for the sanctions package and said it would send a “big signal” to Ukraine and its allies of U.S. support.

    Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who attended the meeting, said the sanctions legislation “is important as a moral signal to a country that is weary and tired, though holding its own.”

    New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said advancing the legislation now, ahead of Russia’s own elections, will put pressure on Putin to seriously revisit prospects for a peace deal. And she warned that every time the U.S. backs away from tough actions, Russia ramps up its attacks.

    “If we can’t shut down the funding for the war machine that Russia is using against Ukraine, then they’re going to keep at it,” she said.

    Some say the bill would give Trump too much tariff power

    The Senate defeated an amendment by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon that would have removed the new tariff authority for Trump. Paul says it would be too costly for taxpayers, while Wyden and other Democrats say they don’t want to give Trump any new authority to impose tariffs.

    “We’ve got folks who are walking an economic tightrope here in America,” Wyden said.

    Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.), who had held up passage of the package over the tariff authority, said he received a written commitment from the Trump administration through U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that ensures guardrails. The tariffs would be lifted once the countries are no longer on the lists of those purchasing Russian oil and gas, or helping to evade sanctions, he said.

    “We should not have to choose between putting a check on Putin’s aggression and putting a check on this president’s tariffs regime,” Warnock said. If Trump “oversteps his power, we will see him in court.”

    Other Democrats say that while they are wary of giving Trump any new powers, they don’t want to jeopardize the help for Ukraine.

    “Weighing that against the boost for Ukraine, I think it’s important to support Ukraine right now,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.).

    Package next goes to the House

    The momentum from the Senate is expected to press the House to act swiftly on the Russia sanctions package when lawmakers return to session at the end of the month.

    The House had already passed a separate measure in June that would provide security and reconstruction aid to Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy.

    That package pushed by Democrats drew bipartisan support from Republicans, overriding objections from GOP leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.