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A national security expert tore into President Donald Trump's latest responses to questions about the Iran war and an embattled ceasefire.In a Wednesday piece for The Atlantic, national security scholar Tom Nichols reacted to Trump's comments in the wake of renewed hostilities with Iran. Trump was asked on Wednesday morning whether the memorandum of understanding with Iran was dead."That's a very interesting question," Trump responded, according to Nichols. "To me, I think it's over. I don't wanna deal with them anymore. They're scum, you know what scum is? They're scum." However, Trump also said on Wednesday that he plans to "give them a little warning" about attacks and "we'll see how it all works out." Trump is "unable to give sensible answers to questions about the renewed hostilities," Nichols noted, arguing that Trump doesn't know what to do and is waiting to see how Iran will respond to more strikes."This is not the approach of a president who's running a war," Nichols wrote. "This is the flailing of a man who's in over his head and is reacting to events, rather than guiding them."Nichols also pointed out how Trump's recent comments contrasted with the praise he gave Iranian leaders last month, when he called them "very rational people," "strong people, smart people," and "nice to deal with." He also pointed out Trump's recent gaffes, like confusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin and saying "Tic Tac" when he meant "TikTok."Trump has also floated two "terrible ideas," Nichols added, referring to a possible invasion of Iranian territory and a "campaign of probable war crimes."

A new analysis estimated that President Donald Trump racked up a $103 billion bill for the Iran war in 120 days.According to an analysis by Popular Information, the Trump administration has no plan to pay for the Iran war, and neither do congressional Republicans.The analysis found that over four months, the U.S. spent more than $103 billion on the war in Iran, based on budgetary costs such as operations, personnel, and matériel. It also noted that Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told the House Appropriations Committee last week that the U.S. has spent $30 billion on the war.According to Popular Information, expenses for weapons such as missiles, interceptors, and bombs total about $46.7 billion, making it the highest cost. The other major expenses included operations such as mobilization, administration, and combat, which cost $28.5 billion, and losses such as damage or destruction of military assets, which cost $20.3 billion, per the analysis."The Trump administration has offered Congress lowball war cost estimates," Popular Information noted. In May, Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified that the war cost only $29 billion. In April, the estimate was $25 billion.The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are declining to pay for the war costs through tax increases or spending cuts, according to Popular Information, which included a quote from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) saying, "War is never paid for when you fight it."However, taxes were levied to pay for the costs of World Wars I and II, Popular Information noted.

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India.At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and drug trafficking – they had charged 37 people, some of whom were already in custody. Authorities are still searching for seven fugitives in the US, two in India and one in Europe. Continue reading...

Amid reports that diplomats and world leaders are beside themselves over Donald Trump’s threats at the NATO conference in Turkey, the president attempted Wednesday to spin the meeting as a lovefest.Sound raspy and looking tired, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, looking over his shoulder, the president, as is his custom, departed from his prepared notes to claim that he is quite the popular guy with his counterparts.“They respect us as a country," Trump said. "They didn't respect us two years ago. They laughed at us. NATO laughed at us, everybody laughed at us. They don't laugh anymore.” Trump then added an odd remark.“And they're, you know, just again, if you could have seen the respect and the love in the room and it's love really for the country, for our country," Trump said. "I don't want to say me because you'll say, oh, he's so conceited. He's such a conceited person. But they do.”“I mean, you know, they, like the job I'm doing,” he continued. “They said, ‘We love, sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that. Isn't that nice?”“Maybe, I don't know, maybe they're trying to get to me. And, in a way they did, because there was tremendous unity in that room,” he asserted. - YouTube youtu.be

Nigel Farage claims the political establishment is out to stop him

This blog is now closedTelstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero callsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTelstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppageThere is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt.Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate …Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

At least 14 people have died and 28 others were injured in a remote area of northern Uganda after a bus was in collision with a truck, according to police

Healthcare workers at the epicenter of Congo’s Ebola outbreak are walking off their jobs to protest delays in their payments