Donald Trump appeared hopeful of an end to his war on Iran, saying the “final aspects and details” of a deal were being discussed and would be announced shortly.
“An agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries,” Trump posted.
However, the status of the strait of Hormuz – the key waterway that is a conduit for oil deliveries – remains unclear. The president said the strait would be opened as part of the deal. However, Iran’s Fars news agency, which is close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that the strait would remain under Iranian control, a red line for the US. It said Trump’s assertion that an agreement was nearly final was “inconsistent with reality”.
Pakistan hopes to host US-Iran peace talks ‘very soon’
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Donald Trump on his peace efforts and said Pakistan hoped to host another round of talks between the US and Iran “very soon”. US vice-president JD Vance led a US delegation to Islamabad in the first round of peace talks with Iran six weeks ago, which ended without an agreement.
Suspected gunman dies after volley of gunshots heard near White House
A person who approached a White House security checkpoint and began firing at officers has died, according to federal officials. The White House was briefly locked down on Saturday after a sustained volley of gunshots was heard by reporters for multiple outlets.
US temporarily bans green-card holders from entering country from African nations
US authorities have temporarily banned green-card holders from entering the country if they have traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days. The order is part of an expanding attempt to prevent Ebola from entering US borders.
Trump’s justice department scrubs its website of news releases about January 6 defendants
The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the 6 January Capitol attack, calling the information “partisan propaganda”. The purge is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault on the US Capitol.
Double amputee detained by ICE speaking out at public events
Rodney Taylor is a Liberia-born barber who had been detained since 15 February last year, after ICE agents with guns drawn dragged him from his car in front of his house while his two youngest children, now eight and six, looked on from the back seat. Released on 1 May from Georgia’s Stewart detention center, he is now all smiles, surrounded by family and supporters.
He had just spoken at his second public event in two weeks – a fundraiser for his family. With his wife, Mildred Danis-Taylor, nearby, the two spoke exclusively to the Guardian about his first few weeks of freedom and their future.
What else happened today
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California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in response to the looming threat of chemical disaster in Orange county. On Thursday, a storage tank holding highly flammable methyl methacrylate threatened to fail at a facility in the town of Garden Grove.
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Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, is facing mounting calls to resign over his shambolic handling of an autopsy report on Kamala Harris’s defeat by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. The slapdash nature of the autopsy – omitting Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term and failing to mention the words “Gaza” or “Israel” – has only deepened a crisis of confidence in his leadership.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on Friday 22 May.
