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Drones are making Sudan's war even deadlier for civilians

Experts say drone warfare has become the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan's conflict, with both the military and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces being supplied by various countries

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Colorado governor commuted Tina Peters’ sentence after Trump blocked funding for clean water project, Lauren Boebert claims – as it happened

This live blog is now closed.Colorado governor commutes sentence of election denier Tina PetersSign up for the Breaking News US emailJamieson Greer also said US export controls on semiconductor chips were not a major topic of discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing.The US trade representative’s comments to Bloomberg on Friday suggest a breakthrough on selling Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips to China remains far away, Reuters is reporting, despite Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s last-minute invitation to Donald Trump’s Beijing trip this week.This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting. We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting.”First of all, it’s really important for China to have the strait of Hormuz open – no tolling, no military control. That was clear from the meeting, so we welcome that.With respect to Chinese involvement with Iran, our view is the Chinese are being very pragmatic – they don’t want to be on the wrong side of this. They want to see peace in that area, President Trump wants to see peace in that area, so we have a lot of confidence that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support for Iran.” Continue reading...

Trump’s lack of focus on human rights in China is big departure for US diplomacy

Change reflects both transformation of US in Trump era and China’s increasing confidence on world stageAsked before he departed for Beijing if he would raise with the Chinese president the case of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist jailed in Hong Kong, Donald Trump said: “I’ll bring him up.”But, the US president added: “It’s like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ It might be a hard one for me.” Trump was referring to James B Comey, a former FBI director and a frequent target of Trump’s ire. Continue reading...

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Republicans furious as Hegseth blindsides Congress with shock troop cancellation

The Pentagon blindsided Republican lawmakers Friday after abruptly scrapping a 4,000-troop deployment to Poland, a decision that reportedly surprised Army leaders, according to Politico.Army leaders admitted they had no real answers about the shock cancellation, leaving Congress furious over the last-minute move as Republican lawmakers have had conflicting views from the Trump administration involving security efforts in Europe, Politico reported. Last year, lawmakers had established limits for troop withdrawals as tensions mounted over whether the Trump administration would pull back on sending troops to support European allies.Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) called it "a slap in the face" to America's NATO allies. "I just want to say this is a slap in the face to Poland; it’s a slap in the face to our Baltic friends," Bacon said. "It’s a slap to the face of this committee.""We don’t know what’s going on here, but I can just tell you we’re not happy with what’s being talked about, particularly since there’s been no statutory consultation with us," said Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth opted to cancel the plan — and lawmakers wanted to know why — demanding that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and acting Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve explain what prompted the plan to change, Politico reported."The pair indicated the administration only made the decision in recent weeks and did not provide a rationale for it," according to Politico.

Shaky truce between Israel and Lebanon extended for 45 days, US says

Statement following ‘productive’ talks in Washington comes as Israel launches strikes on southern city of TyreIsrael and Lebanon have agreed to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire after another round of talks in Washington, the US state department has said.It came after two “productive” days of talks, and more negotiations would be held from 2-3 June, the department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. Continue reading...