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Key Indian state elections test Modi party reach in key big opposition strongholds

Voters in key Indian regions are casting ballots in local elections that will test the support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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Trump's ceasefire may be a 'windup' for the nuclear option: ex-GOP operative

Former Republican operative Rick Wilson suggested that President Donald Trump's ceasefire with Iran could lead to an even more dangerous situation. Wilson, the co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, described in his Substack on Wednesday how the current halt on military action could reveal what might come next after the president reversed course on his serious threats against Iran. "Every TACO in Trump’s career has been followed by a larger escalation, because the reversal itself becomes a wound he has to cauterize," Wilson wrote. "The pause is never the end. The pause is the windup. And the windup on an Iran war, a war he chose, a war he cannot define victory in, a war where the adversary gets a vote and the adversary is furious, is going to arrive inside a man who has spent his whole life believing that the answer to any problem is to hit it harder than anyone expected."Wilson also cited another lingering fear. "I’ve been thinking about the most consequential, most dangerous change that could come from this doomed and deranged war with Iran, not from where it is tonight, but from where it will be two weeks from now, when the ceasefire is rubble and Trump is cornered worse than he’s ever been in his life, by markets, by allies, by his own collapsing story, by the mirror," Wilson wrote. He argued that Trump wouldn't just stop at the ceasefire."A 'demonstration.' That’s the word they’d use," Wilson added. "A clinical, bloodless word. A focus-group word. The kind of word that sounds like it belongs in a McKinsey PowerPoint deck, not attached to a mushroom cloud clawing its way into the stratosphere.Donald Trump, cornered by a collapsing strategic position in Iran, boxed in by markets in revolt, oil spiking, allies fleeing, by his increasingly obvious mental infirmities, a domestic political environment turning from brittle to shattered, decides to send a message."

Iranian leader declares ceasefire 'unreasonable' after 'violations' of agreement

MB Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament, declared a ceasefire and upcoming negotiations "unreasonable" after he accused the U.S. of violating a newly minted agreement.On Wednesday, Iran reportedly again shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Israel attacked Lebanon. For his part, President Donald Trump insisted that Lebanon had never been part of the ceasefire agreement. The U.S. president also said he had not agreed to a 10-point Iranian plan for peace as a framework for further negotiations.Ghalibaf posted a statement to X accusing the U.S. of violating the 10-point plan."As the President of the United States has clearly stated in his Truth, the Islamic Republic of Iran's 10-Point Proposal is a 'workable basis on which to negotiate' and the main framework for these talks," the statement said. "However, 3 clauses of this proposal have been violated so far."The speaker pointed to attacks on Lebanon, an alleged drone intrusion into Iran's airspace, and a denial of Iran's "right" to nuclear enrichment."Now, the very 'workable basis on which to negotiate' has been openly and clearly violated, even before the negotiations began," Ghalibaf wrote. "In such situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable."

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'Fiasco': Alex Jones in disbelief as Trump's 'ceasefire falling apart'

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones declared President Donald Trump's war in Iran to be a "fiasco" after concluding that a ceasefire was "falling apart."During a Wednesday interview with conservative author Michael Savage, Jones noted that Trump's approval ratings were plunging amid the war in Iran."But admitting this is a big defeat so far for the U.S. The problem is we keep staying in there, in my view, it only gets worse," Jones noted. "And they've got thousands of people that are related to Muhammad that can be the mullah. And each one you get worse than the next. And Trump keeps saying, oh, I've got people I can work with now.""And then, of course, he can't. And now the ceasefire is falling apart. And so this is a disaster in my view," he added. "Now they've closed this [Strait of Hormuz] again. As I predicted this morning, it's all off, and just — this is a fiasco. It's like watching a Three Stooges movie, but they got nuclear weapons. So that's my take."

How Pakistan secured ‘biggest diplomatic win in years’ with Iran ceasefire

Analysts say Pakistani officials’ efforts led to breakthrough that has helped avert catastrophe, at least for nowMiddle East crisis – live updatesPakistan’s leaders had almost lost hope. After more than two weeks of frantic negotiations, phonecalls and diplomatic summits to try to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, it looked like the conflict might instead be escalating into Islamabad’s worst nightmare.In a cabinet meeting held at about 5pm on Tuesday, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, was morose. “We should brace ourselves for the impact of the war,” he told his cabinet ministers. “The situation has really become very bleak. The chance of peace has become dim.” Continue reading...