Israel and Lebanon are back at the negotiating table in Rome this week, but talks ended early yesterday because of "events on the ground", as the US State Department put it in a statement.
This was probably referring to Israel launching a series of strikes in the south of Lebanon, after what it called a "blatant" ceasefire breach by Hezbollah.
The strikes come after the launch of the first "pilot zone” as part of the framework agreement brokered by the US, under which Israel is committed to withdrawing from territory it has occupied in Lebanon to allow the Lebanese army to assume control and oversee the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Progress in the talks has been slow, and it is unclear whether the Israeli strikes will permanently derail them.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's messages on Iran continue to confuse observers. On Monday, after saying he had called off what he described as "the biggest attack since World War II" following appeals from Iranian officials and Arab allies, Mr Trump accused Tehran of acting in bad faith after it denied there were any new direct negotiations.
By Tuesday, the story had shifted once again. Mr Trump said Washington and Tehran were engaged in "very good discussions" after what he described as an all-day round of negotiations. Then came the familiar warning: if Iran walked away from a deal, it would be "hit really hard". He insisted Tehran had returned to the table only after the US threatened a major military strike.
As of yesterday, Iranian negotiators indicated that a deal was close, and Mr Trump appears to agree – something we’ve all heard before.
Elsewhere in Washington, another Middle East issue took a quieter turn.
The US Treasury removed sanctions on Iraq's Fly Baghdad, the budget airline blacklisted in 2024 over alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Officials stressed that the decision came from a routine administrative review after the airline petitioned for reconsideration, rather than any shift in US policy towards Iran.
"Today's removal was done as part of the normal administrative process upon review of the specifics related to FBA [Fly Baghdad]," one official said.
A Treasury Department notice said sanctions were also lifted on two Iraq-registered aircraft owned by Fly Baghdad, along with two of the airline's aliases. Its chief executive, Basheer Al Shabbani, remains under sanctions, although his designation is now linked directly to the IRGC, rather than the airline.
Eye on the White House
Trump lashes out at Chevron and Exxon's soaring profits during Iran war
Mr Trump on Monday scolded Chevron and Exxon for soaring profits in the second quarter, with the companies having benefited from surging oil prices due to the Iran war.
“They’re making too much money based on a shortage,” he told reporters at the White House.
US crude oil prices have risen by about 20 per cent since the US and Israel launched co-ordinated strikes against Iran on February 28, which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Tehran and an American blockade of Iranian ports.
Chevron on Friday reported earnings of $12 billion in the second quarter, compared to the $2.5 billion it reported the same time last year. ExxonMobil announced second-quarter earnings of $14.5 billion.
What's Washington talking about?
Another assassination attempt? A California man was arrested this week near a golf course Mr Trump was planning to visit. Law-enforcement agents say a search of his car revealed weapons and binoculars. He had allegedly disguised himself as a member of a security detail and was taking pictures of the site. This isn't the first foiled assassination attempt against Mr Trump: the President was the target of a shooting during a rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024. Months later, another man was arrested hiding in the bushes of a Florida golf course where Mr Trump was playing.
Data centre drawdown Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said that new data centres in the state will have to comply with regulations before building begins. His directive, announced on Monday evening, is sure to come as a surprise in conservative, business-friendly Texas – but he's not alone. State legislators in Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Vermont have also introduced legislation to try to slow or stop data centre construction, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Spotlight: Pro-Palestinian progressive Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan's Democratic Senate primary
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, pro-Palestinian former Detroit health official, has won a hotly contested Michigan Senate primary election against centrist Democrat Haley Stevens.
Mr El-Sayed will now go up against Republican Mike Rogers in the midterms in November and, if victorious, will become the first Muslim in the US Senate.
“Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for all. Michigan ... We won,” he said in a post on X. “I am so proud to be your Democratic nominee for US Senate. Let's win in November.”
The Democratic primary race between Mr El-Sayed and Ms Stevens attracted national attention, with many seeing it as an indicator of the ideological direction of the Democratic Party.
Only in America
State Department uses AI map of Africa with countries wrongly marked
The State Department presented a map of Africa that mislabelled every nation mentioned on the continent, at the International Aids Conference in Brazil this week.
Nigeria, a vast country sitting on the Gulf of Guinea, was shown as a landlocked nation in the Sahara desert. Mozambique, whose Indian Ocean coastline stretches for more than 2,400km, was also depicted as landlocked.
Those were just two examples on a map that incorrectly identified all six that the department intended to highlight as “funding opportunities” for its health grants.
Photographs and screenshots of the map quickly spread on social media.
A State Department representative described the episode as a mistake by a member of its team who had changed the slide deck just before the event in Rio de Janeiro. The department added that it took full responsibility for the misrepresentations.
-Bloomberg
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