Articles for category: Politics

May 5, 2026

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Leak First, Questions Later: Breaking Down a Bizarre Selection Sunday

Selection Sunday is something akin to college lacrosse’s Christmas morning, when everyone gets to see the big present unveiled as the start of a three-weekend sprint to the crowning of a champion. This year, it was like someone broke into the house and unwrapped all the gifts by the time everyone got downstairs. Maybe that’s the best analogy for what happened Sunday, when the NCAA tournament bracket was revealed at least an hour or so before the selection show. “Leaked” isn’t the right word, because the identity of the No. 1 seed was not revealed. That offered the only suspense

May 5, 2026

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Trump threatens to blow Iran ‘off the face of the earth’ if it attacks US vessels | US-Israel war on Iran

Donald Trump has threatened that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen a route through the strait of Hormuz. The US launched an operation on Monday to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, dragging the region back to the brink of full-scale war. Tehran sought to reassert its blockade on the strait, which is a vital waterway in global trade. While the US military claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted both Iranian cruise missiles and drones, this was denied by

May 4, 2026

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US Navy destroyer ‘blows a hole’ through Iranian cargo ship that tried to break Hormuz blockade, Trump says

WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday. The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in support of Operation Epic Fury, Feb. 28, 2026. U.S. Central Command Public Affairs President Trump revealed the US Navy seized

May 4, 2026

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US military rejects claims Iran struck US Navy vessel

The US military says two American-flagged merchant ships have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz after it launched a new plan to restore traffic. US President Donald Trump’s new initiative to break Iran’s chokehold has escalated the standoff. The US military denied Iran’s claims that it had struck an American Navy vessel. Iran’s effective closure of the strait since February has caused a spike in worldwide fuel prices and rattled the global economy. As part of Trump’s latest effort to reopen it, the US-led Joint Maritime Information Centre advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set

May 4, 2026

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Number of people in ICE detention hits record high, data shows | US immigration

The number of people in immigration detention in the US has hit an all-time high according to data published by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The data, which comes out every two weeks, shows that as of 14 December 2025, ICE held more than 68,400 people. This many people in immigration detention is a new record, breaking the previous high set at the beginning of December. The Guardian, using ICE’s data, has continued to track the number of people arrested, detained and deported by the agency. The latest, published on 22 December covers 1 October through 14 December 2025.

May 4, 2026

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Trump plans to break up the EU by ‘pulling four Maga allies’ out of the bloc, report claims

Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of

May 4, 2026

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U.S. launches strikes on 3 Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump says

Washington — The United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, President Trump announced Saturday evening, calling them a “spectacular military success.”  “The U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear assemblies in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan,” President Trump said in a national address from the White House Saturday night. “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.” Prior to his address, the president wrote on his Truth Social platform that a “full payload of BOMBS”

May 4, 2026

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US average fuel price passes $4 a gallon for first time in four years amid Iran war | Oil

Average US fuel prices have exceeded $4 a gallon for the first time in four years, piling pressure on drivers as Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to boost oil markets. The nationwide average climbed to almost $4.02 on Tuesday, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago. The fuel price last reached this high in August 2022. US stocks started to rally on Tuesday afternoon after reports suggested Trump is considering ending the war soon. The Dow jumped nearly 1,100 points, closing up 2.5%, while the benchmark S&P 500 was up 2.9%. The

May 4, 2026

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Donald Trump says Iran sent US ‘big present’ as Pentagon readies thousands more troops for Middle East

Donald Trump says the United States is in negotiations with Iran to end the war as the Pentagon reportedly prepares to deploy thousands more troops to the Middle East. The US president said senior members of his cabinet were in talks with Iranian officials, who he said had agreed to “never have a nuclear weapon”. Iran war live updates: For the latest news on the Middle East crisis, read our blog. “We’re in negotiations right now,” he said from the Oval Office. “They’re doing it along with [US Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] [and Vice-President] JD [Vance]. “We have a

May 3, 2026

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Trump says US will ‘help free up’ ships stuck in Hormuz Strait | US-Israel war on Iran News

President Donald Trump has said that the United States will “help free up” ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday, suggesting that his administration will break the Iranian blockade on the strategic waterway. Trump said on Sunday that the push – dubbed Project Freedom – would be a “humanitarian gesture” at the request of countries “neutral” to the conflict whose vessels are stranded in the strait, and warned against interference with the operation. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these