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U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he had called off new military strikes on Iran, suggesting progress had been made in talks to end the war just hours after the American leader threatened to escalate the conflict by seizing control of Iran’s oil industry.
Trump said in a social media post that he made the move after a breakthrough in negotiations, and that significant points under discussion "have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved."
The announcement came after two days of back-and-forth attacks between the U.S. and Iran had pushed the Middle East closer to the resumption of a full-scale war.
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—The Associated Press
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he plans to nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as director of national intelligence.
Trump announced the nomination on social media amid pressure from Congress to name a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month. Trump faced intense pushback over his decision to name Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director. The job oversees the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies.
The situation has led to a standoff in Congress after Democrats said they would refuse to renew a foreign intelligence powers unless Trump pulled Pulte’s nomination and named a permanent nominee.
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—The Associated Press
A key surveillance tool that allows the United States to collect intelligence abroad appears certain to expire after Congress on Thursday failed to temporarily extend the program, in a protest of President Donald Trump’s temporary pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies.
Trump had doubled down on his choice of Bill Pulte for acting director of national intelligence, even though the federal housing finance regulator has little experience for the job. Democrats say they will not support the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, unless the Republican president withdraws Pulte’s appointment and nominates a permanent replacement.
The House vote collapsed in bipartisan fashion, with 19 Republicans and nearly all Democrats rejecting the temporary measure, 198-218. The Senate tried to approve its own versions later Thursday, but also failed, dimming the chances to prevent what could be rare lapse of spy powers. The law expires on Friday at midnight.
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—The Associated Press
It looks from afar more UFO than UFC. Maybe it’s the kind of contraption that has carried space aliens to the White House to force a meeting with America’s leader.
But come closer and you’ll see the contours of the eight-sided cage, 30 feet in diameter and shaped, with careful precision, like the MMA league’s signature Octagon. That is, a STOP! sign flipped on its edge, with wire-mesh sides and padded corners fitted with different sponsors’ logos: Morgan & Morgan, Bud Light, Dodge Ram, Corona Extra and Polymarket, which identifies itself as the world’s largest prediction market.
Overhead looms The Claw, a four-sided mass that arcs more than 90 feet into the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wiring and four large screens so fans not seated right next to the Octagon can follow the cage fighting below.
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—The Associated Press
Federal officials have shared additional documents detailing the scope of President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch as well as the timeline for its estimated completion within three years.
In a planning assessment, officials estimated that work would take place daily in two 10-hour shifts — 20 hours per day, year round — for the duration of the construction period.
The renderings and reports were posted on the National Parks Service’s website ahead of Monday’s deadline to submit public comments on the project.
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—Spectrum News’ Christina Santucci
• Schiff, Dems press Trump administration on how criminals end up with munitions made at Army plant
• Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle take the field for annual Congressional Baseball Game
• DOJ announces indictments of unaccompanied minor ‘super sponsors’
• First lady introduces Trump Accounts for foster youth
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