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Putin ally Lukashenko declared winner of Belarus vote that West calls a charade

Lukashenko, who faced no serious challenge from the four other candidates on the ballot, took 86.8% of the vote, according to initial results.

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Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham, Reuters reported.

Lukashenko, who faced no serious challenge from the four other candidates on the ballot, took 86.8% of the vote, according to initial results.

European politicians said the vote was neither free nor fair because independent media are banned in the former Soviet republic and all leading opposition figures have either been jailed or forced to flee abroad.

“The people of Belarus had no choice. It is a bitter day for all those who long for freedom & democracy,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for an expansion of Western sanctions against Belarusian companies and individuals involved in repressing opponents of Lukashenko and supplying munitions for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, read the report.

“As long as Belarus is under Lukashenko and Putin’s control, there will be a constant threat to the peace and security of the entire region,” she said.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a statement that the bloc would keep imposing “restrictive and targeted measures against the regime” while supporting civic society and the exiled opposition.

Asked about the jailing of his opponents, Lukashenko said on Sunday that they had “chosen” their own fate. He denied that his decision to release more than 250 people convicted of “extremist” activity was a message to the West in order to seek an easing of his isolation.

“I don’t give a damn about the West,” he told a rambling news conference that lasted well over four hours.

“We have never refused relations with the West. We have always been ready. But you do not want this. So what should we do, bow before you or crawl on our knees?” he said.

Throughout his career, Lukashenko has managed to make himself a useful ally to Russia and extract vital gains in the form of cheap oil and loans while preventing his country of 9 million people from being swallowed up by its much larger neighbour, Reuters reported.

But the war in Ukraine has tied him more closely than ever to Vladimir Putin, whose invasion was launched in part from Belarusian territory. Putin has also deployed Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Lukashenko’s re-election had been “transformed into a political show for a single person.

An election held under total central control, it said, with “political repression, an absence of political alternatives, attacks on freedom of speech and in the absence of an independent press cannot be legitimate. It is a farce.”

Despite Lukashenko’s denial, opponents and political analysts interpret his prisoner pardons as a move to start repairing ties with the West, and his latest re-election as a bid to restore his legitimacy and get major European countries and the United States to return their ambassadors to Minsk for the first time in years.

Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an “extremist” organisation in Belarus, says there are still about 1,250 political prisoners in the country, read the report.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Belarus had “just unilaterally released an innocent American”, whom he named as Anastassia Nuhfer. He gave no further details about the case, which had not previously been made public.

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Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran

One of ​Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a ​nuclear weapon.

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President Donald Trump said on ​Wednesday the United States ‌would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the ​two countries struggle ​to reach an agreement on ⁠ending the Gulf ​war, Reuters reported.

“We’re going to get ​it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White ​House event.

One of ​Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a ​nuclear weapon. ​Iran ⁠has yet to hand over ​more than 900 pounds (408 ​kg) ⁠of highly enriched uranium.

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Trump says Iran “should wave the white flag of surrender”

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump ​said: “Well, you’ll find out, because ​I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed ​Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave ‌the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so, Reuters reported.

Trump told reporters in ​the Oval Office that Iran’s military ​has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and ⁠that Tehran privately wants to make a ​deal despite its public sabre-rattling.

“They play games, ​but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t, when your ​military is totally gone?” he said.

Trump heaped praise on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ‌ports ⁠in the region. “It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very ​well,” he ​said, read the report.

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump ​said: “Well, you’ll find out, because ​I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

Trump said Iran “should save the white ⁠flag ​of surrender.”

“If this were ​a fight, they’d stop it,” said Trump.

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Secret Service says it exchanged gunfire with armed suspect near White House

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

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The ‌U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement, Reuters reported.

The incident led to a ​brief lockdown at the White House.

Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House ​complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said ⁠was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.”

He briefly fled on foot after being ​approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press ​conference.

Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, Quinn added.

Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the ​suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.

A juvenile bystander was ​hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, ‌Quinn ⁠added.

Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behavior as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn told reporters.

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the U.S. capital following a shooting at the ​White House Correspondents’ Association ​Dinner late last month ⁠over which a man has been arrested, read the report.

Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Donald Trump’s life. Trump was ​in the White House when this incident unfolded.

“Whether or not it ​was directed ⁠to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said.

The Secret Service deputy director confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.

The ⁠Secret Service said ​earlier its personnel were on the scene of the ​officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

The DC Police Department was handling the probe.

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