World
Trump says willing to wait for a few days to get ‘right answer’ on Iran peace deal
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States was ready to proceed with further attacks on Tehran if Iran did not agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few days to “get the right answers.”
Speaking to reporters, Trump said the situation was “right on the borderline” and could escalate quickly, Reuters reported.
Six weeks after he paused Operation Epic Fury for a ceasefire, talks to end the war have shown little progress, while soaring gasoline prices have weighed on the president’s approval ratings.
“Believe me, if we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go,” he said at Joint Base Andrews. Asked how long he would wait, Trump said, “It could be a few days, but it could go very quickly.”
Iran warned against renewed attacks. “If aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will extend beyond the region this time,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
Trump reiterated his determination not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. “We’re in the final stages of Iran. We’ll see what happens. Either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won’t happen,” Trump told reporters earlier in the day. “Ideally I’d like to see few people killed, as opposed to a lot. We can do it either way.”
He spoke with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who welcomed the extension of the ceasefire and told Trump he thought a “reasonable solution” was possible, Ankara said.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s top peace negotiator, said in an audio message on social media that “obvious and hidden moves by the enemy” showed the Americans were preparing new attacks.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remained open to negotiations, but added in an X post, “forcing Iran to surrender through coercion is nothing but an illusion.”
‘SUSPICION OVER AMERICA’S PERFORMANCE’
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran was pursuing negotiations “with seriousness and good faith, but it has strong and reasonable suspicion over America’s performance.”
In the latest diplomatic push, the interior minister of Pakistan – which hosted the only round of peace talks so far and has since been the conduit for messages between the sides – was in Tehran on Wednesday.
Baghaei said Washington and Tehran continued to exchange messages through the Pakistani minister’s mediation.
Iran submitted a new offer to the U.S. this week. Tehran’s descriptions suggest it largely repeats terms previously rejected by Trump, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Trump on Tuesday said he had been an hour away from ordering attacks this week in response to requests from several of Iran’s Gulf neighbours.
CHINESE TANKERS CROSS STRAIT
Iran has largely shut the Strait of Hormuz to all ships apart from its own since the U.S.-Israeli attacks began on February 28, causing the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history. The U.S. responded last month with its own blockade of Iran’s ports.
Iran on Wednesday released a map showing a “controlled maritime zone” at the strait and said transit would require authorization from the newly created authority. It says it aims to reopen the strait to friendly countries that abide by its terms. That could potentially include fees for access, which Washington says would be unacceptable.
Two giant Chinese tankers laden with a total of around 4 million barrels of oil exited the strait on Wednesday. Iran had announced last week, while Trump was in Beijing for a summit, that it had agreed to ease rules for Chinese ships.
South Korea’s foreign minister said on Wednesday a Korean tanker was crossing the strait in cooperation with Iran.
Shipping monitor Lloyd’s List said at least 54 ships had transited the strait last week, about double the previous week. Iran said 26 ships had crossed in the past 24 hours, still only a fraction of the 140 per day before the war.
PRESSURE TO END WAR
Trump is under pressure to end the war, with soaring energy prices hurting his Republican Party ahead of congressional elections in November.
“Investors are keen to gauge whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace agreement, with the U.S. stance shifting daily,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that he viewed elevated yields and headline inflation as “transient” and they will subside when the conflict ends.
“The strait will open, and we’ll normalize energy prices,” he said.
The U.S.-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in a ceasefire in early April. Israel has also killed thousands more and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Iranian strikes on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when they launched the war that their aims were to curb Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear programme, destroy its missile capabilities and make it easier for Iranians to topple their rulers.
But Iran has so far retained its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, and its ability to threaten neighbours with missiles, drones and proxy militias. Its clerical rulers, who put down a mass uprising at the start of the year, have faced no sign of organised opposition since the war began.
World
Supreme Court lets Trump resume deporting migrants to countries not their own
More than 25,000 migrants have been deported to 29 countries under the policy implemented last year, according to a tally by human rights groups, with the vast majority going to Mexico.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump’s administration resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them the chance to show the harms they may face, bolstering a tool his administration has used for rapid expulsions as part of his immigration crackdown, Reuters reported.
The court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request to put on hold Boston-based US District Judge Brian Murphy’s ruling that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy to remove migrants to so-called third countries is unlawful. The court also agreed to hear arguments in the dispute in December, with a formal ruling on the policy to follow.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Its three liberal justices dissented from the decision to let the deportations immediately resume pending the final outcome of the litigation.
Murphy’s ruling came in a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups on behalf of migrants seeking to prevent the US government from sending them to third countries without notice and a chance to assert the harms they could face.
More than 25,000 migrants have been deported to 29 countries under the policy implemented last year, according to a tally by human rights groups, with the vast majority going to Mexico.
The policy is one of a number of measures the administration has taken in its pursuit of Trump’s goal of mass deportation. The Republican president has enforced a sweeping crackdown on immigration — among his top priorities — since returning to office last year.
The administration has carried out third-country deportations to politically unstable South Sudan, which the US State Department urges Americans to avoid due to the risks of crime, kidnapping and armed conflict, as well as Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, the Central African Republic, and other nations.
Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival welcomed the court’s decision.
“A bad day for criminal illegals and open-borders activists alike,” Percival wrote on social media.
Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said the court has “allowed the administration to resume sending people to third countries where they face persecution or torture. That is a devastating result for people who may be put on a plane before they ever have notice or an opportunity to raise a fear claim.”
In February, Murphy ruled that the policy violates immigration law procedures and due process protections under the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. Due process generally requires the government to provide notice and an opportunity for a hearing before taking certain adverse actions.
The Supreme Court, which has allowed a number of Trump’s hardline immigration policies, previously sided with the administration in the legal challenge, suspending a preliminary order that Murphy issued earlier in the case halting the removals. In another win for the administration, the Supreme Court subsequently lifted limits the judge had imposed to protect a group of men from being sent to South Sudan, read the report.
The case began in 2025 after the Department of Homeland Security moved to step up deportations of migrants who cannot be returned to any country listed on their deportation orders.
The policy provided that migrants could be swiftly removed without notice to third countries that have provided credible diplomatic assurance that they will not persecute or torture the individuals. For countries that have not provided such assurance, deportees would be notified of their destination and US authorities would assess the likelihood of persecution or torture only if the individual raises such fear on their own.
In its emergency filing to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said third-country deportations are “an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens.”
But both Murphy and critics of the administration said the policy is also targeting migrants who had been granted legal protection from being sent back to their home countries.
The policy has resulted in deportees being unlawfully transferred by third countries back to their home countries from which the US had already granted them protection, while others have been beaten, sexually assaulted, detained or have disappeared, the plaintiffs said in a court filing.
The administration is ignoring “the significant harm resulting from deporting thousands of longtime US residents, many with no criminal history, to third countries without regard to the persecution or torture they face there,” the plaintiffs said.
The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of the judge’s ruling on September 18.
The case has been hotly contested since it began, and included findings by Murphy that the administration “repeatedly violated, or attempted to violate” his orders. Murphy in 2025 found that the administration had violated another order he issued requiring additional steps before attempting to send a group of migrants to South Sudan.
World
Trump says men arrested at UK air base used by US planned ‘big damage’
WATCH: Trump praises UK authorities for arrests Sunday near RAF airbase used by US forces in England.
British police have arrested five men on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing a terrorist act near RAF Fairford, a UK air base used by the United States military, authorities said.
The arrests were made early Sunday after police received a report of three suspicious vans travelling towards the airfield in Gloucestershire, western England.
US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been under investigation by British and US authorities and were looking to cause “big damage” to the base.
“The arrest in the UK was fantastic,” Trump told reporters, praising cooperation between US and British authorities.
Counter Terrorism Policing said five men remained in custody and that officers were working with partner agencies to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Police placed a 400-metre cordon around the area while bomb disposal experts examined the vehicles. About 85 homes in a nearby village were evacuated, while armed officers patrolled the area.
RAF Fairford has been used by US forces for military operations against Iran. Security was also increased at other UK bases used by the US, including RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall.
A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters an Iranian-linked motive was considered the most likely, while possible Russian involvement or an Islamist plot were also being examined.
No motive has been publicly confirmed by police.
The arrests come amid heightened security concerns in Britain following Iranian warnings over the use of UK bases by US forces. Russia has also been accused by Western governments of supporting sabotage operations in Europe, allegations Moscow has denied.
World
Serbia’s President Vucic resigns ahead of October parliamentary elections
He had said in late June that he planned to resign and that Serbia would hold early parliamentary and presidential elections.
Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic announced his resignation on Sunday, ending his second and final five-year term and paving the way for early presidential elections, Reuters reported.
Vucic’s resignation, seven months before his term ends, comes amid campaigning for Serbia’s October 25 snap parliamentary vote and allows him to be appointed prime minister if his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) forms the new government.
He had said in late June that he planned to resign and that Serbia would hold early parliamentary and presidential elections.
Rights groups have accused Vucic and his allies of increasingly authoritarian rule, with anti-government protesters saying they have been beaten by police and unfairly detained. Authorities have denied those allegations.
On Sunday, hundreds of Vucic’s supporters cheered him in front of the Presidency building in Belgrade’s city centre.
“This is the last evening for me in this building,” he told the flag-waving crowd minutes before resigning.
“I have faithfully served you and my fatherland, Serbia, … I am proud of what we have done together,” he said.
Under Serbia’s constitution, outgoing Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will serve as interim president until a new one is elected. The presidential election must be completed within 90 days, with the campaign lasting between 30 and 60 days.
“By the end of December … we will have the first round of presidential elections,” Vucic said.
Next month’s snap parliamentary election will pit Vucic’s SNS and its allies against Students Win, a student-led anti-corruption movement, and European Serbia, an alliance of pro-Western opposition parties.
Students Win, European Serbia and other parties have yet to nominate their presidential candidates.
Vucic, 56, has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade, read the report.
He was a hardline nationalist and information minister during the era of the late Slobodan Milosevic and the wars of the 1990s, and later served as deputy prime minister from 2012-14 and prime minister from 2014-17.
He moved to the largely ceremonial position of president in 2017, but kept tight control over his party and the government.
In foreign policy, Vucic has pursued a balancing act that seeks closer ties with China, a major investor, and Russia, Serbia’s principal supplier of natural gas, while maintaining a long-term goal of joining the EU. He also has sought to bolster ties with the United States and Israel.
Vucic’s term in office suffered a major blow in November 2024 when an awning of a newly reconstructed railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people.
The disaster sparked nationwide protests by students and the opposition, who demanded accountability for those responsible, transparency in public procurement, an end to systemic corruption, and an early parliamentary vote.
The government repeatedly denied accusations by the protesters, although several officials, including two ministers, were arrested or resigned after the incident.
On Sunday, Vucic said he has granted amnesty and a pardon to 49 people, including 12 activists and 11 of his own supporters, who were arrested or tried in connection with the protests.
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