Severe weather threatened to put a damper on Friday on President Donald Trump's plans to speak near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, prompting amusement from internet critics who said it seemingly indicated "god is angry."Trump was flying to South Dakota as part of a broader July 4 and America-250 trip, planning to visit the iconic American landmark for an Independence Day fireworks celebration. But Mother Nature, it seems, had other plans. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect until 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time for the area, with quarter size hail that could damage vehicles reported by the National Weather Service. "Seek shelter inside a well-built structure and stay away from windows. This storm is capable of producing large hail," an alert on the weather service read.The weather alert forced Fox News to scramble, with host Bret Baier telling viewers they had breaking news."They just said there is severe weather on the way. In fact, they said hail could be coming, and they are urging everybody to get inside," said Baier, adding: "We're going to get to shelter."The setback prompted mockery from onlookers, with Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the progressive MeidasTouch news outlet, quipping on X, "God is angry."Dan Koh, a Massachusetts Democrat running for Congress, chimed in on X, "Considering Trump wants to cut the National Park Service budget by 40% and Mount Rushmore has a $57m repair backlog, you better run."The progressive influencer account known as Polly Sigh added: "Calamitous weather seems to follow Trump around these days. Mother Nature is so over him."Writer Joe Flood joked, "damn antifa!"Trump has had mixed luck with weather in recent weeks, with scorching temperatures and rain derailing his Great American State Fair.Fox at Mount Rushmore: They just said there is severe weather on the way. In fact, they said hail could be coming and they are urging everybody to get inside. We're going to get to shelter. pic.twitter.com/hyfc0nPghU— Acyn (@Acyn) July 3, 2026
Despite efforts by U.S. negotiators, Iran says it wants to charge a toll for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It's yet another unresolved issue of the U.S.-Iran war.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf has warned of an Iranian response if the U.S. and Israel breach the interim peace deal, as Tehran prepares to bury its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “We strongly demand full implementation of the agreements, and if the U.S. and the Zionist regime fail to fulfill their commitments, Iran…
Iran's entire regime made a red carpet entrance to the first of three funeral ceremonies for late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — except the dead ayatollah's own son and successor.
Against a backdrop of sweeping rollbacks of civil rights and deteriorating relations with allies, many are feeling cynicalAs the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary on 4 July, the country faces a turbulent moment under the Donald Trump administration.The anniversary coincides with sweeping rollbacks of civil rights, deteriorating relations with traditional allies and growing domestic opposition to the administration’s handling of immigration and free speech. Against this backdrop, many Americans say they feel increasingly cynical about the country’s future. Continue reading...
Trump administration officials reportedly believed that the Israeli government intended to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators—including the country’s foreign minister—during peace talks with the US in an effort to sabotage diplomatic progress.The New York Times reported Thursday that “American concerns about the targeting of two particular Iranian officials—Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Parliament—spiked during delicate ceasefire negotiations that began in April.” In response, the US “went so far as to ask other countries in the region to warn Iran about the possibility Israel could target the two officials,” according to the Times, which cited unnamed current and former American officials.The US and Israel have killed dozens of top Iranian officials since launching their illegal joint war in late February. But the allied countries reportedly removed Araghchi and Ghalibaf from their target list in late March, opening the possibility of high-level negotiations to end the war.But Israel remained bent on targeting the negotiators, according to the Times, whose reporting was later corroborated by The Washington Post.The Times detailed one dramatic incident in April, when Ghalibaf was planning to travel to Pakistan’s capital to meet with US Vice President JD Vance:Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian airplanes carrying a delegation of more than 70 Iranians from the border of Iran to Islamabad and back again when the session was over.But on the way back to Tehran, an Israeli security threat emerged.Iran’s security forces notified the plane carrying Mr. Ghalibaf back to Tehran that they had picked up intelligence that Israel planned to attack the plane and that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iran’s airspace from its western border near Iraq, the two officials said.Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser for Mr. Ghalibaf, who accompanied him to Islamabad, confirmed this account on his social media page. The plane made an emergency landing in the city of Mashhad, Iran’s closest airport to the Pakistani border, and the Iranian delegation traveled some eight hours by land back to Tehran, Mr. Mohammadi and the two officials said.The Post reported that “cracks emerged” between the US and Israeli approaches to the war following Israel’s assassination of top Iranian national security official Ali Larijani in March.“They’ve wiped out everybody,” Trump told reporters in late March, suggesting Israel’s assassination campaign was making it difficult to find potential negotiating partners.Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote in response to the new reporting that “Israel is a state that, on paper, is a US partner, but in reality is so extreme in its obsession to undermine US diplomacy that it even tries to assassinate those the US engages with in crucial negotiations.”“I can’t recall a government as terrified of peace as the one running Israel,” Parsi added.At present, the Israeli government—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—is endangering tenuous US-Iran peace talks with its continued occupation of and assault on Lebanon, which Iran has highlighted as a key factor in the negotiations.Visiting occupied southern Lebanon earlier this week, Netanyahu declared to Israeli troops that “our insistence is that we will not leave... until the threat is removed.”Parsi wrote earlier this week that “beyond his long-standing desire to use American force to subjugate Iran to Israeli domination and achieve a regional balance favorable to Israel,” Netanyahu “now also has stark political and personal reasons to restart the war” with Iran.“The [US and Iran’s memorandum of understanding] has come at a steep political cost for Netanyahu,” wrote Parsi. “His prospects for reelection in October are weaker than they have been in months. Once seen as the Israeli leader uniquely capable of delivering President Trump, he now confronts the prospect that both the war and the ensuing diplomacy will leave Israel in a strategically weaker position—undermining the very case he has made for his leadership.”“And of course,” Parsi added, “if he loses the elections, he will likely spend the next few years in jail, as he will lose his immunity as prime minister and face trial over corruption charges.”The story was published in partnership with Common Dreams, read the original here.
