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Trump continues pause on Iran strikes as Pentagon reveals higher casualty figures | First Thing
Eighteen American troops have been killed and 624 wounded since White House launched war on Tehran. Plus, International Cowboy Day in KenyaGood morning. The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war. Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat. Tehran said on Sunday it would pause what it called “retaliatory” attacks against US allies in the region.Trump is said to be weighing up diplomatic and military options in the nearly five-month-old conflict. Axios reported on Sunday that Adm Bradley Cooper, the top US military commander in the region, had told Trump the US military campaign had reached the limits of its effectiveness.How many US service personnel have been killed and injured in Trump’s Iran war? The Pentagon updated its official war casualty database over the weekend, adding more than 140 wounded service members. The new figures show that 18 US troops have been killed and 624 wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on 28 February.How has Katy Perry become embroiled in debate over the war? The pop star has condemned the White House after it used her hit song Firework in a TikTok video showing US military strikes on Iranian targets, saying: “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength … my music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”What has the international court accused Netanyahu of? The court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, issued a warrant accusing the Israeli prime minister of being “allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. Continue reading...
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'Who do we call?' Chaos after Trump gutted oil crisis team months before Iran strikes
Just six months before the Trump administration launched military strikes on Iran, the State Department axed its entire oil and gas crisis team, leaving the nation scrambling as global energy markets teeter on the brink of chaos, according to a new report.The war in Iran is now in its third week, and the critical Strait of Hormuz, which usually channels about a fifth of the world's oil supply, sits locked down tight. The Trump administration is flying blind, without the experts who once managed such catastrophes, former State Department employees told Notus.In July, as part of Trump's aggressive cost-cutting crusade, the administration laid off staffers who specialized in "gaming out possible scenarios if the Strait of Hormuz was closed," the report said. Staffers with close professional ties at oil and gas companies in the Middle East were also sent packing, along with experts tasked with maintaining diplomatic contacts at foreign energy bureaus.The irony was not lost on Geoffrey Pyatt, who served as assistant secretary of state for energy resources during the Biden administration.“I’m sure Secretary Rubio wishes he had that expertise available today,” said Pyatt. “Most of that institutional knowledge was lost with the elimination of the bureau and RIFs last fall.”When 1,300 State Department positions got the boot, nearly everyone from the Bureau of Energy Resources was shown the door. Nine former federal energy experts spilled the beans anonymously, revealing that oil and gas executives are desperately hunting for anyone at the State Department who can help navigate the crisis. They believe the Trump administration’s "lack of preparation for a global oil crisis is becoming increasingly clear," the report said.“Before any of this should have happened, there should have been discussion about what are the implications of this, and what happens when the Strait of Hormuz turns off,” said one former Bureau of Energy Resources staffer.Another former federal worker cracked a bitter joke.“They would say, ‘Who do we call at State about this?’ And I’d say, ‘Sounds like you need to hire some MAGA lobbyists to figure that out, because that’s not my problem. They fired those people."
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