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Mar 11, 2026 - World

Release shows that Jonathan Powell warned Morgan McSweeney about the appointment of Mandelson as US ambassadorAs reported by Nadeem Badshah this morning, the documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US expected to be released today will include a due diligence report by the Cabinet Office, which is believed to be two pages long.It is likely to raise questions about Keir Starmer’s judgment, with sources saying it had warned the prime minister of the serious “reputational risk” of going ahead with Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 given his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.He has said, as you know that it is a little bit – it does fall into the category of too little too late, but I think they have a good, solid relationship, and hopefully they’ll be able to repair it. I go by what the president says, and the president says continuously that everybody is entitled to their point of view. But I think sometimes we detect that there’s not that feeling of gratitude.I think the president’s position is that we do plenty for Europe, plenty for the UK, in the area of trade, in the area of defence, in the area of the support we give to Nato. And I think sometimes the response back, the reciprocity back, is a little bit lacking. I would leave it at that, OK? Continue reading...

Mar 11, 2026 - World

Strike on school in Minab, Iran, in which at least 175 people died was result of a ‘targeting mistake’, officials have told the New York TimesDonald Trump said that the US-Israel war in Iran will end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target” in a phone interview with Axios.“Any time I want it to end, it will end,” the president told the outlet. “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.” Continue reading...

Mar 11, 2026 - World

American forces sank 16 mine-layers Wednesday in an operation framed as a pre-emptive strike against Iran's plans to mine the Strait of Hormuz the waterway over which Tehran controls and which is at the centre of global oil supply concerns.

Mar 11, 2026 - World

Eleven days into the US and Israel's war on Iran, Tehran is firing retaliatory missiles bearing the words "in memory of victims of Epstein Island" at its targets.

Mar 11, 2026 - World

White House insiders divulged what President Donald Trump was considering next after the U.S. and Israel started launching military strikes in Iran, a Wall Street Journal reporter said Wednesday. Josh Dawsey, WSJ political investigations reporter, told a CNN panel that although Trump hasn't mentioned an exact exit strategy, his administration was panicking amid rising oil prices, looming midterms, and Americans' dissatisfaction over the escalating conflict to figure out what the off-ramp would be to leave the war in the Middle East. "He doesn't have an appetite for a long term war, at least according to my sources that I've talked to, he's looking for ways to sort of message 'We've done this, we've done that. Now it's time to leave,'" Dawsey said. "The question is, have they said how much of that can he control? Right. If he says we're out of here, and then let's say the Iranians keep attacking with the missiles or drones or they have left, what does the president do? The president has a lot of power. He's obviously, you know, in a lot of ways, the most powerful figure in the world but he can't control everything, right. And some of these things are beyond his control. But he wants to get out at some point." Trump has appeared to be influenced by a variety of factors, which could ultimately determine how the U.S. strategizes its moves with Iran. "He watches the markets closely, you see when he makes comments, when he wants the markets to sort of go back up, he watches the markets closely, watches oil prices closely," Dawsey said. "He watches the MAGA supporters closely. I mean, Joe Rogan, I can quite tell you the president notices that he's watching voices, he's watching polling in his party. He's watching the midterms. And I don't think he has an appetite for a long term sustained conflict with Iran, at least according to what I'm told by folks inside the White House." Trump has plenty on his mind — and it's not just the war. "He launches a war, and then he goes to a MAGA fundraiser where he polls everyone in the room. 'Do you think it should be JD Vance or Marco Rubio?' That's what he does the first weekend," Dawsey said. "He's done college football events. He goes in the White House and he's talking about the ballroom. I mean, I'm not saying he's not focused on the war. I'm just saying he has so many other things that he's talking to people about."Dawsey argued that the Trump administration doesn't appear to be making an aggressive case for the public as to why Americans should support the war. Instead, the president has focused on multiple things at once. "He's spent two hours on Friday afternoon of the college sports, and NIL roundtable, he had all these celebrities, he's talking to them," Dawsey added. "I'm not saying president couldn't weigh in on that. A lot of people care about college sports but I mean, it's sort of discordant from what's going on in the world."