President Donald Trump has reached an awkward moment in his second term as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran began six months ago Friday. It’s a notable milestone for a Republican leader who repeatedly assured Americans that attacking Iran would be a “little excursion” over in weeks. And another federal judge has halted — at least for now — Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.
Thousands of marchers have converged on the National Mall to support voting rights ahead of the midterm elections. Many are condemning Republican-led changes to voting laws as detrimental to racial justice and to Black Americans in particular. US revokes visa of former Iraqi finance minister who won 2022 ‘International Women of Courage’ award The Trump administration has revoked the U.S. visa of a former Iraqi finance minister who was honored in 2022 with an “International Women of Courage” award by the State Department.
The department said Friday it had revoked the visa of Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi, who served as Iraq’s finance minister from 2022 until July. Earlier this month she was implicated by Iraqi authorities in a possible corruption scheme. The department said her visa was revoked after the FBI added her to its “terrorism watchlist.” It was not clear why she had been added to the watchlist but officials said she had left the United States before her visa revoked.
US Treasury targets Egyptian Bank’s UAE branches under ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ The Trump administration is taking steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates, accusing the financial institution of serving as an economic lifeline to Tehran’s leadership as the U.S. war in Iran reaches the six-month mark. Under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Treasury, the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, would be severed from access to the U.S. financial system.
This comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a presser earlier in the week announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” warning countries that do business with Iran to sever their financial ties or face retaliation from the U.S. US goals have shifted after 6 months of Iran war. The Strait of Hormuz is now a top concern When Trump launched the war with Iran in late February, he forecast it would last four weeks to five weeks.
Six months later, there still is no off-ramp in sight, despite Trump’s repeated assertions that the war has been won or a deal to resolve it was nearly complete. A June memorandum of understanding designed to pave the way to end the war has fallen by the wayside. U.S. stockpiles of key weapons have diminished, and the Republican administration has pivoted to pressuring Iran economically rather than conducting more strikes.
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