Downing Street exerted pressure to OK Mandelson: sacked UK official

US President Donald Trump will meet Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a shaky ceasefire set to expire.

With Trump struggling to push Iran into a deal on the wider regional war, the United States is hoping for progress on Lebanon, which Israel has pounded in response to Hezbollah fire.

The talks, previously planned at the State Department like the first round last week and to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were shifted to the White House.

"President Trump will greet both representatives upon their arrival," a US official said on condition of anonymity.

Israel stated ahead of the talks that it has no "serious disagreements" with the Lebanese government, calling on it to "work together" against Hezbollah, which is notably absent from and opposed to the negotiations. 

During the meeting, Lebanon will request "to extend the ceasefire, which also includes a halt to the destruction of homes and attacks on civilians, places of worship, journalists and the medical and educational sectors," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said.

A Lebanese official told AFP that the government would request the extension by one month.

Aoun said he hoped to visit Washington and meet with Trump.

However, he said he never planned to have a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, contradicting an announcement by Trump earlier this month.

The two countries have been at war for decades and had not met so directly since 1993. 

Israel launched a major attack on Lebanon -- killing over 2,450 people and displacing one million, according to authorities -- in response to fire by Hezbollah, which vowed to avenge Israel's killing of Iran's supreme leader.

The United States announced a 10-day truce shortly after the first meeting. It is set to expire Sunday.

Israel and Lebanon will be represented by their ambassadors in Washington.

In an addition from the last round, a US official said the talks will also include the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, an evangelical pastor and stalwart defender of Israeli expansionism.

- Strikes ahead of talks -

Israeli strikes killed five people in Lebanon on Wednesday, as Israel continues to hit what it says are Hezbollah targets despite the ceasefire.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency on Thursday reported an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near Nabatieh, around 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the border with Israel.

Under the truce terms, Israel says it reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks."

Hezbollah on its end claimed at least two attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and said it targeted a reconnaissance drone in retaliation for Israel's "ceasefire violations."

Among the dead on Wednesday was a Lebanese newspaper journalist, Amal Khalil.

Israeli troops have also taken over southern Lebanese villages in a 10-kilometer (six-mile) deep "security zone" from its border.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said "the obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one -- Hezbollah."

Iran had demanded the truce in Lebanon as a condition to resume talks with Washington on a permanent end to weeks of war.

Iran refused to attend a second round of talks with the United States this week due to an ongoing US naval blockade.

But Trump extended a truce with Iran indefinitely.

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(The Center Square) — New data filed in Minnesota’s lawsuit over Operation Metro Surge estimates more than $240 million in lost wages and more than $600 million in business losses.

The amended federal complaint, filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, incorporates a report from the University of California San Diego’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center.

That data includes what officials describe as the “lasting impact” of the federal immigration enforcement surge earlier this year.

“More and more data on exactly how harmful the surge was to Minnesota residents, workers, and businesses keeps coming in,” Ellison said. “We are fighting to have Operation Metro Surge declared unlawful to protect Minnesota from ever having to endure another violent, painful, and destructive federal occupation again.”

According to the survey, respondents who encountered Department of Homeland Security agents were significantly more likely to miss work. Researchers estimate those disruptions resulted in roughly $189.2 million in lost wages in Minneapolis and $54.6 million in Saint Paul.

The findings build on earlier economic concerns raised by state officials. Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha previously warned that the enforcement surge could send ripple effects through local economies, as exclusively reported by The Center Square.

“Chaos is costly. So this chaos is going to ripple through our entire economy,” she said.

Beyond missed wages, the new data suggests broader disruptions to daily life. Survey respondents who reported encounters with federal agents were far more likely to miss medical appointments or avoid seeking care altogether, raising concerns about longer-term health consequences.

The complaint also alleges disparities in enforcement.

According to the survey, in Minneapolis, people of color were more likely than white residents to be questioned about their race or immigration status, stopped by agents, or distrusted even after providing identification.

“Many businesses, especially in communities of color, are still grappling with the lasting impacts of the Trump administration’s actions,” said St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. “No community should have to endure what ours has faced. This new information brings sharper clarity to the scale of the damage and strengthens our resolve to move forward.”

The economic effects extended to local businesses as well. Researchers estimate businesses lost about $444.8 million in Minneapolis and $165.4 million in St. Paul, with majorities reporting declines in customer traffic and workforce disruptions.

Those figures align with earlier city estimates. Minneapolis previously reported a $203.1 million hit to its economy in January alone, including $47 million in lost wages and $81 million in lost revenue to restaurants and small businesses.

Officials say those disruptions highlight how closely tied federal actions are to local economic stability.

“These systems are deeply interconnected,” Blaha previously explained.

The operation is seeking the courts declare Operation Metro Surge “unconstitutional and unlawful” under the 1st and 10th Amendments.

“The lawsuit seeks to have Operation Metro Surge declared unlawful to ensure similar violence and harm are not inflicted on another state or on Minnesota once again,” a press release from Ellison’s office said.

At the same time, tensions between state and federal officials over the operation continue to escalate.

Just last week, Minnesota prosecutors filed criminal charges against a federal immigration agent tied to conduct during the surge, part of a broader effort to investigate law enforcement actions.

“Our work continues on all fronts,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at the time of the announcement. “We will not rest until we get the answers we seek about federal agent conduct . . . and accountability is delivered wherever appropriate.”

Federal officials, including White House border czar Tom Homan, have broadly defended Operation Metro Surge, saying agents apprehended more than 4,000 individuals, including violent offenders and gang members.

(The Center Square) - Arizona local government policies restricting federal immigration enforcement from performing their duties are illegal because state law overrides local law, according to experts.

In recent months, local jurisdictions have passed policies aimed at impeding federal officers from conducting operations.

In February in Southern Arizona, the Pima County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that banned federal law enforcement from using county-owned property without permission for civil immigration enforcement activities. (Pima is the state's second-most populous county and is home to Tucson.)

The next month, the Phoenix City Council approved an initiative requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain the city's permission before conducting operations within it.

State Republicans filed legal complaints with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office regarding these two local government actions.

Both complaints cite Arizona law that states “no official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state may limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”

John Kincaid, the president of the Center for the Study of Federalism, told The Center Square that “if state law says local governments have to cooperate, then they have to do that because state law is supreme over local law.”

Andrew Arthur, who is the Center for Immigration Studies’ resident fellow in law and policy, also said “state law is going to trump” local law and overrule decisions made at the local level.

According to Kincaid, a professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., if states don’t have a law in effect requiring local governments to enforce federal immigration laws, then local governments are not required to do so.

Kincaid said because of “dual sovereignty” in America’s federal system, “state and local governments are not obligated to assist the federal government in carrying out its functions.”

“They are not obligated to enforce federal law,” he said.

Kincaid noted these entities can’t “interfere with or obstruct the federal government from performing its own functions.”

“That crosses a line. They can simply be non-cooperative,” he said.

Kincaid said one of the earliest foundations for this legal interpretation is the U.S. Supreme Court's 1842 case, Prigg v. Pennsylvania.

Justices said states “did not have to cooperate with the federal government in apprehending fugitive slaves, so many northern states passed personal liberty laws, which said state and local officials would not assist the federal government or anyone else in apprehending fugitive slaves,” the professor said.

This Supreme Court case is the origin of local governments passing resolutions that prevent them from obstructing the federal government but not from cooperating with it, he noted.

Local governments can restrict access to their properties, but if the restriction is specifically directed at federal immigration authorities, it raises constitutional issues, said Arthur, a former immigration judge.

These restrictions are “really questionable because they may run afoul of the anti-discrimination interpretations of the Supremacy Clause,” he added.

The U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause says that federal law takes precedence over state law when they conflict.

Kincaid cited a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court case, Printz v. United States, which said the federal government can’t make state and local officials enforce federal law.

“Under the Printz decision, there’s no way that the federal government could require state and local officials to cooperate with federal ICE agents,” he said.

Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, said local jurisdictions started passing policies pushing back against federal immigration law during the Obama administration.

He said former President Barack Obama inherited a program that started in the George W. Bush administration called “Secure Communities.” The program created “automatic cooperation between local jails and federal agencies,” Beck said.

If people were booked into a jail and had their fingerprints taken, they were run in a federal database, and if the database determined people were in the country illegally, then federal immigration authorities would be notified and have a hold put on them so they could pick them up in jail, according to Beck.

After activists pushed back, the Obama administration ended the program, Beck said.

Since the Trump administration, local jurisdictions have been passing policies that “limit, prohibit or ban cooperation” with federal law enforcement, Beck said.

Beck also noted that more state and local police departments nationwide have joined the federal 287(g) program, which allows state and local law enforcement officers who are trained to perform specific immigration duties.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office, the federal program has seen a 641% increase in partnerships with local and state law enforcement, with more than 1,000 agencies now participating, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The foreigner ministers of Chile and Bolivia met Thursday in a step toward restoring relations severed 50 years ago, the latter's foreign minister said.

These two countries severed ties in 1975 after failing to reach agreement on a long-standing beef for landlocked Bolivia: access to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia used to have a coast but lost it in a war with Chile in the late 19th century. Regaining this access has been a key goal of Bolivia for decades.

Every year Bolivia celebrates a holiday called Dia del Mar, or Day of the Sea, to remember the loss of its 250-mile (400-km) stretch of coastline to Chile in the conflict known as the War of the Pacific.

On Thursday foreign ministers Francisco Perez Mackenna of Chile and Fernando Aramayo of Bolivia met at a border crossing and traveled together to La Paz.

Aramayo told reporters the meeting was "a fundamental milestone" on the road to restoring relations.

Ties between the two former enemies are warming now that center-right President Rodrigo Paz governs in Bolivia and far right President Jose Kast recently took power in Chile.

A key focus for Chile is to crack down on illegal immigration across its northern border with Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in South America. Chile is one of the most developed.

Kast, who took power March 11, ordered the digging of a three meter (10-foot) deep ditch along the frontier to make it harder for people to sneak into Chile. Bolivia has not publicly objected to this project.

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Victor Wembanyama will travel with the San Antonio Spurs to Portland for Friday's NBA playoff game, coach Mitch Johnson said, but he remains in concussion protocols with an uncertain playing status.

The 22-year-old French superstar was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a hard fall to the court in Tuesday's 106-103 Portland victory at San Antonio, which evened their best-of-seven first round series at 1-1.

Wembanyama, this season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year, appeared at team workouts Wednesday and Thursday but was not allowed to take part under league concussion protocols.

"Wemby" can slowly progress in his activity but is evaluated medically after each step and must be cleared by doctors before he is once again eligible to play.

"He's looking good," Johnson said Thursday. "The update is that he's following each protocol and he's progressing and will travel with the team."

The Spurs were set to fly to Portland late on Thursday.

Wembanyama, a finalist for the NBA Most Valuable Player award, averaged a career-high 25.0 points, a career-best 11.5 rebounds, a league-best 3.1 blocked shots, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals a game this season.

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The new multinational force tasked with combating gangs in Haiti will deploy in "phases" over the coming months, a special representative for the force said Thursday.

"We are at a critical early phase of establishing the GSF," said Jack Christofides, the special representative for the Gang Suppression Force, told the UN Security Council.

He said the GSF will gradually replace the previous Multinational Mission to Support the Haitian Police (MMAS).

The council green-lit the GSF at US urging last September amid concerns that the MMAS was under-equipped and under-funded.

"We remain acutely aware of the suffering endured by the Haitian people, particularly those living under gang control. There is an urgent need for concrete action to restore security and hope," said Christofides, a South African diplomat.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. It has for years been plagued by criminal gangs responsible for killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings. 

According to the UN, gangs controlling nearly all the capital of Port-au-Prince have expanded their influence beyond the city in the past year. 

"The urgency is absolute. The deployment of the gang repression force must take place without delay," said Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.

- Plans for a 5,500-strong force -

On setting up the GSF, Christofides said "force generation is progressing, with impressive pledges from member states." He did not provide details.

An initial deployment plan has been approved, adhering to the ceiling of 5,500 troops and police officers authorized by the Security Council, and "deployments will take place in phases over the coming months," he said.

So far, only 400 Chadian soldiers have arrived in Port-au-Prince to participate in the GSF. Chad has pledged a total of 1,500 personnel.

The departure of police officers from the MMAS -- which at its peak comprised about 1,000 officers, primarily from Kenya -- is expected to proceed gradually to avoid a security vacuum as the new force deploys.

"Efforts continue to broaden participation and ensure that the mission is equipped with the capabilities required to fulfill its mandate," Christofides said.

"Maritime and border dimensions for the mission will be particularly important including support for Haiti's capacity to manage its ports and commercial entry points," he added.

He said the goal was "to enable Haitian institutions to regain control and to create the conditions for longer term stability."

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN representative in Haiti, welcomed political progress in the country, specifically the transfer of power in February from the Transitional Presidential Council to Prime Minister Fils-Aime.

"Elections remain the only legitimate path back to constitutional order," he said.

Haiti has not held elections since 2016, primarily because of poor security.

According to the latest report by experts mandated by the Security Council, law enforcement operations have succeeded in curbing the expansion of gangs in the capital.

However, "the security situation remains deeply concerning," said Ruiz Massieu, also drawing attention to Haiti's nearly 1.5 million displaced persons.

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There is a "misimpression" about the extent of Canada's economic reliance on the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday, again pushing back on suggestions Ottawa must capitulate to Washington's trade demands.

Canada and the United States are heading towards fractious negotiations on the future of a North American free trade agreement that President Donald Trump signed and praised in his first term, but now says is "irrelevant."

The Trump administration's key trade figures -- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer -- have been highly critical of Canada's posture ahead of talks set to accelerate over the coming weeks.

Appearing in Congress on Wednesday, Lutnick defended Washington's tough rhetoric and said "Canada's economy leans on the incredible 30 trillion dollar economy of America."

Carney told reporters on Thursday that "there is a misimpression, by some, of the degree to which we are reliant on the United States."

"Yes, it is our biggest trading partner by far. We are also their second-biggest trading partner. There is a symbiosis between the two," the prime minister said.

Canada's "destiny is first and foremost going to be determined by what we do here."

Trump has repeatedly said the US economy does not need anything Canada produces and told the World Economic Forum in January that "Canada lives because of the United States."

Greer's comments about Canada have been more muted.

He said this month that "pillars" of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are functioning reasonably well and would likely be preserved, while stressing substantial parts of the deal need to be changed.

Both Greer and Lutnick on Wednesday voiced anger over an Ontario provincial government decision to ban the sale of US liquor and wine in retaliation for Trump's steel and auto tariffs, which are hurting the economy of Canada's largest province.

Lutnick told Congress the ban was "insulting and disrespectful to America."

Greer told US lawmakers "there may have to be an enforcement action to deal with this issue," an apparent reference to dispute mechanisms within the USMCA.

Asked about Ontario's US alcohol ban on Thursday, Carney said it was a provincial decision but noted US breaches of the USMCA are undeniable.

"The tariffs on steel, the tariffs on aluminum, the tariffs on automobiles...those are violations of our trade deal," Carney said.

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(The Center Square) – After six hours of failed amendment votes, the U.S. Senate adopted Republicans’ budget resolution to fund immigration enforcement in a 50-48 vote early Thursday.

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted with all Democrats against the legislation.

The budget resolution directs the congressional Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to craft a budget reconciliation bill – a filibuster-proof vehicle for adjusting federal spending – that pledges up to $140 billion for ICE and U.S. Border Patrol over the next 3.5 years.

The House, however, won’t take up the measure until at least Monday, and some House Republicans want to expand the scope of the budget resolution beyond immigration enforcement funding.

“If it comes over and that’s what I’m confronted with, then I will vote for it – reluctantly, because they were missing a huge opportunity to get a lot of good stuff done,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told reporters Thursday. “We’re wasting a reconciliation bill.”

Reconciliation is a last-ditch effort by Republicans to finish the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process and reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has remained shuttered for 69 days.

A hybrid Homeland Security appropriations bill, which includes annual funds for all DHS agencies except ICE and CBP, has already passed the Senate and awaits a House vote.

But House Republicans are waiting to approve it until they see progress on a budget reconciliation bill ensuring funding for those agencies, which begins with the budget resolution.

If Republicans try to attach other policy riders to the bill, the path to reopening DHS could get even rockier and Republicans could miss President Donald Trump's June 1 deadline for the reconciliation bill to reach his desk.

"We cannot allow Democrats to hold DHS funding hostage when our national security is on the line," Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., posted on X Thursday. "Senate Republicans just locked in a $70 billion plan to fund ICE and Border Patrol and end the DHS shutdown, now it’s on the House to act. We MUST get this done."

More than 120 rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a travel advisory on Thursday warning that visitors to the 2026 World Cup could face "serious rights violations" due to the US government's immigration policies.

The coalition said fans, players, journalists and other travelers to World Cup games in the United States risked being affected by what it described as the Trump administration's "draconian immigration and anti-human rights agenda."

The grouping called on football's world governing body FIFA -- whose president, Gianni Infantino has close ties to Donald Trump -- to lobby the US government to ensure the safety of all travelers to the tournament.

"FIFA has been paying lip service to human rights while cozying up with the Trump administration, putting millions of people at risk of being harmed and their basic rights violated," said Jamil Dakwar, ACLU human rights program director. 

"It's past time that FIFA use its leverage to push for meaningful policy changes and binding assurances that will make people feel safe to travel and enjoy the games."

The coalition advisory warned that foreigners visiting the United States for the World Cup face specific risks, including "arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention or deportation; invasive social media screening and searches of electronic devices; violent and unconstitutional immigration enforcement and racial profiling."

The advisory also said visitors potentially faced "suppression of speech and protest and increased surveillance; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment – and even death" while detained by US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The majority of matches at the World Cup -- 78 out of 104 -- are scheduled to take place in the United States, which is co-hosting the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.

Four qualified nations - Iran, Haiti, Senegal, and Ivory Coast -- may find themselves without their supporters due to travel bans imposed by the US government, as Donald Trump has made anti-immigration policy the centerpiece of his second term.

Washington has assured that the administration's immigration crackdowns measures do not affect tourist visas -- and, by extension, fans holding tickets for the World Cup. 

FIFA has also established an expedited consular appointment process for visa applications, though without guaranteeing that a visa will be granted.

Concerns among supporters have intensified amid ongoing ICE operations targeting undocumented migrants. 

In January, two US citizens protesting the immigration crackdown were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, prompting widespread outrage.

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© Agence France-Presse

More than four million tickets were sold worldwide for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics during this month's first window for purchases, organizers announced on Thursday.

Ticket buyers were from 85 nations, with top global sales beyond the United States coming from the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

"The response to our initial on-sale was nothing short of historic," LA28 chief executive officer Reynold Hoover said. "Fans from near and far have spoken: the world wants to be part of the LA28 Games."

The next opportunity for 2028 Olympic ticket purchases will be in August, with people able to register through July 22. Fans will be able to buy up to 12 tickets for Olympic events and up to 12 tickets for Olympic football matches that don't count toward the 12-ticket Olympic maximum.

According to organizers, 95% of all tickets available under $100 were sold in the opening wave, with women's sessions outselling men's sessions 93% to 88%.

Gymnastics tickets sold the fastest with all available inventory sold for new Olympic offerings flag football, lacrosse, softball and squash.

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