Interim US-Iran deal leaves the thorniest issue still to be negotiated: Tehran's nuclear program
WASHINGTON (AP) — The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries — Tehran's nuclear program.
Preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is a key reason that President Donald Trump said he launched the war alongside Israel in February, but the tentative agreement he has trumpeted leaves little runway to negotiate the long-running sticking point. The previous nuclear pact between Iran and world powers, which Trump pulled the U.S. from in his first term, took many months to negotiate.
Few details have been publicly released about the initial deal, set to be officially signed Friday in Switzerland, but it generally calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to global oil shipments, financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks, and a 60-day period for talks on ending the country's nuclear program.
There is deep skepticism among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, pro-Israel advocates and Israel itself that the deal is realistic, workable or would have any effect on nuclear talks.
“My skepticism is Iran itself. What would a good deal look like? No enrichment. And we’ll see if we can get there,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally and longtime Iran hawk, said Tuesday. “But whether or not we can get phase two, I don’t know.”
G7 leaders back Trump's plan to end Iran war that faces skepticism at home
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — Leaders at the Group of Seven summit on Wednesday threw their support behind U.S. President Donald Trump's tentative agreement with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and further extend a shaky ceasefire — even though he's offered scant specificity about how that would be implemented.
In a declaration issued overnight, the leaders called the deal a “historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon and tackling the threats related to its regional and ballistic activities.” The leaders said that they were “ready to contribute to its implementation,” although neither the White House nor Iran has released the text of the agreement.
The final day of summit talks started late with Trump, the last to arrive, saying “I’m the boss” as he entered the room and sat next to host French President Emmanuel Macron. The assembled leaders laughed, and Trump grinned.
The G7 leaders were closing the formal talks of the leading industrial democracies at a lakeside resort in the French Alps on Wednesday with sessions on the future of artificial intelligence and fostering economic growth.
They discussed concerns that China is flooding export markets with subsidized products, unfairly out-competing their own industries and destroying jobs. Leaders of India, South Korea, Kenya and Brazil also joined the meeting.
World Cup what to know: Ronaldo looks to make history by scoring in 6th World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo, your turn.
The 41-year-old is set to enter the World Cup on Wednesday when Portugal meets Congo after impressive performances by the tournament’s other top stars.
France’s Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland of Norway each had two goals as they opened their World Cup campaigns on Tuesday, while Lionel Messi scored a hat trick for Argentina. That gave Messi 16 career goals in the World Cup, tying him with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the all-time record.
Ronaldo is also looking to make history by becoming the first player to score in six World Cups. Messi, too, is playing in his sixth World Cup but failed to find the net in 2010.
“Well, I wish him the best — I hope that he scores but not against us," Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said of the Portugal forward.
The cost to overcome a Trump endorsement? $100 million. Plus more takeaways from Tuesday's primaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries. But it's not foolproof, especially when there's a lot of money involved.
Rick Jackson's campaign spent more than $100 million, largely out of his own pocket, to defeat Trump-endorsed Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for Georgia governor. It was another rare example of the president's choice falling short in a primary battle.
Trump's efforts were more successful elsewhere. His candidate for U.S. Senate won a runoff in Alabama, and his pick for Oklahoma governor advanced to another runoff there.
Four states and the District of Columbia held primaries Tuesday. Among Democrats, the contests hinged on longstanding divides between progressives and moderates as the party tries to chart the best path forward to November.
Here are some takeaways as votes come in from Alabama, California, the District of Columbia, Georgia and Oklahoma.
Georgia Republicans choose Collins for Senate and Jackson for governor, a mixed result for Trump
JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Republicans delivered a split decision for Donald Trump in Tuesday runoffs, opting for the president’s preferred U.S. Senate candidate but rejecting his choice for governor in favor of a billionaire first-time candidate who spent freely from his personal fortune to win the nomination.
In the Senate race, Rep. Mike Collins, 58, topped former football coach Derek Dooley and advanced to face Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only Senate Democrat running for reelection in a state that Trump won two years ago. The outcome will help determine control of Capitol Hill for the final years of Trump’s second presidency.
For governor, healthcare tycoon Rick Jackson, 71, outpaced Lt. Gov. Burt Jones after spending about $100 million of his own money on the campaign. That investment ultimately outweighed Jones' backing from the president. Jackson will face Democratic nominee and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.
Trump, who endorsed Jones nearly a year ago and Collins two days before the runoff, is poised to be a fault line in both general election contests. The president was notably absent in Republicans’ remarks on Tuesday, however, a shift from other primary nights where candidates paid homage to their party's leader despite his sagging approval ratings.
Collins, a second-term congressman, is a self-described “MAGA warrior” and echoes Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election loss in Georgia was rigged. Yet when celebrating in his hometown, Collins thanked his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, friends, supporters and staffers — but never the president. He even touted his bipartisanship and pitched himself as a sound conservative who can achieve progress by “building coalitions and finding common ground.” And he promised to campaign in “every ZIP code and every community” of this closely divided state.
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Robert White Jr. wins Democratic primary for the District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington, D.C. Council member Robert White Jr. won the Democratic primary for the district’s delegate to Congress on Tuesday, ushering in generational change for a position long held by the same candidate as the nation’s capital faces mounting pressures on its autonomy.
White’s win in the heavily Democratic city sets him up to take the top spot in November’s general elections, when he could replace 18-term delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Norton, 89 and a fixture of the Civil Rights movement, decided not to run again after facing growing concerns over her ability to forcefully push back against the Trump administration’s federal intervention into the city’s affairs.
White had campaigned on promises to fight for the city’s autonomy, which has been squeezed under President Donald Trump, who deployed the National Guard on an ongoing, open-ended mission meant to fight crime and rattled the capital’s economy by downsizing the federal workforce.
“My election means we’re going to keep our independence and we’re going to get statehood. People know I’m not going to lay down. I’m going to fight,” White told The Associated Press after his win was declared.
The D.C. delegate position is a nonvoting one, but it grants the nearly 700,000 people of the district, who have no other representation in Congress, a voice through speechmaking on the House floor and bill introduction.
World shares are mixed and oil trades below $80 on optimism over interim US-Iran war deal
HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed and oil was trading below $80 a barrel on Wednesday as investors watched for details on the interim agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.
U.S. futures were also trading mixed ahead of a decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.2% lower to 10,471.84, following official data that showed U.K. inflation was steady in May at 2.8% even as fuel prices increased. Germany's DAX fell 0.3% to 24,829.58, while France's CAC 40 was up 0.2% to 8,465.32.
Asian stocks were mostly higher with markets in Japan and South Korea setting new records. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 69,902.25, after reaching an intraday high of 70,125.75 following news that Japan’s exports jumped 17% in May from a year earlier, helped in part by strong demand for high-tech products.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6% to 8,864.24, also closing at another all-time high, with big technology stocks climbing despite a sell-off of artificial intelligence-related shares on Wall Street. Samsung Electronics, the country’s most valuable company, was up 1%. Chipmaker SK Hynix jumped 5.8%.
Most Americans see freedoms under threat but core to nation's identity, AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans believe civil liberties like the right to vote are under threat, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while also continuing to agree that the rights expressed in the nation’s founding documents are still core to American identity.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans across demographics believe the right to vote, the right to free speech and freedom of religion are integral to the country. But they were more divided on the importance of the right to bear arms, and few — about one-third or less — saw those rights as safe from threats.
The survey, which was conducted April 16-20 — before the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that winnowed a section of the Voting Rights Act — highlights an enduring consensus among Americans that personal freedoms are vital to the country's national identity. But it also reveals deep anxieties about the nation’s trajectory on the cusp of a summer filled with celebrations of the country's semi-quincentennial birthday.
“Our idea of rights has been very consistent in this country until the last few years,” said Louise Rochon, 85, of Connecticut. “Now, they’re all under threat. Every single last one of them.”
About 9 in 10 Americans say the right to vote is “extremely” or “very” important to the United States’ identity, the poll found. About the same proportion of Americans consider freedom of speech to be highly important to the country’s identity. Meanwhile, about 8 in 10 Americans consider freedom of religion to be core to the national identity, while about 6 in 10 Americans consider the right to keep or bear arms as highly important to the nation’s identity.
Rex Heuermann to be sentenced in New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killings
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island architect who lived a secret life as New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer is being sentenced Wednesday after admitting in court that he murdered eight women.
Rex Heuermann faces the likelihood of a life prison sentence when he goes before a judge in Riverhead, New York. Family members of his victims are expected to address the court.
The sentencing caps an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York's most perplexing mysteries — one that began as a series of seemingly unconnected, and largely unmarked disappearances of young women, but became the focus of true-crime documentaries, books and podcasts after police began discovering the victims' skeletal remains in the sandy scrub along a coastal parkway.
Heuermann, who has remained largely silent through multiple court appearances since his 2023 arrest, will also have a chance to speak Wednesday, but it’s not immediately clear if he will. His lawyers didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
Asa Ellerup, his ex-wife, and their two grown children have said through their lawyers that they won’t be attending the sentencing out of respect for the victim’s families.
The Latest: G7 summit focuses on contentious future of AI and US dominance of the industry
Leaders at the Group of Seven summit wrap up three days of talks in the French Alps on Wednesday with discussions on the contentious future of artificial intelligence and U.S. dominance of the industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump and other national leaders are closing the formal talks of the leading industrial nations in the lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains with a session on the future of artificial intelligence and another on fostering economic growth.
The heads of several leading AI companies will attend the discussions, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
Trump plans to stop outside Paris for a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles before he jets back to Washington on Wednesday.
The G7 leaders spent the bulk of the meetings Tuesday discussing the war between Russia and Ukraine and a tentative deal to end the Iran war. Trump did not reveal details of the agreement expected to be signed by the United States and Iran on Friday at a resort on Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne.

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