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Gulf Insider
an hour ago
- Business
- Gulf Insider
White House Says Trump To Decide On Attacking Iran 'Within Next 2 Weeks'
The White House held a high stakes presser Thursday afternoon, as President Donald Trump also again convened his top national security officials in the situation room to hear intelligence officials and make key decisions on the Israel-Iran war, just prior. Of course, the biggest question that remains is: will the US directly enter the war against Iran? White House quoting Trump: 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.' Leavitt: Trump thinks 'substantial chance' of Iran negotiations Leavitt: Witkoff has been in touch with Iran Leavitt: Trump always interested in diplomatic solutions Leavitt: it's the US belief that Iran has never been closer to a nuclear weapon Leavitt: Iran can and should make a deal or face consequences Leavitt: Trump remains in contact with Netanyahu Leavitt: Iran is in a weakened position and we have sent a deal Leavitt: Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon, it just needs a 'decision' Oil slides on the 'two weeks' announcement, as the can gets kicked down the road: The most pressing issues at stake: Netanyahu has said the US has been 'helping a lot' – without defining specifics Last ditch diplomacy working? Reuters reports in a breaking development that Iran held direct talks with US over de-escalation and potentially restarting nuclear negotiations. The Guardian reports that Trump only wants to strike Iran only if the US can destroy the Fordow enrichment facility. Destruction of Fordow would at least require the 30k pound bunker buster bomb, but still may not be effective in ending Iran's enrichment capacity. Netanyahu says that while regime change in Tehran is not the current goal, the option is on the table. Tactical nuke on the table? Will the Iranians close the Strait of Hormuz, choking off global oil shipping? Reports of US bases in the region taking protective and defensive measures Israeli intelligence official says 'imminent collapse' of Iranian government is 'far from the truth' – NBC reports Iran is warning that a 'third party intervention' would spark an immediate military response. Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called 'bunker buster' bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks. The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Trump's term, according to two defense officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is buried. Tactical nukes now? And there's much, much more that needs to be considered. Likely full American military entry in to the war would spiral into full regime change in Iran. What comes next? Iran as a society is much larger, and with an even more complex ethnic division than neighboring Iraq… and we all remember the pandora's box and US 'forever war' very well. Soon after Saddam's toppling came the rise of ISIS and hellish decade-plus long Syrian proxy war. Have the politicians already forgotten? (or more likely they don't care…) Adding to the chaos would be the IRGC likely closing the vital Strait of Hormuz – which would send oil prices skyrocketing. By the day's end we are likely to find out whether Trump will stick by being negotiator in chief… or war hawk in chief… will he listen to the likes of Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson, or to Lindsey Graham and Mark Levin? Meanwhile… CNN put together a clip of Tulsi Gabbard testifying recently that "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon" followed by Trump saying "I don't care what she said" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2025 As Israel's war with Iran nears the end of its first week, each side continued to inflict destruction from above in Thursday's opening hours. In a development certain to be exploited by proponents of US intervention, the largest hospital in southern Israel reportedly received 'extensive' damage after suffering a hit from an Iranian ballistic missile. Meanwhile, defying warnings of radiation dangers from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Israeli Air Force bombed Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, even though Iran modified it pursuant to the 2015 nuclear deal to make it incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. In its initial retaliatory strikes on Israel, Iran had largely confined its missile barrages to the night. However, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) observed significant success in evading Israel's highly-hyped Iron Dome, Iranian barrages are now increasingly coming in broad daylight, as they did on Thursday morning in a 30-missile strike that caused dozens of injuries, six of them severe: One of Iran's missiles struck Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, with health officials saying the explosion caused extensive damage along with injuries. Iran said the missile was aimed at a nearby Israeli military intelligence facility; the Times said the nearest military facility it knows of is over two kilometers away. Verified by the Times , this video captures the sound of the thunderous explosion blast and the huge mushroom cloud that rose up from the impact at the hospital: Israeli President Isaac Herzog emphasized that the hospital has a staff of 'Jews and Arabs work[ing] side by side…caring for Israelis of all faiths and our neighbors the Palestinians.' Thanks in large part to a Wednesday evacuation of the floor that was struck, no fatalities have been reported at the hospital, and only minor injuries. Israeli officials quickly condemned the attack. 'The missile fired toward Soroka Medical Center is an act of terror and crosses a red line,' Health Minister Uriel Buso told Times of Israel . Israeli critics will be quick to point out Israel's enormously destructive campaign in Gaza has damaged or destroyed 94% of the hospitals in the territory. The Iranian barrage also caused major damage in the major city of Ramat Gan, an important business and educational hub just 5 kilometers east of Tel Aviv. With many modern skyscrapers, Ramat Gan has been nicknamed 'the Manhattan of Israel.' Some of those shiny skyscrapers were shattered on Thursday morning, as two people were seriously injured: On the other side of the war map, Israeli bombs and missiles rained down on Iran, with the Israeli military announcing 40 fighter jets hit dozens of facilities, including the Arak heavy water reactor, and a facility in Natanz that Israel claims Iran is using to develop a nuclear weapon. In March, the US intelligence community said it continues to conclude that, true to its decades of assurances, Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. Ironically, Israel's attack on Arak helps draw attention to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018, sowing the seeds of the war that's raging today. In compliance with that deal, Iran filled the heavy water reactor core with cement so it would be incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. Other JCPOA modifications were also in progress at the Arak facility. In announcing its Thursday strike, the IDF even referred to it as the 'inactive nuclear reactor in Arak' — which only helps underscore the fact that the original nuclear deal was fully achieving its purpose, and it was only discarded in deference to Israel and its Western collaborators looking for a false pretense for war, one that's astonishingly similar to the one used for the disastrous invasion of Iraq. Earlier in the day, Israel had warned Iranians to evacuate from the vicinity of the reactor, using social media posts that featured satellite imagery of the facility in a red circle. However, Israel's warning came after reports that Iranians were enduring a near-total loss of internet access more than 12 hours at the last report. The outage was reportedly the work of the Iranian government; the New York Times said the move was likely motivated in part by fear of Israeli cyberattacks. Earlier this week, Israel's US ambassador cryptically promised 'some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make [Israel's explosive-beeper] operation [in Lebanon] almost seem simple.'
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer
Greek Alpine skier AJ Ginnis, a world slalom silver medalist and former U.S. Ski Team member, will be the first torchbearer of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic torch relay that starts Nov. 26. Ginnis, who eyes his Olympic debut in February at age 31, will receive the flame in the ancient Olympic site of Olympia, Greece, to start the torch relay. A Greek athlete traditionally is the first torchbearer before an athlete from the Olympic host nation. 'It is a great honor for me, something that I never imagined as a child,' Ginnis said, according to the Greek Olympic Committee. The relay will culminate at the Feb. 6 Opening Ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. The relay typically spends multiple days in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, before moving to the host nation. For Milan Cortina, the Italy portion of the relay will start Dec. 4 in Rome. Ginnis missed most of last season due to knee surgery. In 2023, he earned what is believed to be Greece's first world championships medal in any Winter Olympic program event when he took slalom silver. The best Greek finish in any event at a Winter Olympics was 13th in women's skeleton in 2002. Ginnis previously raced for the U.S. at the 2017 Worlds, then was dropped from the national team after the 2017-18 season following several injuries and a best World Cup finish of 26th at the time. He switched to his birth nation of Greece, where he had learned to ski at Mount Parnassus, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Athens. He moved to Austria at age 12 and then Vermont three years after that. Ginnis has undergone at least seven knee surgeries in his career. He tore an ACL in summer 2021, ruling him out of the 2022 Winter Games. He thought he was done with ski racing when he went to Beijing to work the 2022 Olympics for NBC. 'When I came back, I told myself, my goal is to go into the next Olympic cycle being a medal contender,' he said at the 2023 Worlds. 'Fighting back from injuries, getting cut from teams, trying to fundraise for what we're doing now. ... This is a dream come true on every level.' Nick Zaccardi,
NBC News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Minnesota lawmaker shot 9 times at his home in 'targeted' attack is in a critical condition
The Minnesota lawmaker who survived an attack by a gunman on his doorstep is still in a critical condition and has revealed details of the terrifying moment he and his wife were shot multiple times. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, released a statement Thursday, obtained by NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis, outlining the events in the early hours of June 14. The Hoffmans continue their recovery in the hospital — Sen. Hoffman is in a critical but stable condition, while his wife is in a stable condition, the statement said. The suspected gunman, Vance Boelter, is accused of shooting them and killing the state's top legislator, Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz described the shootings as "targeted political violence." In the statement, the Hoffmans described the night of the shooting, which occurred after they returned to their Champlin home from a dinner. Their adult daughter Hope was also present. "At approximately 2:00 a.m., we were all awakened by the sounds of pounding on the front door and shouts of someone seeking entry, identifying himself as a police officer," the couple's statement said. "When the door was opened, all three of us were in the entryway. John initially lunged at the gunman as the weapon was pointed directly at him, getting struck nine times. As John fell, Yvette reached out to push the man and shut the door, succeeding before she was also hit eight times by gunfire," the statement continued. The couple's daughter then shut the door and locked it before phoning 911. "Her brave actions and quick thinking triggered the notice to public safety officials that a politically-motivated act was potentially underway," the statement said. The Hoffmans thanked the medical professionals who cared for them and the law enforcement officers who attended the scene and eventually caught Boelter after what became the biggest manhunt in Minnesota history. The couple also said they were "heartbroken to know that our friends Melissa and Mark Hortman were assassinated," adding that their daughters went to school together In the statement, the couple also thanked the local community and Fernbrook School, where Yvette Hoffman works, for organizing a GoFundMe page that has raised almost $200,000 to pay for medical expenses and increased security measures. Prosecutors said that notebooks found in Boelter's SUV and at his home showed the names of more than 45 state and federal elected officials. The Hoffmans reflected on the threat faced by public officials and said they understood that public sector figures sacrifice some level of privacy. "But now we are grappling with the reality that we live in a world where public service carries such risks as being targeted because someone disagrees with you or doesn't like what you stand for," they said.
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Before social media, Barbara Walters said ‘Tell Me Everything.' And many did
There is no single figure in television history whose longevity and influence match Barbara Walters'. She became a star on NBC's 'Today' in the early 1960s, raising the stature of the morning franchise. She opened doors for women as a network anchor and turned newsmaker interviews into major television events — 74 million tuned into her 1999 sit-down with Monica Lewinsky. She created one of daytime TV's longest-running hits with 'The View,' which evolved into a major forum for the country's political discourse. 'The audience size that Barbara was able to capture and harness is unmatched in today's world,' said Jackie Jesko, director of the new documentary 'Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,' debuting Monday on Hulu after its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month. 'Everything she did sort of made a difference.' Jesko's feature — produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Documentaries and ABC News Studios — is the first in-depth look into Walters' storied career. The film also serves as a sweeping historical review of the decades-long dominance of network news that made figures such as Walters a gatekeeper of the culture, as Jesko describes her. Before the advent of social media and podcasts that allowed celebrities to control their messages, going through the X-ray machine of a Barbara Walters interview delivered exposure on a massive scale. David Sloan, a longtime ABC News producer who worked with Walters, recalls how the screen images of her specials flickered through the windows of Manhattan apartment towers. 'Tell Me Everything' came together not long after Walters died at the age of 93 in 2022. Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, approached Betsy West, executive producer and co-director of the Julia Child documentary 'Julia,' about taking on a Walters project. Sloan, who oversaw an Emmy-winning tribute after Walters' death, also wanted a deeper exploration into the impact of her career. West, also a former Walters colleague, and Sloan became executive producers on the film. 'Tell Me Everything' taps deeply into the ABC News archives, which contain thousands of hours of interviews Walters conducted over her 40 years at the network. Imagine not only gained access to program content but also outtakes that give parts of the film a cinema vérité-like look at Walters on the job. The newly unearthed footage provides some surreal moments, such as Walters — in a pink Chanel suit — exploring the damaged palace of Libya's deposed leader Moammar Kadafi. 'The archive gave us a the perfect canvas to relive her scenes and her moments,' Bernstein said. Walters' story also gives a guided tour of the obstacle-ridden path women faced in the early days of TV news when it was dominated by patriarchy and self-importance. Female reporters were relegated to writing soft features and kept at a distance from hard news. But Walters shattered those barriers through her grit and wits. She toiled as a writer in local TV and a failed CBS morning program before landing at NBC's 'Today' in 1961. ('They needed someone they could hire cheap,' she said.) Walters went from churning out copy for the program's 'Today Girl' to doing her own on-air segments, including a famously beguiling report on a Paris fashion show and a day-in-the-life look at being a Playboy bunny. More serious assignments came her way. The morning viewing audience loved Walters even though she didn't believe she was attractive enough to be on camera. Her career trajectory was slowed down only by male executives unwilling to embrace the idea that a woman could be the face of a network news operation. By 1971, Walters was the main attraction on 'Today' when she sat alongside host Frank McGee every morning. But she was denied equal status. A respected journalist with the demeanor of an undertaker, McGee insisted to management that he ask the first three questions of any hard news subject who appeared on 'Today' before Walters could have a chance. The restriction led to Walters going outside the NBC studios to conduct interviews where her subjects lived or worked. The approach not only gave her control of the conversations but added a level of intimacy that audiences were not getting elsewhere on television. Walters also had written into her contract that if McGee ever left 'Today,' she would be promoted to the title of co-host. NBC brass agreed to the provision, believing McGee was not going anywhere. But McGee was suffering from bone cancer, which he had kept secret. He died in 1974 and Walters was elevated to co-host, making her the first woman to lead a daily network news program. (Or as Katie Couric candidly puts it in the film, 'She got it literally over Frank McGee's dead body.') Walters made history again when she was poached by ABC News in 1976. She was given a record-high $1-million annual salary to be the first woman co-anchor of a network evening newscast, paired with Harry Reasoner, a crusty and unwelcoming veteran. Walters was mistreated by her colleague and roasted by critics and competitors such as CBS News commentator Eric Sevareid, who, with disgust in his voice, described her as 'a lady reading the news.' The evening news experiment with Reasoner was a short-lived disaster, but Walters found a supporter in Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports impresario who took over the news division and had an appreciation for showmanship. He recognized Walters' strengths and made her a roving correspondent. Walters scored a major coup in 1977 when she was the first TV journalist to speak jointly with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem. 'She was a household name in the Mideast,' Sloan said. Over time, Walters would become known for her prime-time specials, where lengthy interviews with world leaders aired adjacent to conversations with movie stars. She could be a blunt questioner in both realms, asking Barbra Streisand why she chose not to get her nose fixed and former President Richard M. Nixon if he wished he had burned the White House tapes that undid his presidency ('I probably should have'). News purists clutched their pearls, but the audience welcomed it. 'She had a vision back then that celebrities are news,' said Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger in the film. 'She was practicing the art of journalism when she was interviewing them.' The film explains how Walters developed an understanding of celebrities after growing up around her father's nightclub, the Latin Quarter, a hot spot in Boston. Sitting in the rafters above the floor show, she observed how audiences responded as well. Even though Walters' programs earned significant revenue for ABC News, she still had detractors, including the network's star anchor Peter Jennings. A clip from the network's political convention coverage in 1992 shows Jennings surreptitiously flipping his middle finger at her following an on-air exchange. But Walters was unstoppable, and as the 1980s and 1990s progressed, she became a mother confessor for perpetrators and victims of scandal. During a memorable jailhouse meeting with the Menendez brothers in which Eric describes himself and Lyle as 'normal kids,' a stunned Walters replies, 'Eric, you're a normal kid who murdered his parents!' As always, she was speaking for the person watching at home. 'She always wanted to ask the question that was percolating in the brain of someone who didn't have the opportunity or was too afraid to ask,' said Meredith Kaulfers, an executive vice president at Imagine Documentaries. Walters became a pioneer for women broadcasters out of necessity. While in her 20s, her father's nightclub business collapsed and she became the sole source of financial support for her family, which included her mentally disabled older sister. The terror of the insecurity she felt during that period never left. 'There was a survival instinct in her that drove her,' said Marcella Steingart, a producer on the film. 'Not necessarily on purpose, but in her wake, she opened doors for people.' 'Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything' is not a hagiography. The film explores her fraught relationship with her adopted daughter Jacqueline, who did not sit for an interview. Walters' unhealthy obsession with colleague and rival Diane Sawyer is covered, too, as is her willingness to use the social connections she developed through her career, and not just to land big interviews. Walters had a friendship with unsavory lawyer Roy Cohn, who pulled strings to make her father's tax problems go away. She carried on a secret romance in the 1970s with a married U.S. senator — Edward Brooke — while she was a fixture in national political coverage. While the film draws on interviews where Walters laments not being able to have both a successful career and a family life, Jesko sensed no regrets. 'I think if she could live her life over again, she wouldn't change anything,' Jesko said.
Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Priyanka Chopra serves a killer look on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, promotes Heads of State in black dress
Priyanka Chopra is all set to make an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The actor was clicked by the paparazzi as she left the NBC studios after tapping for Jimmy Fallon. She is promoting her upcoming film, Heads of State, with Idris Elba and John Cena. Also Read | Lauren Gottlieb in ivory off-shoulder gown ties the knot with longtime beau Tobias Jones in dreamy Tuscany wedding: Pics The official page of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon also shared pictures of Priyanka from the sets on Instagram. The show's team also posted a small clip of Priyanka's interaction with Jimmy, in which she taught him 'how to throw a punch'. The actor chose a black bodycon dress for the occasion, accessorised with striking jewels from Bvlgari. Let's decode her look. A post shared by The Tonight Show (BTS) (@fallontonightbts) The black leather ensemble features a strapless design with a plunging square neckline that shows off her decolletage. The dress hugged her figure like a second skin, showing off her curves. The slit on the back for ease of movement and the knee-length hem rounded off the design elements of the ensemble, which serves as a great fashion inspo for your next LBD (little black dress) buy. Priyanka accessorised the ensemble with killer black heels, a massive diamond ring, and a silver choker necklace from Bvlgari adorned with glittering diamonds. With her tresses left loose in a centre parting and styled with soft bangs sculpting either sides of her face, she chose feathered brows, mascara-adorned lashes, glossy berry-toned lips, flushed cheeks, glowing highlighter, light contouring, and soft pink eye shadow for the glam. A post shared by The Tonight Show (@fallontonight) Priyanka plays the role of an MI6 agent, Noel Bisset, in Heads of State. Her character must find a way to protect Idris Elba (UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke) and John Cena (US President Will Derringer) and help them thwart a conspiracy that threatens the world. The film also stars Paddy Considine, Stephen Root, Carla Gugino, Jack Quaid and Sarah Niles.
