Foreign
Trump Faces Hardest Iran Decision

US officials said dismantling Iran’s nuclear program — which Western countries say Tehran is using to seek a nuclear weapon — remained Trump’s priority.
President Donald Trump faces potentially the hardest choice of his time in the White House, as he weighs up whether the United States should join Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran.
Trump fueled speculation about a US intervention as he dashed back from a G7 summit in Canada, warning Tuesday that the United States could kill Iran’s supreme leader, but would not “for now.”
The choice is a monumental one for a president who has vowed throughout both his first and second terms in the Oval Office to get the United States out of its “forever wars” in the Middle East.
“It’s a major political and military choice that could define his legacy in the Middle East,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told AFP.
As Trump met his National Security Council in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday, there were already hints that he was considering abandoning what was until recently his preferred diplomatic route.
The most likely option under consideration by Trump would be the use of giant US “bunker-buster” bombs against Iran’s deeply buried Fordow nuclear facility that Israel’s bombs could not reach.
US officials said dismantling Iran’s nuclear program — which Western countries say Tehran is using to seek a nuclear weapon — remained Trump’s priority.
Trump also implied that the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is back on the table, just days after a US official said he had waved off such a move by Israel.
US officials stressed that Trump had not yet made a decision and was keeping all options on the table, with the situation fluid and changing “hourly.”
The Axios news site said Trump was even considering a new meeting between his top negotiator Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
A game-changer however would be any Iranian attack on US forces in the region, with an official saying that Trump would not tolerate a “hair on the back of an American” being harmed.
Trump’s change of tone is remarkable for coming less than a week after the US president — who has openly talked about wanting to win the Nobel Peace Prize — called on Israel to avoid strikes.
But amid frequent phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Netanyahu’s own hints about pursuing regime change in Iran, Trump has pivoted.
Trump has ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the region along with a number of US military aircraft, raising questions about whether he will act.
‘Decisions on your shoulders’
A further hint that action may be on the cards came from the White House’s apparent efforts to see off any backlash from his own Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
There has been growing opposition to any Iran intervention from the isolationist wing of his base, who hold him to his pledge to keep the United States out of wars like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Vice President JD Vance defended his boss, saying Trump had “earned some trust” on the issue and “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian (uranium) enrichment.”
“Having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals,” the Iraq veteran said, in a nod to MAGA skeptics.
Trump himself meanwhile hinted at his mood as he mulled his critical decision.
He reposted a comment by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, saying God had “spared” Trump from an assassination attempt last year.
“The decisions on your shoulders I would not want to be made by anyone else. You have many voices speaking to you Sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice,” Huckabee said.
Channelstv.com
Foreign
Tell Trump This: Primate Ayodele Sends Warning To Donald Trump In New Prophecy

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has warned that the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, may be stoned.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Primate Ayodele noted that the president will face attacks in an Arab country and that some nations will gang up to cause chaos in America.
“Donald Trump may be attacked and stoned in an Arab country; he needs to be very careful, and I also see some nations coming together to cause chaos in the USA The president must be watchful about this.”
He made it known that the policies of the president will destroy America and that if he continues, things will not go well in the USA.
“The USA will not be the same again because of Trump’s policies. His administration needs to be careful to avoid things going otherwise in the country.
“Trump needs to do better to make the world a better place; otherwise, America will pay for the damages even after his administration”
Primate Ayodele urged Trump to do better before it’s too late, as he foresees some problems befalling the nation very soon
“Trump needs to adjust so many things before it’s too late. A problem is coming, and something will happen which won’t favour the USA. Trump needs to reorganise and look into many things to avoid putting America into jeopardy; if not, they will regret voting for him.”
Foreign
Treason Trial Begins For South Sudan VP Machar As ‘Unity Government’ Breaks

South Sudan has started holding a trial for First Vice President Riek Machar, who has been sacked by his decades-long rival, President Salva Kiir, and charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity in relation to rebellion and an attack by a militia linked with ethnic tensions.
Machar and seven others who have been charged alongside him, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, were seen sitting inside a barred cage in the court on Monday during a live broadcast on national television.
Machar has been held in house arrest at his residence in the capital, Juba, for months following investigations by the government of his allies.
Earlier this month, a decree read on state radio said Kiir suspended the first vice president due to charges stemming from his alleged involvement in attacks by the White Army against federal forces in March.
The White Army, a loose band of armed youths, attacked a military base in Nasir, northeastern South Sudan, and killed more than 250 soldiers on Machar’s orders, according to the government.
Edmund Yakani, executive director of South Sudan activist group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, told local media that the trial must be transparent and fair to build up trust in the judicial system.
He urged both leaders and their parties to “adhere to the principle of resolving political misunderstanding through dialogue” rather than violence, which would benefit no one.
Machar’s party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/IO), has called the charges “fabricated” and said its members were arrested illegally. Machar’s lawyer on Monday said “an incompetent court” that lacks jurisdiction is judging him.
Fears of a return to ruinous civil war
After the vice president’s arrest, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on all parties to exercise restraint and warned that they risked losing the “hard-won gains of the past seven years” and returning to a state of civil war.
In 2013, two years after the country gained independence from Sudan following decades of war, oil-producing South Sudan descended into a civil war.
The devastating conflict, which scarred the country and left some 400,000 people killed, pitted Kiir and his allies from the ethnic Dinka group against Machar, who is from the Nuer, the second-largest ethnic group in South Sudan.
More than four million people, or about one-third of the population, were displaced from their homes before a 2018 peace deal saw the pair form a “national unity” government.
But they never fully saw eye-to-eye, leaving the country in a state of limbo.
Both leaders held on to their armed factions that were never fully integrated and unified despite agreements, while reforms were delayed, and presidential elections were repeatedly postponed.
Armed clashes have erupted in several parts of the country over the past months, with both sides accusing each other of breaking ceasefire agreements.
Authorities in South Sudan are, in the meantime, plundering billions of dollars in public funds as the impoverished country also deals with a deepening food crisis, according to the UN.
“The country has been captured by a predatory elite that has institutionalised the systematic looting of the nation’s wealth for private gain,” the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week.
Foreign
UN Calls Out South Sudan’s ‘Reckless’ Charges Against Machar

South Sudan’s First Vice President Machar faces charges of treason and other serious crimes, local justice authorities said, as fears grow that the east African country could edge toward a return to civil war.
The United Nations body for human rights in South Sudan has called the government’s charges of treason against opposition leader Riek Machar “reckless.”
South Sudan’s First Vice President Machar faces charges of treason and other serious crimes, local justice authorities said Thursday, as fears grow that the east African country could edge toward a return to civil war.
Machar has been under house arrest since March after the transitional government he is a part of accused him of subversive activities against President Salva Kiir, who said Thursday that he was suspending Machar as his deputy because of the criminal allegations.
Pro-government troops have been fighting militias and other armed groups that they say are loyal to Machar, who has served as his country’s No. 2 under the terms of a delicate peace deal signed in 2018.
That agreement has not been fully implemented, with presidential elections repeatedly postponed.
In addition to treason, Machar and seven others face charges of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity.
The charges stem from a violent incident in March when a militia known as the White Army overran a garrison of government troops, killing its commanding officer and others. The justice ministry said in a statement Thursday that the attack in Nasir, Upper Nile state was influenced by Machar and others via ”coordinated military and political structures.”
Bringing criminal charges against Machar is likely to further destabilize South Sudan, whose government faces pressure from regional leaders to reach a political agreement that prevents a return to full-blown war.
It was not immediately clear when Machar would be presented in a courtroom. His precise whereabouts in South Sudan are unknown, and his political supporters have long called for his freedom.