President says decision made ‘in honor of the king and queen’ as industry officials call deal ‘significant boost’

In a gesture of diplomatic friendliness after King Charles’s visit to the White House, Donald Trump said the US would be removing all tariffs on whisky imports.

“In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon,” Trump said in a post on social media.

US president faced a 60-day deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it

A US-Iran ceasefire that began in early April has “terminated” hostilities between the two sides for the purposes of an approaching congressional war powers deadline, a senior official of the Trump administration said on Thursday.

Donald Trump faced a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date was most likely to pass without altering the course of the war.

Republican-controlled House approved bipartisan measure to fund much of DHS, including Secret Service and TSA

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The US House of Representatives has voted to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security – excluding immigration enforcement operations – and end the longest government agency shutdown in history.

The deal struck on Thursday aims to draw a line under a 75-day impasse that had threatened airport chaos and exposed fresh strains within the Republican party.

Green checkmark will appear on artist profiles to signal they meet the platform’s standard for authenticity

Spotify on Thursday unveiled a new verification system designed to help listeners distinguish human musicians from AI-generated content, as people flood streaming platforms with a growing volume of synthetic tracks made with artificial intelligence.

The Swedish streaming giant said its “Verified by Spotify” badge – marked by a green checkmark – will begin appearing on artist profiles and in search results in the coming weeks, signaling that a profile has been reviewed and meets the platform’s standards for authenticity.

Four months after US capture of Nicolás Maduro, officials hail repairing of ties as airliner touches down in Caracas

US and Venezuelan officials have hailed a new era in diplomatic relations as the first direct commercial flight between the two countries in more than seven years landed in Caracas.

Nearly four months ago, US special forces attack helicopters and planes swept into the skies over Venezuela’s capital after Donald Trump ordered the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro.

US president’s latest outburst comes a day after he suggested a ‘possible reduction’ in US troops in Germany

• Why does the US have military bases in Germany – and will Trump follow through on his threat?

Donald Trump has again lashed out at Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying he should focus on “fixing his broken country” and trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war – and spend less time “interfering” in Iran.

“The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!),” Trump wrote in a social media post.

Move comes after mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke on return of the Koh-i-noor diamond after UK royals’ visit to New York

Hundreds of antiquities valued at $14m have been returned to India by New York authorities, including some connected to the alleged art smuggler Subhash Kapoor, in a move that is likely to raise the pressure on others to make similar gestures.

The return of 657 antiquities was announced by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg Jr, on Tuesday, and came as New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, waded into the historically contentious ownership of the 105.6 carat Koh-i-noor diamond.

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• Louisiana postpones primaries as states rush to redraw districts after supreme court ruling

• Voting rights advocates vow to ‘relocate’ fight after supreme court gutting

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law decried the decision by the supreme court to severely weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Damon T Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, issued this statement:

“Black Americans have never been fully represented in the electoral process. This ruling makes it less likely that we ever will. The impact of this ruling cannot be understated. The consequences will be seen both immediately and far into the future.

Lee Zeldin claims before Senate that Trump administration plan will make Environmental Protection Agency ‘more efficient’

Senate Democrats accused the Trump administration of abandoning the Environmental Protection Agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment at a congressional hearing Wednesday, slamming agency leadership over a proposal to cut its budget in half.

Lee Zeldin’s appearance before the Senate environment committee was the EPA administrator’s last of three budget hearings this week where he argued for sharply reduced funding for the agency, which already has seen its staffing reduced to its lowest level in decades under his leadership. During much of the week, the former Republican congressman from New York took an aggressive approach, responding to Democrats in the House and Senate with his own questions and at times accusing them of being unprepared or failing to care about the EPA’s record.

Hope that sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy could help soldiers fight longer by helping them process trauma

A new doctrine could soon take hold in part of the US war on drugs: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD.

In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy.

Mojtaba Khamenei says Tehran will eliminate ‘enemy’s abuses of the waterway’ and guard its nuclear and missile programmes

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Iran’s supreme leader has broken his recent silence with a defiant statement hailing Iran’s control over shipping in the strait of Hormuz and vowing to guard the country’s nuclear and missile programmes.

“Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz,” Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement read by a state television anchor.

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Louisiana governor Jeff Landry yesterday told GOP candidates that he plans to suspend next month’s primary elections so that state lawmakers can pass a new congressional map first, the Washington Post (paywall) reported last night.

It came hours after the US supreme court decided that Louisiana’s creation of a second majority black congressional district to satisfy previously rulings relied too heavily on race and was “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander”, as opposed to a required effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act.