
Trump calls for a ceasefire deal on the war in Gaza as signs of progress emerge
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday urged progress in ceasefire talks in the 20-month war in Gaza, as Israel and Hamas appeared to move closer to an agreement.
A top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ron Dermer, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire, an Israeli official said, and plans were being made for Netanyahu to travel there in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a deal. The official declined to discuss the visit's focus and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been finalized.

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Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Republican senate tax bill would add $3.3 trillion to the U.S. debt load, CBO says
The changes made to President Donald Trump's big tax bill in the Senate would pile trillions onto the nation's debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in health care coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, adding to the challenges for Republicans as they try to muscle the bill to passage. The CBO estimates the Senate bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed bill, which CBO has projected would add $2.4 to the debt over a decade. The analysis also found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law, an increase over the scoring for the House-passed version of the bill, which predicts 10.9 million more people would be without health coverage. The stark numbers are yet another obstacle for Republican leaders as they labor to pass Trump's bill by his self-imposed July 4th deadline. Story continues below advertisement Even before the CBO's estimate, Republicans were at odds over the contours of the legislation, with some resisting the cost-saving proposals to reduce spending on Medicaid and food aid programs even as other Republicans say those proposals don't go far enough. Republicans are slashing the programs as a way to help cover the cost of extending some $3.8 trillion in Trump tax breaks put in place during his first term. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The push-pull was on vivid display Saturday night as a routine procedural vote to take up the legislation in the Senate was held open for hours as Vice President JD Vance and Republican leaders met with several holdouts. The bill ultimately advanced in a 51-49 vote, but the path ahead is fraught, with voting on amendments still to come. Still, many Republicans are disputing the CBO estimates and the reliability of the office's work. To hoist the bill to passage, they are using a different budget baseline that assumes the Trump tax cuts expiring in December have already been extended, essentially making them cost-free in the budget. The CBO on Saturday released a separate analysis of the GOP's preferred approach that found the Senate bill would reduce deficits by about $500 billion. Democrats and economists decry the GOP's approach as 'magic math' that obscures the true costs of the GOP tax breaks. In addition, Democrats note that under the traditional scoring system, the Republican bill bill would violate the Senate's 'Byrd Rule' that forbids the legislation from increasing deficits after 10 years. Story continues below advertisement In a Sunday letter to Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, CBO Director Phillip Swagel said the office estimates that the Finance Committee's portion of the bill, also known as Title VII, 'increases the deficits in years after 2034' under traditional scoring.


CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Intercepted Iranian communications downplay damage from U.S. attack, Washington Post reports
This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran's underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo following U.S. airstrikes targeting the facility, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) WASHINGTON — Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the U.S. government. A source, who declined to be named, confirmed that account to Reuters but said there were serious questions about whether the Iranian officials were being truthful, and described the intercepts as unreliable indicators. The report by the Post is the latest, however, to raise questions about the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back Iran by months. President Donald Trump has said the strikes 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, but U.S. officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the U.S. military strikes last weekend. The White House dismissed the report by the Post. 'The notion that unnamed Iranian officials know what happened under hundreds of feet of rubble is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was quoted as saying by the Post. In an interview broadcast on Sunday on Fox News, Trump reiterated his confidence that the strikes had destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities. 'It was obliterated like nobody's ever seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time,' he said on the 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo' program. Reporting by Phil Stewart and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Chris Reese


CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina won't run in 2026 after opposing Trump's bill
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection next year, a day after announcing his opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump's tax breaks and spending cuts package because of its reductions to health care programs. His decision will create a political opportunity for Democrats seeking to bolster their numbers in the 2026 midterm elections, opening a seat in a state that has long been a contested battleground. Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate. Tillis, who would have been up for a third term, said he was proud of his career in public service but acknowledged the difficult political environment for those who buck their party and go it alone. 'In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,' he said in a lengthy statement. 'Sometimes those bipartisan initiatives got me into trouble with my own party, but I wouldn't have changed a single one.' Trump, in social posts, had berated Tillis for being one of two Republican senators who voted on Saturday night against advancing the massive bill. The Republican president accused Tillis of seeking publicity with his 'no' vote and threatened to campaign against him. The Republican president also accused Tillis off doing nothing to help his constituents after last year's devastating floods. 'Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER,' Trump wrote. Tillis rose to prominence in North Carolina when, as a second-term state House member, he quit his IBM consultant job and led the GOP's recruitment and fundraising efforts in the chamber for the 2010 elections. Republicans won majorities in the House and Senate for the first time in 140 years. Tillis was later elected as state House speaker and helped enact conservative policies on taxes, gun rights, regulations and abortion while serving in the role for four years. He also helped push a state constitutional referendum to ban gay marriage, which was approved by voters in 2012 but was ultimately struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. In 2014, Tillis helped flip control of the U.S. Senate to the GOP after narrowly defeating Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. Ali Swenson, The Associated Press Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.