
US embassy in Bahrain returns to normal operations
The US Embassy in Bahrain said on Sunday that it has returned to normal staffing and operations, according to a post by the embassy on X.
Shortly before this month's 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the US military had allowed families of service members in Bahrain to depart the country temporarily.
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Arab News
24 minutes ago
- Arab News
Trump blasts 'communist' winner of NY Democratic primary
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump branded the winner of New York City's mayoral Democratic primary a 'pure communist' in remarks that aired Sunday, an epithet the progressive candidate dismissed as political theatrics. Zohran Mamdani's shock win last week against a scandal-scarred political heavyweight resonated as a thunderclap within the party, and drew the ire of Trump and his collaborators, who accused Mamdani of being a radical extremist. The Republican's aggressive criticism of the self-described democratic socialist is sure to ramp up over the coming months as Trump's party seeks to push Democrats away from the political center and frame them as too radical to win major US elections. 'He's pure communist' and a 'radical leftist... lunatic,' Trump fumed on Fox News talk show 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.' 'I think it's very bad for New York,' added Trump, who grew up in the city and built his sprawling real estate business there. 'If he does get in, I'm going to be president and he is going to have to do the right thing (or) they're not getting any money' from the federal government. Trump's White House has repeatedly threatened to curb funding for Democratic-led US cities if they oppose his policies, including cutting off money to so-called sanctuary cities which limit their cooperation with immigration authorities. Mamdani also took to the talk shows Sunday, asserting he would 'absolutely' maintain New York's status as a sanctuary city so that 'New Yorkers can get out of the shadows and into the full life of the city that they belong to.' Asked directly on NBC's 'Meet the Press' whether he is a communist, Mamdani — a 33-year-old immigrant aiming to become New York's first Muslim mayor — responded 'No, I am not. 'And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for,' Mamdani said. 'I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed.' The Ugandan-born state assemblyman had trailed former governor Andrew Cuomo in polls but surged on a message of lower rents, free daycare and buses, and other populist ideas in the notoriously expensive metropolis. Although registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one in New York, victory for Mamdani in November is not assured. Current Mayor Eric Adams is a Democrat but is campaigning for re-election as an independent, while Cuomo may also run unaffiliated.


Arab News
25 minutes ago
- Arab News
US Senate pushes ahead on Trump tax cuts as nonpartisan analysis raises price tag
WASHINGTON: The US Senate version of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill will add $3.3 trillion to the nation's debt, about $800 billion more than the version passed last month by the House of Representatives, a nonpartisan forecaster said on Sunday. The Congressional Budget Office issued its estimate of the bill's hit to the $36.2 trillion federal debt as Senate Republicans sought to push the bill forward in a marathon weekend session. Republicans, who have long voiced concern about growing US deficits and debt, have rejected the CBO's longstanding methodology to calculate the cost of legislation. But Democrats hope the latest, eye-widening figure could stoke enough anxiety among fiscally-minded conservatives to get them to buck their party, which controls both chambers of Congress. The Senate only narrowly advanced the tax-cut, immigration, border and military spending bill in a procedural vote late on Saturday, voting 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill. Trump on social media hailed Saturday's vote as a 'great victory' for his 'great, big, beautiful bill.' In an illustration of the depths of the divide within the Republican Party over the bill, Senator Thom Tillis said he would not seek re-election next year, after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger in retribution for Tillis' Saturday night vote against the bill. Tillis' North Carolina seat is one of the few Republican Senate seats seen as vulnerable in next year's midterm elections. He was one of just two Republicans to vote no on Saturday. Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. While that deadline is one of choice, lawmakers will face a far more serious deadline later this summer when they must raise the nation's self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a devastating default on $36.2 trillion in debt. 'We are going to make sure hardworking people can keep more of their money,' Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. HITS TO BENEFITS Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said this legislation would come to haunt Republicans if it gets approved, predicting 16 million Americans would lose their health insurance. 'Many of my Republican friends know ... they're walking the plank on this and we'll see if those who've expressed quiet consternation will actually have the courage of their convictions,' Warner told CBS News' 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.' The legislation has been the sole focus of a marathon weekend congressional session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats seek to slow the legislation's path to passage. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called for the entire text of the bill to be read on the Senate floor, a process that began before midnight Saturday and ran well into Sunday afternoon. Following that lawmakers will begin up to 20 hours of debate on the legislation. That will be followed by an amendment session, known as a 'vote-a-rama,' before the Senate votes on passage. Lawmakers said they hoped to complete work on the bill on Monday. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the other Republican 'no' vote, opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit by an additional $5 trillion. 'Did Rand Paul Vote 'NO' again tonight? What's wrong with this guy???' Trump said on social media. The megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Representative Michael McCaul, however, warned that fellow Republicans who do not back Trump on the bill could face payback from voters. 'They know that their jobs are at risk. Not just from the president, but from the voting — the American people. Our base back home will not reelect us to office if we vote no on this,' McCaul also told CBS News. Senate Republicans, who reject the CBO's estimates on the cost of the legislation, are set on using an alternative calculation method that does not factor in costs from extending the 2017 tax cuts. Outside tax experts, like Andrew Lautz from the nonpartisan think tank Bipartisan Policy Center, call it a 'magic trick.' Using this calculation method, the Senate Republicans' budget bill appears to cost substantially less and seems to save $500 billion, according to the BPC analysis. If the Senate passes the bill, it will then return to the House of Representatives for final passage before Trump can sign it into law. The House passed its version of the bill last month.


Arab News
40 minutes ago
- Arab News
Netanyahu sees ‘opportunities' to free Gaza hostages
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his country's 'victory' over Iran in their 12-day war had created 'opportunities,' including for freeing hostages held in Gaza. 'Many opportunities have opened up now following this victory. First of all, to rescue the hostages,' Netanyahu said in an address to officers of the security services. 'Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals,' he added, referring to his country's campaign to crush the Palestinian militant group. In a statement late Sunday, the main group representing hostages' families welcomed 'the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister.' 'This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas also holds the body of an Israeli soldier killed there in 2014. The forum called for the hostages' 'release, not rescue.' 'The only way to free them all is through a comprehensive deal and an end to the fighting, without rescue operations that endanger both the hostages and (Israeli) soldiers.'