“Pessimistic” predictions that the Middle East war could push tens of millions more people into acute hunger if drawn out are being proven right, the UN says, as the US and Iran again exchanged fire, threatening the already fragile ceasefire.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned weeks ago that soaring oil prices were devastating global food security, but now, nearly three months into the conflict, “the negative scenario is unfortunately materialising”, said Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of WFP’s food and nutrition analysis service.
The WFP said that if oil prices were to remain about $100 per barrel until the end of June, an estimated 45 million more people worldwide would face acute hunger, in addition to the nearly 320 million people considered acutely food insecure at the start of the year.
Weeks of complicated talks marked by sharp rhetoric and flare-ups of violence have not managed to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, which is critical to oil supplies.
Donald Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has shocked markets and proved unpopular at home as midterm elections loom. US and Iranian negotiators have for weeks been working to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. But both sides have continued to call for changes in the deal, with neither appearing ready to compromise.
Kuwait and Bahrain targeted by Iran after exchange of fire with US
Bahrain has said Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones at it and Kuwait, hours after the US and Iran exchanged strikes over the Gulf, the latest in a series of flare-ups that threatened to break the fragile ceasefire.
The attacks came after the US military said it had shot down four Iranian drones launched toward the strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in response. Iran followed hours later, saying it had targeted US bases in the region, with Kuwait and Bahrain both issuing air raid alerts.
Trump pardons former congressman convicted of insider trading
As his administration promotes what it calls a crackdown on fraud in states run by Democrats, Donald Trump once again used the pardon power to excuse financial crimes committed by a Republican, granting a pardon to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office.
Judge dismisses Kennedy Center suit against musician who canceled
The jazz drummer and vibes player Chuck Redd has successfully resisted a breach of contract lawsuit brought against him after he canceled a Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.
Redd’s lawyers confirmed that the suit had been dismissed by a judge, and the musician told the Associated Press he was “very pleased” by the ruling.
Trump cries ‘steal’ over slow California count, but experts say system works
California’s slow vote counting has frustrated political observers eagerly awaiting results, and handed Donald Trump and others an opportunity to claim “election rigging”. But experts say the system is working as designed: to protect against fraud and assure every vote is counted.
Within a day of the polls closing in California’s primary election this week, Trump started accusing Democrats of “trying to steal” the elections for the state’s governor and the mayor of Los Angeles. The justice department sent a federal prosecutor to observe the ballot-counting process in LA this week.
But California’s vote-counting pace is actually a byproduct of a system of redundant verifications and opportunities for voters to fix errors.
What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened Friday 5 June.
