Pete

• House Democrats ने Iran युद्ध शुरू होने के बाद पहली बार रक्षा सचिव Pete Hegseth से संदेहात्मक रूप से सवाल किए, और 29 अप्रैल की सुनवाई के दौरान रणनीति और लागत पर दबाव डाला। • एक Democrat ने Hegseth पर पक्षपात का आरोप लगाया, और एक तीखी बहस के दौरान उनके पिछले बयानों का विवरण देते हुए उन्हें घेरा। • यह टकराव गिरती हुई अप्रूवल रेटिंग्स के बीच युद्ध के आर्थिक नुकसान और Trump की विदेश नीति पर गहरे दलीय मतभेदों को उजागर करता है।

जैसे ही उनके रक्षा सचिव ने House committee के सामने गवाही दी, Trump ने हथियार के साथ अपनी एक AI-generated छवि पोस्ट की और कैप्शन दिया ‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY’। Pete Hegseth ने इस बात से इनकार किया है कि ईरान पर US-Israel युद्ध “एक दलदल” है और दावा किया कि इस ऑपरेशन के आलोचकों ने US के लिए स्वयं ईरान की तुलना में कहीं अधिक बड़ा खतरा पैदा किया है, क्योंकि उन पर संघर्ष के लिए Washington की रणनीति स्पष्ट करने का दबाव था। Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, के साथ House armed services committee के सामने पेश होते हुए, US रक्षा सचिव ने सांसदों से सैन्य खर्च में $1.5tn के बजट को मंजूरी देने का अनुरोध किया – और फिर उनमें से कुछ को युद्ध के प्रयासों के लिए “सबसे बड़ी चुनौती” के रूप में वर्णित किया। आगे पढ़ें...

Where Olly Robbins relied on recollections, Cabinet Office’s top civil servant was at pains to link her account to paper trail Seen through the Westminster bubble, the Peter Mandelson vetting affair looks like an age-old conflict pitting ministers against mandarins. Yet the latest top civil servant to testify to parliament over what some are now calling “Mandygate” gave an intriguing account that suggested it has never been as simple as that.Cat Little, the top civil servant at the Cabinet Office, did not put it in these terms, but what she revealed was an extraordinary dispute between the country’s most senior civil servants. Continue reading...

Permanent secretary, Cat Little, to give evidence to foreign affairs committee as pressure increases on Keir Starmer The UK government budget came in below its annual borrowing target by £700m, official figures show – but the Iran war is likely to blow a hole in Rachel Reeves’s carefully calculated fiscal “headroom” over the coming months. Tom Knowles has the story.Good morning. As Kiran Stacey, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot report in the Guardian’s splash, “Keir Starmer is looking increasingly isolated over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal with divisions emerging in cabinet over his decision to sack the Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Adrian Fulford will also examine wider national security vetting system after Foreign Office controversyUK politics live – latest updatesA retired high court judge is expected to review Peter Mandelson’s vetting process and the wider national security vetting system.The review, commissioned by Downing Street, comes after a Guardian investigation revealing that security officials decided Mandelson should not receive developed vetting clearance, but were overruled by the Foreign Office to allow him to become US ambassador. Continue reading...

• The Kansas City Chiefs secured All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters with a three-year contract extension worth $45 million, keeping their secondary anchor through 2029. • Peters recorded 8 interceptions and 22 passes defensed last season, maintaining his elite performance level at age 31. • The move solidifies Kansas City's defense ahead of the 2026 NFL season after their Super Bowl LXII victory last February.

Former UK ambassador to US was photographed in November outside George Osborne’s London homeThe former senior Labour figure Peter Mandelson faces a fixed-penalty notice after being caught urinating in public, it has emerged.Mandelson was photographed in the act while standing outside the home of the former chancellor George Osborne last November, shortly after he had been sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US over his relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...