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US hopes for Gaza ceasefire ‘sometime next week,' Trump says

US hopes for Gaza ceasefire ‘sometime next week,' Trump says

Al Arabiya6 hours ago
The United States is pushing for a truce in Gaza by 'sometime next week,' US President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
The Republican leader was asked by reporters if a ceasefire in the devastating war between Israel and Palestinians could be in place before a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, set for July 7.
We hope it's going to happen, and we're looking for it to happen sometime next week,' Trump responded as he departed Washington for Florida.
The swift resolution of Israel's 12-day war with Iran has revived hopes for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, where more than 20 months of combat have created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million.
Trump has previously urged Israel to 'make the deal in Gaza,' but on the ground, Israel has continued to pursue its offensive across the Palestinian territory.
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Mayors, Doctor Groups Sue Over Trump's Efforts to Restrict Obamacare Enrollment
Mayors, Doctor Groups Sue Over Trump's Efforts to Restrict Obamacare Enrollment

Al Arabiya

time42 minutes ago

  • Al Arabiya

Mayors, Doctor Groups Sue Over Trump's Efforts to Restrict Obamacare Enrollment

New Trump administration rules that give millions of people a shorter timeframe to sign up for the Affordable Care Act's health care coverage are facing a legal challenge from Democratic mayors around the country. The rules rolled out last month reverse a Biden-era effort to expand access to the Affordable Care Act's health insurance, commonly called Obamacare or the ACA. The previous Democratic administration expanded the enrollment window for the coverage, which led to record enrollment. The Department of Health and Human Services rolled out a series of new restrictions for Obamacare late last month just as Congress was weighing a major bill that will decrease enrollment in the health care program that Republican President Donald Trump has scorned for years. As many as 2 million people – nearly 10 percent – are expected to lose coverage from the health department's new rules. The mayors of Baltimore, Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio, sued the federal health department on Tuesday over the rules, saying they will result in more uninsured residents and overburden city services. 'Cloaked in the pretense of government efficiency and fraud prevention, the 2025 Rule creates numerous barriers to affordable insurance coverage, negating the purpose of the ACA to extend affordable health coverage to all Americans and instead increasing the population of underinsured and uninsured Americans,' the filing alleges. Two liberal advocacy groups – Doctors for America and Main Street Alliance – joined in on the complaint. The federal health department announced a series of changes late last month to the ACA. It will shorten the enrollment period for the federal marketplace by a month, limiting it to Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 in 2026. Income verification checks will become more stringent, and a $5 fee will be tacked on for some people who automatically re-enroll in a free plan. Insurers will also be able to deny coverage to people who have not paid their premiums on past plans. The rules also bar roughly 100,000 immigrants who were brought to the US as children from signing up for the coverage. HHS said in a statement that the policies are temporary measures to immediately tamp down on improper enrollments and the improper flow of federal funds. The mayors – all Democrats – argue that the policies were introduced without an adequate public comment period on the policies. 'This unlawful rule will force families off their health insurance and raise costs on millions of Americans. This does nothing to help people and instead harms Americans' health and safety across our country,' said Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, which is representing the coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not challenge the Trump administration's restriction on immigrants signing up for the coverage. The Biden administration saw gains in Obamacare enrollment as a major success of the Democratic president's term, noting that a record 24 million people signed up for the coverage thanks to generous tax breaks offered through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But the program has been a target of Trump, who has said it is riddled with problems that make the coverage unaffordable for many without large subsidies. Enrollment in the program dipped during his first term in office.

Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a buddy comedy with statesmen
Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a buddy comedy with statesmen

Al Arabiya

timean hour ago

  • Al Arabiya

Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a buddy comedy with statesmen

Say what you will about the Idris Elba–John Cena vehicle Heads of State, but it's surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO. The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected US President Will Derringer, a former action star. Heads of State, directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody), is mostly about their relationship–a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that Heads of State, which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: 'If NATO falls, there's backstop against despots and dictators…not.' It's a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that Heads of State is too timely, don't. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much Heads of State –like most of Hollywood's output–is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality. You could argue that that's not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of Heads of State is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie's mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences. The best thing going for Heads of State is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The Suicide Squad co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters' divergent histories–Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician–in debates like which one of them is 'gym strong' as opposed to 'strong strong.' That's one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec, and Harrison Query. But one problem in Heads of State goes beyond the high-concept setup. The best buddy comedies– Midnight Run, 48 Hrs., The Nice Guys –are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena's Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately, they're both beefy dudes in suits. As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we're left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security, and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions. Heads of State, an Amazon MGM Studios release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence/action, language, and some smoking. Running time: 113 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

Lebanon drafts reply to US demand for Hezbollah to disarm, sources say
Lebanon drafts reply to US demand for Hezbollah to disarm, sources say

Arab News

timean hour ago

  • Arab News

Lebanon drafts reply to US demand for Hezbollah to disarm, sources say

Barrack said full disarmament should be completed by November or by the end of the year at the latestThe proposal also refers to establishing a mechanism overseen by the United Nations to secure the release of Hezbollah-linked prisoners by IsraelBEIRUT: Lebanese officials were drafting a response on Tuesday to US demands for armed group Hezbollah to relinquish its weapons across the country by November in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations, two sources briefed on the matter deadline has turned up the heat on Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was struck hard by Israel during last year's war, is suffering a financial crunch and faces pressure in Lebanon to demands were conveyed by Thomas Barrack, US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkiye, during a trip to Beirut on June sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters Barrack had shared a written roadmap with Lebanese officials and told them he expected to hear back by July 1 on any proposed six-page document centers on the disarmament of Hezbollah and other militant groups, and urges Lebanon to improve ties with neighboring Syria and implement financial reforms, they proposes a phased approach to disarmament, in which Hezbollah would hand in its arms throughout Lebanon in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying areas in south Lebanon, the sources said full disarmament should be completed by November or by the end of the year at the latest, they would end Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah members and unlock funds to rebuild parts of Lebanon destroyed by Israeli forces last year, they US has said Washington will not support reconstruction in Lebanon without Hezbollah laying down proposal also refers to establishing a mechanism overseen by the United Nations to secure the release of Hezbollah-linked prisoners by Israel, the sources said Barrack had urged Lebanese officials to seize the opportunity laid out in the roadmap as it 'may not come up again.' He is set to return to Lebanon next had not yet gotten Israeli approval for the roadmap, the sources said. There was no immediate response from the US state department, Israel's prime minister's office or Israel's foreign ministry to Reuters requests for comment.'THE RIGHT TO SAY NO'Lebanon has appointed a committee to formulate a preliminary response, comprised of delegates from the offices of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, the sources was not clear whether the initial reply would be ready by Tuesday. The US proposal includes a condition that the final deal be sealed with a unanimous decision by Lebanon's government, the sources second source, and a third source briefed on the matter, said Berri was in close communication with Hezbollah to secure the group's input.'Hezbollah has not refused to cooperate with the committee and in fact began sending signals of cooperation — but has not committed to disarming,' the third source prospect of securing Hezbollah's disarmament — unimaginable two years ago — underlines the big shifts in the Middle East power balance to the detriment of Iran's allies across the region since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in October of Hezbollah's arsenal was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, and other depots in southern Lebanon were handed over to Lebanon's army in accordance with the US-brokered ceasefire that ended that round of deal called for the disarmament of armed groups across Lebanon. Hezbollah has said it applies only to the group in Lebanon's southernmost has not commented publicly on Barrack's proposal. But in a televised address on Monday, its secretary general, Naim Qassem, reiterated Hezbollah's resistance to US and Israeli pressure and urged other Lebanese to do the same.'We have the right to say 'no' to them, 'no' to America, 'no' to Israel,' Qassem said. 'We call on you in Lebanon: do not help Israel and America with their plans.'Qassem said the US and Israel 'want to exploit the moment to turn the equation in the entire region in their image.'

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