Iraqi president names Ali al-Zaidi as PM-designate to form new cabinet
Iraqi President Nizar Amedi officially named Ali al-Zaidi as the prime minister-designate Monday night, tasking him with forming a new government within 30 days.
According to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), Amedi assigned the mandate to al-Zaidi after he was nominated by the Coordination Framework (CF), the largest parliamentary bloc and an umbrella alliance of Shiite parties.
"In accordance with our constitutional responsibilities, we have tasked the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc, Ali al-Zaidi, with forming the new government," Amedi said on his page on X platform.
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting suspect charged with attempted assassination
Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Allen made his first court appearance at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since the shooting.
He was charged with three criminal counts, namely, attempting to assassinate the president, interstate transportation of weapons, and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime.
UN chief calls for reopening of Strait of Hormuz
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Navigational rights and freedoms through the Strait of Hormuz must be respected ... These principles must be upheld in full, and without delay," he said at a Security Council open debate on the safety and protection of waterways in the maritime domain.
"I appeal to the parties: open the strait, let ships pass, no tolls, no discrimination, let trade resume, let the global economy breathe," said Guterres.
Iran's FM says U.S. continued "destructive habits" are slowing diplomatic progress
Iran's FM says U.S. continued "destructive habits" are slowing diplomatic progress
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Monday blamed the slow progress of diplomacy between Iran and the United States on the latter's continuation of its "destructive habits."
He made the remarks in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, among others, read a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Elaborating on the diplomatic process mediated by Pakistan to end the war and establish peace and security in the West Asia region and the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi said, "The main reasons for the slow progress of diplomacy are the U.S. continuation of its destructive habits, especially its insistence on putting forward unreasonable demands, frequently changing positions, rhetoric of threat and recurrent breaking of promises."
British PM to face vote on possible parliamentary investigation over Mandelson vetting scandal
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will face a vote to decide whether he will be investigated over claims he misled the parliament regarding the vetting of former British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, British House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said on Monday.
Hoyle said the parliament will hold a debate on Tuesday and vote on whether the matter should be passed on to the Committee of Privileges in the House of Commons for further investigation.
Downing Street dismissed the Conservative Party's proposed vote as a "desperate political stunt," according to media report, adding: "Their claims have no substance."■
