Trump’s Inflation Claims Clash With Voters’ Cost-of-Living Reality 
India–U.S. Interim Trade Pact Cuts Auto Tariffs but Leaves Tesla Out 
U.S. Lawmakers to Review Unredacted Jeffrey Epstein DOJ Files Starting Monday 
Iran–U.S. Nuclear Talks in Oman Face Major Hurdles Amid Rising Regional Tensions 
Norway Opens Corruption Probe Into Former PM and Nobel Committee Chair Thorbjoern Jagland Over Epstein Links 
TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans 
Trump Endorses Japan’s Sanae Takaichi Ahead of Crucial Election Amid Market and China Tensions 
Pentagon Ends Military Education Programs With Harvard University 
U.S. to Begin Paying UN Dues as Financial Crisis Spurs Push for Reforms 
US Pushes Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks Before Summer Amid Escalating Attacks 
Trump Signs “America First Arms Transfer Strategy” to Prioritize U.S. Weapons Sales 
New York Legalizes Medical Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients 
Trump Backs Nexstar–Tegna Merger Amid Shifting U.S. Media Landscape 
Ohio Man Indicted for Alleged Threat Against Vice President JD Vance, Faces Additional Federal Charges 
Nighttime Shelling Causes Serious Damage in Russia’s Belgorod Region Near Ukraine Border 
China Warns US Arms Sales to Taiwan Could Disrupt Trump’s Planned Visit 
U.S.-India Trade Framework Signals Major Shift in Tariffs, Energy, and Supply Chains 
The United States has reportedly assured the Taliban government in Afghanistan that it will not back any armed groups or non-state actors in the country. This follows a known Western-backed armed group’s continued challenge to the insurgent group’s rule.
Taliban sources told Al Jazeera this week that Washington has assured the insurgent group that it will not be backing any armed groups or non-state actors in Afghanistan. The insurgent group welcomed the assurance in the midst of Western-backed Tajik armed groups’ continued to challenge the Taliban.
This is despite the Taliban being able to contain the predominantly Tajik National Resistance Front and other groups that are aligned with Afghanistan’s western-backed government.
The assurance from Washington came from a meeting held last month between the Taliban and officials from the US State Department, including the CIA deputy director in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month. This was the first meeting since July when the United States said it killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who was hiding in Kabul.
The presence of al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan has given the impression that the Taliban breached the 2020 Doha agreement, which stated that the Taliban agreed not to provide a safe haven to al Qaeda and other armed extremist groups.
During the meeting, the Taliban also rejected Washington’s announcement that it would be transferring $3.5 billion of frozen Afghan central bank assets to a Switzerland-based trust, according to people familiar with the matter.
The insurgent group said last month that the US decision to put a portion of nearly $10 billion in Afghan assets into the trust was “unacceptable and a violation of international norms.”
Meanwhile, the German government has begun a new admission program to admit Afghans who are the most vulnerable following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last year, according to the German interior and foreign ministries Monday.
Berlin has pledged to take in around 38,000 Afghans at risk of reprisals from the Taliban, and around 26,000 have already arrived in Germany.
The new program will admit 1,000 Afghans a month and their family members. It will target Afghans who are especially exposed as active in women’s rights, human rights, and advocates for those at risk for working in justice, politics, media, education, culture, sport, and science.
