NewsTrump's bold moves: Iran policy shift, UN funding cut. This is what happened in the news overnight
Trump's bold moves: Iran policy shift, UN funding cut. This is what happened in the news overnight
This report summarises events that occurred overnight, from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to global agencies.
- US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to reinstate the "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, although he admitted doing so reluctantly. Trump signed the new order just before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing it as "very harsh" towards Iran and expressing a preference not to take such action. The specific details of the document remain undisclosed, but the "maximum pressure" policy during his first term included stringent sanctions on Tehran, mainly targeting Iranian oil transactions.
- Additionally, President Trump has decided to withdraw funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and to leave the UN Human Rights Council.
- Shortly afterwards, during a joint press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, Trump announced that the US would assume control of the Gaza Strip. He suggested that America would level the area and generate "an unlimited number of jobs" there.
- Authorities have retrieved the bodies of all 67 victims from the Potomac River in Washington, less than a week following a collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter. The identities of 66 victims have been confirmed, marking the end of the search operation.
- The spiritual leader of the Nizari Ismailis, a branch of Shia Islam, Aga Khan IV, passed away in Lisbon at the age of 88 on Tuesday. He had been living in the Portuguese capital, a nation he was a citizen of for several decades. His death was confirmed on Tuesday evening by the foundation he led. Aga Khan IV, also known as Prince Karim al-Hussayni held British, Canadian, and Iranian citizenship and was regarded as one of the most reformist figures in the contemporary Islamic world.
- The former "world's top-ranked player" is retiring. Two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennis after losing in the first round of her home tournament in Cluj. Halep, whose career faced interruption due to a doping suspension that was reduced after an appeal last year, lost 6-1, 6-1 to Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in her first match of 2025 before announcing her decision. The 33-year-old Romanian delayed the start of the season due to knee and shoulder pain.
- Films can now be enjoyed virtually anywhere. In the village of Inhaa-be, the first cinema in the Amazon Indigenous people's territory has opened. At its inauguration, the documentary Traces of Resistance and eight short films highlighting the talents of Indigenous people from across Brazil were screened.
