G-7 Leaders Reject SPR Release Plan, But 'Stand Ready' After Initial Jawbone Efforts Fade

FBI Now Says Past Prostitution And Theft May Not Disqualify Applicants The FBI has reportedly loosened some of its automatic disqualifiers for prospective employees, allowing applicants with certain past conduct to be considered on a case-by-case basis, according to The Times Of India. Under the revised standards, previously hiring a sex worker is no longer necessarily disqualifying. Applicants may still be eligible if it happened fewer than three times and the most recent incident was more than 10 years ago. The change partly accounts for cases in which prostitution was legal where...

Oil Tumbles, Stocks Surges As Israeli TV Reports Imminent 'One Month Ceasefire' Announcement Summary US seeks a one-month ceasefire with a framework to end the war, according to Israel Channel 12 reports WSJ, Fox reporting 3,000 elite Army Airborne soldiers to be ordered to Middle East. Axios says US awaits Iran response to proposed Thursday peace talks. Trump says Iran has been destroyed "militarily".  Backchannel diplomacy vs skepticism: Abbas Araghchi reportedly signaled openness to negotiations with the US via envoy Steve Witkoff, but Israel has appeared cool on deal prospects or offramp. Heavy exchange of fire and...

China Dismisses Report Of Top Chipmaker Aiding Iranian Forces As "Fake News" Beijing moved into damage-control mode on Friday, with its foreign ministry dismissing a Reuters report that cited two senior Trump administration officials alleging that SMIC, China's largest chipmaker, had sent chipmaking tools to Iran, as "false information." Asked about the report at a regular news conference in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he was "not familiar with the situation" and added, "What I can tell you is that recently, some media have been keen on releasing...