U.S. forces carried out new defensive strikes on Iran after President Donald Trump asserted Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and insisted November’s midterm elections in the United States won’t make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict.

Also, a federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

Federal judge refuses to block Trump order to create federal voter list and limit mail voting

A federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups who had argued that Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Trump administration’s contention it was too early to issue the order because it has yet to be implemented.

The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit against the executive order in federal court.

US military says Iran fired missiles at Kuwait in the latest challenge to the fragile ceasefire

The U.S. military said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of the U.S. top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

The attack on Kuwait was the latest flare-up to shake the fragile ceasefire reached last month between the U.S. and Iran.

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran announced it had retaliated after strikes earlier in the week on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name.

Source: WPLG