Por Nic Robertson y Jessie Yeung, CNN

Mientras el estancamiento en el diálogo entre Washington y Teherán se prolonga y el mundo aguarda con la esperanza de un acuerdo, se cierne sobre todos la muy real posibilidad de un desenlace alternativo: que la guerra se reanude.

Se prevé que este viernes Pakistán reciba la propuesta de paz revisada de Irán, después de que el presidente Donald Trump rechazara una versión anterior.

Los mediadores en Islamabad creen que un acuerdo justo está al alcance de la mano y que ahora corresponde a Teherán dar una respuesta, según fuentes familiarizadas con el proceso. Han trabajado incansablemente para lograr un acuerdo, pero mientras esperaban esa respuesta durante la mayor parte de esta semana, Estados Unidos e Irán han redoblado sus amenazas y provocaciones.

El miércoles, Trump publicó en Truth Social una imagen retocada de sí mismo empuñando un arma, con un mensaje en el que le decía a los iraníes que “se pongan las pilas”.

“Se acabó ser el ‘chico bueno’”, decía el pie de foto.

Más tarde, desde el Despacho Oval, Trump añadió: “En este momento, nunca habrá un acuerdo a menos que acepten que no habrá armas nucleares”.

Pero Irán ha rechazado esa exigencia clave. En un mensaje difundido el jueves a través de los medios estatales, el líder supremo Mojtaba Jamenei declaró que Irán “salvaguardaría” sus capacidades nucleares y de misiles, y que los “actores extranjeros” no tienen cabida en el golfo Pérsico, salvo en “las profundidades de sus aguas”.

Los iraníes aún no han visto ni oído a Jamenei, más de siete semanas después de que fuera anunciado como su nuevo líder supremo tras la muerte de su padre. No obstante, Jamenei ha emitido varios mensajes por escrito.

Estos intercambios de provocaciones parecen distanciar cada vez más a las partes, casi cuatro semanas después de que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaran por primera vez su alto el fuego temporal. A última hora del jueves, Trump afirmó que nadie conoce el estado de las conversaciones con Irán salvo él mismo y un puñado de personas más, sugiriendo que las negociaciones están avanzando a pesar de la aparente parálisis pública.

Sin embargo, las capacidades nucleares de Irán siguen siendo, a todas luces, un importante punto de fricción: Trump exige garantías sobre el freno a su programa nuclear, mientras que Teherán insiste en que tiene derecho a enriquecer uranio con fines pacíficos. Se trata de una línea roja crítica para ambas partes, lo que deja la situación en un punto muerto.

Teherán parece estar ganando tiempo, alargando las negociaciones sobre las negociaciones y enviando múltiples propuestas con avances aparentemente graduales, tal vez con la esperanza de que Trump acabe cansándose de la lucha, o de que la presión política interna por el aumento vertiginoso de los precios de la gasolina le obligue a ceder.

No obstante, se dice que Trump está sopesando sus opciones para forzar la vuelta de Teherán a la mesa de negociaciones, y que ha recibido informes de oficiales militares sobre una posible nueva ronda de ataques contra Irán. Sin embargo, su estrategia preferida actual consiste en infligir el máximo daño económico, según revelaron a CNN fuentes familiarizadas con las conversaciones. Su equipo se está preparando para ampliar el bloqueo naval estadounidense a los puertos iraníes, lo que incluye un cierre a más largo plazo del estrecho de Ormuz, añadieron dichas fuentes.

Estados Unidos ha interceptado o desviado a cerca de 40 buques que intentaban entrar o salir de los puertos iraníes desde que comenzó el bloqueo a principios de este mes. Al respecto, Trump declaró a los periodistas a principios de esta semana que “el bloqueo es una genialidad”.

Su administración también está presionando a gobiernos extranjeros para que se unan a una nueva coalición destinada a respaldar la libertad de navegación en esta disputada vía m

By Issy Ronald, Jomana Karadsheh, Florence Davey-Attlee, Laura Sharman, CNN

(CNN) — A man has been charged with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed in London in what police described as a terrorist incident.

The two men aged 76 and 34 were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, on Wednesday.

On Friday morning, Essa Suleiman was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place in relation to the attack, police said.

The 45-year-old, from Camberwell in south London, was also charged with attempted murder in connection with a separate incident on the same day, just south of Tower Bridge several miles away.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

Both victims in the Golders Green attack were treated in hospital after the stabbing. The 34-year-old has since been released while the 76-year-old remains there in a stable condition, police said.

Police declared the attack a terrorist incident and said a counterterrorism probe remains ongoing.

This stabbing follows a string of attacks targeting synagogues and other communal buildings that have left London’s Jewish community in a heightened state of anxiety.

On Thursday, the UK terrorism threat level was raised from “substantial” to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely.” Before the level was raised, an attack was considered “likely.”

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said he’d submitted a proposal to the government about bolstering police resources for Jewish communities in London.

Rowley warned in an interview with Times Radio that the UK was facing a “pandemic of antisemitism.”

“We need work done upstream to tackle those attitudes in society, which are far too prevalent,” the police commissioner said.

Spate of attacks

In March, arsonists set fire to four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity, also in Golders Green. Four people were subsequently charged by police.

Weeks later, a synagogue and the former premises of a Jewish charity, both in north London, were attacked.

Earlier this week, just a few streets from the site of Wednesday’s stabbings, a suspected arson attack targeted a memorial wall that displayed photos of protesters killed by Iranian security forces during a brutal crackdown earlier this year and photos of those killed in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the site of the stabbings, Rowley said there had been a rise in racist and antisemitic hate crime. “We know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organizations and hostile states,” the police commissioner said.

Police have “significantly stepped up” activity in the capital because of the recent attacks, Rowley said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s embassy in the UK said following the Golders Green attack that it “categorically rejects” allegations of involvement in “violent activities or incidents in the United Kingdom.”

“Such baseless accusations… lack credible evidence and appear to serve narrow political agendas,” the embassy said in a post on X Thursday.

Antisemitic attacks in the United Kingdom have increased since 2023, when Israel’s brutal war in Gaza began in response to the Hamas’ attacks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the “antisemitic attack” as “utterly appalling” on Wednesday.

“We all need to … be absolutely clear in our determination to deal with any of these offense

By Max Foster, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN

Front Royal, Virginia (CNN) — Britain’s King Charles III came to the United States to mark Britain’s loss in the war of independence. He left with an historic win.

The 77-year-old monarch faced a number of possible pitfalls from a bombastic US president known for creating controversy and generating headlines at the lowest moment for US-UK relations in modern history.

But Charles showed he could deliver a message of unity and celebrate the “eternal bond” with America as it marks its 250th birthday, while at times disagreeing with its president and even cracking a few jokes.

In his landmark speech to a joint meeting of US Congress on Tuesday, Charles challenged Donald Trump on several issues that the US and United Kingdom have clashed over in recent months.

Sticking up for the transatlantic alliance, in the spirit of Magna Carta, he spoke of “the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.”

He confessed to feeling the weight of history on his shoulders, knowing that if he got it wrong, it could have defined his reign in all the wrong ways.

But he remained resolute in emphasizing the collective strength of the long-standing alliance, saying: “Our defense, intelligence and security ties are hardwired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades.”

Charles concluded his bold address to Congress – only the second time a British monarch has been allowed to do so – by reminding lawmakers of the “weight and meaning” that the United States’ influence carries.

“The actions of this great nation matter even more,” the King said. “President Lincoln understood this so well, with his reflection in the magisterial Gettysburg Address that the world may little note what we say but will never forget what we do.”

The speech was a high-stakes diplomatic moment, but he was met with a warm and bipartisan reception and received several standing ovations. Many read it as a judgment on the presidency, but Trump heralded the speech at a grand state dinner at the White House later, saying the King had “made a great speech. I was very jealous.”

The trip wasn’t without its challenges. During the four-day visit, it was revealed that Britain’s ambassador to Washington had previously said the only country that has a “special relationship” with the US was “probably Israel,” rather than Britain, in leaked comments which briefly seemed to threaten the visit’s mission of soothing US-UK ties.

Christian Turner, who took on the role earlier this year after his predecessor Peter Mandelson was sacked over his association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, made the remarks privately to a group of British students visiting the US in February.

“‘Special relationship’ is a phrase I try not to utter because it’s quite nostalgic, it’s quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of sort of baggage about it,” Turner said in the audio recording. “I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States – and that is probably Israel.”

For the recently appointed ambassador to have cast doubt on the transatlantic alliance which the British government is trying to restore was an embarrassing moment that threatened to derail Charles’ objectives, but instead he soldiered on.

King Charles also used his visit subtly to boost NATO at a time when Trump has publicly lambasted the alliance and made enemies across Europ

By Steve Contorno, CNN

(CNN) — In a matter of days this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dragged lawmakers to Tallahassee, handed them an aggressively gerrymandered congressional map, strong-armed the Republican-controlled legislature into backing it and tilted the midterm battlefield toward his party.

It was a familiar display of the raw political power that DeSantis once used to fight culture wars and notch conservative victories as he chased the presidency. Now, he is flexing that same authority in service of the man who dimmed his White House dreams — but who could yet revive them: President Donald Trump.

Over the past 16 months, few, if any, Republicans outside Washington have proven more indispensable to Trump than DeSantis. He has enthusiastically aided the federal immigration crackdown — forcing law enforcement to cooperate with Trump’s ICE, launching a statewide dragnet that has troubled even deeply conservative sheriffs and erecting a costly detention center on Florida swampland that became known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” He created a Florida version of the Department of Government Efficiency, echoed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in pushing to end school vaccine requirements, is helping the White House rewrite the rules for how colleges pay student-athletes and arranged for the state to hand over a prime piece of Miami waterfront to a foundation planning Trump’s presidential library.

DeSantis’ realignment with Trump comes as uncertainty hangs over his political future. His second term as governor ends in January, leaving him two plausible paths: a job in Trump’s Washington, or positioning himself for a Republican Party after Trump.

Both require the president’s favor — and perhaps some bridge-mending with his remaining foes in Trump’s inner circle. DeSantis has responded to that reality with the same hard-changing, maximalist governing style that fueled his first rise to political stardom.

His latest win for Trump — a new congressional map that could net the GOP four more House seats this fall — potentially rescued the Republican Party’s flailing mid-decade redistricting gambit. And it has earned praise from corners of the president’s orbit that once mobilized against him when he challenged Trump in the 2024 Republican primary.

Mike Davis, a longtime Trump legal adviser who regularly mocked DeSantis’ presidential campaign, wrote on X shortly after Florida lawmakers approved the new district boundaries: “Once again, America’s best governor delivers. And fast.”

“Finishing strong is going to be important for his legacy and he knows that’s what will impact his future and how people view him more than anything else,” said Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist who has raised money for both Trump and DeSantis and has clients in Washington, DC, and Tallahassee.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump “appreciates the work Governor DeSantis is doing in the great state of Florida and the ongoing partnership they maintain to help advance the President’s America First agenda.”

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By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN

(CNN) — When the world’s most prestigious international art exhibition, the Venice Biennale, opens next week, it will do so amid a series of crises.

It will not receive its customary blessing from Italy’s minister of culture Alessandro Giuili who, along with a growing number of people and organizations, is furious over Russia’s return to the event during its war with Ukraine. More than 200 participating artists, curators and workers signed an open letter last month demanding the Venice Biennale exclude Israel’s pavilion over human rights abuses in Gaza. Another letter followed, which included the United States for its war in Iran. Most recently, after its five-person jury abruptly resigned on Thursday, the Biennale’s illustrious awards program will be replaced by two Visitors’ Prizes, with voting open to members of the public who attend the official exhibitions.

Now in its 61st year, the Biennale is a massive, global presentation of contemporary art from 99 nations, exhibited largely in permanent national pavilions dotted around Venice’s Giardini della Biennale. The Biennale typically offers a series of juried Gold and Silver Lions for both winning pavilions and individual participating artists. Jurors have resigned before, such as in 1968, whey they abandoned their positions in solidarity with widespread student protests.

However, the culture minister’s absence from the official opening ceremony will be a notable first in the history of the Biennale, which opens May 9. Instead of leading inaugural proceedings, Giuli announced he would be sending inspectors to the main venue to “gather information on the reopening of the Russian Pavilion,” a spokesperson told CNN.

While the Biennale has often had world politics play out among its pavilions, this year’s exhibit was explicitly positioned to reflect the current geopolitical landscape. Koyo Kouoh, who had been chosen as chief curator — the first African woman to hold the role — had put together the frameworks of the exhibition “In Minor Keys,” before being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, of which she died last year at age 57.

“In refusing the spectacle of horror, the time has come to listen to the minor keys, to tune in sotto voce to the whispers, to the lower frequencies; to find the oases, the islands, where the dignity of all living beings is safeguarded,” reads her original curatorial statement for “In Minor Keys.”

Instead, the Biennale Foundation, which runs the event, ignited controversy when it approved Russia’s participation in this year’s Biennale, saying in a statement that “no regulations have been violated and sanctions against the Russian Federation have been fully complied with, as is our duty.”

In addition to boycotting the Biennale, Giuli has also called for the resignation of Tamara Gregoretti, the culture ministry’s only representative on the foundation’s board, for not vetoing the move, saying she had failed to alert Italian government officials of Russia’s planned return and had “expressed support for its participation despite being fully aware of the international sensitivity surrounding the issue.”

Gregoretti told CNN she had no intention of resigning but would not comment further.

Internal revolt

The clash over Russia and Israel has exposed a divide between the Biennale’s board and members of the international jury, a rotating cast of art world figures which awards the fair’s top prizes. It is unclear why the jury’s members — chair Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma and Giovanna Zapperi — resigned, and following the Biennale’s announcement, a spokesperson declined to com