US and Iran trade fire after Trump threatens Tehran over stalled talks | First Thing

Donald Trump said said Tehran would ‘pay the price’ for stalled negotiations. Photograph: Ken Cedeno/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Donald Trump said said Tehran would ‘pay the price’ for stalled negotiations. Photograph: Ken Cedeno/AFP/Getty Images First Thing: US and Iran trade fire after Trump threatens Tehran over stalled talks Iran says US attacks make ceasefire ‘practically meaningless’. Plus, Trump says ‘I love the inflation’ when asked about jump to 4.2% Good morning. Has the ceasefire collapsed yet? The US have launched a fresh round of airstrikes on Iran, targeting a range of Iranian cities, after Donald Trump said Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations. Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, and said the US strikes “rendered the ceasefire [of April 8] practically meaningless.” The US attack appeared more intense and wider than separate actions the day before, which the US said were a “proportional response” to the downing of the Apache helicopter. Trump has accused Iranian negotiators of “playing us for suckers” a day after he repeated claims that a peace deal was imminent. “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today,” the US president told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. What is the status of negotiations? Talks to turn the ceasefire into a durable peace deal have stalled for weeks, with periodic flare-ups as both sides continued to launch limited strikes and trade blame for violating the truce. What do the two side want? Iran seeks the lifting of international sanctions, the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, and control over the strait of Hormuz. Trump has said any future peace deal must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies it is seeking to do. This is a developing story. Follow our live coverage here . Bill Gates tells House committee ‘I have never victimized anyone’ in Epstein testimony View image in fullscreen Bill Gates said he ‘never witnessed nor had any indication’ that Jeffrey Epstein was ‘engaged in ongoing criminal conduct’. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA Bill Gates testified in front of the House committee on oversight and changes on Wednesday, telling lawmakers in his opening remarks that he “never witnessed nor had any indication” that Jeffrey Epstein was “engaged in ongoing criminal conduct”. In her testimony on Tuesday, Lesley Groff, who was Epstein’s longtime executive assistant, said she had no knowledge of his crimes while working for him. What did Gates say? “I support the release of all the Epstein files and sincerely hope that, through your efforts and those of others advocating on their behalf, the survivors of Epstein’s crimes can get the justice that they deserve.” Video shows family’s car slowing before Israeli troops shot dead Palestinian baby 0:48 Video appears to show baby shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank - video Footage has emerged that appears to contradict the Israe