Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a critical deadline to end the Iran war, an antisemitic terrorist attack in Britain, and the long-awaited European Union-Mercosur free-trade deal.

‘Totally Unconstitutional’

Friday marked the 60-day deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump to end the fighting in Iran. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for Trump to seek formal approval from Congress to declare war. However, Trump signaled on Friday that he will not seek a congressional vote, arguing instead that the 60-day clock is “totally unconstitutional.”

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a critical deadline to end the Iran war, an antisemitic terrorist attack in Britain, and the long-awaited European Union-Mercosur free-trade deal.

‘Totally Unconstitutional’

Friday marked the 60-day deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump to end the fighting in Iran. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for Trump to seek formal approval from Congress to declare war. However, Trump signaled on Friday that he will not seek a congressional vote, arguing instead that the 60-day clock is “totally unconstitutional.”

Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the U.S. president has 60 days from when Congress first received formal notice of the conflict to terminate offensive operations or have Congress either declare war or authorize the continued use of military force. The White House can extend this period for another 30 days but only to safely withdraw troops—not to continue an offensive campaign.

Yet the Trump administration has argued that the U.S.-Iran cease-fire, which went into effect on April 7 and was extended indefinitely last week, has paused the clock. “We are in a cease-fire now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a cease-fire,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

However, the War Powers law provides no mechanism for pausing the 60-day time limit when a truce is in place. “That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins said on Thursday, arguing that “further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close.”

Richard Goldberg, a former National Security Council official in Trump’s first term who is now at the hawkish Washington think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, suggested that the........

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