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GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi strongly condemned attacks that targeted border posts in Kuwait, carried out from Iraq using drones.In a statement, he affirmed that the continuation of such attacks originating from Iraq constitutes a blatant violation of the principles of good neighborliness and all international laws and norms.He also expressed the GCC’s full solidarity with Kuwait and its support for all measures it takes to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and stability. Source link
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey is shown mine countermeasure equipment during a ‘Strait of Hormuz Military Planning Conference’ Thursday. (AFP) Britain and France Thursday voiced hope that military plans to secure the Strait of Hormuz were coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage.At a two-day meeting in London, military planners discussed the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable ceasefire, top defence officials said.The aim is to form a “defensive, multinational mission that will strengthen the confidence of commercial shipping, and, if necessary, clear mines and protect vessels when the hostilities end”, British defence minister John Healey said.The British ministry said the meeting involved more than 44 countries from every continent.Healey and French counterpart Catherine Vautrin said in a joint statement they were “confident that real progress can be made”.”International trade, energy, and economic stability for all our nations depend on freedom of navigation” in the strait, Healey told those attending.He called for “practical military plans”, saying “millions of people” were relying on a successful outcome from the meeting.”We can’t let them down,” he said.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said more than a dozen countries have agreed to participate in the mission to free up navigation in Hormuz.Iran said on Wednesday it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States continued to blockade Iranian ports.While strikes around the region have mostly stopped since the start of a ceasefire, the US and Iran have continued to exert pressure around the trade route.Before the war started on February 28, about a fifth of the world’s oil was shipped through the Strait. Related Story Source link
Oil prices zig-zagged between negative and positive territory yesterday as traders weighed supply disruptions against the potential restart of peace talks between the US and Iran that could help limit those disruptions. Prices rose 2% earlier in the day on fears of renewed military escalation in the region after Iran released footage on Thursday of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and as progress stalled on re-opening the key waterway.Crude futures then pulled back after Reuters reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected to arrive in Islamabad late on Friday to discuss proposals for resuming peace talks with the US after talks collapsed earlier this week.Prices fell further after CNN reported that US President Donald Trump was sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iran’s foreign minister. “The (Strait of Hormuz) disruption has created a complex logistical challenge that will take time to resolve …. Clearing this backlog will take weeks, as vessels are sequenced through ports that are themselves operating under constrained conditions,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen in a note.Brent crude futures were down 58 cents, or 0.6%, at $104.49, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were down $2.31, or around 2.1%, to $93.54. “Traders are liquidating length ahead of an unusually unpredictable weekend and will readjust their positions Sunday night based on Iranian developments,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.For the week, Brent is up about 16% and WTI 11%, the second-largest weekly gains since the war began. Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried about a fifth of global oil output, remains effectively blocked. Iran’s capture of two cargo ships highlighted Washington’s difficulties in trying to control the passage.Only five ships, including an Iranian oil products tanker, have moved through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed. – Reuters Source link
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the day of a summit of the European Union and regional partners’ leaders in Nicosia, yesterday. (Reuters) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni yesterday urged Nato allies to stick together, after a report that the US was mulling action against Spain over its refusal to support operations against Iran.”Nato must remain united. I believe it is a source of strength,” Meloni told reporters as she attended an EU summit in Nicosia, Cyprus.The Reuters news agency cited an anonymous US official saying the Pentagon had outlined potential measures to punish allies over their response to the Iran war, including suspending Spain from the alliance.There is no provision in the Nato treaty allowing for the suspension or expulsion of one of the alliance’s members.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against Nato allies for refusing to help out more with the Iran war, saying he viewed it as a betrayal.Some of them — France, Spain and Italy — did not allow US military aircraft deployed for the war to overfly their territories or to use bases.Britain initially also refused, but later allowed US flights from its bases for “defensive” missions in the conflict.Trump also tried, in vain, to get European Nato members to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed with military threats and attacks.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose country was reportedly singled out for suspension, said yesterday he was “not worried”, stressing his country was a “reliable member” of Nato.Meanwhile, as Trump deepens questions over whether Washington would help defend Nato allies, the EU is set to lay out a “blueprint” for how its own mutual assistance clause works if a country is attacked.Meloni insisted that Nato would remain central to Europe’s defence, but that European nations needed to play a bigger role in their own security.”We must work to strengthen Nato’s European pillar which must clearly complement the American one,” she added. Source link
Iranian FM Abbas Araqchi in Islamabad yesterday. * US negotiators Witkoff and Kushner depart for Islamabad today* Iranian FM Araqchi and delegation land in Pakistan capital* US Vice-President JD Vance to join talks if there’s breakthrough US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad today for talks with Iran mediated by Pakistan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt said the Trump administration has seen “some progress” from the Iranian side in the last couple of days, without elaborating.”Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will be made and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting,” she told reporters yesterday. Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance, who led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month, is ready to travel to Pakistan to join talks if they prove successful. “The president, the vice-president, the secretary of state, will be waiting here in the United States for updates and the vice-president, I understand, is on standby and will be willing to dispatch to Pakistan if we feel it’s a necessary use of his time,” Leavitt said.In the meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad late on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, amid conflicting signals on whether he would meet with US negotiators there.Pakistan’s foreign minister said Araqchi would meet with senior Pakistani officials to discuss the peace efforts. Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia to co-ordinate with partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, adding that Iran’s neighbours remained Tehran’s priority. The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media.Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araqchi’s visit would be brief and focus on Iran’s proposals for talks with the US, which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing earlier on Friday that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States.”Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely … at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways,” he said.Reports on Araqchi’s trip in Iranian state media and the Pakistani sources made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who was the head of its delegation at the talks earlier this month.The Iranian parliament’s media office denied a report that Qalibaf had resigned as head of Iran’s negotiating team, and added that there was no new round of talks scheduled yet.Pakistani sources said earlier that a US logistics and security team already was in place in Islamabad for potential talks.The last round of peace talks had been expected to resume on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a US delegation led by Vance never leaving Washington. Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators. Source link
An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the U.S. position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a U.S. official told Reuters.The policy options are detailed in a note prepared by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, who expressed frustration at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights – known as ABO – for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the email.Colby wrote that ABO is “just the absolute baseline for NATO,” according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.One option in the email envisions suspending “difficult” countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the official said.President Donald Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of the air war on February 28.He has also declared he is considering withdrawing from the alliance.”Wouldn’t you if you were me?” Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the U.S. pulling out of NATO was a possibility.But the email does not suggest that the United States do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected U.S. drawdown of some forces from Europe, however.Asked for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: “As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.”The War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,” Wilson said.TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEES EUROPEAN ‘SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT’The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the U.S. might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.Britain, France and others say that joining the U.S. naval blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.But Trump administration officials have stressed that NATO cannot be a one-way street.They have expressed frustration with Spain, where the Socialist leadership said it would not allow its bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran. The United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.The policy options outlined in the email would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of “decreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans,” the official said, summarizing the email.The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on U.S. military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the email argues.The official did not disclose how the United States might pursue suspending Spain from the alliance, and Reuters could not immediately determine whether there was an existing mechanism at NATO to do so.”We do not work off emails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States,” Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez said when asked about the report ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Cyprus to discuss topics including NATO’s mutual assistance clause.POSITION ON FALKLAND ISLANDS COULD BE RECONSIDEREDThe memo also includes an option to consider reassessing U.S. diplomatic support for longstanding European “imperial possessions,” such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.The State Department’s website states that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian President Javier Milei is a Trump ally.Milei was upbeat about the prospects.”We are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,” Milei said in a radio interview he posted on his X account on Friday.”We’re making progress like never before.”Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the sovereignty of the islands rests with Britain.”Sovereignty rests with the UK and the islands’ right to self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain the case,” the spokesperson told reporters on Friday.Trump has repeatedly insulted Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the U.S. war with Iran, saying he was “No Winston Churchill” and describing Britain’s aircraft carriers as “toys.”Britain initially did not grant a request from the U.S. to allow its aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens, amid Iranian retaliation.Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “a lot has been laid bare” by the war with Iran, noting that Iran’s longer-range missiles cannot hit the United States but can reach Europe.”We get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations … You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” Hegseth said. 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Norway said on Friday it would present a bill in parliament by year-end to ban children from using social media until they turn 16, making technology companies responsible for the task of age verification. Several European nations are seeking to rein in children’s use of social media after Australia took the lead with a world-first ban on under-16s last December.”We are introducing this legislation because we want a childhood where children get to be children,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.”Play, friendships, and everyday life must not be taken over by algorithms and screens. This is an important measure to safeguard children’s digital lives.”The government did not say which applications would be targeted.Australia’s ban covers Meta apps such as Instagram and Facebook as well as TikTok, Snapchat, Google’s YouTube and Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter.YouTube in a statement on Friday said it had invested for over a decade in children’s safety to ensure its platforms deliver age-appropriate experiences that also empower parents.”That way, we preserve access to learning for millions and avoid pushing young people onto less safe places on the internet,” the company said.Norway will introduce its bill in parliament by the end of 2026, the minority Labour government said. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Essi Lehto, Clarence Fernandez and Sharon Singleton)Oslo, April 24, 2026 (AFP) -Norway said Friday it will present a bill this year making it the latest country seeking to ban social networks for under 16s, adding that technology companies will be responsible for verifying the age of its users.”We are introducing this legislation because we want a childhood where children get to be children. Play, friendships, and everyday life must not be taken over by algorithms and screens,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.”This is an important measure to safeguard children’s digital lives,” he added.Several European countries, such as France, Spain, and Denmark have already said they will introduce a digital age of majority for social networks and others like Australia and Türkey have already done so.The European Commission has also made clear its determination to take action to protect children and adolescents, notably by unveiling in mid-April an age-verification app that will soon be made available to European citizens.”I expect technology companies to ensure that the age limit is respected. Children cannot be left with the responsibility for staying away from platforms they are not allowed to use,” added Norwegian Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance Karianne Tung.”That responsibility rests with the companies providing these services. They must implement effective age verification and comply with the law from day one”.The government said the number of children with phones or using social media had declined due to a host of measures it had already taken, including “national screen-time guidelines and recommendations for mobile-free schools.” Source link
(FILES) This photograph shows a board bearing the logo of Gavi, the vaccine alliance at their headquarters in Geneva, on April 11, 2025. The head of…
Conflict, drought and shrinking aid will keep global hunger at critical levels in 2026, with food insecurity expected to worsen in some of the world's most fragile countries, according to the 2026 *Global Report on Food Crises.And two-thirds of people facing food crises globally last year lived in just 10 countries, with a third of them in Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), a UN-backed yearly report said yesterday.Conflict remained the main driver of acute food insecurity, according to the report, based on data from the United Nations, the European Union and humanitarian agencies.And with conflicts and climate extremes ‘likely to sustain or worsen conditions in many countries’, the outlook for 2026 is ‘bleak’, it said.’Acute food insecurity remains highly concentrated (in) 10 countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen,’ the report said.Improvements in some countries, such as Bangladesh and Syria, were ‘almost fully offset by notable deteriorations’ in Afghanistan, DR Congo, Myanmar and Zimbabwe, it said.For the first time in the report, which is in its 10th edition, famine was confirmed in two separate contexts – in Gaza and parts of Sudan – in the same year.In total, 266mn people in 47 countries and territories faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2025, while 1.4mn people faced catastrophic conditions in parts of Haiti, Mali, Gaza, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.In 2025 alone, 35.5mn children worldwide were acutely malnourished, including nearly 10mn suffering from severe acute malnutrition.Looking at this year, the report said severity levels remained critical, with only Haiti expected to escape from the worst ‘catastrophic’ band thanks to a slight improvement in security and increased humanitarian aid.It also warned about the sharp decline in international aid and said the Middle East war risked aggravating existing crises by increasing the numbers of displaced in a region already hosting millions of refugees, and driving up fertiliser costs.The blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil supply route, has sent fertiliser prices soaring since they rely on oil-based inputs.’Now we're in planting season,’ Alvaro Lario, head of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told AFP. ‘So for sure this current food shock – both with the energy prices going up and also fertilisers going up – I think it's going to have a massive impact in terms of production.’He called for more help to small-scale farmers, for example by investing in water- and climate-resilient crops.Crises could be eased by farmers producing fertiliser locally as well as improving soil health so that less of it is needed, he added.Even before the added stress of this latest war, West Africa and the Sahel looked likely to remain under heavy pressure this year from conflict and persistent inflation, particularly in Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.Nigeria alone is projected to see one of the largest increases in food insecurity in 2026, with 4.1mn more people expected to face acute hunger.In East Africa, failed rains across much of the Horn of Africa are expected to deepen suffering in Somalia and Kenya, where drought, insecurity, high food prices and reduced humanitarian aid are likely to drive worsening conditions.The report also warned that humanitarian and development financing for food sectors in crisis fell sharply in 2025 and is projected to decline further.Humanitarian food-sector funding is estimated to have dropped by some 39% last year from 2024 levels, while development assistance contracted by at least 15%.The IFAD is also working on boosting investment by local private sectors.’Creating the instruments and incentives for the local private sector… is a very important way of making that sustainability and that development money go a longer way,’ Lario said. Source link
Noble International School has achieved 100% pass in the All India Secondary School Examination of CBSE Grade 10 in the academic year 2025-26. Diyana Noureen secured 498/500, achieving 99.6%., Eshal Ashima secured the second position with 98%, while Davis Johny achieved the third position with 97.4%. Thirty-eight out of 124 students secured 90% and above, with 13 students achieving 95% and above. Source link