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US President Donald Trump talks on the phone as he departs the White House for Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, yesterday. (Reuters) Iran’s chief negotiator warned the United States is not to be trusted yesterday, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secures Iranian rights.Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that US President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close.Any further tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.The New York Times and Axios reported that Trump had sent back a “tougher” new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the Hormuz shipping lane, over which Iran has sought to impose control since the war began.”The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview on her Fox News show.But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.”We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.According to the Tasnim news agency, “exchanges between Iran and the United States regarding the text of a possible memorandum of understanding are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments.”No agreement has yet been finalised, and it is possible that any agreement will be rejected,” it said.Iran has said it needs the release of $12bn in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Hezbollah.Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan, sporadic fighting has continued.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident. Source…
French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday said that “nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon”, calling for an end to fighting “for good”.In a message on X after speaking with regional leaders, he said it was “essential” for an agreement to be reached quickly between the United States and Iran.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also said in a statement yesterday that the Israeli army’s push further into southern Lebanon is cause for serious concern, urging all sides to cease hostilities.”The Israeli army’s advance further into southern Lebanon is cause for serious concern,” the statement said, adding: “Any further escalation will exacerbate the already tense situation and trigger new waves of displacement within Lebanon.” Source link
People make their way on scooters as they flee the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday. (Reuters) US President Donald Trump said Iran talks were moving at a “rapid pace” despite the negotiations to end the Mideast war appearing in deep trouble yesterday, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warning of new fronts.Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported Tehran had suspended dialogue with mediators in protest at Israel’s expanding offensive in Lebanon, with Israel saying it would once again target Beirut’s southern suburbs.”Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in a social media post made shortly after another post in which he said he had persuaded Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate.Weeks of indirect talks between the US and Iran marked by threats and several waves of air strikes have so far failed to bring about an end to the war or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas.The latest US-Iran exchange of fire overnight coincided with Israel expanding its ground offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to push deeper into the country and instructing his military to strike “terror targets” in Beirut’s southern suburbs.Israel’s Arabic-language spokesman posted on X that residents of the suburbs, or Dahiyeh, should evacuate “to preserve their safety”, and AFP images showed huge traffic jams as residents tried to flee.Later yesterday, Trump said he had persuaded Hezbollah and Israel to de-escalate the conflict.Netanyahu said yesterday that he had told Trump that Israel would attack “terror” targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not cease its attacks on Israeli cities.”At the same time, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the Israeli military.Iran again said yesterday it had not engaged in any nuclear negotiations and insisted that Israel must halt its offensive in Lebanon before any wider deal to end the war could be agreed.Ahead of a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Lebanon, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said: “We are deeply alarmed by the escalation in military activities across southern Lebanon and beyond.”The US naval blockade on Iran’s ports and the escalation in Lebanon were “clear evidence of US non-compliance with the ceasefire”, Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X.Late yesterday, Tasnim reported that “the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and exchange of texts through mediators”, blaming Israel’s actions in Lebanon.And in a message carried by state TV, the Revolutionary Guards intelligence body said that “Iran considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war”.It added: “In return, it is determined to carry out defensive operations by taking meaningful actions and opening new fronts, in addition to preserving the Strait of Hormuz equation.”Speaking to NBC, Trump said “It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there” and insisted Washington would maintain its naval blockade.Tasnim reported that Iran would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz and, with its allies, “activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait” at the entrance of the Red Sea.Tehran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have previously attacked shipping in and around the latter strait, the closing of which could disrupt millions more barrels of oil that Saudi Arabia exports daily through its Red Sea port of Yanbu.In a sign of the ongoing danger to shipping in the Gulf, the UKMTO maritime agency reported a “large explosion” on a cargo vessel off the coast of Iraq, “following a hit from an unknown projectile”.Speaking at a weekly briefing, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said: “No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear file. At this stage, our priority is ending the war.”Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear programme be part of the deal, saying that Tehran must not get nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied having such ambitions.”We insist that a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war,” Baqaei said, adding: “The United States is also violating the ceasefire, including this morning.”The US military said it had carried out “self-defence strikes” on Iranian radar and drone control sites over the weekend — its third such wave in just over a week — after a US MQ-1 drone was downed.Shortly afterwards, the Revolutionary Guards told state media they had targeted an airbase used by the US military for the attack.They did not identify the country hosting the base, but Kuwait’s military said its air defence had intercepted “hostile missile and drone attacks”. Related Story Source link
Malaysia has begun barring those aged under 16 from registering accounts on social media platforms, its communications regulator said yesterday, as it boosts efforts to protect minors from exposure to harmful content online. The Southeast Asian nation joins a growing number of countries introducing measures to regulate access to online platforms, amid mounting concerns over the impact of social media on children’s health and safety.From yesterday, social media platforms including Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, and Alphabet’s YouTube, must conduct age verification against government-issued records, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said.Fines up to 10mn ringgit ($2.5mn) may be levied against social media platforms who fail to comply.”The measure is not intended to prohibit child users from the internet or to deny them access to technology,” it said, rather it aims to boost responsibility among social media platforms, parents and guardians in protecting minors online.Age verification for existing users will be implemented by social media platforms over a six month-period.Malaysia has stepped up scrutiny of social media companies after finding a sharp rise in harmful online content in recent years, and is cracking down on material that deliberately tries to stir racial or religious tensions, or criticises the monarchy. Source link
Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr and Vietnam President To Lam shake hands during a bilateral meeting at Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, yesterday. (Reuters) The Philippines and Vietnam agreed to strengthen defence ties yesterday to help bolster maritime security in the region and maintain peace in the disputed South China Sea.The Southeast Asian countries are among the nations in the region — including China — to lay claims to the Spratly chain, which sits near vital shipping lanes and is reputedly rich in minerals.After a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam in Manila, Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos said the partnership has become “increasingly important” as the region navigates uncertainty “marked by geopolitical fragmentation”.The nations renewed a 2010 defence agreement, establishing that both would maintain “delegation exchanges for security and defence matters”, and step up “information exchange”.They also agreed to collaborate on law enforcement to prevent transnational crime, including cyber scams, illegal migration, human trafficking, illegal gambling, among other challenges.Lam said after the meeting that any individual or organisation using the “territory of one country to commit sabotaging acts against the other” would also be prevented.At a joint news conference following the meeting, Marcos said “as fellow claimant states” of the South China Sea both it and Vietnam would also “reaffirm that maintaining peace, stability, and the freedom of navigation and overflight” in the region “remains non-negotiable”.”We stand resolute in our commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes grounded firmly in international law,” he said.It comes just days after China’s military drove away a Dutch navy vessel it accused of “illegally intruding” into the area around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.The Netherlands insisted that its frigate had been in international waters.A day before the move, the US, India, Japan and Australia jointly voiced concern over the South and East China Seas, warning against any assertive moves.Without referring to China by name, the nations’ foreign ministers criticised “dangerous manoeuvres by military aircraft” and “ramming and blocking actions in the South China Sea”. …
Pedestrians watch as workers remove a statue of Argentine football player Lionel Messi for its re-installation to a safer place in Kolkata yesterday. (AFP) A giant statue of football superstar Lionel Messi was taken down in India yesterday after it was spotted swaying dangerously in the wind, authorities said.Hydraulic cranes and ropes were used to dismantle the 21-metre (70-foot) sculpture in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, before it was taken away on an open-top flatbed truck, AFP journalists saw.”The statue was removed on Monday afternoon after locals complained it was swaying in the wind,” state lawmaker Sharadwat Mukherjee told AFP.Mukherjee said the statue would be kept in a government warehouse while authorities decide on a new location.The gold-coloured statue, depicting the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami star lifting the World Cup trophy, was unveiled in December during Messi’s much-publicised GOAT tour of India.Messi will captain Argentina at the upcoming World Cup, to be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.The statue drew scrutiny as political power shifted in West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept into office last month after defeating the opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC).The statue was reportedly designed under the patronage of former chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, and was criticised by the new BJP sports minister Nisith Pramanik as “unsightly”.India, a nation of 1.4bn people, is a cricket powerhouse but has long struggled on the international football stage, and is 142nd in the FIFA rankings.Football, however, is the country’s second-favourite sport, according to recent research by data company Nielsen. Source…
A police officer stands in front of heavily damaged production line for rocket propellant of Hanwha Aerospace’s factory after an explosion, in Daejeon, yesterday. (Reuters) Five people have died and two others were injured yesterday after an explosion and fire on a Republic of Korea production line for rocket propellant at a factory operated by Hanwha Aerospace in the city of Daejeon, officials said.The two survivors, including one who was badly burned, had escaped from the facility themselves, a fire official told a briefing.”Authorities have yet to identify the victims because their bodies were severely damaged,” a health official told the same briefing.A fire official said that an explosion had triggered the blaze, though the cause of the blast was still being investigated.Shares in Hanwha Aerospace fell 2.8% in afternoon trade, while the holding company Hanwha Corp saw its shares drop 3.4%.The blast appeared to have occurred while water was being used to clean explosive material from tools making rocket propellant, a Hanwha official told a company briefing.”We bow our heads in apology to the victims and their bereaved families,” said Chief Executive Officer Son Jae-il, pledging to co-operate fully with authorities to determine the cause of the accident.The five dead included two temporary workers in their 20s and all were employed by Hanwha, the company said.Hanwha is a defence and aerospace company. Its factory in Daejeon produces large propulsion engines and handles rocket propellants.Authorities were unable to obtain the factory’s layout since it is protected under national security laws, an official said at an earlier briefing.Republic of Korea President Lee Jae-myung called for the mobilisation of all available resources to respond to the accident and for an investigation, his office said in a text message to reporters. …
China accused Japan’s defence minister yesterday of spreading “baseless” claims and sowing confusion, a day after he took a veiled swipe at Beijing.Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi had pledged on Sunday to keep strengthening Japan’s military and warned China was expanding its capabilities without sufficient transparency.His comments follow a months-long diplomatic spat between the Asian rivals, which began when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if China attempted to seize Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.China’s foreign ministry said yesterday that Koizumi’s comments were “entirely baseless”.”They appear pale and feeble in the face of a series of historical and legal facts and figures,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing.”This Japanese official deliberately… attempts to turn the tables and sow confusion,” Lin said.”Japan’s so-called dialogue is nothing but hypocrisy — a performance put on for appearances, devoid of any genuine sincerity,” he added.Under Takaichi, Japan has quickened its pivot towards a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off — with US encouragement — a pacifist outlook, which has been in place since the end of World War II.Koizumi made his comments at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, saying China’s expanding military capabilities were “a matter of serious concern for Japan”.Tokyo would “steadily build up its defence capabilities and make continuous updates with a high degree of transparency”, including in the fields of artificial intelligence, uncrewed systems as well as cyber and space defence, he said.Beijing has frequently rebuked Tokyo for its pivot and said following a reckless policy of “new militarism” that could destabilise the region. Source link
Protesters walk down O’Connell Street in central Dublin at the head of a protest to demand justice following the death of Democratic Republic of the Congo…
Wary of being vulnerable to the whims of foreign governments, the European Union is preparing far-reaching new moves to ditch American digital companies and Chinese chips in favour of European alternatives.The EU's technological sovereignty package is among many measures taken by Brussels to slash dependence on foreign firms and boost local manufacturing — but risks opening up a new front in transatlantic tensions.The hotly awaited package of new rules on chips, cloud computing and AI will be presented on Wednesday as part of the EU's effort to ‘reclaim its place in the global race for geoeconomic power’, a draft strategy document seen by AFP said.Of particular concern is how much the European Union relies on US cloud providers, which account for around 70 % of Europe's market.Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Europeans worry that critical digital infrastructure could be brought to a halt by an American ‘kill switch’ if tensions ever reached fever pitch.Top EU officials don't directly name their target as the US, but American tech dominates, from cloud computing to social media to e-commerce.’We need to develop our own capacities. We cannot allow someone trying to influence our own decisions, our own values, our own well-functioning economy and services,’ EU competition tsar Teresa Ribera said this month.EU officials often point to Washington's sanctions against International Criminal Court judges — imposed by Trump in February 2025 — to illustrate the grip of US firms. Judge Nicolas Guillou has described how he lost access to his Visa card since it is an American system.But US envoy to the EU Andrew Puzder has warned against any protectionist moves, while American companies have urged Europe not to keep them out.’Europe will not be able to pull itself into the AI economy by bringing other people down,’ Puzder told AFP last month when asked about the plans.Wednesday's package will include:— the ‘Cloud and AI Development Act’, aimed at speeding up the deployment of data centre infrastructure— a ‘Chips Act’ proposal to reinforce the security of supply for semi-conductors by reducing dependence on foreign providers— a push for public authorities to use more open-source software solutions as a way to gain greater control and flexibility and avoid being locked in.EU lawmaker Oliver Schenk told AFP the package was ‘not about opposing our trading partners or closing markets’, but said: ‘Europe must avoid becoming structurally dependent on any single external actor’ for AI, cloud and chips.The draft strategy, which could still change before the announcement, said governments would be expected to conduct ‘sovereignty risk assessments’ for cloud and AI to ‘improve resilience’ and spot European alternatives.’Europe must ensure that public investments in AI and cloud infrastructure strengthen European innovation capacity, resilience and security,’ Schenk said.According to a second draft document on chips, the commission wants the power to intervene in the event of a crisis by forcing ‘manufacturers to prioritise orders for crisis-critical products, overriding existing contracts’.It also proposes common purchasing, which means the EU would act as ‘a central buyer for multiple member states facing severe shortages’.Aaron Cooper of tech industry group Business Software Alliance sought to offer reassurances to Europeans who fear any US administration could act to hurt the bloc at times of tension, following past frictions, including over tariffs.’There is no such thing as a kill switch,’ Cooper told AFP, adding companies ‘want to comply with laws wherever they're doing business’.American tech companies have been keen to shift the focus of the debate, insisting Europeans would be in charge of their data while using US services.’Digital sovereignty is about control, not just borders,’ said Ana Paula Assis, chair for IBM Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, adding that the company helps its clients ‘maintain authority over their entire IT estate’.The EU says the package will drive innovation and help Europe catch up with the US and China in the AI race.But Ben Brake, director general of DOT Europe, whose members include Amazon and Apple, said ‘retaliating against US corporations in response to trade disputes will neither drive innovation nor strengthen Europe's competitiveness’. Source link