ReportWire

Tag: Diplomacy

  • Most Americans See Iran as an Enemy but Doubt Trump’s Judgment on Military Force, AP-NORC Poll Finds

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. and Iran head into their next round of nuclear talks in Geneva, a new AP-NORC poll finds that many U.S. adults continue to view Iran’s nuclear program as a threat — but they also don’t have high trust in President Donald Trump’s judgment on the use of military force abroad.

    About half of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the United States, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 3 in 10 are “moderately” concerned and only about 2 in 10 are “not very” concerned or “not concerned at all.”

    The survey was conducted Feb. 19-23, as military tensions built in the Middle East between the United States and Iran. The U.S. is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

    Most Americans, 61%, say Iran is an “enemy” of the U.S., which is up slightly from a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023. But their confidence in the president’s judgment when it comes to relationships with adversaries and the use of military force abroad is low, the new poll shows, with only about 3 in 10 Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” trust in Trump.

    Even some Republicans — particularly younger Republicans — have reservations about Trump’s ability to make the right choices on these high-stakes issues.


    Most US adults have concerns about Trump’s judgment on military force

    The Trump administration this year has held two rounds of nuclear talks with Iran under Omani mediation, with a third round scheduled to begin Thursday. Similar talks last year between the U.S. and Iran about Iran’s nuclear program broke down after Israel launched what became the 12-day war in June.

    “We are in negotiations with them,” Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, which took place after the poll was conducted. “They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”

    Americans have significant reservations about Trump’s judgment on foreign conflicts, the AP-NORC poll shows. Only about 3 in 10 of U.S. adults have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump’s judgment on the use of military force, relationships with U.S. adversaries or the use of nuclear weapons. More than half trust him “only a little” or “not at all.”

    On each measure, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and Independents to trust that the president will make the right decisions. About 6 in 10 Republicans have a high level of trust in Trump, while roughly 9 in 10 Democrats have a low level of trust in him.

    But some Republicans’ confidence is more qualified. Younger Republicans — those under 45 — are less likely than older Republicans to say they trust Trump “a great deal” or “quite a bit” on his use of military force. About half of younger Republicans say this, compared to about two-thirds of older Republicans.


    Many view Iran’s nuclear program as a threat

    The new finding that 48% of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to their country is in line with an AP-NORC poll conducted in July 2025, indicating that even with recent escalations between the two countries, Americans have not changed their views.

    Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — had said Iran was the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn’t armed with the bomb.

    Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war, raising the concerns of nonproliferation experts.

    Worries about Iran’s nuclear program cross party lines in the U.S., though Republicans are currently more concerned. Most Republicans — 56% — say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, compared to 44% of Democrats.


    Younger Americans are less worried about Iran

    Americans generally hold a negative view of Iran, but the view is sharper among older Americans.

    About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Iran is an “enemy” of the United States, up slightly from 53% from the Pearson/AP-NORC poll from 2023. Roughly 3 in 10 say the countries are “not friendly, but not enemies,” and only about 1 in 10 Americans consider Iran a country that is “friendly” or “close allies.”

    At the same time, only about half of U.S. adults under 45 say Iran is an enemy, compared to about 7 in 10 Americans ages 45 and older. There is also a wide generational divide in concern about Iran’s nuclear program, with only about one-third of Americans under 45 saying they are highly concerned, compared to about 6 in 10 older Americans.

    Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have existed for decades, which may help explain why older Americans are more concerned. Nuclear talks had been deadlocked for years after Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

    Liechtenstein reported from Vienna. AP reporter Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.

    The AP-NORC poll of 1,133 adults was conducted Feb. 19-23 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Rubio Flies Into the Caribbean for Talks With Leaders Unsettled by Trump Policies

    [ad_1]

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio flies into the Caribbean country of St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday for talks with regional leaders who, like others around the world, are unsettled and uncertain about Trump administration policies.

    During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump called Maduro’s capture “an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States. And it also opens up a bright new beginning for the people of Venezuela.”

    Trump said his administration is “restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference.”

    Godwin Friday, newly elected prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, echoed the fears of many European leaders when he said the Caribbean is “challenged from inside and out. International rules and practices that we have become used to over the years have changed in troubling ways.”


    Caribbean leaders point to shifting global order

    During Tuesday’s opening ceremony, Terrance Drew, prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and CARICOM chair, said the region “stands at a decisive hour.”

    “The global order is shifting,” he said. “Supply chains remain uncertain, energy markets fluctuate and climate shocks intensify.”

    Like other leaders, Drew spoke about changing geopolitics and said the humanitarian situation in Cuba must be addressed and taken seriously, something also stressed by Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

    “It must be clear that a prolonged crisis in Cuba will not remain confined to Cuba,” Holness warned. “It will affect migration, security and economic stability across the Caribbean basin.”

    Holness said Jamaica “stands firmly for democracy” and that his country also “supports constructive dialogue between Cuba and the U.S. aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability.”

    Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell told The Associated Press on Tuesday ahead of the summit that he doesn’t know if individual topics will come up in talks with Rubio but said he expects a full discussion on the nature of the relationship with the U.S.

    “It is about mutual respect and a rules-based order,” he said. “Those are some of the things we would expect from the meeting, and we are also available for any private dialogue with Mr. Rubio.”

    The State Department has not said which officials Rubio will meet with Wednesday but that he intends to discuss ways to promote regional security and stability, trade and economic growth in group and bilateral meetings.

    Caribbean leaders also are expected to talk about other issues like security, reparations, climate change and financing, and a single market economy.


    US policy in the Caribbean

    The U.S. also has killed at least 151 people in strikes targeting small boats accused of smuggling drugs since early September. The latest attack Monday killed three people in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. has not provided evidence that the targeted boats are ferrying drugs.

    Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, has previously praised the attacks. Tuesday was no exception as she thanked Trump, Rubio and the U.S. military “for standing firm against narcotrafficking” and for their cooperation in national security matters.

    “The crime is so bad, I cannot depend on just my military, my protective services,” she said.

    Cuba’s situation also is expected to dominate talks at CARICOM’s summit.

    Cuba’s U.N. resident coordinator Francisco Pichón told AP on Monday that the U.S. oil embargo is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those still struggling to recover from Hurricane Melissa, which struck eastern Cuba in late October as a Category 3 storm.

    He noted that the energy blockade and fuel shortages “affect the entire logistics chain involved in being able to work in Cuba at this time, anywhere in the country.”

    Lee reported from Washington, and Coto from San José, Costa Rica. Associated Press reporters Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana, and Andrea Rodríguez in Havana contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Ruling Against Trump’s Tariffs Creates New Uncertainty in US Trade Relations With China

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has added a wrinkle to already complicated U.S.-China relations, with both countries navigating shifting ground to avoid an all-out trade war that would disrupt the global economy while still jostling for a position of strength in negotiations.

    Friday’s court ruling would seem to strengthen China’s hand, but analysts predict that Beijing will be cautious in exploiting the advantage, knowing that Trump has other ways of levying taxes. Both sides also want to maintain a fragile trade truce and stabilize ties ahead of Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing.

    “It will give China a moral boost in their negotiations with Trump’s team ahead of the summit, but they are prepared for the scenario that nothing actually changes in reality,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

    Furious about the defeat, Trump said first he was imposing a temporary 10% global tariff before raising it to 15% as well as pursuing alternative paths for import duties. He made the case for tariffs by pointing to China, which poses the biggest challenge to U.S. economic, technological and military dominance.

    “China had hundreds of billions of dollars in surpluses with the United States. They rebuilt China. They rebuilt the army. We built China’s army by allowing that to happen,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I have a great relationship with President Xi, but he respects our country now.”

    The White House has confirmed that Trump will travel to China on March 31 through April 2 to meet President Xi Jinping.


    China is looking beyond tariffs

    Xi is unlikely to “flaunt or brandish” the Supreme Court ruling forcefully when meeting Trump, likely choosing instead to try to strengthen his rapport with the U.S. president, said Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser focused on U.S. policy toward China at the International Crisis Group.

    The more that Xi can do that, “the more likely it is that the fragile trade truce between the United States and China will take hold in earnest and that Trump will be amenable to security concessions that give China greater freedom of maneuver in Asia,” Wyne said.

    Asked for comment on the implications of the court ruling, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said only that tariff and trade wars serve neither country’s interest. He called for Beijing and Washington to work together to “provide greater certainty and stability for China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the global economy.”

    “I would expect most Asian partners to proceed cautiously, with existing agreements largely holding as both sides work through the implications in the coming weeks,” said Dan Kritenbrink, a partner at The Asia Group who served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the Biden administration.

    Shortly after Trump returned to the White House early last year, he invoked an emergency powers law and slapped 20% tariffs on Chinese goods over what he said was Beijing’s failure to stem the flow of chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl.

    Trump later invoked the same emergency authority to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including 34% on China. Beijing retaliated, and the tariffs temporarily soared to triple digits before both sides climbed down.

    After several rounds of trade talks and a summit between Trump and Xi in South Korea in October, the two countries agreed to a one-year truce with a 10% baseline tariff. Trump also slashed the so-called fentanyl tariff to 10%, while Beijing resumed its cooperation in restricting the export of more substances that could be used to make the opioid.

    Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said she suspected the Trump administration could roll out a Plan B quickly. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has an active investigation into China’s compliance with a previous trade agreement and that could be the administration’s backup plan, she said. If China is found not to be fulfilling its obligations under the agreement, the U.S. government is allowed under a trade law to impose tariffs.

    Rep. Ro Khanna, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, urged the administration to come up with a new, tougher strategy that “holds China accountable for its unfair trade practices and leverages the collective power of our allies and partners.”

    Gabriel Wildau, a managing director focused on political risk analysis in China at the consultancy Teneo, said Trump has already shown his willingness to use other legal authorities to impose tariffs on China, as he did during his first term, and Beijing probably assumes that the tariffs could be maintained or re-created “with only modest difficulty.”

    “But Beijing also holds out hope that they can persuade Trump to lower this tariff in exchange for purchase guarantees or other concessions,” Wildau said.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Donald Trump’s Pantomime United Nations

    [ad_1]

    The current membership of the board is a motley mix. It includes prominent countries already invested in bringing stability to Gaza—Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf monarchies. The White House has also roped in governments involved in other alleged Trump-led peace initiatives, such as those of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Kosovo. Governments of participating countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia may see membership as a low-stakes way to boost their geopolitical clout. And then there are Trump’s fellow-travellers who have no obvious skin in the game beyond a desire to gratify the President, such as Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, a libertarian firebrand, and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, Europe’s most prominent illiberal nationalist.

    Trump dispatched invitations to dozens of countries to join the Board of Peace, but he has been mostly rebuffed or kept at arm’s length by the U.S.’s traditional allies. European skepticism only deepened after Trump sought to include Russia and Belarus in the project. (Russia has yet to announce its decision, whereas Belarus agreed, though Belarusian officials said they did not receive visas from the U.S. to attend the meeting on Thursday.) In January, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, issued a joint call for the defense and strengthening of the U.N. in the face of Trump’s enterprise. Pope Leo XIV made a similar pitch for the U.N. in declining Trump’s invitation.

    Sitting in the room during the meeting on Thursday, a European official in attendance was bemused by the succession of leaders voicing their admiration for Trump, especially after a number of top European politicians have been mocked for their own attempts to ingratiate themselves with the U.S. President over the past year. “One cannot only blame Europeans flattering you-know-who,” the official told me. “We’re not even the worst ones.”

    Board-membership terms last three years (conveniently running out just as Trump’s term does). A government can pay a billion dollars for a permanent seat, but it’s unclear to most diplomats whether this experiment will exist or matter beyond Trump’s time in office. Two Presidents I spoke to in the aftermath of the Davos ceremony downplayed any expectation of financial contributions or commitments. The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, instead cast her small nation’s participation as an act of historical redemption, thanking Washington for its leading role in Kosovo’s struggle for independence from Serbia. “It was the helping hand of the United States of America that came to our rescue,” she told me. “Now, twenty-six years later, we are giving back and we are helping carry that peace forward.”

    The Armenian President, Vahagn Khachaturyan, told me that he hoped that the board could help “enhance confidence” in the U.N. system by boosting peacemaking efforts. He lamented that “principles of coexistence are very often violated, and the United Nations is not often able to prevent those violations,” gesturing to the perennial problem of the Security Council, where one of the five veto-wielding powers—in recent history, chiefly Russia and the U.S.—can block significant resolutions to address conflicts such as Russia’s war in Ukraine or Israel’s war in Gaza.

    But Trump and his lieutenants rarely speak of principles and seem far more interested in establishing an arena where only the U.S.’s veto counts. You could hear their ideological animus this past weekend, at a major security conference in Munich. Elbridge Colby, the U.S. under-secretary of defense for policy, scoffed at the “hosannas and shibboleths” that constitute talk of shared values and paeans to the rules-based order. Rubio poured scorn on the U.N., saying that “on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role.”

    Thant Myint-U, a Burmese-British historian whose grandfather U Thant was the U.N.’s third Secretary-General, said that, “despite all of its failings,” the U.N. “has been a big part of eighty years of unparalleled peace and prosperity in human history.” He warned that if the Board of Peace picks up momentum, it may “set the stage for a much broader collapse of the whole U.N. architecture that we’ve had since 1945.”

    There’s plenty of reason to believe that the board may not be much more than a Trump vanity project of dissonant parts and vague goals that will fade from view amid the rolling dramas of his Presidency. But, as the U.S. plays spoiler within an international system in which it was once the linchpin, no other world power seems especially eager to pick up the slack. Thant Myint-U said, “At a time when Washington is challenging the very fundamentals of the U.N., both through the Board of Peace but also through aid cuts and funding cuts and everything else, no other country is saying, We’re either going to make up financially for the missing U.S. contributions, or we’re going to really invest politically in renewing and strengthening the U.N.”

    [ad_2]

    Ishaan Tharoor

    Source link

  • Saudi Arabia may have uranium enrichment under proposed deal with US, arms control experts warn

    [ad_1]

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia could have some form of uranium enrichment within the kingdom under a proposed nuclear deal with the United States, congressional documents and an arms control group suggest, raising proliferation concerns as an atomic standoff between Iran and America continues.

    U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden both tried to reach a nuclear deal with the kingdom to share American technology. Nonproliferation experts warn any spinning centrifuges within Saudi Arabia could open the door to a possible weapons program for the kingdom, something its assertive crown prince has suggested he could pursue if Tehran obtains an atomic bomb.

    Already, Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact last year after Israel launched an attack on Qatar targeting Hamas officials. Pakistan’s defense minister then said his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed, something seen as a warning for Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed state.

    “Nuclear cooperation can be a positive mechanism for upholding nonproliferation norms and increasing transparency, but the devil is in the details,” wrote Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association.

    The documents raise “concerns that the Trump administration has not carefully considered the proliferation risks posed by its proposed nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia or the precedent this agreement may set.”

    Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to questions Friday from The Associated Press

    The congressional document, also seen by the AP, shows the Trump administration aims to reach 20 nuclear business deals with nations around the world, including Saudi Arabia. The deal with Saudi Arabia could be worth billions of dollars, it adds.

    The document contends that reaching a deal with the kingdom “will advance the national security interests of the United States, breaking with the failed policies of inaction and indecision that our competitors have capitalized on to disadvantage American industry and diminish the United States standing globally in this critical sector.” China, France, Russia and South Korea are among the leading nations that sell nuclear power plant technology abroad.

    The draft deal would see America and Saudi Arabia enter safeguard deals with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. That would include oversight of the “most proliferation-sensitive areas of potential nuclear cooperation,” it added. It listed enrichment, fuel fabrication and reprocessing as potential areas.

    The IAEA, based in Vienna, did not immediately respond to questions. Saudi Arabia is a member state to the IAEA, which promotes peaceful nuclear work but also inspects nations to ensure they don’t have clandestine atomic weapons programs.

    “This suggests that once the bilateral safeguards agreement is in place, it will open the door for Saudi Arabia to acquire uranium enrichment technology or capabilities — possibly even from the United States,” Davenport wrote. “Even with restrictions and limits, it seems likely that Saudi Arabia will have a path to some type of uranium enrichment or access to knowledge about enrichment.”

    Enrichment isn’t an automatic path to a nuclear weapon — a nation also must master other steps including the use of synchronized high explosives, for instance. But it does open the door to weaponization, which has fueled the concerns of the West over Iran’s program.

    The United Arab Emirates, a neighbor to Saudi Arabia, signed what is referred to as a “123 agreement” with the U.S. to build its Barakah nuclear power plant with South Korean assistance. But the UAE did so without seeking enrichment, something nonproliferation experts have held up as the “gold standard” for nations wanting atomic power.

    The push for a Saudi-U.S. deal comes as Trump threatens military action against Iran if it doesn’t reach a deal over its nuclear program. The Trump military push follows nationwide protests in Iran that saw its theocratic government launch a bloody crackdown on dissent that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands more reportedly detained.

    In Iran’s case, it long has insisted its nuclear enrichment program is peaceful. However, the West and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003. Tehran also had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90% — making it the only country in the world to do so without a weapons program.

    Iranian diplomats long have pointed to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran won’t build an atomic bomb. However, Iranian officials increasingly have made the threat they could seek the bomb as tensions have risen with the U.S.

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s day-to-day ruler, has said if Iran obtains the bomb, “we will have to get one.”

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Rubio Meets Orbán in Budapest as US and Hungary Are to Sign a Civilian Nuclear Pact

    [ad_1]

    BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian-nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by U.S. President Donald Trump.

    Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since the right-wing populist retook power in 2010.

    Led by Euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.

    Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.

    Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.

    In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”

    Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

    Other U.S. conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.

    Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.

    Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the U.S. leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.

    Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • What to know as Iran and US set for nuclear talks in Oman

    [ad_1]

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Oman, their latest over Tehran’s nuclear program after Israel launched a 12-day war on the country in June and the Islamic Republic launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has kept up pressure on Iran, suggesting America could attack Iran over the killing of peaceful demonstrators or if Tehran launches mass executions over the protests. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed Iran’s nuclear program back into the frame as well after the June war disrupted five rounds of talks held in Rome and Muscat, Oman, last year.

    Trump began the diplomacy initially by writing a letter last year to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to jump start these talks. Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own, particularly as the theocracy he commands reels following the protests.

    Here’s what to know about Iran’s nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, 2025, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.’”

    Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites.

    A previous letter from Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader.

    But Trump’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyang’s atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S.

    Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The two men have met face to face after indirect talks, a rare occurrence due to the decades of tensions between the countries.

    It hasn’t been all smooth, however. Witkoff at one point made a television appearance in which he suggested 3.67% enrichment for Iran could be something the countries could agree on. But that’s exactly the terms set by the 2015 nuclear deal struck under former President Barack Obama, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew America. Witkoff, Trump and other American officials in the time since have maintained Iran can have no enrichment under any deal, something to which Tehran insists it won’t agree.

    Those negotiations ended, however, with Israel launching the war in June on Iran.

    Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran in June that included the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites. Iran later acknowledged in November that the attacks saw it halt all uranium enrichment in the country, though inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to visit the bombed sites.

    Iran soon experienced protests that began in late December over the collapse of the country’s rial currency. Those demonstrations soon became nationwide, sparking Tehran to launch a bloody crackdown that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained by authorities.

    Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.

    Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program put its stockpile at some 9,870 kilograms (21,760 pounds), with a fraction of it enriched to 60%.

    U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb.

    Iran was once one of the U.S.’s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah’s rule.

    But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran’s theocratic government.

    Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah’s extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The “Tanker War” during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner that the U.S. military said it mistook for a warplane.

    Iran and the U.S. have seesawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump and Xi discuss Iran in wide-ranging call as US presses China and others to break from Tehran

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Iran in a wide-ranging call as the U.S. administration pushes Beijing and others to further isolate Tehran.

    Trump said the two leaders also discussed a broad range of other critical issues in the U.S.-China relationship, including trade and Taiwan and his plans to visit Beijing in April.

    “The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,” Trump said in a social media posting about the call.

    The Chinese government, in a readout of the call, said the two leaders discussed major summits that both nations will host in the coming year that could present opportunities for them to meet. The Chinese statement, however, made no mention of Trump’s expected April visit to Beijing.

    Trump and Xi discussed Iran as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month. The U.S. president says he’s weighing taking military action against the Middle Eastern country.

    Trump is also pressing Iran to make concessions over its nuclear program, which his Republican administration says was already set back by the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June.

    U.S. and Iranians officials said Wednesday they have agreed to hold high-level talks on Friday i n Oman. The talks had initially been slated for Turkey but were shifted to the Gulf country at Iran’s insistence. A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the administration remains “very skeptical” that the talks will be successful but agreed to go along with the change in plans out of respect for allies in the region.

    Trump announced last month that the U.S. would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. China is Iran’s biggest trading partner.

    Years of sanctions aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear program have left the country isolated. But Tehran still did nearly $125 billion in international trade in 2024, including $32 billion with China, $28 billion with the United Arab Emirates and $17 billion with Turkey, the World Trade Organization says.

    China also made clear that it has no intention of stepping away from its long-term plans of reunification with Taiwan, a self-governing, democratic island operating independently from mainland China, though Beijing claims it as its own territory.

    The Trump administration in December announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones. The move continues to draw an angry response from Beijing.

    “Taiwan will never be allowed to separate from China,” the Chinese government statement said. “The U.S. must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence.”

    Neither Trump nor the Chinese government in its statement raised whether the U.S. leader’s repeated calls for a U.S. takeover of Greenland, the Arctic territory controlled by Denmark, came up during the conversation.

    Trump has made his case for the U.S. taking over the strategic island as necessary to rebuff Chinese and Russian encroachment, even as experts have repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s claims of Chinese and Russian military forces lurking off Greenland’s coastline. Denmark and Greenland as well as several European government leaders have pushed back against Trump’s takeover calls.

    Separately, Xi also spoke on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Xi’s engagement with Trump and Putin comes as the last remaining nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States is set to expire Thursday, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.

    Trump has indicated he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons but wants to involve China in a potential new treaty.

    “I actually feel strongly that if we’re going to do it, I think China should be a member of the extension,” Trump told The New York Times last month. “China should be a part of the agreement.”

    The call with Xi also coincided with a ministerial meeting that the Trump administration convened in Washington with several dozen European, Asian and African nations to discuss how to rebuild global supply chains of critical minerals without Beijing.

    Critical minerals are needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones. China dominates the market for those ingredients crucial to high-tech products.

    “What is before all of us is an opportunity at self-reliance that we never have to rely on anybody else except for each other, for the critical minerals necessary to sustain our industries and to sustain growth,” Vice President JD Vance said at the gathering.

    Xi has recently held a series of meetings with Western leaders who have sought to boost ties with China amid growing concerns about Trump’s tariff policies and calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland, a Danish territory.

    The disruption to global trade under Trump has made expanding trade and investment more imperative for many U.S. economic partners. Vietnam and the European Union upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership last month, two days after the EU and India announced a free-trade agreement. And Canada struck a deal last month to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Further Russia-Ukraine Talks Scheduled for Next Week, Says Zelenskyy

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The next round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday.

    Envoys from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. had been expected to meet that day in Abu Dhabi, to continue negotiations aimed at ending Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor.

    “We have just had a report from our negotiating team. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set: Feb. 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine is ready for substantive talks, and we are interested in an outcome that will bring us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.

    There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Russian officials.

    On Saturday afternoon, top Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said he had held a “constructive meeting with the U.S. peacemaking delegation” in Florida.

    Officials have so far revealed few details of the talks in Abu Dhabi, which are part of a yearlong effort by the Trump administration to steer the sides toward a peace deal and end almost four years of all-out war.

    While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washington’s calls for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.

    A central issue is whether Russia should keep or withdraw from areas of Ukraine its forces have occupied, especially Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland called the Donbas, and whether it should get land there that it hasn’t yet captured.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • India hosts Arab foreign ministers to deepen trade and strategic ties

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI — India hosted a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Saturday in a concerted push to deepen engagement in trade, energy and strategic cooperation as tensions rise in the Middle East.

    India and the United Arab Emirates co-chaired the talks, with foreign ministers and senior officials from all 22 Arab League member states attending. It was the first such gathering in New Delhi that followed a decadelong hiatus since the inaugural forum was held in Bahrain in 2016.

    India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the global order was undergoing a transformation for a variety of reasons, including conflicts. “Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year. This impacts all of us,” Jaishankar said.

    An Indian analyst said New Delhi’s outreach to Arab nations reflected its efforts to position itself as a reliable economic and diplomatic partner at a time of geopolitical rivalries and disruptions to global supply chains.

    “This is an effort by India to project a sense of partnership with the Arab world when regional fault lines are sharpening,” said Harsh Pant, vice president of foreign policy at New Delhi-based think tank the Observer Research Foundation.

    India’s trade with Arab league countries exceeds $240 billion annually, driven largely by energy imports such as crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • EU and Mercosur Bloc Sign Landmark Free Trade Agreement

    [ad_1]

    ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping over a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

    The signing ceremony in Paraguay’s humid capital of Asunción marks a major geopolitical victory for the EU in an age of American tariffs and surging Chinese exports, expanding the bloc’s foothold in a resource-rich region increasingly contested by Washington and Beijing.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Iran Closes Its Airspace to Commercial Aircraft for Hours as Tensions With US Remain High

    [ad_1]

    The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.

    Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation because Iran is located on a key East-West route for airlines.

    “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”

    The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

    U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.

    In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.

    Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”

    Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Canada and China: A half-century journey from Pierre Trudeau to Mark Carney

    [ad_1]

    Canada, under Pierre Trudeau in the early 1970s, was among the first Western nations to recognize the communist government in China, nearly a decade ahead of the United States.

    A half-century later, relations soured under Trudeau’s son, Justin. His successor, Prime Minister Mark Carney, is in Beijing this week in an attempt to rebuild relations after several years of frosty ties.

    Here is a look at the evolution of the relationship:

    Canada establishes ties with Beijing and ends diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The switch takes place more than a year before U.S. President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, which eventually leads to American recognition of the communist government in 1979, when the two nations established relations.

    Pierre Trudeau, who championed establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, meets Mao Zedong, the founder of the communist state. It is the first trip by a Canadian leader to the country since the Communist Party took power in 1949.

    Zhao Ziyang holds talks with Trudeau in the first visit by a Chinese premier to Canada since the establishment of diplomatic relations. The two governments sign an investment agreement. Zhao meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington on the same trip.

    Prime Minister Jean Chrétien brings business leaders to China to expand trade, despite criticism of the government’s bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. A backer of improved ties, Chrétien was in Beijing earlier this month to meet Chinese officials ahead of Carney’s trip.

    New Canadian leader Stephen Harper initially takes a tough line on China over its human rights records. He angers the Beijing government in 2007 by meeting the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who has fled China. Harper later shifts to a more moderate approach, visiting China several times to promote trade.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pierre’s son, declares a new era in relations with China on a visit to Beijing. He says ties have been somewhat lacking in stability and regularity. Trudeau meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a return visit in 2017.

    Canada detains Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive of China’s Huawei Technologies Co., at the request of the United States. The move sparks a downward spiral in relations that lasts for the rest of Trudeau’s term. China retaliates by detaining two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on spy charges. All three are released in 2021 under a three-way deal with the U.S.

    Canada bans Huawei equipment from Canada’s 5G networks. Canada also bars Chinese tech company ZTE Corp. from the country’s telecommunication systems. The U.S. had lobbied allies to exclude Huawei over cyberespionage concerns. China says Canada’s move was carried out with the U.S. to suppress Chinese companies in violation of free-market principles.

    Canada expels a Chinese diplomat in Toronto whom it accuses of involvement in a plot to intimidate Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong after Chong criticized Beijing’s human rights record. China responds by expelling a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai. Canada also launches an inquiry into whether China interfered in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021.

    Canada says it will impose a 100% tariff on imports of China-made electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum, matching U.S. tariff hikes under the Biden administration. China retaliates in March 2025 with a 100% tariff on canola products and a 25% tariff on Canadian seafood and pork exports.

    Carney succeeds Trudeau as prime minister in March as Canada and China face new U.S. tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney meets with Chinese leader Xi in October at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. They call their meeting a turning point in relations.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Slow-Moving Prisoner Releases in Venezuela Enter 3rd Day

    [ad_1]

    SAN FRANCISCO DE YARE, Venezuela (AP) — As Venezuelan detainee Diógenes Angulo left a prison in San Francisco de Yare after a year and five months behind bars, his family appeared to be in shock.

    He was detained two days before the 2024 presidential election after he posted a video of an opposition demonstration in Barinas, the home state of the late President Hugo Chávez.

    As he emerged from the jail in San Francisco de Yare, approximately an hour’s drive south of the capital Caracas, he learned that former President Nicolás Maduro had been captured by U.S. forces Jan. 3 in a nighttime raid in the capital.

    Angulo told The Associated Press that his faith gave him the strength to keep going during his detention.

    “Thank God, I’m going to enjoy my family again,” he said, adding that others still detained “are well” and have high hopes of being released soon.

    Families with loved ones in prison gathered for a third consecutive day Saturday outside prisons in Caracas and other communities, hoping to learn of a possible release.

    On Thursday, Venezuela ’s government pledged to free what it described as a significant number of prisoners.

    But as of Saturday, only 11 people had been released, up from nine a day prior, according to Foro Penal, an advocacy group for prisoners based in Caracas. Eight hundred and nine remained imprisoned, the group said. It was not immediately clear if Ángulo’s release was among the 11.

    A relative of activist Rocío San Miguel, one of the first to be released and who relocated to Spain, said in a statement that her release “is not full freedom, but rather a precautionary measure substituting deprivation of liberty.”

    Among the prominent members of the country’s political opposition who were detained after the 2024 presidential elections and remain in prison are former lawmaker Freddy Superlano, former governor Juan Pablo Guanipa, and Perkins Rocha, lawyer for opposition leader María Corina Machado. The son-in-law of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González also remains imprisoned.

    One week after the U.S. military intervention in Caracas, Venezuelans aligned with the government marched in several cities across the country demanding the return of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The pair were captured and transferred to the United States, where they face charges including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism.

    Hundreds demonstrated in cities including Caracas, Trujillo, Nueva Esparta and Miranda, many waving Venezuelan flags. In Caracas, crowds chanted: “Maduro, keep on going, the people are rising.”

    “There is a government, that of President Nicolás Maduro, and I have the responsibility to take charge while his kidnapping lasts … . We will not stop condemning the criminal aggression,” she said, referring to Maduro’s ousting.

    On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media: “I love the Venezuelan people and I am already making Venezuela prosperous and safe again.”

    After the shocking military action that overthrew Maduro, Trump stated that the United States would govern the South American country and requested access to oil resources, which he promised to use “to benefit the people” of both countries.

    Venezuela and the United States announced Friday that they are evaluating the restoration of diplomatic relations, broken since 2019, and the reopening of their respective diplomatic missions. A mission from Donald Trump’s administration arrived in the South American country on Friday, the State Department said.

    Amid global anticipation over the fate of the South American country, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil responded to Pope Leo XIV, who on Friday called for maintaining peace and “respecting the will of the Venezuelan people.”

    “With respect for the Holy Father and his spiritual authority, Venezuela reaffirms that it is a country that builds, works, and defends its sovereignty with peace and dignity,” Gil said on his Telegram account, inviting the pontiff “to get to know this reality more closely.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • The Aggressive Ambitions of Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine”

    [ad_1]

    The fate of the largest island in the world could upend transatlantic ties, in turn undermining the most important political and military alliance in the world. Denmark is one of the original members of NATO. After Trump’s comments, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, warned about the consequences: “If the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.” On Tuesday, a joint statement by seven European countries asserted that Greenland’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as part of Denmark, were protected by the U.N. Charter. Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, called picking a fight over Greenland “a colossal mistake.” Douglas Lute, a retired three-star general and another former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, predicted that European allies “will be increasingly reluctant to depend on the United States, as they have for nearly eighty years, and not only because Trump and his Administration are focussed on the Western Hemisphere but because what the President says cannot be trusted.”

    And, in the Middle East, the President notified Iran—on his Truth Social account, the day before the operation in Venezuela—that U.S. forces were “locked and loaded” and ready to intervene if the theocracy used lethal force when responding to peaceful anti-government demonstrations that had erupted across the country. Over the weekend, the State Department’s Farsi account posted another warning superimposed over a black-and-white photo of Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the C.I.A. chief, John Ratcliffe, as they watched the raid on Venezuela. In huge red letters, in Farsi, the message read, “Don’t play games with President Trump.” It added, “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know, now you know.” The U.S. threats followed Trump’s meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, last week at Mar-a-Lago, when the two leaders jointly vowed to again strike Iran if its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs are rebuilt.

    In December, the State Department rebranded the U.S. Institute of Peace by tacking on “Donald J. Trump” in big silver letters above the entryway. A White House spokesperson said the peace institute’s rebranding “beautifully and aptly” honored a President “who ended eight wars in less than a year” and was a “powerful reminder of what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability.”

    Except Trump has not really “ended” wars anywhere, he has only spun fragile ceasefires as examples of lasting peace. One of the wars the President claims to have ended was the long-standing conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The President presided over the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries last month. But the reprieve lasted only a few days. And, in the past month, hundreds of people have reportedly died in new fighting along the Rwanda-Congo border.

    Former senior American and European officials scoff at Trump’s claims of being the President of peace. Lute, who served as the deputy national-security adviser under the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations, chuckled when I asked him how many wars Trump has ended. “Zero,” he replied. “He may give himself credit to have paused eight conflicts, but I don’t count any of these as resolved.” Trump has even upped the numbers. “Now it’s eight and a quarter,” Lute noted. “He has this new math on Cambodia and Thailand, which he said he had to sort of solve again. So, he’s giving himself another point-two-five.”

    Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza is far from fully resolved, despite a Trump-brokered agreement last fall. “It’s not very clear what happens first and what happens next,” the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, said at the Doha Forum in December. Without imminent progress, all parties risked a return to war “or descent into total anarchy,” Eide said. In May, Trump notably claimed to have ended hostilities between India and Pakistan, a conflict that dates back to 1947 over control of predominantly Muslim Kashmir by predominantly Hindu India. The President said that he used trade concessions as incentives to get both countries to end a four-day skirmish in the Kashmir region, last spring. After a ceasefire was announced, the government of Pakistan, which had already nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, thanked him, but India claimed to know nothing about any concessions. “They’re not shooting at one another,” Lute said. “But that doesn’t stop the underlined conflict between India and Pakistan.” The ceasefire did not address the long-standing issue of Kashmir, and troops of both countries remain deployed along the volatile border.

    [ad_2]

    Robin Wright

    Source link

  • Russia: Ukrainian drone strike kills 24 in occupied Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated New Year’s in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said Thursday, as tensions between the two nations continue to spike despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks.

    Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader Vladimir Saldo said in a statement on Telegram. He said one of the drones carried an incendiary mixture, sparking a blaze.

    This page requires Javascript.

    Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

    kAm&>65:2E6=J 4@>>6?E @? E96 4=2:> @7 2 DEC:<6] %96 2EE24< 4@F=5 ?@E 36 :?56A6?56?E=J G6C:7:65 3J %96 pDD@4:2E65 !C6DD]k^Am

    [ad_2]

    By ILLIA NOVIKOV – Associated Press

    Source link

  • Pope Leo XIV opens first foreign trip with visit to Turkey

    [ad_1]

    ANKARA — Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey on Thursday on his first foreign trip, fulfilling Pope Francis’ plans to mark an important Orthodox anniversary and bring a message of peace to the region at a crucial time in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and ease Mideast tensions.

    Leo’s charter plane landed at Ankara’s international airport.

    Later, he had a meeting planned with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a speech to the country’s diplomatic corps. He’ll then move late Thursday on to Istanbul for three days of ecumenical and interfaith meetings that will be followed by the Lebanese leg of his trip.

    THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

    VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is heading to Turkey on Thursday on his first foreign trip, fulfilling the late Pope Francis’ plans to mark an important Orthodox anniversary and bring a message of peace to the region at a crucial time for efforts to end the war in Ukraine and ease Mideast tensions.

    Leo is arriving first in Ankara, where he has a meeting planned with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a speech to the country’s diplomatic corps. He’ll then move on to Istanbul for three days of ecumenical and interfaith meetings that will be followed by the Lebanese leg of his trip.

    Leo’s visit comes as Turkey, a country of more than 85 million people of predominantly Sunni Muslims, has cast itself as a key intermediary in peace negotiations for the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

    Ankara has hosted rounds of low-level talks between Russia and Ukraine and has offered to take part in the stabilization force in Gaza to help uphold the fragile ceasefire, engagements Leo may applaud in his arrival speech.

    Turkey’s growing military weight, as NATO’s largest army after the U.S., has been drawing Western leaders closer to Erdogan even as critics warn of his crackdown on the country’s main opposition party.

    Though support for Palestinians and an end to the war in Ukraine is widespread in Turkey, for Turks who face an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, owing to market turmoil induced by shake-ups in domestic politics, international politics is a secondary concern.

    That could explain why Leo’s visit has largely escaped the attention of many in Turkey, at least outside the country’s small Christian community.

    “I didn’t know he was coming. He is welcome,” said Sukran Celebi. “It would be good if he called for peace in the world, but I don’t think it will change anything.”

    Some said they thought the visit by history’s first American pope was about advancing the interests of the United States, or perhaps to press for the reopening of a Greek Orthodox religious seminary that has become a focal point in the push for religious freedoms in Turkey.

    “If the pope is visiting, that means America wants something from Turkey,” said Metin Erdem, a musical instruments shop owner in the touristic Galata district of Istanbul.

    The main impetus for Leo to travel to Turkey is to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council.

    Leo will pray with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, at the site of the 325 AD gathering, today’s Iznik in northwestern Turkey, and sign a joint declaration in a visible sign of Christian unity.

    Eastern and Western churches were united until the Great Schism of 1054, a divide precipitated largely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope.

    While the visit is timed for the important Catholic-Orthodox anniversary, it will also allow Leo to reinforce the church’s relations with Muslims. Leo is due to visit the Blue Mosque and preside over an interfaith meeting in Istanbul.

    Asgın Tunca, a Blue Mosque imam who will be receiving the pope, said the visit would help advance Christian-Muslim ties and dispel popular prejudices about Islam.

    “We want to reflect that image by showing the beauty of our religion through our hospitality — that is God’s command,” Tunca said.

    Since coming to power in 2002, Erdogan’s government has enacted reforms to improve the rights of religious groups, including opening places of worship and returning property that were confiscated.

    Still, some Christian groups face legal and bureaucratic problems when trying to register churches, according to a U.S. State Department report on religious freedoms.

    The Catholic Church, which counts around 33,000 members in Turkey, has no formal legal recognition in the country “and this is the source of many problems,” said the Rev. Paolo Pugliese, superior of the Capuchin Catholic friars in Turkey.

    “But the Catholic Church enjoys a rather notable importance because we have an international profile … and we have the pope holding our backs,” he said.

    One of the more delicate moments of Leo’s visit will come Sunday, when he visits the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Istanbul. The cathedral has hosted all popes who have visited Turkey since Paul VI, with the exception of Francis who visited Turkey in 2014 when its patriarch was sick.

    Francis visited him at the hospital, and a few months later he greatly angered Turkey in 2015 when he declared that the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Turkey, which has long denied a genocide took place, recalled its ambassador to the Holy See in protest.

    Leo has tended to be far more prudent than Francis in his public comments, and using such terms on Turkish soil would spark a diplomatic incident. But the Vatican is also navigating a difficult moment in its ties with Armenia, after its interfaith overtures to Azerbaijan have been criticized.

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Things to Know About the Growing Pressures Facing Zelenskyy During a Crucial Week of Diplomacy

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces a crucial week of diplomacy, testing his abilities to stand his ground while demonstrating to the United States that he is willing to compromise.

    Since a draft of a 28-point U.S.-Russia brokered peace plan was leaked to the press on Thursday, Ukraine and its European allies have been trying to buy time and ensure their interests are represented in any deal. The draft has triggered alarm in Kyiv and European capitals for favoring Russian demands and goals. It includes points on limiting the size of Ukraine’s army as well as handing over Ukrainian territory that Russia has occupied, and Kyiv relinquishing any justice for the thousands of recorded alleged war crimes committed by Moscow. The dial appeared to swing back somewhat more favorably for Kyiv after a U.S. and Ukrainian delegation met in Geneva on Sunday. Both sides said discussions were “productive” and would continue. Zelenskyy said he felt Trump was “hearing” Ukraine in a statement late Sunday after the Geneva talks ended. All this is playing out as Zelenskyy tries to stem public anger from a major corruption scandal and Russia makes slow but steady advances across parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and relentlessly bombs Ukraine’s power plants, causing severe electricity shortages as colder weather sets in. Here are some things to know about the growing pressures confronting Zelenskyy.


    Ukraine and Europe politely push back

    After the plan was leaked, U.S. President Donald Trump set a hard deadline for Kyiv to sign on to it before Thanksgiving, jolting Ukraine and Europe. Ukraine and European leaders made a series of statements, stressing how grateful they are to Trump for his efforts to end the war while stating the need to ensure Kyiv has input into any deal. In a joint statement on Friday, European leaders, together with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said they welcomed the plan, saying it contained “important elements” and could be used as “a basis that will require additional work.” The U.S. and Ukraine dispatched delegations to Geneva with the aim of hashing out an agreement on Sunday. Speaking after the Geneva talks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to roll back on the hard deadline, saying that “more time is needed.”

    The U.S. and Ukraine said the talks were “productive” but neither side shared details of the issues still unresolved. “It is important that European partners support our positions and our people,” Zelenskyy said on Monday, emphasizing his reliance on European support in the face of U.S. pressure and at times open hostility from Trump, who claimed Sunday that Zelenskyy showed “zero gratitude” for U.S. support.


    Peace talks distract from Zelenskyy’s domestic woes

    Zelenskyy sent his beleaguered presidential chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, to Geneva for talks with Rubio on Sunday, glossing over intense pressure to fire him.

    Zelenskyy faced an unprecedented rebellion from his own lawmakers last week after investigators revealed a $100 million corruption scandal involving top Ukrainian officials.

    Although Yermak was not accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the debacle to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy resisted, saying Yermak was key to the negotiation process, according to a leading party lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. On Friday, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to unite and “stop the political games” in light of the U.S. pressure.

    “All of us together must not forget or confuse who exactly is the enemy of Ukraine today,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation.


    Zelenskyy is not under imminent threat

    Despite the recent week of unprecedented criticism, including rebellion from within his own party, Zelenskyy’s own position has not come under fire. Even if Zelenskyy’s grip on parliament weakens and his popularity plummets, it would be nearly impossible to legally unseat him while the war is still going on — unless he voluntarily resigns. Russia’s invasion triggered martial law in Ukraine, indefinitely postponing presidential and parliamentary elections.

    Ukraine’s presidential term is normally five years and before the war the next elections had been scheduled for the spring of 2024.

    But Zelenskyy will need support from parliament to push through any peace deal and questions about Yermak could resurface. And if he were to seek reelection after the war, his chances could be hurt if Yermak is still in the picture, political analysts say.


    Pressure on the front and across the country

    Against this backdrop, Russia’s better equipped army has scaled up attacks along the front line and against energy facilities in the rear, putting further strain on Ukraine.

    The Russian army continues to steadily advance in multiple areas. Russian forces are pushing into the towns of Kupiansk and Pokrovsk, where the fiercest battles rage.

    Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power plants in November have resulted in some of the worst electricity shortages since the war began. Meanwhile, after Russia destroyed much of Ukraine’s gas extraction capabilities in two mass attacks this year, its state gas company, Naftogaz, has had to raise emergency funds to import expensive gas.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Trump to welcome Saudi crown prince with arrival ceremony, deal signings

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — It’s not an official state visit, but the White House is preparing to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week with the pomp and circumstance that is typical of one.

    The crown prince’s day at the White House next Tuesday will begin with an arrival ceremony on the sweeping South Lawn and a subsequent greeting on the South Portico, according to a senior White House official.

    Then Trump will host him in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting, followed by a signing and lunch in the Cabinet Room where the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will formalize multiple economic and defense agreements, said the official, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s planning.

    Later in the evening, the White House will hold an East Room dinner hosted and planned by first lady Melania Trump.

    His visit is billed as an official working visit because Prince Mohammed is not technically a head of state, the official said.

    On Wednesday, dozens of CEOs are expected to attend a meeting of the U.S.-Saudi Business Council at the Kennedy Center, the fine arts facility that is now led and managed by Trump loyalists. Though the U.S. president’s attendance is not yet confirmed for the business meeting, he is likely to attend, the senior White House official said.

    Trump’s relationship with the Gulf nations has been a top foreign policy priority for the president in his second term. His first major trip abroad was a tour of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where Trump was welcomed with an exceptionally rare Air Force One escort by royal Saudi Air Force F-15s and a state dinner at a UNESCO heritage site.

    “I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said as he met with Prince Mohammed in the royal palace in Riyadh. Later, Trump described Prince Mohammed as an “incredible man” and “my friend.”

    It also marks the first trip to the United States by the crown prince since the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 during Trump’s first term. U.S. intelligence agencies have said Prince Mohammed likely directed the killing, resulting in sanctions against several Saudi officials. He denies his involvement, and both the Trump and Biden administrations have worked to mend ties with Saudi Arabia since.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Kazakhstan Will Join the Abraham Accords With Israel in Symbolic Move to Boost the Trump Initiative

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab and Muslim majority countries in a symbolic move aimed at boosting the initiative that was a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s first administration, three U.S. officials said Thursday.

    The move is largely symbolic as Kazakhstan has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992 and is much farther geographically from Israel than the other Abraham Accord nations — Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

    Those countries agreed to normalize relations with Israel as a result of joining the accords, something Kazakhstan did shortly after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    Trump, a Republican, would announce the step at a summit he is hosting later Thursday with the leaders of the five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement.

    Despite their previous long-standing ties, the officials said Kazakhstan’s participation in the Abraham Accords with Israel was important as it would enhance their bilateral trade and cooperation and signaled that Israel is becoming less isolated internationally, notably after massive criticism and protests over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

    One official maintained that Trump’s nascent peace plan for Gaza had “completely changed the paradigm” and the many countries were now willing to “move toward the circle of peace” that it had created.

    The official said specific areas of enhanced Israeli-Kazakh cooperation would include defense, cybersecurity, energy and food technology, although all of those have been subjects of previous bilateral agreements dating back to the mid-1990s.

    Ahead of the White House summit between Trump and the five Central Asian leaders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a working breakfast with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev although the State Department made no mention of anything related to Israel.

    Rubio and Tokayev “discussed expanding opportunities for commercial trade and investment as well as increased cooperation with Kazakhstan in energy, technology, and infrastructure,” the department said in a statement.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link