USA

Iran Guards say Military Capabilities 'Red Lines' in US Talks

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday the country's military capabilities were off limits, ahead of a second round of talks with the United States on its nuclear program. "National security and defense and military power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any ...

US Climate Cuts Hurting Global Science: Europe's Weather Agency

Europe's meteorological agency says cuts by US President Donald Trump's administration to a key American science agency had hindered the sharing of crucial observations used around the globe to monitor the climate and forecast weather. Trump's administration has fired hundreds of staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ...

American Singer Katy Perry Roared into First All-Woman Spaceflight

Pop star Katy Perry became the biggest name in an all-woman group to safely blast off into space Monday, roaring into the cosmos on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos's rockets. The Firework and California Girls singer was lofted more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the Earth's surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by ...

Pandemic Treaty Talks Inch Towards Accord

Countries hope more than three years of negotiations on battling future pandemics will finally end Tuesday, after reaching a preliminary agreement last week. It has been more than five years since the Covid-19 pandemic began, killing millions of people and devastating economies. Experts say an accord has become even more crucial with new health ...

Trump Envoy Says Putin Open to 'Permanent Peace' Deal with Ukraine

US President Donald Trump's special envoy said Monday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was open to a "permanent peace" deal with Ukraine, following talks seeking to end the more than three-year war. Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated ...

Israel Demands Hostage release for Gaza Ceasefire

Hamas said Monday that Israel has offered a 45-day ceasefire if it releases half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, which the United Nations said is now in the grip of its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the war. A Hamas official told AFP that Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the ...

Iran's Top Diplomat to Visit Russia after US Nuclear Talks

  Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of a new round of talks planned between the foes. On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman -- the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear accord ...

From Taif to Oman: The Long Road to State Sovereignty in Lebanon

For the past 34 years, Hezbollah’s weapons have remained a central point of contention both domestically and internationally. On September 30, 1989, Lebanon’s political factions convened in Taif, Saudi Arabia, and signed the National Accord, known as the Taif agreement, to end the devastating 15-year civil war. One of the key provisions ...

Yemen's Huthis say Seven Killed in US Strikes West of Sanaa

Yemen's Huthi rebels said on Monday the number of dead from US strikes carried out overnight Sunday, west of the capital Sanaa, had risen to seven dead with dozens wounded. The strikes targeting a factory in the in the al-Sawari industrial zone in the Bani Matar region led to "the martyrdom of seven citizens and the injury of 29 others, including ...

European Stocks Jump Over 2% After Tech Tariff Exemptions

European stock markets rose sharply Monday after the United States announced exemptions from sweeping tariffs for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products, tempering trade war fears. Despite US President Donald Trump suggesting that the exemptions could be short-lived, European stocks rallied around two percent at the ...