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Iran, US to hold new round of high-level nuclear talks

The United States and Iran were to hold a fresh round of technical and high-level nuclear negotiations in Oman on Saturday, after both sides reported progress in previous meetings.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, leading Tehran’s delegation, arrived in Muscat on Friday ahead of the mediated talks, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff expected to head the American side.The technical talks will come first, followed by the high-level negotiations.Araghchi expressed “cautious optimism” about the process this week, saying that “if the sole demand by the US is for Iran to not possess nuclear weapons, this demand is achievable”.But if Washington had “impractical or illogical demands, we will naturally encounter problems”, he added.US President Donald Trump, in an interview published Friday by Time magazine, reiterated his threat of military action if a deal fell through, but also suggested he was optimistic about an agreement, saying he “would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped”.Michael Anton, the State Department’s head of policy planning, will lead Washington’s expert-level delegation, while deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will lead Tehran’s, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.Iranian state television reported from Muscat that the meetings were expected to begin around 0830 GMT, without specifying which session it was referring to.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday that the new talks, like the previous rounds in Muscat and Rome the past two Saturdays, would be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.Baqaei wrote on X that Iran’s delegation aimed to secure its “lawful right to use nuclear energy… while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our programme is entirely peaceful”.The “speedy” termination of sanctions is also “a priority”, he added.The recent negotiations are the highest-level engagement between the long-time foes since Trump withdrew during his first term from a landmark 2015 nuclear accord that offered Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.- ‘Hostile’ sanctions -Since returning to office in January, Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Tehran.In March, he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing talks, but also warning of potential military action if diplomacy failed.On Tuesday, Washington announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil network — a move Tehran described as “hostile” ahead of Saturday’s talks.Western nations, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied.Iran maintains its nuclear programme is strictly for peaceful purposes.On Wednesday, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi called on Iran to explain tunnels built near its Natanz nuclear site, seen in satellite imagery released by the Institute for Science and International Security.The Washington-based think-tank also noted construction of a new security perimeter.”We’re asking them, what is this for? They are telling us, it’s none of your business,” Grossi told reporters.Tehran had no immediate comment.- ‘Non-negotiable’ right -In an interview released Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated Washington’s firm stance against Iran’s uranium enrichment.”If Iran wants a civil nuclear programme, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one: and that is they import enriched material,” he said on the Honestly podcast.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.Araghchi has previously called Iran’s right to enrich uranium “non-negotiable”.A commentary in Iran’s conservative Kayhan daily on Saturday said: “By repeating the tone of threats and denying the right to enrichment, Trump and his Secretary of State have shown that what Washington is after is ‘Iran’s surrender’ and not an ‘equal agreement.'”Araghchi said in the text of a speech posted to X earlier this week that Iran was looking “to build at least 19 more reactors”.Tehran has recently sought to reopen dialogue with Britain, France and Germany — also signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal — holding several rounds of nuclear talks ahead of the US meetings.On Thursday, Araghchi said he was willing to visit the European countries for talks.Last week, Rubio urged them to decide whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to use the mechanism expires in October.Iran has warned that it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the snapback is triggered.

Xi says China must ‘overcome’ AI chip challenges

President Xi Jinping said China must “overcome” the challenges of developing core AI technologies including high-end chips, state media reported Saturday, as Beijing seeks to become a world leader in the rapidly developing industry.China aims to dominate the artificial intelligence sector, a goal complicated by the trade standoff with Washington that could further deprive Chinese …

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US stocks extend rally as market eyes busy calendar next week

Wall Street stocks overcame early weakness Friday to push higher for a fourth straight positive session, following gains in most overseas equity markets.The upbeat session reflected a continuation of the market’s constructive trend after President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.The administration has also adopted a …

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WFP says has depleted all Gaza food stocks as Israel blocks aid

The UN’s World Food Programme said Friday it had depleted its food stocks in war-ravaged Gaza, where Israel has blocked all aid for more than seven weeks.After 18 months of war, the situation in Gaza “is probably the worst” it has been, the UN’s humanitarian office has said, with the head of the world body’s Palestinian refugee agency decrying the aid stoppage on Friday as “politically motivated starvation”.WFP, one of the main providers of food assistance in the Palestinian territory, said it had “delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip” on Friday.It said “these kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days”.Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said the crisis was “manmade”.”The Government of Israel continues to block the entry of food + other basics,” he wrote on X. “Nearly 2 months of siege. Calls to bring in supplies are going unheeded.” The World Health Organization said the situation was no different for medical supplies.After blocking aid during an impasse over the future of a ceasefire with Hamas, Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza on March 18, followed by a ground offensive.Mohammed al-Mughayyir, an official with Gaza’s civil defence rescue agency, told AFP that the death toll from Israeli strikes on Friday had risen to at least 40. In the evening, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in Zeitun and two nearby areas in the territory’s north ahead of another planned strike, saying it was responding to “terrorist activity” and “operating with force”.Gazans say they are threatened with death not just from bombardment, but from a lack of food.In addition to the WFP, aid agencies and Western governments have also voiced alarm.”We are literally dying of hunger,” Tasnim Abu Matar, a Gaza City resident, said earlier this week.- ‘Lifeline’ -“For weeks, hot meal kitchens have been the only consistent source of food assistance for people in Gaza. Despite reaching just half the population with only 25 percent of daily food needs, they have provided a critical lifeline,” the WFP said.The agency added that “more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance –- enough to feed one million people for up to four months” was positioned at aid corridors ready to be brought in “as soon as borders reopen”.Following WFP’s warning, the World Health Organization’s chief said medical supplies were also “running out” in Gaza while 16 WHO trucks wait to enter.  “This aid blockade must end. Lives depend on it”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.WFP added that all 25 bakeries it supports in Gaza were forced to close on March 31 as wheat flour and cooking oil ran out during “the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever faced”.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz last week said his country would continue blocking aid because the tactic is “one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using (aid) as a tool with the population”.On Wednesday, Germany, France and Britain called for an end to the “intolerable” blockade and warned of “an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death”.The International Criminal Court in November issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu partly on suspicion of the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.Netanyahu rejected the accusations as “absurd and false”.- ‘I found him on fire’ -At least 2,062 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its campaign against Hamas militants in mid-March.That brings the overall death toll of the war to 51,439, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that began the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. Among the fatalities on Friday were five members of the al-Taima family killed when an air strike hit their makeshift tent in Al-Mawasi, near Khan Yunis, the civil defence’s Mughayyir said.Gaza resident Ramy, who gave only his first name, said he lost his three-year-old son in a strike on their tent.”When I couldn’t find him, I went back to the tent and I found him on fire,” Ramy said.Israel’s military has threatened an even larger offensive if militants do not soon free hostages who remain in Gaza.Israel says militants are still holding 58 people captured during their October 2023 attack, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Friday that a delegation from the group would meet with Egyptian mediators “tomorrow to discuss Hamas’s vision for ending the war”, reiterating the group’s weapons “are not up for negotiation”.