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Global stocks mixed as Trump shifts on tariffs weighs on sentiment

Global stocks were mixed Friday as President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff tinkering weighed down sentiment even as Wall Street stocks shot higher following reassuring comments from the head of the Federal Reserve.After a down day in Europe, US stocks looked poised for another rocky round following mixed employment data.Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said investors were …

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Trump invites Iran leader to nuclear talks — or else

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he has written to Iran’s supreme leader pressing for new talks on its nuclear program, warning of possible military action if not.Iran’s foreign minister told AFP on Friday that his country would not negotiate so long as the United States applies “maximum pressure,” but he was not responding directly to Trump’s letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Trump’s outreach marks a departure at least in tone from the hardline stance that marked his first term and could put him at odds with close ally Israel, which last year carried out bombing strikes inside Iran.”Hopefully we can have a peace deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House, saying “we’re at the final moments” on the Iranian nuclear program.”I’d rather see a peace deal than the other,” he said of military action. “But the other will solve the problem.”Trump earlier revealed the letter in an interview on Fox Business in which he said he told Khamenei: “I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.”It was unclear how Trump sent the letter, which Iran’s mission to the United Nations said it has not received.Former president Barack Obama negotiated a landmark 2015 deal that promised sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its nuclear program.Trump denounced the agreement and pulled out in 2018 during his first term, over the objections of European allies. He instead imposed sweeping unilateral US sanctions on any other country buying Iran’s oil.Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, initially adhered to the deal but then rolled back commitments.US officials estimate Iran would now need mere weeks to build a nuclear bomb if it chooses to.On his return to the White House, Trump said he was reinstating — but only reluctantly — his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran.He has since sidelined officials from his first term associated with the hard line, and has vowed to break out of a foreign policy establishment he describes as war-mongering.Trump’s brash billionaire confidant Elon Musk was reported to have met Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations shortly after the election to deliver a message that Trump wants calm and diplomacy.- Iran warns against US threats -Iran has been cautious about returning to diplomacy.”We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP on Friday.Speaking on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Jeddah, Araghchi also warned that Iran’s nuclear program “cannot be destroyed through military operations.””This is a technology that we have achieved, and the technology is in the brains and cannot be bombed,” he said.Araghchi was a key negotiator of the 2015 deal, brokered by a then reformist government. Khamenei, 85, is the decision-maker in Iran’s clerical system and has pointed to Trump’s withdrawal in 208 as proof the United States cannot be trusted.But Iran is facing challenges not seen since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the pro-Western shah.Israel devastated Iranian air defenses and has also pounded two militant movements allied with Tehran’s clerics: Hamas, which carried out the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.Iran’s main regional ally, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, fell in December to Sunni Islamist-led fighters.- War if not? -Former president Joe Biden backed returning to the 2015 deal but talks collapsed in part over the extent of sanctions relief.The National Iranian American Council, which supports engagement, said Trump should remain personally invested to show his commitment to diplomacy.”If Iran’s leadership insists on waiting for the stars to align perfectly for negotiations, the window for negotiations is very likely to close and the risks of war will greatly increase to the detriment of all,” said the group’s president, Jamal Abdi.But Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Iran could use Trump’s offer to buy time on its way to a nuclear weapon.”Tehran has set a trap for him, hoping to lure him into endless diplomacy that is used to blunt maximum pressure and dampen the credibility of an American or Israeli military option,” he said.burs-sct-gw/bgs

Adopted orphan brings couple ‘paradise’ in war-ravaged Gaza

In their home in war-devastated Gaza City, Iman Farhat and her husband cherish the “paradise” brought by their newly-adopted baby, one of many orphans in the Palestinian territory after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.Wrapping five-month-old Jannah in a brightly coloured blanket, Farhat gently sang as she rocked her to sleep.”I chose Jannah just as she was,” the new mother said smiling, explaining the couple simply wanted to adopt a young child without preference for gender or physical appearance.”Her name was Massa, and I officially changed her name from Massa to Jannah,” which means “paradise” in Arabic, she added.Farhat, 45, and her husband Rami al-Arouqi, 47, adopted the well-behaved and chubby baby in January.”At first, we had mixed feelings of both joy and fear, because it is a huge responsibility and we had never had a child”, said Arouqi, a Palestinian Authority employee.The couple already owned a cat.”The idea of adopting a child had crossed our minds, but it was cemented during the war” which “wiped out entire families and left only orphans”, he added.In September, the United Nations children’s fund, UNICEF, estimated there were 19,000 children who were unaccompanied or separated from their parents in Gaza, Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s spokesman for the Palestinian territories, told AFP.Data for the number of adoptions in Gaza was not immediately available.The war sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel left more than 69 percent of Gaza’s buildings damaged or destroyed, displaced almost the entire population and triggered widespread hunger, according to the United Nations.- Life ‘turned upside down’ -Hamas’s attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to official figures.Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 48,446 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN considers these figures reliable.Farhat and her husband said that before Jannah’s adoption, she was taken care of by the SOS Children’s Villages — an international NGO which looks after children in need.After the NGO’s premises in the southern Gaza city of Rafah were destroyed in the war, the organisation had to move to nearby Khan Yunis where “they could not house all the children in buildings, so they set up tents for them,” Farhat said.Her husband Arouqi told AFP that another motive for adopting a child came from the idea that “Palestinians should stand by each other’s side”.”The whole world has abandoned and let us down, so we shouldn’t let each other down,” he added.Once the pair took Jannah home, “our life was turned upside down in a beautiful and pleasant way,” he said.”Her name is Jannah and our world has truly become a paradise.”A fragile truce took effect on January 19, largely halting the devastating fighting between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants. The ceasefire’s first phase ended last weekend.While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the deal’s second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.

Syria monitor says security forces ‘execute’ 69 Alawites after fierce clashes

A Syria war monitor said Friday that security forces “executed” 69 members of the Alawite minority, which toppled president Bashar al-Assad belongs to, a day after deadly clashes with gunmen loyal to him.In the fiercest attacks on the new authorities since Assad was ousted in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 147 people have been killed since the clashes erupted on Thursday along the country’s western coast.The Britain-based Observatory said that security forces “executed 69 Alawite men in the towns of Al-Shir and Al-Mukhtariya in the Latakia countryside”, citing verified videos and testimonies from relatives of the dead.The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled in the yard of a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.In another clip, men in military garb appear to order three people to crawl on the ground behind each other before opening fire on them at close range.A third video shared by the Observatory showed a fighter in military garb shooting a man at close range at the entrance of a building, killing him.AFP could not independently verify the images.An interior ministry source quoted by official news agency SANA said that “individual violations” had occurred on the coast and pledged to put a stop to them.”After remnants of the toppled regime assassinated a number of security personnel, popular unorganised masses headed to the coast, which led to a number of individual violations,” the source said.”We are working to put a stop to these violations that do not represent the Syrian people as a whole.”Restoring security has been one of the most complex tasks for the new authorities, installed after Islamist-led forces ousted Assad in a lightning offensive.After Thursday’s clashes, which according to the Observatory left 78 dead including 37 members of the security forces, 34 gunmen and seven civilians, the authorities had launched a sweeping security operation.A curfew was imposed until Saturday in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, heartland of the ousted president’s Alawite religious minority.Authorities have also imposed a curfew in Syria’s confessionally divided third city Homs.The seurity operation “targeted remnants of Assad’s militias and those who supported them”, an official cited by SANA said, as he called on civilians to “stay in their homes”.On Friday SANA said a security operation was launched in Assad’s hometown of Qardaha, near Latakia.- ‘Everyone’s afraid’ -The Observatory reported dozens of people wounded and others taken prisoner by both sides in Thursday’s clashes.Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said that in “a well-planned and premeditated attack, several groups of Assad militia remnants attacked our positions and checkpoints, targeting many of our patrols” around the coastal town of Jableh.SANA said that during their operation, security forces detained Ibrahim Huweija, a general who was “accused of hundreds of assassinations” under the rule of Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad.Later on Friday, the authorities announced a security sweep in the Jableh area, defence ministry spokesman Colonel Hassan Abdulghani told SANA.Ali, a farmer living in Jableh, told AFP he saw “urban battles and street fighting”.”All night, we heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions,” he said.”Everyone’s afraid… we are trapped at home and we can’t go out.”Thursday’s clashes saw security forces conduct helicopter strikes after they clashed with gunmen loyal to Assad-era special forces commander Suhail al-Hassan in the village of Beit Ana.The strikes had prompted leaders of the Alawite community to call for “peaceful protests”, saying they had targeted “the homes of civilians”.Tensions had erupted after residents of Beit Ana, the birthplace of Suhail al-Hassan, prevented security forces from arresting a person wanted for trading arms, the Observatory said.Security forces subsequently launched a campaign in the area, resulting in clashes with gunmen, it added.- ‘Tinderbox’ – Syria expert Aron Lund described the situation as a “tinderbox”.”Both sides feel like they’re under attack, both sides have suffered horrific abuses at the hands of the other side, and both sides are armed,” he told AFP.Forces led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, when he fled to Russia with his family.Syria’s new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.Residents and organisations have reported violations during those campaigns, including home seizures, field executions and kidnappings, which the authorities have described as “isolated incidents”.Russia, Assad’s main backer that helped turn the tide of the war in his favour before he was toppled, called on Syrian authorities to “do their utmost to put an end to the bloodshed as soon as possible”.Iran, another key Assad backer, said it was in “no hurry” to establish ties with the new government.Saudi Arabia and Turkey reaffirmed their support for the new authorities, while Jordan condemned “attempts to drive Syria toward anarchy”.

No talks with US under ‘maximum pressure’ policy, Iran FM tells AFP

Iran will not resume negotiations with the United States on its nuclear programme while President Donald Trump applies his “maximum pressure” policy, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP on Friday.Iran will maintain talks with other negotiators but will not engage with the US under Trump’s approach of ramping up sanctions, he said in an interview at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Later on Friday, Trump said he had written to Iran warning it to open negotiations or face a military attack.”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 for them,” he told Fox Business.Araghchi also warned against an Israeli attack on Iran and said its nuclear programme, which it insists is for civilian purposes, could not be destroyed by military means.Question: Is Iran prepared to reopen negotiations with the US on its nuclear programme?Abbas Araghchi: “We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats but it doesn’t mean that regarding our nuclear programme, we will not negotiate with other parties; we are talking with the three European countries, we are negotiating with Russia and China, other members of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 agreement between Iran and major powers on its nuclear programme), and these talks can continue and I think we can reach a result from this path too.”As long as the US government continues its pressure, we will also continue our resistance.””If America wants to return to a new nuclear agreement with Iran, naturally it should observe the conditions of a fair and just negotiation and we have proven that we will not answer the language of pressure and threat but will respond to the language of respect and dignity as we did in the past. “Regarding our nuclear programme, I repeat, we are currently engaged in negotiations with the three European countries. We are in close consultation with Russia and China, and we are continuing our discussions with other countries that are interested. It is natural that our points of view will be conveyed by these countries to the American government.”Question: How do you respond to Israel’s threat to attack Iran’s nuclear programme? “Look, first of all, Iran’s nuclear programme cannot be destroyed through military operations, for several reasons. The first reason is that this is a technology that we have achieved, and the technology is in the brains and cannot be bombed. “Second, Iran’s nuclear facilities are scattered in many different parts of the country and are properly protected, and we are sure that they cannot be destroyed. “Third, we have the ability to respond very strongly and in a completely proportionate and balanced manner. The Israelis themselves know, and others in the region know, that any action taken against Iran will be followed by a similar action against Israel. “Therefore, I think that the threat of war against Iran is a threat that is just talked about. Implementing this threat would be a very big danger and would turn into a widespread fire. “I think that if the Israelis or others were sure that they would achieve their goals through a military attack, they would have done so by now, but such a possibility is not feasible.”I believe that if an attack on Iran were to take place, this attack could turn into a widespread fire in the region; not that we will do that. It is Israel’s desire to involve the other countries in the region in a war. It is Israel’s desire to draw America into a war. This is precisely an Israeli plan to drag America into war, and America is extremely vulnerable if it enters a war in the region. They themselves know this. “I think that both Israel and America and others are fully aware of our capabilities, and therefore, if rationality prevails, even the permission for threatening Iran should not be given, let alone an actual military attack.”Question: Turkey has accused Iran of using militias to destabilise other countries. How do you respond?Abbas Araghchi: “I don’t think anyone doubts that the developments in Syria were directly influenced by Turkey and a few other countries, and therefore the problems that have arisen now, such as the widespread occupation of Syrian territory by Israel, the destruction of all of Syria’s defence and scientific infrastructure by Israel, and all of the conflicts that exist, naturally, the responsibility lies with those who carried out these changes and developments. “However, this does not mean that we are in conflict with Turkey; no, we will continue our friendly relations and continue our consultations on regional issues.”Question: Will Iran establish ties with the new Syrian government?Abbas Araghchi: “There are many illegal groups in Syria, some of which are still on the UN list of terrorist groups. The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is quite clear. “We want stability and peace in Syria. We want to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria. We want to preserve the territorial unity of Syria and oppose the division of Syria. We want an end to the foreign occupation in Syria. We want the progress and development of the Syrian people. “Finally, we want the formation of an inclusive government in Syria. Any military confrontation with the people, any incident that leads to the death of people, and any military conflict that destabilises Syria are condemned in our opinion and must be prevented.”The Islamic Republic of Iran is currently only an observer of Syrian issues; we have no relationship with the current Syrian government, and we are not in a hurry in this regard. However, we hope that the developments in Syria will move towards an inclusive popular government, and we hope that all illegal groups whose work has led to the instability in Syria will return to the rule of law.”