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Nippon, US Steel say they have completed partnership deal

Nippon Steel and US Steel announced Wednesday they have completed a long-debated transaction granting the US government a “golden share” — a veto-like power over the Japanese company’s strategic decisions.The agreement modifies a transaction originally announced in December 2023 in which Nippon Steel agreed to acquire US Steel for $14.9 billion. But the outright acquisition of …

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‘Terrified’: Supporters fear for prisoners trapped in Iran

As Israel presses its aerial attacks on Tehran, concern is growing over the fate of foreign nationals and Iranians seen by rights groups as political prisoners imprisoned in the capital who have no chance of fleeing to safety.Iran is believed to hold around 20 European nationals, many of whose cases have never been published, in what some Western governments describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West.Rights groups also accuse Iran of holding dozens of political prisoners whose sole offence has been to criticise the Islamic republic’s clerical leadership.Most are held in Evin prison, a large, heavily fortified complex notorious among activists for rights abuses that is located in a northern district of the Iranian capital. The prisoners have no means to respond to US President Donald Trump’s warning that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”For Noemie Kohler, the sister of French national Cecile Kohler, who has been held along with her partner Jacques Paris since May 2022 on espionage charges their families reject, the wait is agonising.”Since May 30, we’ve had no news, no sign of life from Jacques and Cecile, and the French authorities haven’t been able to obtain any information either,” Noemie Kohler told AFP, referring to the date of their last consular visit.”We saw that at least two strikes took place about two kilometres from where they are being held (in Evin prison), so it’s extremely close. We suspect they must have heard the explosions, but we have no idea how they are doing, we have no idea what level of information they have access to.”- ‘Imminent danger’ -Their last phone contact was on May 28, when Cecile Kohler’s parents spoke to her, she said, describing the mood even then as “desperate”, as they “no longer believe that they are going to be released”.”We don’t know if conditions in the prison have deteriorated in connection with the situation. We’re completely in the dark, and we’re truly terrified,” she said.She called for the couple’s “humanitarian exfiltration”, warning that “they are in imminent danger of death”.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in May that 20 Europeans — a higher number than the total of publicised cases — are held in similar circumstances in Iran, including “teachers, academics, journalists, tourists”.He told parliament on Wednesday that France sent messages to the Iranian and Israeli authorities “alerting them to the presence of our two compatriots in Evin prison and to the need, as far as the Iranian authorities are concerned, to release them without delay to ensure their safety”.Among other Europeans known to be held in Iran is Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was arrested during a visit in April 2016 and sentenced to death in 2017 on charges of spying for Israel, which his family says are false.The current conflict, which has already seen one man, Esmail Fekri, executed on Monday on charges of spying for Israel, has made Djalali’s situation especially precarious.Norway-based group Iran Human Rights has warned the lives of Djalali and eight other men convicted on similar charges are at risk.”The risk of execution of these individuals is serious,” said its director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding they had all been sentenced after “an unfair, non-transparent process, and based on the orders of security institutions”.- ‘My dad is in prison’ -Tehran residents have fled the city en masse.The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who was serving a prison sentence but was released from Evin last year on medical leave, said she had left Tehran.But Mohammadi’s fellow rights activist Reza Khandan, the husband of prize-winning rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, is still jailed in Evin.Khandan, who long campaigned for his wife while she was in jail, was himself arrested in December 2024.”My dad is in prison. Can you tell me, how can my father evacuate Tehran?” their daughter Mehraveh Khandan said in a tearful message on Instagram.The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran urged “all parties to fully comply with international humanitarian law and take immediate steps to safeguard civilians, including those in custody”.It published a letter by legal activist Mahvash Seydal, seen as a political prisoner by rights groups, calling on authorities to grant detainees such as herself temporary release “to protect the lives and dignity of political prisoners”.

Iran-Israel war: a lifeline for Netanyahu?

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.Nearly two years on from Hamas’s unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for.Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support.Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in “Bibi” the man of the moment.– ‘Reshape the Middle East’ –For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran — a fear shared by most Israelis.Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu’s argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws “a lot of public support” and that the prime minister has been “greatly strengthened”.Even the opposition has rallied behind him.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one,” opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister.The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to “reshape the Middle East.”During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defences.Israel’s then-defence minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted “the balance of power” and had “weakened” Iran.”In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran),” said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel’s Open University.Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year.”Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself — not the one who reacts — and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model,” Charbit said.”But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers.”– Silencing critics –For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a “necessary war,” according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialised in Israel at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.”Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones,” she added.”It’s very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad.”In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel’s military had reached unprecedented levels.After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts.”There’s more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran,” explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing “the dirty work… for all of us.”The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman.But for Perelman, “Netanyahu is exploiting the Iranian threat, as he always has.” 

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation initiative ‘outrageous’: UN probe chief

The use of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute food in the Palestinian territory is “outrageous”, the head of a UN inquiry said Wednesday.Navi Pillay, who chairs the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Palestinian territories, joined a growing chorus of criticism of the GHF’s operations, and cited its US links.”In every war, the siege and starvation surely leads to death,” the former UN rights chief told journalists.”But this initiative of what’s called a foundation, a private foundation, to supply food, is what I see as outrageous, because it involves the United States itself, the government, and it turns out, as we watch daily, that people who go to those centres are being killed as they seek food.”An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points.Pillay said the commission would “have to look into… the policy purpose and how it’s being effected.”We have to spell out what is the motive of, right now, the killing of people who are coming for humanitarian aid from this so-called foundation — and that lives are being lost just in trying to secure food for their children.”Unprecedented in its open-ended scope, the three-person Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.South African former High Court judge Pillay, 83, served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.On Tuesday she presented the commission’s latest report to the Human Rights Council.It said Israel had attacked Gaza’s schools, religious and cultural sites as part of a “widespread and systematic” assault on the civilian population, in which Israeli forces have committed “war crimes” and “the crime against humanity of extermination”.Israel does not cooperate with the investigation and has long accused it of “systematic anti-Israel discrimination”.

Gulf states on Iran’s doorstep scramble for end of war

As Iran and Israel trade strikes and the US weighs joining in, wealthy Gulf states on the conflict’s doorstep are engaged in frantic diplomacy to halt the war — but solutions remain elusive.A spillover of the conflict or the Iranian government’s collapse are both worrying outcomes for the energy-rich region, which hosts several major US military bases.Peace and stability have been central to the rise of Gulf powers including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are pivoting their economies towards business and tourism.Hoping to avert the crisis, Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has been talking to Iran and the United States since “day one”, Ali Shihabi, an analyst close to the royal court, told AFP.”But it does not look promising that something will happen very soon,” he added.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler, and the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have both spoken to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in recent days.The Emirati president also held a phone call on Wednesday with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Iran, who offered to mediate in the conflict.Israel’s launching of the war scuppered Oman-brokered talks between Tehran and Washington that were supported by Gulf nations, who have been pursuing a detente with their giant neighbour after years of strained ties.- ‘Reckless and miscalculated’ -On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and warned it could easily assassinate its supreme leader, fuelling fears of American intervention.Hours later, the UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the Gulf country’s president had “conducted intensive diplomatic calls… to de-escalate tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading”.Sheikh Abdullah warned against “reckless and miscalculated actions that could extend beyond the borders of the two countries”, in a strongly worded statement published by the official WAM news agency.Trump had initially urged Iran to come to the negotiating table, but an official briefed on talks said Tehran told Qatar and Oman that it “will not negotiate while under attack”. Oman, Iran’s traditional intermediary, said it was engaged in diplomatic efforts as the daily strikes continue.Meanwhile Qatar, a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war and a negotiator with Iran in the past, has also been “engaging daily” with the US, its foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani warned on X that “it is not in the interest of the Gulf states to see Iran… collapse”, adding that they would be “the first to be harmed” by the war’s repercussions.- ‘Almost no influence’ -An Arab diplomat told AFP: “Everyone in the Gulf is going to say we are better off making sure we have a deal with Iran, a diplomatic solution with Iran.”Shihabi, the Saudi analyst, echoed the sentiment, saying the best outcome was “obviously an agreement between Iran and (the) US”.Diplomatic intervention by Saudi Arabia, once a fierce critic of Iran, comes two years after they restored ties. The UAE, which recognised Israel in 2020, has also patched up relations with Tehran since 2022.”Whereas the Saudis may have once called for ‘cutting off the head of the snake’, their approach toward Iran has shifted dramatically,” said Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.However, “the Arab Gulf states have almost no ability to shape Israel’s or Iran’s behaviour or influence the outcome of this war,” he told AFP.”It is difficult to see how Israel’s military campaign against Iran, whose objectives seem to have quickly metastasised from eliminating Iran’s nuclear and missiles programmes to overthrowing the regime, ends well for Iran’s Arab Gulf neighbours,” Alhasan added.

Gaza flotilla skipper vows to return

The Dutch captain of a Gaza-bound ship carrying activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg said Wednesday future missions could still be in the works as he returned to the Netherlands.Mark van Rennes arrived back at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, greeted by dozens of supporters, some carrying Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free Palestine.”His ship, the Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the aim of delivering aid and challenging the Israeli blockade of Gaza.Israel’s military intercepted the vessel, which it dubbed the “selfie yacht”, saying it was not authorised to travel to the war-torn area.Asked if future missions could happen, Van Rennes said: “The blockade (of Gaza) has been going for 18 years and it’s still ongoing.””The oppression of the Palestinians is ongoing. As long as that is ongoing, the flotilla will go on as well,” he added.After being taken to an Israeli port, Thunberg and three other activists agreed to be deported immediately.But Israeli authorities detained eight others, who appeared before an immigration tribunal before being sent back to their home countries.Van Rennes was supposed to return to the Netherlands on Friday but Israel airspace was closed due to the ongoing conflict with Iran.He said his conditions while being held in Israel were “not ideal” and he went to hospital twice in Jordan on his way back, but did not give more details. “I think the focus should be on the more than 10,000 Palestinians who are now still in detention camps who are in much worse conditions, being tortured and humiliated every day,” he told AFP.The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to official Israeli figures.The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.The war has ravaged the Gaza Strip, with shortages of food, fuel and clean water.