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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

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged high uncertainty Friday surrounding President Donald Trump’s economic policies and their effects, maintaining that the central bank need not rush to adjust interest rates.”It is the net effect of these policy changes that will matter for the economy and for the path of monetary policy,” Powell told a forum in New York. “We do not need to be in a hurry, and we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity.”Wall Street’s main indices picked up shortly after Powell’s comments.Powell’s remarks come as Trump’s return to the White House in January brings swift changes that promise to ripple through the world’s biggest economy.The president has taken aim at illegal immigration while imposing sweeping levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, triggering retaliation.The tariffs sent US markets tumbling and economists have warned that if kept in place, such additional duties could weigh on longer-term economic growth and push up inflation.But for now, Powell maintained that the US economy remains in a good position, adding that it has been growing at a solid pace while the labor market remained robust.Government data released Friday showed that the US economy added 151,000 jobs in February, a healthy rate though lower than anticipated. Unemployment crept up slightly.With ongoing shifts in trade policy, Powell stressed that the Fed is focused on separating signal from noise as the outlook evolves.He also remained cautious in assessing the effects of households’ and businesses’ uncertainties over economic prospects.”It remains to be seen how these developments might affect future spending and investment,” he said.He warned that sentiment readings are not always a good predictor of consumption growth.Powell added Friday that even as inflation has cooled significantly from its peak in mid-2022 without a sharp spike in unemployment, the path to lowering levels further is likely to remain bumpy.Some near-term measures of inflation expectations have recently risen, with consumers and businesses pointing to tariffs as a driving factor.Yet longer-term expectations remain stable and consistent with policymakers’ two percent goal, Powell added.Besides the effects of trade policy, Powell noted the administration is also in the process of introducing “significant policy changes” in areas like fiscal policy and regulation.Trump’s administration has referred to tariffs as a means to raise government revenue, remedy unfair trade practices and exert pressure on other countries on US priorities.

The United States added fewer jobs than expected in February and unemployment ticked up, government data showed Friday, while analysts warn cracks may be appearing in the labor market under President Donald Trump’s new administration.Friday’s report paints a solid picture of the employment market in the first full month of Trump’s second term, amid unprecedented cuts to the US government that are attracting growing blowback.But analysts warned of uncertainty ahead linked to Trump’s volatile tariffs policy, and cautioned that effects from the administration’s cost-cutting have yet to show up entirely.The world’s biggest economy added 151,000 jobs last month, up from January’s revised 125,000 figure, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.1 percent from 4.0 percent, the Labor Department said.”Within government, federal government employment declined by 10,000 in February,” it said.The federal downsizing efforts have been led by Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has slashed thousands of jobs and upended agencies, prompting a flurry of lawsuits.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell nevertheless said at an event in New York that the labor market remains solid, with wages growing faster than inflation.- ‘Re-privatize’ -The White House was quick to emphasize an uptick in manufacturing jobs, with Trump himself touting “major gains” and pointing to an added 9,000 jobs in the auto industry.”We’re trying to shrink government and grow the private sector,” the president said.The Trump administration has expressed plans to “re-privatize and re-industrialize the American economy,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, alongside wider efforts towards deregulation and fair trade.The Republican president has launched a broad offensive aimed at cutting public spending and reducing the federal government’s footprint — pledges he made on the campaign trail.Yet the full hit from Trump’s federal workforce cuts is not necessarily reflected in the February report, given the payroll survey was likely conducted “too early in the month,” said EY senior economist Lydia Boussour this week.”We expect a more visible dent to federal payrolls in March and subsequent months,” she added.Pantheon Macroeconomics noted this week that the return of more seasonally normal weather had likely boosted payroll growth.- ‘Uncertain’ future -The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) cheered February’s factory job gains but warned of “a very uncertain future,” with Trump recently unveiling a volley of tariffs and threats on both allies and adversaries.AAM President Scott Paul said in a statement that the manufacturing sector had been stalled for 30 months.He called for a “responsible and orderly application of new tariffs, particularly on China and other countries with persistent unfair trade practices.”On Tuesday, Trump’s steep tariffs on major US trading partners Canada and Mexico took effect, roiling markets.The president has since walked back some of these moves with temporary exclusions for imports covered by a North American free trade pact.Pantheon Macroeconomics cautioned that “cracks are appearing in the labor market,” citing a separate report this week from outplacement and coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.That report noted tens of thousands of government job cuts, but also flagged significant private sector layoffs, many of them in the retail and consumer products industries.For Pantheon, that hints at the impact of “heightened uncertainty around trade policy.”ZipRecruiter chief economist Julia Pollak flagged signs of “softening” in the market, with a shortening of the work week and rise in the number of workers “forced into part-time jobs.”Some employers may be avoiding layoffs but cutting back on hours, she noted.Pollak said the Fed will “likely welcome signs of a cooling job market, but policymakers will also be watching for signs that the softening is turning into something more serious.”Friday’s Labor Department report also showed that wage gains cooled to 0.3 percent from January to February, although compared with a year ago, earnings were still 4.0 percent up.

Hendrick Simoes served in the US Navy for 24 years, retiring last year and starting a new job as a civilian employee of the federal government.But some five months into his probationary period with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), he received a letter terminating his employment and thus joined thousands of other US veterans who have been fired as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the government workforce.The sweeping job cuts have taken Trump’s administration into uncharted territory, and are negatively affecting retired troops in a country where both major political parties frequently express support for current and former military personnel.In addition to veterans being caught up in the layoffs, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced it plans to cut some 15 percent of its workforce, raising concerns about the impact on care and benefits.”It’s painful, it really is. And to me, it feels like such a betrayal,” Simoes, a 43-year-old who reached the rank of senior chief petty officer and spent much of his Navy career in public affairs, said of his dismissal.”My termination letter claimed that I don’t have the… abilities, knowledge and or skills for the organization, which was blatantly false,” he said, noting that a recent quarterly review “had called me exemplary and exceeding expectations.”Simoes considered his work as a senior communications specialist at NOAA a continuation of his service to his country — and that opportunity has now been taken away.”My heart was in working for… a good organization like NOAA, a place where I can continue to serve the American public and contribute to societal good. And now this just sucks, because I’m being told I can’t do that anymore,” he said.Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has launched a vast offensive aimed at curbing public spending and reducing the federal bureaucracy.- ‘Punch in the face’ -To that end, he tapped billionaire Elon Musk, a top campaign donor turned close adviser, to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has cut thousands of government jobs and upended agencies, prompting numerous court challenges.US military veterans make up a significant portion of the federal workforce — some 30 percent, while they are only around six percent of the overall US population — meaning they are disproportionately affected by recent cuts.Congressional Democrats estimated that nearly 6,000 veterans had been laid off by February 23 and more — including Simoes — have since been fired.The VA meanwhile announced this week that it aims to fire more than 70,000 employees, prompting warnings about the impact on the department, which oversees veterans’ health care, education, disability pay and other benefits they have earned.James LaCoursiere, national commander of the American Legion veterans’ association, expressed concern that “if these cuts go through, tens of thousands of veterans may be unemployed.””Not only do these job cuts threaten critical services provided to veterans but it takes away the opportunity for a veteran to continue to serve his or her brothers and sisters,” LaCoursiere said.Simoes described his termination plus the situation at the VA as a “one-two hit” and a “punch in the face,” saying he was recently told his VA treatment options would be more limited.”I have a lot of different… ailments,” he said, noting that he is “petrified that I’m not going to be able to get that same level of care.”Simoes also said he fears the impact that the cuts in federal jobs and reduced VA services may have on veterans overall.”With all these federal workers being fired, and with a big majority of them being veterans, and with veteran care being cut back, I’m really scared that we’re going to go back to the days where veteran homelessness is going to be high,” he said.”I’m scared that we’re going to go back to the days where veterans are committing suicide in VA parking lots,” Simoes said, adding: “I feel like we had come a long way towards combating that as a society, and now all of that is at risk.

Canada’s Liberal Party elects a new leader this weekend to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister and take charge of confronting the threats posed by US President Donald Trump.Trudeau, who became Liberal leader in 2013 before taking over as prime minister two years later, announced in early January that he planned to resign, overcome by dismal polling numbers and internal party dissent. Before Christmas, the opposition Conservatives looked certain to win a general election that must be held by October but could be called within weeks.  Trade chaos with the United States and Trump’s repeated musing about annexing Canada have upended the political climate and surveys show the Liberals gaining ground.  “The context is completely unprecedented. Right now the only thing that matters to Canadians is ‘who is the right person to take on Donald Trump?'” Frederic Boily of the University of Alberta told AFP.Four candidates qualified to run in the Liberal leadership race but only two are seen as viable contenders. The front-runner is Mark Carney, who led the Bank of Canada before becoming the first non-Briton to serve as governor of the Bank of England. His main challenger is Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s former finance minister who dramatically broke with the prime minister in December, issuing a scathing resignation letter that partly pushed him to resign. Both Carney and Freeland have anchored their campaigns on the Trump threat. Carney, who has never held elected office, has sought to remind Liberal party voters that he led Canada’s central bank through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and steered the Bank of England through the turbulence that followed the Brexit vote. “Canada faces one of the most serious crises in our history. I know how to manage crises and I know how to build strong economies,” he said during a leadership debate.Freeland has warned that Trump “is posing the gravest challenge our country has faced since the Second World War,” and highlighted her experience negotiating directly with Trump’s first administration. – Transfer of power –  The winner of the Liberal leadership race will be announced in Ottawa on Sunday. The party says that 400,000 people have signed up to vote and boasted of unprecedented fundraising in recent weeks. Trudeau declined this week to give a precise date for when he would hand over power, telling reporters he would work out transition timelines with the new Liberal leader.  When ready, Trudeau and his successor will visit Governor General Mary Simon — King Charles III’s official representative in Canada — who will task the new Liberal chief with forming a government.The date Canadians will head to the polls for a general election remains unclear.- ‘Unique crisis’? -Most polls, and betting markets, still put the Conservatives as the favourites to win the next election. But the Liberals have tried to portray Tory leader Pierre Poilievre as a Trump-like figure, citing his right-wing populist style and record of bashing favourite Trump targets with inflammatory rhetoric, including government and the media. Experts say the Liberals may be wise to call snap elections with the Trump threat front of mind, including a trade war that Trudeau says the president launched to collapse the Canadian economy to make annexation “easier.”Carney, 59, is attractive because of his “economic experience and his seriousness,” said Stephanie Chouinard, a political scientist at Canada’s Royal Military College. “He knows the global financial system and he knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Canadian economy,” she added. Surveys indicate the election will be unlike any in recent Canadian history, with historically dominant domestic issues like health care and housing costs surpassed by Trump. “This is a unique crisis, and we do not know its scope or its duration. Today, a third of Canadians see the United States as an enemy country. It is historic and creates considerable upheaval in the way Canadians think,” said pollster Jean-Marc Leger.   

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he has written to Iran, pressing for talks on preventing the development of nuclear weapons and warning it faces possible military action if not.Iran’s foreign minister told AFP on Friday that the country would not negotiate so long as the United States applies “maximum pressure,” but he was not responding directly to Trump’s letter.Tehran’s mission to the United Nations told AFP that “we have not received such a letter so far.” It was unclear by what means Trump’s missive was transmitted to Tehran.Trump’s outreach marks a departure at least in tone from the hardline stance that marked his first term and could cause a rift with close ally Israel, which last year carried out bombing strikes inside Iran.Trump said he wrote a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei telling him that a negotiated solution “will be a lot better for Iran.””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,” Trump told Fox Business in a clip broadcast Friday.”You can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”A landmark 2015 deal negotiated under former president Barack Obama — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.It fell apart after Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 in his first presidential term and reimposed sweeping sanctions.Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. Trump, who returned to the White House in January, said he was reinstating his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran but that he was doing so only reluctantly. He has since sidelined officials from his first term associated with his Iran policy, as Trump accuses Washington’s foreign policy establishment of encouraging war.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 a return to diplomacy since the collapse of the JCPOA.”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 JCPOA, brokered by a then reformist government. But Khamenei, 85, is the ultimate decision-maker in Iran’s clerical system and has pointed to the JCPOA as proof that the United States is not trustworthy.Trump’s outreach comes as Iran faces challenges not seen since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Israel devastated Iranian air defenses and has also pounded two militant movements allied with Iran’s clerical state: Hamas, which carried out the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and also Lebanon’s Hezbollah.Iran’s main regional ally, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, fell in December to Sunni Islamist-led fighters.Iran has consistently denied claims that it is pursuing nuclear weapons.Last month, United Nations atomic agency chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was enriching uranium at 60 percent — “almost weapon level” — and that the 2015 deal was an “empty shell” that was “no longer fit for purpose.”burs-sct-gw/sms

Donald Trump’s presidential style is framed around made-for-TV moments, political drama and public feuds — all of which were on display in another busy week at the White House.- Secret Service agent, aged 13 -During a major address to Congress, Trump made one guest — 13-year-old cancer patient DJ Daniel — an honorary Secret Service agent.DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and given just five months to live, Trump said.”He has always dreamed of becoming a police officer,” the president said, as a stunned but happy DJ was given Secret Service credentials, which he held up to loud cheers.- Tempers flare at Trump address -Some Democrats walked out, heckled or held up signs to protest Trump’s address, which was littered with falsehoods and divisive rhetoric.In response, Trump’s spokeswoman accused them of being the “party of insanity and hate.”The House of Representatives censured one Democrat after he was thrown out of the chamber for repeatedly interrupting Trump’s address and waving his walking stick in the air.- Canadians get angry -Canadian leader Justin Trudeau spoke for almost an hour with Trump on Wednesday and described their discussion as “colorful” as a damaging trade war looms.Trump has threatened to annex Canada, sparking shock and fury among many citizens.Multiple Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, banned the sale of US alcohol, part of a growing national retaliation against Trump.- Crypto, now in the White House -Trump hosted top cryptocurrency players at the White House and signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” boosting an industry that has struggled to gain legitimacy.Crypto investors were major supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign in the hope of ending government skepticism toward digital currencies.Trump also has significant financial ties to the sector, partnering with an exchange platform and launching a “Trump” memecoin, as did his wife Melania.- Musk, and the Royal Society -Top Trump ally Elon Musk survived a push to expel him from the Royal Society, an elite British science institute founded in 1660 with past members including Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin.More than 3,000 people including Nobel prize winners signed a letter saying Musk, the world’s richest person, had broken the Society’s code of conduct by promoting unfounded conspiracy theories.”Only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships,” Musk said before the vote. “History is the actual judge, always and forever.”

Donald Trump on Friday hosts top cryptocurrency players at the White House, a political boost for an industry that has struggled to gain legitimacy — and where the Republican president faces conflict of interest concerns.US crypto investors were major supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory in hopes of ending the Joe Biden administration’s deep skepticism toward digital currencies.”We will have our conversation about rolling back Biden’s war on crypto regulations,” a senior White House official told reporters ahead of the meeting.It is an opportunity for the president “to hear directly from the industry, and for us to take in feedback from the industry,” the official added.Trump now has significant financial ties to the sector, partnering with exchange platform World Liberty Financial and launching the “Trump” memecoin in January. First Lady Melania Trump announced a meme coin of her own, $MELANIA, one day before the inauguration.The president’s “crypto czar,” Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, has invited prominent founders, CEOs and investors along with members of a Trump working group to craft policies aimed at accelerating crypto growth and providing legitimacy that the industry has long sought.On Thursday Trump signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” a move Sacks said made good on a campaign promise to an increasingly important component of his coalition.Summit guests include twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of crypto platform Gemini, as well as Brian Armstrong of Coinbase and Michael Saylor, the boss of major Bitcoin investor MicroStrategy.In an X post, Sacks said the event would take place as a roundtable, and despite industry interest, the White House would have to “keep it small.”For believers, cryptocurrencies represent a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralized authorities while offering individuals an alternative to traditional banking systems.Bitcoin, the world’s most traded cryptocurrency, is heralded by advocates as a substitute for gold or a hedge against currency devaluation and political instability.- Memecoins -Critics meanwhile maintain that these assets function primarily as speculative investments with questionable real-world utility that could leave taxpayers on the hook for cleaning up if the market crashes.The proliferation of “memecoins” — cryptocurrencies based on celebrities, internet memes, or pop culture items rather than technical utility — presents another challenge.Much of the crypto industry frowns upon these tokens, fearing they tarnish the sector’s credibility, amid reports of quick pump-and-dump schemes that leave unwitting buyers paying for assets that end up worthless.Once hostile to the crypto industry, Trump has already taken significant steps to clear regulatory hurdles.Under Thursday’s executive order, the bitcoin stockpile will be composed of digital currency seized in US criminal proceedings. The use of these assets “means it will not cost taxpayers a dime”, Sacks said Thursday on X.Sacks said that if previous administrations had held onto their digital holdings over the past decade, they would be worth $17 billion today.Trump has appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during Biden’s term.The previous administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies — which have since been lifted — and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement.However, meaningful change will likely require congressional action, where crypto legislation has remained stalled despite intense lobbying efforts led by investors.

A country that “never existed” or a “problem called Ukraine”: Hungary’s government and affiliated media have attacked their war-torn neighbour with increased pace since Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s “dear friend” Donald Trump took power.Orban and his allies have long used the same “hostile narratives” against the West and Ukraine as Russia, Dorka Takacsy, a research fellow at the Budapest-based Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) think tank told AFP.But the government — a close EU ally of Washington under Trump and the Kremlin — is more emboldened since the election of the US Republican.”It seems Hungarian leadership saw Trump’s victory as an opportunity to do whatever they want with Ukraine,” Takacsy said, noting the number of anti-Kyiv messages from Orban and his allies has increased lately.Trump last month called Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president since 2019, a “dictator” for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.Amid a rush of online disinformation targeting Ukraine, here are some key Hungarian statements:- West provoked Russia into war -Orban regularly breaks EU unity on Ukraine, to which he has refused to send arms since Russia invaded in 2022, while slamming EU sanctions on Moscow.In his weekly radio address on Friday, he warned again EU membership of Ukraine would “ruin” the bloc.  The nationalist leader also did not join EU leaders, shaken by the prospect of US disengagement, in signing a text on Thursday in support of Ukraine.In late February, Orban blamed the West for provoking Moscow into the conflict.”The war is not really about Ukraine, it is about the fact that the territory called Ukraine — which has been a buffer zone, a buffer state, between NATO and Russia — should be brought under the auspices of NATO,” Orban said in his annual state of the nation address.”Why European and American liberals thought that the Russians would stand idly by and watch this, is still a mystery,” he added.Trump has blamed Ukraine over the war, saying “you should have never started it”.Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with Russia occupying almost 20 percent of the country’s territory.- ‘Never existed’ -Echoing a narrative often employed by Putin, Hungary’s parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover this week said Ukraine was a “country that actually has never existed in history”.”It has no real political history, no real political elite, no tradition of governance,” the ultraconservative politician and Orban ally said in a Tuesday radio interview, adding that only those remain “who are incapable of defending themselves and those who have unscrupulously exploited the weaker”.Ukraine, a nation of more than 40 million people, has had a series of elected leaders since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.Top Orban aide Balazs Orban — who has the same last name as the premier but is not related to him — in a Facebook post on Monday referred to the neighbouring country as a “problem called Ukraine” that now “must be dealt with by the pro-war Europeans”.  Hungary’s pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet published opinion pieces, calling Ukraine a “rotten mafia monster state” and referred to the killings in Bucha — where Russian forces are accused of slaying hundreds of civilians — as “false flag theatrics”.A 2022 UN Human Rights report said Russian forces killed civilians in Bucha and other cities.AFP reporters were among international journalists to document bodies in the streets of Bucha, including some with their hands tied.- ‘Bought’ celebrities -Hungary’s nationalist premier has also referenced in interviews conspiracy narratives about a “global left-wing network” having supposedly “bought” journalists and even US celebrities to boost Zelensky’s popularity.”Hollywood stars were paid to go to Kyiv. They paid them millions of dollars,” Orban said in a recent interview with state radio.The Hungarian government did not respond to AFP’s inquiry about the source of the allegation.The claim may originate from a debunked video, purported to be from the US entertainment show E! News, which was shared by Elon Musk and prominent American conservatives.It alleged without proof that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) “sponsored American celebrity visits to Ukraine… to increase Zelensky’s popularity among foreign audiences, particularly in the United States.”Russian state media often quotes Orban’s remarks on Ukraine at length, according to Takacsy.Orban “paints the same picture of the world that the Kremlin’s domestic propaganda would like to suggest… If they can quote the same criticisms of the West, the same accusations, from the mouth of an outsider, it gives extra credibility to the same criticisms,” the researcher said.

A private company’s second attempt to land on the Moon officially ended Friday after its Athena spaceship came down sideways in a repeat of an off-kilter landing last year.Houston-based Intuitive Machines hoped to make history with Athena, a hexagonal lander designed to touch down on the Mons Mouton plateau, closer to the lunar south pole than any mission before.But after traveling more than a million kilometers through space, the spacecraft came to rest inside a crater, 250 meters from its intended target — once again landing on its side.Images downlinked from Athena confirmed mission controllers’ worst fears: the lander had suffered a similar fate to Intuitive Machines’ prior attempt in February 2024.But mission controllers were able to “accelerate several program and payload milestones,” including a NASA experiment designed to drill beneath the lunar surface in search of ice and chemicals, before Athena’s batteries depleted.”With the direction of the Sun, the orientation of the solar panels, and extreme cold temperatures in the crater, Intuitive Machines does not expect Athena to recharge,” the company said.”The mission has concluded and teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission.”On Thursday, the company suggested that issues with Athena’s laser altimeter — which provide altitude and velocity readings — may have contributed to the bad landing, much like in the previous mission.Adding to the disappointment, Intuitive Machines’ latest mishap comes just days after Texas rival Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lander on its first attempt.The missions are part of NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which seeks to leverage private industry to lower costs and support Artemis — NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually reach Mars.Of the four CLPS missions attempted so far, only one lander managed an upright touchdown, two landed sideways, and one failed to reach the Moon altogether.