US President Donald Trump appeared to obliquely reject Israeli claims that no starvation is taking place in Gaza, saying images of hungry children show “real starvation” that one can’t “fake”. He also said the US would assist in setting up new food centres.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has set a new 10- or 12-day deadline for Russia to end its conflict in Ukraine, underscoring his anger over Vladimir Putin’s continued provocation.
Trump said he was disappointed in Putin and cut short a 50-day deadline he had set this month while meeting with European leaders in Scotland and playing golf.
During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said, “I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today.” There is no justification for waiting. We simply don’t notice any progress being made.
The Kremlin did not respond right away.
Despite US efforts to end the war, the US president has threatened sanctions on both Russia and its exporters unless progress is made. He has also expressed his disapproval of Putin’s continued attacks on Ukraine.
Trump, who views himself as a peacemaker, had promised to put an end to the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict before running for president again in January.
There is “no reason to wait,” the statement read. Why wait if you already know the outcome? And there might be secondary tariffs, tariffs, or sanctions, according to Trump. I’m not interested in doing that to Russia. I adore Russians.
The US president, who has also expressed resentment toward Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hasn’t always responded to his cries for action by citing what he believes to be a positive relationship between the two men.
In a bid to put an end to their most deadly border conflict in more than a decade, the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have reached an “unconditional” ceasefire that will take effect on Monday at midnight.
After five days of bloody fighting that claimed at least 36 lives, Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Manet reaffirmed their resolve to put down their weapons.
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who led the discussions in Putrajaya, the country’s administrative capital.
Anwar remarked, “This is a crucial first step toward de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security.” On Tuesday, he added, a meeting between the military chiefs of both countries will take place.
As Monday transitions to Tuesday at midnight (17:00 GMT), the ceasefire will become effective.
The border conflict that broke out on July 24 in Thailand and Cambodia has been blamed on one another. More than 270, 000 people from both sides of the 817-kilometer (508-mile) land border between Thailand and Cambodia have been displaced by the most recent conflict, which dates back to colonial-era maps.
Hun Manet, the prime minister of Cambodia, stated: “Today we have a very good meeting and very good results… that hope to put an end to the fighting that has claimed many lives, injuries, and also caused displacement of people.
We hope that the solutions that Prime Minister Anwar just announced will provide a prerequisite for our bilateral discussion to resume normalcy and serve as a foundation for a de-escalation of forces in the future, he continued.
Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who had doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of the talks in Malaysia, said the two countries had agreed to a ceasefire that would “be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides.”
Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia said their respective defense ministers were instructed to create a detailed mechanism for the implementation, verification, and reporting of the ceasefire in a joint statement released after the talks had finished.
The parties also agreed to hold a meeting of their so-called “General Border Committee” in Cambodia on August 4.
Last week, the Southeast Asian neighbors accused one another of starting hostilities, before intensifying the conflict with heavy artillery bombardments.
Following weeks of growing tensions, which had been brewing since May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an armed conflict along the border, fighting broke out on July 24 between the South Asian neighbors.
When Thai police prevented Cambodian tourists from singing their national anthem close to the holy site in February, a dispute erupted over Prasat Ta Moan Thom, a Khmer temple close to the Thai border.
More than 138, 000 people have been evacuated from areas near Cambodia, according to Thailand’s Interior Ministry since the start of the year. More than 20 000 Cambodians have been evacuated on the other side, according to local media.
According to Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, who was reporting from Surin, Thailand’s border province, the ceasefire announcement is good news for many people, especially those who live along the border and have been displaced.
He said on Monday, “There are so many people who have been affected by this, and they just want to go home so badly.”
Cheng also claimed that clashes were still occurring on both sides of the border even as the Malaysian talks were over.
At the meeting in Malaysia, American and Chinese diplomats also attended.
Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Manet claimed on Monday that the meeting had been “co-organized by the United States and with participation of China.”
Thailand and Cambodia are close political allies of China, and it has strong economic ties to both.
Marco Rubio, the US’s top foreign minister, welcomed the ceasefire on Monday. Rubio praised the Cambodian and Thailand’s declaration of a ceasefire in a statement released in Kuala Lumpur.
We ask that all parties fulfill their obligations.
Trump had threatened to stop trade negotiations with either country as long as fighting continued in separate calls with Phumtham and Hun Manet on Saturday.
Trump stated on Sunday, “We won’t agree to a trade agreement until you can resolve the war,” adding that both leaders indicated they were ready to bargain with him directly.
From August 1 through August 1, the US will likely impose a 36 percent tariff on both Thailand and Cambodia.
Just a few weeks after conducting military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities, US President Donald Trump has reiterated his threats to Iran.
Tehran’s statement on Monday came in response to the administration’s decision to continue pursuing nuclear enrichment for civilian purposes in previous months that scuttled when Israel launched a military offensive against Tehran in June.
Trump said that Iran was “sending very bad signals, very nasty signals” while speaking at a press conference in Scotland alongside Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
He claimed that they shouldn’t be doing that. Their nuclear potential was completely eliminated. They have the ability to restart. If they do, we’ll remove it as quickly as you can.
He declared, “We will do that gladly, openly and gladly.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi most recently asserted Iran’s right to enrich uranium ahead of talks with the UK, France, and Germany last week.
No breakthroughs were made during the talks, which were the first serious flurry of diplomacy since the US attacks and the subsequent escalation with Israel, according to Iranian officials, who described them as “serious, frank, and detailed.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian added that the country would continue to pursue negotiations despite not giving up on its nuclear program in a statement to Al Jazeera last week.
He continued, “I don’t think the 12-day war with Iran holding us is very optimistic.”
Israeli leaders have also indicated a willingness to launch new attacks against Iran, including those aimed at ousting the country’s leaders.
Israeli Defense Minister Ali Khamenei wanted to communicate with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Katz on Sunday.
According to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, “If you continue to threaten Israel, our long arm will reach Tehran once more with even greater power, and this time personally to you.”
According to analysts, any Israeli resumption of attacks on Iran would require US approval utterly.
Trump had anticipated that Iran’s nuclear program would be “obliterated” by the US attacks on June 22.
However, more recent intelligence reports have suggested that the program may have been delayed by a shorter period of time because of the damage’s severity.
The largest hydroelectric dam on the African continent, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), will be inaugurated in a few weeks. This dam’s construction has taken almost ten years and cost nearly $5 billion. Ethiopia’s government and citizens used their meager internal resources to finance this country’s ambitious national project. This project received no funding from abroad.
Although there has been some international media coverage of the dam’s construction, Ethiopian perspectives have not been fully known in the media. This is merely a meager attempt to address the issue.
Ethiopians call the Blue Nile Abay, which is where the GERD is located. In a number of Ethiopian languages, abay means “big” or “major.” One of the main Nile River tributaries is called Abay. The river passes through ten other African nations, including Egypt, despite widespread belief that it is largely associated with Egypt. Ethiopia is one of these nations because Ethiopia’s highlands account for 86 percent of the Nile water that travels to Egypt.
The largest river in Ethiopia, Abay, has a great potential to promote socioeconomic development and transformation. Ethiopians have long wanted to make use of this resource. This vision is realized by the GERD, a national development project.
Ethiopia has yet to advance in its industrialization efforts despite its enormous labor force and potential. Ethiopia’s lack of energy has been a key hindrance in this effort. Only 55% of Ethiopians have access to electricity, according to the most recent statistics.
Ethiopia is in great need of electricity. The GERD is therefore viewed as our country’s escape from poverty and darkness. Ethiopia’s 130-million-strong population, which is projected to reach 200 million by 2050, should make use of this significant resource as a tool to spur growth and prosperity.
The GERD is anticipated to produce about 5, 150 megawatts of electricity per year, or 15, 760 gigawatt hours. This will transform our economy and transform our energy mix, making Ethiopia’s energy output double what it produces to light our homes as well as our cities and industries. Additionally, the GERD would encourage regional integration and interconnectivity by boosting our energy exports to neighboring nations.
The GERD would also benefit the Nile’s lower riparian states greatly from the fact that it would stop flooding, sedimentation, and water loss as a result. The water must flow to lower riparian countries after hitting the enormous turbines that generate the electricity because the GERD’s primary goal is to generate electricity. The river’s flow is not obstructed by the dam. This would render electricity generation impossible, which would defeat the dam’s original purpose.
You might wonder why some lower-riparian nations are upset about the dam’s construction. Their objections are not caused by reason or legitimate concern, but rather by reason. The objections are the result of a water-sharing deal signed by Britain and Egypt in the colonial era in 1929 and a derivative agreement signed by Egypt and Sudan in 1959.
None of these treaties included Ethiopia. Some Egyptians contend that all Nile riparian nations must adhere to the water-sharing principle enshrined in the colonial-era agreement, which forbids the remaining nine African countries from owning any portion of the Nile.
This anachronistic argument, frequently referred to as “historic rights over the Nile,” is unacceptable from the perspective of Ethiopians. Britain has no authority to dispose of the waters of the Nile or the Abay River, despite the fact that it has the right to enter into any agreements with the River Thames. As we all recall, late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser rejected British claims regarding the Suez Canal. Ethiopian leaders have consistently refuted claims that the country had no say in colonial affairs for much stronger reasons.
The Nile is viewed as a shared natural resource by Ethiopians. It should be used in a cooperative framework that benefits all riparian nations. All other countries’ aspirations and dreams about development are equally valid. Some people’s needs shouldn’t be prioritized over those of others.
It is necessary to create a fair, just, and inclusive framework that considers the realities of the twenty-first century. The Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement, a contemporary, African-initiated treaty designed to promote sustainable management and equitable use of the Nile, is already in place in this way. Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan have already ratified and signed this agreement.
Egypt should join these Nile riparian nations in their collective effort to promote a fair and equitable use of the Nile in a sustainable manner by putting an end to the colonial era.
43 Palestinians were killed, 9 of whom were waiting for aid, after Israeli forces declared “humanitarian pauses.” Tom Fletcher, the UN’s director of aid, claims access has slightly improved, but warns that Gaza’s situation is worse, with only 73 aid trucks coming into Gaza, which is below what is required.