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How Trump decided to sign a deal with Iran at Versailles palace

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron offered Donald Trump a glitzy dinner in Versailles — and the U.S. president seized the opportunity to sign an initial deal with Iran inside the palace. As Trump was about to leave France on Wednesday following three days of intense diplomatic talks at a G7 summit , he casually announced to reporters as he was getting into his car: “We signed in Versailles.” In videos posted on X by Macron and a White House aide, Trump was seen seated at a table signing a paper copy of the agreement. He then handed the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Macron, sitting next to him, told him: “Good job. Bravo.” Officials and guests applauded. One of the attendees, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, described his surprise Thursday that the deal was signed during the dinner. Initial White House plans had considered a signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland. “We literally saw Marco Rubio leave — I don’t know if he had already printed the memorandum of agreement or went to print it — and come back,” Lescure added. “We cle

9h agoBy AP
How Trump decided to sign a deal with Iran at Versailles palace
World

Vance says 60-day period in Iran deal begins Thursday

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the 60-day window laid out in a memorandum of understanding approved by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders begins on Thursday. "I would say the 60-day period officially started today," Vance told reporters at a White House briefing. Asked what happens after the 60-day period in terms of governance of the Strait of Hormuz, Vance repeated the U.S. view that the major supply route for oil and gas shipments should be free of tolls. Iran effectively closed the waterway during the war. "The final negotiations can set the terms of what comes afterwards," Vance said. The interim pact signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders kicked the hardest issues down the road to the next phase of negotiations, with no guarantee they will ever be resolved. Most analysts are skeptical the two sides can forge a final settlement within the 60-day window laid out in the memorandum of understanding.

9h agoBy Reuters
Vance says 60-day period in Iran deal begins Thursday
World

Special election in UK could hasten rise of Andy Burnham, end for Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer isn’t on the ballot, but the U.K. prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on Thursday. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker, and the leading contender is Andy Burnham of the governing Labour Party, the current mayor of Greater Manchester and oddsmakers’ favorite to be the next prime minister. If Burnham defeats a candidate from the anti-immigration party Reform UK and wins the seat for Labour, he’s almost certain to challenge the embattled Starmer for leadership of the party, and the country. Burnham has pledged that “if people put their trust in me, I will change politics” — a big promise for a politician who, if he wins, will be just one of 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. But the scores of journalists from around the world who have flocked to Makerfield during the campaign are evidence that this is no normal by-election. In an election-day video, Burnham said he would take the fight for change “as high as I can possibly take it.” Polls close at 10 p.m. (2100GMT), with results due earl

12h agoBy AP
Special election in UK could hasten rise of Andy Burnham, end for Keir Starmer
World

Pentagon chief lashes out at NATO allies, announces review of US forces in Europe

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at NATO allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe whose outcome will depend on how fast the Europeans take responsibility for their own security. The threat of a review was yet another surprise for European allies and Canada as they learn to deal with an increasingly unpredictable ally. U.S. officials and senior military officers had promised to coordinate closely with the Europeans as America draws down. Just weeks ago, the Trump administration said that it would no longer provide as much military support should any NATO member come under attack, leaving them scrambling to find equipment to plug any gaps. In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump and the Pentagon have sent conflicting signals about whether America is reducing or increasing its military footprint in Europe, as well as threatening to annex Greenland , a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark. “This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading

12h agoBy AP
Pentagon chief lashes out at NATO allies, announces review of US forces in Europe
World

Pentagon chief lashes out at NATO allies, announces review of US forces in Europe

BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at NATO allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that will depend on how fast they take responsibility for their own security. “This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” he told his NATO counterparts in Brussels. Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide U.S. forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it “shameful.” “These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said. His remarks came a few weeks after the United States told its allies that it would no longer supply certain warships and aircraft if one of them comes under attack. European allies and Canada are trying to work out how to plug the gaps. “NATO 3.0 is post-Cold War re

16h agoBy AP
Pentagon chief lashes out at NATO allies, announces review of US forces in Europe
World

Israel in talks with US over continuing its Lebanon troop deployment, officials say

JERUSALEM — Israel is holding negotiations with the U.S. as it seeks to continue its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon, two Israeli officials including a senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters on Thursday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, made the comments a day after the U.S. and Iran signed an interim pact that calls for parties to ensure "the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon." Israel expanded its invasion of southern Lebanon after the Lebanese militia Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2 in support of its ally Iran. It has since staged a devastating air and ground campaign that it says aims at rooting out Hezbollah. Israel describes the territory it has seized in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as "buffer zones" between it and its enemies, a core facet of Israel's recent security policy. Netanyahu has rejected calls for Israel to withdraw from those territories. The senior Israeli official told Reuters that Israel was "conducting stubborn negotiations" with Washington over

16h agoBy Reuters
Israel in talks with US over continuing its Lebanon troop deployment, officials say
World

Switzerland says talks planned for Friday between Iran, US

ZURICH — Initial talks between the United States and Iran are planned at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Friday, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Tehran and Washington, the Swiss government said on Thursday. "As things stand, the plan is still for the U.S. and Iran, along with mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other involved countries, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock for initial negotiations about implementing the agreement. "No further information is currently available regarding the schedule and details of this meeting," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.

18h agoBy Reuters
Switzerland says talks planned for Friday between Iran, US
World

Can Pop Mart sustain the Labubu juggernaut as China sales cool?

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart recorded its first year-on-year decline in domestic online sales since 2024 in May, raising fresh questions about the sustainability of demand for its intellectual property (IP) portfolio, including its blockbuster Labubu character. Domestic online sales fell 5 percent from a year earlier and 14 percent from April, according to Moojing e-commerce data tracking transactions across Tmall, Taobao and Douyin. Sales were also 25 percent below the average monthly level recorded in the second half of last year. "This confirms our earlier prediction of mounting sales pressure in Pop Mart's domestic market from the second quarter of 2026 onwards," said Deutsche Bank analyst Sammi Xu. "We believe this pressure could intensify in the second half of the year, driven by a higher comparison base and waning IP popularity in China." Shares of the Hong Kong-listed company fell 2 percent to close at HK$171.30 on Wednesday. "We think the earlier frenzy surrounding Labubu has cooled, while intensifying competition is likely to weigh on revenue growth in 2026," said Jeff Zhang, an a

18h agoBy SCMP
Can Pop Mart sustain the Labubu juggernaut as China sales cool?
World

Taiwan needs US weapons to defend against China threat, diplomat says

WASHINGTON — Taiwan needs to purchase American weapons to ensure its self-defense in the face of a growing threat from Beijing, the island's top diplomat in the U.S. said, adding that he has seen no change in Washington's policy toward the self-governing island that China claims as its own. A $14 billion arms sale package to Taiwan is still in limbo after President Donald Trump returned from Beijing in May and said he had discussed the proposal “in great detail” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, heightening anxieties in Taiwan and raising concerns among lawmakers on the Capitol Hill. “We need those arms for defensive purposes,” Alexander Yui Tah-ray, who heads the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday in Washington. “We're trying to increase our defense expenditure. We try to increase our ability to defend ourselves better and survive times of crisis.” The Trump administration has not moved forward with the $14 billion weapons sale proposal after approved by senior lawmakers earlier this year. Trum

21h agoBy AP
Taiwan needs US weapons to defend against China threat, diplomat says
World

Africa's Ebola outbreaks complicated by victims who prefer traditional healers

BUNDIBUGYO, Uganda — Whenever Ebola comes, some of the afflicted choose the road to the nearest hospital. Others take the path to the shrine of a traditional healer, often with devastating consequences. Many view the onset of hemorrhagic fever as a spiritual affliction and seek out herbs and prayers instead of going to the hospital. This is the case now in Congo, which is suffering its seventeenth outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the virus was first identified in the rich Congo Basin ecosystem. Five decades later, the virus continues to mystify many of the sick in Africa while turning religious leaders into first responders in a deadly emergency. The current outbreak’s victims include health workers without protective gear as well as pastors and worshippers who gathered while Ebola was spreading, according to humanitarian workers and others who spoke to The Associated Press. Ebola spreads through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. The current outbreak is particularly worrisome in a region where many are distrustful of health workers and refuse to seek m

21h agoBy AP
Africa's Ebola outbreaks complicated by victims who prefer traditional healers
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