16:42, april 17Author: Asia-Plus Israel had planned to attack Iranian nuclear facilities in May, but U.S. President Donald Trump refused to support the Israeli strike in favor of negotiations with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, Meduza reported on April 17, citing The New York Times.
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16:28, april 17Author: Asia-Plus Saudi Arabia has introduced new rules for the 2025 Hajj season. Starting from the end of April, no one will be able to perform the Hajj without a special pilgrim visa.
The Lebanese military said it has detained a group of people linked to firing rockets into Israel last month. In a statement issued late Wednesday night, the army said it had detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time it was behind the firing of rockets, The Associated Press reported. The army said that a vehicle and other equipment used in the rockets attacks were confiscated and the detainees were referred to judicial authorities. The army said it had carried out raids in different parts of Lebanon to detain the suspects without giving further details. On Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported that Gen. Rodolph Haikal briefed a weekly cabinet meeting about the security situation along the border and the ongoing implementation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 14-m
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi met the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Mohammad Eslami, on Thursday ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. Iranian and US delegations are to gather in Rome on Saturday for a second round of Omani-mediated negotiations, a week after the longtime foes held their highest-level talks since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018, AFP said. There were no immediate details on Grossi’s meeting with Eslami, but Iran’s reformist Shargh newspaper described his visit as “strategically significant at the current juncture”. On Wednesday, Grossi met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the first round of talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday. Araghchi said he had had a “useful” meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief. “The IAEA can play a crucial role in peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear file in the coming months,” he said. Araghchi called on the IAEA chief to “keep
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman held talks in Tehran on Thursday with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian. In a post on the X platform, Prince Khalid said he was visiting Iran at the directives of the Saudi leadership, revealing that he had handed Khamenei a written message from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz. He added that he discussed with Khamenei issues of common interest and bilateral relations between their countries. “Ties with Saudi Arabia are beneficial for both countries and we can complement each other,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, The meeting was attended by chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri. Prince Khalid was received by Bagheri upon his arrival in Tehran. “Relations with Saudi Arabia have been witnessing growth and development since the signing of the Beijing Agreement,” Bagheri was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Tehran and Riyadh can play an important role in ens
Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program are “in a very crucial” stage, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to Tehran. The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the US will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend’s first meeting in Oman, The AP news reported. The stakes of the negotiations Saturday and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldn’t be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. US President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Grossi visits
A 24-year-old American YouTuber who was arrested after visiting an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean with hopes of establishing contact with a reclusive tribe was further detained in custody on Thursday. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov will next appear before a local court in Port Blair — the capital of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands — on April 29, police said. Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe. “It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws. Outsiders meeting Sentinelese could endanger the tribe’s survival,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity as he isn’t authorized to speak about the case under investigation. Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine, The AP news reported. Visitors a
The Turkish central bank hiked its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 46% on Thursday, in a surprise move that reversed an easing cycle and slightly boosted the lira, following market volatility in the wake of last month’s arrest of Istanbul’s mayor. The bank also lifted its overnight lending rate again, to 49% from 46%, after having already raised it last month in an unscheduled decision following the arrest. In addition, the overnight borrowing rate was lifted to 44.5% from 41%, underlining the hawkish reversal in monetary policy. “Monthly core goods inflation is expected to rise slightly in April due to recent developments in financial markets,” the central bank’s policy committee said in releasing the decision, Reuters reported Leading indicators suggest domestic demand is above projections, “suggesting a lower disinflationary impact,” it said. “Inflation expectations and pricing behaviour continue to pose risks to the disinflation process,” the bank said, adding it would tighten further “in case a
A haunting portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy who lost both arms during an Israeli attack on Gaza City won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award Thursday. The picture, by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, depicts Mahmoud Ajjour, evacuated to Doha after an explosion severed one arm and mutilated the other last year. “One of the most difficult things Mahmoud’s mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first came to the realisation that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, ‘How will I be able to hug you’?” said Elouf. The photographer is also from Gaza and was herself evacuated in December 2023. She now portrays badly wounded Palestinians based in Doha. “This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, World Press Photo Executive Director. The jury praised the photo’s “strong composition and attention to light” and its thought-provoking subject
Bitcoin [BTC] network adoption has dipped to ‘bear market’ levels and could derail any expected strong recovery in the short term. According to on-chain analyst JA Maartun, BTC network activity ‘slowed’ below the yearly Moving Average (365-day MA). This mirrored ‘bear market’ levels seen in 2022 and 2018.