Trump suggests Iran and Israel need ‘to fight it out’ to reach deal, vows full support for Israel

0 seconds of 42 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:42
00:42
 
Short Url
Updated 17 June 2025
Follow

Trump suggests Iran and Israel need ‘to fight it out’ to reach deal, vows full support for Israel

Trump suggests Iran and Israel need ‘to fight it out’ to reach deal, vows full support for Israel
  • He earlier warned Iran of Trump earlier said if Iran attacks, ‘full strength’ of US military will ‘come down’
  • Trump reported to have vetoed Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, but Netanyayu denies it

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Iran and Israel — who are locked in an exchange of military strikes — to “make a deal,” but suggested they might need to “fight it out” first.

“I think it’s time for a deal,” Trump told reporters, as Israel and Iran exchanged a fresh barrage of missile strikes and threatened more devastation in a conflict that appeared to be intensifying.

“But sometimes they have to fight it out, but we’re going to see what happens,” Trump said, speaking at the White House before heading to Canada to take part in a G7 summit.

Trump warned Iran earlier on Sunday that it would experience “the full strength” of the US military if it attacks the United States, reiterating that Washington “had nothing to do” with Israel’s strikes on Tehran’s nuclear and intelligence facilities.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, the latest conflict marks the first time arch-enemies Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the entire Middle East.

Israel’s operation, which began early Friday, has targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing dozens of people including top army commanders and atomic scientists, according to Tehran.

Trump refused to answer a question about whether he had asked Israel to pause airstrikes on Iran.

Earlier, a senior US official told AFP that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he believed the two sides “should make a deal, and will make a deal.”

0 seconds of 25 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:25
00:25
 

 

There are “many calls and meetings now taking place” on the issue and peace could be achieved “soon” between the longtime adversaries, he said.

When asked about the report, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that.”

“We do what we need to do,” he told Fox’s “Special Report With Bret Baier.” Regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel’s military attacks, Netanyahu said in the interview, adding that Israel would do what it takes to remove what he called the “existential threat” posed by Tehran.

Netanyahu has vowed to hit “every target of the ayatollah regime,” and Iran has retaliated with a deadly barrage of missiles.

While Trump had said he was aware of the Israeli operation before it started, he reiterated Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform that the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight.”

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said in a post.

He added that “we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”

On Friday, the US president urged Tehran to make a deal or face “even more brutal” attacks by Israel.

During his first term, a landmark nuclear accord with Iran — negotiated under former president Barack Obama — was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions.


Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus

Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus
Updated 8 sec ago
Follow

Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus

Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus
DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold elections in February 2026, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Tuesday, the first polls since a mass uprising overthrew the government last year.
“On behalf of the interim government, I will write a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner requesting that the election be arranged before Ramadan in February 2026,” Yunus said in a broadcast on the one-year anniversary of the ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus, 85, is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections, and has said he will step down after the vote.
“We will step into the final and most important phase after delivering this speech to you, and that is the transfer of power to an elected government,” he said.
Yunus had earlier said elections would be held in April, but key political parties have been demanding he hold them earlier, and before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people.
“I urge you all to pray for us so that we can hold a fair and smooth election, enabling all citizens to move forward successfully in building a ‘New Bangladesh’,” he added.
“On behalf of the government, we will extend all necessary support to ensure that the election is free, peaceful and celebratory in spirit.”

Frequent disasters expose climate risks to infrastructure in South Asia

Frequent disasters expose climate risks to infrastructure in South Asia
Updated 46 min 12 sec ago
Follow

Frequent disasters expose climate risks to infrastructure in South Asia

Frequent disasters expose climate risks to infrastructure in South Asia
  • The flooding of the Bhotekoshi River on July 8 also killed nine people
  • Another smaller flood in the area on July 30 damaged roads and structures

Katmandu: Floods that damaged hydropower dams in Nepal and destroyed the main bridge connecting the country to China show the vulnerability of infrastructure and need for smart rebuilding in a region bearing the brunt of a warming planet, experts say.

The flooding of the Bhotekoshi River on July 8 also killed nine people and damaged an inland container depot that was being built to support increasing trade between the two countries. The 10 damaged hydropower facilities, including three under construction, have a combined capacity that could power 600,000 South Asian homes.

Another smaller flood in the area on July 30 damaged roads and structures, but caused less overall destruction. Elsewhere in the Himalayas, flash floods swept away roads, homes and hotels on Tuesday in northern India, killing at least four people and leaving many others trapped under debris, officials said.

The Himalayan region, which crosses Nepal and several nearby countries including India, is especially vulnerable to heavy rains, floods and landslides because the area is warming up faster than the rest of the world due to human-caused climate change. Climate experts say the increasing frequency of extreme weather has changed the playbook for assessing infrastructure risks while also increasing the need for smart rebuilding plans.

“The statistics of the past no longer apply for the future,” said John Pomeroy, a hydrologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “The risk that goes into building a bridge or other infrastructure is generally based on historical observations of past risk, but this is no longer useful because future risk is different and often much higher.”

While damage estimates from the July floods in the Rasuwa region are still being calculated, past construction costs give a sense of the financial toll. The Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge alone, for example, took $68 million to rebuild after it was destroyed by a 2015 earthquake that ravaged Nepal.

The latest disaster has also stoked fears of long-lasting economic damage in a region north of the capital city Katmandu that spent years rebuilding after the 2015 quake. Nepali government officials estimate that $724 million worth of trade with China is conducted over the bridge each year, and that has come to a standstill.

“Thank God there wasn’t much damage to local villages, but the container depot and bridges have been completely destroyed. This has severely affected workers, hotel operators, laborers, and truck drivers who rely on cross-border trade for their livelihoods,” said Kaami Tsering, a local government official, in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Among those affected is Urken Tamang, a 50-year-old parking attendant at the depot who has been out of work for several weeks. A small tea shop he runs nearby with his family has also suffered.

“We’ve been unlucky,” said Tamang, a former farmer who sold his land and changed jobs when work on the depot began. He added: “The whole area was severely damaged by the 2015 earthquake, and just when life was slowly returning to normal, this devastating flood struck.”

Disasters show need for climate-resilient infrastructure

The Nepal floods are the latest in a series of disasters in South Asia during this year’s monsoon season. Research has shown that extreme weather has become more frequent in the region including heat waves, heavy rains and melting glaciers.

Climate experts said smart planning and rebuilding in climate-vulnerable regions must include accounting for multiple risks, installing early warning systems, preparing local communities for disasters and, when needed, relocating infrastructure.

“What we have to avoid is the insanity of rebuilding after a natural disaster in the same place where it occurred and where we know it will occur again at even higher probability,” said Pomeroy, the Canadian hydrologist. “That’s a very poor decision. Unfortunately, that’s what most countries do.”

Before rebuilding in Rasuwa, Nepal government officials need to assess overall risks, including those due to extreme weather and climate change, said Bipin Dulal, an analyst at Katmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.

The bridge connecting the two countries was rebuilt to better withstand earthquakes after it was destroyed in 2015, but it appears that officials didn’t properly account for the risk of flooding as intense as what occurred in early July, Dulal said.

“We have to see what the extreme risk scenarios can be and we should rebuild in a way in which the infrastructure can handle those extremes,” said Dulal.

Dulal said that large building projects in South Asia typically undertake environmental impact assessments that don’t adequately factor in the risks of floods and other disasters. The center is developing a multi-hazard risk assessment framework that it hopes will be adopted by planners and builders in the region to better account for the dangers of extreme weather.

Resilient structures can save billions in the long run

In 2024 alone, there were 167 disasters in Asia — including storms, floods, heat waves and earthquakes — which was the most of any continent, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the University of Louvain, Belgium. These led to losses of over $32 billion, the researchers found.

“These disasters are all wake-up calls. These risks are real,” said Ramesh Subramaniam, global director of programs and strategy at the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

A CDRI analysis found that $124 billion worth of Nepal’s infrastructure is vulnerable to the impacts of climate-driven disasters, creating the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars in annual losses if the country doesn’t invest in resiliency.

“Investing a relatively smaller figure now would prevent the loss of these enormous sums of damages,” said Subramaniam.

Subramaniam said that most climate investments are directed toward mitigation, such as building clean energy projects and trying to reduce the amount of planet-heating gases being released. But given extreme weather damage already occurring, investing in adapting to global warming is also equally important, he said.

“I think countries are learning and adaptation is becoming a standard feature in their annual planning,” he said.

Global efforts to prepare for and deal with such losses include a climate loss and damage fund set up by the United Nations in 2023. The fund currently has $348 million available, which the UN warns is only a fraction of the yearly need for economic damage related to human-caused climate change. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also provided loans or grants to build climate-resilient projects.

In Nepal’s recently flood-ravaged region, Tsering, the local government official, said the repeated disasters have taken more than a financial toll on residents.

“Even though the river has now returned to a normal flow, the fear remains,” he said. “People will always worry that something like this could happen again.”


Ukraine reopens its Danube canal after explosion, analyst says

Ukraine reopens its Danube canal after explosion, analyst says
Updated 05 August 2025
Follow

Ukraine reopens its Danube canal after explosion, analyst says

Ukraine reopens its Danube canal after explosion, analyst says
  • Ukraine had been transporting grain on the Bystre and the Danube as an alternative route
  • The consultancy said in a statement that Ukraine would allow vessels with a draught of up to 4.5 meters to transit the canal

KYIV: Ukraine’s Seaport Authority will from Wednesday reopen the Bystre Canal at the mouth of the Danube, closed since a dredger exploded in late July, analyst ASAP Agri said on Tuesday.

Ukraine had been transporting grain on the Bystre and the Danube as an alternative route for its exports while access to its Black Sea ports was limited in the first year after Russia’s invasion in 2022. Since the ports were unblocked in 2023, Ukraine’s use of the Danube has declined sharply.

The consultancy said in a statement that Ukraine would allow vessels with a draught of up to 4.5 meters to transit the canal.

“The move is expected to reduce disbursement costs for shipowners and support negotiations on Danube-origin freight by narrowing the bid/offer spread,” said Pavel Lysenko, analyst at ASAP Agri.

The Seaport Authority declined to comment.

It said last month it had closed the Bystre after a dredger exploded on 23 July, without giving any explanation for the blast. Traffic was diverted through the Romanian Sulina channel.

ASAP Agri said the cost to shipowners of using Sulina was higher and many had raised their freight quotes for Danube shipments to offset losses.

“With Bystre back in service, market participants expect a partial recovery in Danube freight flows as negotiations become more balanced,” it said.


Norway to review sovereign wealth fund’s Israel investments

A man watches as Israeli excavators demolish a building in the village of Judeira, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
A man watches as Israeli excavators demolish a building in the village of Judeira, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Updated 05 August 2025
Follow

Norway to review sovereign wealth fund’s Israel investments

A man watches as Israeli excavators demolish a building in the village of Judeira, south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
  • The fund’s investment in the Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd. (BSEL) group is worrying, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told public broadcaster NRK

OSLO: Norway’s government said on Tuesday it had ordered a review of its sovereign wealth fund portfolio to ensure that Israeli companies contributing to the occupation of the West Bank or the war in Gaza were excluded from investments.

The review followed a report by the Aftenposten daily that said the $1.9 trillion fund had built a stake in 2023-24 in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel’s armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets.

The fund’s investment in the Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd. (BSEL) group is worrying, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told public broadcaster NRK.

“We must get clarification on this because reading about it makes me uneasy,” Stoere said.

BSEL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, took a 1.3 percent stake in BSEL in 2023 and raised this to 2.09 percent by the end of 2024, holding shares worth $15.2 million, the latest available NBIM records show.

In light of Aftenposten’s story and the security situation in Gaza and the West Bank, the central bank will now conduct a review of NBIM’s Israeli holdings, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen told NRK that BSEL had not appeared on any lists of recommended exclusions, such as by the United Nations or the fund’s own ethics council.

Norway’s parliament in June rejected a proposal for the sovereign wealth fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The fund, which owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, held shares in 65 Israeli companies at the end of 2024, valued at $1.95 billion, its records show.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has sold its stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecoms group in the last year, and its ethics council has said it is reviewing whether to recommend divesting holdings in five banks.


Swiss president rushes to US to avert steep tariffs

Swiss president rushes to US to avert steep tariffs
Updated 05 August 2025
Follow

Swiss president rushes to US to avert steep tariffs

Swiss president rushes to US to avert steep tariffs
  • “The aim is to present a more attractive offer to the United States in a bid to lower the level of reciprocal tariffs,” said the government
  • US President Donald Trump had originally threatened in April to slap a 31-percent tariff

ZURICH: Switzerland’s president and economy minister were due to fly to Washington on Tuesday in a last-minute push to stop steep new tariffs that have blindsided the Alpine country.

Switzerland faces a 39-percent duty, one of the highest among the dozens of economies that will be hit by new tariffs expected to come into force from Thursday.

President Karin Keller-Sutter and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin were heading to Washington “to facilitate meetings with the US authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland,” the government said in a statement.

“The aim is to present a more attractive offer to the United States in a bid to lower the level of reciprocal tariffs for Swiss exports, taking US concerns into account.”

US President Donald Trump had originally threatened in April to slap a 31-percent tariff on Switzerland.

But he surprised the export-driven country last week when he decided to hike the rate to 39 percent despite numerous discussions between Swiss and US officials aimed at reaching a deal.

The Swiss government noted that the country will be hit by much higher tariffs than what other wealthy economies, such as Britain, Japan or the European Union, are facing.

The Swiss government held an emergency meeting on Monday.

During the extraordinary meeting, the government “reaffirmed that it was keen to pursue talks with the United States on the tariff situation,” Tuesday’s statement said.

“For this reason,” the president and the economy minister “are to travel to Washington on Tuesday.”

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, however, indicated on Sunday that the tariffs on global trading partners which are coming into force this week were unlikely to change.

“These tariff rates are pretty much set,” Greer told CBS television’s Face the Nation program.

Keller-Sutter, who is also the country’s finance minister, and Parmelin, who is also the vice president, will be accompanied by a small delegation, including the heads of the economy and international finance departments.

The government said it will “issue a statement as soon as there are any relevant developments for the public.”

Swiss companies have urged the government to negotiate a lower tariff.

The United States is a key trading partner for Switzerland, taking 18.6 percent of its total exports last year, according to Swiss customs data.

Keller-Sutter has said Trump believes that Switzerland “steals” from the United States by enjoying a trade surplus of 40 billion Swiss francs ($50 billion).

Pharmaceuticals represented 60 percent of Swiss goods exports to the United States last year, followed by machinery and metalworking at 20 percent and watches at eight percent.

The chocolate industry has also warned that the tariffs were a “tough blow.”