Trump says US and Iranian officials will talk next week as ceasefire holds
Israel and Iran seemed to honor the fragile ceasefire between them for a second day Wednesday and U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace, Associated Press reported.
Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire that took hold Tuesday on the 12th day of the war, told reporters at a NATO summit that he was not particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that U.S. strikes had destroyed its nuclear program. Earlier in the day, an Iranian official questioned whether the United States could be trusted after its weekend attack.
“We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump said. “The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done.”
12 killed in attack on celebration in Mexico’s Guanajuato state
Twelve people were killed overnight in the Mexican state of Guanajuato when gunmen opened fire on a celebration in the city of Irapuato, authorities said Wednesday, Associated Press reported
People were dancing and drinking in the street in celebration of St. John the Baptist when the shooting began. Revelers screamed and ran to escape the gunfire, according to videos circulated online.
Irapuato official Rodolfo Gómez Cervantes, said in a news conference Wednesday that the number of victims had risen to 12. Some 20 others were wounded.
President Claudia Sheinbaum lamented the attack, saying that it was under investigation, according to Associated Press.
NATO commits to major defence spending hike sought by Trump
NATO allies have agreed to massively boost military spending while affirming their “ironclad commitment” to collective defence, Aljazeera reported.
Leaders from the 32-member bloc pledged to allocate up to 5 percent of their national GDP to defence and related sectors by 2035, describing the move as a “quantum leap” in collective security.
The new pledge was made in a summit communique agreed on Wednesday in The Hague. It stated that members would “invest 5 percent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending”.
Trump says Nato's new 5% defence spending pledge a 'big win'
Nato leaders have agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2035, following months of pressure from Donald Trump, BBC reported.
The US president described the decision, taken at a summit in The Hague, as a "big win for Europe and... Western civilisation".
In a joint statement, members said they were united against "profound" security challenges, singling out the "long-term threat posed by Russia" and terrorism.
Nato leaders reaffirmed their "ironclad commitment" to the principle that an attack on one Nato member would lead to a response from the full alliance, according to BBC.
Former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal released on Rs 3.5 million bail
The Special Court has issued an order to release former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on a bail amount of Rs 3.5 million.
Information Officer at the Special Court Yagya Raj Regmi informed that the court issued the order following the hearing whether or not to remand him in jail for further investigation in connection with the graft case against him on the Patanjali Yogpeeth land misappropriation scam.
"An order was issued to release former Prime Minister Nepal on bail amount of Rs 3.5 million or the same amount as bank guarantee.
A division bench of Justices Tej Narayan Singh, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Bidur Koirala issued the order.
Former PM Nepal's statement was recorded on Wednesday afternoon after he was physically present at the special court.
The lawyers of both sides then involved in the detention debate. Five lawyers from Nepal's side and an equal number of government lawyers had presented their arguments and counter-arguments in this regard.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case at the special court against 93 persons, including ex-PM Nepal, on the Patanjali Yogpeeth land ceiling scam.
In the charge sheet, the former PM was demanded a fine of Rs 185.85 million.
A charge sheet was registered at the Special Court accusing him of committing irregularity by taking a decision of exempting ceiling in the purchase of the Patanjali Yogpeeth land during his premiership in the past.
Iranian-backed hackers go to work after US strikes
Hackers backing Tehran have targeted U.S. banks, defense contractors and oil industry companies following American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — but so far have not caused widespread disruptions to critical infrastructure or the economy, Associated Press reported.
But that could change if the ceasefire between Iran and Israel collapses or if independent hacking groups supporting Iran make good on promises to wage their own digital conflict against the U.S., analysts and cyber experts say.
The U.S. strikes could even prompt Iran, Russia, China and North Korea to double down on investments in cyberwarfare, according to Arnie Bellini, a tech entrepreneur and investor.
Bellini noted that hacking operations are much cheaper than bullets, planes or nuclear arms — what defense analysts call kinetic warfare. America may be militarily dominant, he said, but its reliance on digital technology poses a vulnerability, according to Associated Press.
7 Israeli troops are killed in a Gaza bombing as Palestinian officials say Israeli attacks kill 79
Israel on Wednesday reported one of its deadliest days in Gaza in months as its military said seven soldiers were killed when a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armored vehicle, while health officials in the battered enclave said Israeli attacks killed 79 people over the past day, Associated Press reported.
The attack on the Israeli troops, which occurred on Tuesday, quickly drew the nation’s attention back to the grinding conflict with the Hamas militant group after nearly two weeks of war between Israel and Iran.
Among the 79 reported killed in Gaza were 33 people who died while trying to access aid. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds heading toward desperately needed food, killing hundreds in recent weeks. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
Trump declares ‘victory for everybody’ despite doubts over US strikes
United States President Donald Trump has declared a “victory for everybody” as the ceasefire that ended 12 days of fighting between Iran and Israel continues to hold, despite uncertainty over the effectiveness of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, Aljazeera reported.
Trump, speaking in The Hague where he attended a NATO summit on Wednesday, said his decision to join Israel’s attacks by targeting Iranian nuclear sites with huge bunker-busting bombs had ended the war, calling it “a victory for everybody”.
He shrugged off an initial assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) that Iran’s path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months, saying the findings were “inconclusive” and he believed the sites had been destroyed, according to Aljazeera.