Pentagon chief warns of imminent China threat, asks Asian allies to spend more on defence
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday that the threat from China was real and potentially imminent as he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defence needs, Reuters reported.
Hegseth, speaking for the first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier forum for defence leaders, militaries and diplomats, underlined that the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for the Trump administration.
"There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," Hegseth said, in some of his strongest comments on the Communist nation since he took office in January. He added that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan "would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world", and echoed Trump's comment that China will not invade Taiwan on the president's watch.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to "reunify" with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games around Taiwan, according to Reuters.
Ukraine keeps Russia guessing over talks, US senator warns Moscow of sanctions
Ukraine resisted U.S. and Russian pressure to commit to attending another round of peace talks on Monday, saying it first needed to see Russian proposals, while a leading U.S. senator warned Moscow it would be "hit hard" by new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a deal to end their three-year-old war, and Russia has proposed a second round of face-to-face talks with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.
Kyiv has said it is committed to the search for peace, but that it was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out their proposals.
"For a meeting to be meaningful, its agenda must be clear, and the negotiations must be properly prepared," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X on Friday after hosting Turkey's foreign minister for talks in Kyiv, according to Reuters.
"Unfortunately, Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that the next potential meeting brings no results," he said, citing the lack of a document from Russia.
US sends nuclear deal proposal to Iran
The US has sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington, the White House confirmed on Saturday, BBC reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had been presented with "elements of a US deal" by his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi during a short visit to the Iranian capital.
It comes after a report by the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had further stepped up its production of enriched uranium, a key component in the making of nuclear weapons.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday it was in Tehran's "best interest to accept" the deal, adding: "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb," according to BBC.
Hamas makes hostage pledge but demands changes to US Gaza ceasefire plan
Hamas responded to a US ceasefire proposal by saying it is prepared to release 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 dead hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners, while requesting some amendments to the plan, BBC reported.
The group repeated its demands for a permanent truce, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and guarantees for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid. None of these are in the deal on the table.
It was neither an explicit rejection nor a clear acceptance of the US terms, which Washington says Israel has accepted.
Hamas said it had submitted its response to the US draft proposed by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East," according to BBC.
