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The popular Mexican regional music band Grupo Firme announced on Friday that it was canceling a performance in a music festival in California over the weekend after the United States government suspended the musicians’ visas.

It comes after the US State Department has revoked visas of a number of Mexican musicians for playing a genre of music that it says glorifies cartel violence.

The group, which has soared to international fame playing Mexican regional music, said in a statement posted on its Instagram account that the visas of them and their team are currently under “administrative review by the US Embassy” and that it would make it “impossible” for them to perform in the La Onda Fest to be held in the city of Napa Valley, California on June 1.

But the post didn’t detail what it would mean in the long term for the musical group.

The US Embassy in Mexico and the State Department said that visa cases are confidential according to US law and couldn’t provide more information on the case.

The suspension is just the latest in a series of moves the administration of US President Donald Trump has taken targeting Mexican artists in the genre, who in some cases have glorified the leaders of cartels as sort of Robin Hood figures.

While the genre of “narco-corridos” has stirred controversy, much of the music also speaks to the harsh realities facing Mexican youth caught in cartel violence.

Two months ago, the Mexican musical group Los Alegres del Barranco was sanctioned after it projected images of the leader of the feared Jalisco New Generation Cartel at a concert in the western state of Jalisco.

“I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences,” US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said at the time.

“The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.”

But Grupo Firme has taken steps in recent months to distance itself from the facet of the musical genre glorifying criminal groups, announcing in April shortly after the controversy that it would not sing such music in concerts.

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Every president thinks they can change the world – and Donald Trump has an even greater sense of personal omnipotence than his recent predecessors.

But it’s not working out too well for the 47th president. Trump might intimidate tech titans to toe the line and use government power to try to bend institutions like Harvard University and judges, but some world leaders are harder to bully.

He keeps being ignored and humiliated by Russian President Vladimir Putin who is defying the US effort to end the war in Ukraine. Russian media is now portraying Trump as the tough talker who always blinks and never imposes consequences.

The president also thought that he could shape China to his will by facing down leader Xi Jinping in a trade war. But he misunderstood Chinese politics. The one thing an authoritarian in Beijing can never do is bow down to a US president. US officials say now they’re frustrated that China hasn’t followed through on commitments meant to deescalate the trade conflict.

As with China, Trump backed down in his tariff war with the European Union. Then Financial Times commentator Robert Armstrong enraged the president by coining the term TACO trade — “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Everyone thought that Trump would be on the same page as Benjamin Netanyahu. After all, in his first term he offered the Israeli prime minister pretty much everything he wanted. But now that he’s trying to broker peace in the Middle East, Trump is finding that prolonging the Gaza conflict is existential for Netanyahu’s political career, much like Ukraine for Putin. And Trump’s ambition for an Iranian nuclear deal is frustrating Israeli plans to use a moment of strategic weakness for the Islamic Republic to try to take out its reactors militarily.

Powerful leaders are pursuing their own versions of the national interest that exist in a parallel reality and on different historical and actual timelines to shorter, more transactional, aspirations of American presidents. Most aren’t susceptible to personal appeals with no payback. And after Trump’s attempts to humiliate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, the lure of the White House is waning.

Trump spent months on the campaign trail last year boasting that his “very good relationship” with Putin or Xi would magically solve deep geopolitical and economic problems between global powers that might be unsolvable.

He’s far from the first US leader to suffer from such delusions. President George W. Bush famously looked into the Kremlin tyrant’s eyes and “got a sense of his soul.” President Barack Obama disdained Russia as a decaying regional power and once dismissed Putin as the “bored kid in the back of the classroom.” That didn’t work out so well when the bored kid annexed Crimea.

More broadly, the 21st century presidents have all acted as though they’re men of destiny. Bush came to office determined not to act as the global policeman. But the September 11 attacks in 2001 made him exactly that. He started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — which the US won, then lost the peace. And his failed second term goal to democratize the Arab world never went anywhere.

Obama tried to make amends for the global war on terror and travelled to Egypt to tell Muslims it was time for “a new beginning.” His early presidency pulsated with a sense that his charisma and unique background would in itself be a global elixir.

Joe Biden traveled the globe telling everyone that “America is back” after ejecting Trump from the White House. But four years later, partly due to his own disastrous decision to run for a second term, America — or at least the internationalist post-World War II version – was gone again. And Trump was back.

Trump’s “America First” populism relies on the premise that the US has been ripped off for decades, never mind that its alliances and shaping of global capitalism made it the most powerful nation in the planet’s history. Now playing at being a strongman who everyone must obey, he is busily squandering this legacy and shattering US soft power — ie. the power to persuade — with his belligerence.

The first four months of the Trump presidency, with its tariff threats, warnings of US territorial expansion in Canada and Greenland and evisceration of global humanitarian aid programs show that the rest of the world gets a say in what happens too. So far, leaders in China, Russia, Israel, Europe and Canada appear to have calculated that Trump is not as powerful as he thinks he is, that there’s no price for defying him or that their own internal politics make resistance mandatory.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

At least seven people were killed when a road bridge collapsed onto a passenger train in western Russia late Saturday, with railway authorities blaming “illegal interference.”

The bridge came down in Russia’s Bryansk region, close to the Ukrainian border, crushing the moving train and injuring at least 30 people, Russian authorities reported.

The train was traveling from the town of Klimov to the capital Moscow when it was hit by the debris from the bridge and derailed, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

Images from the Moscow interregional transport prosecutor’s office show fallen earth, debris and concrete on top of what appears to be the passenger train, and derailed carriages as emergency services attend the scene.

Moscow Railway cited the cause of the collapse as “illegal interference in transport operations,” without providing further details.

An investigation has been launched, and a team is inspecting the site, state news agency TASS reported.

The train’s engineer was among those killed in the incident, RIA Novosti reported. An infant remains in serious condition, according to the Russian emergencies ministry.

Passengers were evacuated from the wreckage and were taken to a temporary accommodation center at a nearby station, according to TASS.

Bryansk’s regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram that emergency services and government officials were working at the scene.

“Everything necessary is being done to provide assistance to the victims,” he said, according to TASS.

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Nayib Bukele, the self-declared “world’s coolest dictator,” will mark six years as El Salvador’s president on Sunday, a period defined by contentious reforms, which critics say have brought peace to the streets at an incredibly high price.

His iron-fisted crackdown on crime in the country, that was once the most violent nation in the western hemisphere, led to the arrest and detention of around 87,000 people, often with little due process.

The government has defended the move, pointing to significant reductions in gang violence nationwide, but opponents say it has come at the cost of mass incarceration and the erosion of civil liberties.

The dragnet expanded as time wore on to include civil society groups and journalists investigating official collusion with the country’s gangs, critics say.

On May 19, Ruth López, an anti-corruption lawyer for the human rights group Cristosal, who is also a prominent critic of Bukele, was detained by Salvadoran authorities for allegedly stealing “funds from state coffers.” However, López still has not been charged with a crime despite remaining in detention.

Soon after Lopez was arrested, Bukele’s government passed a law taxing foreign donations to NGOs like Cristosal at 30%, which rights groups have described as an existential threat.

“What we have seen is a massive concentration of power in (Bukele’s) hands,” Juan Pappier, deputy director for Latin America at Human Rights Watch, said of Bukele’s six years in power. Bukele’s rule has been “based on demolition of the checks and balances of democracy and increasing efforts to silence and intimidate critics.”

The reduction of gang-related crime in El Salvador has made Bukele popular in the Central American nation, so much so that he was reelected in a landslide victory last year, even though the country’s constitution had barred anyone standing for a second term. (Bukele’s allies in Congress eventually replaced the Supreme Court’s top justices with judges willing to interpret the constitution in his favor.)

Since March 2022, the country has been under a “state of exception,” allowing the suspension of numerous constitutional rights. In the capital San Salvador, many people say they now feel safe walking through neighborhoods once considered dangerous. Though they acknowledge the country has seen a massive increase in incarcerations and a suspension of rights, Bukele’s supporters believe the resulting peace and security has been worth the tradeoff.

Not everyone agrees.

Samuel Ramírez, founder of the Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR), a human rights group that works with families of people believed to have been detained without due process, says thousands have been arrested over unfounded suspicions of being linked to gangs.

Bukele has previously admitted that some innocent people have been detained by mistake but said that several thousand have already been released.

Ramírez and other activists believe that many are too afraid to speak publicly.

“Here we see soldiers armed to the teeth in the streets, the police, even armored trucks in the streets — tanks. That’s synonymous with a country at war,” he said. “The gangs, for me, have already been neutralized. And now the war is against the people, so they don’t demonstrate, don’t speak out.”

Alleged back door dealings

Though he presents himself as a law-and-order leader, Bukele has long faced allegations that he negotiated the peaceful security situation in El Salvador through back-door dealings with the gangs.

In 2021, the Biden administration accused Bukele’s regime of bribing MS-13 and Barrio 18, two of the most notorious gangs in El Salvador, to “ensure that incidents of gang violence and the number of confirmed homicides remained low.” Alleged payoffs included cash, cell phones and prostitutes for imprisoned capos.

Bukele promptly denied the allegations, calling them an “obvious lie.”

But four years later, independent newsroom El Faro published an explosive interview with two self-styled gang leaders from Barrio 18 who claimed that, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, they had intimidated voters into casting their ballots for Bukele during his 2015 bid for mayor of San Salvador.

The two men gang leaders also claimed that when he became president in 2019, Bukele had arranged that the most powerful gangs in El Salvador refrain from wanton murder and extortion, lest they make him look bad, El Faro reported.

Bukele has not yet responded publicly to their allegations, but obliquely referenced the reporting from El Faro in a post on May 10, sarcastically implying the only “pact” he made with the gang leaders involved putting them in prison.

The journalists from El Faro who broke the story fled the country before it was published, anticipating arrest.

He said seven of the publication’s journalists are facing arrest warrants for reporting on the alleged deals. Even so, he said the newspaper would continue its journalistic work. For the past two years, the publication has been running most of its operations in exile from Costa Rica.

“If there was any semblance of democracy left in El Salvador, it was in independent journalism,” said Noah Bullock, executive director of Cristosal.

‘We are under a dictatorship’

Last week, Bukele’s government passed a law taxing foreign donations to NGOs at 30%.

He had proposed a similar law in 2021, but it didn’t pass. In any case, Bullock says that it’s irrelevant whether any law is proposed, passed or tabled in El Salvador: after six years of virtually unfettered power, Bukele is a law in and of himself.

She said the law will make it impossible for them to continue working. It gives them three months to renew their registration as an NGO, but they don’t know how the process will work.

Grande’s assessment of the situation is unambiguous: “Right now, we can say very openly that we are under a dictatorship.”

Despite the growing outrage from rights groups, Bukele’s punishing penal system has won him fans.

US President Donald Trump has praised the crackdown and cut a deal with Bukele, who agreed to hold hundreds of Venezuelan deportees in El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement, alongside thousands of detained Salvadorans.

Known as Cecot, the mega-prison is considered the largest penitentiary in the Americas and is notorious for the spartan conditions, which rights organizations have denounced as inhumane.

“I think what is happening here is a kind of laboratory for what could happen in other countries,” NGO worker Grande warned. “Even the United States.”

During Trump’s April meeting with Bukele at the White House, Bukele suggested the US president follow his lead when it comes to mass detentions.

“Mr. President, you have 350 million people to liberate, you know,” Bukele said of the US population. “But to liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some. You know, that’s the way it works, right?”

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At least 26 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on Sunday near a southern Gaza aid distribution center run by a controversial US-backed foundation, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“Crowds of citizens headed to receive food aid” from a site in the Rafah area, when Israeli forces opened fire, said a paramedic from the PRCS, the only medical professionals present in the area.

The GHF is a private organization backed by Israel and the United States. It was set up amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and selling it for profit. Humanitarian organizations say there is no evidence of this, and Israel hasn’t presented any evidence publicly.

United Nations aid agencies have criticized the GHF’s aid mechanism, saying it violates humanitarian principles and raises the risks for Palestinians.

UN aid groups, such as UNRWA, typically check identification and rely on a database of registered families when distributing aid.

But the GHF is not screening Palestinians at aid distribution sites, despite Israeli officials saying that additional security measures were a core reason for the creation of the new program.

Criticism has been mounting against both Israel and the GHF after chaos broke out last week when tens of thousands of starving Palestinians arrived at two new food distribution sites.

According to Palestinian Ministry of Health figures from before Sunday’s incident, 11 people have been killed and dozens injured since the aid distribution sites have opened. The GHF said on Thursday that no one has been killed or injured since the distribution of aid began last week.

The statement added that it has provided more than 4.7 million meals in six days, including delivering 16 truckloads of food on Sunday morning, providing over 887,000 meals.

In a statement issued Sunday, the GHF said it will “continue scaling, with plans to build additional sites across Gaza, including in the northern region, in the weeks ahead.”

Aid was distributed “without incident,” read the statement, with the group adding it was “aware of rumors being actively fomented by Hamas suggesting deaths and injuries today.”

However, a mixed picture appears on the ground with claims of the aid distributed believed to be inaccurate.

The GHF also claims the reports of “deaths, mass injuries and chaos” at its sites are “false.”

“They are untrue and fabricated,” the statement continued.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Hamas has said it has agreed to release ten living hostages being held captive by the terror group and return the bodies of 18 others. 

The militant group made the announcement in a statement Saturday and said it was being done on the condition that a number of Palestinian prisoners be returned in exchange as part of a means to achieve a permanent ceasefire.

Hamas said the agreement comes after a proposal by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who has yet to comment publicly on the Hamas statement.

‘After conducting a round of national consultations, and based on our immense sense of responsibility towards our people and their suffering, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) today submitted its response to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s latest proposal to the mediating parties,’ the Hamas statement reads. 

‘This proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip.’

Hamas is holding 58 hostages in Gaza. Of these, Israeli intelligence assesses that at least 34 are deceased, leaving approximately 24 believed to be alive. More than 250 people were captured during the Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The latest proposal being negotiated involves the release of 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during a 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks, The Associated Press reported Friday, citing a Hamas official and an Egyptian official speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. negotiators had not publicized the terms of the proposal.

President Donald Trump said Friday that negotiators were nearing a deal.

‘They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow,’ Trump told reporters in Washington. Late in the evening, asked if he was confident Hamas would approve the deal, he told reporters: ‘They’re in a big mess. I think they want to get out of it.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Former First Lady Michelle Obama is facing backlash after saying that creating life is ‘the least’ of what a woman’s reproductive system does. 

On the latest episode of the podcast ‘IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson,’ the former first lady and her brother were joined by OB/GYN Dr. Sharon Malone, whose husband, Eric Holder, served as Attorney General under former President Barack Obama. During the discussion, the former first lady lamented that women’s reproductive health ‘has been reduced to the question of choice.’ 

‘I attempted to make the argument on the campaign trail this past election was that there’s just so much more at stake and because so many men have no idea about what women go through,’ Obama said. She went on to claim that the lack of research on women’s health shapes male leaders’ perceptions of the issue of abortion.

‘Women’s reproductive health is about our life. It’s about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life,’ Obama added, ‘It’s a very important thing that it does, but you only produce life if the machine that’s producing it — if you want to whittle us down to a machine — is functioning in a healthy, streamlined kind of way.’

In the same episode, the former first lady seemed to scold Republican men by saying that the men who ‘sit on their hands’ over abortion are choosing to ‘trade out women’s health for a tax break or whatever it is.’ Obama also criticized Republican women, suggesting they voted for President Donald Trump because of their husbands.

‘There are a lot of men who have big chairs at their tables, there are a lot of women who vote the way their man is going to vote, it happened in this election.’

The ‘Becoming’ author’s remarks drew criticism from pro-life activists, including Danielle D’Souza Gill, the wife of Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas. The couple announced the birth of their second child earlier in May. 

‘Motherhood is the most beautiful and powerful gift God gave women. Creating life isn’t a side effect, it’s a miracle. Don’t let the Left cheapen it,’ D’Souza Gill wrote in a post on X.

Isabel Brown, a content creator and author, also slammed the former first lady as a ‘supposed feminist icon.’

‘I am SO sick [and] tired of celebrities [and] elitists attempting to convince you that your miraculous superpower ability to GROW LIFE from nothing is somehow demeaning [and] ‘lesser than’ for women,’ Brown wrote.

At the time of this writing, Obama’s podcast is ranked 51 on Apple Podcasts and doesn’t appear on the list of the top 100 podcasts on Spotify. However, it is ranked 91 on the list of 100 trending podcasts on Spotify. The entire episode with Malone is available on YouTube, where it currently has just under 41,150 views so far.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a stark warning Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore: China’s military is ‘rehearsing for the real deal,’ and a full-scale invasion of Taiwan ‘could be imminent.’

‘We are not going to sugarcoat it – the threat China poses is real,’ he added.

Beijing swiftly rejected the allegation. Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, head of the Chinese delegation and vice president of China’s National Defense University, called the remarks ‘groundless accusations,’ stating that ‘some of the claims are completely fabricated, some distort facts and some are cases of a thief crying ‘stop thief.’’ Despite such denials, a growing body of evidence suggests China may indeed be preparing for a military move against Taiwan.

Numerous indicators draw this conclusion. Here are nine:

1. China has intensified its joint sea and air exercises surrounding Taiwan, including rehearsals simulating blockades, encirclements, and amphibious assaults. These drills closely mirror operational strategies that would likely be employed in an actual invasion and are widely interpreted by analysts as concrete signals of Beijing’s willingness to use force.

2. The Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) has positioned H-6 bombers, capable of delivering nuclear payloads, on outposts such as Woody Island in the South China Sea. These platforms significantly extend China’s strike capability and serve as strategic messaging to both Taipei and Washington.

3. China continues to conduct gray-zone operations aka non-kinetic forms of coercion, including cyberattacks on Taiwan’s infrastructure, disinformation campaigns, and illegal incursions by maritime militia vessels. Though these actions fall below the threshold of open warfare, they are designed to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and destabilize the region. 

4. According to U.S. intelligence assessments, Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the PLA to be capable of launching an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. While not a confirmed deadline for action, it has catalyzed PLA modernization, emphasizing joint force integration and amphibious readiness. 

5. China’s strategic expansion in Latin America – especially through Belt and Road investments and attempts to influence key nodes such as the Panama Canal reflect broader ambitions to project global power and encircle U.S. interests. These moves indirectly support Taiwan-related ambitions by distracting or overextending U.S. response capabilities.

6. Recent PLA exercises have incorporated civilian ferries capable of transporting tanks and personnel—suggesting preparations for amphibious operations on Taiwan’s shores. The dual-use nature of these assets allows China to mask military buildup under the guise of civilian activity.

7. Beijing has intensified its political narrative around ‘reunification,’ including state media coverage, educational reforms, and speeches by top Chinese officials. These ideological signals often precede military action in authoritarian regimes.

8, China has rapidly expanded its coastal infrastructure, including new docks, airstrips, and logistics hubs in Fujian Province—directly across the Taiwan Strait. Satellite imagery suggests these assets are optimized for a cross-strait operation.

9. Chinese fighter jets and warships have entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) at unprecedented levels. In early 2025 alone, PLA aircraft breached Taiwan’s ADIZ over 1,200 times, prompting elevated readiness levels in Taipei.

The question of whether China will invade Taiwan is no longer hypothetical but a matter of timing and risk calculus. While Beijing continues to deny aggressive intent, the evidence suggests a sustained and deliberate military buildup with the intent to compel reunification—if not peacefully, then by force. 

Hegseth’s warning reflects not alarmism, but a sober assessment of escalating realities. These indicators—military drills, strategic deployments, political rhetoric, and infrastructure mobilization—align with historical precedents for pre-invasion posturing.

The international community must take this threat seriously. Strengthening deterrence, improving intelligence sharing, and reinforcing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities are critical to avoiding a regional catastrophe. For the United States and its allies, readiness is no longer optional—it is a strategic imperative.

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Iran angrily lashed out at Austria’s government Friday after Fox News Digital reported on a document asserting that Tehran has developed an advanced nuclear weapons program that can launch long-range missiles. 

The explosive report from Austria’s version of the FBI—the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service—provides a specialized window into the Iranian regime’s illicit atomic weapons program and its espionage activities in the central European country.

Fox News Digital was the first news organization to report on the Iran sections of the report on Wednesday, sparking a major diplomatic row between the Islamic Republic and Austria.

‘The Iranian nuclear weapons development program is well advanced, and Iran possesses a growing arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads over long distances,’ the Austrian domestic intelligence agency report stated.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqaei, denounced the Austrian intelligence agency ‘for spreading lies,’ and called on the Austrian government to ‘provide an official explanation regarding the irresponsible, provocative, and destructive act by one of its official institutions,’ according to the Ministry’s website.

Tehran-based Austrian diplomat Michaela Pacher was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry, according to the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

‘[Pacher] took this opportunity to reiterate Austria’s and the EU’s position on the Iranian nuclear program,’ Austrian officials said in a statement. ‘This position was most recently expressed to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.’

Austria expressed support for an EU statement along with other countries in March.

‘Iran already accumulated more than six significant quantities of 60% enriched material [which the Agency defines as the approximate amount of nuclear material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded] and is currently producing one significant quantity of highly enriched uranium every month,’ noted the EU statement.

The EU statement added that ‘All these actions carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran’s intentions, since they have no credible civilian justification. In this context, the EU remains concerned by statements made by Iranian officials about Iran’s capacity to assemble a nuclear weapon.’

The shocking Austrian intelligence findings contradict the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has ‘undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.’ There have long been conflicting views (between U.S. intelligence agencies and European intelligence services) over Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the Austrian report.

‘President Trump is committed to Iran never obtaining a nuclear weapon or the capacity to build one,’ a White House official said.

The Austrian report coincides with a new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. The AP reported on Saturday that Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday and called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with the agency’s probe.

The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks in the past weeks over a possible nuclear deal that U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to reach.

The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%.

That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. A report in February put the stockpile at 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds).

The IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now ‘the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material’ — something the agency said was of ‘serious concern.’

In February, Fox News Digital reported that the IAEA said Iran has sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture six nuclear weapons.

‘The Islamic Republic is the standard-bearer of deception and stonewalling. Today’s damning IAEA reports confirm how Iran has been in violation of the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] for years, even when the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] was in effect. It shows the regime cannot be trusted with any diplomatic agreement,’ said Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).

The JCPOA is the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal that was concluded between the Obama administration and Iran. President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 because, his administration said at the time, the deal did not prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

‘I think Iran’s regime’s response to Austria’s findings shows its sensitivity over these matters,’ Brodsky said. ‘It also wants to bully Austria. Austria should force the Iranian regime to decrease the size of its embassy in Vienna which it has long used as a hub for malign intelligence collection and operations throughout Europe.’

The clerical regime’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on his X account a statement in response to the Fox News Digital report.

‘Media is speculating about an imminent Iran-U.S. deal. Not sure if we are there yet,’ he wrote. ‘Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides.

‘But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran’s nuclear rights—including enrichment. Path to a deal goes through the negotiating table and not the media.’

The U.S. talks to dismantle Iran’s illicit atomic weapons program coincides with a nationwide truckers’ strike in Iran. The widespread labor unrest could severely weaken the regime, according to Iran experts.

The exiled crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the U.S, called on U.S. labor unions to stand with Iranian truckers.

 ‘Truck drivers and workers across Iran are on strike and are putting their lives on the line to fight for their rights and for a better future for their families,’ Pahlavi, who lives in the U.S, wrote on X. ‘Now, they are being jailed and threatened for posting photos and videos of their strike. Only in a free Iran will all workers have the right to freely and openly organize. I invite you, labor unions and leaders, to stand with your fellow workers in Iran and show your solidarity.’

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Hamas has agreed to release 10 living hostages and return the bodies of 18 more, but the terms of the proposed deal have been deemed unacceptable by the U.S. and Israel.

The group, which has been on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations since 1997, made the announcement in a statement Saturday and said it was being done on the condition that a number of Palestinian prisoners be returned in exchange as part of a means to achieve a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli media reported that Hamas added new demands to the proposal from U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, including a permanent ceasefire, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and unrestricted humanitarian aid flow into the strip.

Witkoff’s proposal did not include a full withdrawal or a ceasefire, the Jerusalem Post reported, and that Hamas added terms of its own.

In a statement posted to X on Saturday, Witkoff called Hamas’ response to the American proposal ‘totally unacceptable’ and warned it ‘only takes us backward.’ He urged the group to accept the original framework in order to begin proximity talks as early as next week, which could pave the way for a 60-day ceasefire and the return of both living and deceased hostages.

In a statement before Witkoff’s response, Hamas wrote: ‘After conducting a round of national consultations, and based on our immense sense of responsibility towards our people and their suffering, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) today submitted its response to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s latest proposal to the mediating parties. 

‘This proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip.’

Reacting to the announcement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that while Israel had agreed to the updated Witkoff framework, ‘Hamas continues to cling to its refusal.’ The office emphasized that Israel remains committed to bringing its hostages home and defeating Hamas, citing Witkoff’s remarks as confirmation that Hamas’ latest stance undermines progress.

Hamas is holding 58 hostages in Gaza. Of these, Israeli intelligence assesses that at least 34 are deceased, leaving approximately 24 believed to be alive. More than 250 people were captured during the Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The latest proposal being negotiated involves the release of 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during a 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks, The Associated Press reported Friday, citing a Hamas official and an Egyptian official speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. negotiators had not publicized the terms of the proposal.

Witkoff’s office reiterated on social media that the proposed deal could allow ‘half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased’ to return to their families if Hamas agrees to enter talks under the current terms. 

The statement stressed that the window to finalize the deal is narrowing, and that major negotiations could begin ‘in good faith’ within days if Hamas accepts.

‘As stated by the U.S. President’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff: Hamas’ response is unacceptable and sets the situation back,’ the Prime Minister’s Office said.

President Donald Trump said Friday that negotiators were nearing a deal.

‘They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow,’ Trump told reporters in Washington. Late in the evening, asked if he was confident Hamas would approve the deal, he told reporters: ‘They’re in a big mess. I think they want to get out of it.’

Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.

Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely, be dismantled as a military and governing force and return all hostages still held in Gaza before it agrees to end the war. Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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