Israel PM: Don’t give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail
Tel Aviv: Israel’s Prime Minister has called on world powers not to
“give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail” as talks began in Vienna aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.
In a video statement delivered to representatives of nations opening the talks with Iran, Naftali Bennett said Tehran was seeking “to end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing” and keep its nuclear programme intact while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars once sanctions are lifted.
Iran has ramped up its uranium enrichment since the US withdrew from the landmark nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran in 2018.
Israel vocally opposed that agreement, and Israeli officials now say Tehran is closer than ever to developing nuclear arms.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Turkmenistan: The leaders of several Asian countries have proposed to improve their economic ties and have pledged to provide assistance to Afghanistan during a summit in Turkmenistan.
The countries, which are part of the 10-member Economic Co-operation Organization (ECO) that includes Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and six ex-soviet nations, called for removing trade barriers and developing new transport corridors across the region.
They also voiced concerns about the situation in Afghanistan, which has been taken over by the Taliban, and promised to help stabilise the country.
Speaking at the summit, Pakistan’s President, Arif Alvi, pointed to the threat of Afghanistan’s economic and financial collapse, saying the Islamic world needed to pool efforts to help avert a “catastrophe that could foment chaos and conflict”.
Texas: Actor Matthew Mcconaughey has said he is not running for Texas governor after months of publicly flirting with the idea of becoming the latest celebrity candidate.
The Academy Award winner said in a video posted on Sunday evening that political leadership was not a route he was choosing to take “at this moment”.
The 52-year-old said he would instead focus on supporting businesses and foundations that create pathways for others to succeed.
“Politicians? The good ones can help us to get to where we need to go, yeah,” Mr Mcconaughey said in the video posted to Twitter.
“But let’s be clear, they can’t do anything for us unless we choose to do it for ourselves.”
Prague: Thousands of people have rallied in the Czech capital of Prague to protest against the Government’s restrictive measures to tackle a record surge in coronavirus infections.
The protesters at the rally in Letna Park included members and supporters of a number of fringe political parties and groups that failed to win any parliamentary seats in October’s election. It was their third protest in the last two weeks.
Police did not intervene. The country has been setting repeated records in new daily infections, hitting a record high of almost 28,000 cases on Thursday.
The Czech government declared a 30-day state of emergency and imposed additional coronavirus restrictions on Friday in its effort to tackle the surge.