Author: AFP

Iran has significantly increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in recent months, according to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen by AFP Wednesday. Tensions between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog have repeatedly flared since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief fell apart. The IAEA said in its quarterly report that it is of “serious concern” that Iran has an estimated amount of 274.8 kilograms enriched to up to 60 percent as of 8 February, up by 92.5 kilograms since the last report in November. It comes after…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he hoped to visit Washington on Friday to strike a minerals deal with the United States and discuss future aid with President Donald Trump. Trump has demanded Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden. A senior Ukrainian official told AFP late Tuesday that Kyiv had agreed on the terms of the deal, which would see the United States jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral resources, and that Zelensky could sign it on Friday in Washington. “I would like to have…

Bangladesh’s interim government praised on Wednesday Moscow’s “important” backing of a controversial nuclear plant during the first visit by the director of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom since Dhaka’s revolution last year. Construction on the nuclear plant at Rooppur began in 2017 during the iron-fisted tenure of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The much-delayed 2,400-megawatt project is aimed at bolstering an overstretched energy grid and will be Bangladesh’s largest power station by generating capacity once fully operational. Alexey Likhachev, chief of the Russian nuclear energy giant, was last in Bangladesh in April 2024, shortly before a student-led uprising that culminated in ousting…

US President Donald Trump’s official social media accounts posted an apparently AI-generated video depicting war-ravaged Gaza rebuilt into a seaside resort, replete with a towering golden statue of himself. The video, which racked up more than 15 million views on Instagram and was shared thousands of times on Trump’s Truth Social network by Wednesday morning, prompted some commenters to question whether the president’s accounts had been hacked. The 33-second clip remained on Trump’s accounts without denial or retraction hours after the initial posting on Tuesday night. The video “Gaza 2025 What’s Next?” opens with people on a rubble-strewn street emerging…

The erosion of multilateralism threatens global growth and stability, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned Wednesday at a G20 finance meeting in South Africa marked by the absence of the US treasury secretary. Two days of talks by finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies opened a week after a meeting of G20 foreign ministers was snubbed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who complained of its “anti-Americanism”. “The erosion of multilateralism presents a threat to global growth and stability,” Ramaphosa said in his opening address. “At this time of heightened geopolitical contestation, a rules-based order is…

Ukraine has agreed on the terms of a minerals deal with the United States and could sign it as early as Friday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Tuesday. “Now government officials are working on the details,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “As of now, we are considering a visit to Washington for Friday to sign the agreement.”

Ukraine will need over $500 billion to repair the damage resulting from the Russian invasion, which has entered its fourth year, according to a joint assessment published Tuesday. “The total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is $524 billion over the next decade,” said a statement published by Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations. This number is “approximately 2.8 times the estimated nominal GDP of Ukraine for 2024,” a statement read. The survey covered destruction that occurred between the start of the invasion in February 2022 until December 2024. It found that 13…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Tehran on Tuesday for talks with senior officials, Iranian state media reported. Lavrov is to meet his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, state television said. The Russian foreign ministry said their talks would cover “Russian-Iranian relations” as well as “a number of current international issues.” They include the latest developments in Syria and Yemen, as well as the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, the ministry said. The nuclear deal collapsed after Washington abandoned it during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions. After his return to office this…

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States on his country’s nuclear programme. His remarks came a day after Washington announced fresh sanctions on Tehran targeting more than 30 vessels and people, including the head of the national oil company, accused of involvement in brokering the sale and shipment of Iranian oil. The sanctions were the latest to be imposed since US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran, reprising his approach during his first term. “There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the…

Germany’s election winner Friedrich Merz has vowed to rule Europe’s largest economy by returning to his Christian Democrat party’s conservative roots, ease restraints on business and crack down on irregular immigration. A long-time rival of centrist ex-chancellor Angela Merkel within the CDU party, Merz has attacked her open-door migrant policy and drawn her ire for accepting support from the far-right AfD on the flashpoint issue in parliament. At age 69, trained lawyer Merz boasts a strong business background — including at investment fund BlackRock and on many corporate boards, which made him a millionaire — but has never held a…