meets

Aug. 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy Jared Kushner on Sunday met with Hamas to discuss the U.S.-backed peace plan for Gaza.

Kusher, Trump’s son-in-law, met with a delegation that included new leader Khalil al-Hawayy in Egypt, the BBC reported.

Trump’s Board of Peace last month said it reached a deal for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. However, Israel last week rejected the 15-point plan that also calls for Israel to withdraw its troops from the enclave and for its reconstruction under a new civilian Palestinian government.

Eight Muslim countries on Sunday issued a statement blasting Israel’s rejection of the plan.

According to the BBC, the meeting was said to be the first at this level since a ceasefire agreement for Gaza was reached last year.

Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly took part in the meeting, along with representatives of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

Kushner also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Kusher, Mladenov, and Blair were to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, according to Israeli media reports.

Netanyahu has said he wants Hamas fully disarmed to implement the plan.”Israel rejects the Board of Peace’s 15-point document on Gaza,” he said. “The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.”

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia said in a joint statement that Israel’s rejection of the plan threatened Trump’s peace efforts.

Vietnam’s sovereign AI relies heavily on open-weight models developed in the United States. However, as Washington and Beijing are moving to restrict access to these technologies, Hanoi’s bamboo diplomacy offers little protection to its AI ambitions.

In mid-July, Vietnam approved its National Digital Transformation Strategy for 2026-2030 under Decision 1266/QD-TTg, and the National Data Strategy under Decision 1308/QD-TTg. Both strategies aim for national digital sovereignty, domestic self-reliance and state-level data governance on the assumption that artificial intelligence (AI) models would remain a public good. Within days, the United States (U.S.) and China signalled their readiness to restrict access to those models.

Made in America

Vietnam’s current AI systems are modified versions of foreign tech. On the ground, Viettel, the state military telecom giant spearheading Vietnam’s AI goals, announced its VT-Super-120B-A12B Vietnamese language model had matched the accuracy of major global models of similar size. It was built by adapting Nemotron, Nvidia’s freely downloadable model family, to Vietnamese data. Viettel’s earlier model was also built on Meta’s Llama 3, trained with Nvidia tooling, and run on a cluster of 22 DGX B200 supercomputers at its Hoa Lac centre.

Moreover, VNG’s GreenNode subsidiary introduced GreenMind-Medium-14B-R1, the first open-source Vietnamese reasoning model built to run on Nvidia’s software and a single Nvidia H100 graphics chip. Meanwhile, FPT Corporation committed $200 million to build its AI factory powered by Nvidia hardware.

At the state level, Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology met with senior executives from Qualcomm in Hanoi on July 17. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh and Qualcomm’s Executive Vice President Durga Malladi discussed expanding cooperation in AI semiconductors, research and development, and workforce training.

While Vietnam has made its bets on the U.S. for its AI ambitions, other Southeast Asian countries are leaning towards China. Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison partnered with AIonOS on DeepSeek-powered services, and Malaysia’s Communications Ministry launched a sovereign full-stack AI ecosystem running on Huawei hardware.

Outside Two Blocs

AI governance is dividing into two blocs. One bloc is the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which coordinates trusted supply chains for semiconductors, critical minerals and AI infrastructure with 24 signatories. Singapore, the Philippines, India, Japan and South Korea are among them. The Philippines converted membership into commitments by agreeing in April 2026 to a 4,000-acre economic security zone in the Luzon economic corridor designated as the initiative’s first AI-native industrial hub.

The other is the Chinese-backed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, signed into existence in Shanghai on July 16 by 29 governments. The membership also includes Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela and most of Central Asia, alongside Vietnam’s neighbours Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Membership in either bloc could offer access to supply chains, technical assistance and software distribution during a diplomatic crisis.

However, Vietnam belongs to neither group because of its long-standing bamboo diplomacy, a policy of balancing relations between Washington and Beijing without taking sides. This leaves Hanoi in an awkward position. Vietnam depends heavily on American technology, but enjoys none of the guarantees or protections of one.

Weaponising Access

Export controls on chips work because processors are physical goods, subject to customs enforcement. On May 31, the Bureau of Industry and Security extended licensing requirements to any China-parented buyer worldwide, closing loopholes in Singapore and Malaysia.

AI models do not behave the same way. Access to a closed system can be revoked instantly by flipping an application programming interface (API) key. For example, on June 12, Anthropic suspended access to its Fable and Mythos models to comply with U.S. Commerce Department export controls, restoring access only on July 1 after those controls were lifted. Such events largely explain why governments prefer AI models they can host locally.

In contrast, an open-weight model, once downloaded, cannot be recalled by any foreign regulator. Instead, global superpowers exert control by forcing major tech companies and code-sharing platforms to block downloads from specific regions or countries. They can also pressure developers to restrict future model updates to dodge penalties from Washington or Beijing.

This fight over AI access is now an open battle. On July 16, Chinese startup Moonshot AI unveiled Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter model that independent evaluators say matches top American models at a fraction of their operating cost. On July 21, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalled that Washington could sanction Chinese tech firms, citing American-model watermarks found inside Chinese ones. Days later, China’s Ministry of Commerce called the investigations groundless, threatened countermeasures, and began consulting Alibaba, ByteDance and Z.ai on export controls covering model weights, training data and chip designs.

Why It Matters

For years, nations have built digital capacity cheaply and quickly by customising open-weight AI models. Kimi K3 seemed to promise that era would continue. Instead, the geopolitical fallout exposed the fragility of relying on superpower goodwill.

For Vietnam, the real threat is getting left behind. Washington or Beijing cannot delete the AI models already sitting on Vietnamese servers. What they can block is future releases. If both superpowers restrict open-weight models, Vietnam’s AI ecosystem gets stuck using today’s tools while the rest of the world moves forward. A national tech stack built on frozen updates decays one generation at a time. States that have not localised model weights face an even harsher reality. Their access relies on live connections and downloads that can vanish overnight with a new policy.

At its core, this is a problem of time. Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy relies on having time to adapt. Trade deals and defence agreements move slowly, giving Hanoi room to bend without breaking. AI access, however, moves instantly as access disappears with a revoked key or a blocked download link.

Diplomatically, Vietnam tries to stay neutral at all costs. However, its technology does not try to do so. All of its major AI models are built on American weights, run on American chips, and improve when American companies release new ones. Vietnam acts as if it can delay picking a side, but with every new AI update or blocked release, the cost of delay becomes more expensive. In the past, diplomatic pressure moved slowly through international summits. Today, that pressure speeds up with every new model release.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had cancelled an earlier Saudi trip after deadly July 29 US-Saudi strikes on Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ⁠and Saudi Arabian Intelligence chief Khalid bin Ali Al Humaidan have met in Baghdad in an attempt to resolve the governments’ ties strained by deadly cross-border strikes weeks earlier.

Al-Humaidan extended a renewed invitation for al-Zaidi to visit Riyadh in the meeting on Friday, the prime minister’s office said, after the latter’s earlier trip was called off in protest following a joint Saudi-US operation on July 29. The attacks killed 20 fighters of Iraqi armed groups, including five Iranians.

According to al-Zaidi’s office, the two focused on how Baghdad and Riyadh can better coordinate security issues as regional tensions simmer.

Al-Zaidi restated a pledge that Iraqi soil would not become a launchpad for attacks on any other country, and that Baghdad remains determined to guard its sovereignty.

The two countries have had a tense few weeks of diplomacy.

Saudi Arabia justified last month’s strikes on Iraq as retaliation for drone attacks on its oil infrastructure, which it blamed on the same pro-Iranian Iraqi armed groups.

Iraq’s National Security Council rejected the kingdom’s claim outright, calling the operation a breach of national sovereignty. In the days that followed, Iraqi authorities quietly tightened security across the country and along its borders to head off any retaliation.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq – the Iran-aligned network of armed groups that has clashed rhetorically with Riyadh in recent weeks – had promised to retaliate for the US-Saudi strikes.

But it announced on Friday that it was postponing a retaliatory strike, crediting the climbdown to lobbying from Hadi al-Amiri, one of the most powerful pro-Iran voices in Iraq, along with pressure from other unnamed political figures.

The group did not say what it had been preparing to hit.

Al-Zaidi, who took office earlier this year with Washington’s backing, has pledged to bring armed groups under state control and set a September 30 deadline for them to disarm.

His call has since faced opposition from powerful factions.

Iraq has long struggled to balance its ties with both the United States and Iran. The rivalry between Washington and Tehran has repeatedly turned the country into a proxy battleground.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is facing growing criticism from some European leaders as European Union interior ministers meet to discuss last week’s mass crossing into the Spanish territory of Ceuta, an episode that has reignited debate over migration across the bloc.

Human rights groups and activists, meanwhile, have accused far-right politicians of exploiting the crisis to advance anti-immigration narratives.

More than 60,000 people crossed into the North African enclave on Thursday and Friday, triggering a humanitarian emergency and prompting Spain to deploy additional military and police forces.

More than 80 migrants died, according to Spanish and Moroccan authorities, including some who drowned or were crushed while attempting to cross a breakwater barrier.

Most of those who entered have since returned to Morocco. By Saturday, “almost all” had left and the situation in Ceuta had largely returned to normal, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, convened an emergency video meeting of EU interior ministers after 22 of the bloc’s 27 member states called for “coordinated action and the strengthening of external borders”.

Political fault lines

The events in Ceuta have once again exposed divisions within the EU over migration policy, with several governments calling for a tougher approach while others have urged adherence to humanitarian and international legal obligations.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among Sanchez’s sharpest critics, announcing that Italy would introduce temporary air and sea border controls with Spain while questioning Madrid’s handling of the situation.

Sanchez rejected the criticism, saying Italy’s position was “contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together”.

In a post on X, he also noted that Italy had received significantly more migrants than Spain since 2021, saying Italy had recorded about 478,000 arrivals compared with Spain’s 234,000.

The political debate has unfolded despite a broader decline in irregular migration to the EU. According to the EU’s border agency Frontex, irregular border crossings peaked at 1.8 million in 2015. During the first half of 2026, crossings fell by 37 percent compared with the same period last year to about 49,000.

The scenes in Ceuta have nevertheless become a focal point in wider political debates over migration, despite the EU already introducing stricter migration and asylum rules that expand member states’ powers to detain migrants and return them to designated “safe countries” or facilities outside the bloc.

Human rights organisations have criticised the measures, warning they could leave asylum seekers stranded for prolonged periods in offshore detention centres, while illegal police pushbacks at borders still regularly occur in both the EU and North Africa.

Spain defends its response

The Spanish government has rejected accusations that it mishandled the crisis, saying the situation was brought under control quickly in close coordination with Morocco despite limited assistance from other European countries.

Officials have also said that a recent ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court, which found that migrants arriving by sea cannot be summarily returned without due process, was deliberately misrepresented by smuggling networks to encourage people to attempt the crossing.

A senior Moroccan official, speaking anonymously to the AFP news agency, said Rabat had raised concerns with Spanish authorities after discussions on social media about the court ruling began in late July.

“We discussed this ruling and its impact. We explained that this ruling was going to create a problem. And it did create a problem,” the official said.

He rejected suggestions that the mass movement into Ceuta reflected a failure by Morocco’s security forces.

“It’s simplistic to say that Morocco should just have used force to stop them. That is to completely misunderstand this phenomenon,” he said.

Michelle Park Steel, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, met with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Tuesday, as she began her official duties by submitting a copy of her credentials.

Steel visited Seoul’s foreign ministry to hand the copy to the ministry’s chief of protocol before paying a courtesy call on Minister Cho, according to officials.

Under diplomatic protocol, newly arrived ambassadors assume their posts upon submitting a copy of their letters of credence to the foreign ministry, which serves as a preliminary step before the formal presentation ceremony with the head of state.

Accompanied by her husband, Shawn Steel, she did not respond to reporters’ questions before entering the ministry building.

The foreign ministry said Cho and Steel would discuss measures to strengthen bilateral relations.

Steel landed in South Korea on Thursday, becoming the second Korean American ambassador to serve as U.S. ambassador to the country.

Her arrival ended an 18-month vacancy in the post, following the departure of former Ambassador Philip Goldberg, who served from July 2022 to January 2025.

The new U.S. ambassador took up the role at a pivotal moment for Seoul-Washington relations, with several issues pending, including tensions over South Korea’s regulatory action against U.S.-listed Coupang over a massive data breach, Seoul’s investment pledges in the U.S. and the South’s push to build nuclear-powered submarines.

“The ambassador is expected to draw on her understanding of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and bilateral relations to help strengthen ties and friendship between the two countries,” Park Doo-soon, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in a regular briefing.

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Barzani meets Syria’s al-Sharaa in Damascus to discuss Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) integration and Kurdish rights in post-Assad Syria.

Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, has held talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in the first visit by a Kurdish leader to Syria since the fall of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Monday, Barzani led a high-level delegation to Damascus, where he was received at the People’s Palace. According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, the two sides discussed bilateral relations between Erbil and Damascus, as well as several key regional issues of mutual concern to strengthen cooperation and coordination across various fields.

The visit to Syria’s capital comes after months of diplomatic engagement between the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and Syria’s new administration. Barzani and al-Sharaa previously met twice on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, first on April 11, 2025, and again on April 17, 2026. According to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency, the second meeting covered the development of economic ties and the agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The integration of the SDF into Syrian state institutions is a central focus of the talks. The SDF, a Kurdish-led force that controls much of northeastern Syria, has been in negotiations with Damascus over its future status. The Syrian government has sought to integrate the force into its military structures, while Kurdish representatives have pressed for guarantees of political and cultural rights.

According to news reports from Al Hadath, Barzani and al-Sharaa discussed mechanisms for entrenching the constitutional rights of Kurds in Syria, particularly language rights and administrative autonomy. Implementation of Decree No. 13, which pertains to Kurdish language rights, was also on the agenda. Syrian officials have expressed interest in benefitting from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s experience in Kurdish-language education, curriculum development and teacher training.

Barzani’s itinerary also includes meetings with Kurdish officials in Syria, including SDF commanders and Kurdish members of the Syrian parliament, according to Kurdish media reports.

The visit follows a series of diplomatic exchanges, including a trip by Syria’s education minister to Erbil and efforts to reopen the Syrian consulate in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region. Barzani has previously hosted SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and delegations from northeastern Syria in Erbil.

For the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil, which shares a 1,100km (684-mile) border with Syria and hosts tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, the engagement carries vital security imperatives. Ensuring a stable, inclusive Syria reduces the risk of the resurgence of ISIL (ISIS), limits future refugee flows, and enhances Erbil’s diplomatic leverage with both Baghdad and Ankara.

The talks come at a sensitive time, during ongoing clashes between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters in the northeast.

Aug. 3 (UPI) — Myanmar’s detained and ousted democratically elected leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met with the International Committee of the Red Cross resident representative in Myanmar on Monday morning, the junta-controlled President’s Office said.

Myanmar’s Presidential Press and Information Bureau published four photos of Aung San Suu Kyi, two showing her with Arnaud de Baecque. In one, she is seen shaking his hand. In a second, they are sitting around a coffee table.

A third photo published by the President’s Office is of a birthday cake with the words “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu, 19.6.2026” written in icing on top of the cake. The fourth photo is of Aung San Suu Kyi cutting the pink-and-white cake with a spatula.

The one-sentence statement accompanying the photographs did not provide context for the meeting or say what Aung San Suu Kyi and de Baecque discussed.

Little information and visual evidence of Aung San Suu Kyi have been made public by the junta government since it detained her and seized control of Myanmar on Feb. 1, 2021. It also appears to be the first confirmed meeting with a foreign representative since her detention.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-year sentence sentence on multiple charges, including corruption and election-related offenses.

In late April, she was moved from prison to house arrest.

This is a developing story.

Mérida, July 31, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) held a formal working session with SpaceX executives to establish the legal, technical, and financial parameters for the regularized rollout of Starlink’s satellite internet services nationwide.

CONATEL Director General Enrique Quintana led the bilateral meeting with representatives from the Elon Musk-owned company: Emmanuel Cárdenas, SpaceX’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for Latin America; Catalina Castellanos, regional telecom legal advisor; and Rebecca Hunter, Director of Market Access.

During the sessions, the regulatory body requested that SpaceX initiate the formal homologation process for its satellite hardware via CONATEL’s digital platform. This step assures that user terminals and ground equipment comply with national standards for data security, spectrum allocation, and operational quality. The talks also focused on data transport infrastructure and the formal authorization for radio frequency bands required under Venezuela’s Organic Telecommunications Law.

SpaceX’s delegation reportedly expressed full willingness to align the company’s legal and corporate status with Venezuela’s regulatory requirements. Quintana, on behalf of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, highlighted the importance of the working group to promote telecommunications throughout the country.

While imported Starlink receiver dishes have already been circulating among private buyers for years, the satellite service officially made its signal available across Venezuelan territory following the January 3 US strikes on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. At the time, SpaceX offered a free promotional connectivity window for both newly registered local users and existing international roaming hardware.

CONATEL’s engagement accelerated following the June 24 double earthquake, which damaged communications infrastructure in central coastal regions. To assist with emergency management and humanitarian relief, CONATEL granted SpaceX a temporary pilot authorization.

This operational exemption allowed civil protection and disaster relief teams to deploy Starlink terminals in hard-hit areas, notably across La Guaira state, where damaged fiber-optic networks had disrupted local communications.

Acting President Rodríguez thanked Musk and his team via social media. 

“Thank you, Elon Musk and the Starlink team, for helping those affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela with free internet access. Every connection counts in times like these,” she wrote at the time.

In addition, CONATEL highlighted that expanding satellite internet options complements existing state-owned and private telecommunications providers, offering critical redundancy during natural disasters or power disruptions.

The institutional dialogue between state regulators and SpaceX unfolds a political history, following clashes between President Nicolás Maduro and company CEO Elon Musk.

Tensions peaked in August 2024 following Venezuela’s presidential election, when Musk used his social media platform X to launch verbal attacks against the Venezuelan government, accusing Maduro of electoral fraud and calling for foreign intervention.

In response, Maduro denounced the tech billionaire for using his digital platform to incite hatred, destabilization, and political violence inside Venezuela. “Out of Venezuela, Elon Musk!” he said in a public rally.

CONATEL initially enacted a 10-day suspension of X in the Caribbean nation which was later extended. In recent weeks, Venezuelan telecom and mobile service providers have unblocked access, though CONATEL has not formally announced the reinstatement of the social media platform.

Musk has drawn scrutiny across Latin America and internationally for his open alignment with far-right political figures and reactionary causes.

The outspoken billionaire has frequently used his global platform to endorse far-right politicians, express support for neoliberal deregulation, and launch hostile commentary directed at progressive and leftist governments.

Starlink has also been embroiled in controversy as a result of Musk’s direct control and political views. The company introduced a “whitelist” to ban access to Russian users in an effort to disrupt communications amid the war in Ukraine. In Gaza, Starlink has operated in integration with Israeli occupation forces, raising concerns of complicity in war crimes.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has met with US senators to discuss his company’s upcoming models, as President Donald Trump said he is considering AI “controls” following OpenAI’s disclosure that one of its AI systems escaped containment during a security test.

“We’re looking at controls,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in response to a question about OpenAI’s rogue agent, adding that he did not want to “restrict” AI developers from building new products.

A rogue agent escaped the handling of ChatGPT maker OpenAI and hacked the AI firm Hugging Face last week. Then, on Tuesday, it was revealed that a second company had been a target, too – Modal Labs, a New York City-based AI infrastructure firm.

The company itself was not hacked but an account of a customer hosted on Modal’s infrastructure. Modal’s chief technology officer, Akshat Bubna, did not confirm which customer was the target. The hack escaped a contained environment during a security test.

“We’re aware a Modal customer published an unauthenticated endpoint that allowed anyone on the internet to use their sandboxes for code execution,” Bubna said in a statement. “This was used by the rogue agent. Modal’s platform or isolation were not compromised in any way.”

Altman has long been accused of dismissing concerns that his products and the AI industry impact society at large, including in a recent lawsuit brought by the State of Florida that alleged the company put profits ahead of user safety.

Now, he appears to be walking back some of his past enthusiasm around AI’s pace of growth.

In a podcast called Invest Like the Best, Altman called the Hugging Face hack an “extremely sci-fi cyber incident” and later said that it was the “first security incident that I have felt very viscerally”.

“We may have to pace the rate of AI development to give ourselves enough time for society to harden around some of these new capability levels,” he said on the podcast.

On Saturday, Altman said that AI has reached “the singularity”, when AI surpasses human intelligence and becomes harder to control. He had previously said this would not be reached by 2030.

Washington meetings

Altman was in Washington, DC, this week, meeting with US Senators Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, and Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio on Wednesday. Altman told reporters that the hacking was discussed but was not the focus of the meeting.

Altman is also set to meet with Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the chamber’s Intelligence Committee.

CNBC reported that Altman is also to make a trip to the White House to meet with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Last month, the president signed an executive order requesting that AI companies assess their models before full release.

Financing concerns

The hacking and meetings come alongside pressure from Wall Street amid renewed concerns about potential circular financing, following reports that semiconductor chip giant Nvidia is undergoing talks with OpenAI to provide funding guarantees for a data centre in Ohio.

The $250bn deal would help the ChatGPT owner lease a 10-gigawatt project that SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, is building in Piketon, Ohio, 109km (68 miles) south of Columbus, Ohio. It is part of a public-private partnership that allowed SoftBank to build the world’s largest AI data centre on government land owned by the US Department of Energy.

“The demand is not as big as it appears to be because, again, the companies are buying from each other using their own money to some degree, as opposed to, say, OpenAI having such tremendous demand from customers, monetising it properly, and then using customers’ money to buy Nvidia chips. They’re essentially using Nvidia’s money to buy Nvidia chips,” said Aleksandar Tomic, associate dean at Boston College.

The development comes as the Altman-led company is leaning towards an initial public offering, which, according to reporting from The New York Times last month, could be in 2027.

The United States military says it intercepted ballistic missiles fired by Iran across the Middle East.

In a statement on X on Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched multiple ballistic missiles in an “attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East”.

All the missiles were intercepted, and “US forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness”, the statement added.

Five missile interceptions were reported over Jordan, according to the Jordan News Agency.

The IRGC said its air force targeted a US airbase and Central Command centre in Jordan, “with several ballistic missiles”.

“As long as threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue and illegal and vicious actions by American forces against our interests continue, the resistance will continue,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the latest escalation seemed like a “pre-emptive attack, not a reactionary measure”, from the Iranians.

US President Donald Trump had called off a two-week US bombing campaign on Iran on July 24, claiming after that “good talks” were under way with Iran.

“After 13 consecutive days of constant bombing, in the tit-for-tat US-Iran bombings, these latest attacks will most definitely have an impact on the mediation efforts”, Al Jazeera’s Serdar said.

Trump has threatened to ⁠restart strikes if negotiations stagnate, while Iran has denied seeking to resume talks with Washington.

‘Sending a message’

The Iranian attacks targeting US bases came as Trump was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pushing for war on Iran, in the White House.

“This is Iran sending a message to Trump that they need to be involved in all discussions,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said from Washington, DC.

“It was reported in Israel that Netanyahu was very keen to raise the question of Pickaxe Mountain. The Israelis said there has been building work going ahead there; they believe the Iranians are putting together another nuclear facility”, he said.

Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Tehran is “trying to retake the initiative and the momentum with these latest attacks”.

“Iran has expressed scepticism that the US engages in these pauses between attacks to prepare for another phase of violence, so Tehran likely thinks the US is doing just that with this latest pause”, he said.

US oil futures jumped more than 4 percent to more than $82 a barrel, while Brent crude futures went to more than $88 a barrel after the US military confirmed the Iranian attack.

Oil prices were dropping earlier on Tuesday as Washington’s suspension of strikes on Iran continued, with traders closely monitoring reports of renewed talks.

Hormuz tensions continue

The Strait of Hormuz and its shipping traffic have been major talking points for Trump, who has decried Iran’s blocking of some vessels.

Iran asserts that it is within its rights to control shipping through the strait.

On Wednesday, the IRGC said it “struck and stopped” three oil tankers in Hormuz, according to Tasnim news agency.

It said the tankers “continued to move along an unsafe and illegal route, ignoring our warnings”,

Oman has presented Iran with a proposal to jointly manage traffic in the strait, but Iran has rejected it.

Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Tehran rejected splitting transit routes equally.

Instead, he said, Tehran proposed managing shipping on its side of the strait, while Muscat would manage part but not all of the opposite lane.

WASHINGTON — President Trump hosted the leaders of Ukraine and Israel — two nations at war — at the White House on Tuesday, as Washington’s role in both conflicts reaches a critical stage.

Trump’s meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came as the wars in Ukraine and Iran have recently expanded and overlapped in their footprint.

Over the weekend, Ukraine struck an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea, an attack condemned by Iranian leaders, who are dealing with their own uncertainty with a broadening war with the United States and Israel.

Both meetings took place in the Oval Office without the presence of reporters, and while few details were disclosed about the discussion, the White House described the sessions as “positive and productive.”

Yet there were signs of discord ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, his eighth during Trump’s second term and the first since the start of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on Feb. 28.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday morning, Trump was asked about reports that Netanyahu planned to present him with intelligence about new activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear site in Iran.

“Well, I don’t need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” Trump said, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “We know exactly what is going on.”

Trump seemed frustrated that Netanyahu was putting out that information ahead of the meeting, but added that the United States would “take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal.” Netanyahu also came into the meeting with Trump as he pursues campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, all with the backdrop of intensifying unrest across the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Following the meeting, however, Netanyahu issued a video statement insisting the two had an “excellent” session.

“It was one of the best conversations I’ve had with our friend, U.S. President Trump,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel and the U.S. were meeting “with full cooperation, with mutual support, with understanding on the joint goal that Iran won’t have nuclear weapons, and also other goals.”

With Zelensky, there were fewer signs of strain, showing improved relations between the two leaders, at least compared with their first meeting last year, which devolved into a shouting match in the Oval Office in front of television cameras.

In a social media post, Zelensky described his meeting with Trump as “good,” and thanked him for working with him to “protect the lives of Ukrainians and advance peace.”

Zelensky said the two leaders discussed Trump’s pledge to allow Kyiv to produce U.S. Patriot air defense missiles, which are vital in its military efforts against Russia.

“We also spoke about diplomacy,” Zelensky said in an apparent reference to Trump’s interest in helping Ukraine and Russia reach a peace deal.

Trump’s relationship with Zelensky has shown signs of improvement since the start of the Iran war, as Ukraine has helped Americans with drone technology to use in the Middle East conflict.

Following the meetings, all three men attended the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who up until his death on July 11 was a staunch supporter of both Ukraine and Israel.

Zelensky was also scheduled to meet with a group of senators at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening to talk about legislation that would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and its trading partners. Graham was an author of the proposed measure.

In recent days, Israeli settlers have ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and villages, vandalizing properties, commandeering homes and fields, and establishing settlements that are illegal under international law.

At the same time, Israeli soldiers have intensified their incursions across the West Bank, arresting more than 100 Palestinians and demolishing homes.

The escalation followed a clash between settlers and Palestinian residents Friday that turned lethal, killing four Palestinians and two Israelis in what was considered the deadliest single attack in the West Bank this year.

Israeli attacks have also persisted in Gaza despite a ceasefire signed nine months ago. On Tuesday, health authorities in the enclave said 22 Palestinians were injured in Israeli strikes.

The rise in hostilities comes as Israel continues to push the United States to press on with a conflict that experts say carried political risks for the Trump administration with its supporters at home and international allies.

Last week, the U.S. war escalated again as Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing global oil prices to surge. The development prompted fears of yet another vital energy corridor being choked off by the Iran war.

As the November elections approach, Trump has downplayed the economic toll the war has taken on his supporters. On Monday, he told a crowd in Michigan that if they ever question why the United States is at war, it’s because “we’re not going to let lunatics have a nuclear weapon.”

Meanwhile, the cycle of claims and counterclaims by the U.S. and Iran has continued.

On Tuesday, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, a spokesperson for the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, warned any country or company accepting frozen Iranian funds as compensation for damaged vessels — as per Trump’s proposal over the weekend — would be struck.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also contradicted Trump’s assertions of ongoing discussions between Iran and the U.S. and that Tehran was asking for a meeting.

Negotiations with the U.S. are “not in our DNA,” Baghaei said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s strike on an Iranian ship has raised the possibility of a growing footprint in that war. Ukraine said the ship was carrying military equipment between Iran and Russia.

Iran condemned the attack, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slamming it as a “violation done at Israel’s behest” and the ministry spokesman comparing Zelensky to pre-World War I “anarchists” whose “theatrical yet highly dangerous acts” ignited a Europe-wide conflict.

“There is no guarantee that a dramatic gesture intended to attract attention and assert one’s position in the international arena, where that position is not particularly strong, will remain limited in scope,” Baghaei said during a news conference in Tehran on Monday.

He added: “The consequences, both for Ukraine and for the entire region drawn into this conflict, could be unpredictable.”

Ceballos reported from Washington and Bulos from Beirut.

“Furious,” which premieres Monday on Hulu, is technically a serial killer story, since there are multiple murders committed by a single character, but happily that is the least of it.

Broadly speaking, these kinds of stories — powered by a stop-them-before-they-kill-again clock, making their antagonists out to be finicky geniuses or horror movie monsters instead of opportunistic mediocrities — strike me as a low form of fiction. But “Furious” is as much relationship drama as procedural, animated by a quartet of excellent performances, with some things to say about abuse, exploitation and love along the way.

Although “Furious,” created by Elizabeth Meriwether (“New Girl,” “Dying for Sex”), acknowledges an inspirational debt to the 1987 Theresa Russell-Debra Winger film “Black Widow,” all it really preserves are a couple of names, the idea of a female serial killer and an emotional relationship with the woman hunting her. The killer is Catherine (Lola Petticrew), a petite young woman who goes about in a variety of wigs, under a variety of names, careful to mask in public. Her murdering is not a compulsion but a mission, like Jeanne Moreau in “The Bride Wore Black.”

Her nemesis is Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), a former police detective now answering phones for the FBI. She became persona non grata in the NYPD after identifying her detective boyfriend (Jake Lacy as Marshall) as the person who put her in the hospital, because, you know, cops. One day a request comes from former colleague Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy) to assist him in investigating the homicide we see Catherine commit at the top of the series.

Various elements of the crime bring to mind an earlier killing; Alice believes they’re connected and might have something to do with sex trafficking or, eventually, a Jane Doe cold case. This brings her to the desk of Nora Washington (Quincy Tyler Bernstine), who also happens to be running the very FBI department Alice has been hoping to join. “You requested my squad,” says Nora. “Why do you want to work in the basement on sex crimes and crimes against children — do you hate yourself?” Maybe she does — she orchestrates internet dates where foreplay is a fistfight, and has some relevant trauma in her past.

Catherine (Lola Petticrew), a petite young woman whose murdering is not a compulsion but a mission.

(Sarah Shatz / Disney)

Sharing scenes with the other principal characters, intense or sensitive as the moment requires, Alice is the hub around whom the series revolves and hurtles forward. Danny, who found himself isolated in the department when he said he believed her, is her only friend. (“But here’s the crazy s—. You don’t … talk to me anymore, either.”) Nora, who has a hard edge and a drinking problem, has a few things to teach her, sometimes with a quote from Balzac (“Laws are spiderwebs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught”) and Beckett (the dead “make a noise like feathers”) or a tale from Greek mythology. (“I’m not a former cop. I went to a fancy school, and I’m very smart,” she says, very drunk.)

As to Catherine, she is a mix of a sly fox and a wounded bird. She may be manipulative and murderous, but as we’re given reasons to dislike her victims, a collection of rich white people — with one sad exception — and because Alice feels connected to her in some way, and because she’s had a terrible life, there is not a little of the protagonist in her antagonist. There are some sad ironies stitched into the plot, and an upsetting late twist, though the show doesn’t wallow in it. We understand that Catherine has her reasons, and in a strange way we want to see her carry out her mission. She may be a killer, but she isn’t the villain.

It’s not perfect. We are not surprised at least as much as we are. Some of the plot points strain credulity. There are some old-school jurisdictional clashes between the police and the FBI (as in every fourth episode of “The Closer”), and a heaping helping of professional jealousy within departments.

But the show stays fascinating less for the plot than for the performers. Rossum attacks her role as if playing a Greek tragedy. (The hair redoubles the impression.) McNairy, one of TV’s most likable actors, brings warmth. Petticrew evokes broken innocence. Bernstine finds new notes in a role that typically runs to cliche.

I also want to mention the great Hope Davis as the sister of a victim, the son of a well-connected mogul with something to hide, and especially Steve Way, as Alden (“Ramy”), a force for good in Catherine’s life, and for humor in the series; born with muscular dystrophy, he manages some excellent physical comedy in his motorized wheelchair. The direction (Brian Kirk helmed the first two episodes) is crisp and matter of fact, staying out of the way, which is all you can ask when the writing is good and the actors are too.

July 22 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Manila on Wednesday for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, met with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his counterpart in China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Meanwhile, police clashed with protesters outside who criticized the United States’ involvement in area conflicts and blamed the Trump administration for fueling tension in the region. Some protestors held up signs that said, “U.S. out of everywhere!” and “War criminals not welcome! Ban Rubio! Ban Trump!”

Rubio spokesman Tommy Pigott said the secretary of state met with Marco “to reaffirm our ironclad alliance and our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The two men confirmed that “there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea” and discussed other matters, Pigott said.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have been high lately over the disputed South China Sea. On Monday, the Philippine military accused Chinese coast guard personnel of striking and injuring a Philippine sailor. China said the Philippine officers instigated the conflict.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including areas that hold the exclusive economic zones of other countries including the Philippines.

In person at the ASEAN conference, Rubio behaved politely toward his Chinese counterpart, saying he appreciated China withholding support for Iran and opposing a toll in the Strait of Hormuz. He also said the countries were taking steps to establish boards of investment and trade.

He did not mention recent claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

“Look, these are the two most powerful countries in the world,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. “It would frankly be reckless and irresponsible for the U.S. and China not to have a relationship.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the United States in September.

In contrast to his remarks Wednesday, Rubio’s words in an opinion column that the U.S. State Department placed in Philippine newspapers this week were somewhat less measured when it came to the conflict over the South China Sea.

“If those waters fall under the control of a power willing to use commerce as a geopolitical weapon, both the United States and the ASEAN states would face dire new threats to their sovereignty, security and economic futures,” he wrote.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the White House. Trump praised the ‘tremendous chemistry’ between him and the PM and said the countries will be announcing a new ‘massive’ oil partnership.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met North Korea‘s premier in Beijing on Friday ahead of an event marking the 65th anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty between the two nations, news footage aired by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed.

North Korean Premier Pak Thae-song arrived there earlier in the day for a three-day visit to attend the event commemorating the treaty anniversary at the invitation of China’s Communist Party, according to the report.

The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed July 11, 1961, by late North Korea founder and former leader Kim Il-sung and then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang’s state media, reported on Pak’s planned visit to Beijing the previous day, without specifying a detailed schedule.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held summit talks in Pyongyang last month and vowed to strengthen bilateral ties through expanded exchanges across multiple sectors, from economy to culture, as well as more frequent high-level visits.

At that time, Xi stressed the importance of marking the anniversary, fueling speculation that the two countries would hold a large-scale event.

In socialist nations like North Korea and China, anniversaries that fall on five- or 10-year intervals carry particular significance and are typically celebrated with grand events. High-level official visits and exchanges of congratulatory messages had been widely expected.

South Korea’s unification ministry said at a briefing earlier in the day it will “closely monitor” related developments in Beijing.

According to the ministry, this marks the first time in seven years that a North Korean government delegation has been dispatched to Beijing in celebration of the treaty’s anniversary.

The ministry also noted that North Korea has elevated the rank of its chief delegate to premier this year from vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly back in 2019.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

Caracas, July 8, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez held a meeting with a military and diplomatic delegation from Israel on Tuesday.

The talks represented the first official engagement between Caracas and Tel Aviv since former President Hugo Chávez severed diplomatic relations in 2009.

According to Venezuelan state media reports, Rodríguez alongside Public Works Vice President Juan José Ramírez and Transport Minister Francisco Garcés sat down with Israeli officials to discuss plans for the removal of over 1 million tons of rubble from La Guaira state in the wake of June 24’s double earthquake.

For its part, the IDF indicated that its engineering personnel delivered a “national rehabilitation” plan to the Venezuelan government. Photos published on social media showed Brigadier General Elad Edri, chief of staff of the IDF Home Front Command, presenting a slide show titled “Project for the Reconstruction of the Future” with Venezuelan and Israeli flags. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry added that, at Rodríguez’s request, its delegation will stay in the Caribbean nation for two additional weeks to “begin implementing the reconstruction plan prepared by Israeli experts.”

Uniformed Israeli soldiers have toured multiple affected areas in Caracas and La Guaira, reportedly conducting inspections on damaged infrastructure. It has held multiple meetings with Venezuelan authorities, including a previous one with Ramírez in the Vicepresidency of Public Works. In a press conference last week, Rodríguez expressed her appreciation for the arrival of the “highly trained and professional” Israeli team.

It is not presently known whether the Israeli evaluations are being coordinated with similar assessments from specialized Venezuelan brigades.

“We are here primarily to assist in a natural disaster,” diplomat Yoed Magen said in a social media video. “Whenever we come to a country to advise or provide assistance, a relationship is formed and it can lead to a faster rapprochement.”

Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez cut ties with Tel Aviv in 2009, fiercely denouncing Operation Cast Lead as “genocide” and voicing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

President Nicolás Maduro maintained his predecessor’s position excoriating Israeli military occupation and war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the June 2025 Twelve-Day War against Iran. The Maduro government publicly endorsed South Africa’s activation of the Genocide Convention against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.

The mission has drawn backlash from the Chavista grassroots.

“[Israel] is a rogue nation. Its rulers are committing a genocide against the native people of Palestine and now they supposedly help Venezuela rescue [earthquake] victims and rebuild La Guaira,” Hindu Anderi, spokesperson for the Platform of Solidarity with the Palestinian cause, wrote on social media.

Venezuelan officials have reported 3,685 people killed in the earthquake as of July 7, more than 16,000 injured, and over 15,000 displaced families. A total of 190 buildings have collapsed, with hundreds more suffering various levels of damage.

The Venezuelan government has radically shifted its foreign policy after the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of Maduro. Apart from reestablishing diplomatic relations with Washington, Caracas has distanced itself from historic allies. During the recent US-Israel war against Iran, Caracas did not express support for Tehran, instead offering public backing for US Gulf allies such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The diplomatic rapprochement with the Trump administration has seen US forces hold military exercises in Caracas and conduct an extrajudicial execution in southeast Bolívar State.

Following the recent earthquakes, Washington expanded its footprint in the Caribbean nation, with 900 military personnel reportedly on the ground in Venezuela. After conducting repair works, US forces are currently running logistics and aid operations at La Guaira port and the Simón Bolívar International Airport.

Edited by Lucas Koerner in Caracas.

Protesters from unions, civil society and left-wing parties aim to disrupt AfD annual conference in Erfurt.

Thousands of opponents of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have blocked roads leading to the party’s annual conference ahead of regional elections.

An estimated 20,000 people flocked to Erfurt, in Thuringia state, on Saturday, according to German police.

Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered in the centre of the city, some 250km (155 miles) southwest of the capital, Berlin. The police also reported several street blockades.

“We want to make it clear that we simply won’t tolerate this, that fascism is on the rise here in Germany,” Georg Becker, a spokesperson for Widersetzen (“Resist”), an anti-AfD umbrella group, told the Reuters news agency.

Large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD’s two-day conference. Police told the dpa news agency they counted more than 200 buses of protesters arriving in Erfurt.

Protesters blocked routes into the city, with some abseiling from a motorway bridge. Several groups staged sit-in blockades around the city centre, the AFP news agency said. The Associated Press reported that some protesters clashed with police in riot gear.

Still, most AfD delegates managed to reach the conference centre where party representatives said the congress began on time despite the protests.

‘Anti-democratic’ and ‘extremist’ views

AfD became the second largest party in elections last year, scoring the best result for a far-right party since World War II.

Opinion polls suggest that the party has opened a clear lead over German Chancellor Friedrich ‌Merz’s ⁠conservatives, partially driven by years of economic stagnation. AfD seems likely to take power at a state level for the first time in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, paving the way for more success at a national level.

Although AfD has grown in popularity, it remains controversial. All mainstream parties have ruled out cooperating with AfD over “anti-democratic” and “extremist” views.

AfD has also been monitored by the domestic intelligence agency for several years on suspicion of anti-constitutional activities.

Protesters in Erfurt want the party banned.

Noa Sander, another spokesperson for the Resist protest alliance told AFP, “The AfD wants mass deportations and ethnic cleansing,” in reference to the party’s “remigration” demands.

“It should be banned. We intend to do this by blockading their party conference and standing in the way of the AfD, its policies and members wherever they appear, making sure they have no place in society.” Sander said.

June 23 (UPI) — The European Union and the Taliban met in Brussels on Tuesday to negotiate the return of Afghan refugees to the country.

Officials from the European Commission and 15 member states met discreetly with the regime, and several Europeans criticized the move.

“I am shaken and deeply disturbed by this,” Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai told Radio Free Europe.

Yousafzai was shot in the face at age 15 by the Taliban for defying its ban on education for girls.

“This is the same Taliban that banned girls from secondary schools and forced them into marriage. The same Taliban that, earlier this month, arrested dozens of women in Herat for how they were dressed. The same Taliban that detains, beats and executes women who dare to speak out or break their rules.”

Brussels has defended the meeting saying European countries need to have a system to deport asylum seekers who commit violent crimes.

Sweden, which has one of the largest Afghan populations, co-chaired the meeting outside the EC’s premises. The meeting was called strictly technical because the EU doesn’t recognize the Taliban government.

Members of the European Parliament have repeatedly backed resolutions condemning the Taliban, which contrasts with the EC’s willingness to meet with the regime, said Socialist Workers’ Party MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar.

“I’m appalled,” he said. “It’s absolutely an outrage and a total loss of faith and the credibility of the European Union that it can hold such a double standard,” The Guardian reported.

López Aguilar rejected the EU’s argument that it needed to be able to deport migrants.

He accused the EU of allowing the far right to set the agenda.

“We’re 450 million people all together. There’s no reason to panic when you talk about a certain number of migrants fleeing from despair or from a lack of opportunities. Let alone persecution, which is grounds for them to seek international protection,” he said. “Migration is not a threat, not even a crisis. It’s a constant fact of the history of mankind.”

Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell told a different story to local media.

“It is incredibly important that these criminals are deported,” Forssell said. “And that is not possible today. They do not want to participate. They do not want to go home.”

Socialist MEP Cecilia Strada called the meeting a “shameful chapter for Europe,” telling Euronews that it grants legitimacy to “a regime that tramples on the rights of women and girls and imposes a system of gender apartheid.”

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles said Afghanistan isn’t safe for return because of deteriorating human rights, the lack of effective legal protection and the ongoing risks of persecution.

Green MEP Hannah Neumann, of Germany, said on social media: “If Europe returns young Afghan men into poverty and hopelessness, many will end up dependent on the only structures still offering shelter and food: Taliban networks and madrassas.”

She said it plays right into the Taliban’s hands.

“This is how authoritarian systems hold power. Not only through violence, but through dependency, social control and enforced loyalty,” she said. “By deporting people into desperation, we are not weakening the Taliban. We risk strengthening the very structures that keep them in power.”