talks

G7 energy ministers will hold a call on Tuesday to discuss sharply rising energy prices triggered by the ongoing war in Iran, officials said. A separate call later in the day will see European Union leaders addressing similar concerns, reflecting heightened global anxiety over fuel supply and costs.

Oil prices surged to their highest levels since mid-2022 on Monday, driven by fears of reduced Gulf output and disruptions to tanker traffic through key shipping routes. Even before the Iran conflict, European energy prices were generally higher than those in the United States and China.

G7 Prepares Response, But Stops Short of Releases

G7 finance ministers signalled readiness to take “necessary measures” in response to the price surge but did not commit to coordinated emergency releases of strategic oil reserves.

The G7, which includes United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany, and France, will hold the call at 1245 GMT. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, whose country holds the G7 presidency this year, said that Europe and the U.S. currently do not face immediate supply shortages.

EU Leaders Target Competitiveness and Energy Costs

Later on Tuesday, EU leaders will discuss energy prices and competitiveness, joining German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister De Wever, and others.

The EU is highly exposed to global energy volatility, importing more than 90% of its oil and roughly 80% of its gas. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged proposals at next week’s EU summit to address rising prices.

Officials have already discussed measures including adjustments to energy taxes and potential amendments to the EU carbon price, which contributes around 11% to industrial power costs.

Coordinated Action Sought but Uncertain

The calls by the G7 and EU reflect a growing urgency to manage energy price shocks caused by the Iran war. While governments have the tools to intervene, officials are balancing the need to stabilize prices with broader fiscal and strategic considerations.

With oil and gas markets highly sensitive to geopolitical developments, both G7 and EU leaders face pressure to act quickly to prevent price spikes from translating into economic slowdowns or political unrest across their regions.

With information from Reuters.

As a child in Newark, N.J., Narciso Rodriguez was often transported back to Cuba by the stories from his family and their friends. He walked the halls of El Encanto, a Havana department store and fashion mecca on the island — one that drew in celebrity clientele and featured haute-couture designs and fragrances from the far-flung fashion capitals of Paris and Milan.

“I don’t know that they could have afforded any of those things when they were in Cuba,” he tells De Los. “But they certainly filled my imagination with beautiful stories and laid the foundation for my work.”

It was the women in his life — the “amazing, powerful, loud, colorful dynamos,” as he describes them — who inspired him to pursue a career in fashion.

“Their stories, their lives, their power, their curves, it all influenced me,” he says. “They’re the reason I wanted to create things.”

Over the last three decades, the renowned designer has earned a reputation for sleek, flattering lines and effortless shapes, most famously seen on the career-launching dress he designed for his friend Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to wear on her wedding day. The bias-cut silk slip has remained a source of inspiration for generations of brides since, and has been making waves again thanks to the FX series “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.”

Omari K. Chancellor as Gordon Henderson, from left, Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette, Tonatiuh as Narciso Rodriguez in FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette”

(Eric Liebowitz / FX)

“Love Story” will follow the couple’s wedding in the latest episode, out March 5. (Rodriguez is portrayed by Tonatiuh on the show.)

After designing Bessette-Kennedy’s dress, Rodriguez launched his own label and a fragrance line, and has continued to create designs that are woven into the fabric of American history — Michelle Obama wore his dress on election night in 2008.

De Los spoke with Rodriguez about his career, upbringing and memories of designing Bessette-Kennedy’s dress.

You’ve spoken about how inspired you were by the women in your life growing up. Are there any “fashion icons” from your family or neighborhood that you could point to from your childhood?

You know, I’m so lucky because I was raised in a very Cuban household in a very culturally rich community in Newark. I mean, it was Italian, Spanish, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Black. It was everything. But I always think back to when I was very, very young, there was a kind of matriarch here in the neighborhood. Her name was Concha and she was kind of this lightning rod. My dad’s sister was married to her son, so when my parents came to the U.S., she gave them a place to stay. She would teach all of the young women how to cook and gave everyone a place to stay until they got on their feet. She was larger than life, she was like “Auntie Mame.” She had these great ‘60s beehive wigs in amazing wig boxes, she made these beautiful Chanel suits for herself, and had all these gold bangles, great lipstick and stilettos. When she came into the room, she just radiated power, joy and style. I always think of her as being my first signpost on the road.

They were all beautiful, you know? My aunts and my mom were the most beautiful, glamorous women. None of them were wearing designer clothes, but they took great pride and great care in how they looked, and that really made an impression on me.

How did that impression translate into a concrete passion? How did you go about actually pursuing a career in fashion?

I loved architecture. I loved building things, so I was always drawing, sketching and sculpting. Then I would see my mom take a piece of fabric and the way she could take something flat and shapeless and turn it into a garment was fascinating. By the time I was 13, I was doing fashion illustration, and I got a job in a tailor shop. Later, I enrolled myself in Saturday courses at Parsons [School of Design], and I kind of had to hide it from my parents at first. I felt like I couldn’t be a fashion designer, you know, because of the whole “macho” idea, but I just kept going. I was lucky that I was someone who always knew what they wanted to do, and that Parsons recognized I had talent for it at a young age.

I was exposed to really great people there, too. Donna Karan was a critic, Calvin Klein was a critic, Oscar de la Renta too. I got to do projects with all of them, and then I was hired after school by Donna Karan while she was still at Anne Klein. It was an amazing experience, and then I got poached by Calvin Klein, which was a very different experience.

How so?

It was incredible, but just very different. Whereas Anne Klein was this melting pot of creativity, Calvin was much more image-driven and precision-driven. He brought in great talents to collaborate with, so on any given day, you’d be working with the most amazing photographers, stylists and art directors. It was a really great finishing school as a young person.

You arrived at Calvin Klein during a period of reinvention for the brand. This was in the era of Kate Moss, and the famous “Marky Mark” print ads. We see a version of it in “Love Story,” but what was it like to actually be there?

When I got there, I think around 1989, it hadn’t really started to change yet. And I thought, “Wow, I made a really big mistake. This is not my aesthetic, not my thing.” But it changed very quickly, and it was very exciting. [Calvin] worked very hard. He was very focused, and he appreciated that I could keep up. Like everybody, there was a rough initiation period, but afterward, he gave me the opportunity to work on some tailored pieces that sold really well at retail, so I was rewarded with more opportunities.

But it was the ‘90s, and it was New York, and it was brilliant. It felt like the whole city was reinventing itself, and Calvin was a leader in that. All the best photographers, the most brilliant artists were there. Jacky Marshall, Zack Carr, Carolyn — the talent was endless. I was really fortunate to experience it and build friendships that were lifelong.

I’m curious if you remember your first impressions of Carolyn. How did you two connect?

We were quite friendly immediately, and then we became the best of friends. We lived in the same building, so the rest was history. You know, she’s an incredible person, and she had great style. She was bigger than life.

Carolyn has been regarded as a fashion icon, and especially now, everyone is trying to re–create her look. There was something more subtle and interesting going on than just “minimalist” fashion, so how would you describe what made her style so special?

Carolyn was so authentic in so many ways, and I think that she was very pragmatic about her choices. She had a great eye. She knew what worked for her, and she knew how to present herself. She never wanted to be uncomfortable. She was very connected to herself. I think so many people have this relationship to fashion and what they think they should look like based on the ideas they see in a magazine or being sold to you by the industry, and Carolyn never fell into that trap.

I have this conversation often with young designers, with people, with journalists. Today, everything that we see is inauthentic. Celebrities are paid to wear designer clothes. They’re styled by a stylist, and nothing is innate. That is the opposite of Carolyn. She was 100% real.

Narciso Rodriguez in 1997.

(Paolo Roversi)

We have to talk about her wedding dress. If you’re a bride, it’s impossible to look for inspiration without coming across her dress. What was it like to have a friend ask you to create something for such a special, important moment?

You know, until my children were born, Carolyn was the love of my life. We were very close, and she asked me, as you said, to make the dress that she would marry the love of her life in. It was very personal for me. It wasn’t a press event, it was a conversation between two people who were very close. I knew what looked good on her, she knew what looked good on her. I knew that she would never want to be bogged down with trains and lace. It wouldn’t be her.

What was the actual design process like?

It was an effortless collaboration. She came to fittings in Paris, we pulled the neckline down a bit lower, and the dress was born. I added the gloves, the veil and the shoe. It was just magical, and exactly the way it should be. It really made her the focus. You know, she was the one who pointed that out to me about my work. She always said, “You create a frame for a woman’s beauty and personality to shine through.” I’ve always thought that was a really beautiful thing that she gave me, because it’s true. I never want my work to be what you see first. I think the success of that dress is that you see her and her happiness and the purity of it all.

Everything about the wedding, including the dress, had to be kept a secret. Was it a challenge to make sure that no one knew what you were working on?

I was working in Paris, and I got approval from the owner of [Cerruti]. He was discreet about it. I worked with one pattern maker. I had a fit model who was lovely. Nobody knew who it was for. They always asked. But because I was working in Paris, they didn’t really connect me to her. I was also quite cautious when the dress was in work, I remember I had become quite friendly with Azzedine Alaïa. I asked, “Can I take this dress over to you and have you check it out to see what I’m doing?” I went over and he looked at the prototype, and said, “Why don’t you move this seam over the bum by a centimeter. I think it’ll be more flattering.” And I did, because he was the master, and he tortured me to know who it was for, but I never told him. Later, when it was all over the press, he would call and pretend he was a fancy lady looking for a wedding dress for her daughter. [Laughs] He tricked me a few times into believing some of his gags, but he was an amazing person.

It was just a magical time in all of our lives. And then I flew to America with the dress and went to the wedding, and it was that simple. You know, I’ve heard all these amazing stories about how the dress didn’t fit, and I had to sew her into it, and that she was hours late because of it, and none of this is true. But I love that people have made up all these stories.

Maybe the dress on her seems so effortless that people want to invent a way to complicate it.

[Laughs] I really have heard so many crazy stories, but when you look at the pictures, it certainly doesn’t look like it didn’t fit. That’s for sure.

As you mentioned, the dress was all over the press later. How did that moment impact your career?

Well, I went from Paris to my best friend’s wedding, and then I flew home to New York to do a pit stop at my apartment. When I arrived, there was a huge crowd outside the building with news trucks. I kind of walked through the crowd and into the building, and I said to the doorman, “What’s all that about?” And he looked at me, and he said, “They’re here to see you.”

Oh, wow.

It was a very big, kind of scary, unexpected change in my life. I remember going up to my apartment and trying to navigate that when Anna Wintour’s office called and said, “Anna would like for you to come to the Princess [Diana] benefit in Washington.” And I said I couldn’t go, I needed to be back in Paris, I didn’t even have a white shirt. And they said, “It’s Princess Di and Anna Wintour. You’re going. We’ll send you a shirt.” So I went, and I met Princess Diana, and it was really strange to be at such a big event and have so many eyes on me, because I didn’t expect that, and everyone was curious. I remember they were shady journalists trying to sit next to me and get information about where [John and Carolyn] went on their honeymoon. Life changed dramatically, but it brought great attention to the work that I was doing in Paris, and I was able to then go off and start my own business and do my own thing.

I’m sure you had an understanding through Carolyn about what it felt like to be hounded or followed by photographers and press, but did that firsthand experience in New York give you another layer of understanding for what she was going through?

It’s so funny because society today will do anything for that. But it was a very different time, and she was a very private person. I was a very private person. It’s very invasive, and I was kind of stuck in the middle, because while I needed to promote my work and my shows, and sort of be in the press, it wasn’t something that I was very comfortable with. I mean, I love doing the work more than I like the things attached to it. It can be debilitating, and it was difficult for me, but I adjusted, because I could hide behind my work, but as a private citizen, it was more difficult for her.

Narciso Rodriguez.

(Sølve Sundsbø)

You’ve been a part of fashion history on numerous occasions. Michelle Obama frequently wore your designs, but most famously, on election night in 2008, and then during her final appearance as first lady. How does it feel to have been a part of those moments?

It’s hard to put into words. You know, you spend so much time in it, and you have these amazing moments, like designing a dress that became legendary for brides, or getting to dress the first lady, and it wasn’t until COVID that I took a step back. I think about my mother and father coming here to give their son a chance to live out his dreams. And to have been able to sit with my friends on election night and watch her appear in my dress on such a historic moment — the first African American elected president of the United States — words fail. [Michelle Obama] is such an incredible human being who I admire so much, and to have been a part of that night, I feel so lucky.

I don’t talk about my work with my children, but the other day, when they were on the bus headed to school, they told one of their friends, “My dad went to the Obama White House.” They were proud of me. My parents’ dreams came true, and now I get to share that with my children. It’s very special.

It’s really powerful to hear you frame it that way — that these moments mean so much because of your experience being the child of immigrants. How does it feel to be in the midst of a revival right now?

It makes me want to create more. It means a lot to me that people remember these pieces, and that they’re still part of the conversation. But it also means a really great deal to me because I think it’s an important story to tell today. I think it’s important that young people hear that this kind of thing can happen to the children of immigrants, especially as I’m watching all of the horrible things happening to immigrants now.

I could never do what my parents did. When I think about it now, my parents were so much more successful than I could ever be, because they left behind their home for a cold climate, in a place where they couldn’t speak the language, and they really struggled for a long time before I was born. And now, the idea that we’re trying to take that opportunity away from people? It just blows my mind.

My parents faced so many hardships, their life wasn’t easy, but I can’t imagine if they had been put through what immigrants are put through today. I am the “American Dream,” right? I got the chance I got to do the work that I love and succeed because of them. I want that for everyone. I want that to be the world we live in.

Feb. 27 (Asia Today) — The United States has reaffirmed that it remains open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions, South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy said Thursday, as Washington also reiterated its longstanding policy stance.

Jeong Yeon-du, director-general for strategy and intelligence at the Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Washington that he confirmed during meetings with senior U.S. officials that “the U.S. position of being open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions remains unchanged.”

Jeong said he met with senior State Department officials, including Allison Hooker, Thomas DiNanno and Michael DeSombre, as well as congressional figures and Korea experts at major think tanks during his visit, which began Monday.

He said the two sides exchanged views on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, including the outcome of North Korea’s ninth Workers’ Party Congress, and discussed pending issues based on the joint explanation released after the summit between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump last October in Gyeongju.

Jeong said Seoul explained its plan to continue supporting early resumption of U.S.-North Korea dialogue and to pursue long-term efforts to ease inter-Korean tensions and build trust, while adhering to the principle of denuclearization.

A White House official delivered a similar message this week in response to remarks by Kim Jong Un suggesting conditional willingness to improve ties with Washington.

“U.S. policy toward North Korea remains unchanged, and President Trump remains open to dialogue with Kim Jong Un without any preconditions,” the official said, recalling that Trump held three summits with the North Korean leader during his first term.

The statement was interpreted as reaffirming Washington’s twin positions: openness to talks without preconditions and continued pursuit of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim recently said Pyongyang would maintain a “strongest stance” toward the United States but added that if Washington respects North Korea’s “current status” and withdraws what it calls a hostile policy, there would be no reason the two sides could not get along. His remarks were widely seen as a demand for recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state.

Despite the stated openness to dialogue, a senior South Korean government official said there are no new developments such as working-level contacts between Washington and Pyongyang. The official added that while the United States continues to signal it is open to talks, it does not appear to have moved to concrete preparatory steps.

Jeong said Seoul and Washington agreed to maintain close coordination through frequent communication at various levels. He also said he explained South Korea’s phased denuclearization proposal and listened to views in U.S. policy circles regarding North Korea.

Trump met Kim in Singapore in June 2018, in Hanoi in February 2019 and at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019. While the first summit produced a joint statement on new bilateral relations and denuclearization, subsequent talks failed to yield an implementation agreement, and substantive negotiations have remained stalled.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260227010008277

The United States and Israel have launched strikes on Iran despite ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran responded to Saturday’s attacks with missile and air strikes across the region, including in Israel, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

Israeli officials said their strikes targeted Iran’s military and nuclear-related infrastructure, while airspace across Israel was closed and emergency measures imposed. Several other countries in the region also announced the closure of their airspace.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Washington has begun a “major combat operation” in Iran, aimed at “eliminating threats from the Iranian regime”.

“This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces,” he said.

The strikes came just two days after high-stakes US–Iran nuclear negotiations in Geneva, mediated by Oman, ended without a breakthrough. The US-Israel attack marks the most serious escalation since the brief but intense June 2025 war.

Here is a timeline of the events, including attacks and diplomatic overtures leading up to Saturday’s strikes by the US and Israel, and Iran’s fierce response.

June 13, 2025 — Israel launches major air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military facilities, amid ongoing talks between the US and Tehran. Iran responds within hours with large-scale missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities.

June 22 – The US strikes Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, with Trump claiming the attacks degraded Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iranian officials said their programme was set back but not destroyed.

June 23 – In retaliation, Iran fires missiles towards Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, housing US soldiers. The missiles are intercepted, and no casualties are reported.

June 24 – After 12 days of fighting, a US-brokered ceasefire takes effect between Iran and Israel, ending all hostilities. Iran says at least 610 of its citizens were killed in the war, while Israel claimed 28 were killed on its side.

July 2 – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signs legislation halting cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), barring its inspectors from accessing Iran’s nuclear facilities unless specifically authorised by the country’s Supreme National Security Council.

July 22 – Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, says Tehran will not give up its uranium enrichment programme, despite a temporary halt due to “serious and severe” damages.

August 12 – Iranian police arrest as many as 21,000 people related to the 12-day war with Israel, according to state media.

August 22 – Iran agrees to resume nuclear talks later in the month with the United Kingdom, France and Germany, despite the threat of revived sanctions.

August 28 – The three European countries trigger a mechanism reinstating the United Nations’ sanctions on the Islamic republic for the first time in a decade.

November 1 – Oman urges both the US and Iran to go back to the negotiating table as Iran reiterates it will not stop enriching uranium.

November 7 – Trump says Iran has requested that Washington remove its crippling sanctions on Tehran, and that he is willing to talk about the issue.

December 28 – Protests break out in major cities, including Tehran, over soaring prices after the rial plunges against the US dollar.

January 8, 2026 – The internet is shut down across Iran following the outbreak of antigovernment protests, which have now spread beyond cities. The blackout lasts for more than two weeks.

January 13 – Trump tells Iranians to “keep protesting” , claiming that “help is on the way”, and that the US may be preparing for military intervention against Tehran. The US begins to bolster its military presence off Iran.

February 6 – Iran and the US begin indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva, mediated by Oman, with the aim of reaching a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

February 17 – High-level US–Iran nuclear talks resume in Geneva, again with Omani mediation.

February 22 – Oman confirms another round of discussions in Geneva, describing a “positive push” but admits that significant differences remain.

February 26 – A third round of nuclear talks concludes in Geneva, with mediator Oman saying “significant progress” was made and more discussions would be held the following week in Vienna.

February 27 – Oman’s foreign minister says Iran has agreed to degrade its current stockpiles of nuclear material to “the lowest level possible” — effectively to unrefined levels. US President Donald Trump says he prefers diplomacy but warns that “all options” remain available if diplomacy fails.

February 28 – Israel launches coordinated strikes on Iranian targets, including sites in and around Tehran. Iran retaliates by launching air and missile strikes across the region, including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Feb. 26 (UPI) — The third round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks concluded Thursday in Geneva with signs of progress and plans for further negotiations, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington as President Donald Trump threatens military action if a deal is not reached.

Oman said after the day-long talks that progress had been made and more talks are needed.

“We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,” Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi of Oman said in a statement.

“We will resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals.”

Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran concurred with his Omani counterpart. Further progress had been made, he said.

“This round of talks was the most intense so far,” he said in a statement.

“It concluded with the mutual understanding that we will continue to engage in a more detailed manner on matters that are essential to any deal — including sanctions termination and nuclear-related steps.”

Technical-level discussions are scheduled to start in Vienna on Monday, officials said.

Representatives from the United States did not immediately comment.

The negotiations were indirect, with Iran and the United States communicating through Omani mediators.

There was a four-hour meeting in the morning followed by more than two hours of discussions in the afternoon, according to Araghchi, who said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s involvement “was valuable for the technical discussions.”

“Regarding some issues, there is no understanding, and on others, it’s natural that we have differences,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

“However, there was perhaps more seriousness on both sides than before, with the aim of reaching a negotiated solution.”

Trump is seeking to secure a long-term deal aimed at preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon, a decades-long fear of Washington and Israel, and has threatened military action if negotiations falter.

The removal of sanctions appears to be Iran’s most pressing issue for Iran, as its economy has been under severe strain from years of sanctions imposed amid the years-long impasse over its nuclear program.

Ahead of the Thursday talks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei of Iran told reporters that Tehran’s delegation had come fully prepared.

“Right now, the relevant experts in the fields of sanctions relief and economic issues, as well as nuclear and legal matters, are with us, and we are prepared to continue these talks as long as necessary,” he said, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency reported.

“As far as we are concerned, we are here with full preparedness and seriousness in order to realize the country’s national interests.”

He added that they will be watching for “contradictory statements” between what U.S. officials say in the meetings and what they tell the press.

“These contradictions do not help advance this diplomatic process and increase doubts and suspicions about their purpose and intentions,” he said.

Grossi and Oman’s Albusaidi held a meeting Thursday before the talks officially kicked off on technical matters related to Iran’s nuclear dossier.

The second round of talks was held earlier this month, with Araghchi stating that an agreement had been reached “on general guiding principles.”

However, significant gaps remained between the United States and Iran.

Though it officially began Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Araghchi met with Albusaidi on Wednesday night and conveyed Tehran’s views on nuclear-related issues and the lifting of sanctions.

Araghchi stressed to the representative of Oman that “the success of the negotiations depends on the seriousness of the other side and its avoidance of contradictory behavior and positions.”

Trump has pursued a new nuclear deal with Iran since early in his first term, when in 2018 he unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational accord aimed at preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon.

The first Trump administration applied a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and economic pressure to coerce Tehran back to the negotiating table. Under the economic coercion, Iran began breaching its nuclear commitments and advanced its enrichment program.

Then, under the Biden administration, the United States attempted to revive negotiations with Iran — an effort that stalled by the fall of 2022 and was shelved when Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last June, after Trump was elected to a second term, he ordered strikes on three known nuclear sites as the United States joined Israel’s military campaign against Tehran. The White House later claimed Iran’s facilities had been “obliterated,” though international inspectors have not been able to gain access to them to verify the extent of the damage.

Despite the assertion, Trump has expanded the United States’ military presence in the Middle East in recent weeks ahead of the talks, sparking worries it may precede another attack if negotiations falter.

During his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said Iran is seeking to restart its program but also wants to make a deal with the United States.

“They are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” he said without providing proof. “My preference — my preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror — which they are by far — to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let it happen.”

Tehran, Iran – Another round of indirect talks between Iranian and United States officials ended with a mediator claiming “significant progress” but still no clear evidence that either side was willing to concede enough on their positions to avoid war.

After the conclusion of the talks in Geneva on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said further technical talks would be held next week in Vienna and progress had been “good”.

“These were the most serious and longest talks,” Araghchi said.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who mediated the talks, said Iranian and US diplomats would consult with their governments before the Vienna talks.

Few details have emerged about the discussions, but Araghchi was reported to have met US envoy Steve Witkoff – if only briefly, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

The Iranian team, led by Araghchi, handed over on Wednesday night Tehran’s written proposals to Al Busaidi, who also mediated previous rounds of talks in Geneva and Muscat.

The Omani diplomat then met with the US delegation on Thursday, led by Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Al Busaidi mediated between the two teams throughout the day, and the US delegation also held separate talks over Ukraine.

Also taking part in the talks was Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will have to undertake nuclear monitoring and verification duties in Iran in case of any agreement.

The UN watchdog will hold several days of board meetings starting on March 6, which is around the 10- to 15-day deadline floated by Trump last week for Iran to reach a deal.

Western media outlets have suggested the board could once again consider a move to censure Iran depending on the results of the Geneva talks. Iran has accused Grossi of taking politicised action and criticised the IAEA after Israel attacked Iran in June, one day after the agency passed a resolution saying Tehran was not complying with its commitment to nuclear safeguards.

Fundamental differences

The two sides have been at odds over key issues, including uranium enrichment and missiles.

Washington has repeatedly emphasised, in lockstep with Israel, that it will not accept any nuclear enrichment taking place on Iranian soil, even at civilian-use levels agreed during the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran agreed with world powers. Trump unilaterally abandoned that deal in 2018.

In the days leading up to the Geneva talks, US officials increasingly focused on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, saying the missiles threaten US military bases across the Middle East as well as Israel. Iran has refused to entertain any talks on its conventional weapons. Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, have repeatedly said they will never develop nuclear weapons.

Speaking to local officials during a provincial visit, Pezeshkian also shot back at Trump’s assertion during a lengthy State of the Union speech that Iran was “the world’s number one sponsor of terror”.

Pezeshkian said numerous Iranian officials and nuclear scientists have been assassinated over the decades, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

“If the realities are seen fairly, it will become clear that Iran is not only not a supporter of terrorism, but one of the main victims of terror in the region and across the world,” he said.

The Iranian government’s IRNA news agency said Tehran’s proposal was expected to gauge US “seriousness” in the talks because it contained “win-win” offers.

Iranian officials have not publicly discussed all the details of their proposals, but they are believed to include diluting part of the country’s 60-percent enriched uranium and keeping the uranium inside the country. Iranian authorities envisage that could be paired with economic opportunities for the US related to Iranian oil and gas and the purchase of airplanes.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has maintained his tough rhetoric against the US as well, casting doubt on the chances of any agreement. He also said Trump would be unable to overthrow Iran’s government after the US president said regime change would be “the best thing that could happen” in Iran.

Araghchi said during an interview on Wednesday that even if Khamenei is killed, the theocratic establishment in Iran would carry on because it has legal procedures in place to appoint a successor. Pezeshkian added on Thursday: “They can eliminate me, eliminate anyone. If they hit us, a hundred more like us will come up to run the country.”

Double-digit inflation as Iran braces for war

Iranian and US officials have been hailing supposed “progress” in the indirect talks this month, but many Iranians continue to prepare for war.

In Tehran and across the country, people are buying bottled water, biscuits, canned foods and other essentials in case of a war.

“A few days ago, I bought a power bank to keep the electronics charged. Now I’m looking for a short-wave radio so we can hear the news if the state shuts down the internet and electricity infrastructure is bombed,” said a 28-year-old resident of the capital who asked not to be named.

As bombs fell during the 12-day war with Israel in June, Iranian authorities cut off almost all internet access for several days, followed in January by an unprecedented 20-day total blackout imposed on about 92 million people as thousands of people were killed during nationwide protests.

The Iranian government, which blames “terrorists” armed and funded by the US and Israel for the protests, has rejected Trump’s claim that 32,000 Iranians were killed during the demonstrations. It said more than 3,000 people were killed, and rejects documentation by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that its security forces were behind the killings.

As the threat of war intensifies, not all Iranians are capable of stocking up on food and other necessities due to rising inflation that has gripped the country for more than a decade as a result of a mix of chronic local mismanagement and US and UN sanctions.

According to separate reports by the Statistical Centre of Iran and the Central Bank of Iran released on Thursday, inflation has now shot beyond 60 percent.

The Statistical Centre put annual inflation in the Iranian month of Bahman, which ended on February 19, at 68.1 percent, while the Central Bank said it was 62.2 percent.

Food inflation was by far the strongest driver at a whopping 105 percent. That included a 207-percent inflation rate for cooking oil, 117 percent for red meat, 108 percent for eggs and dairy products, 113 percent for fruit and 142 percent for bread and corn.

Iran’s national currency, the rial, stood at about 1.66 million rials to the US dollar on Thursday, near an all-time low.

Robinson is notorious in the UK where he has been accused of promoting hatred against Muslims and organising mass anti-migrant protests.

British far-right activist Tommy Robinson says he visited the United States Department of State as part of a recent trip to Washington, DC, where he was welcomed by government officials and supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

“In America making alliances & friendships, today I had the privilege of an invite to the @StateDept,” Robinson posted on X on Wednesday, alongside a photo of himself next to a US flag.

Robinson is a household name in the UK, notorious for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and multiple prison terms. He was also a cofounder of the now-defunct far-right English Defence League – a street protest movement.

US State Department official Joe Rittenhouse, who is a senior adviser for the department’s Consular Affairs bureau, said he met with Robinson, calling him a “free speech warrior”.

“Honored to have free speech warrior @TRobinsonNewEra at Department of State today. The World and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy. Good to see you my friend!” Rittenhouse said in an X post.

Rittenhouse posted photos of what appeared to be Robinson touring the State Department.

The State Department did not answer questions from the Reuters news agency on who else Robinson met, what was discussed and what the objective of his visit was.

A representative for the United Kingdom’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has become an icon for British nationalists and one of the UK’s most high-profile anti-migration campaigners, organising a large rally last September in London attended by about 150,000 people.

Social media posts show that during his trip to Washington, Robinson also met far-right US influencer Jack Posobiec and filmed a video with Congressman Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, who has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. Robinson said on X that he will next travel to Florida.

Robinson’s visit to the US State Department follows a surge in support from the administration of President Donald Trump for far-right activists in the UK and Europe under the pretext of protecting “free speech”.

In December, the Trump administration accused Europe of engaging in “civilisational erasure” due to demographic and cultural changes from what Washington has described as weak immigration policies.

US Vice President JD Vance took aim at European countries during his first international trip last year, accusing the region’s leaders of stifling free speech – particularly voices from the far right – and being lax on migration to the detriment of their societies.

“No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants,” Vance said in remarks that shocked European leaders.

The UK and European countries have stronger rules on hate speech than the US, and the European Union has taken a proactive stance on regulating social media and internet content – positions that have angered the White House.

Robinson was banned from Twitter in 2018, but his account was restored in 2022 following its acquisition by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Amid the steady drumbeat of reports pointing to the growing likelihood of strikes on Iran, there are indications that officials from Washington and Tehran will meet this week for another round of talks centered on the Iranian nuclear program. While the two sides remain generally at loggerheads, Iranian officials are now openly talking about possible concessions on their nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told CBS over the weekend that U.S. and Iranian negotiators would likely hold more discussions in Geneva on Thursday, with the aim of making “a fast deal.” Iran and the United States resumed negotiations earlier this month.

Now, Araghchi says that he thinks there is still a good chance of finding a diplomatic solution in planned talks with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. However, he added that “If the United States attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves.” Iran has repeatedly threatened to strike U.S. bases in the region if it is attacked.

Feb. 23 (UPI) — A meeting on trade negotiations between the United States and India this week has been postponed in light of Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.

Officials representing the United States and India were scheduled to meet for three days in Washington, D.C., to discuss their interim trade deal but the meeting has been delayed, CNBC, the BBC and Hindustan Times reported.

India’s top trade negotiator, Darpan Jain, was slated to travel to the United States for the meeting.

India is under a 25% reciprocal tariff imposed by the United States. It was expected to be reduced to 18% as part of an interim agreement between the countries earlier this month. The sides have continued to discuss future trade plans virtually since reaching the interim deal.

The United States and India were slated to finalize the interim agreement in March with it likely to go into effect in April. The framework for the agreement noted that any changes to the deal would allow the other country to “modify its commitments.”

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump improperly applied the Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose a swath of tariffs. With those tariffs ruled unlawful, Trump announced a 15% global tariff, citing Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows a president to impose temporary tariffs.

The act allows for the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days.

The Trump administration continues to consider new plans to continue with its tariff policy, exploring other legal routes, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post.

“We will immediately shift to other proven authorities — Actions 232, 301, and 122 — to keep our tariff strategy strong,” Bessent wrote.

Remarks from Ministry of Foreign Affairs come after Trump says he is considering an attack if a nuclear deal is not reached.

As a new round of talks between the United States and Iran is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Tehran has reiterated that it wants to find a diplomatic solution with the US on its nuclear programme but will defend itself if Washington resorts to military action.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that any US attack, including limited strikes, would be considered an “act of aggression” that would precipitate a response after US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran.

“An act of aggression would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period. And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously, so that’s what we would do,” Baghaei said during a media briefing.

Trump said on Friday that he was considering a limited strike if Tehran did not reach a deal with the US. “I guess I can say I am considering that,” he said in reply to a question from a reporter.

On Sunday, ⁠Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said nuclear talks with the US have produced “encouraging signals” but warned that Tehran is prepared for any scenario in advance of another round of negotiations set for Thursday.

“Iran is committed to peace and stability in the region,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.

The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation against the backdrop of the largest US military build-up in the region since the 2003 Iraq war. They resumed talks in Oman this month.

A third round of indirect talks is scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, but the US has yet to confirm. Oman said on Sunday that the talks are set “with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been leading the negotiations for Iran while the US is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

‘Iranians had never capitulated’

Baghaei dismissed any claim that a temporary agreement had been reached with Washington, adding that speculation on the nuclear talks is not uncommon.

“We do not confirm any of the speculation. The details of any negotiation process are discussed in the negotiating room. The speculation raised about an interim agreement has no basis.”

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said there was a “mixture of optimism and pessimism” in Iran’s capital.

“Let’s call it a pragmatically calibrated cautiousness that we see when it comes to Iran’s statements over the past few weeks, specifically following the major military build-up by the Americans in the region,” he said.

He said Iran is considering both scenarios “on the basis of readiness for diplomatic engagement on the one hand and regional confrontation on the other hand”.

The Trump administration said it has been intensifying its build-up of an array of military assets in the Middle East during the talks with Iran. In an interview with the Fox News TV channel on Sunday, Witkoff said Trump was wondering why Iran has not “capitulated” in the face of the military deployment.

Baghaei on Monday stressed that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.

“This is not the first time we have encountered contradictory claims,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

“We leave the judgement to the discerning people of Iran and the country’s political elites to decide about Iran’s negotiating approach and, in turn, the negotiating approach of the United States,” he added.

“No negotiation that begins with an imposed burden and prejudgement will naturally reach a result,” the official said.

He also stressed that Iran’s positions on its nuclear programme and sanctions relief are clear-cut.

“Any negotiation process requires joint action, and there is hope for results if there is goodwill and seriousness on both sides,” Baghaei said.

Feb. 22 (UPI) — A nuclear deal will be the subject of negotiations between Washington and Iran Thursday, officials say.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet with Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, in Geneva following receipt of the proposal, which is expected Tuesday.

“If Iran gives a draft proposal, the U.S. is ready to meet in Geneva in order to start detailed negotiations to see if we can get a nuclear deal,” officials said, per Axios.

President Donald Trump had previously suggested that failure to reach a deal would lead to “bad things.”

Araghchi is slated to finish that proposal by Monday, the outlet reported.

“So there is no need for any military buildup, and military buildup cannot help it and annot pressurize us,” Araghchi said, CBS News reported.

He added that “If the U.S. attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves. Our missiles cannot hit the American soil. So obviously we have to do something else. We have to hit, you know, the Americans’ base in the region.”

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi has confirmed that further talks between the United States and Iran will take place on Thursday amid spiralling tensions between the two countries.

“Pleased to confirm US-Iran negotiations are now set for Geneva this Thursday, with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal,” Albusaidi said in a social media post on Sunday.

The announcement comes as the US continues to amass military assets in the Middle East, raising concerns about an all-out war against Iran.

Hours before Oman’s announcement, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was ready to put in place a “full monitoring mechanism” to guarantee the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme and ease tensions.

Asked by Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan why Iran would want to pursue enrichment on its soil rather than buy enriched uranium from abroad, given the US military build-up and risk of an escalation, Araghchi said the issue was a matter of “dignity and pride” for Iranians.

“We have developed this technology by ourselves, by our scientists, and it is very dear to us because we have created it – we have paid a huge expense for that,” he said.

Araghchi cited among the costs two decades of US sanctions, the targeted killings of Iranian scientists, and US-Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities in June.

“We’re not going to give [our nuclear programme] up; there is no legal reason to do that while everything is peaceful and safeguarded” by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Araghchi said.

As a “committed member” of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which requires non-nuclear-weapon states not to seek or acquire nuclear weapons, Iran is “ready to cooperate with the agency in full”, Araghchi added.

But he stressed that under the treaty, Tehran also has “every right to enjoy a peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment”.

“Enrichment is a sensitive part of our negotiations. The American team knows about our position, and we know their position. We have already exchanged our concerns, and I think a solution is achievable,” the minister noted.

Enrichment is the process of isolating and garnering a rare variant, or isotope, of uranium that can produce nuclear fission. At low levels, enriched uranium can power electric plants. If enriched to approximately 90 percent, it can be used for nuclear weapons.

US officials, including President Donald Trump, have previously suggested that Washington is seeking “zero enrichment” by Tehran.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any deal with Iran would need to include agreements on ballistic missiles and support for its allies in the region.

Araghchi, however, said on Sunday that Iran was “negotiating only nuclear” at the present time.

“There is no other subject,” he told CBS News, adding that he was optimistic that a deal could be reached.

The second round of nuclear talks concluded in Geneva on February 17. The US and Iran also held indirect talks in Oman earlier this month.

The Iranian delegation is working ahead of the meeting to present a draft that includes “elements which can accommodate both sides’ concerns and interests” to reach a “fast deal”, Araghchi said.

The top Iranian diplomat added the agreement would likely be “better” than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated by former US President Barack Obama in 2015.

“There are elements that could be much better than the previous deal,” he said, without elaborating. “Right now, there is no need for too much detail. But we can agree on our nuclear programme to remain peaceful forever and at the same time, for more sanctions [to be] lifted.”

Some observers were less optimistic about the chances of striking a deal. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera that Iran is likely to put forward a proposal that goes beyond anything they ever offered, but even that may not be enough.

“Trump has been sold a narrative by the Israelis that portrays Iran far, far weaker than it actually is. As a result, he’s adopting maximalist capitulation positions that are simply unrealistic based on how the power reality actually looks,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.

“Unless this gets corrected, even if the Iranians put forward a very far-leaning proposal that is extremely attractive to the US, Trump may still say no because he’s under the false belief that he can get something even better.”

Published on 20/02/2026 – 12:34 GMT+1•Updated
12:35

European steel shipments to the US declined 30% between June and December 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to recent Eurostat data compiled by Eurofer, the Brussels-based industry group.

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The decline underscores the impact of the US’s 50% tariffs on EU steel, even after the EU and US signed a trade agreement in July 2025 agreeing a blanket 15% US tariff on EU goods. Steel was carved out of that deal and talks to ease duties remain stuck.

“A 30% drop in steel exports to the US within just six months is a clear signal that the blunt 50% tariffs imposed by the US government on EU steel are damaging our industry,” Eurofer Director general Axel Eggert said.

“The US decision to include EU downstream steel products, such as machinery, will have another huge negative impact on us and our European customers,” he added.

Washington imposed 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium in June 2025 and extended the measures to more than 400 steel and aluminium products in August.

Steel talks tied to EU-US trade deal enforcement

The US has framed the tariffs as a shield against Chinese overcapacity flooding global markets, including Europe.

With Chinese exports increasingly redirected from the US to the EU, the European Commission proposed on 7 October 2025 to halve the volume of steel allowed into the bloc duty-free and to levy a 50% tariff on imports exceeding a quota of 18.3 million tons a year.

The proposal steel needs to be adopted by the EU legislator. Meanwhile Brussels itself hopes to reopen talks with the White House to secure lower duties on EU steel.

But US negotiators have linked any resumption of discussions to the implementation of last summer’s EU-US trade deal, struck by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Donald Trump. Under that pact, the EU agreed to cut its tariffs on US goods to zero while accepting 15% duties on its exports to the US.

With the EU legislative process still requiring approval from lawmakers and member states, Washington’s patience is wearing thin. Tensions could rise further after EU lawmakers introduced amendments that may complicate talks with capitals.

The European Parliament is expected to vote on the deal in March, paving the way for negotiations with member states.

The talks stalled on the European side after the US threatened to annex Greenland militarily from Denmark in January. Although the US has softened its language, it led to delays. The administration’s continuous lobbying for less stringent rules when it comes to digital legislation in Europe has also added obstacles to the talks.

SWIFTIES assemble! Your favourite superstar Taylor could be in line to make a very special surprise appearance at next week’s Brit Awards.

Right now, there is a bit of a blank space when it comes to the exact details of her possible attendance at the celebrations.

In fact, no one seems to know what will happen on the night.

I can exclusively reveal, though, that Tay, along with an enormous entourage of more than 20 people, secretly landed in the UK this week.

I’m told they’re going to be visiting Manchester next week — the location for this year’s Brits.

Their schedule then sees them leaving the UK a week on Monday — just a couple of days after the ceremony.

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My music industry mole said: “Taylor is hiding out in London at the moment and is scheduled to visit Manchester, which seems like she could be lined up for a surprise appearance at the Brit Awards.

“Taylor was handed the Global Icon Award at the ceremony back in 2021 and has a huge amount of respect for the Brits. She loves it.

“Brits bosses are trying to keep everything under lock and key, but it feels too much like a coincidence that Taylor is secretly in the UK at the exact time of the Brits.

“The fact her team are all heading home the Monday after the ceremony is fishy. Manchester is an amazing city, but Taylor wouldn’t just be coming to look at the cathedral and the Etihad, would she?”

As lovely as those landmarks are, I doubt it.

If Tay is at the city’s Co-op Live arena on February 28, I think it could be the greatest coup for the Brits. She always delivers a show, on and off the stage.

In 2015, when I was working for Heat magazine, I exclusively revealed that Taylor had hooked up with Calvin Harris at an after-party, with the pair dating for a year.

And in 2021, when she received the Global Icon Award while we were mired in Covid restrictions, she had a very safe knees-up with pals including Haim and Olivia Rodrigo.

This time around, I know Manchester is ready for one massive party and having Taylor front and centre would be phenomenal.

And given her ex Harry Styles is also on the bill, I think it could be a very exciting night.

…AND SHE’S No1 AGAIN

TAYLOR has been named the biggest-selling artist globally of 2025 – the fourth year in a row that she’s topped the list.

The singer, who also took the title in 2014, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024, triumphed thanks to the release of her 12th album, The Life Of A Showgirl, in October.

She is just ahead of K-pop group Stray Kids, who have become megastars around the world, despite not having chart success in the UK.

The list has been compiled by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, which compiles streaming, downloads and physical formats in every country for its global artist chart.

The biggest gainer was Super Bowl headliner Bad Bunny, who hopped up from No20 in 2024 to No5, while country star Morgan Wallen rose from No13 to No7.

And there was good news for Lady Gaga.

She has re-entered the list at No10 for the first time since 2020, following the release of her album Mayhem.

JADE HAS A LITTLE HELPER IN GROOT

JADE THIRLWALL got comfort from a surprising source after stepping away from her musical roots when Little Mix went on hiatus in 2021.

She admitted walking around with a teddy version of Groot – the tree-like character from Guardians Of The Galaxy – on her shoulder as she pined for her girlband pals.

On new podcast By The Way  . . . With Harriet Rose, out today, Jade said: “Little Mix, that was my life. I’m very career driven and poured everything into Little Mix.

“So when that kind of stopped, that was a massive shock to the system. I had a little bit of a mini menty-b [mental breakdown].

“I had a little teddy of Groot and started wearing it on my shoulder all the time. It was really weird.

“After Little Mix, I went on holiday with my friends and they were like, ‘Why do you keep wearing Groot on your shoulder?’. I think I was replacing the girls with Groot.

“My friends were like, ‘I think it’s time to stop wearing Groot’.”

MILEY CYRUS will take part in a special for Disney+ to mark the 20th anniversary of her breakout show Hannah Montana.

In the one-off, which is to be screened on March 24, she will be interviewed by podcaster Alex Cooper in front of a live studio audience to look back at the series.

Miley said: “This ‘Hannahversary’ is my way of celebrating and thanking the fans who’ve stood by me for 20 years.”

YELL OF A LOOK, PRIYANKA

PRIYANKA CHOPRA spread some joy in this bright yellow outfit ahead of the premiere for her new movie The Bluff.

She wore the thigh-high dress at a photocall before changing into a leather look for the Los Angeles launch of the action thriller on Tuesday night.

The actress was supported on the red carpet by her husband Nick Jonas, who she grabbed by the cheeks while leaning in for a kiss, inset.

Nick released his fifth solo album Sunday Best earlier this month, but it failed to crack the charts.

Here’s hoping her movie fares better.

SHAUN BLASTS TRUMP

US President Donald Trump winds up many people – and Shaun Ryder is no exception.

The Happy Mondays frontman has channelled that into music and written his angriest ever song about Donald, who he branded “orange, fat and bloated”.

In an exclusive chat about their new album, Shaun told me: “Trump keeps popping up.

“There’s plenty on that f***ing orange, motherf***ing waste of space.

“Although I’ve not been mentioning his name, some songs are definitely influenced by that w***er. I f***ing hate him.

“He’s just a p**ck. You might as well have me and Bez up there saying s**t. We have probably got more of a clue than he has.

“I just can’t stand the f***ing man. You can see how it’s affecting me lyrically. I wrote one song that goes, ‘You orange, fat, bloated ****! You f***ing lying, f***ing delusional t**t!’ How’s that for a chorus?”

Brilliant, Shaun.

He also takes a pop at Nigel Farage on the record and said: “Reform, f*** me.

“Every time it gets a bit tough and people haven’t got jobs, it’s ‘blame f***ing immigrants, blame this’,’ it never changes. “That’s the f***ing world, the world is on a loop.

“We never seem to learn f*** all about wars or anything.”

RITA’S TIPS TO BRUSH OFF TROLLS

RITA ORA has advice for ignoring online trolls who target her and other celebs.

The Anywhere singer recites mantras to get into a good headspace.

Rita has teamed up with tech company Meta for a video series on Instagram in a bid to help others.

She said: “You can’t be afraid of something you can’t control.

“You can’t control it, stop thinking about it. These are the mantras I say to myself every day in the mirror.”

Rita added: “Comments can cut. Every tiny thing gets magnified and everyone can see through the walls.

“Someone in the public eye may have more people looking at them but the walls are just as fragile. The doubts are really what helps me make great songs though.”

Personally, I just like to laugh at the trolls, who are always sad, decrepit nobodies, who should get off the internet and find a job.

ACTOR Daniel Radcliffe does not want the cast of the new Harry Potter HBO TV show to be compared to those in the original movies.

He was boy wizard Harry on film, but that role is now Dominic McLaughlin’s.

Daniel said: “Just let them get on with it, it’s going to be a new, different thing.

“I’m sure Dominic is going to be better than me.”

ROB HITS WIG TIME

ROBERT PATTINSON is unrecognisable in this blond wig as he sits on the floor holding a ciggie.

The actor posed for Interview magazine, in which he and his The Drama co-star Zendaya interviewed each other.

Even she was puzzled about the snaps, saying: “The theme was, I don’t know.”

Rob revealed he doesn’t feel welcome in Hollywood, admitting: “I’m never really allowed in. I’m always knocking at the door, like, ‘Hey, guys. Where the party at?’

“And everyone just gets younger and younger.”

“The talks have not broken down, but they have not really yielded any results.” Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid explains what happened—and what didn’t—at the third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

One week ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, United States-led peace talks in Geneva ended for the day earlier than scheduled on Wednesday.

The talks, which are being mediated by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are just the latest of a number of attempts to end the deadliest fighting in Europe since World War II – and none have reached a breakthrough.

During his presidential campaign in 2024, Trump claimed repeatedly that he would broker a ceasefire in Ukraine within “24 hours”. However, he has been unable to fulfil this promise.

Here is a timeline of the mediation efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has killed more than a million people, as it heads towards its fifth year.

February 28, 2022 – direct talks

The first ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine took place just four days after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The meeting lasted about five hours, and featured high-level officials, but with diametrically opposing goals. Nothing came of their talks.

Then, the two sides held three rounds of direct talks in Belarus, ending on March 7, but, again, nothing was agreed.

March-April 2022 – regional talks in Antalya

On March 10, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, met for the first time since the war started, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye.

A second meeting between senior leaders in Istanbul towards the end of the month failed to secure a ceasefire.

Then, the withdrawal of Russian forces in early April from parts of Ukraine revealed evidence of massacres committed against the Ukrainian civilian population in Bucha and Irpin near Kyiv, in northern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this would make negotiations much more difficult, but that it was necessary to persist with the dialogue. Russian President Vladimir Putin later declared the negotiations were at a “dead end” as a result of Ukraine’s allegations of war crimes.

July 2022 – Black Sea Grain Initiative, Istanbul

In July 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed by Ukraine and Russia with Turkiye and the United Nations in Istanbul. It was the most significant diplomatic breakthrough for the first year of the war.

The agreement aimed to prevent a global food crisis by designating a safe maritime humanitarian corridor through the Black Sea for cargoes of millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.

November 2022 – Ukraine’s peace plan

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace proposal at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Indonesia, within which he called for Russia’s withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory as well as measures to ensure radiation and nuclear safety, food security, and protection for Ukraine’s grain exports.

He also demanded energy security and the release of all Ukrainian prisoners and deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.

Russia rejected Zelenskyy’s peace proposal, reiterating that it would not give up any territory it had taken by force, which stood at about one-fifth of Ukraine by then.

February 2023 – China’s peace plan

China proposed a 12-point peace plan calling for a ceasefire and the end of “unilateral sanctions” that had been imposed by Western nations on Russia. Beijing urged both sides to resume talks on the basis that “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld”.

The proposal was criticised by Western allies of Kyiv for not acknowledging “Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty”.

June 2023 – Africa’s peace plan

In June 2023, a high-level delegation of African leaders, led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and including the presidents of Senegal and Zambia, visited both Kyiv and St Petersburg to present a 10-point plan focusing on de-escalation and grain exports.

Analysts said it was driven largely by the war’s impact on African food security and fertiliser prices.

But Ukrainian President Zelenskyy rejected the call for “de-escalation”, arguing that a ceasefire without a Russian withdrawal would simply “freeze” the war.

The following month, President Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

August 2023 – Jeddah summit

Saudi Arabia hosted representatives from 40 countries to discuss Zelenskyy’s “Peace Formula”, but no final agreement or joint statement was reached.

In a major surprise, Beijing sent its special envoy, Li Hui, to the talks. But Russia was not invited, and the Kremlin said the efforts would fail.

June 2024 – Switzerland peace summit

The June 2024 Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held at Switzerland’s Burgenstock resort, brought together more than 90 nations to discuss a framework for ending the conflict in Ukraine. The summit focused on nuclear safety, food security and prisoner exchanges, though Russia was not invited, and several nations, including India and Saudi Arabia, did not sign the final joint communique.

February 2025 – Trump-Putin call

A month after beginning his second term as US president, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he held a long phone call with his Russian counterpart, Putin, in a bid to restart direct negotiations aimed at ending the war.

On February 18, delegations from Washington and the Kremlin, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, met in Saudi Arabia.

They laid the groundwork for future negotiations, but the talks raised significant concerns in Kyiv and Brussels, as both Ukraine and the European Union had been sidelined from the meeting.

February 2025 – Zelenskyy goes to the White House

Ten days later, on February 28, there came a saturation point at the White House.

In one of the most confrontational moments in modern diplomacy, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Zelenskyy in a televised meeting in the Oval Office.

Zelenskyy – called out for not wearing a suit and not expressing enough gratitude to the US – found himself cornered.

August 2025 – Witkoff goes to Moscow

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Moscow to meet Putin on August 6. It was his third trip to Moscow and came amid renewed Western threats of sanctions on Russian oil exports and US threats of “secondary” trade tariffs.

Trump said afterwards that the meeting was “highly productive” and that “everyone agrees this war must come to a close”. Nothing more concrete came out of this meeting, however.

August 15, 2025 – Alaska summit

Trump dropped his sanctions threat and met Putin in person on August 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

But no deal was reached.

August 18, 2025

Trump hosted Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington and said he would ask Putin to agree to a trilateral summit.

But nothing came out of this visit, either.

November 2025 – Geneva talks

In November 2025, the Geneva talks became a flashpoint for Western unity, as the Trump administration’s controversial 28-point plan leaked to the press, reportedly involving a cap on Ukraine’s military and a freeze on NATO membership. It also suggested that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia.

Reportedly authored by US envoy Witkoff along with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, the draft sparked accusations that the US was drafting a “capitulation” for Ukraine.

No deal was reached after revisions were made to the draft proposal.

December 2025 – Berlin and Miami talks

On December 14 and 15 last year, President Zelenskyy travelled to Berlin to meet US envoys Witkoff and Kushner, alongside a powerful group of European leaders, including Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron.

Following this, US negotiators optimistically claimed that 90 percent of the issues between the two sides had been resolved.

Then, later in the month, Witkoff and Kushner hosted another session of talks in Miami, Florida in the US. But the issues around sovereignty over Ukraine’s Donbas region and the exact line of demarcation proved impossible to bridge.

And no deal was reached.

January 2026 – Abu Dhabi talks

On January 23, high-level delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia sat face to face to hold trilateral talks for the first time since the 2022 invasion.

Hosted at the Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, talks were mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

Another round of talks was held on February 4, reaching an agreement on a major prisoner exchange but leaving key political and security issues unresolved.

The delegations agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war – 157 each – the first such swap in five months.

February 17-18, 2026: Geneva talks

Talks in Geneva are currently under way.

Senior military figures from both Ukraine and Russia have attended the second three-way effort, along with the US, to end the war in Ukraine. These have largely stalled so far due to Russia’s insistence on keeping territory it has seized from Ukraine.

Colombia’s largest criminal group paused talks after President Gustavo Petro pledged to target its leader, Chiquito Malo.

Colombia’s government has announced it will resume peace talks with the powerful Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defence Forces (ECG), after the criminal group expressed concern about a recent deal with the United States.

Tuesday’s announcement addresses a temporary suspension the Gulf Clan announced earlier this month, in the wake of a meeting between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Faced with US pressure to crack down on drug cartels, Petro agreed to prioritise three “kingpins” his government considered “high-level targets”.

One of those targets was the leader of the Gulf Clan, Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, known as Chiquito Malo.

The Gulf Clan responded by pausing talks with the Petro government until it received clarity on the scope of the government’s actions.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the two parties said they had “overcome” any hurdles to the talks.

They also explained that the ongoing talks would be mediated by the Catholic Church and the governments of Qatar, Spain, Norway and Switzerland.

The Gulf Clan is one of several armed groups that have jostled for control of territory as part of Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict, which has pitted criminal groups, left-wing rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitaries against each other.

With approximately 9,000 fighters, the Gulf Clan is considered one of the country’s largest cartels. The US designated it a “foreign terrorist organisation” in December.

Trump has pushed the Petro government to take more aggressive action against drug trafficking overall. In January, he even threatened to attack Colombia, saying that Petro needed to “watch his a**”.

But relations between the two leaders have warmed in recent weeks, particularly since Petro’s visit to the White House on February 3.

Previously, Colombian governments had taken a more militarised approach to addressing the country’s internal conflict. Colombia has long been considered a top ally in the US’s worldwide “war on drugs”.

But upon taking office in 2022, Petro sought to take a different approach, bringing armed groups and criminal networks to the table for negotiations under a programme called “Total Peace”.

The peace talks, however, have faced a series of setbacks, particularly in the wake of new bursts of violence.

In January, for example, Petro granted himself emergency powers following an outbreak of violence near the border with Venezuela between various armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN).

That violence resulted in the suspension of peace talks with the ELN.

Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, has also faced pressure from the right to assure justice is carried out on behalf of the victims of drug trafficking.

His government has repeatedly rejected allegations that it has not done enough to stem drug trafficking in Colombia, which has historically been the world’s largest producer of cocaine.

Petro has pointed to historic drug busts, including one in November that resulted in the seizure of 14 tonnes of cocaine, as evidence of his government’s efficacy.

Criminal networks and other groups have long jostled to gain control of drug-trafficking routes.

Those clashes saw a spike after a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist rebel group that agreed to disarm in 2016.

The group’s dissolution left a power vacuum that other drug-trafficking organisations have sought to fill.

How to address Colombia’s ongoing internal conflict is set to be a major election issue in May, when the country chooses a new president. Petro is limited by law to a single consecutive term and will therefore not be on the ballot.

Feb. 17 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would participate “indirectly” in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks due to resume in Geneva on Tuesday.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Monday night, Trump said the negotiations were very important and he believed Tehran wanted to reach a deal, saying the fallout of not doing so would be very bad news, referencing U.S. air and missile strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities in June, following failed negotiations.

“I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal. We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s [stealth bomber aircraft] in to knock out their nuclear potential. And we had to send the B-2s. I hope they’re going to be more reasonable,” said Trump, who acknowledged that they were tough to negotiate with.

Similar optimism for its own prospects emanated from the Iranian side on Monday with the foreign ministry in Tehran saying it believed the United States’ position had shifted to “a more realistic one,” regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Following a meeting in Geneva on Monday with International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi on “technical matters,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was heading into the talks with “real ideas” to achieve a fair and just agreement, vowing Iran would not be coerced.

“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” he wrote in a post on X.

On Friday, Trump announced he was dispatching a second carrier strike group, the USS Gerald Ford, to the region to join an already substantial U.S. naval armada in the Arabian to ratchet up pressure on Tehran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and a deadly crackdown on protesters that began in late December.

Trump said he was deploying the world’s largest carrier to join the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group sent last month because if Iran didn’t “make a deal, we’ll need it.”

The Gerald Ford and its battleships and associated vessels, currently deployed in the Caribbean, are expected to arrive in the Arabian Sea in three to four weeks.

Tuesday’s negotiations pick up from talks in Oman on Feb. 6 where a U.S. team led by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met with the Iranian’s led by Araghchi, although proceedings were mediated by Omani officials and the two sides did not talk face-to-face.

As well as agreement on curtailing Iran’s enrichment of uranium, the Trump administration wants the talks to include its ballistic missile arsenal, a recent brutal crackdown on public protests and backing of regional proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.

Tehran has been pushing back, insisting it is only willing to discuss reining in its nuclear program — in exchange for sanctions relief.

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet for another round of peace talks in Geneva, as United States President Donald Trump pushes for an end to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

The two-day talks, which begin on Tuesday, are likely to focus on the issue of territory and come just days before the fourth anniversary, on February 24, of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Trump is pressing Moscow and Kyiv to reach a deal soon, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has complained that his country is facing the greatest pressure from Washington to make concessions.

Russia ⁠is demanding that Kyiv cede the remaining 20 percent of the eastern region of Donetsk that Moscow has failed to capture – something Kyiv refuses to do.

Trump again increased the pressure on Ukraine late on Monday.

When asked about the talks on board Air Force One, he described the negotiations as “big” and said, “Ukraine better come to the table, fast.” He did not elaborate further, saying, “That’s all I am telling you.”

The talks, which the Kremlin said will be held behind closed doors and with no media present, come after two earlier rounds held this year in Abu Dhabi. Those talks did not yield a breakthrough.

“This time, the idea is to discuss a broader range of issues, including, in fact, the main ones,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. “The main issues concern both the territories and everything else related to the demands we have put forward,” he said.

Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia was unwilling to compromise and wants to keep fighting.

“Even on the eve of the trilateral meetings in Geneva, the Russian army has no orders other than to continue striking Ukraine. This speaks volumes about how Russia regards the partners’ diplomatic efforts,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Monday.

“Only with sufficient pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine can this war realistically be brought to an end,” he added.

‘Serious’ intentions

The Russia-Ukraine war has spiralled into Europe’s deadliest conflict since 1945, with tens of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes and many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages devastated by the fighting.

Russia occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. It wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from swaths of heavily fortified and strategic territory as part of any peace deal. Kyiv has rejected the demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and has instead demanded robust security guarantees from the West.

The Kremlin said the Russian delegation would be led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.

However, the fact that Ukrainian negotiators have accused Medinsky in the past of lecturing them about history as an excuse for Russia’s invasion ⁠has further lowered expectations for any significant breakthrough in Geneva.

Military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov will also take part in the talks, while Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will be part of a separate ⁠working group on economic issues.

Vladmir Sotnikov, a political scientist based in Moscow, said the Russian team will consist of about 20 people, many more than delegations in previous rounds of talks.

“I think the Russian intentions are serious. Because you know, the situation here in Russia is that ordinary people are just tired of this war,” he told Al Jazeera.

Kyiv’s delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, and Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov. Senior presidential aide Serhiy Kyslytsya will ‌also be present.

Before the delegation left for Geneva, Umerov said Ukraine’s goal of “a sustainable and lasting peace” remained unchanged.

As well as land, Russia and Ukraine also remain far apart on issues such as who should control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the ‌possible ‌role of Western troops in post-war Ukraine.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent the Trump administration at the talks, according to the Reuters news agency. They are also attending talks in Geneva this week with Iran.

Iran launched naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, state TV reports, ahead of US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday. Video shows Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, overseeing the drills.