
Ukraine fears US arms deliveries will be diverted to Israel
In Kyiv, the 12-day war between Iran on one side and Israel, joined by the US, on the other, was watched with anxiety. What if oil prices skyrocketed, showering petrodollars on the Russian military-industrial complex? What if a prolonged air war depleted the US and then Western arsenals of anti-aircraft missiles, which Ukraine already sorely lacks, to the benefit of Israel?
The ceasefire between the parties and Tehran's unfulfilled threat to block the Strait of Hormuz have eased fears of an oil shock benefiting Moscow. But concerns remain in Kyiv over American arsenal eyed by Ukraine. Donald Trump has done little to dispel these worries. Questioned by a Ukrainian journalist on Wednesday, June 25 in The Hague, during a press conference following the NATO summit, the US president, speaking to his worried interlocutor, responded with the wry tone of a merchant holding all the cards: "They [the Ukrainians] do want to have Patriot missile defense systems. We're going to see if we can make some available. You know, they're very hard to get. We need them too. We were supplying them to Israel. They're very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective."

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France 24
34 minutes ago
- France 24
Trump says saved Iran leader from 'ignominious death'
In an extraordinary outburst on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran for claiming to have won its war with Israel and said he was halting work on possible sanctions relief. Trump said that the United States would bomb Iran again "without question" if the country was still able to enrich nuclear-weapons grade uranium following US strikes. The US president accused the Iranian leader of ingratitude after Khamenei said in a defiant message that reports of damage to its nuclear sites from US bombing were exaggerated, and said Iran had beaten Israel and dealt Washington a "slap." Trump posted: "I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life." "I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!'" Trump said that he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran's long-term demands. "But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more," Trump added, exhorting Iran to return to the negotiating table. Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States, after Trump said at a NATO summit in The Hague that negotiations were set to begin again next week. 'Beat to hell' Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had expressed hope "for a comprehensive peace agreement." Asked earlier in a White House press conference whether he would consider fresh air strikes if last week's sorties were not successful in ending Iran's nuclear ambitions, Trump said: "Sure. Without question. Absolutely." Trump added that Khamenei and Iran "got beat to hell" in the hostilities involving the United States and Israel and that "it was a great time to end it." He had said during the press conference that he would be "putting out a little statement" on Khamenei's comments, which appeared to be the Truth Social post. In the post, he accused Khamenei of "blatantly and foolishly" saying Iran won the 12-day war with Israel, adding: "As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie." The war of words come as a fragile ceasefire holds in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Speculation had however swirled about the fate of Khamenei. In a televised speech on Thursday -- his first appearance since the ceasefire -- Khamenei hailed what he described as Iran's "victory" over Israel, vowed never to yield to US pressure and insisted Washington had been dealt a humiliating "slap". "The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration," Khamenei said, rejecting Trump's claims Iran's nuclear program had been set back by decades.


France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Rwanda and DR Congo sign US-brokered peace agreement in Washington, DC
Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday, raising hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more so far this year. The agreement marks a breakthrough in talks held by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which also aim to attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. At a ceremony with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Department of State, the two countries' foreign ministers signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern DR Congo within 90 days, according to a version initialled by technical teams last week and seen by Reuters. Rwanda's top diplomat said Friday that DR Congo agreed to end all support for Hutu militants linked to the 1994 genocide. The agreement is "grounded in the commitment made here for an irreversible and verifiable end to state support for FDLR and associated militias", Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said at the ceremony. 05:55 Kinshasa and Kigali will also launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. "They were going at it for many years, and with machetes – it is one of the worst, one of the worst wars that anyone has ever seen. And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled," Trump said on Friday, ahead of the two sides signing the deal in Washington. "We're getting, for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo as part of it. They're so honoured to be here. They never thought they'd be coming." Trump was due to meet the foreign ministers in the Oval Office later on Friday. Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern DR Congo's two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year. The gains this year by M23, the latest cycle in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, sparked fears of a wider war drawing in DR Congo's neighbours. Rwandan Foreign Minister Nduhungirehe called the deal a turning point. DR Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said the agreement must be followed by disengagement. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the initialled version of the agreement. Economic deals Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters in May that Washington wanted the peace deal and accompanying minerals deals to be signed simultaneously this summer. However, the agreement signed on Friday gives DR Congo and Rwanda three months to launch a framework "to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains", according to the initialled version seen by Reuters. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that another agreement on the framework would be signed by the heads of state at a separate White House event at an unspecified time. There is an understanding that progress in ongoing talks in Doha – a separate but parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Congolese government and M23 – is essential before the signing of the economic framework, the source said. DRC, Rwanda to sign US-mediated peace deal and end conflict 05:05 The agreement signed on Friday was set to voice "full support" for the Qatar-hosted talks, according to the initialled version. It also says DR Congo and Rwanda will form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a DR Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. Reuters reported on Thursday that Congolese negotiators had dropped an earlier demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern DR Congo, paving the way for Friday's signing ceremony. DR Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against DR Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. "This is the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment despite all the challenges and flaws," said Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University, specialising in Africa's Great Lakes region. Similar formulas have been attempted before, he added, and "it will be up to the US, as they are the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms".


Fashion Network
2 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Catapano Group grows in Europe and the USA, expects 10% revenue growth in 2025
2024 was a positive year for Italian childrenswear specialist Catapano Group, based in Nola, near Naples, owner of Fun&Fun and HLove and licensee of Seville and Marc Ellis, for which it also produces womenswear. Catapano Group regularly exhibits at Pitti Bimbo, where founder and owner Giovanni Catapano told he is happy with how fiscal 2025 has started. 'Our main brand, Fun&Fun, is split into Fun&Fun Baby, Fun&Fun Couture and Fun&Fun Chic, and the Couture and Chic segments, especially the summer collections, are doing very well, since we're targeting a high-level audience, notably for occasionwear. Our products are both neat and sophisticated,' said Catapano. For Spring/Summer 2026, the group has increased the number of SKUs of its flagship brand Fun&Fun to 1,100, 'chiefly made in cotton. Any polyester we use is found on the outside [of garments], the layer underneath is always cotton only,' he added. 'We've done good business at Pitti Bimbo 101, with significant orders placed by clients from the Arab world, notably the UAE, and Japan,' said Catapano. In fiscal 2024, the group recorded a revenue of €12.8 million, 70% of which was generated by Fun&Fun and 30% by licensed brands with the summer 2025 collections. 'Fifteen stores of the 17teen childrenswear chain are currently selling our brands, on which we are investing and expending a great deal of energy. They are also distributed via 450 multibrand stores in Italy and abroad,' said Catapano. He added that he's aiming 'to win back the Russian market, which we lost in the wake of the conflict. This is why our revenue slumped from the €18 million we'd recorded pre-Covid, but we're taking small steps in the right direction in Russia, and in Ukraine too.' The group, which used to have a strong position in eastern Europe, employs 45 people, and its main markets outside Italy are the UK, the Netherlands and the UAE. It is also doing well in the USA, its fastest-growing market last year. 'We're expecting to generate a revenue of €13.5 million in 2025, a growth of about 10%,' said Catapano. He added that 'we're happy about our licensing business, and we're thinking of adding more brands, but only of a very, very high calibre. We know how to make extremely fine clothes, only a high fashion brand would be right for us. We're working on it.'