
Germany, UK to sign mutual defence pact
It will include a section stating that any strategic threat to one country would represent a threat to the other and the accord is expected to be signed on July 17, it reported, citing two London-based officials. Although both countries are committed to Nato, the defence agreement highlights a shift among European states, including Germany under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to work more closely together and rely less on the US under President Donald Trump. A spokesperson for the German defence ministry said on Wednesday that he had no new developments to impart when asked about the Politico report at a government press conference in Berlin. — Reuters
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Muscat Daily
2 hours ago
- Muscat Daily
Iran, E3 countries agree to resume nuclear talks on Friday in Istanbul
Istanbul – Iran and the three European countries of France, Germany and Britain, collectively known as the E3, have agreed to resume nuclear talks this Friday in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported late Sunday. 'Iran and the European troika – comprising France, Germany and Britain – will resume nuclear negotiations on Friday in Istanbul,' the broadcaster said. Earlier in the day, the outlet reported that the four parties agreed in principle to resume nuclear negotiations next week, without providing details on the time and location. In talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday, the top diplomats of the UK, France, Germany and the European Union had emphasized the urgency of returning to diplomacy for a nuclear deal, or else they were prepared to trigger the UN 'snapback' mechanism reimposing international sanctions. Talks between Tehran and the US were being held through Omani mediators until Israel's surprise attack on Iran on June 13, which triggered a 12-day war. The attack came just two days before a planned sixth round of negotiations in the Omani capital Muscat. Iran accused the US of complicity in the Israeli attack, which killed top Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and civilians. The US also launched strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites, claiming to have obliterated them. A ceasefire took effect on June 24. While the US and Europeans say Iran can never have a nuclear bomb, Tehran argues its program is meant for peaceful use of nuclear power. After the talks with the E3 and EU, Araghchi said it was the US that withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord and any new round of talks is only possible 'when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial nuclear deal.' 'If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they lack absolutely no moral and legal ground,' he said on X. -Agencies


Observer
20 hours ago
- Observer
Calm returns to Syria after violence that killed 1,000
SWEIDA: Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,000 people. A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in the government, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. Correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no clashes on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce and at least one humanitarian convoy headed for the Druze-majority city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight, "Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm", adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The Britain-based Observatory gave an updated toll on Sunday of more than 1,000 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 342 government security personnel and 21 Bedouin. Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida days ago. Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, said that "the city hasn't seen calm like this in a week". The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted". The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening. Interim President Ahmed al Sharaa had on Saturday announced a fresh ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria's ethnic minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since Syrians overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al Assad in December. A spokesman for Syria's tribal and clan council said late on Saturday that fighters had left the city "in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement". Another medic inside Sweida said that "the situation is totally calm... We aren't hearing clashes." "No medical or relief assistance has entered until now," the medic added, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. State news agency SANA published images showing medical aid being prepared near the health ministry in Damascus and quoted Health Minister Musab al Ali as saying assistance would be delivered to Sweida's main hospital, where bodies have piled up. Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce. The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence. US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Sunday that the country stood at a "critical juncture", adding that "peace and dialogue must prevail — and prevail now". "All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance," he wrote on X, saying "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order". Sharaa's announcement on Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria's government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defence of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarisation of Syria's south. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security forces to prevent militants from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the south, and called on Damascus to "bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks". — AFP


Observer
20 hours ago
- Observer
Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
KYIV: Kyiv has proposed to Moscow a new round of peace talks next week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said, hours after Russian strikes across Ukraine claimed more lives. Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers. "Security Council Secretary Umerov... reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week," Zelensky said in his evening address. "The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up," he added. Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace - lasting peace," he said. At talks last month, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support. Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable and at the time questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow was not willing to make concessions. The Kremlin said earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions. Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks. Russia has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over recent months, defying Trump's warning. Most lately on Saturday, it had fired missile and drone strikes that killed three people across Ukraine. Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, into which Russia's forces have recently advanced. An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight. Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight, causing extensive delays in the southern Rostov region, when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded one railway worker. Moscow and Kyiv are menacing each other with swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm each other's air defence, as the warring sides said on Saturday they had intercepted hundreds of drones, now launched in large amounts almost daily. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv received 1,000 soldiers' bodies on Thursday, while Russia said it had received 19 from Ukraine. The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war. — AFP