Latest news with #AlJazeera
UPI
2 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
Iran boosting enriched Uranium stockpiles, U.N. nuclear watchdog says
This is a view in 2010 of Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran. File photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE May 31 (UPI) -- Iran has increased production of highly enriched uranium, according to the United Nations nuclear watchdog, as the nation conducts talks with the United States on a nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the Middle East country now possesses more than 408.6 kilograms, or 900 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60% purity as of May 17, according to a confidential report obtained by the BBC and Al Jazeera. That's a nearly 50% increase since February. In December, the IAEA said Iran was rapidly moving closer to the 90% threshold needed for weapons-grade material. This is enough for about 10 nuclear weapons if further refined. Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state producing uranium at this level. "The significantly increased production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium by Iran ... is of serious concern," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said. IAEA concluded that Tehran conducted nuclear activities at three previously unknown sites: Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, Turquzabad. And IAEA stated said it "cannot verify" the development of nuclear weapons, citing Iran's refusal to grant access to senior inspectors and not answer questions about its nuclear history. The IAEA board plans to meet in the coming days to discuss next steps. Iran has long said its nuclear enrichment is for peaceful purposes. "If the issue is nuclear weapons, yes, we too consider this type of weapon unacceptable," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised speech. "We agree with them on this issue." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday in a statement that Iran is "totally determined" to acquire nuclear weapons. "Such a level of enrichment exists only in countries actively pursuing nuclear weapons and has no civilian justification whatsoever," Netanyahu's office said. U.S. officials estimate Ian could produce weapons-grade material in less than two weeks and potentially build a bomb within months. Since talks began in April, both sides have expressed optimism but are divided over key issues, including whether Iran can continue enrichment under any future agreement. Two of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's advisors -- Ali Larijani and Kamal Kharazi -- have suggested Iran might reconsider building nuclear weapons if international pressure mounts. The IAEA findings could be a negotiation tool for Iran, Hamed Mousavi, professor of political science at Tehran University, told Al Jazeera. "I think both sides are trying to build leverage against the other side," he said. "From the Iranian perspective, an advancement in the nuclear program is going to bring them leverage at the negotiation table with the Americans. "Enriching up to 60% - from the Iranian perspective - is a sort of leverage against the Americans to lift sanctions." He said the U.S. could threaten more sanctions and refer the situation to the U.N. Security Council for its breach of the 2006 non-proliferation agreement. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he sees a nuclear deal with Iran that would allow the destruction of labs and inspections. Iran has rejected inspections. He said a deal is "very strong, where we can go in with inspectors. We can take whatever we want. We can blow up whatever we want. But nobody getting killed." In 2018, Trump unilaterally exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reimposed harsh sanctions. In 2015, Iran reached a deal with the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Russia, China and the European Union. Some sanctions on Iran were lifted for limits on its nuclear development program.
NBC News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
As Hamas mulls U.S.-backed ceasefire proposals, here's what's at stake for the Gaza and Israel
Tensions remained high Saturday as Hamas considered a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal that could bring an end to the fighting in Gaza, which ramped up after Israel launched a major military operation in the enclave earlier this month. President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office Friday that the deal which would pause hostilities for 60 days, allow the phased release of hostages, and pave the way for more humanitarian aid to flow into the devastated enclave, was 'very close.' The White House confirmed Thursday that Israel had accepted the proposals, but Hamas have responded coolly. Jihad Taha, a spokesperson for the militant group, told Al Jazeera late Friday that the proposals lacked 'any immediate commitment to stop the war,' a key Hamas demand. But he said Hamas leaders were 'seriously' discussing the proposals. NBC News looks at what's at stake: What does the deal include? Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, shared a framework of the agreement with NBC News, which calls for an immediate 60-day halt in fighting, during which Hamas would release 33 Israeli captives in exchange for 'a number of Palestinian prisoners.' In return, Israel would 'halt all military operations' in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect, and civilians would be allowed to return to their homes across the enclave. Under the terms of the framework Israeli forces would withdraw in two phases — first from densely populated areas, then from urban centers — with full withdrawal to be completed by the end of the ceasefire period. During the truce it says, 'negotiations will continue to reach an agreement on the release of Israeli soldiers in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.' The agreement would also allow for the entry of 600 trucks per day carrying humanitarian aid, including fuel, cooking gas, and medical supplies. Among the other proposals are that all border crossings between Gaza and Israel, and Gaza and Egypt, will also be reopened under international supervision, and patients and students will be allowed to travel abroad. Will it lead to an end to the war? While Hamas is yet to reject the agreement outright, differences that have derailed previous ceasefire efforts appear to remain. The latest proposals lay the groundwork for a temporary pause in the fighting, but offer no guarantee of a permanent end to the war. Hamas has signaled openness to talks but insists any lasting deal must include a complete cessation of hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel meanwhile, has demanded that Hamas disarm, dismantle its military and governing infrastructure, and return all 58 remaining hostages before agreeing to end the war. Hamas has rejected those terms. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict. Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave, which has been run by Hamas since 2007. The 'hungriest place on earth' More than 4,000 people have been killed in the Strip since Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas in early March and imposed a blockade preventing food, fuel and medical supplies from entering Gaza. The country's military launched a major new operation dubbed 'Gideon's Chariot,' which began earlier this month. The latest proposals to end the fighting come as the U.N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs called Gaza ' the hungriest place on earth, ' as Israeli continues to let only a trickle of aid into the enclave following an 11-week-long blockade that barred the entry of food and medicine into the enclave. 'The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket,' OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reports in Geneva on Friday. Accusing Israel of 'drip-feeding' food into the area, and said aid trucks were being surrounded 'by desperate people who want to feed their families.' 'I don't blame them for aid that essentially is already theirs, but it's not distributed in the way we wanted,' he added. Is aid getting into Gaza? The U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations this week days after Israel lifted its blockade, despite criticism from humanitarian groups who warned that they undermined a long-running humanitarian framework in Gaza and risked compromising the independence of aid operations. They also expressed significant concern over a plan laid out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see aid distributed at sites in southern Gaza, effectively forcibly displacing Palestinians there. In an update Saturday GHF said it had distributed 30 truckloads of food 'providing approximately 1,663,200 meals.' It added that Saturday's 'meal distribution was the largest to date and five times more than yesterday.'
IOL News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Uncovering the blood gold crisis in Burkina Faso
IN 2022, Burkina Faso endured its second coup in eight months, with Captain Ibrahim Traoré overthrowing his ally Paul Henri Damiba, who had himself seized power from democratically elected President Roch Kaboré. NEVER in history has Julius Nyerere's 1961 speech, *The Second Scramble for Africa*, been more relevant than today in the context of Burkina Faso. As Burkina Faso's military junta escalates its suppression of press freedoms, banning international media and imprisoning local journalists, the true scale of the humanitarian crisis and criminality emerges through the reporting of Al Jazeera and many other rights organisations. Their investigations reveal one of the largest scrambles for minerals in Africa and a nation in collapse: mass atrocities against civilians, unchecked terrorist violence, blood diamonds and a humanitarian catastrophe deliberately obscured by Captain Traoré's propaganda machine. Behind the façade of liberation and viral TikTok videos is a country and a region in a crisis. Earlier this month, Al Jazeera highlighted a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report revealing that Burkina Faso's military and allied militias massacred over 130 ethnic Fulani civilians near Solenzo in March 2025. Survivors described soldiers and pro-government militias shooting civilians 'like animals' while drones hovered overhead, indicating command-level coordination. These findings, corroborated by witness testimonies and video evidence, expose a systematic campaign of ethnic violence masked as counterterrorism. According to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), since 2019, the Sahel region now accounts for 'over half of all terrorism-related deaths', positioning the country as the 'epicentre of global terrorism'. The report further cites Burkina Faso as the number one ranked on its index list, overtaking Afghanistan and Iraq. To that end, since 2024, almost 2 000 people were killed in terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, accounting for nearly a quarter of all terrorist deaths globally. Terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso have also increased every year since 2014, with terrorism also surging in its neighbours, Mali and Niger. In 2022, Burkina Faso endured its second coup in eight months, with Captain Ibrahim Traoré overthrowing his ally Paul Henri Damiba, who had himself seized power from democratically elected President Roch Kaboré. To understand the unending coups in Burkina Faso, ABC Australia turned to Al Jazeera's West Africa correspondent, Nicolas Haque, for answers. The pressing question was: 'Who's behind the spate of coups in West Africa? Haque characterised the ousting of Kaboré as a coup in waiting, due to the instability of the country, years after Burkina Faso dictator Blaise Compaoré was ousted in 2014. Haque also documents how a generation of men and boy children has been lost in the country as slums are filled with women and girl children. Burkina boys and men are either dead or conscripted into militias like the volunteers for the defence of the homeland (VDP) led by Traore. Secular education has also been banned to enforce extreme sharia law, where children are only taught the Quran, and in worst cases, girl children are denied an opportunity to go to school. Such reportage by Nicolas Haque and his peers is a constant reminder of how a free press remains a cornerstone of democracies globally because if not for outlets such as Al Jazeera, the BBC and others, atrocities in terror and coup-prone Sahel region will remain unknown. Reports also indicate that civilian deaths in Burkina Faso have doubled. It is quite evident that more voices need to be amplified to enforce the Kampala convention in Burkina Faso, where governance has been absent for decades. Human rights organisations such as the Norwegian Refugee Council continue to expose how Burkina Faso is the world's worst and most neglected displacement crisis, with over 2 million people displaced and 6.3 million facing acute hunger. Similarly, ECO financial agency, has reported how as children starve, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger spent a combined $2.4 billion (R43bn) on their armed forces in 2024. South Africa, which is the largest economy in Africa, dropped its defence spending for the fourth year in a row, falling 6.3% to $2.8 billion and instead focused on boosting economic growth and improving social services. The Alliance of Sahel States which consists of military led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has diverted the limited national reserves of their countries to China and Russia giving this country's mineral concessions to fund militarisation of their countries. The Russian Mercenary and Military Industrial Complex is the new coloniser in Africa. Russia has tightened its grip in the Sahel Region using private military companies that thrive in undemocratic regimes and the militarisation of despondent Africans. Leaving millions of African children out of schools, healthcare systems crippled, and thousands of Burkinabe people on the brink of famine. In May 2025, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres strongly condemned the attacks on civilians by the militia. These attacks are consistent and also include the abduction of women and girl children. TikTok videos glorify Traore as a revolutionary who will save Africa, but civilians in towns such as Djibo are starving and eating leaves. Traore-backed regimes backed by the Russian Wagner Group and Africa Corps hide massacres such as the recent Solenzo massacre, where 100 Fulani civilians were slaughtered by this Traore-backed militia. As expected, the value of Russia's gold reserves has surged by 72% since the beginning of 2022, while the country's Mercenary industrial complex has opened new markets for Russia's military-industrial complex. This symbiotic relationship between Russia and Africa's military junta reveals a disturbing reality: Africa's instability is now a strategic asset for Russia. Russia is giving African countries more arms to buy rather than direct investments to build new infrastructure and invest in education and public amenities. Russia's military diplomacy in Africa must be condemned no less than we condemn the West, as anyone who funds Africans to kill each other is not an ally but an enemy. Especially if the end game is to profit. As reported by the United Nations Refugee Agency, over 1.6 million Sahelian children face malnutrition and are displaced. Russia's exploitation of Africa for extractive purposes must be condemned, and we must defend our hard-earned democracies throughout the continent. The greatest crime by Russia's Wagner Group, Africa Corp, and Russian companies is not just stealing Africa's minerals or popularising Coups and dictators through social media, it is weaponising our anti-colonial struggle against the West to justify their resource plunder and arming one brother against. As Africa Month comes to an end, let's take heed of the enduring words of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who said: 'What do you think is going to happen in the Second Scramble for Africa? In the second scramble for Africa, no imperialist power is going to fight another imperialist power for the control of Africa. This time, one imperialist power is going to arm one African nation, and another imperialist power is going to arm another African nation; and an African brother is going to slaughter another African brother, not in the interests of Africa, but in the interests of the imperialists, both old and new! 'I believe, therefore, that the poor countries of the world should be very careful not to allow themselves to be used as 'tools' of any of the rich countries. However much the rich countries may seek to fool them that they are on their side! And don't forget that the rich countries of the world today may be found on both sides of the division between 'Capitalist' and 'Socialist' countries.' What is happening in Burkina Faso is therefore not a Revolution but grand-scale looting by the East through well-managed and well-funded Public Relations. * Phapano Phasha is the chairperson of The Centre for Alternative Political and Economic Thought. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth', all its people at risk of famine, UN warns
Gaza is the 'hungriest place on Earth' and its entire population is at risk of famine, warns the United Nations, as desperate Palestinians are shot at, starved, and forced from their homes by the Israeli forces. Calling on Israel to stop its campaign of deliberate starvation and allow food into the besieged enclave, the UN on Friday said its mission to help Gaza's Palestinians is the 'most obstructed in recent history'. 'The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,' the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, said. He said out of 900 aid trucks that were approved to enter from the Israeli side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom in Israel, fewer than 600 have been offloaded in Gaza, adding that a lower amount of aid had been picked up for distribution. 'I have no flour, no oil, no sugar, no food. I collect mouldy bread and feed it to my children. I want to get a bag of flour for my children. I want to eat. I'm hungry,' a Palestinian told Al from Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud said the northern part of the Strip, which includes Gaza City, 'has not seen a drop of aid coming in that has been allowed in the past few days'. 'People in the central area, in the [southern] city of Khan Younis and Rafah are also struggling on a daily basis to find food supplies, particularly when it comes to flour and other basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions,' he added. After a nearly three-month blockade, Israel, under pressure from Western governments and international humanitarian organisations, allowed limited aid to enter the enclave and the resumption of limited UN operations. However, Israel also pushed for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy United States-backed private aid distributor, to provide essential food aid to starving Palestinians. The UN and other aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it lacks neutrality and its distribution model forces the displacement of Palestinians. Still, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday that while any aid that gets to those who need it is 'good', aid deliveries are having 'very, very little impact'. 'The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began,' he said. With only three of the four distribution points set up to receive aid from the GHF, people like Layla al-Masri, a displaced Palestinian, are leaving empty-handed. 'What they are saying about their will to feed the people of Gaza is all lies. They neither feed people nor give them anything to drink,' she said. Abdel Qader Rabie, another displaced Palestinian, said his family has nothing to eat. 'No flour, no food, no bread, we have nothing at home,' he said. 'Every time I go to get aid, I hold a box and hundreds of people crowd over me. Earlier, UNRWA [UN agency for Palestinian refugees] used to send me a message, [and] I would go and get aid. Now there's nothing. If you are strong, you get aid. If you are not, you leave empty-handed,' Qader Rabie said. Eri Kaneko, UN humanitarian affairs spokesperson, also criticised the type of aid that UN agencies are being allowed to bring into Gaza. 'Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn't been, it wouldn't amount to a complete diet for anyone,' Kaneko said. Palestinians who received GHF aid said their packages included rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits, and the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, described the GHF as a 'bait to corral people' which 'violates every principle of international law'. 'This is aid being used … to push people out from the north into militarised zones … and it's about humiliating people, and it's about controlling the population. This has nothing to do with stopping starvation,' he said. Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said not much food is coming into the enclave as the number of trucks entering and the aid they are carrying is very limited 'Despite the trucks' entry over the past few days, Palestinians say they have not really received any food because there have not been any normal distribution points,' she said, adding that many are going back with their pots empty. 'Some parents say they are giving their children water just to make them feel full. People say they are willing to do anything for one bag of flour or one food parcel. They are very desperate.'
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Gaza ‘hungriest place on Earth', all its people at risk of famine, UN warns
Gaza is the 'hungriest place on Earth' and its entire population is at risk of famine, warns the United Nations, as desperate Palestinians are shot at, starved, and forced from their homes by the Israeli forces. Calling on Israel to stop its campaign of deliberate starvation and allow food into the besieged enclave, the UN on Friday said its mission to help Gaza's Palestinians is the 'most obstructed in recent history'. 'The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,' the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, said. He said out of 900 aid trucks that were approved to enter from the Israeli side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom in Israel, fewer than 600 have been offloaded in Gaza, adding that a lower amount of aid had been picked up for distribution. 'I have no flour, no oil, no sugar, no food. I collect mouldy bread and feed it to my children. I want to get a bag of flour for my children. I want to eat. I'm hungry,' a Palestinian told Al Jazeera. Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud said the northern part of the Strip, which includes Gaza City, 'has not seen a drop of aid coming in that has been allowed in the past few days'. 'People in the central area, in the [southern] city of Khan Younis and Rafah are also struggling on a daily basis to find food supplies, particularly when it comes to flour and other basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions,' he added. After a nearly three-month blockade, Israel, under pressure from Western governments and international humanitarian organisations, allowed limited aid to enter the enclave and the resumption of limited UN operations. However, Israel also pushed for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy United States-backed private aid distributor, to provide essential food aid to starving Palestinians. The UN and other aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it lacks neutrality and its distribution model forces the displacement of Palestinians. Still, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday that while any aid that gets to those who need it is 'good', aid deliveries are having 'very, very little impact'. 'The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began,' he only three of the four distribution points set up to receive aid from the GHF, people like Layla al-Masri, a displaced Palestinian, are leaving empty-handed. 'What they are saying about their will to feed the people of Gaza is all lies. They neither feed people nor give them anything to drink,' she said. Abdel Qader Rabie, another displaced Palestinian, said his family has nothing to eat. 'No flour, no food, no bread, we have nothing at home,' he said. 'Every time I go to get aid, I hold a box and hundreds of people crowd over me. Earlier, UNRWA [UN agency for Palestinian refugees] used to send me a message, [and] I would go and get aid. Now there's nothing. If you are strong, you get aid. If you are not, you leave empty-handed,' Qader Rabie said. Eri Kaneko, UN humanitarian affairs spokesperson, also criticised the type of aid that UN agencies are being allowed to bring into Gaza. 'Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn't been, it wouldn't amount to a complete diet for anyone,' Kaneko said. Palestinians who received GHF aid said their packages included rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits, and sugar. Meanwhile, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, described the GHF as a 'bait to corral people' which 'violates every principle of international law'. 'This is aid being used … to push people out from the north into militarised zones … and it's about humiliating people, and it's about controlling the population. This has nothing to do with stopping starvation,' he said. Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said not much food is coming into the enclave as the number of trucks entering and the aid they are carrying is very limited 'Despite the trucks' entry over the past few days, Palestinians say they have not really received any food because there have not been any normal distribution points,' she said, adding that many are going back with their pots empty. 'Some parents say they are giving their children water just to make them feel full. People say they are willing to do anything for one bag of flour or one food parcel. They are very desperate.'
