International
Blinken says new Russia demands on Iran nuclear deal ‘irrelevant’
AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday dismissed as “irrelevant” Russian demands for guarantees that new sanctions linked to Ukraine will not affect Moscow’s rights under a reworked Iran nuclear deal.
With the parties to the Iran agreement, which the US abandoned in 2018, now seemingly close to a new accord, Blinken rejected fresh demands voiced Saturday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine “have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal,” Blinken said on CBS talk show “Face the Nation.”
They “just are not in any way linked together, so I think that’s irrelevant,” he said, speaking from Moldova, a small country on Ukraine’s southwest border.
Blinken said it was not only in America’s interest but Russia’s as well that Iran not be able “to have a nuclear weapon or the capacity to produce a weapon on very, very short order.”
The latest Russian reservations, coming amid the intense crisis over Ukraine, threaten hopes that an Iran agreement could be wrapped up quickly.
Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog had announced early Saturday that they agreed on an approach for resolving issues crucial to reviving the country’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in Vienna that while the UN agency and Iran had yet to resolve “a number of important matters,” they had now “decided to try a practical, pragmatic approach” to overcome them.
However, Grossi said there was “no artificial deadline.”
Britain, one of the parties to the parallel talks on the nuclear accord in Vienna, indicated Friday that an agreement was close.
But Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow, itself slapped with severe sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, needed guarantees before backing the nuclear deal.
He said Russia wanted written guarantees from the United States that Ukraine-related sanctions “will not in any way harm our rights to free, fully fledged trade and economic and investment cooperation, military-technical cooperation with Iran.”
Russia is party to the talks in Vienna along with Britain, China, France and Germany. The United States is participating indirectly.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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