US’s will to revive nuke deal questioned
Tehran: Iran yesterday questioned the US’s will in reaching an agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, with key sticking points unresolved after talks halted last month.
Iran has been engaged in talks with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the US indirectly to revive the deal. Negotiations aim to return the US to the deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and ensure Tehran’s compliance with its commitments, including not to develop a nuclear weapon. “We don’t know if we’ll get a deal or not, because the US hasn’t shown the … will to reach an agreement,” the Iranian foreign ministry said. AFP
Finance minister open to scrutiny
London: British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has asked the government’s ethics advisor to review whether he followed all the rules after revelations about his family’s financial affairs stoked political controversy.
In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sunak requested that the government’s adviser on ministerial standards, Christopher Geidt, assess his declarations of interest since he first became a minister in 2018.
Johnson has agreed to the request.
It follows a leak last week revealing that his wealthy Indian wife, Akshata Murty, had benefited from “non-domicile” tax status in the UK, shielding her overseas income from taxes at a time when they are rising for most Britons. AFP
Gunmen kill 50, kidnap 70 in Nigeria
Nigeria: At least 50 people were killed and dozens abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s Plateau state, residents said yesterday, the latest in a spate of attacks by armed gangs in the northern parts of Africa’s most populous nation.
Such attacks are not common in Plateau, in central Nigeria. But the state shares a border with Kaduna state, where suspected bandits blew up train tracks, killed eight people and kidnapped dozens last month. Fifteen soldiers were last week killed by gunmen who attacked a Kaduna army base. Jonathan Ishaku, spokesperson for Plateau Elders Forum, said 50 were dead and 70 people, including women and children, kidnapped. | Reuters
Protests in Jakarta over rising prices
Jakarta: Indonesian police fired tear gas and water cannon yesterday to disperse hundreds of university students protesting high cooking oil prices and a mooted extension of President Joko Widodo’s stay in office.
Crowds of demonstrators were seen running away from the scene outside parliament in the capital, Jakarta, and rocks had been thrown into the complex.
The rally was one across Indonesia, including in South Sulawesi, West Java and Jakarta, where hundreds of students wearing neon jackets had marched towards parliament to complain about rising costs and the president outstaying his two-term limit. Reuters
48 tourists trapped after cable car crash
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force yesterday continued its operation to rescue 48 stranded tourists after at least two people were killed and several others injured when two cable cars in a ropeway collided with each other at Trikut hills close to Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on Sunday.
The rescue operation has been slow because the ropeway trolleys are stuck at a height of 182m and are not approachable from the ground, therefore they are being rescued by the air force chopper.
Trikut ropeway is one of the highest vertical ropeways. It is about 20km from the temple and is about 766m long. The Trikut hill is 392m high. IANS