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KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the new minerals agreement with the United States as a deal that brings “equal” benefits to both countries, despite falling short of the explicit security guarantees Kyiv had sought.

He said the long-awaited accord marks a major step in Ukraine’s recovery efforts, opening the door to significant US investment without creating new debt.

But Zelensky said more pressure was needed on Russia after its military response to the minerals accord signed on Wednesday was missile strikes on Kyiv and other towns that left at least two dead and 15 wounded.

The agreement, which has taken months to negotiate, would see the United States and Kyiv jointly develop and invest in Ukraine’s critical mineral resources.

US President Donald Trump initially described the arrangement as “money back” for the wartime aid Ukraine received under his predecessor Joe Biden.

Ukraine said the new agreement is not linked to any past “debt” however. And US officials stressed that the accord signalled US support for Ukraine.

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in Washington.

The agreement “changed significantly” during negotiations, Zelensky said in his daily address.

“Now it is a truly equal agreement that creates an opportunity for quite significant investment in Ukraine.”

“There is no debt in the deal, and a fund — a recovery fund — will be created that will invest in Ukraine and earn money here,” he added.

Kyiv and Washington planned to sign the agreement in February, but a White House clash between Trump and Zelensky derailed the talks.

Ukraine hopes the deal will now pave the way for the United States to give security guarantees as it seeks to safeguard against future Russian attacks following Moscow’s three-year invasion.

The agreement still needs to be ratified by Ukraine’s parliament.

‘Be quiet and negotiate’

Under the deal, Ukraine and the United States will establish a joint Reconstruction Investment Fund.

Profits from the agreement will be invested exclusively in Ukraine for the first 10 years, after which profits “may be distributed between the partners,” Kyiv said.

The new agreement does not give any specific US security commitments, but Washington argues boosting its business interests in Ukraine will help deter Russia.

Moscow has kept up its attacks on Ukraine unabated, despite Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire.

An overnight Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed two people and wounded more than a dozen others, authorities said.

“We need further pressure on Russia to force it to be quiet and to negotiate. The more effective the sanctions are, the more incentives Russia will have to end the war,” Zelensky said on Telegram following the attack.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP on Thursday, after Washington talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the European Union is preparing a 17th round of sanctions against Russia, describing President Vladimir Putin as the “sole obstacle” to peace in Ukraine.

A bipartisan group of US senators led by Republican Lindsay Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal also last month proposed legislation that would impose sanctions on countries friendly to Moscow if it disrupts efforts to end the war.

Russia rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States and Ukraine in March, demanding a halt in Western military aid for Kyiv.

The United States warned that this week would be “critical” in determining whether it would walk away from efforts to broker an end to the three-year war.

Putin has declared a surprise three-day truce from May 8–10, coinciding with Moscow’s large-scale celebrations for the 80th World War II Victory Day celebrations.

In view of imminent Indian military incursion, school playing fields in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are being transformed into first aid camps for children to learn how to respond if war breaks out with New Delhi.

Wearing a protective helmet and a fluorescent vest, 13-year-old Konain Bibi listened attentively to her first aid lesson.

“With India threatening us, there’s a possibility of war, so well all have to support each other,” she told AFP.

Pakistan has warned that it has “credible intelligence” that India was planning an imminent military strike.

Already frosty relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted since a deadly assault on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last week.

India blames Pakistan for the gun attack that killed 26 people on April 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving his military “complete operational freedom”, although Islamabad has denied any involvement and offered to cooperate in transparent and credible probe into the attack.

There are more than 6,000 schools, colleges and universities on the Pakistan side of the border — including 1,195 along the Line of Control (LoC).

Local authorities launched first aid training this week, teaching students how to jump out of a window, use an inflatable evacuation slide, or carry an injured person.

‘Come straight home’

In Muzaffarabad, the largest city in the AJK, training sessions have already taken place in 13 schools, according to emergency workers.

“In an emergency, schools are the first to be affected, which is why we are starting evacuation training with schoolchildren,” Abdul Basit Moughal, a trainer from Pakistan’s Civil Defence directorate, told AFP.

The agency will deploy its rescue workers to schools bordering the LoC in the coming days.

“We’re learning to help our friends and provide first aid in case India attacks us,” said 12-year-old Faizan Ahmed as students watched an instructor handle a fire extinguisher.

Eleven-year-old Ali Raza added: “We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire.”

About 1.5 million people live near the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, where residents were preparing for violence by readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers reinforced with concrete if they could afford it.

“For a week we are living under constant fear,” said Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi.

“We are extremely worried about their safety on the way to school because the area was targeted by the Indian army in the past,” he said of the village’s children.

“We make sure they don’t roam around after finishing their school and come straight home.”

DUBAI: A fourth round of talks between the United States and Iran, which had been due to take place in Rome on Saturday, has been postponed and a new date will be set “depending on the US approach”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.

“US sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the official told Reuters.

“Depending on the US approach, the date of the next round of talks will be announced.”

Oman, which mediated earlier sessions of the US-Iran talks, said on Thursday the next round of nuclear discussions provisionally planned for May 3 would be rescheduled for “logistical reasons”.

However, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the United States had never confirmed its participation in the fourth round of talks in Rome.

The source said the timing and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be confirmed but are expected in the near future.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran accused the US of “contradictory behaviour and provocative statements” after Washington warned Tehran of consequences for backing Yemen’s Houthis and imposed new oil-related sanctions on it in the midst of nuclear talks.

Separately, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would continue to engage “seriously and resolutely” in result-oriented negotiations with the US, state media reported.

US President Donald Trump , who has threatened to attack Iran if diplomacy fails, has signalled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.

Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.

Iran has far exceeded the 2015 agreement’s curbs on its uranium enrichment since the US exited the pact and European countries share Washington’s concern that Tehran could seek an atomic bomb. Iran says its programme is peaceful.

Iran and three European powers – Britain, France and Germany – were scheduled to meet in Rome on Friday to improve strained ties over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme during this time of high-stakes talks between Tehran and Washington, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday.

A new law draft in Nepal aims to improve safety and shrink crowding by limiting Everest permits to climbers who have climbed at least one of the 7,000-metre (22,965-foot) Himalayan nation’s peaks.

Nepal, which is largely reliant on climbing, trekking and tourism for foreign cash, has faced censure for allowing too many climbers, especially novice ones, to try to ascend the 8,849-metre (29,032 ft) peak.

This often results in long queues of climbers in the ‘death Zone’, an area below the summit with insufficient natural oxygen for survival.

Overcrowding has been blamed for the high number of deaths on the mountain. At least 12 climbers died, and another five went missing on Everest’s slopes in 2023 when Nepal issued 478 permits. Eight climbers died last year.

Under the proposed law, an Everest permit would be issued only after a climber provides evidence of having climbed at least one 7,000-metre mountain in Nepal.

The sardar, or the head of local staff, and the mountain guide accompanying climbers must also be Nepali citizens.

The draft law has been registered at the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, where the ruling alliance holds a majority required to pass the bill.

International expedition operators have urged Nepal to allow any 7,000-metre peak, not just those in the Himalayan nation, for the Everest permit.

“That wouldn’t make any sense. And I would also add mountains that are close to 7,000 metres to that list and that are widely used as preparation, like Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali and others,” said Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based expedition organiser, Furtenbach Adventures.

Furtenbach, currently leading an expedition on Everest, said mountain guides from other countries must also be allowed to work on Everest, as there are not enough qualified Nepali mountain guides.

“It is important that mountain guides have a qualification like IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations), no matter what nationality they are. We do also welcome Nepali IFMGA guides to work in the Alps in Europe,” he told Reuters.

Garrett Madison of the US-based Madison Mountaineering also said a 6,500-metre peak anywhere in the world would be a better idea.

“It’s too difficult to find a reasonable 7,000-metre plus peak in Nepal,” Madison said.

There are over 400 mountain peaks in Nepal which are open to expeditions – of them, 74 are higher than 7,000 metres, according to tourism department data.

However, not many of those peaks are popular among climbers, hiking officials said.

“Only a few of the 7,000 metre mountains attract climbers,” said Tashi Lhakpa Sherpa of the 14 Peaks Expedition, a major expedition organising company in Nepal. Tashi has climbed Everest eight times.

A reported plan by Amazon to label product prices with U.S. tariff information has been scrapped, drawing praise from President Donald Trump and defusing what could have been a political flashpoint. 

The initial report, from Punchbowl News, suggested Amazon’s low-cost Haul platform was preparing to reveal how much tariffs were adding to prices. The White House swiftly condemned the idea, calling it “hostile” and politically motivated.

President Trump later confirmed a personal conversation with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whom he praised for resolving the matter. Trump said Bezos was “a good guy” and “solved the problem very quickly.” Amazon later released a statement saying that while the idea was considered internally, it was never implemented or approved.

The controversy comes amid Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs to reshape global trade. After assuming office in January, Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on imports from most nations and additional sector-specific tariffs targeting key competitors like China. Beijing has responded with retaliatory duties of its own.

The economic fallout is becoming increasingly apparent. UPS, one of Amazon’s biggest delivery partners, announced a major workforce reduction of 20,000 jobs, citing decreased volume tied to changes in trade flows. Company officials described the move as a response to a “changing trade environment.”

While the Amazon situation has been defused, it reflects growing concern about the broader implications of tariff policy. Critics argue that consumers will ultimately bear the cost, even if it’s not made explicit on the price tag. 

The White House remains committed to its trade agenda, but the pushback from major corporations highlights the tensions surrounding the new economic direction.

May 1 (Thursday) is likely to be the hottest start to May on record for the United Kingdom with a peak temperature of 29 degrees Celsius expected in south-east England.

The earlier record of 27.4°C on May 1, 1990 at Lossiemouth would be exceeded by this, reported BBC.

At this time of year, temperatures will widely be around 7°C to 11°C higher than the average.

Temperatures will start to gradually fall over the bank holiday weekend to around average by Monday after a peak in heat on Thursday.

With temperatures generally in the low to mid-twenties on Wednesday, extremely warm, even hot, weather was experienced throughout the United Kingdom.

The warmest April weather in seven years occurred in south-east England, where the temperature at Wisley, Surrey, reached 26.7°C (80.1°F).

At Aboyne (Aberdeenshire), Scotland experienced its highest April temperature since 2019. It was 24.4°C (75.9°F).

After the national record of 26.2°C was achieved at Gogerddan (Ceredigion) in 2003, Wednesday was the second-hottest April day on record in Wales.

At 24.1°C Castlederg, it was also the second-hottest April day on record in Northern Ireland, surpassing the previous record of 24.5°C established in 1984.

While moderate in Scotland’s far north, UV levels were high throughout the majority of the United Kingdom.

Thursday is predicted to be considerably hotter across England and Wales, with highs of the mid to upper 20s and even as high as 29 degrees Celsius.

The record for the warmest start to May would be surpassed by several degrees if such were the case.

It will get cooler across Scotland and Northern Ireland, though, with some cloud cover and showers. In fact, temperatures will drop to about 13vC to 17°C, which is the typical range for early May.

Parts of Wales, the Midlands, and eastern England may experience heavy, thundery showers on Thursday due to rising humidity.

There has been a significant region of high pressure in the UK for the past week, but it has effectively remained stationary and obstructed.

This indicates that the UK has experienced settled and dry weather as a result of rain-bearing zones of low pressure that would typically arrive off the mid-Atlantic being redirected elsewhere.

BEIJING: The United States has approached China seeking talks on US President Donald Trump’s singling Beijing out for exuberantly high tariffs, said Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.

“The United States has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” Yuyuan Tantian said in a post published on its official Weibo social media account, citing anonymous sources.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, on Wednesday said “as far as I know, there have been no consultations or negotiations between China and the US on tariffs”.

Trump said in a US media interview published last Friday that his administration was talking with China to reach a tariff deal and that China’s President Xi Jinping had called him.

Beijing last week repeatedly denied such talks were taking place, accusing Washington of “misleading the public”.

Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145% on many Chinese products came into force in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125% duties on imports from the United States.

“From a negotiation standpoint, the US is currently the more anxious party,” the outlet, which blends analysis with news reporting, said on the X-like platform Weibo.

“The Trump administration is facing multiple pressures,” it added.

On Wednesday Trump reiterated there was a “very good chance we’re going to make a deal”.

“But we’re going to make it on our terms and it’s got to be fair,” he told a NewsNation “town hall”.

Elon Musk is preparing to reduce his role in the Trump administration’s efficiency drive, as his leadership of the informal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) increasingly collides with the financial and reputational needs of Tesla, AFP reported. 

US President Donald Trump acknowledged Musk’s decision during a cabinet meeting, saying the billionaire would be welcome to remain but was being pulled back toward his core businesses.

Musk’s association with controversial government spending cuts has led to growing brand damage for Tesla, including a surge in calls for consumer boycotts and a series of high-profile vandalism incidents. 

While Musk’s role in DOGE was never formal, his visibility and close ties to Trump made him a central figure in the administration’s cost-reduction campaign.

“The vast majority of the people in this country respect and appreciate you,” Trump said at the meeting, before noting that Musk likely needed “to get back home to his cars.”

Musk confirmed he intends to step back, telling Trump he appreciated the support but needed to focus on Tesla. “They did like to burn my cars, which is not great,” he said, referencing recent protests.

David Sacks, a senior DOGE figure and longtime Musk ally, said the billionaire would retain a supervisory role but delegate operational duties—mirroring the strategy he used at Twitter after its acquisition in 2022.

The change marks a significant shift in how the Trump administration’s cost-cutting agenda is perceived, with Musk’s departure likely to remove one of its most high-profile advocates. 

It also comes at a time when Tesla is contending with internal challenges, declining market share, and increased scrutiny from investors over Musk’s divided attention.

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in the Trump administration’s efficiency drive, as his leadership of the informal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) increasingly collides with the financial and reputational needs of Tesla. 

US President Donald Trump acknowledged Musk’s decision during a cabinet meeting, saying the billionaire would be welcome to remain but was clearly being pulled back toward his core businesses.

Musk’s association with controversial government spending cuts has led to growing brand damage for Tesla, including a surge in calls for consumer boycotts and a series of high-profile vandalism incidents. 

While Musk’s role in DOGE was never formal, his visibility and close ties to Trump made him a central figure in the administration’s cost-reduction campaign.

“The vast majority of the people in this country really respect and appreciate you,” Trump said at the meeting, before noting that Musk likely needed “to get back home to his cars.”

Musk confirmed he intends to step back, telling Trump he appreciated the support but needed to focus on Tesla. “They did like to burn my cars, which is not great,” he said, referencing recent protests.

David Sacks, a senior DOGE figure and longtime Musk ally, said the billionaire would retain a supervisory role but delegate operational duties — mirroring the strategy he used at Twitter after its acquisition in 2022.

The US economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter of 2025, as a rush of imports, driven by the anticipation of sweeping new tariffs, undermined domestic growth, AFP reported. 

President Donald Trump, however, deflected responsibility, placing the blame on the policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

According to preliminary data from the US Commerce Department, GDP fell at an annualised rate of 0.3% in the first three months of the year. 

This marked the first contraction in over two years, and fell well short of the 0.4% expansion economists had forecast.

The downturn was attributed mainly to a surge in imports, as businesses and consumers accelerated foreign purchases ahead of Trump’s tariff hikes. 

At the same time, consumer and government spending declined, further weakening economic performance.

“The underlying cause here is the fear of tariffs, not weakness in demand,” noted analysts at Wells Fargo, who added that while recession risks have grown, this single quarter does not mark the start of a broader downturn.

President Trump, addressing a cabinet meeting, dismissed any link between the contraction and his policies. 

“That’s Biden, that’s not Trump,” he said, while highlighting what he called a “whopping” 22% jump in domestic investment during the quarter.

The White House echoed his message, claiming GDP was “a backwards-looking indicator” and that the figures masked underlying economic strength under Trump’s leadership. But critics were quick to respond. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the contraction was a “blaring warning” that Trump’s “MAGA experiment” was putting the economy at risk.

Since returning to the office, Trump has introduced a baseline 10% tariff on most imports, with far steeper rates applied to Chinese goods, some exceeding 145%. 

In response to market volatility and political pressure, the administration paused the tariff increases for 90 days for certain countries, though tensions with China have escalated.

Defending the tariffs, Trump said the country could afford to consume less. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he quipped. “And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more.”

Financial markets reacted with initial losses before recovering some ground, while oil prices continued to fall amid investor uncertainty.

WASHINGTON: The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday signed a minerals deal after a two-month delay, in what President Donald Trump’s administration called a new form of US commitment to Kyiv after the end of military aid.

Ukraine said it secured key interests after protracted negotiations, including full sovereignty over its own rare earths, which are vital for new technologies and largely untapped.

Trump had initially demanded rights to Ukraine’s mineral wealth as compensation for the billions of dollars in US weapons sent under former president Joe Biden after Russia invaded just over three years ago.

After initial hesitation, Ukraine has accepted a minerals accord as a way to secure long-term investment by the United States, as Trump tries to drastically scale back US security commitments around the world.

Announcing the signing of the deal in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it showed “both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine.”

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent said.

“And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on national television that the agreement was “good, equal and beneficial.”

In a post on Telegram, Shmygal said that the two countries would establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund with each side having 50 percent voting rights.

“Ukraine retains full control over its subsoil, infrastructure and natural resources,” he said.

Meeting a key concern for Kyiv, he said Ukraine would not be asked to pay back any “debt” for the billions of dollars in US weapons and other support since Russia invaded in February 2022.

“The fund’s profits will be reinvested exclusively in Ukraine,” he said.

Trump had originally sought $500 billion in mineral wealth — around four times what the United States has contributed to Ukraine since the war.

US presence against ‘bad actors’

Trump has balked at offering security guarantees to Ukraine and has rejected its aspiration to join NATO.

But Trump said on Wednesday that a US presence on the ground would benefit Ukraine.

“The American presence will, I think, keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we’re doing the digging,” Trump said at the cabinet meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday threatened that the Trump administration would give up on mediation on the conflict — which Trump had vowed during the campaign to end on his first day in office — unless the two sides come forward with “concrete proposals.”

Trump has pressed for a settlement in which Ukraine would give up some territory seized by Russia, which has rejected US-backed overtures for a ceasefire of at least 30 days.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any formal concession to Russia of Crimea, the peninsula seized in 2014 and whose annexation by Moscow is roundly rejected internationally.

But Zelensky has taken care to voice support for Trump’s diplomacy after a disastrous 28 February White House meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him for allegedly being ungrateful for US assistance.

Zelensky had been due to sign the minerals agreement at the White House but was abruptly shown the door after the stunning on-camera feud.

Ukraine holds some five percent of the world’s mineral resources and rare earths, according to various estimates. But work has not yet started on tapping many of the resources and many sites are in territory now controlled by Russian forces.

Notably, Ukraine has around 20 percent of the world’s graphite, an essential material for electric batteries, according to France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research.

Ukraine is also a major producer of manganese and titanium, and says it possesses the largest lithium deposits in Europe.

Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory after more than three years of brutal fighting that has killed tens of thousands including civilians.

Ukraine launched a surprise incursion last August into Russia’s Kursk region. Moscow claimed to have fully cleared out Ukrainian forces over the weekend.

Russia said Wednesday that 288 civilians died during the Kursk incursion.