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Iranian official stresses no decision made on taking part, as US vice-president JD Vance is set to travel to Islamabad for negotiations JD Vance to lead US delegation in Pakistan if Iran agrees to talksOn Tuesday morning, Islamabad sat poised and ready to host a second round of talks – even as uncertainty reigned over whether both sides would even turn up.Pakistani officials remained optimistic that the second round of negotiations would happen, even as Iranian ministers said they would refuse to come to the table under the threat of “force” and it remained unclear exactly when US vice-president JD Vance planned to depart Washington for Islamabad. Continue reading...

Users of share cars will need to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocketGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s two biggest car-share companies, GoGet and Flexicar, have removed fuel cards from their Melbourne vehicles after a spate of break-ins and thefts that a senior GoGet executive described as “one of the dumbest crimes ever”.The change will force users of share cars to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket amid record-high fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran. Continue reading...

Industry experts say booking of controversial US rapper was calculated risk that has implications for all festivalsThe fallout over Wireless announcing Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) as its 2026 headliner was both swift and considerable.Last Sunday, major sponsors of the three-day festival, including Pepsi and Diageo, began to withdraw their involvement in the face of a significant backlash to Ye’s shocking pronouncements on the Jewish community and the Holocaust. UK Jewish groups threatened to protest if the shows went ahead. Keir Starmer called the decision to book the rapper who wrote a song titled Heil Hitler “deeply concerning”. Continue reading...

Three arrested by federal agents had family ties to Iranian military general, regime spokesperson or security chiefUnited States federal agents arrested three Iranian nationals – including the son of a revolutionary at the center of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis – after the US state department terminated their green cards, the department announced on Saturday.State department officials revoked the green card status of Seyed Eissa Hashemi, whose mother was an Iranian revolutionary who served as the spokesperson for Iran’s regime during the hostage crisis that defined the late Jimmy Carter’s presidency. The state department also revoked the green card – or legal permanent resident – statuses of Hashemi’s wife and son. Continue reading...

Vice-president’s war doubts and his boss’s desperation to reopen Red Sea look like a weak deck against bolstered opponentsAs JD Vance arrives in Islamabad to negotiate a peace deal with Iran, his first high-profile assignment of the war looks to be a poisoned chalice.Vance, a vocal opponent of US wars in the Middle East gone quiet since the beginning of the current military campaign, will now face off with Iranian negotiators who feel emboldened by their new control of the Hormuz strait and their resilience in the face of the largest US-Israeli onslaught in history. Vance’s presence at the talks as vice-president will make it the highest-level meeting since the Iranian revolution of 1979. Continue reading...

Watchdog finds complaints against City of Sanctuary UK were ‘misleading and false’ after online attacks over its migrant welcome projectA refugee charity subjected to vicious social media attacks over a migrant welcome project in schools has been cleared after watchdogs found allegations it encouraged pupils to send Valentine’s Day cards to asylum seekers were misleading and false.City of Sanctuary UK came under fire last year after rumours spread online that under its schools programme, children were being “forced” to write heart-shaped welcome cards to adult migrants, including cards addressed to “my fiancé”. Continue reading...

President says ‘little journey’ to Iran close to achieving US aims but offers little clarity on plan to wind down conflictMiddle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump used a primetime address to the nation on Wednesday evening to declare the month-long war in Iran a success “nearing completion”, despite a spiraling conflict that has caused economic turmoil across the globe, fractured transatlantic alliances and eroded the president’s approval ratings.In remarks from the White House, Trump argued that the US’s “little journey” to Iran had nearly accomplished “all of America’s military objectives”, but offered little clarity on how he planned to wind down the conflict over the next “two to three weeks”. Continue reading...