Trump's Controversial Pick for Malaysia Envoy to Get Anwar's ‘Due Consideration'
Anwar has faced pressure to reject the nominee, Nick Adams, an Australian-American commentator and a self-described 'alpha male' Trump supporter. Critics within the Muslim-majority country have labeled him Islamophobic, citing his social media posts supporting Israel, and pointed to his enthusiasm for racy restaurant chain Hooters as out of sync with its cultural norms.
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Trump suggests Fed Chair may cut interest rates
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Friday he had a good meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and got the impression Powell might be ready to lower interest rates. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
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European and Iranian diplomats meet in Istanbul as return of sanctions looms over nuclear deadlock
ISTANBUL (AP) — Talks between Iranian and European diplomats in Istanbul ended Friday with the sides agreeing to meet again to seek to unpick the deadlock over Tehran's nuclear program. Representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 nations, gathered at the Iranian Consulate building for the first talks since Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June, which involved U.S. bombers striking nuclear-related facilities. The talks, which ended after four hours, centered on the possibility of reimposing sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2015 in exchange for Iran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program. Iranian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, said that the 'serious, frank and detailed' meeting focused on the nuclear issue and the status of sanctions while agreeing to further discussions. Snapback mechanism The E3 nations had earlier warned that sanctions could return under a process known as the 'snapback' mechanism, which allows one of the Western parties to reimpose U.N. sanctions if Tehran doesn't comply with its requirements. 'Both sides came to the meeting with specific ideas,' Gharibabadi said in a social media post. 'It was agreed that consultations on this matter will continue.' As the talks were ongoing, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said that he hoped that the meeting would see the E3 nations reassess their 'previous unconstructive attitude.' European leaders have said sanctions will resume by the end of August, if there is no progress on containing Iran's nuclear program. The snapback mechanism 'remains on the table," a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, 'A possible delay in triggering snapback has been floated to the Iranians on the condition that there is credible diplomatic engagement by Iran, that they resume full cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and that they address concerns about their highly-enriched uranium stockpile,' the diplomat said prior to Friday's negotiations. Rebuilding trust Tehran, meanwhile, has said that Washington, which withdrew from the 2015 deal during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump, needs to rebuild faith in its role in negotiations. Gharibabadi previously said that Iran's engagement was dependent on 'several key principles' that included 'rebuilding Iran's trust — as Iran has absolutely no trust in the United States.' In a social media post on Thursday, he also said that the talks shouldn't be used 'as a platform for hidden agendas such as military action.' Gharibabadi insisted that Iran's right to enrich uranium 'in line with its legitimate needs' be respected, and sanctions removed. Iran has repeatedly threatened to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits it to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, if sanctions return. Europe's role Friday's talks were held at the deputy ministerial level, with Iran sending Gharibabadi and a fellow deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi. A similar meeting was held in Istanbul in May. The identity of the E3 representatives weren't immediately clear, but the European Union's deputy foreign policy commissioner was thought to be attending. The U.K., France and Germany were signatories to the 2015 deal, alongside the U.S., Russia and China. When Washington withdrew in 2018, Trump insisted the agreement wasn't tough enough. Under the original deal, neither Russia nor China can veto reimposed sanctions. Since the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, which saw American B-52 bombers hit three nuclear sites, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the E3 of hypocrisy, saying that they failed to uphold their obligations while supporting Israel's attacks. Uncertainty ahead Against the backdrop of the conflict, in which Iran responded with missile attacks on Israel and a strike on a U.S. base in Qatar, the road ahead remains uncertain. While European officials have said they want to avoid further conflict and are open to a negotiated solution, they have warned that time is running out. Tehran maintains that it's open to diplomacy, though it recently suspended cooperation with the IAEA. A central concern for Western powers was highlighted when the IAEA reported in May that Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% — just below weapons-grade level — had grown to more than 400 kilograms (nearly 900 pounds). In an interview with Al Jazeera that aired Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran is prepared for another war and reiterated that its nuclear program will continue within the framework of international law, while adding that the country had no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday that the country's nuclear industry would 'grow back and thrive again' after the recent attacks by Israel and the U.S. ___ Stephanie Liechtenstein reported from Vienna. Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat contributed to this report from Tehran, Iran. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: Andrew Wilks And Stephanie Liechtenstein, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
Chicago Tribune
20 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump's AI plan calls for massive data centers. Here's how it may affect energy in the US
President Donald Trump's plan to boost artificial intelligence and build data centers across the U.S. could speed up a building boom that was already expected to strain the nation's ability to power it. The White House released the 'AI Action Plan' Wednesday, vowing to expedite permitting for construction of energy-intensive data centers as it looks to make the country a leader in a business that tech companies and others are pouring billions of dollars into. Nuclear plant deal sets stage for AI billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg to reshape Illinois energy policyThe plan says to combat 'radical climate dogma,' a number of restrictions — including clean air and water laws — could be lifted, aligning with Trump's 'American energy dominance' agenda and his efforts to undercut clean energy. Here's what you need to know. Massive amounts of electricity are needed to support the complex servers, equipment and more for AI. Electricity demand from data centers worldwide is set to more than double by 2030, to slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today, the International Energy Agency said earlier this year. In many cases, that electricity may come from burning coal or natural gas. These fossil fuels emit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane. This in turn is tied to extreme weather events that are becoming more severe, frequent and costly. The data centers used to fuel AI also need a tremendous amount of water to keep cool. That means they can strain water sources in areas that may have little to spare. Typically, tech giants, up-and-comers and other developers try to keep an existing power plant online to meet demand, experts say, and most existing power plants in the U.S. are still producing electricity using fossil fuels — most often natural gas. Landing a data center is worth the environmental tradeoffs, Illinois towns sayIn certain areas of the U.S., a combination of renewables and energy storage in the form of batteries are coming online. But tapping into nuclear power is especially of interest as a way to reduce data center-induced emissions while still meeting demand and staying competitive. Amazon said last month it would spend $20 billion on data center sites in Pennsylvania, including one alongside a nuclear power plant. The investment allows Amazon to plug right into the plant, a scrutinized but faster approach for the company's development timeline. Meta recently signed a deal to secure nuclear power to meet its computing needs. Microsoft plans to buy energy from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and Google previously signed a contract to purchase it from multiple small modular reactors in the works. Data centers are often built where electricity is cheapest, and often, that's not from renewables. And sometimes data centers are cited as a reason to extend the lives of traditional, fossil-fuel-burning power plants. But just this week, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world's largest tech players to fuel their data center needs entirely with renewables by 2030. It's necessary to use fewer fossil fuels, he said. Experts say it's possible for developers, investors and the tech industry to decarbonize. However, though industry can do a lot with clean energy, the emerging demands are so big that it can't be clean energy alone, said University of Pennsylvania engineering professor Benjamin Lee. More generative AI, ChatGPT and massive data centers means 'relying on wind and solar alone with batteries becomes really, really expensive,' Lee added, hence the attention on natural gas, but also nuclear. Regardless of what powers AI, the simple law of supply and demand makes it all but certain that costs for consumers will rise. New data center projects might require both new energy generation and existing generation. Developers might also invest in batteries or other infrastructure like transmission lines. All of this costs money, and it needs to be paid for from somewhere. 'In a lot of places in the U.S., they are seeing that rates are going up because utilities are making these moves to try to plan,' said Amanda Smith, a senior scientist at research organization Project Drawdown. 'They're planning transmission infrastructure, new power plants for the growth and the load that's projected, which is what we want them to do,' she added. 'But we as ratepayers will wind up seeing rates go up to cover that.'
