Tump: U.S. Will Strike Iran's Nuclear Facilities If Necessary
U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the United States will launch a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities if necessary.
In a strong warning to Tehran, President Trump emphasized that Washington will not hesitate to take decisive military action to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program.
'If necessary, we will strike Iran's nuclear facilities,' Trump said, underscoring what he called a clear red line against any nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime.
The president's remarks come amid growing regional tensions and international concerns over Iran's nuclear activities. The statement is likely to further complicate diplomatic efforts as global powers continue to push for a peaceful resolution to the long-standing dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
There has been no immediate response from Iranian officials. However, the comments are expected to draw global attention and potentially provoke reactions from both allies and adversaries.
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Egypt Independent
34 minutes ago
- Egypt Independent
Trump just made a problematic Ghislaine Maxwell situation look even worse
Interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell is the Trump administration's first big move to allay concerns about its hugely unpopular handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday wrapped up two days of interviews with Epstein's convicted associate. But there were already all kinds of reasons to be skeptical of this move and what it could produce, given the motivations of the two sides involved. And President Donald Trump epitomized all of them in a major way on Friday. While taking questions on his way to Scotland, Trump repeatedly held open the possibility of pardoning Maxwell for her crimes. 'Well, I don't want to talk about that,' Trump said initially. When pressed, he said, 'It's something I haven't thought about,' while conspicuously adding, 'I'm allowed to do it.' This wouldn't be the first time Trump has appeared to dangle a pardon over someone providing evidence that could impact him personally and politically. (In this case, he has demonstrated past personal ties to Epstein, and his administration is scrambling to clean up its botched handling of the Epstein files after previously promising to release them.) A similar situation played out during the Russia investigation, when Trump repeatedly left open the possibility of pardoning key witnesses like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen. Critics alleged this amounted to obstruction of justice. Special counsel Robert Mueller's report didn't draw conclusions on possible obstruction, but it did cite Trump's pardon comments as 'evidence' that Trump's actions 'had the potential to influence Manafort's decision whether to cooperate with the government.' Manafort indeed wound up being a decidedly uncooperative witness, with a bipartisan Senate report saying his repeated lies hamstrung its own investigation. And Trump later pardoned him in a move that could certainly be understood as a reward for his lack of cooperation. That bit of history looms large here, given the parallels. But Trump is really just exacerbating an already dubious situation. There were already plenty of reasons to be skeptical of this move to interview Maxwell, and nobody involved seems particularly bothered to address those problems or even combat the perception of them. The first reason is the state of play in Maxwell's criminal case. It might seem far-fetched that Trump would ever pardon a convicted child sex-trafficker like Maxwell (even though he did 'wish her well' after she was charged). But there are other things his administration could do to help her. Among them would be taking actions in her ongoing appeal of her 2021 conviction. The Trump Justice Department has already taken highly suspect actions in another criminal case involving someone Trump wanted something politically from: New York Mayor Eric Adams. The administration earlier this year moved to dismiss the charges against Adams while suggestively citing its desire for the New York Democrat to assist in its crackdown on illegal immigration. Multiple prosecutors resigned in protest, with one claiming it was a 'quid pro quo' in her resignation letter. And the judge in the case appeared to sympathize. 'Everything here smacks of a bargain: Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions,' the judge said. Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, has also been remarkably solicitous of Trump and the administration. Last week he called Trump the 'ultimate dealmaker' while claiming that the Justice Department had violated a deal with Maxwell. This week, he praised the Trump administration's 'commitment to uncovering the truth in this case' and said he and Maxwell were 'grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth.' Markus on Friday also suggested an openness to a pardon. 'The president this morning said he had the power to do so,' Markus said, 'and we hope he exercises that power in a right and just way.' Indeed, also relevant here are the lawyers involved. Critics have cried foul that the DOJ official interviewing Maxwell was Blanche, rather than a non-political prosecutor who has been involved in the case who would have much more expertise. Not only is Blanche a top political appointee of Trump's; he's also his formal personal lawyer. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, right, leaves his hotel for the federal courthouse on Friday in Tallahassee, Florida. Colin Hackley/AP 'The conflict of interest is glaring,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday on X. 'It stinks of high corruption.' What's more, Blanche appeared on a podcast last year with Markus and labeled him a 'friend.' 'You are by far the best out there,' Blanche said. But one of the biggest reasons to be skeptical is that Maxwell is someone the Trump Justice Department – the first one, at least – labeled a brazen liar. Back in 2020, the DOJ charged Maxwell with two counts of perjury – on top of the more serious charges she faced – while citing a 2016 civil deposition she gave. In the deposition, Maxwell claimed no knowledge of Epstein's 'scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages,' despite later being convicted of helping in the effort. She also claimed she didn't know about Epstein possessing sex toys, which was contradicted by witnesses at her trial. Maxwell's lawyers at the time said 'the questions asked were confusing, ambiguous, and improperly formed.' She was never actually tried for perjury. After her conviction on the more serious charges, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the perjury charges if her conviction stood, citing a desire to avoid further emotional trauma for the victims. But the Trump Justice Department in 2020 still called her credibility into question. In a 2020 filing, it said Maxwell's lies 'should give the Court serious pause' about trusting her. It also said Maxwell's 'willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct … strongly suggests her true motive has been and remains to avoid being held accountable for her crimes.' All of that would seem relevant to today, especially given Trump's demonstrated willingness to wield his power to help people who help him – whether using pardons or anything else. Maxwell, who has years left in her 20-year prison sentence, clearly has motivation to say things Trump wants. That doesn't mean the interviews of Maxwell couldn't glean something important. Even witnesses with credibility problems can provide important information, if it's corroborated with other evidence. But right now, Trump and Co. aren't trying very hard to make this situation look kosher. And Trump's pardon comments take that to another level.
Egypt Independent
34 minutes ago
- Egypt Independent
Gaza airdrops a 'distraction' from Israel's aid blockade, charity boss says
We've been reporting Saturday on the UK's vow to support aid airdrop efforts in Gaza. Israel's decision to let foreign countries drop supplies into the besieged Palestinian territory is also facing mounting criticism – the process has previously been seen as costly and unsafe. These airdrops are expected to take place 'in the coming days' according to an Israeli security official. 'Airdrops are not a solution to starvation in Gaza; they're a distraction,' Steve Cutts, interim CEO of UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said in a statement Friday. 'Palestinians in Gaza are starving not because of a lack of available food, but because Israel is deliberately blocking it,' Cutts said. 'Dropping aid from the sky cannot meet the colossal needs of 2.3 million people or replace the safe, coordinated aid delivery that only open land crossings can provide.' Juliette Touma, the director of communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), says airdropping aid into Gaza is both costly and dangerous. Israel has banned UNRWA from operating in Gaza after accusing it of having staff involved in the October 7 attack. 'In general, in humanitarian settings, airdrops are used as a last resort. They are very, very expensive and can be quite dangerous,' Touma previously told CNN, adding that 'in the context of Gaza, we know that airdrops were not very helpful and in some cases there were fatalities.' The last airdrops into Gaza took place in October 2024 and were condemned at the time for being dangerous and not meeting Gazans' needs. In March 2024, CNN reported at least five people were killed when airdropped aid packages fell on them.
Egypt Independent
40 minutes ago
- Egypt Independent
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warns of an AI ‘fraud crisis'
New York CNN — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the world may be on the precipice of a 'fraud crisis' because of how artificial intelligence could enable bad actors to impersonate other people. 'A thing that terrifies me is apparently there are still some financial institutions that will accept a voice print as authentication for you to move a lot of money or do something else — you say a challenge phrase, and they just do it,' Altman said. 'That is a crazy thing to still be doing… AI has fully defeated most of the ways that people authenticate currently, other than passwords.' The comments were part of his wide-ranging interview about the economic and societal impacts of AI at the Federal Reserve on Tuesday. He also told the audience, which included, representatives of large US financial institutions, about the role he expects AI to play in the economy. His appearance comes as the White House is expected to release its 'AI Action Plan' in the coming days, a policy document to outline its approach to regulating the technology and promoting America's dominance in the AI space. OpenAI, which provided recommendations for the plan, has ramped up its presence on and around Capitol Hill in recent months. On Tuesday, the company confirmed it will open its first Washington, DC, office early next year to house its approximately 30-person workforce in the city. Chan Park, OpenAI's head of global affairs for the US and Canada, will lead the new office alongside Joe Larson, who is leaving defense technology company Anduril to become OpenAI's vice president of government. The company will use the space to host policymakers, preview new technology, and provide AI trainings, for example, to teachers and government officials. It will also house research into AI's economic impact and how to improve access to the technology. Despite Altman's warnings about the technology's risks, OpenAI has urged the Trump administration to avoid regulation it says could hamper tech companies' ability to compete with foreign AI innovations. Earlier this month, the US Senate voted to strike a controversial provision from Trump's agenda bill that would have prevented states from enforcing AI-related laws for 10 years. A fraud crisis Altman isn't alone in worrying that AI will supercharge fraud. The FBI warned about these AI voice and video 'cloning' scams last year. Multiple parents have reported that AI voice technology was used in attempts to trick them out of money by convincing them that their children were in trouble. And earlier this month, US officials warned that someone using AI to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio's voice had contacted foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress. 'I am very nervous that we have an impending, significant, impending fraud crisis,' Altman said. 'Right now, it's a voice call; soon it's going be a video or FaceTime that's indistinguishable from reality,' Altman said. He warned that while his company isn't building such impersonation tools, it's a challenge the world will soon need to confront as AI continues to evolve. Altman is backing a tool called The Orb, built by Tools for Humanity, that says it will offer 'proof of human' in a world where AI makes it harder to distinguish what, and who, is real online. Altman also explained what keeps him up at night: the idea of bad actors making and misusing AI 'superintelligence' before the rest of the world has advanced enough to defend against such an attack — for example, a US adversary using AI to target the American power grid or create a bioweapon. That comment could speak to fears within the White House and elsewhere on Capitol Hill about China outpacing US tech companies on AI. Altman also said he worries about the prospect of humans losing control of a superintelligent AI system, or giving the technology too much decision-making power. Various tech companies, including OpenAI, are chasing AI superintelligence — and Altman has said he thinks the 2030s could bring AI intelligence far beyond what humans are capable of — but it remains unclear how exactly they define that milestone and when, if ever, they'll reach it. AI's impact on jobs? 'No one knows' But Altman said he's not as worried as some of his peers in Silicon Valley about AI's potential impact on the workforce, after leaders such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy have warned the technology will take jobs. Instead, Altman believes that 'no one knows what happens next.' 'There's a lot of these really smart-sounding predictions,' he said, ''Oh, this is going to happen on this and the economy over here.' No one knows that. In my opinion, this is too complex of a system, this is too new and impactful of a technology, it's very hard to predict.' Still, he does have some thoughts. He said that while 'entire classes of jobs will go away,' new types of work will emerge. And Altman repeated a prediction he's made previously that if the world could look forward 100 years, the workers of the future probably won't have what workers today consider 'real jobs.' 'You have everything you could possibly need. You have nothing to do,' Altman said of the future workforce. 'So, you're making up a job to play a silly status game and to fill your time and to feel useful to other people.' The sentiment seems to be that Altman thinks we shouldn't worry about AI taking jobs because, in the future, we won't really need jobs anyway, although he didn't detail how the future AI tools would, for example, reliably argue a case in court or clean someone's teeth or construct a house. In conjunction with Altman's speech, OpenAI released a report compiled by its chief economist, Ronnie Chatterji, outlining ChatGPT's productivity benefits for workers. In the report, Chatterji — who joined OpenAI as its first chief economist after serving as coordinator of the CHIPS and Science Act in the Biden White House — compared AI to transformative technologies such as electricity and the transistor. He said ChatGPT now has 500 million users globally. Among US users, 20% use ChatGPT as a 'personalized tutor' for 'learning and upskilling,' according to the report, although it didn't elaborate on what kinds of things people are learning through the service. Chatterji also noted that more than half of ChatGPT's American users are between the ages of 18 and 34, 'suggesting that there may be long-term economic benefits as they continue to use AI tools in the workplace going forward.' Over the next year, Chatterji plans to work with economists Jason Furman and Michael Strain on a longer study of AI's impact on jobs and the US workforce. That work will take place in the new Washington, DC, office.
