Latest news with #P5
The National
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Macron seeks breakthrough on Iran in first talks with Putin since 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed how to re-establish international control over Iran's nuclear programme in their first call in nearly three years. The two-hour discussion between the leaders – who stopped talking after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine – was dictated by the urgency of the situation in Iran. The Kremlin described the call as "very substantive" and said it was France that asked for it to take place. Iran's nuclear facilities are believed to have been heavily damaged by US strikes but western powers now fear that Iran will leave the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Mr Putin said he was open to discussing Iran's nuclear programme within the 'P5" framework of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Russia, China, France, the UK and the US, people familiar with the matter said. The Russian leader also said he could hold talks bilaterally or within a separate format involving Germany, the UK and France, known as the E3. France views the Iranian nuclear threat as sufficiently serious to justify the involvement of all five countries. Mr Macron is scheduled to speak soon to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday said France was 'broadening discussions to other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council who were also signatories to the 2015 agreement' on Iran's nuclear programme, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. 'It is in this context that the President spoke to Vladimir Putin yesterday,' Mr Barrot said as he addressed the foreign affairs committee at the National Assembly. France and Russia have diverging views on Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Macron recently sided with US and Israeli demands of zero enrichment, while Mr Putin, an Iranian ally, said during his call with the French President on Tuesday evening that it was necessary to respect Iran's right to the peaceful development of nuclear energy. The Kremlin said Mr Putin also insisted that Iran must continue to comply with its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Strikes 'won't stop Iran' US strikes 'certainly damaged and delayed [Iran's nuclear programme] even though it is difficult to have a comprehensive assessment of those military operations', Mr Barrot said. However the strikes 'will not stop Iran from rebuilding its nuclear programme tomorrow', he added. He argued that a 'negotiated solution' was necessary to stop Iran ending co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency or leaving the non-proliferation treaty. Some diplomats hope that Iran will be open to negotiations despite taking a hard line against the IAEA. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi told the BBC on Monday that his country was open to resuming diplomatic talks with the US as long as further US strikes were ruled out. Mr Takht-e Ravanchi also said Iran would 'insist' on being able to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes. In their phone call, the Russian and French presidents also discussed the war in Ukraine. In a context in which both the US and Ukraine are holding talks with Russia, it was important for France to also open a channel of discussions with Mr Putin, informed sources said. Mr Macron asked Mr Putin to set aside old grievances against Ukraine and focus on the current situation. But Mr Putin reiterated his position to Mr Macron that the war was 'a direct consequence of the West's policy', which he said had 'ignored Russia's security interests'. Any possible peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine should have a 'comprehensive and long-term character' and be based on 'new territorial realities', the Kremlin quoted Mr Putin as saying. The Russian President has previously said Ukraine must accept Russia's annexation of swathes of its territory as part of any peace deal. Mr Macron, who briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before and after the talks with Mr Putin, has said Ukraine alone should decide whether or not to accept territorial concessions.
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Judge affirms De Lima acquittal in drug case
A Muntinlupa City court on Friday stood by its decision to acquit Mamamayang Liberal Representative-elect Leila de Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading charges. The RTC's action came after the Court of Appeals Eighth Division in April voided the May 12, 2023 decision of the RTC and remanded the case for failure "to discuss the specific proven facts as well as the laws upon which [the judge's] pronouncement of acquittal was based." In response to the appellate court's order, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 Judge Abraham Joseph Alcantara insisted that the recantation of former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos' testimony was ''sufficient basis for the RTC to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence.'' Ragos had claimed that he and aide Jovencio Ablen Jr. delivered P5 million in proceeds from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison to De Lima's house in Parañaque City in 2012. In May 2022, Ragos retracted his testimony against De Lima. ''To reiterate and emphasize, the testimony of witness Ragos is necessary to sustain any possible conviction. Without his testimony, the crucial link to establish conspiracy is shrouded with reasonable doubt,'' the revised decision stated. ''Thus, the undersigned presiding judge submits that the original decision already clearly and distinctly stated the facts and law upon which it was based.'' De Lima spent nearly seven years in detention before she was released on bail in November 2023. The last of her three drug-related cases was dismissed in June 2024. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
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Business Standard
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Smiling buddha to Operation Shakti
On the morning of May 18, 1974, at 8:05 sharp, some 110 kilometres from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan's Thar desert, the push of a button announced India's entry into the closed club of nuclear nations. The reverberations of that test, conducted underground in arid Pokhran, and called Pokhran-I (codename Smiling Buddha), were felt around the world. With this detonation, India had become the only country outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the P5, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China – to have conducted a confirmed nuclear weapons test. China had tested its first just 10 years ago, in 1964, two years after the Indo-China war. India termed it a 'peaceful nuclear explosion', but it was in effect a decisive and unequivocal declaration that it had nuclear capability. The country's nuclear journey gained pace in the late 1950s under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru through Project Phoenix. It was mainly to promote civilian nuclear energy, but with physicists like Homi Bhabha, the 'father of the Indian nuclear programme', laying the groundwork for weapons development. The Atomic Energy Act of 1962 gave further control to the central government over atomic energy resources. After Nehru died in 1964, the efforts shifted mostly towards peaceful goals under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gandhian scientist Vikram Sarabhai. However, with Shastri's successor, Indira Gandhi, the momentum towards weaponisation resumed. A small, secret team of scientists and engineers worked through the 1960s and early 1970s to build the necessary infrastructure and technical capabilities. The 1971 Indo-Pak war, during which the US sent warships to the Bay of Bengal, further galvanised India's resolve, culminating in Gandhi authorising the development of a nuclear test device in 1972. India had already opposed joining the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which it saw as discriminatory. In later years, while it participated in negotiations for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), it did not ratify it for the same reasons. Pokhran-I invited strong, sharp reactions from the world. India faced immediate sanctions. Major nuclear suppliers shut their doors to it. Less than a year later, led by the US, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was formed to restrict and regulate the supply of nuclear material and know-how to countries that hadn't ratified the NPT. The US further tightened export controls by passing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act, 1978. An editorial in The New York Times read: 'Such great talent of resources has been squandered on the vanity of power, while 600 million Indians slip deeper into poverty. The sixth member of the nuclear club may be passing the beggar bowl before the year is out.' India continued with its programme through the '80s and '90s, aware that neighbouring Pakistan was also acquiring nuclear capability. Meanwhile, the original five nuclear weapons states kept a close eye on India, which had by now opened its economy to the world. Twenty-four years after Smiling Buddha, the hot, barren Pokhran would once again witness a country's determination to exercise its sovereign right to security, despite the intense scrutiny and the threat of sanctions. It was again in the month of May, when average temperatures in Pokhran hover above 40 degrees Celsius, that India conducted its second test – a series of five nuclear tests, actually; three on May 11 and two on May 13, 1998. Pokhran-II, codenamed Operation Shakti, with the devices named Shakti-I through Shakti-V, carried out under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also invited intense criticism from the global community. Besides the Western world, countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia also reacted adversely. While India stood its ground, it made known its 'no-first-use' policy. India's record since has established it as a nuclear-responsible country. In 2008, it signed a civil nuclear agreement with the US, and the same year, it received a waiver from the NSG. It has since signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with Japan, Australia, South Korea, France and Vietnam, among other countries.
GMA Network
24-06-2025
- General
- GMA Network
No winners of major lotto draws as Ultra Lotto jackpot now P151M
There were no winners of the major lotto jackpot draws by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. No bettor selected the winning combination of 30-20-31-12-03-23 for the Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot, which has climbed to P151,270,025.60. It was the same for Superlotto 6/49 and its P91,915,425.20 is still up for grabs after the winning numbers of 40-12-36-15-08-13 were left unplayed. No one also guessed the correct numbers of 24-31-13-22-09-37 for Lotto 6/42 with its prize of P5,940,000. For more lotto results, visit here. —RF, GMA Integrated News
Express Tribune
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Two delegations to present Pakistan's stance on recent Indian aggression
Listen to article Pakistan has sent two high-level delegations abroad to present its stance on recent tensions with India, the Foreign Office said on Monday. A senior delegation comprising three former foreign ministers, ex-diplomats, senators, and a serving minister arrived in New York to begin a diplomatic campaign across key capitals including Washington DC, London, and Brussels. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Hina Rabbani Khar, and Khurram Dastgir, along with Senators Sherry Rehman, Musadik Malik, Faisal Sabzwari, and Bushra Anjum Butt, and diplomats Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua, are part of the first delegation. They are set to meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the UN General Assembly, ambassadors from the P5 countries, and OIC members. The delegation's US engagements begin June 3 with meetings scheduled with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, American lawmakers, think tanks, and media organisations. A separate delegation led by Syed Tariq Fatemi will visit Moscow from June 2 to 4 for consultations with Russian officials and opinion leaders. The Foreign Office stated the mission's aim to highlight Pakistan's peaceful and measured response to what it called 'Indian aggression' and to reaffirm the country's commitment to dialogue, international law, and regional stability. 'Pakistan countering India's false narrative at UN' Meanwhile, Senator Sherry Rehman, a key member of Pakistan's diplomatic delegation to the United Nations, issued a strong statement today from New York, reaffirming Pakistan's commitment to exposing India's fabricated propaganda and presenting the country's principled stance on regional peace, international law, and responsible diplomacy. 'Under the leadership of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, our delegation has launched a full-spectrum diplomatic outreach in New York,' said Senator Rehman. 'We are here not for photo-ops, but for strategic engagement with the international community at the heart of the UN system.' Senator Rehman emphasized that Pakistan is actively presenting its diplomatic agenda, focused on peace, sustainable development, and regional stability. 'Pakistan's image as a responsible and stable middle power is being clearly articulated. We are highlighting our unwavering respect for international law and our constructive role in South Asia's peace and security,' she said. Rejecting India's recent falsehoods, Senator Rehman warned against the dangerous normalization of using baseless terrorism allegations as a pretext for war. 'India's fabricated narrative will not be allowed to masquerade as truth. Using false allegations to justify military aggression is not only irresponsible—it's unacceptable,' she stated. 'Terrorism is a serious global issue and must be dealt with seriously, not exploited for political gain.' Senator Rehman recalled Pakistan's heavy sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. 'We've waged one of the longest and most difficult ground battles against terrorism. Our people have paid with blood and resources. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was herself martyred by extremists. We do not need lectures from those who manufacture threats for electoral theatrics.' Senator Rehman praised Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's leadership on the international stage. 'The Prime Minister has entrusted Chairman Bilawal with the responsibility of presenting Pakistan's clear stance on Indian violations—be it water aggression, Kashmir, or breaches of international peace laws. His response during India's recent military provocations was clear, reasoned, and effective.' Senator Rehman underscored Pakistan's commitment to dialogue and de-escalation, but not at the cost of silence. 'As a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan believes in broad, just, and peaceful engagement. But we will not remain quiet on Prime Minister Modi's reckless and dangerous policies. We will continue to warn the world of their consequences.' Concluding her remarks, Senator Rehman stated, 'Whether it's on the battlefield or the diplomatic front, Pakistan knows how to defend itself. We are here to ensure the world sees through the fog of misinformation—and to reaffirm our enduring commitment to peace and global cooperation.'
