Your trusted source

The United States does not have the will to reach an agreement to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran at talks in Vienna where it is insisting on "unacceptable proposals", Iran's top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said on Thursday. Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which makes the decisions in the Vienna talks and reports to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said on Twitter that in the absence of a political decision by the United States the talks "become more complicated every hour".

Source: reuters.com

Australia will expand its active defence personnel by a third by 2040, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced, describing the move as part of efforts to keep the country safe “in an increasingly uncertain global environment”. The force would grow by 18,500 personnel to 80,000 over the 18-year period, at a cost of some 38 billion Australian dollars ($27bn), the prime minister said Thursday during a visit to an army barracks in Brisbane.

Source: aljazeera.com

Indonesia's Mount Merapi unleashed a torrent of hot clouds, turning the sky a fiery red, as molten lava flowed down its slopes on Thursday with the eruption forcing over 250 people to flee their homes, authorities said. The volcano -- one of the most active in the world -- erupted multiple times overnight, spewing gas, volcanic ash and rocks that flowed over five kilometres down its slopes, the head of Indonesia's National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency said.

Source: france24.com

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Indian Wells and the Miami Open - the first two Masters Series events of the year - because of US coronavirus rules. Regulations require any non-US citizen to have a Covid vaccination before entering the country. The 20-time Grand Slam winner was included in the draw for both events, but has since posted on Twitter that he knew it was "unlikely" he could travel.

Source: bbc.com

Conservative South Korean opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president on Wednesday in one of the closest fought races in recent history which will shape Asia's fourth-largest economy for the next five years. Yoon, 60, from the main opposition People Power Party, edged out the ruling Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung with 48.6% of the vote to 47.8%, with around 99.3% of the ballots counted.

Source: reuters.com

The Khaf-Herat link is expected to boost trade and travel between Iran and Afghanistan.

Source: aljazeera.com

Discovery Inc on Wednesday said it will suspend the broadcast of its channels and services in Russia, joining a growing number of corporations withdrawing from the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Fifteen of Discovery's entertainment brands, including HGTV, Animal Planet, TLC and Eurosport, are distributed through Media Alliance, a joint venture with Russia's National Media Group.

Source: reuters.com

Speaking to True Royalty TV host Christina Garibaldi last year, royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti claimed MI6 provided The Queen with a Samsung phone. When she's not in residence at Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Windsor or Sandringham, The Queen is said to carry the device on her - and will never miss a call from her daughter or a certain family friend. The expert claimed: "The two people she phones the most are said to be her daughter Princess Anne and her racing manager John Warren."

Source: thesun.co.uk

Two Americans, including a former executive of oil giant Citgo, were released from prison in Venezuela Tuesday, just days after a high-level US delegation met with President Nicolas Maduro.

Source: france24.com

South Korea’s military said on Wednesday it had sent back all seven North Korean sailors who were aboard a ship it seized after the vessel crossed into the South’s waters a day earlier in error.

Source: nbcnews.com

A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and snakes hidden in his clothing, authorities said Tuesday. The man was driving a truck when he arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico on Feb. 25 and was pulled out for additional inspection. Agents found 52 live reptiles tied up in small bags “which were concealed in the man’s jacket, pants pockets, and groin area,” the statement said. Nine snakes and 43 horned lizards were seized. Some of the species are considered endangered, authorities said.

Source: apnews.com

Items from the birth of Apple, home computing and video gaming are up for grabs at an auction, which will conclude on March 17. The top lot from "The Steve Jobs Revolution: Engelbart, Atari, and Apple" auction is a July 1976 check to pay $3,430 for parts for the Apple 1 computer, signed by Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The auction includes many items relating to Jobs, including high school photos and an application he had filled out for a job at Atari.

Source: reuters.com

Scientists have found and filmed one of the greatest ever undiscovered shipwrecks 107 years after it sank. The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats.

Source: bbc.com

Bob Dylan has a new book coming out this fall, a collection of more than 60 essays about songs and songwriters he admires, from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello. The new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” is his first release of new material since the acclaimed memoir “Chronicles, Volume One” was published in 2004. “The Philosophy of Modern Song” is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Source: apnews.com

South Koreans were at the polls electing a new president Wednesday with economic inequality a top concern especially among young swing voters, despite growing sabre-rattling from the nuclear-armed North. Polling booths opened at 6 am (2100 GMT) and record early voting indicates turnout will be high after a campaign dominated by mud-slinging between liberal Lee Jae-myung and conservative Yoon Suk-yeol.

Source: france24.com

"McDonald's has decided to temporarily close all our restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market," CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement Tuesday. There were 847 locations of McDonald's in Russia at the close of last year, according to an investor document.

Source: cnn.com

Tribal clashes in Sudan's ravaged Darfur region have left at least 16 people killed and 16 others wounded, medics said on Tuesday. The violence broke out between Saturday and Monday among ethnic African Massalit tribe members and Arab tribes in the rugged Jebel Moon mountains close to the border with Chad and West Darfur state.

Source: france24.com

Paris Saint-Germain have offered Kylian Mbappe a contract that amounts to €100m (£83.2m) a year, in what would be the biggest individual player deal football has ever seen.

Source: independent.co.uk