Iran’s foreign minister said on June 3 that “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war as fresh US and Iranian strikes strained a fragile ceasefire.
Kuwaiti officials said the renewed hostilities included an Iranian drone strike on a passenger terminal at Kuwait international airport that killed one person and wounded 63.
In contrast with the downbeat Iranian remarks, US President Donald Trump struck an optimistic note, telling reporters at the White House that the Iran talks could yield a result “over the weekend.”
“I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” Trump said of a potential deal. “It could happen…over the weekend.”
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PHOTO: REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed on June 3 a row with US President Donald Trump, saying they both were aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah in order to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon.
Trump confirmed in an interview published on June 3 in the New York Post that he had a tense exchange with Netanyahu two days prior, in which he reportedly berated his close ally with expletives.
Netanyahu downplayed the dispute in an interview with US television channel CNBC, saying he and Trump were on the same page when it came to tackling Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
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Germany’s leading role in rallying support for Ukraine and its close relations with Israel may have cost Berlin the chance of a seat on the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on May 3.
The Council vote, which elected Austria and Portugal to a two-year term along with Zimbabwe and Trinidad and Tobago, was a blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s struggling government, which has sought to position Berlin as a leading voice in Europe on global issues.
“We have always taken a clear stance on certain issues, and these are positions that not all member states share,” Wadephul told reporters, calling it “no secret” that Russia had stirred up sentiment against Germany.
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SpaceX publicly set a US$135 (S$173) price for shares in its initial public offering on June 3, upending the longstanding Wall Street price-discovery apparatus and underscoring Elon Musk’s determination to raise record sums his way.
The company’s decision to publish a price a week ahead of its landmark offering has few if any precedents among major US IPOs, and reflects Musk’s standing in the financial world as an adventurer with a golden touch – even as the capital raise will value SpaceX at very lofty multiples.
SpaceX’s amended IPO filing confirms a Reuters report on the US$135 price from earlier this week. The company is aiming to raise US$75 billion, the most ever for an IPO, in a deal that would value it at US$1.75 trillion, immediately placing it among the top 10 most valuable US-listed firms.
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Cuba’s former leader Raul Castro turned 95 on June 3, though his whereabouts were still unknown two weeks after US authorities charged him with murder in connection with the downing of civilian airplanes in 1996.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel early in the day praised Castro, who he said he considered to be a mentor and father figure, for his contributions to Cuba.
“To reach 95 years of age with one foot in the stirrup and an endless record of service to the Homeland, to regional and world peace… to the dreams of social justice of millions of human beings, is not his luck, it is ours,” Diaz-Canel said.
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