#TUNIS, February 3. #Iran is prepared to negotiate the nuclear dossier only with the United States, as Europe has proven its incapacity, Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Al Mayadeen.

"Iran has repeatedly confirmed and demonstrated its readiness for practical negotiations with the United States, not with any other party," he said. "Europe has proven its inability to do anything after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, as well as during the negotiations before the war in June last year," Shamkhani stated. He described these as negotiations where "only the US participates, and only the nuclear dossier is discussed."

Shamkhani acknowledged the possibility of direct talks with the US after mutual understanding is reached. "Bilateral negotiations should begin based on achieved mutual understanding and on the condition that illogical and unfounded demands are avoided," he said, adding, "reaching a consensus is possible." He noted this opens "a possibility of direct and indirect meetings," including possibly in Turkey.

GOMA, Congo — A landslide earlier this week collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in eastern Congo, leaving at least 200 people dead, rebel authorities said Saturday.

The collapse took place Wednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, the spokesperson of the rebel-appointed governor of North-Kivu province told The Associated Press. He said the landslide was caused by heavy rains.

“For now, there are more than 200 dead, some of whom are still in the mud and have not yet been recovered,” Muyisa said. He added that several others were injured and taken to three health facilities in the town of Rubaya, while ambulances were expected to transfer the wounded Saturday to Goma, the nearest city around 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

The rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu has temporarily halted artisanal mining on the site and ordered the relocation of residents who had built shelters near the mine, Muyisa said.

Congo’s government in a statement on X expressed solidarity with the victims’ families and accused the rebels of illegally and unsafely exploiting the region’s natural resources.

A former miner at the site told The Associated Press there have been repeated landslides because the tunnels are dug by hand, poorly constructed, and left without maintenance.

“People dig everywhere, without control or safety measures. In a single pit, there can be as many as 500 miners, and because the tunnels run parallel, one collapse can affect many pits at once,” Clovis Mafare said.

Rubaya lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the Central African nation which for decades has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis.

Congo is a major supplier of coltan, a black metallic ore that contains the rare metal tantalum, a key component in the production of smartphones, computers and aircraft engines.

The country produced about 40 percent of the world’s coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other big suppliers. Over 15% of the world’s supply of tantalum from Rubaya’s mines.

In May 2024, M23 seized the town and took control of its mines. According to a U.N. report, since seizing Rubaya, the rebels have imposed taxes on the trade and transport of coltan, generating at least $800,000 a month.

Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. Various conflicts have created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including more than 300,000 who have fled their homes since December.

Despite the signing of a deal between the Congolese and Rwandan governments brokered by the U.S. and ongoing negotiations between rebels and Congo, fighting continues on several fronts in eastern Congo, continuing to claim numerous civilian and military casualties.

The deal between Congo and Rwanda also opens up access to critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.

Justin Kabumba, Ruth Alonga and Mark Banchereau, The Associated Press

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Blast in Iran port city kills 1, wounds 14 before Strait of Hormuz naval drill watched by U.S.

The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Already, the U.S. military had warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, on which Bandar Abbas sits.

State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others suffered injuries in the explosion at the eight-story building, which blew out windows and covered the street below in debris.

A local newspaper, Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of one of its correspondents speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher. He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform.

The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion.

Another explosion blamed on a gas explosion Saturday in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people, state media reported.

It comes as Iran remains tense over a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations.

Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late Saturday that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.” However, there is no public sign of any talks with the United States, which Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out.

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press

Workers from Bangladesh sought jobs in Russia but instead got sent to combat in Ukraine.


An Associated Press investigation found that Bangladeshi workers were lured to Russia under the false promise of civilian work, only to be thrust into the chaos of combat in Ukraine. Many were threatened with violence, imprisonment or death.

AP spoke with three Bangladeshi men who escaped from the Russian military, including Rahman, who said that after arriving in Moscow, he and a group of fellow Bangladeshi workers were told to sign Russian documents that turned out to be military contracts. They were taken to an army camp for training in drone warfare techniques, medical evacuation procedures and basic combat skills using heavy weapons.

Rahman protested, complaining that this was not the work he agreed to do. A Russian commander offered a stark reply through a translation app: “Your agent sent you here. We bought you.”

The three Bangladeshi men shared harrowing accounts of being coerced into front-line tasks against their will, including advancing ahead of Russian forces, transporting supplies, evacuating wounded soldiers and recovering the dead. The families of three other Bangladeshi men who are missing said their loved ones shared similar accounts with relatives.

Neither the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian Foreign Ministry nor the South Asian country’s government responded to a list of questions from AP.

Rahman said the workers in his group were threatened with 10-year jail terms and beaten.

“They’d say, ‘Why don’t you work? Why are you crying?’ and kick us,” said Rahman, who escaped and returned home after seven months.

The workers’ accounts were corroborated by documents, including travel papers, Russian military contracts, medical and police reports, and photos. The documents show the visas granted to Bangladeshi workers, their injuries sustained during battles and evidence of their participation in the war.

How many Bangladeshis were deceived into fighting is unclear. The Bangladeshi men told AP they saw hundreds of Bangladeshis alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Officials and activists say Russia has also targeted men from other African and South Asian countries, including India and Nepal.
Overseas work supports Bangladeshi families

In the lush greenery of the Lakshmipur district in southeast Bangladesh, nearly every family has at least one member employed as a migrant worker overseas. Job scarcity and poverty have made such work essential.

Fathers embark on yearslong journeys for migrant work, returning home only for fleeting visits, just long enough to conceive another child, whom they will likely not see again for years. Sons and daughters support entire families with income earned abroad.

In 2024, Rahman was back in Lakshmipur after completing a contract in Malaysia and seeking new work. A labor recruiter advertised an opportunity to work as a cleaner in a military camp in Russia. He promised US$1,000 to $1,500 a month and the possibility of permanent residency.

Rahman took out a loan to pay the fee of 1.2 million Bangladeshi taka, about $9,800, to the broker as a fee. He arrived in Moscow in December 2024.
Basic training, then the battlefield

Once in Russia, Rahman and three other Bangladeshi workers were presented with a document in Russian. Believing it was a contract for cleaning services, Rahman signed.

Then they went to a military facility far from Moscow, where they were issued weapons and underwent three days of training, learning to fire, advance and administer first aid. The group went to a barrack near the Russia-Ukraine border and continued training.

Rahman and two others were then sent to front-line positions and ordered to dig pits inside a bunker.

“The Russians would take a group of say, five Bangladeshis. They would send us in front and stay at the back themselves,” he said.

The men stayed in a leaky bunker in the rain as bombs fell a few kilometers away. Missiles flew overhead.

One person was serving food. “The next moment, he was shot from a drone and fell to the ground right there. And then he was replaced,” Rahman said.
Promises of jobs far from the front

Some Bangladeshi workers were lured into the army with promises of positions far from the front line.

Mohan Miajee enlisted in the Russian army after the job that initially brought him to Russia — serving as an electrician for a gas-processing plant in the remote far east — was plagued by harsh working conditions and relentless cold.

While searching for employment online, Miajee was contacted by a #Russian army recruiter. When he expressed his reluctance to kill, the recruiter said his skills as an electrician made him an ideal candidate for an electronic warfare or drone unit that would be nowhere near combat.

#Ukraine’s President Volodymyr #Zelensky has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kyiv for talks, “if he dares”.

#Venezuela announces bill that could lead to mass release of prisoners detained for political reasons.

The measure had long been sought by the United States-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodríguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

Rodríguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates and others that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency.

“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation,” she added during the televised event.

The Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal estimates that 711 people are in detention facilities across the South American country for their political activities.

The government did not release the text of the bill on Friday, leaving unclear the specific criteria that will be used to determine who qualifies for amnesty.

Rodríguez’s government earlier this month had announced plans to release a significant number of prisoners in a goodwill gesture, but relatives of those detained have condemned the slow pace of the releases.

“A general amnesty is welcome as long as its elements and conditions include all of civil society, without discrimination, that it does not become a cloak of impunity, and that it contributes to dismantling the repressive apparatus of political persecution,” Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, said on social media.

The organization has tallied 302 releases since Jan. 8, when National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez announced that the government would free a significant number of prisoners.

The human rights group Provea in a statement called out the lack of transparency and “trickle” pace of prisoner releases over the past few weeks and underscored that while the freeing of those still detained “is urgent, the announcement of an amnesty should not be conceived, under any circumstances, as a pardon or act of clemency on the part of the State.”

“We recall that these people were arbitrarily imprisoned for exercising rights protected by international human rights instruments, the National Constitution, and Venezuelan laws,” the organization said.

Regina Garcia Cano, The Associated Press

Man attempts to break Luigi Mangione from prison by impersonating FBI agent: authorities.

Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minn., was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent in a foiled bid to free Mangione from the Metropolitan Detention Center, the notorious Brooklyn lockup where he is held while awaiting state and federal murder trials in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

A criminal complaint filed against Anderson did not identify the person he attempted to free. A law enforcement official familiar with the matter confirmed it was Mangione. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

Anderson is expected to make an initial appearance Thursday in Brooklyn federal court. Online court records did not contain information on a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Mangione’s legal team.

According to the criminal complaint, Anderson approached the jail intake area around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday and told uniformed jail officers that he was an FBI agent in possession of paperwork “signed by a judge” authorizing the release of a specific person in custody at the jail.

When the officers asked for his federal credentials, Anderson showed the officers a Minnesota driver’s licence, threw numerous documents at them and claimed to have weapons, the criminal complaint said. Officers searched Anderson’s bag and found a barbecue fork and a circular steel blade which was said to resemble a small pizza cutter wheel, the complaint said.

Anderson had travelled to New York from Mankato, about 67 miles (107 kilometres) southwest of Minneapolis, and was working at a pizzeria after another job opportunity fell through, the law enforcement official said.

The attempt to free Mangione happened during a critical stretch in his legal cases.

Hours before Anderson’s arrest, the Manhattan district attorney’s office sent a letter urging the judge in Mangione’s state case, Gregory Carro, to set a July 1 trial date.

On Friday, Mangione will be in court for a conference in his federal case. The judge in that case, Margaret Garnett, is expected to rule soon whether prosecutors can seek the death penalty and whether they can use certain evidence against him.

Last week, Garnett scheduled jury selection in the federal case for Sept. 8, with the rest of the trial happening in October or January, depending on whether she allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both cases. The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison.

A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione has attracted legions of supporters, some of whom have regularly turned up at his court appearances. Some have donned green clothing, the colour worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi, as a symbol of solidarity, and some have brought signs and shirts with slogans such as “Free Luigi” and “No Death For Luigi Mangione.”

Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, a 27-year-old Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 km) west of Manhattan.

After several days of court proceedings in Pennsylvania, Mangione was whisked to New York and sent to the Metropolitan Detention Center.

The jail is also home to former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are facing drug trafficking charges. Its former inmates include hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press

#MOSCOW, January 29. #Russia appreciates the contribution of the United Arab Emirates to the Ukraine peace process, especially providing a venue for talks, President Vladimir Putin told his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

He also said that the Kremlin is closely monitoring the development of the situation around Iran.

TASS has compiled the main statements of the two heads of state.
The Ukrainian settlement

Putin said that Russia is grateful to the UAE for its help on Ukraine: "I would especially like to note the efforts of the Emirati side in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. For its contribution to the exchange of detainees and assistance in organizing contacts in various forms on the territory of the United Arab Emirates."

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed gratitude to Putin for helping mediation efforts in Abu Dhabi between Moscow and Kiev on the exchange of prisoners of war: "This is a very important issue."
The situation in the Middle East

Russia considers it essential to create "a full-fledged Palestinian state that can coexist peacefully with Israel," Putin said.

According to the Russian leader, such a policy "will make it possible to achieve a sustainable settlement and ensure long-term stability in the region."

The head of state also said that the Kremlin is closely monitoring the development of the situation around Iran: "Of course, we are all closely following what is happening now on the Iranian track."
Relations between Russia and the UAE

According to Putin, the Russian-Emirati economic partnership is intensively developing on all tracks, and there are a number of significant initiatives in the energy sector: "The Emirates are an important trading partner for us in the Arab world. The bilateral trade turnover is steadily growing and developing."

Putin said Russia highly appreciates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s personal contribution "to the promotion of the entire complex of the Russian-Emirati strategic partnership, which is multifaceted and mutually beneficial and is developing dynamically."

The UAE president noted that the country wants to strengthen relations with Russia: "We strive to strengthen relations [with Russia] and achieve the goals of [our] strategic partnership in the interests of both countries."

According to him, relations between Russia and the United Arab Emirates are based on a "deep legacy of fruitful cooperation" that has lasted for more than half a century.

#ICE appears to shift gears in Minnesota amid mixed messaging from #Trump.

Following weeks of daily clashes between protesters and immigration agents, spiked by the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens during such confrontations, senior Trump administration officials seemed to be recalibrating their approach.

A newly issued internal memo from a high-ranking Immigration and Customs Enforcement official directs federal officers to refrain from any unnecessary communication and engagement with “agitators” so as to avoid “inflaming the situation.”

The directive, reviewed by Reuters late on Wednesday, also orders ICE officers to only target immigrants who have records of criminal charges or convictions, a departure from earlier tactics that included randomly stopping people on the street to demand documented proof of legal U.S. residence or citizenship.

The substance of the memo seemed at odds with tough talk coming from Trump and some of his senior officials on Wednesday.

A day after sounding a conciliatory tone in his public remarks, the Republican president took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday to warn that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, was “playing with fire” by continuing to insist that city authorities would play no role in enforcing federal immigration laws.
Rule of law?

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents had arrested 16 people on Wednesday in Minnesota for allegedly assaulting, resisting or impeding federal law enforcement.

“Nothing will stop us from continuing to make arrests and enforce the law,” Bondi wrote.

A federal judge in Minneapolis said on Wednesday that ICE was flouting the law by ignoring dozens of federal court orders during this month’s surge.

While cancelling a contempt-of-court hearing for acting ICE chief Todd Lyons - after the agency belatedly complied with an order to release a wrongly detained Ecuadorean man - U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz cited at least 96 federal court orders he said ICE has violated in 74 cases.

#MOSCOW, January 28. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said trilateral talks on the Ukrainian settlement in Abu Dhabi will resume on February 1, calling them ‘"highly complex."

Peskov also noted that by refusing to purchase Russian gas, EU countries condemn themselves to dependence on the United States.

TASS has compiled the key statements of the Kremlin spokesman.
About talks on Ukraine

Trilateral talks on the Ukrainian settlement in Abu Dhabi are scheduled to continue on February 1: "Negotiations are scheduled for February 1. This is tentative, but that’s the plan for now."

Members of the Russian delegation at the Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi regularly receive instructions from President Vladimir Putin: "They receive them regularly, of course."

The negotiations in Abu Dhabi are highly complex: "These negotiations address a very sensitive topic. These are very complex talks. It would be detrimental to the negotiations to discuss specific details publicly during the process."

Russia will not discuss any specific documents on the Ukrainian settlement: "We aren’t discussing any lists of documents. We believe that everything should be done discreetly behind closed doors, which is what is happening now."
About EU’s ban on Russian gas

The EU’s refusal to purchase Russian gas is their choice: "By rejecting the most competitive Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas — both integral to the global energy market — they are condemning themselves to reliance on a select few sources. Primarily, this means dependence on the United States.".