The German chancellor said 80% of Syrians could return home within three years, attributing the figure to Ahmed al-Sharaa Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has denied claims that he told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that up to 80% of Syrians living in Germany could be convinced to return home within three years. Merz cited the figure and timeline on Monday during a joint press conference with al-Sharaa, a former jihadist commander who seized power in 2024 after overthrowing the previous government. Following criticism, including from within his own political camp, Merz claimed on Tuesday that the estimate had originated from al-Sharaa. Speaking later that day at an event hosted by the London-based think tank Chatham House, al-Sharaa dismissed the claim as “exaggerated” and said it did not reflect his position. He emphasized that any repatriation effort would depend heavily on Syria’s economic recovery. Read more US ‘worked directly’ with terrorists in Syria on Israel’s behalf –...
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Tour guides on Himalayan treks reportedly defrauded several British and Australian insurance companies. Several tour guides in Nepal ran a fake helicopter rescue racket to defraud insurance companies in Australia and the UK, The Kathmandu Post has reported. Investigations by the paper revealed that the guides first staged a medical emergency, called in a helicopter, and checked tourists into a hospital. An insurance claim was then filed, which made it difficult for the foreign insurers, mostly operating from Australia and the UK, to verify incidents that purportedly happened at altitudes of 3,000 meters above sea level in remote Himalayan locations, according to the report. The newspaper first published an investigative report in 2019 about the alleged scam. While Nepalese authorities did not immediately act on the allegations, in 2025 the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) reopened the case and found that the practice is widespread. Nepal charges...
The US will be safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before once the conflict is over, the president has claimed US President Donald Trump has called the war on Iran an investment in the future of American children as he delivered his first address to the nation since the start of the conflict a month ago. In his speech on Wednesday, Trump claimed that Washington was never looking for regime change in Tehran, with its goals being the destruction of Iran’s navy and air force, and denying it the ability to create a nuclear weapon. “These core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he insisted. During the 32 days of fighting since the US and Israel launched their attack, Iran “has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat… This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. The fighting would continue “over the next two to three weeks” until the US goals are “fully achieved,” he added. Trump again warned the...
US President Donald Trump will decide what to do regarding the bloc after ending the war with Iran, the Pentagon chief has said US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has refused to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to NATO’s collective defense, pointing to the bloc’s refusal to assist or participate in the American-Israeli war on Iran. Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday, Hegseth stated that the future of US involvement in NATO will ultimately be decided by President Donald Trump, but noted that many issues with the bloc have been “laid bare” in the Iran conflict. “A lot has been shown to the world about what our allies would be willing to do for the US when we undertake an effort of this scope on behalf of the free world,” Hegseth said. He argued that Iranian missiles did not pose a threat to the US, but to its “allies and others,” who responded to Washington’s request for assistance with “questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations.” “The President is pointi...
Short and punchy computer-generated clips by Tehran have been going viral on social media during the conflict RT has looked into how Iran has used cheap, AI-generated clips to mock US President Donald Trump and the American military, countering the multibillion-dollar US media machine during the conflict in the Middle East. Videos by Tehran address the latest developments in the war , warning that US troops will face “hell” if Washington launches a ground operation, making fun of Trump’s fear of the ‘No Kings’ protests and reiterating the Iranian narrative that the US president ordered the attack on February 28 to distract the public from the Epstein files. In the US, the effort to convince the population that the war against Tehran makes sense is spearheaded by the empire of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, which includes the likes of Fox News, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal. It targets different audiences with tailored narratives, adopting a measured tone for educate...
The United States desperately needs a decisive victory in its war The outcome of the war with Iran will determine America’s capabilities on the world stage for years to come. That is what makes the current conflict in West Asia so consequential, far beyond the region itself. US policy toward Iran has become increasingly erratic. Rather than focus on the president’s shifting rhetoric, it is more useful to examine the logic underpinning the confrontation. Washington appears to have convinced itself that the moment is right to act decisively against Tehran, exploiting what it perceives as a window of vulnerability. The objective, viewed in isolation, has a certain cold rationality. A single, well-executed strike could, in theory, achieve several long-standing goals at once: settle the historical grievance of the 1979 embassy crisis, remove a regime seen as hostile to Israel, gain leverage over key energy resources and transport routes, and weaken emerging Eurasian integration projects....