With the Israel-Iran conflict entering its seventh day, US President Donald Trump is undecided on joining Israel. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, Trump said, “You don't know. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean nobody knows what I'm gonna do. I can tell you this that Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei via a statement retorted “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage”.
In related news, a group of 110 Indian students, who were stranded in Iran and evacuated yesterday, have landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The students were evacuated by the Indian embassy to Armenia from Tehran as part of ‘Operation Sindhu’.
Moving on, reports suggest that the US is restarting student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting.
An internal State Department cable, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, directs US consular officers to look for "applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence”. It added that “you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States". Reports further suggest that under new guidance, consular officers will ask for access to applicants' social media accounts with the applicants asked to adjust the privacy settings to 'public.'
Shifting focus to the Russia-Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy but only during a “final phase” of negotiations “so as not to sit there and divide things up endlessly, but to put an end to it”.
In a round-table interview in St Petersburg with international news agencies, Putin made his customary false accusation that Zelenskyy is not Ukraine’s legitimate president. He further claimed that Russia is “self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our security” even as reports suggest that Russia has brought in thousands of North Korean soldiers to help defend Kursk. Whilst also relying on a flood of arms and ammunition from North Korea as well as Iranian drones and missiles to wage war on Ukraine.
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