08/02/2026

WORLD 8 theSun on Sunday FEB 8, 2026

Iran-US talks go well ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE : US President Donald Trump said Washington had “very good talks” on Iran after the two sides held an indirect dialogue in Oman, pledging another round next week. More negotiations next week “We’re going to meet again early next week.” Shortly after the talks concluded, the US announced new sanctions against shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports. Trump also signed an executive order on Friday enabling his administration to impose tariffs on goods from countries doing business with Iran, with any potential levies threatening trade with the consequences are very steep.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led Iran’s delegation in Muscat, said talks “focused exclusively” on the Iranian nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb but Tehran insists is peaceful.

Trump refuses to apologise over racist clip WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump refused to apologise on Friday for a video posted on his social media account depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, although he said he condemned the post as the White House shifted the blame to staff. The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on Thursday night sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member. “I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said on Air Force One on Friday when asked if he would apologise for the post. Asked if he condemns the racist imagery in the video, Trump replied: “Of course I do.” Democrats slammed Trump as “vile” over the clip of the Obamas, while a senior Republican senator said the video was blatantly racist. Near the end of the one minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Republican Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second. The video, uploaded on Thursday, repeated allegations that ballot-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the election from Trump. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially played down the row, saying the images were “from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King ”. But almost exactly 12 hours after the post appeared on Trump’s account there was an unusual concession. OSLO: Norway looks set to launch an inquiry into its Foreign Ministry over links to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, one of several European nations to feel the heat from a scandal that has yet to cause major political repercussions in the US. The release of an enormous cache of new files last week has revealed a host of new Epstein connections with politicians, royals and the ultra-rich. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s future is looking increasingly uncertain over his decision last year to name Peter Mandelson, who had a close friendship with Epstein, as ambassador to Washington. The king’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has relinquished his royal title and

agency, Araghchi expressed hope that Washington would refrain from “threats and pressure” so that “the talks can continue”. Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command, was present at the talks, according to images published by the Oman News Agency. Multiple sessions of talks in the morning and afternoon involved both sides shuttling to and from the residence of Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry expressed hope the talks would “lead to a comprehensive agreement that serves the interests of both parties”. The White House has made clear it wants the talks to rein in Tehran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon, an ambition the Islamic republic has always denied. – AFP Clintons ready to testify in public WASHINGTON: Former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are calling for their congressional testimony on ties to Jeffrey Epstein to be held publicly, to prevent Republicans from politicising the issue. The Clintons had been ordered to give closed-door depositions before the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the financier’s connections to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled. Democrats say the investigation is being weaponised to attack political opponents of President Donald Trump, himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify, rather than to conduct legitimate oversight. House Republicans had previously threatened a contempt vote if the couple did not show up to testify, which they have since agreed to do. But holding the deposition behind closed doors, Bill Clinton said on Friday, would be akin to being tried at a “kangaroo court”. “Let’s stop the games and do this the right way... in a public hearing,” he said on X. Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, said the couple had already told the Republican-led Oversight Committee “what we know”. “If you want this fight ... let’s have it in public,“ she said on Thursday. Bill Clinton features regularly in the files, but no evidence has come to light implicating either Clinton in criminal activity. Hillary Clinton said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island. – AFP

The US delegation, led by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s influential son-in law Jared Kushner, had also wanted Tehran’s backing for militant groups, its ballistic missile programme and treatment of protesters on the agenda. “In a very positive atmosphere, our arguments were exchanged and the views of the other side were shared with us,” Araghchi told Iranian state TV, adding that the two sides had “agreed to continue negotiations”. Speaking to IRNA news

Iran said it expected to hold more negotiations with the United States, hailing a “positive atmosphere” during a day of talks in the Gulf sultanate. With an American naval group led by an aircraft carrier in Middle Eastern waters, US and Iranian delegations held talks in Muscat on Friday mediated by Oman without publicly meeting face-to-face. “We likewise had very good talks on Iran,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One en route to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

countries including China, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. It was not clear if the moves were linked to the talks, which were the first between the two foes since the United States joined Israel’s war with Iran in June with strikes on its nuclear sites. While Iran warned against further threats after Washington raised the spectre of new military action, Trump said: “If they don’t make a deal,

“A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a White House official told AFP. Norway Foreign Ministry under scrutiny

A picture taken on Sept 23, 2012 shows Mette-Marit (left) shaking hands with Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell as Iceland’s First Lady Dorrit Moussaieff looks on at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. – AFPFILEPIC

offered much more detail. Norway’s economic crime police unit said on Thursday it was investigating Jagland on suspicion of corruption. Jagland’s lawyer said his client was confident of demonstrating his innocence. The Foreign Ministry said it would seek to lift the diplomatic immunity Jagland enjoys, as head of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019, to allow police to investigate. The Council of Europe said it had conducted an internal inquiry in December and January, prompted by Epstein files released in November, and that “further action will be decided as needed”. Juul did not answer requests for comment sent to the ministry, which has suspended her while she is under probe. – Reuters

now leader of the World Economic Forum, Mona Juul, ambassador to Jordan and Iraq and her husband Terje Roed-Larsen. On Friday, Mette-Marit apologised again in a statement issued by the palace, notably to the king and queen, for her ties with Epstein. The latest files showed email correspondence with him even after he was found guilty of child sex crimes in 2008. Jagland is also a former chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Juul and Roed-Larsen helped set up the secret channel for contacts between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Israeli government that led to the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords. All were known to have had ties to Epstein, but the new files have

lavish residence, and pressure is now growing on him to testify in the US. In Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico’s national security adviser has resigned after emails showed he discussed young women with Epstein. And former French culture minister Jack Lang is being urged to resign as president of the Arab World Institute. But Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize and often a fulcrum of international diplomacy, seems to have more than its share of fallout. Public figures, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit and former prime minister and foreign minister Thorbjoern Jagland are all under fresh scrutiny. So are former foreign minister Boerge Brende,