03/05/2026

theSun on Sunday MAY 3, 2026

WORLD 8

We are like pirates, says Trump WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday the US Navy was acting like pirates as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the American blockade of Iranian ports. ‘Renewed war likely’ Trump’s comparison of US naval activity to piracy comes as legal experts raise alarms about Iran’s blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz and its plans to charge a fee for ships passing through it. Middle East, said it has redirected 45 vessels to “ensure compliance” with its blockade as of Friday. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told reporters last month that the blockade will last “as long as it takes”, while top US military officer General Dan Caine said it “applies to all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports”. US and Iran was “likely”, hours after Trump said he was “not satisfied” with a new Iranian negotiating proposal. Iran delivered the draft to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, state media reported without detailing its contents. The war has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan since then.

life in this environment where you can browse, you can connect with people”. According to the Audio Publishers Association (APA), audiobook sales reached US$2.22 billion (RM8.8 billion) in the United States in 2024, nearly doubling over the past five years. In the store, audiobook tablets called “story tiles” line the shelves, ready to be inserted into a player for listening through headphones. Each tile plays a short excerpt and the full title can be accessed on the Audible app. The platform, which dominates the audiobook market, offers paid subscriptions, individual purchases and free access to some titles for Amazon account holders.. – AFP “Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever or do we want to try and make a deal?” he said, saying he would “prefer not” to take the first option “on a human basis”. Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior figure in the Iranian military’s central command, said yesterday “a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely”, in quotes published by Fars news agency. “Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements,” he said. – AFP

Tehran effectively closed the waterway – a key route for oil and gas shipments – after the start of the US-Israeli bombardment on Feb 28. The United States announced a blockade of Iranian ports last month after peace talks in Pakistan failed to achieve a breakthrough. The US Central Command, responsible for US forces in the

“We ... land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said at a rally in Florida. “We’re like pirates,” he said to cheers from the crowd. “We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.”

Iran has vowed to maintain its chokehold on the strait as long as Washington continues to blockade its ports. In Tehran, a senior military officer said yesterday that renewed fighting between the

“At this moment I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” Trump told reporters, blaming stalled talks on “tremendous discord” within Iran’s leadership.

‘Bookless bookstore’ opens NEW YORK: Audiobook giant Audible opened what it billed as the first “bookless bookstore” in New York on Friday as industry statistics show more American consumers embracing the format.

There is no rustle of pages or stacks of best-selling novels at the pop-up store opened by the Amazon subsidiary on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. “This is a physical place dedicated to bringing audio storytelling to life,” Audible CEO Bob Carrigan said during a press tour of the “Audible Story House” on Thursday. It was a slightly “wild idea” which “took quite a bit of imagination”, Carrigan said, adding that the month-long pop up aims to “bring audiobooks to

Flotilla members protesting in Ierapetra, Crete on Friday. – AFPPIC Gaza flotilla activists disperse ATHENS: Dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

shortages since the start of Israel’s war against Gaza. The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel’s Foreign Ministry earlier said around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20 vessels on Thursday by its military. Flotilla organisers put the number of “kidnapped” activists at 211. Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein on Friday said: “All the flotilla activists are now in Greece except Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila.” – AFP

Israeli forces halted the boats on Wednesday night, with organisers the Global Sumud Flotilla saying their equipment had been smashed and that the intervention had left them facing a “calculated death trap at sea”. As they approached the port on Friday, the activists chanted “Free Palestine”. Israel controls all entry points to Gaza. It has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing

intercepted by Israeli forces off Crete left their boats on Friday, many taken to hospital on the Greek island while others were flown out. Greek officials said 31 of the roughly 175 activists had been taken to hospital on Crete. Turkish officials said about 60 had arrived by plane in Istanbul on Friday evening. More than 50 vessels had set sail from ports in France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the blockade of Gaza and

A customer shops at Audible Story House in New York. – AFPPIC

Stranded whale ‘Timmy’ released into North Sea after dramatic rescue FRANKFURT: A humpback whale that had been struggling to survive after beaching near the German coast was released yesterday into the North Sea off Denmark, after being transported in a barge in a last-ditch rescue operation. The whale, dubbed “Timmy” in Germany – where its ordeal captured hearts and sparked a media frenzy – exited the barge, blew air through its blowhole and swam off, said Karin Walter Mommert, an entrepreneur who financed the rescue initiative. The whale “has some small injuries, probably from being transported in rough seas, but they are superficial”, said Walter Mommert. It “should now swim up the Norwegian coast towards the Arctic”, said the entrepreneur, who made her fortune in horse racing. The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Luebeck, on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times. Various attempts to save it had failed, and authorities had

announced they were giving up, prompting Walter-Mommert and another entrepreneur to step in. They came up with what many saw as a long-shot plan: coax the whale into the water-filled hold of a special barge and tow it back to its natural habitat. – AFP