03/06/2025

TUESDAY | JUNE 3, 2025

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Man throws firebombs into Colorado crowd, eight hurt

UN chief urges more transparency from Iran CAIRO: The UN atomic watchdog’s chief yesterday called for more transparency from Iran as it seeks relief from sanctions in negotiations over its nuclear programme. International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi made the comments ahead of a meeting in Cairo with Iran’s top diplomat and chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi. It comes a day after a leaked IAEA report showed Iran has stepped up production of uranium enriched up to 60%, close to the roughly 90% level needed for atomic weapons. In a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty before the scheduled tripartite meeting, Grossi defended the report, calling it “impartial”. “We say things as they are without a political agenda,” Grossi said, stressing the report “tells it as it is”. “There is a need for more transparency – this is very, very clear – in Iran, and nothing will bring us to this confidence (besides) full explanations of a number of activities,” he added. Iran has rejected the IAEA’s findings, calling it a “political” manoeuvre based on “unreliable and misleading information”. Grossi said some of the report’s findings “may be uncomfortable for some, and we are... used to being criticised”. In a phone call with Grossi on Saturday, Araghchi warned Iran would retaliate if European powers that have threatened to reimpose nuclear sanctions “exploit” the report. Abdelatty urged a peaceful solution, saying “the region is already experiencing enough crises and security challenges”. “We completely reject any escalation or incitement of a military option,“ he said, warning against “descending into a state of chaos from which no one will be spared”. The UN report comes as Iran holds talks with the United States on its nuclear programme, after Washington unilaterally abandoned a landmark agreement between Tehran and world powers in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term. – AFP do things that seem foolish and unrewarding, then who will? As long as I can, I’m willing to keep going.” Before dawn on June 4, 1989, tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, crushing weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers. China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into thousands. Public discussion of what happened is taboo in China, which blamed the protests on counter revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the Communist Party. – Reuters

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat, said it was an antisemitic attack. “This is horrifying, and this cannot continue. We must stand up to antisemitism,” he said on X. The attack follows last month’s arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, DC. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel. The shooting fuelled polarisation in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Colorado Governor Jared Polis posted on social media that it was “unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder.” – Reuters

the University of Colorado, during an event organised by Run for Their Lives, an organisation devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized in Israel. The group said the walks have been held every week since then for the hostages, “without any violent incidents until today”. Brooke Coffman, a 19-year-old at the University of Colorado who witnessed the incident, said she saw four women lying or sitting on the ground with burns on their legs. One of them appeared to have been badly burned on most of her body and had been wrapped in a flag by someone, she said. She described seeing a man whom she presumed to be the attacker standing in the courtyard shirtless, holding a glass bottle of clear liquid and shouting. “Everybody is yelling, ‘get water, get water,’” Coffman said.

o Targeted act of terror, says FBI director

I raq probes fish die-off NAJAF: Iraqi authorities yesterday launched an investigation into a mass die-off of fish in the southern marshlands. One cause for the localised die-off could be a shortage of oxygen sparked by low water flow, increased evaporation and rising temperatures. Another reason could be chemicals used by fishermen to make it easier to catch their prey, said local officials and activists. AFP images showed large quantities of silver fish floating in the marshlands of Ibn Najm near the southern city of Najaf. Buffaloes could be seen surrounded by dead fish, trying to cool themselves off in the water. Chief environmental officer in Najaf, Jamal Abd Zeid, said a technical inspection team had been set up. A photographer at the site saw civil servants collecting water samples from the marshland. Among the issues the team was tasked with investigating, Abd Zeid said, were a shortage of water, electrical fishing and the use of poisons. For at least five years, Iraq has been hit by successive droughts. Authorities also blame the construction of dams by Iran and Turkiye for the drastic drop in flow in Iraq’s rivers. The destruction of Iraq’s natural environment is only the latest layer of suffering imposed on a country that has endured decades of war and political oppression. Environmental activist Jassim al-Assadi said a lack of oxygen caused by low water flow, heat, evaporation and wind were all possible reasons, he said. He said pesticides could also have led to the mass die-off. – AFP BOULDER: Eight people were injured on Sunday when a 45-year old man yelled “Free Palestine” and threw incendiary devices into a crowd in Boulder, Colorado, where a demonstration to remember Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza was taking place, authorities said. Four women and four men between 52 and 88 years old were transported to hospitals, Boulder police said. Authorities had earlier put the count of the injured at six and said at least one of them was in a critical condition. “As a result of these preliminary facts, it is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,” said Mark Michalek, the

FBI special agent in charge of the Denver Field Office. Michalek named the suspect as Mohamed Soliman, who was hospitalised shortly after the attack. Reuters could not locate contact information for him or his family. FBI Director Kash Patel also described the incident as a “targeted terror attack”, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it appeared to be “a hate crime given the group that was targeted”. Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said he did not believe anyone else was involved. “We’re fairly confident we have the lone suspect in custody,” he said. The attack took place on the Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping district in the shadow of

POWERFUL STROKES ... Competing teams rowing furiously during a dragon boat race in the Xixi wetland in Hangzhou, China’s eastern Zhejiang province on Sunday. – AFPPIC

HK activist challenges Tiananmen taboo TAIPEI: Fu Tong and his wife Elaine To were among the first demonstrators in Hong Kong to be charged with rioting in 2020 after pro-democracy and anti-China protests started in 2019 in the former British colony. hold the vigils, and can no longer even mention it, Taiwan’s existence becomes very important,” Fu said. “It’s one of the few places in Asia, where people can openly

commemorate the event, discuss it, and even condemn the Communist Party. The existence of such a space is already hugely significant,” he said. Taiwan is the only part of the Chinese-speaking world where June 4 can be remembered openly, though Chinese communities in the United States, Britain, Australia and other countries will also mark it. “I really feel like I’ve been chosen to be in this era. If I don’t step up to

After leaving for Taiwan, Fu continued his activism and is now preparing to mark this year’s anniversary of Beijing’s bloody June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in and around Tiananmen Square. Fu, 43, has co-hosted a Hong Kong human rights exhibition in Taipei, showcasing artwork from the protest movement. “When Hong Kong can no longer

Fu teaches Thai boxing. – REUTERSPIC