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US Treasury Starts Implementing CAATSA

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
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US Treasury Starts Implementing CAATSA

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP

The US Treasury Department announced Tuesday the expansion of sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), under the pretext of the implementation of the US Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

CAATSA is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. The bill was passed in the Senate on August 2, 2017, and was signed by President Trump.

The law requires the US government to implement sanctions on Iran within 90 days after the bill is passed. In the list released by the US Department of Treasury, 41 individuals and companies were included.

The new sanctions apply to the IRGC Air Force, the Al-Ghadir Missile Command, the Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization and the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, as well as IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, Head of Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Hussein Taib, top military adviser to Ali Khamenei Yahya Rahim Safavi and former chief of staff Mohammad Reza Naqdi.

Properties of these individuals and companies in the USA are blocked, US citizens are not allowed to have any kind of deal with them and they don’t have the permission to enter the USA, according to CAASTA law.
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari hinted again that his country would target US forces in the region and increase the range of its ballistic missiles to more than 2,000 Kilometers if Washington starts implementing CAATSA.

Meanwhile, following a closed meeting with Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Sadeq Larijani, President Hassan Rouhani announced Iranian scenarios to face these sanctions.

Addressing a conference entitled “A World Free of Terror” in Tehran on Tuesday, Major General Jafari said, “The Americans are trying to implement the plan against the IRGC under the pretext of Iran’s missile power.”
However, this plan is targeting the Iranian economy in nature, he said, adding that the IRGC and missile capabilities of the Islamic republic are only pretexts for the US sanctions.

Iran has no need to extend the current 2,000 km range of its ballistic missiles as they can already strike enemy targets in case of aggression, the head of the Revolutionary Guard has said.

Jafari told reporters that the missile range can cover "most of American interest and forces" within the region, even as he underlined the program's defensive purpose.

Jafari said the ballistic missile range is based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but he warned Iran's enemies of the "high costs" of provoking his country.

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World

Trump Says Cuba, a 'Failed Nation,' Should Make a Deal with US

IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
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Trump Says Cuba, a 'Failed Nation,' Should Make a Deal with US

IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP
IN FLIGHT - FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 enroute to Washington, DC. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP

President Donald Trump on Monday said Cuba was a "failed nation" and called on Havana to make a deal with the United States, though he dismissed mounting a regime change operation.

"Cuba is right now, a failed nation," the US leader told reporters aboard Air Force One.

However, when asked if the United States would oust Cuba's government, as Washington did when it raided Venezuela and captured president Nicolas Maduro, Trump said: "I don't think that will be necessary."

The island is facing major fuel shortages and blackouts as Trump intensifies the decades-long US embargo on the country and presses other countries to stop sending Havana oil, according to AFP.

"It's a humanitarian threat," Trump admitted of the fuel shortages biting the country.

Varieties

China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
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China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)

Fifteen years ago, Beijing's Liangma riverbanks would have been smog-choked and deserted in winter, but these days they are dotted with families and exercising pensioners most mornings.

The turnaround is the result of a years-long campaign that threw China's state power behind policies like moving factories and electrifying vehicles, to improve some of the world's worst air quality.

Pollution levels in many Chinese cities still top the World Health Organization's (WHO) limits, but they have fallen dramatically since the "airpocalypse" days of the past.

"It used to be really bad," said Zhao, 83, soaking up the sun by the river with friends.

"Back then when there was smog, I wouldn't come out," she told AFP, declining to give her full name.

These days though, the air is "very fresh".

Since 2013, levels of PM2.5 -- small particulate that can enter the lungs and bloodstream -- have fallen 69.8 percent, Beijing municipality said in January.

Particulate pollution fell 41 percent nationwide in the decade from 2014, and average life expectancy has increased 1.8 years, according to the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).

China's rapid development and heavy coal use saw air quality decline dramatically by the 2000s, especially when cold winter weather trapped pollutants close to the ground.

There were early attempts to tackle the issue, including installing desulphurization technology at coal power plants, while factory shutdowns and traffic control improved the air quality for events like the 2008 Olympics.

But the impact was short-lived, and the problem worsened.

- Action plan -

Public awareness grew, heightened by factors like the US embassy in Beijing making monitoring data public.

By 2013, several international schools had installed giant inflatable domes around sport facilities to protect students.

That year, multiple episodes of prolonged haze shrouded Chinese cities, with one in October bringing northeastern Harbin to a standstill for days as PM2.5 levels hit 40 times the WHO's then-recommended standard.

The phrase "I'm holding your hand, but I can't see your face" took off online.

Later that year, an eight-year-old became the country's youngest lung cancer patient, with doctors directly blaming pollution.

As concerns mounted, China's ruling Communist Party released a ten-point action plan, declaring "a war against pollution".

It led to expanded monitoring, improved factory technology and the closure or relocation of coal plants and mines.

In big cities, vehicles were restricted and the groundwork was laid for widespread electrification.

For the first time, "quantitative air quality improvement goals for key regions within a clear time limit" were set, a 2016 study noted.

These targets were "the most important measure", said Bluetech Clean Air Alliance director Tonny Xie, whose non-profit worked with the government on the plan.

"At that time, there were a lot of debates about whether we can achieve it, because (they were) very ambitious," he told AFP.

The policy targeted several key regions, where PM2.5 levels fell rapidly between 2013 and 2017, and the approach was expanded nationwide afterwards.

"Everybody, I think, would agree that this is a miracle that was achieved in China," Xie said.

China's success is "entirely" responsible for a decline in global pollution since 2014, AQLI said last summer.

- 'Low-hanging fruits' gone -

Still, in much of China the air remains dangerous to breathe by WHO standards.

This winter, Chinese cities, including financial hub Shanghai, were regularly among the world's twenty most polluted on monitoring site IQAir.

Linda Li, a running coach who has lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, said air quality has improved, but she still loses up to seven running days to pollution in a good month.

A top environment official last year said China aimed to "basically eliminate severe air pollution by 2025", but the government did not respond when AFP asked if that goal had been met.

Official 2025 data found nationwide average PM2.5 concentrations decreased 4.4 percent on-year.

Eighty-eight percent of days featured "good" air quality.

However, China's current definition of "good" is PM2.5 levels of under 35 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than the WHO's recommended five micrograms.

China wants to tighten the standard to 25 by 2035.

The last five years have also seen pollution reduction slow.

The "low-hanging fruits" are gone, said Chengcheng Qiu from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Qiu's research suggests pollution is shifting west as heavy industry relocates to regions like Xinjiang, and that some cities in China have seen double-digit percentage increases in PM2.5 in the last five years.

"They can't just stop all industrial production. They need to find cleaner ways to produce the output," Qiu said.

There is hope for that, given China's status as a renewable energy powerhouse, with coal generation falling in 2025.

"Cleaner air ultimately rests on one clear direction," said Qiu.

"Move beyond fossil fuels and let clean energy power the next stage of development."

Entertainment

Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Award-winning US songwriter Billy Steinberg, who wrote several top hit songs including Madonna's "Like a Virgin," died Monday at age 75, according to media reports.

Steinberg wrote some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s and 1990s and was behind songs performed by singers from Whitney Houston and Celine Dion to Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.

He died following a battle with cancer, his attorney told the Los Angeles Times and BBC News.

"Billy Steinberg's life was a testament to the enduring power of a well-written song -- and to the idea that honesty, when set to music, can outlive us all," his family said in a statement to the outlets.

Steinberg was born in 1950 and grew up in Palm Springs, California, where his family had a table grape business. He attended Bard College in New York and soon began his career in songwriting.

He helped write five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Among those was "Like a Virgin," co-written with Tom Kelly, which spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.

Steinberg won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on Celine Dion's "Falling Into You."

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.