Netanyahu Urges US Congressmen to Prevent Iran from Obtaining Nuclear Weapons

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with a US Democratic Congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (Israeli prime minister’s office)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with a US Democratic Congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (Israeli prime minister’s office)
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Netanyahu Urges US Congressmen to Prevent Iran from Obtaining Nuclear Weapons

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with a US Democratic Congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (Israeli prime minister’s office)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with a US Democratic Congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (Israeli prime minister’s office)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed with a Democratic US Congressional delegation on Monday the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The delegation was led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The meeting was the first between the Israeli PM and US officials after reports said last month that Tel Aviv informed the American administration and several European countries that it would resort to military action if diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program fail.

Last week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened Iran's enemies, particularly Israel, warning that the “smallest mistake against the security of Iran will result in the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv.”

On Saturday, General Ramezan Sharif, the spokesman for the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), warned Israel against any military action against Iran.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it was bracing for possible security instability in the Red Sea area given the Iranian naval presence there, reported Israel’s iNews24 website.

Citing intelligence assessments, the report spoke of direct and indirect threats to Israel from Iran’s proxies in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.

“One danger is civilian-Iranian ships that have been converted for military function, operating in the Red Sea, outfitted with surface-to-sea missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and UAVs,” the website wrote.



Pay up or Face Climate-Led Disaster for Humanity, UN Chief Warns COP29 Summit

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 12 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 12 November 2024. (EPA)
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Pay up or Face Climate-Led Disaster for Humanity, UN Chief Warns COP29 Summit

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 12 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 12 November 2024. (EPA)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders at the COP29 summit on Tuesday to "pay up" to prevent climate-led humanitarian disasters, and said time was running out to limit a destructive rise in global temperatures.

Nearly 200 nations have gathered at the annual UN climate summit in Baku, focused this year on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions.

But on the day of the summit designed to bring together world leaders and generate political momentum for the marathon negotiations, many of the leading players were not present to hear Guterres' message. After victory for Donald Trump, a climate change denier, in the US presidential election, President Joe Biden will not attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a deputy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is not attending because of political developments in Brussels.

"On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price," Guterres said in a speech. "The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side."

This year is set to be the hottest on record. Scientists say evidence shows global warming and its impacts are unfolding faster than expected and the world may already have hit 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 F) of warming above the average pre-industrial temperature - a critical threshold beyond which it is at risk of irreversible and extreme climate change.

As COP29 began, unusual east coast US wildfires that triggered air quality warnings for New York continued to grow. In Spain, survivors are coming to terms with the worst floods in the country's modern history and the Spanish government has announced billions of euros for reconstruction.