Trump Reportedly Commits to Pursuing Russia-Ukraine Peace

US President Donald Trump reacts as he and the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki (not pictured) meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 3, 2025.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump reacts as he and the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki (not pictured) meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
TT

Trump Reportedly Commits to Pursuing Russia-Ukraine Peace

US President Donald Trump reacts as he and the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki (not pictured) meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 3, 2025.  REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump reacts as he and the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki (not pictured) meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

US President Donald Trump said he remains committed to pursuing a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine despite uncertainty over the prospect of face-to-face talks between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, CBS News said in a report published on Thursday.

"I've been watching it, I've been seeing it, and I've been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelenskiy," Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News on Wednesday. "Something is going to happen, but they are not ready yet. But something is going to happen. We are going to get it done."

Trump earlier on Wednesday said he plans to hold talks about the war in Ukraine in coming days after his Alaska summit with Putin in August failed to achieve a breakthrough. A White House official said Trump is expected to speak on the phone on Thursday with Zelenskiy.

Putin also said on Wednesday he is ready to meet with Zelenskiy if the Ukrainian president came to Moscow but that any such meeting had to be well prepared and lead to tangible results. Ukraine's foreign minister dismissed the suggestion of Moscow as a venue for such a meeting.

Trump told CBS News he is unhappy with the carnage between Russia and Ukraine but will keep pushing for a peace agreement.

"I think we're going to get it all straightened out. Frankly, the Russia one, I thought, would have been on the easier side of the ones I've stopped, but it seems to be something that's a little bit more difficult than some of the others," he said.

Trump has been frustrated at his inability to get a halt to the fighting, which began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after he initially predicted he would be able to end the war swiftly when he took office in January.

Trump said on Wednesday that he watched China's "beautiful ceremony" marking the end of World War Two, where Putin was seen alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"I understand the reason they were doing it, and they were hoping I was watching, and I was watching," Trump told CBS News. "My relationship with all of them is very good. We're going to find out how good it is over the next week or two."

Trump said on Tuesday he was "very disappointed" with Putin, and suggested in a post on Truth Social that Xi, Putin and Kim were conspiring against the United States.

According to Reuters, the Kremlin said Putin was not conspiring against the US and suggested Trump was being ironic in his remarks.

Putin said that all countries with which Russia held talks in China supported the Russia-US summit in Alaska and had expressed hopes that the talks could help end the war in Ukraine.



SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
TT

SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS

South Korea grounded an aging fleet of military helicopters on Monday after a chopper crashed during a training exercise and killed two people on board.

The AH-1S Cobra was training for emergency landings when it "crashed due to an unidentified cause" in Gapyeong county west of Seoul, the army said in a statement.

Two service members were taken to hospital and later pronounced dead, AFP reported.

Photos in local media showed the helicopter's crumpled fuselage lying on a rocky river bank.

"Following the accident, the Army has suspended operations of all aircraft of the same model" and is investigating the cause, the forces said.

The AH-1S Cobra is a US-made, single-engine anti-tank attack helicopter.

Some of those used by South Korea's military are more than 30 years old. It is not clear how many are currently in service.

The country's defense acquisition agency said in 2022 that the Army's Cobra helicopters were "scheduled to be retired" as domestically developed light-armed choppers started flying.


Japan Restarts World's Biggest Nuclear Plant Again

Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
TT

Japan Restarts World's Biggest Nuclear Plant Again

Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Japan switched on the world's biggest nuclear power plant again on Monday, its operator said, after an earlier attempt was quickly suspended due to a minor glitch.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the Niigata region restarted at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), AFP quoted the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as saying in a statement.

A glitch with an alarm in January forced the suspension of its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The facility had been offline since Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown.

But now Japan is turning to atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.

Conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who pulled off a thumping election victory on Sunday, has promoted nuclear power to energize the Asian economic giant.

TEPCO initially moved to start one of seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on January 21 but shut it off the following day after an alarm from the monitoring system sounded.

The alarm had picked up slight changes to the electrical current in one cable even though these were still within a range considered safe, TEPCO officials told a press conference last week.

The firm has changed the alarm's settings as the reactor is safe to operate.
The commercial operation will commence on or after March 18 after another comprehensive inspection, according to TEPCO officials.


Israel Threatens to Hit Iran’s Ballistic Missiles, Questions ‘Value’ of Deal

People walk past a huge anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People walk past a huge anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
TT

Israel Threatens to Hit Iran’s Ballistic Missiles, Questions ‘Value’ of Deal

People walk past a huge anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People walk past a huge anti-US billboard displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Israel on Sunday said it could launch military strikes on Iran's ballistic missile program, expressing deep skepticism regarding the viability of any potential nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen considered a possible agreement between the US and Iran to be worthless - and a further military confrontation with Iran to be possible.

His comments came as representatives of the US government and Iran began talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. A date for a possible continuation has not yet been set.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing talks with Iran with US President Donald Trump.

“An agreement with the current regime has no value,” said Cohen, the Israeli news portal ynet reported on Sunday. “Regime change in Tehran is in the interest of all Muslim states surrounding Iran.”

“Even in the event of an agreement, if a threat against Israel develops and we are forced to act, we will act,” Cohen emphasized.

Also on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “The Iranian regime spreads terror beyond the Middle East, including to Latin America and we commend Paraguay's designation of the IRGC as a terror organization.”

During a meeting with Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano, Sa’ar said Iran’s long-range ballistic missile program poses a threat not only to Israel but also to Europe.

Israel is demanding that any agreement between the US and Iran must also include a limit on ballistic missiles and an end to support for Iran's allies in the region.

On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli defense officials recently told their US counterparts that Iran’s ballistic missile program represents an existential threat, and that Jerusalem is prepared to act unilaterally if necessary.

According to security sources, Israeli intentions to dismantle Iran’s missile capabilities and production infrastructure were conveyed in recent weeks through a series of high-level exchanges. Military officials outlined operational concepts to degrade the program, including strikes on key manufacturing sites.

“We told the Americans we will strike alone if Iran crosses the red line we set on ballistic missiles,” the source said, adding that Israel is not yet at that threshold but is continuously tracking developments inside Iran.

The officials stressed that Israel reserves freedom of action and emphasized that it will not allow Iran to restore strategic weapon systems on a scale that threatens Israel’s existence.

One defense official described the current moment as a “historic opportunity” to deliver a significant blow to Iran’s missile infrastructure and neutralize active threats to Israel and neighboring states.

During recent talks, Israel also presented plans to target additional facilities connected to the missile program, according to the official.

The newspaper said concerns were raised by several officials that Trump may adopt a limited strike model - similar to recent US operations against the Houthis in Yemen - which, they fear, could leave Iran’s critical capabilities intact.

“The worry is he might choose a few targets, declare success, and leave Israel to deal with the fallout, just like with the Houthis,” another military official said, adding that partial measures won’t eliminate the core threat.