qrstuv

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/SoPvR

To save its takeover of U.S. Steel, Japan’s Nippon Steel agreed to an unusual arrangement, granting the White House a “golden share” that gives the government an extraordinary amount of influence over a U.S. company.

New details of the agreement show that the structure would give President Trump and his successors a permanent stake in U.S. Steel, significant sway over its board and veto power over a wide array of company actions, an arrangement that could change the nature of foreign investment in the United States.

Under the terms of the national security pact, which the companies said they signed Friday, the U.S. government would retain a single share of preferred stock, called class G — as in gold. And U.S. Steel’s charter will list nearly a dozen activities the company cannot undertake without the approval of the American president or someone he designates in his stead.

Activities requiring the president’s permission include the company transferring production or jobs outside the United States, closing or idling plants before agreed-upon time frames and making certain changes to how it sources its raw materials.

Under the terms of the deal with the steel companies, the president could exert significant influence over U.S. Steel’s board. The president has the authority to directly appoint one of the board’s three independent directors, and approve or reject appointments for the other two, the two people familiar with the negotiations said.

The golden share in U.S. Steel cannot be transferred or sold by a future president, they said. They also described the share as “noneconomic,” meaning that it would not affect the size of other U.S. Steel shareholders’ stakes or give the U.S. government the chance to directly profit from U.S. Steel in the form of dividends.

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/TXxp4

The latest round of talks between the United States and Iran on the future of Iran’s nuclear program has been canceled, officials said on Saturday.

The two countries had been scheduled to meet for a sixth round of negotiations on Sunday in Muscat, the capital of Oman. But that diplomacy has been scuttled by the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, which began with Israeli airstrikes on Friday. Israel’s attacks have targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, top military commanders and senior nuclear program officials.

The senior Iranian figures killed by Israel included Ali Shamkhani, a former secretary of the Supreme National Council, who was overseeing the talks as part of a committee named by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Earlier Saturday, Iran had appeared to adopt a slightly ambiguous stance on further negotiations, calling the talks “meaningless” while also suggesting that a final decision on whether to participate was still pending.

But Iran’s stance hardened as the day went on, with Ismail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, telling reporters at a news conference in Tehran that Iranian participation would be suspended until Israel halts its attacks.

“Iran’s leadership will be wise to negotiate at this time,” McCoy Pitt, a senior State Department official, said in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday focused on the crisis.

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/8qvpv

An aid group in Gaza backed by Israel and the United States said that on Wednesday night a bus carrying some of its Palestinian workers was attacked by Hamas, leaving at least five people dead and others injured.

At the time of the attack, the bus was carrying about two dozen of the group’s workers and was en route to an aid distribution site in southern Gaza, according to a statement from the group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Some of the workers “may have been taken hostage,” it said, adding that it was still gathering information.

“We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,” said the foundation, which is run by American contractors. “These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others.”

The New York Times could not independently verify the attack. Hamas did not comment on the accusation that it had attacked workers from the group, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The foundation said it held the militant group “fully responsible” for the deaths of “dedicated workers who have been distributing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.” The group called on the international community to condemn Hamas for the attack.

“Tonight, the world must see this for what it is: an attack on humanity,” it said.

http://archive.today/2025.06.11-113426/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/world/middleeast/israel-knesset-vote-orthodox-draft-law.html

Israel’s opposition parties said they would bring a motion to dissolve Parliament to a vote on Wednesday, presenting the most serious challenge yet to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government and raising the specter of early elections.

If the motion passes, it is unlikely that the government will fall immediately. The parliamentary process before any final vote could take months, giving the prime minister time to shore up his increasingly fractious governing coalition or set his own agenda for a return to the ballot box. But it would deal a heavy blow to his political credibility.

The opposition parties are exploiting a crisis within the governing coalition over the contentious, decades-old policy that exempts ultra-Orthodox men who are studying religion in seminaries from compulsory military service.

http://archive.today/2025.06.11-204837/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/us/politics/iran-us-iraq-diplomats-middle-east.html

The State Department has decided to reduce its diplomatic presence in Iraq, the department said in a statement on Wednesday, as tensions across the Middle East spiked amid signs that nuclear diplomacy between the United States and Iran may be deadlocked.

Word of the U.S. decision, along with a warning from the United Kingdom about new threats to Middle East commercial shipping, came hours after President Trump said in a podcast released Wednesday that he has grown “less confident” about the prospects for a deal with Iran that would limit its ability to develop nuclear weapons. American and Iranian negotiators have been planning to meet later this week for another round of talks, although Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran had adopted an “unacceptable” negotiating position.

The British warning came from the country’s maritime trade agency, which issued a public advisory saying that it had “been made aware of increased tensions within the region which could lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners.” The advisory urged commercial vessels transiting the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to use heightened caution.

The sense of alarm was heightened by comments from Iran’s defense minister, General Aziz Nasirzadeh, who warned on Wednesday that in the event of a conflict following failed nuclear talks, the United States would suffer heavy losses from Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in the Middle East. His comments were reported by Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

The State Department did not provide details on how many personnel would be removed from Iraq, or why. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that nonessential U.S. personnel would be withdrawn from Baghdad, and that nonessential personnel and family members of diplomats had been authorized to depart from U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait.