Iran supreme leader criticizes proposed nuclear talks with US

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader says that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable” after President Donald Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also suggested that “there should be no negotiations with such a government,” but stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington. Khamenei’s remarks to air force officers in Tehran on Friday appeared to contradict his own earlier remarks that opened the door to talks. The 85-year-old Khamenei has always carefully threaded his remarks about negotiating with the West. Following his remarks, the Iranian rial sunk to a record low of 872,000 rials to $1 in aftermarket trading.

Bangladesh’s government warns of stern action

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, says his makeshift administration will contain vandalism and arson after a historic house tied to ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was demolished by angry protesters. It said Friday that stern actions would be taken against such acts of violence. Angry protesters vandalized the former home of Bangladesh’s late independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in the capital, Dhaka, on Wednesday night. Rahman — Hasina’s father — declared Bangladesh’s independence from that home in 1971. Vandalism targeting Hasina’s supporters has since spread across the country. Hasina fled to India in August amid a student-led mass uprising.

Philippine VP preparing for impeachment battle but silent on option to resign

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte says her lawyers are preparing for a legal battle in her upcoming impeachment trial but refused to say if resignation is an option. Doing so could preempt a possible conviction in the Senate that would bar her from running for president. The House of Representatives impeached her Wednesday on a raft of criminal charges, including plotting to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated, which she again denied. Marcos was her running mate in the 2022 elections but they have had a bitter falling out. At a news conference Friday, she said Filipinos’ economic hardships have become “much worse” under Marcos.

Russia claims it’s taken another eastern Ukraine town

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry is claiming that its forces have captured the coal mining town of Toretsk, their latest breakthrough in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where Ukrainian defenses are creaking. Ukrainian officials had no immediate comment on the Russian claim on Friday, but a Ukrainian officer in Toretsk cast doubt on it. Russia has conducted a sustained, yearlong campaign along the eastern front, gradually loosening the short-handed and weary Ukrainian forces’ grip on its strongholds as the war approaches its fourth year later this month. The losses coincide with uncertainty over whether the United States will keep providing vital military aid.