GRIF MAG

By Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 - Meaningful talks between the United States and Iran will have to include Tehran's missile arsenal and other issues, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, as Tehran said it would only discuss its nuclear programme, not its missiles.

Talks between the countries amid fears of a military ​confrontation have been planned for Friday, with Iran pushing to restrict the negotiations to discussion of its long-running nuclear dispute with Western countries.

"If the Iranians want to meet, we're ready," ‌Rubio said. But he added that talks would have to include the range of Iran's ballistic missiles, its support for groups around the Middle East and its treatment of its own people, besides the nuclear dispute.

A senior Iranian official, however, said the ‌talks would only be about Iran's nuclear programme, and that its missile programme was "off the table".

TALKS MAY MOVE TO OMAN

The meeting was originally planned for Turkey, but a Gulf official, another regional official and Iranian state-affiliated media said the talks were expected to take place in Oman.

Rubio said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was prepared for the talks but that the location was "still being worked through" after Iran had previously agreed to a particular format.

Iran wanted the meeting to take place in Oman as a continuation of previous rounds of talks held in the Gulf Arab country on its nuclear programme and asked for a change of location from ⁠Turkey, the regional official said.

This was to avoid any expansion of the ‌discussions to issues such as Tehran's ballistic missiles, the regional official said.

Plans for the talks, to be mediated by several countries, were still being finalised, the Gulf official said, adding that the discussions would start on the nuclear issue and then move to other topics on a step-by-step basis.

The diplomatic efforts come after ‍U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of military action against Iran during its bloody crackdown on protesters last month and the deployment of more naval power to the Gulf.

After Israel and the United States bombed the Islamic Republic last summer, renewed friction has kindled fears among regional states of a major conflagration that could rebound on them or cause long-term chaos in Iran.

Trump has continued to weigh the option of strikes on Iran, sources say. Oil prices have ​risen on the tension.

NUCLEAR DISPUTE

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic in a standoff ‌that has led to mutual threats of air strikes.

Iran's leadership is increasingly worried a U.S. strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, according to six current and former Iranian officials.

Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during last month's crackdown, has since demanded nuclear concessions from Iran, sending a flotilla to its coast.

Iran also hopes for an agreement that could help lift Western sanctions over its nuclear programme that have ravaged its economy - a major driver of last month's unrest.

Ministers from several other countries in the region including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had been expected to attend Friday's talks, but a regional source told Reuters that Tehran wanted only bilateral talks with the U.S.

BALLISTIC MISSILE STOCKPILE

Iranian sources told Reuters last ⁠week that Trump had demanded three conditions for the resumption of talks: zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, limits ​on Tehran's ballistic missile programme and an end to its support for regional proxies.

Iran has long said all three demands ​are unacceptable infringements of its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters its clerical rulers saw the ballistic missile programme, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.

An Iranian official said there should not be preconditions for talks and that Iran was ready to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, which it says is for peaceful, ‍not military purposes.

Since the U.S. strikes in June, Tehran ⁠has said its uranium enrichment work has stopped.

In June, the United States struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in at the close of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign and Iran struck back at Israel with missiles and drones.

Iran said it replenished its missile stockpile after the war with Israel last year, warning it will unleash its missiles if its security is under threat.

Adding ⁠to tensions, on Tuesday the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said, in an incident first reported by Reuters.

In another incident in the Strait of Hormuz, ‌the U.S. Central Command said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces had approached a U.S.-flagged tanker at speed and threatened to board and seize it.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Humeyra ‌Pamuk, Andrew Mills and Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Michael Georgy and Angus McDowall; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are exceptionally anxious about their political system, according tonew international polling from Gallup, a situation that sets the country apart from other rich and powerful nations.

About one-third of Americans rated politics and government as the top issue facing their nation, behind only Taiwan — which faces the prospect of an invasion from China — and on par with Slovenia, Spain and South Korea.

The United States also stands out for the anxiety its younger residents have over economic issues, with younger Americans more likely than young adults in many of the other 107 surveyed countries to say affordability and other pocketbook issues are worrying them

Wealthier countries are more likely to list politics and government as a top issue, as are democracies. But the U.S. stands out as a country that's particularly concerned about the stability of its democratic system and whether it's still possible to get ahead economically, said Benedict Vigers of Gallup.

"It's really unique in that regard," Vigers said of the United States' position in the survey, which was conducted from March to October of 2025.

The finding comes after decades of partisan polarization in the United States that culminated in the rise of PresidentDonald Trump, theJan. 6, 2021attack on the U.S. Capitol, thelargely unsuccessful effortsto prosecute Trump during the administration of PresidentJoe Bidenand Trump's return to office raising new questions about the country'spolitical and constitutional guardrails.

It's the latest of a wide range of surveys showinginternational andAmerican anxietyabout the economy and democratic governance. Economic anxiety is closely linked to the health of democratic systems, according to Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth political scientist.

"A world where people aren't optimistic about their economic futures is one in which they're willing to destabilize institutions even further," Nyhan said.

Younger Americans worry about the country's economic future

The United States is among several high-income nations where younger people are unusually likely to prioritize economic issues.

Those 35 and under are most likely to list economic issues — including the affordability of food and shelter — as a top issue, while older Americans are far more likely to cite politics. About one-third of American young people in the poll cited economics and affordability as a top issue compared to only 13% of those 55 and older.

That's a version of heightened concern about affordability among young people seen in other rich countries worldwide, including in places like Australia, Canada and Ireland. All three countries,like the United States, are suffering from a housing affordability crisis and saw younger citizens rank the issue as more pressing than older ones.

"It's a literally concrete example of young people being locked out of economic progress," Vigers said.

The survey found that even those in some wealthier countries worry about affordability and economic issues at similar rates as those in some African countries. For example, 57% of adults in Ireland cite economics or affordability as a top issue, with countries like Nigeria, Zambia, Egypt and Albania being in the same league.

The housing affordability crisis has been particularly acute in the English-speaking world, and the only other high-income countries with similar levels of concern as Ireland over the economy and affordability among younger residents were Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Other wealthy countries, like France and Germany, did not see similar affordability concerns or age gaps.

Older Americans are concerned about politics and governance

While younger Americans focus on the economy, older Americans are more concerned about politics and government. About 4 in 10 Americans ages 35 and older said politics and government were the most important problem facing the country, compared to only about 2 in 10 younger Americans.

Gallup for decades has tracked what Americans rank as the top issue for the U.S., and occasionally, politics and government spiked during national scandals like Watergate. But since 2000,the importance of the issue has gradually climbed over timeto the point that, since 2016, it's ranked near or above Watergate levels.

"It's all mixed up with polarization," said Gallup's Frank Newport in an interview, noting that the issue rises among one of the two major parties when the other one is in power. He added that the domestic survey also found older people are more likely to rank politics and government as a top issue.

The United States also has among the widest splits between people who trust many of its institutions — including the national government, the judicial system and election integrity, among others — and those who do not. The distrustful are far more likely to list politics and government as the top issue — 41% of them did — than those who trust many of the country's establishments, where only 21% ranked politics as the top issue.

Nyhan, the political scientist, said that low trust can be toxic in democracies.

"Having a stable society and rule of law without social trust is really difficult," Nyhan said. "Low trust is corrosive. Under conditions of high polarization, it makes it exceptionally difficult to accept losing an election and accept the other party being in power."

Riccardi reported from Denver.

The Gallup World poll was conducted among people aged 15 and older in 107 countries between March and October 2025. The margin of sampling error ranges from plus or minus 2.4 to 4.7 percentage points.

By Elizabeth Piper and Muvija M

LONDON, Feb 4 - Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed regret on Wednesday for appointing Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, saying the Labour veteran had created a "litany of deceit" about his ties to U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer ceded ​to pressure from the opposition Conservative Party to release documents on how Mandelson was appointed, but was forced to water down an attempt to ‌limit the scope of that disclosure after facing a revolt in his own Labour Party.

Mandelson, a government minister when Labour was previously in power more than 15 years ago, quit the House of Lords ‌on Tuesday over links to Epstein, and is now under police investigation for alleged misconduct in office.

Files released by the U.S. Justice Department last week include emails suggesting Mandelson had leaked government documents to Epstein, and that Epstein had recorded payments to Mandelson or his then-partner, now husband.

OPPOSITION QUESTIONS STARMER'S JUDGEMENT

Mandelson has said he does not recall having received payments. He has not commented publicly on allegations he leaked documents, and did not respond to messages seeking comment.

On Wednesday, Starmer defended his own response, saying ⁠he had moved quickly to strip all titles and roles ‌from a man he accused of "betraying" Britain.

But Starmer's explanation of how Mandelson was appointed did little to quieten opposition voices, who said the ambassador's selection in late 2024 put a question mark over the judgment of Starmer and his closest adviser, Morgan ‍McSweeney.

It also did little to quell anger in the Labour Party, with lawmakers increasingly frustrated over Starmer's appointment of Mandelson and a series of embarrassing policy U-turns.

MANDELSON 'LIED REPEATEDLY'

"I am as angry as anyone about what Mandelson has been up to. The disclosures that have been made this week of him passing sensitive information at the height of the response to ​the 2008 financial crash is utterly shocking and appalling," Starmer told a rowdy session of parliament.

"He has betrayed our country, he's lied repeatedly, he's responsible for ‌a litany of deceit. But this moment demands not just anger but action, and that's why we've moved quickly," he said after telling lawmakers he had agreed with King Charles to remove Mandelson from the sovereign's formal body of advisers.

A chaotic afternoon in the House of Commons, in which lawmakers from all sides lined up to criticise Starmer and demand maximum transparency, culminated in the government agreeing a compromise to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

Plans to not release documents deemed prejudicial to national security or international relations were dropped. They will instead be handed to parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee - seen as a body trusted to handle sensitive information.

EMAILS SENT ⁠TO EPSTEIN

Starmer appointed Mandelson in late 2024, arguing that his past work in the governments ​of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and as the EU's trade commissioner made him an ideal ​person to navigate relations with Washington under President Donald Trump.

Starmer sacked Mandelson in September after seven months in the job, when documents emerged showing he had remained close to Epstein after the financier was found guilty in 2008 of child sex crimes.

Emails released ‍last week appeared to indicate that in 2009 ⁠Mandelson had sent Epstein a memo written for Brown about possible UK asset sales and tax changes, and in 2010 gave Epstein advance notice of a 500 billion euro ($590 billion) bailout by the European Union.

Starmer's government on Tuesday passed a dossier about Mandelson to police, who launched an investigation ⁠into Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office.

"The Metropolitan Police have been in touch with my office this morning to raise issues about anything that would prejudice their investigations," Starmer told parliament. "We ‌are in discussion with them about that."

(Reporting by Muvija M, Sam Tabahriti and Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting by Sarah Young; Writing by ‌Sam Tabahriti and William James; Editing by Paul Sandle, Peter Graff and David Holmes)

Nicki Minaj says she hasthrown her weight behind Donald Trumpbecause she could not stand to see him being "bullied."

The rapper has surprised many of her fans by becoming an outspoken supporter of the president in recent months, even appearing on stage with him at a U.S. treasury event last month.

In an interview with Katie Miller, the wife of thearchitect of Trump's immigration policies, Stephen Miller, Minaj explained why she has given Trump her backing.

"When I saw how he was being treated over and over and over, I just couldn't handle it," she said onThe Katie Miller Podcast. "I felt that...a lot of that bullying, and the smear campaigns and all of the lying, I felt that that had been done to me for so many years.

"And I was watching it in real time happen to someone else, and I didn't think he deserved it."

Shortly after the interview, theSuperbasshitmaker promised her fans, known as Barbz, that they will "love" the discussion.

Minaj'sseemingly sudden MAGA conversionbecame clear in November 2025, when she personally thanked Trump for histhreats against the Nigerian governmentover the alleged "killing of Christians".

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The so-called Queen of Rap had previously been a critic of the president. In 2016, she even sang the line, "Island girl, Donald Trump want me go home."

But a month after praising him over his threats to Nigeria, Minaj gushed about his administration during a Turning Point USA panel alongside Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow.

"This administration is full of people with heart and soul, and they make me proud of them," Minaj said. "Our vice president, he makes me ... well, I love both of them. Both of them have a very uncanny ability to be someone that you relate to."

Beforeher albumPink Friday 2debuted to mixed reviewsand prior to her support for Trump, Minaj was considered to be at the very apex of the hip hop world.

Her 2010 debut album,Pink Friday, and a slew of hits, includingPound the AlarmandStarships, cemented her status as one of hip-hop's leading voices. She also became an icon in the LGBT scene, performing with Madonna at theSuper Bowland regularly voicing her support for the Queer Community.

However, towards the end of the 2010s, Minaj became embroiled in a series of feuds and scandals with her fellow celebrities.

A lengthydispute between her and Cardi B, as well as aspat with Megan Thee Stallion, meant Minaj wasregularly in the headlinesfor arguing with her fellow stars and not her music.

Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton are "friends with benefits," and that's it.

• The pair are "not dating exclusively" and Lewis isn't "looking to be a stepdad."

• Kim and Lewis have been spotted on multiple public dates over the weekend—including in Paris and the Cotswalds.

Remember when you were minding your own business over the weekend and then the internet was suddenly swarming with reports that Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton are dating? The new couple enjoyed a whirlwind 3-night international date in the Cotswalds, London, and Paris, but apparently things are actually kinda casual. For now.

A source tells theDaily Mailthat Lewis and Kim's relationship is best described as "friends with benefits." As they put it, "Lewis and Kim are not dating exclusively. He's not looking to settle down with anyone, including Kim, but they are very cool with embracing the rumors and having a friend with benefits vibe."

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Another insider added that Kim and Lewis "has a very calm spirit and he has been there for Kim through her complex co-parenting situation with Kanye," but that he "isn't looking to be a stepdad, not looking to be the 'it' couple with Kim. Their schedules are so demanding right now so this set up works for them."

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