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Trump's envoys Witkoff and Kushner to fly to Pakistan for Iran talks

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Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner are heading to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran on Saturday morning, the White House has said.

"The Iranians want to talk," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, adding that US Vice-President JD Vance was "on standby" to travel if the talks proved successful.

Iran's government said its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was already in Pakistan's capital Islamabad but did not mention any potential talks.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tehran had a chance to make a "good deal", stressing that "all they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon and in meaningful and verifiable ways".

At Friday's news briefing, Hegseth also warned that Washington's continuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a major oil shipping route – was "growing and going global".

The US and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February, and Tehran subsequently restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The moves by the warring sides have sent oil prices skyrocketing around the globe.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Leavitt said Trump had decided to send Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad "to hear the Iranians out", adding that US president is "always willing to give diplomacy a chance".

Leavitt added that "we've certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days".

Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy in Islamabad said Araghchi planned to "review bilateral matters" and discuss regional developments.

The Iranian foreign minister is yet to publicly comment on his visit but the country's semi-official Tasnim news agency earlier said there were currently no negotiations with the US on the agenda.

Trump and Hegseth have insisted this week that the US is not feeling pressure to end the war with Iran.

But news that the US-Iran talks are continuing this weekend underscores yet again the divide between the administration's public pronouncements and behind-the-scenes push by the White House to find a way to wind down the war.

This suggests both sides are seeking a path forward, despite the continued mixed messages from Trump and aggressive posturing from Tehran.

The open question now is how much progress the countries can make in Pakistan.

JD Vance led the US delegation in the first round of talks on 11 April but so far is not confirmed to be going to the negotiations this weekend.

Vance's absence, if he does not go, might mean the two countries do not expect a major breakthrough. But the fact that the talks are continuing shows both the US and Iran are interested in a deal.

On Wednesday, Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that it was "not possible" for the Strait of Hormuz to be opened due to "the blatant violations of the ceasefire" by the US and Israel.

He said the "violations" included the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which he said amounted to taking the global economy "hostage", and "warmongering" by Israel "on all fronts".

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remained open to negotiations with the US but added that "breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations".

Earlier this week, Trump announced an indefinite extension to the ceasefire with Iran, which was due to expire on Wednesday, so that negotiations could continue.

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The Papers: Original 'Labour leadership rivals circle' and 'Golden boys' on Baftas red carpet

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Chris Mason: Another crunch moment for Starmer as he pleads with Labour MPs not to topple him

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It feels like the prime minister has to give the speech of his life today.

Those within the Labour Party who want to see him succeed acknowledge that you can't change everything in one speech.

But it is clearly imperative for Sir Keir Starmer to try to calm down a party that is hurting and anxious.

Many Labour MPs have spent the weekend observing the politically scorched earth around them locally – their friends and colleagues in local and devolved government wiped out. There are fraught emotions and there is anger.

And for the last few days now there has been the drip, drip of revolt, with Labour MP after Labour MP coming out publicly to say Starmer has to go.

With every one, a little more of the prime minister's authority drains away.

Incidentally, don't underestimate what a big deal it is for any individual MP to go over the top and say their boss should go – not least because, for now at least, those that have done so are a tiny fraction of the total number of Labour MPs.

And it was his name up in lights as their leader when many of them won their seats for the first time, and often in parts of the country where Labour rarely if ever win. So to say now, out loud, that you think he is a dud is a big deal.

Wherever you look in the Labour Party right now there are knots of anxiety.

Firstly, there is anxiety in Downing Street, of course. They are acutely aware of what is at stake.

Secondly, there is anxiety among the potential challengers, weighing up if, when or whether to go for it. Timing can be everything: get it right, and the premiership can be yours. Get it wrong, and what might be your only chance to be prime minister is gone.

Thirdly, there is anxiety among the many, many Labour MPs keeping their heads down and who really don't want the prime minister to leave right now, nor for there to be a leadership contest.

Then there are those who would like Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to be Labour's next leader and so don't want a contest right now – because he needs time to firstly find and then win a Westminster seat, having been blocked from standing in one just a few months ago.

So what happens after the speech tomorrow? How do Labour MPs react? Does Catherine West, the former minister who has said she is willing to challenge the prime minister to try to force a contest, decide to back down, or press ahead?

Does the prime minister manage to put people off challenging him, at least for now?

Or is there a flood of anguish that leaves his position untenable and tempts one of the challengers to go for it?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in particular, faces a massive call in the next couple of days. He has said he won't challenge Sir Keir, but is prepared to make his case if it becomes clear the prime minister is a goner.

So does he go for it, or not? Some who would like to see him replace Sir Keir think this might be his very best chance, before Burnham can get back to Westminster.

It is worth emphasising that it is not easy to dislodge a sitting prime minister who doesn't want to budge and, up until now at least, Sir Keir has given every indication he wants to stick around.

But what a moment he confronts and his party confronts.

The Labour Party is in a glum swirl right now, where no one can be certain what will happen next.

Whatever does – or doesn't – happen will have consequences for us all.

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Ailing Iran Nobel laureate given bail and hospital transfer

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Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid concern over her deteriorating health.

Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi "a sentence suspension on heavy bail", a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Last week Mohammadi's family and supporters warned she could die in prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks earlier this year.

Mohammadi, 54, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

After pleas from her family for her to be transferred from prison, Mohammadi is "now at Tehran Pars Hospital to be treated by her own medical team", ​the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement.

She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence.

Mohammadi's Paris-based husband said "she is not in a favourable general condition" and that "her status remains unstable", in a statement over the weekend.

The activist is believed to have lost about 20kg (three stone) while in prison, and has difficulty speaking and is barely recognisable, according to her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.

In 2021, Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

Mohammadi was arrested last December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest.

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

Last month, Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza said his sister had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The foundation's statement on Sunday said "a suspension is not enough" and that the human rights activist requires "permanent, specialised care".

"We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence," it read.

"Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work," it said.

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