- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
In Israel, Germany's Scholz says Iran deal 'cannot be postponed'
Germany's Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that a new Iran nuclear agreement "cannot be postponed any longer", during his first visit as chancellor to Israel, which staunchly opposes efforts to forge a deal with Tehran.
Scholz's visit, which included a ceremony at Jerusalem's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, comes amid the geopolitical turmoil sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The two heads of government -- both relatively new to office following many years when their countries were ruled by veterans Angela Merkel and Benjamin Netanyahu -- met as rapidly moving world events test their leadership.
Policy differences on Iran, long Israel's arch foe, surfaced at a Jerusalem joint press conference, with Scholz saying Germany "would like to see an agreement reached in Vienna".
The latest round of negotiations to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear deal started in late November in the Austrian capital and the talks are expected to reach a crunch point in the coming days.
The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) secured sanctions relief for Iran in return for strict curbs on its nuclear programme to prevent it acquiring an atomic weapon, a goal Iran has always denied pursuing.
"Now is the time to make a decision," Scholz said. "This must not be postponed any longer and cannot be postponed any longer. Now is the time to finally say yes to something that represents a good and reasonable solution."
The original 2015 agreement unravelled when former US president Donald Trump withdrew from it, with Israeli encouragement.
Israel's Bennett has said he is "deeply troubled" by the outlines of a new deal taking shape, fearing it does too little to stop Iran from getting the nuclear bomb, while granting it sanctions relief.
Bennett stressed on Wednesday that Israel is "following the talks in Vienna with concern" and warned that "Israel will know how to defend itself and ensure its security and future".
- 'Permanent responsibility' -
At the earlier visit to Yad Vashem, Scholz left a message in the guest book stressing Germany's historical responsibility toward the Jewish state.
"The mass murder of the Jews was instigated by Germany," he wrote. "Every German government bears permanent responsibility for the security of the state of Israel and the protection of Jewish life."
Bennett said the Holocaust "is the wound that forms the basis of ties between Germany and Israel. From this wound we have built significant and steadfast relations."
When it comes to current events, the two leaders have also diverged on their responses to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Since the invasion started last week, Scholz's coalition government has reversed a ban on sending weapons into conflict zones and halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany.
He also pledged 100 billion euros ($113 billion) this year to modernise Germany's army and committed to spending more than two percent of Germany's gross domestic product on defence annually, surpassing even NATO's target.
Israel has taken a more conservative approach, citing its warm ties with both Kyiv and Moscow and security cooperation with Russian forces which have a large presence in Syria on Israel's northern border.
Bennett has resisted Kyiv's request for weapons, according to Israeli media, and this week sent Ukraine 100 tons of non-military assistance, including blankets, water purification kits and medical supplies.
"We have a very measured and responsible policy whose goal is both to help the Ukrainian people and to do what we can to help alleviate some of the pressures and the consequences of this horrific situation," Bennett said as he stood beside Scholz.
Scholz, one a one-day trip, was later due to meet Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and visit the Knesset, or Israeli parliament.
He postponed a scheduled meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank due to the events in Ukraine, the German Foreign Office in Ramallah told AFP.
R.Adler--BTB