Bedugul Coffee: Iran demands conditions for U.S. peace talks

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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We asked Americans what the U.S. conflict with Iran means for their lives, and we had no shortage of responses. The Artemis II capsule and crew landed safely after 10 days in space. Learn more about Victor Glover, the first Black man to pilot a spacecraft around the moon, and one of his aspirants. And this edition of City memo takes us to Amsterdam.

Iran, U.S. arrive in Pakistan for peace talks

REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Conditions: Iran threw the outcome of the scheduled talks into doubt by demanding that Isarel stop attacking Hezbollah militants and that the U.S. unblock Iranian assets. Israel and the U.S. say Lebanon is not part of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is recovering from severe and disfiguring facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father, three people close to his inner circle said.
Divergence: The U.S. and Iran might be talking about a long-term truce, but Israel’s creation of “buffer zones” in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon shows that it’s prepared to remain in a semi-permanent state of war. Gaza’s education ministry said an Israeli bullet killed a third-grade girl in front of her classmates. Donald Trump’s Gaza peace board needs $17 billion. It has received less than $1 billion, a source says.

The Strait story

Plans for Hormuz: Middle East oil producers asked Asian refiners to submit crude-oil loading programs for April and May. That indicates preparations for the resumption of shipping in the strait. Trump warned Iran not to charge a toll on tankers sailing through those waters. Speaking of which, can they do that?
In the U.S.: Consumer prices rose by the most in nearly four years in March as gasoline and diesel prices increased because of the Iran war. The Trump administration likely will extend its sanctions waiver to let some countries buy Russian oil and petroleum products to try to keep prices from spiking.

What to know about Hungary’s election

Sunday: Opinion polls suggest that Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party will lose power after 16 years to the center-right pro-EU Tisza Party. Orbán has proven a pain to Ukraine and the EU and his government has cultivated a friendly relationship with Russia. Young voters don’t like him, even if JD Vance does.
Ukraine: One of Orbán's main problems with Ukraine is the oil it’s supposed to be getting from its neighbor via the Druzhba pipeline. It’s not flowing. Neither Russians nor Ukrainians expect the Easter truce to lead to lasting peace. Russia confirmed the deaths of 16 Cameroonians in the Ukraine war, Cameroon’s foreign ministry said.

How do you put a price on SpaceX?

Unconventional logic: Wednesday’s edition of the Reuters Daily Briefing explained the math behind SpaceX's $1.75 trillion valuation in its upcoming IPO. Today, we look at the unusual yardsticks Wall Street is using to justify the number. Rather than putting it in the same box as Boeing or AT&T, at least one institutional investor is grouping it with Palantir and AI infrastructure companies GE Vernova and Vertiv.
Pay, Voyager: Delta Air and Southwest Airlines raised their fees for checked bags because of soaring jet-fuel prices. American Airlines and Alaska Air followed with their own increases. Europe’s airport industry group says the continent faces a jet-fuel shortage in three weeks. Southwest will limit passengers to one lithium portable charger on flights and ban them from being stored in the overhead bins to reduce the risk of battery fires.

Transgender players banned from women’s darts

New rule: The Darts Regulation Authority said the policy followed a review by an academic developmental biologist who said that darts is a “gender-affected sport.” The change comes weeks after the IOC said only biologically female athletes will be eligible to take part in female-category events at the Olympic Games.
Home on the rage: World cycling’s governing body suspended New Zealand’s Kiaan Watts for 25 days after he punched fellow rider Marijn Maas in the head during a race in the Netherlands. Daniil Medvedev smashed his racket several times during a 6-0 6-0 loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Before I forget…

Congressman Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, said accusations of sexual assault by a former staffer were “absolutely” false. He also apologized to his wife for unspecified “mistakes in judgment in my past.”
Britain paused its plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Trump criticized the deal.
Americans have made a tangible entry into the Spanish housing market during this past decade, and their ranks are growing in part because of dissatisfaction with their president.
A U.S. judge rejected UBS’ bid to clarify a historical $1.25 billion settlement of Holocaust-related litigation. And a U.S. appeals court judge declared a 158-year-old law against home distilling unconstitutional.
Global nighttime light from the earth is rising, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia adding to the increase, while Europeans are introducing deliberate dimming.

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