Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities have described the latest talks with the United States as “positive”, but the mediated negotiations in Oman offered no roadmap to alleviate growing fears of a US attack.

Iran’s team in Muscat on Friday was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while Washington sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. US Central Command chief Brad Cooper, the most senior commander in the region, also joined the US delegation.

Speaking to Iranian television in Muscat after the talks finished, Araghchi said the indirect effort was “a good start” but that a decision on how to proceed with the next rounds would be taken after “consulting with the capitals”.

But Araghchi cautioned that there was a climate of “mistrust” since the US military attacked Iran’s nuclear sites when it briefly joined Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, days before a sixth round of similarly mediated indirect talks had been scheduled.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi met with the US and Iranian sides separately multiple times on Friday and conveyed messages between the teams.

“It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress,” he said, adding that the aim is to “reconvene in due course”.

Consultations “focused on creating appropriate conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations”, according to a statement from Oman’s Foreign Ministry.

The talks in Muscat took place after a tumultuous week that saw Washington position the USS Abraham Lincoln supercarrier and supporting warships and fighter jets near Iranian waters and strengthen air defences in bases used by the US military across the region, while also shooting down an Iranian drone.

US President Donald Trump, in recent weeks, has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if it does not reach a new agreement with the US on several issues.

Red lines

The US wants Iran to fully abandon enriching uranium, even at the 3.67 percent civilian-use rate agreed under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018. Iran used to enrich up to 60 percent before its main nuclear facilities were destroyed or significantly damaged by US bombs in June.

Washington also wants to limit the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles – the main tool in the country’s arsenal – and ensure that Tehran’s aligned armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria will no longer receive any military or financial support.

Several European powers have expressed support for the US demands, as has the far-right government in Israel, which wants to undermine a substantive military rival in the region.

But the Iranian government has repeatedly emphasised that it will only negotiate on nuclear issues to lift sanctions and de-escalate, saying that discussions on missiles or any other subject were a red line. As Araghchi reiterated on Friday, it also wants the US threats of war to end.

Iranian commanders have also said they remain highly prepared for a regional-scale war, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday showed a new test launch of one of the country’s top ballistic missiles.

Iranian Press TV said the Khorramshahr-4 missile, capable of reaching Israel and US bases across the region, was put on a mobile launcher taken out from an underground base.

Yadollah Javani, the political deputy for the IRGC, said that “unveiling the missile means that although we have sat down at the negotiating table, we will not give up our military power”.

‘Conditions more severe than war’

People in Iran are closely following the developments.

But there are fewer signs of the cautious optimism seen during five rounds of previous negotiations held last year in the lead-up to the 12-day war with Israel.

Soroush, a Tehran resident, told Al Jazeera he hopes the negotiations can lift the shadow of war hanging over Iran.

“War not only brings fear and anxiety, but also doubles the economic pressure,” he said, as the country deals with one of the highest inflation rates in the world.

But another resident, Maryam, said she believes the negotiations will not succeed “and will definitely lead to war”, due to clashing positions of the two sides.

Angered by the unprecedented killings of thousands during last month’s nationwide protests and frustrated by a prolonged state of unpredictability and pressure, some are actually welcoming a military escalation.

“War is not a good thing, but the conditions we are living in now are, in many ways, larger and more severe than war itself,” said Amir from the capital. “I don’t think that with war, something worse than what already exists will happen.”

The Iranian government says that 3,117 people were killed during the protests, and that “terrorists” and “rioters” were to blame, not state forces. It also released a controversial list of victims this week that has only raised more questions.

The United Nations and international human rights organisations say they have documented widespread use of lethal weapons by state forces, as well as attacks on hospitals and medical staff helping wounded protesters. Rights groups say the actual death toll is likely far higher than the official figure.

Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo – It was the afternoon of Thursday, January 29 in the eastern Congolese city of Goma. More than 24 hours had passed since Grace Barata’s relatives had any word about him.

For days, Barata had been in the town of Rubaya, about 60km (37 miles) northwest of Goma, at a mine where he worked. But the day before, news had reached the family that there was a huge landslide and hundreds of people were dead.

Almost sure they would never see him again, Barata’s family began making funeral arrangements.

Then, at about 6pm on Thursday, they were shocked and overjoyed as he was brought through the door of the house, weary and exhausted – but alive.

“We had already begun to mourn our brother,” Munguiko Ntacyumpenze, Barata’s cousin, told Al Jazeera from the family home in Goma.

“We were overwhelmed and found it difficult to accept this situation because we did not expect [that he was alive]. By the grace of God, he has returned from the dead,” he said with a smile.

Barata, 35, who began working on the mines in 2012, was one of the rare survivors.

Rebel authorities in charge of the town say at least 200 people were killed when the coltan mine in the mineral-rich eastern DRC city collapsed last week.

Many victims died of asphyxiation due to a lack of oxygen, while others were crushed by the weight of the earth caving in around them.

Heavy rains, landslides

Above the mines of Rubaya are hills that rise steep and green. From the flanks of the mountainside, orange‑brown terraces have been carved out, cutting into the slopes. Mounds of mud and rock sit beside trenches filled with murky water.

On the slopes on any given day, lines of artisanal miners climb and descend, some with sacks of wet earth slung over their shoulders, others swinging pickaxes into the walls of the pit.

Rubaya is a small town that sits on stores of some of the world’s most strategic and valuable minerals – coltan, tin and tungsten, which are essential for use in modern technology such as smartphones and electric cars.

But most people there live simple lives.

Every day, thousands of small-scale miners come to work in the vast open mining pits, digging by hand. While the resources they find are to power expensive modern technology, for most of those doing the mining, life is a daily routine of risk and survival.

Wednesday, January 28, at the Luwowo mining site in Gasasa, on the Rubaya mining perimeter, where the mine collapse happened, was a typical work day.

That overcast morning, hundreds of people – men, mostly miners, and women who are mainly vendors selling food and local drinks – hurried to the mining site, locals told Al Jazeera.

By the afternoon, heavy rains lashed the area, which witnesses said caused a landslide at the mining site.

As a result, the mine collapsed, trapping hundreds of men underground.

‘I found myself in darkness’

Sitting at his family home in Goma after his return, Barata recounts the day of the collapse.

“It started raining around 3pm local time, and we took shelter from the rain in the mine,” the survivor told Al Jazeera, speaking calmly with a distant look in his eyes.

“I heard rocks rubbing together and thought it was pebbles being washed away by the water, and then I found myself in darkness.”

Below ground, some people were crushed in the collapse, while those who were alive felt afraid.

“My biggest concern underground was the lack of oxygen,” Barata said, adding that he managed to calm himself down, and soon “we heard the voices of the crowds who came to our rescue.”

Above ground, local authorities had launched a search and rescue operation to reach those buried under the mine, with locals stepping in to help.

The typically ordered terraces had become a raw slope of fallen earth, as mud covered what used to be clear pathways between them. Where miners once stood and worked, rescuers were gathered, wading into the thick mud, digging with shovels and bare hands, to haul survivors and dead bodies from the slurry.

Around the landslide, the community gathered to watch – many faces tight with grief – as they waited for news of survivors.

After 21 hours underground, rescuers finally pulled Barata from the earth on Thursday at about 1pm.

He feels lucky to have been rescued alive, along with two of his friends, but says that dozens of others who were with him in the mine shaft did not survive.

“There were many of us in the same shaft, which I would describe as a tomb,” said Barata, a bandage covering part of his head.

“We saw the light from afar and knew we would be rescued,” he remembers, but laments that “the others died before our eyes, without saying a word.”

Trading blame

Last year, the antigovernment Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and M23 rebel coalition stormed through eastern DRC, seizing key towns and cities from government control, including North Kivu’s Goma and Rubaya.

The AFC-M23 officials who now control the area reported at least 200 deaths in the Rubaya mine tragedy, but local civil society says the number may rise.

The Congolese authorities in Kinshasa say M23 and Rwanda – who they accuse of backing the rebels – are behind the deadly mine tragedy.

According to government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya, the Rubaya mining area is classified as “red status”, which prohibits all mining and commercialisation of minerals, including artisanal mining. He emphasises that digging activities that continue there are in “flagrant” violation of the law and do not comply with any safety standards.

Kinshasa and regional experts have also accused M23 of smuggling minerals out of the DRC and into Rwanda, to be sold to the international market – an accusation Rwanda rejects.

“It is clear that the more than 200 percent increase in coltan exports by Rwanda is the result of this illegal and uncontrolled exploitation,” claimed Muyaya.

The AFC-M23 coalition rejects these accusations, instead claiming that Kinshasa is attempting to “exploit” an accident caused by torrential rains for “political” purposes.

In a statement on February 1, the group referred to the “irresponsible, politicised and misinformed attitude” of Kinshasa, saying the DRC government is “choosing to manipulate public opinion to mask its appalling record on miner safety”.

It urged Kinshasa to instead conduct an audit of its own governance, particularly in the mining, flood management, and sanitation sectors.

Natural wealth, material poverty

Daniel Kalalizi, an environmental analyst, said the Rubaya collapse is a human tragedy as well as a revealing environmental disaster. Such landslides are also the result of unregulated and illegal mining, he added, because that activity weakens the soil, destroys vegetation cover, and disregards basic safety standards.

“The responsibility lies with the Congolese state, which is responsible for regulating the mining sector, enforcing environmental laws, and protecting citizens,” he said.

“The lack of effective control of mining sites contributes directly to this type of tragedy,” he added, calling on miners to focus on safety over profits and saying mineral supply chains must prioritise sustainability in their sourcing.

Mines in Rubaya produce between 15 and 30 percent of the world’s coltan and are believed to account for over 60 percent of global coltan reserves.

However, despite the region’s immense natural wealth, observers say the local population still languishes in undignified living conditions, working in extreme and unsafe circumstances just to make a living.

Barata, who is now recovering in Goma from the trauma of what he endured, says that because of economic concerns, he has no choice but to return to the mines for work.

But in the meantime, he tries to focus on the fond memories of the miners who were with him underground.

Although several people he knew died that day, he remembers the last good hours he spent underground with a man named Bosco, a father of two, whose funeral took place on Friday, January 30, in Goma.

Barata says on the evening before the collapse, the two shared their meals, towels and even sleeping space. When the collapse happened, they talked about whether they would make it out alive.

“Before the oxygen ran out in the shaft, we told each other to repent so that we would not miss what we had come for or the kingdom of heaven,” Barata remembers.

Bosco didn’t make it, he says, but “I came back from the dead.”

India’s 14-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi scores 175 from 80 balls to help beat England by 111 runs in final.

Fourteen-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi hammered a stunning 175 from just 80 balls as India thumped England by 100 runs in the Under-19 ODI World Cup final in Harare on Friday.

Suryavanshi, who has already made history by becoming the youngest player to post a century in the Indian Premier League, lashed 15 fours and 15 sixes in his innings, which saw him score his last 151 runs from just 56 balls.

The left-handed opener was finally caught behind by England captain Thomas Rew off Manny Lumsden to leave India on 251-3 in the 26th over. They closed their 50 overs on 411-9.

England launched a spirited attempt at making the runs, with opener Ben Dawkins making 66 and middle-order batter Caleb Falconer striking a sublime 115 from 67 balls.

Falconer was last man out, superbly caught by Khilan Patel, with England all out for 311 in 40.2 overs and India winning the title for the sixth time.

“I had faith in my skills that I can contribute in big games, and today it happened,” said Suryavanshi, who was named player of the match and player of the tournament, having finished with 439 runs in seven innings at 62.71.

Suryavanshi launched himself onto the international scene in 2024 as a 13-year-old with a 58-ball century against Australia in his Under-19 debut.

Picked up by the Rajasthan Royals, Suryavanshi then announced himself on the world stage by belting his first ball fearlessly for six on his IPL debut.

Nine days later, he clubbed the Gujarat Titans bowlers to all parts as he scored the second-fastest hundred in tournament history.

The teenager brought up his century off 35 balls with 11 sixes and seven fours to stand behind only West Indies great Chris Gayle, who took 30 balls to make a ton in 2013.

Audio of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak speaking to Jeffrey Epstein, the now deceased convicted sex offender, has shone a light on Israel’s efforts to alter demographics by diluting the Palestinian population it occupies and also revealed ingrained racism within Jewish circles.

Barak told Epstein that he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel needs one million Russian-speaking immigrants to absorb, as the authorities can be more “selective” and “can control the quality much more effectively” compared to the past.

The recording was released last week in a huge tranche of files by the United States Department of Justice.

The former Israeli leader, speaking in an undated meeting with Epstein, says that his country could “easily absorb another million” Russian-speaking immigrants, a clear reference to white Slavic peoples.

Before Israel’s creation in May 1948 and in its early years, the main source of immigration was Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, as well as Sephardi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.

Barak, in the audio, seems to disparage Sephardi Jews, saying the country did what they could by taking Jews “from North Africa, from the Arabs, from whatever.”

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 started a massive immigration flow into Israel from various parts of the country.

According to the official data, 996,059 immigrants from former Soviet republics arrived in Israel after its collapse up until 2009.

Their politics have tended to be aligned with the right wing.

Barak also underscores the deep divisions between religious and secular Jews, a dynamic which continues to eat away at the country.

“I believe we have to break the monopoly of the Orthodox rabbinate on marriage and funerals and whatever, and on the definition of a Jew,” he said, referring to the strict religious rules in the religion.

“[This would], in a sophisticated, certain manner, open the gates for massive conversion into Judaism. It’s a successful country, many will apply,” Barak said.

Barak said that the Israeli authorities “can control the quality” of the population “much more effectively than our ancestors, than the founding fathers of Israel could”.

“It was kind of a salvation wave from North Africa, from the Arab [world] or whatever. They took whatever came; now, we can be selective,” he said, adding, “We can easily absorb another million. I used to tell Putin always, what we need is just one more million.”

Barak said that Russians would come to Israel first without preconditions, but added, “Under the social pressure of the need, especially of the second generation to adapt, it will happen.”

Some are welcome, others not

The government of Israel has actively promoted immigration into the country for decades. Americans and the French are especially welcome, and many end up moving to illegal settlements and espousing domination of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, in which they have no previous links.

As recently as November, the government revealed that new immigrants and returning residents arriving in 2026 will be offered a zero-percent income tax rate for their first two years in the country.

Under the reform, which was introduced as part of the 2026 state budget, returning residents who lived abroad for 10 or more years and new immigrants who move to Israel in 2026 will pay no income tax in 2026 and 2027; the rates will be gradually increased, according to the Israeli media.

But a large wave of immigration into the country, when tens of thousands from the Beta Israel community were transferred to Israel from Ethiopia in the 1980s and 1990s, has exposed deep-seated racism.

Beta Israel was widely seen as the main and oldest Jewish presence in Ethiopia.

These Ethiopian Israelis have faced racism, exclusion and police violence against their communities. Many view themselves as second-class citizens.

However, they have rights that Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel do not have, nor have they been under brutal occupation as Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been for decades.