By LEE KEATH and MELANIE LIDMAN

CAIRO (AP) — Iranian, Egyptian and U.N. leaders met in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency in a confidential report said Iran is further increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

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The report emerged amid U.S.-Iran talks aimed at attempting to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting some of the crushing economic sanctions that the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, which have strained relations for almost 50 years.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said the agency compiled its report, seen by The Associated Press over the weekend, because Iranian’s uranium enrichment is an ongoing concern for the IAEA’s board of governors.

Grossi said they hoped the report would provide “an incentive for a peaceful solution and a diplomatic solution.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Grossi as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

IAEA expresses ‘serious concern’

The confidential IAEA report raised a warning, saying Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material,” something the agency said was of “serious concern.”

The IAEA report said that Iran, as of May 17, had amassed 900.8 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60%. That is an increase of almost 50% since the IAEA’s last report in February. The 60% enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iran’s leadership has said it believes the IAEA report is politically motivated by Grossi’s hopes of becoming the next U.N. secretary-general.

Grossi is attempting to attract the votes of several members of the U.N. Security Council with the report, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, told the official IRNA news agency late Sunday.

“He basically has chosen a political attitude, and this political attitude has led the environment to be more political rather that technical,” Eslami said.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected many of the report’s findings. Gharibabadi noted on Sunday that out of the IAEA’s 682 inspections of 32 states, 493 were carried out in Iran alone.

“So long as a country’s nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s monitoring, there is no cause for concern,” he said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.”

Questions about US transparency

Iran is concerned that the U.S. hasn’t provided enough transparency about what Iran can gain from the talks, Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Monday.

“It must be crystal clear to us that how the unfair sanctions against the Iranian nation will be removed,” Baghaei said.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who is mediating in the U.S.-Iran talks, visited Tehran on Saturday to present Washington’s latest proposal for ongoing discussions. The fifth round of talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Rome last week with “some but not conclusive progress,” al-Busaidi said at the time.

Araghchi said Monday that Iran will reply to the U.S. approach soon, but there will be no agreement unless Iran’s right to enrichment is respected.

“If the purpose of the talks is to attain trust that Islamic Republic of Iran will never go after nuclear weapons, I think an agreement is fully achievable,” Araghchi said. “But if there are unreasonable and unreal purposes, if the aim is depriving Iran from having peaceful activities, we will never accept any agreement.”

Lidman reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

By PETER SMITH

Sunday afternoon’s attack in Boulder, Colorado, took place hours before the start of a major Jewish festival, Shavuot.

Authorities say a man used a flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into a group holding one of its regular rallies in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza. Eight people were injured, some with burns.

Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

What is Shavuot?

Shavuot (pronounced Shah-voo-OTE), Hebrew for “weeks,” has been observed since biblical times. It marks the passing of seven weeks (49 days) from the holiday of Passover, with Shavuot falling on the 50th day.

In biblical times, Shavuot was an agricultural festival, when Israelites would bring harvest offerings to the temple.

Today, it’s primarily commemorated as the traditional date on which God gave the Torah — the law that forms the heart of the Jewish Scriptures — to Moses on Mount Sinai, as described in the Bible.

The 50-day time period gives the festival its Greek name, Pentecost, which is also the name for a holy day on the Christian calendar.

When is Shavuot?

Shavuot falls on the 6th of Sivan on the Jewish calendar, which reckons days as beginning at sundown. This year, Shavuot began Sunday evening and continues for one or two days, depending on tradition.

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For Jews inside Israel and for Reform Jews, the festival lasts for one day. Other traditions outside of Israel observe Shavuot for two days, ending Tuesday evening this year. (The variation stems from different traditions on when to observe lunar holidays, which historically were based on moon observations in ancient Israel.)

Shavuot typically falls in May or June on the Gregorian calendar.

How is Shavuot observed?

Jews celebrate with readings of the biblical book of Exodus, including the Ten Commandments. Some mark the occasion with all-night readings from the Torah and other religious texts. Observant Jews refrain from work on Shavuot. The biblical book of Ruth, about a woman who embraces the Jewish faith, is often read and studied.

Shavuot celebrations are often marked by the consumption of dairy products, such as cheesecake and cheese-filled blintzes. Explanations for this tradition vary; one is that the Torah is like nourishing milk for the spirit.

Reform Judaism has traditionally connected Shavuot to its rite of confirmation for teens, in which they affirmed their commitment to Jewish life.

Somber observances

Tragically, this year’s Shavuot is not the first time in recent memory that Jews have marked a normally festive holiday in grim circumstances.

Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, claiming about 1,200 lives, took place on Simchat Torah, a date when Jews celebrate the completion of their year-long cycle of Torah readings.

Sunday’s gathering in Boulder was to raise attention for the 58 hostages, around a third believed to be alive, who are still being held by Hamas.

Sources: “What is a Jew?” by Rabbis Morris N. Kertzer and Lawrence A. Hoffman; Chabad.org; ReformJudaism.org; Jewish Agency for Israel; JCC Association of North America.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By JILL LAWLESS and PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom will build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, get its army ready to fight a war in Europe and become “a battle-ready, armor-clad nation,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday, part of a boost to military spending designed to send a message to Moscow — and Washington.

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Starmer said Britain “cannot ignore the threat that Russia poses” as he pledged to undertake the most sweeping changes to British defenses since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

“The threat we face is more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War,” Starmer told workers and journalists at a navy shipyard in Scotland.

A new era of threats

Like other NATO members, the U.K. has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The government announced military plans in response to a strategic defense review commissioned by Starmer and led by George Robertson, a former U.K. defense secretary and NATO secretary general. It’s the first such review since 2021, and lands in a world shaken and transformed by Russia’s war in Ukraine, and by the reelection of President Donald Trump last year.

Months after Britain’s last major defense review was published, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said with confidence that the era of “fighting big tank battles on European landmass” are over. Three months later, Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.

Starmer’s center-left Labour Party government says it will accept all 62 recommendations in the review, aiming to help the U.K. confront growing threats on land, air sea and in cyberspace.

Submarines and weapons

The measures include increasing production of submarines and weapons and “learning the lessons of Ukraine,” which has rapidly developed its drone technology to counter Moscow’s forces and even hit targets deep inside Russia.

The government said the U.K, will also establish a cyber command to counter “daily” Russia-linked attacks on Britain’s defenses.

Monday’s announcements include building “up to 12” nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines under the AUKUS partnership with Australia and the U.S. The government also says it will invest 15 billion pounds ($20.3 billion) in Britain’s nuclear arsenal, which consists of missiles carried on a handful of submarines. Details of those plans are likely to be kept secret.

The government will also increase Britain’s conventional weapons stockpiles with six new munitions factories and up to 7,000 U.K.-built long-range weapons.

Starmer said rearming would create a “defense dividend” of thousands of well-paid manufacturing jobs — a contrast to the post-Cold War “peace dividend” that saw Western nations channel money away from defense into other areas.

Deterring Russia comes at a cost

Defense Secretary John Healey said the changes would send “a message to Moscow,” and transform the country’s military following decades of retrenchment, though he said he does not expect the number of soldiers — currently at a two-century low — to rise until the early 2030s.

Healey said plans for defense spending to hit 2.5% of national income by 2027 a year are “on track” and that there’s “no doubt” it will hit 3% before 2034.

Starmer said the 3% goal is an “ambition,” rather than a firm promise, and it’s unclear where the cash-strapped Treasury will find the money. The government has already, contentiously, cut international aid spending to reach the 2.5% target.

Starmer said he wouldn’t make a firm pledge until he knew “precisely where the money is coming from.”

Even 3% falls short of what some leaders in NATO think is needed to deter Russia from future attacks on its neighbors. NATO chief Mark Rutte says leaders of the 32 member countries will debate a commitment to spend at least 3.5% of GDP on defense when they meet in the Netherlands this month.

Bolstering Europe’s defenses

It’s also a message to Trump that Europe is heeding his demand for NATO members to spend more on their own defense.

European countries, led by the U.K. and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the U.S. provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.

Starmer said his government would make “Britain’s biggest contribution to NATO since its creation.”

“We will never fight alone,” he said. “Our defense policy will always be NATO-first.”

James Cartlidge, defense spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, welcomed more money for defense but was skeptical of the government’s 3% pledge,

“All of Labour’s strategic defense review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them,” he said.

Cantus Vocal Ensemble gets down with a funk-filled evening of music with their latest show, “Covers: Pure Funk,” now running at the Luminary Arts Center.

Fittingly, they get the party started with “Give up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)” by Jerome Brailey, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins of the band Parliament. Right away, the concert is jubilant, the singers bursting with smiles and dancing along with the tunes.

They continue that exuberance in a performance of “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown, a trailblazer of funk music, whose danceable style emerged out of African American forms and featured complex rhythms and groove. Cantus’ performance not only captures the joy of Brown’s tune, it also nails its nuanced rhythm, including a well-timed pause near the end.

As the concert continues, it offers a selection of funk classics from across different decades and gives them the Cantus treatment.

The beauty of the musical cover is taking a popular song — often known for being performed in a particular way by a particular performer — and transforming it through the vessel of the artist or artists doing the cover. In this case, Cantus takes funk tunes from the 1960s through the 21st century and reimagines them through the group’s unique artistry as a low voice choir made of classically trained singers.

Cantus often performs their work a cappella, but here they are joined with a live band, including drums, keyboards, bass and guitar and brass instruments. Samuel Bohlander-Green runs back and forth, alternating between singing center stage with the chorus and playing trombone stage right with trumpet player Butchy Austin and saxophonist Anna Dolde.

Cantus’ multi-part harmonies are somewhat lost with the added sound of the additional instruments, with the trade-off being that the band contributes an added groove. Drummer Tarek Abdelqader plays behind a screen of plexiglass to mute the sound of percussion somewhat, and still brings a complex rhythmic element to the tunes. Meanwhile the singers add a bit more belt to their voices than they might in a traditional concert, infusing soul in their sound, especially in a section of songs made famous by Black female vocalists like Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin.

For his part, Rod Kelly Hines unleashes his inner diva, singing Beyoncé’s debut single “Work it Out,” from the third Austin Powers movie in 2002 in a call-and-response format with the rest of the singers. Later, the singer shows off the lower part of his register in a solo section from “Superstition,” by Stevie Wonder, as part of a medley featuring the musician and composer.

In one show-stopper, tenor Paul Scholtz wows with his performance of Prince’s “Kiss.” Because Prince’s voice and performance style were so distinctive, emulating his style is no easy task, but Scholtz succeeds not necessarily by performing as Prince, but certainly by hitting the high notes with ease and swagger.

The audience gets into the energy of the show, clapping and swaying along at times. By the encore of “Uptown Funk,” the show felt more like a summer dance party than a concert performance, ushering in the start of summer with a spirited beat.

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Covers: Pure Funk

Who: Cantus

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7, 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8.

Where: Luminary Arts Center, 700 N. First St., Mpls.

Tickets: $5-$45 at cantussings.org.

Accessibility: Accessibility info for Luminary Arts Center, including parking/drop off info, elevators, bathroom and assistive listening can be found at luminaryartscenter.com.accessibility. Cantus’ accessibility information can be found at www.cantussings.org/ada-access.

Capsule: Cantus ushers in summer with an ebullient evening of covers of popular funk tunes.