Tata-ASML deal: How significant is it for India’s semiconductor push?
India’s Tata Electronics has signed a deal with the Dutch technology giant ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) to build India’s first front-end semiconductor fabrication plant as New Delhi pushes to develop a domestic semiconductor manufacturing base. Front-end manufacturing refers to the building of microscopic circuits onto a blank silicon wafer using specialised lithographic machines. ASML is a pioneer of lithographic technology used in the mass production of microchips across the world. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “India’s rapidly expanding semiconductor sector represents many compelling opportunities, and we are committed to establishing long-term partnerships in the region,” ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said. Semiconductor chips power modern technology and are critical for everything from smartphones and cars to artificial intelligence systems and defence technology. The agreement was announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to the Netherlands, which ended on Sunday. So what do we know about the deal, and what does it mean for India’s artificial intelligence ambitions? What are the details of the deal? Under the agreement, ASML will supply advanced lithography technology to Tata Electronics, which is a subsidiary of the multinational Tata conglomerate, for the manufacture of 300mm wafers. Tata Electronics plans to invest $11bn to build India’s first semiconductor fabrication plant in Dholera in Modi’s home state of Gujarat. “ASML will enable the establishment and ramp-up of Tata Electronics’ Dholera Fab with its holistic suite of lithography tools and solutions,” the companies said in a joint statement. Advertisement The plant will produce chips for sectors that include automotive manufacturing, mobile devices and AI applications. Currently, India imports the bulk of its microchips because it does not manufacture advanced chips (such as sub-7 nanometre, or nm) for AI and smartphones. In October, India unveiled its first indigenous semiconductor chip – the Vikram-32 (Vikram 3201). It is a 32-bit microprocessor designed for space launches. ASML, Europe’s biggest technology company by market value, can provide India with the technology considered essential for advanced chip manufacturing. The Dutch company said it would help “establish and ramp up” production at the planned plant by supplying its cutting-edge chipmaking tools. Tata Electronics has also teamed up with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), which is helping set up the plant. The company is a major semiconductor powerhouse, specialising in the making of memory chips. According to Tata, PSMC will share access to a “broad technology portfolio”, including 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 90nm and 110nm chip-making technologies. The plant is expected to be ready by 2028, according to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. India has increasingly partnered with Taiwan firms for technology transfers, supply-chain integration and workforce development as it tries to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem. India and Taiwan have seen increased trade in recent years, including in technology and AI, reaching $10bn in 2024. Taiwan is a major player in the production of global semiconductors. What are 300mm semiconductor wafers? The Gujarat plant will manufacture chips using 300mm wafers, the global industry standard for advanced semiconductor fabrication. A 300mm wafer is a thin circular slice of silicon on which chips are built. Larger wafers are important because they allow manufacturers to produce more chips per production cycle, lowering costs and improving efficiency. Many cutting-edge chips used in AI servers, data centres, smartphones and advanced vehicles are produced on 300mm wafers. In the semiconductor supply chain, 300mm fabrication is at the core of the front-end manufacturing process. This stage involves designing and fabricating integrated circuits onto silicon wafers before the chips are cut, packaged and tested in later back-end stages. Why is the deal significant for India? For India, the deal is both industrial and strategic. It furthers self-sufficiency and strengthens ties with Europe, with which it signed a “mother of all deals” free trade agreement in January. Advertisement “India is seeking to build out its semiconductor industry by building 12nm chips. ASML can supply the equipment needed to produce them,” Sujai Shivakumar, a director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Al Jazeera. “In this respect, it is an important development in the growth of markets for ASML as well as the capacity for production within India.” According to analyst Harsh V Pant, the deal is one of the “most important semiconductor developments India has seen in recent years”. The deal is significant because it signals a shift in India’s role in the AI economy “from mainly software services and AI talent toward owning part of the physical infrastructure behind AI itself”, Pant, head of the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera. “It may not necessarily make India a semiconductor powerhouse overnight, but it is probably the clearest sign yet that India wants to become a serious semiconductor manufacturing nation, a trusted geopolitical tech partner and eventually an AI infrastructure player, not just an AI consumer,” he pointed out. “I think that’s why this deal is important and this is something that India would be carrying forward.” It also supports the government’s broader push to position the country as a major global technology and AI player. “India trails only the US and China in terms of AI competitiveness,” Shivakumar said. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s chip design engineers are Indians. So New Delhi can use this talent pool in its pursuit to become a hub for semiconductor research and development. However, Shivakumar says the industry, including the design part, is “inherently complex” and “globally interconnected”. “Indian engineers working for US companies are part of this ecosystem. I think what we’re seeing now is an intensification of those connections,” he added. The European Union sees India, the world’s most populous nation, as an important trading partner and market for its goods and services amid the tariff war unleashed by United States President Donald Trump. Experts said the deal is highly significant for India because semiconductor manufacturing is seen as essential for technological independence. However, India’s push to ramp up semiconductor
Former US negotiator with Iran: Trump falling into Vietnam trap
Rob Malley argues that current talks have ‘very small chance of success’. When United States President Donald Trump measures success by counting how many Iranian leaders the US and Israel have killed or how many Iranian boats or missile launchers have been destroyed, he’s looking at the “wrong metric”, argues a former US special envoy to Iran, Rob Malley. Malley told host Steve Clemons that the only way out of this war is “a settlement that respects our core interests, but also theirs”. To calculate the odds of a deal, Malley said, psychologists may be more useful than experts because “it really depends on the mindset of President Trump.” Published On 18 May 202618 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Could the Iran war trigger the next debt shock?
Government Bonds are under pressure and households could soon feel the impact. Borrowing costs in major economies have hit their highest levels in nearly two decades.Investors have been shunning government debt and demanding higher returns.They worry that the Iran war could keep oil prices and inflation high.The International Monetary Fund warns that global debt could approach World War Two levels.At the centre of it all is the US, which largely sets borrowing costs worldwide.That means higher mortgage repayments and car loans, more expensive credit, as well as rising business costs passed on to consumers.For developing nations borrowing in dollars, it puts even more pressure on stretched budgets. Published On 18 May 202618 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Israel kills at least five in Lebanon after ‘ceasefire’ extended
At least five people have been killed as Israeli air attacks hit several locations in southern and eastern Lebanon. A series of Israeli air attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon has killed at least five people and injured more than a dozen, according to the Health Ministry. Despite Israel agreeing to a ceasefire extension with Lebanon, the attacks on Sunday included the municipalities of Tayr Felsay, Tayr Debba, Az-Zrariyah and Jebchit. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), at least three people were also killed in a separate Israeli attack on the village of Jouaiya. The Israeli military issued forced displacement orders to residents in the villages of Sohmor, Roumine, al-Qusaibah, Kfar Hounah and Naqoura in southern Lebanon. “It’s been another violent day here in southern Lebanon,” reported Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, from the southern city of Tyre. “As the ceasefire comes into place, we have seen the exact opposite happening with Israel intensifying its attacks,” he said. At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “holding territory, clearing territory, protecting Israel’s communities, but also fighting an enemy that is trying to outsmart us”. Since the war resumed on March 2, at least 2,988 people have been killed and 9,210 injured in Israeli attacks across the country, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday. Talks in Washington Sunday’s attacks followed talks in Washington, DC, where the two countries agreed a 45-day ceasefire extension – even though the original accord which began on April 17 has never been observed. The third round of talks in the US capital concluded after the first direct meeting in decades last month between Lebanon and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations. Advertisement NNA reported that the ceasefire extension is intended to allow for a US-facilitated security track to begin on May 29, with the next round of talks between the two sides planned for June 2 and 3 in Washington, DC. Hezbollah opposes direct negotiations, especially as Israeli forces continue to bomb southern Lebanon and occupy parts of it since the ceasefire. “The direct negotiations that the authorities in Lebanon have conducted with the Israeli enemy have … led them down a dead-end path that will result in nothing but one concession after another,” Hezbollah legislator Hussein Hajj Hassan said on Sunday. “Neither they nor anyone else will be able to carry out what the enemy wants, especially when it comes to the issue of disarming the resistance,” he said, adding that authorities were creating “very big predicaments” for the country. On Saturday, Hezbollah said it struck a military target in northern Israel, having earlier announced several operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The war is having a disastrous humanitarian impact. Between March and April, more than 1.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes due to fighting, according to the Danish Refugee Council. The conflict is pushing the economy towards breaking point. Bassem El-Bawab, head of the Lebanese Business Association, said the country has suffered more than $25bn in direct and indirect losses since Israel’s war started in 2024. Around $12bn will be needed for reconstruction, with El-Bawab warning that the total could rise further if the conflict continues. He added that Lebanon is losing about $30m daily in indirect economic damage, alongside the direct destruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Won’t be anything left’: Trump issues threat to Iran amid stalled talks
United States President Donald Trump has reiterated his threats against Iran, as negotiations to end the conflict between the two countries continue to flounder. In a Sunday morning post on his platform Truth Social, Trump warned that time was running short before a fresh wave of US military action might be launched. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote in the short, two-sentence message. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” The post was the latest example of Trump using violent rhetoric against Iran as his administration struggles to achieve its goals in the war. Just a day earlier, Trump had posted an AI-generated image of himself atop a military ship, labelled, “It was the calm before the storm.” The conflict began on February 28, when Israel and the US jointly attacked Iran. Since then, Trump has put forward a range of objectives for the resulting war, including dismantling Iran’s missile arsenal, severing its relations with regional allies, and ending its nuclear enrichment programme. On April 7, Trump coupled those demands with a social media post suggesting wholesale destruction in Iran. Critics have likened the post to a call for genocide. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote. Within hours of the post, the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire that has been in place ever since, though both sides have accused each other of violations. Advertisement The US president had previously threatened to attack the country’s civilian infrastructure, including its power plants and bridges, which legal experts warn could amount to a violation of the Geneva Convention. Separately, in a May interview with Fox News, Trump said Iranian officials will “be blown off the face of the earth” if they attack US vessels. Iran has denounced such rhetoric and rejected Trump’s demands as excessive. Mehr, a news agency sponsored by the Iranian government, issued a statement on Sunday saying that the US has offered “no tangible concessions” in its latest proposals. It also accused the US of seeking to “obtain concessions that it failed to obtain during the war”, a strategy that “will lead to an impasse in the negotiations”. Separately, a spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shakarchi, was quoted as warning the US against further threats. “Repeating any folly to compensate for America’s disgrace in the Third Imposed War against Iran will result in nothing but receiving more crushing and severe blows,” he told Mehr. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Almigdad Alruhaid said that the Iranian government has indicated that violent rhetoric from the US will not be tolerated. “From what we understand, this kind of language is not acceptable here in Tehran. They are projecting defiance rather than [giving] an immediate response to this kind of rhetoric,” Alruhaid said. He added that the increasingly hostile remarks from both sides signal that the ceasefire could be at imminent risk of shattering. “Behind all of this rhetoric, there is awareness that the diplomatic window right now is narrowing,” Alruhaid said. “We do know that there is hard language, hard messaging from both sides — that the finger’s on the trigger on both sides.” But Adam Clements, a foreign policy analyst, told Al Jazeera there could be a “domestic element” to Trump’s hardline rhetoric, including his latest flurry of messages. “Of course, Iran would have to take it seriously,” Clements said of Sunday’s post. “At the same time as well, President Trump is known for his bombastic tweets, his bombastic statements, perhaps for domestic audiences.” Clements added that it will be critical to watch whether Trump’s statements are echoed by his officials in the coming days, and whether they are also matched by increased military activity. “ The White House press office has been known to post these type of strange memes, or AI-generated memes and cartoons in the past,” he explained. Advertisement “So I think it’s necessary here to sometimes look past some of the political noise, some of the things for show, and really try to pay attention to these clear signals.” Adblock test (Why?)
Trump holds prayer rally to ‘rededicate’ US as ‘one nation under God’
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has hosted a nine-hour prayer event on the National Mall in Washington, DC, as part of its efforts to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary. Sunday’s event was called “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving”, and it took place from 9am to 6pm Eastern US time (13:00 to 22:00 GMT). On the jubilee’s website, organisers explained that their aim was to mark “rededication of our country as One Nation to God”. The event featured performers, pastors and civil rights leaders, as well as Trump’s Republican allies, among them Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. “Our rights don’t come from the government,” Scott told the crowd. “No, our rights come from God, the king of kings.” Members of the Trump administration, including the president himself, also recorded video messages that were broadcast from the stage. Trump’s video showed him seated behind the Resolute Desk in the White House, reciting a speech from the Book of Chronicles that God gave to King Solomon, promising protection to his followers and destruction to those who forsake him. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, used his video to describe the US as a country uniquely shaped by the “Christian idea”. “Before the Christian West, most societies – and civilisations, for that matter – thought in stagnant cycles: the flooding of the Nile, the return of the rains, the cycle of the harvest. History for them was a wheel to nowhere,” Rubio said. Advertisement “But our faith calls us outwards into the limitless darkness of the unknown. It tells us to go forth and preach the gospel to the world as a witness unto all nations and to the ends of the earth.” The event was not without controversy, though. Critics pointed out that only one speaker, a rabbi, was non-Christian. Some religious leaders even rejected the event as a political stunt, rather than a sincere testament to faith. Paul Raushenbush, a reverend and president of the Interfaith Alliance, posted on social media that his objections did not stem from an “antipathy towards religion”. Rather, he said his faith compels him to cherish the “rich tapestry of beliefs” that come together in the US. “Rededicate 250 is a betrayal of America’s founding values guaranteed in the First Amendment – which made clear that there shall be no establishment of religion by the government and that each one of us should be free to live out our beliefs in our own way,” Raushenbush wrote. Traditionally, the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution has been interpreted as prohibiting the government from establishing or imposing religious beliefs on its citizens. But critics argue the Trump administration has blurred the separation between church and state, including by having regular prayer services at the Department of Defense. Trump, however, has accused the federal government of “anti-Christian bias“. He launched a task force last year to root out the purported discrimination. Evangelical Christians form a pillar in Trump’s right-wing base of support. The demographic is a powerful force during election seasons in the US, and Trump has sought to rally Christian voters ahead of major votes. Their views could reshape how the US Constitution is interpreted. A survey from the Pew Research Center released last week found a slight uptick in the number of US adults who believe Christianity should be named as the country’s official religion. Seventeen percent now share that view, up from 13 percent in 2024. That said, Pew researchers noted that a majority of Americans, roughly 54 percent, still believe in the separation of church and state. About 52 percent also said that “conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to push their religious values in the government and public schools”. Adblock test (Why?)
Iraq’s new PM Ali al-Zaidi formally takes over
NewsFeed Iraq’s new prime minister Ali al‑Zaidi has formally taken office in Baghdad, pledging sweeping economic and financial reforms. Al-Zaidi only has a partial cabinet as parliament is yet to approve key ministers, including interior and defence. Published On 17 May 202617 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Tunisians rally amid economic crisis and political arrests
NewsFeed Hundreds of Tunisians have marched through the capital to denounce a worsening economic crisis and what they say is a widening crackdown on dissent. President Kais Saied is accused of undermining the country’s hard-won post-2011 revolution system. Published On 17 May 202617 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Activists troll far-right UK rally with giant pro-immigration clip
NewsFeed Activist group Led By Donkeys has snuck a big screen streaming pro-immigration messages into a far-right Unite the Kingdom march. The stunt prompted boos from the crowd and attempts to shut the screen down. Tens of thousands of people attended the rally. Published On 17 May 202617 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli army kills Palestinian man, raids homes in occupied West Bank
Israeli forces killed a 34-year-old man in Jenin Camp, the Palestinian health ministry said. Published On 16 May 202616 May 2026 Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in a targeted attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says, as the army also storms homes amid settler attacks. The health ministry in Ramallah identified the victim of Saturday’s attack as 34-year-old Nour al-Din Kamal Hassan Fayyad, saying he was “killed by occupation forces’ fire in the Jenin camp”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The Israeli military claimed that troops fired after he tried to “infiltrate” the Jenin camp area, wherein “the soldiers are operating, and the entry is prohibited”. Since January last year, Israel has launched major military operations in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied territory. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said that Israeli operations targeting Jenin and Tulkarem camps have displaced 40,000 Palestinians. Separately on Saturday, the Wafa news agency reported that Israeli soldiers arrested a young Palestinian man after assaulting him in the Shu’fat refugee camp, northeast of Jerusalem, and another from the village of Zawata, west of Nablus. Another Palestinian was assaulted by Israeli settlers in the town of Sinjil. Israeli forces also stormed the cities of Tubas and Qalqilya, and the towns of Tammun and Zaatara, east of Bethlehem, and raided the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, Wafa reported. The Israeli settlers set fire to an agricultural room and wrote racist slogans in the town of Turmus Aya, both northeast of Ramallah. ‘Attacks must stop’ Elsewhere, a senior UN official condemned an arson attack against a mosque and several vehicles in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank. Advertisement Ramiz Alakbarov, the deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said that masked individuals set fire to the site in the village of Jibiya and drew Hebrew graffiti. “Attacks against religious sites and civilian property are unacceptable and undermine stability, human dignity, and freedom of worship,” Alakbarov said. He added that the attack comes against a backdrop of rising settler violence and intensifying attacks in the occupied West Bank that continue to endanger civilians and damage their property. “I call for an immediate and transparent investigation, and for all perpetrators to be held accountable,” he said. “These attacks must stop.” Adblock test (Why?)