Author: Admin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has agreed to work with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on a new push for peace in the ongoing war with Russia, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser who spoke to reporters on Friday.

The two leaders crossed paths on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit held at the French resort of Evian-les-Bains on Wednesday. At the gathering, Zelenskiy called on allied nations to ramp up pressure on Russia to bring the more than four-year-old conflict to an end.

During their meeting, the two presidents explored what steps might breathe new life into diplomatic efforts. Lula put forward several ideas, including reaching out to the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn shared details of the conversation with the press.

“They agreed that, in particular, based on such ideas and contacts, they would try to achieve something and later they would discuss it based on the results,” Lytvyn said.

Beyond the United States, France, and Britain — nations with which Ukraine already maintains close diplomatic ties — the permanent Security Council members also include Russia and China.

An earlier U.S.-backed mediation effort fell apart earlier this year after Russia demanded additional territorial concessions from Ukraine, a condition Kyiv has firmly rejected.

Zelenskiy has also called on U.S. President Donald Trump to re-engage in peace mediation and arrange a direct meeting between him and Russian leader Vladimir Putin — something Putin has said he is not willing to do at this time.

Speaking after the G7 meeting in Brazil, Lula noted that Zelenskiy had previously shown little interest in his diplomatic overtures, but that his stance had now changed. Lula told reporters at a news conference that he had already been in contact with all five permanent Security Council leaders and planned to reach out to them again.

Ukraine has been stepping up its diplomatic activity in recent weeks as the U.S.-led peace process stalled, partly due to the conflict involving Iran.

OSLO — Norway is cracking down on artificial intelligence in the classroom, announcing a near-total prohibition on the use of generative AI tools for young students while also placing tight limits on how older children can use the technology.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere made the announcement at a press conference Friday, saying that relying on AI puts younger children at risk of bypassing critical stages of their education.

“The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” Stoere said. He confirmed the new standards will go into effect when the school year begins in late August.

Under the new guidelines, students in first through seventh grade — ranging from ages 6 to 13 — should generally not be using AI at all. Teenagers in lower secondary school, between the ages of 14 and 16, may use AI tools carefully and only under the direct supervision of a teacher.

For students in upper secondary education, ages 17 to 19, the government says learning to use AI appropriately is encouraged so they are ready for higher education and the workforce.

The announcement comes as Norway has been grappling with a widespread drop in student test scores. In 2024, the government already banned smartphones from schools and restored greater authority to teachers to maintain classroom discipline.

Norway first began bringing computers into classrooms during the 1990s and later embraced tablets following the launch of the iPad in 2010, gradually moving away from traditional books and handwriting instruction.

On Friday, the government also said it plans to introduce legislation that would fund a return to printed books in classrooms, signaling a deliberate reversal of the shift toward digital tablets.

In April, Norway also announced plans to prohibit children from using social media until they reach age 16, joining a growing movement led by Australia and other countries aimed at limiting young people’s use of electronic devices.

KOHIMA, India — Thousands of people from the Naga community walked through driving rain on Friday, rallying together to demand justice for survivors of sexual violence following a wave of reported cases across the state.

Demonstrators gathered in Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, where speakers urged their community to stop staying quiet about sexual violence out of fear of social backlash and judgment.

Rosemary Dzuvichu, an adviser for the Naga Mother’s Association and a leading voice for women’s rights in the region, described the barriers survivors face: “Victims and victim families have faced doubts cast on victims, character assassination and often pressures and compromises on the victim to marry the rapist or perpetrator. Many cases have therefore remained unreported.”

Nagaland is a small, mountainous state that has long been regarded as one of the safest places for women anywhere in India. However, a string of sexual assaults over recent months has deeply unsettled that reputation.

Independent researcher Sophy Lasuh, who attended the rally alongside her sister, shared her thoughts on what the moment revealed about her community: “We need to reflect and ask ourselves what it means to be a close knit society when we mourn and grieve together without question, yet abandon survivors of sexual assault to fight alone, carrying a shame that actually belongs to the perpetrator.”

Sexual assault against women remains a widespread problem across India. According to the country’s National Crime Records Bureau, police logged 29,536 rape cases in 2024 — a number experts believe vastly understates the true scale of the problem, given the stigma attached to sexual violence and many victims’ distrust of law enforcement.

Standing in the rain with an umbrella, surrounded by fellow members of her tribe, Sanglishe Yimkhiumg, 45, made her feelings clear: “We do not want Nagaland to be this way.”

When Abed Hachem’s home was damaged during a 2024 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, he rebuilt it from scratch. Now, returning to his village of Qlaileh in southern Lebanon, he faces something far worse — almost nothing is left to rebuild.

Where his house once stood, there is only rubble. His garden is gone, replaced by dust and debris. Scattered among the ruins of what used to be his living room are children’s toys and broken furniture.

“Oh dear… Oh God. There was a building here… here… there was a building here,” said the 46-year-old father of three, gesturing toward the skeletal remains of his neighbors’ homes.

Among the few structures still standing in the village is the spire of the local mosque.

The current round of violence between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with its ally Iran, pulling Lebanon into the broader regional conflict. Israel answered with airstrikes and a ground invasion that took control of portions of southern Lebanon.

The toll has been devastating: more than 3,900 people have been killed, and roughly 1.2 million have been forced from their homes as Israeli evacuation orders emptied village after village across southern Lebanon. Israel has maintained that its military campaign targeted Hezbollah’s fighters and military infrastructure.

Now, as residents like Hachem make their way back, they are confronting the painful reality of communities that no longer exist.

“The whole village is destroyed. My house is destroyed. The village is destroyed. Where are we supposed to go now?” he said. “There is nothing left. A lifetime’s work is all gone.”

Among those killed was a neighbor Hachem considered a brother — a man he shared tea with every morning. That neighbor’s son also died in the violence.

“They have nothing to do with political parties, nothing to do with weapons, nothing to do with wars,” Hachem said, his voice filled with frustration. “The man was just trying to support his family, and he and his son died for nothing.”

An interim agreement announced between the United States and Iran brought a brief pause to the fighting earlier this week, giving displaced residents a window to return home. Hostilities flared once more before a new ceasefire took hold Friday afternoon.

For Hachem, the agreement came too late to save what mattered most.

“This agreement they reached, they should have made it from the very beginning,” he said. “Not after people were destroyed.”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The British bar association has placed the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on temporary suspension, as disciplinary proceedings against him move forward.

Karim Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, was stripped of his ICC duties last week after the court’s oversight body determined he had engaged in “serious misconduct” related to allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member. Khan has firmly denied all allegations.

The Bar Standards Board, which oversees attorneys who practice law in England and Wales, announced Friday that Khan has been suspended from legal practice. The board said a disciplinary hearing would take place within four weeks but declined to specify what information formed the basis of its decision.

Attorneys representing Khan said the British regulator’s suspension was rooted in the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties’ finding of serious misconduct. In a statement, his legal team said Khan “unequivocally denies all allegations of impropriety” and pledged to take “all necessary steps to challenge the decision of the Bureau.”

The Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties — the executive committee of the ICC’s oversight body — concluded last week that Khan had committed a “serious misconduct” and a “serious breach of duty,” recommending he be removed from his position. A formal vote on whether to permanently oust him is set for next month.

The misconduct allegations against Khan have been swirling around the court in The Hague for more than two years. He is accused of sexual misconduct involving a female aide.

An investigation by The Associated Press in 2024 revealed, through whistleblower documents, that Khan allegedly noticed the woman working in a different ICC department and had her transferred to his office. In 2025, Khan had temporarily stepped away from his duties while a United Nations investigation was conducted.

A report released in April by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services concluded there was evidence of “nonconsensual sexual contact” between Khan and his aide — occurring “in his office, at his private residence” and during an official mission, according to a copy reviewed by the AP. However, a three-judge panel tasked with legally evaluating those findings determined the investigation was not conclusive enough.

The ultimate decision about Khan’s future now rests with the 125-member Assembly of States Parties, the body that oversees the ICC. A diplomatic official, speaking without authorization to discuss the matter publicly, told the AP that several countries believe the misconduct allegations are politically motivated — an effort to derail the court’s investigation into Israel. “This is what happens when you go after friends of the U.S.,” the official said.

The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. In that ruling, judges stated there was reason to believe the two men used “starvation as a method of warfare” by limiting humanitarian aid and deliberately targeted civilians during Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza — allegations Israeli officials have rejected.

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Khan and roughly a dozen other court staff members connected to the Israel warrants and to investigations involving American personnel in Afghanistan. Those sanctions have disrupted a wide range of ongoing investigations at the court.

On Thursday, the ICC announced that a special session will be convened on July 24 in New York to hold the removal vote. Three senior officials familiar with the process, who were not authorized to speak on the record, said New York was chosen for logistical reasons — every member nation already has representation at the United Nations there.

For Khan to be removed, 63 countries would need to vote in favor. It remains uncertain who might take over the role. Two deputy prosecutors have been handling his responsibilities for the past year.

BRUSSELS (AP) — After a two-day summit, European Union leaders have left Brussels without reaching an agreement on whether to establish an informal communication line with the Kremlin, several of them acknowledged on Friday.

European Council President António Costa, who led the summit, had already taken steps through his office to make contact with Russia. He proposed sending a senior official to initiate that connection. Costa was clear that his intention was not to act as a mediator or to create a separate negotiating process running alongside the one currently being led by the United States — a process that itself has shown little sign of progress.

For months, European capitals have been debating whether to appoint someone to facilitate talks with Russia in hopes of jumpstarting a peace process. That idea has largely been dismissed, however, with many EU members skeptical that Russian President Vladimir Putin would come to the table regardless.

Rather than pursuing direct talks, the bloc’s 27 member nations have shifted their focus toward defining what concessions Russia must offer in exchange for any lasting peace agreement.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told reporters after the overnight session that the leaders had not resolved their disagreements. “Europe is unable to agree even on whether there will be negotiations or who will lead them,” he said.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin took a more supportive stance toward Costa’s outreach effort. “Opening up a channel is not a mistake in our view, and I trust António Costa,” he said. Martin also stressed that any formal negotiations would need to center on Ukraine and Russia directly, adding, “there are no indications that Russia is coming to the table at all.”

Putin has been working to sideline both Europe and Ukraine from discussions about the conflict’s future, preferring to engage directly with the United States. However, the Kremlin said Friday it would welcome dialogue with European leaders — provided Europe drops what it described as a confrontational posture.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We are ready for contact, we were not the ones who initiated cutting such contacts, terminating them completely. If forces emerge that realize the need to resume dialogue with Russia, not to lecturing it or, worse, to issue ultimatums … then President Putin and the Russian side would certainly be open to it.”

As leaders departed the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever made light of the situation, joking that Costa himself should be sent to Moscow. “I was just talking about you, António,” De Wever said with a laugh while shaking Costa’s hand. “I was full of praise, saying you are the only one who can represent us and that we will send you to Moscow.”

Not everyone was amused by the idea of Europe playing a neutral role. Margus Tsahkna, the foreign minister of Estonia — a country on the EU’s eastern border that has experienced drone incursions and was once under Soviet occupation — argued that “Europe must not assume the role of a neutral mediator.” Instead, he said, the EU should be strengthening Ukraine’s hand in order to “force the Kremlin into serious negotiations.”

Police on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali have broken up an illegal wildlife operation involving 21 live green sea turtles, authorities announced Friday.

Officers conducted a raid on June 10 along the island’s Pegametan coast after local residents tipped off police about suspected illegal turtle trading in the area. The raid resulted in the seizure of all 21 living animals. Nanang Pri Hasmojo, who heads law enforcement for the Bali police force, confirmed the details of the operation.

A 67-year-old man, identified only by his initials KS, was taken into custody. Investigators believe he was responsible for holding the turtles before they could be distributed and sold.

During early questioning, the suspect reportedly told police that the turtles had been sent to him by an associate from waters near Madura, an island located in East Java province. He allegedly received the animals directly on the beach, where another individual was supposed to pick them up for resale.

“We are continuing to investigate the case and pursuing other suspects involved in the network,” Hasmojo stated. The suspect has been charged under Indonesia’s wildlife protection laws and could face up to 15 years behind bars along with substantial fines if convicted.

Indonesia has legally protected turtle species since 1990 through conservation and fisheries legislation. A regulation issued by the Environment Ministry in 2018 further strengthened protections for the six species of sea turtles found in Indonesian waters, and additional government rules ban their trade entirely.

Sea turtle poaching — carried out by both local communities and organized criminal operations — is considered a major factor in a global conservation crisis. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reports that six of the world’s seven sea turtle species are now classified as threatened.

A 2022 study conducted by researchers at Arizona State University and published in the journal Global Change Biology found that more than 1.1 million sea turtles were killed between 1990 and 2020. The killings were largely driven by demand for meat, alleged aphrodisiacs, and use in traditional and spiritual practices.

According to that same study, the green turtle — scientifically called Chelonia Mydas — made up 56% of all sea turtle killings over that 30-year span.

Bali was historically one of the biggest hubs for green turtle trafficking. That trade was fueled in part by the traditional use of turtle meat in religious offerings tied to Balinese Hinduism, the dominant faith on the island, which is home to roughly 4.5 million people.

JUBA, South Sudan — A Vietnamese national who was deported to South Sudan as part of the Trump administration’s controversial third-country deportation program has been sent back to Vietnam, following more than a year spent in detention.

South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the return of 44-year-old Tuan Phan during a press briefing on Friday.

Ministry spokesperson Agok Anyar offered a positive assessment of Phan’s time in their custody, saying: “We are grateful that while in our custody Mr. Phan was very disciplined, joyful, and importantly, he remained healthy.”

Phan was among eight men sent to Africa in May 2025. Their deportation was briefly halted midflight when a federal judge blocked their removal to South Sudan, citing procedural problems. The men were first diverted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti before ultimately arriving in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, aboard a military aircraft in July 2025 — after the Supreme Court cleared the way for their removal.

All eight men had criminal convictions in the United States, though each had already completed their prison sentences before being taken into immigration custody.

Phan is the second of the eight men to be repatriated. Jesus Munõz-Gutierrez was previously flown back to Mexico in September. Dian Peter Domach, the only South Sudanese citizen among the group, was released upon arrival. The remaining men in the group are nationals of Cuba, Myanmar, and Laos.

Court records show Phan came to the United States as a child in 1991. In 2000, shortly after turning 18, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after fatally shooting someone during a gang-related confrontation. A deportation order was issued against him in 2009, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody immediately after he finished his sentence in March 2025.

While detained in Juba, the men were held in a gated residence under armed guard, according to a U.S. Senate report. A congressional aide who visited Juba last year became the first non-South Sudanese official to check on the men, the report noted.

Michael Bochenek, a senior counsel for Human Rights Watch, raised concerns about the lack of outside access to the detainees, saying it meant “there’s been no independent check on people’s treatment and conditions of confinement and raises serious questions about South Sudan’s compliance with human rights norms and essential safeguards against abuses in detention.”

The choice of South Sudan as a receiving country drew particular criticism given the nation’s poor human rights record, widespread corruption, and ongoing political instability. Armed conflict displaced more than half a million people there in 2025, according to the United Nations.

At least seven African nations have agreed to accept deportees who are not their own citizens as part of deals with the U.S. government, which has in turn agreed to pay those governments millions of dollars. The monitoring group Third Country Deportation Watch reports that more than 180 people have been sent to these countries under such arrangements.

While the terms of many of these agreements have been disclosed publicly, the specifics of the South Sudan deal remain unclear. State Department documents that have been made public show South Sudan made requests to the U.S. after agreeing to accept the men — including sanctions relief for a former top official and assistance with the prosecution of a prominent opposition figure. What South Sudan ultimately received in return has not been confirmed.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Friday that four of its soldiers were killed during a combat incident in southern Lebanon, including Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimhon, the commander of Battalion 52. Investigators are working to determine whether the tank carrying the soldiers was struck by a planted explosive device or an explosive drone deployed by Hezbollah terrorists.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin stated that the battalion commander’s tank was hit at around 12:30 a.m. The cause of the strike has not yet been officially determined, and the investigation remains ongoing. The identities of the three other soldiers who died in the incident have not been cleared for public release.

Ben Shimhon had taken command of Battalion 52 on April 20, 2026, roughly a week after the unit’s previous commander was seriously injured in combat. He had led the battalion through two months of active fighting before his death.

Ben Shimhon was married and the father of two daughters. He came from a family deeply rooted in military service — he and four of his brothers served in the 401st Brigade, while another brother served in the Golani Brigade. His wife is also an active-duty combat officer serving in the Combat Intelligence Collection and Border Defense Corps.

Defrin also disclosed that at approximately 4 a.m., an explosive drone struck a Commando Brigade task force, wounding five soldiers, including an officer.

The IDF spokesman noted that Hezbollah continues to violate the existing agreement, and that Israeli forces are maintaining freedom of action in the Yellow Line area. He added that the military stands ready at any moment to resume intensive operations in both Lebanon and Iran.

According to Defrin, Israeli forces struck 30 targets prior to the battalion commander’s death, and an additional 70 targets were hit by air and ground forces in the aftermath.

A court in the United Kingdom sentenced two men to prison on Friday after they were found guilty of carrying out a coordinated arson campaign targeting property belonging to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Roman Lavrynovych, a 22-year-old Ukrainian national, received a seven-year prison sentence, while Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, was sentenced to two years behind bars. Both were convicted of conspiracy to damage property through fire.

According to prosecutors, the two men targeted a vehicle and two separate properties connected to Starmer across three consecutive nights in May 2025. They allegedly carried out the attacks under the direction of a Russian-speaking individual who used the alias “El Money.” That person communicated with Lavrynovych through the messaging platform Telegram. The true identity of “El Money” was never uncovered, and no charges were filed against them.

The Italian government pushed back hard on Friday against U.S. President Donald Trump after he claimed that Premier Giorgia Meloni had “begged” him for a photo opportunity during the recently concluded G7 summit — a rebuke that signaled Italy’s patience with Trump’s bragging had run out.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani scrapped a scheduled visit to the United States this weekend in response, describing Trump’s remarks as “serious and offensive” to both Meloni personally and to Italy as a nation.

Meloni herself took to video to fire back, calling Trump’s account “completely fabricated” and closing with a pointed declaration: “Italy and I do not beg.”

Trump made the comments during an interview that aired Friday morning on the Italian La7 television network. A La7 correspondent had originally asked Trump about the situation in Ukraine, but Trump brought up Meloni and the discussion shifted to their encounter — captured on video — at the G7 gathering in Evian-les-Bains, France. The two leaders were seen speaking together at various moments during the summit, including a one-on-one conversation on a small sofa.

According to La7, Trump said Meloni had pleaded with him for a photo, adding that he felt sorry for her and went along with it even though he wasn’t required to. The network has posted a dubbed version of the exchange online, as the original English audio was not made available.

In her video response, Meloni said she felt compelled to speak up because “certain things deserve an immediate response.”

“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

That last line appeared to be a reference to an April interview Trump gave to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in which he criticized Meloni for refusing to support the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Meloni had stayed silent at the time, but on Friday she made clear she was done holding back.

“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States — toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more accommodating,” Meloni said. “But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg.”

Meloni had initially worked to strengthen the long-standing relationship between Italy and the United States when Trump began his second term, positioning herself as a go-between for Washington and the European Union. She was the only EU head of state to attend his inauguration.

However, the relationship has become strained over several issues, including the U.S. military action against Iran — which Meloni has called illegal — as well as Trump’s stance on Ukraine, which Italy strongly backs. Trump’s tariffs and the strong U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict have added further tension.

Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto also weighed in, rejecting Trump’s version of events and saying he could not imagine Meloni ever begging anyone for a photo, “not even under threat.”

“I can, however, imagine how much it cost her to set aside what Trump had said weeks ago, to serve the interests of Italy, of Europe, and of the West,” Crosetto wrote on X. “Jokes of this kind do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance.”

The White House confirmed late Thursday that Vice President JD Vance has scrapped his scheduled trip to Switzerland, where he was expected to attend a formal signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to bring an end to the conflict with Iran.

The decision came just hours after Vance appeared at a White House press conference and left the door open on his travel plans. Despite earlier reports that a ceremony had been set for Friday in Geneva, Vance told reporters Thursday, “My plan is to go to Switzerland,” while acknowledging he did not know “exactly when.”

He also indicated that technical-level negotiations were expected to begin over the weekend, saying, “We think these technical negotiations are going to start sometime this weekend — that’s still the plan — but that could change.”

Earlier in the week, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced that Pakistan would host the Switzerland ceremony to mark the agreement and formally launch those negotiations. Friday’s planned event was meant to serve as a ceremonial signing and the official kickoff of the talks.

President Donald Trump had already digitally signed the MoU on Wednesday in Versailles. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed the document. Whether Vance’s trip will be rescheduled remains unclear.

The White House announcement came as violence continued in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces reported that four of its soldiers, including a battalion commander, were killed by a Hezbollah drone in southern Lebanon. The military said it then carried out retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah targets.

At Thursday’s press conference, Vance took aim at Israel’s military strategy and its resistance to the MoU, which includes provisions that would restrict Israel’s ability to strike Hezbollah and respond to attacks.

“It’s clear that large segments of the Israeli political system and population are very sensitive about this deal,” Vance said. “But I also think they’re picking up on some misinformation about the deal and running with it and sort of panicking about it.”

Directing his remarks at Israeli critics of the agreement, Vance added: “I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.” Notably, Vance misstated Israel’s population — the actual figure is approximately 10 million.

President Trump also weighed in on Israel’s military actions in Lebanon during the G7 conference, telling reporters: “We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.’”

MOSCOW — Russia signaled Friday that it is prepared to engage in conversations with European nations, but made clear it will not be pressured into negotiations on anyone else’s terms.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said practical reasoning alone demands such dialogue, given what he described as an “enormous number” of complicated matters that need to be addressed. However, he stressed that Europe must rethink how it approaches Russia before any meaningful exchange can happen.

“The Europeans have a very serious misconception: They assume that negotiations with Russia must be conducted from a position of strength and based on Russia’s weakness. This is the biggest mistake… Such talk will lead nowhere,” Peskov told reporters.

He went further, adding: “Does this stem from European incompetence, misinformation, or stupidity? We don’t know for sure, but it’s a fact.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously indicated a willingness to speak with European governments, but has insisted they must initiate contact, since it was they who severed ties. The EU has now imposed 20 separate rounds of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

EUROPE SHIFTS ITS POSITION

For more than a year, European nations largely stepped back from direct engagement with Russia, leaving U.S. President Donald Trump to take the lead in attempting to negotiate a resolution to the conflict. That posture appears to be changing.

The office of European Council President Antonio Costa made “brief contacts at diplomatic level” with the Kremlin over recent weeks in order to “open communication channels,” according to an EU official who spoke Wednesday.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker told the Financial Times in an interview released Thursday that the EU should capitalize on the current “momentum” surrounding Ukraine peace discussions to push forward with efforts to restart direct talks with Putin.

Peskov echoed Russia’s conditional willingness, saying Moscow would engage if the other side came ready for genuine conversation — “not to engage in moralising or, especially, to issue ultimatums.”

Costa’s outreach, however, exposed fault lines within the EU. At a summit of EU leaders held in Brussels, some member states said the initiative had not been coordinated with them and argued the bloc should instead focus on increasing pressure on Russia.

UKRAINE DRONE STRIKES HIT MOSCOW AREA

Ukraine has claimed it is gaining the upper hand in the war through an intensified wave of drone strikes targeting locations deep within Russia, including ports, oil refineries, and other critical infrastructure. Russia disputes this characterization and says it will continue fighting until its goals are met — with or without a diplomatic resolution.

The governor of the Moscow region announced Friday that an eight-year-old girl had been killed in a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack that struck the capital and surrounding areas the previous day. The assault, involving hundreds of drones, ignited a major oil refinery in southeast Moscow for the second time in just three days.

“Indeed, drone attacks continue. Appropriate measures are being taken to mitigate the consequences,” Peskov acknowledged.

When asked whether Putin had watched footage of the burning refinery, Peskov deflected, telling reporters they should instead look at images from Ukrainian cities struck by Russian forces.

“These strikes will continue,” he added.

LONDON — A commanding special election win by Andy Burnham on Friday has triggered a political chain reaction that could soon bring down Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the man who led the Labour Party back to power less than two years ago after a 14-year absence from government.

Burnham is widely considered the top contender to succeed Starmer, particularly after his overwhelming performance in the Makerfield seat in northwest England. Even as Labour has struggled with poor poll numbers and significant losses in recent local elections, Burnham managed to defy the political odds in a major way.

The 56-year-old not only fended off the challenge from the anti-immigration Reform UK party, but he dramatically boosted Labour’s vote share to nearly 55%. That’s especially striking given that at local elections just last month, Reform UK captured virtually every seat within the Makerfield constituency.

With his return to Parliament after nearly a decade away — during which he served as the widely popular mayor of Greater Manchester — Burnham is now positioned to mount a direct challenge to the struggling Starmer for both the Labour leadership and the country’s top office. While he has stopped short of formally declaring his intentions, his words leave little doubt about where his ambitions lie.

Burnham framed his win as “the change moment” and said he and his supporters hoped to “lay out a new path” for Britain.

“I think we need in this country right now for people to feel a sense of hope that there is something better to work towards on the horizon,” he said.

The next scheduled national election in the UK isn’t required until 2029, but British political rules allow a party to swap out its leader — and therefore its prime minister — without triggering a nationwide vote.

Here’s how a leadership change could unfold:

Despite Starmer’s repeated insistence that he would fight any challenge to his position, he may soon conclude that he would lose a leadership vote — a deeply humbling outcome for a man who delivered a landslide Labour victory in July 2024. Starmer now ranks among the most unpopular prime ministers in modern British history, battered by a series of policy stumbles and controversies. Chief among them was his widely criticized decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, despite Mandelson’s connections to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Reports suggest that members of his own Cabinet may inform him this weekend that his position is no longer tenable and that resigning would be better both for him and for the Labour Party.

If Starmer chose to leave office right away, the Cabinet and Labour’s governing body would likely select a temporary leader to serve as prime minister — someone not expected to compete in the full leadership race. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has been mentioned as someone who could fill that role.

Another option would be for Starmer to announce he plans to step down at a future point, such as the party’s annual conference scheduled for September.

Burnham is expected to enter any leadership contest that follows. The bigger question is who else might join the race. Wes Streeting, who stepped down as health secretary last month, has signaled he intends to run. Other names being floated include Starmer’s former deputy Angela Rayner, who resigned last year over an unpaid property tax matter, and Al Carns, who left his post as armed forces minister last week over disagreements with Starmer’s defense spending plans.

A significant faction within Labour is pushing for no one to challenge Burnham at all, hoping he could walk into 10 Downing Street this summer, ahead of the party conference.

On Friday, Starmer found himself in the awkward position of publicly congratulating Burnham — knowing full well the victory only intensifies scrutiny of his own leadership.

The prime minister confirmed he had not yet spoken with Burnham but made clear he has no intention of stepping aside.

“Yes, I will run, I will stand,” Starmer said when asked whether he would contest a leadership challenge. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

Under Labour’s rules, if a formal challenge is mounted, Starmer would automatically appear on the ballot. Any challenger would need to secure the support of at least one-fifth of Labour’s House of Commons lawmakers — that’s 81 members. Candidates who clear that bar would then need backing from either 5% of local party branches or at least three affiliated organizations, such as trade unions or cooperative societies.

Eligible party members and affiliates would then vote using a ranked-choice system, with the winner being the first candidate to surpass 50% of the vote. King Charles III would then formally invite that person to become prime minister and build a new government.

If a full contest takes place, the process could take three to four months, with the party holding town hall events before ballots are opened to its membership.

BRUSSELS — Just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly criticized NATO allies and announced a Pentagon review of their performance, leaders of numerous European nations were already going through their own checklist of security progress — covering many of the same issues Hegseth raised.

In many ways, Hegseth was telling the Europeans what they already know.

The European agenda included increased defense spending, investment in military production industries, lessons drawn from the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the development or purchase of drones, air defense systems, and long-range weapons.

At a summit that wrapped up Friday, European leaders discussed how to best deploy joint European Union funding, eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to speed up procurement, improve “military mobility” for faster troop and equipment deployment, and upgrade ports and airports.

“Europe’s defense readiness must be decisively ramped up by 2030,” they reaffirmed — a goal they have been working toward since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Intelligence agencies have cautioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could order military action elsewhere in Europe before the decade is out, particularly if he manages to defeat Ukraine. European nations have also accused Russia of carrying out acts of sabotage and spreading disinformation across the continent.

Roughly two-thirds of European Union member countries are also NATO members, and the unpredictability of the Trump administration has pushed them to accelerate their own independent efforts. Hegseth’s announced review was simply the most recent unexpected development.

Hegseth does not regularly attend NATO meetings, and he departed Thursday’s gathering of defense ministers before it concluded. Still, his first major address to the alliance in February 2025 and his follow-up appearance this week left a strong impression.

On Thursday, he branded NATO a “paper-tiger,” called allies “shameful,” and declared that “too many failed” a test set by President Donald Trump — who had sought use of European bases to launch strikes against Iran.

He also criticized allies for emphasizing “gender equity and climate change” and attacked their immigration policies.

Hegseth then gave NATO members six months to demonstrate improvement before a Pentagon performance review that would tie the continued presence of American forces in Europe — and U.S. financial contributions to NATO — to whether he judges them to be doing enough.

“It’s protection racket framing that undermines NATO solidarity, trust in the U.S. commitment to NATO, and, ultimately, U.S. security interests,” said Rachel Ellehuus, Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank.

The specifics of what the review will actually examine remain unclear.

“It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” Hegseth said. “Some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors.”

He said the process might last “up to six months, could be less,” and would involve U.S. military commanders, members of Congress, and the allies themselves.

Hegseth also said that American contributions to the shared NATO budget — which funds its headquarters and other facilities — would be tied to ally performance. “Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at Brussels airport before departing, he added that the review would also look at “where is the right place for basing. Where can we make sure we have access and overflight when we need it, so that America is properly postured on the continent.”

NATO itself played no direct role in the Iran conflict, though it did work to protect alliance territory from potential attack.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he could not yet explain what Hegseth’s review would involve.

“There’s still no clarity on exactly what the outcome will be, because that will depend on the review. So, we’ll see what happens,” Rutte said, adding that “wherever we can be helpful, we will be helpful.” Rutte is expected to travel to Washington next week, where he may learn more.

From Rutte’s perspective, European allies and Canada are making solid progress, even if more can always be done.

“What we are seeing is staggering amounts of money coming in,” he told reporters. “Europe and Canada are spending in 2025 more than $90 billion extra compared to 2024, which is almost a 20% increase in defense spending.”

That additional funding must now be converted into actual military equipment, weapons, and ammunition.

At last year’s summit, allies agreed to raise their defense budgets to match the United States as a share of gross domestic product. President Trump left that meeting satisfied, describing his NATO counterparts as a “nice group of people.” But the new review casts a shadow over the alliance’s next summit, scheduled for July 7-8 in Turkey.

Despite the tension, senior European military officers have taken on more command roles within NATO, and U.S. allies have stepped up to lead the effort to channel arms and money into Ukraine as the Trump administration has pulled back.

Some European nations and Canada are also spending billions to purchase critical air defense systems from the United States, which they then donate to Ukraine — a conflict they view as an existential threat to Europe as a whole.

By most measures, it is difficult to identify what more the allies could be doing or doing faster — unless the expectation is that they provide unrestricted access to their airspace and military bases for American military operations beyond Europe.

Ellehuus, a former senior U.S. advisor at NATO, argued that decisions about troop positioning “should be driven by detailed threat assessments, operational requirements, and military planning – not used as a form of reward, punishment or revenge.”

“Such framing undermines allies while they’re actively trying to solve the problem and telegraphs to adversaries that U.S. security commitments have a price tag,” she said.

TUBARA/JUAN DE ACOSTA, COLOMBIA — At first look, these two side-by-side towns along Colombia’s hot and humid Caribbean coast seem nearly identical. Single-story houses with rocking chairs on their porches surround town plazas, and locals plan their errands to dodge the brutal midday sun. Mango trees shade the streets where children meander home from school.

Yet Tubara and Juan de Acosta — both located near the port city of Barranquilla — are sharply split when it comes to Sunday’s presidential election, which places two very different visions for Colombia’s future head to head.

In Juan de Acosta, where murders and extortion have surged alongside rising drug trafficking activity along its coastline, right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella earned 55% of the vote in the first round. He has promised a firm hand against armed groups and criminal organizations.

Just next door, Tubara threw its support behind leftist senator Ivan Cepeda, giving him just under 60% of their votes. His message centered on expanding social programs, including reforms to healthcare, pensions, and education.

De La Espriella, a 47-year-old lawyer and businessman with no prior experience in politics, has leaned heavily into military-style imagery and language throughout his campaign. He calls himself “the Tiger,” labels his political movement “Defenders of the Homeland,” and salutes at campaign rallies and in promotional materials — despite never having served in the armed forces.

His tough-on-crime stance gave him a lead of several percentage points over Cepeda in the first round, and more recent polling shows him eight points ahead heading into the runoff.

For residents of Juan de Acosta, the rise in violence feels foreign to their community. Nicanor Alba, who was trimming and bagging pork ribs for customers at his butcher stand near the town plaza, described the toll extortion has taken.

“You set up your business and tomorrow they come and say ‘if you don’t give us 50,000, 30,000 or 40,000 (pesos), it’s over,’” said Alba, whose own brother was killed five years ago.

He said multiple friends and neighbors have been targeted by extortion on more than one occasion, and that recent homicide numbers left him stunned.

“That had never been seen before in Juan de Acosta, it’s a bunch of people,” said the butcher, who intends to cast his vote for De La Espriella.

The town’s location — with road access to Colombia’s interior and a stretch of coastline — has turned it into what authorities describe as a “strategic point” for drug smugglers, according to Colonel Eddy Sanchez, the police commander for Atlantico province.

Two criminal organizations — Los Pepes and Los Costenos — have long been active in the area, including in drug sales, Sanchez said. More recently, the country’s largest criminal gang, the Clan del Golfo, has also moved in.

“The Clan del Golfo uses this municipality as a platform to reach maritime areas and, using speedboats, ship drugs abroad,” Sanchez said.

“Of course, that leads to issues of violence,” he added, though he noted that murders have dropped from 15 in 2025 to just 2 so far in 2026, returning to the town’s historical average. Police have classified 14 of last year’s killings as contract murders.

Tubara, meanwhile, recorded no murders in 2025 and only one so far in 2026, Sanchez said.

“It’s a territorial dispute, where some gangs are trying to enter the municipality while others are trying to push them out to fully control local drug trafficking,” said Oscar Andres Arteta, Juan de Acosta’s interior secretary, adding that local government and police are working together to combat extortion.

Juan Gabriel Coronel, 42, who sells meat, ice cream, and dry goods at a small shop in Juan de Acosta, also plans to vote for De La Espriella in hopes of curbing crime — but he has personal health concerns weighing on him as well.

“I had a liver transplant 17 years ago and have never been denied my medication in that time,” said Coronel, who is a client of a healthcare provider the government took over in 2024 due to alleged care failures. For the past six months, he said, he has been paying for his medication out of his own pocket.

On the other side of the ballot, Cepeda, 63 and the son of a murdered communist leader, swept all but one Caribbean province in the first round among a field of 13 candidates.

To win the runoff, he will need to grow his numbers in those coastal provinces and in the capital, Bogota, according to Luis Fernando Trejos, a political science professor at the Universidad del Norte. Trejos estimates Cepeda needs between 2.5 million and 3 million additional votes to pull off a victory.

De La Espriella, who outpaced Cepeda by roughly 700,000 votes in the first round, will also need to expand his support. More than 41 million Colombians are eligible to cast ballots, but fewer than 24 million participated in the first round.

Both candidates have lined up backing from influential political figures along the coast, Trejos noted. De La Espriella has made a point of highlighting that he grew up in the inland Caribbean city of Monteria. His campaign billboards show his tiger persona wearing a Barranquilla soccer jersey with the message: “Abelardo is coastal like you. … Coastal votes coastal.”

He has also accused Cepeda’s campaign of planning a large-scale vote-buying effort on the coast — a claim Cepeda’s team has firmly rejected.

In Tubara, Cepeda supporters have been actively working to drive up voter turnout. Clara Algarin, a clinical psychologist and former city councilor, told Reuters she has been coordinating transportation for voters who were unable to reach polling stations during the first round.

Algarin expressed admiration for the current leftist president’s expansion of free public university education and a 230,000 peso (about $66) monthly state pension he created for people who were unable to save for retirement — including her own mother.

“My mother worked as a domestic servant from the age of 16. She never had the possibility of being paid a pension before,” Algarin said.

Her husband, Javier Gomez, operates a bakery — its porch decorated with a bright Cepeda campaign banner. He said he was glad to pay his employee the 23% minimum wage increase for this year that the current president put in place.

“The work that (the employee) does deserves the payment of a living wage,” Gomez said while taking a break from packaging fresh bread.

A preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran has been signed, marking a potential step toward ending hostilities and beginning talks on a more comprehensive deal.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was photographed holding the memorandum of understanding shortly after it was signed, with the image released by the Islamic Republic News Agency. The signing took place in Tehran in the early hours of Thursday.

The agreement was signed by President Trump and represents an early-stage framework intended to lay the groundwork for broader negotiations between the two countries.

While the signing signals a diplomatic opening, officials and analysts note that considerable obstacles remain before any permanent or wide-ranging peace arrangement can be finalized between Washington and Tehran.

BEIJING (AP) — Vibrant dragon boat races, lion dances, and festive gatherings filled communities across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan on Friday as people celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival.

The holiday stretches back more than 2,000 years and, while best known for its athletic competitions, has deep roots in Chinese history and ancient beliefs surrounding health, protection, and living in harmony with nature.

“The Dragon Boat Festival is probably the richest and most diverse of all traditional Chinese festivals,” said Liu Xiaofeng, a history professor at Tsinghua University. “Across different regions, people developed a wide variety of traditions based on ideas connected to the summer solstice and the balance of yin and yang.”

Central to the festival’s story is the ancient poet Qu Yuan, who according to legend took his own life by drowning more than two millennia ago. The tradition of dragon boat racing grew from tales of people rushing out onto the water to search for him and tossing rice into the river to keep fish from consuming his body.

In Beijing, a three-day competition features men’s, women’s, and mixed-team races at distances of 100, 200, and 500 meters. Competitors from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, and Guangdong are taking part in the weekend-long event.

Crews moved their paddles in perfect unison, guided by the thundering beat of onboard drummers, as each boat drove hard toward the finish line while crowds of spectators cheered from the banks.

Many others followed the action from home, enjoying the holiday with family over “zongzi” — a traditional sticky rice dish prepared for the occasion.

The 2026 Beijing festivities are scheduled to run through June 21 at the city’s Grand Canal.

“The competition helped strengthen our team spirit,” said Li Maoshan, one of Friday’s race participants. “It also gave us an opportunity to demonstrate the spirit of perseverance and hard work.”

In Hong Kong, participants added a playful touch to the races by wearing costumes, including a cartoon depiction of Ne Zha, a figure from Chinese Taoist tradition.

The British Bar Standards Board announced Friday that it has placed an interim suspension on Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor who was already suspended by the court itself on June 8 following sexual misconduct allegations.

The British legal regulatory body stated that under its Enforcement Regulations, the interim suspension must be reviewed by an Interim Suspension Panel at a formal hearing within the next four weeks. The board confirmed the suspension took effect immediately upon the announcement.

Khan, who is 56 years old, has denied the allegations that have been brought against him.

TOKYO — Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Friday that a vessel owned by a Japanese company, with three Japanese crew members aboard, has safely made its way through the Strait of Hormuz and out of the Gulf region.

The ship had been stranded in the Gulf as a result of the Iran war. According to the ministry, Japanese officials worked directly with Iran to arrange the vessel’s safe passage. The tanker is now headed back to Japan.

The vessel is identified as a Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker belonging to Japan’s Kyoei Tanker company.

With this ship’s departure, Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that all Japan-linked vessels with Japanese crew members on board have now successfully left the Gulf.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi addressed the situation on social media platform X, stating: “Following the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, the government will continue making every diplomatic effort to ensure that free and safe navigation of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz resumes promptly.”

Despite this development, Prime Minister Takaichi noted that 37 vessels with ties to Japan are still waiting for clearance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

LONDON (AP) — Andy Burnham has spent his career navigating the corridors of British political power, and now he has his sights set on the very top — the prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street.

The 56-year-old presents himself as a down-to-earth northerner who favors T-shirts over suits, enjoys a game of soccer in his free time, and has been known to take the decks at DJ competitions spinning tracks from the 1990s. But beneath that casual image lies a seasoned political operator with decades of experience at the highest levels of British government.

Burnham is widely expected to mount a challenge against Prime Minister Keir Starmer following his victory in a special parliamentary election — a result he described as a “turning point” for politics in the United Kingdom.

He grew up in a part of northwest England situated between Liverpool and Manchester, the son of a British Telecom engineer and a receptionist. He joined the Labour Party during his teenage years, went on to study at Cambridge University, and first entered Parliament in 2001.

Over the next fifteen years as a lawmaker, he climbed the political ladder under Prime Minister Tony Blair and later served in Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet from 2007 to 2010.

He made two unsuccessful bids for the Labour Party leadership — in 2010 and again in 2015 — before stepping away from Westminster entirely to pursue the mayoralty of Manchester.

It was in that role that he earned the nickname “King of the North,” a reference inspired by the television series “Game of Thrones” that reflects both his fierce advocacy for his home region and his openly ambitious political outlook.

The title gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Burnham publicly clashed with Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson over what he characterized as a “London-centric” response to the health crisis.

Since taking charge of Greater Manchester in 2017, Burnham has overseen a dramatic transformation of the region — a city historically tied to the Industrial Revolution. The city center has experienced a building boom, with skyscrapers rising on former industrial land. He also unified a fragmented public transit system under public ownership, rebranding it as the Bee Network and expanding its services.

Within the Labour Party, he is seen as sitting to the left of Starmer, which plays well with party members. He is also regarded as one of the party’s most effective communicators — a stark contrast to the more rigid public speaking style he displayed during his earlier leadership campaigns. Today he comes across as relaxed and approachable.

Three successive mayoral election wins, combined with his strong showing in the Makerfield by-election — where he soundly defeated the candidate from the anti-immigration party Reform UK — have reinforced his reputation as someone who can win. Many within Labour are hoping he can help reverse the sharp drop in the party’s popularity that has occurred in the two years since Starmer led them to a landslide general election victory.

Burnham is now promising to take what he calls “Manchesterism” to a national level — a governing philosophy centered on investing in communities that have long been overlooked by decision-makers in London, and prioritizing people and place over party politics.

“What we’ve built in Greater Manchester needs to go national,” he said during the campaign. “I know what it is to turn places around.”

Not everyone is convinced. Critics argue that his policy platform lacks specifics and sidesteps difficult questions — particularly around how his proposals would be funded. They also point out that governing an entire nation of 70 million people is a fundamentally different challenge from leading a city region of 3 million.

Even so, Burnham enters this next chapter with considerable momentum behind him as he positions himself for a potential run at Britain’s highest office.

One week into the World Cup, international visitors are flooding social media with wide-eyed reactions to the quirks of everyday American life — and the posts are going viral.

From free soda refills to oversized dogs and the ongoing debate over what truly counts as great barbecue, tourists from around the globe are sharing their genuine surprise and delight at experiences that most Americans take for granted.

One visitor from Japan described bread at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Dallas as “insanely good,” capturing the kind of unexpected enthusiasm that has characterized many of these social media moments.

The cultural discovery happening at gas stations, chain restaurants, and roadside stops across the country has provided a lighthearted backdrop to what is otherwise a tense moment in U.S. foreign relations, with Washington currently navigating strained ties with a number of its longtime allies.

Massive travel destinations like Buc-ee’s — the sprawling Texas-based travel center chain — have become unlikely tourist attractions for World Cup visitors experiencing American road culture for the first time.

Social media posts from fans visiting for the tournament reflect a genuine curiosity about American daily life, with many expressing that the country surprised them in ways they did not anticipate before arriving.

Australian authorities announced Friday that the country has found its first suspected case of H5N1 bird flu on the mainland, discovered in a remote corner of the nation’s southwest.

A brown skua — a type of migratory seabird — was discovered in Western Australia’s Cape Le Grand National Park and tested positive for avian influenza. Additional testing is underway to identify the exact strain, according to state Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis.

“We are taking the suspected case of H5 bird flu seriously,” Jarvis said. “If this is confirmed H5 bird incursion, there will be a rapid and coordinated national response.”

The highly aggressive H5 strain of bird flu has been spreading through wild bird and mammal populations since 2021, resulting in the deaths of millions of animals. It has also made its way into poultry and dairy farm operations and has infected some agricultural workers.

Until now, Australia stood alone as the only continent without a confirmed mainland case of the deadly strain. H5 was previously confirmed on Heard Island, an Australian sub-Antarctic territory, in late 2025.

In anticipation of the virus potentially reaching its shores, Australia has spent recent years strengthening biosecurity measures at farms, monitoring shorebirds for signs of disease, vaccinating at-risk species, and running response simulations.

“While, if confirmed, this would obviously be a very concerning development, Australia has spent the past few years preparing for this likelihood,” Environment Minister Murray Watt said in a statement.

Jarvis said results confirming whether the deceased brown skua was infected with H5 bird flu are expected by Saturday. She also noted that a second sick bird — a giant petrel — was found in the same location and is also being tested for influenza.

Wayne Boardman, a wildlife veterinarian and associate professor at Adelaide University, expressed deep concern about the potential impact on Australia’s native animals.

“This strain of bird flu has caused huge die-offs of birds and sea mammals,” he said.

“My concerns are that if the H5N1 avian flu virus is confirmed, it will pose a huge risk to some of our more endangered shorebirds, some of our coastal raptors, and our precious, unique, endemic and endangered Australian sea lions, whose population is precarious,” Boardman added.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung announced Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to give serious thought to a gradual, phased strategy for addressing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs — one that focuses on immediate containment while keeping complete denuclearization as the ultimate long-term goal.

Lee made the announcement at a press briefing after returning home from France, where he spoke with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit. According to Lee, Trump indicated it was “time to pay attention” to North Korea and seemed eager to restart direct dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though he expressed frustration about how to move forward.

“Without giving up on denuclearisation, I explained that we should go step by step — short term, medium term and long term — rather than immediately,” Lee told reporters.

Lee described the short-term priorities as preventing North Korea from producing additional nuclear material, transferring weapons or materials to other countries, and advancing its intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities further.

In response, Trump said the approach “could be one way” and indicated he would think carefully about it, according to Lee.

Lee also conveyed to Trump that relying solely on sanctions and pressure would not be enough to resolve the standoff, noting that North Korea already appears to possess a significant number of nuclear weapons and is continuing to produce enough nuclear material to build roughly 10 to 20 more each year.

Lee added that North Korea’s ICBM technology is approaching its final stage of development, including the ability to re-enter the atmosphere, and that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia in the Ukraine war has significantly weakened the impact of international sanctions.

Trump held historic face-to-face meetings with Kim Jong Un during his first term in office, but their second summit — held in Hanoi in 2019 — fell apart over disagreements on denuclearization steps and the easing of sanctions. Since then, North Korea has taken a more hardened stance, declaring its nuclear status permanent and non-negotiable.

Shipbuilding also came up during the conversation. Lee said Trump asked whether South Korea could quickly construct 10 U.S. warships. “I said of course it was possible and that we would do our best,” Lee said. South Korea has already committed to $150 billion in shipbuilding investments in the United States, led by South Korean companies, as part of a trade agreement with Washington.

Lee noted that he sat beside Trump for roughly 90 minutes during a G7 dinner, which he said allowed for more in-depth conversation than a formal summit setting typically permits.

Over the course of his 10-day European trip, Lee attended the G7 summit and held both formal and informal meetings with multiple world leaders, including Trump, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In a separate development, Lee said that during a visit to the Vatican, he asked Pope Leo to consider traveling to the Demilitarized Zone — the buffer strip separating North and South Korea — and, if circumstances allowed, to North Korea itself. Lee said the pontiff responded that he would actively consider and pursue the idea.

JERUSALEM — A young Israeli man who endured sexual abuse during two years of captivity in Gaza is now speaking out, hoping his story will give strength to other survivors of similar trauma — including those in active conflict zones — ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 25, was among the approximately 250 people taken hostage when Palestinian militants carried out the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He remained in captivity for two years before being released.

During a conversation Sunday in Jerusalem with Israel’s first lady Michal Herzog, Gilboa-Dalal explained his motivation for going public. “I feel like I have a mission to spread to the world, to use my voice and empower other victims of sexual assaults,” he said. “I want people who have been through those experiences to know that they’re not alone.”

The Associated Press notes that it does not typically name individuals who report sexual assault unless they have chosen to come forward on their own.

The United Nations reports that sexual violence tied to armed conflict is increasing globally, with documented cases more than doubling in 2025. Both state and non-state actors are increasingly using it as a weapon of war, a means of torture, and a tool of political repression.

The issue has become deeply politicized in Israel and the Palestinian territories since the Oct. 7 attacks. Human rights organizations and the U.N. have investigated allegations of widespread rape during the initial Hamas assault. More recently, the U.N. said it has verified multiple incidents of conflict-related sexual violence — “including as a form of torture” — carried out by Israeli military and security forces against Palestinian men and women in Gaza and the West Bank, allegations Israel denies.

For the first time this year, the U.N. added Israel’s armed and security forces to a list of parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.” Hamas had already appeared on that list.

In 2024, the U.N.’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, stated she “found clear and convincing information” that some hostages were subjected to rape and “sexualized torture.” However, a more recent U.N. report said it was “not able to verify” public claims made by former hostages about abuse by their Palestinian captors, citing what it described as Israel’s refusal to allow U.N. investigators access to conduct their own inquiries.

Gilboa-Dalal addressed that finding directly during Sunday’s conversation, expressing frustration with the U.N. “They have no right to say what happened or what didn’t happen, I was there, not them,” he said.

He is among at least six released hostages who have publicly described experiencing sexual assault while held captive. Gilboa-Dalal first went public with his account in an interview with Israeli media last November, roughly a month after his release.

He described two separate incidents of abuse that occurred more than a year into his captivity. At the time, he said he was physically depleted — having spent most of his imprisonment in a cramped underground cell shared with three other hostages, where they were either starved or given spoiled food and denied the ability to move freely or bathe. He said he was naked and blindfolded during both assaults, and that his captor threatened to kill him if he ever disclosed what had happened, beating him and pressing a knife to his throat and a gun to his head.

“He could do whatever he wanted. I was so weak, and he was so strong,” Gilboa-Dalal said. He added that because the hostages were under constant watch, he did not tell his fellow captives what had happened until just before one of them was released during a temporary ceasefire in February 2025.

Today, Gilboa-Dalal says he is focused on healing and reconnecting with his family. He is also working on a book and an anime script based on his experiences.

He expressed concern that other survivors of sexual violence may be struggling in silence, burdened by self-blame. “They may think, ‘maybe it’s my fault maybe I could have done something different,’” he said. “But it wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t any of the victims’ fault.”

TOKYO — The Bank of Japan announced Friday that its governor, Kazuo Ueda, has been released from the hospital after a two-week medical stay.

According to a statement from the central bank, Ueda plans to return to the office on Tuesday and will continue receiving treatment for roughly two additional weeks.

The 74-year-old had been hospitalized for treatment of an infected liver cyst. His absence caused him to miss the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting on Tuesday, during which the central bank voted to raise interest rates to their highest level in 31 years.

PARIS — France’s foreign minister made clear Friday that his country intends to have a say in any nuclear agreement reached with Iran, warning that Paris will not sign off on lifting United Nations sanctions unless it is satisfied with the final terms.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking to broadcaster franceinfo, noted that France holds veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. He stressed that regional stability cannot be achieved unless ongoing U.S. talks with Iran also address the country’s ballistic missile program and its backing of proxy forces in the region.

“The return for major concessions that will be asked of Iran is the lifting of sanctions, sanctions that were taken at the United Nations,” Barrot said. “France is a permanent member of the United Nations (Security Council) so as was the case 10 years ago, France will have to give its approval for the sanctions to be lifted.”

Earlier this week, the United States and Iran agreed to enter a 60-day negotiating period focused on Iran’s nuclear program, with the understanding that any final deal would need to be approved by the Security Council.

European nations have expressed concern that the current U.S. negotiating team may lack the experience needed to lock down a strong nuclear agreement or tackle Iran’s missile activities during the next phase of talks — potentially leading to a prolonged diplomatic standoff.

France, Britain, and Germany are seeking a seat at the table as negotiations move forward, having been largely excluded from recent diplomatic efforts. The three countries first became involved in Iran’s nuclear issue back in 2003 and later partnered with then-U.S. President Barack Obama to craft a 2015 agreement that curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been openly critical of that earlier accord, which he withdrew the United States from during his first term in office.

Barrot reinforced France’s position, saying: “Our objective is to get major concessions from the Iranian regime, a radical change in posture. And we will have our word to say, because as a member of the UNSC it will be necessarily linked to the resolution of this crisis.”

At least 18 people lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry reported, while Israel’s military announced that four of its soldiers were also killed — marking one of the most deadly single incidents since the current wave of fighting escalated.

Lebanon’s health ministry said that heavy airstrikes beginning around midnight severely hampered rescue and evacuation operations in the region. Officials reported a preliminary count of 18 dead and 33 wounded, with that number expected to climb as the situation developed.

Residents and Lebanese media outlets reported that airstrikes and shelling struck multiple towns in the Nabatieh district throughout the night and into the early morning hours of Friday. Lebanon’s state news agency NNA described the bombardment as among the heaviest seen in the area in recent weeks.

The Israeli military said its strikes were aimed at what it characterized as Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure spread across several parts of southern Lebanon. Israel said the attacks were carried out in response to what it called repeated ceasefire violations by the Iran-backed group.

Hezbollah claimed its fighters ambushed an Israeli force near Ali al-Taher hill in southern Lebanon, saying they destroyed three Merkava tanks using guided missiles and struck troops with rocket and artillery fire. The group indicated that fighting was still ongoing at the time of the report.

The surge in violence came one day after Israel released a map showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon. Israel also indicated it would not rule out conducting operations beyond that zone, raising fresh concerns about a U.S.-brokered agreement reached on Wednesday intended to bring an end to the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

That agreement calls for a halt to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, and requires all parties to respect Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

A senior Israeli official said Israel is engaged in what he described as “stubborn negotiations” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over keeping Israeli troops positioned up to 10 kilometers — roughly 6.2 miles — inside southern Lebanon as the country continues its pursuit of Hezbollah.

Israel has refused calls to pull its forces out of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has continued launching attacks on Israeli positions, including strikes using explosive drones that have resulted in both deaths and injuries among Israeli troops this week.

Hopes for a lasting peace agreement between the United States and Iran took a hit Friday after Switzerland announced that scheduled talks between the two nations would not go forward as planned, and Vice President JD Vance canceled his trip to the Swiss resort of Burgenstock where the negotiations were to be held.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.

Vance and the American delegation had been prepared to leave for Switzerland as soon as final arrangements were confirmed. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the postponement in a statement, adding that Switzerland remains willing to host the discussions and that preparatory work at Burgenstock is ongoing.

Iran, which had signaled its readiness to begin technical discussions following Wednesday’s 14-point accord that extended a shaky ceasefire by at least 60 days, did not immediately respond to the news. Before the U.S. announcement, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian negotiators first needed to see evidence that the U.S. was following through on the interim deal before any delegation would head to Switzerland.

U.S. officials had spoken of holding a formal signing ceremony for the agreement in Switzerland, but Iran’s foreign ministry pushed back on that idea, calling it unnecessary since both nations’ presidents had already signed the pact.

The conflict, which erupted on February 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes against Iran, has now claimed at least 7,000 lives, driven energy prices sharply higher, and rattled financial markets worldwide.

Israel, which was not included in the peace negotiations, has kept its distance from the U.S.-Iran agreement and continued its military operations against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon — adding further uncertainty about whether the deal will hold.

Back in Washington, some Republican allies of President Donald Trump in Congress have raised concerns that he gave away too much to bring the conflict to a close, particularly with mid-term elections approaching in November and the war broadly unpopular among Americans.

Trump had vowed as recently as March to end the war only through Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.” However, the memorandum ultimately signed with Iran offers sanctions relief, unfreezes tens of billions of dollars in Iranian assets, and grants immediate U.S. waivers allowing Iran to export oil.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Trump had agreed to the deal “out of desperation” and warned that upcoming talks over Iran’s nuclear program — one of Trump’s stated justifications for the war — would not be straightforward. “If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it,” Khamenei said.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also pledged to respond in kind to any violation by what it called the “untrustworthy” American side, saying it would show “no leniency” until Iran’s full rights were secured.

The agreement gives negotiators 60 days to reach a decision on Iran’s nuclear program, with the possibility of an extension, and establishes a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran along with other financial incentives. Vance indicated the U.S. would also push to place limits on Iran’s long-range missile capabilities.

The mounting financial toll of the war also drew attention this week, with the U.S. defense department reportedly telling lawmakers it needed $80 billion to cover war costs and other expenses, according to the Wall Street Journal.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war nearly four months ago, Trump stated his goals included dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities to prevent it from ever building such weapons. He also aimed to eliminate Tehran’s ability to threaten neighboring countries, cut off its support for anti-Israel militant groups in the region, and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow their theocratic government.

None of those objectives had been achieved when Trump put his signature on the agreement. In the deal, Iran restated its long-standing position — held for decades — that it does not seek to build or acquire nuclear weapons, a claim that multiple U.S. administrations have doubted. Iran also agreed to on-site “down blending” of its highly enriched uranium and inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but rejected Trump’s demand that the material be removed from the country.

U.S. officials maintain that ongoing negotiations could still produce a strong agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, potentially surpassing a 2015 deal between Iran, the U.S., and other nations that Trump abandoned during his first term in office. Critics, however, argue that Iran now holds a stronger hand — having survived an attack by a superpower, demonstrated its control over the Strait of Hormuz, and secured valuable financial concessions.

Iran has stated it will continue to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz in partnership with neighboring Oman, and plans to charge ships service fees that did not exist before the war — though not during the 60-day negotiating period. Oil prices edged lower Friday as tankers began moving again through the reopening strait, which before the war had carried nearly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

In Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced by the ongoing conflict, fresh Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 18 people, according to the state news agency NNA. Israel said the strikes were aimed at Hezbollah targets. The continued fighting raised questions about how far Trump is willing to go to pressure his wartime ally to stand down from an offensive he has now pledged to end.

While the agreement calls for the “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon, Israel has said it has no plans to withdraw, and has instead released a new map depicting an expanded occupation zone. Trump has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, creating one of the most significant rifts between the two countries in decades.