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ATHENS — The leader of Greece’s most deadly and now-disbanded guerrilla organization will be heading back to prison after the nation’s highest court overturned his release, according to police sources and the Athens News Agency.

Alexandros Giotopoulos, 82, founded and led the Marxist group known as November 17, which carried out assassinations over a 27-year period before Greek authorities dismantled it in 2002. Giotopoulos was arrested that same year.

He and other members of the organization were found guilty by a Greek court in 2003. Although Giotopoulos maintained his innocence, an appeals court handed down a sentence of 17 life terms plus an additional 25 years in 2007.

On May 21 of this year, Giotopoulos walked free from Korydallos high-security prison in Athens after a judicial panel granted a release request he had submitted in 2025, citing deteriorating health, according to media reports.

However, the Supreme Court stepped in this week and approved a prosecutor’s move to reverse that decision, the Athens News Agency reported.

Giotopoulos appeared before a prosecutor on Tuesday and was expected to be transported back to Korydallos prison later that same day.

MILAN — Italian police have taken seven people into custody, accusing them of membership in an anarchist militant network responsible for sabotaging a high-speed railway during this year’s Winter Olympics, authorities announced Tuesday.

A judge ordered five of the suspects held in prison while the remaining two were placed under house arrest. Those arrested face charges that include terrorist association and subversion of the democratic order.

Two of the seven individuals are specifically accused of participating in a February 14 attack targeting the Rome-Florence high-speed rail corridor. Investigators say the attack was carried out using homemade explosive devices, resulting in infrastructure damage estimated at €455,000 — roughly $528,000.

The disruption caused train delays exceeding one hour during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which was held from February 6 through February 22.

According to police, the attack — along with a simultaneous strike on the Rome-Naples line — was claimed on a website called ispiraazione.noblogs.org, which had been created specifically for that purpose just a few months beforehand.

Authorities noted that the anarchist group’s own statement made direct reference to the timing of the Winter Olympics, as well as anti-militarist goals and plans for violent attacks against infrastructure.

Police described the group as being based in Rome, with connections to affiliated cells operating in Bologna, Milan, and Naples.

Prosecutors in Rome also issued multiple search warrants targeting additional suspects currently under investigation across several Italian cities.

A 40-page document posted on the same website also claims the group was responsible for a separate sabotage attack on the Transalpine Pipeline in March.

DUBAI — The U.S. military has been quietly managing a large-scale, covert oil transfer operation near the Strait of Hormuz, borrowing a technique that Iran itself has used for years to evade international sanctions, according to a Reuters investigation.

The operation, which began in early May, takes place at two locations just outside the strait — one near the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and another off Oman’s port of Sohar. Eleven people with direct knowledge of the operation identified those sites to Reuters. Shipping data and satellite imagery reviewed by the news agency show at least 92 ships have participated in the transfers so far.

Satellite images from as recently as June 11 captured 17 pairs of ships carrying out oil transfers simultaneously at the two locations.

An Apache helicopter that was shot down by Iran on June 9 — triggering retaliatory U.S. bombings — was also part of this mission, according to four sources, including a former U.S. official with knowledge of the incident. On the day the Apache was downed, Reuters used satellite imagery to count six pairs of tanker ships clustered near the port of Sohar. Both crew members were rescued by a drone boat, U.S. officials confirmed.

Reuters was unable to confirm the specific role the Apache played in the oil transfer operation. When asked about it, a U.S. defense official stated that no Central Command forces are participating in any offshore ship-to-ship oil transfer operation. The White House directed questions to Centcom, and the Iranian government did not respond to requests for comment.

The two transfer zones sit near boundaries drawn by a new Iranian body called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which was established to oversee the Hormuz Strait. Ships that do not follow Iran’s directives face the threat of drone and missile strikes from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The nearby port of Fujairah has been struck repeatedly by Iranian fire during the period this operation has been active. This past weekend, a maritime risk management group called Vanguard reported that an “unknown projectile” hit a tanker off the Omani coast. Vanguard said in a statement that the crew was unharmed and that while some cargo leaked, there was no environmental damage. The group did not confirm whether that vessel was engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer at the time.

Iran effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S.-Israeli war, blocking a waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption normally flows. That closure has caused what experts describe as the most severe global energy supply disruption ever recorded and has contributed to rising inflation worldwide.

Although the ship-to-ship transfers are considered risky and inefficient, they appear to be part of the Trump administration’s broader push to restore oil flow from the Gulf. President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen Friday under a peace framework announced with Iran this week, though specifics of that deal remain unclear. Reuters could not determine whether the announced agreement has had any impact on the transfer operation.

A separate Reuters investigation published May 20 revealed that Iran has built its own system for moving ships through the other side of the strait, using island checkpoints, diplomatic arrangements and, in some cases, fees.

Eight sources — including a private security contractor directly involved in the transfers — told Reuters the American operation is entirely under U.S. military control. Tankers are required to gather at a designated meeting point before reaching the strait, then depart in staggered intervals, keeping roughly 3,000 to 4,000 meters between vessels. Their tracking transponders are switched off and their lights are kept dark, according to four sources.

A network of waypoints allows the U.S. military to track each vessel’s progress. As one source put it, the Americans are “obviously watching you all the time.”

Once through the strait and just past the zone Iran has claimed control over, the tankers pull alongside much larger receiving ships known as Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, to begin offloading their oil. Each transfer takes between 24 and 40 hours. The smaller tankers then return through the strait while the fully loaded VLCCs continue on to their destinations.

The operation depends on a small number of shipping companies willing to move their vessels through the strait despite Iran’s blockade. But the risks are significant. “You just don’t know when Iran might just decide to start using drones or even gunboats in order to prevent even those ships from transiting the strait,” said Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute who focuses on maritime risk and reviewed Reuters’ findings.

Iran has used the ship-to-ship transfer method for years to disguise the origin of its oil and sidestep sanctions. Typically, Iran operates one pair of ships at a time to stay under the radar, given that its prewar oil exports were relatively modest. The U.S.-led operation, by contrast, involves mass simultaneous transfers and is designed to give Gulf oil producers greater protection from Iranian attacks while moving crude oil, condensate and petroleum products to international buyers.

Reuters reviewed more than a dozen satellite images taken between May 2 and June 11, showing transfers involving state-owned Gulf tanker fleets and internationally operated vessels. Shipping data from LSEG and Kpler confirmed repeated rendezvous between tankers in the area during the same timeframe.

Based on the tankers’ carrying capacities and the imagery reviewed, Reuters estimated that at least 90 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products may have moved through the offshore network since early May. That figure, while significant, remains far below the roughly 20 million barrels that passed through the strait on an average day before the war.

Michael Froman, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted the irony of the situation in a recent written commentary. “As the old rules weaken, it’s ironic that the United States is now taking a page out of the playbook of China, Russia, North Korea, and even Iran, whose so-called ‘dark fleets’ pioneered these techniques precisely to evade U.S. and UN sanctions,” he wrote. His remarks referred to the practice of sending ships through the strait without transponders — something President Trump mentioned publicly on June 10 following the Apache downing.

Six sources with direct knowledge of the operation said the U.S. has supported participating ships through aerial surveillance, compliance screening and ongoing monitoring, rather than direct naval escort. Reuters found no evidence that U.S. military personnel were physically involved in the transfers themselves.

On the receiving end of the operation, international tanker operators play a dominant role, according to shipping records. One of them, Greece-based Dynacom Tankers Management, has publicly hinted at its involvement in finding creative solutions to move oil through the strait since the war began on February 28.

“Freedom of navigation is essential and nobody can impose tolls or any other burden,” said George Procopiou, Dynacom’s founder, speaking at a Capital Link shipping conference in Athens on June 1. “We are here to serve, and Greece has the tradition of breaking blockades since antiquity. I don’t want to go into more details, but I believe the hints are enough to understand what I mean.” Dynacom did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. operation.

A separate maritime security source raised concerns about the dangers the new system creates for the broader shipping industry. “There is a paucity of reliable data,” the source said, noting that transponders are switched off “and companies are not reporting through the usual reporting centres.” That creates collision risks, since vessels are traveling at night with no lights at speeds that make maneuvering difficult, according to multiple shipping industry officials.

Four sources familiar with the operation said that companies seeking access must go through a compliance review before being granted a transit window. That process involves submitting information to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping office in Bahrain. Two preliminary compliance documents reviewed by Reuters required operators to provide full geospatial tracking histories, complete beneficial ownership disclosure, cargo documentation and agreement to cargo testing. Approved vessels are then assigned specific transit windows and remain in contact with the Bahrain-based U.S. military office throughout the voyage.

Emirati exports make up a significant share of the transfer operation, according to shipping records. Six sources said the UAE’s state-owned national oil company ADNOC has been among the most active participants. The Kuwait Oil Tanker Company has also been heavily involved. On June 6, one of the busiest days of the operation, approximately 2.3 million barrels of crude were transferred from one of its ships off the coast of Sohar, according to data from TankerTrackers.com. The vessel that received that cargo, identified as Sea Ruby, was spotted five days later off India’s southwest coast, heading toward China where the oil was expected to be unloaded. The UAE government, ADNOC and the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company did not respond to requests for comment.

“I don’t see a permanent solution in all of this,” Raydan said. “This is a temporary solution amid exceptional times.”

LONDON — The United Kingdom announced a broad new set of sanctions on Tuesday, targeting the banking division of Russian technology company Yandex, two additional financial institutions, dozens of ships accused of transporting Russian oil and gas, and a secretive network used to obtain military equipment.

The measures are intended to increase pressure on the financial systems and supply chains that support Russia’s ongoing military campaign in Ukraine. Russia’s major insurance provider, Rosgosstrakh, was also among those hit by the new restrictions.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking while attending a Group of Seven summit in France, said the actions were aimed at cutting off critical support for Russia’s wartime economy. “These sanctions target the vessels, the money and the actors propping up Russia’s war economy, and in turn, threatening European security,” he stated.

The sanctions cover more than 20 oil tankers along with several ships designed to carry liquefied natural gas. Britain noted it was the first time any G7 nation had sanctioned vessels connected to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 energy project.

Neither the Russian Embassy in London nor Yandex offered any immediate response to requests for comment.

Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” consists of vessels registered in other countries — many of them older ships — that are used to move Russian energy exports while sidestepping Western sanctions. Britain has now sanctioned nearly 600 such ships. Over the weekend, British special forces boarded and intercepted one of those vessels, an oil tanker, in the English Channel.

The new round of sanctions also takes aim at what British officials described as a hidden procurement network built around a company called Neptune. According to Britain, Neptune functioned as a front for Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, helping it obtain Western goods and technology for military use.

The package identifies specific individuals believed to be GRU officers, as well as companies operating both inside Russia and internationally that are accused of supplying defense-related technology.

In a separate announcement, Britain said it would provide £210 million — roughly $280 million — in financing to bolster Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. That funding includes support for a loan to supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company, Energoatom.

LONDON — A young Ukrainian man has been convicted of carrying out a series of arson attacks targeting a vehicle and two London homes connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but the shadowy online figure who directed the operation — known only as “El Money” — has avoided any public accountability.

Roman Lavrynovych, who was 21 at the time of the attacks, was found guilty Monday along with an accomplice. The fires occurred over several days in May 2025, according to evidence presented during his six-week trial.

El Money recruited Lavrynovych through the internet, providing step-by-step directions that included the addresses of the targets and instructions on how to combine flammable materials purchased from a hardware store. The handler communicated primarily through the messaging app Telegram.

The attacks did not result in serious injuries or extensive property damage, but Starmer’s sister-in-law, Judith Alexander, said she was left “struggling to breathe” after smoke filled the house during the third attack. She and her family were present at the residence — a home Starmer had lived in before taking office as prime minister.

El Money appeared frustrated that the attacks were not generating media coverage. “It’s all dead quiet so far — not a single article or announcement about the incident on this street,” he wrote to Lavrynovych after one of the fires.

What El Money did not know was that British counterterrorism police were already on the case.

The plot bears the hallmarks of Russian state-sponsored sabotage, according to retired Commander Dominic Murphy, who spent two decades investigating such activities and oversaw the early stages of this investigation before stepping down in March. However, he acknowledged the difficulty of proving state involvement in a courtroom setting.

“We need to keep calling Russia out and we need to ensure our society is as resilient as it possibly can be,” Murphy said, urging a broader public discussion about threats from Moscow, including to critical infrastructure.

Evidence presented at trial showed that El Money speaks Russian and is “likely to be in Russia,” Murphy said, and that the methods used closely mirror those associated with Russian intelligence operations in the United Kingdom. Such operations, he noted, typically require “very senior sign-off.”

Despite those assessments, prosecutors did not file charges under Britain’s National Security Act — legislation passed in 2023 specifically to address state-level threats — meaning no evidence of a broader conspiracy linked to Moscow was placed before the jury.

Helen Flanagan, the current head of counterterrorism police, stated that there is “no evidence to suggest that this was a state-backed threat and target on the prime minister” — referring specifically to police-gathered evidence rather than classified intelligence.

The presiding judge, Justice Neil Garnham, described El Money as the “central figure in the case but a man or group about whom we know very little,” and instructed jurors not to speculate about the handler’s identity.

Before his arrest, Lavrynovych had been paid smaller amounts to put up anti-Islam posters and graffiti in Muslim neighborhoods of London — an apparent effort to stir up social unrest. He told the court he was offered more money to carry out the fires and was threatened when he hesitated. His attorney, James Scobie, described him as a “vulnerable, ignorant” pawn manipulated by a sophisticated operator.

“It must be a bit of a frustration that no part of this case has really looked into the devil in the background,” Scobie said. Without naming Russia directly, he argued the attacks were aimed at Starmer because of his backing for Ukraine, calling them an assault on “the very institutions and fabric of this country.”

Just before police moved in to arrest Lavrynovych, El Money sent him one final message: “Don’t worry, I won’t set you up.” Lavrynovych never received the promised payment.

Scobie told the court there is “only one winner” in the case — “the anonymous devil who manipulated, used and won.”

The U.K. Home Office called the fires an “abhorrent attack” and said those responsible have been brought to justice, but did not respond to questions about whether the British government holds Russia responsible.

European officials have said Moscow is running a broad sabotage campaign against nations that support Ukraine. The Associated Press has documented at least 192 such incidents across Europe since Russia’s 2022 invasion, ranging from arson and cyberattacks to attempted killings.

When the AP asked Russian President Vladimir Putin in June whether Russia is conducting a covert war against Western nations, he deflected the question. “What are the specific facts?” he said. “What has been proven?”

Murphy, who previously led the investigation into the 2018 poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal — an attack the U.K. attributed to Moscow — noted that Russia has since shifted its approach toward recruiting local individuals to carry out attacks on its behalf.

BANGKOK — A newly released report from the International Energy Agency is sounding the alarm for Southeast Asia, warning that the war in Iran has laid bare serious vulnerabilities in the region’s energy supply chain — ones that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars if left unaddressed.

The report, released Tuesday, found that Southeast Asia’s heavy dependence on oil and gas shipped through the Strait of Hormuz made the region especially susceptible to disruptions caused by the Iran conflict. The IEA described the situation as a “stark wake-up call” for regional energy security.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol emphasized the urgency of the situation. “Diversification of energy sources and supply routes is now a central priority,” he said.

The report warns that if significant reforms are not made, Southeast Asia’s energy import bill could balloon to $245 billion by 2035 — nearly triple the $80 billion figure recorded in 2024.

The energy disruption has already sent shockwaves through the region, triggering higher energy bills and fueling inflation. The IEA also noted that the crisis has reinforced a reliance on coal during periods of energy shortage — a likely setback for efforts to move away from fossil fuels.

Despite the challenges, the conflict appears to be accelerating some positive shifts. The report points to record sales of electric vehicles, growing interest in nuclear energy, and a surge in rooftop solar installations and other renewable energy projects across the region.

Sam Reynolds of the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis offered his assessment of the findings. “The IEA report clearly highlights that Southeast Asia is at a crossroads,” he said.

In the Philippines, where a national energy emergency was declared, consumers have been turning to rooftop solar in record numbers as a fast, self-directed way to cope with rising utility costs. “This is the first time I’ve seen a demand shock of this magnitude,” said Ivan Cano with the Manila-based solar company EcoSolutions.

The IEA found that the Philippines became the second-largest destination for Chinese solar exports in the first quarter of 2026, with imports running approximately three times higher than the same period the previous year.

The transportation sector is also seeing significant change. Electric vehicle sales across Southeast Asia more than doubled in 2025, reaching roughly half a million units. The IEA noted that one in every five cars sold in the region is now electric.

In a dramatic policy move last month, Laos banned the importation of fuel-powered vehicles for the remainder of 2026 in an effort to reduce oil imports and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.

Nuclear energy plans are also advancing in the region, though construction timelines and regulatory hurdles remain significant obstacles. Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are considered to be among the furthest along in developing nuclear power programs, though their schedules remain uncertain.

Reynolds noted that even with a tentative deal to end the Iran war on the table, fossil fuel prices are expected to stay elevated, meaning “we will see a push towards more ambitious clean energy deployment.”

To address its vulnerabilities over the long term, the IEA recommends that Southeast Asia work to reduce its overall dependence on imported fossil fuels. The agency suggests improving the efficiency of national power grids and increasing investment across all forms of renewable energy, including solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power.

The report concluded: “The Middle East conflict is both a stress test of Southeast Asia’s current energy system and a catalyst to accelerate structural change.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s foreign minister declared Tuesday that a true end to the conflict cannot happen without Israel pulling its forces out of Lebanese territory they seized during the war.

Iranian state television reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the statement while briefing foreign diplomats. The network did not broadcast the actual remarks, but displayed them as an on-screen graphic.

“The end of the war in Lebanon is an inseparable part of complete end of the war,” Araghchi was quoted as saying. “Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end.”

Araghchi also warned that any additional Israeli military action in Lebanon “will be considered by us a violation of the Memorandum of Understanding.”

The full contents of the interim agreement between the parties remain unknown, as the document has not been released to the public.

Lithuania’s ruling Social Democrat party announced Tuesday that its chair, Mindaugas Sinkevicius, is set to take over as the country’s prime minister, stepping into the role currently held by fellow party member Inga Ruginiene.

The party made the announcement via a Facebook post, stating: “Mindaugas Sinkevicius is ready to assume full responsibility for the formation of the new Government and serve as Prime Minister.”

The leadership transition follows a significant shake-up within Lithuania’s coalition government. Earlier this month, the Social Democrat party voted to remove the populist party Nemunas Dawn from the governing coalition. That group’s leader had been convicted of antisemitism.

SHANGHAI — China’s digital yuan operation centre took a major step forward Tuesday, signing direct participation agreements with 26 financial institutions in Shanghai as part of an effort to build faster, lower-cost cross-border payment systems and boost the global reach of the Chinese currency.

The digital yuan’s international operation centre is established and run by the People’s Bank of China. Under the new agreements, participating institutions will gain access to the Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services platform, known as CBETS — an around-the-clock digital settlement system that connects to foreign central banks and financial institutions overseas.

Jean Lu, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (China), highlighted the significance of the development. “Fintech is fundamentally reshaping the underlying logic of cross-border payments and providing new momentum and pathways for them,” Lu said in a press release.

Lu added that a smoother payment experience could strengthen the yuan’s international standing. “An efficient, convenient, and compliant cross-border payment experience will further enhance the international use of the yuan,” she said.

Standard Chartered Bank (China) noted that it was among the first foreign banks to sign on and join the CBETS platform.

According to multiple industry sources who spoke with Reuters, China’s central bank is actively working to expand the use of digital yuan both at home and abroad — a direction that puts Beijing on a different course from the United States in determining how the future of money takes shape, and one that could eventually put the two nations in competition.

In March, sources told Reuters that China had approved roughly a dozen additional banks to handle digital yuan transactions, reflecting Beijing’s continued push to accelerate adoption of the digital currency.

PARIS — France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced Tuesday that his government plans to pour €655 million — roughly $758 million — into artificial intelligence, including the creation of a unified chatbot that would serve all French government agencies.

Among the key elements of the plan is the development of a dedicated public health chatbot connected to the state-owned health insurance agency, Ameli. The government also intends to build a new platform designed to make public data more accessible to citizens.

Lecornu framed the initiative as a matter of national urgency, posting on X that the country faces a fundamental choice. “We can either be subjected to this revolution, or we can lead it,” he wrote.

The prime minister stressed that the role of AI in government is no longer up for debate — only the pace of change is. “The question is not whether the state will use artificial intelligence anymore, but the question is how fast will it transform,” Lecornu said.

He also emphasized the importance of technological independence, stating, “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.”

The announcement was timed to coincide with the opening of the “Viva Tech” conference in Paris.

Japan’s central bank took another significant step toward normalizing its monetary policy on Tuesday, raising interest rates to their highest level in 31 years as it works to bring inflation under control following energy market disruptions caused by the Iran war.

The rate increase — the first since December — puts the Bank of Japan in step with other major central banks around the world, including the European Central Bank, which have also been tightening policy to fight inflation.

Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida spoke with reporters following the bank’s policy meeting, which was conducted in Japanese. The following are excerpts from his remarks as translated by Reuters.

On oil supply uncertainty despite U.S.-Iran progress:

“Compared with our previous meeting in April, the U.S. and Iran have signed a memorandum. That is a welcome move. Having said that, there is uncertainty on the pace of improvement in distribution (of oil).”

On the risk of inflation running higher than expected:

“Compared with the previous meeting, the risk of a sharp deterioration in the economy has diminished. On the other hand, price rises are broadening, and there is a risk that underlying inflation may deviate from our target.”

“With underlying inflation approaching 2%, it’s important to ensure we achieve our target stably.”

On the relationship between wages and prices:

“Wage growth is moving roughly in line with levels consistent with our price target. The mechanism by which wages and prices rise in tandem is becoming embedded.”

On how far rates are from a neutral level:

“Even our latest estimates are made in a very wide band, which makes it hard for us to use this in setting policy. We’ll have to gauge the neutral level by looking at how our rate hikes affect Japan’s financial environment.”

On the weak yen:

“We’re always watching currency moves closely. We don’t directly target exchange rates in guiding monetary policy. But we engage in monetary policy discussions on the view that currency moves have a crucial impact on economic and price developments. With companies’ wage- and price-setting behaviour becoming more active, the pass-through (of the weak yen) may have a bigger impact on underlying inflation.”

On coordination with the Japanese government:

“Today’s decision was based on the need to address broadening price rises and the risk of underlying inflation deviating from our target. This would help Japan’s economy achieve sustainable growth and thus is consistent with what the government is doing.”

MOSCOW — A Ukrainian drone attack caused damage at a facility belonging to the Moscow oil refinery owned by Gazpromneft, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Tuesday.

Sobyanin confirmed on the messaging platform Telegram that no one was hurt in the attack. “There were no casualties. Emergency services are working at the scene,” he wrote. The mayor did not provide information on whether the refinery’s day-to-day operations had been disrupted.

The refinery is the largest in the Moscow region. According to the most recent available figures from 2024, the facility processed 11.6 million tons of oil, yielding 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel fuel.

Drone strikes on Russian oil refineries have been increasing sharply. Since the beginning of 2026, the number of such attacks has doubled compared to earlier periods, resulting in full or partial shutdowns at processing facilities and reduced output of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, according to official data, social media reports, and Reuters calculations.

The Gazpromneft refinery supplies the Moscow region, which had not previously been among the roughly dozen Russian regions experiencing fuel supply disruptions.

Uncertainty continues to surround a newly signed U.S.-Iran interim agreement intended to bring an end to the ongoing Middle East conflict, as shipping companies warn it could take weeks before traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumes, and major questions about the deal’s details remain open.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that a preliminary agreement had been reached and signed by both the United States and Iran. However, the specifics have not yet been released to the public, and both nations acknowledged that a permanent ceasefire still needs to be negotiated.

Under the interim arrangement, a fragile ceasefire that was first announced in April would be extended for another 60 days. The deal would also reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that Iran has effectively shut down since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran back in February. That blockade cut off roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

During the 60-day negotiating window, talks would focus on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Notably, two other issues that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited as reasons for the war — ending Iran’s backing of armed proxy groups in the region and scaling back its missile capabilities — are not expected to be part of those discussions.

Trump made the announcement upon his arrival in France for a summit of the G7 group of major economies. “The deal’s all signed,” he said, adding that Vice President JD Vance would attend a formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday.

Oil prices dropped Monday to their lowest point since March 10, shortly after the Hormuz blockade began. By Tuesday, prices had stabilized somewhat, with Brent crude futures slipping 0.3% to $82.96 per barrel during Asian trading hours, reflecting a more cautious outlook among markets.

Despite the uncertainties, the agreement represents the most significant progress yet in resolving a conflict that has claimed at least 7,000 lives, the majority in Iran and Lebanon, while severely disrupting global energy markets.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took to social media Monday, calling the interim deal an “important step” toward halting the fighting, while also noting that a final agreement for a lasting peace “has yet to take shape.”

Vance described the signed document to CNN as a “very general document,” and U.S. officials indicated that more details would be made available over the following two days. Vance also mentioned the deal includes “a very significant sanctions relief package” for Iran, and told Fox News that Trump might choose to release the agreement before the Friday ceremony.

American and Iranian officials have indicated the deal could eventually bring major economic benefits to Iran, including lifted sanctions, the unfreezing of foreign assets, and access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund to be financed by neighboring Gulf states that host U.S. military bases.

U.S. officials, speaking without attribution, said Iran would need to meet American demands — specifically, a commitment never to develop a nuclear weapon and a cutoff of support for militias such as Hezbollah in Lebanon — before receiving those economic benefits. Iranian officials, who have consistently denied any intention to build a nuclear weapon, contend they have conceded little by agreeing to restart diplomatic discussions about uranium enrichment that were interrupted when the war began.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens under the agreement, shipping industry leaders caution that cargo traffic will not resume immediately. The chief executive of Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a major shipping company operating a fleet of more than 900 vessels including tankers, told the Financial Times that shipowners would not sail through the strait until they were confident the deal was “material.”

“Given the experiences in the last couple of months, I think it’s reasonable to assume that it may take at least a couple of weeks or if not a month,” Tamura told the FT prior to Trump’s announcement. The FT reported that the finalization of the U.S.-Iran agreement had not changed Tamura’s position.

Iran has indicated it will maintain joint control over the strait with Oman. The U.S. stated the waterway would be open toll-free for 60 days and expects that provision to carry over into any final agreement. Trump posted on Truth Social that oil-laden ships were already beginning to move out of the strait along what he called the Southern “Highway,” which he described as “totally safe, secure, and pristine.”

The conflict between U.S. ally Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon remains a significant sticking point. The fighting there has displaced 1.2 million people. Iran has insisted the deal requires a complete halt to hostilities in Lebanon, but Netanyahu said Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon and maintain the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.

“Iran wanted us to withdraw from it, but I stood firm,” Netanyahu said at a Monday news conference. Israel has not been a direct participant in the peace negotiations with Iran.

A U.S. official clarified that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon — which Israel entered in March after Hezbollah joined the broader conflict — is not a condition of the current deal. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te is standing firm on his commitment to boost military spending, declaring he will “not give up” following a setback in parliament last month when lawmakers approved only a portion of a major defense budget proposal.

The island’s opposition-majority legislature passed just two-thirds of a proposed $40 billion supplementary defense budget. While parliament gave the green light to purchases of U.S. weapons, it blocked funding for domestically manufactured drones and missiles — equipment that Lai believes is essential to deterring China, which considers the democratically governed island to be part of its own territory.

Speaking at a military base in New Taipei, Lai addressed the budget shortfall directly. “Regarding the major cuts to the special national defence budget, we will not give up,” he said.

He outlined potential workarounds to secure the needed funds: “We will propose separate special legislation, or support the armed forces through supplementary budgets and increases to the annual government budget, to ensure that national defence equipment and infrastructure projects proceed smoothly.”

Lai has set an ambitious goal of raising defense spending to 5% of the country’s GDP by 2030, up from roughly 3% today. That target aligns with calls from the Trump administration urging allies to invest more in their own military capabilities. The United States serves as Taiwan’s most important international supporter and weapons supplier, even though the two sides do not maintain formal diplomatic relations.

The president stressed that amid “rapidly changing regional circumstances,” Taiwan’s armed forces must sharpen their combat readiness and make effective use of modern technology, including drones.

Earlier this month, the top U.S. diplomat based in Taipei said Taiwan needs to “spend smarter” on defense and draw lessons from the use of drones in the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to maintain a military balance with China.

During Tuesday’s visit, Lai also toured key radar installations situated in the mountains surrounding Taipei, facilities that continuously monitor Chinese military activity in the region.

“I saw our servicemen and women monitoring aerial activity around the clock, identifying targets in the waters off northern Taiwan, and transmitting intelligence. Their work provides the most immediate and precise support for the overall defence response,” the president said.

Italy’s competition and antitrust authority announced Tuesday that it has launched a formal investigation into Apple, focusing on whether the company is meeting its obligations under the European Digital Markets Act.

Under that law, Apple is required to allow third-party consumer cloud service providers to work seamlessly and at no cost with the hardware and software components that make up its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. Those outside providers must also be given the same level of access that Apple grants to its own iCloud service.

The Italian regulator stated that it had gathered evidence suggesting rival cloud service providers are not being placed on equal footing with iCloud, as they do not appear to have access to the same system components that Apple makes available to its own service.

This marks the first investigation the Italian watchdog has launched under the Digital Markets Act, a European regulation that gives national authorities the power to carry out preliminary inquiries into potential violations.

The authority confirmed that once its investigation is complete, the results will be submitted to the European Commission for further review.

Last week’s Berlin airshow put a cutting-edge military technology front and center: the so-called “wingman” drone, a new class of AI-powered unmanned aircraft built to fly alongside traditional fighter jets.

The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted just how important drones and electronic warfare have become in modern combat. In response, European and American defense forces are moving quickly to develop their own AI-driven unmanned aircraft capable of carrying sensors, signal jammers, and weapons to support crewed planes.

Four major defense companies — Airbus, Boeing, Helsing, and General Atomics — gathered in Berlin to showcase their latest designs to Germany’s military and other potential customers.

These unmanned aircraft go by several names. Sometimes called wingman drones or wingman aircraft, they are formally classified as collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA. They range in size from small interceptors to aircraft comparable in size to conventional planes, and they operate in what is called a “loyal wingman” formation, flanking manned aircraft during missions.

The growing investment in this technology is unfolding against a broader debate in Europe about building a self-sufficient defense industry and reducing dependence on the United States.

Stephanie Lingemann, head of air domain at German defense startup Helsing, spoke to Reuters at the airshow about the importance of keeping control of the technology’s core intelligence. “The AI agent, of course, the brain of these systems, needs to be controlled in a sovereign fashion,” she said.

Germany and France announced this month that they have shelved a joint fighter jet program, but both countries are now exploring ways to salvage portions of the Future Combat Air System initiative by developing a related drone system and data network.

The Ukraine war has also demonstrated that disrupting an enemy’s sensors and communications can be just as decisive as direct physical attacks. Helsing says its electronic attack drone is built to operate alongside strike drones in autonomous swarms.

Boeing Australia’s Managing Director Amy List pushed back on the idea that the company’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat is simply a drone, describing it instead as an unmanned jet. She said it is designed “to enhance the capabilities, be a force multiplier for crewed platforms.” Boeing is working with German firm Rheinmetall to develop and produce the aircraft.

“It can go out ahead of crewed platforms, provide situational awareness, analyse data, it can fuse that data and provide decision-making quality information back to a human,” List told Reuters.

Despite the excitement surrounding this technology, none of these wingman systems have yet been deployed in actual combat. Boeing says its model could be in service with the German Luftwaffe as early as 2029, while Airbus says its model, the U760b Ravenstorm, won’t be ready until the 2030s.

General Atomics’ YFQ-42A is currently in testing. The U.S. Air Force selected it in 2024 as one of several technologies to receive funding and support for prototype development.

Lockheed Martin and U.S. defense technology startup Anduril are expected to show off similar technologies at upcoming airshows, including Britain’s Farnborough airshow, which opens on July 20.

TOKYO — Japan’s central bank took a significant step Tuesday, lifting its benchmark interest rate to 1% — a level not seen in roughly 30 years — as the country grapples with a weakening currency and climbing prices.

The Bank of Japan increased its uncollateralized overnight rate by a quarter of a percentage point from its previous level of 0.75%, marking the latest move in the bank’s effort to bring monetary policy back to more normal territory.

For decades, Japan kept interest rates at or near zero — and even below zero at times — in an attempt to encourage borrowing and spending and fight off deflation that had weighed on the economy. The central bank has been gradually stepping away from that approach in recent months.

A major driver of the current inflation is the war in Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge. That has hit Japan especially hard because the country imports nearly all of its oil and natural gas.

The prolonged period of low interest rates also put downward pressure on the Japanese yen, which has slid to around 160 yen per U.S. dollar in recent months.

Notably absent from Tuesday’s policy board meeting was Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, who has been hospitalized recently. Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida was expected to represent the central bank at a news conference scheduled for later in the day.

Financial markets were already reacting ahead of the announcement. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index briefly climbed above 70,000 early Tuesday before pulling back slightly from those gains.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Tuesday, triggering intense shaking that lasted more than a minute and was followed by a series of strong aftershocks.

The tremor was felt heavily in Palu, a city of roughly 400,000 residents that serves as the capital of Central Sulawesi province. Damage was reported in scattered locations, and several hospitals moved patients — some still connected to IV drips — outdoors as a precautionary measure. No information on injuries or deaths was immediately released.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was located 43 kilometers (27 miles) east-southeast of Palu at a depth of approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles). The most powerful aftershock registered a magnitude of 5.2. Officials determined there was no risk of a tsunami.

Indonesia sits atop multiple seismic fault lines, making earthquakes and volcanic activity a routine part of life across the archipelago.

For many residents of Sulawesi, Tuesday’s quake stirred haunting memories of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that tore through Palu in 2018. That disaster triggered a tsunami with waves reaching 3 meters (10 feet) high and caused a rare geological phenomenon known as liquefaction, where the ground essentially collapses inward on itself. The death toll from that event surpassed 4,000 people, with entire neighborhoods swallowed by the sinking earth.

Sulawesi has also experienced other deadly seismic events in recent years. In January 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake near the city of Mamuju killed at least 100 people, leaving thousands sleeping outside for days out of fear that more aftershocks could follow.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — A group of U.S. allies is pushing for a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz that would clear underwater mines and potentially provide military escorts for commercial ships, aiming to restore confidence among shipping crews and insurers that the critical waterway is safe to navigate once again.

France and Britain have spent months developing the proposal. French President Emmanuel Macron first raised the concept back in March, during the height of the conflict, suggesting that warships could escort tankers and cargo ships through the strategically vital chokepoint once hostilities wound down.

At the Group of Seven summit, U.S. President Donald Trump told Macron he doesn’t believe there is much need for outside assistance, saying the strait is “going to be open” as a result of the tentative agreement reached with Iran.

“But I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a ship or two up here from a few countries. You’d be a great country to do it,” Trump told the French leader.

In a joint statement welcoming the framework agreement that would extend the U.S.-Iran tentative ceasefire and lead to the reopening of the strait, the allied nations declared they “are committed to playing our part” to urgently reopen the waterway “with unconditional and unrestricted freedom of navigation.”

That statement came from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Italy, with Canada joining later — all fellow members of the G7 alongside the United States.

The allies proposed “a strictly defensive and independent mission to reassure commercial shipping and conduct mine clearance operations.”

France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is already positioned in the area. Macron sent it first to the eastern Mediterranean in early March before directing it through the Suez Canal and into the Arabian Sea.

Macron said other nations already in the region that could quickly contribute include the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

The French leader told Trump that French fighter jets could begin flying observation missions over the waterway as early as Tuesday, with frigates following “within 48 hours” and the aircraft carrier arriving “within two to three days.”

“Of course, all this supposes that it is desired and requested,” Macron said. “Perhaps it will not be wanted and perhaps it will not be necessary. But in any case, it reflects our willingness to help.”

Mine-clearing vessels would work to eliminate underwater hazards that pose serious dangers to shipping traffic. These mines can be rocket-propelled, cable-anchored, or rest on the ocean floor and detonate in response to sound, movement, or light.

Trump confirmed that mines have already been found and that the search for additional ones is ongoing, but said the strait “is already partially opened.”

Britain’s Royal Navy has been highlighting the specialized capabilities it could bring to the operation, recently inviting journalists aboard one of its vessels, the RFA Lyme Bay, as it waited near Gibraltar to be called into action.

Naval forces from France, the United States, Britain, and other countries already have firsthand experience protecting civilian ships under fire in the region, having previously defended cargo vessels from attacks in the Red Sea launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen.

French frigates deployed machine guns, cannons, and advanced air-defense missile systems to repel those Houthi assaults. The French frigate Alsace shot down three ballistic missiles in the Red Sea in 2024 while guarding a container ship. The vessel’s commander at the time, Capt. Jérôme Henry, told the AP that enduring those potentially deadly attacks was both nerve-wracking and exhausting. U.S. Navy ships and sailors also bore significant costs during those sea battles.

Should the mission be deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, naval crews would hope for a calmer environment if the ceasefire holds. However, with Iran still believed to possess substantial stockpiles of missiles, drones, and other weapons, warships’ defensive systems would be ready to respond if the ceasefire collapses.

“Once there is a ceasefire, the need for a naval mission is significantly reduced,” said Max Bergmann, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

“A U.K.-French naval presence will no doubt have some security benefits. It might raise the stakes for Iran to rekindle the war; it demonstrates European commitment to Gulf states; and it might reassure shipping and insurance companies,” Bergmann said. “But we should not overstate its utility.”

Planning for the joint French-British mission has drawn in nations from as far away as Australia, South Korea, Japan, Bahrain, Qatar, Canada, and more than a dozen European countries. A meeting of defense ministers and other officials convened last month by France and Britain brought together representatives from 38 nations in total.

WASHINGTON — For eight years, the United States has been fighting an economic battle with China, imposing heavy tariffs on Chinese goods entering American ports. But those efforts have done little to slow China’s manufacturing machine.

The world’s second-largest economy is actually shipping out more products than ever before — it has simply shifted where those goods are going, steering them away from the U.S. tariff barrier and toward more accessible markets in Europe and parts of Asia.

That redirection of Chinese trade is raising fears of a repeat of what economists call the “China Shock” — the wave of factory closures that eliminated hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs across the American heartland in the 2000s. That economic disruption is widely credited with fueling the political unrest that helped put Donald Trump in the White House on two separate occasions. Now, analysts worry Europe could be next.

Even with U.S. sanctions in place, China posted a record global trade surplus last year — a staggering $1.2 trillion.

French President Emmanuel Macron sounded the alarm earlier this year, saying Chinese exports are “literally killing a large part of the European industry” and acknowledging that Europe was “slow to see that.”

European leaders are no longer looking the other way. China’s trade practices are expected to be front and center this week when leaders of the G7 wealthy democracies convene in Évian-les-Bains, France. French officials said last week they are hoping the summit produces a concrete strategy to confront the China problem.

One option on the table is for the European Union and other nations to erect their own higher tariff barriers against Chinese imports. Right now, the EU applies relatively modest tariffs on Chinese goods under World Trade Organization guidelines, though it does impose steeper duties on specific products — up to 35% on electric vehicles, for instance.

“China’s export surge, unless its leaders rein it in, will provoke a protectionist wave against Chinese imports worldwide,” said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “All the more so if the current disruptions around the Iran war persist and cause a sharper global slowdown.”

An economist at HSBC, Taylor Wang, cautioned this month that a trade dispute between China and the EU could seriously hurt Chinese exports, noting that Europe represents a major portion of China’s overseas sales of electric vehicles, solar panels, and lithium-ion batteries.

European leaders are also pushing Trump to stop levying punishing tariffs on U.S. allies like the EU and Canada, and instead join forces with them to push back against China.

The original China Shock began around 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization and gained reduced-tariff entry into the markets of the United States and Europe. American factories were overwhelmed by lower-cost Chinese textiles, furniture, electronics, and other manufactured goods.

Economists David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, David Dorn of the University of Zurich, and Gordon Hanson, now at Harvard, determined that Chinese competition resulted in the loss of 2.4 million American jobs.

What’s being called China Shock 2.0 is unfolding in a different way. The first time around, China was still establishing itself as a major global trading power. Today, it dominates world trade and manufacturing outright.

China held just 4% of global goods exports back in 2000. That figure has jumped to 16% — the highest of any nation on Earth — making Beijing’s trade decisions far more impactful on the world economy.

China has also moved upmarket, now exporting sophisticated products like electric vehicles, batteries, advanced machinery, software, and scientific instruments — putting it in direct competition with the world’s wealthiest countries. Chinese exports now compete with nearly 58% of goods exported by the 21 European nations that use the euro, up from 46% in 2000, according to a recent paper by researchers at the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“The second China shock is characterized by its companies running the board on manufacturing exports — from low-tech, low-wage to high-tech high value-added industries,” said economist Eswar Prasad of Cornell University. “This is directly hitting advanced economies where it now hurts the most” — in high-tech sectors like electric vehicles and advanced robotics that many countries “had been counting on for a manufacturing revival.”

Germany has felt the impact severely. German companies once thrived by selling to Chinese consumers, but the tables have turned: China now exports more to Germany than it imports. German manufacturers are struggling to keep pace with Chinese competitors across key sectors — industrial machinery, construction equipment, automobiles, and chemicals — all pillars of Germany’s export-driven economy.

Largely due to Chinese competition, Germany’s economy has stalled, contracting in both 2023 and 2024, and managing only 0.2% growth last year.

The United States finds itself in a less vulnerable position than it was in the early 2000s. Trump’s tariffs have blocked a significant volume of Chinese goods. U.S. Commerce Department data shows Chinese exports to the United States dropped 37% from January through April this year compared to the same period in 2025.

America also benefits from producing its own energy — unlike the EU and Japan — and is experiencing a surge in productivity and investment in artificial intelligence.

Despite reduced access to the American market, China is still benefiting from strong global demand for its affordable electric vehicles and from AI-driven investment that fuels sales of Chinese electrical components and machinery used in data centers.

Chinese exports to the 27-nation EU climbed 16.4% from January through May compared to the previous year. For France specifically, that translated into a trade deficit with China — measured by Beijing’s customs figures — rising to $5.3 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

Economists point to Chinese government policies that push factories to overproduce while discouraging consumer spending at home. State-run banks, for example, offer low interest rates to savers while providing cheap loans to government-backed manufacturers. A weak social safety net also pressures Chinese families to save rather than spend, as they brace for retirement and healthcare costs.

Obstfeld explained that these policies are partly designed to keep factories running and workers employed. “The result is an excess domestic supply of manufactured products, which must be exported abroad,” he said. The flood of low-priced Chinese goods on world markets then threatens to put European and other manufacturers out of business.

Beijing has also pushed companies to compete fiercely against one another domestically. “The rest of the world is ill prepared to compete with these apex predators,” Autor and Hanson wrote in a New York Times column last year.

China has repeatedly pledged to cut back on overproduction and stimulate domestic consumer spending — a goal the U.S. and other nations have urged for decades. Such a shift would reduce China’s dependence on exports and improve living standards for its own citizens, while also opening up a growing market for American and European goods. “The leadership has long said this is a goal,” Obstfeld noted, “but they have been slow to act as if they mean it.”

“Beijing has been relying on the rest of the world to address its overcapacity problem,” said former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “However, this unsustainable situation may soon change if the EU and others take steps to halt Chinese imports, following the U.S. lead.”

European leaders are preparing to challenge President Donald Trump at this week’s G7 summit in France, warning that a shallow interim agreement with Iran could allow Tehran to continue developing its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities — while also calling on Trump to take a fresh look at his strategy for ending the war in Ukraine.

The summit, running from June 15 through 17 in Evian-les-Bains along the shores of Lake Geneva, has brought together the heads of government from France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, along with the European Union.

Trump touched down in France on Monday evening riding a wave of momentum after Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement aimed at resolving the broader conflict, with a formal signing ceremony set for Friday.

“The Iran deal will bring a lot of success,” Trump remarked shortly after arriving in Evian-les-Bains.

PUSHING FOR A STRONGER NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for what he called a “solid, serious agreement that is finalised.” He said a Tuesday lunchtime session would be devoted to the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, including the possible launch of a Franco-British maritime mission and identifying energy supply routes that could bypass the waterway altogether. Trump, for his part, predicted the strait would be “completely open” by Friday.

Leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Egypt are also joining Tuesday’s discussions. Diplomats say those leaders are not expected to dig into the technical details of Iran’s nuclear program, but may lay out their broader expectations for the outcome.

The preliminary agreement is designed to open a 60-day window for complex follow-on negotiations covering issues such as what happens to Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile and the conditions under which sanctions could be lifted.

Still, European allies are worried that an inexperienced U.S. negotiating team might fall short of locking in a strong nuclear deal or fail to address Iran’s ballistic missile program in the next phase — potentially leading to a prolonged standoff.

France, Britain, and Germany — which first engaged Iran on nuclear issues back in 2003 and later partnered with then-President Barack Obama to craft the 2015 nuclear accord — are seeking a seat at the table for the upcoming negotiations after being largely pushed to the sidelines in recent months.

Trump dismissed the earlier agreement before heading into a one-on-one meeting with Macron, saying of his deal: “It’s not like the Obama document, that was a terrible document.”

EUROPE WANTS A RESET ON UKRAINE

European diplomats are also viewing the summit as a chance to persuade Trump that previous U.S. proposals for ending the fighting in Ukraine have tilted too far in Russia’s favor.

European nations want to signal their readiness to engage in peace talks with President Vladimir Putin, while simultaneously tightening sanctions on Russia and stepping up military aid to Ukraine — making clear that it is Moscow, not Kyiv, that is standing in the way of progress.

Trump said he believed Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were both “open to do something about the war.” Zelenskiy is scheduled to take part in the summit’s opening session, which is focused on “building peace in Ukraine,” and may also hold a separate conversation with Trump.

With negotiations stalled, Zelenskiy is pushing for a renewed push toward peace and a larger role for European nations in the process. He revealed Monday that he had offered to meet Putin at the G7 summit for direct talks to end the four-year conflict, but said Putin was not ready to engage.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered a pointed assessment of where things stand: “Ukraine is holding the front line and even partially regaining territory. Ukraine has developed the capability to strike strategic targets deep inside Russia. And Ukraine has become a world-leading producer of cutting-edge military equipment.”

She added: “On the other hand, Russia is feeling the strain and pressure of sanctions… Putin’s war economy has never been as weak.”

Zelenskiy has expressed concern that the conflict involving Iran has pulled U.S. attention away from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the situation on the battlefield has been shifting, with Ukrainian drones reaching deeper into Russian territory to disrupt supply lines and damage energy infrastructure.

A Kremlin foreign policy adviser said Putin believes that increased Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets will not change the overall military picture on the ground.

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing is receiving a significant diplomatic boost through a state visit to China, where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The five-day trip represents the highest level of diplomatic engagement and comes as the former military commander works to strengthen his authority over the conflict-ridden country following an election at the start of the year that drew widespread international condemnation.

The China visit follows a recent official trip to India, where Min Aung Hlaing met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — though analysts noted that visit did not carry the full prestige of a formal state visit.

“An official state visit hosted by Xi Jinping is a visible signal that China is prepared to deal with Myanmar’s new administration as a full partner,” said Richard Horsey, the senior Myanmar adviser at Crisis Group. “India gave him a warm embrace on his recent visit, but not the full honours of an official state visit.”

While the diplomatic optics favor Min Aung Hlaing, analysts caution that Beijing’s priorities are firmly rooted in self-interest. China is Myanmar’s largest trading partner and top investor, with major Belt and Road Initiative projects in the country, including a cross-border oil and gas pipeline and a deep-sea port. Beijing also plays a key role as a military supplier and diplomatic ally for Myanmar’s armed forces, and has at times helped negotiate ceasefires along border regions controlled by ethnic armies with strong ties to China.

“China’s interests are not on federalism, but rare earths, infrastructure, mining, and securing the economic corridor to the Indian Ocean,” said David Mathieson, a Thailand-based independent analyst who closely follows Myanmar. “China also perceives the West in retreat from Myanmar and Beijing will assert a new suzerainty over the country.”

Myanmar has been engulfed in a brutal civil war since February 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. What began as protests against the military takeover evolved into a nationwide armed conflict, with the military fighting both newly formed pro-democracy groups and long-established ethnic armed organizations. The war has devastated the already impoverished Southeast Asian nation, claiming more than 93,000 lives and forcing more than 3.7 million people from their homes.

Despite the ongoing bloodshed, the military conducted a general election last December and January that blocked major opposition groups from participating. An army-backed party swept the vote, clearing the path for Min Aung Hlaing to assume the presidency.

The delegation traveling with Min Aung Hlaing to China includes the chief ministers of Kachin and Shan states — both of which share a border with China — along with Myanmar’s industry minister, according to state media reports. Kachin State, where fighting continues between the military and a major armed group, sits atop one of the world’s most significant heavy rare earth mining regions. Shan State maintains several key trade routes with China.

The presence of those ministers points to likely discussions around border commerce and the long-stalled Myitsone Dam, a $3.6 billion Chinese-backed project in Kachin State that was suspended in 2011, according to Aung Kyaw Soe, an independent analyst based in Thailand.

“In 2025, the military’s second-in-command, General Soe Win, personally began bringing up the subject of restarting Myitsone, so I think they will discuss restarting it during Min Aung Hlaing’s current trip to China,” Aung Kyaw Soe said.

Adding a layer of complexity to the visit is the recent detention in China of Min Zin, a well-known American scholar specializing in Myanmar, on suspicion of espionage. Crisis Group’s Horsey noted that the timing draws additional attention to the case. “Min Aung Hlaing’s visit will put a greater focus on Min Zin’s arrest, because he is one of the most prominent Myanmar scholars working to improve understanding between the two countries,” Horsey said.

A strong earthquake measuring 6.7 in magnitude rattled Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Tuesday, according to the country’s geophysics agency, BMKG.

The agency reported that the quake’s epicenter was situated approximately 42 kilometers — or about 26 miles — to the southeast of the town of Palu. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometers below the surface.

BMKG confirmed that the earthquake did not generate a tsunami risk for the surrounding region.

KANCHANABURI, Thailand — A piece of World War II history has emerged from the depths of a Thai reservoir, offering a brief but remarkable window into the past.

When maintenance work at Vajiralongkorn Dam required draining the facility’s reservoir, it uncovered Nithe Station — a site that had been submerged for over 40 years. The station was once a key depot along the notorious “Death Railway,” a 415-kilometer (257-mile) route stretching between what was then Siam and Burma, now known as Thailand and Myanmar.

Researchers are moving quickly to document the site before it disappears again. Once dam maintenance wraps up in August, combined with the region’s rainy season, the area could be flooded once more.

The railway earned its grim nickname during World War II, when the Empire of Japan forced approximately 60,000 Allied prisoners of war — along with hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers — to construct the line. More than 12,500 of those POWs and around 75,000 laborers lost their lives during the brutal construction effort.

For some researchers, the work is deeply personal. Andrew Snow, a researcher at the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, has a direct family connection to the site. His father was captured in Singapore in 1942 and compelled to work on the railway. “We deal with a lot of relatives of POWs. Some of those POWs worked in the area we’re talking about, up at Nithe, and it’s a good opportunity for us to do some surveying… so that we can show relatives in the future,” Snow said.

Independent researcher Martyn Fryer traveled all the way from Australia to see the fully exposed station — his third visit to Nithe overall. His grandfather perished as a POW while building the railway. Fryer said he made the journey to see firsthand “what infrastructure is lying under the water.”

The Death Railway’s legacy continues to draw visitors to Thailand. Portions of the original line remain in operation today, carrying both locals and tourists. Educational facilities such as The Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre work to preserve and share the railway’s history with new generations.

For some travelers, visiting the region is about more than sightseeing. Michael Weber, a German tourist at Thamkra Sae Station, reflected on what travel means to him. “Traveling presents the chance to learn about the people and the culture of the place you’re going,” he said. “And part of the culture is always the history.”

China’s economy is sending mixed signals, with fresh government data revealing a growing divide between a booming manufacturing sector and a struggling consumer base.

Industrial production climbed 4.5% in May compared to the same month last year, an improvement over the 4.1% growth seen in April, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That result came in ahead of analyst forecasts, which had projected a 4.3% gain.

A worldwide boom in artificial intelligence investment has helped China’s massive manufacturing sector weather the trade disruptions stemming from turmoil in the Middle East. Exports surged 19.4% — but that windfall has not translated into stronger spending at home.

Consumer retail sales, considered a key indicator of domestic demand, dropped 0.6% in May. That reversed a modest 0.2% gain recorded in April and came in below forecasts of flat growth. It marked the first monthly decline in retail sales since December 2022.

The auto industry reflected that weakness clearly. Car sales inside China fell for the eighth month in a row in May, highlighting softening demand in the world’s largest vehicle market. Analysts expect that pressure to continue through the remainder of the year.

Even a five-day national holiday in early May — the Labour Day break — failed to spark a meaningful boost in consumer activity. The effect of a government program encouraging consumers to trade in old goods for new ones has also been fading.

Tuesday’s data underscores what economists describe as a two-speed economy: exports are performing exceptionally well, while domestic demand continues to weaken against the backdrop of a prolonged slump in the property market.

Inflation figures also reflect this imbalance. The gap between rising factory-gate prices — which hit their highest point since July 2022 — and nearly stagnant consumer prices suggests that production is outpacing what households are actually buying.

Investment figures came in well below expectations. Fixed-asset investment dropped 4.1% during the first five months of 2025, a steeper decline than the 1.6% fall recorded through April. Economists had anticipated only a 2% decrease.

Real estate investment continued to slide as well, falling 16.2% in the January-through-May period compared to the same stretch last year. That follows a 13.7% drop in the first four months of the year. New home prices also declined at a slightly faster pace in May on a month-over-month basis.

Data on household borrowing released last week suggested that many Chinese consumers remain reluctant to take out loans to purchase homes, amid slow income growth and concerns about job stability.

The national unemployment rate dipped slightly to 5.1% in May, down from 5.2% in April, though worker anxiety persists — partly driven by fears that artificial intelligence could displace jobs.

Researchers are scrambling to western Thailand after a long-submerged train depot from World War II’s notorious “Death Railway” emerged from beneath a reservoir, offering an uncommon glimpse into one of the war’s darkest chapters.

The station, known as Nithe Station, sits in Kanchanaburi province and was uncovered after the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand drained the reservoir at Vajiralongkorn Dam for routine maintenance. Historians are taking advantage of the rare window to search for artifacts and confirm historical details about the site.

The clock is ticking, however. Dam maintenance is expected to wrap up in August, and Southeast Asia’s rainy season could soon refill the reservoir, sending Nithe back beneath the water.

Nithe was a significant stop along the 415-kilometer (257-mile) railway that once linked Thailand — then called Siam — with Myanmar, which was known as Burma at the time. The line was constructed using the forced labor of roughly 60,000 Allied prisoners of war, primarily from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies. Hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers, referred to by the Japanese as römusha, also worked on the project.

The human cost was staggering. More than 12,500 Allied POWs and approximately 75,000 laborers died during construction — a toll that earned the route its grim nickname, “The Death Railway.”

The railway has been immortalized in popular culture, including the classic 1957 film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and the 2013 movie “The Railway Man.” It also served as the subject of the award-winning novel “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which was adapted into a 2025 miniseries featuring Australian actor Jacob Elordi.

Independent Australian researcher Martyn Fryer made the journey from Perth specifically to walk the site. His grandfather perished as a prisoner of war while laboring on the railway following his capture in Singapore in 1942.

Fryer waded through muddy terrain in sweltering 38-degree Celsius (100-degree Fahrenheit) heat, saying he wanted to “understand what those lads went through and to appreciate the country and the terrain that they endured.”

Fryer, who authored a book about his grandfather’s regiment titled “From the Woodlands to the Jungle,” swept the historic railway embankments with a metal detector and uncovered iron dog spikes, bridge staples, and other wartime relics.

“I’ve been to Nithe Station three times in the past, but the water level has always been too high to actually really appreciate the fantastic offerings that it has with the remaining infrastructure and the layout of the railway itself,” Fryer said.

To help pinpoint where POW camps once stood, Fryer compared wartime aerial photographs sourced from the National Archives in London with hand-drawn maps brought by Andrew Snow, a researcher with the Thailand–Burma Railway Centre. Snow’s father, like Fryer’s grandfather, was captured in Singapore and compelled to work on the railway.

Snow noted that the dry season in Southeast Asia typically exposes small portions of the station, but this year water levels dropped lower than usual — and drained so rapidly that vegetation has not had time to grow back, making the site far easier to examine.

“It is a good opportunity for us to do some surveying,” Snow said. “When you’re dealing with relatives of people that worked on the railway, it’s always nice to be able to show them the areas that maybe their relative worked on.”

The exposed station has also drawn significant public attention. Kitti Laokham, a 47-year-old local resident, posted footage of Nithe online that has since accumulated 32 million views on social media. Hundreds of Thai visitors have traveled to the area to witness what Laokham described as a “rare incident.”

Channarong Noimala was among those drawn to the site, riding a motorbike 350 kilometers (217 miles) northwest from Bangkok after seeing the videos.

“At least for those who died here, no matter whether they are laborers or prisoners of war, we can remember them,” Noimala said.

Roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) of winding mountain roads southwest of Nithe lies Hellfire Pass, a grueling stretch of mountain terrain where hundreds of POWs lost their lives. The Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre, which is funded by the Australian government, welcomed a record 169,000 visitors last year — coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Mick Clarke, an Australian Army veteran who oversees the center, reflected on the site’s growing significance.

“As time passes, places like Hellfire Pass become even more important,” Clarke said. “They keep personal stories alive and help future generations understand the cost of war.”

According to Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs, around 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war during the conflict, with about 13,000 working on the railway and 2,800 dying during its construction.

“For many Australians, Hellfire Pass is deeply personal,” Clarke added. “It connects families and the nation to a difficult but important chapter of wartime history.”

Russian regional authorities confirmed Tuesday that debris from a drone triggered a fire at an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, located in southern Russia just across from the Crimean peninsula.

The fire broke out at the oil storage facility in the Poltavskaya area of Krasnodar. Officials reported no casualties as a result of the blaze and shared the update through a post on Telegram.

In response to the incident, authorities closed a local road that connects the affected area to a regional route leading to the bridge spanning the Kerch Strait — the crossing that links the Krasnodar region to Crimea. That bridge was constructed by Moscow following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The Kerch Strait bridge serves as one of several key supply routes into the Black Sea peninsula, alongside a handful of roads running through nearby Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.

The fire comes just a day after Ukraine struck two bridges connecting Russian-held territory in Ukraine’s Kherson region to Crimea. The peninsula has been grappling with a fuel shortage as Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Crimea’s supply lines in recent weeks.

The Krasnodar region, which draws large numbers of tourists during the summer months, has also been feeling the strain. The regional governor noted last week that disruptions to fuel supplies have led to panic-buying among residents, as Ukraine continues to target Russian energy infrastructure.

BEIJING — Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal sat down with China’s leading diplomat Wang Yi on Monday in Beijing, marking his first official visit to the neighboring superpower since his party claimed victory in March elections — and coming just days after he wrapped up a trip to China’s regional rival, India.

For Chinese diplomats, the change in government on their doorstep creates a tricky situation. Analysts say Beijing has been working hard to maintain strong ties with neighboring countries while also pressing its territorial claims in the East and South China Seas — and the removal of a Communist Party-led coalition government in Nepal complicates that effort.

According to a statement released by China’s foreign ministry late Monday, Wang told Khanal that “China has always placed Nepal at the forefront of its ‘neighbourhood diplomacy’” and pledged that China “will support Nepal in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Analysts note that Nepal’s close relationship with the South Asian powerhouse India gives the country of roughly 30 million people some leverage when dealing with China — putting Beijing in the unusual position of having to demonstrate its value as a partner.

Nepal and India have had a long-running dispute over their shared 1,751-kilometer (1,088-mile) border that has stretched on for about 80 years. Still, when Khanal met with officials in Delhi earlier this month, he indicated that the new Nepalese government was “free from the political baggage from the past” and eager to strengthen ties with India.

Relations between Nepal and China have stalled in recent years, largely due to delays in delivering infrastructure projects tied to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road” initiative. Nepal joined that program in 2017, but disagreements over financing have slowed progress significantly.

During Monday’s meeting, Wang reaffirmed China’s intention to help build up Nepal’s infrastructure, pointing to planned cooperation in areas including electricity generation, road construction, ports, and aviation.

Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project — a media and research organization — suggested China may not have anticipated the shift in Nepal’s political landscape.

“Beijing doesn’t like change that directly impacts them,” Olander said. “Change that is potentially hostile or challenges their interest is what gets their attention.”

“My guess is they didn’t see this coming in Nepal and they don’t like it when popular movements overthrow incumbent governments,” he added.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa is marking half a century since the Soweto uprising, a deadly confrontation in which more than 200 young demonstrators were shot and killed by police while protesting the apartheid government’s education policies.

The events of June 16, 1976 — observed each year as Youth Day — are widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s long struggle against white minority rule. The violence sparked further demonstrations across the country, intensified resistance to apartheid, and drew global attention to the racial oppression endured by Black South Africans.

Yet five decades later, serious concerns remain about the state of young people in the country. Uprising survivors, historians, and young South Africans alike have spoken out about the hardships still facing the nation’s youth — including deep inequality, high rates of unemployment, widespread poverty, and social issues such as drug and alcohol abuse.

Soweto, one of South Africa’s oldest townships, is dotted with landmarks tied to that historic day, drawing visitors from both home and abroad. Among them is a memorial named for Hector Pieterson, the 13-year-old whose lifeless body — captured in a photograph that circulated around the world — became one of the most recognizable images of the 1976 uprising.

Murals and billboards showing protesting students are visible throughout the township, which is also home to the June 16 Memorial dedicated to those events. For survivors, however, these symbols carry a heavy emotional weight.

Seth Mazibuko, who lived through the deadly protests, recalled in vivid detail how students pushed back against police attempts to break up the crowd using tear gas.

“They struggled with the tear gas because when they threw it our way, the wind would blow the gas back to them, so it was also affecting them,” Mazibuko said. “They then started sending the police dogs to us, we used stones to chase the dogs back to them.”

Mazibuko was arrested following the protests and held for 18 months before being sent to Robben Island, where he spent seven years imprisoned alongside other political prisoners.

South Africa has changed enormously in the 50 years since the uprising, but the so-called “born free” generation — those who grew up after the fall of apartheid — still faces steep obstacles.

“I would say the issues of poverty and crime are the most pressing ones,” said Sima Poto, a 19-year-old who was visiting the June 16 Memorial. “It is poverty that is leading many of them into crime.”

Zola Mguli, a 29-year-old who works with the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance — an organization focused on combating alcohol and substance abuse — said he feels fortunate to have grown up in a free South Africa, even as major problems persist. “Things are not going as well as our forefathers hoped, there is still racism, alcoholism and other things we are battling with,” he said. “But if we, the youth, rise up, we can do better.”

Historian Noor Nieftagodien described the 1976 student protest movement as both a traumatic and transformative moment that fundamentally shifted the anti-apartheid struggle by elevating young people to the center of liberation politics.

“This was a generation that was young, gifted, and Black,” he said. “They wanted education.”

“The idea of Black power resonated with this new generation of young people,” Nieftagodien added. “Black consciousness was kind of electrifying; it inspired university students and then increasingly also students in high schools.”

He expressed concern that since June 16 was declared a public holiday after apartheid’s end, the day’s deeper significance has faded, overshadowed by festivities that he believes dilute its political meaning.

“It has lost its meaning,” he said. “What has happened is that we’ve had the day marked with concerts, etc. I’m all for concerts. But, in fact, in so doing, the kind of celebrations that have been organized have been disinvested from politics, from a critical understanding of what happened.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, is calling on both Russia and Ukraine to make compromises in order to bring their long-running war to an end. The comments came in an interview published Monday with Al Arabiya television and later republished by Belarus’ Belta news agency.

Lukashenko stated that a battlefield victory is simply not realistic for either side, even as he acknowledged that Russian forces continue to move forward in certain areas.

“Today, we need to use any steps to reach a peaceful agreement through compromises. For the long term,” Lukashenko said in the interview.

He went on to say that if both sides come to understand the limits of what force can achieve, a deal becomes possible. “If they realise on both sides … you can’t go further, otherwise there will be escalation and an even worse situation … If this sinks into the minds of the fighters and their supporters, it means a compromise can be reached,” he said.

Belarus permitted Russia to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian soil back in 2022 and has since allowed Moscow to station nuclear weapons within its borders. Russia’s early push toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv ultimately failed, and over the past four years the conflict has settled into a grinding war of incremental gains in Ukraine’s south and east, at enormous cost to both sides in lives and equipment.

Lukashenko extended his assessment beyond Ukraine, arguing that military solutions are off the table in multiple global conflicts. “Neither side has a military solution. There is no military solution in Ukraine or in the Middle East,” he said.

While describing Russian forces as advancing “step-by-step” against determined Ukrainian resistance, Lukashenko pointed to a critical problem facing both armies — a shortage of personnel. “Russians are experiencing this shortage. Maybe not like in Ukraine, but it’s there. But that’s the main issue of this conflict — they are running out of people,” he said.

Lukashenko has consistently maintained that Belarusian troops will not be sent into the conflict in Ukraine, while also stating that Russia and Belarus would stand together in their own defense. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has said his forces have strengthened their positions on the battlefield in recent months and has raised concerns that Russia could use Belarusian territory as a launching point for new attacks.

Lukashenko pushed back on those concerns, insisting Ukraine has nothing to fear from Belarus. “Absolutely nothing to fear. Absolutely. They know it, the soldiers know it. The people of Ukraine know it,” he said, adding that “this topic gets stirred up by political ambitions.”

Efforts to broker peace through U.S.-led negotiations have hit a wall, with Washington’s focus now largely directed toward the conflict involving Iran. Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged direct talks with Putin.

A group of indigenous Taiwanese set off Monday on a historic ocean voyage, paddling a handcrafted wooden canoe across the Bashi Channel toward the Philippines in an effort to breathe new life into a maritime route that has gone unused for hundreds of years.

The travelers are members of the Tao people, who call Orchid Island home — a Pacific island located roughly 50 nautical miles off Taiwan’s southeastern county of Taitung. The Tao share deep cultural and ancestral ties with the indigenous inhabitants of the Batanes Islands, which lie to the north of Luzon, the Philippines’ main island.

The canoe making the journey, called Ovayan — meaning “Golden Friendship” — was built by craftspeople from six different communities on Orchid Island as part of a government-supported initiative. The crossing is expected to take approximately 24 hours, with 60 paddlers rotating in shifts while support vessels travel alongside for safety.

Maraos, who serves as chairperson of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation and is himself a Tao from Orchid Island, described the deeper purpose behind the expedition. “So with this project, we are re-establishing the sea route between Orchid Island and Batanes, allowing our cultures and languages to continue being passed on,” said Maraos, who goes by one name.

One of the rowers, Hsieh Hsiu-hsiung, 61, a diving instructor, acknowledged both the challenges and the comfort of having modern vessels nearby. “Nowadays we have modern vessels accompanying us and sailing together with us, so we are not afraid,” Hsieh said. “In the past, we don’t know what methods our ancestors used; perhaps looking at the stars and the moon, to navigate while sailing.”

The Tao are among Taiwan’s smaller indigenous communities, numbering only around 5,000 people. Indigenous groups as a whole make up less than 3% of Taiwan’s total population of 23 million.

While Orchid Island draws visitors as a tourist destination, its remote location and frequent bouts of rough weather can leave it cut off from the Taiwanese mainland for stretches of time.

The Bashi Channel, which the canoe must cross, is a strategically significant waterway linking the South China Sea to the Pacific Ocean — an area regularly patrolled by Chinese warships. Maraos expressed hope that the voyage would be met with respect rather than interference. “We hope that this voyage can be respected by all countries,” he said. “Most importantly, we do not want to be harassed by warships from other countries or vessels from other countries while we are at sea.”

An Ecuadorean candidate seeking to become the next United Nations secretary-general told a candidacy hearing Monday that while the global organization remains vital, it must be reduced in size in a thoughtful and deliberate way.

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who previously served as both foreign affairs minister and defense minister of Ecuador, is one of six people competing to take over from Antonio Guterres when his term concludes at the end of this year.

Whoever steps into that role will inherit a massive challenge: breathing new life into an organization that has seen its influence and reputation diminish in recent years.

“I am under no illusion about the difficulties ahead, yet I remain optimistic,” Espinosa stated during her candidacy hearing.

Like the other candidates in the running, she pledged to push forward with reform efforts at the UN, while stressing that the need for the organization — founded in the aftermath of World War Two — was still “undeniable.”

“Too often the U.N. is missing in action, or relegated to the sidelines. Too often it is slow, fragmented, and constrained … the U.N. needs to rebuild credibility and show, not just say, that it can deliver real change,” she said.

She also made clear her vision for restructuring: “We can shrink the U.N. responsibly, while strengthening national ownership and delivery, and restoring faith in the U.N.”

Espinosa, who previously served as Ecuador’s ambassador to the UN and led the UN General Assembly between 2018 and 2019, suggested that national governments could take on expanded roles in areas where the UN currently operates, though she did not elaborate on specifics.

Within Ecuador, she was part of the leftist administration of former President Rafael Correa, though she has distanced herself from his political party over the past several years.

The small Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda put her name forward as a candidate to replace Guterres. Ecuador’s current government, led by President Daniel Noboa — a right-wing ally of U.S. President Donald Trump — has not weighed in on her candidacy.

Last week, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali announced that his country would put forward its UN Ambassador, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, for the position.

Back in April, four additional candidates also pledged their commitment to UN reform while emphasizing the organization’s core missions of promoting peace and supporting global development. Those candidates are Rebeca Grynspan, a former vice president of Costa Rica; Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile; Macky Sall, a former president of Senegal; and Rafael Grossi of Argentina, who currently serves as director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The selection process is expected to conclude later this year. Notably, no woman has ever held the position of UN secretary-general.

By tradition, the secretary-general is not drawn from one of the five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States — though the support of those powerful nations plays a crucial role in the complex and opaque selection process.