Category: World News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legislators representing more than a dozen African nations have pledged to introduce new bills targeting LGBT rights, following a conference held in Accra, Ghana that drew together self-described “pro-family” advocates from both Africa and Europe.

The African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty convened in Accra from June 3 through June 6 — just one week after Ghana’s parliament approved one of Africa’s strictest anti-LGBT measures, a bill that criminalizes the promotion of LGBT identity.

The conference reflects a growing movement toward more restrictive laws affecting LGBT people across parts of Africa. Participants noted that conservative figures in the United States and Europe have been encouraging this trend, and that it has gained new energy since Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Several attendees said they viewed Trump’s presidency as an opening to advance their goals, noting that his administration — unlike those of Barack Obama and Joe Biden — does not include LGBT rights as a component of its foreign policy agenda.

Ghana’s Parliament Speaker Alban Bagbin addressed the gathering in his opening remarks, urging attendees to take action when they returned home. “When you return to your respective capitals, let the resolutions we adopt here not gather dust in the archives of our secretariats. Let them be translated into active bills, robust budgetary allocations, and rigorous oversight,” he said.

He continued: “Go home and tell your people that their representatives have resolved to protect the sanctuaries of their homes, the heritage of their ancestors, and the sovereignty of their nations.”

Currently, more than half of Africa’s 54 countries have laws criminalizing same-sex sexual acts. Nations including Uganda and Senegal have gone further in recent years by passing laws that also criminalize the “promotion” of LGBT identity — the same step Ghana’s lawmakers took in late May.

Conference organizers said representatives from 20 countries attended the event, which was held at Ghana’s parliament building. It remains unclear how many of those attendees plan to introduce new legislation based on what was discussed.

Reuters spoke with five participants and reviewed more than 100 pages of conference presentations. The news agency was unable to determine the extent to which foreign activists shaped the conference agenda, nor did it find evidence of foreign funding.

Sharon Slater, president of the U.S.-based conservative organization Family Watch International, has participated in previous versions of the conference held in Uganda. She told Reuters she was invited to this year’s event but chose not to attend.

Among the speakers was Henk Jan van Schothorst, the Dutch executive director of the advocacy group Christian Council International, who urged African governments to resist pressure to prohibit so-called conversion therapy — a practice aimed at changing gay people’s sexual orientation. “These policies are not only reserved for the Netherlands and for Europe. They are coming to Africa,” he said of such bans, characterizing them as “ideological colonisation” by Western nations.

In a separate presentation, Kenyan doctor Wahome Ngare offered definitions that described homosexuality and transgender identity in terms of childhood sexual abuse.

The conference wrapped up with lawmakers approving an “African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values,” a document that had been drafted during earlier meetings held in Uganda. The 32-page charter calls on governments to withdraw from international treaties or agreements — including those at the United Nations and with foreign donors — that are viewed as promoting “the LGBT agenda,” abortion, or sex education that does not focus on abstinence.

The charter also calls on signatory nations to pass domestic laws that “safeguard African culture and cultural values.” Lawmakers from 18 of the 20 represented countries voted to approve it.

Public health officials have raised concerns about the consequences of anti-LGBT legislation, warning that such laws can drive LGBT individuals underground. This is particularly concerning for men who have sex with men, a group that already faces higher HIV rates than the general population. Reuters reported in April that HIV patients in Senegal were visiting treatment centers less frequently amid a surge in arrests tied to that country’s new law.

In Ghana, the ongoing legislative debate has already created a climate of fear among LGBT residents. “I constantly self-censor, hide, watch my back. That’s not safety, that’s survival,” said an African photographer who has long lived in Accra. “So yes, leaving has crossed my mind. That breaks my heart because Ghana is my home.”

Reuters reported in March that the U.S. “pro-family” group MassResistance had been in communication with activists in Ghana who supported the bill, as well as those backing Senegal’s new law.

Ghana’s bill is currently awaiting approval from President John Dramani Mahama, who had previously indicated he would sign such legislation but has more recently cited procedural concerns. A coalition of more than 100 African civil society organizations has called on Mahama to reject the bill, warning that the government risked allowing “external actors with resources and reach to shape its domestic legislation.”

The U.S. State Department has stated that Trump’s approach to foreign aid ensures taxpayer money is not “wasted on divisive social and gender issues.”

At the Accra conference, Ugandan former lawmaker Sarah Opendi welcomed the change in direction from Washington. “Let us first thank the American people for voting for President Trump. The conversation in America today is different,” she said.

Afghan forces conducted air strikes against Islamist militant hideouts situated in two provinces of Pakistan, according to Afghanistan’s Taliban-led defense ministry, which announced the action in a post on X on Friday.

The ministry stated that the targeted locations had been used to plan and organize attacks directed at Afghan territory.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham took a significant step toward his goal of replacing fellow Labour member Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister after winning a parliamentary seat on Friday.

His commanding victory — capturing 54.8% of the vote — has reinforced the belief among some members of the ruling Labour Party that Burnham is the only figure capable of defeating Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party in a future national election.

That sentiment has led some within the party to discuss the possibility of a smooth, uncontested transition, in which Starmer would step aside voluntarily rather than face a drawn-out leadership battle.

Roughly a quarter of Starmer’s fellow lawmakers have called on the prime minister to step down following Labour’s worst local election performance by a governing party in more than 30 years — a defeat largely attributed to a wave of support for Farage’s anti-immigration movement.

Burnham has publicly stated he intends to enter any leadership race and is currently considered the leading candidate to succeed Starmer. However, his supporters are still working through the details of when and how to mount a formal challenge.

Former health minister Wes Streeting has also indicated he has sufficient lawmaker support to enter a leadership contest.

Here is a look at the possible routes Burnham could take to replace Starmer:

Starmer Agrees to a Peaceful Transfer of Power

One scenario involves Burnham simply inheriting the leadership without a fight. A number of Labour politicians have encouraged Starmer to publicly outline a timeline for his exit rather than waiting for — and then competing in — a formal leadership election. A contested race, they warn, could harm the party if candidates resort to personal attacks.

If Starmer chose not to run, and Burnham secured enough parliamentary backing while other potential candidates fell short, Burnham would ascend to the prime ministership. Some lawmakers have also floated the idea that Streeting could be offered a high-ranking position — such as finance minister — in a future Burnham government, in exchange for staying out of the race.

Burnham Moves Quickly to Formally Challenge Starmer

Burnham is set to be sworn into parliament next week, which would allow him to officially challenge Starmer. Under Labour Party rules, only members of parliament are eligible to lead the government.

The party’s rules for removing a sitting leader are strict. Rather than simply expressing a lack of confidence in the current leader, challengers must rally behind specific candidates. Any contender must gather support from at least 20% of the party’s lawmakers in the House of Commons — currently equivalent to 81 members, including the challenger.

If Burnham opts to act quickly, he would likely need to declare his challenge before parliament enters its summer recess on July 16, when lawmakers return to their home constituencies for work and holidays.

Starmer holds the automatic right to compete in any leadership contest and has said he plans to do so. Once candidates collect backing from local party branches and trade unions, party members would cast the deciding votes. The entire process could span two to three months.

Burnham Holds Off Until After Summer

Alternatively, Burnham could wait until after the summer recess before making his move. That delay would allow him to focus on supporting the Labour candidate in the upcoming Greater Manchester mayoral election, expected around the end of July.

The extra time would also give Burnham an opportunity to strengthen ties with Labour lawmakers — particularly those who entered parliament after he departed in 2017. A Starmer ally, housing minister Steve Reed, suggested in the wake of the by-election that Labour’s immediate priority should be winning the Greater Manchester mayoralty.

A Different Politician Kicks Off the Contest

There is also the possibility that someone other than Burnham triggers a leadership challenge, with Burnham then choosing to enter the race.

Streeting, who resigned from his role as health minister in May, has suggested Starmer should reflect on his future over the coming weekend. If the prime minister fails to lay out a plan for his exit, Streeting has signaled he is ready to mount a challenge in the near term.

Should Starmer and Streeting both run against Burnham in a vote among Labour members, current polling indicates Burnham would come out on top.

China is ramping up oversight of indium shipments, and buyers around the world are growing worried that the obscure but important metal could soon be added to Beijing’s growing list of export restrictions.

Indium is a byproduct of zinc refining that is widely used in displays and solder. More critically, it serves as the raw material for indium phosphide, which is used to manufacture high-speed optical chips that power next-generation AI data centers. China accounts for nearly 70% of global indium production, giving it enormous influence over the supply of the material.

Beijing already placed indium phosphide on its export control list in February 2025. Those restrictions have created enough of an obstacle for data center development that the CEO of an Nvidia-backed chipmaker called Coherent traveled to Beijing alongside President Donald Trump in May specifically to address the issue.

While indium metal itself has not yet been added to the export control list, two buyers told Reuters they have experienced heightened scrutiny from Chinese customs officials. A European buyer said that, for the first time this year, they were asked to provide information about end users — including where those customers were located.

A major buyer based in North America described the situation as “tense,” saying that approvals that once came through the same day now take several days. That buyer attributed the delays to increased examination of paperwork, though they had not been asked to provide additional end-user information.

China’s Ministry of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment, as the inquiry came during a public holiday. All buyers who spoke with Reuters asked not to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

The increased scrutiny is not being experienced uniformly. Two additional buyers told Reuters they had heard about the tighter checks but had not encountered them personally. As of now, no shipments have been confirmed as blocked.

Still, there is growing unease within the small indium industry that these developments may signal tighter controls ahead. End-user disclosure requirements, used by China and other countries with export control systems, help governments map global supply chains and identify potential pressure points.

Indium has already been flagged as a potential vulnerability for the United States. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency issued a request for proposals earlier this year to stockpile as much as 403 tons of the material over a three-year period.

One North American buyer said they believed the new reporting requirements were “a precursor to restrictions or outright bans on exports.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has quietly built a network of secret cells inside Iraq, designed to launch attacks against Gulf nations that host American military forces — and to do so without being traced back to established Iranian-backed militia groups, according to eight Iraqi sources who spoke with Reuters.

Between April 20 and May 17, three or four of these cells — each made up of roughly 10 highly trained Iraqi Shi’ite fighters — carried out at least seven drone strikes launched from remote desert areas near the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Samawa. The targets included sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to three of those sources.

Some members of these new cells were recruited from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of hardline Shi’ite factions with thousands of fighters. However, the newly formed groups operate completely outside that coalition’s chain of command, answering directly to the IRGC instead. That information came from a group of sources that included two Iraqi military officials, one security official, and five local militia commanders.

The creation of these cells — which had not been publicly reported before — signals a change in how the IRGC operates. The five militia commanders said the shift reflects Iran’s effort to maintain its regional influence at a time when its network of armed proxy groups has been significantly weakened and its own military and financial resources are stretched thin.

Iraq, a country with a Shi’ite Muslim majority, is home to numerous militias, many of which have strong ties to Tehran. These groups have long been central to Iran’s regional “Axis of Resistance,” a network that extends from Gaza and Lebanon to Yemen and Iraq.

Factions operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq banner have claimed credit for dozens of drone and rocket attacks on American assets in the country since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on February 28, drawing deadly retaliatory airstrikes in response. But there has been no large-scale mobilization of Iran’s proxy forces within Iraq’s borders.

Several influential Shi’ite factions have been signaling since last year that they are prepared to lay down their weapons and shift their focus to domestic politics, in part to avoid a deepening confrontation with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. According to retired Iraqi army general Jasim al-Bahadli and two lawmakers from the Shi’ite governing alliance, that trend may have pushed the IRGC to form groups it could control directly.

Two of those factions — Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Brigades — announced this month that they would begin turning over their weapons to Iraqi state authorities, following repeated warnings from the U.S. to Baghdad to dismantle armed groups operating on its soil.

“The newer groups established by the IRGC appear smaller, more ideologically hardened and more tightly controlled, reflecting Iran’s need to conserve resources amid economic strain,” said Bahadli, who is recognized as an expert on Shi’ite armed groups.

The revelations come as the U.S. and Iranian presidents signed an interim agreement Wednesday to halt the ongoing war, with further negotiations planned on thorny issues including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program. However, Iranian officials have made clear that their support for what they call “resistance groups” is not on the table, and the agreement does not address that issue.

Iran’s foreign ministry and its missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva did not respond to detailed questions submitted for this story.

The U.S. State Department repeated its call for Iraq’s government to take immediate steps to “dismantle all the tools of Iran’s destabilizing activities in Iraq,” specifically naming the IRGC and Iran-aligned militias.

At a meeting held Monday, Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack discussed Iraqi plans to pursue “the complete disarmament and disbandment of all armed groups” outside Iraqi state control and to guarantee that “Iraqi territory cannot be used by any side to threaten regional peace,” according to a joint statement released following the meeting.

Zaidi’s military spokesman, Sabah al-Numan, declined to comment on the story. Kuwait’s information ministry, the Saudi government communications office, and the UAE foreign ministry also did not respond to requests for comment.

The broader conflict has taken a heavy toll on the world’s most vital energy-producing region, disrupting oil supplies and fueling inflation. Tehran responded to U.S.-Israeli bombing campaigns by effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway through which approximately one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade flows — and unleashing a widespread campaign of drone and missile attacks against neighboring Gulf states.

The newly emerged Iraqi groups, often operating under unfamiliar names with little public presence, were responsible for at least three drone attacks targeting Kuwait, two aimed at Saudi Arabia, and two directed at the UAE, according to three Iraqi security sources. Their information came from human intelligence, intercepted communications, and physical evidence recovered from launch sites.

Among the targets were Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base, where U.S. forces are stationed, and a military terminal at Kuwait’s international airport, the sources said, though they offered no further details. The strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE were intercepted before reaching their targets, the sources said, though they could not confirm what the intended targets were.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm these accounts.

Iraqi officials said the IRGC deliberately turned to these new cells to maintain plausible deniability, shield the country’s main Iran-backed groups from scrutiny, and reduce American pressure on Baghdad to disarm them.

Iraqi security forces have limited knowledge of these groups but are actively working to map out their command structures in an effort to prevent future attacks. The groups are said to include elite fighters with specialized skills in drone operations and communications.

Iran invested decades and billions of dollars building its regional alliance network, which has been badly damaged since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel has conducted sustained military operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while the Houthi movement in Yemen has faced U.S. and British airstrikes. The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 cut off a key supply route for Iraqi militias and further isolated Tehran.

Rather than maintaining a large, well-funded network of militia groups in Iraq, Iran now appears to be betting on a smaller number of “more radicalized cadres willing to operate with leaner financial support, prioritising loyalty, deniability and operational impact over mass recruitment,” Bahadli said.

The situation represents an early and significant test for Prime Minister Zaidi, who took office last month after U.S. pressure on the dominant Shi’ite political alliance to block the return of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has close ties to Iran. Baghdad has long tried to balance its relationships with both Washington and Tehran — a difficult act that became even harder during the war.

Attacks launched from Iraqi soil also threaten to unravel Baghdad’s careful efforts to repair ties with wealthy Gulf neighbors, relationships that were badly damaged when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 but had begun to improve in recent years. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all summoned Iraq’s ambassadors in April to formally protest the strikes.

Iraqi authorities are also investigating whether a new group was behind a May 17 drone attack that sparked a fire at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones that entered its airspace from Iraq that same day — an attack Iraqi officials attributed to one of the newly formed cells.

Zaidi publicly condemned both attacks, calling them criminal acts, and pledged to conduct a joint investigation with both Gulf countries to determine whether Iraqi territory was used to carry them out. His spokesman, Numan, did not respond to questions about where that investigation currently stands.

MELBOURNE, Australia — A third person has been charged in connection with the arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue that Australian officials allege was orchestrated by Iran.

According to a police statement, the newly charged suspect is a 20-year-old man who was among three masked individuals who broke into the Adass Israel Synagogue in the early morning hours of December 6, 2024. The group reportedly soaked the inside of the building with flammable liquid before setting it on fire. The blaze caused extensive damage to the synagogue, and one worshipper suffered minor injuries.

The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team — a combined force of federal and state police working alongside an intelligence agency — filed the charges against the man, whose identity has not been released. He was charged while already being held in a Melbourne jail on separate, unrelated offenses, which police declined to specify.

His two co-defendants were arrested last year. Giovanni Laulu, 21, was taken into custody in July, followed by Younes Ali Younes, 20, who was arrested the following month.

Australia’s Prime Minister last year publicly accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guard of being behind both the synagogue fire and a separate arson attack on a Sydney kosher restaurant called Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, which occurred roughly two months earlier.

The director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country’s primary domestic intelligence agency, stated that the Revolutionary Guard relied on a “complex web of proxies to hide its involvement” in both antisemitic attacks.

In response, Iran’s ambassador to Australia and three other Iranian diplomats were expelled from the country. Iran has denied the allegations made by Australian officials.

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Crozier told reporters Friday that investigators are continuing to work with international partners as the probe moves forward. Authorities are also looking into whether the three alleged arsonists had any knowledge of who ordered the attack.

“They may not actually be aware of the people who are directing or the principals of these investigations. That remains a key line of inquiry for us,” Crozier said.

Victoria Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul O’Halloran said the local Jewish community was notified of the third arrest before it was announced publicly.

“Our heart goes out to them. Again, this brings back this terrible incident,” O’Halloran said. “People deserve the right to feel safe and be safe in their community and particularly at their place of worship. Today’s charges are a strong testament to this,” he added.

The latest suspect is expected to make his first court appearance on the new charges next week.

Separately, the Australian government has launched a public inquiry into a growing wave of antisemitism across the country, which includes the fatal shooting of 15 people when two gunmen opened fire on a Sydney Hanukkah gathering in December.

Hopes for a durable end to the Middle East conflict dimmed Thursday when Switzerland confirmed that planned peace negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials would not go forward, after Vice President JD Vance canceled his trip to Geneva.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement Thursday night, noting that Vance and the U.S. delegation had been prepared to leave as soon as final arrangements were confirmed.

Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed the talks — which had been scheduled to take place at the mountaintop resort of Burgenstock — would not happen, though officials offered no explanation for the cancellation.

Iran had not immediately responded to the development. Earlier, Tehran had signaled it was prepared to begin technical discussions following Wednesday’s 14-point accord, which extended a fragile ceasefire by a minimum of 60 days.

Before Vance made his Thursday announcement, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian negotiators wanted to first see evidence that the U.S. was following through on the interim agreement before committing to send a delegation to Geneva.

U.S. officials had planned to hold a formal signing ceremony in Switzerland for the agreement, but Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed the idea as unnecessary, pointing out that both nations’ presidents had already signed the pact.

The war, which began February 28 with U.S. and Israeli air strikes against Iran, has now claimed at least 7,000 lives, driven energy prices sharply higher, and rattled financial markets around the world.

Israel Keeps Fighting

Israel, which was excluded from the peace negotiations, has kept its distance from the U.S.-Iran agreement and continued its military campaign against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group operating in Lebanon — raising further questions about whether the deal will hold.

Back in Washington, some Republican allies of President Donald Trump in Congress questioned whether he gave away too much to bring the conflict to a close, particularly with midterm elections approaching in November and the war widely unpopular among Americans.

Trump had previously vowed he would only end the war with Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

However, the memorandum he signed with Iran instead offers the country relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes tens of billions of dollars in assets, and grants immediate U.S. waivers allowing Iran to export oil.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei claimed Trump had signed the agreement “out of desperation” and suggested that upcoming discussions over Iran’s nuclear program — one of Trump’s stated justifications for going to war — would be far from straightforward.

“If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it,” Khamenei said in a statement.

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

The financial toll of the war also drew renewed attention, as the U.S. defense department informed lawmakers it required $80 billion to cover war-related costs and certain other expenses, according to the Wall Street Journal.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the conflict nearly four months ago, Trump stated his goal was to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities so the country could never develop such weapons. He also sought to eliminate Tehran’s ability to strike neighboring nations, cut off its support for anti-Israel militant groups in the region, and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow their government.

None of those goals had been achieved when Trump signed the agreement. In it, Iran reiterated its longstanding claim — one doubted by multiple U.S. administrations — that it does not seek to acquire or build nuclear weapons.

Iran also agreed to on-site “down blending” of its highly enriched uranium stockpile and to International Atomic Energy Agency inspections as a Non-Proliferation Treaty member, though it rejected Trump’s demand that the material be removed from Iranian soil.

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

Iran has stated it will continue to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz in partnership with neighboring Oman, and intends to charge ships service fees that did not exist before the war — though not during the 60-day negotiating window.

Oil prices edged lower Friday as the prospect of increased supply improved after tankers began moving again through the reopening Strait, which had carried nearly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the war began.

In Lebanon, where more than one million people have been displaced by the fighting, fresh Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least 15 people, according to the state news agency NNA. Israel said the strikes targeted Hezbollah positions.

The continued fighting raised questions about how far Trump would go to pressure his wartime ally to stand down from an offensive he has pledged to end. The agreement calls for the “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon, but Israel has said it has no plans to withdraw, and has released a new map depicting an expanded occupation zone.

Trump has grown openly critical of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, creating one of the most significant rifts between the two countries in decades.

The transport workshop at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in eastern Ukraine was struck by a wave of drone attacks late on June 18 and continuing into the overnight hours, according to the Russian-installed management overseeing the facility.

Officials said at least 14 separate drone strikes were recorded during the assault. The attack ignited a fire in one portion of the facility, and several buildings sustained damage as a result.

Despite the scale of the attack, no casualties were reported. However, management cautioned that a complete picture of the destruction has not yet been possible to determine, citing the ongoing risk of additional strikes in the area.

MANCHESTER, England — Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham made a name for himself in 2020 when he publicly clashed with the Conservative government over what he called inadequate compensation tied to strict COVID-19 restrictions in his region. That standoff not only earned him widespread admiration across northern England but also restored his standing on the national political stage.

Now, at age 56, Burnham has secured a seat in parliament representing the Makerfield area and is hoping to leverage his unusual level of public popularity into becoming Britain’s seventh prime minister in just ten years.

However, political insiders warn that the bold, confrontational style he used so effectively against the central government in London would collide with a harsh reality if he actually took the top job. Britain’s finances are stretched thin, and the money needed to support his still-developing policy agenda may be just as hard to come by now as it was six years ago.

Four senior members of the governing Labour Party say Burnham would inherit the same difficult landscape facing current Prime Minister Keir Starmer — sluggish economic growth, the rise of populist political movements, a continuing cost-of-living squeeze, and budget constraints that leave little flexibility.

Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of Labour, made the point plainly in a recent Substack post, urging the party to pause before launching a leadership race. He wrote that the party should “acknowledge the structural problems” any incoming leader would face.

“Changing leader will not magic away low growth, the cost of Brexit, higher defence spending, rising welfare costs, broken public services, the politics of migration, the cost of net zero or the tax choices now closing in on the government,” Watson wrote.

One senior Labour lawmaker cautioned this week that without a sharp and well-defined agenda focused on boosting growth, along with the courage to follow through, Burnham risks stumbling just as Starmer has — a leader whose approval numbers rank among the lowest of any British prime minister.

Burnham, who has spent his career in politics, has so far offered only glimpses of what his leadership platform might look like. He could potentially become prime minister either through a formal Labour leadership contest or through direct endorsement by Labour lawmakers — a path many in the party seem to prefer.

After winning his parliamentary seat and fending off a challenge from the populist Reform UK party, led by veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, Burnham declared it was time to steer the country back onto the “right path” and transform the way politics is done.

“Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be,” he said in a victory speech that was briefly interrupted by other candidates from Makerfield. “Tonight could just could be the turning point.”

During his Makerfield campaign, Burnham walked a careful line — staying connected to local concerns in the former coal-mining community while avoiding the appearance of being more interested in national ambitions than in the people he was asking to represent.

Having spent time living near the area, Burnham spoke with detailed knowledge of a region he says has been neglected since the decline of its industrial base some 40 years ago. Official figures, however, place the area in the middle of national rankings when it comes to income deprivation, though it does lag behind on employment and health measures.

His tenure as Greater Manchester mayor — a role he took on in 2017 after growing frustrated with what he described as London-dominated politics, and following two unsuccessful bids for the Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015 — gives the clearest picture of what kind of leader he might be.

The moment that truly elevated his national profile came during his 2020 dispute with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson over pandemic restrictions. When television cameras captured Burnham publicly rejecting Johnson’s offer of £22 million in compensation — just a third of what Burnham called the “bare minimum” needed — it cemented his image as a “King of the North” willing to stand up to an overreaching central government.

Burnham describes his political philosophy today as “more ‘place first’ rather than ‘party first’” and is a vocal advocate for shifting power away from London to local communities. He argues that giving regions direct control over things like utilities and transportation would allow people to shape their own futures.

But some of his statements on financial policy have unsettled observers. Labour has committed to balancing day-to-day spending with tax revenues by the 2029-30 fiscal year. Yet last September, Burnham said Britain needed to move “beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets” — a remark that briefly pushed up government borrowing costs as markets interpreted it as a signal he would increase spending and debt. He has since said his words were taken out of context.

Investors were also rattled when Burnham floated the idea of compensating women who received lower pension payments after the retirement age was raised — a move that could cost billions — and suggested reducing student loan repayments.

He has since backed away from those positions, but has pledged to maintain the triple lock, a policy guaranteeing annual state pension increases tied to the highest of inflation, wage growth, or 2.5% — a commitment that costs the government treasury billions each year. He has also promised to raise defence spending without hiking taxes, and says he will reform the welfare system to get more people into employment rather than cutting benefits directly.

Some in the financial world are skeptical that the numbers work.

“I think he’ll just spend more, and I think he’ll do some tax increases,” said David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton. “I am concerned (the fiscal rules) won’t be adhered to. It’s very clear the UK needs to spend a lot more on defence, but it’s not clear where that money will come from.”

For now, investors are taking a wait-and-see approach. Gordon Shannon, a partner at bond investment firm TwentyFour, said Burnham is currently “demonstrating that he gets … that his behaviour is going to be constrained by the bond markets.”

Whether that restraint holds — and who Burnham surrounds himself with — will only become clear if and when he walks through the door of 10 Downing Street.

During the week of June 12-18, 2026, Mexico etched its name in World Cup history by becoming the first team to punch a ticket to the tournament’s knockout round, defeating South Korea by a score of 1-0. Adding a bit of charm to the celebration, a duck named Merlín has been embraced as the squad’s beloved team mascot.

On the political front in South America, Peru’s presidential runoff election results are slowly trickling in. Conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori currently holds the lead over progressive challenger Roberto Sánchez as vote counting continues.

Neighboring Colombia is also bracing for a high-stakes presidential runoff of its own. The deeply divided nation is preparing to head to the polls in a tight contest pitting a progressive against a conservative outsider for the country’s top office.

The photo gallery highlighting these events was put together by photo editor Anita Baca, who is based in Mexico City.

Israel’s military announced Friday that its forces launched strikes on targets across southern Lebanon overnight, while Hezbollah described the fighting in the region as intense.

Lebanon’s government-run National News Agency reported that at least 16 people lost their lives in the Israeli airstrikes.

The military action unfolded as scheduled negotiations in Switzerland between the United States and Iran — aimed at reaching a lasting end to the Iran war — were put on hold.

A central point of contention in those talks has been Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon and its ongoing military pressure against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militia.

Israel has maintained that it must keep its hold on the territory and retain the ability to freely engage Hezbollah, citing the group’s repeated attacks launched into northern Israel.

The postponement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite network with political ties to Hezbollah, that Iran had chosen to delay dispatching its delegation to Switzerland in response to Israel’s continued military operations in Lebanon.

TURRE, Spain — This month marks ten years since Britain held its historic referendum on leaving the European Union, and for one Liverpool man, that anniversary came with a life-changing decision. Daniel Northover, 53, packed up his life and moved to Turre, a small Andalusian town of about 4,500 people in southern Spain, to live full-time with his 80-year-old mother Carole.

After Carole’s husband passed away last summer, Northover and his sister had been taking turns flying back and forth to Spain to look after her. Carole suffered multiple strokes and is no longer able to cook, clean, or dress herself without assistance.

The back-and-forth arrangement eventually became impossible to maintain. Under current rules, non-EU citizens are only permitted to stay within the EU for 90 days out of every 180 without a visa. Northover, who works as a project manager for local councils and charities, did not qualify for a work visa. And visas designed to allow someone to care for a dependent family member are only available when it is the British citizen themselves who requires the care — not the other way around.

A senior official with the European Commission told Reuters that cases where the absence of a family caregiver would force an elderly Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary out of their host country are reviewed individually. In all other situations, standard immigration rules apply.

Northover’s sister applied for a family reunification visa and was turned down. With no other options available, Northover and his partner sold their home to fund a so-called “non-lucrative” visa — a permit that allows them to live in Spain but prohibits them from holding a job. They are now Carole’s full-time caregivers.

“The way the withdrawal agreement was written means we’ve had to give up our lives and careers,” Northover said.

Carole, sitting in her wheelchair in the Spanish sunshine beside her son, expressed her frustration directly. “The agreement was terrible. They didn’t think it through,” she said, shaking her fist. “I’m so ashamed I’ve caused [my children] this stress.”

The Northover family’s experience is far from unique. Tens of thousands of British retirees living in Spain have aging or ill parents, and their families are scrambling to figure out how to provide care across international borders.

Britain voted 52% to 48% on June 23, 2016, to exit the EU after more than 40 years of membership. That decision ended the automatic right of British citizens to live and work freely across EU member states.

Spain is home to the largest British population in the EU — approximately 266,000 people according to official figures — and that community is growing older rapidly. Spanish data shows the number of British residents over the age of 75 climbed from 36,000 in July 2016 to more than 51,000 at the beginning of last year.

Sally Myburgh, a British resident of Malaga who runs a Facebook group helping people navigate life in Spain after Brexit, said she regularly sees families dealing with exactly this kind of situation. “This is a recurring problem that isn’t going to go away,” she said.

She noted that the common response — that these retirees should simply return to England — ignores a painful reality. “The attitude is they should just go back to England… but these people are at the end of their lives,” Myburgh said. “This is their home.”

The number of British residents in Spain has stayed relatively steady since the Brexit vote, with roughly a third of them being pensioners. Many are settled in towns along the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol coastlines. Spain’s social care system does offer in-home assistance to qualifying residents, but even for those with the most severe needs — classified as having a “total loss of autonomy” — support is capped at 94 hours per month, or roughly three hours per day.

Neal Anderson, a welfare officer with the charity Help at Home Costa Blanca, which supports elderly British residents in the region, said returning to the UK is an unrealistic option for people who have spent decades building a life in Spain and have no community or property waiting for them back home.

Northover echoed that concern for his mother’s wellbeing. “My mum is 80. A major upheaval is distressing. Uprooting her to a place she doesn’t know with people she doesn’t know… it could kill her,” he said, adding that even if she made it through the move, getting her registered in Britain’s already-strained social care system could take months.

Carole, who voted to remain in the EU, put it simply: “I can’t imagine living [in the UK] now… I love Spain… This is home. Everyone knows me here.”

European Union leaders are bracing for a heated showdown on Friday over the bloc’s next long-term spending plan, after an initial compromise proposal drew fire from both the countries that fund the budget and those that rely on it most.

The EU budget serves as the financial backbone for a wide range of programs across the 27-member bloc — from agricultural support and efforts to raise living standards in poorer regions, to research initiatives and student exchange programs. The European Commission has put forward a proposal calling for a €2 trillion ($2.3 trillion) budget covering the years 2028 through 2034.

The structure of the EU budget means wealthier member nations contribute more than they receive, while lower-income countries get back more than they put in. Every seven years, these two camps engage in intense negotiations to reach the unanimous agreement required to pass a budget.

A first compromise attempt, drafted last week by the Cypriot EU presidency, trimmed the Commission’s original proposal by 2% — a cut that proved too deep for some nations and not nearly deep enough for others.

The compromise also shifted funding within the budget toward agriculture and programs aimed at equalizing living standards across the bloc, while pulling back support for research and innovation. That shift frustrated countries working to keep pace with the industrial sectors of China and the United States.

The Netherlands, which pays more into the EU budget than it receives, pushed back on the proposal, saying it leaned too heavily on traditional spending areas like farming and regional development rather than addressing newer priorities such as defense and modernization.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten made the country’s position clear on Thursday, stating: “The proposal currently on the table is really not good enough for the Netherlands.”

Spain, which receives slightly more from the budget than it contributes, took the opposite stance — arguing the budget was too small and that spending on farmers and regional development needed to be increased to account for inflation.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was equally blunt, saying: “The proposal … is even more inadequate than the one initially proposed by the European Commission, and we therefore certainly do not agree with it at all.”

Time is becoming a factor. While EU governments are legally required to finalize the 2028-2034 budget by the end of 2027, upcoming elections in France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Greece, Estonia, Finland, and Slovakia next year have created pressure to reach a deal by the close of 2026 — before those campaigns can complicate the negotiations.

One key piece of the puzzle involves finding new sources of revenue for the EU that wouldn’t come directly from member countries’ national budgets. This could help ease the financial burden on net contributors while still meeting the spending expectations of net beneficiaries.

Several options are being floated, though each faces support from some countries and opposition from others. These include directing a portion of the revenue that EU governments earn from selling carbon emissions permits to companies, as well as a share of taxes on imported goods made in countries with weaker climate policies than the EU.

Additional ideas on the table include a tax on uncollected electronic waste, a portion of tobacco excise duties, and a yearly flat-rate contribution from large corporations that operate and sell within the EU.

Further proposals under consideration include levies on extreme wealth, digital services, online gambling, and capital gains from cryptocurrency assets.

Leaders are not expected to make final decisions on these revenue options at Friday’s meeting, but their expressed preferences will guide the incoming Irish EU presidency as it prepares a new compromise proposal ahead of October.

Gulf airlines are quietly making a comeback, with flight numbers across the region climbing back toward where they were before the Iran conflict began earlier this year.

Data from Flightradar24.com shows that major Gulf carriers have collectively recovered to roughly 82% of the flight volume they operated on February 27 — the day before the war started. Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways have actually surpassed that pre-war benchmark in recent days, topping 100% of their earlier levels.

The three largest carriers — Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad — are now operating at or near 90% of their pre-conflict flight totals. That marks a dramatic turnaround for Etihad and Qatar Airways, which had both dropped to just 40-50% of normal operations only a month ago. Emirates has maintained comparatively stronger numbers throughout the conflict.

The outlook for the industry brightened further after the United States and Iran signed an interim agreement on Wednesday to end the nearly four-month conflict. The two sides are expected to meet again Friday to work out the details of implementing the ceasefire deal.

James Halstead, managing partner at Aviation Strategy, said a full end to hostilities would allow the region’s airspace to reopen entirely, letting carriers resume normal operations. “If it gets back to normal, I just see them acting as normal, coming back in full force,” Halstead said.

Throughout the conflict, drone attacks repeatedly forced Gulf-bound flights to reroute, creating serious safety concerns for passengers and crew and funneling air traffic through only a small number of approved corridors. European and Asian carriers have largely suspended service to the region, with many travel warnings still in effect.

Australia did ease its travel advisory for several Middle Eastern countries this week, a positive sign for the region’s major transit hubs. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), however, has kept its warning in place. EASA told Reuters it will factor in the latest developments when it reviews its conflict-zone advisory, which runs through June 24, but noted it was still “too early to determine whether the observed de-escalation will result in a sustained reduction of risks to civil aviation.”

The Gulf region has invested heavily in recent years to build itself into a global hub for travel and tourism, pouring money into hotels, airports, and major events. A full reopening of its skies would give a significant boost to those economies.

Emirates CEO Tim Clark told Reuters last week that the airline’s priority is reassuring travelers about safety and reliability. Flightradar24.com data places the Dubai-based carrier at 86% of its pre-conflict flight volume. Etihad is also trying to attract visitors by offering complimentary medical travel insurance for trips to Abu Dhabi from July through December.

Breaking down individual airline recovery figures: Gulf Air and Etihad are both at 93% of their February levels, Kuwait Airways is at 86%, and Qatar Airways has reached 87%. Air Arabia and Flydubai are lagging behind, at 75% and 57% of pre-war levels, respectively.

The ripple effects of the conflict have spread far beyond the Gulf. Jet fuel prices spiked significantly — though they are now declining — squeezing airlines that did not have fuel cost protections in place. Flight schedules across Europe and Asia were thrown into disarray, and airlines were forced to store aircraft or operate lengthy repositioning flights just to move planes where they were needed.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents more than 370 airlines responsible for about 85% of all global air traffic, slashed its profit forecast for the industry this month. The group now projects a combined net profit of $23 billion for 2026 — far below its earlier estimate of roughly $41 billion and a sharp drop from the $45 billion earned in 2025.

BOGOTA, Colombia — Approximately 100 Colombian guerrilla dissidents laid down their weapons Thursday in a formal ceremony, marking a significant step in their gradual transition back to civilian life under an ongoing peace process with President Gustavo Petro’s government.

Wearing military-style camouflage uniforms, members of the National Coordinating Committee of the Bolivarian Army placed their arms on a table during the ceremony held in the department of Putumayo, a region that shares a border with Ecuador. The group is a breakaway faction of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC.

With their weapons surrendered, the former fighters will move into a temporary resettlement zone where authorities plan to help them gradually reintegrate into civilian society. According to a government statement, the dissidents “will have their freedom restricted and will be under the control and supervision” of officials during this period.

The group’s leader, Geovany Andrés Rojas, addressed the ceremony remotely from jail, where he has been held since being captured last year while the group was already engaged in peace negotiations. “We laid down the iron rifle because we understand that words are a more powerful weapon,” he said.

Rojas was arrested in connection with an Interpol Red Notice related to drug trafficking charges in the United States. He acknowledged Thursday that his capture shook the confidence of rank-and-file members but said it did not derail the broader peace dialogue.

President Petro, himself a former rebel and Colombia’s first progressive president, has been pursuing negotiations with various dissident factions as part of his flagship “total peace” initiative, which runs simultaneous peace talks with multiple armed groups. That broader effort has largely fallen short of its goals.

The dissident groups are made up of factions that rejected the landmark peace agreement signed a decade ago between the Colombian government and FARC, which was once considered Latin America’s oldest guerrilla organization. A 2025 report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a think tank focused on Colombia’s internal conflict, estimates the country still has approximately 27,000 illegally armed group members.

Just last week, President Petro put a monitoring system in place for the temporary relocation zone and ordered a halt to offensive military and special police operations so the dissidents could safely enter the designated area.

A fire broke out Friday morning at an elementary school in central Tokyo, but all approximately 300 students and teachers inside were either evacuated or rescued, according to officials.

The Tokyo Fire Department reported that the blaze started near a music room on the top floor of the four-story Takinogawa No. 3 Elementary School, igniting late in the morning hours.

Rescue crews pulled one teacher and a number of students from the building. Those individuals sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening, fire department officials confirmed.

News cameras captured thick black smoke pouring from windows on the building’s fourth floor as firefighters worked to bring the fire under control. Dozens of fire trucks were sent to the scene to assist with the response.

Everyone else who had been inside the school at the time of the fire made it out on their own, gathering at a nearby park. Officials confirmed that no one remained trapped inside the building.

Investigators have not yet determined what sparked the fire, and the cause remains under investigation.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia’s highest court ruled Friday to confirm the incitement conviction of a well-known opposition figure, while suspending the remaining portion of his prison sentence — a decision that keeps him out of jail but effectively sidelines him from politics for years to come.

The ruling targeted Rong Chhun, a senior adviser to the Nation Power Party, and drew an angry response from supporters who had gathered outside the Supreme Court building in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Rong Chhun, who is 56 years old, was convicted last year of stirring up social unrest following meetings he held with villagers who had been displaced by government construction projects. Many observers viewed the case as part of a broader pattern of legal actions used by the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet to silence dissent and criticism.

According to his attorney, Em Chantha, who spoke with reporters after the ruling, Rong Chhun will be prohibited from participating in politics in any capacity for the next five years — including being barred from voting or running for office. He will also be forbidden from leaving the country for three years, which represents the remaining time on his original four-year sentence. He had remained free throughout the appeals process.

Because rulings from Cambodia’s Supreme Court are considered final, Rong Chhun indicated he and his legal team would carefully review the verdict to determine whether there might be grounds to seek a pardon from Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni.

Efforts to quickly launch high-level talks between the United States and Iran ran into trouble just two days after a landmark agreement was signed — a deal that opens a 60-day window to negotiate a lasting understanding on Iran’s nuclear program and restore oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.

Vice President JD Vance had been set to board an overnight flight Friday to travel to a mountainside resort in the small Swiss village of Obbürgen, where he was expected to begin technical negotiations with Iranian counterparts.

His staff and a group of journalists had already assembled at Joint Base Andrews near Washington in preparation for the departure. Dozens of White House officials, advance team members, and additional media personnel were also on the ground in Switzerland awaiting Vance’s arrival.

Then, without warning, the trip was scrapped Thursday evening — at least for now.

The White House released a statement saying Vance — who was chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the negotiations — and his team were ready to talk, but that final arrangements could not be completed, and the vice president would be staying in Washington.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement read.

The cancellation came after Al-Mayadeen, a Pan-Arab satellite network politically aligned with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that Iran was postponing the arrival of its delegation to Switzerland in response to Israel’s continuing military campaign in Lebanon.

Earlier Thursday, Vance had hinted at the uncertain situation when he told reporters at a White House briefing that he wasn’t sure whether the talks would happen that weekend.

“Our plan is to go to Switzerland, I don’t know exactly when,” Vance told reporters. “We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan. But that could change.”

Shortly after Vance addressed reporters, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei publicly backed direct negotiations with the U.S. in a brief statement delivered through state media. The move appeared to signal to Iran’s leadership that it was acceptable to proceed with an initial round of talks.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said in the statement.

The message seemed designed to give Khamenei — who was seriously injured in the February 28 U.S. strike that killed his father — some political flexibility. Hard-line factions within the Iranian government, including Khamenei’s father, have long resisted direct dialogue with Washington, particularly after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement during his first term — a deal that had been negotiated under Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration.

For the White House, the statement appeared to open a path for the negotiations to begin.

Vance had originally been expected to travel to Switzerland to sign the agreement at an official ceremony. Instead, Trump signed the document Wednesday at a high-profile dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed it separately.

The agreement specifies that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium — believed to be buried beneath the rubble created by U.S. military strikes last year that targeted key Iranian nuclear facilities — must at minimum be diluted under international oversight. The deal also states that Iran shall not acquire or develop nuclear weapons, a commitment Iran has made before. However, a number of other obligations still need to be negotiated.

Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities in Washington, said Iran would be entering the talks with a degree of confidence, having effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz and triggered significant global economic consequences. She said the U.S. is now “essentially trying to negotiate our way back to the prewar status quo.”

Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Chatham House think tank, said Iran’s leadership feels “buoyant” and believes it holds the upper hand. He said the supreme leader’s endorsement of the talks “sends a very strong signal domestically: ‘We’re now on an equal footing with the U.S.’”

“‘Trump has gone from calling for regime change on Feb. 28 to this: Now they’re going to sit down with us directly and talk about these big issues,’” Quilliam said, describing how Iranian leaders view the situation. “So it’s intended more for the domestic audience, and telling them: ‘We are firmly in control of this. There can be no protests, no revolution: We are a new regime and we’re staying put.’”

President Trump’s own tone has also shifted noticeably in recent weeks.

For much of the conflict, Trump insisted that the financial burden on Americans mattered less to him than eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat. He drew criticism from some fellow Republicans when he suggested that the war’s potential effect on November’s midterm elections was not a concern of his.

But this week, at the G7 summit in Evian-Les-Bains, France, Trump acknowledged for the first time that continuing the war could have produced “economic catastrophe” and revealed that oil reserves were projected to run out in roughly four weeks.

“And the one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover,” Trump said, invoking the 31st president whose tenure became synonymous with the Great Depression.

For Vance, widely considered a likely contender for the 2028 presidential race, the outcome of these negotiations could carry major consequences for his political future.

Skepticism toward foreign military entanglements has been a defining feature of Vance’s political identity. Yet he now finds himself as the primary advocate for brokering an end to Trump’s conflict — one that Democrats have broadly dismissed as a misguided venture. Some hawkish Republicans are also alarmed that Trump is supporting a settlement that could funnel billions of dollars into Iran’s hands.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday he is worried the deal “negotiates away the victories” achieved through the U.S. air campaign against Iran, and that parts of it are “completely out of step” with Trump’s stated objectives.

Trump previously attacked Obama harshly over the 2015 nuclear agreement, arguing it failed to prevent Iran from moving closer to building a weapon and directed billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic. In 2018, Trump exited that deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had also been signed by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the European Union.

Trump has pushed back on comparisons to that earlier agreement, saying he “negotiated from strength” following a major military campaign, and arguing that Obama had essentially paid Iran without receiving meaningful concessions.

Wicker expressed particular concern over a $300 billion reconstruction and economic development fund for Iran referenced in the 14-point agreement, saying it “would make Iran’s payoff under Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison.” Trump and Vance have both stated that no American taxpayer funds would be directed to such a fund, and that any money would be contingent on concessions and reforms from Tehran.

Ukrainian drone manufacturers are setting their sights on Asia, pursuing new defense partnerships with Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines as tensions over China’s posture toward Taiwan continue to drive up military spending across the region.

The CEO of UFORCE, a Ukrainian company that produces attack drones, traveled to Tokyo in April to present a proposal to Japanese officials and defense industry representatives. His pitch: manufacture thousands of Ukrainian-designed drones to protect Japan and its allies.

Just days before that visit, American forces had used UFORCE waterborne drones to destroy a vessel during a classified military exercise conducted where the South China Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. The company’s Magura surface drone has also spent years effectively blocking portions of the Black Sea from Russian naval activity.

Although East Asia’s maritime landscape differs significantly from the Black Sea, UFORCE CEO Oleg Rogynskyy told Reuters that “the impact is extremely similar.”

The details of those Tokyo meetings had not been previously made public. They represent part of a broader campaign by Ukrainian defense firms to capitalize on a wave of military investment by U.S. allies in Asia who are looking to counter an increasingly bold China and prevent a military conflict over Taiwan. Reuters gathered information from 20 individuals, including defense industry figures and officials from both Ukraine and Japan.

Ukraine’s reputation as a leader in drone warfare — a capability that has helped the country hold its own against Russia for more than four years despite being outmatched in conventional military power — has become a major selling point. Kyiv has already translated that battlefield experience into diplomatic and defense agreements in Europe and the Middle East. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated in February that Ukraine was “ready to open up our technologies” — including sea drones — to Japan.

Former Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera, who continues to hold significant influence as a lawmaker, said he welcomed Ukraine’s outreach. Japan needs equipment “that is actually demonstrating effective power,” he told Reuters.

Ukrainian firms including UFORCE, Skyeton, and General Cherry are looking for manufacturing partners in Japan, which recently lifted longstanding restrictions on arms exports. Japan’s military has hosted at least one previously undisclosed demonstration of drone technology from Ukrainian firm Swarmer. However, three people involved in broader discussions between Japanese officials and Ukrainian companies described those conversations as still in early, exploratory stages.

Japan’s defense ministry declined to discuss its interactions with Ukrainian drone producers but said Tokyo was “examining all possible options to ensure acquisition of equipment needed for Japan’s ‘new way of warfare.’”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has cautioned that Tokyo could find itself drawn into a conflict involving Taiwan. China has refused to rule out using military force to bring Taiwan under its control and routinely conducts military exercises near the self-governing island.

Executives from three Ukrainian companies and a drone industry association said they are also exploring potential business with Taiwan, though they acknowledged being careful given that Ukraine does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the island, which China claims as part of its territory.

The United States is legally obligated to help Taiwan defend itself. Admiral Samuel Paparo, the top American military commander in the region, said in 2024 that drones would be central to any military response in a conflict scenario, describing how they could generate an “unmanned hellscape” that would give the U.S. and its partners time to respond.

Naval analyst Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said drones will also be essential to fill defensive gaps along the chain of islands stretching from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines. The U.S. drone exercise in April was conducted near Itbayat, a Philippine island located roughly 100 miles south of Taiwan, according to UFORCE and U.S. military sources.

A spokesperson for U.S. Pacific Command did not directly address questions about Ukraine’s efforts to build drone partnerships in Asia but confirmed it had met with Ukrainian drone manufacturers “to discuss how Black Sea operations could apply to the Indo-Pacific.”

Japan launched a major defense expansion in 2022, motivated in part by fears that the war in Ukraine could serve as a blueprint for conflict in East Asia. That buildup gained momentum when the hawkish Takaichi took office late last year, pushing Japanese companies to increase weapons production, including unmanned systems. Many of Japan’s defense manufacturers have historically been reluctant to enter the arms trade due to concerns about their reputations, particularly given their commercial ties to China.

Tokyo has set aside nearly $2 billion for drone systems in this year’s defense budget and aims to produce 80,000 drones annually by the end of the decade — a massive jump from the roughly 1,000 manufactured in 2024, according to the Japan UAV Association. Still, that figure falls well short of the 7 million drones Ukraine is targeting for production this year.

General Cherry, a Ukrainian company specializing in kamikaze drones, is among those seeking Japanese manufacturing partners. Co-founder Stanislav Gryshyn told Reuters during a recent Tokyo trip — where he attended a drone exhibition, held meetings with potential partners, and networked with Japanese government officials at a Ukrainian embassy event — that “Japan is the best way to the Asian market.”

Skyeton, whose long-range surveillance drones it says could help monitor Japan’s more than 14,000 islands, also conducted meetings in Japan last year.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the Philippines, Yuliia Fediv, told Reuters that Kyiv has been in discussions with Manila about drone technology cooperation. Ukrainian drone executives said any drones sold to the Philippines would likely be produced in Japan due to its stronger manufacturing capabilities. The Philippines, which has been involved in a series of escalating maritime standoffs with China, is already a significant customer of Japanese defense equipment. Fediv declined to provide further details, and the Philippines defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Swarmer president Alex Fink told Reuters that his company — a U.S.-listed Ukrainian drone software firm — has conducted demonstrations for a unit of Japan’s military. A late April test involved using Swarmer’s artificial intelligence software to coordinate a group of drones on a seek-and-destroy mission in Japan. Fink said the demonstration was arranged through Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, whose billionaire founder Hiroshi ‘Mickey’ Mikitani has been one of Japan’s most outspoken advocates for Ukraine. Rakuten declined to comment on the demonstration but confirmed it is supporting Swarmer’s expansion in Japan.

Ukrainian companies are also working to reduce their reliance on Chinese-made drone components by sourcing parts from friendlier markets in East Asia. China manufactures many drone components and has placed some limits on their export, but similar parts are also produced in Japan and Taiwan, both of which host numerous suppliers of cameras, microelectronics, and related technology.

In May, the Ukrainian drone industry association IRON brought a delegation of roughly a dozen members to Taichung, a major industrial center in Taiwan, to connect with local suppliers. IRON chief executive Volodymyr Cherniuk said the primary goal was to help Ukrainian firms identify component suppliers. Reuters is the first to report the details of that gathering.

In at least one case, the relationship goes further: Elson Zhang of Jiin Ming Industry, one of the participating Taiwanese companies, told Reuters his firm is involved in an early-stage project with a Ukrainian partner to develop a drone that could potentially be sold back to Taiwan. He declined to identify the Ukrainian company.

Cherniuk said he plans to lead a delegation of IRON members to Tokyo later this year to seek Japanese production partners. “We would be happy for our drones to protect any country from invasion,” he said. “We know the best how it feels.”

A fire broke out at an elementary school in northern Tokyo on Friday, prompting a full evacuation of the building, according to Japanese media reports.

The fire ignited in the music room on the fourth floor of Takinogawa Daisan Elementary School. At the time, approximately 300 students and staff members were inside the building, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

NHK reported that several students suffered injuries due to smoke inhalation as a result of the blaze.

LONDON (AP) — Andy Burnham, the widely popular Greater Manchester mayor representing the Labour Party, has secured victory in a special parliamentary election — a win that places him in direct position to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for control of the party.

Burnham defeated Rob Kenyon, a candidate from the anti-immigration party Reform UK, in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England.

The win solidifies Burnham’s standing as the frontrunner to succeed Starmer at the helm of both the Labour Party and the country. Burnham has earned strong support not only from within Labour’s ranks but also from the broader voting public.

WASHINGTON — The White House announced Thursday night that Vice President JD Vance has postponed a scheduled trip to Switzerland, where he was expected to lead another round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The delay has raised fresh questions about the future of the tentative peace agreement.

Officials said Vance’s team had been prepared to depart but held back, citing difficult logistics surrounding the talks. The announcement came after Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel with political ties to the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that Iran was pulling back its own delegation from Switzerland due to Israel’s continued military campaign in Lebanon.

The postponement followed news that the U.S. had lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil tankers to once again move freely through the critical waterway after months of being shut out. However, the initial agreement has faced sharp backlash from some corners of the U.S., including a handful of congressional Republicans who believe Washington gave up too much — pointing to sanctions relief and a potential $300 billion rebuilding fund as major concessions to Iran.

Earlier Thursday, Vance made the relatively uncommon move of appearing at the White House to publicly defend the deal. He argued that while the agreement does include concessions, Iran must first meet U.S. demands before receiving any economic benefits.

“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”

Vance had already acknowledged during those remarks that the timing of his Switzerland trip was uncertain — and the postponement has made that timeline even murkier.

A top Trump administration envoy separately briefed U.S. lawmakers in a closed session, telling them that Iran plans to invite the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear facilities. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also appeared to give his blessing to direct negotiations going forward.

“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said in a statement distributed through state media.

The statement marked Khamenei’s first public response to the agreement and was seen as a notable shift in Iran’s position. Hard-liners, particularly Khamenei’s father — the previous supreme leader — have long resisted direct talks, especially since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The current supreme leader has not appeared publicly since sustaining injuries in a strike at the outset of the war.

Lawmakers Briefed on UN Inspections

Under the terms of the agreement, Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium must be diluted under international oversight at minimum. The deal also states that Iran shall not acquire or develop nuclear weapons — a pledge it has made in the past.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff briefed congressional leaders and members of national security committees, telling them Iran will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin identifying the locations of its enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble.

Details from Witkoff’s private briefing were shared with The Associated Press by two people with knowledge of the conversation, who requested anonymity in order to discuss the closed-door meeting.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the agreement requires Iran to “commit to renounce their nuclear ambitions in writing.” The IAEA did not respond when asked for comment.

Witkoff told lawmakers the deal with Iran did not include any hidden side agreements, though he acknowledged a side letter was drafted between Tehran and the IAEA formally extending the inspection invitation. He said the letter to IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would allow him to bring U.S. nuclear inspectors into Tehran.

Vance Defends Deal, Issues Warning to Israel

Earlier in the day, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also postponed a planned visit to Switzerland, where Pakistani officials had originally intended to host a ceremonial signing event. Two senior officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, said that visit was called off because both Iran and the U.S. had already signed the agreement.

President Donald Trump signed the initial agreement with Iran on Wednesday during a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles. The deal is designed to take effect immediately and extends a ceasefire while giving both sides 60 days to work out broader terms on more complex issues.

Vance, who was initially personally skeptical about the U.S. going to war with Iran, has become an increasingly prominent face of the administration’s handling of the conflict and has been vocal in defending the deal.

At Thursday’s White House appearance, he brushed off criticism about the confusing rollout of the initial agreement. “I don’t think our public messaging has been chaotic,” he said.

He also issued a pointed warning to Israel, which has been pushing the U.S. to take a tougher line against Iran and carried out attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon throughout the war — including just before the ceasefire extension deal was finalized. Those strikes complicated peace efforts.

Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”

Shipping Begins to Resume

Trump said he signed the agreement to prevent what he called “economic catastrophe” for the United States, after the war sent oil prices soaring, rattled financial markets, and stoked inflation. The deal helped push gas prices down and lifted stock markets — though those gains could be at risk depending on how the next phase of U.S.-Iran negotiations unfolds.

Vance said more than 12.5 million barrels of oil moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night, adding that the U.S. easing its blockade of Iran represents “honoring our end of the early part of the agreement on the military side.”

U.S. Central Command said American warships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.”

Iranian state media reported that shipping had “normalized” at Iran’s southern ports, though it noted the strait remains under Iranian military supervision and ships still need to coordinate before passing through.

According to maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, major shipping companies began moving vessels through the strait after the agreement was signed. Lloyd’s List editor-in-chief Richard Meade said it was the first time in 110 days that ships owned by large companies were transiting the strait, after effectively being stuck since February.

An interim agreement between the United States and Iran transformed the Group of Seven summit in Évian from a showcase of Western unity into a largely American diplomatic moment. Washington presented the deal as a framework to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — and in doing so, it appeared to take the wind out of any European-led maritime operation. But the fundamental question remains unanswered: Can the strait be reopened in a way that is safe, lasting, and acceptable to commercial shipping operators, insurers, Gulf nations, and European governments?

In the lead-up to and during the summit, European leaders had floated the idea of taking a maritime role in the strait, potentially including mine-clearing operations, vessel escorts, and efforts to restore freedom of navigation. The motivation was both strategic and economic. The Strait of Hormuz is not just a regional bottleneck — it is a global one. Any extended disruption there would ripple outward, driving up oil prices, shipping costs, insurance rates, and inflation well beyond the Middle East.

The US-Iran memorandum, however, shifted the focus. Rather than a European-backed operation moving toward action, attention turned to whether Washington and Tehran had found a formula to reopen the waterway without requiring a foreign naval force as the central enforcement mechanism.

A US State Department adviser for Middle East affairs named Willian, who attended the G7 and asked to be identified only by his first name, said the European maritime option had already been passed by.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance took aim at Israel’s military strategy Thursday, telling the country it cannot simply eliminate its way through every national security challenge it faces — and he stood firmly behind President Donald Trump’s stance that Iran should be allowed to hold onto some of its ballistic missiles.

The comments came as Vance pushed back against Israeli opposition to a memorandum of understanding, or MoU, that President Trump signed digitally on Wednesday night while in Versailles. The agreement was reached between Washington and Tehran.

In an interview with The New York Times, Vance described Israel’s reaction to the deal as a “freakout” driven by distrust of the United States.

“I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region of the world,” Vance said.

He went on to say: “We’ve done a very good job by that particular country, and that particular government, and I think that the idea that we’ve made a terrible deal is not supported by the facts, but just doesn’t make any sense if you consider the broad length of the relationship.”

Vance made clear the U.S. plans to move forward with the agreement regardless of Israeli objections, even as Israel has fought alongside the United States in the ongoing conflict. He labeled Israeli anxiety over concessions to Iran — including potential sanctions relief — as a “weird panic,” insisting any benefits extended to Tehran would be tied to Iran’s “behavior.”

“There is this weird panic almost in the Israeli system that I’ve picked up on where they assume that everything that is contemplated that is good for Iran will happen — but that will happen without the Iranians changing any behavior. And I just don’t know why anybody would think that’s true,” Vance said.

Vance noted that while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from directly attacking the MoU, other Israeli officials — including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — have sharply condemned the deal.

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

Directly addressing Israeli critics, Vance challenged them to offer an alternative plan. “I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.” — though it should be noted that Vance misstated Israel’s population; the actual figure is approximately 10 million.

At a separate press conference, Vance also backed up President Trump’s Wednesday comment that Iran has the right to keep a portion of its ballistic missile arsenal. He appeared to draw a parallel between Iran’s self-defense rights and those of Israel.

“All the president said yesterday is that, of course, regional countries don’t give up the right of self-defense,” Vance explained. “Israel doesn’t give up the right of self-defense if Hezbollah fires rockets or drones at Israel. You can’t tell the country, whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defense.”

Vance acknowledged that Israel had already significantly degraded Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, and argued the MoU would block Iran from developing “the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world.”

“As part of the final deal, what we want to see is Iran not funding regional instability, funding regional terrorism, and of course, [not] trying to rebuild their nuclear weapons program,” he added.

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is quickly becoming the centerpiece of President Prabowo Subianto’s nationalist economic agenda, but questions are mounting about whether the organization can actually deliver on its expanding list of responsibilities.

Last month, Prabowo stunned global markets with an announcement that Indonesia would begin centralizing exports of key commodities — starting with coal, palm oil, and ferroalloys. In a passionate address to parliament, he framed the move as essential government intervention to end what he described as decades of exploitation of the nation’s vast natural resources.

Rather than assigning this task to existing government agencies, Prabowo created a new unit within Danantara called Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia, or DSI. The fund reports directly to the president, and the move signaled its growing importance in the country’s economic decision-making.

Yose Rizal Damuri, executive director and economist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offered a pointed critique of the arrangement. “It’s increasingly clear that all its functions are decided based on politics, whether for political purposes or to meet political promises,” he said. “Instead of improving state institutions, he created a new body and is giving it new roles.”

Within days of that announcement, another presidential decree established a development investment arm inside Danantara with access to state budget funding. Three people with knowledge of the internal discussions — who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly — said this arm is expected to focus on projects considered nationally important, even if they generate limited commercial returns. One of those sources indicated it could play a role in a revived national car initiative, another of Prabowo’s policy pledges.

Danantara and the presidential palace did not respond to requests for comment.

The fund was launched in early 2025 with a mandate to oversee roughly $900 billion in state assets spread across 1,000 companies, using dividends to generate investment returns. It was originally billed as Indonesia’s answer to Singapore’s state investment company Temasek — commercially driven and free from political influence.

That original vision now appears to be evolving significantly. Economists writing in the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies described Danantara as “at once a sovereign wealth fund, a development bank and a public service provider.” The fund has already been pulled into tariff negotiations with Washington and efforts to stabilize a domestic stock market downturn.

Its project portfolio is strikingly diverse, spanning investments in chicken farms, support for the president’s struggling free school meals program, and hotel development in Mecca for Indonesian pilgrims.

Sandra Sahelangi, a senior adviser at corporate consultancy Flint Global, said a fund with such a broad mandate could still maintain credibility — but only if it produces results and remains shielded from day-to-day political pressures. “The breadth by itself is not unprecedented, but it does sit on the outer edge of what international investors are accustomed to underwriting in a single entity,” she said, adding that investors would expect a clear boundary between commercial investments and policy-driven tasks.

Transparency remains a significant concern. Danantara has not yet released a financial report ahead of an end-of-June deadline, with fund officials citing the time needed to consolidate data across all its units. Tabita Diela, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies, said the absence of publicly available information makes it nearly impossible to evaluate the fund’s operational capabilities. Her organization and other think tanks have joined forces to create a monitoring platform for Danantara’s projects and funding in light of limited disclosure.

The gap between the fund’s growing responsibilities and its actual capacity was on clear display with the DSI commodity export announcement. Regulations issued after the president’s speech require DSI to handle commodity exports beginning next year — a task analysts say would demand major investments and new infrastructure. Yet at the time of the announcement, the unit had just one employee: its chief executive. A Danantara official confirmed on May 31 that DSI had begun recruiting staff with commodities expertise.

In meetings with industry associations, DSI has since walked back its initially ambitious role, citing significant capital requirements and business risks, according to meeting minutes reviewed by Reuters. Whether those assurances will lead to revised regulations remains unclear.

On the financing front, a Danantara unit raised $1.5 billion in its first U.S. dollar bond offering last week. The fund described the oversubscribed sale as evidence of strong investor confidence. However, a banking source familiar with the transaction offered a more tempered explanation — investors were drawn by the bonds’ higher returns compared to Indonesian government debt while carrying similar state-backed exposure, not necessarily as an endorsement of Danantara’s operational track record.

Prabowo, speaking at the World Economic Forum in January, insisted Danantara was built with strong oversight and meets the best international governance standards. At the fund’s first anniversary event on March 11, he warned officials he would not tolerate falsified data, overly optimistic updates, or manipulated reports.

UNITED NATIONS — A newly released United Nations report has documented a record-breaking number of violations against children caught in conflict zones around the world last year, with government forces surpassing armed groups as the leading perpetrators for the first time in three decades of U.N. tracking.

The annual report from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres identified 38,558 total violations — a fourth consecutive yearly increase — affecting 24,174 children. About one-third of those children were girls, and thousands experienced more than one type of violation. The abuses ranged from killings and sexual violence to abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and blocking humanitarian aid from reaching children in need.

A blacklist included in the report names government forces from eight countries and 67 armed groups operating across 16 countries and territories.

“The scale and persistence of these violations demand more than acknowledgment — they demand resolve,” said Vanessa Frazier, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, in an analysis accompanying the report.

Frazier called on all 193 U.N. member nations to face the report’s findings head-on and “recognize that protecting children is not an aspiration but an obligation, and that the decisions taken today will shape the futures they may or may not live to claim.”

Heading the 2025 blacklist is the Israeli military and its security forces, which were linked to 12,445 violations. Congo followed with 4,114, and Myanmar, Somalia, and armed groups in Nigeria each recorded more than 2,000 violations. Government forces from Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Russia’s military operating in Ukraine were also included on the blacklist.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — the groups responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, and triggered the war in Gaza — also appear on the blacklist. The U.N. attributed 326 grave violations to Israeli settlers last year, and Guterres cautioned that settlers could be added to the blacklist if such attacks continue.

According to the report, government forces were identified as “the main perpetrators” behind 6,266 child deaths — a 34% jump compared to the previous year — along with 7,958 injuries.

The U.N. confirmed the deaths of 2,668 Palestinian children at the hands of Israeli forces in Gaza, along with 55 Palestinian children killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. An additional 4,588 reported child deaths in Gaza and injuries to 346 Israeli children are still being verified, the report noted.

Guterres said he was “appalled by the magnitude of grave violations against children” in Palestinian territories and Israel, “gravely alarmed by the staggering increase in grave violations” carried out by Israeli forces, and “deeply alarmed at the staggering rise in attacks carried out by Israeli settlers” against children, with no one being held accountable.

The U.N. chief called on Israel to work with the United Nations to establish a time-bound plan to stop the killing and injuring of children and to end attacks on schools and hospitals.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon pushed back sharply, accusing Guterres of blurring “the fundamental distinction between a democratic state fighting for its survival and murderous terrorist organizations” such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, rather than standing in solidarity with victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks. Danon said this would define Guterres’ legacy as “one of the greatest moral failures in the history of the United Nations.”

Frazier told reporters Thursday that several factors contributed to government forces accounting for more violations this year. She pointed to “the impunity that we are seeing towards international law” and a shift in modern warfare away from open battlefields toward densely populated civilian areas, where weapons like drones and wide-area explosives cause widespread harm.

“Children were impacted while escaping fighting, seeking food, water or medical care, and navigating areas heavily contaminated by explosive remnants of war, often contributing to life-long disabilities,” Frazier said.

The U.N. also verified that 6,607 children were recruited or used in armed conflict, with the highest numbers recorded in Congo, Nigeria, Haiti, Somalia, and Colombia. Another 5,129 children were abducted, primarily in Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Myanmar, and Mozambique. Additionally, 1,783 children were confirmed victims of rape or sexual violence, with Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, and Haiti reporting the most cases.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stood before an EU summit on Thursday and made a direct appeal: the fastest way to protect Europe’s future is to put Ukraine on an accelerated path into the European Union.

In remarks posted to X as a video, Zelenskiy told summit leaders that the defense of Ukraine is actively shaping the continent’s direction. He argued that every democratic nation in Europe belongs in the EU, and declared that “Ukraine merits this because it has paid more than any other country for its right to be free, independent and…European.”

“The future of Europe – free, united and of course in peace – is being decided in our defence. That shows how unique our situation is,” Zelenskiy said.

While acknowledging that not every EU member nation would embrace a speeded-up process, he pressed forward with the idea. “The most important such step – I know that not everyone loves this – could be a fast-track path for Ukraine to join the EU,” he said.

The push comes after EU ambassadors agreed last week to move membership talks forward for both Ukraine and the former Soviet republic of Moldova. Those discussions are now underway on the first of six policy “clusters” designed to align each country’s laws and standards with those of the EU bloc.

Following the summit, the European Council released a statement welcoming the start of those accession talks and saying it “looks forward to the opening of the other clusters, in line with the merit-based approach.”

Zelenskiy also tied European security directly to continued financial support for Ukraine’s military. He said the EU and a “coalition of willing” nations backing Ukraine have the ability to build the financial tools needed to keep that support going.

In an audio message released after the summit and a separate gathering of the “Ramstein” group focused on military aid for Ukraine, Zelenskiy reiterated that his country remains open to peace negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he urged European nations not to ease pressure on Moscow.

“Europe has to be engaged for us to have a strong position, to commit fully on sanctions without loopholes, on confiscation without exceptions and on funding Ukraine,” he said.

ATHENS, Greece — For the first time in approximately 220 years, visitors arriving at the Acropolis in Athens are getting a view of the Parthenon’s western side that appears whole and complete.

The restoration milestone was officially revealed Thursday, as workers had carefully fitted two newly crafted marble blocks into spaces that had sat empty for generations along the upper portion of the temple’s western end — the very face that greets visitors as they enter the ancient site.

The 2,500-year-old structure towers over the Greek capital and drew roughly 4.6 million visitors last year alone. Ongoing restoration work has focused on repairing the toll taken by centuries of war, weather, and looting — including the long-fractured appearance of the western facade.

Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni offered a glowing assessment of the completed work, calling the result “truly stunning.”

She explained that the two newly placed stones carry significance beyond simply closing a gap in the structure.

“They allow the unique proportions and the geometric perfection of the Parthenon’s western face to be seen once again,” she said.

Funding for this phase of the project came through a European Union program. The work is one piece of a much larger restoration initiative that first launched in 1975.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s Communist Party has given the green light to an emergency economic package that includes free-market measures unlike anything previously seen on the island, as the country faces growing pressure from the United States.

Although the full policy document has yet to be made public, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other officials have outlined several key components of the plan.

The reforms are designed to further loosen the grip of Cuba’s centrally controlled economy, where the government has traditionally dictated what gets produced, who produces it, how goods are priced, and how national resources are distributed.

At present, only government agencies and banks are authorized to exchange currencies, though a large portion of the population turns to informal markets to do so.

New legislation has been introduced that would trim the number of government ministries from 27 down to 21 in a bid to improve efficiency.

Local municipalities would gain new powers under the proposed measures, including the ability to approve businesses operating in their areas and to manage relationships with various economic players — from state-run enterprises to cooperatives and private companies. Municipalities would also be permitted to conduct their own imports and exports and handle their own foreign-currency earnings. Cuba is home to 168 municipalities spread across 15 provinces.

Individual companies would gain greater flexibility as well, including the ability to build their own pay structures, use and distribute profits with fewer government restrictions, conduct foreign trade, and form partnerships with private businesses and cooperatives.

The scope of activities that state-owned companies are allowed to pursue would also be expanded. Cuba currently has around 2,000 state-owned enterprises.

Small and medium-sized businesses would be allowed to handle their own imports and exports directly, bypassing the state-run entities that currently manage that process and collect fees.

The package also includes incentives aimed at encouraging the import of raw materials and other inputs needed for production.

Cuba’s long-standing post-revolution rationing system, which has provided access to basic goods at government-controlled low prices, is set to be gradually phased out. Food and other products would eventually shift to market-based pricing.

Recent U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba’s business conglomerate Gaesa have led major hotel chains such as Meliá and Iberostar to suspend agreements with their Cuban partners. The new measures seek to find alternative ways to make use of the island’s largely idle infrastructure.

Díaz-Canel has indicated that both the emergency plan and the policy document drafted by the Communist Party’s Central Committee drew on lessons from China and Vietnam — two communist-governed nations that have introduced market-style economic reforms while keeping one-party political systems in place.

The rollout of these economic measures follows months of escalating U.S. pressure and diplomatic discussions between the two nations, which have involved former President Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.

For decades, the United States has imposed trade and travel restrictions on Cuba, pushing for the release of all political prisoners, an end to political and religious repression, and the opening of Cuba’s economy to private American investment.

The Trump administration has intensified that pressure in recent months, enacting a fuel embargo against the island and filing charges against Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft flown by Miami-based Cuban exiles.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian federal police carried out search and seizure operations Thursday targeting a prominent senator and personal friend of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as investigators dig deeper into a wide-ranging corruption and fraud case that has already swept up multiple politicians ahead of October’s national elections.

Authorities are scrutinizing suspicious financial transactions involving Sen. Jaques Wagner, who serves as the leader of Lula’s Workers’ Party in the Senate. The inquiry is connected to the now-defunct Banco Master and its disgraced former chief executive, Daniel Vorcaro.

Wagner marks the first high-profile ally of President Lula to be drawn into the expanding scandal, which has already caught up with presidential hopeful Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, among others. The controversy is anticipated to be a defining issue in the approaching elections.

Without identifying specific suspects, police announced they were carrying out 18 search and seizure warrants across the states of Bahia and São Paulo, as well as the Federal District, in connection with alleged crimes that could include passive corruption, active corruption, and money laundering.

Court documents signed by Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça on Wednesday — and obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday — named the suspects and authorized the searches to proceed.

According to those court documents, investigators uncovered indications that the senator may have received improper financial benefits, among them the purchase of a high-end apartment in Salvador valued at roughly 2.45 million reais, or about $470,000.

The documents also reveal that investigators are looking into whether Wagner leveraged his congressional position to advance matters favorable to Banco Master, particularly relating to payroll lending and deposit insurance regulations.

During Thursday’s operation, police seized around $50,000 in cash in Brasilia. Brazilian media reported that the money was found at a location or locations connected to Wagner.

When asked about the seized funds during an interview with Brazilian broadcaster Band on Thursday, Wagner maintained he had nothing to conceal and flatly denied ever receiving money from anyone connected to Banco Master.

The senator also pushed back against any meaningful connection to Vorcaro, the former Banco Master head who is currently behind bars. “My relationship with Daniel Vorcaro is practically nonexistent… I met Daniel only twice,” Wagner stated.

Later Thursday, Wagner’s press team issued a statement denying that the senator had ever acted on Banco Master’s behalf, asserting that the confiscated cash was obtained through legitimate means and that the Salvador apartment was never part of the senator’s personal assets.

Brazil’s Central Bank moved to shut down Banco Master — which had assets exceeding $16 billion — back in November.

Vorcaro, who sits at the heart of the investigation, was taken into custody in March and has since been attempting to negotiate a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Brazil’s federal police have estimated the total scope of the bank’s fraudulent activity at approximately 12 billion reais, equivalent to around $2.3 billion. Both the federal police and the Supreme Court continue to investigate the case.

SAO PAULO — Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is counting on a tough-on-crime platform to attract undecided voters and strengthen his political base as he works to close the gap with incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before October’s presidential election.

On Thursday, the senator unveiled a public safety agenda in Sao Paulo built around 12 key proposals. Among the most notable is a push to classify Brazil’s criminal organizations as terrorist groups — an idea that gained traction in Washington just last month.

“They will be hunted down with force and intelligence,” Bolsonaro declared at the Thursday event. “Any armed criminal carrying a rifle will be taken down by our security forces,” he continued.

Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who entered office in 2019 with a similarly hardline stance on crime. Brazil’s homicide rate dropped considerably during the elder Bolsonaro’s time in office, though that downward trend had already been underway before he was elected.

Crime continues to be a major concern for Brazilian voters, many of whom are fed up with widespread street violence across the country’s cities.

The senator’s plan specifically takes aim at Brazil’s two most dominant criminal organizations — Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital — which together hold sway over criminal activity across large portions of the country.

The proposal builds on recent diplomatic efforts in Washington, where Bolsonaro successfully lobbied President Donald Trump last month to designate both organizations as foreign terrorist groups, lending the initiative considerable international credibility.

President Lula pushed back against that Washington designation, describing it as unwanted interference in Brazil’s domestic affairs. Legal analysts have also cautioned that the designation could create complications for companies doing business in Brazil.

Beyond the terrorism classification, Bolsonaro has pledged to lower the minimum age for criminal prosecution from 18 to 16, send elite military units to patrol the nation’s borders, and construct five new maximum-security prisons modeled after a program implemented in El Salvador.

Brazil already has one of the largest prison populations on the planet, with facilities long suffering from severe overcrowding and deteriorating conditions.

“This is about taking fear away from citizens and placing it in the hands of criminals, and these prisons will be called Treva — which in Portuguese means darkness,” the senator said.

Bolsonaro’s standing in public opinion polls has slipped in recent weeks following a controversy in which he acknowledged receiving funds from a now-imprisoned banker to help finance a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

He currently lags behind Lula in a potential October runoff matchup, with the incumbent holding a 49.3% to 36.8% lead, according to a CNT/MDA poll published earlier this week.

TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Vice President JD Vance took aim at members of Israel’s government Thursday, asserting that the country is deeply isolated on the world stage and that its leaders have not shown adequate appreciation for American diplomatic and military backing.

The sharp remarks widened a growing crack in the relationship between the two allied nations, coming in the wake of an interim agreement reached between the United States and Iran to bring their conflict to a close.

Speaking at a White House news briefing, Vance said, “Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”

The United States and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran on February 28, working in close coordination throughout the operation, which lasted more than a month.

Tensions began surfacing after a preliminary ceasefire was announced on April 8. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed to keep the military campaign going, while Trump moved to end a war that had grown unpopular domestically and was unsettling global markets.

Although Netanyahu has avoided openly criticizing the ceasefire deal reached this week, some members of his Cabinet have not held back. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads a small ultranationalist political party, declared that Israel is not “bound” by Trump’s agreement and said the country would not yield to international pressure.

Vance acknowledged that Netanyahu himself has not publicly spoken against Trump, but he accused unnamed Cabinet members of showing ingratitude. He pointed out that Israel has very few allies internationally and has relied heavily on large amounts of U.S.-funded weapons for its defense.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond with a comment on Vance’s statements.

In recent days, Trump has voiced frustration with Netanyahu, claimed credit for Israel’s continued existence, and referred to the Israeli leader as “crazy.” Trump kept Israel out of the Iran negotiations entirely and also took issue with Israeli airstrikes carried out in Beirut.

In his first public remarks on the newly signed memorandum of understanding, Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli forces would remain in a zone of territory they currently occupy in southern Lebanon “as long as Israel’s security needs require it.” Those comments raised concerns that the deal could be undermined, as it calls for all fighting to stop and for Lebanon’s territorial integrity to be respected.

Still, Netanyahu acknowledged the importance of maintaining ties with Washington, saying it was important “to maintain the important relationship with our American friends who fought shoulder to shoulder with us, and we greatly appreciate that.”

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The mother of a teenage girl who passed away after medical professionals in the Dominican Republic postponed her cancer treatment because she was pregnant has taken legal action against the nation’s sweeping abortion prohibition.

The challenge was filed Wednesday in the country’s Constitutional Court and is backed by several civil society groups, including a Christian organization. Together, they argue the ban infringes on the rights to life, health, dignity, and equality — protections they say must also apply to pregnant girls and women.

The Dominican Republic enforces one of the harshest abortion bans in the entire region, making the procedure illegal under all circumstances with no exceptions. Women who undergo an abortion can face up to two years behind bars, while medical professionals or midwives involved could be sentenced to anywhere from five to 20 years in prison.

Rosa Herminia Hernández, the mother at the center of the case, spoke out in a statement: “My daughter died because she was denied the medical care she needed. No other mother should have to go through this.”

Her daughter, Rosaura Almonte, was just 16 years old when she died in 2012 from leukemia. At the time of her death, she was three weeks pregnant, according to the court filing.

The legal challenge is asking the court to permit abortions in cases involving rape or incest, situations where the life or health of a woman or girl is at risk, and pregnancies where the fetus has a condition incompatible with survival.

Attorney Patricia Santana Nina described the goal of the action in a statement: “This action seeks something very simple: that no woman or girl should have to choose between her life, her health and the law.”

Government data shows that at least 67,455 abortions were recorded in the public health sector between 2019 and late 2024, though those figures did not distinguish between spontaneous and induced procedures.

Separately, prosecutors filed 62 criminal cases related to abortion and 16 cases for attempted abortion between June 2017 and October 2022. The Prosecutor General’s Office stopped releasing that data after November 2022.

The court filing directly questioned the current policy, asking: “Is it legitimate to maintain a permanent criminal threat against women in medical emergencies solely to legally express a moral stance?”

The challenge also highlighted a 2023 case involving a woman with three children — one of whom was the result of a rape — who suffered an incomplete spontaneous abortion. Authorities detained her for 10 days in what the filing described as inhumane conditions, and she reportedly did not receive adequate medical attention. “The woman went to a health center seeking care and ended up being deprived of her freedom,” the filing stated.

Human rights advocates say it is frequently health care workers themselves who report women to law enforcement.

There are no dependable statistics available on how many women in the Dominican Republic have died as a result of clandestine abortions.

According to government figures, at least 585 girls between the ages of 11 and 14 gave birth in 2024. Additionally, at least 681 rapes were reported between January and July 2025, with activists pointing out that the true number is likely far higher due to underreporting.

The filing also argued that the ban deepens existing social inequalities. Women with financial means can access private medical care — either within the country or abroad — while those living in poverty face greater health dangers and a higher risk of criminal prosecution. “The women who are persecuted often share conditions of socioeconomic vulnerability, job insecurity, low educational level, or migratory status,” the challenge stated.

A new agreement between the United States and Iran is designed to bring an end to their conflict, reopen a critical global shipping lane, ease economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and restart nuclear negotiations — with a 60-day deadline to work out the details.

The document was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, but experts say it leaves a number of major issues unresolved following the three-month regional conflict that rattled the global economy. U.S. officials say those outstanding matters will be addressed during the 60-day window.

Here is a look at the key questions surrounding the deal and the best answers available right now.

Trump has stated that one of the primary goals of the war was to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — something Iran has consistently denied pursuing. The surprise military strike launched jointly by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 came while Iran was already engaged in nuclear discussions. Those talks are now set to resume under the new agreement.

Reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement before the 60-day deadline — which could potentially be extended — will be an enormous challenge. The 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump walked away from during his first term in office, required more than 18 months of negotiations and involved highly technical discussions among nuclear specialists.

Iran has long maintained its right to enrich uranium. The current agreement does not specify what level of enrichment would be permitted — whether the lower levels used for power generation or the significantly higher levels Iran had reached before the war, which left its uranium just one technical step away from weapons-grade material.

Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to have been largely destroyed in U.S. airstrikes last year. The agreement states that whatever remains will at minimum be diluted in place under United Nations supervision, though it provides no further detail. Trump has repeatedly called for the stockpile to be removed from Iranian soil entirely.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flowed before the conflict — triggered a massive global fuel crisis, sending prices soaring for everything from gasoline and groceries to fertilizer and airline tickets.

Maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported Thursday that major shipping companies have begun moving vessels through the strait once again.

The agreement calls for the waterway to be fully reopened, with Iran required to clear mines within 30 days. Commercial ships will not face any charges during the 60-day period outlined in the deal.

Prior to the war, passage through the strait was free of charge. Iran began imposing tolls during the fighting and has indicated it intends to keep collecting fees. Legal experts say such charges would violate international maritime law, and the U.S. has firmly rejected the idea. The fees could also conflict with existing sanctions on Iran, creating complications for shipping companies.

Even with the strait reopened, analysts warn it could take weeks or months before oil and gas flows return to normal levels. Ship captains and insurance companies will need to assess whether it is truly safe to transit the waterway. Hundreds of vessels that have been stranded in the Persian Gulf for months will need to pass through the narrow, curved passage. Even a brief exchange of fire — which occurred multiple times following a ceasefire declared in April — could bring traffic to a halt again.

Major energy producers in the Gulf region, including Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, will also need time to repair infrastructure that was damaged by Iranian missile and drone attacks.

The U.S. says it has lifted its naval blockade as part of the agreement. The deal also includes sanctions waivers that will allow Iran to export oil again, which should help stabilize Iran’s damaged economy and likely push global fuel prices lower. The U.S. has also committed to releasing frozen Iranian funds held in accounts abroad.

A broader set of international sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear activities, its support for militant organizations, and human rights concerns are also slated to be lifted — but only as part of a final nuclear agreement. U.S. Vice President JD Vance indicated that any sanctions relief would be “performance-based.”

The agreement calls for the United States and its regional allies to establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, but it does not identify who would actually provide the money. Trump has said the U.S. will not contribute, and Vance has suggested wealthy Gulf nations should foot the bill. However, those countries are unlikely to be enthusiastic about funding Iran when their own economies are struggling from the war’s impact and their own infrastructure has been damaged in Iranian attacks.

The deal calls for an immediate end to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been engaged in fighting against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It also calls for protecting Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

What the agreement does not address is whether Israel would pull back from the large portions of southern Lebanon it has occupied since Hezbollah entered the conflict early on by firing rockets and drones at northern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, insisting Israeli forces will stay until the threat from Hezbollah is eliminated. Hezbollah has said it will not stop its own attacks while Israeli forces remain on Lebanese soil, and Iran has demanded that Lebanon be included in any ceasefire arrangement. Ongoing fighting in Lebanon could potentially collapse the entire deal if either Iran or the U.S. concludes the other side has broken it.

The agreement is silent on both Iran’s missile arsenal and its network of militant allies. Trump suggested this week that Iran should be permitted to maintain some ballistic missiles in proportion to what its neighboring countries possess. Iran still holds missiles capable of striking Israel and has long provided support to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and militias operating in Iraq. Dismantling Iran’s missile capabilities and weakening its network of allied militant groups had been stated objectives of the U.S. war effort. Any sanctions relief Iran receives could potentially free up money to continue funding those groups, though Iran will need to weigh that against its urgent economic and reconstruction needs.

It took weeks of late-night phone calls, competing document drafts, and a critical last-minute push from Qatar to produce this week’s preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran — and sources familiar with the talks say the toughest negotiations are still ahead.

Pakistani mediators were central to brokering the interim deal, but four Pakistani sources familiar with the process said the path was filled with obstacles that sometimes shifted within days. Sticking points ranged from proposed fees in the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travels — to the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.

In the early morning hours of Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a 14-point memorandum designed to end the war and competing blockades of the strait. Speaking to parliament later that day, Sharif acknowledged just how close things came to breaking down. “There were many moments during the negotiations when it looked as if the process would grind to a halt,” he said.

Five Pakistani sources, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions, said the announcement came only after talks nearly collapsed on multiple occasions — including during the final night of negotiations. Two of those sources, along with a diplomat briefed on the process, said Qatar’s intervention was essential to securing the framework agreement.

At one point, disagreements came down to a single word choice. A diplomat described a 45-minute debate in late May over whether the text should use the word “including” or the abbreviation “etc.” — though the diplomat did not specify which part of the document was being discussed.

Analysts warn that achieving a final settlement will be even more difficult, given the need to address sanctions relief, management of the strait, and limits on Iran’s nuclear activities — all against a backdrop of deep mutual suspicion between Washington and Tehran.

“Washington and Tehran appear to have different interpretations of the same text,” said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington. “Iran will try to turn ambiguity into leverage, while the U.S. will try to preserve pressure until nuclear concessions are secured. Mediation will therefore remain central, but difficult.”

Pakistan and Qatar’s foreign ministries, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Qatar’s role grew significantly after talks stalled for roughly 10 days in mid-May and the risk of military escalation appeared to be rising. According to the diplomat, Doha had initially been reluctant to formally join the process but agreed to become more directly involved on the condition that a ceasefire held and Qatar itself was not targeted. A Qatari team then made five quiet trips to Tehran — often traveling through Turkey — to work through gaps in the Pakistani draft documents.

On May 19, after leaving Tehran with what they believed was a promising opening, the Qatari team traveled to Washington, met with senior U.S. officials, and made edits to the text while simultaneously calling Iranian counterparts from inside the White House, according to one source.

One Pakistani source who was directly involved in the negotiations described how precarious the final night truly was. By around 11 p.m. Sunday in Pakistan, with officials gathered at the prime minister’s residence and in a situation room, the talks were again unraveling after Israel launched strikes on Lebanon. “Things were very fluid,” the source said, adding that army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir relayed messages between the two sides throughout the night. Hours later, the agreement was finalized.

Four Pakistani sources said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s changing public statements repeatedly complicated the effort, as did Iran’s slow responses to time-sensitive proposals. Those delays were partly attributed to Iran’s decision-making becoming unusually fragmented after U.S. strikes weakened its leadership structure.

An international source familiar with the negotiations noted that Iranian officials were extremely cautious about information security. “Messages get passed through many hands, and then come back days later,” the source said.

The Pakistani source involved in the talks said communication improved after a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei traveled to Islamabad, enabling army chief Munir and his team to “get more direct communications running.”

The international source described the frustration of dealing with both parties. “With the Americans, you never really knew what their position was, and it could change. And with the Iranians, you often didn’t get a clear answer for days and days,” the source said.

Both countries have now signed the interim agreement, but the diplomat cautioned that the situation remains fragile — particularly because Israeli strikes in Lebanon and retaliatory action by Hezbollah could still unravel the deal. “I don’t think I’ve ever been close to a process which involves less trust than this one,” the international source said.

Guyana’s contender for the top post at the United Nations told a candidacy hearing Thursday that the world shares a duty to ensure the global body remains a positive force, while also pushing for reforms to make it more nimble and efficient.

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who once worked as a schoolteacher and now serves as Guyana’s ambassador to the UN — a role she took on after previously serving as the country’s foreign minister — is one of six people vying to take over from Antonio Guterres when his term concludes at the end of this year.

Whoever succeeds Guterres will inherit a massive challenge: reviving an institution that has lost standing on the world stage and faces mounting calls to overhaul its large and expensive bureaucracy while eliminating redundancy across its numerous agencies.

“I believe in the United Nations. It is indispensable, it is incomparable, and it is a force for global good,” Rodrigues-Birkett said during her hearing.

“While it is important to highlight the U.N.’s shortcomings, we must also recognize the profound difference it has made in the lives of all of our peoples. Our collective responsibility is to make sure it continues to do so,” she added.

Echoing other candidates in the race, she called for ongoing reform efforts aimed at building “a more agile and effective organization.”

The remaining five candidates include Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who previously served as both foreign affairs minister and defense minister of Ecuador; 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 heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A vote is expected later this year. Notably, no woman has ever held the position of UN secretary-general.

By tradition, the secretary-general is not drawn from any of the five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States — though the support of those major powers remains essential in what is a complex and lengthy selection process.

Slovakia’s three-party coalition government cleared a confidence vote in parliament on Thursday, a vote that was required after the nation’s debt surpassed its legally established limits — though the outcome did little to quiet growing concerns about the country’s fiscal direction.

Prime Minister Robert Fico’s governing coalition secured 78 votes in favor in the 150-seat legislature.

Under Slovak law, a constitutional measure on budget responsibility requires increasingly strict actions as national debt climbs. Those steps range from freezing ministerial salaries and cutting spending to, at the most severe level, holding a confidence vote in parliament.

The debt threshold that triggers a confidence vote has been gradually lowered over time, dropping from 60% of gross domestic product down to 52% for 2025, the most recent year for which data is available.

However, exemptions built into the law for newly formed or caretaker governments have repeatedly allowed administrations to sidestep the harshest consequences even as debt continued to grow.

The final exemption lapsed in late 2025, but the government put off holding the vote until Slovakia’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling on Wednesday demanding immediate action.

Following the court’s order, Prime Minister Fico called the vote right away, characterizing it as little more than a routine procedural step.

Official figures show Slovakia’s debt was at 57.9% of GDP in 2024 before climbing to 61.4% in 2025. Opposition lawmakers argued that the higher debt level should have prompted a confidence vote as early as last year.

The country’s current budget is targeting a deficit of 4.3% of GDP this year, with only a modest improvement to 4.2% projected by 2027. Meanwhile, national debt is expected to climb further, potentially reaching 65.1% of GDP next year.

Slovakia’s independent fiscal watchdog pushed back against the government’s low-key handling of the vote, issuing a statement ahead of the vote that read: “Before the confidence vote, fundamental questions should be heard: Do we know when and how the growth in debt should stop? Are proposed measures sufficient to lower debt?”

The country’s Finance Ministry did not respond when asked for comment.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei announced Thursday that he authorized a memorandum of understanding jointly signed by the Iranian and U.S. presidents — a decision he made despite holding personal reservations about the agreement.

In a written statement addressed to the Iranian people, Khamenei explained that he moved forward after President Masoud Pezeshkian and other high-ranking Iranian officials gave him assurances that the deal would protect Iran’s rights and the interests of what he referred to as the “Resistance Front.”

Khamenei noted that Pezeshkian, serving in his role as head of the Supreme National Security Council, personally accepted responsibility for making sure the agreement safeguards Iran’s interests. The president also pledged to stand firm if the United States put forward what Khamenei characterized as excessive demands.

The Supreme Leader further emphasized that any future in-person negotiations with the United States should not be interpreted as Iran giving in to what he called “the enemy’s position.”

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa broke ground Thursday on a second temporary facility designed to process the return of Malawian nationals to their home country. The move comes after thousands of people took to the streets earlier this year in Johannesburg and other South African cities to protest illegal immigration — unrest that has stoked tensions between South African residents and foreign nationals living in the country.

At the same time, thousands more Malawian citizens continued arriving at the first deportation processing site, located in the Sherwood area of the city of Durban. Roughly 10,000 people have been camped at that location for more than a week, waiting for transportation back to Malawi.

On Wednesday, the situation at the Sherwood site turned violent. Police deployed rubber bullets and stun grenades against migrants who were throwing rocks, sticks, and logs at officers. Local media in South Africa attributed the clashes to growing frustration over how long the deportation process was taking.

The second facility is intended to ease conditions at the overcrowded Sherwood site, where women and young children have been packed in alongside thousands of men. South African officials reported that at least 12 women had given birth at the site since Malawians began gathering there.

Authorities from both South Africa and Malawi have spent recent weeks working together to organize the large-scale return of Malawian citizens who say they left due to fears of anti-migrant hostility and potential violence.

South African officials explained that the deportation process requires Malawians to appear before a court, since they were in the country without legal status. The pace of returns has also been slowed by a shortage of buses provided by the Malawian government, which has also appealed for donations to help cover the cost of transporting people home.

PARIS (AP) — It could stand as one of Emmanuel Macron’s final major foreign policy achievements as France’s leader: drawing U.S. President Donald Trump to a historic evening at the Palace of Versailles, where Trump signed an initial agreement to bring the Iran war to an end.

But that dramatic moment was just one highlight from a G7 summit where Macron’s nearly decade-long experience on the world stage and the relationships he has cultivated paid off in significant ways.

Among the most notable accomplishments was persuading Trump to take a stronger stance in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia — a significant victory for European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, coming after a diplomatic stumble at the White House back in March 2025.

“Bravo,” Macron said following Trump’s signing of the Iran agreement. The signing caught most of the officials and guests at the Versailles Palace dinner off guard, and the room responded with applause.

Macron had framed the dinner as a celebration of the friendship between France and the United States. The unplanned signing ceremony turned it into a symbolic capstone to Macron’s week-long effort to bring Trump into greater alignment with European positions — potentially among his last significant achievements before his term concludes next spring.

Macron had described Versailles as an “instrument of influence” and suggested the exclusive invitation could help keep Trump engaged through the close of the G7 summit held in Evian. Trump had departed last year’s summit in Canada before it wrapped up.

The Palace of Versailles — which Trump praised as “not gold leaf” — has served as a venue for French leaders to welcome distinguished guests for more than three centuries.

Following the signing, Macron praised the Iran agreement as one that “allows for putting an end to the conflict, that allows peace, that allows the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz” and said it would likely lead to lower oil prices.

Macron was not part of the Iran war negotiations and cannot take credit for Trump’s decision to sign the deal. However, he secured the historic setting, helping to place Europe back into the spotlight of a conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched together without consulting their Western allies.

French Economy Minister Roland Lescure, who was present at the dinner, said the signing was largely unplanned and improvised.

Lescure said Trump announced during his remarks that he intended to sign the agreement. When asked whether Macron had prior knowledge, Lescure said he believed Trump had told the French president shortly before the moment arrived.

“But for us, ministers in the French government, it was a surprise,” Lescure told French radio RTL.

Trump arrived in France under domestic pressure over Iran, including criticism from some of his own allies about how he had handled the conflict and the deal taking shape. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest supporters and a longtime hardliner on Iran, had voiced skepticism about the agreement.

As negotiations with Iran moved forward, Trump sought support from G7 leaders, according to a European diplomat familiar with the discussions who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The G7 includes the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada, and Japan.

“We certainly gave him some reassurance on the Middle East,” the European diplomat said. “And President Trump, for his part, delivered for us on Ukraine.”

The G7’s statement on geopolitical matters described a “breakthrough” in the Middle East and mentioned Trump by name three times, praising what it called his “strong leadership.”

Trump has had tensions with Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over his failure to consult them before deciding to go to war. He has also pushed back on those four NATO members for not supporting the U.S. in the conflict.

Macron, whose relationship with Trump has been bumpy since an unusually prolonged handshake nearly a decade ago, spent months preparing for the G7 summit through regular phone calls centered on both Iran and Ukraine.

On the sidelines of the summit, Trump met with Zelenskyy, who showed him photographs documenting the destruction caused by Russian bombing of the Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv.

Macron has at times expressed wariness about Trump’s shifting stances, particularly when it comes to Russia and President Vladimir Putin. But European officials argued that the written commitments made this week carry more lasting weight because Trump himself approved the language.

“America is with us on Ukraine. That is very important,” Macron said after Trump joined a three-way phone call with Zelenskyy from Versailles.

G7 leaders agreed in a joint statement to step up deliveries of air-defense systems and long-range weapons to Ukraine. They also committed to ramping up pressure on Russia through tougher sanctions, including measures aimed at the country’s oil and gas industries.

Macron also used the summit as an opportunity to raise the issue of Lebanon’s future with Trump. France has deep historical ties to Lebanon and has worked to keep international attention focused on Lebanese sovereignty. During discussions in Evian, Trump repeatedly expressed sympathy toward Lebanon while criticizing Israel and describing friction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s Communist Party, known as the PCC, gave its approval Thursday to an emergency economic package that includes unprecedented free-market measures designed to breathe new life into the country’s struggling economy at a time of intensifying pressure from the United States.

The plan, which has not yet been released to the public, is set to be submitted Thursday to Cuba’s National Assembly. Among its key elements are expanded opportunities for private businesses, greater independence for local municipalities and state-run companies, and steps to draw in more foreign investment — including money from Cubans living overseas.

The announcement follows a wave of unrest on the island, where residents in multiple Havana neighborhoods took to the streets in recent days, banging pots and pans in protest as electricity blackouts continued to spread across Cuba.

In the closing address of the Communist Party session late Wednesday — a speech that was released publicly on Thursday — President Miguel Díaz-Canel defended the island’s resilience while condemning outside pressure. “Cuba resists heroically and creatively, but has endured for too long a barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression,” he said.

Díaz-Canel noted that the emergency plan and the accompanying policy document, drafted by the Communist Party’s Central Committee, were modeled in part on the economic experiences of China and Vietnam — two communist-led nations that have introduced market-style reforms while keeping one-party political control intact.

The policy document will head to the National Assembly for debate during a special session. Like the recent party meeting itself, that session was called without any advance public announcement.

The move comes after months of escalating tensions with the U.S. and high-level conversations between the two countries that have included Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. Washington has imposed numerous sanctions on Cuba and has indicted Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft operated by Cuban exiles based in Miami.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance addressed the situation at a White House press briefing, saying the administration is closely monitoring Cuba’s next moves. “We’re going to see what they do. And obviously, if they do one thing, we’re going to do something,” Vance said. “If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.”

Major shipping companies have started moving their vessels through the Strait of Hormuz following a U.S.-Iran interim agreement to end hostilities, according to maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which announced the development Thursday.

During a media briefing, Lloyd’s List editor in chief Richard Meade noted that for the first time in 110 days, ships belonging to major companies were crossing the strait. The vessels had essentially been stranded there since February.

The strait serves as one of the world’s most vital shipping corridors for oil and natural gas. Prior to the war, the waterway — located off Iran’s coast — carried roughly one-fifth of the globe’s crude oil supply. Its closure during the conflict triggered a historic energy crisis.

Lloyd’s List did not disclose exactly how many ships had made the crossing as of Thursday, but confirmed that tankers operated by major shipowners Grimaldi Group, Cosco, Knutsen, and NYK had successfully passed through. Additionally, two sanctioned crude oil tankers flying the Iranian flag and owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company also entered the strait, according to the firm.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that the U.S. Navy had lifted its blockade of the strait, allowing certain vessels access to Iranian ports.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani posted on X that an Italian merchant vessel belonging to the Grimaldi Group was among the first ships to make the transit following the signing of the agreement.

Separate maritime tracking company Kpler reported observing six confirmed ship crossings on Wednesday, followed by 11 more on Thursday.

Phillip Belcher, marine director of Intertanko — a trade organization representing independent tanker owners worldwide — explained that the strait’s main central route remains closed and contains an estimated 80 mines awaiting clearance. Ships have instead been using a smaller northern route through Iranian waters and a southern route through Omani waters.

“Those two routes now seem to be fully open,” Belcher said.

Still, a complete reopening of the strait could take weeks or even months, and the two alternate routes lack the capacity of the main central passage.

“This is like a highway where the road in the middle is closed and you’re using that hard shoulder,” Belcher said. “That’s now being used as the main route. We need to get back to having the highway open.”

Lloyd’s List estimates that approximately 550 merchant ships will need to prepare to exit the Persian Gulf, a group that includes around 160 tankers, 200 bulk carriers, 60 container ships, and 10 vehicle carriers.

A historic agreement between the United States and Iran — the first deal signed by leaders of both nations since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 — is drawing sharply divided reactions across the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the interim accord on Wednesday, bringing a formal end to a three-month war. Trump chose the Palace of Versailles, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, as the location to formalize the agreement — a venue widely interpreted as symbolizing a reshaping of the international order following the conflict.

The 14-point deal extends an existing ceasefire by 60 days, including in Lebanon, to allow time for negotiations toward a permanent settlement and to address unresolved issues including Iran’s nuclear program.

Supporters are calling it a transformational moment. Lebanese commentator Sarkis Naoum described it as nothing short of a grand bargain. “For Washington and Tehran, this is a grand bargain — the deal of the century, with no turning back,” he said. “The probability of success outweighs the risk of failure. Iran cannot endure further economic pain under sanctions, and Trump has no incentive to start a new war.”

But for Iran’s adversaries — including Israel, Gulf states, and factions in Lebanon — the agreement looks far more troubling. Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz called it a strategic “catastrophe,” arguing that what had been framed as a joint U.S.-Israeli effort to weaken or even bring down the Islamic Republic has instead resulted in American recognition of Iran’s government.

“We went to topple the regime with U.S. backing and ended with Washington effectively giving legitimacy and strengthening the same regime we wanted to bring down,” said Citrinowicz, a senior Iran researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

He contends the deal delivers none of Israel’s core demands: there are no restrictions placed on Iran’s missile program or its regional proxy forces, and no clear roadmap for dismantling its nuclear facilities. Even Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been constrained by the ceasefire framework, which was included at Iran’s insistence.

Citrinowicz warned that Iran has gained significant room to maneuver, and that the deal risks cementing its regional position while leaving Israel increasingly isolated. “Everything is bad,” he said bluntly. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

If the agreement holds, Iran appears to come out ahead: the war ends, sanctions relief is phased in, oil exports resume, and massive reconstruction funding becomes possible — all alongside an implicit acceptance of Iran’s political system by the West.

The United States and Israel launched the war on February 28, beginning with the assassination of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian figures in the opening days of the conflict. The war escalated rapidly, killing more than 7,000 people — mostly in Iran and Lebanon — while driving up global energy prices and raising fears of a food crisis in developing nations.

In Lebanon, the deal is seen as tilting the balance toward Iran, reinforcing the role of Tehran-backed Hezbollah and drawing the country into a broader U.S.-Iran diplomatic framework while sidelining direct talks between Beirut and Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun cautioned last week that Iran does not have the authority to negotiate on Lebanon’s behalf on matters such as the ceasefire terms and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanese territory.

However, sources close to Hezbollah argue the opposite — that the U.S.-Iran track actually strengthens Lebanon’s standing by elevating its situation into a higher-level negotiation, with both Washington and Tehran able to pressure their respective allies toward a settlement.

Concern is running highest in the Gulf, where Iranian attacks during the conflict rattled confidence in long-standing security arrangements. Gulf states have emerged as the war’s biggest losers — left on the sidelines as decisions reshaped their security environment, and now facing the consequences.

Gulf sources say the deal is already changing strategic calculations in the region: eroding trust in U.S. security guarantees, entrenching Iran as a permanent regional force, and pushing countries toward accommodation rather than confrontation with Tehran.

Iran expert Alex Vatanka offered a different perspective, arguing the deal represents the least damaging outcome available after years of failed attempts to pressure Iran through force. “They tried to take Iran down militarily. They couldn’t. The alternative would have been catastrophic — a wider war could have devastated the Gulf for decades,” said Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

He cautioned that the real challenges are still ahead — in carrying out the terms of the deal, resolving the nuclear question, and managing the regional fallout. “It’s big, but it’s not the end of it. It’s just the beginning,” he said.

Some analysts point to Israel as the most unpredictable factor going forward. While few believe Israel would directly derail a process backed by Trump, risks remain — particularly in Lebanon. “Israel has been isolated, after this war, both in the region and in the world,” said one Iranian official, who asked not to be identified.

A second Iranian official added: “Iran got what it wanted… We did not abandon our friends, such as Hezbollah, rather, we were even prepared to go to the extent of walking away from the table and returning to war because of them.”

An interim deal to end the conflict with Iran includes a waiver allowing some sanctioned oil sales to proceed, but the country continues to operate under an extensive and complicated set of international restrictions on its trade and activities.

For decades, Iran has faced sanctions, trade embargoes, and asset freezes imposed by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and other nations. These measures were put in place over concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, its human rights record, and its backing of various groups throughout the region.

Iran is now looking to secure additional relief from those restrictions through ongoing negotiations over its nuclear program, as the next stage of the interim agreement takes shape.

Here is a breakdown of the key sanctions currently in place against Iran, which range from sweeping trade prohibitions to targeted measures against specific individuals and organizations.

UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS

The U.N.’s sanctions against Iran are directly connected to its nuclear program and alleged failures to meet its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The U.N. Security Council passed resolutions imposing sanctions in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Those measures included an arms embargo, restrictions on the supply of certain nuclear-related materials and technology, and asset freezes targeting specific companies and individuals.

The resolutions also prohibited Iran from conducting any activities related to developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

While the funds and assets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s state-owned shipping company were frozen, the resolutions did not block Iranian oil exports.

Following the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — commonly known as the JCPOA — the Security Council established a timeline for lifting its sanctions against Iran. However, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and Iran subsequently stopped honoring some of its commitments under the deal. The U.N. sanctions were then reinstated through what is known as a “snapback” mechanism last year.

UNITED STATES SANCTIONS

The United States first imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979, after revolutionary students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took diplomats hostage. Many additional layers of sanctions have been added over the years, targeting Iran’s support for groups the U.S. considers terrorist organizations, as well as its nuclear activities.

A major complicating factor is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the most powerful single entity in Iran and deeply intertwined with its economy — has been designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. Treasury Department administers the sanctions, but because they were enacted through different legal authorities and mechanisms, there is no simple or swift way to remove all of them at once.

The legal authority to impose sanctions stems from two laws passed in the 1970s that give presidents emergency powers requiring annual renewal, as well as from legislation passed in 1996 and 2017 that specifically targets Iran and certain other countries.

Sanctions that the president put in place through executive orders can be reversed by Trump with a single signature. Those include freezes on billions of dollars in Iranian assets, an arms embargo, a prohibition on all trade with or investment in Iran, and a ban on purchasing Iranian oil.

More difficult to undo are the sanctions enacted by Congress, which did not include exceptions or waivers tied to Iran’s behavior regarding human rights or its support for groups Washington considers terrorist organizations.

Numerous companies, individuals, and government entities have been specifically designated under these sanctions, and removing each designation could be a lengthy process.

EUROPEAN UNION SANCTIONS

In 2012, the EU imposed embargoes on Iranian oil exports, froze assets held by Iran’s Central Bank, and halted trade in precious metals and petrochemicals with Iran.

The bloc also placed restrictions on foreign trade, financial services, and the energy and technology sectors.

That same year, some Iranian banks were cut off from the SWIFT international payments system under EU directives, effectively severing large portions of Iran’s financial network from the rest of the world.

While certain sanctions were lifted under the JCPOA, they were later reinstated. Additional sanctions have since been aimed at specific individuals and particular components used in missiles and drones.

The EU has also sanctioned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and imposed new measures this year in response to Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.

WHERE ARE IRAN’S FROZEN ASSETS?

Iran has tens of billions of dollars sitting in foreign banks — money earned primarily from oil and gas exports — that it is unable to access due to the various sanctions targeting its banking and energy sectors.

Countries where Iran has had billions of dollars from oil sales locked in inaccessible bank accounts include South Korea, China, Japan, Luxembourg, and Iraq.

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s lawmakers cast votes Thursday in favor of constitutional changes that would delay upcoming elections and stretch the current president’s time in office from five years to seven.

The move shines a light on a striking reality across Africa: some of the planet’s oldest leaders govern a continent whose population is among the youngest in the world.

The country’s National Assembly passed the constitutional amendments by a wide margin. The changes would push elections originally scheduled for 2028 back to 2030, adding two years to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term. The bill must still clear the Senate, where passage is also widely anticipated.

Should the legislation become law, Mnangagwa would join the ranks of some of Africa’s oldest and longest-serving heads of state. He first took power in 2017 following a military-led removal of the late Robert Mugabe, who was 93 at the time and held the distinction of being the world’s oldest sitting head of state. The bill also proposes changing how the president is chosen — moving from a direct public vote to selection by members of parliament.

A recent analysis from the Pew Research Center found that 16 of the world’s 186 national leaders are older than U.S. President Donald Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday last week. Seven of the ten oldest leaders on the global stage are from Africa — a continent where the median age is roughly 20 and more than 60% of residents are under 30, according to United Nations data.

Blessing Vava, a researcher focused on democracy and governance, put it plainly: “The population in Africa is getting younger, but the average age of presidents is rising, and tenures are getting longer.”

Vava, who also serves as director of the Johannesburg-based Southern Africa Coalition for Democracy and Accountability, added that Zimbabwe’s situation is far from unique. “Zimbabwe is not an exception. It’s the continental norm. Zimbabwe is just one data point in a much broader story of constitutional erosion for political survival.”

Cameroon’s Paul Biya, 93, holds the title of the world’s oldest sitting head of state. He has governed since 1982 — a year after Ronald Reagan took office in the United States — in a country where roughly 70% of the population is under 35. The U.S. has cycled through seven presidents in the time Biya has held power.

In neighboring Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled for 47 years. At 84, he is Africa’s longest-serving leader and has gone so far as to name his own son as vice president.

Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara, also 84, was sworn in for a fourth presidential term in December 2025 following an election that saw low voter participation and civil unrest.

Malawi returned Peter Mutharika, now 85, to the presidency last year. He previously served as the country’s leader from 2014 to 2020.

In Uganda, 81-year-old Yoweri Museveni — an American ally on regional security matters who has drawn criticism from opponents for authoritarian governance — took the oath of office for a seventh straight term in May, pushing his total time in power to four decades.

Mnangagwa, Museveni, Ouattara, Biya, and Obiang have each altered or done away with constitutional limits that were designed to restrict how long a leader could remain in office.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies notes that leadership patterns across the continent’s 54 nations vary widely. Around 20 African countries actively maintain term limits, while others have eliminated or worked around them. Some nations are under military rule, with constitutional protections suspended entirely, allowing entrenched leaders to stay in power indefinitely.

That said, a younger generation of leaders has emerged in parts of the continent in recent years. Bassirou Diomaye Faye became one of Africa’s youngest elected leaders when he won Senegal’s 2024 presidential election at 44. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 49, has held office since 2018. Some younger figures have come to power through military action — Mahamat Idriss Deby, 42, took control of Chad after his father was killed fighting rebels in 2021, then won a democratic election in 2024. In Burkina Faso, army captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a 2022 coup and, at 38, is currently Africa’s youngest ruler. Military takeovers have also brought younger leaders to power in Mali and Guinea.

Despite these examples, analysts warn that much of the continent’s political landscape is still dominated by older elites, leaving younger generations with few pathways to democratic leadership.

Vava summed up the imbalance: “So you get 25-year-olds making up the majority of a country’s population, but 75-year-olds decide the candidate or rule. Youth are mobilized for votes and not for power.”

PARIS — What started as a lavish dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles turned into an unexpected diplomatic moment, as President Donald Trump chose the historic setting to sign an initial agreement with Iran.

Trump made the announcement in a casual, offhand manner Wednesday as he was wrapping up three days of high-level diplomatic talks at a G7 summit in France. As he climbed into his vehicle to depart the country, he told reporters simply: “We signed in Versailles.”

Video footage shared on X by both Macron and a White House aide captured the moment — Trump seated at the dinner table, signing a printed copy of the agreement. He then passed the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Macron, seated beside Trump, offered his congratulations: “Good job. Bravo.” Those in attendance responded with applause.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, who was among the dinner guests, said Thursday that the signing caught him completely off guard. The original plan had called for a formal signing ceremony to take place Friday in Switzerland.

Lescure recalled watching Rubio slip away from the table — apparently to retrieve or print the memorandum of agreement — and then return to complete the signing. “We cleared the plates,” Lescure said, describing how the dinner setting was quickly adapted for the occasion.

When asked whether Macron had prior knowledge of the signing, Lescure suggested the French president may have been told shortly before it happened, noting that Trump and Macron arrived at the dinner together. “In any case, for us, ministers of the French government, it was a surprise,” he said.

A French official, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Rubio and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reviewed the memorandum of understanding together before presenting it to Trump for his signature.

WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that the U.S. Navy has cleared a path for more than a dozen ships to reach Iranian ports, effectively ending a naval blockade as part of a newly reached agreement to bring the war to a close.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Vance said oil is once again flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. He noted that more than 12.5 million barrels passed through that critical shipping channel on Wednesday night alone.

“So we’re also honoring our end of the early part of the agreement on the military side,” Vance said, calling it an early and tangible benefit of the deal. He pushed back against critics who argue the agreement favors Iran.

Vance also revealed plans to travel to Switzerland for follow-up discussions on the Iran deal, though he was uncertain about the exact timing. He had previously been expected to lead negotiations focused on reducing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and restoring oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, two oil tankers departed Iran and crossed through the U.S. military blockade without being intercepted. A merchant shipping tracking service reported the vessels were carrying a combined 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil.

Iranian state media described shipping at the country’s southern ports as having returned to normal, though officials noted the Strait of Hormuz remains under the supervision and control of the Iranian military, with transit through the waterway still requiring coordination.

Maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported that major shipowners have begun routing vessels through the strait since the agreement was signed. Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, said during a media briefing that for the first time in 110 days, ships belonging to major companies are moving through the strait after being effectively stranded there since February.

Among the companies with vessels now transiting the strait are Grimaldi Group, Cosco, Knutsen, and NYK. Lloyd’s List also reported that two crude oil tankers flagged under Iran and owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company — both under sanctions — have entered the strait.

However, Phillip Belcher, marine director of Intertanko, a trade organization representing independent tanker owners worldwide, cautioned that the main central route through the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, with an estimated 80 mines still needing to be cleared. Ships have instead been using a smaller Northern route through Iranian waters and a Southern route through Omani waters.

The agreement calls for a permanent halt to hostilities and opens a 60-day negotiating period to finalize a deal on Iran’s nuclear future, though the door has been left open to resume military action. Critics say the deal appears to hand Iran several early concessions while requiring little in return at this stage.

Under the terms, Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile — believed to be buried under rubble — must at minimum be diluted under international oversight. Iran also commits to not acquiring or developing nuclear weapons, a pledge it has made before. Beyond those points, the specifics of the nuclear program’s future remain to be negotiated.

Much of the agreement is aimed at restoring conditions that existed before the war, including a ceasefire, renewed diplomatic talks over Iran’s nuclear activities, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital passage for global oil and natural gas supplies whose closure triggered a significant worldwide energy crisis.

LIMA — Right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori appears poised to claim victory in Peru’s presidential race by a narrow but expanding margin, with just 0.6% of ballots still awaiting review as of Thursday. Her leftist opponent, Roberto Sanchez, responded by alleging irregularities at the electoral authority and calling on supporters to take to the streets in protest.

Fujimori, running for the presidency for the fourth time, currently holds a lead of 39,115 votes — a gap that has kept the South American nation in suspense since the June 7 runoff election.

As of Thursday morning, roughly 140,000 votes tied to challenged ballots remained under review. Approximately 60% of those contested votes originated from Lima and from Peruvians casting ballots from abroad — regions where Fujimori has historically performed stronger than Sanchez.

Gonzalo Marquez, who leads data consultancy Caleidos, said the remaining votes are unlikely to shift the outcome. “These are areas where Keiko Fujimori should have an advantage,” he said. “So there is no possibility, let’s say, that the result will change.”

The most recent figures from Peru’s elections office show Fujimori, the daughter of the late former President Alberto Fujimori, holding 50.11% of valid votes, compared to 49.89% for Sanchez, with 99.38% of ballots tallied.

If she prevails, Fujimori would make history as the first woman elected directly to Peru’s presidency. She has lost three previous runoffs, including a 2021 defeat at the hands of leftist Pedro Castillo by a margin of just 44,200 votes.

While the painstaking review of disputed ballots continued, Sanchez’s party submitted legal appeals aimed at invalidating votes counted in Fujimori’s favor and announced plans for demonstrations in Lima on Friday.

Election monitoring missions from both the Organization of American States and the European Union independently concluded that the voting process had unfolded normally. Both organizations called on the candidates and the Peruvian public to wait for the final official results before drawing conclusions.

LONDON (AP) — A former U.K. border official and a retired Hong Kong police officer were handed prison sentences Thursday for carrying out espionage operations targeting dissidents and critics of Beijing who were living in Britain.

Prosecutors said Peter Wai, a Border Force officer, and Bill Yuen, a former superintendent with the Hong Kong Police, disguised themselves as law enforcement or intelligence personnel to surveil and collect information on Hong Kong dissidents and supporters of the pro-democracy movement.

Among those targeted was former Hong Kong lawmaker Nathan Law, as well as activists the pair referred to as “cockroaches” and British politicians who had spoken out against China, according to prosecutors.

Last month, a jury found both men — who hold Chinese-British citizenship — guilty of violating the National Security Act by aiding a foreign intelligence service. Wai faced an additional conviction of misconduct in a public office after investigators found he had used a government computer to look up individuals who were of interest to Hong Kong authorities.

At London’s Central Criminal Court, Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb sentenced Wai, 41, to 10 years behind bars and handed Yuen, 66, an eight-year prison term.

The judge described the pair’s actions as “deliberate, concerted, and serious,” noting that their conduct left the people they targeted living in fear and distress.

Before joining the U.K. Border Force, Wai had served as an officer with London’s Metropolitan Police. Yuen held the position of office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, which serves as the official overseas representative of Hong Kong’s government.

Helen Flanagan, commander for Counter Terrorism Policing London, described the conduct as deeply alarming. “The activity of Wai and Yuen was truly chilling,” she said.

“They were spying and targeting individuals in the U.K. who were pro-democracy campaigners and were simply protesting against the Hong Kong and Chinese government and authorities and seeking sanctuary in the U.K.,” Flanagan added.

Following last month’s convictions, Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang was called in to the British Foreign Office. China’s Embassy in the U.K. responded by calling the case a political farce designed to support anti-China individuals who had fled to Britain.

The Hong Kong government, meanwhile, maintained that the allegations “are absolutely unrelated” to the government or the Economic and Trade Office, and accused British authorities of building the case on baseless accusations and manipulating legal proceedings to secure a guilty verdict.

A major oil refinery in Moscow owned by Gazpromneft has been hit by a second drone attack in less than a week, with industry sources reporting that multiple processing units were damaged and several fires broke out across the facility.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Thursday via Telegram that the region had been targeted in what he described as a large-scale drone raid, with several of the unmanned aircraft striking the refinery. The same plant had already come under attack on June 16, which forced it to shut down operations.

According to industry sources, Thursday’s strike caused damage to the Euro+ combined oil refining unit, a facility that was brought online in 2020 as part of the refinery’s modernization effort. That unit includes a crude distillation section capable of processing roughly 140,000 barrels of oil per day — accounting for about 47% of the refinery’s total capacity — along with a catalytic reformer and a diesel hydrotreating unit.

Beyond the Euro+ unit, sources indicated that secondary processing units, pipelines connecting different parts of the plant, and other auxiliary equipment were also damaged. Storage tanks holding refined oil products were struck and caught fire.

Gazpromneft, the company that owns and operates the refinery, had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.

The June 16 attack had already dealt a significant blow to the facility. During that earlier strike, one of the refinery’s two main crude distillation units — known as CDU-6, with a normal processing capacity of around 160,000 barrels per day, or 53% of the plant’s total output — was damaged and caught fire.

Sources said the refinery had been planning to bring the Euro+ unit back online midweek and operate at roughly half capacity while repairs were carried out on CDU-6. Thursday’s attack disrupted those plans.

The refinery sits in the southeastern section of Moscow and plays an important role in supplying fuel to the Russian capital. According to sources, the facility processed 11.6 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024 — equivalent to approximately 230,000 barrels per day — and produced 2.9 million tons of gasoline, 3.2 million tons of diesel, and 1.3 million tons of bitumen during that period.

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s lower house of parliament gave its approval Thursday to a bill that would lengthen presidential terms from five years to seven, a move that could keep President Emmerson Mnangagwa in power until 2030.

The legislation cleared the chamber with 216 votes in favor, surpassing the 187-vote threshold required for a two-thirds majority.

The bill now advances to the upper house of parliament, where it is widely expected to pass as well. Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party maintains control of that chamber through traditional leaders and allied proxies who typically vote in line with the party.

Indications that Mnangagwa, who is 83 years old, was looking to remain in office beyond the conclusion of his second term in 2028 surfaced roughly two years ago. Supporters began chanting at ZANU-PF rallies that he needed additional time to finish his agenda. The party formally resolved last year to amend the constitution to extend presidential terms, and the proposal received cabinet approval in February.

Opponents of the bill argue it is simply a mechanism for Mnangagwa to cling to power longer than the current constitution allows. Supporters, however, contend the change will improve accountability and promote political stability.

Mnangagwa carries the nickname “the crocodile,” a creature depicted in Zimbabwean tradition as both cunning and merciless. He rose to the presidency following a military coup in 2017 that removed longtime ruler Robert Mugabe, who had governed the country since it gained independence in 1980. Prior to their falling out in the months before the coup, Mnangagwa had been among Mugabe’s closest allies, holding senior government roles including the position of vice president.

Legal challenges to the term extension were filed by some activists and veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war, but those cases were dismissed from the court roll earlier this week due to technical procedural issues.

Zimbabwe is not alone in this trend. Other African nations, including Cameroon and Uganda, have seen their leaders alter laws to extend their time in office — a pattern that has taken hold across a continent where some of the world’s oldest heads of state govern populations that skew among the youngest on Earth.

BOGOTA — A lawyer and businessman who had never held political office before last year has quickly become the leading candidate to become Colombia’s next president, riding a wave of support for his tough stance on crime, smaller government, and a return to oil exploration.

Abelardo De La Espriella, known among his supporters as “The Tiger,” has positioned himself as an outsider who can fix Colombia’s struggling economy and bring order to a nation troubled by illegal armed groups and drug trafficking.

“I will dare to do what needs to be done within the framework of the Constitution and the law to save and rebuild Colombia,” De La Espriella told Reuters in a February interview. “It requires character, passion, courage, and determination, and I am the tiger for that.”

De La Espriella built momentum throughout the early part of the year with his hardline rhetoric, winning the first round of voting in late May with 43.7% of the vote. He has led every major poll ahead of Sunday’s runoff election against leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda.

The two candidates represent sharply different visions for the country’s future. Cepeda has pledged to continue and expand the economic and social reforms of current leftist President Gustavo Petro, while also pursuing peace negotiations with armed groups that have waged conflict against the Colombian state for decades.

De La Espriella holds Petro responsible for Colombia’s economic troubles and security problems. He has promised to shrink the size of the government by 40%, expand the tax base, and lower corporate taxes in order to stimulate private-sector job creation.

He also wants to resume oil exploration and permit fracking, with the goal of nearly doubling oil output to 1.3 million barrels per day.

“Colombia is going through its darkest hours,” De La Espriella said to Reuters. “At the end of the day, it’s not a battle between (Petro’s) heir apparent Ivan Cepeda and me, it’s a battle between totalitarianism and democracy, between the past and the future, between statism and economic freedom.”

De La Espriella’s business interests span a wide range of industries, including wine, rum, clothing, and real estate. However, an investigation by the Colombian journalism outlet La Silla Vacia found that many of those businesses have been dissolved, carry debt, and lost money in 2024, with his law practice being his most financially successful venture.

The candidate says he is funding his campaign and his “Defenders of the Homeland” movement entirely on his own, without backing from political parties or business interests. Reuters was unable to independently confirm that claim.

De La Espriella, who is 47 years old, frequently uses a military-style salute at campaign events and in advertisements, despite having no military service record. He is often seen wearing luxury watches and designer sunglasses and sporting a carefully maintained beard — an image that has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who has famously called himself the “world’s coolest dictator.”

Bukele’s government implemented strict security crackdowns and built large-scale detention facilities, driving El Salvador’s crime rates to some of the lowest in Central America. More than 90,000 people have been detained under his policies, drawing sharp criticism from human rights organizations.

De La Espriella has denied he is copying Bukele’s approach, but he has proposed building 10 large-scale prisons in Colombia.

“In my government there will be no peace processes. Any bandit who does not surrender will be killed, as is the law,” he stated. “And if they do surrender, they will have to be imprisoned in a real jail.”

The candidate has also faced scrutiny over his legal career, including his past representation of Alex Saab, who faces charges in the United States alleging he laundered money on behalf of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. De La Espriella has also represented clients connected to corruption cases, financial crimes, and right-wing paramilitary groups. He maintains that his work as an attorney does not make him complicit in any wrongdoing.

A married father of four, De La Espriella grew up in the Caribbean city of Monteria and is known as an enthusiastic performer of vallenato, the traditional folk music of that region.

BRUSSELS — For the first time in 16 years, European Union leaders gathered in Brussels for a summit without Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán in the room.

Over the years, prime ministers, chancellors, and presidents have come and gone, but Orbán remained a constant presence in Brussels’ corridors of power. He became known for steering Europe toward the political right and championing a form of nationalist populism that has gained traction across the continent and earned admiration from the Make America Great Again movement in the United States.

But after losing a critical election in April, Orbán — now Hungary’s top opposition figure — finds himself watching from the outside for the first time in a generation. His successor, Péter Magyar, is now seated alongside leaders such as Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, advancing policies that are likely to conflict with Orbán’s worldview.

While the EU summit opened with discussions on increasing support for Ukraine and other matters, Orbán was across town participating in a Thursday gathering of his Patriots for Europe party group — a coalition of far-right parties from across the bloc that makes up the third-largest caucus in the European Parliament.

Despite the stinging election defeat — which many EU leaders welcomed with relief and many observers interpreted as a rejection of his confrontational stance toward the EU and his close relationship with Russia — Orbán has not wavered in his conviction that far-right movements across Europe are approaching a major turning point.

At a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Orbán said his loss at the polls had not slowed “the rise of patriotic political organizations, communities, and parties across Europe.”

“No one election loss can stop this historical process,” he said. “Anti-migration and sovereigntist political forces in Europe will continue to grow stronger in the coming months and years.”

Orbán envisions Patriots for Europe as a vehicle to reshape the EU according to his priorities — reducing the bloc’s authority over rule of law and democracy, taking a hardline stance on immigration, and fostering closer ties with Russia and China.

He had long been the primary obstacle to Ukraine’s path toward EU membership. However, Hungary’s new government, led by Magyar and his center-right Tisza party, has committed to working more cooperatively with the EU. Last week, Hungary dropped its veto on launching Ukraine’s accession process, following weeks of negotiations with Kyiv over restoring minority rights for ethnic Hungarians living in western Ukraine.

“Hungary obviously had issues that they were able to resolve to allow this to happen this week,” said Thomas Byrne, Minister for European Affairs for Ireland, which is set to take over the rotating EU presidency in July for a six-month term. During that period, accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova, among others, are expected to move forward more rapidly.

Europe’s far-right parties have indeed notched some recent wins. France’s National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, made gains in municipal elections earlier this year, while Alternative for Germany, known as AfD, has been climbing in opinion polls. Orbán ally Andrej Babis, the populist leader of the Czech Republic, returned to the prime minister’s office last year and is currently the only Patriots for Europe member heading an EU-member nation.

The far right also helped push through a significant overhaul of the EU’s migration policy, made possible through an alliance with the center-right European People’s Party. Human rights organizations sharply criticized the changes, which expand the bloc’s surveillance capabilities, increase deportations of migrants, and establish detention facilities outside the EU known as “return hubs.” When the right-wing coalition passed the migration reform on Wednesday, far-right and center-right lawmakers erupted in cheers inside the European Parliament chamber in Strasbourg, France.

“Send them back,” they chanted.

Still, cracks have begun to show within Europe’s far-right coalition, driven by disagreements over the United States and Israel’s war in Iran and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, a territory belonging to EU member Denmark.

And with Orbán no longer able to veto EU decisions — a strategy that had increasingly come to define his role at bloc summits — Ukraine’s biggest hurdle to beginning its EU membership process has been cleared.

BEIJING — China has formally named Cai Qi, the nation’s fifth-highest-ranking official, as the new leader of the Communist Party’s premier ideology and training institution, further strengthening his role as one of President Xi Jinping’s most trusted inner circle members.

Cai joined the party’s seven-member Politburo Standing Committee — the highest level of political authority in China, led by Xi — back in 2022. He also serves as director of the party’s General Office, a role that effectively makes him Xi’s chief of staff.

The appointment carries significant historical weight. Both of China’s two most recent top leaders, Xi and Hu Jintao, previously led the prestigious Central Party School before rising to the country’s top position.

At 70 years old, Cai now brings together the party’s organizational structure, ideological direction, and administrative operations under one Standing Committee member — a concentration of influence that is considered rare within China’s political system.

The human resources ministry announced Thursday that Cai has replaced Chen Xi, 72, as president of the National Academy of Governance. Founded in 1994, the academy has been jointly run with the Central Party School since 2018 as a single institution under party leadership. Its primary responsibilities include training senior Chinese government officials and guiding party ideology.

Thursday’s formal announcement came after state media reported earlier this month that Cai had already attended a spring semester graduation ceremony at the school and academy in his capacity as president.

Cai’s relationship with Xi goes back many years, rooted in overlapping careers in China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. In 2017, as Xi began his second term leading the Communist Party, Cai was elevated to the then 25-member Politburo, the party’s second-highest decision-making body.

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — Adnan Kaour made his way back to the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Thursday, just one week after Israel ordered all residents to leave. Once celebrated as a beloved summer destination, the city now bears the scars of heavy bombardment.

Israel had followed those evacuation warnings with widespread airstrikes, which it said were aimed at the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

What Kaour discovered upon his return was devastating. The family apartment he cherished — with its view of the Mediterranean Sea — had been reduced to a pile of rubble and broken glass.

His visit home came the same day the United States and Iran announced a deal aimed at ending the broader Middle East conflict. The agreement also includes provisions calling for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, though what that means on the ground remains uncertain.

Notably, neither Israel nor Hezbollah are parties to the agreement. Iran is demanding that Israel pull back from the large portion of southern Lebanon it currently occupies, but the interim deal’s language does not explicitly require that — it only guarantees Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not yet responded publicly to the deal’s signing. Israel has pledged to maintain its military presence in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has declared its continued commitment to resisting Israeli forces. Clashes between the two sides were still being reported as recently as Wednesday in towns and villages across southern Lebanon, raising doubts about whether the deal will hold.

For the people of southern Lebanon, already worn down by years of crisis, cautious optimism is tempered by deep skepticism — too many ceasefire announcements have come and gone without stopping the violence.

Kaour, who lives in Germany but typically spends summers in Tyre, was abroad with his family when an Israeli strike hit their street without warning last month. When he returned Thursday, he found his building was still standing — a sweets shop and an electronics store occupy the ground floor — while the structures around it had been completely leveled.

Inside his apartment, however, the walls had been blown out and the windows shattered. He said he felt relief knowing his family had not been there. They all made it out safely.

“I’m hopeful for peace, and God willing this is the end of the war, and everyone can go back to their homes,” he said. “We are living abroad, but our minds are here in our country.”

Outside, neighbors quickly gathered to begin clearing away the debris.

One floor above Kaour’s apartment, his neighbor Samih Haidar had also just returned to find his door sealed shut with wooden boards. He tried kicking them down but couldn’t break through. He waited anxiously until two men working nearby came and unscrewed the bolts.

Haidar squeezed through the opening and stepped inside. He had rented the apartment to a family displaced from another part of the south — people connected to a trusted friend — and had no idea what to expect.

What he found stopped him cold: broken furniture, shattered glass, debris everywhere, and a burned-out kitchen. Neighbors told him the kitchen caught fire after a nearby strike. He walked slowly through each room, quietly recording the damage on his phone. He has no idea where the family went — like so many others, he assumes they fled Tyre.

Still, he said he wants to hold onto hope.

“We want things to work out and live in safety, so there can be stability for us and everyone else,” Haidar said.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported multiple Israeli drone strikes Thursday morning in the country’s south, including one that struck a vehicle in the town of Kfar Tebnit, killing one person and critically injuring another. Israel declined to comment on the strikes.

About 80 kilometers — roughly 50 miles — to the north, displaced families were camped along the waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. Many have been living in tents for months, surviving day to day with no clear path forward. Others sleep on benches or mattresses laid out on the ground.

Many of those displaced say they have little confidence the US-Iran deal will last or that they will have anything to return to. In border communities near Israel, entire Lebanese villages have been nearly wiped out.

“I haven’t felt relieved at all,” said Mohammed Ashmar, who was displaced from the border village of Deir Seryan. Sitting near his tent with a cup of coffee in hand, he added: “Until I get back to my home … I won’t be convinced of anything.”

According to Lebanese officials, the war between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced more than one million people and claimed nearly 3,900 lives. Netanyahu’s office reports that approximately 30 Israeli soldiers and one defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, while two civilians have died in northern Israel.

Lebanon’s Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed, speaking Thursday during a visit by foreign dignitaries, said the country faces both immediate humanitarian needs and the enormous challenge of planning for the return of displaced families and the rebuilding of devastated communities.

“The Lebanese people deserve peace,” she said. “They deserve to return safely to their homes, rebuild their communities, and look to the future with confidence and hope.”

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has made tentative diplomatic contact with Moscow, hoping to establish a line of communication that would prevent Europe from being shut out of any future negotiations to end Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, officials confirmed Thursday.

The disclosure came on the same day Russian officials reported that Ukraine had carried out one of its most significant drone attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than four years ago. A major oil refinery near Moscow was struck for the second time in a single week, and commercial air traffic at Moscow-area airports was thrown into disarray.

Even as the fighting continues, the EU has been working behind the scenes to restore a diplomatic connection with Moscow while simultaneously maintaining its firm backing of Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, has been attempting to bypass both Europe and Ukraine entirely, pushing to negotiate Ukraine’s future directly with Washington.

“In the past few weeks, brief contacts were made at diplomatic level to open communication channels but nothing was discussed on substance,” said an EU official familiar with the effort, who spoke anonymously given the sensitivity of the matter. A second official, also speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, confirmed the outreach to Russia is underway but would not elaborate.

The first official went on to explain the reasoning: “In any future scenario, the EU has specific interests that will need to be defended, therefore it is important to have established diplomatic channels with Russia. The EU is not a mediator. It supports Ukraine in its efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

The Kremlin had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. Putin has consistently argued that Europe has no role to play in resolving the conflict, though he has stopped short of saying he would refuse to speak with EU representatives altogether.

“We have never refused contacts with representatives of the European Union in any format,” Putin said earlier this month. “We are not rejecting contacts. If they want to talk, they know how to reach us. They can pick up the phone and call. If they want to come, they are welcome to do so. It is not Russia that is refusing engagement.”

Officials said European Council President Antonio Costa “has been coordinating closely with European leaders on possible engagement with Russia and the issues to be discussed when the right moment comes.”

The news broke just as EU leaders were arriving in Brussels for their summer summit, with Ukraine expected to dominate the discussions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to speak before the bloc’s 27 member-state leaders, who are working to deepen their relationship with Kyiv.

Earlier this week, Ukraine formally began the process of applying for EU membership, a milestone that will require years of political reform even as the country continues to fight off the Russian invasion.

The developments also follow a gathering of the world’s seven major industrialized nations held this week in the French town of Evian-Les-Bains, where European leaders succeeded in getting Trump to join fellow G7 leaders in pledging “unwavering support for Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine secured important commitments of continued support from world leaders at the G7 summit in France, including from the United States.

WARSAW — Poland’s Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz announced Thursday that the United States is receptive to the idea of establishing a permanent American military base in Poland.

The Polish minister made the statement following a face-to-face meeting with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Brussels, describing the U.S. Department of War as open to Poland’s proposal.

However, Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that no formal decision has been made at this point.

Polish authorities announced Thursday that they have arrested a man suspected of carrying out the fatal shooting of a Russian activist who had been a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin.

The suspect, a 36-year-old man traveling on a passport from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, was identified by Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński during a press conference held in Warsaw.

The victim, Robert Kuzovkov — who went by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky — was shot at close range on Monday in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska, located near the border with Belarus. The shooting occurred in the middle of the day, close to where Kuzovkov lived.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the incident Wednesday, stating that the circumstances surrounding the death point strongly toward a deliberate political killing.

“Everything points to this being a political murder,” Tusk said. “But we must wait for evidence or more concrete indications. Because if that was the case — if it was ordered by Russia — then it is an extremely serious matter internationally. It would constitute state terrorism.”

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised his country’s relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as he hosted a gathering in Kazan designed to deepen economic and political cooperation with the regional bloc.

Leaders attending the Kazan summit agreed to further build upon the “strategic partnership” between Russia and ASEAN member nations, which include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam.

“It is a strategic partnership that serves as an essential stabilizing factor in the Asia-Pacific amidst geopolitical turbulence, contributing to the formation of a balanced security architecture and equitable mutually beneficial cooperation,” Putin said during the summit, which celebrated the 35th anniversary of Russia-ASEAN relations.

The summit’s agenda covered an exchange of views on global and regional matters, a review of progress in Russia-ASEAN relations, and discussions about future areas of cooperation.

Putin pointed out that Russia and ASEAN have “expanded the scope of practical cooperation in such areas as combating new security challenges and threats, as well as trade and investment, energy, agriculture, digitalization, science and technology, tourism, and humanitarian contacts.”

A declaration signed by summit participants reaffirmed a shared commitment to a “just multipolar world as guided by international law and the principles of the U.N. Charter to promote mutual benefit and respect for all states.”

The leaders described the Kazan summit as a “significant milestone” in Russia-ASEAN relations and pledged to maintain high-level contact between Russia and the bloc in order to advance their “strategic partnership.”

In addition to the main summit sessions, Putin held one-on-one meetings with several ASEAN leaders. The summit was co-chaired by Putin and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose nation currently holds the association’s rotating presidency.

ASEAN’s membership is diverse in its global alignments — some countries, including the Philippines, are considered close to the United States, while others maintain strong trade and security relationships with China and Russia.

Several ASEAN members, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, have either purchased Russian crude oil or signaled interest in doing so after global fuel prices surged in the aftermath of the war in Iran.

BOGOTA — Colombian senator Ivan Cepeda, a 63-year-old leftist activist whose early life was defined by political exile and the murder of his father, is making a bid for the country’s presidency, pledging to build on and expand the progressive reforms of his predecessor.

Cepeda held the lead in surveys heading into the first-round vote in late May, but ultimately came in second place behind right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella, who is now considered the frontrunner heading into Sunday’s deciding vote.

The two candidates offer dramatically different paths for Colombia. Cepeda has pledged to continue and intensify the economic and social agenda of President Gustavo Petro — the nation’s first leftist president and a former guerrilla. De La Espriella, meanwhile, has promised a tougher stance on crime and fewer restrictions on business and industry.

Investors, conservative voters, and the business sector have largely aligned with De La Espriella. Cepeda has drawn support from coastal and Amazonian regions, the traditional political left, and voters in Bogota. He argues that the country’s entrenched inequality demands what he describes as “social capitalism” — a framework centered on poverty reduction.

Among his policy proposals: higher taxes on Colombia’s wealthiest citizens, opening state contracts to community organizations, distributing 1 million hectares of land to victims of the country’s armed conflict, and expanding financial support for low-income individuals and the elderly.

“It is a program that proposes social reforms that I want not only to be deepened and consolidated, but also to be radicalized in some cases,” Cepeda told Reuters in an interview last week.

Cepeda served as a facilitator in negotiations that produced a 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the former FARC guerrilla organization. He has vowed to press forward with Petro’s contentious efforts to broker peace with other illegal armed groups that have been in conflict with the state for decades.

Following the first round, Cepeda has moderated certain positions, expressing a desire for broader political consensus on reforms and stepping back from earlier plans to pursue a new national constitution.

“I am a democrat, I am going to run a government strictly adhering to the Constitution and the law,” he said.

Cepeda’s academic background spans philosophy, law, and political science, studied across Bulgaria, France, and Colombia. He rose to greater national prominence after former President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest on fraud and bribery charges — a case in which Cepeda was recognized as one of several victims.

Cepeda has been connected to left-wing politics since childhood. Both of his parents were communist leaders, and the family endured two separate periods of political exile — first in Havana and later in the former Czechoslovakia.

His father, Manuel Cepeda, was shot and killed in 1994 while traveling by car in Bogota. The younger Cepeda has recounted that he was riding a bus to university when he spotted his father’s body at what he initially assumed was a traffic accident. In 2010, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Colombian state bore responsibility for Manuel Cepeda’s killing, which was carried out by military and paramilitary forces.

Cepeda is married to Pilar Rueda, who recently stepped down from her role as an advisor to the special tribunal established to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses connected to Colombia’s ongoing internal conflict.

His political opponents have alleged that he maintains close connections to former FARC leadership — accusations he has firmly denied.

The most recent polling shows Cepeda trailing with 44.8% support compared to De La Espriella’s 52.6% ahead of Sunday’s runoff.

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into how Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei built a global investment portfolio that reportedly has ties to major Wall Street financial institutions, according to a Bloomberg News report published Thursday citing officials with knowledge of the matter.

The investigation is part of a wider inquiry into alleged money laundering and corruption. Authorities are also examining financial transactions connected to companies under Khamenei’s oversight, the report indicated.

Federal investigators are looking closely at the involvement of American banks in those transactions. Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the probe, identified JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup as two of the financial institutions being scrutinized.

When contacted for comment, JPMorgan and the Department of Justice did not provide a response to media inquiries. Citigroup chose not to comment on the matter.

Bloomberg News noted that the existence of an investigation does not automatically mean criminal charges will be brought against anyone. The report emphasized that Khamenei himself remains the central focus of the probe.

Khamenei rose to become Iran’s supreme leader following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike. As supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei holds ultimate authority over the country’s most critical decisions, including its foreign policy direction and nuclear program.

European Union leaders convened in Brussels on Thursday to discuss potential new and stronger steps to address the bloc’s rapidly growing trade imbalance with China, as well as the EU’s deep dependence on the world’s second-largest economy for rare earth minerals and other essential supplies.

EU diplomats indicate that all 27 member nations are increasingly aligned in recognizing the severity of the trade deficit problem with China, which has now reached roughly €1 billion — about $1.15 billion — every single day. The concern is heightened by the fact that U.S. tariffs have already reduced European access to the American market.

One EU diplomat captured the urgency of the moment bluntly: “We live in a world of wolves now. We no longer live in a world of pink ponies and rainbows.”

The numbers underscore the concern. China’s goods trade surplus with the EU reached €360.6 billion in 2025, a 15% jump compared to 2024. That gap has continued widening, growing another 10% in just the first four months of this year, as Chinese companies have ramped up exports to Europe while buying less from it.

Adding to the tension, Beijing moved in April 2025 to restrict exports of rare earth minerals — a sector where China holds dominant processing power — as a countermove to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Those restrictions have also dealt a blow to European companies.

EU UNITY ON THE PROBLEM, BUT NOT THE SOLUTION

The European Union has taken steps to reduce its trade dependency, striking new mineral partnership agreements and free trade deals with Australia, India, and Indonesia over the past year. But diplomats say leaders at this week’s summit are expected to call for even more action.

Leaders are anticipated to direct the European Commission — the body that manages the EU’s trade policy — to engage in dialogue with China while simultaneously strengthening European trade defenses.

However, agreement on the specific approach remains elusive. France is pushing for a harder stance against China, while Germany, the EU’s largest exporter, and Spain, which has become an increasingly popular destination for Chinese investment, are urging more caution.

“There is a certain convergence of views and a shared analysis, but nuances come in when it comes to how to respond to this,” a second diplomat explained. “We need to get it right, because otherwise we are stuck with our industry being stuck with the second-largest economy in the world.”

The divisions became public last month when France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Lithuania jointly released a paper calling on the EU to consider a new mechanism to reduce over-dependence on any single foreign country, potentially including additional duties or quotas to shield domestic producers. Spain had originally been listed as a co-signer of that document but later publicly withdrew its support.

The EU has already been directing its trade enforcement tools heavily toward China. Of 21 newly launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, 18 are aimed at Chinese producers. Since 2024, the bloc has also levied extra tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China — a move that prompted Beijing to retaliate with measures targeting European dairy products and brandy.

Critics argue the EU must accelerate its investigations and set clearer priorities rather than processing cases purely in the order they are received. They also contend that current cases are too limited in scope and that Chinese manufacturers frequently find ways to work around the tariffs.

The European Commission acknowledged that Chinese electric vehicle imports did decline after the tariffs took effect, but noted that Chinese producers responded by increasing shipments of hybrid vehicles instead. EV imports have also begun climbing again in the first quarter of this year.

The Commission is scheduled to carry out a sweeping review of its trade defense tools in the third quarter of this year. Among the options being considered are new measures to address manufacturing overcapacity and excessive reliance on single suppliers — with China specifically in mind. In sensitive industries, EU companies could potentially be required to maintain at least three separate supply sources.

Armed attackers struck the primary airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital, in the early hours of Thursday morning, setting off an exchange of gunfire and explosions, according to witnesses and a security official familiar with the situation.

After the gunmen broke through the airport’s security perimeter, military and security forces were dispatched to push them back, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record about the incident. Who carried out the attack remained unclear in the immediate aftermath.

A journalist with the Associated Press on the scene reported that soldiers were stopping and searching people along the road leading to the airport following the shooting.

This marks the second assault on Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey this year. In January, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a comparable attack that specifically targeted Niger’s drone military assets.

Niger has been governed by a military junta since a coup in 2023 and has faced ongoing difficulties in curbing deadly extremist violence sweeping through Africa’s Sahel region. Neighboring countries Burkina Faso and Mali, also under military rule, have faced similar threats.

The airport holds significant strategic importance, serving as the home of a Nigerien air force base and the headquarters of a joint military force involving Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

Despite increased security measures put in place after the January attack, analysts warn that jihadist groups in Niger and throughout the broader region remain a serious and persistent danger.

Beverly Ochieng, a senior security analyst at Control Risks, explained the airport’s appeal as a target: “The symbolism of the airport as headquarters for AES will drive intent by militants to target it,” referring to the regional Alliance of Sahel States.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England opted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday, as inflation pressures facing the British economy have begun to ease following an agreement between the United States and Iran to bring their conflict to an end.

The decision came as little surprise to observers after new data revealed that inflation in May did not climb as forecasted, instead remaining flat at 2.8%.

While that figure still exceeds the bank’s 2% target, it sparked optimism that the surge in oil and gas prices — which followed the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28 — may not have pushed inflation as high as many had feared.

Economic analysts believe the bank’s rate-setters will likely hold off on any rate increases in the months ahead, provided that the recent drop in energy costs continues.

Andrew Bailey, the bank’s governor, described the recent decline in oil prices as “encouraging,” though he acknowledged they remain elevated compared to pre-war levels.

“Whatever happens in the future, the higher energy prices of the past four months mean there’s already some inflationary pressure in the pipeline,” Bailey said. “The Bank’s job is to make sure that doesn’t turn into sustained inflation above our 2% target.”

Despite the decision to hold rates steady, the vote was not unanimous. Two of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee expressed enough concern about those lingering pipeline pressures that they cast votes in favor of a quarter-point rate increase.

Russian officials confirmed Thursday that Ukraine carried out one of its most significant drone offensives since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than four years ago, striking a major oil refinery in Moscow for the second time in just seven days.

The assault took place just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he had completed what he described as “an important coordination call” with the presidents of the United States and France, and had secured key commitments of continued support from the G7 summit taking place that week.

Zelenskyy was also scheduled to travel to Brussels later Thursday to meet with NATO and European Union leaders. Among the topics on the agenda was the potential construction of a continent-wide defense system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles — the type of weapon Russia has repeatedly used against Ukraine and which current air defenses have difficulty stopping.

Striking Russian oil infrastructure has been a deliberate Ukrainian strategy, designed to drain Moscow’s war funding and bring the consequences of the conflict home to Russian citizens. Fuel shortages have already been reported in some areas.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha took to X to address Russian citizens directly, writing: “One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is ‘What is going on?’ I can answer. Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people. Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.”

Russian media released images and video showing enormous fires burning at the Moscow Oil Refinery, which sits roughly 15 kilometers — about 9 miles — from the Kremlin. Towering black clouds of smoke billowed across the city skyline.

According to the refinery’s official website, it ranks among Russia’s largest and supplies more than a third of the fuel used in the Moscow region. Ukrainian drones had already targeted the facility on Tuesday, sparking a fire that officials said was quickly extinguished.

Aviation and transportation authorities reported that flights at four Moscow-area airports were temporarily grounded as a result of the attack.

In the Moscow region — which surrounds but is separate from the capital — a drone struck a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky, prompting an evacuation, according to regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov. Vorobyov also reported that drone debris damaged other structures throughout the region, injuring 16 people, among them two children.

Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that overnight, its air defense systems intercepted 555 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, with nearly 200 of those shot down as they approached Moscow. That figure was approximately double the number of drones Russia itself launched toward Ukraine during the same period, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The strike added to a string of embarrassments for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month, a Ukrainian drone attack struck his hometown of St. Petersburg at the very moment he was hosting a high-profile economic forum attended by foreign dignitaries.

On Thursday, Putin was in Kazan, located about 700 kilometers — roughly 430 miles — east of Moscow, where he was hosting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia works to strengthen economic and political ties with member countries of that regional bloc.

Zelenskyy framed the Moscow attack as part of Ukraine’s broader effort to compel Putin to come to the negotiating table. The Ukrainian president has agreed to an unconditional ceasefire as called for by Trump, but Putin has declined, and U.S.-led peace initiatives have largely stalled.

“If Putin does not want to end this war and wants to continue it, we will not sit quietly — we will respond,” Zelenskyy said in a voice message sent to a journalists’ group chat.

Beyond diplomatic pledges made at the G7 summit, Western officials and analysts say Ukraine has recently gained ground against Russia’s larger military force, largely due to its advanced drone capabilities. Long-distance drone strikes are increasingly choking off Russian supply lines in occupied Ukrainian territories, while also disrupting oil production inside Russia.

French President Macron described the G7 gathering as “very important for Ukraine” because its allies — notably the United States — reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the country, though he offered no specific details. Under the current U.S. administration, American aid to Ukraine has been reduced, leaving European nations as the primary providers of military and financial support. The relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy has at times been tense.

“America is with us on Ukraine, that is very important,” Macron told reporters as he and Trump departed the Palace of Versailles near Paris.

BRASILIA — Brazilian Federal Police have reportedly targeted Senator Jaques Wagner, one of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s closest political allies and the government’s floor leader in the Senate, as part of a probe connected to lender Banco Master, according to two sources who spoke with Reuters on Thursday.

CNN Brasil was the first outlet to break the story, and two individuals with knowledge of the investigation later confirmed the details to Reuters. Representatives for Wagner had not yet issued any response to requests for comment at the time of the report.

Conservative political parties in New Zealand have put forward a new bill that would establish firm legal definitions for the words ‘man’ and ‘woman.’ The legislation successfully passed its first parliamentary vote in May and is now in a public comment period that runs through the end of this month.

The push comes as nations around the world are stepping back from earlier transgender policies. Public concern has been mounting over issues such as biological males using women’s restrooms and locker rooms, as well as boys competing on girls’ sports teams.

New Zealand’s move is part of a wider global conversation as governments reconsider how gender identity intersects with existing laws and public accommodations.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The government of Slovakia is scheduled to undergo a parliamentary confidence vote on Thursday, prompted by the country’s national debt climbing beyond limits established in its Constitution.

The vote was set in motion after the nation’s Constitutional Court — its highest legal authority — ruled on Wednesday that the government must seek a confidence vote without delay.

Prime Minister Robert Fico, a populist leader, said he would respect the court’s decision and proceeded to call for the vote.

Fico’s coalition government controls 78 of the 150 seats in the Slovak parliament, known as the National Council, giving it a majority and making it the strong favorite to survive the vote. Coalition members moved to cap the debate at 12 and a half hours.

Fico noted that his government had originally intended to tie the confidence vote to a separate vote on next year’s state budget, which was expected to take place later this year.

The opposition brought the matter before the court in November, following a determination by Eurostat — the European Union’s official statistics body — that Slovak debt had reached 59.7% of gross national product the prior month. That figure has since climbed to 61.4%, according to the Slovak Statistics Office. Despite the increase, Slovakia’s debt level remains below the average across EU member nations.

The constitutional threshold that triggers a mandatory confidence vote in Slovakia is set at 50% of gross national product.

Like many European nations, Slovakia ramped up government spending in response to the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, which sent energy costs surging.

Slovakia’s Supreme Audit Office reported Tuesday that the country’s economy expanded by just 0.8% in 2025 — the weakest growth rate in three years — while government expenditures continued to rise at a faster pace, adding pressure to the country’s debt levels.

Fico has remained a controversial figure since reclaiming power in 2023. His pro-Russian positions and various policy decisions have sparked repeated protests across the country.

Governments around the world are taking aim at social media companies in an effort to protect children from potential harms online, with a growing list of nations either passing new laws or actively working toward restrictions.

Australia led the way, becoming the first country on Earth to ban social media for children under 16. The landmark legislation took effect December 10, 2025, blocking minors from platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram and Facebook. Companies that fail to comply could face fines as steep as A$49.5 million — roughly $34.9 million U.S. dollars.

In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on June 15 that a ban on social media for children under 16 is expected to be approved by Christmas, with the measure taking effect around Spring 2027. Starmer also said on June 8 that major tech companies must take action to stop children from sharing nude images on their devices, or face legislation requiring them to do so. Under those plans, companies like Apple and Google would need to build or activate tools on smartphones and tablets to detect and block such images for minors, while adults could still access that type of content through an age verification process.

China has already implemented what it calls a “minor mode” program, which places device-level restrictions and app-specific rules on screen time based on a child’s age.

Denmark announced in November it would ban social media for children under 15, though parents could grant access to certain platforms for children as young as 13.

France’s National Assembly approved legislation in January to ban children under 15 from social media, citing concerns about online bullying and mental health. The bill still needs to clear the Senate before a final vote in the lower house.

In Germany, children between 13 and 16 may use social media only with parental approval, though child protection advocates argue those controls do not go far enough.

Greece is reportedly very close to announcing a social media ban for children under 15, according to a senior government source who spoke to Reuters on February 3.

India’s chief economic adviser called for age restrictions on social media platforms in January, referring to them as “predatory” in how they keep young users hooked. That came just two days after the tourist state of Goa said it was considering restrictions similar to Australia’s.

In Italy, children under 14 must have parental consent to create a social media account, while no such consent is needed for those 14 and older.

Malaysia began blocking those under 16 from registering on social media platforms, its communications regulator announced on June 1.

Norway proposed in 2024 raising the age at which children can consent to social media terms of service from 13 to 15, while still allowing parents to give permission for younger children. The government has also started work on legislation to set a firm minimum age of 15.

Poland’s ruling party announced on February 27 that it is preparing legislation to ban social media for children under 15 and to make platforms responsible for verifying users’ ages.

Slovenia is drafting a law that would bar children under 15 from accessing social media, Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arcon announced on February 6.

Spain plans to move forward with rules making social networks and artificial intelligence safer despite pushback from the tech industry, according to Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez, who spoke to Reuters in May. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously stated in February that Spain would ban social media access for minors under 16, with age verification required of platforms.

A government-appointed commission in Sweden recommended on June 2 that the country set a minimum age of 15 for social media use. Investigator Lisa Englund Krafft, speaking at a news conference alongside Social Affairs and Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed, said a ban could be structured so that platforms themselves bear responsibility for verifying ages.

Turkey’s parliament passed legislation on April 24 banning social media use for children under 15 and introducing new rules for digital platforms, including companies that make game software.

The United Arab Emirates approved a resolution on June 18 setting the minimum age for social media use at 15, according to the government’s media office. The UAE became the first Arab nation to introduce such a measure. The resolution bars children under 15 from creating or using personal social media accounts and limits their access to platform features.

In the United States, legislation aimed at pushing social media companies to better protect young users cleared a significant hurdle after Republican Senator Ted Cruz announced on May 12 that he would support the bill. Cruz said he would back the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require social media companies to “exercise reasonable care” when designing features that could cause harm to minors. That bill is separate from the long-standing Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits companies from collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. Several states have already passed laws requiring parental consent for minors to use social media, though those laws have faced legal challenges on free speech grounds.

At the European Union level, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 12 that the EU would pursue stronger protections for children from harmful social media features. She said the Commission would target what she called “addictive and harmful design practices” through its planned Digital Fairness Act, expected to be proposed later this year. The European Parliament also agreed in November on a resolution calling for an EU-wide ban on social media access for children under 16 without parental consent, and an outright ban for those younger than 13.

Meanwhile, major social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat say users must be at least 13 years old to sign up. Child protection advocates say those self-imposed rules are not enough, and official data from several European countries shows that large numbers of children under 13 already have social media accounts.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar declared Thursday that he is ending all communication with the European Union’s top foreign policy official, Kaja Kallas, citing statements she reportedly made likening Israel to the racist apartheid system that once governed South Africa.

Saar took to social media to announce the move, stating that Kallas had allegedly “compared Israel to the racist apartheid regime” during a trip to Mexico. He said contact would remain severed unless she walked back her remarks.

No statement from Kallas’ office was released in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.

In follow-up posts on X, Saar referenced a June 12 report published by the European news outlet Euractiv, which cited unnamed officials and diplomats. According to that report, Kallas made the comparison during a visit to Mexico the previous month, suggesting that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza resembled the policies of apartheid South Africa — a system of legally enforced racial segregation.

The European Union has long criticized Israel’s expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a practice widely considered illegal under international law and seen as a barrier to peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Earlier this year in May, the EU imposed sanctions on three individuals and four organizations it held responsible for what it described as “serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.” At the time, Saar responded by firmly rejecting the EU’s decision on behalf of Israel.

While the EU has also spoken out against Israel’s military conduct in the Gaza conflict, it has simultaneously affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. The bloc’s 27 member nations remain divided on the issue, with some taking a strongly critical stance toward Israel while others maintain close diplomatic relationships with the country.

On Thursday, Saar went further in his criticism, accusing Kallas of “acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the State of Israel.”

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian carrier Qantas Airways is gearing up to introduce what will be the longest nonstop commercial flight on the planet, linking London and Sydney in a journey that could stretch up to 22 hours.

The Sydney-based airline revealed the first of its specially modified Airbus A350-1000 jets on Thursday. These aircraft are designed to regularly cover the 17,015-kilometer (10,573-mile) route beginning in October of next year. Depending on conditions, the trip between these two cities on opposite ends of the globe is expected to last anywhere from 19 to 22 hours.

Currently, the title of world’s longest regular nonstop route belongs to Singapore Airlines, which operates a flight between its home city-state and New York City — a distance of 15,349 kilometers (9,537 miles) completed in just under 19 hours. One major distinction, however, is that Singapore Airlines does not carry economy passengers on that particular route.

While a standard Airbus A350-1000 is capable of seating up to 480 travelers, Qantas has configured its customized A350-1000ULR to carry only 238 passengers. Of those, 140 seats will be in economy class for the London-Sydney service.

For now, the longest nonstop journey available to economy passengers worldwide is also operated by Qantas — between London and Perth on Australia’s western coast. That route covers 14,499 kilometers (9,009 miles) and takes between 16 and 18 hours. Sydney, by contrast, sits on Australia’s eastern coast.

Sharon Petersen, chief executive officer of AirlineRatings — an Australia-based website that evaluates airlines on their products and safety records — noted that economy seats on the London-Sydney route will offer more legroom than what most long-haul carriers provide. Economy travelers will also have access to a dedicated “Wellbeing Zone” positioned between the economy and premium economy sections, where passengers can stand, stretch, and grab drinks and snacks.

Qantas has acknowledged that tickets for the nonstop service, which go on sale in February, will cost more than fares for flights that stop in Singapore. The airline says the direct route will cut as much as four hours from total travel time.

Petersen said flying business class on the nonstop service is an appealing choice for travelers who might be able to sleep for eight hours straight without the disruption of stopping in Singapore. However, she personally would rather break up the trip than endure a 22-hour economy flight.

“The reason for that is 22 hours is really daunting. If you get sat next to someone who’s smelly, is perhaps really unwell and coughing, perhaps there’s a baby sitting next to you that’s having an uncomfortable flight or an oversized passenger who really needs two seats,” Petersen said.

She considers two shorter flights a safer bet for economy travelers. “If you’ve got it wrong on one flight, you might be okay on the next. You get a break,” she added.

Petersen explained that the aircraft’s reduced passenger count serves two purposes: improving overall comfort and making room for an extra fuel tank holding 20,000 liters (5,283 gallons). She also pointed out that ultra-long flights depend heavily on premium cabin bookings to turn a profit, since the weight constraints of such a journey leave little room for cargo revenue.

“Because the flight is so long, they can’t rely on cargo because of the weight. So it really is a passenger-heavy aircraft and a premium passenger-heavy aircraft at that to get the profit margin,” Petersen said.

After the Sydney-London route is up and running, Qantas says its next ultra-long-haul nonstop service will connect Sydney with New York City — a somewhat shorter distance of 16,013 kilometers (9,950 miles).

The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, announced Thursday that 16 people sustained injuries during a significant Ukrainian drone offensive targeting the Russian capital and its surrounding area.

A large number of Ukrainian drones descended on Moscow and the greater Moscow region during the attack, striking the city’s oil refinery for the second time within the same week.

GENEVA — The United Nations nuclear watchdog is expressing support for the interim peace agreement reached between Washington and Tehran, announcing Thursday that it will now take part in technical talks to carry out the deal’s provisions.

“It is good that the memorandum is there. Now the technical work starts,” said Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaking to reporters in Geneva.

“Now it is for us to sit down with our American and Iranian colleagues and start formulating concrete steps that will have to be taken,” Grossi added.

The agreement, which consists of 14 points and was signed Wednesday evening, extends by 60 days a ceasefire that was first announced in April — including in Lebanon — giving both parties additional time to negotiate a permanent truce.

Both Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have digitally signed the memorandum in both English and Farsi, according to officials from the United States and Iran. Iran’s foreign ministry stated the agreement took effect as of Wednesday.

Grossi emphasized the significance of the IAEA’s oversight role under the deal. “The fact that they are mentioning that this will be under the supervision and control of the IAEA is very important, because in our conversation, what we are going to be doing is defining what we need to see, what we need to access,” he said.

He noted that the full scope of the agency’s involvement will depend on the final terms of the agreement, and that upcoming technical discussions will work to translate broad principles into concrete actions.

The path to this agreement has not been smooth. Back in February, talks held in Geneva between Iran and the U.S. aimed at resolving their long-running nuclear standoff ended without a breakthrough. While an Omani mediator indicated that progress had been made and further technical talks with the IAEA in Vienna were planned for the following week, those efforts were derailed when the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran just 48 hours later, triggering a wider regional conflict.

Despite that troubled history, Grossi urged against letting past setbacks breed pessimism. “We have a chance and we need to seize it,” he said.

BRUSSELS — NATO’s senior nuclear deterrence body announced Thursday that member nations have reached an agreement to upgrade the alliance’s nuclear capabilities while also strengthening how it plans and manages its nuclear deterrence mission.

The announcement came from the Nuclear Planning Group, which serves as the alliance’s primary forum for consultation and decision-making on nuclear deterrence matters. All NATO member nations participate in the group with the exception of France.

Defense ministers who took part in the meeting emphasized the foundational importance of the alliance’s nuclear forces. According to the group’s statement, the ministers “recalled that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance remain the supreme guarantee of Allied security and underpin NATO’s extended deterrence architecture.”

The group outlined a clear path forward in its official statement: “NPG Ministers agreed to continue enhancing NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission by modernising NATO’s nuclear capabilities, strengthening its nuclear planning capacity, and adapting to achieve its security interests.”

BEIJING — China’s commerce ministry has unveiled a set of measures designed to bring artificial intelligence deeper into the everyday lives of consumers and businesses throughout the country, according to state broadcaster CCTV, which reported the announcement on Thursday.

The package consists of 17 specific measures focused on expanding the role of AI across both the goods and services sectors nationwide.

On the product side, the plan calls for shifting consumer electronics away from simply being functional devices toward becoming truly intelligent ones. Officials also identified the development of a new market for humanoid robots as a key goal under the initiative.

When it comes to services, the measures are designed to keep pace with AI’s rapid spread — moving beyond consumer retail into areas like public services and everyday lifestyle services.

Lin Jian, the deputy director of the international trade cooperation institute under the ministry, explained the broader significance of the effort. “The introduction of AI is expected to break through the bottleneck in service consumption constrained by high labour costs and low standardization,” he said.

A pair of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe they have cracked the mystery of how Russia’s Burevestnik missile actually works — and what they found is deeply concerning.

The two scientists conducted an analysis of the nuclear-powered weapon, which has been dubbed “Skyfall” by Western military observers. Their conclusion: the missile is both radioactively contaminating and poses serious dangers.

The Burevestnik is a nuclear-powered cruise missile that Russia has been developing as part of its advanced weapons program. Unlike conventional missiles, it relies on a nuclear reactor for propulsion, which raises significant questions about the radiation it leaves behind during flight.

The MIT researchers’ findings shed new light on the risks associated with the weapon, suggesting that its operation could spread radioactive contamination along its flight path — making it a hazard not just as a weapon, but as a source of nuclear pollution.

NEW DELHI — India quietly confronted Telegram over its failure to crack down on accounts allegedly distributing leaked exam questions, while Telegram fired back by accusing Indian officials of misrepresenting what was said in their meetings. The standoff ultimately resulted in an extraordinary government-ordered ban of the app, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government invoked emergency authority to shut down Telegram within India through June 22, citing concerns that the platform was being exploited to cheat candidates sitting for NEET — a high-stakes national entrance examination for medical school admission.

Telegram has taken the matter to the Delhi High Court, arguing the ban violates constitutional protections and freedom of expression. The conflict represents the latest confrontation between a major technology company and the Modi government, following a legal battle last year with Elon Musk’s X platform over content removal demands.

The app counts 150 million users in India — its largest market in the world. NEET exam results were thrown out in May after suspicions arose that test questions had been leaked in advance, and the exam was rescheduled for June 21. The controversy triggered a political uproar, including calls for the education minister to step down. More than 2 million students take the undergraduate medical entrance exam each year.

Documents obtained by Reuters show the June 16 ban order came after roughly two weeks of back-and-forth communication between India’s IT ministry and Telegram representatives. The government accused Telegram of “inaction” regarding channels with names like “NEET PAPER LEAKED” and “Paper Leaked NEET,” saying the names alone made their purpose obvious. Some of those channels were allegedly soliciting money in exchange for a “full (exam) paper.”

Telegram pushed back in follow-up emails, stating it was “surprised at the suggestion that it has been inactive in addressing unlawful content” and insisting it does not allow its platform to be used for such activities.

India’s IT ministry and Telegram both declined to respond to questions from Reuters.

While WhatsApp dominates India’s messaging market with more than 500 million users, Telegram offers features that set it apart. Its group chats can accommodate up to 200,000 members — a far cry from WhatsApp’s 1,024-person limit — and users can communicate without revealing their phone numbers. Critics argue those same features have made it a haven for fraud and illegal activity, though Telegram rejects that characterization and says it moves quickly to address bad actors.

The Indian government has stated that fraudulent activity tied to the NEET exam is “most pronounced on Telegram.”

Telegram founder Pavel Durov publicly called the ban “a mistake,” arguing that it punishes ordinary users while those spreading leaked content can simply migrate to other platforms. The company also posted a pointed — if indirect — jab at the situation on its X account: “Over 300,000 people die of drowning each year. In order to protect society, it is now illegal to consume or possess water.”

The dispute between the two sides grew more contentious following a June 3 meeting, when Telegram emailed Indian officials to say the government’s written record of the meeting did not accurately reflect what was discussed. According to government notes, Telegram acknowledged having limitations in proactively detecting “more subjective” content related to exams, as opposed to clearer violations such as child sexual material and pornography.

Telegram disputed that account in a June 5 email, clarifying that it does have proactive measures for such content — but that exam-related material simply requires more intensive moderation than other categories.

In its formal court challenge, Telegram went further, describing the government’s meeting minutes as a “one-sided and inaccurate account of the discussions” that “deliberately” left out details of the company’s proactive efforts. The government has not yet filed a response to those claims in court.

TOKYO — The head of Japan’s leading banking industry group is warning that financial institutions across the country could be forced to take drastic steps — including shutting down ATMs and suspending online banking — if powerful artificial intelligence systems begin posing a serious threat to the banking sector.

Advanced AI systems, like Anthropic’s Mythos, have the ability to rapidly detect weaknesses within software platforms, raising widespread alarm about the possibility of a wave of highly sophisticated cyberattacks.

“There are concerns about an increase in sophisticated cyberattacks that go beyond what has been anticipated,” said Masahiko Kato, chair of the Japan Bankers Association and president of Mizuho Bank, speaking at a press briefing.

Kato added that banks may have to act decisively to shield customers from harm. “Certain services such as ATMs could be proactively suspended in order to protect customers’ assets,” he said.

When Anthropic introduced Mythos back in April, the company itself cautioned that the AI had already identified thousands of software vulnerabilities — including flaws found in every major operating system and web browser — and warned that the consequences of its widespread use could be significant.

In response to growing concerns, banks have been stepping up their scrutiny of such AI tools. Additionally, the U.S. government recently directed Anthropic to cut off access to its advanced AI models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns.

Despite the alarm, not everyone in the cybersecurity field is convinced the threat is as dire as portrayed. Some experts argue that the reaction has been overblown, suggesting that access to a model like Mythos would not instantly give cybercriminals the ability to carry out attacks that were previously beyond their capabilities.

Three allied nations are joining forces to deliver a new round of military support to Ukraine, according to Sweden’s Defence Minister Pal Jonson, who made the announcement in Brussels on Thursday.

Sweden, Norway, and Canada plan to formally unveil what is known as a Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List — or PURL — package, which is designed to channel U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

Sweden’s defence ministry confirmed in an official statement that the Nordic nation’s share of the package will total $108 million. The contribution amounts from Norway and Canada had not been disclosed at the time of the announcement.

Witnesses in Niamey, the capital of Niger, reported hearing explosions and continuous gunfire early Thursday morning near the city’s airport and adjacent military airbase. A security source described the situation as what appeared to be a deliberate attack on the facility.

No group had immediately stepped forward to take responsibility for the incident, and a spokesperson for the Niger government had not responded to requests for comment as of early Thursday.

The airport has been targeted before. An affiliate of the Islamic State operating in the region claimed responsibility for a similar strike on the airport back in January. At that time, the group stated it had targeted air command headquarters and drone equipment, boasting that it had “delivered a direct blow” to the country’s efforts to fight insurgency.

Thursday’s incident began with the first explosions reported at approximately 6 a.m. local time, which is 5 a.m. GMT. A Reuters witness on the ground reported that sporadic gunfire could still be heard nearly two hours after the initial blasts. Security forces moved quickly to seal off the surrounding area.

Niger is no stranger to this kind of violence. Like its neighboring Sahel nations Mali and Burkina Faso, the country has been battling relentless attacks from jihadist organizations with ties to both al Qaeda and Islamic State. Those conflicts have claimed thousands of lives and forced millions of people from their homes across all three countries.

Looking back at the January attack, Niger’s Defence Ministry reported that militants had approached on motorcycles before being driven back by security forces. Four soldiers were wounded in that assault. The ministry also noted that a stockpile of ammunition caught fire during the attack and that several civilian aircraft sustained damage.

Niger’s military ruler, Abdourahamane Tiani, previously blamed the presidents of France, Benin, and Ivory Coast for sponsoring the January attack, though he provided no evidence to support the accusation. He also issued a warning of retaliation at that time.

The Swiss government announced Thursday that the United States and Iran are expected to hold initial talks at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Friday, coming on the heels of a ceasefire agreement reached between the two nations.

According to a statement from the Swiss foreign ministry, “As things stand, the plan is still for the U.S. and Iran, along with mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other involved countries, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock for initial negotiations about implementing the agreement.”

Swiss officials offered little additional detail about the gathering, with the foreign ministry adding, “No further information is currently available regarding the schedule and details of this meeting.”

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The scars of six decades of armed conflict in Colombia are still very much alive for those who lived through it — etched into their bodies and minds in ways that never fully heal.

For 67-year-old Blanca Nubia Monroy, that scar takes the form of a black-and-white scale of justice tattooed on her forearm — a replica of the tattoo that was used to identify the body of her 19-year-old son after he was kidnapped and killed by Colombian soldiers in 2008.

For Sigifredo López, 62, it comes in the form of haunting flashbacks from the seven years he spent as a guerrilla captive deep in the South American country’s jungle, and the lasting trauma of having survived while his fellow captives were massacred in 2007.

The two hold sharply opposing views on who should lead Colombia after Sunday’s election. Monroy is throwing her support behind peace advocate Iván Cepeda, while López is backing Trump-endorsed Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer who has pledged a sweeping offensive against crime. Yet despite their political differences, both share the same core fear: a return to the brutal violence of the past.

BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood before NATO defense ministers Thursday and delivered a clear message: European nations need to take responsibility for defending their own continent and help reshape the alliance into what he called a “real hard-line military alliance.”

Speaking at the ministerial gathering, Hegseth pushed for a fundamental transformation of the 32-member organization, framing it as a “NATO 3.0” upgrade designed to give the alliance stronger deterrence capabilities against any potential threat.

His remarks arrived just weeks after Washington informed its allies that the United States would no longer commit certain warships, aircraft, and other military assets to a crisis situation involving an attacked ally. European nations and Canada are now working to determine how to fill those gaps.

“NATO 3.0 is post-Cold War recognition that (NATO) needs to go back to a real hard-line military alliance that has real military capabilities capable of deterring right here on the continent and taking the lead for the conventional defense of Europe,” Hegseth said.

He also told reporters that the United States plans to invest $1.5 trillion in its own defense by 2027, describing it as a signal to the rest of the world that America is building what he called an “arsenal of freedom.”

Hegseth said that arsenal “first and foremost protects America and American interests but also backstops the strength of NATO and our allies.”

He made clear that he intends to tell U.S. allies they “have to be willing to stand up and do something in a strong way about” securing their own continent.

NATO’s supreme allied commander, who is American, has been developing contingency plans following the U.S. announcement on June 3 that it would pull back commitments including an aircraft carrier, support ships, aerial refueling planes, and dozens of fighter jets in the event of a crisis.

The Trump administration has stated it must be prepared to handle two simultaneous conflicts and wants to keep more military resources available in case a confrontation with China erupts in the Indo-Pacific region.

Under Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty — the alliance’s collective defense guarantee — all 32 member nations agree that an attack on one is considered an attack on all. However, the treaty does not legally require military assistance, though many allies would likely provide it.

In practical terms, the United States is reducing the level of military support it would provide if Article 5 were triggered. The U.S. holds by far the largest military force within NATO. Washington has indicated it does not plan to remove its nuclear weapons from Europe, which remain a cornerstone of NATO’s deterrence strategy.

China’s second-largest annual shopping festival is coming to a quiet close, shining a light on sluggish consumer spending and a broader move by the country’s government to rein in extreme discount competition among online retailers.

The 618 festival takes its name from the founding date of e-commerce giant JD.com — June 18. What once served as a showcase for explosive online retail growth has gradually expanded from a single-day event into a weeks-long sales period spanning all major Chinese shopping platforms.

That extended format has made it difficult to keep shoppers excited, especially as China continues to grapple with a prolonged crisis in its real estate sector and ongoing trade friction with the United States — both of which have shaken job security for many workers.

Yu Yang, an engineer at an internet company in Beijing, said she barely made any purchases during this year’s festival. “I bought some laundry detergent, but not because it was discounted, it’s just I ran out of it,” she said.

This year’s event on platforms including JD.com and Alibaba’s Tmall kicked off in mid-May and runs through June 20 or 21 — roughly 40 days in total, which is three to four shopping days longer than last year depending on the platform.

Last year’s 618 festival, itself about a week longer than the 2024 edition, saw combined gross merchandise value — a standard e-commerce performance metric — jump 15% to 855.6 billion yuan, equivalent to about $127 billion, according to retail data firm Syntun. However, daily spending figures actually declined during that period.

For this year, analysts are projecting overall revenue to grow by a single-digit percentage, largely due to the longer event window. Final data from this year’s festival is expected to be released next week.

With Chinese regulators pushing back against cutthroat pricing tactics, Alibaba described this year’s festival as a “decisive shift,” saying “brands prioritizing healthy margins over headline sales figures” defined the event.

JD.com, PDD, and ByteDance-owned Douyin — the Chinese counterpart to TikTok — did not respond to requests for comment on this year’s 618 performance.

Derek Deng, who leads consumer products for Bain and Co. in Greater China, offered a positive take on the subdued atmosphere. “This time around, we feel that it is quite quiet. I believe this is a good thing for the market. This shows that people’s consumption patterns are normalised, people don’t just stock up during shopping carnivals,” he said.

The muted festival comes as China’s retail sales dropped 0.6% compared to the same period a year ago in May — the first year-over-year decline since December 2022, when the country was still operating under strict COVID-19 restrictions. Government data released Tuesday showed notable declines in spending on vehicles, home appliances, furniture, jewelry, and building materials, even as state subsidies were in place to encourage large purchases.

Meanwhile, the use of artificial intelligence by e-commerce companies expanded significantly in the first half of 2026, and industry watchers are paying close attention to how widely consumers are actually engaging with these new tools.

Alibaba, for instance, has woven its AI model Qwen throughout its Taobao platform, enabling shoppers to browse, compare, and buy products simply by having a conversation with the AI rather than manually scrolling through listings.

Jason Yu, general manager at CTR Market Research, noted that all the major e-commerce players are using 618 as a testing ground for their AI capabilities. “So it’s not just a battleground for e-commerce, but also more of a technology battleground for all these big platforms,” he said.

HELSINKI — Finland’s defense ministry announced Thursday that the country intends to purchase GBU-53 SDB II glide bombs from the United States to arm its fleet of F-35 fighter jets.

The acquisition expands Finland’s air-to-ground combat capabilities and builds on the NATO member country’s existing $9.4 billion deal to purchase 64 F-35 aircraft from Lockheed Martin.

According to the defense ministry, the GBU-53 SDB II is a precision-guided weapon capable of hitting moving targets at medium range, even in poor weather. The bomb’s compact design allows an F-35 to carry several of them at once on a single aircraft.

Raytheon, which operates as a division of U.S. defense company RTX, will manufacture the munitions. The overall package also includes spare parts, technical documentation, transportation, training, and ongoing repair and support services.

Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said the purchase gives Finland a new capability that strengthens the country’s defenses “in demanding conditions.”

SEOUL — South Korea’s parliament voted Thursday to open a 45-day formal investigation into the National Election Commission following a ballot paper shortage that threw the country’s June 3 local elections into chaos.

The probe was approved at a full plenary session of the National Assembly. The ballot shortage fiasco has sparked public protests, led to the resignation of the election commission’s top official, and prompted President Lee Jae Myung to demand a thorough review of what happened.

A special parliamentary committee has been formed to scrutinize both the National Election Commission and regional election bodies. Lawmakers described the situation as a violation of citizens’ voting rights and said reforms to election management are urgently needed.

The investigation panel includes members from the ruling Democratic Party, the main opposition People Power Party, and several smaller parties. People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun is set to serve as the committee’s chair.

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik addressed the significance of the inquiry, saying: “The fact-finding investigation is not the end, but the beginning.” He added, “The parliamentary investigation should identify the causes and lead to election management reform measures that the public can trust.”

On Wednesday, NEC acting secretary-general Kang Dong-wan met with university student representatives who had been staging protests. He told them the commission felt “devastated” over its failure to adequately prepare and pledged cooperation with the parliamentary inquiry, a joint police-prosecution investigation, and an internal audit.

An NEC official confirmed Wednesday that ballot shortages affected 91 polling stations across the country, with voting temporarily suspended at 26 of those locations during the local elections.

In Seoul’s Songpa district, one polling station was forced to halt voting at 4:46 p.m. It did not resume until 5:39 p.m. and ultimately stayed open until 10 p.m. to accommodate roughly 175 voters holding waiting tickets. However, 12 people who had received waiting tickets never came back to cast their ballots, according to the NEC official.

Residents of Makerfield, a former coal mining district near Manchester in northern England, cast their votes Thursday in a by-election that carries far-reaching consequences for British national politics.

At the center of the race is Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, 56, who is seeking to return to parliament. Should he win, political observers say he would be positioned to mount a challenge to deeply unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party — potentially making Burnham Britain’s seventh prime minister in just over ten years.

The by-election was triggered when a fellow Labour Party member resigned his parliamentary seat. The vacancy drew an unusual level of national attention to the area, given what the outcome could mean for the future of the country’s governing party.

Burnham has attempted to frame the race around local concerns, pointing to his personal ties to the region — he lives nearby and his three children attended school there. But rival candidates have accused him of treating the election as little more than a launchpad for national ambitions, particularly after he began offering hints about how he might lead the country.

Speaking to party supporters in remarks also broadcast on the social media platform X on Wednesday evening, Burnham declared: “Change is coming, but the question tonight is ‘what kind of change?’” He added, “A vote for me is a vote to end 40 years of trickle-down economics that didn’t trickle down much at all to people here.”

Labour flooded Makerfield with senior ministers and dozens of lawmakers in the run-up to the vote and is cautiously optimistic that Burnham can defeat Reform UK’s candidate, Robert Kenyon, a self-employed plumber who also hails from the area. Reform UK is the populist party led by Brexit advocate Nigel Farage. Polling shows Burnham ahead, though Reform’s support has been somewhat reduced by competition from a newer right-wing party called Restore Britain.

If Burnham secures a win, he has made clear he intends to enter any leadership race against Starmer, though he may not move immediately. Another potential challenger, former health minister Wes Streeting, has said he is ready to force a leadership contest if Starmer does not voluntarily step aside — something Streeting has publicly called for.

Starmer, 63, has repeatedly pushed back against calls to resign, noting that he has “always battled against the odds” — pointing to how he guided Labour from its worst election defeat in 84 years in 2019 to a landslide victory in 2024. He has pledged to fight any leadership challenge.

Nevertheless, multiple senior Labour lawmakers suggest Starmer might be persuaded to hand power to Burnham voluntarily, given that Burnham appears to have strong support among Labour’s members of parliament. The thinking is that a negotiated transition could spare the party a drawn-out leadership contest that might further damage its standing with voters ahead of a general election scheduled for 2029.

One scenario floated by Labour lawmakers would have Burnham offering Streeting a prominent cabinet position in exchange for Streeting declining to formally trigger a leadership race. One senior lawmaker noted that a likely three-month summer leadership campaign would only hurt the party, and that members of parliament would probably favor a swift and orderly resolution.

KYIV — Four years after Ukraine’s Azov Regiment was forced to surrender the last remnants of the battered city of Mariupol to Russian forces, the reconstituted unit has turned its attention back to making Russia answer for that occupation.

That crushing defeat in May 2022 — during which hundreds of Azov fighters were either killed or taken prisoner — transformed the regiment into a symbol of resilience across Ukraine and set the stage for its return as a larger, more formidable force. The unit is now once again directing its efforts toward its home city on the Azov Sea.

Drones operated by First Corps Azov flew over the city’s strategically important seaport last week in a mission that struck electrical substations, repair facilities, and a sanctioned vessel, knocking out power to the port entirely, according to Ukraine’s military. Reuters was able to verify the location of portions of attack footage the corps posted publicly.

The strike was part of Ukraine’s growing campaign to hit Russian military supply lines far behind the front lines, with the goal of wearing down Moscow’s ability to wage war and shifting momentum in Kyiv’s favor.

Col. Arsen Dmytryk, First Corps Azov’s chief of staff, told Reuters that many more such operations are planned to demonstrate the unit’s capabilities, technology, and strategic thinking.

He acknowledged that pushing Russia out of Mariupol — which sits roughly 120 kilometers, or about 75 miles, behind front lines that have barely shifted — is a slow process he described as a “long game.”

“If it takes 20 years, we will spend 20 years planning, waiting, preparing,” said Dmytryk, 32, who was among those captured by Russia and later released. “But when the time comes, we must be ready. I believe we will return it (Mariupol). It’s just a matter of time.”

Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The port strike, conducted alongside Ukraine’s drone forces and the SBU security service, hit just a few miles from the steel mill where Azov fighters and other Ukrainian troops surrendered following a three-month Russian siege of the city.

It came after months of strikes on major roadways throughout Russian-occupied areas of the eastern Donetsk region, including in Mariupol itself, as part of a coordinated effort to disrupt Russian supply lines heading to the front.

Video footage released by the corps documents these operations: an April 16 clip shows drones flying over wide open fields and long stretches of highway around Donetsk before slamming into heavy military vehicles. A May 8 post features aerial footage sweeping over central Mariupol and the heavily damaged Azovstal Iron and Steel Works — the site of the Ukrainian garrison’s final stand in 2022. “Azov is already patrolling its home city of Mariupol. From the skies — for now,” the post stated.

Mariupol’s population has dropped significantly from its prewar total of more than 400,000. Today the city is the site of new infrastructure projects that are part of Russia’s effort to solidify its hold on occupied southern Ukraine, according to a Reuters investigation conducted earlier this year. In January, Kyiv’s foreign intelligence service reported that Russia is expanding Mariupol’s seaport as a major economic hub while pursuing high-profile construction projects at the expense of ordinary residents.

Within Ukraine’s broader “middle strike” campaign, Azov’s main objective is to cut off enemy cargo — particularly fuel — moving from Russia through key transit points like Mariupol and Donetsk city, according to a corps drone officer. He noted that the constant movement of supply trucks along wide, exposed roads makes them hard to protect. “There’s no way to hide a tanker carrying fuel … It’s just impossible,” he said.

The targeted routes include the M14 highway connecting Mariupol with the Russian city of Rostov to the east, the H20 running north from Mariupol to Donetsk, and a ring road around Donetsk city.

Ukraine’s military is also intensifying strikes on logistics across the Russian-occupied “land bridge” through southern Ukraine that links Russia with Crimea — attacks that have already caused fuel shortages on the peninsula. Ukraine’s top drone commander Robert Brovdi pledged last week to “isolate Crimea in the near future” through continued strikes on the key P-280 highway.

Azov’s strikes are “cumulative rather than decisive,” according to Franz-Stefan Gady, a Vienna-based expert with the Center for a New American Security. He explained that the strikes force Russian forces to spread their vehicles across longer alternate routes and rely more heavily on nighttime driving — which over time “degrades the offensive tempo Russia can generate” on the battlefield.

Russian forces are currently on the verge of capturing the city of Kostiantynivka, the southern anchor of what is known as the “fortress belt” in the Donetsk region that Moscow has demanded Kyiv hand over. Russian drone teams are also targeting Ukrainian battlefield supply lines. However, Russia’s overall rate of advance has slowed considerably in recent months, and Ukrainian forces have reclaimed ground in some areas along the front.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Kyiv’s mid-range strikes could “test the conditions” for Ukraine — and possibly Azov — to eventually launch offensive operations. “This is one of the big stories of this year: how does Russia deal with Ukraine’s middle strike campaign?” he said.

Among Azov’s primary weapons is an AI-assisted drone called the Hornet, produced by a U.S. defense-technology firm run by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Perennial Autonomy. Corps operators enhanced the drone by fitting it with Starlink internet terminals to extend its original 100-kilometer range — an innovation that highlighted the unit’s technical expertise. “Azov was responsible for a lot of the improvements to the Hornet,” Lee said.

By targeting roads into and out of Mariupol with drone strikes, the corps is working toward another critical goal, said chief of staff Dmytryk: speeding up an end to the war that he hopes would result in the release of more than 700 Azov fighters currently held in Russian prisons. Kyiv has made a full prisoner exchange a central demand in any peace negotiations. Frequent “Free Azov” rallies are held in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, reflecting the unit’s revered status in Ukrainian society.

Corps commander Denys Prokopenko wrote on X last month that freeing his fellow fighters was “my personal priority and a matter of honour.”

Despised in Russia due to its origins as a nationalist militia, today’s Azov is a far different organization from the small volunteer battalion that liberated Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists in 2014, or the fragmented regiment that fought in 2022. Now formally part of the National Guard, it is considered one of Ukraine’s top fighting units and among its “most advanced formations” in drone warfare, according to defense analyst Olena Kryzhanivska of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Last year, the unit expanded into a full corps made up of six brigades, a drone regiment, and a special-purposes unit, and now numbers in the tens of thousands of troops, the unit says.

“When we were in captivity, the Muscovites told us that they wanted to destroy, destroy, destroy us,” said Dmytryk, whose call sign is “Lemko.” “But somehow their ‘destruction’ keeps scaling up Azov instead.”

ZURICH — Switzerland’s lower house of parliament has turned down a trade agreement with the South American trading bloc Mercosur, following pushback from lawmakers on both the political right and left.

The vote, which took place late Wednesday, resulted in the accord being rejected by a margin of 96 to 86, with nine abstentions. The agreement had been reached last year.

Opposition to the deal came from two very different directions. Conservative lawmakers, many representing agricultural interests, stood against it, as did left-leaning parties who raised concerns about labor standards and the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Despite the lower house rejection, the process is not necessarily over. The agreement will now be considered by the upper chamber of parliament, and if approved there, it could be sent back to the lower house for another vote.

Mercosur is a South American trade bloc made up of four nations: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Skyrocketing fuel costs linked to the ongoing Iran war are giving electric vehicle sales across Europe a significant boost, according to industry data obtained by Reuters — though some auto industry leaders caution that the momentum may not hold if gas prices retreat.

Experts in the field point to improvements in charging networks and a new wave of more budget-friendly EV models — including vehicles from Chinese manufacturers — as factors helping electric cars become more accessible to everyday consumers.

Although the United States and Iran have agreed to an extended ceasefire, disruptions to shipping mean oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz could take weeks to return to normal levels, keeping fuel prices elevated for the foreseeable future.

Research group New Automotive and industry organization E-Mobility Europe shared data with Reuters showing new electric vehicle registrations climbed 34% compared to the same period last year in May, covering 17 markets that represent more than 90% of car sales across the European Union and European Free Trade Association.

Fully electric models made up nearly one out of every four new vehicle registrations in those markets.

Renault CEO Francois Provost told Reuters last week that the automaker’s EV order book has grown by 50% in certain countries since the Iran conflict began in late February. However, he predicted that growth “will decrease” should fuel prices come back down.

Ford’s Europe chief Jim Baumbick acknowledged that the war has “increased customers’ interest” in EVs, but urged caution about viewing the trend as a permanent change in consumer behavior.

The conflict has coincided with a broader push by automakers to introduce less expensive electric vehicles in Europe, tackling one of the biggest obstacles to wider adoption — the higher purchase price compared to traditional gas-powered cars.

Chinese automakers are moving beyond larger vehicle segments and into smaller hatchbacks aimed at European buyers. BYD launched its Dolphin G model in Berlin last week as part of that expansion.

Andy Palmer, a former Nissan executive who helped bring the mass-market Leaf EV to consumers, commented: “Consumer interest in EVs is clearly stimulated by low-cost, very good Chinese cars arriving on the market.”

The used EV market is also heating up. Online marketplace OLX reported that sales leads for Chinese-brand vehicles in France surged more than fourfold in May compared to a year earlier.

German online marketplace Carwow, which tracks both new and used vehicles, said consumer interest in EVs — measured through vehicle configurations and purchase inquiries — has leveled off at between 70% and 75%, a notable jump from roughly 40% earlier this year.

Philipp Sayler von Amende, managing director of Carwow Germany, said: “This development has long since evolved from a short-term effect to a sustainable trend.”

Used electric vehicles are also attracting buyers with their relatively low price tags. Tesla’s aggressive price cuts in 2023 significantly dragged down resale values across the used EV market, though those prices are now beginning to inch back up as demand grows stronger.

Danish used-car platform Bilbasen anticipates used EV prices will rise by about 10% this year.

At present, used electric vehicles remain less expensive than comparable gas-powered models. In Britain, two- to four-year-old EVs are selling for roughly 33% of their original purchase price, compared to 52% for fossil-fuel vehicles, according to dealer services firm Cox Automotive.

Cox’s insight director Philip Nothard said the growing availability of affordable new and pre-owned EVs should help keep demand strong even if fuel prices ease. “The market should stabilise,” he said. “I very much doubt that we’ll see a downturn.”

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s president addressed foreign journalists Thursday, expressing his desire for a new U.S. arms sale package to be approved without delay, while also defending his government’s right to protect itself from Chinese pressure.

President Lai Ching-te made the remarks at a gathering of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Taipei, saying the United States’ commitment to Taiwan’s security remains intact — but that Taiwan itself must not waver in building up its own defenses.

“The key is that Taiwan must not change course in strengthening its own defence capabilities, nor can it slow its pace,” Lai said.

He added: “We will continue to maintain close communication with the U.S. government, and we also hope the arms purchases can be approved as soon as possible.”

The comments follow unease in Taiwan sparked by remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump last month. After meeting with China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing, Trump indicated he was still weighing whether to approve new arms sales to Taiwan, describing them as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

Taiwan is a democratically governed island that China considers part of its own territory. Beijing has intensified both military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan in recent years.

China has labeled Lai a “separatist” and has rejected his repeated overtures for dialogue. Despite that, Lai said Thursday he still wants to engage in talks with China based on what he called “parity and respect.”

He also made clear that Taiwan’s people alone have the right to determine their own future, and he pushed back on the notion that Taiwan’s self-defense efforts are antagonistic toward Beijing.

“Taiwan’s safeguarding of its own national security and maintaining its democratic and free way of life, its refusal to accept unification, and its refusal to accept rule by the Chinese Communist Party should not be seen as a provocation against China,” Lai said.