Category: World News

Sweden’s parliament voted Monday to enact a law requiring government workers to notify police whenever they encounter migrants who do not have legal authorization to reside in the country. Opponents of the measure say it will foster fear among vulnerable populations and could take a serious toll on migrants’ physical and mental health.

The legislation is part of a broader push by Sweden to adopt a stricter stance on migration, coming at a time when the European Union is also restructuring its immigration policies — including measures aimed at speeding up deportations.

Jacob Lind, a migration expert from Malmo University, spoke with the AP following the parliamentary vote. “This is the latest measure in a long list of extremely problematic regulations on migration,” he said. “It has a symbolic meaning because it amounts to snitching by some very important state agencies.”

John Stauffer of Swedish nonprofit Civil Rights Defenders noted to the AP that the bill barely cleared the legislature, passing by just two votes — 174 in favor and 172 against. He said that razor-thin margin reflects the significant opposition that exists within Swedish society over the law.

After criticism from various groups, teachers, physicians, and social workers were carved out from the reporting requirement.

Under the new law, employees at agencies such as tax authorities, employment offices, social insurance agencies, and prison and probation services will be legally required to inform police when they have reason to believe someone they are dealing with lacks the proper documentation to remain in Sweden.

Louise Bonneau, representing Brussels-based nonprofit PICUM — an organization that advocates for migrants — told the AP that such requirements carry wide-ranging consequences. “Reporting obligations imposed on public agencies create a climate of fear that harms not only undocumented people but everyone who depends on these institutions,” she said.

The Swedish government has maintained that additional tools are necessary to ensure that individuals without legal permission to stay in the country can be sent back to their home nations.

A group of researchers from three Swedish universities cautioned in March that the law conflicts with fundamental human rights and encourages racial profiling — a practice in which authorities target individuals based on race or ethnicity rather than actual evidence of wrongdoing.

Those researchers spoke with public servants about the ethical dilemmas the law would introduce into their daily work.

As one example highlighted by the researchers: if a mother without legal residency status gives birth, the midwife is not obligated to report her — but information about the newborn will eventually reach the tax authority, which is then required to report the family to authorities.

“It creates a huge deterrence effect to be in contact with a healthcare professional,” Bonneau said. “We’ll see what happens in practice. Will we see people fearing to be in contact with authorities, issues of maternal health, of the children being born?”

Germany enacted similar legislation back in 2005, requiring certain public agencies to report migrants without valid residency status. That law applies to institutions such as welfare offices, while schools and hospitals remain exempt. Even so, migrants in Germany are known to avoid seeking medical care because doing so requires obtaining paperwork from a welfare office first — a step that can expose them to immigration authorities. In response, several organizations in larger cities like Berlin have established healthcare services specifically for migrants without legal residency status.

In 2018, the United Kingdom revised a policy that had allowed immigration officials to access patient records from the National Health Service. Amid concerns that the arrangement was discouraging migrants from seeking care and compromising patient confidentiality, the government scaled back the rules. Under the revised policy, the Home Office was limited to accessing only the names of individuals suspected or convicted of crimes who faced deportation proceedings.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court handed down a 26-year prison sentence Monday to a Syrian man found guilty of crimes against humanity, including the torture and rape of people imprisoned for opposing the government of former Syrian president Bashar Assad during the country’s devastating civil war.

The defendant, identified under Dutch privacy laws only as Rafiq al Q., stood trial beginning in April on charges that included torture, sexual abuse, and rape. The 58-year-old maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, alleging that both the victims and law enforcement had conspired against him.

The verdict from the District Court of The Hague marks the latest in a growing series of legal actions taken against Syrian suspects in courts around the world, following Assad’s removal from power in December 2024 after a swift rebel offensive that ended years of civil war. Assad subsequently fled to Russia, a longtime ally.

These prosecutions have drawn renewed attention to the widespread abuse that took place inside dozens of Syrian detention facilities while Assad held power. Former prisoners, human rights organizations, and activists have described systematic torture, sexual violence, mass executions, and brutal conditions.

Judges determined that Rafiq al Q. was a member of the pro-Assad National Defense Force, a paramilitary organization, and that between 2013 and 2014 he served as an interrogator for the group. Evidence presented in court showed he was responsible for the torture of detainees held at facilities in Salamiyah, including beatings, suspending victims upside down, and administering electric shocks.

In summarizing its ruling, the court stated: “The defendant was also guilty of sexually abusing multiple victims. He raped one of them. The defendant repeatedly subjected the victims to conditions of extreme fear, threats, pain, hopelessness, and powerlessness. During the court hearings, the victims gave compelling testimonies about the impact this had on them and the consequences they continue to suffer to this day.”

Rafiq al Q. sat quietly beside his attorney, wearing a striped shirt with guards positioned nearby, and appeared to offer no reaction as the conviction and sentence were read aloud. He was cleared of some charges where judges found the evidence insufficient to support a guilty verdict.

He arrived in the Netherlands seeking asylum in 2021 and was living in the eastern town of Druten when authorities arrested him in 2023.

The prosecution was made possible through the legal concept of universal jurisdiction, which permits courts to try individuals for serious international offenses — such as war crimes — even when those crimes were committed in a foreign country.

Both prosecutors and the defense have 14 days to file an appeal of the conviction and sentence.

The Netherlands is not the only country pursuing accountability for those tied to the former Assad regime. Last year, a German court sentenced a Syrian doctor to life in prison for torture and war crimes, including the killing of two people and the torture of nine others in Syria between 2011 and 2012. In 2024, a court in Paris sentenced three senior Syrian officials in absentia to life imprisonment for complicity in war crimes.

Syria itself is also working to hold former regime loyalists accountable. In April, the first public trial of former government officials opened in Damascus. Among those who appeared in court was Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who led the Political Security Branch in the southern Daraa province under Assad and is also a cousin of the former president. He faces charges related to what state-run news agency SANA described as “crimes against the Syrian people.”

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Heads of state representing the Group of Seven major democracies have descended on a scenic French spa town this week for a multi-day international summit.

The gathering, which kicked off Monday, brings together some of the most powerful leaders on the world stage for high-level discussions among the G7 nations.

The Associated Press has put together a curated photo gallery showcasing highlights from the summit, offering a visual look at the world leaders in attendance.

THE HAGUE — A district court in The Hague handed down a 26-year prison sentence Monday to a former member of a pro-Assad Syrian militia, finding him guilty of crimes against humanity for torturing and sexually assaulting prisoners over a decade ago.

Judges determined that 58-year-old Rafik A. — whose surname was withheld by the court — served as an interrogator for the National Defense Forces in Salamiyah, Syria, during 2013 and 2014. That militia fought alongside the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was removed from power in December 2024.

Throughout the proceedings, Rafik A. consistently denied any involvement in the alleged crimes and claimed that witnesses who testified against him were lying.

Presiding judge Wim van Hattum outlined the court’s findings in a summary of the ruling, stating: “The suspect was engaged in torture, rape or other sexual abuse of eight victims in this case, either by committing the acts himself or by ordering others to do so.”

The conviction is historic on two fronts: it is the first time a Dutch court has found someone guilty of atrocities in Syria carried out by forces loyal to the Assad government, and it is also the first Dutch conviction in which sexual violence has been classified as a crime against humanity.

Similar legal proceedings against officials tied to the Assad era have been pursued in other European nations, including Germany.

Rafik A. had been residing in the Netherlands for several years under asylum seeker status before his arrest there in 2023.

Dutch law, operating under the principle of universal jurisdiction, permits courts to prosecute foreign nationals for serious crimes committed in other countries, provided that the accused or some of the victims have a presence in the Netherlands.

WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran have reached a signed memorandum of understanding to bring their nearly four-month war to a close, senior U.S. officials announced Monday. A formal signing ceremony is set to take place on Friday.

According to one U.S. official, the agreement has been signed by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.

Alongside the announcement of the signed document, officials indicated that maritime activity in the Strait of Hormuz is already beginning to pick up.

“You will see significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time,” said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity during a briefing with reporters.

The official tempered expectations for an immediate full return to normalcy, stating, “We probably won’t return to normal in two weeks, but we will see a significant increase in strait traffic.”

Both nations confirmed they had agreed on terms to end hostilities and reopen the strategic waterway, news that offered relief to financial markets. However, the agreement may depend on a cessation of fighting in Lebanon, and discussions about Tehran’s nuclear program have been pushed to a later date.

Though still considered a framework agreement, the deal stands as the most significant breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict, which began in February following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The war has resulted in thousands of deaths and severely disrupted global energy markets.

WASHINGTON — The head of the International Monetary Fund says the global economy is holding its own against the pressures created by the war in the Middle East, even as commodity prices have surged, inflation has climbed, and financial conditions have tightened. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva made the comments Monday, noting there are no signs yet of a worldwide economic slowdown.

Georgieva, who leads the international lending organization, expressed support for Sunday’s agreement between the United States and Iran to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, she cautioned in a newly published blog post that any further escalation in the conflict or disruptions to supply chains would pose a “clear risk to global growth.”

The IMF is scheduled to release a revised economic outlook on July 8. Back in April, the fund had laid out three possible scenarios for global economic output in 2026 and 2027. Its middle-ground “adverse scenario” projected growth slowing to 2.5% in 2026, with headline inflation reaching 5.4%.

Last month, Georgieva indicated that the adverse scenario was already unfolding. Her latest remarks, however, suggest the fund may now lean toward its more optimistic baseline projection — one that assumed the Iran conflict would be short-lived and forecast global growth of 3.1% in 2026.

The ceasefire framework represents the most significant step yet toward ending a war that began in February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The conflict has since expanded into a broader regional confrontation, claiming thousands of lives, rattling global energy markets, and fueling fears of a worldwide recession.

“More than three months into the war in the Middle East, the global economy appears to be holding up. Commodity prices, inflation and expectations for it, and financial conditions have all been impacted — but not yet in ways that signal a global slowdown,” Georgieva wrote in her blog post.

KIGALI, Rwanda — A trial involving Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire got off to a delayed start Monday after she informed the court that spending a year in detention had left her physically and mentally unprepared to proceed with the case.

Ingabire appeared before the high court in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, where she stated she was not well enough to stand trial. Her legal team had already notified prosecutors ahead of time that a postponement would be needed. The presiding judge granted the request, pushing the start of the trial back by one day.

She faces accusations from prosecutors of conspiring to incite unrest against the government of President Paul Kagame. If found guilty, she could spend many years in prison. Ingabire, however, has firmly rejected those charges, calling them baseless and part of a political effort to shut down her pro-democracy movement.

During her court appearance, Ingabire also raised concerns about being prevented from communicating with family members living outside Rwanda and said she had been unable to speak with others who are accused alongside her.

Prosecutors countered that Ingabire had been in unauthorized contact with nine other suspects, including members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group that she leads — an organization the Rwandan government does not officially recognize.

Ingabire has long been one of Kagame’s most persistent critics. She previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that was also never allowed to register with the government. Most of those who oppose Kagame have fled Rwanda and continue their activism from abroad, making Ingabire unusual in that she has at times been the only opposition figure maintaining her activism from inside the country.

She spent 16 years living in exile in the Netherlands before returning to Rwanda in 2010 with plans to enter politics. She was arrested before she ever had the chance to run in the presidential election.

In a previous legal case, she was convicted of conspiracy against the government and of denying Rwanda’s 1994 genocide — charges she has consistently denied. She received a 15-year prison sentence but was released in 2018 following a presidential pardon.

Kagame’s party has governed Rwanda since 1994, and his administration has received recognition for maintaining relative peace and stability while working to heal the country’s deep ethnic divisions. However, human rights organizations have accused his government of widespread abuses, silencing independent journalists, and suppressing political opposition — accusations Kagame denies.

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s migration minister is standing firmly behind his country’s immigration crackdown, telling a private television broadcaster on Monday that criticism from human rights organizations is something he wears proudly.

Minister Thanos Plevris, speaking on Action 24, described Greece’s current policies as “the toughest — if not the toughest — in Europe.” His remarks came as Greece’s conservative government works to deepen its relationship with authorities in eastern Libya, a region that has become a key departure point for migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

“Let me tell you something: the days when bureaucrats from Brussels or the United Nations could just show up and dictate how Greece handles the migration crisis are over,” Plevris declared during the broadcast.

The minister also pushed back against the influence of charities and rights organizations that assist migrants, arguing they have no place in determining Greek immigration policy.

“Every time U.N. envoys express concern over my legislation, it makes me proud of that legislation,” he said. “The more Amnesty International, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees or U.N. envoys are irritated by our migration policy, the more I view it as a badge of honor.”

Greece is currently in discussions with several African nations about setting up processing centers on their soil for migrants whose asylum applications have been denied within Europe — a proposal that has drawn sharp criticism from international human rights groups.

On Monday, Saddam Hifter, deputy commander of eastern Libya’s armed forces, visited Athens for meetings with Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Greece has offered eastern Libya’s authorities coast guard training along with support for employment programs and investment projects, all aimed at reducing the number of migrants setting out across the Mediterranean.

The surge in arrivals has been particularly pronounced on the island of Crete. Greek authorities reported Monday that arrivals and interceptions off Crete climbed more than 20% compared to the same period last year, reaching approximately 5,500 through May — with the pace accelerating since early June.

The European Union approved stricter migration measures last week, even as overall crossings from North Africa and the Middle East have declined in other areas.

Libya has long served as a major transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East hoping to reach European shores. More than a decade of political instability there has allowed human trafficking networks to thrive, with smugglers moving people across borders shared with Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia.

An analyst specializing in Libyan politics and security, Jalel Harchaoui, noted that eastern Libya is actively seeking stronger diplomatic relationships with European nations as well as financial support.

BRUSSELS — Ukraine took a historic step Monday by formally opening negotiations to join the European Union, launching what is expected to be a years-long process requiring major political and institutional reforms — all while the country remains at war with Russia.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka attended an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg to begin discussions on the first set of policy areas, a necessary step toward bringing Ukraine’s laws, standards, and values in line with those of the EU.

For Ukraine, joining the EU represents a key “security guarantee” for a stable future once the fighting ends. While NATO membership would be considered an even stronger guarantee, the Trump administration has made clear that is not on the table, and many nations are reluctant to extend membership to a country still engaged in active conflict.

Moldova also formally launched its own EU membership bid on Monday. Russia has long worked to keep Moldova within its sphere of influence, and last year was accused of running a large-scale disinformation campaign powered by artificial intelligence during that country’s elections.

Any nation seeking EU membership must complete negotiations across 35 policy areas — covering everything from agriculture and energy to trade and taxation — a process that typically spans many years.

Monday’s conference opened five key policy chapters, grouped into what the EU calls “clusters,” that address the foundational values of the bloc. These include the rule of law, fundamental rights, and the functioning of democratic institutions. Specifically, the chapters cover the judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, public procurement, statistics, and financial control.

This particular cluster carries special significance for several EU member nations that have expressed concern about Ukraine’s commitment and capacity to combat corruption. Last month, two national anti-corruption agencies named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff as an official suspect in a major corruption investigation, though officials stressed that Zelenskyy himself is not under suspicion.

The talks are unfolding at a moment when several European nations have been pushing hard to fast-track Ukraine’s path into the EU, viewing the country as essential to the continent’s broader security and having already invested heavily in supporting its military.

Last month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged fellow EU leaders to consider offering Ukraine “associate membership” as a way to inject new momentum into peace negotiations aimed at ending more than four years of war with Russia.

France and the Netherlands have also floated alternative arrangements that could bring Ukraine closer to the EU more quickly, though without granting full membership rights.

However, EU officials and other countries currently in the membership queue have pushed back, insisting the process must be merit-based and lead to nothing short of full membership.

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen emphasized that completing the full reform process is essential, saying membership is not simply about getting a “club card for the EU.” Speaking to reporters in Luxembourg ahead of the ceremony, she said what Ukrainians “truly are after is freedom, democracy and a transparent market economy without any corruption.”

Ukraine’s path to EU membership had previously been blocked by Hungary, under its strongly nationalist former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was widely seen as Russia’s closest ally within the EU. Orbán repeatedly used voting rules that require unanimous agreement among all 27 member nations to delay progress on sanctions, policy decisions, and political statements.

The European Commission had frozen billions of euros in funding for Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding under Orbán, and worries remain about the damage a single dissenting government can inflict by using its veto power.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard stressed the need for vigilance going forward. “We need to be very cautious in the future and make sure that these are countries that really want to be a part of Europe, and a part of the European Union, and are willing to work with us,” she said. “In order for the EU to be really strong, we need to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

Defense manufacturer KNDS unveiled a new combat tank on Monday at the Eurosatory exhibition near Paris, intended as a bridge solution to replace France’s aging Leclerc tanks while a major joint French-German development program continues to fall behind schedule.

The new vehicle, designated CAPINT — short for “intermediary capability” — pairs a chassis built by KNDS’s German division with a tank gun produced by its French division. According to KNDS, the tank is designed to bolster French Army readiness and help lay the groundwork for the next-generation Main Ground Combat System, known as MGCS.

The MGCS program, which got underway in 2017, is meant to eventually replace both Germany’s Leopard 2 and France’s Leclerc tanks, with an original target of entering service between 2040 and 2045. France’s Leclerc tanks are scheduled to be retired by 2038.

In April, France’s Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin told parliament that Paris had chosen to pursue an “intermediate” tank program because the MGCS effort was running roughly a decade behind schedule.

The CAPINT announcement comes just days after France and Germany scrapped their joint FCAS fighter jet program following months of disputes between Airbus and Dassault Aviation — raising further concerns about the durability of European defense cooperation.

Adding to the uncertainty, a German government spokesperson said Monday that the MGCS project would focus on “platform-independent” technologies, and acknowledged it was not yet clear whether a jointly built tank would actually come to fruition. A French government source, however, maintained that the project remains a priority for both nations as well as for KNDS.

Over the weekend, the CEO of German defense firm Rheinmetall — one of the shareholders in the MGCS initiative — was quoted as saying France was weighing significant cuts to the project’s funding.

KNDS CEO Jean-Paul Alary, speaking with reporters at Eurosatory, said the status of MGCS was a political matter he could not address directly, but warned that if the program collapsed, it would be “very bad news” for Europe.

Germany has already begun developing its own parallel tank program, with KNDS Germany and Rheinmetall working together since 2025 on an intermediate tank — referred to as either the Leopard 2AX or Leopard 3 — to eventually succeed the Leopard 2.

On the business front, KNDS is preparing for an initial public offering with a dual listing planned on stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Paris, expected to take place this year. When asked about timing, Alary said the best outcome would be to move forward “as soon as we can.”

German newspaper Handelsblatt reported Monday that Paris and Berlin had reached an agreement after the German government sought protections ahead of the IPO to prevent sensitive technology from leaving Germany. The German chancellery had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

KNDS Chairman Tom Enders was cited in the same report as cautioning against a drift toward national protectionism, warning it could erode the foundation of European defense collaboration.

Broader security concerns — including a perceived growing threat from Russia and increasing hesitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to support European defense — have pushed governments across the continent to accelerate military investment, even as joint production efforts face headwinds.

A single by-election in northern England on Thursday has the potential to reshape British politics at the highest level — and it may come down not to the winner’s popularity, but to a bitter feud tearing apart the populist right.

Andy Burnham, currently serving as the Labour Party’s mayor of Greater Manchester, is seeking to win the parliamentary seat of Makerfield. Under Labour Party rules, he must hold a seat in parliament before he can mount a challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the party’s leadership.

The roughly 77,000 registered voters in Makerfield, a constituency in northern England, could effectively be choosing the next leader of a country of nearly 70 million people.

Opinion surveys show Burnham with a lead of between five and 12 percentage points over the right-wing Reform UK party — a margin that analysts say exists largely because the right-wing vote is being split between two parties whose leaders were once allies. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain, born from an ugly falling-out between the two men last year, are both competing for the same pool of voters.

Peter Thompson, a 78-year-old record shop owner in Ashton-in-Makerfield, said he plans to vote for Reform but worries that Restore’s presence in the race could cost the right-wing bloc the seat. “All my voting in life there’s only been two parties that have run this country, Labour and Conservatives. Look around you, it’s a mess,” he said.

“If it was a straightforward fight, I think Reform may well edge it but because there’s that many parties that you can vote for now, I think it will swing it to Labour’s advantage, unfortunately,” Thompson added.

Both Reform and Restore position themselves as anti-establishment parties with hardline stances on immigration — Restore going so far as to advocate mass deportations. Polling shows Restore pulling in around 7% to 8% support in the constituency, a figure that is seen as seriously damaging Reform’s chances.

Farage warned last week that the race is effectively a two-horse contest, arguing that supporting Restore risks electing “perhaps the most left-wing prime minister of modern times.”

Burnham’s campaign is built around themes of economic abandonment, pointing to the decline of the region’s mining and manufacturing industries. “It all adds up to 40 years of neoliberalism that have not been kind to the North of England. Forty years of trickle-down economics that did not again trickle down very much at all,” he said at the start of his campaign last month.

Official statistics offer a more complicated picture. Makerfield falls roughly in the middle of national rankings when it comes to income deprivation, and performs relatively well on employment and health measures. Its weakest scores come in housing access and services — areas that sit at the center of Burnham’s political vision, which he calls “Manchesterism” and describes as “business friendly socialism.”

Rob Ford, a professor of politics at the University of Manchester, described the seat in an interview with independent consultancy Blonde Money as one of aspirational middle-class commuters rather than a traditional working-class stronghold. “It is ‘Red Wall’ in its heritage and identity, it is not Red Wall in terms of the kind of people who live here,” Ford said, referencing the traditionally Labour-held northern seats that briefly shifted to the Conservatives in 2019 and are now key Reform targets.

The political landscape in the area has already shifted dramatically. Reform swept 24 of 25 Wigan Borough Council seats — which includes the Makerfield area — during local elections on May 7, leaving Labour’s hopes resting heavily on Burnham’s personal name recognition.

On the ground, placards backing Reform outnumber Labour signs in many neighborhoods, particularly in more working-class areas like the Stubshaw Cross estate. Labour has responded by pouring significant resources into the race, with cabinet ministers and prominent lawmakers showing up to campaign and help distribute leaflets.

While Burnham built his reputation as mayor on openness and accessibility, his return to national-level politics is being tightly managed by party operatives based in London — a reflection of just how much is riding on the outcome.

For all the high-level political maneuvering, the final result will come down to individual voters like Neil Price, a 41-year-old bricklayer from the area. “I’m going to be voting for Andy Burnham. I know he does a lot for the community round here. He does well with everything he talks about … so yeah, he’s the one I’m going to be voting for,” Price said.

PRAGUE — The Czech government has approved what is being called its most sweeping overhaul of public media in decades, agreeing to eliminate license fees and replace them with state budget funding — a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from press freedom groups and opposition politicians who say it threatens the independence of public broadcasters.

The government, which is led by the populist ANO party under Prime Minister Andrej Babis and also includes far-right and eurosceptic parties, has frequently clashed with both public and privately owned independent media outlets, accusing them of bias.

If the proposal clears parliament, funding for public broadcasters would shift away from fees currently paid by households and businesses and instead come directly from the state budget. That new level of funding would be approximately 15% less than what the broadcasters currently receive through the fee system.

Opponents of the plan warn that tying broadcaster funding to the state budget creates an opening for political influence over editorial decisions.

Babis, a billionaire businessman and a self-described admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump, has framed the change as a cost-saving measure that would also fulfill a campaign promise to relieve citizens of paying the combined monthly fee of 205 crowns — roughly $9.87.

At a news conference, Babis pushed back against accusations that the plan was designed to undermine journalistic independence. “We have never threatened the independence of Czech Television… nor will we,” he said.

Czech Television and Czech Radio both enjoy strong public trust — each earned the confidence of 59% of Czech citizens in a 2025 Reuters Institute survey, the highest marks of any media outlets included in that poll.

Pavol Szalai, the Prague bureau chief for Reporters Without Borders, said the government had effectively institutionalized financial pressure on public media. He added that the move appeared to conflict with European Union guidelines on how public media should be funded.

Babis has maintained that the Czech approach mirrors funding models already in use in other European nations.

Under the specifics of the proposal, Czech Television — the larger of the two public broadcasters — would see its budget allocation drop by approximately 1 billion crowns, bringing it down to 5.74 billion crowns. The station also generates additional revenue through content licensing and advertising.

Czech Television’s director Hynek Chudarek said the financial cuts would likely force the station to lay off between 300 and 500 employees out of its current workforce of 2,900.

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by drone strikes in war-ravaged Sudan during the first five months of this year alone, according to a senior United Nations official who addressed the issue on Monday.

Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that his office has recorded a dramatic surge in drone warfare as well as widespread rape and sexual violence throughout the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has now stretched into its fourth year.

“In Sudan, the horrific conflict has expanded and escalated, marked by a sharp increase in the use of drone warfare,” Türk told the council.

The Sudanese war began on April 15, 2023, when a struggle for power between the country’s military and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces erupted into open combat in the capital city of Khartoum and across the country.

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, commonly referred to as ACLED, the war has claimed at least 59,000 lives over three years — though the U.S.-based conflict monitoring organization cautioned that the true death toll is likely far greater due to challenges in gathering accurate data from the region.

ACLED also reported that at least 2,670 people — both fighters and civilians — died in drone-related incidents in 2025, representing a staggering 600% jump in drone-caused deaths and an 81% rise in drone attacks compared to the previous year.

Just last week, a drone strike attributed to the paramilitary group struck a cemetery and a gas station in the central city of el-Obeid, killing at least 15 people, according to local health officials.

Both sides in the conflict have increasingly deployed drones loaded with explosives, with attacks repeatedly hitting civilian targets such as hospitals, dams, schools, markets, and camps housing displaced people. Drone strikes have emerged as the single deadliest threat to civilians in the conflict.

The United Nations estimates that roughly 34 million people — nearly two out of every three people living in Sudan — are in need of humanitarian assistance, making it the largest such crisis in the world.

Beyond the physical destruction, the conflict has been defined by widespread atrocities. The U.N. and various international human rights organizations have characterized mass rape and killings motivated by ethnicity as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“Rape and sexual violence are rampant,” Türk stated.

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom has announced plans to prohibit children and teenagers under 16 from accessing a wide range of social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. The decision is aimed at protecting young people from harmful content and the dangers of excessive screen time.

In taking this step, the U.K. joins a growing number of nations that have moved to enforce age-based restrictions on social media access. While many parents and child advocacy organizations have praised these efforts, critics argue the measures are difficult to enforce and raise serious privacy concerns.

Here is a look at what several other countries are already doing or planning to do:

Australia — Australia’s ban was described as a first of its kind globally when it was introduced in December. The law prevents anyone under 16 from holding accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Twitch. Technology companies that fail to take reasonable steps to remove underage accounts can face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, which equals roughly $35 million. While no fines have been issued yet, the government reports that companies have already shut down nearly 5 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Vietnam — In March, the Vietnamese government announced that users under 16 would no longer be permitted to hold accounts on platforms that could expose them to addiction, pornography, online scams, and cyberbullying. The affected platforms include YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, and gaming platform Roblox.

Malaysia — Social media platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia — including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube — are now required to put age-verification systems in place and prevent anyone under 16 from creating an account. Companies that do not comply can face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit, or approximately $2.5 million.

Norway — A law that went into effect in March stops short of an outright ban but requires users under 16 to link their social media accounts to a parent or legal guardian for supervision. The law also bans platforms from using features designed to keep users hooked, such as infinite scroll and autoplay video. Additionally, digital services must verify users’ ages through methods that go beyond simply asking someone to confirm they are over 18, in order to block access to inappropriate or prohibited content.

Canada — The Canadian government introduced legislation this month to establish a new regulatory body called the Digital Safety Commission of Canada. The commission would have the authority to ban children under 16 from social media accounts unless companies can demonstrate they are actively removing harmful content — including nonconsensual intimate images, material that encourages self-harm, content that incites violence, and material that promotes hatred.

Beyond these countries, France, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Thailand, and South Korea are also considering or actively working on their own measures to limit minors’ access to social media platforms.

A London court handed down guilty verdicts Monday against two men charged in connection with a scheme to burn properties belonging to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The arson attacks took place in May 2025 and caused damage to the home Starmer had lived in before becoming prime minister, an apartment building he once had partial ownership of, and completely destroyed his former Toyota SUV. No injuries were reported.

Authorities say the plot was masterminded by a mysterious individual who communicated in Russian and went by the alias “El Money.” This person reached out to Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych through the Telegram messaging app, offering him cryptocurrency in exchange for torching the properties and filming the destruction to post online for maximum visibility.

Despite the investigation, El Money’s true identity was never determined and no charges were filed against the figure. Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, who leads the counterterrorism unit at the Metropolitan Police, said investigators found no proof that a hostile foreign government was behind the fires, as they were unable to establish El Money’s motive or employer.

“Clearly the tasking was to intimidate and create fear for the prime minister and to attack the U.K.,” Flanagan stated.

Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were found guilty at London’s Central Criminal Court of conspiring to destroy property through arson. A third defendant, Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared of the same charge.

Lavrynovych also faced and was convicted on two separate counts of arson that could have recklessly put lives at risk.

During the proceedings, Lavrynovych admitted to starting the fires, saying he was desperate for money. He said he was motivated by a promised reward of 3,000 pounds — roughly $4,000 in cryptocurrency — which he intended to use to cover medical costs for his father. He also claimed El Money had threatened him, and that he had no knowledge of who owned the properties until after the fires were set. He told investigators he had no idea who Starmer even was.

El Money had given Lavrynovych specific instructions on the target locations, directions on how to prepare flammable mixtures, and guidance on how to avoid detection.

Messages found on Lavrynovych’s phone revealed discussions about the fires, as well as other paid acts of vandalism he had carried out — including blacking out car windshields with paint and posting anti-Islam materials in Muslim neighborhoods throughout London.

Following the attacks, El Money told Lavrynovych payment was coming and instructed him to send a coded message using the word “geranium” if he was ever stopped by police. Lavrynovych was arrested shortly after receiving that message. The court was informed he never actually received any payment for carrying out the three fires.

Carpiuc served as a go-between in the scheme, while Pochynok was allegedly brought in to record video of the fires so Lavrynovych could collect his payment.

The fires were set in the middle of the night. Residents who had been asleep were jolted awake to find smoke pouring through their front doors.

Starmer’s sister-in-law, who was staying at his former home, said she heard a loud bang and had difficulty breathing as smoke overtook the stairwell. Her 9-year-old daughter was left terrified by the ordeal.

A resident of the apartment building was forced to retreat to the rooftop after finding the hallways engulfed in smoke.

Sentencing for both convicted men is scheduled for Friday.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President JD Vance announced Monday that he is hopeful the written text of an agreement aimed at ending the war in Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz will be made available to the public sometime this week, even as technical negotiations over the finer points of the deal are expected to continue.

Speaking during an interview on CNBC, Vance expressed the United States’ position that the economically critical shipping waterway should remain open without any fees on a permanent basis.

“Our expectation is that the Strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long-term,” Vance said.

He added, “That’s the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations. You know that there are a lot of very important details to figure out that we’re actually going to sit at the table and discuss together and figure out a path forward.”

Both the United States and Iran have confirmed they reached terms to end the conflict and reopen the strait. The announcement brought some relief to financial markets, though the agreement may depend on a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and puts off discussions about Tehran’s nuclear program to a later date.

While still considered a framework rather than a finalized agreement, the deal represents the most significant step yet toward resolving a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and rattled global energy markets since it began with joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran back in February.

Vance indicated that Iran’s foreign minister and House speaker will serve as the country’s representatives at a signing ceremony set for Friday in Switzerland. He did not identify who would be present on behalf of the United States at that event.

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s justice minister is warning that a recent surge in violence against foreign nationals is tarnishing the country’s international reputation and triggering a backlash that is affecting South African businesses and entertainers abroad.

At a briefing held Sunday, minister Mmamoloko Kubayi urged South Africans to step back from vigilante actions and allow the government to address illegal immigration through official channels.

Over the past several weeks, South Africa has experienced a wave of protests and violent incidents directed at other African nationals — including some living in the country legally — as anti-immigrant groups point the finger at foreigners for the nation’s high unemployment rate and crime levels.

“A majority of South African artists perform on the continent, and many of them are seeing their gigs being cancelled,” Kubayi said, declining to name any performers specifically.

She added that the government is extending support to South African businesses operating in other countries that have been caught in the resulting backlash.

“We do believe that it can not only hurt the brand, but can hurt our social cohesion,” she said. Kubayi also noted that even some South African citizens have been caught up in the anti-immigrant aggression simply because of their appearance or the way they speak.

Xenophobia has long been a recurring problem in South Africa, and observers say the issue has been stoked by politicians looking to build support ahead of local elections scheduled for November.

Multiple countries — among them Ghana, Malawi, and Mozambique — have moved to bring their citizens back home due to safety concerns. Malawi announced Monday that it was transporting hundreds more of its nationals home by bus from the city of Durban.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media platform X to express his dismay, writing: “It is profoundly heartbreaking to witness another surge of xenophobic violence in #SouthAfrica.” He described the situation as a “tragic betrayal” of the African nations that stood by South Africa during its fight against apartheid.

Tedros also reported that five Ethiopians and five Mozambicans had lost their lives in the attacks.

South Africa’s foreign ministry pushed back on that characterization, stating that the deaths of the five Ethiopians were tied to organized crime rather than xenophobic violence. The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the five Mozambicans remain under investigation, the ministry said.

“We deeply regret the tragic loss of life in these recent incidents, as one life lost is simply one too many,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri.

MADRID — Spain’s Migration Ministry announced Monday that approximately 900,000 undocumented migrants have applied for legal status through a government program that was originally projected to attract around 500,000 applicants.

The initiative is designed, in part, to bring undocumented workers into Spain’s formal labor market. The country has maintained a relatively open posture toward immigration even as many other European nations have moved to tighten their borders.

CEAR, a non-profit organization that assists refugees, anticipates the total number of applications will surpass one million before the program concludes in two weeks.

Spain’s economy has grown at a pace that has outstripped most of its European counterparts over the past two years. Migrants have played a significant role in that growth, filling critical labor gaps in industries like hospitality and elderly care while also contributing to social security funding.

Since April, Spain has issued 360,000 temporary work permits — approximately 40% of all applications submitted, according to the ministry. Applicants are permitted to start working as soon as their paperwork is accepted for review.

Pilar Cancela, Spain’s secretary of state for migration, told Reuters that the government has the capacity to process up to one million applications between April and June, though she acknowledged that the number of requests will exceed the number of permits ultimately granted.

Spain’s immigration system has long struggled with significant backlogs. Thousands of migrants from countries such as Colombia and Senegal have waited years for asylum decisions, with more than 90% of those requests ultimately denied.

According to the think tank Funcas, those rigid policies have left roughly 840,000 undocumented migrants in a prolonged limbo — living and working in Spain off the books while waiting years to obtain other forms of residency.

CEAR Director Monica Lopez spoke at a press conference Monday, calling for longer-term solutions beyond the current effort. “This is an extraordinary programme, but there should be a structural measure to facilitate access to work and residence permits, in order to avoid creating groups of people living on the margins of society,” she said.

World leaders have descended on a French spa town for a Group of Seven summit that carries added weight following President Donald Trump’s announcement of an agreement he says will end the U.S. war against Iran.

Trump arrived in Evian-les-Bains Monday afternoon for discussions with G7 leaders, some of whom have been openly critical of how he managed the roughly 15-week conflict — a war that has caused a spike in global energy prices.

Trump has clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over his decision to go to war without consulting them. He has threatened to pull U.S. troops out of all four countries — each a member of the NATO alliance — in response to their lack of support.

The G7 consists of France, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. This year’s summit also includes guest nations Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, South Korea, Qatar, Syria, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.

Macron Stands Firm Against Trump’s Tariff Threats

French President Emmanuel Macron made clear Monday that he will not yield to Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on French wines unless Paris scraps its digital tax on American technology companies.

In an interview with French broadcaster TF1, Macron stated that the tax was a European decision and that it is not “for the United States to decide what European or French law should be.” He added that his position is “normal” and will not shift “as long as I am here.”

European Union wines and spirits currently face a 15% tariff when exported to the United States. Macron said he plans to raise the issue in a “respectful but firm” way at the summit.

“What is important to understand is why the G7 was created,” Macron said. “To resolve many of our international imbalances, it is better to coordinate and consult with one another, especially when we are among the world’s major democracies.”

France Ready to Act on Strait of Hormuz Security

Macron said France and other Western allies are “ready to take action very quickly” to help peacefully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping lane.

France and Britain have both pushed for a mission to restore maritime security in the strait once conditions permit.

“We already have forces in the area,” Macron said during his TF1 interview, pointing to France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle.

“We are ready to take action very quickly … to send aircraft, deploy a frigate, send mine-clearing vessels. We also have our aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, along with its accompanying strike group, which remains in the region and could be deployed within two or three days following confirmation” of the tentative U.S.-Iran deal, he said.

G7 European Leaders Hail Iran Deal as ‘Diplomatic Breakthrough’

Despite their ongoing disagreements with Trump over the Iran conflict, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement before the summit began, praising the United States, Iran, and the mediators for what they described as a “diplomatic breakthrough.” Canada also signed onto the statement.

The leaders stressed that detailed follow-up negotiations must happen quickly and that the agreement needs to be put into effect soon so the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened to oil tanker traffic. They said they are committed to contributing, including through possible mine-clearing operations.

Macron Thanks Security Forces Protecting the Summit

As world leaders flew into Evian-les-Bains, the quiet lakeside resort town was transformed into a heavily secured zone, with officers stationed throughout the streets checking credentials and monitoring crowds.

Macron stopped by a temporary security command center Monday morning to personally thank the officers on duty.

He described the three-day summit — which covers topics including the Middle East, Ukraine, and trade — as “a big source of pride for France, a big responsibility.”

“We’ll try to make maximum progress on all the issues that are important for our country, our continent and also for global peace and prosperity,” Macron told the assembled police officers, gendarmes, firefighters, health workers, and other personnel.

Macron said nearly 13,800 officers have been deployed for the security operation. “Only your collective mobilization makes this possible,” he said. “Good luck for the coming days. Keep up the work.”

Japan to Join G7 European Nations’ Joint Statement

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that Japan will sign onto the joint statement issued by the G7’s four European nations, which calls for cooperation in quickly reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending Iran’s nuclear program.

When asked about the statement, Takaichi confirmed Japan had been asked to participate and said simply, “We will join.”

The statement, issued Monday in response to the U.S.-Iran peace deal, emphasized that the agreement must be implemented rapidly and comprehensively. It also noted the signatories’ readiness to help ensure safe commercial shipping and conduct mine-clearing operations in the key waterway, in line with each country’s constitutional requirements.

Takaichi did not detail what Japan’s specific contribution might be, but said she intends to have thorough discussions at the summit about achieving peace and stability across the broader Middle East region.

Trump Announces July 4 Rally at Lincoln Memorial

Even while traveling to France for the G7 summit, Trump shared plans for a major celebration marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.

“On July 4th, at The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, in beautiful and safe Washington D.C., we are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ‘TRIBUTE TO AMERICA,’” Trump posted on social media.

Trump said the event will feature military flyovers, a personally selected music playlist, and “the LARGEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN HISTORY.”

Trump had also previously announced in late May that he would headline “The Great American State Fair,” part of the America 250 celebration, after several musical performers withdrew partly due to the event’s association with Trump. Organizers indicated the president’s appearance was set for June 24 to kick off the fair.

Macron Samples the Spring Behind Evian’s Fame

In a lighter moment Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron drank a glass of water from the natural spring that gave Evian-les-Bains its worldwide reputation.

Macron visited the Cachat Spring, which takes its name from the owner of the garden through which the water once flowed in the late 1700s. The water was first scientifically analyzed in 1807 and was originally recommended as a remedy for kidney and bladder conditions. It became a popular table water starting in the 1860s and is now sold globally under the Evian brand.

Brazil’s Leader and UN Health Chief Urge Action on Pandemic Preparedness

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the head of the United Nations health agency are jointly urging world leaders to strengthen a pandemic preparedness agreement passed last year.

“Humanity promised itself, in the rawness of that grief, that it would not face such a day again unprepared,” the two wrote in a shared statement.

Negotiations over a key annex to the accord have stalled due to disagreements about sharing disease-causing pathogens — which frequently emerge in tropical developing countries — in exchange for access to technologies like vaccines, which are typically developed in wealthier nations.

The pair called on G7 leaders and other international groupings to “instruct your negotiators to come to the July session ready to conclude” the annex.

Trump Calls White House UFC Event ‘Incredible’

While en route to France aboard Air Force One, Trump posted on Truth Social praising a UFC fight night held at the White House, calling the fighters “outstanding” and the South Lawn setting “unsurpassed.”

“The White House has never looked more beautiful,” Trump added.

Brazil’s Lula First to Arrive at G7 Venue

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became the first foreign leader to check in Monday at the Hotel Royal in Evian-les-Bains ahead of the summit’s formal opening.

Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, India, and South Korea have been invited to join select discussions as partner countries alongside the G7 members.

All world leaders, including Trump, were scheduled to receive an official welcome later Monday from French President Emmanuel Macron at the start of the summit.

The Hotel Royal, a five-star property with views of Lake Geneva and the foothills of the Alps, will host the leaders through Wednesday. The hotel is surrounded by sweeping gardens featuring flowerbeds, water features, and both English- and Japanese-inspired landscaping.

UN Human Rights Chief Welcomes US-Iran Deal

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk welcomed the announced peace agreement between the United States and Iran, while also renewing his call for the U.S. to publicly release the findings of an investigation into a deadly strike on a school in southern Iran that occurred when the war began.

Türk said he “deplores” the use of force by Israel and the United States against Iran, which he said has reportedly left thousands dead and caused widespread infrastructure damage. At the same time, he called Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries and Jordan, along with its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, “completely unacceptable.”

“I welcome the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed on a peace deal that provides for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for further negotiations,” Türk told the Human Rights Council as it convened its latest session.

“At this fragile moment, it is clear all sides need to exercise maximum restraint and work to implement this agreement quickly and in good faith,” he added.

UK’s Starmer Calls Iran Deal a ‘Hugely Significant Opportunity’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the breakthrough in U.S.-Iran talks, describing it as a hugely significant opportunity to bring stability to the region.

Speaking at the start of a news conference at his No. 10 Downing Street office, Starmer emphasized that it is critical for all parties in the region to seize the moment and restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We will now work closely with our partners to support this agreement and to ensure that it turns into a durable, lasting peace,” he said.

Trump Warned France of 100% Wine Tariffs Before Departure

Before leaving for the summit, Trump told the New York Post in an interview that he has warned Macron the United States will “have no choice” but to impose 100% tariffs on French wines unless Paris eliminates its digital tax on American technology companies — reviving a threat that first surfaced during his first administration.

Wines and spirits from the European Union currently face a 15% tariff when entering the United States.

Israel Says It Won’t Pull Back from Lebanon

Israel’s defense minister stated Monday that his country has no intention of withdrawing from territory it has seized in Lebanon while the interim U.S.-Iran deal remains pending.

The remarks from Defense Minister Israel Katz marked the first official Israeli response following the deal’s announcement. The two sides — the U.S. and Iran — are expected to meet Friday in Geneva to formally sign the agreement, according to Pakistan.

Katz said Israel plans to remain “indefinitely” in the lands it currently holds in Lebanon, as well as in Syria and the Gaza Strip. Iran has linked the interim deal to a halt in Israeli attacks on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Katz also warned that if Iran retaliates against Israel over Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Israel will respond with “great force.”

BANGKOK (AP) — The man who previously led the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar has been taken into custody after arriving back in Yangon, following the organization’s disclosure that it had been investigating suspicious financial dealings by former board members.

Adam Castillo, who founded and owns a security risk management company called AGS Myanmar, was apprehended Thursday at Yangon International Airport, according to a source familiar with the situation who asked not to be named due to safety concerns.

AGS Myanmar told The Associated Press only that the situation was “an ongoing matter” and declined to say anything further. An email sent to Castillo through his personal website went unanswered.

The U.S. State Department confirmed it had received reports of an American citizen being held in Myanmar but said it was unable to comment further, citing privacy considerations.

Myanmar’s military-backed government issued no official statement on the detention. Requests for comment sent to the government, the Yangon regional government office, and the Yangon Regional Police Department all went unanswered. Authorities in Myanmar, a country currently engulfed in civil war, rarely engage with international press.

However, several media outlets with ties to the military — including NP News — reported that Castillo had been arrested following a formal complaint filed against him by the American Chamber of Commerce. He served as the organization’s president from 2023 to 2025.

When asked about the complaint, the chamber’s executive director, Myat Phyu The, said she was unable to share specifics but pointed to the organization’s May 29 annual report, saying it “covers the issue at hand.” The chamber works to support American business interests.

According to that report, the current board discovered last year that certain transactions had been made by “former board representatives” under suspicious circumstances, and the matter was sent to a law firm for review.

Investigators found that “a former board representative” had entered into a contract in November 2024 with a Washington-based public relations firm. That firm paid him $300,000 that was “apparently collected and disbursed outside AMCHAM Myanmar’s accounts.”

“The signature exceeded the signing limits of individual board representatives, the board never approved the agreement,” the report stated. “AMCHAM Myanmar received no funds, made no payments, and received no services, and the matter was not disclosed to the statutory auditors.”

The report references “two former members of the board” as being connected to the case, though neither is identified by name, and no information is provided about what legal steps the organization may have taken. Myat Phyu The declined to elaborate further.

A statement posted to the organization’s website on June 12 said the board “has taken appropriate steps to safeguard the interests of the organization and its members.”

Myanmar has been in turmoil since its military forcibly removed democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in 2021 and violently cracked down on peaceful protests that followed. The crackdown sparked armed resistance from pro-democracy fighters and ethnic minority militias working to push out the military government.

Since the military seized control, Myanmar has seen a growing number of foreigners detained, with foreign journalists covering the country’s political crisis being particularly targeted.

AGS Myanmar, founded in 2013, lists security services on its website alongside offerings such as commercial cleaning and pest control.

Castillo’s company biography describes him as a former U.S. Marine officer who served in Afghanistan and currently chairs “Republican Overseas Myanmar,” a group established in 2024 to advance what it calls “America First policies in Myanmar and across the region.”

It remains unclear where Castillo had been traveling before returning to Myanmar and being detained. His Instagram account, however, shows that just one day before his arrest, he was attending a business forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he also promoted a book he recently published.

That memoir, titled “Finding Our Voice,” chronicles his time in Myanmar during the political upheaval, violence, and economic hardship that followed the military takeover, according to its description.

Whether the book had any connection to his detention remains unknown.

BEIRUT — An unnamed Hezbollah official revealed to Reuters on Monday that the militant group has refrained from carrying out any operations following the announcement of the Iran-U.S. deal.

The official, who chose to remain anonymous, stated that Hezbollah’s position on the ongoing ceasefire is directly tied to whether Israel complies with its terms. The official also made clear that Hezbollah firmly opposes what it described as Israeli “freedom of movement” within Lebanon.

According to the official, Iran deliberately held off on finalizing the deal with the United States in order to observe how Israel would respond to the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

As of Monday, Hezbollah had not released any formal or official statement regarding the agreement between Iran and the U.S.

LONDON — A 22-year-old Ukrainian man was convicted Monday of arson attacks targeting properties linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that took place last May.

The attacks unfolded over the course of five days, during which police responded to fires at a north London home connected to Starmer, a nearby residence where he previously lived and where his sister-in-law currently resides, and a blaze involving a Toyota vehicle that had once belonged to the British leader.

Roman Lavrynovych was found guilty at London’s Old Bailey Court on one count of arson with intent to endanger life and one count of arson with reckless disregard for whether lives were put at risk, in connection with one of the house fires. He was acquitted on charges tied to the other property.

Lavrynovych and 27-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc — a Romanian national who was born in Ukraine — were both convicted of conspiracy to commit arson. A third defendant, fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 35, was found not guilty on that same charge.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A new report from a prominent conflict monitoring organization warns that the Palestinian economy in the occupied West Bank is on the brink of collapse, driven by a series of Israeli restrictions that severely limit opportunities for the millions of Palestinians living under long-standing military occupation.

The International Crisis Group released findings showing that Israeli measures — including limits on movement, the withholding of tax revenue, and land seizures — are not only strangling the Palestinian economy but also stoking dangerous instability in the region.

The report states bluntly: “The economic conditions necessary for any Palestinian future other than permanent subjugation are being dismantled.”

Researchers gathered information through interviews with Palestinian business leaders, mayors, and government officials to document the financial strain being felt by companies, families, and the internationally supported Palestinian Authority, which oversees cities and towns throughout the West Bank.

The report suggests Israeli policies reflect a deliberate push to “advance Israel’s own declared goal of extending its control and preventing a Palestinian state from emerging.”

Decades of military occupation have taken a toll on Palestinian economic life, with checkpoints and military gates restricting the flow of people and goods. Palestinians have long depended on employment and imports connected to Israel while facing limitations on land use and trade. The approximately 3.4 million Palestinians currently living in the West Bank are dealing with an unemployment rate of around 30%, and their economy has contracted sharply since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Israel cancelled work permits for the vast majority of the nearly 200,000 Palestinians who had previously been employed in Israel. While Israeli officials pointed to security concerns as the reason, the move effectively stripped the Palestinian economy of close to $400 million per month — nearly one-quarter of its total economic output.

Today, many businesses are struggling to meet payroll and pay suppliers, with private sector companies reporting an estimated 50% drop in activity compared to before the war. The report attributes this to “tightened movement controls, disrupted supply chains and heightened uncertainty.”

“Palestinian society survives, but in a state of grinding immiseration. Absent remedies, the result will likely be a loss of hope and a growing risk of instability and greater violence,” the report warns.

The Palestinian Authority, which serves as the West Bank’s largest employer and provider of public services, sits at the center of this crisis. Government agencies have taken on heavy debt just to remain operational, while public workers go without pay and basic infrastructure — including roads and water systems — continues to deteriorate. The failure to fund public services is leaving patients unable to access hospital care and children out of school.

The Palestinian Authority relies heavily on tax revenues collected on goods coming into the West Bank through Israeli ports, since Palestinians have no control over their own borders. However, under hard-line ministers within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Israel has withheld billions of dollars in tax funds it owes and has made unilateral deductions from those amounts. No transfers have occurred since May 2025.

Joost Hiltermann, the International Crisis Group’s special adviser for the Middle East and North Africa and the report’s author, said the world’s attention has been largely consumed by more than two years of war in Gaza, causing many to overlook the West Bank — even though the changes happening there could have broader consequences for Palestinians’ long-term aspirations.

Hiltermann noted that Israeli officials, who hold significant sway over many of the policies discussed in the report, declined to be interviewed. He did, however, point to internal disagreements within Netanyahu’s government, with settler leaders and security officials frequently at odds over how to handle the Palestinian economy.

“The security establishment doesn’t want the Palestinian Authority or economy to collapse because they would have to assume the burden of governing the territory in full after essentially destroying it,” Hiltermann said.

LONDON — Britain’s Court of Appeal delivered a ruling Monday upholding the government’s decision to classify the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, reversing an earlier court decision that had sided with the group.

Chief Justice Sue Carr wrote that Palestine Action could not credibly be described as a civil disobedience organization, as the group had argued. She noted that the group operated through covert cells and carried out deliberate destruction of property at defense companies and on military bases.

“In our judgment, that premise was seriously flawed. It was not a sustainable proposition to portray Palestine Action as a non-violent organization,” Carr stated in the ruling.

The decision overturns a February ruling by three senior High Court judges who had concluded that while the group did commit some crimes in pursuit of its political goals, the extent of those activities did not justify a terrorism designation. The ban had remained in effect throughout the government’s appeal process.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori responded defiantly, saying the group would “fight proscription all the way” to both the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. She described the ban as “one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history.”

The British government moved to outlaw the group after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June 2025 to demonstrate against British military support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza — a conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths. That incident came after a series of other vandalism-related actions carried out by the group.

By being placed on the terrorism list alongside organizations such as al-Qaida and Hamas, membership in or support for Palestine Action became a criminal offense carrying a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Since the ban took effect, more than 3,300 people have been arrested at protests for holding signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Over 700 individuals have been charged under the U.K.’s Terrorism Act, though no convictions have been handed down yet.

Civil liberties advocates and supporters of the group argue that arresting people for peaceful demonstration tramples on free speech rights and the right to protest.

The group Defend Our Juries criticized the ruling, saying it would likely result in more police resources being used to detain peaceful protesters. “It appears the courts have been instrumentalized to suppress opposition to genocide, when they should be doing the precise opposite,” the group said in a statement released following the decision.

Palestine Action has been staging direct action protests at military and industrial locations across the U.K. since its founding in 2020, including break-ins at facilities operated by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK. Authorities say the group’s activities have caused millions of pounds in damage with implications for national security.

The original High Court panel acknowledged that some of those actions rose to the level of terrorist acts but said they could be prosecuted through the criminal justice system without a formal proscription order.

Just last Friday, four group members who broke into an Elbit factory in Bristol in 2024 and destroyed equipment were sentenced to prison after a judge determined they had acted as terrorists. More than 100 Palestine Action supporters were arrested outside the London courthouse where that sentencing took place.

Shipping companies across Asia and Europe are holding off on resuming passage through the Strait of Hormuz, saying it could take weeks to rebuild confidence in the route — even after the United States and Iran reached a framework agreement to reopen the critical waterway.

U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday that would end their war, lift the U.S. blockade of Iran, and reopen the strait. Global oil prices dropped roughly 5% on Monday in response to the news.

While shippers have welcomed the agreement, many are waiting for more specifics — particularly around mine clearance operations in the strait before committing to any voyages.

“Initial reactions in the shipping industry are muted. AIS data shows no wave of ships heading towards Hormuz this morning,” Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum wrote in a note to clients.

“The shipping companies probably want to wait until it is clear that the agreement holds, as we have already had Hormuz ‘open’ for a very short time twice before,” Anjum added.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28, has largely shut down shipping through the strait — a passage that normally handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, as well as key commodities like aluminium and urea.

Traffic through the waterway remains minimal. India’s Petronet sent the LNG tanker Disha through Hormuz on Monday, making it the only visible shipment so far, according to data from Kpler and LSEG. The tanker had loaded its cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility on March 1-2 and had been waiting west of the strait since then, with India’s Dahej terminal as its final destination. Petronet did not respond to a request for comment.

Shipping association BIMCO said Monday that it still views transits through the strait as highly risky, with mines remaining a top concern.

“The next step is for shipowners to be reassured that transiting the Strait of Hormuz is not only permitted but also safe,” said Jakob Larsen, BIMCO’s chief safety and security officer.

A spokesperson for the Japanese Shipowners’ Association said the group welcomed the peace agreement but wanted to “wait a little longer for more concrete information” before making any decisions.

“Given the situation, we cannot simply say, ‘Right then, let’s go’ based on news of the agreement alone,” the spokesperson added.

Nippon Yusen, the country’s largest shipper, said it hoped operations would return to normal as soon as possible. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said it would only resume navigation once safety has been fully confirmed.

Germany’s shipowners’ association VDR described itself as “cautiously optimistic” about whether the deal could effectively reopen the strait. German shipper Hapag-Lloyd expressed hope that vessels would be able to cross the strait by this week.

As of June 15, an estimated 155 tankers carrying oil and chemicals were in the Middle East Gulf area, down from 201 at the end of May, according to Kpler shiptracking data. Oil Brokerage put its own estimate at 215 tankers. Under unrestricted navigation conditions, the backlog on both sides of the strait could be cleared in 8 to 10 days, according to Anoop Singh, Oil Brokerage’s global head of shipping research.

While some tankers have been quietly moving cargo along Oman’s coastline for weeks — sailing without broadcasting their location and with U.S. Navy support — experts say meaningful traffic won’t resume for some time. David Jorbenaze, global oil market leader at ICIS, said it would take weeks of de-mining operations and a normalization of insurance rates before significant shipping activity could return.

“Returning to full pre-conflict volumes is realistically a 2027 story, and only if the agreement holds without incident and production recovers at pace,” Jorbenaze said.

SEOUL, South Korea — Starbucks Korea announced Monday that it will shut all of its stores across the country early on June 22, requiring employees to undergo mandatory training on history and social sensitivity. The move comes as the company faces intense public backlash over a marketing campaign that many South Koreans viewed as deeply offensive to victims of a violent military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 1980.

Shinsegae Group, which holds a 67.5% ownership stake in Starbucks Korea, said executives and headquarters staff will attend a training session on Wednesday led by professors specializing in history and sociology. All Starbucks locations throughout South Korea will then close at 3 p.m. the following Monday so that store employees can view a recording of that session, according to a company statement.

The controversy began when Starbucks Korea tried to market a line of stainless-steel tumblers it called the “SS Tank” by declaring May 18 as “Tank Day.” That date holds deep significance in South Korea — it marks the anniversary of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju, which was violently crushed by the country’s military government. Troops, tanks, and helicopters were deployed during the suppression, leaving hundreds of people dead or wounded.

The campaign drew even more outrage because of its slogan, “Thwack it on the table!” Many people connected that phrase to a notorious 1987 police statement that tried to conceal the torture and death of student activist Park Jong-chol. Officials had falsely claimed that Park died after investigators “hit the desk with a thwack” during questioning.

After the promotion triggered immediate public anger, Shinsegae pulled it within hours and removed the chief executive of Starbucks Korea from the position. Shinsegae Chairman Chung Yong-jin later delivered a nationally televised apology, and police launched an investigation in response to complaints filed by relatives of Gwangju crackdown victims. Chairman Chung is also scheduled to undergo separate training alongside the chief executives of Shinsegae’s affiliated companies on June 24.

Shinsegae said the decision to close all Starbucks stores early — the first such companywide shutdown since the chain’s debut in South Korea in 1999 — along with the requirement for company-wide training, demonstrates “how seriously it views the marketing controversy and its determination to prevent a recurrence.”

The Gwangju crackdown took place just months after General Chun Doo-hwan seized control of the government through a coup in late 1979. South Korean government records indicate approximately 200 people were killed in Gwangju, though activists contend the actual number was considerably higher. Chun’s government also imprisoned tens of thousands of people under the claim of eliminating social evils.

The widespread public fury over Chun’s dictatorship eventually led to massive nationwide protests in 1987, which pressured him into accepting a constitutional change that restored direct presidential elections — a moment widely regarded as the beginning of South Korea’s path toward democracy.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is headed to Moscow this week, where he plans to renew his country’s offer to serve as a host for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, according to a diplomatic source who spoke on Monday.

The two-day visit, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, comes just ahead of a NATO summit that Turkey will host on July 7 and 8. It also follows a request made by Kyiv in April asking Ankara to step in as a mediator and host a meeting between top leaders. Turkey has managed to maintain working relationships with both Russia and Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in 2022.

According to the Turkish diplomatic source, Fidan is expected to sit down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and will also have a separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During those discussions, Fidan plans to caution against any further escalation of tensions in the Black Sea. He will also reiterate Turkey’s proposal for a limited ceasefire covering ports and energy infrastructure in the region. In recent months, both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for drone strikes targeting tankers near Turkey’s northern coastline.

On the Ukrainian side, an official indicated that Kyiv would be open to Turkey hosting direct bilateral talks — something President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for on multiple occasions.

Last month, Ukraine’s ambassador to Ankara told Reuters that his country was seeking a closer relationship with Turkey, including potential joint efforts in defense manufacturing.

Fidan’s agenda in Moscow will also include a discussion of the South Caucasus region, following the recent election victory of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. That conversation is expected to touch on ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan — a process that could also help move forward Turkey’s own efforts to normalize relations with Armenia.

The United States and Iran, with Pakistan acting as mediator, have outlined the key terms of a preliminary agreement they say will bring an end to the war between the two countries.

TIMELINE AND STRUCTURE OF THE DEAL

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that both nations have declared an immediate and permanent halt to all military operations. The formal memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be signed in Switzerland on Friday, after which Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabdi confirmed it will be made public.

Both sides have stated that the Strait of Hormuz will begin reopening and the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports will start to be lifted as soon as the document is signed. More contentious issues — including Iran’s nuclear program and existing U.S. sanctions — will be addressed through negotiations over the following 60 days.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ AND PORT BLOCKADE

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen Friday and that he had ordered the blockade on Iranian ports to be lifted. A senior Iranian official confirmed the strait would be reopened to all commercial vessels upon signing of the memorandum. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that under the agreement, marine traffic through the strait would be managed by Iran in coordination with Oman.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Both countries have stated that Iran agrees it will neither develop nor obtain nuclear weapons — a commitment Tehran has made repeatedly over the past several decades. The senior Iranian official said that, pending a final agreement, Iran would freeze its nuclear activities, halting further uranium enrichment and stopping any expansion of nuclear facilities.

The official also said the U.S. agreed that Iran could dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium inside Iran as part of a future comprehensive agreement. Trump said Saturday there was no immediate urgency to remove Iran’s nuclear material from the country, stating the U.S. would retrieve it “when all is calm.” He also said any final deal would include a strong inspections regime, though he offered no specifics.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham stated that any final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program would need to be reviewed and approved by Congress.

SANCTIONS AND FINANCIAL TERMS

The senior Iranian official said the U.S. agreed not to impose any new sanctions on Iran until a final deal is reached. The official added that Washington would waive oil sanctions on Iran for a set period of time, and that once a final agreement is in place, all U.S. and U.N. sanctions would be lifted on an agreed schedule.

The official also said the U.S. agreed to release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets through a combination of direct cash transfers, cooperation among regional countries, and financial credit lines. Additionally, Washington and its regional allies would develop a reconstruction and development plan for Iran, to be negotiated with Tehran within 60 days.

Trump, however, said Iran would not receive direct cash payments, though he acknowledged sanctions could potentially be lifted.

LEBANON

Prime Minister Sharif said the permanent halt to military operations would also apply to Lebanon. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretariat stated that military operations, including those in Lebanon, would stop permanently beginning Monday night.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called for a complete end to Israeli military strikes against Lebanon, saying the United States bears responsibility for carrying out the terms of the framework deal. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said Israeli forces would remain in security zones they have taken in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, and noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made that position clear to Trump.

Israel is anticipating a wave of new air and missile defense orders from European countries, with a senior Israeli defense ministry official saying at least one new contract is expected to be finalized within the coming weeks.

European nations are increasingly looking to strengthen their air defenses as concerns about Russia continue to grow, fueling interest in systems capable of countering both intermediate-range ballistic missiles and shorter-range rocket threats.

Moshe Patel, the director and general manager of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization, spoke about the rising demand while attending last week’s Berlin airshow. “There’s a huge interest from Europe, from Western Europe,” he said, though he declined to name the specific countries involved.

Among the systems drawing attention is Arrow, an Israeli air defense platform built to intercept intermediate-range ballistic missiles — including Russia’s Oreshnik missile. Arrow was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries in partnership with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Germany has already purchased the system.

Finland, meanwhile, has acquired David’s Sling, a shorter-range system engineered to intercept ballistic missiles launched from distances between 100 and 200 kilometers — roughly 62 to 124 miles. European nations are making these purchases as they prepare for potential Russian aggression, though Moscow has denied any such intentions.

Patel pointed to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the primary driver of European interest. “It’s mainly (driven) by what’s happening between Russia and Ukraine,” he said. “Of course, they’re looking very carefully what is happening in Iran and whatever will be good against Russia could be good for Iran. Whatever they’re doing, it will be good for all those kinds of threats.”

When asked whether European buyers were focused on Arrow or David’s Sling specifically, Patel noted that Iron Dome — a system designed to neutralize short-range threats — was also generating significant interest.

“It’s a huge advantage to those nations that have enemies right on their borders, this is the main capability, and the ability to protect a city, protect (a) strategic area,” Patel said.

On the timeline for additional contracts, Patel indicated that momentum is building. “And there are discussions that, maybe by the end of the year, we’re going to hear about more nations,” he said. “So, it looks like the decision making by those nations, it’s expedite.”

Patel declined to provide details on the financial scale of the anticipated deals, saying only that the negotiations involve “not minor numbers.”

GENEVA — The top human rights official at the United Nations on Monday expressed strong support for the newly announced peace agreement between the United States and Iran, urging all parties across the region to exercise caution as the deal takes shape.

“I welcome the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed on a peace deal that provides for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for further negotiations,” said UN human rights chief Volker Turk.

Turk added, “At this fragile moment it is clear all sides need to exercise maximum restraint and work to implement the agreement reached quickly and in good faith.”

His statement followed word from both U.S. and Iranian officials that the two countries had reached an agreement to end their ongoing conflict and restore access through the Strait of Hormuz. While described as a preliminary pact, the announcement was enough to push oil prices lower. The future of Iran’s nuclear program, however, remains a subject for future negotiations.

Though still considered a framework agreement, the deal represents the most significant step forward in resolving a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and thrown global energy markets into turmoil since it began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran back in February.

Beyond the US-Iran situation, the UN rights chief also expressed serious concern about Israeli military strikes targeting populated areas and infrastructure in Lebanon, as well as cross-border attacks carried out by Hezbollah. Turk called for an immediate halt to the fighting, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, and thorough investigations into potential violations of international law by all parties involved.

Officials in southern Lebanon are urging residents who fled the fighting to stay put for now, even after a deal between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the broader conflict — because Israel says it has no plans to pull its forces out of the region.

The war between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has been devastating for Lebanon. Thousands of people have been killed, and roughly 1.2 million Lebanese have been forced from their homes since Israel launched its offensive after Hezbollah began firing on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who played a central role as a mediator between Tehran and Washington, announced early Monday local time that a deal had been reached. He said the agreement calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Despite that announcement, municipal councils in southern Lebanon — where Israeli forces have established a self-declared security zone — issued statements urging residents not to return home yet, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

Mona Mazeh, a displaced woman currently sheltering in Beirut’s Hamra district, said she has no plans to go back to her village near the southern city of Tyre anytime soon. “Frankly, we are hesitant; Israel cannot be trusted,” she said.

Israel is not a party to the US-Iran agreement, and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz made clear that his country intends to hold its ground. Katz said Israel will not pull back from security zones it has established in southern Lebanon, Gaza, or Syria, and warned that Israel would strike back if Iran attacked it over events in Lebanon.

Katz also said the security zone in southern Lebanon would be cleared of local residents and what he described as “all terrorist infrastructure, including houses in contact villages” — a reference to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah itself had not issued any statement on the agreement as of Monday. However, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a political ally of the group and leader of the Shi’ite Muslim Amal Movement, said the deal established “the foundations for security and stability in the region, including Lebanon.”

In a written statement, Berri thanked both Iran and the United States for including a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon as part of the agreement, calling that provision binding.

The Israeli military has spent weeks demolishing villages in southern Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah fighters who operate within civilian communities in the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim area. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese Shi’ites have taken refuge in other parts of the country.

In Nabatieh, a heavily damaged city in the south, resident Mohammed Daqdouq said he traveled back Monday morning to check on his home. “We’ll need a lifetime to rebuild — to rebuild it again and bring Nabatieh back to how it was,” he said.

Iran had insisted that any broader deal with the United States include a ceasefire in Lebanon. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards originally founded Hezbollah back in 1982.

TOKYO (AP) — She’s not old enough to walk through the doors of a nightclub, but that hasn’t stopped DJ Rinoka from becoming one of the most talked-about names in techno music.

At just 9 years old, this Japanese DJ has already made history — earning a spot in the Guinness World Records as the youngest DJ in the world, a title she claimed at age 6.

“It’s fun when people get excited at the live performances,” she shared with The Associated Press in a recent interview.

Her passion for DJing started at age 4, when she stumbled across videos of DJs Amelie Lens and Nina Kraviz on YouTube. She thought they were incredibly cool and wasted no time asking for a Pioneer DDJ-200 machine as a Christmas gift.

“I like a cool, fast, intense style,” she said during the interview, sporting a cap featuring her own personal logo.

Beyond the DJ booth, Rinoka is still very much a kid. She has a pet gecko at home and travels everywhere with a stuffed toy dog named Korochan — including up on stage. The gecko, however, stays behind.

Her performance schedule is anything but ordinary for a child her age. She regularly plays at games for Tokyo’s professional baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants, and shares the stage with DJs many years her senior.

When she performs, there’s a joyful confidence about her — pressing and turning buttons, bobbing along to the rhythm with pure enthusiasm.

Rinoka keeps her last name out of the public eye, and her parents have chosen to stay anonymous as well, hoping to give their only child as normal an upbringing as possible.

Outside of music, she takes hip-hop dance classes, enjoys making things out of paper and aluminum foil, and keeps up with her schoolwork like any other child her age.

Techno music itself has deep roots in American cities like Detroit and relies heavily on electronic instruments, including the now highly sought-after Roland machines. Among its many styles is the hypnotic, high-energy acid house genre that Rinoka is particularly drawn to.

The music is defined by its powerful, driving beat — the kind that makes listeners want to get up and move.

Over the decades, techno has grown into a global phenomenon, with top DJs crafting dance music for audiences around the world. And now, one of its most unlikely fans has become one of its rising stars.

“The music will continue,” Rinoka said with quiet thoughtfulness.

But when asked to choose between a career as a DJ or a life spent caring for a whole lot of geckos, she didn’t hesitate for a second.

“The geckos,” she exclaimed. “They are so cute.”

PARIS/FRANKFURT — The president of the European Central Bank expressed cautious optimism Monday over a reported U.S.-Iran ceasefire, while a fellow policymaker warned that high inflation across the euro zone is far from over.

ECB President Christine Lagarde welcomed the overnight announcement that U.S. and Iranian officials had reached a preliminary agreement to end their conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a critical passage for global energy shipments. The news sent oil prices lower and caused financial investors to scale back their expectations for future ECB rate hikes.

“If this news is confirmed by developments in the coming days and the signing of a memorandum of understanding … it is good news. We can only welcome it,” Lagarde said in an interview on France Culture radio.

The ECB had raised interest rates for the first time in nearly three years just last week, aiming to slow inflation that has been driven higher by energy supply disruptions tied to the Iran conflict.

Investors who had largely anticipated two more rate hikes over the coming year pulled back those expectations on Monday, now pricing in just one additional increase with only a slim chance of another move beyond that.

Speaking separately in Frankfurt, ECB Governing Council member Joachim Nagel acknowledged that financial markets appeared to be betting on a lasting resolution to the Iran conflict. But he urged caution, saying that even if the Strait of Hormuz were to reopen in the near term, it would take months for oil supply to return to pre-war levels.

“No relief is in sight for the foreseeable future,” said Nagel, who leads Germany’s Bundesbank. “On the contrary: even if the Strait of Hormuz were to become navigable again soon, it will take months for the oil supply to return to normal.”

Nagel said euro zone inflation would remain elevated even under the ECB’s more optimistic scenario, in which energy prices decline more quickly. He also noted that inflation could actually climb again once government measures designed to cap energy costs expire. Those measures — which include a fuel price discount at the pump in Germany — had reduced the euro zone’s inflation rate by 0.4 percentage points in May, he said.

The German central banker said all options remain on the table for the ECB’s next policy meeting on July 22-23, including both holding rates steady and raising them further.

Lagarde also tempered her optimism, noting in her radio interview that “the whole question of uranium enrichment remains to be debated, agreed and concluded in the form of an agreement.”

Voters in Switzerland have turned down a proposal that would have placed a hard limit on the country’s population, with data from Sunday’s referendum revealing that older citizens and residents of major cities played a decisive role in the outcome.

The initiative, championed by the Swiss People’s Party, was rejected by a margin of 55% to 45% following a closely contested campaign. The debate centered on competing concerns — fears over unchecked immigration on one side, and the risk of Switzerland cutting itself off from Europe on the other.

The Swiss People’s Party, which is the country’s largest political party, had pushed the proposal as a way to address public worries about overcrowding straining public services, driving up crime, and increasing rental costs. Despite the defeat, the party vowed to continue pressing the issue of immigration.

Polling data revealed a clear generational divide in how voters felt about the cap. Among those 65 and older, 60% voted against the measure. Of voters aged 50 to 64, opposition stood at 57%, according to figures published by Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

On the other side, voters between the ages of 35 and 49 were the most supportive, with 51% backing the cap. Among the youngest group surveyed — those aged 18 to 34 — support came in at 48%, based on data gathered for online news outlet 20 Minuten/Tamedia by polling firm Leewas.

Political scientist Cloe Jans of polling organization GFS Bern offered some insight into the result, telling 20 Minuten that while many voters sympathized with the goals of the proposal, they were reluctant to see strict numerical limits written into law.

“In geopolitically uncertain times people aren’t keen on experiments and burning bridges unnecessarily,” she said.

The vote came after a difficult stretch for Switzerland in 2025, during which the country faced some of the steepest U.S. tariffs in Europe after President Donald Trump pushed the wealthy nation to reduce its trade surplus with the United States.

Switzerland is also currently working to finalize an agreement with the European Union aimed at strengthening economic ties. Opponents of the population cap used that context in their campaign, running posters featuring an image of a smiling Trump alongside the message: “Breaking with Europe, now of all times?”

Business organizations, the national government, and parliament all came out against the cap, cautioning that it could limit Swiss companies’ ability to draw workers from the EU — a critical source of labor.

A geographic breakdown of the results showed that Switzerland’s largest cities — Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, and Bern — firmly rejected the measure. Its strongest backing came from rural, conservative cantons in central Switzerland. The proposal also failed in Valais and Grisons, two lightly populated cantons known for their ski resorts, and generally underperformed in French-speaking parts of the country.

Under the terms of the initiative, Switzerland’s population — currently at 9.1 million — would have been required to stay below 10 million by the year 2050. Once the population hit 9.5 million, the government would have been obligated to tighten immigration restrictions.

KYIV, Ukraine — A massive Russian military assault on Ukraine on Monday left a trail of destruction, including a devastating fire at one of the nation’s most cherished religious sites and the deaths of rescue workers responding to the attacks.

The Dormition Cathedral at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra — a sprawling monastic complex known for its golden domes and commonly referred to as the Monastery of the Caves — was engulfed in flames and thick smoke. Associated Press photographers on the scene captured images of firefighters working to contain the blaze while members of the clergy watched helplessly or rushed to remove valuable items from the historic, centuries-old complex.

In the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the Russian strikes proved fatal for rescue workers who had responded to the scene. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, the country’s capital, many residents were wounded and others sought safety by taking shelter underground as the attacks continued.

This report is based on a photo gallery assembled by Associated Press photo editors documenting the destruction across Ukraine.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong took a politically significant step Monday, opening a public consultation period for its first-ever five-year development plan — a move that draws the territory closer to the way mainland China manages its economy.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse told reporters that mainland China launched its own 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030 this year. Hong Kong has historically taken pride in keeping government involvement in the economy to a minimum, even as it has looked to Beijing for broader direction.

Tse said Hong Kong’s plan will work in step with China’s national development strategy while still maintaining the city’s free-market principles.

“Aligning with the national 15th five-year plan does not replace the free market,” she said. “Rather, it channels a clear vision and strategic planning through major policies, and that allows the market to develop more stably and clearly.”

The consultation window runs for two months, during which residents can share their thoughts through a dedicated website, by email, or by sending letters. The government also plans to hold events to gather input from residents, lawmakers, and industry representatives. Officials hope to unveil a finalized plan during the third quarter of the year.

According to Tse, the plan will reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a global hub for finance, shipping, and trade.

Among the proposals, officials want to speed up development of the Northern Metropolis — a large-scale project aimed at building a technology center and university town near the mainland Chinese tech city of Shenzhen, just across the border.

The plan also looks to deepen Hong Kong’s involvement in the Greater Bay Area, Beijing’s initiative to create an integrated economic and business zone that includes Hong Kong, Macao, and nine other mainland cities.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said on June 9 that the five-year plan would better blend what he called a “capable government” with “an efficient market,” with the government taking a leading role in boosting the market’s competitiveness. Lee added that the plan would help residents identify personal development opportunities and make business planning easier.

A Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong and Macao affairs was expected to visit the city Tuesday for a two-day trip focused on reviewing the territory’s alignment with the national 2026–2030 plan and progress on the Northern Metropolis project.

John Burns, a politics and public administration professor at the University of Hong Kong, acknowledged that the city had previously put itself at a disadvantage by lacking strategic planning. However, he was skeptical about the consultation process, noting that public consultations in Hong Kong have long lost credibility because officials rarely change direction based on public feedback.

“This is the government selling its notion of a local five-year plan to the community that dovetails with central government priorities,” Burns said, also pointing out that the consultation document lacks specific targets or timelines.

Since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, the former colony has grown increasingly tied to the mainland through economic links, cultural connections, and shared transportation and border infrastructure.

Although Hong Kong maintains its own government, legislature, and court system under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework, China’s influence over the territory has grown considerably in recent years.

After widespread anti-government protests erupted in 2019, Beijing enacted a national security law that Hong Kong authorities say was needed to restore stability. Critics say the law has effectively crushed all political opposition. Many prominent activists have been imprisoned under it, and the city’s legislature is now dominated by politicians loyal to Beijing following a sweeping overhaul of the electoral system.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s defense minister announced Monday that the country has no intention of pulling back from territory it has captured in Lebanon, a stance that could complicate an interim agreement reached just hours earlier between the United States and Iran.

The U.S.-Iran deal includes provisions to open the Strait of Hormuz and extend a fragile ceasefire, though full details were not immediately made public. Iran indicated it would not begin carrying out the agreement until a formal signing ceremony, which key mediator Pakistan said is scheduled to take place Friday in Switzerland.

Even before the ink could dry, the agreement faced significant obstacles. Israel continued its military operations against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon — including airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday — nearly derailing the negotiations. Israel joined the United States in launching the war on February 28.

In Israel’s first official response following the deal’s announcement, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel intends to remain in the territories it controls in Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip “indefinitely.” Iran has made halting Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon a condition tied to the interim agreement.

Katz went further, warning that if Iran retaliates against Israel for its strikes in Lebanon, Israel would respond with “great force.”

Over the past two and a half years, Israel has taken control of areas across Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria totaling roughly 1,000 square kilometers — approximately 386 square miles — a stretch of land slightly smaller than New York City.

The U.S.-Iran deal gives both sides just 60 days to reach an agreement on what to do with Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and its broader nuclear program. Resolving those same issues took years during Tehran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from that deal during his first term in office, setting in motion the chain of events that eventually led to the current conflict.

Trump took to social media to celebrate the agreement, writing “Congratulations to all!” as he marked his 80th birthday Sunday with a UFC cage match event at the White House. He also wrote that he was authorizing “the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” and “the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade,” which had been imposed in response to Iran’s control of the critical shipping route. He later clarified that the strait would not reopen until Friday’s signing.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the deal on state television but echoed that implementation would not begin until the formal signing on Friday. He noted the agreement came out of talks that also involved Qatar, another mediator in the negotiations.

Pakistan was the first country to publicly announce the deal. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said “both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” and noted that mediators would facilitate meetings this week to “lay the foundation for the technical talks.”

Two senior Pakistani officials, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said broader negotiations on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program would continue over the following 60 days, with the possibility of extending that timeline if needed.

Iranian state television, citing the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council, reported that hostilities on all fronts “will end immediately and permanently beginning tonight” and that the U.S. naval blockade “will be terminated immediately and in full.”

Qatari mediators departed Tehran after 17 hours of negotiations, according to an official familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks. Separate preparatory meetings with each party are expected to take place in Doha this week.

It remained unclear who from Iran would sign the agreement on Friday. U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the White House was still working out the details of who would attend, saying, “I certainly plan to be there, but it’s possible the president himself could be there.”

Concern was already surfacing among some Republicans. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who referred to Vance as “the architect of the deal,” posted online: “I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.”

Governments across the globe are cracking down on children’s use of social media, with an increasing number of countries passing laws or proposing new rules to limit how young people interact with platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

AUSTRALIA

Australia made history in December by becoming the first nation in the world to ban social media for anyone under the age of 16. The law, which took effect December 10, 2025, is considered one of the strictest tech regulations anywhere. Platforms that don’t comply could be hit with fines reaching A$49.5 million — roughly $34.9 million in U.S. dollars.

BRITAIN

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on June 15 that Britain is on track to approve a similar ban on social media for children under 16 before Christmas, with the rules expected to go into effect around Spring 2027. Starmer also issued a warning on June 8 that tech giants operating in Britain must take action to prevent children from sharing nude images on their devices — or face laws requiring them to do so. Under the proposed plan, companies like Apple and Google would need to build or turn on tools that detect and block nude images for minors. Adults would still be able to access such content through an age verification process.

CHINA

China’s internet regulator has already rolled out what it calls a “minor mode” system, which imposes device-level restrictions and app-specific rules that limit screen time based on a child’s age.

DENMARK

Denmark announced in November that it would ban social media for children under 15, though parents would have the option to grant access to certain platforms for kids as young as 13.

FRANCE

France’s National Assembly voted in January to ban children under 15 from social media, driven by growing alarm over cyberbullying and mental health dangers. The legislation still needs to clear the Senate before returning to the lower house for a final vote.

GERMANY

In Germany, children between the ages of 13 and 16 may use social media only with parental approval. However, child safety advocates argue the current controls don’t go far enough.

GREECE

A senior Greek government source told Reuters on February 3 that the country is “very close” to announcing a ban on social media for children under 15.

INDIA

India’s chief economic adviser called for age restrictions on social media platforms in January, describing them as “predatory” in the way they keep users hooked. The comments came just two days after the tourist state of Goa said it was considering restrictions similar to those in Australia.

ITALY

Italian law currently requires children under 14 to have parental consent before creating a social media account, while those 14 and older can sign up without it.

MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s communications regulator announced on June 1 that the country has started blocking anyone under 16 from registering accounts on social media platforms.

NORWAY

The Norwegian government put forward a proposal in 2024 to raise the age at which children can independently agree to social media terms of service — from 13 to 15. Parents would still be allowed to give consent on behalf of younger children. The government is also working on legislation to set a firm minimum age of 15 for social media use.

POLAND

Poland’s ruling party announced on February 27 that it is crafting legislation to ban social media for children under 15 and to require platforms to handle age verification themselves.

SLOVENIA

Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arcon said on February 6 that Slovenia is working on a law that would bar children under 15 from accessing social media.

SPAIN

Spain’s Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez told Reuters in May that the country will move forward with new rules to make social networks and artificial intelligence safer, despite heavy lobbying from the tech industry. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had announced in February that Spain would prohibit social media access for anyone under 16, with platforms required to put age verification systems in place.

SWEDEN

A government-appointed commission recommended on June 2 that Sweden 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 the ban could be structured so that platforms bear responsibility for verifying users’ ages.

TURKEY

Turkey’s parliament passed a law on April 24 banning children under 15 from social media and introducing new regulations for digital platforms, including companies that make game software.

UNITED STATES

In the U.S., a bill aimed at pushing social media companies to better protect young users cleared a major hurdle on May 12 when Republican Senator Ted Cruz announced his support. 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 harm minors. This legislation is separate from the long-standing Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which already prohibits companies from collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental approval. While several individual states have passed laws requiring parental consent for minors to use social media, those laws have faced legal challenges on free speech grounds.

EUROPEAN UNION

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 12 that the EU will pursue stronger protections for children against harmful social media features. She said the Commission plans to target “addictive and harmful design practices” through its upcoming Digital Fairness Act, expected to be formally proposed later this year, while an expert panel works on recommendations. The European Parliament had already passed a resolution in November calling for an EU-wide ban on social media access for children under 16 without parental consent, and an outright ban for those under 13.

TECH INDUSTRY

Major social media platforms — including TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat — say users must be at least 13 years old to create an account. But child safety advocates say these measures fall far short, and official data from several European countries shows that large numbers of children under 13 already have active social media profiles.

MOSCOW — Russia is pushing back against accusations that it struck one of Kyiv’s most historically significant religious sites, claiming instead that a U.S.-manufactured Patriot air defense missile was responsible for damaging the Pechersk Lavra monastery.

The UNESCO World Heritage-listed monastery caught fire overnight Monday during what officials described as the most intense Russian aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital in two weeks. While Russia maintained its forces targeted drone production facilities and hit those targets successfully, Ukraine and numerous Western nations placed the blame squarely on Russian forces for the attack on the monastery.

Russia’s Defence Ministry went further, suggesting the Patriot missile may have malfunctioned due to expired munitions supplied by Western allies to Ukraine.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation do not plan or carry out strikes against civilian infrastructure,” the Defence Ministry stated.

The ministry elaborated in its official statement: “According to confirmed reports, the complex of buildings at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was struck by a missile from the American Patriot air defence system. One possible reason for the malfunction of this system could be that Western countries supplied the Kyiv regime with missiles that had expired.”

PARIS — The president of the European Central Bank expressed optimism Monday over a newly reached ceasefire agreement with Iran, describing the development as welcome news — particularly given its potential to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

Speaking on France Culture radio, the ECB president said, “If this news is confirmed by developments in the coming days and the signing of a memorandum of understanding … it is good news. We can only welcome it.”

Still, she urged caution, noting that “we have not yet finished the story,” and that “the whole question of uranium enrichment remains to be debated, agreed and concluded in the form of an agreement.”

Both U.S. and Iranian officials confirmed they had reached a preliminary agreement to bring an end to hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil transport. The announcement sent oil prices dropping, though the future of Tehran’s nuclear program remains subject to further negotiations.

An Oslo court handed down a guilty verdict Monday against the stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, convicting him on two counts of rape along with additional criminal charges and sentencing him to four years behind bars.

Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, became part of the Norwegian royal family when his mother, Mette-Marit, wed Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. He has maintained his innocence on the most serious accusations brought against him, including the rape charges, and retains the right to challenge the court’s decision through an appeal.

BEIJING — Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing touched down in Beijing on Monday, beginning a five-day state visit at the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to Chinese state media. The trip marks his first journey to the world’s second-largest economy since taking on the role of civilian president.

Min Aung Hlaing, 69, was the driving force behind a 2021 military coup that toppled Myanmar’s democratic government, plunging the country into civil war and triggering a broad wave of international sanctions. Earlier this April, he was chosen as president by a parliament filled largely with loyalists to the military.

His transition from top military commander to civilian head of state has effectively cemented his grip on power — a shift that brought an end to roughly a decade of fragile democratic progress and pushed foreign investors out of what had once been considered one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies.

During his time in Beijing this week, Min Aung Hlaing is scheduled to sit down with Xi Jinping. He will also hold meetings with Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, who rank as China’s second and third most powerful officials, respectively.

Ahead of the visit, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry offered warm words about the bilateral relationship. “China and Myanmar have stood together through thick and thin, looked out for each other and forged solidarity and cooperation, promoting China-Myanmar relations to achieve considerable progress,” the spokesperson said.

China is not the first nation Min Aung Hlaing has visited since assuming the presidency. In late May, he made a five-day trip to India — a country that shares a lengthy and loosely monitored border with Myanmar — as part of his administration’s wider effort to rebuild international ties after years of diplomatic and economic isolation stemming from global sanctions.

The Trump administration’s ambitious plan to reshape how critical minerals are priced and traded is encountering significant resistance — both from allied nations and from within the American mining industry itself — as G7 leaders gather in France for high-stakes talks.

The idea was first floated by U.S. Vice President JD Vance back in February. The goal is to create a Western trading bloc that would help reduce dependence on China, which has become the world’s dominant minerals producer by operating at a loss and keeping prices artificially low. Those minerals — including cobalt, lithium, and nickel — are essential building blocks for semiconductors, computer servers, military hardware, and countless other products.

By flooding markets with cheap minerals, China has made it nearly impossible for Western mining companies to compete, stunting new development and forcing some businesses to shut down entirely — a strategy Beijing has deployed in other industries as well.

The proposed trading bloc would look at price supports, market standards, government subsidies, or guaranteed purchase agreements to prop up production across multiple countries. Vance suggested the measures could be backed by “adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity.”

Currently, many of the specialty minerals vital to technology and defense are traded with little transparency and are effectively priced according to Chinese market rates, which dominate globally due to China’s outsized production share.

Since Vance’s announcement, G7 member nations have privately pushed back against U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and have grown lukewarm toward a pricing approach derived from a Pentagon artificial intelligence model, according to three sources who spoke with Reuters.

European officials say the main sticking points include who would absorb the cost of paying a premium for minerals, how far along the supply chain those subsidies would reach, and how the overall governance structure would function.

On the domestic front, the U.S. mining industry is far from unified. More than 230 public submissions sent to Greer’s office — from miners, refiners, and their customers — reveal deep disagreements about what direction the U.S. should push its allies to take.

Analysts and consultants say the stakes are enormous. More than a dozen experts told Reuters that the outcome of these negotiations could reshape global minerals markets for years.

“It is a very hard thing to do, and I’m happy I’m not the one doing it,” said Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes, a minerals investor who previously managed the U.S. Department of Energy’s batteries and critical minerals portfolio under former President Joe Biden.

A draft U.S. proposal has been built around an AI-based pricing program developed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA. Called the Open Price Exploration for National Security, or OPEN, the program attempts to calculate what a metal should cost based on labor, processing, and other real expenses — while stripping out the effects of alleged Chinese market manipulation. That draft has been delivered to the White House and the National Security Council, and U.S. representatives are expected to brief G7 allies on it during the current meeting, according to a U.S. official.

But European allies have so far resisted the idea of using a pricing system developed in Washington, with one source pointing to concerns that it would give the U.S. too much influence over the bloc’s pricing decisions.

Another source said Europeans are pushing for a broader set of tools and what they described as “agile governance” to allow flexibility depending on the specific mineral and its supply chain.

“For Europe, it would be better to have a price index based on real deals in the European market. The question is whether we can make these opaque pricing mechanisms more transparent, more market-driven, and less prone to manipulation,” said Nicola Beer, who oversees minerals financing at the EU-controlled European Investment Bank. “Different parts of supply chains and products across sectors are shaped by very different pricing mechanisms, which adds to the complexity.”

As a potential alternative, an EU-funded agency called EIT RawMaterials is collaborating with digital platform Metalshub to develop pricing indexes that operate independently of Chinese government-driven pricing. Those indexes could eventually include the United States, Australia, Canada, and Britain.

European and industry officials say they want more time to study the long-term effects of price supports rather than rushing into quick commitments — a stance that puts them at odds with the faster-moving American side.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is resisting a French proposal to establish a permanent administrative secretariat within either the International Energy Agency or the OECD to track G7 critical minerals efforts as leadership rotates among member nations.

Canada and France — which currently holds the G7 presidency — are pushing for a trading bloc led by the full G7, while the United States prefers to bypass multilateral negotiations in favor of swift bilateral deals that could later be expanded, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

“What we’re trying to do is take some of these approaches and turn them into an agreement,” Greer told reporters in early June at an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris. He added that the U.S. would use price supports “to protect production of critical minerals and derivative products. … We want to phase it in. … If other countries want to join us in that, they’re welcome to do that.”

Washington is aiming to present a proposal for binding bilateral agreements to Japan and the European Union before the end of June, two sources said. The first such agreement could cover five to ten minerals, including heavy rare earths, antimony, graphite, and tungsten — all of which are currently subject to Chinese export bans or restrictions.

Back home, the corporate world is equally divided. While submissions to Greer’s office broadly agree that the trading bloc should target niche minerals rather than widely traded metals like copper, and should also address downstream products such as cell phones and laptops, there is significant disagreement over how prices should be regulated.

Several major companies and mining trade groups have come out against price-setting. Divergent recommendations came from General Motors, recycler Umicore, platinum miner Sibanye Stillwater, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and rare earths company MP Materials, among others.

“There’s nervousness from all sides about what to do and how different actions could affect different parts of the supply chain,” said Blake Harden, a managing director focused on trade policy at the EY consultancy.

The National Mining Association advised Greer to avoid heavy price-fixing and instead focus on tax credits and other financial incentives. “While market interventions such as pricing mechanisms may play a role in certain circumstances, incentive-based approaches … are better suited to addressing challenges facing the domestic mining industry,” said Rich Nolan, the trade group’s CEO.

A metals analyst at the WoodMac consultancy, James Willoughby, summed up the current state of affairs bluntly: “There’s a very mixed message coming out of the U.S. right now on battery metals.”

DURBAN, South Africa — Princess Adjei was just a toddler when her family moved from Ghana to South Africa. By the time she was 33, she had built an entire life there — completing all of her schooling, making local friends, and even learning Zulu, the dominant language of the eastern port city of Durban. She had rarely thought of herself as a foreigner.

In November, Adjei opened a hair salon in central Durban, pouring 50,000 rand — more than $3,000 — into renovating the space just a few months later in February. Then, on May 18, everything changed.

Protesters taking part in an anti-migrant march broke into her shop and stripped it bare. Suddenly, people she had known for years were telling her to go back “home” — to a country she had visited only once in her life.

“They took everything,” Adjei said, standing amid shattered mirrors and broken chairs in her ransacked salon. “Those were hair pieces I was selling here. There were acrylic nails, six hair dryers, a range of shampoos. All gone.”

Adjei is among scores of victims caught up in a surge of attacks targeting African foreign nationals. An anti-immigration movement has accused these migrants of living in South Africa without authorization — yet many hold legal documents and have spent decades building their lives there.

Sleeping on the Streets

With her salon destroyed and no income to pay rent, Adjei moved out of her central Durban apartment. She and her 14-year-old son now sleep under a blanket on the sidewalk alongside roughly 200 other displaced migrants. The group has set up camp outside the local office of the government’s Department of Home Affairs, hoping officials can verify their legal residency status.

Elsewhere, other African migrants have fled into the mountains and onto open land to escape violence that has claimed at least five lives and created a serious diplomatic rift between South Africa and neighboring countries on the continent.

Reuters spoke with a dozen migrants in Durban, four of whom had lived in South Africa since childhood.

The organization behind the protests, March and March, denies that its movement is driven by xenophobia.

“Xenophobia applies to those people who come to a country illegally and make people from that country feel uncomfortable,” said Jacinta Ngobese, the founder of March and March, in an interview in Durban.

Ngobese argued that her group has actually helped protect migrants by channeling South Africans’ frustration toward the government rather than toward foreigners. Even so, the group’s demonstrations have repeatedly coincided with outbreaks of violence, including the looting of shops owned by foreign nationals and the destruction of homes.

“We are not responsible for the violence,” Ngobese said. “If we were violent, we would have been arrested.”

Police Response Questioned

Some arrests were made after protesters killed five Mozambicans last month and in connection with other incidents. However, law enforcement responses have been largely rare.

Following the unrest in Durban, around 200 migrants camped outside the central police station seeking safety. Four of those migrants — including Adjei — told Reuters that police first took them to a homeless shelter, then to a market warehouse, but they were turned away from both locations by people already there.

The next day, police reportedly ordered them to disperse and later fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at the group, according to the four migrants and some local media outlets.

“They told us to look for another shelter,” said Tchomba Kasongo, a Congolese refugee who walked with a limp and showed a bullet wound scar on his leg. The displaced migrants now live under the shadow of a June 30 deadline that protesters have issued, demanding all “illegal” migrants leave the country.

Durban police spokesperson Booysie Zungu denied the allegations. “We never tear gassed anyone, we never fired on anyone,” he told Reuters. When informed about the attack on Adjei’s salon and other anti-migrant incidents, he responded, “We don’t have cases of that nature reported. They must open a case.”

A spokesperson for Durban’s mayor declined to offer any comment.

Old Friends Turn Away

After discovering her salon in ruins, Adjei returned to her apartment and ran into a South African neighbor she had considered a close friend — someone with whom she had often chatted in the hallway and shared tea. He was now scowling at her, demanding to know when she planned to leave.

It was the third time in her life that Adjei had experienced South Africa’s periodic eruptions of xenophobic hostility. The first came in 2008, when classmates who had never previously shown any interest in her background began bullying her during a wave of protests.

Not all South African friends have turned away. Wivene Bahati, a 25-year-old Congolese refugee who has lived in South Africa since 2011 and now sleeps on the curb near Adjei, said a former classmate reached out after the latest violence.

“She felt bad. She asked me is everything ok?” Bahati told Reuters.

Analysts say migrants are frequently viewed as competitors for jobs and public services, making them easy targets when economic hardship sets in or government services break down. Anti-migrant sentiment often intensifies around election periods as some politicians tap into the issue for popular support — South Africa has local elections scheduled by November.

Thamsanqa Ntuli, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is the principal city, pushes back against the idea that politics is driving the xenophobia, placing the blame instead on illegal immigration.

“We agree with the entire society when they say: ‘government, you should have started to manage migration properly … a long time ago,’” Ntuli told Reuters.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A well-known Cambodian opposition figure stepped out of his Supreme Court hearing Monday to a roaring crowd of supporters, expressing his hope that judges would throw out his incitement conviction and allow him to return to political life.

Rong Chhun, who serves as a top adviser to the Nation Power Party, was convicted last year of stirring up social unrest after he met with villagers who had been displaced by government construction projects. Many observers viewed the conviction as part of a broader pattern of legal actions taken by Prime Minister Hun Manet’s government to suppress dissent.

The 56-year-old received a four-year prison sentence and was prohibited from participating in elections — both as a candidate and as a voter. During his original trial, he maintained his innocence, arguing that he had done nothing more than post photographs of himself with the villagers along with written comments on Facebook.

As he exited the morning hearing, approximately 300 supporters greeted him with chants of “Drop the charges, release Rong Chhun!” and held signs calling for his release.

He addressed the crowd, saying that given the tensions between Cambodia and neighboring Thailand, a difficult economy, and other national challenges, his goal is to foster “national reconciliation and national unity” among Cambodia’s 17 million citizens.

“I hope the court will grant me freedom and justice so that I can continue to practice politics in the future,” he told supporters.

Police officers numbering in the dozens were stationed behind barricades on roads leading to the courthouse. Rong Chhun made his way to the hearing on foot, accompanied by supporters that included both local and international human rights advocates.

“We are not worried about going to prison,” he said. “We are willing to sacrifice everything and we are determined to use the resources our parents gave us to invest so that Cambodia can achieve true freedom and democracy.”

Incitement charges are a tool that Cambodian authorities have repeatedly used to target political opponents.

This is not Rong Chhun’s first brush with such accusations. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years on incitement charges after being accused of spreading false information about Cambodia’s border with Vietnam following meetings with farmers in that region. An appeals court later released him that same year.

Cambodia’s government maintains that it upholds the rule of law within an electoral democracy. However, political parties that have posed serious challenges to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have repeatedly been dissolved by courts, while their leaders have faced imprisonment or harassment.

For nearly four decades, former Prime Minister Hun Sen led Cambodia under what critics described as autocratic rule, drawing widespread condemnation for human rights abuses including the suppression of free speech and freedom of association. His son, Hun Manet, who was educated in the United States, took over in August 2023, but signs of political reform have been scarce.

On Monday, Tim Ratha made a journey of several hours from Siem Reap province in the north to the capital to show her support for Rong Chhun.

“He has devoted everything to us, he had no wife, no children,” the 55-year-old vegetable vendor told The Associated Press.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on June 19.

Hong Kong’s top official, John Lee, brushed aside questions about whether he plans to run for a second term, according to a report published Monday by the South China Morning Post. Instead, Lee said his attention is firmly on getting more done during his final year in the role.

In an interview with the Post, Lee offered a familiar political phrase when pressed on the subject: “A year is a long time in politics.” Rather than addressing the possibility of another five-year term, he steered the conversation toward ensuring stable and consistent governance.

Lee, who previously served as a police officer and as Hong Kong’s security chief, assumed leadership of the territory in 2022. He took charge following the disruptions of the COVID pandemic and widespread anti-government demonstrations that prompted Beijing to enact a far-reaching National Security Law.

When the Post asked directly whether he was gearing up for a second term set to begin in July of next year, Lee responded: “I don’t think I should consider this question now. I mean, time will come when I see.”

His administration is currently concentrating on policy consistency, with the city preparing to release its first-ever five-year plan before the close of 2026. The move is part of a broader effort to bring Hong Kong’s policymaking more in line with how decisions are made on the Chinese mainland.

Under Lee’s leadership, Hong Kong’s economy has shown signs of recovery. However, his administration has also faced serious criticism in the wake of last November’s Wang Fuk Court fire, a blaze that claimed 168 lives, displaced thousands of residents, and stands as the deadliest fire the city has seen in decades.

American and Iranian officials announced Sunday that they have reached a preliminary agreement to end their war and restore access to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil and gas shipments that Iran has effectively shut down for months. While the deal is still a framework, it represents the most significant step yet toward resolving a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and rattled energy markets since U.S. and Israeli forces first struck Iran back in February.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the news on his Truth Social platform around 5:30 p.m. Washington time on Sunday. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” he wrote. His post followed a separate announcement from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — whose country served as a mediator — who confirmed a deal had been reached early Monday local time.

The formal signing of the memorandum of understanding is scheduled for Friday in Switzerland. The full terms of the agreement were not immediately made public.

Sharif stated on X that the pact calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretariat echoed that, saying all military operations — including those in Lebanon — would permanently cease beginning Monday night.

Lebanon has been a sticking point throughout negotiations, with Israel and Hezbollah continuing to exchange attacks despite calls from Trump and others to stand down. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a broader agreement would be worked out during a 60-day ceasefire window, which would also include the possibility of sanctions relief for Iran. The future of Iran’s nuclear program — another deeply contentious issue — is also expected to be part of those upcoming discussions, according to sources who previously spoke with Reuters.

Israel, which has maintained it was not part of the U.S.-Iran talks, had not publicly responded to the announcement at the time of this report.

Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen by Friday and confirmed he had ordered an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” he wrote.

Markets responded quickly. Brent crude futures dropped 4% in early Monday trading, while Asian stock markets surged. “The lack of details especially on freedom of shipping is a concern but not one that should constrain markets today as the surge in risk appetite plays out,” said Sean Callow, a senior FX analyst at ITC Markets.

Former State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who served under the Biden administration, argued that Trump had made meaningful concessions to Iran just to return to the situation that existed before the war began. “We have no assurances the nuclear program will ever be addressed, but Iran has shown the world it can take the global economy hostage and get something from the U.S. in return,” Miller said.

The conflict, which began when U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran on February 28, has resulted in thousands of deaths — mostly in Iran and Lebanon. Iran has struck Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. military bases, while also blockading the Strait of Hormuz and driving up global energy costs. American forces responded by blockading Iranian ports.

The war has become a growing political problem for Trump and Republican members of Congress, with polls showing Americans increasingly frustrated by climbing gas prices ahead of November’s midterm elections. At the same time, Trump has faced pressure from within his own party to ensure Iran’s nuclear program is fully dismantled.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent advocate for a tough stance on Iran, offered cautious praise for the deal. “Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” he said. “Congratulations to all in getting us to this point.” Graham added that he would be “watching closely” the upcoming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

During his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 multilateral agreement — negotiated under Democratic President Barack Obama — that had lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities, including international inspections. In the years since, Iran has significantly increased its uranium enrichment, producing more than 400 kilograms — roughly 900 pounds — of material at close to weapons-grade purity. The fate of that stockpile is expected to be a central issue in the next phase of talks.

The deal was finalized even as Israel carried out a strike on Lebanon on Sunday, drawing condemnation from both Iran and Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with Trump over U.S. demands that Israel scale back its military activity in Lebanon to allow the Iran negotiations to move forward. Israel has insisted it will maintain freedom to operate in Lebanon, while Iran has demanded a full ceasefire there as a core condition.

Trump spoke with Netanyahu by phone on Sunday to update him on the progress toward a peace deal, according to Israel’s N12 news outlet, citing a senior official. In a separate interview with the New York Times, Trump described Netanyahu as “a very difficult guy” and suggested the Israeli leader should be grateful to him for protecting Israel from a nuclear-armed Iran.

World leaders outside the region welcomed the news. Britain, Germany, France, and Italy issued a joint statement saying they were ready to lift sanctions on Iran in response to “clear, verifiable steps” to limit its nuclear program. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “We are clear that toll-free freedom of navigation must now be restored in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran must never have a nuclear weapon.”

Before the deal was publicly announced, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that under the draft terms, the U.S. would agree to release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets — though the Trump administration had previously said any such release would only happen once Iran met specific conditions. A U.S. official, also speaking before the announcement, said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed. The Iranian official, however, said the draft would allow Iran — which denies pursuing a nuclear weapon — to dilute its enriched uranium within its own borders.

The United States and Iran have reached an interim agreement aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. A signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Switzerland, though previous announcements have collapsed before, and the precise contents of the deal were still being disputed as of Monday.

Below is a look at the long and complicated history of tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program:

1967 — Iran receives the Tehran Research Reactor, provided by the United States through the “Atoms for Peace” initiative.

1979 — Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a U.S. ally who was gravely ill, flees Iran amid a wave of popular uprisings. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, and the Islamic Revolution brings him to power. Student protesters storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, launching a hostage crisis that would last 444 days. Iran’s nuclear ambitions stall under pressure from the international community.

August 2002 — Western intelligence agencies and an Iranian opposition group expose Iran’s secret nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz.

June 2003 — Britain, France, and Germany begin diplomatic engagement with Iran on nuclear matters.

October 2003 — Facing international pressure, Iran halts its uranium enrichment activities.

February 2006 — Following the rise of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran declares it will resume uranium enrichment. Britain, France, and Germany withdraw from the stalled negotiations.

June 2009 — Iran holds a contested presidential election in which Ahmadinejad is declared the winner despite widespread fraud allegations. The result sparks protests known as the Green Movement, which are met with a violent government crackdown.

October 2009 — Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. and Iran quietly establish a secret back-channel for communications through the sultanate of Oman.

July 2012 — American and Iranian officials hold secret, in-person meetings in Oman.

July 2015 — World powers and Iran announce a sweeping, long-term nuclear agreement that restricts Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

May 8, 2018 — President Donald Trump pulls the U.S. out of the nuclear agreement on his own authority, calling it the “worst deal ever.” He promises to negotiate better terms that would also address Iran’s missile program and its backing of regional militias — but those talks never materialize during his first term.

May 8, 2019 — Iran announces it will begin stepping back from the nuclear accord. A string of regional attacks on land and at sea, attributed to Tehran, follows.

Jan. 3, 2020 — A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad kills Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the man widely credited with building Tehran’s network of proxy forces across the Middle East.

Jan. 8, 2020 — Iran retaliates for Soleimani’s death by firing a volley of missiles at military installations in Iraq housing thousands of American and Iraqi troops. More than 100 U.S. service members sustain traumatic brain injuries, according to the Pentagon. While Iran braced for a counterstrike, its Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shoots down a Ukrainian passenger aircraft shortly after it departs Tehran’s international airport, reportedly confusing it for a U.S. cruise missile. All 176 people aboard are killed.

July 2, 2020 — A mysterious blast destroys a centrifuge manufacturing plant at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site. Iran points the finger at Israel.

April 6, 2021 — Iran and the U.S., now under President Joe Biden, begin indirect talks in Vienna on how to revive the nuclear agreement. Those discussions, along with separate talks between Tehran and European countries, ultimately fail to produce a deal.

April 11, 2021 — Natanz is struck again in a second attack within a year, also believed to have been carried out by Israel.

April 16, 2021 — Iran begins enriching uranium to 60% purity — the highest level it has ever achieved and just one technical step below the 90% threshold considered weapons-grade.

Feb. 24, 2022 — Russia launches a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Over time, Moscow turns to Iran for bomb-carrying drones and missiles to use in the conflict.

July 17, 2022 — An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Kamal Kharrazi, publicly states that Iran has the technical ability to build a nuclear weapon but has not yet decided whether to do so.

Oct. 7, 2023 — Hamas militants from Gaza launch a devastating attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, triggering the most intense fighting ever seen between Israel and Hamas. Iran, which has provided weapons to Hamas, backs the militants. Tensions across the region escalate sharply.

Nov. 19, 2023 — Yemen’s Houthi rebels, long backed by Iran, seize the vessel Galaxy Leader, kicking off months of attacks on ships moving through the Red Sea corridor. The U.S. Navy describes the campaign as the most intense combat it has faced since World War II — tactics that echo those previously used by Iran.

April 14, 2024 — Iran carries out an unprecedented direct assault on Israel, launching more than 300 missiles and attack drones. Israel, working alongside a U.S.-led coalition, intercepts the majority of the incoming fire.

April 19, 2024 — A suspected Israeli strike damages an air defense system near an airport in Isfahan, Iran.

July 31, 2024 — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in Tehran while attending the inauguration of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel later claims responsibility for the assassination.

Sept. 27, 2024 — An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Oct. 1, 2024 — Iran launches a second direct missile attack on Israel, though a U.S.-led coalition and Israeli forces shoot down most of the projectiles.

Oct. 16, 2024 — Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

Oct. 26, 2024 — Israel publicly strikes Iran for the first time, targeting air defense systems and locations tied to Iran’s missile program.

Jan. 20, 2025 — Trump is sworn in for his second term as president.

Feb. 7, 2025 — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismisses proposed talks with the U.S., calling them “not intelligent, wise or honorable.”

March 7, 2025 — Trump reveals he sent a letter directly to Khamenei proposing a new nuclear agreement.

March 15, 2025 — Trump orders heavy airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the last remaining members of Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” still capable of launching daily attacks.

April 7, 2025 — Trump announces that the U.S. and Iran will hold direct talks in Oman. Iran characterizes the planned discussions as indirect talks.

April 12, 2025 — The first round of U.S.-Iran talks takes place in Oman, wrapping up with a commitment to hold additional sessions after U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefly spoke with one another.

April 19, 2025 — A second round of talks between the two countries is held in Rome.

April 26, 2025 — The U.S. and Iran meet in Oman for a third round of negotiations, this time including expert-level discussions for the first time.

May 11, 2025 — A fourth round of negotiations takes place in Oman, ahead of Trump’s planned trip to the Middle East.

May 23, 2025 — The two sides gather in Rome for a fifth round of talks. Oman says the session produced “some but not conclusive progress.”

June 9, 2025 — Iran signals it will not accept a U.S. proposal regarding its nuclear program.

June 12, 2025 — The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency formally finds Iran in violation of its nuclear obligations. In response, Iran announces it has constructed and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility.

June 13, 2025 — Israel launches a military campaign against Iran. Over the following 12 days, Israeli forces strike nuclear and military installations, as well as other government facilities.

June 22, 2025 — The United States enters the conflict, striking three Iranian nuclear sites.

June 23, 2025 — Iran responds to the U.S. strikes by attacking a military base in Qatar used by American forces, causing limited damage.

June 24, 2025 — Trump announces a ceasefire in the war.

July 25, 2025 — Iranian and European diplomats convene in Istanbul for talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Aug. 8, 2025 — France, Germany, and the United Kingdom send Iran a formal letter warning that U.N. sanctions will be reimposed if there is no “satisfactory solution” to the nuclear standoff by August 31.

Aug. 28, 2025 — France, Germany, and the United Kingdom announce they have formally initiated the process to “snapback” U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Sept. 9, 2025 — Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency reach an agreement on potentially beginning inspections, though questions about how it would be carried out remain unanswered.

Sept. 19, 2025 — The U.N. Security Council declines to block the “snapback” sanctions on Iran.

Sept. 26, 2025 — The U.N. Security Council rejects a last-ditch effort by China and Russia to halt the “snapback” process.

Sept. 28, 2025 — The United Nations reimplements “snapback” sanctions on Iran, barring any eleventh-hour diplomatic breakthrough.

Dec. 28, 2025 — Protests erupt in two major markets in central Tehran after the Iranian rial plummets to a record low of 1.42 million rials to one U.S. dollar, intensifying inflation and driving up the cost of food and everyday goods.

Jan. 3, 2026 — Khamenei declares that “rioters must be put in their place,” a statement widely interpreted as authorization for security forces to crack down more forcefully on the demonstrations.

Jan. 8, 2026 — After a call to action from Iran’s exiled crown prince, crowds take to the streets and shout from their windows in nationwide protests. The government shuts down the internet and blocks international phone calls to isolate the country. A subsequent security crackdown results in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests.

Jan. 13, 2026 — Trump announces he has canceled any planned meetings with Iranian officials and vows that unspecified “help is on its way.”

Jan. 26, 2026 — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships arrive in the Middle East as Trump’s threats of military action intensify.

Feb. 3, 2026 — A U.S. Navy fighter jet shoots down an Iranian drone as it approaches the Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Iranian fast-attack vessels attempt to intercept a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Feb. 6, 2026 — Iran and the U.S. hold indirect nuclear talks in Oman, with the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command also in attendance.

Feb. 17, 2026 — Iran and the U.S. hold discussions in Geneva while Tehran announces it has temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which one-fifth of all globally traded oil flows.

Feb. 26, 2026 — Another round of talks takes place in Geneva as the United States assembles the largest concentration of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.

Feb. 28, 2026 — Israel and the United States launch a joint military campaign against Iran, with Khamenei killed in the opening moments of the conflict.

March 9, 2026 — Iran designates Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late supreme leader, as the country’s new paramount ruler.

April 7, 2026 — A fragile ceasefire in the Iran war is announced, with negotiations set to continue. Israel is not part of the talks.

April 8, 2026 — Israel unleashes a massive bombardment on Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, killing more than 300 people in a 10-minute assault.

April 11, 2026 — U.S. Vice President JD Vance leads an American delegation to Islamabad, where he meets with an Iranian team headed by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. The session marks the highest-level direct contact between the two nations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After 21 hours of talks, the parties leave without a deal.

May 31, 2026 — Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon pushes to its deepest point in more than 25 years.

June 15, 2026 — The United States and Iran reach an initial agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and further extend the fragile ceasefire in the Iran war.

BERN, Switzerland — Switzerland’s top financial crime prosecutor is sounding the alarm over outdated laws that are letting defendants in major cases run out the clock, according to the country’s attorney general.

Last month, a Swiss criminal court was forced to drop charges against a former Credit Suisse compliance executive tied to a scandal that devastated Mozambique’s economy roughly ten years ago. The money-laundering case had simply exceeded its statute of limitations.

A similar situation played out in April, when Switzerland halted a trial involving Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s late president Islam Karimov. She had been accused of leading a criminal organization that allegedly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts.

“In the end, we often have a race against time,” said Attorney General Stefan Blaettler, who has recently secured bribery convictions against commodity trading firms Trafigura and Gunvor, as well as money-laundering penalties against several banks.

Blaettler, a lawyer and former Bern cantonal police chief, made cracking down on white-collar crime a priority when he assumed office in 2022. While he has achieved some results, he continues to face obstacles rooted in regulatory gaps.

Rules that were written before the digital age allow defendants to seal evidence and contest the sharing of information with prosecutors in other countries. This delays access to massive amounts of digital data while the statute-of-limitations deadline continues to count down, Blaettler explained in a recent interview.

“People rightly ask us why our criminal proceedings sometimes take 15 years,” Blaettler said. A report from the Office of the Attorney General pointed to an investigation of Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin in a corruption scandal connected to Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras, in which evidence stayed sealed for more than five years before the bank was ultimately fined in 2025.

Blaettler noted that in roughly 90% of cases where defendants request evidence sealing, prosecutors are ultimately found to be in the right — but only after lengthy delays. “I find that untenable,” he said.

The Swiss government is currently weighing whether to work more closely with the European Union to speed up the seizure of digital evidence, according to the justice ministry. That initiative could help resolve the timing issues prosecutors have identified, the ministry added.

However, Swiss lawmakers have weakened recent government proposals aimed at preventing financial crime, arguing that the country must remain competitive as a global wealth management hub while rival financial centers continue to grow.

According to Public Eye, an advocacy and research organization, the political will to enforce financial crime laws has grown under Blaettler, but legislators remain unwilling to fix the legal gaps. “The right-of-centre majority in parliament is fighting tooth and nail any strengthening of the tools to combat white-collar crime, which is slowing the implementation of reforms that have long been identified,” Public Eye stated. Some reforms addressing due diligence standards for certain high-risk advisory services are set to take effect in October.

Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, noted that Switzerland’s strong economy, stable currency, and political reliability continue to make it a target for financial crime. “Money launderers also seek security,” said Urs Thalmann, who leads the organization’s Swiss chapter. “We believe that only the tip of the iceberg ever reaches criminal prosecution.”

Over the past decade, Switzerland has moved away from banking secrecy practices that once drew illicit funds, and it now automatically shares client financial data with tax authorities in dozens of countries.

Blaettler said money-laundering prosecution has improved thanks to a steady flow of suspicious activity reports from Switzerland’s financial crime unit, adding that international cooperation is essential to achieving results.

Last year, Switzerland joined a trilateral anti-corruption task force with Britain and France to coordinate cross-border investigations. Blaettler noted that technical cooperation with the United States continues to function well.

“We have other cases in the pipeline that will come in the near future, either in the form of indictments or penalty orders,” he said. “I cannot say in advance how long such proceedings will take.”

PARIS — French automaker Renault Group announced Monday that it is teaming up with defense technology firm Thales to build a new military vehicle, marking another step in the company’s growing involvement in European defense initiatives.

The collaboration brings together Renault’s manufacturing expertise and Thales’s advanced secure communications technology with the goal of producing a versatile multi-mission vehicle that can be built quickly and at the best possible cost, according to the automaker.

The push for greater military capability across Europe has been driven in large part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as changes in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump — both of which have prompted European nations to significantly increase their defense spending.

Renault has previously indicated it responded to requests from France’s defense ministry to get involved in military-related projects. One such effort includes a plan to manufacture aerial drones in collaboration with drone maker Turgis Gaillard.

A prototype of the newly developed vehicle, given the name 4 TROOP, was unveiled Monday at the Eurosatory defense fair being held near Paris.

Two bridges serving as key links between the Russian-held section of Ukraine’s Kherson region and the Crimean peninsula were damaged in an overnight drone attack carried out by Ukraine, according to an announcement made Monday on Telegram by Vladimir Saldo, the governor installed by Russia.

Following the strike, traffic on both bridges was suspended. The attack comes as the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula has already been grappling with a fuel supply crisis brought on by a series of intensifying strikes in the area.

A Norwegian court is scheduled to announce its verdict and sentence Monday in the rape trial of Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The case has captivated Norway and is widely anticipated to result in prison time regardless of how the court rules on the most serious charges.

Høiby faces a total of 40 criminal charges, which include four counts of rape along with allegations of violence, threats, and abuse.

Prosecutors have asked Oslo District Court to impose a sentence of seven years and seven months behind bars. Defense attorneys, however, contend that Høiby should be cleared of the rape allegations entirely and receive no more than 18 months for the offenses he has already admitted to committing.

The six-week trial wrapped up in March following testimony from multiple accusers and the introduction of evidence that included messages, images, and videos recovered from Høiby’s cellphone. The rape charges involve four different women and span a period from 2018 to 2024. In each instance, the women are alleged to have been asleep or severely incapacitated at the time.

Høiby has denied the rape accusations and challenged key aspects of several other allegations. He has acknowledged committing some lesser offenses, including drug-related crimes, traffic violations, and violations of a restraining order.

The case has drawn significant international attention due to Høiby’s ties to Norway’s royal family. While he holds no royal title and carries no official responsibilities, he is the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a relationship prior to her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon — the heir to Norway’s throne — and he was raised in the same household as the future king.

Public interest has grown even more intense in recent days as Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s health has declined. The crown princess suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and is currently awaiting a lung transplant. Her condition became a focal point in legal arguments over whether Høiby should be temporarily released from custody ahead of the verdict. Appeals courts ruled that he must remain detained while the judgment is pending.

The trial has also taken place against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of the royal family, following revelations about Mette-Marit’s past connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender. She has publicly apologized for the association, stating that she used poor judgment in maintaining contact with him. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Editor’s Note: This story includes discussion of sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-656-4673 for the national sexual assault hotline in the U.S., or +47 800 57 000 for the helpline for victims of sexual abuse in Norway.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to unveil a social media ban targeting young teenagers on Monday, with the goal of shielding children from harmful online content and the dangers of excessive screen time.

The announcement would place the United Kingdom among a growing number of nations tightening online safety rules for minors. Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia have each introduced legislation or announced age-based restrictions on children’s social media access. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand, and South Korea are among the countries exploring or developing similar policies.

“How we keep kids safe online is one of the biggest debates of our time,” Starmer said in a statement released Sunday. “This is a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working.”

Starmer, who is facing calls from members of his own party to step down over concerns about his leadership, said the forthcoming announcement would represent “world-leading” action to protect children. He indicated the measures would be more restrictive than the Australian model, which bans social media for children under 16.

According to The Sunday Times, the United Kingdom would also move to restrict chatbots and certain features within gaming apps, and would establish a curfew designed to stop older teenagers from scrolling through social media late at night.

The under-16 ban would cover platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Threads, Twitch, Kick, and Reddit, the Times reported.

The decision follows a public comment period during which the government collected 116,000 responses from parents, children, and the technology industry. That figure ranks second only to the response generated by a public consultation on equal marriage back in 2012.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the overwhelming majority of those who responded favored an under-16 ban, including young people themselves. She noted, however, that a ban alone should be paired with additional measures.

“I don’t think banning social media on its own is the silver bullet solution, but I do think Australia has shown very clearly that it has a significant role to play,” Nandy told the BBC on Sunday.

The proposed ban could deepen tensions between the U.K. and the United States. The U.S. Embassy in London issued a statement warning that regulations should be narrowly tailored and must not infringe on free speech protections. The embassy also expressed concern that such rules would place added burdens on American technology companies.

Jon Crowcroft, a communications systems professor at the University of Cambridge, acknowledged that those backing social media bans have good intentions but argued the approach is likely misguided, warning that restrictions could cut children off from online resources they actually need.

“There is a real risk this will drive some users to worse sites and policing devices is close to impossible technically,” Crowcroft said. “Policing platforms is far easier, if only regulators would bother.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump is on his way to France to sit down with a group of world leaders who share at least one thing in common: every one of them has either been on the receiving end of Trump’s criticism or has had to navigate an uncomfortable moment with the U.S. president.

Some G7 leaders have drawn Trump’s anger for questioning his decision to go to war with Iran. Others have clashed with him over trade disputes. And the leaders of Japan and Germany have each found themselves in awkward situations after Trump made offhand remarks touching on painful chapters in their nations’ pasts.

Over three days in the French Alps, the leaders are expected to tackle the recently reached deal aimed at bringing the Iran conflict to a close, China’s trade practices, and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. The summit also gives everyone a chance to gauge where they stand with a U.S. president who appears increasingly inclined to act alone on major world issues.

One analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Max Bergmann, compared the summit atmosphere to a holiday family dinner where “there’s an uncle you don’t quite like.”

“And no one wants to have a confrontation, even if things get quite passive-aggressive at times,” Bergmann said. “But, you know, there’s always the possibility that things might snap, and it might get rather dramatic.”

Here is a closer look at some of the more notable clashes and uncomfortable exchanges between Trump and the leaders he will be meeting with in France.

Trump has taken aim at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the United Kingdom’s reluctance to support U.S. military strikes against Iran, the country’s immigration policies, and its approach to renewable energy.

His most pointed attack on Starmer came after the Labour leader initially refused to allow U.S. military aircraft to use a British base in the Indian Ocean for operations against Iran. Trump said of Starmer, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” drawing an unfavorable comparison to Britain’s celebrated wartime leader.

Trump also lashed out at Starmer in the early days of the Iran conflict after the United Kingdom placed the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on heightened readiness for a possible Middle East deployment.

“We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!” Trump posted on social media.

Trump has long complained about trade imbalances with Canada, repeatedly floats the idea of annexing Canada as the “51st state,” and has taken to calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “governor.”

His harshest words toward Canada’s leader came after Carney, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, spoke out against powerful nations using coercion against smaller ones — without naming Trump directly.

Trump fired back during his own remarks at the same event. “Canada lives because of the United States,” he said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

For his part, Carney has tried to stay composed in the face of Trump’s jabs. Earlier this month, the prime minister told reporters that Trump was an “exceptionally active user of social media” and said he had no intention of responding to every post.

At an Easter lunch held at the White House in April, Trump criticized France and other NATO members for not supporting U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran. In the middle of that conversation, Trump brought up a viral video from last year that appeared to show French President Macron’s wife, Brigitte, pushing the French leader’s face away as the couple stepped off a plane during a visit to Vietnam.

Trump told those in attendance that Brigitte treats Macron “extremely badly” and joked that the French president was “still recovering from the right to the jaw.”

Macron later told reporters that he and his wife had simply been joking around and called Trump’s comments “neither elegant nor appropriate.”

Trump also frequently entertains crowds by recounting trade conversations he says he has had with Macron, impersonating the French president’s responses in an exaggerated accent. In Trump’s version of events, Macron always backs down quickly.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was once among Trump’s favorites on the world stage. In October, when world leaders gathered in Egypt for a summit on post-war Gaza, Trump lavished praise on the conservative premier, calling her “a very successful, very successful politician” and “beautiful.”

That goodwill has since evaporated. Italy declined to support the U.S. war effort against Iran, and Meloni publicly rebuked Trump for his public dispute with Pope Leo XIV over the conflict.

In remarks to Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump said of Meloni, “Do people like her? I can’t believe it.” He added: “I thought she had courage. I was wrong.”

Trump has not directed any direct criticism at Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi since she took office in October. However, comments he made during her first visit to the White House put her in an awkward spot.

When a Japanese reporter asked why the U.S. had not warned its allies in Europe and Asia before launching strikes on Iran, Trump casually brought up Pearl Harbor to explain his reasoning.

“Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” Trump said, with Takaichi standing beside him. “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?”

The remark caught many in Japan off guard. American presidents have long avoided blunt references to Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, which drew the United States into World War II, instead choosing to emphasize the strong alliance the two countries have built since the war. Takaichi, a conservative hardliner, received both praise and criticism back home for not responding to Trump’s comment, instead simply glancing toward her ministers who were seated nearby.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz triggered Trump’s anger in April when he said the United States was being “humiliated” by Iran and argued that the U.S. had entered the war without a clear strategy, making it harder to bring the conflict to an end.

Trump responded on social media the next day, telling Merz he “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy.”

Shortly after, the Pentagon announced it would withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, and Trump suggested he might cut the American military presence there “a lot further.”

There was also an awkward exchange between Trump and Merz during a White House visit the chancellor made last year, on the eve of the D-Day anniversary — the date marking the Allied landings that began the liberation of Western Europe, the defeat of Nazi Germany, and the end of World War II in Europe.

Merz referenced the anniversary while arguing that the U.S. was once again positioned to help resolve a high-stakes conflict in Europe — Russia’s war against Ukraine — when Trump interrupted to say that D-Day was “not a pleasant day for you.”

Merz calmly reminded Trump that the day also marked the beginning of “the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.”

Trump acknowledged that the chancellor had made a fair point.

Leaders from the world’s seven most powerful economies have convened Monday at the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains for a high-stakes summit covering everything from the wars in Ukraine and Iran to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and threats to global financial stability.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE G7?

The G7 — short for Group of Seven — is an informal alliance of wealthy nations with no permanent headquarters or legal standing. Its members include the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. The European Union participates in every summit but is not counted among the core seven, since it is a 27-nation bloc rather than a single country, and therefore does not hold the rotating presidency.

Russia was brought into what was then called the G8 back in 1997, but was removed in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. France took over the group’s rotating presidency from Canada in 2026.

HOW DID THE G7 GET STARTED?

The group was established in the wake of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, originally serving as a forum where the richest nations could coordinate responses to global economic crises. Together, its member countries represent a combined annual economic output of more than $50 trillion — roughly half of the entire world economy. In the 1980s, the group expanded its focus to include political matters as well.

In recent years, it has become common practice to extend invitations to other world leaders. This year’s summit includes the leaders of India, South Korea, Kenya, and Brazil, among others.

WHAT’S BEING DISCUSSED?

Ukraine

Demonstrating a unified front in support of Ukraine remains a top priority, as Russia’s war against the country enters its fifth year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for direct face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the conflict. He has also pushed for European nations to take a more central role in the peace process, expressing concern that the United States is increasingly focused on the situation in Iran.

The G7’s European members are working to convince U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine’s military position has improved, that Europe is now carrying the bulk of the financial, military, and political support for Ukraine, and that the group should agree on a strategy for meaningful negotiations with Putin. Zelenskiy is expected to be present at Evian-les-Bains for the Ukraine discussions.

Iran

The summit is taking place just after the U.S. and Iran announced they had reached a framework agreement to end their conflict. While the deal is not set to be formally signed until Friday, G7 leaders are eager to learn the specifics — particularly how soon the critical Strait of Hormuz will reopen to international shipping. Trump has said the waterway will reopen Friday and that he has ordered an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

In the lead-up to the summit, France had been pushing for a coordinated position among G7 members and Middle Eastern partners regarding what demands could be placed on Iran concerning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates will join that conversation.

Global Economic Imbalances

France has framed the core economic problem this way: China produces too much, the United States consumes too much, and European nations invest too little. Alarm is growing in Western countries over China’s record trade surplus and its push into higher-value industries. Beijing has defended its economic policies and rejected claims that Chinese exporters receive unfair government subsidies.

France’s leader has been pushing for a cooperative approach before the European Union decides whether to take a harder line on trade with China. Since China is not at the table, no major breakthroughs are expected — though France says even getting the group to acknowledge that a problem exists would be considered a victory.

Artificial Intelligence

France has brought in roughly a dozen top technology executives — including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei — to engage in discussions about the latest AI developments and the opportunities and dangers they present. Protecting children online and building out digital infrastructure are also on the agenda, though taxing major tech companies is not.

Debt in Developing Nations

G7 leaders are expected to reaffirm their commitment to addressing the crushing debt loads carried by many developing and emerging-market countries, though it remains unclear what specific steps, if any, will follow from that pledge.

Leaders of the world’s seven wealthiest nations convened Monday at a resort along a French lake, arriving just as the United States and Iran jointly announced they had reached an early-stage agreement to bring their war to a close.

The June 15-17 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, will put the Iran situation front and center, but world leaders will also be working through other pressing matters — including the conflict in Ukraine, addressing lopsided global economic conditions, and finding sources for critical minerals that don’t rely so heavily on China.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Evian-les-Bains Monday for the gathering. His attendance was welcomed by French officials, particularly after Trump departed last year’s G7 summit in Canada ahead of schedule. Many fellow G7 leaders have grown increasingly cautious about the United States, as Trump’s unpredictable moves on the world stage have shaken up the Middle East, international trade, and diplomatic relationships — raising broader doubts about America’s dedication to the global framework it helped build after World War II.

During the summit, Trump is scheduled to meet with leaders from the Middle East and to hold a working session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday. That meeting comes as Russian military progress in Ukraine has stalled and Kyiv is pushing its allies for more financial and military support.

Zelenskiy’s negotiating position has strengthened since Trump famously told him in the Oval Office last year: “You don’t have the cards.” However, Zelenskiy may find it harder to win expanded U.S. backing as Trump focuses on putting the Iran conflict behind him — a conflict that has hurt Trump’s approval ratings at home.

On the Iran deal, G7 leaders are eager to learn the specifics. A formal memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be signed this Friday in Switzerland, though the exact terms had not been publicly released. Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway for global oil and gas shipments that Iran has effectively closed off for months — would reopen Friday, and that he had directed an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council released a statement saying that military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, would permanently cease beginning Monday night. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a broader agreement would be worked out over a 60-day ceasefire window, which would include sanctions relief for Iran. Sources had previously told Reuters that Iran’s nuclear program would be part of those follow-up discussions.

The United Arab Emirates, which suffered direct harm from the war, along with key mediating nations Qatar and Egypt, have also been invited to participate in the G7 summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Trump on Monday. For Macron, this summit carries special significance as a diplomatic highlight of his second and final term, which ends next year. While Macron is increasingly viewed as a weakened figure within France, he still commands influence internationally — and managed to secure Trump’s agreement to attend a lavish dinner at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday.

Macron has used France’s leadership of the G7 to push for action on global economic imbalances, a topic long of interest to Washington, ahead of the United States taking over leadership of both the G20 this year and the G7 next year. France has characterized the problem as a shared one: China produces too much, the U.S. consumes too much, and Europe invests too little. Brazil, India, Kenya, and South Korea were also invited to join the conversation, and Macron has called on China to increase its domestic consumption.

French President Emmanuel Macron has chosen Evian-les-Bains, a scenic lakeside community tucked between the Alps and Lake Geneva, as the setting for this year’s gathering of leaders from the Group of Seven wealthy nations.

A Small Town With an Outsized Legacy

Situated in the Haute-Savoie region of eastern France along the southern bank of Lake Geneva — directly opposite Switzerland — Evian-les-Bains is home to fewer than 10,000 residents. Despite its small footprint, the town has long attracted visitors with its thermal springs, picturesque lakeside views, and Belle Epoque-style architecture.

The town also holds significant historical weight: it was in Evian-les-Bains that the “Evian Accords” were signed, the agreement that brought the Algerian War to a close and recognized Algeria as an independent nation.

The Birthplace of a World-Famous Water Brand

Most people around the globe know Evian-les-Bains through its namesake mineral water. The water originates as rainfall and snowmelt that filters through layers of glacial moraine and alpine rock before emerging from natural springs. A French nobleman first discovered the springs in 1789, and seven years later, the town’s first thermal spa opened its doors. Commercial bottling of the water got underway in 1826.

Today, the Evian brand is owned by French company Danone, which produces approximately 6 million bottles of the mineral water every single day.

The Town Has Hosted World Leaders Before

This won’t be Evian-les-Bains’ first time on the world stage. Back in 2003, the town served as the host for a G8 summit — a time when the group still included Russia as a member. Among the leaders who attended were French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The central focus of that summit was mending relationships among the allied nations following deep divisions sparked by the start of the Iraq War.

A Golfer’s Dream Destination

For U.S. President Donald Trump, who is well known for his passion for golf, the Evian-les-Bains area presents some world-class options on the course. The Evian Resort Golf Club, perched between the shores of Lake Geneva and the surrounding Alpine peaks, features the Champions Course — a venue that dates back to 1904 and annually hosts the Amundi Evian Championship.

SYDNEY — Coogee Beach in Sydney reopened its shores to the public Monday, but with significantly heightened security measures in place, following a shark attack Saturday that left a woman with life-threatening injuries.

The victim, 35 years old, was swimming roughly 30 metres — about 100 feet — from the shoreline Saturday morning when a shark estimated to be between three and four metres long attacked her. She suffered serious wounds to both arms and her lower left leg. As of Monday, she remained hospitalized in stable condition.

Authorities are urging anyone entering the water to exercise extra caution in the coming days.

“Our Lifeguards will continue JetSki patrols throughout the day, and Surf Life Saving NSW is operating a shark-spotting drone at Coogee Beach,” Randwick City Council announced in an official statement.

The council also announced plans to hold a community meeting about the incident this coming Saturday.

Coogee Beach sits just south of the world-famous Bondi Beach and is considered a defining symbol of Sydney’s beach culture. Located on the eastern edge of the city, the area is renowned for its golden sand and striking coastal cliffs, attracting millions of visitors from across the globe each year — making water safety a critical concern for local officials.

Saturday’s mauling is part of a troubling pattern of shark encounters along Australian coastlines in recent months. Just the week prior, a man lost his life after being attacked by a shark while fishing off the coast of Western Australia.

The month before that, a 39-year-old man died following a shark attack while fishing on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Just ten days earlier, a 38-year-old was fatally attacked near an island off Perth in Western Australia.

In January, dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast — including several in Sydney — were forced to close after four separate shark attacks occurred within a two-day span. Those incidents followed heavy rainfall that left the water murky, conditions believed to attract sharks while limiting their ability to see clearly.

Although shark encounters are considered statistically uncommon, a Reuters analysis of data from the Australian Shark Incident Database reveals a slow but steady increase in incidents. Over the past decade, Australia has averaged nearly 29 shark encounters per year — a notable jump from the roughly 16 incidents per year recorded during the 2000s.

The Saturday attack has also triggered a review of aerial surveillance protocols. While emergency drones were put into service Monday, Coogee Beach typically operates under strict restrictions on drone flights due to its location directly beneath the flight path serving Sydney’s airport.

New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty addressed the situation Monday, acknowledging that it had been an especially difficult summer when it comes to shark activity. She indicated that no options were being ruled out as the state evaluates potential safety responses, though she emphasized that technology-based solutions — such as drones — would be the priority.

Some experts believe the Saturday attack was carried out by a white shark, a species classified as vulnerable and protected under environmental legislation that prohibits targeting, capturing, or killing the animal without specific authorization.

Despite those protections, the attack has reignited debate over whether a shark cull should be considered — a deeply divisive topic in Australia.

“It’s so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks,” said former conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott, expressing his view in a video shared to his Facebook page.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appears to be charting a course out of an unpopular war with Iran after approving a peace framework that could ease the global energy crisis — but experts warn the agreement comes with significant risks and leaves several of his original war goals unfulfilled.

More than three months after the United States launched military strikes against the Islamic Republic, Trump on Sunday endorsed a “memorandum of understanding” that represents the biggest step forward in peace negotiations to date. A central element of the deal is Iran’s commitment to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global shipping lane whose closure has sent energy prices soaring and contributed to higher gasoline costs for American consumers.

However, the Pakistani-brokered agreement — whose full text has not yet been made public — reportedly requires major concessions from the United States, most notably the postponement of any talks aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, which Trump had identified as a primary reason for going to war.

Trump announced the deal in a social media post on his 80th birthday, writing: “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” Iran subsequently confirmed the agreement, which is scheduled to be formally signed on Friday, though many critical details remain unresolved.

The two countries have offered differing interpretations of the framework, which is designed to extend the existing ceasefire for 60 days while negotiators work toward a permanent end to a conflict that has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. The war has killed thousands of people, drained U.S. military resources, and weighed on Trump’s approval ratings ahead of November’s midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is fighting to hold onto control of Congress.

Trump, who ran for a second term on pledges to steer clear of foreign wars and prioritize the American economy, has portrayed the outcome as a decisive U.S. win — even as Iranian officials have made similar boasts of their own.

Yet most analysts say Trump — who at one point called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” — has been unable to achieve many of the objectives he set for the conflict. Iran’s religious government, which Trump encouraged Iranians to topple at the start of the war, remains largely in place. Leaders who stepped in after top officials were killed in joint U.S.-Israeli strikes are reportedly even more hardline than their predecessors.

Earlier demands that Iran shut down its ballistic missile program and cut ties with regional proxy forces also went unmet. Still, a U.S. official told reporters that the preliminary agreement achieves Trump’s core objectives.

The fate of Iran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium also remains uncertain. Trump posted on Saturday that the U.S. would retrieve the material and “downblend and destroy it,” but offered no timeline. An Iranian official said only that Iran had agreed to “dilute” the stockpile itself, with no mechanism yet in place.

Victoria Taylor, a former deputy assistant secretary of state now with the Atlantic Council think tank, offered a measured assessment of the outcome: “This deal is likely the best possible outcome to avert further conflict, but it is no better than what could have been achieved had the United States pursued diplomacy rather than war in the first place.”

Questions also remain about whether the final agreement will represent an improvement over the 2015 nuclear deal that former President Barack Obama negotiated with Iran — and which Trump walked away from in 2018 during his first term in office.

U.S. officials have said any release of frozen Iranian funds or loosening of sanctions will be done gradually and only if Tehran meets specific requirements. Iran, however, has signaled it expects some financial relief upfront — a dynamic that could expose Trump to the same criticism he directed at Obama for allegedly giving Iran economic breathing room.

Trump and his team have highlighted Iran’s stated commitment to never develop a nuclear weapon as a key achievement. But Iran had long maintained such a position, citing a religious decree issued by former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — who was killed in an airstrike at the war’s outset — that prohibited building a bomb.

While the agreement calls for Iran to lift restrictions on Strait of Hormuz shipping and for the U.S. to end its naval blockade of Iranian ports, Tehran has insisted it must retain a role in managing the waterway — a role it did not hold before the war began. Reopening the strait would essentially restore conditions to what they were before the conflict started.

Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington cautioned against viewing the strait’s reopening as a lasting solution: “Iran has demonstrated that even in a starkly weakened state, it can shut the Strait of Hormuz at will. That’s not going away.”

The war has claimed thousands of lives, primarily in Iran and Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah militants was reignited. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed. The financial cost to the U.S. military has reached tens of billions of dollars, and weapons stockpiles have been significantly depleted. The conflict has also strained relations with European allies, who were not consulted before Trump launched the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who built a close partnership with Trump during the conflict, has said Israel will not be party to the memorandum of understanding. The two leaders clashed on Sunday over Israel’s ongoing military operations in Lebanon. Meanwhile, U.S. Gulf allies — who were themselves targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks — have pushed for a peaceful resolution but now face the reality of a weakened Iran that still retains enough military capability to pose a threat.

A Norwegian court is set to deliver its verdict Monday in the high-profile criminal trial of Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Hoiby faces charges of rape, domestic violence, assault, and drug possession, among other offenses — a case that has riveted the Scandinavian nation.

Hoiby became part of the Norwegian royal family when his mother, Mette-Marit, wed Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. While he has denied the most serious allegations against him, including the rape charges, he has acknowledged guilt on some of the lesser counts.

Should the Oslo district court find him guilty on every charge, prosecutors have asked that he receive a sentence of seven years and seven months behind bars. However, the court has the authority to impose a longer or shorter term than what prosecutors requested.

The trial, which stretched across seven weeks, captivated the country with revelations about Hoiby’s drug dependency, self-recorded videos of sexual encounters, and more than 800 electronic messages submitted as evidence. Testimony in court also revealed that one of the alleged rapes occurred in the basement of the crown prince’s family residence.

Ketil Raknes, an associate professor in political communication at the Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, noted that public fascination with the case stemmed in part from the sharp contrast between the seemingly flawless image of the royal family and the troubling behavior alleged in court.

The scandal has been one of several factors dragging down the monarchy’s approval ratings. It overlapped with Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s public apology for what she called “poor judgment” in maintaining ties with the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following his 2008 conviction.

A Norstat poll released on February 21, while the trial was still underway, found that support for keeping the monarchy had dropped to a record low of 60%, down from 70% in January. Meanwhile, the share of Norwegians favoring a different form of government climbed from 19% to 27%. By May, however, the royal family had partially recovered in public opinion, with 64% backing the monarchy and 23% preferring a different system, according to another Norstat survey.

Raknes described the situation as a compounded crisis. “It was … a perfect crisis for the royal family because they had two crises at the same time. And they had a lot of (criticism) for the way they handled the Epstein files,” he said.

The verdict arrives at a deeply painful time for Hoiby’s mother. This month, Mette-Marit was added to the national lung transplant list after her health took a severe turn for the worse. She has been living with pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease that makes breathing increasingly difficult. Her physicians have indicated that without a successful transplant, she may have roughly one year to live.

Raknes said that news of her condition appears to be softening the tone of public commentary ahead of the verdict. “The coverage is much more sober,” he said. “People are seeing: ‘OK, this is a family who’s really struggling and this is not the time for … playing … the moral card as high as we maybe have done earlier in this case.’”

Three people lost their lives and three others were wounded — among them a one-year-old child — after a drone strike hit the Russian city of Tula, situated south of Moscow, according to regional governor Dmitry Milyayev, who shared the news on Telegram.

The Tula region has been a repeated target of Ukrainian drone attacks. The area is home to several major industrial facilities and has seen ongoing strikes since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sunday’s announcement of a deal to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz is welcome news, but energy experts are cautioning that relief from high oil and gasoline prices won’t come quickly.

According to energy analysts, it could be many months before energy companies are able to ramp operations back up to a level that meets global demand. They point to the slow nature of oil shipping and refining, as well as lingering concerns about the safety of traveling through the strait, as reasons why the impact won’t be felt right away.

For over three months, tankers loaded with crude oil have been stuck in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely pass through the waterway. Before the war began, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gasoline supply moved through that route.

Daniel Evans, global head of fuels and refining research at S&P Global Energy, said the recovery process requires patience. “It’s going to take time for people to feel comfortable and for insurance to be in place … particularly to get people on the ground to restart some of these assets,” he said.

Evans explained that stranded vessels must first clear the strait before new tankers can enter to take on cargo. “To bring a ship in, you need to be confident that you’ve got a big enough window of safety to bring it in, load it and move it out,” he added.

He also noted that oil tankers travel slowly, and the journey from the strait to distant destinations — including stops at refineries for processing — can span several months.

Another complicating factor is that some Middle Eastern producers halted oil extraction, a process called a shut-in, after running out of places to store the oil. Getting those operations going again is not a fast process.

Alan Gelder, senior vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie, an analytics firm, said nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates may bounce back more quickly because they have alternate pipelines or routes that don’t rely solely on the Strait of Hormuz. However, he noted that other countries face steeper challenges. “But places like Iraq could be much more challenged because they’ve had a much bigger shut-in, their fields are more difficult … it may well take about a year before they get back,” he said.

Gelder also pointed out that investment in energy infrastructure — which can take years to show results — came to a standstill after the strait closed, meaning that restarting that financial commitment will also take time.

Daniel Sternoff, senior fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said oil-producing nations that shut down operations won’t be eager to restart until they are confident the strait will remain stable and that any ceasefire will hold well beyond 30 to 60 days. “We don’t know what open means or what the speed of evacuation of trapped material is going to be,” he said.

U.S. and Iranian officials announced Sunday that the two nations have struck a deal to bring their war to an end. The agreement also includes lifting the American blockade of Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz — a move that could drive down energy costs once oil begins flowing again through the strategically vital passage.

World leaders wasted no time responding to the announcement. Britain, France, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement as E4 nations, declaring: “Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready to work with the U.S., Iran and the IAEA to this end.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also weighed in, saying: “We are clear that toll-free freedom of navigation must now be restored in the Strait of Hormuz … Iran must never have a nuclear weapon.”

Four major European nations say they are prepared to remove sanctions against Iran following a recently reached agreement between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their conflict.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy — collectively referred to as the E4 nations — released a joint statement on Sunday indicating their readiness to ease those economic penalties in exchange for concrete steps by Iran regarding its nuclear program.

“Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready to work with the US, Iran and the IAEA to this end,” the four nations’ leaders said in the statement.

The announcement signals a significant shift in international diplomacy surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with Western allies aligning their response to the broader US-Iran agreement.

One person was hurt during a Russian aerial assault on Kyiv early Monday morning, according to local Ukrainian officials who urged city residents to take cover immediately.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on Telegram that drone debris ignited fires at several homes and vehicles across the city. He also noted that the attacks knocked out electricity in certain areas of the capital.

Tymur Tkachenko, who heads the capital’s military administration, posted separately on Telegram confirming that a high-rise apartment building had caught fire. He stated that one person sustained injuries but did not provide additional details about the victim’s condition.

Ukraine’s Air Force warned via Telegram that drones were continuing to approach Kyiv from multiple directions, and that there was also a threat of missile strikes. A Reuters reporter on the ground confirmed that explosions could be heard throughout the city.

Oil prices took a significant hit on Monday following an announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s deputy foreign minister have agreed to a deal that would end the fighting and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures dropped $3.51, or 4.02%, settling at $83.82 per barrel as of 2203 GMT. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $80.95 a barrel, a decline of $3.93, or 4.63%.

The agreement between Washington and Tehran signals a potential easing of tensions that had kept global energy markets on edge, with the reopening of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz expected to allow oil shipments to flow more freely through the region.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — More than three months after fighting broke out, the United States and Iran have struck an agreement to bring the conflict to a close and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a development that could provide significant relief to the world economy.

Specifics of the agreement were not immediately disclosed. Pakistan, which played a key role as a mediator, announced that the formal signing ceremony will take place Friday in Switzerland. Unresolved matters such as Iran’s nuclear program are expected to be taken up at a later stage.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the deal had been reached, announcing he had authorized an end to the American naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz — a blockade that had been put in place in response to Iran’s control over the critical shipping lane.

“Congratulations to all!” Trump posted on social media. “I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade.”

Prior to the announcement, the U.S. had indicated it would ease the blockade on Iranian ports as the strait reopened, and would also agree to loosen sanctions so Iran could increase oil exports and help rebuild its struggling economy.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement in an appearance on state television, though he stressed that Iran would not begin carrying out its terms until the official signing on Friday. He noted the deal came after more than 14 hours of negotiations in Tehran involving a representative from Qatar, which also served as a mediator.

Iranian state television displayed a banner reading: “US was forced to sign an agreement to end the war.”

Pakistan was the first to publicly announce the deal, doing so on a day when Israel — which had been kept out of the negotiations — carried out strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut while targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Those attacks had threatened to derail the talks.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that “both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” and said mediators would facilitate meetings this week to “lay the foundation for the technical talks.”

LONDON — The United Kingdom is preparing to announce major new restrictions on social media use for children under the age of 16, a move that could result in banning popular platforms and features considered too addictive for young users’ wellbeing.

Over recent years, Britain has steadily increased pressure on technology companies, pushing them to implement age verification systems, modify their recommendation algorithms, and — most recently — stop children from sharing nude images captured on mobile devices.

Now, amid rising concern about the mental health effects of excessive screen time on young people, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has decided to take things a step further. His decision came after conversations with parents and a review of evidence from Australia, which became the first nation to ban social media for under-16s last year.

Starmer, who is widely expected to face a leadership challenge in the weeks ahead, said the public rightfully demands action on this issue.

“That’s why we will call time on a system that’s failing our kids and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life,” he said ahead of the Monday morning announcement.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Starmer is set to announce a full ban on all major social media platforms for anyone under 16. Digital products not covered by the ban — such as gaming apps — would face their own set of restrictions, including prohibitions on children communicating with strangers.

Australia led the way on this issue, becoming the first country in the world to block children under 16 from social media platforms. Starting in December, Australian users under that age were cut off from services including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook.

In the wake of Australia’s action, a number of other countries have signaled their own intentions to regulate children’s access to social media, driven by growing alarm over the effects on young people’s health and safety.

Britain’s government conducted a broad public consultation on potential new rules, gathering input from teachers, parents, and young people themselves. Options considered included an outright ban for under-16s, as well as curfews, limits on app usage time, and restrictions on what officials have called addictive design features built into these platforms.

The consultation attracted more than 116,000 responses. Among parents who participated, over 83% said they believed the dangers of social media outweighed the advantages, and 90% expressed support for setting the minimum age for social media access at 16.

Lisa Nandy, the minister for culture and media, pointed to Australia’s experience as evidence that even an imperfect ban can shift the broader culture around children’s online habits.

“It changes the presumption, so that at the age of eight, nine, 10, 11, children aren’t presuming that they’re going to be in these spaces because all of their friends are, and that quite significantly changes the culture,” she said in an interview with BBC television.

While many parents and elected officials support a ban, some psychologists and researchers have cautioned that there is no solid evidence proving such a measure would be effective. Meanwhile, a group of school-aged children in London told reporters they had a complicated and conflicted relationship with social media technology.

DUBAI/WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran have struck a deal to bring their war to an end, with a formal signing ceremony set for Friday in Switzerland, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced early Monday on social media.

Shortly after Sharif made his announcement, President Trump confirmed the news on his Truth Social platform. “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” Trump wrote.

The agreement comes despite an Israeli military strike on Lebanon on Sunday that drew condemnation from both Iran and Trump himself.

The full terms of the deal had not been publicly released, but Sharif said the agreement calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Multiple sources had previously told Reuters that the draft agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, and extend a ceasefire — while setting aside Iran’s nuclear program for a separate round of talks over a 60-day window.

Trump confirmed those key elements in his social media post, saying the strait would be open “toll free” and that the U.S. naval blockade would also come to an end. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” Trump wrote.

The road to the agreement was bumpy on Sunday. Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf reacted sharply to Israel’s strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut — which Israel said targeted Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants — posting on X that the attack showed the United States lacks “the will and ability to fulfill your commitments.”

Iran’s foreign ministry held the United States responsible for the Israeli strike and warned of a “strong response.” The country’s top joint military command stated that the “finger (is) on the trigger” and was ready to fire at the “enemy’s heart.”

Trump also weighed in on the Beirut attack Sunday, writing on Truth Social: “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.”

Israel has stated it is not a party to the planned U.S.-Iran agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with Trump over American demands that Israel scale back its military operations in Lebanon as a condition for reaching the deal with Iran.

The fighting between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon was reignited when the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began in February.

A senior Iranian official had earlier told Reuters that under the draft deal’s terms, the United States would release $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets, while Iran would agree not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons. The official said Iran also agreed to preserve the existing nuclear status quo — meaning no uranium enrichment or expansion of nuclear facilities — until a final agreement is reached.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced in the early hours of Monday that the United States and Iran have come to a peace agreement following talks.

Sharif shared the news on social media platform X, stating: “Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

The Prime Minister also noted that a formal signing ceremony is planned for June 19 in Switzerland.

Iran has turned down a proposal it says came from President Donald Trump — one intended to prevent Tehran from retaliating against Israel following a strike on Hezbollah positions in Beirut’s Dahieh district. According to a report from N12, Iran warned that its response against Israel could arrive “before dawn.”

The rejection came even as President Trump publicly voiced criticism of Israel’s military operation in the Lebanese capital, while at the same time expressing hope that a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict could still be reached on Sunday.

Citing Iranian statements, N12 reported that Tehran brushed aside the proposal and made clear it plans to act. “Trump offered us money in exchange for overlooking the attack. We rejected it — we will respond very soon. We will not betray our allies,” Iran said, in a reference to Hezbollah.

Additional warnings followed from Iranian officials. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council stated, “The response is near,” while a separate statement declared: “Our finger is on the trigger, ready to fire at the heart of the enemy.” Officials also claimed that Iran’s military strength had grown under the leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei.

As the situation intensified, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that all air traffic in western Iran had been halted until further notice.

Inside Israel, the Home Front Command moved to restrict public gatherings to no more than 5,000 people.

Fighting continued along the Lebanese front as well. The Israel Defense Forces reported that one soldier suffered moderate injuries and a second was lightly wounded after rockets were launched at Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon. The military also noted impacts both inside Israel and in areas where soldiers are stationed in southern Lebanon, along with reports of additional suspicious aerial objects near the Lebanese border.

President Trump was sharply critical of the strike on Dahieh, which took place while diplomatic efforts were still underway. According to Axios, Trump said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “no —-ing judgment.”

In an interview with Fox News, Trump stated: “A deal will be signed within two or three hours. I told Netanyahu — what the hell are you doing?”

On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that the attack “should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.” He also called on “all sides” to “stand down … Let’s not blow it!”

A tragic case of mistaken identity in Pakistan has left a 9-year-old Australian girl dead and two of her family members fighting for their lives after police officers allegedly opened fire on their rental vehicle.

Hania Ahmed, a Pakistani-Australian child from Perth, was riding in a car with her father and younger brother in Chakwal, a city in Punjab province roughly 62 miles southwest of Islamabad, when Crime Control Department officers allegedly confused their vehicle with one being used by robbery suspects and began shooting.

According to information gathered by The Media Line, the family had returned to Pakistan just days earlier after completing the Hajj pilgrimage. Hania’s father, Adeel Ahmed, 39, originally hails from Dhudial, a town within Chakwal district. He relocated to Australia approximately two decades ago, earned a civil engineering degree, and built a life there with his wife, Dr. Sidra Khan, and their two children, Affan Ahmed and Hania Ahmed.

At the time of the shooting, Hania, her father, and her brother were on their way to visit her maternal grandfather, who is reportedly a retired colonel in the Pakistan Army. Her mother was not in the vehicle and was unharmed.

Early accounts of the incident indicate that just before the shooting, the family had been robbed at gunpoint by two armed men who stole jewelry from them. As the family attempted to drive away in their rented car, officers allegedly mistook them for the fleeing robbers and opened fire.

Hania died from her injuries. Her father and younger brother were both seriously hurt and required surgery. Police later reported that the two men suspected in the robbery were killed in a separate encounter.

Authorities have arrested the officer accused of firing on the family’s vehicle and have filed a murder charge against him. A Joint Investigation Team has also been assembled to look into the full circumstances surrounding the deadly shooting. Senior Pakistani police officials have characterized the event as a tragic case of mistaken identity and pledged a transparent investigation to deliver justice to the family.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage in both Pakistan and Australia. It has also reignited debate over policing practices in Pakistan, including the use of deadly force during criminal pursuits and the systems in place to hold officers accountable when civilians are killed. Human rights organizations in Pakistan have long voiced concerns about police shootings, mistreatment in custody, and extrajudicial killings, while officials have acknowledged that reforms are necessary to rebuild public confidence.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is providing support to the affected family. A spokesperson for the department expressed sympathy, stating, “We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time.” The department added that it is offering consular assistance to the family of the Australian national who was killed, as well as to the two Australians who were injured in the attack.

RIO DE JANEIRO — A deadly midair collision between two helicopters over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning left all six people aboard dead, according to firefighters at the scene.

Rio de Janeiro’s Military Fire Department reported that one of the aircraft came down on top of a car dealership, where a number of electric vehicles were parked. The impact triggered a fire that crews were eventually able to put out.

Authorities have launched an investigation to determine what led to the collision, though no cause has been identified yet.

Police confirmed that American singer and comedian Oliver Tree appeared on the passenger manifest that had been submitted to aviation authorities. However, officials said they have not yet been able to identify the bodies of those who died in the crash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reached out to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday with birthday congratulations, praising him as an exceptional leader and expressing optimism about the future of relations between their two countries.

“Dear Mr. President, dear Donald, I wholeheartedly congratulate you, such a bright, remarkable person and politician, on your 80th birthday!” Putin wrote in a message posted to the Kremlin’s official website, which was also cited by Russian news outlets.

The two heads of state spoke over the phone for 55 minutes, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who described Putin’s congratulations during the call as delivered in an “informal” way.

In his written message, Putin said he “valued the mutual understanding between us, which allows us to discuss … even the most complex issues on the bilateral and international agenda openly and frankly.”

Putin went on to express confidence in what the two leaders could accomplish together, writing: “I am certain that together we could truly give Russian-American relations a new quality, and also do much to ensure security and stability on the world stage.”

The last time the two presidents met face-to-face was in Alaska in August 2025, as part of efforts to work toward a resolution to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

WESTPORT, Ireland — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is warning that the United States’ decision to restrict access to Anthropic’s newest artificial intelligence models is a wake-up call about the risks of depending too heavily on a small number of American technology providers.

AI company Anthropic announced Friday that it has taken its two latest AI models — known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — offline in response to a directive from the Trump administration barring their use by foreign nationals.

The move represents the most sweeping step the U.S. government has taken to date to limit foreign access to cutting-edge AI technology. Anthropic released Fable broadly this week. That model is a scaled-down version of the more powerful Mythos, which the company had already been restricting due to serious cybersecurity concerns.

“The situation we’re in collectively right now with Mythos and Fable is something that can happen with overreliance on certain models,” Carney said. “Nobody has done anything wrong in the situation. But we will have done something wrong if we just accept this, don’t take the lesson, don’t build out and diversify.”

Carney delivered those remarks while in Ireland ahead of the upcoming G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, where he said artificial intelligence is expected to be a major topic of discussion on Monday night.

Anthropic, headquartered in San Francisco, California, announced the Mythos model on April 7, describing it as so “strikingly capable” that the company has limited access to select customers only. The company cited the model’s ability to outperform human cybersecurity experts at identifying and exploiting computer vulnerabilities.

“You’ll hear me say this over and over again. It is never a good idea to have one option,” Carney said.

Carney also revealed he spent 45 minutes discussing artificial intelligence with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday evening. He cautioned that there “will not be a mission accomplished banner” coming out of the summit, given the complexity of the issues involved.

The Canadian prime minister drew a direct connection between the U.S. AI restrictions and Canada’s ongoing effort to broaden its trade relationships. More than 70% of Canada’s exports currently go to the United States, and Carney has set a goal to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports over the next decade. He noted that Trump’s trade war has already been dampening investment.

Carney does not have a one-on-one meeting scheduled with Trump at the G7, even as the free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is up for renewal. He said trade discussions under the USMCA framework will instead take place between Canada’s minister responsible for U.S. trade Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s chief negotiator Janice Charette, U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The right way to do it at this stage, will be between the principal negotiators, which is going to happen in Evian,” he said.

Earlier Sunday, Carney visited the Irish village of Aghagower, where his family has ancestral roots. His grandfather, Robert Carney, and grandmother, Nora Moran, both hailed from the County Mayo town and emigrated to Canada in the 1920s.

Local resident Owen Morgan, who was there with his 17-month-old son Malachy — dressed in a Montreal Canadiens jersey — said the community is proud of the Canadian leader. “People are very impressed,” Morgan said. “He’s very much standing up for Canadians and I think that’s very much admired.”

Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission has officially confirmed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party came out on top in the country’s recent general election — a vote seen as a defining moment for the nation’s future alignment between Russia and the West.

Final results released by the commission for the June 7 election showed Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract party capturing 49.7% of the vote, giving it enough support to form a government. The outcome reflects the Pashinyan administration’s push to deepen ties with the European Union and the United States, even as critics argue the country should maintain its longstanding relationship with Russia.

The pro-Russian opposition group Strong Armenia had urged the commission to throw out the results, claiming there were “widespread violations” during the voting process. Supporters of Strong Armenia and other opposition parties gathered outside the commission’s offices while officials worked to finalize the tallies.

The window between the June 8 preliminary results and the final certification gave political parties time to file formal complaints about any perceived problems with the election.

International election monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Armenian voters were given a “genuine choice” but noted the election took place amid “highly confrontational…divisive rhetoric” and “uneven campaign opportunities.” Armenian investigators had issued six arrest warrants against Strong Armenia members the day before the election, alleging they had been paying voters for their support.

Samvel Karapetyan, the billionaire leader of Strong Armenia — who built his wealth in Russia — is currently under house arrest. Authorities accuse him of calling for the overthrow of the government, a charge he has denied, calling it politically motivated.

Under Armenian law, the National Assembly must have at least 101 members, each serving five-year terms. Individual parties need at least 4% of the vote to gain entry, while coalitions of three or more parties must reach 8%. Civil Contract’s vote share translates to 64 seats in the assembly. Strong Armenia earned 29 seats, and the Armenia Alliance — led by former President Robert Kocharyan — received 12 seats.

Geopolitical questions dominated the campaign. As he cast his ballot on June 7, Pashinyan declared, “The European Union is our main partner in democratic reform implementation, and we will continue that path.” Armenia formally announced its ambition to join the EU last year.

Most opposition parties, Strong Armenia among them, ran on platforms favoring closer ties with Russia.

Russia, which maintains a military base inside Armenia, has cautioned that the country’s pivot toward the West could bring serious political and economic consequences. President Vladimir Putin has drawn comparisons between Armenia’s trajectory and Ukraine’s, making thinly veiled threats and suggesting Russia’s conflict with Ukraine began with Ukraine’s efforts to align with the EU.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Moscow rolled out a series of trade restrictions targeting Armenian goods — including flowers, certain cognacs and wines, eggplant, potatoes, dried fruits, and fish. OSCE election monitors described these measures as “direct pressure” on Armenia’s election. Russia maintained the bans were tied to violations of agricultural import regulations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of “weaponizing” economic relations and called the import bans “nothing short of economic coercion.” She announced that the EU would provide 50 million euros — roughly $58 million — in support of Armenia.

The relationship between Moscow and Yerevan deteriorated significantly after Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the Karabakh region, a mountainous area that had been held for decades by ethnic Armenian forces with backing from Armenia, stemming from a prolonged conflict between the two neighboring nations. Armenia blamed Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region for failing to prevent Azerbaijan’s military operation. Moscow, occupied with its war in Ukraine, rejected those accusations.

Pashinyan has taken gradual steps to distance Armenia from Russia, including joining the International Criminal Court in 2023 and suspending Armenia’s participation in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2024. Armenia also hosted the European Political Community summit and its first-ever summit with the EU in Yerevan in early May.

In August 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump brought Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev together to sign an agreement aimed at ending their decades-long conflict, which included provisions for a new transit corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan.

Qatari mediators flew to Tehran on Sunday as part of an urgent diplomatic mission coordinated with the United States, aimed at keeping a proposed peace agreement from collapsing, according to CNN.

The negotiators departed from Doha in an effort to close the remaining gaps between Washington and Tehran after a breakdown in the ceasefire raised fears that talks aimed at ending the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz could fall apart.

A source with knowledge of the talks told CNN that plans for an in-person signing ceremony between both sides were scrapped due to logistical hurdles and concerns that any delays could threaten the already fragile ceasefire. The two sides shifted instead to the idea of an electronic signing process.

Several major issues remain unresolved, including the size of Iran’s uranium enrichment stockpile and Tehran’s reported push to charge ships a fee for passing through the Strait of Hormuz — a proposal the United States has rejected.

The mediation push comes as Iranian officials and media organizations publicly disputed claims that a memorandum of understanding would be signed Sunday.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday that a deal was “scheduled to get signed” the following day. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif echoed that optimism, writing on X: “We are closer to a peace deal than ever before. With finalisation likely expected in the next 24 hours.”

But a media outlet connected to the Revolutionary Guards flatly rejected that timeline, saying senior Iranian negotiators had made clear the agreement “has not yet been finalized and will certainly not be done on Sunday.”

That same outlet took aim at what it described as President Trump’s “unusual insistence” on a Sunday signing, suggesting the push was tied to the president’s 80th birthday.

President Trump had previously indicated that Vice President JD Vance would attend a signing ceremony in Europe. The president is set to travel to France for the G7 summit.

According to CNN, Qatar’s active role in the mediation reflects the stakes Doha has in reaching an agreement, after Iranian missile strikes hit critical Qatari energy infrastructure during the conflict. The report noted that Qatar has pursued diplomatic channels with Tehran in hopes of preventing further damage to its energy facilities and helping bring the regional blockade to an end.

Colonel Netanel Lasri, known to colleagues as Nati, has died at the age of 40 following a three-year struggle with cancer. At the time of his passing, he was serving as head of the Planning Department within the Israel Defense Forces Ground Forces Command and had previously led the Golan and Hermon Brigade. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Throughout his military career, Lasri was considered one of the most talented and well-respected officers within the IDF’s Armored Corps and combat divisions.

Lasri was born in Lod and participated in the city’s Scouts movement before enlisting in the IDF in 2004, joining the 401st Armored Brigade. Over the course of more than two decades of service, he took part in numerous significant Israeli military operations.

During the Second Lebanon War, he served as a tank crewman. He went on to fill several command roles within the Gaza Division, including serving as a battalion operations officer during Operation Cast Lead and as a deputy company commander during Operation Hot Winter.

While leading an operational company in the 52nd Battalion, Lasri directed forces in halting a complex terrorist attack near the area where the borders of Israel, Egypt, and Gaza converge. That mission earned him a formal commendation from the Gaza Division commander.

His leadership during Operation Pillar of Defense as a company commander was recognized with a certificate of excellence presented by the IDF chief of staff.

Lasri also took part in Operation Protective Edge, this time commanding the Tank Commanders Course training company. He later served as deputy commander of the 52nd Battalion and as an aide to the head of the Operations Directorate.

From 2019 through 2021, he commanded the 9th Battalion, and afterward served as operations officer of the 162nd Division.

In August 2023, Lasri was appointed to lead the Golan and Hermon Brigade, a post he held through April 2024. Despite his ongoing illness, he took on his final assignment in May 2025, heading the Planning Department within the Ground Forces Command.

Over the course of his service, Lasri received the IDF chief of staff’s citation along with several other military honors and commendations.

WASHINGTON — An oil tanker disabled by the U.S. military while attempting to break through America’s blockade of Iran had brushed off nearly 60 verbal warnings and multiple demonstrations of military force before U.S. forces ultimately opened fire, a U.S. official has revealed to The Associated Press.

According to the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the sensitive matter and requested anonymity, the ship’s crew also disregarded eight shows of force from military aircraft — including flares and flyovers — along with two final warnings before shots were fired on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. military disclosed that an American aircraft fired what it called “precision munitions” into the engine room of the Palau-flagged vessel M/T Settebello. Indian officials confirmed that three Indian sailors lost their lives in the strike, which took place in the Gulf of Oman.

The U.S. official characterized the vessel as part of a so-called shadow fleet used to illegally move Iranian oil and sidestep international sanctions. The official also noted the ship had been observed attempting to breach the blockade on multiple occasions, and that U.S. forces had communicated with the vessel dozens of times over a two-week period leading up to the day it was disabled.

In an official statement, U.S. Central Command said American forces gave the ship’s crew a 15-minute window to evacuate the engine room before firing the shots that put the vessel out of commission.

“After being in place for more than 60 days, it should be clear by now that U.S. forces will strictly enforce the blockade,” the statement read.

India’s foreign ministry announced that New Delhi had filed a “strong protest” with the United States over the deaths of its citizens.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with his Indian counterpart on Friday, conveying “that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from U.S. forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the Strait,” according to a summary of the conversation released by the State Department on Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Sunday, expressing that bringing the war in Ukraine to a close is critically important and that he stands ready to play a role in making that happen, according to Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, as reported by Russian news agencies.

Ushakov further revealed that during the call, Trump informed Putin that a deal to end the conflict with Iran was close to being finalized. The Russian leader reportedly expressed relief that the fighting would be coming to an end.

In addition to the weighty diplomatic discussions, Ushakov noted that Putin took a moment to wish Trump a happy 80th birthday in what was described as an “informal” manner.

Swiss authorities deployed tear gas Saturday against protesters who descended on United Nations buildings in Geneva, according to a Reuters witness on the scene.

The demonstrators, who were rallying in opposition to a G7 summit being held across the border in France, directed their anger at UN facilities in the Swiss city. Some in the crowd hurled stones at a UN telecommunications building, while others threw flares as police worked to push them away from the site.

Authorities in Yemen are reporting the death of a well-known daredevil adventurer who went by the nickname “The Spider-Man of Yemen,” after he plunged into a volcanic crater while scaling its walls without any safety gear.

Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar, 30 years old, was attempting to climb the sheer rock faces of the Hardah Dam volcanic crater in Yemen’s southern Dhale province on Friday when he lost his grip and fell 120 meters — roughly 393 feet — into the crater below, according to the Civil Defense Authority. The agency also released a brief video capturing the terrifying moment.

The 10-second clip shows Antar making his way up a rocky cliff face with no protective equipment. Names written in Arabic appear in white lettering on the rock wall he is scaling. The footage then shows him clinging to the cliff with his right hand while his left arm reaches out into the air — before his right-hand grip gives way and he falls.

Search and rescue teams, including divers and water specialists, were deployed to recover Antar’s body. Divers eventually found him at a depth of 30 meters — about 100 feet — beneath the water’s surface. The Civil Defense Authority described the four-hour recovery effort as “complex,” citing the steep, rocky terrain that made reaching the site extremely difficult.

The Hardah Dam — also referred to as the Haradhat Damt — is a distinctive volcanic crater situated near the city of Damt in Yemen’s southern Dahle province. The landmark features sharply rising rock walls surrounding a hot, sulfurous lake at its bottom.

Antar had developed a significant following on social media by posting footage of himself taking on high-risk climbs across some of Yemen’s most challenging terrain. His videos frequently went viral. In one widely-shared clip, he was seen gripping the edge of a rocky cliff with only his bare hands while his legs dangled over a steep drop below — all without any safety equipment.

In the wake of the tragedy, the Civil Defense Authority called on climbers and adventure sports enthusiasts to follow proper safety protocols. The agency issued a formal warning urging people to use “appropriate protective gear to avert similar incidents.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spent part of his Sunday in Aughagower, a village in western Ireland, where he connected with distant relatives and paid tribute to his family’s roots before heading to the G7 summit in France.

Carney’s grandparents, Robert Carney and Nora Moran, were both born in that village before emigrating to Canada in 1925. The couple married in Vancouver, where Robert took a position with the Canadian Pacific Railway Police and later joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Carney’s father was born in 1933 and eventually became a professor at the University of Alberta.

After attending Sunday Mass at the local Catholic church in Aughagower — the same church his grandparents would have known — Carney also visited the family grave and planted a tree in their honor. Speaking with reporters afterward, he joked about the unexpected size of his extended family: “I have a lot more cousins than I realised.”

The personal visit followed a more formal appearance on Saturday, when Carney addressed students at Trinity College Dublin. There, he called on nations like Canada and Ireland to build a “dense web of connections … ad hoc coalitions” as the global order established after the Cold War continues to unravel.

“Ireland and Canada are navigating a global rupture, not a quiet transition,” he told the students. He added, “I suggest that amidst this change, amidst this disruption, Canada, Ireland, and Europe can be pivotal, powerful, and purposeful, a force for good.”

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose country is set to assume the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, echoed the sentiment. He told reporters that his government would work to “put flesh on the bone of an enhanced European Union-Canadian relationship.”

GENEVA — A demonstration in Geneva, Switzerland turned partially violent Sunday when protesters set a Tesla on fire and smashed the windows of a bank, expressing outrage ahead of an upcoming Group of Seven summit scheduled just over the border in France.

Despite those incidents, police described the overall march as largely peaceful. Authorities estimated attendance at up to 7,000 people and said they confiscated a number of knives and pyrotechnic devices from those in the crowd.

Demonstrators said their target was the G7 as a symbol of concentrated wealth and political power. The protest came shortly after Tesla owner Elon Musk, who has served as an advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, became the world’s first trillionaire — a milestone that many say has intensified public concern over growing inequality.

Protester Pippa Saugy explained her motivation for attending: “To me, it’s a meeting of the rich that shows once again how the rich can become even richer while the poor are left behind.”

The G7 summit is scheduled for June 15 through 17 in Evian-les-Bains, a town situated along the shore of Lake Geneva. It will bring together the leaders of France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

The agenda is expected to be dominated by the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. World leaders will also be navigating their relationship with President Trump as he works toward finalizing a framework peace agreement with Iran.

Back in Geneva, storefronts were boarded up and hundreds of riot officers were positioned throughout the city in anticipation of potential unrest. Protests at G7 summits are nothing new — demonstrators have long used these gatherings as a platform to speak out against capitalism, globalization, climate change, and economic inequality.

One demonstrator, Mattia Piccard, expressed frustration at the heavy law enforcement presence on the streets. “This is an attempt to frighten demonstrators, to frighten people and discourage them from coming out to protest,” Piccard said.

Another participant, Clélia Colin, said she was there to draw attention to gender inequality. “The values represented by the G7 are completely misogynistic, and they contribute to inequality because there is absolutely no equality,” Colin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy got on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday for a conversation that touched on the war in Ukraine, diplomatic efforts, and the ongoing push for peace negotiations, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser.

The two leaders spoke for roughly 30 to 35 minutes, presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn confirmed. Along with the serious matters of war and diplomacy, Zelenskiy also extended birthday wishes to Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday.

CAIRO — At least six Palestinians were killed Sunday in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, according to health officials, even as international mediators intensified their push to keep a U.S.-brokered ceasefire alive.

Medical workers reported that an Israeli airstrike claimed the lives of at least four people near Al-Yeman Al-Saeed Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in the northern part of the enclave. Two additional deaths were recorded in separate shooting incidents — one in Khan Younis in the south and another in Gaza City. The Israeli military offered no immediate response to requests for comment on the incidents.

The bloodshed unfolded as mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey concluded a week of negotiations with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Those talks centered on moving forward with the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons and for Israel to pull its forces out of the territory.

A truce brokered by Trump in October 2025 has so far failed to put a full stop to Israeli military operations in Gaza or to achieve the disarmament of Hamas fighters. Health officials say Israeli strikes have killed more than 950 people since the truce took effect, while Israel reports that four of its soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.

Hamas places the blame for the ongoing conflict on what it describes as Israel’s failure to meet obligations agreed upon in October — a deal that paused major combat operations but did not bring Israeli attacks to a complete halt. Israel, for its part, maintains that its strikes are carried out to prevent imminent attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.

On Sunday, Hamas and allied factions announced they had submitted a written response to a 15-point framework put forward by the mediators and Trump’s Board of Peace, though they did not disclose the specifics of their answer. Sources familiar with the negotiations indicated the factions agreed to 14 of the 15 points, with the remaining sticking point being the question of Hamas disarmament. Hamas has said it will only consider full disarmament if a political process toward establishing a Palestinian state is set in motion.

Israel has maintained a firm stance that Hamas must disarm completely, relinquish control of Gaza, and have no part in shaping the territory’s future.

ROME — A retired Italian general formally unveiled his new far-right political party on Sunday, directly challenging Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hold on power as he pushes for a more extreme nationalist agenda ahead of next year’s elections.

General Roberto Vannacci, a 57-year-old former paratrooper, was introduced to the crowd as a modern-day Julius Caesar when he stepped onto the stage at the founding congress of Futuro Nazionale. Supporters greeted him with repeated chants of “Generale, Generale, Generale.”

“We represent the rejects and the dregs, and are proud of it,” Vannacci declared. He left Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s League party four months ago and is now positioning himself to the right of Meloni’s conservative coalition.

Futuro Nazionale is already drawing about 5% in polls, putting it in striking distance of the League and potentially threatening Meloni’s chances of returning to power unless she negotiates some kind of electoral deal with Vannacci.

However, any such alliance could backfire for Meloni. Vannacci’s anti-EU, pro-Russia stance and his close connections to far-right European parties — including Germany’s AfD — could drive away moderate voters who currently support her.

Taking the most aggressive anti-immigration position in Italian politics, Vannacci said Sunday that he would reduce the number of foreign nationals living in Italy from roughly 12% of the population down to about 4%.

“We don’t have a programme for immigration, we have a programme for re-migration,” he told the cheering crowd.

The new party’s platform borrows heavily from positions Meloni herself championed while in opposition — before she took the reins of Italy’s massive national debt in 2022 and had to reassure financial markets.

Vannacci said he wants to open a debate on whether Italy should remain part of the euro currency zone. He also called for scrapping the EU’s Green Deal aimed at cutting carbon emissions, and lifting Italy’s existing ban on nuclear energy. The platform additionally includes family-friendly tax incentives, such as reductions for households with children.

Despite Italy having one of the lowest rates of murder and violent crime in the world, Vannacci declared security and defense his top priority, promising a zero-tolerance approach to crime and pledging to expand prison capacity.

While Vannacci has criticized Meloni for walking back on her own campaign promises, he did acknowledge that his own plans are subject to change.

“No plan survives the first shot in battle … it has to be adapted to reality,” he said.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The total number of Palestinians killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 73,000, Gaza’s Health Ministry announced Sunday, even as a fragile ceasefire agreement remains in place but largely deadlocked.

Israel has not halted military strikes within the territory despite the deal that was reached in October, stating that its operations target Hamas fighters and other armed groups that pose a threat, as well as responding to what it describes as ceasefire violations. Five Israeli soldiers have died since the truce went into effect.

The updated death toll was confirmed by two Health Ministry officials: Zaher al-Waheidi, who heads the ministry’s records department, and Hamza Salem from the ministry’s public relations office.

The total death count since the war began now stands at 73,001. On Sunday alone, five deaths were recorded — two in the southern city of Khan Younis, one in central Gaza, and two individuals who succumbed to wounds sustained in earlier incidents.

More than 173,200 people have been injured since the conflict began. The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 others being taken hostage.

Gaza’s Health Ministry operates under the Hamas-led government but is staffed by medical professionals who maintain detailed casualty records. United Nations agencies and independent experts generally regard the ministry’s data as credible. The ministry does not separate civilian deaths from militant deaths in its figures, though it notes that women and children account for roughly half of all fatalities.

Israel maintains that it works to minimize civilian casualties and attributes civilian deaths to Hamas, arguing that the militant group conducts operations in heavily populated residential areas.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and reached in October, brought an end to full-scale military operations and facilitated the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza.

However, other key components of the deal have stalled. Hamas has refused to disarm, and Israeli forces have moved further into Gaza rather than pulling back. Both parties accuse each other of breaching the agreement while maintaining that it remains technically in force.

Nickolay Mladenov, the top U.S.-appointed diplomat overseeing the ceasefire, has stated that progress on all remaining issues — including reconstruction efforts, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the formation of a new Palestinian governing authority — is being blocked by the impasse over Hamas disarmament.

The war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents, reduced large sections of the territory to rubble, and caused severe shortages of food, medicine, and essential supplies. Nearly all border crossings into Gaza, most of which are under Israeli control, have been closed throughout the conflict.

ROME — In a standing-room-only auditorium near the Vatican, Roberto Vannacci — a former Italian army general whose supporters call him “Il Generale” — rallied followers of his new political movement this weekend, positioning himself as an outsider while simultaneously shaking up Italy’s right wing and mounting a challenge to Premier Giorgia Meloni.

Vannacci’s rapidly growing party, Futuro Nazionale, is introducing fresh uncertainty into the conservative bloc that has been the foundation of Meloni’s government, with tensions mounting as the country looks toward the 2027 general election.

Political observers say the question is no longer whether Vannacci will have an impact on the vote — it’s whether Meloni can contain, absorb, or outmaneuver a rival who is carving out political territory to her right.

The arrival of a competitor on that flank could also test the durability of Meloni’s government and put pressure on the more moderate, pro-European stance she has taken since coming to power.

Vannacci’s ascent is unfolding against a broader backdrop in which far-right and nationalist movements are gaining momentum across Europe, reshaping political landscapes by focusing on divisive issues like immigration and public safety.

“With us, Italy will once again be the home of Italians,” Vannacci declared at his party’s founding assembly in Rome. “Everyone must feel safe in their own home.”

He referred to his core group of lawmakers with pride as the “dirty dozen,” leaning into his image as a political outsider.

Vannacci, 57, first stepped into the public spotlight with a self-published 2023 book titled “Il mondo al contrario” — or “The World Upside Down” — which sparked widespread controversy for its harsh rhetoric targeting LGBTQ+ people, migrants, and minority groups.

He made his formal entry into politics the following year, joining Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration League party and earning more than 530,000 preference votes in European Parliament elections. He parted ways with the League in February to launch Futuro Nazionale — a split that Salvini labeled a “betrayal.”

Since breaking away, Vannacci has steadily built his base. The party claims it has surpassed 100,000 members and now counts eight deputies in its ranks, including defectors from both the League and the centrist Forza Italia — a sign of growing discontent within Meloni’s coalition.

Vannacci rejects the “far-right” label, preferring to call his movement the “real right.” He has accused Meloni of failing to translate shared political priorities into actual policy and is currently ruling out any alliance with her camp.

His platform takes hard-line stances on security and immigration — including calls for the “remigration” of foreigners he views as not integrated into Italian society — along with opposition to European Union policies such as the Green Deal and criticism of Western sanctions on Russia.

Analysts say Vannacci’s rise signals a deeper political and cultural shift within Italy.

“He is commanding a sort of political raid for hard-right votes within the main parties of the coalition,” said Massimiliano Panarari, a politics professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. “Meloni’s strategy was to have no one to her right. Now she does.”

Panarari described Vannacci as “an entrepreneur of fear,” arguing that his rhetoric pushes themes Meloni can no longer openly champion in office — such as openly anti-gay and anti-feminist positions.

Lorenzo Pregliasco, a political analyst and polling expert at YouTrend, said the development brings “something new — an opposition from the right to the current government.”

“Now there is a force outside the majority that challenges it on popular issues like migration, security and culture wars,” he said.

That shift carries real electoral weight. Polls place Futuro Nazionale at roughly 4% to nearly 5% — a potentially decisive slice of the vote in a contest where Italy’s main center-right and center-left blocs are closely matched.

“They could be the difference between finishing ahead or behind,” Pregliasco said, calling Vannacci a potential “wild card.”

For Meloni, the challenge is fundamentally strategic. “In terms of political debate, he introduces instability on the right,” Pregliasco said. “She and her allies must decide whether to absorb him into the coalition — but that would create problems.”

Speaking before parliament earlier this week, Meloni accused lawmakers aligned with Vannacci of undermining her government and benefiting the political left. Her Brothers of Italy party and centrist coalition partners have ruled out any electoral agreements with his movement.

For now, Meloni has steered clear of a direct confrontation — a calculated approach that some see as a wager that Vannacci’s momentum will eventually run out of steam.

“The issue is what to do with this loose cannon of Vannacci, which could drag the right back toward the far right,” Panarari said. “I’m not sure it would benefit Meloni to shift further right before general elections. Her approach will likely be marked by ambiguity and ambivalence, as long as possible.”

BRUSSELS — The European Commission announced Sunday that it is examining the real-world impact of a U.S. export control directive targeting artificial intelligence company Anthropic, and said any such measures should not unfairly target allied nations.

Anthropic revealed Friday that it would be forced to “abruptly disable” its most advanced AI models for all users following a U.S. government order requiring the company to cut off access for foreign nationals. The government cited national security as the reason for the directive.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier addressed the situation in a formal statement, saying, “We are seeing a new generation of highly capable AI models reach the market. These models offer significant benefits, including for cyber-defence, but they also raise serious cybersecurity concerns that need to be addressed.”

Regnier added that “contingency measures taken in this light should not be discriminatory against partners.”

He also used the situation to make a broader point about European independence in the technology sector. “This development is a further illustration of why Europe needs to strengthen its technological sovereignty,” Regnier said. “We are looking closely at the practical consequences of this for European users of these services.”

LONDON — British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson announced Saturday that he was stopped at Heathrow Airport and had his mobile phone taken by police, following a week in which he flooded social media with commentary about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland.

Robinson, who goes by the name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in legal settings, posted on X that he was held Saturday evening for approximately three hours under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act.

“My phone has been seized by the police,” he wrote on X. “Please help kick off my legal fund for defence.”

Throughout the previous week, Robinson had repeatedly posted about violence that erupted across Belfast after a video spread widely online showing a man being stabbed in a brutal attack that cost him an eye. A Sudanese man has since been charged with attempted murder. Authorities have stated the attack is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.

In the aftermath of that stabbing, rioters went on to target homes and businesses belonging to ethnic minorities and foreign residents — actions that the British minister responsible for the province described as racist thuggery.

Local elected officials have alleged that far-right figures operating online helped to organize or amplify the violence.

A police spokesperson, without identifying Robinson by name, confirmed that officers had stopped a man in his 40s at Heathrow Airport on Saturday following his arrival back in Britain from Russia, where he had traveled through Turkey.

“The man was interviewed by officers and his communication devices were seized. He was subsequently released,” the spokesperson said.

MOSCOW — A Ukrainian drone strike on a residential apartment building in the Russian city of Oryol left one person dead and nine more injured on Sunday, according to the region’s governor.

Oryol Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov released photographs showing the aftermath of the attack, with multiple floors of the high-rise building displaying blown-out windows and heavy fire damage. The city of Oryol, located south of Moscow, has a population of roughly 300,000 people.

Governor Klychkov stated that emergency services and law enforcement have the situation under control, and that cleanup operations are actively underway.

A senior Iranian official has revealed to Reuters the contents of a draft memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, touching on everything from nuclear restrictions to trade routes and financial relief measures. If agreed upon, the two countries would then have 60 days to hammer out a final deal.

The official outlined several key areas covered in the draft document:

Strait of Hormuz: Under the proposed terms, Iran would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial shipping, while the United States would lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports. The blockade would begin to be lifted as soon as the memorandum is signed and would be fully removed within 30 days.

Financial Provisions: The draft calls for the U.S. to hold off on imposing any new sanctions against Iran until a permanent agreement is finalized. Once a final deal is reached, both U.S. and United Nations sanctions on Iran would be lifted on an agreed-upon schedule. The U.S. would also temporarily waive oil sanctions, giving Iran the ability to sell oil and collect revenue during that period. Additionally, Washington would release $25 billion in Iranian assets that have been frozen, through a combination of direct cash payments, cooperation with regional partners, and financial credit arrangements. The U.S. and its regional allies would also develop a reconstruction and development plan for Iran, to be negotiated with Tehran within 60 days.

Nuclear Terms: On the nuclear front, Iran would commit to neither building nor obtaining nuclear weapons. While a final agreement is being worked out, Iran would keep its nuclear program at its current level — meaning no additional uranium enrichment and no expansion of nuclear facilities. The U.S. would agree to permit Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium within its own borders, under the terms of a future comprehensive agreement. The full scope of Iran’s nuclear activities, enrichment operations, and how its enriched uranium stockpile would be handled would all be subject to negotiation within 60 days of the memorandum being signed.

Ukrainian drone attacks claimed one life and ignited a fire at an oil facility inside Russia on Sunday, as Kyiv continues its campaign of strikes targeting military and energy infrastructure deep within Russian territory.

The governor of Russia’s southwestern Oryol region, Andrei Klychkov, announced Sunday that one person was killed and nine others were injured after a Ukrainian drone struck a residential building overnight in the regional capital, which shares the same name as the region — Oryol.

Hundreds of miles away, local officials in Russia’s Yaroslavl region reported that fuel storage facilities burst into flames after being struck by a drone. The Yaroslavl region sits roughly 700 kilometers — about 440 miles — from the Ukrainian border.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed his country’s forces were behind the Yaroslavl attack, stating they had “struck an oil facility that was important for the reserve of the aggressor state.”

Ukraine has intensified its targeting of Russian oil and gas infrastructure in recent months, with Kyiv arguing that Russia’s energy sector both finances and directly supports Moscow’s invasion, which has now stretched beyond four years.

In a related development, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Sunday that the United Kingdom is investigating a sanctioned vessel believed to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — a network of ships allegedly used to ship oil in defiance of international sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.

British armed forces boarded and seized the ship, identified as the Smyrtos, on Sunday in the English Channel. The country’s Defense Ministry described the operation as “the first U.K.-led operation of its kind.” Russia is thought to be operating hundreds of such vessels to get around the sanctions.

“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer said.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A potential agreement to end the war between the United States and Iran moved closer to reality Sunday, as Qatari mediators flew to Tehran to work out the final details of a deal, according to two regional officials who spoke anonymously because they lacked authorization to address the media publicly.

Those officials expressed measured hope that both nations were finally nearing an agreement that could stop a conflict responsible for thousands of deaths and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway whose blockage has sent shockwaves through global markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both stated Saturday that a signing was expected to take place Sunday. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei indicated it could occur within the next few days. Trump added that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened immediately once the deal was signed.

The agreement is expected to be completed electronically rather than through a formal in-person ceremony, though the exact timing and process remain uncertain.

The deal does not resolve the most difficult disputes between Washington and Tehran — including Iran’s nuclear program and its frozen financial assets — but it would create a 60-day window for technical discussions on those topics. Pakistani and regional officials, also speaking anonymously, described months of difficult negotiations led by Pakistan, during which both sides came close to walking away on multiple occasions.

Under the terms currently being discussed, the U.S. and Israel appear to have fallen short of their original objectives, which included dismantling Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities and cutting off its support for proxy forces. It remains unclear whether those issues will be addressed in the final agreement.

Separately, Trump was expected to raise the topic of clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz at the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday. The waterway plays a vital role in global shipments of oil, natural gas, and products like fertilizer, and its effective closure has caused significant economic disruption worldwide.

The apparent progress toward a deal follows a tense week in which Iran exchanged fire with both the U.S. and Israel, raising fears that a fragile ceasefire — in place since April 7 — could collapse and drag the region back into full-scale conflict.

Iran’s nuclear program has been a long-standing source of tension with the U.S. and Israel, and a broader international concern. Trump posted on social media that once conditions stabilize, the U.S. would move to “downblend and destroy” Iran’s enriched uranium, either in Iran or on U.S. soil.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran currently holds 440.9 kilograms — roughly 972 pounds — of uranium enriched to 60% purity, which is just one technical step below the 90% threshold considered weapons-grade. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes and has not publicly agreed to surrender its enriched uranium stockpile. That material is believed to be stored beneath three nuclear facilities that were heavily damaged in U.S. airstrikes last year.

Fighting has also continued in Lebanon, where Israel has pushed its military operations deeper into the country than at any point in more than 25 years, clashing with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah despite an existing ceasefire. Iran has sought to have the Lebanon conflict included in any broader deal, and has also pushed for the release of billions of dollars in frozen funds.

The deal as currently structured has drawn strong criticism from Israel’s government, which has largely been left out of negotiations led by Pakistan and other parties. Even some members of Trump’s own Republican Party — facing pressure from an unpopular war heading into midterm elections — have spoken out against the agreement, with some arguing it does not represent an improvement over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump withdrew from during his first term and continues to call “bad.”

Israel’s military announced Sunday that Hezbollah fired three projectiles aimed at communities in northern Israel, characterizing the incident as a blatant violation of the existing ceasefire.

According to the military, the projectiles came down near the communities of Shomera and Shlomi. Officials noted that these three launches come on top of two additional projectiles that had already crossed into Israeli territory earlier in the weekend.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Sunday that the United Kingdom is investigating a sanctioned oil tanker believed to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — a network of ships allegedly used to move Russian oil in defiance of international sanctions imposed over Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

British armed forces intercepted and took control of the vessel, identified as the Smyrtos, on Sunday in the English Channel. The country’s Defense Ministry described it as “the first UK-led operation of its kind.”

According to a Defense Ministry statement, the tanker will remain under watch off the southern coast of England while an investigation takes place. The mission was conducted “in close coordination” with French authorities, who have previously stopped several vessels suspected of ties to the shadow fleet.

Russia is believed to be operating a fleet of hundreds of ships to circumvent the international sanctions placed on the country in response to its war against Ukraine.

“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer said.

British officials added that operations like this one are “directly bearing down on the resources sustaining Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and reducing its capacity to threaten security across Europe and beyond.”

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s president moved Sunday to break a growing political deadlock, naming a former mayor as his new candidate for prime minister after his earlier choice failed to build enough support to move forward.

President Nicusor Dan put forward Adrian Vestea, a 53-year-old career politician from central Brasov County and a longtime member of the National Liberal Party, to attempt to form a new government. Vestea marks Dan’s second prime ministerial pick this month. His previous nominee, Eugen Tomac, was unable to present a cabinet to Parliament within the required 10-day window.

Speaking at the presidential Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, Dan announced the change directly. “Eugen Tomac withdrew his mandate this morning and … I nominate Adrian Vestea as prime minister,” he said. The nomination still requires approval from lawmakers before it can take effect.

Dan defended his choice by pointing to Vestea’s extensive background in public administration. He noted that Vestea had “gone through all the administrative stages” over the course of his career, having served as mayor of a small town and as county council president of Brasov, where he successfully brought in European funding.

“He was a successful mayor, he was a successful county council president, he was a successful minister,” Dan said. “He is a categorically pro-Western person … a person who has worked for a long time with budgets. So I am convinced that he will successfully fulfill this task.”

Vestea, who held the role of development minister from 2023 to 2024, addressed reporters at the palace and outlined his vision. He said he hopes to lead a “political government that will undertake real reforms and keep Romania on a pro-Western path.”

“We are the sixth largest country in Europe, and we need to put a major emphasis on development,” Vestea added. “Which I will do from day one.”

The back-to-back nominations this month follow a no-confidence vote in May that brought down Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. With the next general election not set until 2028, the country faces an extended period of political uncertainty.

Romania is currently dealing with one of the highest budget deficits among European Union member nations, along with widespread inflation and a technical recession. When the governing coalition took power in June 2025, reducing the budget deficit was listed as a top priority. Bolojan had been sworn in with the goal of resolving what was described as one of Romania’s most severe political crises since the end of communist rule, but he remained in office for less than a year.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s top intelligence agency announced Sunday that it is setting up a new online reporting channel designed to allow Chinese nationals to safely submit tips and sensitive information, as tensions between Beijing and the self-governed island continue to run high.

The National Security Bureau of Taiwan said the new webpage will serve as a protected avenue for Chinese citizens to pass along intelligence. Officials noted that a growing number of individuals have recently reached out to Taiwanese agencies expressing a desire to share various kinds of information.

In an official statement, the bureau pointed to conditions inside China as a driving factor. “In recent years, China’s economy has faced mounting difficulties, while political control has remained tight,” the statement read. “Coupled with a growing range of social and livelihood-related problems, these conditions have fueled public discontent.”

Taiwanese officials said the decision was inspired by approaches already in use by intelligence agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel.

The move echoes a similar effort by the CIA, which last year released Mandarin-language videos on social media encouraging unhappy Chinese government officials to make contact and share information.

China has also made its own moves on this front, previously launching an online platform aimed at gathering reports of what it calls “Taiwan independence” activities, with the stated goal of holding what it describes as “separatists” accountable.

The roots of the conflict stretch back to 1949, when China and Taiwan were divided following a civil war. Beijing has long viewed Taiwan as part of its own territory and has insisted the island must eventually come under its authority — by force if necessary.

The latest developments come after U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to Beijing in mid-May for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. During that meeting, Xi warned Trump that the two nations could come into conflict over Taiwan if the matter was not carefully managed.

Military tensions have also been visible in recent days. China has conducted large-scale military drills near Taiwan, while on Wednesday, Taiwan’s armed forces fired rockets toward China from mobile launch vehicles in a show of force intended to demonstrate how the island might defend itself against an attack.