The Associated Press noted that Israel’s capture of the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon was Israel’s deepest incursion into the country in 26 years.

Shelling was audible and smoke rose from the surrounding area as the invading army’s banner was seen by AFP above the castle, which Israeli forces famously used as a base during their previous two-decade-long occupation.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops had captured the historic strongpoint, which commands sweeping views of south Lebanon, as they expanded their ground operations, which Lebanon’s prime minister has condemned as a “scorched earth” policy.

“Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War, our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag there,” Katz said, in a social media post.

“Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and my direction, the IDF expanded the operations in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort Ridge — one of the most important strategic points for defending the communities of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces.”

Describing the capture as a “major gain for Israel”, AP said Israeli troops previously captured the castle in 1982 and held it until they withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.

It elaborated that the 1982 capture of the castle from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was a “major victory for the Israeli military” led by then-defence minister Ariel Sharon, which “pushed all the way north and occupied Beirut” at the time.

The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping displacement order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometres from the border, claiming that it was targeting Hezbollah.

“Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, facilities, or combat means endangers their life. Any building used by Hezbollah for military purposes may become subject to targeting!” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned in a social media post.

‘Collective punishment’

“A significant number of IDF ground soldiers commenced offensive operations aimed at expanding the Forward Defence Line… The operation is currently expanding to additional areas,” the Israeli military said.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had accused Israel on Saturday of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” in the south, urging a halt to the fighting and warning it was “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”.

Military delegations from both countries held security talks in Washington on Friday, with more US-brokered negotiations planned next week.

Salam said the outcome of the negotiations was “not guaranteed”, but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people”.

A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah officially began on April 17, but has never been observed. Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other daily of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other’s alleged breaches.

A US statement issued after Friday’s Israel-Lebanon talks made no mention of the truce, but said the “productive military-to-military discussions” would inform next week’s political meeting.

Hezbollah vehemently opposes the direct talks.

On Saturday, the armed group said it launched multiple attacks targeting northern Israel and clashed with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

‘Drone death’

Hezbollah said it was confronting Israeli forces around the outskirts of the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Yohmor al-Shaqif and Dibbine, adding that the troops “had not yet succeeded in taking control of the towns”.

The Israeli military told AFP that more than 25 projectiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israel on Saturday, while air alert sirens sounded in the northern cities of Karmiel and Safed for the first time since the ceasefire, according to the army’s Home Front Command.

Public broadcaster Kan aired footage shared on social media showing rockets falling into the sea off Israel’s Nahariya, near the border, sending beachgoers fleeing.

The Israeli army also said on Sunday that one of its soldiers had been killed a day prior by a Hezbollah explosive drone, bringing to 25 the number of Israeli military deaths in Lebanon since early March.

The Lebanese health ministry says that Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,371 people since March 2.

Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare-up of armed conflict.

The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News programme on Saturday night.

But later on Sunday, Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Tehran will not agree to any deal with the US that fails to secure the rights of Iranians.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television.

He added that Iranian negotiators “neither trust the enemy’s words nor its promises”.

After Trump and US officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview.

“I’m in no hurry,” he said. “Slowly but surely we’re getting, I think, what we want and if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.”

Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the parties appeared far apart on their key priorities.

Iran has said it requires the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before it moved to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear programme and called earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium — a precursor for nuclear weapons — would be destroyed “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be included in any end to the war despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as its forces advanced and carried out further airstrikes.

Flare ups

That echoed comments from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if necessary.

Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, bursts of armed conflict have continued.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters to conduct hostile operations”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not been confirmed by the US.

Earlier in the week, the worst fighting since the fragile ceasefire broke out when US forces carried out strikes on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran.

Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach an agreement that would lift US and Iranian competing blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have choked international oil supplies and threatened the global economy with rising prices.

After Trump said on social media that Tehran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait once the blockades were lifted under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”.

Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday cited lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament”.

Expanded Lebanon operations

Israel’s military issued evacuation warnings for more villages in south Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed more than 30 kilometres into the country.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment”, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”.

Israel’s military confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early on Sunday, saying “a significant number” of its forces had advanced past the Litani river and were carrying out expanded operations against Hezbollah in the Beaufort Ridge and Wadi al-Saluki area.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17 but has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.

Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected in the coming week.

The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at 2:06pm (11:06pm PKT), the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement.

“This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said.

“The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tonnes of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.”

The meteor was travelling at 75,000 mph (more than 120,000 kph) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart, Dooren said.

Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that houses were shaking.

In 2013, a fireball streaked above Chelyabinsk, Russia. The house-sized space rock blew apart 14 miles above the ground, releasing a blast equivalent to 440,000 tonnes of TNT, Nasa said.

The explosion blew out windows over 200 square miles (518 square kilometres), injuring more than 1,600 people, mostly due to broken glass.

Some 22,000 police were deployed across France for the game, including 8,000 in Paris, after unrest marred PSG’s win in the competition last year.

Paris tram lines were halted, several metro stations shut and bus traffic halted in places in a bid to minimise disturbances.

According to the French interior ministry, 416 people were detained nationwide, including 283 who were apprehended in Paris. It was not immediately clear how many of these individuals were remanded in custody to face further investigation.

Interior minister Laurent Nunez said seven officers had been wounded and called the unrest “absolutely unacceptable”. Six vehicles and two businesses were damaged.

A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, the peripherique, bringing traffic to a halt for a time and letting off flares, an AFP photographer said.

As fans celebrated the dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, some 20,000 people converged on Paris’s iconic Champs-Élysées avenue, police said.

Shops boarded up their windows ahead of the match to avoid a repeat of disturbances last year when youths ransacked shops on the Champs-Élysées and other streets. Hundreds of people were arrested.

Two dozen flares and about 100 fireworks were seized Saturday, while a bus shelter was destroyed near the Champs-Élysées.

The match also came on a hectic evening in Paris, with singer Aya Nakamura performing at the Stade de France national stadium, rapper Damso at the La Defence Arena and the French Open tennis in full swing.

Police said a bakery and a restaurant were damaged near PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, where tens of thousands gathered inside to watch the match, but 4,000 to 5,000 people loitered outside with projectiles which were thrown at officers.

About 150 people “attempted to enter through one of the gates” at the stadium but police pushed them back, a police spokesperson said.

Some also attempted to erect a barricade with rental bikes which was cleared by police.

An AFP reporter at the scene said clashes broke out between police and supporters near the stadium, and officers responded with tear gas when fireworks were thrown at them.

‘Only in France’

The scenes angered the French far right, with three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen writing on X that “only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots”.

“Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she added.

Nunez said there was a “very robust, very solid system in place” to curb violence.

“Our responsibility is to guarantee everyone a festive celebration that is calm and fully secure,” a police spokesperson said.

The players will take part in a parade on Sunday afternoon on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower with some 100,000 people expected, before being received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.

TURKIYE’S Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, has said that Israel can join a cooperative “regional platform” if it recognises a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, according to an Al Jazeera report.

“If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too,” he told Nikkei Asia.

Fidan said this framework could include Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, other Gulf countries, and “when things come [back to] normal, maybe Iran should also be part of it”.

“All the countries in the region should be committing to each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and security,” Fidan told Nikkei.

These comments come as Turkiye is expected to host a pivotal Nato summit in July in Ankara.

On Monday, Trump laid out his vision for expanding the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation deals between Israel and nearby Arab states.

“It should be mandatory that all of these countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” he wrote on Truth Social, listing six countries, including Turkiye and Egypt, which already have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel’s genocidal war

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave has risen to 72,938, with 172,919 people wounded since October 7, 2023.

In its latest update, the ministry said hospitals across Gaza received seven bodies over the past 24 hours, including six people killed in recent Israeli attacks and one person who later died from wounds sustained earlier.

Another 25 wounded people were brought to medical facilities during the same period.

The ministry added that since the “ceasefire” took effect on October 11, Israeli attacks have killed 929 Palestinians and wounded 2,811 others.

It also said that 781 bodies have been recovered during that period as rescue teams continue searching areas previously inaccessible due to ongoing military operations and destruction.

At least 260 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers.

Over 1.9 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced within the territory, many of them multiple times. More than 1.2 million people — almost 60 per cent of Gaza’s population—have lost their homes.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

Ozgur Ozel, the CHP leader ousted by the May 21 decision, called for an urgent congress, telling thousands at an Ankara rally that the party “cannot be run by an appointed leader”.

Ozel has emerged as a leading opposition figure following last year’s jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The court ruling has plunged the CHP, Turkiye’s oldest political party, into a crisis. Three days after the order, riot police forced their way into the party’s headquarters in Ankara, firing tear gas in dramatic scenes that underscored the deepening turmoil.

It marked the latest move aga­inst the CHP, which scored a major victory over Erdogan’s ruling AKP in the 2024 local elections and has since gained ground in the polls.

Kilicdaroglu visited that party headquarters on Saturday to mark the final day of Eid, with a photo shared by his team on social media showing him seated at his desk with a copy of the party’s bylaws placed prominently in front of him. “I will bring a ballot box for party congress before you as soon as possible,” Kilicdaroglu said in an address, without providing a precise date.

“We will hold a clean, completely transparent party congress,” he said. “Our party members will build our party’s safe harbour. We will all go to that safe harbour together”.

Hamish Kinnear, principal analyst at Global Risk Insight, said Kilicdaroglu “lacks majority support and will struggle to restore his legitimacy as leader” particularly after the storming of the CHP’s headquarters. He also said convening a congress was likely to take time as the Kilicdaroglu camp “digs in their heels and erects bureaucratic obstacles”.

“And of course, while all of this plays out, the CHP will be split between the Ozel and Kilicdaroglu camps, hampering effective opposition to the government,” he said.

‘Historic opportunity’

Just 10 kilometres (six miles) away, Ozel renewed his challenge to Kilicdaroglu to contest a party primary, saying he was willing to run “with whatever delegates he wa­­nts”. With crowds chanting “Traitor Kemal!”, Ozel said the party congress must be held “immediately”, urging Kilicdaroglu to “hold a congress at once, with whichever delegates you wish. Give the party an elected leader without delay.

The CHP does not accept appointments.” He also demanded a primary election, saying that he would give up the party leadership if he received less than 85 percent support.

“We have a historic opportunity before us. The CHP can emerge from this chaos and turbulence stronger than ever,” he said. Ozel who now operates from parliament as the party’s legislative group leader called the court decision a government manoeuvre to win the next election, due in 2028.

“The AKP knows it can no longer win a democratic election. It knows that the Turkish people do not want it anymore,” he said. “The target is not the CHP, the real target is the people’s determination to bring about a change in government.” While Ozel was addressing the crowd his voice could no longer be heard because of what he said a power outrage, and then a generator had come online.

He then kickstarted a march to modern Turkiye’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum “with those who love me, the party and their country”.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

Lebanon’s army said a “targeted” Israeli strike wounded two soldiers in the south, just a day after military delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington.

The military talks in the US capital came ahead of US-brokered negotiations early next week — the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli several strikes in the south, including artillery fire near the mediaeval-era Beaufort castle.

Lebanon’s prime minister accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” in his country’s south, urging a halt to the fighting.

A day after Israeli Prime Minister Ben­jamin Netanyahu said his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon, his counterpart Nawaf Salam warned the country was facing a “dangerous” escalation, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”.

In a televised address, Salam accused Israel of “pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”. This will bring “neither security nor stability” to Israel, he said.

Still, he defended his government’s engagement with its southern neighbour, after military delegations from both countries held security talks in Wash­ington on Friday, with more US-brokered negotiations planned next week.

Salam said the outcome of the negotiations was “not guaranteed”, but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people”.

A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah officially took effect on April 17, but has never been observed. Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other’s alleged breaches.

A US statement issued after Friday’s Israel-Lebanon talks made no mention of the truce, but said the “productive military-to-military discussions” would inform next week’s political meeting.

Hezbollah vehemently opposes the direct talks.

Fresh attacks

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several Israeli attacks in the south on Saturday, and the Lebanese military said two of its soldiers “were seriously wounded… by a hostile Israeli drone” near the southern city of Nabatieh.

The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings covering villages near Nabatieh and others in the east of the country.

Hezbollah said it launched multiple attacks targeting northern Israel, and had also clashed with Israeli soldiers near Ghandouriyeh and Debbine in southern Lebanon, saying it forced them to withdraw.

The Israeli military said that more than 20 rockets and drones were launched from Lebanon on Saturday.

The Lebanese health ministry says that Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,371 people since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in support of its backer Iran.

Hezbollah said it attacked Israel in retaliation for the death of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes when the war erupted on February 28.

Iran has insisted that any agreement to end the wider Middle East war also cover Lebanon.

Culture Minister Ghassan Salame had warned that Israeli attacks were putting Lebanese heritage sites in “serious danger”.

The Lebanese presidency announced in a statement that President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had agreed “to intensify contacts to put an end to these condemned Israeli practices” ahead of the new round of talks with Israel scheduled for June 2 and 3.

Aoun and Salam discussed “Israeli attacks and their expansion to a number of southern cities and villages, especially in the districts of Tyre and Nabatieh, in addition to the continued bombing and bulldozing of houses, and the destruction of historical landmarks in the south”.

Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s second-in-command, called the latest discussions between Lebanon and Israel’s military delegations “productive”, but made no mention of a ceasefire, a key Lebanese demand.

Lebanon’s military said on Saturday its two soldiers “were seriously wounded as a result of being targeted inside a vehicle by a hostile Israeli drone” near the southern city of Nabatieh.

The Israeli military’s evacuation warnings for Saturday included some villages near Nabatieh and some in the east of the country. Also on Saturday, Hezb­ollah said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

WASHINGTON: Islamabad remains a leading contender to host the formal signing ceremony of a possible US-Iran peace agreement if negotiators succeed in finalising a deal, diplomatic sources said.

Diplomatic sources at the United Nations and in Washington told Dawn that prospects for a final agreement remained high despite delays in completing the draft.

“Nine out of 10,” a senior diplomat said when asked to assess the likelihood of a final agreement being signed. “But I cannot say when it will happen.”

Another senior diplomat said Islamabad’s role in facilitating the initial contacts between Washington and Tehran had strengthened its credentials as a possible host.

“Iranians cannot come to Washington, and Americans cannot go to Tehran because the two countries do not have diplomatic relations,” the diplomat said. “If the signing takes place in a third capital, Islamabad would be a natural choice because it hosted the first round of talks.”

The assessment comes as reports in major US media outlets suggest Washington and Tehran have converged on several key elements of a potential settlement, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and extending the current ceasefire while negotiations continue on more contentious issues.

Recent reports in The Washington Post and Reuters indicate that negotiators have developed a framework for a broader agreement, although significant differences remain over implementation and sequencing.

Diplomatic sources said both sides had increasingly concluded that prolonging the conflict would impose unacceptable costs.

According to officials familiar with the negotiations, the Trump administration determined early in the conflict that air power alone would not achieve all of Washington’s objectives and that a prolonged military campaign risked becoming politically costly at home.

The sources said Tehran had reached a similar conclusion. While Iranian officials view their ability to withstand months of military pressure as a strategic achievement, they also recognise that a prolonged conflict would further damage an economy already weakened by war and sanctions while accelerating the destruction of critical infrastructure.

“Neither side wants an open-ended conflict,” one source said. “Both recognise that the current stalemate carries growing political, economic and strategic costs.”

Diplomats said this shared assessment had created momentum for a negotiated settlement.

Although details of the proposal have not been made public, diplomatic sources familiar with the discussions described several of its key elements to Dawn.

According to these sources, the agreement would effectively end the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway it has kept closed since the early stages of the conflict, disrupting global energy supplies and trade.

The sources said Iran would also provide assurances that it would not seek to develop nuclear weapons, while some of the most contentious issues, including the future structure of its nuclear programme and the disposition of its enriched uranium stockpile, would be addressed in subsequent rounds of negotiations.

Several of these elements broadly correspond with details reported by Reuters and The Washington Post, which said negotiators were working on a framework that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz while deferring some nuclear issues to later stages of the process.

Former Pakistani ambassador to the UN Munir Akram said many of the demands publicly outlined by President Donald Trump appeared to overlap with provisions already under discussion.

“The differences are largely about narrative rather than substance,” Mr Akram said during a television interview on Saturday. “Both sides want an agreement they can present as a victory.”

He predicted that negotiators would eventually narrow the remaining gaps and reach a settlement.

Diplomats cautioned, however, that important obstacles remained.

Several pointed to Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon as a major concern for Tehran, which is seeking an immediate halt to those operations as part of a regional settlement.

Mr Akram argued that continued delays in reaching an agreement were hurting Iran’s allies in Lebanon by giving Israel additional time to consolidate its position in the south.

“This issue alone has the potential to complicate the peace process,” one diplomatic source said. Sources also said Washington remained concerned about the security of its Gulf allies. While the conflict exposed some of Iran’s vulnerabilities, diplomats noted that Tehran’s ability to withstand sustained military pressure had also heightened anxiety among Arab states in the region.

According to the sources, some Gulf governments have begun exploring closer ties with Iran as a hedge against future instability, prompting Washington to reaffirm its long-term military commitment to the region.

“The United States wants to strengthen, not reduce, its military presence in the Gulf,” a diplomatic source said. “That is not an issue on which Washington is prepared to compromise.”

Diplomats monitoring the negotiations said that while disagreements remained over sequencing, security guarantees and political messaging, there was growing confidence that both Washington and Tehran now viewed a negotiated settlement as preferable to a prolonged conflict whose costs continued to mount for all sides.

If an agreement is reached, Pakistan remains among the most likely venues for a formal signing ceremony, they added.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

The vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan, where they had been living, according to Abdul Malik Niazai, spokesperson for the governor of Laghman province.

“Twenty people [have died] — five women, three men and 12 children,” the spokesperson said. The accident left 33 people injured.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X “we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured”, adding that he was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.

The accident happened on the road between Jalal­abad in eastern Afgha­nistan and capital Kabul.

Authorities in Pakistan have taken a tougher stance on Afghan migrants and refugees in the country — causing an outflow that often includes families travelling with their belongings in trucks.

Since the start of the year, 447,400 Afghans have returned from Pakistan, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref­u­gees and the International Organisation for Migration.

The repatriations are driven by the country’s Illegal Foreigners Repatr­iation Plan and border enforcement operations.

In February, the United Nations High Commis­sioner for Refugees said it continued to observe significant numbers of Afghans returning or being forced to return from neighbouring countries under extreme difficult circumstances.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

With Pakistan acting as the official interlocutor between Washington and Tehran in the ongoing peace negotiations that resulted in the April 8 US-Iran ceasefire, Trump and his top officials have hailed Islamabad’s role several times.

At the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth was asked about former director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks on Pakistan’s future missile capabilities potentially posing a threat to the US, and whether India’s Agni-VI missile programme posed a similar threat.

The question was posed after Hegseth, in his speech, had lauded US defence cooperation with Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian countries, as well as India, which he termed a “critical anchor to hold the line”.

“I mentioned India here, but I very easily could have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in peace negotiations,” Hegseth replied, praising PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.

“I think an unexpected development and a true friendship [is] developing there, which I think is important,” he added.

Noting that both India and Pakistan were nuclear-capable countries, Hegseth said, “I think both sides are going to see understandable threats coming from the other, maybe some of which we see differently, and countries are going to want to develop ICBM threats.”

However, he added, “But we’re not pointing fingers, at least from our view, right now, at either country and calling them a threat to us.”

The defense secretary further said that the US was “grateful for, in each of their lanes, the benefits they’ve given to peace around the world”.

Hegseth also reiterated Washington and Islamabad’s stance that President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May 2025 conflict — a narrative that India’s PM Narendra Modi has denied, irking Trump.

The US president has lauded PM Shehbaz and CDF Munir on multiple occasions, calling the prime minister “great” and the military chief “fantastic” last month.

In February, at the inaugural meeting of the US-led Board of Peace, Trump had praised Shehbaz and described the field marshal as a “tough man” and a “serious fighter”.

The US president has even referred to the army chief as “my favourite field marshal”.

In November 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US saw an opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan and that the recent strengthening of ties between the two countries did not come at the expense of Washington’s relationship with New Delhi.

SINGAPORE: As negotiators from Washington and Tehran worked to bridge major differences blocking an agreement to end the weeks-long war, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday warned that the US was ready to restart attacks on Iran if a deal was not reached.

“Our ability to recommence if necessary…we are more than capable,” Mr Hegseth said while speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. “Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, so we’re in a very good place,” he claimed.

The Pentagon chief said President Donald Trump was “patient” and wants to make a “great deal” that ensures Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.

“Those goalposts haven’t shifted at all,” he said, referring to the US demand that Iran abandon any nuclear ambitions it has, which Tehran says is for civilian purposes. “We think we’re in a good place to make that deal,” he said, while also warning that the Pentagon was “postured even stronger today than we were on Day One”. “The talks have been productive,” Mr Hegseth further said.

At the Singapore dialogue, he also assured his Asian allies, saying that the US had not turned its back on the Asia-Pacific region despite being engaged in conflict with Iran. “We can do two things at one time. We’re super-charging our defence industrial base so that we’re building 2X, 3X, 4X the munitions very soon to ensure that all of our (operations) plans are properly funded throughout the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, US Central Command claimed to have disabled a Gambia-flagged cargo vessel, M/V Lian Star, attempting to sail to an Iranian port by launching a missile into its engine room. “A US aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” Centcom said on X.

The statement did not mention if there were any injuries aboard the Lian Star following the strike.

The war launched by the US and Israel on Feb 28 has killed thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon, and caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices due to Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A White House official said that US President Donald Trump would only make a peace deal with Iran if it met all his conditions. “The Situation Room meeting has concluded and lasted approximately two hours. President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines,” the White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”

However, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said that US President Donald Trump was “betraying diplomacy for the third time” by continuing “naval blockade and adop­ting increasingly excessive demands in negotiations”. In a post on social media platform X, Mr Rezaei said the US president also “demonstrated that he is not genuinely interested in negotiations and is pursuing other objectives”.

US-Pakistan ties

The Pentagon chief also praised Pakis­tan for its role in facilitating the peace talks. He said Washington and Islamabad are developing a “true friendship”, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and CDF and COAS Field Marshal Asim Mun­ir for their role in the US-Iran peace negotiations.

Responding to a question at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, he said, “I mentioned India here, but I very easily could have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in peace negotiations. I think an unexpected development and a true friendship [is] developing there, which I think is important.”

Mr Hegseth also reiterated the US and Pakistan’s stance of President Donald Trump brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May 2025 conflict.

“I think both sides are going to see understandable threats coming from the other, maybe some of which we see differently, and countries are going to want to develop ICBM threats,” he said, clarifying that Washington was not “pointing a finger” at either country right now or terming either of them a threat to the US.

Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz blockade, which has become a sticking point in the peace negotiations, was also addressed by the defence secretary. He said various countries were “putting pressure on Iran” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a peace deal was agreed on, or even if it was not.

Responding to a media query in Singapore, he said that Hormuz would be “an open strait, a toll-free strait that the entire world could use”. The secretary asserted that the US-imposed blockade of Iranian ports was “ironclad” and had “put the real pressure on Iran”. “They want to say that they control the strait, but we do, and everything behind the scenes shows that we are in control when it comes to that,” he added.

Qatar, meanwhile, rejected proposals for permanent transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that such measures would ultimately drive up costs for consumers worldwide, Al Jazeera reported. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saoud says Doha and its Gulf partners oppose any long-term toll system for ships passing through the strategic waterway.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Head­­quarters, however, reasserted Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, warning commercial and military vessels to comply with regulations governing passage.

“All ships, commercial vessels, and tankers are only required to travel through the designated routes and obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Any violation of these regulations will seriously jeopardise the security of their traffic,” it added in a statement reported in the Iranian media.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026

The five are among seven Lao nationals who had entered the cave in Xaisomboun province to prospect for gold, but were trapped for more than a week when rising water blocked their exit. Two others remain missing.

Kengkard Bongkawong, a Thai cave diver involved in the mission, said in a Facebook post on Saturday that all four of the trapped people had emerged from the cave.

Video footage from the volunteers showed rescuers bringing four Laotian men out of the cave with flashlights strapped to their heads and with muddy clothes.

They had joyful expressions on their faces, and some were crying with relief.

The five rescued people were found by rescuers on Wednesday, but had remained trapped. Rescue officials said they would continue searching for the two missing people.

A team of volunteers from neighbouring Thailand joined the rescue efforts last Sunday and further reinforcements, including divers from Finland, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Australia, have also joined the rescue operation, the volunteer group posted on Facebook.

The international rescue team included some members who were involved in the 17-day rescue at the flooded mountain cave of Tham Luang in northern Thailand in 2018.

According to the statement issued by the bloc, Kallas — also the European Commission’s vice president — will also hold meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.

“This is the eighth round of the Strategic Dialogue between the EU and Pakistan, providing an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations under the Strategic Engagement Plan, signed in June 2019,” the EU said in the statement.

“HR/VP Kallas will hold a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar at 12:30 local time.”

The EU is Pakistan’s sec­ond-largest trading partner, with the GSP+ status allowing the country to enjoy duty-free or minimum duty on European exports.

The status was granted by the EU in 2014, resulting in a 108 per cent increase in Pakistani textile exports to the EU due to concessional tariffs.

In October 2023, the European Parliament unanimously voted to extend the GSP+ status for another four years until 2027 for developing countries, including Pakistan.

According to the EU, GSP+ status is a special incentive awarded to developing countries to “pursue sustainable development and good governance” in exchange for cutting import duties to zero on two-thirds of the tariff lines of its exports.

Governments with this status need to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, good governance and the environment.

Though it has the status, EU Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis said last November that the country needs to “do better” to fulfil its obligations, specifically on blasphemy, enforced disappearances and minority rights.

In December 2025, the EU welcomed Pakistan’s progress towards implementing 27 international conventions under the GSP+ framework, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

The FO noted that the 15th Pakistan-EU Joint Commission meeting was held in Brussels on December 17, stating, “The EU welcomed progress made in bringing Pakistan’s application of the death penalty in line with international standards and encouraged further steps in this regard. It also recognised important first steps against torture, as well as the creation of a Commission on Minorities.”

The World Health Organisation’s director general told reporters in Bunia, capital of Ituri province, that the international community was helping the DRC government cope with the outbreak, but “at the same time, community ownership is important”.

He said that was the reason for his trip: “We are here to discuss with the community, to see how the response is running and if there are challenges to help.”

The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.

There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The true reach of the outbreak in the DRC, which is thought to have been circulating before it was detected, is likely to be much wider, the WHO has warned.

The vast, unstable central African country — whose impoverished east has been plagued by three decades of conflict — has limited capacity to conduct laboratory tests to confirm cases.

Conflict and Ebola

Uganda closed its border with the DRC this week and ordered a 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from that country.

On Friday, the WHO announced that a patient had recovered on Wednesday, left hospital and was discharged into the community after two negative tests.

WHO’s Anais Legand told reporters in Geneva it marked the “first” among patients who had been confirmed Ebola carriers in the current outbreak.

Ebola, which is passed on through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement of the latest outbreak that “never has an Ebola epidemic recorded so many cases in the first days after it being declared”.

It said the numbers of medical experts being deployed to the region was still insufficient.

State services are largely lacking in Ituri province, where access is hindered by insecurity due to the presence of Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces militants and other militias that regularly kill civilians.

The nearby North and South Kivu provinces, which have also seen Ebola cases in the outbreak, have been plagued by near-continuous violence for three decades.

Swathes of the region are controlled by the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 which has been battling government forces.

Millions of people have fled the fighting and are living in displacement camps with poor hygiene conditions.

Nearly a million of those displaced are in Ituri province, where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the camps has sparked alarm.

“If Ebola comes, we’ll be wiped out as we’re packed like sardines,” Dorcas Mapenzi said at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia.

No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.

But the head of the CDC Africa said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year.

In a recent podcast interview, Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say this week that he had “truly crossed the line”.

The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to expand the role of USFK in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key ally of North Korea and Russia.

Brunson last year also underscored South Korea’s strategic value in the broader Indo-Pacific, describing the US ally as a “fixed aircraft carrier” in the region, Yonhap reported.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Saturday that it was “aware of Commander Brunson’s recent series of public remarks” and that Seoul and Washington “have been maintaining communication at various levels regarding all relevant issues”.

South Korea’s local media outlet News1 said the presidential office complained to the US over the remarks, while broadcaster JTBC reported that such concerns had been raised 10 times previously.

The Blue House said it was “unable to confirm the specific details of the discussions held through diplomatic and security channels between South Korea and the United States”.

“When they (the Chinese) look out from the east coast of China, what they see is there’s Korea, the dagger in the heart of Asia,” Brunson said, according to a transcript posted on the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College.

Then there’s Japan, he added, “sort of that shield that’s sort of a backstop, if you will, for them trying and their ambitions beyond that into the South China Sea and then down to their southeast is the Philippines”.

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said Brunson’s comments “truly crossed the line”, and asked the USFK commander: “Are your remarks rife with hostility and aggression regarding China authorised by Washington?”

“By calling your host nation an ‘aircraft carrier’ or ‘dagger’ or other such instruments of war, are you merely showing your own belligerence, or are you seeking to use another country as a pawn?” an unnamed spokesperson said, according to a transcript posted on the embassy’s website on Friday.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help guard against the nuclear-armed North.

The mishap, which occurred during a test fire of the engines for the New Glenn rocket’s launch next week, comes at a critical time for Jeff Bezos’ business empire. His companies Blue Origin and Amazon are seeking to establish themselves as viable challengers in the heavy-lift and global satellite internet network industries, competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Thursday’s setback could also complicate Nasa’s lunar ambitions.

A Blue Origin booster called “No, It’s Necessary” — a nod to a line from the film Interstellar — was wrecked in the incident on Thursday.

The launch pad was “practically destroyed” and engineers expect at least a six-month disruption, if not longer, said a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak with media.

“It’s only been a year since the SpaceX Starship also exploded on the launch pad and Blue Origin can also recover. But it will take months to rebuild,” said Antoine Grenier, partner and head of space consulting at Analysys Mason.

Months-long rebuild expected

After a Falcon 9 exploded on the launch pad in 2016, SpaceX spent more than a year repairing the damaged facility, though it resumed launches within four and a half months by shifting operations to a second Florida pad.

While Amazon’s decision to bring aboard more launch partners, including SpaceX, it has reduced its dependence on any single rocket, it gives Musk’s business leverage over Bezos, his long-running rival.

“Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” Musk said in a post on X, later replying to Bezos with “Ad astra per aspera,” a Latin phrase that speaks to overcoming impossible goals.

Amazon Leo was relying on New Glenn’s rapid launch cadence to deploy half of its more than 3,200 satellite broadband constellation by July 2026 to meet regulatory deadlines. An extended grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration will severely threaten the timeline.

Constellation deployment in jeopardy

Analysys Mason’s Grenier said Amazon has already tapped much of the near-term capacity available from other heavy launch providers.

While SpaceX could absorb some additional demand, its Falcon 9 rocket can carry roughly half as many Amazon Leo satellites per launch as New Glenn, meaning any major shift of launches could require a significant increase in mission count, he said.

As well, lunar payloads are designed around specific launch vehicles, making a switch to an alternative rocket complicated.

The rocket was also scheduled to launch Blue Origin’s first Blue Moon lunar lander later this year. Days earlier Nasa awarded the company a contract to deliver two lunar rovers ahead of the Artemis 4 mission in 2028.

The space agency said on Thursday it would assess near-term impact on its Artemis and Moon Base programs, though it remains unclear whether any missions would need to be reassigned.

Still, it is yet to be seen how much of a setback the incident is to Blue Origin’s long-term prospects and a gain for SpaceX, whose order book is crowded with its own Starlink satellite deployments, alongside commercial and government missions.

The US Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office on Friday affirmed their commitment to Blue Origin, standing by a newly awarded national security launch contract on Thursday despite the catastrophic launch pad explosion of the company’s New Glenn rocket just hours later.

“Long term, the market still needs viable alternatives, so this strengthens SpaceX’s position at the margin, but doesn’t change the broader trajectory toward a multi-provider ecosystem,” said Mark Boggett, CEO of British space investor Seraphim Space.

The former military chief will also hold talks with business representatives during his five-day visit, according to both governments.

“A warm welcome,” India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, posting pictures on social media of Min Aung Hlaing walking down a red carpet in India’s eastern Bihar state.

Min Aung Hlaing will start his trip with a visit to the Buddhist pilgrimage site of Bodh Gaya —where believers say that the Buddha attained enlightenment.

“His visit reflects the strong spiritual, historical and people-to-people ties that bind our two countries and the depth of our ongoing cooperation,” Jaiswal said.

He will meet Prime Minister Modi and President Droupadi Murmu on Monday in New Delhi, India’s foreign ministry said, before travelling to the financial hub Mumbai.

“Both leaders will discuss how to strengthen ties further,” Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.

“There is also an important business component of the visit as to how two countries can strengthen their economic ties as well.”

Bilateral trade was $1.95 billion in 2025-2026, according to New Delhi.

Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as Myanmar’s president in April, continuing his rule from a civilian post five years after snatching power in a military coup.

His swearing-in ceremony was attended by representatives from the neighbouring nations of China, India and Thailand as well as 20 other countries, according to parliamentary officials.

Hegseth, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s premier forum for defence leaders, militaries and diplomats, said a stronger, more self-reliant network of allies is essential to deter aggression and preserve the balance of power.

“There is rightful alarm regarding China’s historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond,” he said.

“A Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power,” Hegseth said. “No state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question.”

The US expects its Asian allies and partners to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP as it pledged a $1.5 trillion investment in its military, the Pentagon chief said.

Hegseth stressed allies want stability, not escalation.

“What they want, and what the United States delivers, is strength that is disciplined, resolve that is steady, and leadership that is confident enough to speak and walk softly while carrying a big stick.”

Hegseth also struck a measured tone on US-China ties, saying relations are “better than they have been in many years,” with more frequent military-to-military engagement helping to manage tensions.

“We are meeting more frequently with our Chinese counterparts by maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication.”

‘No freeloading’

Hegseth echoed President Donald Trump’s long-standing demand that allies shoulder more of their own defence costs. Trump has pointedly said European and Nato partners should reduce reliance on Washington.

“The era of the United States subsidising the defence of wealthy nations is over,” Hegseth said. “We need partners, not protectorates,” he added.

“We don’t have a strong alliance unless everyone has skin in the game. No freeloading.”

Hegseth praised contributions from allies including South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and said Japan was taking concrete steps to bolster its defences.

Tokyo and Washington “must each pull our weight to strengthen the US-Japan alliance,” he said.

Ready to restart strikes on Iran

On the Middle East conflict, Hegseth said the US stands ready to resume strikes on Iran if diplomacy fails, as negotiators from Washington and Tehran work to bridge major differences blocking a deal.

“Our ability to recommence if necessary … we are more than capable,” Hegseth said. He added that Trump remains “patient” and is seeking a “strong deal” to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

Hegseth also pushed back on concerns that the conflict would distract from Asia-Pacific priorities.

“We can do two things at one time.”

Arms sales decision to Taiwan is Trump’s call

Asked about arms sales to Taiwan, Hegseth downplayed concerns that a multi-billion-dollar package could be affected as the US draws down its weapons stockpiles amid the Middle East conflict. “We feel very good about our stockpiles and how we use them,” he said.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has been waiting for the US to approve an arms sale that could be worth up to $14 billion.

Trump sowed uncertainty in Taipei by saying, after meeting China’s President Xi Jinping this month, that he was undecided on whether to approve the package.

Any decision on future arms sales would rest with President Trump, Hegseth said, signalling no shift in Washington’s longstanding approach despite recent engagement with Beijing.

“Those decisions will depend on the president and the nature of that relationship,” Hegseth said. “There’s been no change in our status.”

Meta ​declined to comment to Reuters on the ⁠report.

The Facebook and Instagram owner plans to ​significantly expand its selection of AI glasses and ​add a business-focused service called “Wearables for Work”, the report said, citing an internal memo by Alex Himel, Meta’s vice ​president of wearables.

The report comes after Meta’s ​hardware unit Reality Labs reported a loss of $4.03 billion ‌in ⁠the first quarter on revenue of just $402 million.

Meta aims to sell 10 million wearable devices in the second half of 2026, driving sales by ​launching new ​products and ⁠selling them in more countries, The Information said.

It currently has partnerships ​with EssilorLuxottica brands Ray-Ban and Oakley to ​make ⁠AI-powered smart glasses.

Last year, Meta acquired AI-wearables startup Limitless, maker of a pendant-style device that records and ⁠transcribes ​real-world conversations, to accelerate efforts ​towards developing next-generation AI-enabled wearables.

“President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function,” said Trump’s doctor, US Navy Captain Sean Barbabella.

“Preventative counseling was provided, including guidance on diet, recommendation to take a low-dose aspirin, increased physical activity, and continued weight loss.”

The three-page memo provides an overview of Trump’s physical examination and diagnostic testing conducted at Walter Reed Medical Hospital near Washington on Tuesday.

Barbabella said Trump was “fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State”.

Trump, who turns 80 next month, is on three medications, two of which are designated for cholesterol control and the third being aspirin for “cardiac prevention”.

Standing at six foot three inches (191 cm) tall, Trump’s weight increased to 238 pounds (108 kilogrammes) from his publicly released weight of 224 pounds (101.6kg) from his last full annual medical in April last year.

The check-up was Trump’s third medical examination since returning to office last year and follows mounting speculation about health issues, including bruising on his hands and apparent sleepiness during meetings.

Barbabella’s memo cited Trump’s “slight lower leg swelling … with improvement from last year” and continued hand bruising, described as “common,” “benign” and “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking in the setting of aspirin use for cardiovascular prevention”.

The memo did not address the reason for skin treatment in March on the president’s neck and did not indicate he underwent another magnetic resonance imaging exam, as he did in October.

Friday’s memo said the president’s overall cardiac function is normal and that “a comprehensive neurological examination demonstrated normal mental status,” including screenings for depression and anxiety.

Trump for his part said the exam went “PERFECTLY” in a post on his Truth Social platform shortly after the appointment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he told his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, that any final agreement to end the three-month war in the Middle East would depend on Washington abandoning what he des­cribed as “excessive demands” and inconsistent positions. In a summary of the call, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Mr Araghchi stressed that progress in talks with the United States required a shift in the American stance.

Separately, in a post on X, Araghchi said he and Albusaidi held a “productive call” that included discussions on the Strait of Hormuz and its future management in accordance with their sovereign responsibilities and international law.

He added that he expressed Iran’s solidarity with Oman “in the face of any threat”. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Baghaei separately said management of the strait “must be decided by Iran and Oman.”

The diplomatic exchange followed sharp remarks from Trump, who on Wednesday threatened Oman, a longtime US partner, against any role in imposing fees for passage through the strait.

“The Strait is going to be open to everybody,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine.”

Trump said he was not satisfied with the status of negotiations with Iran and that Washington was not discussing sanctions relief. He said that under a potential framework agreement, the strait would reopen immediately and “nobody’s going to control it”.

The US on Thursday reiterated its warning. “The United States Government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X.

“Oman should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalised,” Bessent added.

The Strait of Hormuz, parts of which lie in Iranian and Omani territorial waters, has been largely blocked since fighting erupted Feb 28, sending global energy prices higher and disrupting trade. US efforts, including a naval blockade of Iranian ports, have yet to fully restore commercial shipping.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

“Global oil inventories are being drawn down at a record pace in response to the major loss of supply through the Strait of Hormuz,” the heads of the agencies said in a joint statement.

“If shipping flows do not return to normal, continued rapid depletion of global oil inventories ahead of peak summer oil demand in the Northern Hemisphere would present increasing risks for fuel security, market conditions, and broader economic resilience.”

The US-Israel war on Iran has engulfed the Middle East in conflict, with Tehran’s retaliatory action targeting Washington’s regional allies and virtually blocking the key waterway, through which a fifth of global energy supplies normally pass.

The heads of the IMF, World Bank and IEA announced last month they were forming a group to coordinate the agencies’ response to the crisis, particularly for vulnerable economies.

In Friday’s joint statement, they again highlighted that the surge in energy and fertiliser prices due to the war was having a disproportionate effect on lower income countries.

“Higher fertiliser prices are of particular concern as many countries enter the planting season,” they said.

At the IMF’s spring meetings this year, the organisation’s chief Kristalina Georgieva highlighted that the war had forced a paring of the global growth forecast.

She estimated that vulnerable economies would need between $20-50 billion in financial assistance due to the economic fallout of the conflict.

This week, the Fund announced that Bangladesh had requested a financial assistance package and that it was in talks to develop a programme to help the South Asian country.

The war has had a broad-ranging impact around the world, especially on countries that are heavily dependent on oil and gas imports from the Persian Gulf, which includes much of south and southeast Asia.

Fertiliser supplies have also been impacted, and countries dependent on imports have been hit hard, with food security a key concern.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

A software company has been awarded a contract to develop and test the technology, which would estimate a person’s age by analysing photographs of them taken at the border.

The report cited the UK Home Office as saying the technology would make it easier to identify adult migrants “attempting to game the system”, after initial testing indicated “promising performance and accuracy”.

However, the Human Rights Watch urged the government to scrap the scheme, describing it as “unproven technology” that would undermine the protections vulnerable children were entitled to.

New technology to be deployed from next year for strengthening asylum checks

Unaccompanied child migrants receive support from local councils and are housed in the care system rather than more traditional asylum accommodation such as hotels.

They are entitled to legal protections which can simplify the asylum application system and make it easier to stay in the country for longer.

According to the BBC, the decision to use the software comes after years of heightened levels of people crossing the English Channel in small boats and claiming asylum at the border.

Rising numbers

A total of 111,084 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025, 14 per cent more than in the previous year.

In the year ending March 2026, more than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were age-assessed at the border, with 43pc found to be adults, according to Home Office data.

A report carried out by the UK government’s independent immigration inspector last year found cases where adult migrants had been classified as children — and cases where child migrants had been wrongly classified as adults.

The report said in the absence of a “foolproof” test, it was “inevitable that some age assessments will be wrong, which is clearly a cause for concern, especially where a child is denied the rights and protections to which they are entitled”.

According to BBC, the government announced plans to use AI facial estimation technology to combat this problem last year.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

WASHINGTON: Lebanese and Israeli military officials met at the Pentagon on Friday to discuss the implementation of a ceasefire, as Israeli forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon and civilian casualties mounted.

The US-mediated talks aimed to reinforce a faltering April 16 truce, which both sides agreed on May 15 to extend by 45 days as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in a phone call, told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that halting the conflict was crucial.

Aoun “emphasised the need to exert all efforts to reach a ceasefire, considering it an essential gateway to moving on to any other step”, according to a statement from his office.

A US official confirmed the Washington talks were proceeding, adding, “The only path to lasting peace is through direct negotiations between the two sovereign governments.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to split negotiations into diplomatic and security tracks, with diplomatic meetings expected next week at the State Department.

An Israeli source noted the talks would likely not cover Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israel has largely paused attacks due to US pressure.

Lebanon’s delegation planned to demand Israel halt its intensifying attacks. Meanwhile, Hezbollah urged Lebanese authorities to withdraw, accusing Israel of “seeking to impose security coordination to benefit its aggression”.

Israeli expansion

Israel vowed to ramp up its offensive, expanding ground operations beyond a security zone it has occupied since mid-April. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday that troops had advanced past the Litani River, about 30 kilometres into southern Lebanon.

“Our forces have crossed the Litani and advanced to controlling positions,” Netanyahu said. “We are operating in Beirut, in the Bekaa (Valley), across the entire width of the front, and are dealing Hezbollah a crushing blow.”

Lebanese security sources said Israeli troops crossed the Litani near Zawtar al-Sharqiyah on Thursday before retreating, then crossed again on Friday. Israel also issued evacuation warnings for seven southern towns.

On Thursday, the military ordered residents south of the Zahrani River to flee, declaring the area a combat zone.

The intensified Israeli strikes are severely threatening historical landmarks. Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre, a Unesco World Heritage site, and the medieval Beaufort castle was directly hit.

“The intensification of the battles means that these sites are in serious danger,” Salame said, adding that the multi-religious site of Shamaa was severely bombed, losing at least three of its four domes.

The humanitarian toll continues to climb. An average of 11 children have been killed or injured every 24 hours in Lebanon over the past week, the UN agency said.

Unicef said 77 children were killed or injured in the last seven days. Since the April 16 ceasefire announcement, 55 children have been killed and 212 wounded.

“Under international humanitarian law, children and civilian infrastructure must be protected,” Unicef spokesperson Ricardo Pires said.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

Judge Christopher Cooper directed the Trump administration to take down all physical signage bearing Trump’s name and to eliminate any reference to a “Trump Kennedy Center” from official material within 14 days.

“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

In another verdict, a judge blocks White House from launching a package that opponents deride as ‘slush fund’

The judge added: “The court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution’s constr­uction, closure, or otherwise moving forward.”

Cooper ruled in a lawsuit brought by Ohio Democratic Represen­tative Joyce Beatty, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board.

‘Slush fund’

In yet another adverse verdict for the president, a federal judge temporarily blocked the White House from moving ahead with a $1.8 billion compensation package that critics have denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s political allies.

Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from taking any further action to create or operate the fund while she considers whether to impose a longer-lasting pause.

Her order blocks the transfer of money into the fund, the consideration of claims and the disbursement of any payments.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump met advisers in the White House Situation Room for about two hours on Friday as he considered a potential agreement with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still “no final agreement” on ending the Middle East war.

A report from Iran’s Fars news agency also rebutted several key elements of Trump’s characterisation of the deal, citing informed sources as calling his remarks a “mixture of truth and lies”.

US sources had told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy.

“I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determinat­ion,” Trump said in a leng­thy social media post before the session, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and must open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, told state media that the Islamic republic “said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago”.

“Regarding the understanding… exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” he added.

In his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with “no tolls”, while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium.

He also said “no money will be exchanged, until further notice”.

Fars, however, cited Iranian sources as saying that Tehran was demanding “the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets”, and that “until this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations”.

As for the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, they said, “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”, while the comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally baseless”.

Baqaei also told state TV that there were currently “no negotiations” taking place on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Earlier Iran’s parliament speaker, who led its delegation at peace talks with the US in Pakistan last month, said Tehran had gained leverage not “through talks, but through missiles”, and was sceptical of US promises.

“We place no trust in guarantees or words; only actions matter,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.

‘A lot of progress’

Hopes of an agreement had risen on Thursday after US officials were positive about the direction of diplomacy, with Vance telling reporters “a lot of progress” had been made.

The optimism boosted US and Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly.

Energy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce in and around the strait as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.

Iranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry.

But it warned that “ships from hostile countries face a severe response” from Iran’s military.

‘US aircraft destroyed’

Earlier, Iran’s state TV said on Friday that a US aircraft was destroyed in Iran’s Jam governorate in Bushehr, citing its governor Masoud Tangestani, with no confirmation from the United States.

However, the US military said no American aircraft were shot down near Bushehr, Iran, despite a claim made on Iranian state TV. “No US aircraft were shot down. All US air assets are accounted for,” the US Central Command said in a post on X.

Iran president thanks Pakistan

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian “thanked Malaysia for its humanitarian stance and Pakistan for its initiative and effective efforts to reach an agreement” to end the US-Israel war on his country.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian said that in his conversations with the prime ministers of Malaysia and Pakistan, he had emphasised “Iran’s commitment to diplomacy”.

“Iran’s policy is to expand cooperation with Muslim and neighbouring countries in all fields,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

Bondi was giving evidence to the House Oversight Committee in a transcribed interview rather than a sworn, videotaped deposition, despite bipartisan demands for answers over her handling of the Justice Department files on the disgraced financier.

The wider controversy has dogged President Donald Trump for much of his second term, with Democrats, Epstein survivors and some Republicans accusing officials of covering up the full record of the case, despite the Justice Department’s insistence that it has released everything it is legally obliged to make public.

“No more lies. No more cover-ups. It’s time for Pam Bondi to answer our questions,” Democrat Robert Garcia posted on social media ahead of the hearing.

Bondi became a central figure in the Epstein saga after saying last year that the late financier’s client list was on her desk for review. The Justice Department and FBI later said there was no such list and no plans to release further information.

Trump fired Bondi last month as frustration mounted over her handling of the controversy, although she was later named to a presidential science and technology council.

Lawmakers on the oversight committee voted in March to subpoena Bondi as part of their Epstein investigation, an unusual rebuke of a sitting Trump administration official by members of the president’s own party.

But the committee’s Republican chairman, James Comer, later shifted her appearance from a deposition to a transcribed interview — meaning it will not be videotaped or conducted under oath.

Garcia has argued that the change violates the spirit of the subpoena and denies the public a clear view of Bondi’s testimony.

He also questioned the role of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who was expected to accompany Bondi despite still serving at the Justice Department, saying her participation raised “serious ethical concerns and conflicts of interest”.

Comer defended the format, saying Bondi had cooperated more quickly than other witnesses.

“She’s coming in. She didn’t do like the Clintons and take seven months to come in. I mean, she could have fought it,” he told reporters as Bondi’s testimony was about to start.

Epstein survivors — wearing t-shirts partially blacked out to represent the many redacted pages of the Epstein files — gathered outside the hearing room, calling for transparency and demanding that Bondi answer questions publicly and under oath.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

The Gir National Park, in the western state of Gujarat, is the last remaining natural habitat of Asiatic lions, whose numbers have risen from 627 to 891 in five years, according to a census, reflecting conservation success even as new risks emerge.

The recent string of deaths may be linked to babesiosis, a tick-borne parasitic disease, said Arjun Modhwadia, the state’s forest and environment minister, citing preliminary findings and cautioning that laboratory confirmation is awaited.

“The exact cause will be confirmed after analysis, but initial indications point towards babesiosis,” he told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

NEWMARKET: A Canadian man accused of selling a legal but potentially deadly chemical and other items online to dozens of people who took their own lives pleaded guilty on Friday to aiding suicide, ending the prospect of a murder trial after prosecutors said a recent appellate ruling made murder charges untenable.

Kenneth Law, 60, appeared at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, north of Toronto. Wearing tan pants, a white shirt and dark suit jacket, Law showed no emotion as he stood in a prisoner’s box and pleaded guilty to aiding the suicide of 14 Ontario residents, aged 16 to 36. He will be sentenced in September.

Law also admitted that 79 people in Britain died as a result of consuming or using products he sold, according to an agreed statement of facts spanning more than 60 pages, which took around three hours to read out in court.

Prosecutor Peter Westgate told Justice Michelle Fuerst that prosecutors would ask that 14 first-degree murder charges Law was also facing be withdrawn after his sentencing.

Family members of victims inside the courtroom were visibly upset, with some wiping their eyes with tissues, as prosecutor Cheryl Nadler read out the circumstances of each victim’s death.

Salt in high concentration

According to the statement, Law operated four companies with websites through which he marketed and sold sodium nitrite and other items, including masks, hoods and regulators, which could be used by the purchasers to take their own lives.

Sodium nitrite, a salt used in low concentration as a food additive to cure processed meats, can be deadly when ingested in high concentrations.

Law sent 1,209 packages of the salt and other goods to customers in 41 countries between Jan 2021 and April 2023, the court heard. The shipments included 330 sent to addresses in Britain, 431 to the United States and 157 within Canada.

The statement described victims who vomited, collapsed in their parents’ arms, were found unresponsive in bed by family members or friends, or who died alone in hotel rooms and vehicles after consuming or using products shipped by Law.

Financial records showed more than $296,000 Canadian dollars was deposited into Law’s bank account from Shopify and PayPal accounts.

Law’s case has drawn global attention because of its international reach. Authorities in Britain, Ireland and other countries have opened investigations into whether the products were responsible for deaths in their jurisdictions.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to take control of more territory in the Gaza Strip, flouting the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October.

He said the military had controlled 50pc of the Palestinian territory under the terms of the ceasefire, then advanced to take over 60pc.

“My directive is to move to… 70pc,” he said.

The United Nations children’s agency Unicef warned that this would deepen the health crisis among children in the territory, suffering from acute lack of food, water and hygiene.

Israel controls the flow of aid into the territory along with all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Even before Israel’s assault in Gaza that began in 2023, the territory was already very densely populated.

Now “people have been crammed into around 40pc of the space”, Unicef spokesman Salim Oweis told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Gaza.

People there were left “sheltering among broken buildings, rubble and mounting solid waste”, he said, adding “there is no accessible space left to clear” the waste.

“The effects of this are now widely apparent: children with respiratory infections, acute watery diarrhoea, and more than half of all households reporting skin diseases.”

Rats biting children

“Fleas, lice and scabies are commonplace,” Oweis said, also pointing to numerous cases of rats biting young children and even babies.

Oweis said a woman named Hind “hasn’t slept since her four-year-old daughter, Masa, was bitten by a rat during the night”.

“Like many families, they sheltered wherever they could, in their case, the second floor of a building block where sewage water leaks through the ceilings, and rodents crawl through the cracks in the building and climb the exposed pipes,” he said.

Rats are not the only menace.

Oweis said he had spoken with another woman named Amani whose seven-year-old daughter had “developed deep lesions and sores on her head, back and legs due to a bacterial infection”.

He warned that “increasing numbers of children are requiring hospitalisation, all without a single fully functioning hospital across Gaza”.

The situation was “dire”, Oweis said, noting the overcrowding was already “creating more spread of diseases, straining the systems and of course cutting … services”.

If Israel takes control of even more land, he warned, that “means that we will lose access to some of the service points, but also [to] some hard to reach places [where children and families are living”.

“This will just mean that more children will suffer,” he said.

The Palestinian foreign ministry slammed Netanyahu’s announcement as “a serious violation of the foundations of the ceasefire”.

Since then, Gaza has been gripped by daily violence, with Israel killing more than 900 people there, according to Gaza’s health ministry in the territory, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

They are among the over 72,800 people killed in Gaza since the start of the assault, according to the health ministry.

The October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the genocide, meanwhile, resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.