Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) described the visit as part of “ongoing mediation efforts” between Iran and the US. ISPR said that CDF Munir had arrived in the Iranian capital alongside a formal delegation and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Later, Araghchi posted on X: “Delighted to welcome Field Marshal Munir to Iran. Expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s gracious hosting of the dialogue, emphasising that it reflects our deep and great bilateral relationship. Our commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region remains strong—and shared.”

The development came hours after Iran said that exchanges with the United States via Pakistan had continued following negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend that yielded no result.

“Since Sunday, when the Iranian delegation returned to Tehran, several messages have been exchanged through Pakistan,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

“Today, we are very likely to receive a Pakistani delegation as a continuation of the discussions in Islamabad,” he added.

Baqaei asserted that Tehran’s right to enrich uranium was “indisputable” although the level of enrichment is “negotiable”.

The Iranian official said the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy could not be “taken away under pressure or through war”.

“Regarding the level and type of enrichment, we have always stated that this issue is negotiable. We have emphasised that Iran should be able to continue enrichment in accordance with its needs,” he added.

Baqaei also said some of the US demands during the talks with the US were “unreasonable and unrealistic”, without elaborating.

He insisted on Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy, saying it could not be “taken away under pressure or through war”.

The level of enrichment, he said, remains “negotiable” and “Iran should be able to continue enrichment in accordance with its needs”.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks between Washington and Tehran could resume over the next two days and that “we’re more inclined to go” to Pakistan, according to The New York Post.

“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump said.

“It’s more likely, you know why? Because the Field Marshal is doing a great job. He’s fantastic, and therefore it’s more likely that we go back there,“ he told The NY Post. “Why should we go to some country that has nothing to do with it?”

This was after he earlier told the US media outlet that discussions were “happening, but, you know, a little bit slow”, before indicating that a second round of direct negotiations would likely happen somewhere in Europe.

And on Wednesday, in a clip shared of an interview shared by Fox, Trump said that the war with Iran is “very close to over”.

Pakistan hosted direct Iran-US talks in Islamabad on Saturday and Sunday, marking the highest engagement between the two sides since 1979. The talks ended without an agreement despite nearly 21 hours of talks. While no breakthrough was achieved, both sides indicated that the diplomatic channel remained open.

On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told a meeting of the federal cabinet that “full efforts” were ongoing to resolve the conflict.

Noting that the truce was still holding, he said, “As I am talking to you, matters that are not resolved, full efforts are underway to resolve them.”

The ceasefire between the US and Iran, brokered on April 8 after weeks of conflict, is set to expire on April 22. While technically intact, it is increasingly precarious.

The US has moved toward enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, prompting a warning from Tehran that such a move would be a violation of the ceasefire.

Three Lebanese journalists, including Ali Shoeib — a prominent correspondent for the Al-Manar channel — were killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on March 28.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for Shoeib’s killing, saying he “operated within the Hezbollah terrorist organisation under the guise of a journalist”.

It provided no evidence to support the allegation, but posted an image on X of Shoeib wearing a press vest, which is partially overlayed with a photoshopped version of the same picture in which he is wearing a Hezbollah uniform.

It captioned the image: “Turns out the ‘press vest’ was just a cover for terror.”

A day later, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted another grainy image on X purporting to show Shoeib in fatigues standing by a tank, writing: “We post this unedited photo this morning of the terrorist Ali Shoeib wearing a Hezbollah uniform.”

He also acknowledged the image released the previous day had been “edited”.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), representing hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, said the military had circulated a “fake” image on March 28 to “discredit the journalist”.

“While the army put out a clarification about the photo, it never should have been distributed,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

“During the recent wars, it has been common practice by the Israeli military to discredit journalists and sow doubt by releasing inaccurate information and raising allegations without providing clear evidence.”

Shoeib was a veteran correspondent for Al Manar TV, who had covered conflicts and politics in Lebanon for decades. More than 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023 by Israeli fire, the FPA said.

“Israel has claimed some of them were militants, but in numerous cases it provided little or no evidence to support these claims,” the association said, criticising what it described as the “inappropriate use of artificial intelligence” in Shoeib’s case.

In response to a request for comment on the FPA statement, the military pointed AFP to Shoshani’s X post on March 29.

Since the start of a previous round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the deaths of at least 11 journalists and press workers who were killed by Israel in Lebanon.

Lebanon was pulled into the current Middle East war when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2 in revenge for the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

Israel responded with large-scale airstrikes across Lebanon and an invasion in the south.

Lavrov joins Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vietnam’s President To Lam in meeting with Xi this week.

The Russian diplomat told a news conference after meeting Xi that Moscow could “compensate” for China’s energy shortages as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains choked by the Iran war.

Xi, meanwhile, has sought to position China as a mediator and stable partner in the face of the US- and Israeli-led conflict.

Xi told Abu Dhabi’s crown prince on Tuesday that China would play a “constructive role” in promoting peace talks in the Middle East.

In talks with Spain’s Sanchez, Xi warned that the world was facing “chaos and turmoil” and “a contest between justice and force”, urging closer cooperation.

The Spanish prime minister, meanwhile, welcomed China’s role in seeking to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

During his meeting with Lavrov at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi urged China and Russia to “give full play to the advantages of geographic proximity and complementarity, deepen all-round cooperation and raise the resilience of each other’s development”, according to a readout from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

“Both sides should maintain strategic focus, trust each other, support each other, develop together,” Xi said.

Lavrov told Xi that China-Russia relations “play a stabilising role in world affairs”, according to Russian state news agencies.

Though the level of diplomatic activity is normal for Beijing, the Middle East war and particularly the issue of energy security have taken on new urgency in diplomatic discussions, according to Dylan Loh, associate professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

“China has got leverage and influence over Iran, and there are some hopes and expectations that China can use this influence in a more direct way,” Loh said.

Countries, particularly in the Gulf, could be hoping China can pressure Iran to stop its attacks on Gulf countries and to persist with diplomatic negotiations, he said.

Shortfall

The string of visitors “demonstrates that various actors are adjusting to the realities of an uncertain world. Engaging with the PRC, including over areas of difference, is part of this adjustment”, according to Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.

While many visits were likely planned before the Middle East crisis, those from Gulf countries’ representatives and Lavrov “seem more of a direct result of the conflict and the desire to de-escalate”, Chong said.

Lavrov, who is on a two-day visit to China to boost bilateral ties, said Russia could help China with energy resources following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

China is a net importer of oil and has seen prices for petrol, plastics, and fertilisers spike due to the war.

“Russia can, without doubt, compensate for the shortfall in resources that has arisen both for the PRC and for other countries that are interested in working with us”, Lavrov said during a news conference in Beijing, Russian state media reported Wednesday.

But “Moscow and Beijing’s interests may diverge somewhat on the war in Iran”, according to Chong.

High energy prices are disruptive for China’s economy, but can help Moscow fund its war in Ukraine, Chong said.

On Tuesday, Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi “conducted in-depth exchanges on the US-Iran conflict, the Asia-Pacific situation, the Ukraine crisis” and other issues, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Lavrov warned of “some very, very dangerous games going on” in East Asian geopolitical hotspots that included Taiwan, the disputed South China Sea and the nuclear-armed Korean peninsula, according to quotes from the meeting with Wang published by state-run RIA Novosti.

They also discussed plans for a meeting between Putin and Xi, which Lavrov said would take place in the first half of this year.

Beijing and Moscow are close economic and political partners, and the relationship has deepened further since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Wednesday’s attack unfolded in the Kahramanmaras province in the south of the country, where such mass shootings are usually rare.

“We regret to report nine deaths (…) and 13 wounded. Six of them are currently in intensive care, three of whom are in critical condition,” Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said in a statement, upping the previous toll of four dead and 20 wounded.

“A student came to school with guns that we believe belonged to his father in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly, causing injuries and deaths,” Kahramanmaras province governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters earlier in the day.

The attacker, an eighth-grade student, was the son of a former police officer, Unluer said, adding that the suspect was carrying five guns and seven magazines. He died during the incident.

“We suspect he may have taken his father’s weapons,” the governor said. “He shot himself. It is not yet clear whether this was suicide or happened amid the chaos,” he said.

Police detained the ex-student’s father, Ugur Mersinli, the official Anadolu news agency reported.

Footage released by IHA private news agency showed a person, body and face covered, being evacuated in an ambulance, as well as tearful parents who had rushed to the school in the southern province’s main city, Kahramanmaras.

Another video, taken by a resident of a nearby building, verified by AFP, shows students jumping from a first-floor window of the school to escape the gunfire, while dozens of others flee through the courtyard.

About 15 gunshots can be heard in the one-and-a-half-minute video.

Police increased security around the building, and television footage showed ambulances in the area.

The incident prompted the interior and education ministers to travel to the city.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors had launched an immediate investigation into the shooting.

On Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a school in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, wounding at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before killing himself.

The stance was expressed by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, at a resumed session of the long-running Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) aimed at reforming the 15-member UNSC.

“Pakistan’s policy position remains clear and consistent — veto should either be abolished or, at a minimum, its use by the current permanent members severely restricted,” Ambassador Ahmad stated.

He expressed Pakistan’s firm opposition to “any expansion of the veto or addition of new individual permanent members”, contending that more vetoes would only aggravate the problem.

“This is a position of principle,” he said, noting that Pakistan aligned itself with the statement delivered by the permanent representative of Italy on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus Group.

The UNSC comprises five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.

The UNSC often sees resolutions failing to pass due to the veto power being used by one or more of its permanent members.

This was particularly witnessed during Israel’s war on Gaza, when the US repeatedly vetoed resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire.

In his remarks, Ambassador Ahmad said: “Together with a very large majority of member states, we firmly believe that the paralysis that we see often at the Security Council, leading to inaction on crucial matters related to international peace and security, stems from the misuse or abuse of the veto power by the permanent members.”

The envoy highlighted that this point of view was widely shared outside the UN in think tanks, academia, media and civil society.

“There is an overwhelming sentiment against the veto, and how actually this privilege is anachronistic today, along with the permanent membership. Yet, proposals to expand veto-wielding members persist,” he said.

“How can this dichotomy be defended? The problem cannot be the solution,” the ambassador remarked.

At the same time, he acknowledged that the power of veto remained a reality and the permanent members were “largely united in preserving this privilege, and would resist any dilution”.

Therefore, he said, Pakistan supported efforts to enhance accountability and transparency in the use of the veto.

The envoy underscored that UNSC reform “must be comprehensive and addressed as a single undertaking, including the question of veto, which is intricately linked to the other four clusters”.

Opposing deferring the issue or addressing it in isolation, Ahmad said the veto “runs counter to each one” of the principles of democracy, representation, accountability, effectiveness and transparency.

“We must seriously reflect on this contradiction. That is why we say if we want Reform for All, there should be Privilege for None,” he concluded.

Measures to ‘increase political cost’ of veto

During his address, Ambassador Ahmad noted that the frequency of vetoes has risen, reinforcing the need to “explore measures that can increase the political cost of the veto within and outside” the UNSC.

“Moreover, we all know that veto is primarily the power to block decisions of the Council. We need to address and balance this blocking power through more democratic means,” he emphasised.

Suggesting a series of measures, the envoy said the “most realistic way to raise the political cost of veto, and to counterbalance its blocking power” was by increasing the number of elected UNSC members.

“Increased number of elected members will tilt the balance away from the permanent members. This is the reality,” Ahmad asserted.

He explained, “In a reformed Council with more elected members, the burden of vetoing a resolution will increase markedly as it would be countering the wishes and position of an even higher number of members with affirmative votes in favour of a resolution.

“Keeping the current ratio, 16 affirmative votes would be required in a Council of say 26. We can agree on a higher ratio, say 17 or 18 affirmative votes required. This is how the veto’s blocking power can be balanced.”

Ambassador Ahmad noted, “When a permanent member blocks action that was backed by a broad majority, the veto becomes more isolated and harder to justify, increasing accountability and reputational costs.”

He further contended that “another concrete way of preserving collective interests is to reach an understanding as part of a reformed Council that would require concurrence of all members of a region, for adoption of any resolution relating to that region”.

According to Ahmad, this would not only raise the political cost of casting a veto but also “strengthen regional ownership in decision-making”.

“It could be of particular interest to regional groups such as Africa, that is increasingly asserting a regional perspective through its representatives on the Council,” he said, adding that such an arrangement can also apply to the Arab group.

The diplomatically isolated north is believed to operate multiple facilities for enriching uranium, a key step in making nuclear warheads, South Korea’s spy agency has said.

They include one at the Yongbyon nuclear site, which Pyongyang purportedly decommissioned after talks but later reactivated in 2021.

“In our periodic assessments, we have been able to confirm that there’s a rapid increase in the operations” of the Yongbyon reactor, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Seoul.

The agency also observed a rise in operations at Yongbyon’s reprocessing unit and light-water reactor, as well as the activation of other facilities, Grossi said.

“All that points to a very serious increase in the capabilities of (the) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the area of nuclear weapons production, which is estimated at a few dozen warheads,” he said, using North Korea’s official name.

North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, is under rafts of UN sanctions for its banned weapons programmes.

It has declared that it will never surrender its nuclear weapons, and cut off access to IAEA inspectors in 2009.

The agency has noted the construction of a “new facility similar to the enrichment facility in Yongbyon”, Grossi said.

It was “not easy to calculate” any production increases without visiting the site.

However, “we consider, looking at external features of the facility, that there will be significant increase in the enrichment capacity of the DPRK”, he said.

Asked whether Russia was assisting North Korea’s nuclear development, Grossi said the IAEA had not seen “anything in particular in that regard”.

North Korea has sent ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military technology assistance from Moscow in return.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that “someone please tell Pope Leo” about the killings of protesters by Iran and that “for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Iran does not have nuclear weapons while the US does. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons.

While Western countries have long believed that Iran wants a nuclear bomb — or at least the ability to make one very quickly — Tehran has always denied that, citing its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Trump’s comments come after Pope Leo warned earlier in the day of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny”.

The first US pope, Leo wrote in a letter issued by the Vatican about the use of power in democratic societies, and said democracies remained healthy only when they were rooted in moral values.

The pope has criticised Trump’s decision to launch the war against Iran, saying God rejects the prayers of those who launch wars and have “hands full of blood.”

The pope termed Trump’s threat this month to destroy the Iranian civilisation as unacceptable and previously declined to join the US president’s so-called “Board of Peace” initiative for Gaza.

The religious leader has also urged a “deep reflection” on the way migrants are treated in the US while Trump has pursued a hardline immigration policy.

On Sunday, Trump called the pope “weak” and “terrible” on crime and foreign policy issues.

Making his first state visit to the US as monarch from April 27, Charles will address lawmakers from both chambers, accompanied by Queen Camilla, the royal communications team said.

Buckingham Palace said the four-day visit would “recognise the shared history of our two nations” as well as the “breadth” of current ties, with “deep people-to-people connections”.

The king had faced calls from some British politicians for his US trip to be cancelled or delayed amid open disagreements between Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the Iran war.

Starmer on Monday insisted the “very important” visit would go ahead, saying bonds built by the monarchy can “reach through the decades in a situation like this”.

US President Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social platform that the visit “will be TERRIFIC”.

US Speaker Mike Johnson announced Charles would give an address to Congress on April 28, but Buckingham Palace did not give exact dates for the scheduled speech.

Tea and state dinner

Charles will be the first British monarch to speak to Congress since his mother, Elizabeth II, in 1991, shortly after the Gulf War.

While in Washington, the king and Camilla will have tea with Trump and the first lady, Melania, and attend a state dinner and a military review.

The royal couple hosted Trump for a lavish state visit in September, including dinner at Windsor Castle, a flyover and military parades.

That was an unprecedented second state visit for Trump, who was also hosted in 2019 by the late queen Elizabeth. She last made a state visit to the US in 2007.

Charles, 77, has faced a major crisis over his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, previously known as prince Andrew, who is under UK police investigation over revelations about his links to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A US lawmaker and the family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, have urged Charles to meet survivors of his crimes during the state visit.

But a source told Britain’s Press Association (PA) news agency that “our position is clear” that such a meeting “will not be possible”, citing the risk it could “impact on (police) inquiries, or the proper course of the law”.

After Washington, Charles and Camilla will travel to New York, where they will meet first responders and families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks, nearly 25 years ago.

The king will also meet business leaders and attend a reception showcasing cultural links and his charity, The King’s Trust, which supports vulnerable young people.

The royal couple will then go to the southeastern state of Virginia, where some of the first English colonies were established.

They will attend a street “block party” there to celebrate the anniversary of the 1776 declaration of independence.

They will then go to Bermuda on May 1 for Charles’s first trip there as monarch. The last royal visit to the archipelago was by Elizabeth in 2009.

The 52-year-old man, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Western Australia Police, committed “non-consensual sexual acts” on a woman seated next to him on the flight on Monday, which was headed from Singapore to Perth, News.com.au reported.

According to the Australian Federal Police, the woman was moved to another seat after she complained to staff. At the same time, the suspect was monitored throughout the flight, the report said, adding that the staff also alerted the police.

The suspect was escorted off the plane upon landing at the Perth Airport. The 52-year-old man was charged with “one count of sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of an act of indecency without consent”, News.com.au reported.

The suspect has been remanded in custody ahead of a court appearance on Friday, the report said, adding that the incident was being investigated jointly with the AFP and Western Australia Police.

As per the report, AFP Acting Superintendent Peter Brindal said, “The federal police have zero tolerance for criminal behaviour on planes or within Australian airports”.

“Every passenger has the right to feel safe when travelling, especially when confined in an aircraft close to other passengers,” Brindal was quoted as saying.

“Anyone subjected to unwanted contact is encouraged to alert the authorities, be it airline staff, the AFP or airport security, as soon as it is safely possible to do so.

“No act of indecency on an aircraft or at an airport is appropriate, and any travellers who break the law will be dealt with swiftly,” the police officer asserted.

In October 2025, an Indian national was arrested and charged with an assault on a flight travelling from Chicago to Germany, for stabbing two teenagers with a metal fork.

The Labour government’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement that she is “not minded to intervene in this merger” over competition and foreign-ownership concerns.

Axel, which owns German newspapers Bild and Welt as well as the Politico news outlet, last month announced it would pay 575 million ($661 million) in cash for The Telegraph’s print and online versions.

That came after the UK government in February launched an investigation into an agreed sale of The Telegraph to the owner of the Daily Mail, a rival British right-wing publication, citing competition concerns. That probe has been made redundant by the government’s approval of the German takeover.

“After a long period of uncertainty, we can confirm that we will invest significantly in The Telegraph’s editorial excellence and international growth,” Axel Springer chief executive Mathias Dopfner said in a statement.

“The Telegraph will join a global network committed to independent reporting while retaining its distinct editorial voice and British identity.” An international pursuit of The Telegraph stretches back almost three years.

RedBird IMI, a joint venture between US investment firm RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, had struck a deal for the title in late 2023.

However, the previous UK government triggered a swift resale over freedom-of-speech concerns owing to Abu Dhabi’s press censorship record. RedBird then pursued the takeover under a revised structure, but abruptly dropped its bid in late 2025.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

Sanchez’s April 11 to 15 visit to China comes as many Western governments are seeking warmer ties with Beijing despite lingering security and trade tensions, with discomfort growing over the policies of US President Donald Trump.

He is the latest of a string of leaders from Britain, Canada, Finland and Ireland to visit China this year.

In his meeting with Xi, Spanish PM condemns Netanyahu for hurling threats at Madrid for opposing Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon

During the meeting with Sanchez, Xi said that the international order was “crumbling” and that deeper ties were in the interests of both China and Spain.

Deplores Netanyahu’s threats

Sanchez singled out Israel in his press conference for violating international law in the Middle East, saying he had discussed the “grave situation” in Lebanon, Gaza and Ukraine during his meeting with Xi Jinping.

“Those of us who raise our voice against governments violating international law are being threatened,” Sanchez said, in reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning that Madrid would “pay an immediate price” for what he described as waging a diplomatic war against his country.

Sanchez has also been a vocal critic of the war in Iran and has refused to allow the use of its bases, which are jointly operated with the US for strikes on Iran.

Treating China as strategic ally

Spain has been one of Europe’s loudest proponents of expanding trade and treating China as a strategic ally, rather than the economic and geopolitical rival seen by Trump. Sanchez has urged the world’s second-biggest economy to take a larger role on issues from climate change to security, defence and the fight against inequality, saying the US has decided to withdraw from many of these fronts.

In a press conference, the Spanish leader said Beijing had agreed to measures to narrow his country’s trade deficit of nearly $50 billion with Beijing.

He added that he intended to sign several agreements with Premier Li Qiang, including expanded access for Spanish agricultural products to China and improving Spain’s transport and infrastructure.

He said that middle powers like Spain must push for the multilateral order to be respected, echoing a concept expressed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

While the authorities have yet to comment, an informed source on Tuesday confirmed the bombings, and widely circulated videos of two bodies of the suicide bombers in the city of Blida. No other deaths were confirmed.

Monday’s attacks rocked Blida, some 45 kilometres southwest of the capital Algiers where the pontiff began the first visit by a pope to the North African country. The trip had already risked being overshadowed by a spat with US President Donald Trump, who said he was “not a big fan” of the pope after Leo called for peace in the Middle East.

Aboard the papal plane en route to Algiers, the 70-year-old American pontiff told reporters: “The Gospel says... blessed are the peacemakers.” “I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” he said.

Leo pays tribute to victims of country’s 1954-1962 war of independence from France

The US president has also accused the pope of “toying with a country (Iran) that wants a nuclear weapon”, and on Monday doubled down on the criticism, saying he had “nothing to apologise for”.

Overnight, US Vice President JD Vance urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality” amid the escalating row, “and let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy”.

Italian and American bishops expressed their support for the pope, as did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, known to be close to Trump. She called the US president’s remarks “unacceptable”.

‘Son’ of Augustine

The controversy aside, in northeast Algeria in Annaba — formerly the ancient Roman city of Hippo — Leo visited vestiges of the city’s past, and a reception centre run by Catholic nuns for impoverished elderly people, mostly Muslims.

The city was the one-time home of Augustine, whose autobiographical “Confessions” is a seminal work within the Christian tradition. Leo also celebrated Mass at the hilltop Basilica of Saint Augustine in the presence of clergy from across Africa.

The pontiff has previously referred to himself as a “son” of the saint, and belongs to the Augustinian order. In his first speech in Algiers on Monday, Leo paid tribute to victims of the country’s 1954-1962 war of independence from France and called for “forgiveness”.

His remarks came amid heightened tensions between Algeria and France, and followed a meeting days ago with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Vatican.

The pope also urged Algeria’s leaders “not to fear” greater public participation in political life, calling for a “vibrant, dynamic and free civil society”. Since the pro-democracy Hirak protests in 2019, which called for sweeping reforms and greater transparency, human rights groups have reported shrinking freedoms and greater controls over public space.

“Authorities are called not to dominate, but to serve the people and foster their development,” Leo said.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

WASHINGTON: Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including the UK, urged Israel and Lebanon to “seize this opportunity” as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first direct talks in decades between Israeli and Lebanese envoys in Washington.

Mr Rubio opened the meeting between Israel’s ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh Moawad, saying he hoped the talks could begin a process to permanently end the conflict in Lebanon and prevent Hezbollah, which he called a “terrorist proxy of Iran”, from threatening Israel.

The meeting marked a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have remained technically in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948.

“This is a process, not an event. This is more than just one day. This will take time, but we believe it is worth this endeavour, and it’s a historic gathering that we hope to build on. And the hope today is that we can outline the framework upon which a permanent, lasting peace can be developed,” Mr Rubio said.

“This is a historic opportunity. We understand we’re working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment and the opportunity here,” Mr Rubio said as he welcomed the ambassadors at the State Department.

His remarks came as Bri­tain’s foreign ministry posted the at least 17 ministers’ joint statement saying that “direct negotiations can pave the way to bring lasting security for Lebanon and Israel as well as the region”. The countries incl­uded the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Cy­­p­rus, Den­mark, Finland, Fra­nce, Greece, Iceland, Luxe­mbourg, Malta, the Nether­la­nds, Norway, Port­ugal, Slove­nia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

The two countries went into their first direct negotiations since 1983 with conflicting agendas, with Israel ruling out discussion of a ceasefire and demanding that Beirut disarm Hezbollah.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the crisis in the Middle East, a week into a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran, Reuters reported.

According to Iran, Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider war, complicating talks mediated by Pakistan aimed at averting further economic fallout.

The conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 led to the largest oil supply disruption in history, piling pressure on President Trump to find an off-ramp.

State Department Coun­selor Michael Needham, US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, a personal friend of Trump, were also participating in the talks on Tuesday.

Lebanon seeks ceasefire

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement on X as the meeting started that he hoped it would “mark the beginning of ending the suffering of the Lebanese people in general, and the southerners in particular”.

The Lebanese government called for negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah, reflecting worsening tensions between the Shi’ite Muslim group and its opponents.

Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, sparking an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.

Lebanese officials said Moa­wad only has authority to discuss a ceasefire in Tuesday’s meeting. But Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Israel would not discuss a ceasefire.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem ahead of the meeting that talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, which he said must take place before Israel and Lebanon could sign any peace agreement and normalise relations.

He said Hezbollah was a problem for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s sovereignty that needed to be addressed to move relations to a different phase. “We want to reach peace and normalisation with the state of Lebanon,” he said.

The Lebanese state has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah peacefully since a war between the militia and Israel in 2024. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks igniting conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990. Moves against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 prompted a short civil war. The current government banned Hezbollah’s military wing after it opened fire on Israel last month.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

He also discussed with his Chinese counterpart plans for a meeting “within the year” between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

Lavrov was given a red-carpet welcome after he arrived in the Chinese capital, photographs released by the Russian foreign ministry showed.

He later met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who he was seen shaking hands with in a picture posted on social media by Russia’s foreign ministry.

Lavrov warned of “some very, very dangerous games going on” in East Asian geopolitical hotspots that included Taiwan, the disputed South China Sea and the nuclear-armed Korean peninsula, according to quotes from the meeting with Wang published by state-run RIA Novosti.

In comments apparently referring to the United States and its allies, Lavrov said “they are trying to dismantle (regional cooperation) by creating small-format, bloc-based structures aimed at containing both the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation”.

“Our vast continent as a whole demands constant attention,” he said.

Wang and Lavrov “conducted in-depth exchan­ges on the US-Iran conflict, the Asia-Pacific situation and the Ukraine crisis”, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

“The two sides coordinate and support one another on the international stage, demonstrating to the whole world that amid adversity, a righteous path remains, and that under changes, there lies greater responsibility,” Wang said.

Lavrov and Wang also “communicated and synced up preparations for a meeting between the two heads of state within the year”, according to the Chinese readout.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

Palestinian interior ministry said that four people, including a child, were killed in a strike that targeted a police vehicle in Gaza City. A police officer was among the dead, while nine bystanders were wounded, some critically, it said.

Medics and witnesses said the attack at Nafaq Street in Gaza City set a police car ablaze and that residents and rescue workers rushed to search for possible casualties.

Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of the dead.

Israel has escalated attacks on police and security forces, Palestinian officials say

In the north of the enclave, near Jabalia, Israeli troops killed three-year-old Yahya Al-Malahi, health authorities and his family said.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s military said it killed a man who the Israeli military claimed had approached the armistice line with Hamas, describing him as an “armed militant”.

Health authorities confirmed a man had been killed in the area, without providing details.

The ceasefire that began last October halted two years of full-blown war but left Israeli troops in control of a depopulated zone that makes up well over half of Gaza, with Hamas in power in the remaining, narrow coastal strip.

Israel has escalated its attacks on Hamas-led police and security forces since October, killing dozens, the group’s officials in Gaza said, accusing Israel of trying to cause chaos and anarchy.

Palestinians also say Israeli forces have been expanding the zone they occupy.

A Gaza Government Media Office report on Tuesday reported widespread Israeli breaches of the ceasefire deal, including incidents of gunfire, bombardment, and restrictions on aid deliveries.

The report said that more than six months after a ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli forces have committed 2,400 violations of the ceasefire deal brokered by the US, resulting in 754 deaths and 2,100 injuries of Palestinians.

It said the ceasefire violations include gunfire incidents, bombardments, and the demolition of residential structures. It said that victims of Israeli attacks are mainly women and children. According to the breakdown provided in the report, the Israeli violations include 921 incidents of gunfire, 1,109 bombardment or targeting incidents, 97 cases of military vehicles entering residential areas, and 273 incidents of demolitions of homes and other buildings.

The report said the Israeli aggression during this period killed 754 people, including 312 children, women, and elderly individuals. It affirmed that 99 per cent of the fatalities were civilians. A further 2,100 people were injured, with more than 1,096 of them said to be from vulnerable groups. The report said all injuries occurred within residential areas, away from what it termed the “yellow line” demarcation.

The report said that 50 Palestinians were detained during the period, who were abducted from residential areas.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

• Says dialogue with Iran may resume within two days as diplomatic efforts intensify
• PM Shehbaz set to visit S. Arabia, Turkiye as Dar meets top diplomats
• China warns naval blockade of Hormuz to aggravate confrontation
• Iranian president praises states for stance against ‘warmongering’ Israel
• Macron urges Trump, Pezeshkian to resume talks, include Lebanon in ceasefire
• Xi meets UAE leadership, puts forward four-point proposal

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted at a possible second round of talks with Iran in Islamabad within days, even as Washington stepped up military pressure by enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports following the failure of weekend negotiations.

Speaking to the New York Post in a phone interview, Trump said fresh talks could take place in Pakistan “over the next two days”, indicating a shift in his earlier position. After saying in an initial call that talks were unlikely to return to Pakistan, the NYP said Mr Trump called back minutes later to say it was “more likely” they would go back to Islamabad.

“It’s more likely, you know why? Because the Field Marshal (Asim Munir) is doing a great job. He’s fantastic, and therefore it’s more likely that we go back there,” Trump said. “Why should we go to some country that has nothing to do with it?”

The remarks came days after the inaugural round of direct Iran-US dialogue, mediated by Pakistan, ended in Islamabad without an agreement despite nearly 21 hours of talks. While no breakthrough was achieved, both sides indicated that the diplomatic channel remained open.

Earlier, US Vice President J.D. Vance, who headed the American delegation during the Islamabad Talks, also praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Munir for their role in facilitating talks between the United States and Iran.

In an interview with Fox News, Mr Vance described both leaders as exceptional hosts and commended their statesmanship in helping mediate discussions between the two countries.

Blockade enforced

The US military said on Tuesday that it successfully stopped six ships from sailing out of Iranian ports during the first 24 hours of a naval blockade against the Islamic republic.

Central Command (CENTCOM) — which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East — said more than 10,000 US troops, over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are taking part in the mission.

“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US blockade and six merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” it added.

But despite CENTCOM’s assertion that no vessels made it through the blockade, tracking information from maritime data provider Kpler showed at least two ships sailing from Iranian ports crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

Tehran’s forces effectively closed the strait after the start of the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran on Feb 28, and the US on Sunday announced its own blockade after peace talks with Iran failed.

Pakistan’s efforts

Pakistan, which hosted the first round of talks, continued diplomatic outreach amid rising tensions.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held meetings in Islamabad with senior diplomats from Turkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, appreciating the convergence of the four countries on global matters, the Foreign Office said.

In a post on X, the Foreign ministry said that Mr Dar “met with Musa Kulaklikaya, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkiye; Ambassador Nazih El Naggari, Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt, and Prince Dr Abdullah bin Khalid bin Saud Al-Kabeer Al-Saud, Director General of the MFA of Saudi Arabia”.

During the meeting, Mr Dar lauded the “convergence of views on important regional and global matters among the four brotherly countries”.

He stressed the need for “devising a cooperative framework among the four countries, focusing on the shared goals of peace, prosperity and economic development”.

The diplomats are in the country for the inaugural meeting of “Senior Officials’ Meeting of four countries (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt), held today in Islamabad,” the Foreign Office said.

Separately, during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari praised Pakistan’s role in facilitating the Iran-US dialogue and called it an important contribution to regional peace and stability.

He urged continued engagement with both Washington and Tehran, as well as other global powers, to sustain the fragile diplomatic process.

During the meeting, the prime minister took the president into confidence on all aspects of the dialogue between Iran and the United States. PM Shehbaz provided a detailed briefing on the various stages of the dialogue and the progress achieved through Pakistan’s mediation.

He also apprised the president of his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia and Turkiye for further engagement to promote the peace efforts.

Global reactions

Meanwhile, the escalating situation drew sharp international reactions, as world leaders urged restraint and a return to negotiations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he had urged US President Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian to resume stalled talks towards ending the Iran war.

“I urged the resumption of the negotiations suspended in Islamabad, the clearing up of misunderstandings, and the avoidance of any further escalation,” the French president wrote on X, after speaking to both leaders on Monday.

“It is essential, in particular, that the ceasefire be strictly respected by all parties and that it includes Lebanon,” Mr Macron said.

“It is equally important that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened uncon­ditionally, without restrictions or tolls, as soon as possible,” he added.

China also criticised the US move, calling the blockade “dangerous and irresponsible” and warning it would only aggravate tensions.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that despite a temporary ceasefire agreed by relevant parties, the United States had increased military deployments and imposed a targeted blockade, a move that would exacerbate the conflict, undermine the fragile truce and further jeopardise the safety of navigation through the strait.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Pezeshkian said that “the essence of civilisations reveals itself at historical junctures’, praising certain countries for their stances against Israel.

“The positions taken by Spain, China, Russia, Turkiye, Italy, and Egypt against the warmongering and crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) stem from their deep cultural and historical roots,” he said on X.

Xi meets Abu Dhabi crown prince

Separately, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday put forward a four-point proposal on promoting peace and stability in the Middle East during a meeting in Beijing with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Mr Xi called for adherence to the principle of peaceful coexistence. “It is imperative to promote the building of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security architecture for the Middle East and the Gulf region,” he noted.

He said the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of countries in the Middle East and the Gulf region should be fully respected.

Noting the UAE is a comprehensive strategic partner of China, Mr Xi said China has always attached great importance to developing relations with the UAE.

Sheikh Khaled stated that China-UAE relations have a long history and solid foundation, with both countries always showing mutual respect and trust and sharing extensive common interests.

The UAE appreciated China’s res­ponsible and constructive role in international affairs and its positive efforts towards a political solution to the current Middle East crisis, he said.

Syed Irfan Raza in Islamabad and Anwar Iqbal in Washington also contributed to this report

With additional input from APP, AFP, Reuters

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

The amnesty is a central plank of Sanchez’s progressive agenda to harness the economic benefits of migration for its ageing population, even as other European governments move to tighten their borders to head off political challenges by the far-right.

Online applications will open on Thursday after the government rubber-stamped the initiative at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. However, immigration officers warn the system remains unprepared for the challenge and have threatened a strike from April 21, a day after in-person appointments open, halting all immigration applications in protest at the lack of resources allocated to the process.

“The government is once again implementing a new regularisation without giving offices enough economic resources to handle it,” Cesar Perez, a union leader for Spains immigration officers, said.

In a bid to alleviate pressure on an already overburdened immigration system, only five of the country’s 54 immigration offices will be responsible for handling applications, with the rest distributed among social security offices, post offices and NGOs, according to Spanish union CCOO.

Spain’s 50 million-strong population has swelled in recent years to include around 10 million people living in Spain who were born abroad. Spanish think tank Funcas estimates that roughly 840,000 undocumented migrants in the workforce at present.

Spain’s opposition Popular Party has deemed the drive reckless, despite former conservative governments pushing through similar measures.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the community of Madrid and a prominent figure in the party, has threatened to appeal the drive in court.

Sanchez described the drive in a letter addressed to citizens published on Tuesday on X as not only an act of justice but also an economic necessity. “Spain is ageing… Without more people working and contributing to the economy, our prosperity slows and our public services suffer,” he wrote.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026

“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

The interview was published the day after Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, after the pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East.

Trump told Corriere that it was she who was “unacceptable”, alleging she did not care if Iran had a nuclear weapon, adding that she did not want Italy to be involved in the war, which began with Israeli-US attacks on Iran, even though it gets much of its oil from the region.

Meloni, Italy’s far-right leader since October 2022, has been one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe and often seeks to act as a mediator between diverging US and European views.

Meloni’s allies and political opponents were swift to offer their support.

“We are and remain staunch supporters of Western unity and steadfast allies of the United States, but this unity is built on mutual loyalty, respect, and honesty,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X.

He said that until now, Trump considered Meloni a courageous person, and “he was not mistaken, but she is a woman who never shies away from saying what she thinks”.

“And on Pope Leo XIV she said exactly what all of us Italians think. The prime minister and the government defend and will always defend only and solely the interests of Italy,” he said.

Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, condemned Trump’s “serious lack of respect”.

“Our constitution is clear — Italy repudiates war,” she added in parliament.

Pakistan hosted direct Iran-US talks in Islamabad over the weekend, marking the highest engagement between the two sides since 1979. Both delegations departed the capital on Sunday after the talks ended without an agreement, but also without a breakdown.

According to Reuters, a source involved in the talks said a date was not yet decided, but both countries could return as early as the end of this week. They said that a proposal has been shared with both the US and Iran to resend their delegates to resume the talks.

“No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source said.

Two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the talks said Islamabad was communicating with the two sides about the timing of the next round and the meeting would likely take place on the weekend.

“We have reached out to Iran and we got a positive response that they will be open to a second round of talks,” a senior Pakistani government official was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Similarly, a Pakistani source told AFP that Islamabad was working to bring Iran and the US back together for a second round of talks and to secure an extended ceasefire to allow for diplomacy.

“Efforts are underway to bring both parties back to the table, of course we want them back in Islamabad, but the venue is not final yet,” said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject matter.

“The meeting could take place soon, though dates have yet to be confirmed,” the source was quoted as saying.

The source added: “We are also working to get the ceasefire extended beyond the current deadline to allow for additional time.”

On Monday, officials familiar with the back-channel excha­nges told Dawn that intermediaries were working to bring Tehran and Washin­gton back to the negotiating table, with Pakistan at the centre of the efforts, backed by Turks and Egyptians.

The immediate priority, they said, was to extend the ceasefire.

On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told a meeting of the federal cabinet that “full efforts” were ongoing to resolve the conflict.

Noting that the truce was still holding, he said, “As I am talking to you, matters that are not resolved, full efforts are underway to resolve them.”

The ceasefire between the US and Iran, brokered on April 8 after weeks of conflict, is set to expire on April 22. While technically intact, it is increasingly precarious.

The US has moved toward enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, prompting a warning from Tehran that such a move would be a violation of the ceasefire.

US says ball in Iran’s court

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said “the ball is in the Iranian court” on ending the Mideast war.

Vance had left talks hosted by Pakistan on Sunday, saying he had handed Tehran the “final and best offer”.

“I really think the ball is in the Iranian court, because we put a lot on the table. We actually made very clear what our red lines were,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News on Monday.

Washington has “no flexibility” on US control of Iran’s enriched uranium, and a verification mechanism to ensure it does not develop a nuclear weapon in the future.

“It’s one thing for the Iranians to say that they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. It’s another thing for us to put in place the mechanism to ensure that’s not going to happen,” Vance said.

US President Donald Trump insisted Iranian representatives had called Washington since a US delegation returned empty-handed from negotiations in Islamabad.

“I can tell you that we’ve been called by the other side. They’d like to make a deal. Very badly, very badly,” Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office on Monday.

Iran has blamed Washington for making maximalist demands, but its leaders have, in the last hours, not dismissed efforts by world leaders to get both sides back to the negotiating table.

Iranian state TV reported on Monday that President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, said Tehran “will continue to talk only within the framework of international law”.

“We have clearly announced the terms of the ceasefire and we will adhere to it,” Pezeshkian said, according to IRIB.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the US for the impasse in the peace talks during a call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

“Unfortunately, we witnessed the continued excessive demands of the American side in the negotiations, which led to the failure to achieve a result,” his ministry quoted him as saying.

Push for talks

Pakistan, after the end of the talks in Islamabad, moved swiftly to consolidate international support.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has recently held a series of calls with his counterparts, including Britain’s Yvette Cooper, China’s Wang Yi, Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty.

Across these engagements, Pakistan conveyed a consistent message that all parties to the conflict must uphold the ceasefire and that dialogue remains the only viable path forward. International partners responded positively.

Diplomatic sources said these engagements helped build a broad, if informal, coalition aimed at sustaining the process and buying time before the April 22 deadline.

The objective was to secure either an extension of the ceasefire or a return to technical-level engagement that could prepare the ground for a second political round.

Since the Islamabad talks, the intermediaries have helped exchange messages between the US and Iran on the outstanding issues, hoping to convince both sides to extend the truce by at least 45 days.

Both sides agreed to continue negotiations, but differences on the agenda, objectives, format and venue for the next round persisted. A diplomatic source said Iran preferred Islamabad, citing proximity, familiarity and its comfort with Pakistan’s role as mediator.

The US side, however, was understood to be considering alternative options, reflecting a different assessment of the negotiating environment, logistical preferences and security considerations. Despite this divergence, venue was unlikely to be a deal breaker if substantive movement was achieved on key issues.

Diplomatic efforts were also accelerating elsewhere, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov landing in Beijing on Tuesday, hours after Iran’s state news agency reported that he had spoken about the crisis in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

Moscow has offered to hold Iran’s enriched uranium safely as part of any deal.

“The trawler, which departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was on its way to Malaysia, reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas, and overcrowding,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.

Thousands of Rohingya, Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim minority, risk their lives every year fleeing repression and civil war in their country. They travel by sea, often aboard makeshift boats.

The Rohingya on board this latest boat were likely leaving huge camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, where more than a million refugees forced to flee Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine live in squalid conditions.

Rakhine state has been the scene of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group, over control of the territory.

The exact circumstances surrounding the latest incident were unclear, but preliminary information indicated that the vessel was carrying some 280 people and left Bangladesh on April 4.

The Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) said one of its ships, which was on the way to Indonesia, managed to rescue nine people from the sea, including one woman, on April 9.

“The Bangladeshi flag carrier MT Meghna Pride … spotted several people floating in the sea using drums and logs and rescued them from deep waters near the Andaman Islands,” BCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujan told AFP.

‘Burned by oil’

Forty-year-old Rafiqul Islam, one of the survivors, told AFP that he was lured onto the boat by traffickers who promised him a job in Malaysia.

“A number of us were kept in the holding area of the trawler, some died there. I was burned by oil that spilt from the trawler,” he said, adding that the vessel travelled for four days before it capsized. “We floated for nearly 36 hours before a ship rescued us from deep water.”

Relatively affluent Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia, many of them undocumented, working in industries including construction and agriculture.

But sea crossings, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, are hazardous and often lead to overloaded boats capsizing.

UNHCR said the latest incident reflected the “dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya”.

“This tragedy is a reminder of the efforts urgently needed to address the root causes of displacement in Myanmar and create conditions that would allow Rohingya refugees to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity,” it said.

The Andaman Sea stretches along the western shores of Myanmar, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula.

Last year, the UNHCR said that 427 Rohingya were feared dead at sea in two shipwrecks off the Myanmar coast in May.

Special security forces were deployed to the school in southeastern Turkiye’s Sanliurfa province, where students were evacuated, the local governor, Hasan Sildak, told reporters.

The former student, 19, used a rifle during the attack, after which those wounded were rushed to a hospital in the Siverek district, Sildak said.

Twelve of the wounded were still in the hospital. Local media reported that most of the wounded were students.

Television footage showed ambulances standing by outside the school as students fled the building in panic.

“He took his own life when cornered by police,” the governor said.

“We have evacuated the school and will carry out a thorough investigation into this tragic incident,” he added.

Demonstrators included the anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace, which said around 90 people were detained.

Among those detained was whistleblower Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier and WikiLeaks source.

The New York City Police Department said there were “multiple” arrests but did not provide a number.

Clips from the protests showed a crowd gathering near the offices of US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democratic colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Protesters chanted slogans like “stop the bombs”, “end the killings”, and “free Palestine” while expressing opposition to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and Israel’s assault on Gaza.

The protesters also chanted “let Gaza live”, “let Iran live” and “let Lebanon live”.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on protests by attempting to deport foreign students, threatening to freeze funding for universities where protests were held and ordering the screening of immigrants’ online comments. The crackdown has faced judicial obstacles.

New York City was at the heart of pro-Palestinian protests in 2024.

US military support for Israel has faced particular scrutiny from rights groups during Israel’s war on Gaza that killed tens of thousands, caused starvation, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a United Nations inquiry.

The claims came as prosecutors levied federal charges against Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, over the attack on Friday in San Francisco.

The Department of Justice said Moreno-Gama had travelled from his home in Texas to carry out the attack on Altman, whose company is behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot.

“Violence cannot be the norm for expressing disagreement, be it with politics or a technology or any other matter,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“These alleged actions — which damaged property and could well have taken lives — will be aggressively prosecuted.”

Prosecutors say that after lobbing a firebomb at the gates of Altman’s home, Moreno-Gama fled on foot to the San Francisco headquarters of OpenAI, where he tried to smash the glass doors of the building with a chair.

He “stated that he had come to burn down the location and kill anyone inside,” prosecutors said in the federal criminal complaint.

According to the complaint, when police arrived, they found Moreno-Gama with a jug of kerosene, a lighter and a document entitled “Your Last Warning” which “advocated against AI and for the killing and commission of other crimes against CEOs of AI companies and their investors”.

The three-part document was allegedly authored by Moreno-Gama, and listed “names and addresses that purported to belong to multiple CEOs and investors”. Another part of the publication dealt with the “purported risk AI poses to humanity”, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors say he ended the document, which included an admission he was trying to kill Altman, with the phrase: “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself.”

Moreno-Gama faces one charge of damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, and one of possession of an unregistered firearm.

It is the latest high-profile attack in the US allegedly involving a call to arms against executives or influential figures.

Anti-AI protests

No one was injured in the home and office attacks, which came as Altman’s profile has risen with the increasing use of AI and ethical concerns surrounding its use.

The CEO and his firm have become targets for people protesting the technology as a threat to society.

Detractors have been particularly troubled by OpenAI’s decision to provide its know-how to the US Department of Defence.

In a rare post on his personal blog in the aftermath of the attack, Altman shared a photo of his husband and their baby “in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house”.

The OpenAI chief defended his convictions and called for a de-escalation of rhetoric on the topic.

“I empathise with anti-technology sentiments and clearly technology isn’t always good for everyone,” Altman wrote. “But overall, I believe technological progress can make the future unbelievably good, for your family and mine.”

OpenAI last month said it was valued at $852 billion after a funding round that raised $122 billion.

The figure reflects the surging costs of computing power and came amid lingering questions about whether OpenAI and rival companies can generate sufficient revenue to cover expenses.

ChatGPT claims the top position in consumer AI, with more than 900 million weekly active users and some 50 million subscribers.

Use of ChatGPT’s online search engine has tripled over the course of a year, according to OpenAI.

The Israeli military confirmed it had dispersed an “unusual gathering”, but did not specify whether its troops had fired tear gas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the Iran war.

The incident took place at Umm al-Khair, a small village in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Schoolchildren there had been due back in class on Monday for the first time in more than 40 days, after lessons were suspended following the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28.

A group of schoolchildren and Palestinian residents had gathered near a barbed wire fence erected by Israeli settlers, which blocked access to the school, a journalist reported.

Schoolchildren and some local adults were holding an open-air class as a sit-in to demand access when troops fired the tear gas, witnesses said.

“We were sitting and they threw a grenade (tear gas canister) at us. I got scared and started screaming and ran away,” 12-year-old Sarah al-Hathaleen said.

“I started crying. A woman hugged me and stayed with me. We were very scared.” Bassam Jabr, director of education for the Masafer Yatta area, confirmed the children were staging a sit-in at the time of the incident.

“Settlers are trying to tighten the noose on us in every way. One of these methods is cutting off the road for school students and expanding the settlement,” Jabr said of settlers from the nearby Carmel settlement whose residents erected the fence.

“Sadly, there are no solutions. We will continue this sit-in today and tomorrow until we find a solution so the students can return to their schools,” he said.

Israel’s military said troops had been dispatched to the area.

“IDF soldiers were dispatched to the area of Umm Al-Khair due to reports of an unusual gathering of Palestinians in the area,” the military said.

“The gathering was dispersed and no injuries were reported,” it said, without specifying whether tear gas had been fired. A footage showed canisters being fired, with children screaming and fleeing. “Last night we were excited for school today. The Israelis came and closed the road with barbed wire... we want to be back in school,” said 11-year-old Rashid al-Hathaleen.

The Masafer Yatta region is a known hotspot for settler violence and Palestinian home demolitions.

It was in Umm al-Khair village that Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen was killed by a settler inAugust 2025.

Settler violence has also surged across the West Bank since the outbreak of the Iran war. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026

WASHINGTON/DUBAI: Despite a ceasefire and peace talks in Islamabad, the conflict between the US and Iran continued to escalate on Monday, as the American military blockaded all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports in a move that could push the region towards a fresh round of hostilities.

The US military’s regional Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels

of all nations” entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. “The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations,” Central Command said in a note to seafarers seen by Reuters on Monday.

This blockade prompted a warning from Iran, which said it would consider any military vessels in the Hormuz a violation of the ceasefire and such a move would put all regional ports in danger.

However, US President Donald Trump claimed Iran’s navy had been “complet­ely obliterated” during the war, adding that only a small number of “fast-attack ships” remained with the Iranian navy.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal,” President Trump wrote on social media, referring to the US strikes carried out against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

He later confirmed a blockade had been in effect. “Right now, there’s no fighting. Right now we have a blockade,” he said, adding Iran was doing “absolutely no business”. “And we’re going to keep it that way very easily,” he said.

The US president said the deal with Iran could not be reached because they had hit a roadblock related to nuclear issues. He said Iran wanted to make a deal and that he would not come to any agreement that would allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon, adding that Iran had “called this morning” and that “they’d like to work a deal”.

The only endorsement for the blockade came from Israel, whose prime minister said that he supported the naval blockade, opposed by almost every country, including the Nato allies.

Replying to a question about whether other countries will participate in the blockade, President Trump replied in the affirmative, adding that the countries would be revealed tomorrow. “They’ve offered their services,” he added.

However, Nato allies, including Britain and France, said they would not get involved in US President Donald Trump’s plan to blockade Iranian ports, proposing to intervene only once fighting ends.

France will also organise a conference with Britain and other countries to create a multinational mission to restore navigation in the strait, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X on Monday.

“This strictly defensive mission, distinct from the belligerents, will be deployed as soon as the situation allows,” President Macron said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign minister raised concerns on Monday about Iran or the United States proposing any new regulations for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and said he saw difficulties around proposals to reopen the waterway with an international force.

‘Akin to piracy’

On the other hand, Iran said a military intervention in the Strait of Hormuz would escalate the instability in global energy security, warning no port in the Gulf would be safe in such a scenario.

According to an Iranian military spokesperson, the US restrictions on international shipping were akin to “piracy”, warning that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf would be secure.

Any military vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.

According to Al Jazeera, the IRGC said that it would “unveil” new capabilities if the war continued. “We will unveil warfare methods that the enemy will have little ability to counter,” a spokesperson for IRGC quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Separately, Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik, a spokesperson for Iran’s ministry of defence, warned that efforts by foreign military to police the strait would escalate the crisis and instability in global energy security.

According to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, the spokesperson said Tehran was responsible for managing the key waterway “based on clear and logical principles”, adding that interference or aggression by US or other forces would not be allowed. He added Iran had “no hesitation in delivering a decisive and regrettable response to any aggressor”.

Since the war started on February 28, Iran has effectively shut the strait to all vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Maritime Organisation, Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez, said no country could “prohibit the right of innocent passage or the freedom of navigation through international straits that are used for international transit”.

‘Fragile ceasefire’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday the current ceasefire between the US and Iran is “very fragile”.

The ceasefire that halted six weeks of US and Israeli air strikes looked in jeopardy, with only a week left to run.

Mr Wang urged the global community to “unequivocally oppose any actions that undermine the ceasefire or escalate the confrontation”. He made the remarks during a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, the Chinese ministry said.

The priority is to prevent the resumption of hostilities and “to preserve the hard-won momentum of ceasefire”, he added. China would be pleased to see Pakistan playing a greater role in helping resolve the conflict, Wang said, adding that Beijing too stands ready to make its contributions.

Similarly, ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to urge the United States and Iran to “continue negotiations that will lead to the permanent end of the conflict”.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026

The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated “terrorist” organisations and agreed to pay a $778 million fine, the first time a company had faced the charge.

The Paris court found that Lafarge — now part of the Swiss conglomerate Holcim — paid nearly 5.6 million euros ($6.5 million) in 2013 and 2014 via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS) to jihadist groups and intermediaries to keep its plant operating in northern Syria.

It ruled that Lafarge must pay the maximum fine of 1.125 million euros ($1.31 million) sought by prosecutors during the trial. It also sentenced the company’s former CEO Bruno Lafont to six years in prison for financing “terrorism”, which a judge ordered him to start serving immediately — even though a lawyer confirmed that Lafont would appeal the ruling.

“This method of financing terrorist organisations, and primarily IS, was essential in enabling the terrorist organisation to gain control of Syria’s natural resources, allowing it to finance terrorist acts within the region and those planned abroad, particularly in Europe,” said the presiding judge, Isabelle Prevost-Desprez.

The company established a “genuine commercial partnership with IS”, she added, saying the amount paid to jihadist organisations — which was “never disclosed” — contributed to the “extreme gravity of the offences”.

Lafarge had finished building a $680 million factory in Jalabiya in 2010, just before Syria’s civil war erupted in March the following year amid opposition to then-president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests.

IS fighters seized large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, declaring a cross-border “caliphate” and implementing their interpretation of Islamic law.

While other multinational companies left Syria in 2012, Lafarge evacuated only its expatriate employees and left its Syrian staff in place until September 2014, when IS seized control of the factory.

In 2013 and 2014, Lafarge paid intermediaries to access raw materials from the IS organisation and other groups and to allow free movement for the company’s trucks and employees. It paid jihadists including the IS group and Syria’s then Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.

‘Single aim: profit’

The defendants included the company, five former members of operational and security staff, and two Syrian intermediaries.

The court found all eight former employees guilty of financing “terrorist” organisations and issued sentences ranging from 18 months to seven years behind bars.

Firas Tlass, a Syrian ex-member of staff who made the payments to the jihadist groups, was sentenced in absentia to seven years in jail. Former deputy managing director Christian Herrault was handed five years in jail.

Herrault had argued that the decision to keep the factory open was made out of concern for local staff. “We could have washed our hands of it and walked away, but what would have happened to the factory’s employees?” he said.

Prosecutors said 69-year-old Lafont “gave clear instructions” to keep the plant operation, a decision they called “staggering in its cynicism”. The French national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office (PNAT) said in its closing argument in December that Lafarge was guilty of funding “terrorist” organisations with “a single aim: profit”.

Second case ongoing

Holcim, which took over Lafarge in 2015, has said it had no knowledge of the Syria dealings. A second case, concerning allegations of complicity in crimes against humanity, is ongoing.

Kurdish-led Syrian fighters, backed by US airstrikes, defeated the IS “caliphate” in 2019. An inquiry was opened in France in 2017 after several media reports and two legal complaints in 2016, one from the finance ministry for the alleged breaching of an economic sanction and another from non-governmental groups and 11 former Lafarge Syria staff members over alleged “funding of terrorism”.

In the US case, the Justice Department said Lafarge sought the IS group’s help to squeeze out competitors, operating an effective “revenue sharing agreement” with them. Lafont, who was chief executive from 2007 to 2015, at the time denounced the inquiry as “biased”.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026

Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the Journal in July after it published a report about a birthday letter he allegedly sent to one-time close friend Jeffrey Epstein.

District Judge Darrin Gayles, in a 17-page ruling, said Trump had failed to prove the Murdoch-owned newspaper had knowingly published false statements, the legal standard to prove defamation.

“Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that defendants published the article with actual malice, both Counts must be dismissed,” Gayles wrote. The judge, who was appointed by former president Barack Obama, gave Trump the opportunity to amend his complaint and refile the suit by April 27.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said the suit would be resubmitted. “President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People.” Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit against the Journal is one of numerous attacks against news organisations he accuses of bias against him.

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

According to the Journal, Trump wrote a “bawdy” birthday letter to Epstein in 2003 to mark his 50th birthday, part of an album of messages from rich and well-known figures.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026

The patient’s brother happened to carry a rare, virus-blocking genetic mutation. The 63-year-old man, dubbed the “Oslo patient”, is the latest in around 10 people worldwide who have gone into long-term remission from HIV after receiving a transplant to treat unrelated blood cancer.

The high-risk procedure normally requires a donor to have a specific mutation of their CCR5 gene, which blocks HIV from entering the body’s cells. Only around one percent of people in northern Europe have the necessary mutation.

The Oslo patient, who had been living with HIV since 2006, was diagnosed with a fatal blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome in 2017. His doctors searched for a donor who would help treat both. When they couldn’t find one, they chose the man’s elder brother.

However, on the day of the transplant in 2020, the doctors were stunned to discover that the brother carried the CCR5 mutation. “We had no idea... That was amazing,” doctor Anders Eivind Myhre of the Oslo University Hospital said.

‘Winning the lottery twice’

The patient said “it was like winning the lottery twice”, added Myhre, who was also the lead author of a study describing the case in Nature Microbiology. Two years after the transplant, the patient stopped taking the anti-retroviral drugs which had been reducing the level of HIV in his body.

The researchers found no trace of the virus in samples of the man’s blood, gut and bone marrow. “For all practical purposes, we are quite certain that he is cured,” Myhre said.

Now the Oslo patient, whose name was not revealed, is “having a great time” and has more energy than he knows what to do with, Myhre said.

The painful and potentially dangerous transplant procedure is for people who have both HIV and deadly blood cancer so is not a feasible option for the millions of people living with the virus across the world. However, researchers believe that studying these rare cases will reveal more about how HIV works in the hope of finding a cure for all patients.

‘No longer a patient’

The Oslo patient is the first person to receive a transplant from a family member. The patient’s immune system had been “completely replaced” by the donor’s, said study co-author Marius Troseid of the University of Oslo. It was the first time this had been observed in a cured patient’s bone marrow and gut, he said.

Even before the researchers found out the brother had a CCR5 mutation, they had some hope that the Oslo patient’s HIV could be cured.

That is because in 2024 it was revealed that the so-called “next Berlin patient” entered long-term remission despite receiving a transplant that did not have two copies of the mutated gene. The original Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown, was the first person declared cured of HIV back in 2008. Patients in London, New York, Geneva, Duesseldorf and elsewhere followed.

Given the Oslo patient’s robust health, Troseid suggested that his nickname was no longer suitable. “The Oslo patient is perhaps no longer a patient. At least he doesn’t feel like it,” Troseid said.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026

WASHINGTON: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said there is “no military solution” to the current conflict in the Middle East, while welcoming recent US-Iran talks hosted by Pakistan as a “positive and meaningful step” towards renewed dialogue.

The UN secretary general is also sending his special envoy, Jean Arnault, to Islamabad to consult Pakistan’s leaders on ways to help end the Iran war, which is increasingly seen as a global threat.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York on Monday, the UN chief noted that although no agreement was reached in the Islamabad discussions, the very fact that the two sides engaged underscored the seriousness of their commitment.

“While no agreement was reached at the talks hosted by Pakistan between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Islamabad, the discussions themselves underscored the seriousness of their engagement and constituted a positive and meaningful step towards renewed dialogue,” the statement said.

Guterres cautioned that, given “deeply rooted differences”, an agreement could not be reached overnight, and urged continued engagement in a constructive spirit to achieve a durable settlement.

He also stressed that the ceasefire “must absolutely be preserved”, calling for an immediate end to all violations.

Paying tribute to diplomatic efforts, he thanked mediators including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye, and urged the international community to support their initiatives.

The secretary general further underlined the importance of respecting freedom of navigation, including in the Strait of Hormuz, in line with international law. He warned that disruptions in maritime traffic are already affecting global supply chains, with around 20,000 seafarers reportedly stranded at sea under worsening conditions.

The statement said disruptions were also impacting fertiliser supply chains, worsening global food insecurity and contributing to rising fuel and transport costs.

UN envoy Jean Arnault recently met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in Tehran, engaged with Iranian Red Crescent representatives, and visited sites damaged in recent strikes, including a university and a destroyed apartment building.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the envoy reiterated the secretary general’s commitment to pursuing “every possible effort” for a peaceful resolution and will continue regional consultations.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services, is also coordinating related maritime safety efforts with international partners.

‘Talks reflect trust deficit’

Analysts in Washington say the Islamabad negotiations reflect not a breakdown of diplomacy, but a continuing trust deficit between Washington and Tehran.

Vali Nasr, professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, said the talks failed because Iran sought guarantees that any deal would be implemented, while the US insisted on immediate, verifiable steps.

Iran fears Washington could withdraw after it makes irreversible concessions, while the US seeks compliance before easing pressure.

Pakistan’s mediation role expands

Despite the absence of an agreement, the Islamabad talks, reportedly lasting 21 hours, covered Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, frozen assets, maritime security and broader regional arrangements, supported by technical exchanges and written proposals.

Analysts say the level of detail reflects structured diplomacy rather than exploratory contact.

With the UN envoy expected to visit Islamabad this week, Pakistan’s role appears increasingly embedded in an ongoing diplomatic framework. Whether the next round takes place in Islamabad or elsewhere remains unclear, but the process is still seen as open-ended and in motion.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026