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What the US and Iran agreed – and disagreed – on first day of talks

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  Leaders from Iran and the US have lauded progress in the talks and say the agreement so far benefits both sides. But they disagree on crucial aspects. The United States has waived sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days following the first day of talks for a peace deal, with US President Donald Trump saying he will “do what I have to do” if Iran does not stick to its side of the agreement. Direct talks between the US and Iran were triggered by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides last week. The parties have also established “a communication line” regarding the Strait of Hormuz to “avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”. Iran closed the strait, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped in peacetime, after US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. This caused shockwaves through global energy markets, and the price of oil spiked. A join...
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Russia brands Europe a ‘threat to peace’ but says it’s ready to talk

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  Moscow said the US is no longer trying to be an "objective mediator" in its efforts to broker an end to Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine. The Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday that Europe is “becoming a major threat to international peace and security" by providing military support to Ukraine, and claimed that the US was no longer trying to be an "objective mediator" to broker an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. "As for the United States, judging by their actions, they appear to be abandoning any claim to the role of an objective mediator and are instead pursuing a course of escalating sanctions pressure on Russia," Sergei Lavrov told foreign envoys in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov also said that Russia is allegedly ready for a dialogue with the European Union, as he reiterated the Kremlin's narrative that it is Europe and not Moscow that is prolonging the war in Ukraine. US-led talks on ending Russi...
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Lithuania PM Ruginienė resigns after less than a year in office

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  Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė resigned on Tuesday together with her cabinet, ending a ten-month tenure. She is to return to government as social affairs minister in a new cabinet expected to be led by Mindaugas Sinkevičius — the third Social Democrat prime minister since the 2024 elections. "Nothing in politics is permanent, and we as politicians must understand that our positions and offices are not eternal," Ruginienė told journalists after the final cabinet meeting. "We are given a certain period of time to do good work, and I believe that this government has made proper use of that time." Her brief premiership was marked by a series of crises, including balloon-smuggling incidents, drone incursions, a record-high defence budget set at 5,38 GDP, and the dismissal of both the culture and defence ministers. Breaking the law by taking family members with her on official trips to Italy and the Vatican and poorly handled information about leaked data from the Centre...
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Kenya orders immediate halt to controversial US-backed Ebola facility

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  The project had sparked court proceedings, public protests and questions about the country's role in responding to an outbreak beyond its borders. Kenya has halted construction of a controversial US-backed Ebola isolation facility after the country's High Court found Health Minister Aden Duale in contempt of court. On Tuesday, Duale told the court that he had ordered "the immediate and complete cessation" of construction and related activities at the site pending the outcome of a legal challenge. The move marks a big reversal after weeks of political and public pressure over the project. The planned facility was a 50-bed quarantine and isolation centre at Laikipia Air Base, near the town of Nanyuki, around 200 kilometres north of Nairobi. It was intended to house US citizens who may have been exposed to Ebola during response operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other affected countries in the region. The High Court had ordered the government on 28 May ...
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US gov’t investigates New York coffee chain over ban on pro-Israel lawmaker

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  Top civil rights prosecutor announces probe after cafe chain says it will not serve Democratic lawmaker Dan Goldman. The United States Department of Justice has opened a civil rights probe into a New York coffee chain that announced it would not serve a Democratic lawmaker over his support for Israel. Harmeet K. Dhillon, the top civil rights prosecutor at the Justice Department, said on Monday that she had ordered the investigation after Poetica Coffee, a small Uzbek-inspired cafe chain, declared on social media that US House Representative Dan Goldman was not welcome at its stores. “These actions are not only reprehensible, they’re potentially illegal,” Dhillon, an appointee of US President Donald Trump, said in a post on X. “The Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation, and will bring an enforcement action if warranted.” Poetica Coffee, which has seven branches in Brooklyn and the East Village, made the comments on Sunday after Goldman had visited one of its cafes with...
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Iran’s President Pezeshkian lands in Pakistan after US deal

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  Pakistan hosts Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian after mediating the breakthrough US-Iran negotiations in Switzerland. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has landed in Pakistan for a state visit – his first overseas trip since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. His Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar received the Iranian leader at a military base near capital Islamabad on Tuesday. During his  day-long visit , Pezeshkian, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes ministers and senior officials, will hold talks with Sharif, and is also expected to meet with Zardari. According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will also call on the Iranian leader. “During the visit, the two sides will review the...
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Israeli fire kills two in Lebanon as Hezbollah slams truce ‘violation’

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  Lebanese armed group Hezbollah denounced the ‘treacherous attack’, saying it was a ‘blatant’ violation of the truce. Israeli troops have opened fire in southern Lebanon, killing two people and wounding two, according to the Lebanese state news agency, following two days of relative calm in the country amid a fragile truce. Two men were killed when Israeli soldiers “opened fire with their machine-guns in their direction while they were standing near an excavator that was unblocking a road” in a town near the city of Nabatieh, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday. They are the first reported ‌ deaths from Israeli fire  in Lebanon in three days, threatening a United States-brokered “ceasefire” that has largely held since Sunday. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah denounced the “treacherous attack”, saying it was a “blatant” violation of the truce. It did not say whether it would respond. The Israeli military said it “struck armed terrorists who posed an imme...
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