Berri, Lebanon’s most senior Shiite political figure and an ally of Hezbollah, said the priority must be halting hostilities before any political process begins, rejecting talks without guarantees that Israel would cease its attacks, according to comments published by An-Nahar newspaper.

His remarks came as Israeli forces issued new evacuation warnings to residents of four villages beyond a self-declared security zone, accusing Hezbollah of violating a ceasefire agreed in mid-April and extended into May.

The conflict escalated after Israel launched operations in Lebanon in March targeting Hezbollah, which had been firing across the border in support of Iran following attacks by Israel and the United States on Tehran.

Despite the ceasefire, hostilities have continued at a lower intensity, with Israel maintaining a presence in parts of southern Lebanon and conducting strikes, while Hezbollah has carried out attacks on Israeli forces. The group said it conducted 11 operations on Sunday.

Lebanon’s government has called for a lasting arrangement that would end recurring cycles of violence, though it has stopped short of seeking a formal peace agreement. Israel has said any deal must include the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Donald Trump, who hosted delegations from both sides for talks last month, said there was a strong possibility of reaching a peace agreement this year and expressed interest in facilitating further discussions involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Hezbollah and Berri have opposed direct negotiations, while Aoun has supported lower-level talks aimed first at consolidating a ceasefire before addressing broader issues, including Israeli withdrawal, the return of displaced civilians and detainee exchanges.

Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 2,600 people have been killed since early March. Israel says 17 of its soldiers and two civilians have died in the cross-border fighting.

The Pentagon announced last week that around 5,000 troops would be withdrawn, but Trump said on Saturday the reductions would go “a lot further,” without providing details or a timeline. The decision comes amid tensions between Washington and European capitals over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and what U.S. officials see as limited European involvement.

Speaking at a summit in Yerevan, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the move should not be overstated but underscored expectations that Europe take on greater responsibility for its own security. He added that any adjustments should be managed within the framework of NATO.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said discussions about reducing U.S. troop presence in Europe were not new, but the timing of the announcement was unexpected. She said the development highlighted the need to strengthen the European pillar within NATO.

NATO officials said they were seeking further clarification from Washington. Alliance spokesperson Allison Hart said discussions were ongoing to understand the implications for U.S. force posture in Germany.NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the decision, linking it to broader U.S. dissatisfaction with European responses to the Iran conflict.

He said European allies had taken note of U.S. concerns and were working to implement existing basing agreements and position key military assets closer to potential operational theaters.The troop reduction follows earlier signals from Washington that a drawdown in Europe was likely. Some U.S. forces had already been withdrawn from Romania in October, although U.S. officials had previously indicated such changes would be coordinated with allies to avoid creating security gaps.

Tensions have also emerged over operational support for U.S. actions in the Middle East. Countries including Spain, France and the United Kingdom have declined to grant full access to bases or airspace for operations linked to the Iran conflict, reflecting divisions within the alliance over the scope of involvement.

European governments have signaled they are stepping up preparations, including positioning military resources closer to strategic regions, though officials have provided limited detail. Leaders have also indicated reluctance to engage in securing key maritime routes such as the Strait of Hormuz until the conflict subsides.

Speaking at a gathering of European leaders in Yerevan, Macron said a joint approach between Washington and Tehran was the only viable path to restoring navigation through the strait, a critical corridor for global energy supplies.

“What we want above all is a coordinated reopening by the United States and Iran that is the only solution,” Macron said, emphasizing the need for diplomatic alignment to ensure safe passage.His remarks come as the U.S. military continues operations aimed at escorting vessels out of the waterway amid heightened regional tensions.

The situation has raised concerns among global energy markets and shipping operators over potential supply disruptions.Macron also reiterated France’s reluctance to engage in military action under uncertain conditions, stating that Paris would not participate in operations lacking a clear framework.

France, alongside the United Kingdom, has been working to build a coalition to secure the strait, contingent on broader de-escalation and stability in the region.

Speaking in Canberra after talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Takaichi said both countries would act with urgency to strengthen energy security amid a supply squeeze linked to reduced shipping through the strait.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil typically transits through the Strait of Hormuz, with flows curtailed after Iran throttled shipping following attacks by the United States and Israel. About 80 percent of that oil is destined for Asia, according to the International Energy Agency.

“The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been inflicting enormous impact on the Indo-Pacific,” Takaichi told reporters, adding that Japan and Australia would maintain close communication to respond to the situation.

Both governments said they would seek to enhance resilience and autonomy in energy supply chains. Australia is Japan’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, while Japan provides a share of refined fuel products, including diesel, to Australia.

The two sides issued a series of agreements covering energy, economic cooperation, defense and critical minerals. Albanese said the measures would help shield Australia from “global shocks” stemming from conflict in the Middle East.

Japan has also emphasized the importance of securing stable supplies of critical minerals used in semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries and defense systems. Australia has positioned itself as a key supplier of such resources, highlighting its reserves as an alternative to concentrated global supply chains.

Defense cooperation has expanded alongside economic ties, including a deal valued at around Aus$10 billion for Japan to supply Mogami-class stealth warships to the Australian navy.

In a separate foreign policy address in Vietnam over the weekend, Takaichi reiterated Japan’s commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” a strategy aimed at strengthening regional security and supply chain resilience.
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The warning came as negotiations between Tehran and Washington remain stalled following a ceasefire in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran that took effect on April 8, with control of the strait a central dispute.

Trump said the operation, dubbed “Project Freedom,” would begin on Monday and described it as a humanitarian effort to assist crews stranded amid the disruption to shipping.

In a social media post, he said U.S. forces would work to guide vessels safely out of the waterway.In response, Iran’s military central command said any transit through the strait must be coordinated with Iranian forces, warning that “any foreign armed force especially the aggressive U.S. military” entering the area would be attacked, according to a statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB and attributed to Major General Ali Abdollahi.

The standoff has disrupted global energy flows, with Iran effectively restricting the movement of oil, gas and fertilizer shipments through the strait, while the United States has imposed countermeasures targeting Iranian ports. Maritime data cited by AXSMarine indicated that more than 900 commercial vessels were in the Gulf as of April 29.

The United States Central Command said the escort mission would involve guided-missile destroyers, over 100 aircraft, unmanned platforms and around 15,000 personnel.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the maritime security threat level in the strait remains “critical” due to ongoing military activity, advising vessels to coordinate with Omani authorities and consider alternative routing.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have so far yielded little progress. Iran has proposed a framework for negotiations, including reopening the strait and lifting blockades, while U.S. officials have indicated discussions are ongoing but have not detailed specific terms.European officials have urged a negotiated resolution, warning of the economic impact of prolonged disruption.

Emmanuel Macron called for a coordinated reopening of the strait, while Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul stressed the need for Iran to restore navigation and address nuclear concerns.Oil prices have risen sharply, trading about 50 percent above pre-conflict levels amid supply constraints linked to the strait, a key global energy corridor.

Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the crew members, who had been aboard the MV Touska, were flown into Pakistan overnight and would be handed over to Iranian authorities later in the day.

The vessel was seized by U.S. forces in the Gulf of Oman after it refused orders to alter its course during heightened maritime tensions linked to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports since last month, part of broader measures amid escalating conflict with Tehran.A spokesperson for the United States Central Command said earlier that the crew had been repatriated to Pakistan, while Iranian media reported that six crew members had already been released and returned to Iran last week.

Andrabi said the vessel would also be moved to Pakistani territorial waters for repairs before being returned, with coordination involving both U.S. and Iranian authorities. He added that Islamabad welcomed the step and would continue efforts to facilitate dialogue.

The transfer comes as Pakistan positions itself as a mediator between Washington and Tehran. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday to discuss regional developments and diplomatic efforts.

Pakistan has hosted discussions between the two sides since February, though recent attempts at negotiations have not yielded a breakthrough. Tensions have remained high, particularly over control of the Strait of Hormuz, where the U.S. has announced plans to escort commercial vessels in an operation it describes as humanitarian.

In a written message read on Iranian state television, Khamenei said Iran’s scientific and military capabilities, including its nuclear and missile programs, formed part of the country’s sovereign identity and would be defended like its territorial integrity.

“Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities as national assets,” he said.

He added that Iranians would protect those capabilities “just as they protect the country’s waters, land and airspace.”Khamenei has led Iran since Feb. 28, following an airstrike that killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, during the early phase of the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.

In his statement, he also sharply criticized the U.S. military presence in the Gulf region, saying the only place Americans belonged in the Arabian Gulf was “at the bottom of its waters.”“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Arabian Gulf region will be a future without America,” he said, adding that regional prosperity should be determined by neighboring states rather than outside powers.

His comments came as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively under Iranian control following weeks of confrontation, severely disrupting global energy shipments through the strategic waterway that previously handled about one-fifth of world oil supply.

The remarks followed reports that Washington is advancing plans for an international naval coalition to reopen the strait and secure maritime transit after the conflict.According to a U.S. State Department cable seen by Reuters, Washington has invited partner countries to join a proposed coalition called the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC), aimed at restoring shipping access and building what it described as a post-conflict maritime security framework for the Middle East.

“The MFC constitutes a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict maritime security architecture for the Middle East,” the cable said.France, Britain and other allied governments have discussed contributing to such an initiative but indicated they would only participate in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after active hostilities end.

Oil prices have remained volatile amid fears of prolonged disruption to Gulf shipping routes, with energy markets closely watching whether diplomatic efforts can reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Zaidi was formally tasked on Monday with forming a cabinet within 30 days, after Iraq’s dominant parliamentary bloc abandoned former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki following reported U.S. opposition to his return.Five months after parliamentary elections, Iraq remains without a new administration as rival factions continue to compete over leadership positions and ministerial control in a system shaped by sectarian and political power-sharing.

The Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in parliament and an alliance of Shiite factions with varying ties to Iran, had initially backed Maliki, a two-time former premier known for his close relations with Tehran.His candidacy, however, collapsed after what officials described as strong pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who reportedly issued an ultimatum opposing Maliki’s return to office.

The bloc has since shifted support to Zaidi and publicly thanked Maliki for stepping aside.Iraq’s state-run INA news agency reported that the Coordination Framework would meet Zaidi on Tuesday to begin talks over cabinet formation and the allocation of ministerial portfolios.Zaidi said he intended to work “with all political forces,” according to INA.

At 40, Zaidi is viewed as a compromise candidate with limited political baggage. He is a businessman, owner of a television channel and a former head of an Iraqi bank that had been barred from conducting U.S. dollar transactions under American anti-money laundering restrictions.He has never previously held a government post.

If he succeeds in forming a government, Zaidi will replace Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, whose hopes of securing a second term weakened after he failed to prevent Iran-backed armed groups from targeting U.S. interests during the recent Middle East war.

A political source told AFP that the Coordination Framework endorsed Zaidi only after consulting U.S. representatives to gauge Washington’s acceptance.Victoria J. Taylor, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary for Iraq, said the bloc was unlikely to have advanced Zaidi’s nomination without some confidence that the United States would not object.

“The framework would not have nominated him without some sense that the U.S. would accept his nomination,” she wrote on X.She added that Trump’s public rejection of Maliki had been politically damaging and the alliance was keen to avoid another confrontation with Washington.

Zaidi’s nomination also came 10 days after a senior Iranian commander visited Iraq and held meetings with political leaders, underlining Baghdad’s continued balancing act between Tehran and Washington more than two decades after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The warning is the first Child Alert issued by the United Nations children’s agency for Darfur in 20 years and is used only in the most severe emergencies to draw urgent international attention.“Children are at a breaking point across the region. Childhood is again defined by fear, by loss,” Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Port Sudan.“Children are bearing the heaviest weight of the war in Darfur.

Children are being killed and maimed, uprooted from their homes and pushed into extreme hunger, disease and trauma,” he said.Darfur, a vast region in western Sudan, has remained one of the epicenters of the conflict that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The fighting has included ethnically driven killings, widespread displacement and repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, reviving memories of the earlier Darfur conflict that began in 2003 when rebels rose against Sudan’s government and state-backed Arab militias launched a brutal counterinsurgency campaign.

UNICEF said homes, schools and health facilities across the region have been burned, damaged or destroyed, leaving children without access to education, medical care or basic safety.The agency warned that despite the worsening crisis, international attention and funding remain far below what is needed.

Its humanitarian appeal for Sudan this year is only 16% funded.Across Sudan, at least 160 children were reportedly killed and 85 injured in the first three months of 2026, a significant increase compared with the same period last year, UNICEF said.

The most severe impact has been recorded in Al-Fashir, the long-besieged capital of North Darfur, where at least 1,300 children have been killed or maimed since April 2024.UNICEF also reported cases of sexual violence, child abductions and forced recruitment of minors by armed groups in the area.

Acute malnutrition has worsened sharply, with famine-level conditions confirmed in two additional areas of North Darfur in February, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that restricted humanitarian access, continued shelling and the collapse of essential services are accelerating the risk of mass starvation, particularly among children and displaced families.

The conflict has displaced millions across Sudan and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies, with Darfur once again at the center of the crisis.

The increase marked the 11th consecutive annual rise in global defense spending and pushed military expenditure to 2.5% of global gross domestic product, the highest share since 2009, according to SIPRI.

The U.S., China and Russia remained the world’s three largest military spenders, accounting for a combined $1.48 trillion, or 51% of total global military expenditure.

U.S. military spending fell 7.5% to $954 billion in 2025, primarily because no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved after years of extensive wartime support following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.SIPRI said U.S. military funding for Ukraine totaled $127 billion over the previous three years.

“The decline in U.S. military expenditure in 2025 is likely to be short-lived,” the institute said, noting that spending approved by Congress for 2026 had already risen to more than $1 trillion and could climb further to $1.5 trillion in 2027.

Europe was the main driver of the increase in global military spending, with regional expenditure rising 14% to $864 billion as governments accelerated rearmament programs amid continued security concerns linked to the war in Ukraine and broader NATO defense commitments.

Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to rise in the fourth year of the war, while NATO members in Central and Western Europe recorded the sharpest annual increase since the end of the Cold War, reflecting sustained efforts to strengthen deterrence and replenish military stockpiles.

SIPRI said the combination of immediate security crises and long-term military modernization plans suggested the upward trend would likely continue through 2026 and beyond.“Given the range of current crises, as well as many states’ long-term military spending targets, this growth will probably continue,” the report said.

In the Middle East, military expenditure showed mixed movement.Israel’s defense spending fell 4.9% to $48.3 billion as the war in Gaza eased in 2025, reducing the intensity of active operations compared with the previous year.Iran’s military spending declined for the second consecutive year, falling 5.6% to $7.4 billion, reflecting continued economic pressures and fiscal constraints.

The figures underscore how geopolitical tensions from Eastern Europe to the Middle East continue to shape defense budgets even as shifts in U.S. policy alter the pace and distribution of military support among allies.