A preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran aims to end months of conflict. The deal includes a ceasefire framework and plans for broader negotiations concerning sanctions and regional security. Global markets responded positively to the development.
A major missile attack on Kyiv caused casualties and damage to historic religious sites, including parts of the UNESCO-listed Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex. European leaders have condemned the attack and announced additional measures against Russia.
International attention remains focused on rising tensions involving Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and Gulf nations after drone incidents, military operations, and ceasefire concerns in the region. Several countries have increased security monitoring amid fears of wider instability.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India raised fuel prices by 3 rupees ($0.03) per liter Friday as the government moved to offset losses due to higher global oil prices. In New Delhi, gasoline prices rose to 97.77 rupees ($1.17) a liter, while diesel climbed to 90.67 rupees ($1.09) a liter. India imports about 90% of its oil and has been hit hard by rising energy prices and supply disruptions linked to the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It had until now avoided raising retail fuel prices despite sharp increases in energy costs, making it one of the last major economies to pass higher crude prices on to consumers. The price increases came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to adopt voluntary austerity measures. Modi on Sunday called on people to work from home where possible, limit foreign travel and reduce purchases of gold. He described fuel conservation and saving foreign exchange as an act of “patriotism,” and encouraged greater use of public transportation, carpooling and lower fertilizer consumption.
On his visit to China, Donald Trump has seemed to revel in Chinese hospitality and flattery. Walking in the Zhongnanhai garden, in Beijing, the US president was overheard saying that his counterpart, Xi Jinping, was giving him roses for the White House rose garden, according to a pool report. Warm words aside, there have not been any major announcements from the summit, no breakthrough on Taiwan’s future, and an accord on the Iran war has remained elusive. Trump has claimed that the US and China “feel very similar” about ending the war in Iran but offered no details about a possible breakthrough. “We did discuss Iran,” Trump said on the final day of the meeting. “We feel very similar about [how] we want it to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open.” Trump departed Beijing on Friday. He said “a lot of good” came from his China visit and “we’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve”. Trump also said numerous deals had been struck between the US and China, including China buying 200 Boeing jets as well as US oil and soya beans. This deal has not been confirmed by either China or Boeing.
Ukraine ‘entirely justified’ to plan strikes against Russian energy, military targets in retaliation for Kyiv attacks, Zelenskyy says Back to Ukraine, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will hit Russia’s oil industry, military production and those responsible for “committing war crimes against Ukraine and Ukrainians” after the latest Russian attacks killed at least 24 people in Kyiv. Ukraine has launched a large-scale long-range drone attack targeting several regions in Russia including the huge Ryazan oil refinery, after three days of massive strikes by Moscow against Ukraine. Kyiv’s attack on Friday followed a series of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including on the capital, Kyiv, where a cruise missile hit an apartment block on Thursday, killing 24 people including three children. The final death toll in Kyiv emerged as emergency teams finished digging through the rubble of a nine-storey block which was hit in what the Ukrainian air force said was Russia’s biggest barrage of the country since it launched its all-out invasion in February 2022.
The climate crisis should be declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, or millions more people will die unnecessarily, leading international experts have said. The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, which was convened by the WHO, concluded the climate crisis was such a worldwide threat to health that the WHO should declare it “a public health emergency of international concern” (Pheic). The international spread of vector-borne disease, such as dengue and chikungunya, as well as the health impacts of extreme weather events, global heating, food insecurity and air pollution make a Pheic necessary, said the commission’s report, which will be presented to European ministers on Sunday before the WHO’s world health assembly starts on Monday. Pheics are the highest level of health alert. Previous declarations include infectious diseases such as Covid and Mpox. While declaring one would not on its own reverse climate change, it would trigger the kind of coordinated international response that the scale of the health crisis demands but has not yet materialised.
