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Lebanon, Israel to hold new talks in U.S. as ceasefire nears end

admin — Thu, 14 May 2026 04:15:00 +0000

Lebanon and Israel are to hold new peace talks in Washington starting Thursday (May 14, 2026), as their latest ceasefire — considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes — nears its end.

Iran-Israel war LIVE on May 14, 2026

On the eve of the negotiations, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that 22 people, including eight children, were killed on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) as Israel intensified airstrikes.

The attacks pounded about 40 locations in Lebanon’s south and east, according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).

The two nations last met on April 23 at the White House, where U.S. President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension and voiced optimism for a historic agreement.

Mr. Trump at the time made the bold prediction that, within the latest ceasefire period, he would welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to Washington for a historic first summit between the countries.

The summit did not happen, with Aoun saying a security deal needed to be in place and Israeli attacks needed to end before such a landmark meeting.

The ceasefire, which went into effect on April 17, had been extended through Sunday (May 10, 2026).

Still, Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people during the truce, according to an AFP tally based on figures from Lebanese authorities.

Israel has vowed to keep pursuing attacks against Hezbollah, the Shia armed group and political movement backed by Iran’s ruling clerics, despite the ceasefire.

Hezbollah began a campaign of firing into Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on February 28.

“Anyone who threatens the State of Israel will die because of his actions,” Mr. Netanyahu said last week after an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander.

A Lebanese official told AFP that the country would seek “the consolidation of the ceasefire” during the talks in Washington.

“The first thing is to put an end to the death and destruction,” the official told AFP on custom of anonymity.

Iran has demanded a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon before any agreement to end the wider war, as it has frustrated Mr. Trump by refusing his appeals for an accord on his terms.

The West Asia war has spread throughout the region, roiling the global economy and impacting hundreds of millions worldwide.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) the Israeli leader “paid a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates” during the conflict and met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The UAE, which has been frequently targeted by Iran during the war, subsequently said it “denies reports circulating regarding an alleged visit” by Netanyahu.

It also denied “receiving any Israeli military delegation in the country”.

Pressure on Hezbollah

More than 2,800 people have died in Lebanon since Israel launched the strikes in early March, including at least 200 children, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah said that toll includes its fighters.

Israel has pounded areas of Lebanon with large Shia populations, including Beirut’s southern suburbs, and has invaded the border region, seizing control in an area it occupied from its 1982 Lebanon war until withdrawing in 2000.

The United States has backed Lebanon’s calls to maintain sovereignty over all its territory but also repeatedly pressed it to take action against Hezbollah.

The United States “recognizes that comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the complete disarmament of Hezbollah,” a State Department statement said.

“These talks aim to break decisively from the failed approach of the past two decades, which allowed terrorist groups to entrench and enrich themselves, undermine the authority of the Lebanese state, and endanger Israel’s northern border,” it said.

It will be the third round of talks between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations.

Unlike the last round, which Mr. Trump brought to the White House, or the first round, neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio nor Mr. Trump will participate as the president is on a state visit to China.

The U.S. mediators for the two-day meeting at the State Department will include the ambassadors to Israel and Lebanon — respectively Mike Huckabee, an evangelical pastor and staunch supporter of Israel’s regional ambitions, and Michel Issa, a Lebanese-born businessman and golf partner of Trump, as well as Mike Needham, a close aide to Mr. Rubio.

Lebanon will be represented by special envoy Simon Karam, a veteran lawyer and diplomat who has fiercely defended Lebanon’s sovereignty, as well as its ambassador in Washington.

Israel’s team will include its ambassador in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, a Netanyahu ally who is close with the Israeli settler movement in the occupied West Bank.

Published – May 14, 2026 09:45 am IST

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‘Genuine urgency’: China’s underlying concerns at the Xi-Trump talks

admin — Tue, 12 May 2026 08:35:00 +0000

File photo of U.S. President Donald Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a summit meeting.
| Photo Credit: AP

When U.S. President Donald Trump meets Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing this week, the shadow the Iran conflict casts over the summit might appear to give China’s leader a clear advantage.

Beijing has been relatively shielded from the effects of the conflict thanks to its oil reserves and diverse energy sources. Meanwhile, its dominance of the rare earths industry gives it a key bargaining chip in extracting concessions from Washington.

But Mr. Xi will still go into this week’s talks worried about a persistent domestic slowdown, an uncertain trade truce, and long-term damage from a prolonged West Asia conflict, analysts say.

“China enters this summit with genuine leverage but also genuine urgency,” Han Lin, China country director at Washington-based consultancy The Asia Group, told AFP.

Here’s what you need to know:

West Asia conflict

While China has been relatively cushioned from the energy crisis gripping Asia, domestic gas prices surged in April and manufacturers have sounded the alarm over the rising cost of plastic production, which uses oil.

A prolonged U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran could also hit Chinese exports in the long run, despite better-than-expected trade growth last month.

“If oil prices rise enough to significantly dent global goods demand, that would drag on China’s activity,” Leah Fahy of Capital Economics wrote in a note last week.

China’s close ties with Iran are also a potential source of tension during talks, where Trump is expected to press Mr. Xi to use his relationship with Tehran to help end the war.

“Wielding that influence burns goodwill China has carefully cultivated,” Mr. Lin told AFP.

Tariff impact

The two leaders’ last meeting produced a tentative trade truce after a frenzy of tit-for-tat tariffs in 2025.

China has also turned to alternative trading partners to fend off the worst short-term impacts of Mr. Trump’s trade war.

Still, officials are uneasy about longer-term damage to the country’s appeal as a manufacturing destination.

Beijing issued new regulations in April aimed at stopping companies from removing China from their supply chains, as Western governments spooked by trade tensions have increasingly looked into reducing their reliance on Chinese factories.

Vice Premier He Lifeng last month voiced “solemn concern” over U.S. trade measures against China.

Tech restrictions

Washington’s moves to constrain China’s tech sector are another longstanding concern for Beijing, as the two countries race to dominate the global artificial intelligence market.

Chinese tech firms are barred from purchasing California-based Nvidia’s most cutting-edge AI chips, under U.S. export rules that Washington says are to protect national security.

Beijing has been forced to accelerate development of its own advanced semiconductors and wean its tech sector off reliance on U.S. hardware.

This month it hit out at a U.S. regulatory proposal that could bar Chinese labs from testing electronic devices for sale in the United States.

Beijing may be hoping to use its control over rare earths as leverage, in hopes the U.S. could “offer partial tariff relief or pauses on certain export controls”, Nomura Chief China Economist Ting Lu wrote in a recent note.

Domestic slowdown

The Mr. Xi-Mr. Trump talks will be held against the backdrop of China’s sluggish domestic demand and investment.

The Asian giant has struggled to mount a robust comeback since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a protracted debt crisis in the once-booming property sector and tepid consumption weighing on activity.

“The property sector crisis has hollowed out household wealth, (and) youth unemployment remains stubbornly elevated,” The Asia Group’s Lin said.

China’s top leaders recently acknowledged that the domestic economy “faces certain difficulties and challenges,” and called for greater self-reliance in tech and industrial chains.

“Beijing isn’t walking in without anxiety,” Mr. Lin said of the talks.

Published – May 12, 2026 02:05 pm IST

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Democrats vow to fight $1 billion Senate security proposal for White House ballroom

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:53:00 +0000

Construction on the new White House ballroom is seen from the Washington Monument, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

Republicans returning to Washington on Monday (May 11, 2026) are facing questions about a $1 billion Senate security proposal that could help pay for U.S. President Donald Trump’s ballroom as Democrats say they will try to defeat it.

Senate Republicans added the money for White House security to a spending bill that would restore funding for immigration enforcement agencies that Democrats have blocked since February. The steep security proposal was put forward after a man was charged with trying to assassinate Mr. Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last month.

Republicans are using a partisan budget manoeuvre to push the spending legislation through Congress without any Democratic votes. But in a letter to colleagues Monday (May 11, 2026) morning, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will fight it in other ways, including by pushing the Senate parliamentarian to strike the ballroom security money from the budget bill and offering amendments forcing Republicans to vote on it.

“The Republican-controlled Congress is preparing to answer this moment with a deficit-busting, party-line bill that pours billions more taxpayer dollars into a rogue ICE operation and a billion-dollar ballroom, while doing nothing to end the illegal war in Iran or ease the Republican affordability crisis bearing down on working families,” Mr. Schumer wrote in the letter.

It’s unclear if the security money will even have enough backing among Republicans. The House has not released its bill yet, but the Senate is expected to start voting on its version of the legislation this week.

While most GOP lawmakers have remained quiet on the proposal as they spent their recess out of Washington, some have publicly questioned whether they would support it.

“I’m going to look at it very carefully and make sure those things are in the national interest,” said Rob Wittman, a Virginia Republican who was in the Capitol last week to briefly gavel in a pro forma session of the House.

“I want to know the exact nature of the expenditures that would go there for security. So I think it’s a little premature to look at that and say, you know, yes or no to it,” Mr. Wittman said.

Mr. Wittman wants to better understand the details of the Senate proposal and “how it’s part of what the total construction cost is,” he said.

Mr. Trump has said the ballroom’s construction would cost $400 million and use private funds, but he had not proposed a number for security costs.

The Senate Bill would designate the money for the U.S. Secret Service, including for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom project, which Trump and other Republicans have been pushing since Cole Tomas Allen was charged with storming the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives.

The legislation says the money would support enhancements to the ballroom project, “including above-ground and below-ground security features,” but specifies it may not be used for non-security elements.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle praised Republicans last week for including the money for the “long overdue” project, saying it would “provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS.”

The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortified,” including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. Mr. Trump has said it should include bulletproof glass and be able to repel drone attacks.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to block construction of the project, but a Federal appeals court said last month that it can continue in the meantime.

Published – May 11, 2026 07:23 pm IST

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Donald Trump eyes deal in Beijing as China gauges U.S. ‘decline’

admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 05:46:00 +0000

File photo of U.S. President Donald Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Donald Trump had planned to arrive in Beijing in late March with a sense of swagger, on the back of what he thought would be two spectacular and swift regime changes in Iran and Venezuela.

Instead, as Mr. Trump on Wednesday lands in the Chinese capital, his hosts are debating the limits of American power and what “a declining U.S.” may mean for China’s ambitions.

The “three Ts” – trade, Taiwan and technology – are likely to garner attention during talks between Mr. Trump and President Xi Jinping set for Thursday (May 14, 2026) and Friday (May 15, 2026). During the three-day trip, Mr. Trump will visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and attend what was described as a lavish state banquet.

For Mr. Trump, progress on trade — including securing Chinese commitments to step up imports, especially in agricultural products, and greater access to critical minerals — is a priority. He will also look to pressure China to use its influence on Iran, U.S. officials said.

Mr. Xi will be looking for a reiteration of U.S. commitments on Taiwan and easing of export controls, particularly for advanced semi-conductors that China needs. Both sides are also expected to discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an area of cooperation.

‘Stabilising anchor’

For both, some stability in ties is a shared objective. “I’m sure Taiwan will be a topic of conversation. It always is,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 5. “The Chinese understand our position on that topic; we understand theirs. And I think…both countries understand that it is in neither one of our interests to see anything destabilised happen in that part of the world. We don’t need any destabilising events to occur with regards to Taiwan or anywhere in the Indo-Pacific. And I think that’s to the mutual benefit of both the U.S. and the Chinese.”

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi similarly emphasised stability in an April 30 phone call with Mr. Rubio, saying meetings between the two leaders had been a “stabilising anchor” for the relationship. He called on both sides to “expand cooperation and manage differences, and explore the building of a strategic, constructive, and stable China-U.S. relationship.” He added that “the Taiwan question bears on China’s core interests and is the biggest risk in China-U.S. relations.”

Days before the visit, Mr. Wang hosted Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, saying Beijing “supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security” and that the “international community shares a common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”.

Mr. Wang in his remarks did not criticise the U.S. for the war, as he might have ordinarily done, underlining Beijing’s keenness to set the stage for a visit that it has placed huge importance on. For Mr. Xi, hosting Mr. Trump, regardless of the outcome, is in some sense a success in itself, bringing with it valuable optics showcasing China, to the domestic audience, as a global power.

At the same time, for observers in Beijing, the visit comes at a time when the Iran crisis has only deepened their long-held perceptions of U.S. decline – views that acquired wide traction in the decade following the global financial crisis. “U.S. influence is increasingly contested,” as Peking University’s Wang Dong put it to The Hindu. “And its ability to impose outcomes unilaterally is declining.”

Long-term patience

A period of “intensified structural competition alongside constrained pragmatism” is how a briefing paper from two scholars, published on the eve of the visit by Tsinghua University’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, described the future of the relationship.

A “competitive U.S. stance” on technology and supply chains was here to stay for the long term, it warned, but added that for the U.S., economic and domestic pressures would for any government “restrict comprehensive decoupling”.

Looking to the future, the paper said China needed to strengthen its relations with other major powers and continue its focus on innovation of key technologies as a response to U.S. policy. “China,” it concluded, “needs strategic resolve and long-term patience.”

Published – May 11, 2026 11:16 am IST

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U.S. fire on Iran tankers sparks reprisals as deal hangs in balance

admin — Fri, 08 May 2026 23:22:00 +0000

A U.S. fighter jet disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers to enforce a port blockade on Friday, prompting retaliatory attacks and rattling a shaky truce as Tehran weighed Washington’s latest proposal to end the West Asia war.

Iranian officials accused the United States of violating the ceasefire with the tanker strikes and hampering diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

A parallel ceasefire in Lebanon was also under strain. Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles and drones at military bases in Israel in retaliation for a recent attack on Beirut and ongoing strikes in the south, where Lebanese authorities reported 11 people killed on Friday (May 8, 2026).

U.S. Central Command said an F/A-18 Super Hornet used precision munitions on Friday (May 8, 2026) against two ships in the Gulf of Oman — gateway to the vital Strait of Hormuz — to prevent them from continuing to Iran.

An Iranian military official told local media the country’s navy had “responded to the violation of the ceasefire and to American terrorism with strikes” and “the clashes have now ceased.”

The latest incident came after another flare-up overnight in the strait, control of which an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader compared to having “an atomic bomb.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Friday (May 8, 2026) that it was “unacceptable” for Tehran to control the crucial oil conduit.

Speaking to reporters in Rome, Mr. Rubio said Washington was expecting Iran’s response to its latest proposal later in the day and expressed hope that it would be “a serious offer.”

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched 10 weeks ago with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday (May 8, 2026) that the proposal was still “under review,” according to the ISNA news agency.

Oil slick

Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeed Irvani, accused the United States of violating the ceasefire with the attacks on the Iranian tankers, in a letter to the UN Secretary General and Security Council.

And Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araghchi, in a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, expressed doubts about the seriousness and the commitment of the United States to resolving the conflict diplomatically, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.

Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met with U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance in Washington on Friday (May 8, 2026) and discussed the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.

Iran has repeatedly attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate’s role as host of a major U.S. air base.

Satellite images have shown that an oil slick is spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was located off the island’s west coast and appears to cover more than 52 sq km according to global monitor Orbital EOS.

Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry, a lynchpin of the country’s battered economy, and lies in the Gulf, north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices. The U.S. later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response.

On Sunday (May 3, 2026), Mr. Trump announced a U.S. naval operation designed to reopen the strait to commercial shipping, only to abandon it on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) in favour of a return to negotiations.

Saudi sources told AFP on Friday (May 8, 2026) that the kingdom had refused permission for the U.S. military to use its bases and airspace for the Hormuz operation, with one saying Riyadh “felt it would just escalate the situation and would not work.”

Lebanon front

On the war’s other front, Hezbollah said a salvo of missiles targeted a base south of the Israeli city of Nahariya on Friday (May 8, 2026) in response to Israeli targeting of Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

Hours later, the Iran-backed group announced it had launched a swarm of drones at another base in northern Israel.

Israel has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah in spite of a ceasefire, and on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) it carried out its first attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in a month, saying it killed a senior Hezbollah commander.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli strikes in the south killed 10 people on Friday (May 8, 2026), including two children and three women. Lebanon’s civil defence said one of its members was killed.

The latest violence came as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, were set to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.

Published – May 09, 2026 05:24 am IST

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U.S. slaps sanctions on Iraqi deputy oil minister over Iran

admin — Fri, 08 May 2026 02:59:00 +0000

A convoy of oil tanker trucks crosses into Syria at the Rabia–Yarubiyah border crossing in Rabia, northwest Iraq. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States on Thursday (May 7, 2026) imposed sanctions on Iraq’s deputy Oil Minister over support to Iran, as Washington puts intense pressure on the incoming government to sever links.

The deputy Minister, Ali Maarij al-Bahadli, “abused his government position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

“As part of a scheme to evade sanctions, Iranian oil was fraudulently mixed with Iraqi oil and sold for Iran’s benefit,” he said.

The United States has unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil, seeking to punish any country or company that buys it.

Iran, led by Shia clerics, has had close relations with many key players in Shia-majority Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

The United States has been escalating pressure on the Iraqi state to break off alleged cooperation with armed Iraqi Shia groups linked to Iran.

Tariffs in trouble: On the U.S. Supreme Court and Donald Trump

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, armed groups have hit U.S. facilities in Iraq more than 600 times before a ceasefire was announced, according to a U.S. official.

The official said that the United States was looking for “concrete actions” from Iraq to cast aside the armed groups before Washington can resume full cooperation.

During the Iran war, the United States notably stopped shipments to Iraq of cash from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which has handled the country’s oil revenue in an arrangement dating from the U.S. invasion.

U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated and voiced hope for working with Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, who was selected by the ruling coalition after heavy U.S. pressure against the frontrunner.

Published – May 08, 2026 08:29 am IST

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U.S. fires on Iranian oil tanker as Trump pressures Tehran for deal to end war

admin — Wed, 06 May 2026 22:35:00 +0000

The U.S. military fired on an Iranian oil tanker Wednesday (May 6, 2026) as U.S. President Donald Trump sought to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal to end the war. The Islamic Republic said it was reviewing the latest American proposals.

A fighter jet shot out the rudder of the tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

The attack occurred as Iran and the U.S. are officially in a ceasefire. Mr. Trump threatened Tehran with a new wave of bombing if a deal is not reached that includes opening the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Mr. Trump posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end and that oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict could restart. But he said that depends on Iran accepting a reported agreement that the president did not detail.

Iran-Israel war: Follow updates on May 6, 2026

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Meanwhile, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since a ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group was announced April 17. Fighting has continued since then in southern Lebanon.

The last strikes in Beirut were on April 8, when a series of massive Israeli attacks killed more than 350 people. More than 2,500 have died in Lebanon since fighting began March 2, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday’s (May 6, 2026) strike, which came without warning, targeted a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. Hezbollah did not immediately comment.

Mr. Trump insisted Wednesday (May 6, 2026) that Iranian officials want to end the war.

“We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much, and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us,” the president said.

He suggested, both at the White House and on social media, that the U.S. could ultimately force a settlement.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Mr. Trump said on social media, “and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

The White House believes it is near an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum to end the war, according to reporting by Axios. There is no deal yet, but provisions include a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, lifting of U.S. sanctions, distribution of frozen Iranian funds and opening the strait for ships.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the possible agreement.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, told state TV that Tehran had “strongly rejected” U.S. proposals reported by Axios, but that it was still examining the latest proposed agreement.

A shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Tehran has largely held since it began April 8. Pakistan hosted in-person talks last month between the two countries, but they failed to reach an agreement.

Mr. Trump sought to increase pressure on Tehran the day after he suspended a short-lived U.S. effort to force open a safe passage for commercial ships through the strait. The waterway was a vital passage for oil and gas supplies, fertilizer and other petroleum products before the war.

Only two American-flagged merchant ships are known to have passed through the U.S.-guarded route after it opened Monday (May 4, 2026). The U.S. military said it sank six Iranian small boats threatening civilian ships.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait has sent fuel prices skyrocketing, rattled the global economy and put enormous economic pressure on countries, including major powers such as China.

China’s Foreign Minister called for a comprehensive ceasefire Wednesday (May 6, 2026) after meeting in Beijing with Iran’s top envoy. Wang Yi said his country was “deeply distressed” by the conflict, which began February 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran give it a unique position of influence. The Trump administration is pressing China to use that relationship to urge the Islamic Republic to open the strait.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to China came ahead of a planned trip by Mr. Trump to Beijing.

Mr. Trump is scheduled to attend a high-profile summit on May 14 and 15 with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr. Trump was the last U.S. president to visit China in 2017.

“We believe that a comprehensive ceasefire is urgently needed, that a resumption of hostilities is not acceptable,” Mr. Wang said in a video of the meeting.

The Chinese Foreign Minister said the conflict “has not only caused serious losses to the Iranian people, but also had a severe impact on regional and global peace.”

Mr. Araghchi told Iranian state TV that his visit included discussions of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Mr. Trump has demanded a major rollback of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

A statement published on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website said China values Iran’s pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons while affirming its “legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

Hundreds of merchant ships remain bottled up in the Persian Gulf, unable to reach the open sea without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

A cargo container ship operated by the CMA CGM Group was damaged, and multiple crew members were wounded when it came under attack while transiting the strait Tuesday (May 5, 2026), the French shipping company said. It said the injured crew members were taken off the ship and received medical treatment.

Oil prices and shipping will not likely return to normal until the risk of attacks in the strait has receded, said Kaho Yu, head of energy and resources at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

“Refiners, shippers and commodity traders will remain cautious until there is clearer evidence that Hormuz disruptions will not re-escalate,” he said.

Among them is Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s largest shipping companies. It said in a statement that the strait’s shutdown is costing it around $60 million per week, with rising fuel and insurance costs hitting particularly hard. The company said alternate routes to other harbors or over land are limited.

The spot price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell to around $100 per barrel Wednesday (May 6, 2026), easing significantly from big price jumps earlier in the week. Crude sold for roughly $70 a barrel before the war began.

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Trump launches ‘Project Freedom’ to open Strait of Hormuz, Iran strikes ships, UAE port

admin — Tue, 05 May 2026 01:14:00 +0000

Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since ⁠a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new operation on Monday (May 4, 2026) seeking to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, prompting Iran to lash out in an effort to keep control of the critical ‌energy shipping route.

A handful of commercial vessels were reported to have been hit and a UAE oil port was ablaze after an Iranian strike as Mr. Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since ⁠a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago. The U.S. said it destroyed six small Iranian boats.

Published – May 05, 2026 06:44 am IST

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Armed man shot by U.S. Secret Service near White House

admin — Mon, 04 May 2026 22:40:00 +0000

U.S. Secret Service responds after a person was shot by law enforcement near the Washington Monument in Washington, on May 4,, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

An armed man was shot by U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents in downtown Washington on Monday (May 4, 2026), officials said, prompting a brief lockdown of the nearby White House.

The shooting near the National Mall occurred shortly after a motorcade carrying Vice-President J.D. Vance had passed by the area, USSS Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said.

Published – May 05, 2026 04:10 am IST

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Trump announces ‘Project Freedom’ to help stranded ships leave Strait of Hormuz

admin — Sun, 03 May 2026 22:57:00 +0000

Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United States will launch an effort on Monday (May 4, 2026) to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said, giving few details about what could be a sweeping effort to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers.

Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Sunday (May 3, 2026) that “neutral and innocent” countries have been affected by the Iran war, and “we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”

Published – May 04, 2026 05:31 am IST

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