NEW YORK, May 4 — A United Airlines plane hit a lamppost and a delivery truck on a New Jersey highway while landing yesterday at Newark Liberty International Airport, officials told AFP.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials said the Boeing 767 landed safely after arriving from Venice, Italy, and the agency would investigate the incident.

No injuries were reported on the plane, and the truck driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.

The jet was carrying 221 passengers and 10 crew members.

“While on approach to land at Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines Flight 169 struck a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike around 2pm local time yesterday, May 3,” the FAA said in a statement, adding that the plane sustained minor damage.

The Port Authority said in a statement that the plane caused “damage to a light post and a tractor trailer travelling south on the NJ Turnpike.”

The H&S Bakery truck “was unscathed” but “the wheel of the commercial plane crashed into the driver’s window,” according to Chuck Paterakis, a senior vice president for the company, who added “the truck driver suffered small cuts from the incident.”

United Airlines said in a statement it plans to “conduct a rigorous flight safety investigation into the incident and our crew has been removed from service as part of this process.”

New Jersey State Police, who responded to the highway incident, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 4 — President Donald Trump said yesterday that “very positive discussions” were underway with Iran on finding a solution to the war, but nevertheless added US forces will soon start escorting ships out of the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, told state television that Tehran had submitted a 14-point plan “focused on ending the war,” and that Washington had responded to it in a message to Pakistani mediators.

“I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic republic’s supreme leader. Tehran responded with strikes on US military bases and Israeli targets in the region.

A ceasefire came into effect April 8, and there has been one round of direct peace talks in Islamabad since, with the two countries deadlocked.

Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertilizer to the world economy, while the US has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Trump said “countries from all over the world” had requested American aid in navigating through the key waterway and out of the Gulf.

“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, 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,” Trump said.

“This process, Project Freedom, will begin today morning, Middle East time.”

He called it a “humanitarian gesture,” saying many of the marooned ships were “running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner.”

Trump offered few details on how the mission would work. But an operation to guide ships out of the narrow strait could put US service members precariously close to Iranian forces.

In a post on X, US Central Command said starting today, its forces would begin supporting Project Freedom with guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the post.

As of April 29, more than 900 commercial vessels were located in the Gulf, according to maritime intelligence firm AXSMarine. There had been more than 1,100 at the start of the conflict. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 4 — Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is hospitalised in “critical but stable condition,” his spokesman said yesterday, without disclosing what ails the 81-year-old former politician.

“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” spokesman Ted Goodman said in an X post.

Goodman did not say where Giuliani was receiving care or how long he had been there, but he asked “that you join us in prayer for America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”

The New York Times reported that Giuliani was hospitalised in Florida.

Giuliani earned the moniker of “America’s mayor” for leading New York City through the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan.

Earlier in his career, he gained fame as the fearless Mafia-busting prosecutor whose aggressive use of racketeering laws brought down New York’s organised crime families.

But Giuliani experienced a stunning fall from grace in recent years, including in 2023 when a federal jury ordered him to pay US$148 million (RM585.86 million) to two election workers after defaming them by falsely tying them to alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Giuliani, a Republican, became a fierce defender of President Donald Trump, joining his personal legal team in Trump’s first White House term.

He came under scrutiny by the Manhattan US attorney’s office in 2019 over his activities connected with investigations about Ukraine and apparent efforts to dig up dirt on Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Giuliani was also part of the effort to reverse his client’s clear election loss to Biden in 2020. But one by one, the post-election court challenges were withdrawn or dismissed as groundless.

He has since been disbarred in New York and Washington.

Giuliani was facing criminal charges in Arizona related to the 2020 election and other legal issues when Trump issued him a sweeping pardon last November.

Yesterday Trump hailed Giuliani as a “true warrior” and New York’s best-ever mayor.

“What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL - AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!” Trump added.

“They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!” — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 4 — A gruff oyster farmer who only recently got rid of his Nazi-style tattoo is the unlikely face of the Democrats’ bid to seize the Senate from President Donald Trump’s Republicans – and recover working-class voters.

That a man like Graham Platner finds himself on the front line of the fight for national power in the United States says a lot about a Democratic Party trying to find its way out of the wilderness.

Democrats are bullish about winning the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections. But the Senate – and ability to wield real power during Trump’s last two years – is a far tougher challenge.

Enter Platner, a 41-year-old former Marine who talks movingly of his opposition to war after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is targeting a key Senate seat in Maine, where longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins is seen as vulnerable.

Virtually unknown a year ago, Platner has barnstormed across Maine, delivering a feisty, anti-establishment message.

Revelations that he had a skull tattoo similar to a Nazi symbol, as well as strings of troubling past social media posts about sexual assault and gays, failed to stop him.

Supporters gathered in a rustic barn to hear Platner speak and answer un-screened questions from the audience in Appleton, Maine on May 2, 2026. — Getty Images via AFP

On Thursday, Platner’s heavyweight rival for the Democratic nomination, current state Governor Janet Mills, threw in the towel. Now, he’ll be trying to dethrone 73-year-old Collins in the election.

“Thank you all for believing,” Platner posted in a video highlighting working-class supporters like fishermen and nurses who back “changing our politics.”

Andrew Koneschusky, head of public relations firm Beltway Advisors, said the success of Platner’s insurgency reflects wider hunger.

“Voters want authenticity,” he told AFP. “They don’t want robotic poll-tested candidates anymore.”

Authenticity or liability? 

For years, Democratic activists have been clamoring for everyman-candidates – populists with blue collar backgrounds who can talk to regular folk, especially non-college-educated white men. It’s natural Democratic territory that Trump and his hard-right MAGA coalition have done much to poach.

Platner, with his war record, oyster farmer’s gnarled hands, and plain talk, seemed to fit the bill.

But there were problems.

An attendee records US Senate candidate from Maine, Graham Platner, during a campaign townhall event on May 2, 2026 in Appleton, Maine. — Getty Images via AFP

That tattoo and the social media posts – which Platner explains respectively as the result of a misguided outing during his Marines days and dark post-combat rants – highlighted the risk of running untested candidates.

And several Democratic grandees like Chuck Schumer, the party’s leader in the Senate, pushed for Mills as the safer choice.

But polling showed voters were adamant: at 78, Mills literally represented the old guard and the party base wants to move on.

“Voters don’t like it when establishment figures anoint a candidate,” Koneschusky said.

Searching for a big tent 

Third Way, a think tank pushing for more centrist Democratic platforms, says the party needs to do better at accepting candidates who don’t fit in normal liberal boxes.

A Gallup poll last year showed that 45 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents wanted the party to become more moderate, up 11 percentage points from 2021.

That search is taking Democrats in many directions.

Another new candidate in the Platner-mold is burly Pennsylvania firefighter Bob Brooks, who is running for Congress.

He too is touted as appealing to working-class voters but ran into trouble from liberal activists over past comments defending gun ownership in the wake of a mass shooting – a hugely sensitive issue.

Brooks quickly apologized and admitted to saying “a few stupid things.”

A graveyard is seen through a window behind attendees during a Graham Platner for Senate campaign townhall event on May 2, 2026 in Appleton, Maine. — Getty Images via AFP

But figures like Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill, who convincingly won governorship races in Virginia and New Jersey last year, come from the national security world and pride themselves on centrism.

And then there’s James Talarico, running for a Senate seat in ultra-conservative Texas.

Another unknown outside his home state until recently, Talarico has become a Democratic star by taking on Republicans at their own game – by making his Christian faith the cornerstone of his politics.

The Bible-quoting 36-year-old faces a huge challenge in Texas.

But “if anybody can do it,” said Matt Bennett at Third Way, “it’s him.” — AFP

KATHMANDU, May 4 — As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships.

Electric microbus driver Purushottam Adhikari said he was now shuttling more passengers along the 300-kilometre (186-mile) journey between his town in Chitwan district and the capital Kathmandu.

“My profession is not affected (by the conflict),” said the 48-year-old, who drives his 18-seater Chinese-made e-van along Nepal’s highways daily. “In fact, more people are choosing EVs.”

Soaring global oil prices and fuel supply disruption since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz have led to long queues at gas stations in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, but Nepal has largely avoided the worst of the crisis.

“One of the main reasons is the increased penetration of electric vehicles on Nepal’s roads,” alternative energy expert Govind Raj Pokharel told AFP.

The country of 30 million people has an estimated 50,000 EVs, still a small fraction of the total 6.2 million motor vehicles, but a figure officials expect would keep increasing.

The price of petrol in Nepal, which imports all of its gasoline, has nearly doubled since the war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

While transport fares have gone up, Adhikari told AFP that his prices remain unchanged at 700 rupees (US$4.60; RM18.26) for a one-way trip in his Joylong A6, which in turn costs US$8 (RM31.76) for a full recharge.

A full tank for a similar diesel vehicle would have cost “more than US$66 (RM262.06)”, he said.

Electric microbus driver Purushottam Adhikari charges his vehicle at a charging station in Kathmandu on May 1, 2026. — AFP pic

‘Comfortable and cheap’ 

An expanding network of charging stations along major highways has made long-distance electric travel increasingly viable.

Boarding Adhikari’s van, 20-year-old Susmita Bishowkarma said she prefers to travel in EVs because they are “environmentally friendly... comfortable and comparatively cheap”.

Buoyed by a surge in hydropower generation and a greener electric grid than neighbouring India and Bangladesh, Nepal has emerged as one of the world’s fastest adopters of EVs.

The Himalayan nation imported more than 13,500 EVs between mid-2024 and mid-2025 – double that of petrol vehicles and a sharp rise from just seven a decade ago, government data shows.

Fume-free taxis and cars manufactured in China are a common sight in Kathmandu, with traffic officials estimating that up to 60 percent of microbuses entering the city from key routes are now electric.

Customs department spokesman Kishor Bartaula said the number of EVs would rise further with hundreds awaiting clearance at Nepal’s ports.

In line with its clean energy policy, the government is seeking to replace some 10,000 vehicles damaged during anti-corruption protests last year with EVs, finance ministry spokesman Amrit Lamsal told AFP.

Demand surge 

Concerns that ongoing conflict in the Middle East could prolong global fuel uncertainty are also influencing consumer behaviour.

Shraban Bhattari, 49, who recently bought a BYD Atto-2, said the Chinese-made car is saving him daily fuel expenses.

“I no longer need to go to the petrol pump,” he said.

In April the government approved a legal framework to allow people to convert their petrol and diesel vehicles into electric ones, known as “retrofitting”.

But EV dealers told AFP they were struggling to meet demand.

As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships. — AFP pic

“It is getting challenging to meet the demand,” said Ritima Pandey, customer relations officer at Venture Motors.

“As the price of diesel has gone up, many people are coming to trade in fuel vehicles for EV vans.”

Schools and colleges are also exploring electric fleet purchases, dealer Dinesh Raj Pandeya said, signalling a shift beyond individual commuters.

Energy expert Pokharel urged policymakers to build on the momentum by encouraging domestic EV manufacturing and assembly.

“This will give us a long-term solution,” he said. — AFP

TOKYO, May 4 — Long-pacifist Japan has shed its self-imposed ban on lethal weaponry exports, gunning for a prominent place in the global defence trade — a challenging feat that analysts say could take years to achieve.

Under Japan’s once-strict stance adopted following its World War II surrender and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it has generally restricted arms exports in recent times to non-lethal categories like rescue, transport and surveillance.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government scrapped these constraints last month, allowing firms to supply lethal weaponry to any of the 17 countries where Japan has defence cooperation agreements.

Prohibitions on sales to nations at war remain but can be circumvented under special circumstances.

Five Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, are already in the top 100 global defence companies, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends an annual May Day rally, organized by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, Japan April 29, 2026. — Reuters pic

But they have largely lived off domestic demand from Japan’s military, often in cooperation with US defence firms.

Analysts say a focus on high-tech sectors could help the transition, but caution that it could take years for defence exports to become a big contributor to economic growth, hampered by capacity and workforce shortages.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ian Ma said it was a “transition from a domestic, ministry-led procurement model to a normal practice which companies could drive business opportunities just like other global companies are doing.”

He added that as newcomers on the global market, Japanese firms should focus on “higher-tech niches” like naval and propulsion systems, advanced missiles, sensors and electronics.

No ‘immediate impact’

With conflicts raging around the world, the international defence market is huge and fast growing, soaring by 41 per cent between 2016 and 2025 to almost US$3 trillion (RM11.91 trillion), according to SIPRI.

While Japanese firms may only export to 17 countries, those include some of the world’s biggest defence spenders like the US, Germany, India and Britain.

Evolutions in technology and the way wars are fought — notably with drones — are also making the global arms market more diffuse, which could benefit Japan, according to analysts at the Stimson Center.

Along with a steep decline in Russian arms exports, Washington’s “increasingly unpredictable, extractive, and at times confrontational approach” has also pushed importers to seek alternatives to the US, the Stimson Center said in a research note.

“Though the trend remains nascent, for Japan, the wandering eyes of traditional US defence partners could add to the demand for the sorts of sophisticated capabilities Tokyo is well-prepared to offer.”

Even before the new changes, Japan has been no slouch.

Last year Mitsubishi Heavy Industries won a landmark order for 11 warships from the Australian navy.

This file picture shows Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles (L) and Japan’s Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (R) posing for a photo with Eisaku Ito, Pesident and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, before the signing of a contract for Japan to deliver the first three of Mogami-class warships, in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. — AFP pic

Japan is also developing a new fighter jet with Britain and Italy, and countries in Southeast Asia are reportedly interested in acquiring used Japanese submarines and warships.

But Mitsubishi Electric, which supplied a radar system to the Philippines and may soon make air-to-air missiles with US partners, told AFP that the new rules would not have a “significant immediate impact on our business”.

Rival IHI said that the changes “will not lead to an immediate acceleration of our defence equipment business”, but “will have a significant impact on creating a market environment that accelerates international cooperation”.

Homework

Ma cautioned that Japan has “homework” to do, including on production capacity, skilled labour, second- and third-tier suppliers, certification, testing, maintenance support and the ability to “deliver on time”.

Beyond the economic stakes, deepening security ties is also a strategic necessity for Japan, said Heigo Sato, a professor at Takushoku University, in a region where China is flexing its muscles and home to nuclear-armed North Korea.

“When it comes to defence industry cooperation, Japan is by no means a country with the world’s most advanced weaponry; therefore, we must actively work to build relationships with other nations,” Sato told AFP.

The Japanese public is not at all comfortable with the new strategy, with 55 per cent of respondents in a recent Nikkei poll saying that they were opposed to the expansion of arms exports.

Days after Takaichi announced the new rules, dozens of protestors rallied in Tokyo.

A demonstrator holds a paper fan featuring the number 9 referring to Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces war as a sovereign right and prohibits the maintenance of armed forces, as people gather to protest demanding the resignation of Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, opposing her policies on constitutional revision and military expansion, during a Constitution Memorial Day rally in Tokyo, Japan, May 3, 2026. — Reuters pic

In World War II, “Japan committed acts of aggression, and in turn suffered enormous damage from the atomic bombs,” demonstrator Yura Suzuike told AFP.

Japan’s pacifist constitution that followed had been drafted “with the resolve that we must never again wage war or kill people”, she said. — AFP

PARIS, May 3 — The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Iran hangs man

Iran hanged a man convicted of involvement in the killing of a security forces volunteer during anti-government protests, the judiciary said.

“Mehrab Abdollahzadeh’s death sentence was carried out this morning after completing the legal formalities,” said the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

Gaza flotilla in court

Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel for interrogation appeared before an Israeli court, a rights group defending them told AFP.

Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila were taken to court in the city of Ashkelon, according to Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the Israeli rights group Adalah.

Israel’s Lebanon warning

Israel’s military issued new evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon for villages beyond the area it occupies, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The warning covers more than 10 villages and towns, including several in the district of Nabatieh, which lies north of the Litani River. Israel has stationed troops south of the river.

Iran museum

Iranian authorities plan to turn a bombsite at a university in central Iran into a museum about the impact of US-Israeli strikes, an official said.

“The current damaged site will be preserved as a war museum at the university to remain a document of the country’s scientific oppression in history,” said Zafarollah Kalantari, head of Isfahan University of Technology.

Trump says US numbers in Germany to come ‘way down’

US President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw more troops from Germany than was previously announced by the Pentagon.

“We’re going to cut way down, and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” he told reporters yesterday, without providing details.

Earlier, a NATO spokeswoman said the alliance was seeking more information on the US decision, which came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran was “humiliating” the Trump administration in negotiations.

Trump casts doubt

Trump said he would review a new Iranian peace deal but cast doubt over its prospects, as Iranian media reported Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan.

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Iran had submitted a 14-point proposal. It reportedly includes ending the conflict on all fronts and enacting a new framework for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to Tasnim.

Three killed in Lebanon

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon yesterday killed three people in Sammaiyeh in the Tyre district.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes dismantling “approximately 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites” across southern Lebanon.

Israel damages convent

A Catholic charity condemned what it called the “deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship” after a convent was damaged by Israeli forces in Lebanon.

The Israeli military confirmed a “religious building” was damaged by troops operating in the village of Yaroun and “houses located in a religious compound” were “damaged” during an operation to “destroy terrorist infrastructure”.

French Catholic charity L’Oeuvre d’Orient said troops “destroyed” a convent belonging to the Salvatorian Sisters, a Greek-Catholic religious order the charity is affiliated with. — AFP

CHENNAI, May 3 — A routine landing turned chaotic at Chennai International Airport this morning when a passenger aboard Air Arabia flight  G9471 unexpectedly opened an emergency exit and jumped onto the runway moments after touchdown.

The incident happened aboard an Airbus A320 that was flying from Sharjah, had 231 passengers on board when it landed at around 3.23am, several Indians news outlets reported.

The jump occurred as the plane was taxiing towards the terminal, forcing the pilot to immediately halt the aircraft and alert airport authorities.

Airport operations were briefly thrown into disarray, with the main runway closed as a safety precaution shortly after the incident.

“The passenger was identified as 29-year-old Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Najmudeen. He jumped off the aircraft’s emergency exit on Taxiway V. This incident took place around 3.25 am,” an unnamed official was quoted by The Hindustan Times as saying.

“The airline staff informed security personnel and took the passenger to local police, who took him into custody,” another airport official, also anonymous, was quoted as saying.

The jumper reportedly ran towards the airport’s commercial area, briefly alarming staff and passengers before security personnel intervened and apprehended him.

Officials said he sustained injuries after jumping from the aircraft and was taken for medical treatment.

Another airport source said the passenger, believed to be from Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai, had claimed he was “unstable” at the time of the incident, though investigations are ongoing.

The aircraft was later towed to a parking bay around 4.25am, while runway operations resumed approximately an hour later at 4.35am.

TEHRAN, May 3 — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said today that the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with the Islamic republic.

The Middle East war, launched by the US and Israel in late February, has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan.

Negotiations have since stalled as the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Iran has kept the key Strait of Hormuz largely closed.

The Guards intelligence organisation said that US President Donald “Trump must choose between ‘an impossible operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran’”, in an online post carried by state television.

It added that the window for US decision-making “has been narrowed”, citing what it described as a “shift in tone” from China, Russia and Europe towards Washington as well as what it called an Iranian “deadline” over the US naval blockade, without elaborating.

US outlet Axios, citing two sources briefed on a recent Iranian proposal to the US, reported that Tehran had set “a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US naval blockade and permanently end the war in Iran and in Lebanon”.

Today, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would be reviewing Iran’s latest proposal but added that he “can’t imagine that it would be acceptable”.

Iranian media, including the Tasnim and Fars news agencies, reported yesterday on the contents of the proposal.

According to Tasnim, Iran has said the outstanding issues between the two sides “should be resolved within 30 days” and should focus “on ending the war instead of extending the ceasefire”.

The issues, Tasnim said, included “the withdrawal of US military forces from Iran’s periphery, lifting the naval blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets and lifting sanctions”.

The report mentioned “ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon and agreeing a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz”. — AFP

BEIJING, May 3 — China accused the Philippines of landing personnel on a disputed reef in the South China Sea today as Manila said it would dispatch ships to drive off Chinese vessels it said were conducting research illegally.

The exchange extends a run of heightened tension between China and the Philippines, a US ally, over Sandy Cay, an unoccupied sandbar in the South China Sea.

Today, China’s Coast Guard said it had identified five Philippine personnel who had landed on Sandy Cay, an action Beijing termed “illegal,” according to state-run media outlet Global Times. The report did not specify what — if any — further action China had taken.

Manila said last week it had dispatched its coast guard to Sandy Cay after state media reports showed Chinese coast guard personnel arriving on Sandy Cay holding a Chinese flag.

Ties between China and the Philippines are strained over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire waterway.

Also today, a spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard said Manila had identified four Chinese vessels conducting what it called illegal research in its waters and threatened to deploy aircraft and ships to force them to move away.

China’s foreign ministry and the Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately reply to requests for comment. — Reuters

LONDON, May 3 — King Charles III’s US state visit was a “risk and challenge” that he “grasped in both hands”, a palace aide said today as the monarch returned from a widely praised trip.

Charles left for the UK from Bermuda yesterday following what a senior royal aide called a “historic” visit to the United States, aimed at healing strained ties between Washington and London.

The highlight of the four-day visit was the 77-year-old king’s speech to US Congress on Tuesday — the first such address since his mother, queen Elizabeth II spoke there after the Gulf War in 1991.

The speech, marking 250 years since American independence, was “high stakes”, the aide involved in the visit told reporters.

The king urged the importance of Nato and called for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, despite US President Donald Trump’s critical stance on the bloc and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

This was “a measure of how much he personally cares” and proves that he “will always be guided by the truth”, the royal aide said.

‘Warmth and laughter’ 

His words won praise from Trump’s opponents, with senior Democrat Gregory Meeks hailing the king’s “impassioned call for a renewed commitment to Nato”.

And the speech appeared to have gone down well with Trump, too.

The president told journalists Friday that Charles “is just a great person. He’s a high quality person. I love the job he did in Congress”.

The rapport between the king and president continued as they met behind closed doors in the Oval Office, the royal aide said with “an awful lot of warmth and laughter” amid serious topics.

By contrast, Trump has repeatedly lambasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer, particularly over his stance on Iran.

The palace aide denied any awkwardness over the differences in warmth of relationship, stressed the king’s visit was on the government’s request and there is “not a competition” between the monarchy and Downing Street.

On the contrary, the king and queen “have been able to help the government”, the aide said, and the king himself viewed the US leg of his trip as particularly “positive”.

“What looked like risk and challenge was also a phenomenal opportunity. One that was grasped in both hands by the King,” the aide said.

‘A personal triumph’ 

British media lavished praise on the visit: The Daily Telegraph called it “a triumph” and a “reassertion of our shared values”, while for The Times, it was a “star-spangled success”.

“I think it was a personal triumph,” for Charles, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP, citing the king’s “superb” speech to Congress, with “brilliant jokes”.

“He got it right and every nuance seemed perfect. It pleased everybody,” Fitzwilliams said of the address.

The visit proved a “boost” at a “very difficult time for the monarchy,” the royal expert said.

Undergoing cancer treatment and after a bitter rift with his son, Prince Harry, Charles this year saw his brother, the former prince Andrew, arrested over ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump reacted to the royal visit by lifting whisky tariffs, a major trade concession, in honour of Charles.

But Fitzwilliams urged caution on future consequences for the UK, citing Trump’s “unpredictability”.

Trump “loves all things British royal. But not necessarily the British government,” he said. — AFP

COLOMBO, May 3 — Sri Lankan police have arrested 37 Chinese nationals suspected of running a cyberscam centre in the capital Colombo, a spokesman said today, in the latest crackdown on foreign-run online fraud.

The suspects, aged between 23 and 44 and including one woman, were arrested after a tip-off, the police spokesman said.

“They had entered the country on tourist visas and were illegally employed, while two of them had overstayed their visas,” he added.

A local police source said 35 tablet computers, 147 mobile phones and 100 SIM cards were seized at the suspected scam centre in the Colombo suburb of Talangama.

The arrests came a month after 152 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were detained for allegedly running a cyberscam operation out of a hotel in the island’s northwest.

Immigration authorities arrested 135 Chinese men and women in March for allegedly running a similar scam operation. They have since been deported.

Beijing’s embassy in Colombo said at the time it was working closely with local authorities to prevent Chinese nationals from carrying out scam operations in Sri Lanka.

The embassy said Sri Lanka’s developed telecommunications infrastructure, favourable geographical location and relatively lenient visa policies encouraged fraud gangs to move to the South Asian nation.

In 2024, Sri Lankan authorities detained 230 Chinese nationals and 200 Indian nationals accused of operating cybercrime centres in various parts of the island. — AFP

CORNUSSE (France), May 3 — Up to 40,000 partygoers gathered yesterday for an illegal rave at a military site in France, defying warnings about the risk of possible explosions from old ordnance.

Thumping techno music echoed across a vast firing range near the central French town of Bourges as revellers—many dressed in brightly coloured outfits, others shirtless—assembled for the unauthorised event, known as a “free party”, which began on Friday.

Behind them, tents and vans stretched across the grassy field.

Authorities had estimated attendance at 20,000 on Saturday morning, but more ravers arrived during the day and Tekno Anti Rep, a free party support network present at the site, told AFP the total was between 35,000 and 40,000 by the evening.

Bomb disposal experts had to intervene after a shell was discovered near a road passsing through the party site, the local officials said.

The gathering comes as the French parliament is seeking to tighten legislation against unauthorised rave parties, introducing prison sentences for organisers and fines for attendees.

“Despite its illegal nature, the government has mobilised to ensure the safety of this event and limit any disturbances,” the prefecture said.

Philippe Le Moing Surzur, the local prefect, said the site was “extremely dangerous due to the unexploded ordnance it may contain”.

While modern shells posed no threat, he warned of the risk from older unexploded ordnance dating back to World War II.

Old artillery shells 

He said that even the France’s Directorate General of Armaments, which owns the land, did not have precise knowledge of the risks.

“This is a site that has been in use for 150 years, and we know there are potentially old artillery shells there,” he said, adding that bomb disposal experts discover them regularly.

The firing range covers 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) and is crisscrossed by roads that are closed during tests but open to the public at other times.

Signs prohibit access to the range itself, but it is not fenced off.

The organisers have urged attendees to refrain from lighting fires, digging or picking up any objects.

The local mayor’s office said residents and partygoers were getting on well.

“For once there’s something going on, make the most of it!” Paulette, 64, who lives in the village nearby and declined to give her family name, told AFP.

Emergency services treated 12 people with minor injuries Saturday morning.

The prefect said one person had been struck by a vehicle, and a number of the injured people had cut themselves while handling sharp shrapnel.

Revellers see the giant party not only as a chance to unwind, but also as a protest against the rave-curbing legislation.

“It’s a way of showing that participants are mobilised and will keep coming, whatever happens, and will continue to challenge these laws,” a member of the Tekno Anti Rep collective told AFP.

‘Message against repression’ 

A free party is usually an illegal form of rave rooted in anti-establishment culture.

They are held without permission in remote locations, and admission is free or by donation.

“I had heard there were going to be a lot of people, but once you’re there, it’s still a shock to see so many people gathered in one place,” said one 22-year-old man, who did not want to be named.

Another partygoer, 19, also anonymous, said the turnout was “a strong message against repression”.

Around 600 police and 45 firefighters were deployed at the site.

“We’re getting ready for a big get-together tonight,” said Edith Raquin, the mayor of Cornusse, a village of 220 people located less than two kilometres from the site.

She said that the revellers came across as “peaceful people” and some elderly residents were “delighted” to talk with them.

“They are polite, they say hello,” Raquin said. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 3 — Nato said yesterday it was working with the United States to understand Washington’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany as a rift in transatlantic ties deepens over the Middle East war.

The Pentagon’s announcement of the troop withdrawal follows a spat between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday that Iran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table.

It also came as Trump announced that tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union would jump from 15 per cent to 25 per cent next week, accusing the bloc of failing to comply with a trade deal signed last summer.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Friday the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops from Germany was expected “to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

Nato said yesterday it was “working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

“This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defense and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security,” Nato spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on X.

There were 36,436 active-duty US troops in Nato ally Germany as of December 31, 2025, compared to 12,662 in Italy and 3,814 in Spain.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said yesterday the US troop withdrawal “from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected.”

Republican concern 

The decision is being met with skepticism by top Republican lawmakers who oversee US military policy.

In a joint statement yesterday, Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers, chairs of the Armed Services Committees in their respective chambers, warned that pulling troops from Germany risks “sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”

Even though European allies are boosting defense spending, “translating that investment into the military capability needed to assume primary responsibility for conventional deterrence will take time,” they said.

The duo noted that Germany had heeded Trump’s calls for greater spending on defense and that it had allowed American planes to use German bases and airspace during the ongoing conflict with Iran.

‘Why shouldn’t I?’ 

Trump has threatened to slash US troop numbers in Germany and other European allies during both his White House terms, saying he wants Europe to take on greater responsibility for its defense rather than depending on Washington.

He now appears determined to punish allies who have failed to back the Middle East war or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Tehran’s forces have effectively closed.

Trump said on Thursday he might pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to their opposition to the Iran war.

“Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible,” he told reporters.

“Yeah, probably, I probably will. Why shouldn’t I?” Trump said.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Thursday that Berlin was “prepared” for a reduction in US troops and “discussing it closely and in a spirit of trust in all NATO bodies.”

However, Wadephul said large American bases in Germany are “not up for discussion at all” and cited the example of Ramstein Air Base, which he said has “an irreplaceable function for the United States and for us alike.” — AFP

PARIS, May 3 — The latest developments in the Middle East war:

US cutting Germany troop numbers ‘way down’ 

President Donald Trump said the United States would be withdrawing more troops from Germany than was previously announced by the Pentagon.

“We’re going to cut way down, and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” he told reporters Saturday, without providing details.

Earlier, a Nato spokeswoman said the alliance was seeking more information from Washington on its decision, which came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran was “humiliating” the Trump administration in negotiations.

Trump casts doubt on new peace proposal 

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would review a new Iranian peace deal but cast doubt over its prospects, as Iranian media reported Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan.

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Iran had submitted a 14-point proposal. It reportedly includes ending the conflict on all fronts and enacting a new framework for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to Tasnim.

Three killed in Lebanon 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a series of Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed three people in the town of Sammaiyeh in the Tyre district.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes dismantling “approximately 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites” across southern Lebanon on Saturday.

The attacks that have become a regular occurrence despite the fragile April 17 ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Catholic convent damaged in Lebanon 

A Catholic charity condemned what it called the “deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship” after a convent was damaged by Israeli forces in Lebanon.

The Israeli military confirmed a “religious building” was damaged by troops operating in the village of Yaroun and “houses located in a religious compound” were “damaged” during an operation to “destroy terrorist infrastructure”.

French Catholic charity L’Oeuvre d’Orient said troops “destroyed” a convent belonging to the Salvatorian Sisters, a Greek-Catholic religious order the charity is affiliated with.

Iran: future of war up to US 

Iran said yesterday that it is up to the United States whether to pursue a negotiated settlement or to return to open war, and Tehran stands ready for either.

“Now the ball is in the United States’ court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach,” deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

“Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths,” he said.

China rejects US sanctions 

China will not comply with US sanctions against five firms targeted for purchasing Iranian oil, Beijing’s commerce ministry said yesterday.

China, a key customer for Iranian oil, said the US sanctions “improperly prohibit or restrict” the firms’ normal business.

US Navy ‘acting like pirates’ 

Trump said the US Navy was acting “like pirates” as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the tit-for-tat American blockade of Iranian ports.

“We... land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump told a rally in Florida.

“We’re like pirates,” he added to cheers from the crowd. “We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.”

Troop withdrawal ‘expected’ 

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said the withdrawal of 5,000 American troops from Germany had been expected and that Europe needed to do more to ensure its own security.

“That US troops are withdrawing from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected,” Boris Pistorius said in a statement sent to AFP by his ministry. “We Europeans must take greater responsibility for our security,” he added. — AFP

SYDNEY, May 3 — An Australian man has been charged with murdering a young Indigenous girl in a “deeply distressing” case that has stirred grief across the nation, police said today.

Detectives last week discovered the body of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby near the outback town of Alice Springs.

Soon after they arrested Jefferson Lewis, 47, who had been beaten unconscious after turning himself in to Indigenous community members.

Northern Territory Police said Lewis had now been charged with murder and two counts of rape.

“This remains a deeply distressing matter,” police commissioner Martin Dole told reporters.

“Our thoughts are with Kumanjayi’s family, loved ones, and the wider community that have been deeply impacted by these events.”

An angry crowd clashed with police as Lewis was treated in hospital after his arrest, demanding they hand over the accused child killer so they could punish him themselves.

Images of the riot showed teargas wafting through the air, a police van in flames and crowds yelling at armed officers keeping people at bay.

Many people outside the hospital shouted that Lewis must face “payback”, public broadcaster ABC reported, referring to a traditional punishment in central Australian Indigenous communities.

The girl, referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby at her family’s request, had disappeared from an Indigenous community camp, sparking a vast, days-long search on foot, horseback and by helicopter that gripped much of the country.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said her death had broken hearts across the nation.

“This is the tragic outcome we were all desperately hoping against.

“No words can measure up to the immensity of the grief her family is going through.

“In their time of terrible loss, all Australians hold them in our hearts.”

Robin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, called for calm in the community.

“It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering,” he said in a statement.

“We need to be strong for each other, we must respect family and cultural practice.” — AFP

* If you are experiencing sexual violence, the following hotlines offer free and confidential support: Talian Kasih at 15999 or WhatsApp 019-2615999 (24/7); All Women’s Action Society at 016-2374221/016-2284221 (9.30am-5.30pm); and Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) at 03-30008858 or SMS/WhatsApp TINA 018-9888058 (24/7)

DUBAI, May 3 — US President Donald Trump said yestarday he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Tehran misbehaves. A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Trump would ‌open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear program for later.

When asked about Iran’s proposal before boarding a flight to Miami at West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump replied: “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”

He added on his social media channel that he could not imagine the proposals would be acceptable and that Iran had not paid a big enough price for what it had done.

Asked if he might restart strikes on Iran, Trump replied: “I don’t want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen.”

Iran says it’s ready for diplomacy

Trump has said repeatedly that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and said on Friday he was not satisfied with the latest Iranian proposal, while Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was ready for diplomacy if the US changes its approach.

Reuters and other news organisations reported over the past week that Tehran was proposing to reopen the strait ‌before nuclear issues were resolved. The official confirmed that this new timeline had now been spelled out in a formal proposal conveyed to the United States through mediators.

Trump ⁠also said on Friday that “on a human basis,” he did not prefer the military ⁠course of action and told congressional leaders he did not need their permission to extend the war beyond a ⁠deadline set by law for that day because ⁠the ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities.

While saying repeatedly he ⁠is in no hurry, Trump is under domestic pressure to break Iran’s hold on the strait, which has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies and pushed up US gasoline prices. Trump’s Republican Party faces the risk of a voter backlash over higher prices when the country votes in midterm congressional elections in November.

Iranian media ⁠said Tehran’s 14-point proposal included the withdrawal of US forces from areas surrounding Iran, lifting the blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, payment of compensation, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new control mechanism for the strait. The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, but appear no closer to a deal to end a war that has caused the biggest disruption ever to global energy supplies, roiled global markets and raised worries about the possibility of a wider global economic downturn.

Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two ⁠months. Last month, the US imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.

Washington has repeatedly said it will not end the war, which has led to the deaths of thousands of people, without a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the primary aim Trump ⁠cited when he launched strikes in February in the midst of nuclear talks. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential diplomacy, the senior ⁠Iranian official said Tehran ⁠believed its latest proposal to shelve nuclear talks for a later stage was a significant shift aimed at facilitating an agreement.

Under the proposal, the war would end with a guarantee that Israel and the United States would not attack again. Iran would open the strait, and the United States would lift its blockade.

Future talks would then be held on curbs to Iran’s ‌nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran demanding Washington recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, even if it agrees to suspend its nuclear program.

“Under this framework, negotiations over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere,” the official said. — Reuters

LOS ANGELES, May 2 — At a gas station in Los Angeles, Ryder Thomas wore a grimace of barely suppressed anger as he filled his pickup truck, watching the cost tick up to US$130 (RM516) for a full tank — US$30 more than he was paying before the US and Israel attacked Iran.

“I’m mad about the price, but I’m even madder about why it’s so high,” the 28-year-old told AFP.

This week, pump prices in the United States climbed to their highest level since early 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered a global surge in the cost of oil.

Hostilities in the Middle East, which began when Israel and the United States started bombing Iran on February 28, have crimped supply, sending the price of crude surging.

The war launched by President Donald Trump is unpopular all over the United States, with polls showing a clear majority disapprove of a conflict whose aims they think are unclear.

“There was absolutely no need for this war. It’s just like when we invaded Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction,” Thomas said.

“Trump is an idiot, that’s all it is.”

For weeks, the Republican billionaire has insisted that attacking Iran was necessary to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons, and has repeatedly promised a short conflict.

But despite the overwhelming might of the US military, the Islamic republic has blocked the Strait of Hormuz — a global trade artery used to transport a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.

Gas prices exceeding US$8 a gallon are seen listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles, California April 28, 2026. — AFP pic

Domino effect 

The result of this squeeze on supply is rising prices, sending gas in already-expensive California above US$6 a gallon (US$1.59/RM6.31 per litre), compared with around US$4.50 a gallon before the war.

Thomas worries about the domino effect this oil crunch will have on everything else he buys, as the rising cost of transport pushes up the prices of everyday goods like food and clothing.

“I hope the middle-of-the-road voters who got Trump elected start thinking about it and realize what he’s done to them,” he said of a president who campaigned on reducing costs for everyday Americans.

Trump voter David Chavez, who was waiting among dozens of cars lining up to refuel at Costco — a wholesale retailer whose prices are often a little lower than average — said it was not that simple.

“It is not nice; we don’t want to pay more for gas,” acknowledged the cameraman as he got his credit card ready to fill up his minivan.

However, “we don’t know everything that happens behind closed doors. It’s too easy to blame one person for all the problems.”

Food bank 

Chavez said he voted for Democrats in the past, but switched to Trump because of former president Joe Biden’s “poor handling of immigration and poor handling of the economy.”

He accused oil giants of taking advantage of the current climate to artificially inflate prices, and pointed out that stricter environmental rules in California amp up the cost to motorists in the massive state.

Nonetheless, he admitted to being disappointed in Trump, but said no one is perfect.

“Trump still handles things a little bit better,” he said.

In the same gas line, 73-year-old Flo, who did not want to give her full name, said she no longer knew what or who to believe on the reasons for rising gas prices.

What she knew for certain was that increased fuel costs were making her life much harder.

“With gas this high, I go to the food bank now, more so than ever,” the retiree told AFP.

“I’ve had to cut back on driving too.”

Between her pension and a part-time job she takes home around US$3,000 a month — almost half of which is swallowed by rent.

“Life was already hard,” she sighed. “But now it’s just harder.” — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 2 — A US appeals court yesterday temporarily halted mail delivery of mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions in the United States, although a company distributing the drug said it would appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the order in a lawsuit brought by the southern state of Louisiana, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The order by the conservative-dominated court requires women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States to obtain mifepristone in person from health clinics, and bans delivery by mail or through a pharmacy.

Danco Laboratories, one of two companies distributing the drug in the United States, asked for a one-week pause on the appeals court order while it prepares to bring an emergency case to the US Supreme Court.

“Danco requests a temporary administrative stay of the Panel’s Order for one week... to allow Danco time in which to seek relief in the United States Supreme Court,” according to a court filing.

The appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed mifepristone to continue to be delivered by mail while the FDA conducts a review of its regulations regarding the drug.

Proponents of reviewing mifepristone’s safety have cited a study — which was not peer-reviewed and was published on a website, not in a scientific journal — conducted by a conservative think-tank.

The FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000. It is the most common method for abortion care in the United States and is also routinely used for managing early miscarriage.

Mifepristone, which prevents pregnancy progression, and misoprostol, which empties the uterus, are approved to terminate a pregnancy up to 70 days of gestation in the United States.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill welcomed the appeals court decision, calling it a “Victory for Life!”

“The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills,” Murrill said. “Today, that nightmare is over.”

‘Isn’t about science’ 

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, condemned the appeals court ruling.

“This isn’t about science — it’s about making abortion as difficult, expensive, and unreachable as possible,” Northup said in a statement.

In the court filing, Danco called the order “unprecedented,” adding that the appeal court’s decision would result in “immediate chaos” and confusion for pharmacies and patients.

Julia Kaye, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said “anti-abortion politicians have just made it much harder for people everywhere in the country to get a medication that abortion and miscarriage patients have been safely using for more than 25 years.”

Some 20 states have banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century.

Polls show a majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit the procedure or ban it outright.

In 2024, the US Supreme Court rejected a bid to restrict mifepristone, ruling that anti-abortion groups and doctors challenging the medication lacked the legal standing to bring the case. — AFP

HANOI, May 2 — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to meet Vietnam’s ‌leader To Lam in Hanoi today as the countries try to shore up ties amid a sharp slowdown in Japanese ‌investment in Vietnam.

The two sides are expected to discuss ways to deepen a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in 2023, with a focus on cooperation in energy, technology, critical minerals and regional stability, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

Japan remains one of Vietnam’s largest foreign investors, with many Japanese multinationals operating large manufacturing facilities in the country. However, new Japanese investment pledges in the first quarter fell about ‌75 per cent from a year earlier to US$233 million (RM925 million), Vietnamese government ⁠data shows.

Takaichi is expected ⁠to press for improvements in Vietnam’s business ⁠environment and discuss the ⁠challenges facing ⁠Japanese companies, including delayed payments for completed works and difficulties gaining access to large infrastructure projects, the official said.

Japan last ⁠year announced it would withdraw from a nuclear power project in Vietnam, citing an overly restrictive construction timetable.

Days before the visit, Hanoi said it was reconsidering a ban on petrol-powered motorcycles in its city centre, a policy ⁠long criticised by Honda.

Despite investment concerns, bilateral trade has remained strong, rising 12.3 per cent from a year earlier to US$13.7 billion ⁠in the first quarter, according to Vietnamese customs data.

Takaichi is ⁠also ⁠scheduled to meet her Vietnamese counterpart Le Minh Hung and deliver a speech at Vietnam National University on the evolution of ‌Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy, before travelling on to Australia. — Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 2 — More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff ‌with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem for the US and the world than before he launched the war. With both sides outwardly confident they hold the upper hand and their positions far apart, there is no obvious off-ramp in sight, even as Iran submitted a fresh proposal to restart negotiations. Trump quickly rejected it yesterday.

For the US president and his Republican Party, the implications of a continued impasse are grim. An unresolved conflict would likely mean the global economic fallout, including high US gasoline prices, will persist, putting further pressure on Trump, whose poll numbers are falling, and darkening Republican candidates’ ‌prospects ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.

Unmet goals

Those costs highlight a deeper problem: the war has failed to achieve many of Trump’s stated goals.

While there is little doubt that waves of US and Israeli strikes heavily degraded Iran’s military capabilities, many of Trump’s often-shifting war objectives — from regime change to shutting Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon — remain unfulfilled. Fears for a more protracted deadlock have grown since Trump called off a trip by his negotiators to Islamabad last weekend and then dismissed an Iranian offer to halt the war, suspended since April 8 under a ceasefire agreement. Tehran proposed setting aside discussion of its nuclear programme until the conflict is formally ended and a deal is reached on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. That was a non-starter for Trump, who has demanded the nuclear issue be dealt with at the outset.

There was a glimmer of hope yesterday when state news agency IRNA reported Tehran had sent a revised proposal through Pakistani mediators, causing a drop in global oil prices that had risen sharply since Iran effectively closed the strait. Trump told reporters he was “not satisfied” with the offer, though he said there were ongoing contacts by phone.

A failure to wrest the vital oil-shipping waterway from Iranian control at the conclusion of the conflict would be a major blow to Trump’s legacy.

“He’d be remembered as the US president who made the world less safe,” said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East expert at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Iran’s “desperation” is increasing due to military and economic pressure, and Trump “holds all the cards and has all the time he needs to make the best deal.”

Resumption of hostilities? 

With his next steps uncertain and no clear endgame, Trump has in private meetings raised the prospect of a prolonged naval blockade of Iran, possibly for months more, aimed at further squeezing off its oil exports and forcing it to reach a denuclearisation agreement, a White House ‌official said on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, he has left the door open to resuming military action. The US Central Command has prepared options for a “short and powerful” series of strikes as well as for taking over part of the strait to reopen it to ⁠shipping, Axios reported on Thursday.

European diplomats said their governments, whose relations with Trump have been strained by the war, expect the current situation with ⁠Iran to persist.

“It’s hard to see how this will end soon,” said one, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iran has remained defiant.

It has exerted powerful leverage against the US and its allies, triggering ⁠an unprecedented energy supply shock by choking off shipping in the strait, ⁠where tanker traffic flowed freely before the war, carrying a fifth ⁠of the world’s oil.

Analysts say Iran will be emboldened knowing that it will have this weapon at its disposal even after the war.

“Iran has realized that, even in a weakened state, it can shut off the Strait at will,” said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “That knowledge leaves Iran stronger than it was before the war.”

Uranium stockpile remains

Trump — who took office promising to avoid entanglement in foreign interventions — has also failed to achieve his main stated aim in attacking Iran on February 28: to close off its path to a nuclear weapon.

A ⁠stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to remain buried following US and Israeli airstrikes last June and could be recovered and further processed into bomb-grade material. Iran says it wants the US to recognize its right to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes.

Wales, the White House spokeswoman, said Trump had “met or surpassed” all military objectives, including action “to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Another of Trump’s declared war goals — forcing Iran to stop support for proxy groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Palestinian Hamas — also remains unmet. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in congressional testimony, denied the conflict had become a “quagmire,” despite Trump having initially predicted it would be over in four to six weeks.

Renewed peace talks are unlikely to yield a quick resolution, given the large gaps.

Though Trump has said he will accept nothing less than a long-term solution to the threat posed by Iran, he has at times shown signs of seeking an exit plan from an unpopular conflict. At the request of Trump’s aides, intelligence agencies are studying how Iran would respond if he declared a unilateral victory and ⁠pulled back, US officials have told Reuters.

Independent analysts say Tehran would interpret that as its own strategic success for having survived the military onslaught.

At the same time, European and Gulf Arab diplomats have expressed concern that Trump might eventually agree to a flawed deal that would allow a wounded Iran to remain a threat.

Risk of ‘frozen conflict’

With negotiations deadlocked, some analysts have suggested the war could devolve into a frozen conflict that would defy a permanent solution. That could ⁠prevent Trump from significantly scaling down forces in the Middle East.

The US is already paying new strategic costs.

Those include fractures with traditional European allies, who were not consulted before Trump went to war. He has harshly criticized Nato partners for not sending their navies to help open the ⁠strait, and in the past week ⁠spoke about possibly drawing down troops in Germany, Spain and Italy.

Trump also must deal with a more hardline Iranian leadership, dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that took over after US-Israeli strikes killed several figures, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The president’s call at the start of the conflict for the Iranian people to overthrow their rulers has gone unheeded. At home, Trump is under pressure to end a war that has dragged his approval rating to the lowest level of his term — 34 per cent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll — and spiked gasoline prices above US$4 a gallon ahead of the midterms, in which Republicans are at risk of ‌losing control of Congress.

A second White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, said Trump was committed to maintaining his party’s congressional majority and that high gasoline prices were only “short-term disruptions” that would be overcome as the conflict subsides.

The Iranians, however, are mindful of Trump’s domestic troubles and may be prepared to wait him out, but the question remains how long they can stave off economic calamity.

“Iran isn’t fractured or folding, it’s playing for time,” Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank in Washington, wrote on X. — Reuters

GENEVA, May 2 — The World Health Organisation said yesterday that divided member states want up to a year of further negotiations on the missing piece of an international agreement on handling future pandemics.

After a week of grindingly slow progress in talks at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, countries came to a stop and will decide on the next steps at the annual assembly of member states, to be held in the Swiss city from May 18 to 23.

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads over how the pandemic treaty, which was adopted last year, will work in practice.

The agreement’s unfinalised Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing benefits derived from them, such as vaccines, tests and treatments.

“Real progress was made on the PABS annex and I am confident through continued negotiations differences will be overcome,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

“Member states should continue approaching the outstanding issues with a sense of urgency because the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.

“The PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement but all initiatives that WHO and member states have implemented as a result of lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

World ‘largely unprepared’ 

In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.

The accord aims to prevent a repeat of the disjointed international response that surrounded the coronavirus crisis, by improving global coordination, surveillance and access to vaccines.

PABS, the heart of the treaty, was left out to get the bulk of the deal over the line.

The outcome of this week’s work will be presented to the annual assembly, which will be asked to consider continuing the process “and submit the outcome to the next assembly in May 2027”, or an earlier special session later this year.

Only once the PABS annex is complete will countries be able to start ratifying the treaty.

Access to genetic sequences remains a sticking point.

Negotiations are also stalled by a demand from developing countries for guarantees of equitable access to vaccines outside pandemics, as well as wranglings over financial contributions that participating pharmaceutical companies should make.

New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said the failure to reach agreement this week was “deeply regrettable”.

“If a new pathogen emerged today, the world remains largely unprepared for it. A lack of action to prevent and prepare for the next pandemic threat is a disservice to humanity,” she said in a statement.  — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 2 — A Boeing 747 that Qatar gave to President Donald Trump has completed flight testing and is expected to make its debut this summer, the US Air Force said yesterday.

The aircraft “has officially completed modification and flight testing and is being painted. The aircraft is on schedule to roll out in a new red, white and blue livery this summer,” the Air Force said in a statement.

A spokesperson for L3Harris Technologies said it had completed “extensive modifications and mission systems integration” for the aircraft, which will serve as the Air Force One presidential plane.

“The Office of the President will receive a safe and secure aircraft equipped with a new communications system that provides resilient and secure connectivity to respond to events anywhere in the world without disruption,” the spokesperson said.

The Gulf emirate’s gift of the jet — which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars — raised major constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using a plane donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential aircraft.

Qatar offered the jet in May 2025 and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted it “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations” later in the month, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said at the time.

The Defence Department “will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States,” Parnell said.

The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the Emoluments Clause.

But Trump has denied there are any ethical issues involved with accepting the plane, saying it would be “stupid” for the US government not to take the aircraft. — AFP

PHNOM PENH, May 2 — A Cambodian court charged two men yesterday for leading protests demanding the unfreezing of demonstrators’ accounts with a financial services firm linked to cyberscams.

Protesters said this week that their accounts with US-sanctioned Huione Group’s digital payments platform H-Pay, previously Huione Pay, had been inaccessible since December.

The US government last year accused Huione, which owned several companies offering e-commerce, payment and cryptocurrency exchange services, of laundering funds for transnational criminal groups perpetrating scams from Southeast Asia.

Huione’s former chairman, Li Xiong, was extradited to China on April 1. Chinese authorities say he was central to a major transnational gambling and fraud syndicate and is suspected of multiple crimes.

The two accused — Cambodians Suon Sovanthai, 37, and Vath Makara, 36 — were arrested on Monday during a demonstration outside the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) in Phnom Penh that left at least two protesters bloodied after clashes with authorities.

The detained men were charged on Friday with incitement to cause serious unrest and obstruction of public traffic outside of the central bank, the Phnom Penh court said in a statement.

The court said the men and their accomplices organised a plan in April and created a Telegram group with 1,200 alleged Huione account holders in order to rally people “to hold illegal demonstrations”.

Monday’s protest followed other demonstrations in April outside the NBC and the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh.

The court alleged the two men hired people to join the protests, paying them 25,000 riel (six dollars) each, according to the statement.

The pair were being held in pre-trial detention.

Protesters told AFP on Monday that they have nothing to do with Huione’s alleged crimes and cannot access their assets deposited with the firm, calling on the NBC to intervene.

The NBC has said the Huione platforms’ business licences have been revoked and Huione Pay creditors should go to the courts, while H-Pay creditors can make claims with a liquidator.

Cambodia has emerged as a hub for crime syndicates running fake romantic relationship and cryptocurrency investment schemes in which scammers — some willing, others trafficked — defraud internet users around the world of billions of dollars annually. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 2 — President Donald Trump said yesterday the US Navy ‌was acting “like pirates” in carrying out Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.

Trump made the comments ‌while describing the seizure by US forces of a ship a few days ago.

“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said in remarks yesterday evening. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”

Some of Tehran’s vessels have been seized by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ‌ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.

Iran has blocked nearly ⁠all ships passing through the ⁠Strait of Hormuz apart from its own ⁠since the start of the ⁠war. Trump has ⁠imposed a separate blockade of Iranian ports.

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.

The war has raised oil prices and led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, ⁠a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

Trump, who has offered shifting timelines and ⁠goals for the war that remains unpopular in the US, has ⁠faced ⁠widespread condemnation over his comments on the conflict, including when he threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilization last month.

Many US experts said last ‌month that American strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes after Trump threatened to target civilian infrastructure. — Reuters

ANKARA, May 2 — At least 31 activists were injured during Israel’s interception of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, Anadolu Ajansi reported according to statements from the group.

The Global Sumud Flotilla committee said those injured included activists from multiple countries, among them four each from New Zealand and Australia; three each from Italy and the US; two each from Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Colombia and Germany; and one each from Hungary, Ukraine, France, Poland and Portugal.

One of the injured holds dual Turkish-German citizenship, while efforts are ongoing to determine the identities of three other passengers, it added.

In a separate statement, it said activists detained during the interception were subjected to ill-treatment aboard an Israeli naval vessel for nearly 40 hours.

The group said that detainees were deliberately denied sufficient water and food and forced to sleep on wet floors.

It also said participants who resisted the detention of Saif Abukeshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian citizen Thiago Avila were met with force by Israeli soldiers.

One activist described the incident, saying, “As you can see, my nose is probably broken. My ribs hurt; maybe they are broken, too. I’m not sure. My neck as well. They kicked us, punched us, and dragged us on the ground, and we even heard shots being fired at people,” according to the statement.

The Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla was attacked near the Greek island of Crete, 600 nautical miles from its destination, the blockade-ravaged enclave of Gaza.

The flotilla’s first ships, carrying humanitarian aid, left Barcelona on April 12, while the main fleet set sail from the Italian island of Sicily on April 26, aiming to break Israel’s years-long blockade of Gaza.

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving the territory’s 2.4 million people on the verge of starvation.

Israel launched a brutal two-year offensive on Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 72,000 people, injuring over 172,000, and causing massive destruction across the besieged territory. — Bernama-Anadolu

WASHINGTON, May 2 — US President Donald Trump said yesterday he was “not satisfied” with a new Iranian negotiating proposal, as peace talks remain frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire.

Iran delivered the draft to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported, without detailing its contents.

“At this moment I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” Trump told reporters, blaming stalled talks on “tremendous discord” within Iran’s leadership.

“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal?” he added, saying he would “prefer not” to take the first option “on a human basis.”

The war, launched by the United States and Israel with surprise strikes on February 28, has been on hold since April 8, with only one failed round of direct talks since.

Trump, under pressure at home to seek congressional authorisation for the war, wrote to lawmakers yesterday declaring hostilities “terminated” — despite no change in the US military posture.

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Despite the stalemate, the ceasefire has held — but fighting has continued elsewhere in the region.

On the Lebanese front, Israel has continued deadly strikes despite an April 17 ceasefire with Iran-backed group Hezbollah that sought to halt more than six weeks of fighting.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 12 people were killed in strikes in the south, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes “launched a series of heavy strikes...less than an hour after” the warning.

Meanwhile, Washington announced late yesterday it had approved major arms sales to its allies in the Middle East, including a US$4 billion (RM15.8 billion) Patriot missile deal with Qatar and nearly US$1 billion in precision weapons systems to Israel.

‘Stuck in purgatory’ 

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said yesterday that his country had “never shied away from negotiations,” but added it would not accept “imposition” of peace terms while seeking to avoid renewed conflict.

The White House has declined to provide details on the proposal, but news site Axios reported US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments that put Tehran’s nuclear programme back on the negotiating table.

The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or resume activity there during talks.

News of the Iranian proposal briefly pushed oil prices down nearly five per cent, though they remain about 50 per cent above prewar levels amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran resident Amir told Paris-based AFP journalists the stalemate “feels like we are stuck in purgatory” and expressed little hope for the proposal.

“This is all to waste time,” he said, predicting the United States and Israel “will attack again.”

‘Terminated’ 

Washington, meanwhile, is grappling with a legal dispute over whether Trump has passed a deadline to seek congressional approval for the war.

Officials argue that a ceasefire pauses the 60-day clock, at which point congressional authorisation would be required — a claim disputed by opposition Democrats.

Trump faces growing domestic pressure, with inflation rising, no clear victory in sight and midterm elections approaching.

“There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026,” Trump said in letters to congressional leaders, adding that the hostilities “have terminated.”

Fourteen members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were reportedly killed defusing what the Fars news agency called unexploded cluster bombs and aerial mines in north-western Zanjan province.

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of using cluster munitions, which scatter bomblets that can remain dangerous for years.

‘Nothing left’ 

On top of military strikes, the war’s economic toll on Iran is deepening.

Washington imposed new sanctions on three Iranian currency firms and warned others against paying a “toll” for safe passage through Hormuz.

The US military says its blockade has stopped US$6 billion in Iranian oil exports, while inflation has surged past 50 per cent.

“For many people, paying rent and even buying food has become difficult, and some have nothing left at all,” 28-year-old Mahyar told an AFP reporter based outside Iran.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said yesterday in a statement that “the owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforce” while threatening Iran’s enemies with “economic and cultural jihad.”

Trump has repeatedly criticised allies for failing to join efforts to reopen Hormuz.

France and Britain have led efforts to assemble a coalition to reopen the strait once peace is secured. But a US official said Washington is launching its own coalition to restart shipping.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the US mission would “complement” European initiatives rather than replace them.

Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has left the Middle East after taking part in operations against Iran, a US official said yesterday, though two other carriers remain. — AFP

PARIS, May 2 — The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Trump says hostilities in Iran ‘terminated’ 

US President Donald Trump told top US lawmakers that hostilities in Iran had ended, after coming under pressure from Congress to seek authorisation for the conflict as it headed into its third month.

“There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,” he wrote in letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

Lebanon says 12 dead in Israel strikes 

Lebanon’s health ministry said 12 people were killed yesterday in Israeli strikes on the country’s south, including in a town where Israel’s army had issued an evacuation order despite a ceasefire.

The strikes in Habboush — where the evacuation warning was issued — killed eight people and wounded 21.

Other strikes in Zrariyeh killed four people and wounded four more, the ministry said.

14 Iran soldiers killed in demining op 

Fourteen soldiers were killed yesterday during operations to defuse unexploded ordnance in Iran’s north-western Zanjan province, local media reported.

“Today, during one of these missions, 14 of these dedicated forces were martyred and 2 were injured,” Fars news agency reported, citing the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

Iran leader calls for economic battle 

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei urged his people to wage economic battle and “disappoint” its enemies, as the war with the United States and Israel and years of sanctions take a toll.

In a written statement, Khamenei went on to call for “prioritising the consumption of domestically manufactured goods”, and said “the owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforce”.

Trump ‘not satisfied’ 

US President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Iran’s new proposal for peace talks, which Iran’s state news agency IRNA said was delivered via mediator Pakistan.

“At this moment, I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” he told reporters. “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to.”

Details of the proposal were not yet public.

Oil prices fall 

The price of oil slid after reports of Iran’s latest talks proposal, but both West Texas Intermediate and the other main US benchmark, Brent, clawed back some ground and were trading comfortably above the symbolic US$100 (RM397) a barrel mark.

New US sanctions 

The US Treasury Department slapped new sanctions on three Iranian foreign currency exchange firms to try to stem the flow of Tehran’s “financial lifelines”.

US aircraft carrier leaves Gulf 

The USS Gerald R. Ford left the Middle East after taking part in operations against Iran, a US official said.

Two other aircraft carriers — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush — are among 20 US ships still in the region.

Refugee aid hit 

The UN refugee agency said the war had sent freight rates soaring for delivering aid to refugees in the Middle East and Africa.

Costs have shot up nearly 18 per cent as shipments have had to be rerouted because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and port congestion, UNHCR said, sparking delivery delays.

Iran open to US talks 

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said Tehran was open to talks with the United States but would not accept what he called policy “imposition” under threats.

“The Islamic Republic has never shied away from negotiations...but we certainly do not accept imposition,” Ejei said in a video carried by the judiciary’s Mizan Online website. — AFP

ATHENS, May 2 — Dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces off Crete left their boats yesterday, many taken to hospital on the Greek island while others were flown out.

Greek officials said 31 of the roughly 175 activists had been taken to hospital on Crete. Turkish officials said about 60 had arrived by plane in Istanbul yesterday evening.

More than 50 vessels had set sail from ports in France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the blockade of Gaza and bringing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Israeli forces halted the boats overnight Wednesday to Thursday, with organisers the Global Sumud Flotilla saying their equipment had been smashed and that the intervention had left them facing a “calculated death trap at sea”.

As they approached the port yesterday, the activists chanted “Free Palestine”, an AFP reporter saw.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza. It has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters, are moored off the coast of the ctown of Ierapetra, on the island of Crete, on May 1, 2026. — AFP pic

‘Provocation’ 

Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20 vessels on Thursday by its country’s military. Flotilla organisers put the number of “kidnapped” activists at 211.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein yesterday said: “All the flotilla activists are now in Greece except Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila.”

In a post on X, the ministry called the flotilla “another provocation designed to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm”. It also said the flotilla was serving “professional provocateurs”.

It said Keshek was “suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation” and that he and Avila, suspected of “illegal activity”, would be brought to Israel for questioning.

Several European governments with nationals among those arrested have called on Israel to free the activists and called its action a flagrant contravention of international law.

Spain demanded the immediate release of Keshek, a Spanish national.

Israel’s closest ally, the United States, said the flotilla was a “stunt” and the vessels should be denied port access, docking, departure and refuelling.

A State Department spokesman said Washington was exploring imposing “consequences” on those who support the flotilla.

The war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, has led to severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.

In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention.

The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.

Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel. — AFP

OSLO, May 2 — Some 287 candidates will be considered ‌for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Thursday, including 208 individuals and 79 organisations.

Here is a look at how the award works:

Who decides?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee consists of five individuals appointed by the Norwegian parliament. Members are often, but not always, retired politicians. The current committee is led by the ‌head of the Norwegian branch of PEN International, a group defending freedom of expression. Another member is an academic.

They are all put forward by Norwegian political parties and their appointments reflect the balance of power in Norway’s parliament.

Who can win?

The short answer is: whoever fits the description set out in the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. It says the prize should go to the person “who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses”.

The more complicated answer is that the prize “needs to be placed in the current context”, according to Kristian Berg Harpviken, the award committee’s secretary, who prepares the work for the award body. He participates in the deliberations but does not vote.

“They will look at the world, see what is happening, what are the global trends, what are the main concerns, what are the most promising processes that we see,” he told Reuters last year.

“And processes ‌here can mean anything from a specific peace process to a new type of international agreement that is under development or that has ⁠recently been adopted.”

Does the Norwegian government decide who gets the prize?

No. ⁠Once the political parties appoint their respective candidates to the committee, they do not get involved ⁠in its work.

Only the five members of the ⁠committee and its secretary participate in ⁠the meetings. No minutes are kept.

The government finds out the name of the laureate, or laureates, at the same time as everyone else, when the chair announces it in October.

Who can nominate?

Thousands of people worldwide can propose names: members of governments and parliaments; current heads of state; university professors of ⁠history, social sciences, law and philosophy; and former Nobel Peace Prize laureates, among others.

Nominations closed on January 31. Members of the committee can make their own nominations too, no later than at their first meeting in February. The full list is locked in a vault for 50 years.

Is President Trump nominated?

The leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have said they nominated US President Donald Trump for this year’s prize. Their nominations, if made, would have been done in spring and summer 2025 so they are valid for the 2026 prize.

There is no way ⁠of verifying they have done as they have said.

How does the committee decide?

The committee discusses all the nominations, then establishes a shortlist. Each nominee is then assessed and examined by a group of permanent advisers and other experts.

The committee meets roughly ⁠once a month to discuss the nominations. The decision tends to be taken in August or September, said Harpviken.

The committee seeks to reach a consensus ⁠on its selection. If ⁠it cannot, the decision is made by majority vote.

The last time a member quit in protest was in 1994, when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shared the prize with Israel’s Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.

What does the laureate get?

A gold medal, a diploma, 11 million Swedish crowns (RM4.6 million) and immediate global attention.

When are the ‌announcement and the ceremony?

The announcement will take place on October 9 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo and is made by the committee’s chair.

The ceremony takes place at the Oslo City Hall on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. — Reuters

ISTANBUL, May 1 — Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed on Friday to reclaim “every inch” of occupied territory and push forward economic recovery efforts, in a message marking Labour Day, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

In a statement posted by the prime minister’s office on US social media company X, Salam addressed workers across Lebanon, acknowledging the hardship many face amid a prolonged economic crisis.

“I understand the extent of the suffering many of you are experiencing, from job losses and declining purchasing power to daily pressures weighing heavily on you,” he said.

Salam pledged that the government would continue working to improve living conditions, restore occupied land, and press ahead with reforms.

“We will continue serious work to improve your living conditions, restore every inch of our occupied land, and advance reform efforts and economic recovery,” he said.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been experiencing a financial collapse described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern history. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 98 per cent of its value, weakening from about 1,500 to around 90,000 to the dollar.

Salam added that the government aims to create new job opportunities, restore stability, and place the country on a path towards “real recovery”.

Lebanon’s economic crisis has deepened recently, compounded by ongoing Israeli attacks and displacement. A Wednesday update from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme found that about 1.24 million people — nearly one in four assessed — are expected to face acute food insecurity at crisis levels between April and August 2026.

The report said escalating violence and displacement since early March have driven the deterioration in food security conditions.

In response to Hezbollah’s retaliation related to the Iran war, Israel has waged an offensive in Lebanon since March 2, killing nearly 2,600 people and displacing over 1 million.

A 10-day ceasefire that began on April 17 was later extended until May 17, but Israel continues to violate it daily through airstrikes and the demolition of homes in southern Lebanon.

In April, the Israeli army announced the imposition of the so-called “Yellow Line” south of the Litani River, a notional boundary designating the area stretching to the border as a “security buffer zone,” in a step reminiscent of the Gaza model.

Israel says the zone is intended to prevent displaced residents from returning and to target any armed activity, classifying it as a “combat zone” not subject to ceasefire understandings. — Bernama-Anadolu

ATHENS, May 1 — Dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Crete disembarked on Friday in the Greek island, an AFP journalist saw.

Escorted by Greek coastguards, around 175 activists, the majority of them nationals of European countries, were taken in four coaches to the port of Atherinolakkos, in the southeast of the island.

As they approached the port, the activists chanted “Free Palestine”, AFP saw.

Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said around 175 activists had been taken off more than 20 boats on Thursday. Flotilla organisers put the number at 211.

The flotilla comprising more than 50 vessels set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.

Its aim, according to the organisers, was to break the blockade of Gaza and bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza. It has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein on Friday said: “All the flotilla activists are now in Greece except Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila.”

In a post on X, the ministry called the flotilla “another provocation designed to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm”. It also said the flotilla was serving “professional provocateurs”.

It said Keshek was “suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation” and that he and Avila, suspected of “illegal activity”, would be brought to Israel for questioning.

Several European governments with nationals among those arrested have called on Israel to free the activists and called its action a flagrant contravention of international law.

But the United States backed Israeli authorities, calling the flotilla a “stunt” and saying it expects allies to deny port access, docking, departure and refuelling to vessels participating in the flotilla.

A State Department spokesman said Washington was exploring imposing “consequences” on those who support the flotilla.

The war in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, has led to severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.

In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention.

The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.

Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel. — AFP

ISTANBUL, May 1 — Turkish police on Friday fired tear gas and arrested dozens of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, as thousands rallied nationwide.

According to the CHD Lawyers Association, nearly 200 people were arrested in Istanbul, where police fired tear gas from riot-control vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists observed.

Images aired on the opposition channel HALK TV also showed the president of the Turkish Workers’ Party, Erkan Bas, engulfed in pepper spray.

”Those in power already speak 365 days a year, so let workers talk about the hardships they face at least one day a year,” he said.

Two groups were specially singled out in the city’s European side after signalling their intention to march to Taksim square — the scene of several anti-government protests in the past — which was sealed off overnight by police.

A union official, Basaran Aksu, was arrested just after he had denounced the Taksim lockdown.

”You can’t close off a square to the workers of Turkey. Everyone uses Taksim, for official ceremonies, for celebrations. Only the labourers, the workers, the poor find the square closed to them,” he fumed.

May 1, which celebrates workers and the working classes, sees a major police deployment in Turkey every year, with a large area in the heart of Istanbul around Taksim Square sealed off.

Last year, protests moved to the Kadikoy area of the city and more than 400 people were arrested.

On Friday, a large deployment of police, many in riot gear, and metal barricades were seen choking access to central neighbourhoods of Istanbul.

In the Mecidiyekoy district, police were seen by AFP using tear gas on the crowd, which included members of a Marxist party, the HKP, who tried to push through while chanting “USA murderer, (Turkey’s ruling party) AKP accomplice”.

Police encircling the Besiktas neighbourhood stepped in — sometimes violently — whenever a chant was taken up by the demonstrators. AFP saw several protesters thrown to the ground.

Unions and civil society associations had called for the May 1 demonstrations under the slogan “Bread. Peace. Freedom”.

Inflation in Turkey is officially pegged at 30 percent but is closer to 40, according to independent estimates.

In Ankara, about 100 coal miners who had staged a nine-day hunger strike to demand wage arrears were cheered as they joined the May Day march, which was notably large and youthful and monitored by a significant police presence, an AFP journalist said.

Earlier this week, Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants against 62 people, of whom they deemed 46 — including journalists, trade unionists and opposition figures — were “likely to carry out attacks”. — AFP

YANGON, May 1 — At the leafy villa where Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi had spent years locked up, there were no signs yesterday it would become a renewed site of political pilgrimage as it did during her previous house arrest.

While her shift to private detention appeared to be a rare concession by the authorities that have detained the deposed leader since a 2021 coup, supporters fear that any contact with the public would be severely restricted.

The Yangon lakeside mansion where Suu Kyi had been siloed under military detention, including when she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for pro-democracy activism, was under its usual security lockdown.

Barbed-wire traffic barricades remained in place next to a police post—but with no significant buildup that would suggest the villa would host her after the transfer to house arrest was announced yesterday. 

“I welcome her release from prison to house arrest. I want her to be free, and I want our country to thrive and prosper,” said a 65-year-old Yangon housewife, speaking anonymously for security reasons.

“I also want to see concrete evidence that aunty is alive and well, both for the people of our country and the world,” she added, using an affectionate term for Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi has been detained since the 2021 coup ousted her administration, triggering a ruinous civil war and a crackdown on dissent.

In earlier years of activism she defied house arrest in Yangon to rally supporters with speeches over the boundary wall, building momentum for a decade-long experiment with democracy she was to lead.

But there were no signals today that her family mansion would again draw crowds of followers, with only a single gardener there watering the roadside lawn out front.

A member of Suu Kyi’s dissolved National League for Democracy party said she would likely be kept in the capital Naypyidaw, a sprawling garrison city of high walls and secretive compounds.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to share information, said the 80-year-old would stay at a property inside a military perimeter.

‘Step-by-step’ 

Min Aung Hlaing—who ousted Suu Kyi as military chief and oversaw prosecution on charges rights groups deride as bogus—made a personal order Suu Kyi serve her remaining term at a “designated residence”.

It did not say where that will be, nor how much remains of her sentence.

Last month Min Aung Hlaing took over as civilian president after an election excluding Suu Kyi’s party, claiming the country had entered a new chapter and rolling back some post-coup crackdown measures.

Pro-democracy rebel Bo Thanmani, who disrobed from the monkhood to fight military rule in the northern region of Sagaing, called Suu Kyi’s house arrest “a good move”.

“We don’t want to thank the regime, this was an unfair arrest,” he said.

But this could be the start of a “step-by-step” reconciliation process between sides estranged by the coup, he added.

Suu Kyi’s family, activists and some analysts, however, dismiss the election and Min Aung Hlaing’s touted concessions as a propaganda ploy to rebrand and therefore legitimise his rule.

The real test of her freedom, they say, will be whether she will be allowed to commune again with Myanmar’s citizens—and whether they will again feel safe to openly support her.

“I don’t see any political changes by moving to house arrest,” said one Yangon doctor, speaking anonymously out of security concerns.

“I am still worried,” they said. “I hope to return to a better situation.” — AFP

ABU DHABI, May 1 — France’s top diplomat today said a new US-led coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would complement and not compete with a similar mission spearheaded by France and Britain.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking in Abu Dhabi following a regional tour, said he briefed Gulf allies on the UK-France initiative which was now at an “advanced” stage.

On Thursday, a US official confirmed to AFP that Washington was launching an international coalition dubbed the “Maritime Freedom Construct” to restart shipping in the vital route.

The strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, has been effectively blockaded by Iran over the Middle East war, sending prices soaring and choking trade networks.

The UK and France have led talks on a separate maritime effort, recently holding a meeting with more than 50 countries.

The US mission is “not of the same nature as the one we established... it comes as a sort of complement”, Barrot said in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, following visits to Saudi Arabia and Oman.

“It is not in competition with the initiative we have launched and on which we are focused,” he added.

The Wall Street Journal said a reported diplomatic cable called on US embassies to press foreign governments to take part in the US-led effort.

Asked whether France would join Washington’s initiative, Barrot said he could not comment at this stage.

The UK-France mission “is now at an advanced stage, the planning has been finalised, and I have come to present the concept of this mission to a number of our closest partners in the region”, he added.

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at allies’ reluctance to get involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran, and previously urged oil-reliant nations to take responsibility for reopening the strait.

Iran has vowed not to reopen the waterway as long as the United States blockades its ports. The closure has had a widespread impact on the global economy, with oil prices hitting a four-year high this week. — AFP

LONDON, May 1 — UK police said today they had charged a 45-year-old man over the stabbing of two Jewish men in north London, the latest in a string of hate attacks.

“Essa Suleiman... has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place in relation to an attack in Golders Green on Wednesday,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Thursday to boost security for the Jewish community after accusations from angry British Jews that his government has repeatedly failed to protect them.

Later Thursday, the interior ministry announced that the country’s terrorism threat level had been raised to “severe”, the second highest in the five-tier system and meaning another attack “is highly likely in the next six months”.

The two men were attacked in broad daylight in Golders Green, a north London area with a large Jewish population.

The victims, aged 76 and 34, were in a stable condition in hospital.

The suspected attacker is a British national who was born in Somalia and came to the UK as a child. — AFP

TOKYO, May 1 — Japanese police arrested a man for allegedly incinerating his dead wife at the zoo where he worked, officials and local media said today, following the discovery of human remains.

Police arrested Tatsuya Suzuki yesterday evening on suspicion that he “transported the victim’s body to a tourist facility” in the northern island of Hokkaido and “destroyed it through incineration there,” a local police official told AFP.

The victim, 33-year-old Yui Suzuki, was identified by local media as his wife. Police have not said how she died.

While held in voluntary police questioning, Suzuki said he used his zoo’s incinerator—meant to dispose of waste and dead animals—to burn the woman’s body “for a few hours,” local media reported.

His confession sent police scouring the incinerator for her remains, whose partial discovery paved the way for Suzuki’s arrest, local media said.

While alive, the wife once told her relatives that her husband was threatening to “burn you until no trace of you will be left”, public broadcaster NHK said, citing investigative sources.

The gruesome case forced the Asahiyama Zoo, a popular tourist attraction closed since early last month as part of regular maintenance ahead of the summer season, to delay its reopening scheduled for Wednesday.

Today, the zoo resumed business, with officials bowing to visitors and apologising for the trouble caused.

“The zoo is in an extremely difficult situation at the moment,” Hirosuke Imazu, mayor of Asahikawa City, which operates the facility, said, according to NHK.

“But we would like to turn your support into our energy, and convey the beautiful lives of our animals,” he said. — AFP

YANGON, MAY 1 — Myanmar’s junta chief-turned-president yesterday ordered deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be moved to house arrest, five years after sweeping her into detention in a 2021 coup.

A statement from the office of Min Aung Hlaing said he had “commuted the remaining sentence” of the 80-year-old Suu Kyi “to be served at the designated residence”.

The office also shared a photograph seeming to show Suu Kyi sitting flanked by two men—one in a khaki shirt and another in a police uniform.

It was not immediately clear where she will be moved, but a senior source from her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party told AFP she would likely be kept sequestered at an address in the capital Naypyidaw.

“We do not know where it is exactly,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

A Naypyidaw police source said security forces had been ordered to “enforce restrictions” in areas of the capital last night. 

“The ‘designated residence’ mentioned in the order will remain under their direct custody and control,” they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official statement also did not make clear how many years remain in Suu Kyi’s sentence.

In New York, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters the move was “a meaningful step towards conditions conducive to a credible political process”.

Suu Kyi’s lawyers Francois Zimeray and Catalina de la Sota told AFP in a statement they “welcome the evolution of her situation while stressing that she remains wrongly deprived of liberty”.

‘Same usual games’ 

As military chief, Min Aung Hlaing toppled Suu Kyi’s elected government five years ago, detaining her on a host of charges which rights groups say were confected to sideline her.

The move triggered a sprawling civil war that has killed thousands and displaced millions in the Southeast Asian country of roughly 50 million.

Min Aung Hlaing this month traded his military title for the office of civilian president, being sworn in after a tightly-controlled election that excluded the NLD.

Election criticism or protest was punished by up to a decade in prison, and the vote did not take place in areas seized by rebels in the war.

Democracy monitors described the electoral process as a rebranding of the rule of the military, which has dominated Myanmar for most of its post-independence history.

The move has been accompanied by some rollbacks of post-coup curbs and prisoner amnesties, which analysts have likewise dismissed as lip-service measures to launder the leadership’s reputation.

“They’re playing their same usual games as far as I’m concerned,” Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris told AFP by phone.

“They’re trying to legitimise themselves in the eyes of the international media and governments around the world.”

“If she has actually been moved to house arrest, then I hope that she will be allowed communication with me and her lawyers, amongst others,” he added.

“Nobody has reached out to me.”

Suu Kyi remains massively popular inside Myanmar, but has been held almost completely incommunicado as her family warned of her ailing health.

In one of his first acts as civilian president, Min Aung Hlaing this month also pardoned Suu Kyi’s top aide Win Myint, who served as her ceremonial president. — AFP

BEIJING, May 1 — China’s foreign minister on yesterday urged the United States to maintain “stability” between the two powers and warned that Taiwan posed the biggest risk, weeks before President Donald Trump visits Beijing.

In a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing and Washington should “safeguard the hard-won stability” in China-US relations, China’s foreign ministry said.

The talks also discussed the Middle East, where China has been a key partner of Tehran but has largely kept its distance after Trump joined Israel in attacking Iran, sending global oil prices spiralling.

A State Department official confirmed the phone call and said it was to arrange Trump’s trip but did not give further details.

Trump is scheduled to visit China on May 14-15 to see President Xi Jinping—the Republican billionaire’s first trip to the rival power since returning to the White House in January 2025.

During Trump’s first year back in office, Washington and Beijing clashed over trade and tariffs until a truce was declared in October, when Trump and Xi met in South Korea.

“Both sides should safeguard the hard-won stability, prepare well for key high-level interactions, expand areas of cooperation” and manage their differences, Wang told Rubio, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.

While ties have “generally remained stable” under Trump and Xi, Wang “emphasised that the Taiwan issue concerns China’s core interests and is the biggest risk point in China-US relations”, it said.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification and is sharply critical of US military assistance to the self-ruled island and its support of Taipei on the international stage.

“The United States must honor its commitments and make the right choices, opening new perspectives for bilateral cooperation and do its part to promote world peace,” Wang said.

The statement from the Chinese ministry said Wang and Rubio had “exchanged views” on the situation in the Middle East, without offering further details. — AFP

JERUSALEM, May 1— Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said yesterday that activists detained from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla will be disembarked on the Greek coast in the coming hours, reported Anadolu Ajansi.

In a statement on the X platform, Saar said the move comes “in coordination with the Greek government,” after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters near the island of Crete.

He claimed that Israel had blocked attempts to break its naval blockade on Gaza and prevented the vessels from reaching the enclave, alleging that all participants removed from the boats “were taken off unharmed” and had been transferred to an Israeli vessel ahead of their return.

The flotilla, part of the Spring 2026 mission of the Global Sumud Flotilla, had departed from Sicily, Italy, on Sunday, carrying humanitarian aid aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

According to flotilla officials, the vessels carried 345 participants from 39 countries.

Earlier yesterday, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza said Israel had “kidnapped and unlawfully detained” between 178 and 180 activists after attacking 22 boats in the flotilla.

The committee held Greece “directly responsible” given that the raid occurred within its maritime scope, and called on Athens to “act immediately to ensure the safety of the vessels and prevent further attacks.”

There have been no immediate comments from Greek authorities on whether the Israeli raid, carried out in international waters near Greek territorial limits, was conducted with Athens’ knowledge.

The current mission marks the second initiative by the Global Sumud Flotilla, following a previous attempt in September 2025 that ended with an Israeli interception in international waters and the detention of hundreds of international activists. — Bernama

WASHINGTON, May 1 — US President Donald Trump said he was “OK” with Iran playing their World Cup games in the United States, after FIFA chief Gianni Infantino reiterated that the team would do so despite the Middle East war.

“Well, if Gianni said it, I’m okay,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the comments by Infantino, with whom the US leader has close ties. “I think let ‘em play.” — AFP

OAKLAND, May 1 — Elon Musk sparred with lawyers for a third day yesterday at his California trial against OpenAI, struggling to explain why his own for-profit AI empire differs from the one he is trying to take down.

“Few answers are going to be complete, especially when you cut me off all the time,” the visibly irritated multibillionaire said as he resumed his duel Thursday morning with the defense attorney for OpenAI.

Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who must decide whether OpenAI—the creator of ChatGPT—betrayed its original nonprofit mission, had to intervene several times to compel the world’s richest man to answer questions.

After the judge accused him of playing lawyer by complaining that opposing counsel’s questions were “leading,” the tech mogul conceded: “I am not a lawyer.”

“Well, technically I did take Law 101 in school,” he added, drawing laughter from the courtroom.

A benefactor to OpenAI’s co-founders—to whom he gave $38 million during the project’s early days from 2015 to 2017 -- Musk accuses CEO Sam Altman and his partner Greg Brockman of betraying the startup’s charitable mission by transforming it into a commercial company valued at more than $850 billion and poised to go public.

He is seeking to have OpenAI—which rivals Anthropic and Google at the top of the global AI race—return to nonprofit status, in a trial whose outcome could reshape the question of who controls AI innovation in the United States.

OpenAI’s attorney William Savitt sought to demonstrate that Musk is a mirror image of what he denounces: all of his companies—Tesla, Neuralink, X and his own AI firm xAI, recently absorbed into SpaceX—are for-profit, and the entrepreneur himself presents them as beneficial to humanity.

“There’s nothing wrong with having a for-profit organization,” Musk answered, repeating his mantra: “You just can’t steal a charity”—meaning OpenAI should simply have started as a normal company from the outset.

“The worst-case situation would be that AI kills us all, I suppose,” Musk declared with a smile, seizing an opening from his own attorney to invoke the climactic scenario from the film “Terminator.”

The judge had sought to bar such digressions, telling Musk’s attorney at the start of the hearing: “I think it’s ironic that your client, despite these risks, is creating a company that’s in the exact same space.”

Musk’s testimony concluded Thursday, his third day on the stand, although he could be called back before mid-May.

Altman, his former protégé turned adversary, was present for Thursday’s exchanges and left the courthouse shortly after Musk finished.

Altman’s testimony is expected next week or the week after. OpenAI President Brockman, another early co-founder, will precede him on the witness stand. A ruling on the merits is expected in mid-May. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 1 — US President Donald Trump said yesterday he was removing tariffs on Scottish whisky in honor of Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they wrapped up their state visit.

Trump's announcement as the royal couple ended their four-day trip to the United States represents a major trade concession to key ally Britain even as the Iran war strains transatlantic relations.

Shortly after bidding the British royals goodbye at the White House, Trump posted that he was making the gesture "in Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom."

"The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Scotch whisky from the UK has faced a 10-percent tariff during Trump's second presidency. But the rate was on course to jump later this year when the suspension of an earlier 25-percent tariff -- part of a previous trade truce -- expires.

In his post, Trump said he was "removing the tariffs and restrictions" on whisky but added that it related to Scotland's trade with the bourbon-making state of Kentucky, particularly on wooden barrels.

But US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later appeared to confirm the announcement applied to the alcoholic drink itself.

"The United States will allow preferential duty access for whiskey produced in the United Kingdom," Greer said in a statement.

He added that move was part of a broader trade deal announced by the United States and Britain in an Oval Office appearance by Trump last year.

Almost from the moment that Trump returned to power last year, Britain has been trying to make the case for whisky to be exempted from tariffs.

During Trump's first term, his tariffs in 2019 against the European Union -- which then included Britain -- also targeted the UK's whisky industry.

The United States remains the primary export market for Scotch whisky, accounting for $1.2 billion per year.

But the royal charm offensive by King Charles appeared to have paid off.

Trump hailed Charles as the "greatest king" as he waved him and Camilla off at the White House.

The visit was officially meant to celebrate transatlantic ties as the United States marks its 250th anniversary of independence from Britain, but much of Charles's time has been spent smoothing over tensions over Iran.

Trump has bitterly criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran. — AFP

WASHINGTON, May 1 — President Donald Trump was facing a midnight deadline yesterday to secure congressional authorization for the war against Iran, though the looming cutoff is not expected to rein in his military plans.

The 60-day clock, triggered when Trump notified Congress of strikes in early March, requires the administration to begin winding down hostilities unless lawmakers authorize the use of force.

With no such approval in place, the deadline sets up a direct constitutional clash between the White House and Congress.

Democrats say the president is already on shaky legal ground—and will be in clear violation once the threshold passes.

“After we cross that 60-day threshold, there can be no more doubts that he’s violating the War Powers Act,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, urging Republicans to help end the conflict.

The administration disputes that interpretation, arguing the clock was effectively paused by a ceasefire announced last month.

“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” a senior administration official told AFP late on Thursday, noting that there has been no exchange of fire between the United States and Iran since an April 7 ceasefire.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers on Thursday the government believes “the 60-day clock pauses or stops” during a halt in fighting—a claim Democrats reject as unsupported by the law.

With tens of thousands of US troops deployed in the Middle East and mounting economic and political costs at home, the dispute presents a high-stakes test of Congress’s authority over war powers, more than 50 years after the law was passed in the wake of the Vietnam War.

Senators voted on Thursday to reject a resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s authority, the latest in a series of failed attempts by Democrats to force an end to the conflict.

‘That time has come’ 

While most Republicans have so far backed the president, unease is growing within the party as the deadline approaches.

Some Republicans have signaled they may reconsider their support if the war continues without a clear strategy or authorization.

Utah’s John Curtis said the deadline demands action, warning that continued operations require a firm constitutional footing.

“That same law is clear that after 60 days, military action must begin to wind down unless Congress provides formal authorization,” he said, adding that he would not support continued force without lawmakers weighing in.

Despite mounting pressure, efforts to block the war face steep odds. Even if a resolution passes the Senate, it would still need approval from the Republican-controlled House and could be vetoed by Trump.

The War Powers Act has rarely succeeded in limiting presidential war-making, with courts generally reluctant to intervene and disputes typically left to the political arena. But Democrats remained hopeful of reining Trump in.

“Some of my colleagues have indicated that the War Powers Act’s 60-day mark is the moment they may join our efforts to bring this war to its conclusion. That time has come,” said Senator Adam Schiff, who introduced Thursday’s failed resolution.

“After two months of war, thirteen service members’ lives lost, and billions of dollars squandered, it is time we recognized that the price we have paid is already too high.” — AFP

SHENZHEN, May 1 — An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is ‌among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as ALS and restoring movement in paralysed patients. But it also has potential military applications: Scientists at China’s People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting mental agility and situational awareness, according to the US Defence Department. Lieber was found guilty by a jury and convicted in December 2021 of making false statements to federal investigators about his ties to a Chinese state programme to recruit overseas talent, and tax offenses related to payments he received from a Chinese university. He served two days in prison and six months under house arrest, and was fined US$50,000 (RM198,375) and ordered to pay US$33,600 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. During the case, his defence said he was suffering from an incurable lymphoma, which was in ‌remission, and he was fighting for his life.

Three years after he was sentenced, Reuters has learned that Lieber is now overseeing China’s state-funded i-BRAIN, or the Institute for Brain Research, Advanced Interfaces and Neurotechnologies, with access to dedicated nanofabrication equipment and primate research infrastructure unavailable to him at Harvard. The lab is an arm of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation, or SMART.

“I arrived on April 28, 2025 with a dream and not much more, maybe a couple bags of clothes,” Lieber said of his move to China at a Shenzhen government conference in December. “Personally, my own goals are to make Shenzhen a world leader.”

Lieber, through an assistant, declined an interview request, citing “current commitments.” He didn’t respond to written questions from Reuters.

SMART last year appointed Lieber as an investigator, according to a post on i-BRAIN’s website dated May 1, 2025. That news was covered by some media outlets. The same day, i-BRAIN said Lieber had also been appointed its founding director — an announcement that went unreported at the time.

This story is the most comprehensive account of Lieber’s activities since he moved to China. Reuters is reporting for the first time that his lab has access to dedicated primate research facilities and chip-making equipment; that it sits within a sprawling ecosystem of state-backed institutions bankrolled by billions of dollars in government funding; and that it is housed within an institution that is luring top scientific talent back from the United States.

In 2011, Lieber was named the world’s top chemist of the preceding decade in a set of scientific rankings published by Thomson Reuters, the parent of Reuters news agency. Thomson Reuters, which in 2016 sold the business that compiled the rankings, declined to comment.

Some analysts say Lieber’s ability to reconstitute his laboratory after a federal criminal conviction for lying about his ties to China shows how US safeguards on technology with potential military uses haven’t kept pace with Chinese government efforts to acquire it. That concern is amplified because of Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy, whereby civilian scientific resources and research are shared with the military.

“China has weaponised against us our own openness and our own efforts for innovation,” said Glenn Gerstell, a non-resident senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and former general counsel of the US National Security Agency from 2015 to 2020. “They’ve flipped that and turned it around against us, and they’re taking advantage of it.”

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the defence ministry didn’t respond to questions about China’s development of brain-computer interfaces. SMART and i-BRAIN also didn’t reply to requests for comment about their research and the recruitment of Lieber.

Primate research

Lieber’s new perch appears to give him richer resources ‌than he had in the United States.

In Shenzhen, i-BRAIN in February installed a deep ultraviolet lithography system made by semiconductor-equipment giant ASML, according to the lab’s website. The Dutch company’s machines print the tiny circuits essential to cutting-edge chips. At Harvard, Lieber used shared lithography equipment at the university’s Centre for Nanoscale Systems. The centre serves more than 1,600 users annually, according to its website.

i-BRAIN’s model ⁠is two generations behind restricted machines, but still likely to cost around US$2 million, according to Jeff Koch of semiconductor-research firm SemiAnalysis.

ASML told Reuters it wouldn’t comment publicly about its customers.

On the same ⁠campus, Lieber also has access to Brain Science Infrastructure (BSI) Shenzhen, a research lab with 2,000 primate cages and dedicated space for i-BRAIN’s work, according to the latter’s website. Many researchers in the field consider primate trials a prerequisite for human trials for invasive brain-computer interfaces. The ⁠BSI facility is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is funded by the Shenzhen government. ⁠None of them responded to questions about brain-computer interface technology and the role of primate research ⁠in its development.

Domestic and international researchers are being recruited by i-BRAIN for electrophysiology studies on rhesus monkeys as models for human brain-computer interfaces, according to a September 2025 post on its website, which invites prospective applicants to contact Lieber.

There is no indication that Lieber conducted primate research at Harvard. The elite Massachusetts university closed its New England Primate Research Centre in 2015 under sustained pressure over animal welfare and funding challenges.

Jung Min Lee, a researcher who co-authored nanofabrication papers with Lieber at Harvard, has joined him at i-BRAIN as research associate professor, according to its website. Lee, who couldn’t be reached for comment, is an expert in stitching flexible electronics into brain tissue.

Harvard didn’t respond to Reuters questions about Lieber and Lee.

John Donoghue, a Brown University professor and neuroscientist who pioneered a brain-computer interface system known as ⁠BrainGate, said primate work is “absolutely critical” in translating neural interface technology to humans, but faces regulatory and funding hurdles in the United States.

“With so many hassles with non-human primate research here, to have somebody give you all this support, access to technology, a concentrated centre, a national initiative — those are things that are very attractive,” he told Reuters.

SMART’s 2026 budget, funded entirely by Shenzhen’s government, rose nearly 18 per cent to about US$153 million. The academy’s budget papers don’t indicate the proportion of that funding dedicated to i-BRAIN.

SMART was established in 2023 under founding president Nieng Yan, a structural biologist. Her return to China a year earlier after five years at Princeton University was hailed in domestic media as the homecoming of a “goddess scientist.” Yan and Princeton didn’t reply to Reuters questions about her role at Shenzhen and the recruitment of Lieber.

Alongside SMART sits the legally separate but functionally twinned Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, which launched in 2019 with a five-year budget from Shenzhen’s government of around US$2 billion. Both are based in Guangming Science City, a national science hub of manicured parks and waterways. The two institutions share the same leadership and offices, and will also occupy a dedicated 750,000-square-meter site that is under construction at a planned cost of US$1.25 billion. Shenzhen Bay Laboratory didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Signs guiding visitors to SMART’s premises are emblazoned with the slogan: “Innovate with the Party.” A Reuters reporter was denied access to i-BRAIN’s offices while trying to deliver a letter to Lieber.

Lieber joins at least six others who have moved to SMART from US ⁠institutions, though all of them are Chinese-born researchers returning home.

China named brain-computer interface technology a national growth priority in its new five-year plan in March 2026. Zheng Shanjie, head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, said in October that the rise of brain-computer interfaces and related technologies “will be equivalent to creating another Chinese high-tech sector in the next 10 years.”

The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is also investing in brain-computer interfaces for drone and cyber defence applications, according to the agency’s programme description. Research projects led by Lieber at Harvard received over US$8 million in funding from the Defence Department since 2009, court documents show. The Pentagon didn’t ⁠respond to questions about the technology’s military uses and Lieber’s role at Shenzhen.

Vying for a Nobel prize 

Lieber’s 2021 conviction was one of few wins for the US Justice Department’s China Initiative, launched during the first Trump administration to counter Chinese economic espionage and intellectual-property theft. The initiative was wound down under President Joe Biden after a record of failures and criticism for racial profiling.

While still on supervised ⁠release, Lieber obtained court approval for at least three ⁠trips to China in 2024, including one that US District Judge Denise Casper granted for “employment networking,” court documents show. Judge Casper didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Lieber’s defence team said in a pre-sentencing memorandum in 2023 that the scientist had been suffering from lymphoma and was largely confined to his home, leaving only for medical appointments, brief walks, and occasional visits to a local farm. During a 30-year career at Harvard he spent over 80 hours a week in the lab, and when not working, Lieber spent time “coaching wrestling, and growing giant pumpkins in the back yard,” according to his defence.

Lieber acknowledged being “young and stupid” in getting involved with China’s Thousand Talents Programme, the state-backed initiative to recruit overseas experts, his lawyer told the court in 2021. When he was arrested in 2020, Lieber told FBI agents he “wanted to win a Nobel Prize” and be ‌recognised for his work, according to prosecutors.

The FBI declined to comment and the Justice Department didn’t respond to questions.

The Lieber case illustrates a broader failure of US policy, some analysts say.

“If you think of him as a vector for tech acquisition that runs contrary to US interests, we identified that, punished him, and that did nothing to stop the big-picture trend,” said Emily de La Bruyère, co-founder of China-focused consultancy Horizon Advisory and a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a nonprofit research institute considered hawkish on foreign policy.

Gerstell, the former US official, described Lieber as “Exhibit A” in how US legal tools are inadequate.

“This is a guy who was convicted of precisely the thing that we want him to be convicted of in this context, and yet the minute he’s released from house arrest, he’s off in China,” he said. — Reuters

TAIPEI, May 1 — US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Beijing next month for a summit where China is likely to try and make the issue of “Taiwan independence” a major part of the agenda.

Below ‌are some questions and answers about what is meant by the term “Taiwan independence”.

What is Taiwan’s history and formal name today?

Previously known as Formosa, the island has been home to indigenous people for thousands of years, before the Dutch and Spanish briefly ruled parts of it in the 1600s.

The Qing dynasty incorporated Taiwan as part of Fujian province in 1684 and only declared it a separate ‌Chinese province in 1885.

Following the Qing’s defeat in a war with Japan, it became a Japanese colony in 1895. In 1945, it was handed over to the Republic of China government at the end of World War Two.

In 1949 after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist forces, the Republic of China government fled and moved its capital to Taiwan, and Republic of China remains the island’s formal name.

Mao set up the People’s Republic of China, and claimed it was the only legitimate Chinese government for the whole of China, including Taiwan, as the Republic of China’s successor state.

What is Taiwan’s international status?

For decades, the Republic of China in Taipei also claimed to be the legitimate Chinese government, but in 1971 Beijing took over the China seat at the United Nations from Taipei.

Currently only 12 countries maintain formal ties with Taipei, mostly small developing nations such as Belize and Tuvalu.

Most major Western countries and US allies maintain close unofficial ties with Taiwan by recognising the Republic of China passport and having de facto embassies in each other’s capitals. Taiwanese citizens can freely travel to most countries using their Taiwanese passports.

The US severed official ties with Taipei in 1979 but is bound by law to provide the ‌island with the means to defend itself. The US officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty under Washington’s “One China” policy.

China says it will not renounce the use of force ⁠to bring Taiwan under its control. Beijing has offered Taiwan a “one country, two systems” model ⁠similar to Hong Kong, which promised the city a high degree of autonomy, though no major political party in Taiwan supports ⁠that.

Opinion polls in Taiwan have repeatedly shown most ⁠Taiwanese wish to maintain the current status ⁠quo in relations with China.

China also says that United Nations Resolution 2758, passed in 1971, means the world legally recognises Taiwan belongs to China. The resolution states that the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government of China.

The government in Taipei says that is nonsense given the resolution made no mention of Taiwan or its status. Last year, the US ⁠State Department said China was intentionally mis-characterising the resolution as part of broader “coercive attempts to isolate Taiwan from the international community”.

The Presidential Office Building of Taiwan stands among residential and commercial buildings in Taipei on March 17, 2026. — AFP pic

Is Taiwan already an independent country?

Taiwan, whose people elect their own leaders and whose government controls a defined area of territory with its own military, passport and currency, enjoys de facto independence even if that is not formally recognised by most countries.

Taiwan’s government says the Republic of China is a sovereign state and that Beijing has no right to speak for or represent it given the People’s Republic of China has no say in how it chooses its leaders and has never ruled Taiwan.

Could Taipei declare a “Republic of Taiwan”?

It would be very difficult and require ⁠parliamentary approval of a constitutional amendment and then a referendum, rather than a simple declaration by President Lai Ching-te.

At least 75 per cent of lawmakers would need to pass that amendment, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) currently have an equal number of seats.

The DPP, which has ⁠been in power since 2016, has not made an attempt to change the constitution. The KMT strongly opposes any attempts to change the name of Republic of China.

Since taking office in 2024, Lai has said on several occasions that the Republic of China and People’s Republic of China are ‘not subordinate to each other’, which Beijing says means he believes the two are separate countries ‌and so he is therefore pushing an independence narrative. — AFP pic

What does Taiwan’s president ⁠say about independence?

China ⁠detests Lai and calls him a “separatist”. Before Lai was elected president he made comments about being a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”. Lai maintains he simply meant Taiwan is already an independent country.

Since taking office in 2024, Lai has said on several occasions that the Republic of China and People’s Republic of China are “not subordinate to each other”, which Beijing says means he believes the two are separate countries ‌and so he is therefore pushing an independence narrative.

Does China have a legal framework to prevent formal Independence?

In 2005, China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament passed the Anti-Secession Law that gives the country the legal basis for military action against Taiwan if it secedes or if the “possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted”, but the law is vague and does not give details. — Reuters

PARIS, April 30 — The latest developments in the Middle East war:

Lebanon slams Israel 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the “continuing Israeli violations” in south Lebanon, saying they were occurring “despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises day after day”.

“Pressure must be exerted on Israel to ensure it respects international laws and conventions and ceases targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defence, and humanitarian health and relief organisations,” he added.

‘Accelerate’ climate transition 

The global energy crisis has shown the need for the world economy to transform and “accelerate the transition to clean energy”, the Turkish president-designate of the United Nations’ COP31 climate conference said.

“We now know clearly that the global economy must transform its energy paradigm,” Murat Kurum, who is also Türkiye’s climate minister, told a meeting on the energy transition at the International Energy Agency (IAE) in Paris.

‘Major energy crisis’ 

The world is facing a “major energy and economic challenge” as oil prices have soared in the wake of the war in the Middle East, said IAE chief Fatih Birol at the same Paris meeting.

With the world faced with “the biggest energy crisis in history”, oil prices were “putting a lot of pressure in many countries”, he added.

Blockade ‘doomed to fail’ 

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said a US naval blockade on Iranian ports would deepen disruptions in the Gulf while failing to achieve its targets.

“Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law... and is doomed to fail,” Pezeshkian said in a statement.

Oil at four-year high 

Oil prices soared to four-year highs, with the US crude benchmark Brent for June delivery spiking more than seven per cent to US$126.41 (RM501), while West Texas Intermediate was up 3.4 per cent to US$110.31, before later paring gains.

US-Germany tensions 

President Donald Trump said the United States was considering reducing its troops in Germany over Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s refusal to join Washington’s war against Iran — a force estimated between 35,000 and 50,000 troops.

The threats to slash US troop numbers echo Trump’s longstanding criticisms of the Nato alliance, but Merz drew Trump’s fresh ire earlier this week after saying Tehran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table.

EU argues for US troop deployments in Europe 

Following Trump’s post, the EU said Thursday that the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington’s interest.

“Our Nato allies are also increasing their defence spending at an unprecedented pace,” European Union spokeswoman Anitta Hipper added.

Putin-Trump talks 

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his US counterpart not to resume attacks on Iran in a phone call between the two leaders Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

He said there would be “inevitable and extremely damaging consequences” for the region and wider world if military action restarted.

Trump said Putin had wanted to “help” end the US-Israeli war on Iran but that he had told the Russian leader to end the Ukraine invasion first.

US war cost US$25 billion 

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked Wednesday during a fiery exchange in Congress about the cost of 60 days of conflict, and replied that it was estimated at less than US$25 billion so far.

But he hit back at concerns that the United States has used up “alarming” levels of critical munitions that could deplete reserves, accusing critics of “handing propaganda to our enemies”.

‘No more Mr. Nice Guy’ 

“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, alongside an illustration of himself holding an assault rifle, with the caption “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” — AFP 

TEHRAN, April 30 — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message today that the United States had been defeated in its war on Iran.

“Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” said Khamenei in the message read on state television. — AFP

JERUSALEM, April 30 — Israel’s army arrested around 175 activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters off Greece, the Israeli foreign ministry and the flotilla’s organisers said Thursday.

“Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats of the condom flotilla are now making their way peacefully to Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, using its latest epithet to poke fun at the flotilla after prophylactics were found in a previous convoy.

The statement included a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.

The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza had announced shortly beforehand that their boats were surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of the Greek island of Crete.

“At the time of publishing this statement (06:30 Paris time, 04:30 GMT), at least 22 of the flotilla’s 58 boats have been stormed by Israeli forces in complete violation of international law,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement.

The flotilla set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the flotilla said its boats had been “illegally surrounded” by Israeli vessels.

The remaining boats in the flotilla are currently near Crete, according to the organisation’s live tracking on its website.

‘Lasers and assault weapons’

“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the organisation had said.

“Boat communications are being jammed and a SOS was issued.”

In the summer and autumn of 2025, a first voyage by the Global Sumud Flotilla across the Mediterranean towards Gaza drew worldwide attention.

The boats in that flotilla were intercepted by Israel off the coasts of Egypt and the Gaza Strip in early October.

The Israeli operation, described as illegal by the organisers and by Amnesty International, drew international condemnation.

Crew members, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested and then expelled by Israel.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, and the war triggered by the Palestinian movement’s attack on Israel has led to severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.

A fragile ceasefire was reached last October after two years of devastating conflict.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP.

Israeli military operations carried out in retaliation have killed more than 72,000 people in the Palestinian territory, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. — AFP

BANGKOK, April 30 — Thai authorities arrested a teenager at a Bangkok airport for allegedly smuggling 30 protected tortoises valued at about US$9,000 (RM36,000) that were taped under her clothing, wildlife officials said Wednesday.

Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers who often sell highly prized endangered animals on the lucrative black market in Asia.

Authorities became suspicious of the 19-year-old Taiwanese woman’s unusual movements as she prepared to board a flight to Taipei early Tuesday, Thailand’s wildlife conservation department said in a statement.

A search at Suvarnabhumi airport’s departure terminal uncovered the Indian star tortoises – 29 alive and one dead – strapped to her body, the department said.

“The suspect had used adhesive tape to immobilise the animals, packed them into cloth bags and attached them to her body to evade detection,” it added.

The Thai customs department said the tortoises – protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) – commanded a high price on the black market, placing their total estimated value at around US$9,000.

The woman was charged with illegally transporting animals and evading customs controls.

Authorities said they were investigating whether she was part of a wider smuggling network.

Indian star tortoises are classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN), which says they have been targeted to meet international demand for use as “exotic pets”.

The surviving tortoises were transferred to wildlife conservation officials for care and to serve as evidence. — AFP