Category: News

On April 27, states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will gather in New York to begin their five-year review of its function. This year, the review conference opens under the shadow of the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran under the pretext that it was about to develop a nuclear weapon.

As the 191 state parties gather to review the NPT, the grand bargain at the heart of this treaty will be put on trial.

The treaty, which entered into force in 1970, is the central agreement through which most states accepted the current nuclear order. Non-nuclear-weapon states under the treaty (including Iran) have agreed never to acquire nuclear weapons, while the five recognised nuclear-weapon states (the US, the UK, France, China and Russia) have agreed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, and to also to pursue the disarmament of their own nuclear stockpiles.

All parties to the NPT retain the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology, under safeguards overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Every five years, states meet to review whether that bargain is still being honoured. That is why this conference is happening now.

The problem is that Iran’s case now raises a deeply uncomfortable question for the review conference: Does NPT membership offer any degree of protection for its non-nuclear-weapon states?

To be fair, Iran is unlike any other non-nuclear-weapon state under the NPT, and has given the world reasons to be concerned about its nuclear activities. The IAEA has raised questions about Iran’s unresolved safeguards issues, limited inspector access and its accumulation of uranium enriched far beyond normal civilian needs.

Yet, the agency has not found any evidence of a structured weapons programme. Despite that conclusion – confirmed by US intelligence – the US, an official nuclear state, and Israel, an unofficial nuclear state, decided to attack Iran.

This coercive approach to resolving concerns about nuclear activities is extremely damaging to the NPT. If the issue was uncertainty about what Iran’s nuclear facilities are up to, then bombing them does not create any clarity. If the issue was limited access for weapons inspectors, waging war and blockading the country would not make inspections easier. If the issue was nuclear latency, attacking safeguarded sites risks teaching other states that remaining below the weapons threshold provides neither reassurance nor protection.

This is the darker lesson now hanging over the review conference in New York. Iran’s working papers submitted to the conference, raise important issues. Tehran evokes Article IV of the treaty and the right to peaceful nuclear technology. It argues that attacks on safeguarded facilities violate the very logic of the treaty. It points to Israel’s position outside the NPT, and to the long-unfulfilled promise of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

One does not have to accept Iran’s entire case to see why these arguments will resonate with other conference attendees. They speak to a wider anxiety among non-nuclear-weapon states: That the rules are observed when applied to the weak, and are bent when applied to the powerful.

It does not help that the location of the review conference is in the US – a party to the ongoing conflict, which is trying to impose by force commitments that are already outlined in the NPT and that Iran, as a signatory, had agreed to. If the war had not started, this could have been a convenient venue for the US and Iran to hold supplementary talks to resolve differences.

But the war, as well as other violations – such as the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – put US commitment to international law and UN-facilitated diplomacy under question. Notwithstanding all this, Iran’s existing mission and technical experts may be well placed to carry a quieter parallel track at the review conference.

In the coming four weeks, the NPT state parties have work to do. They can reaffirm that attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities are unacceptable. They can press Iran on safeguards without pretending force is needed for verification. They can place the enrichment debate within the treaty’s actual terms, and remind the US that zero enrichment is not an NPT requirement. They can also bring up the issue of the regional imbalance created by Israel’s nuclear opacity and non-membership.

As the conference begins, it is important to remember the key role the NPT has played in curbing the spread of nuclear weapons for over 50 years. Preserving the treaty is key to maintaining this state of affairs. That is why, at the review conference, states parties should categorically refuse to let the NPT’s basic bargain be rewritten by war.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

EXPLAINER

Iran discusses diplomatic solutions with regional partners as Trump says Iran could telephone if it wants to talk.

Iran has stepped up diplomatic efforts to end the war with the United States, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shuttling between Pakistan and Oman on Sunday before flying to Russia on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday Iran could telephone if it wanted to negotiate an end to the two-month US-Israel war on Iran after scrapping a visit ⁠⁠to Islamabad by his representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

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The two main sticking points are the issues of Iran’s nuclear programme and access to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which remains under de facto Iranian blockade.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have escalated attacks against Lebanon, killing at least 14 people on Sunday despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

Here is what we know on day 59 of the conflict:

War diplomacy

• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi arrived in Saint Petersburg early on Monday and is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian and Iranian state media.
• Discussions on ⁠⁠bilateral ties ⁠⁠and regional issues, including the US-Israel war on Iran, will be held, Araghchi said.
• According to Araghchi, Iran and ⁠⁠Oman, as coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz, had agreed to ‌‌continue expert-level consultations to ensure safe transit and protect ‌‌shared ‌‌interests in the waterway.
• Araghchi said his talks in the Pakistani capital were “very productive” and included a review of “the specific conditions under which negotiations between Iran and the US could continue”.

• Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Islamabad, said according to one diplomatic source, recent events have “served as a catalyst”, reinforcing the view that “there needs to be a permanent end to hostilities”.
• “We are being told here in Islamabad that we are inching towards a framework of sorts, which will provide a background to which all of these sides can come to an agreement – and not just the Iranians and the Americans, but essentially the Gulf countries as well,” he reported.
• Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said the US must abandon “blackmailing” and “ultimatums” in its negotiating position if talks with Iran are to move forward.

In Iran

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had no intention of unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.
• “Controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House’s supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Islamic Iran,” the IRGC said on its official Telegram channel.

In US

• Trump said a shooting at a Washington media dinner on Saturday would not divert him from the war on Iran. “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, I really don’t think so, based on what we know,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the incident.
• The US president reiterated that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, while saying he was open to talks with Tehran.

In Lebanon

• The Ministry of Public Health said Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday killed 14 people, including two women and two children, and wounded 37.
• State media outlet National News Agency reported that Israeli forces raided the entrance to Kafra in southern Lebanon at dawn on Monday and cut off the road leading to the town.
• Hezbollah rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that it was jeopardising a ceasefire, saying in a statement that its attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel were “a legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the announcement of the temporary truce”.

Sydney, Australia – Until recently, Rosco Jewell sold about one used electric vehicle every two months on his online marketplace, Amazing EV.

But in the weeks since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran, Jewell has been shifting a second-hand EV roughly every two weeks.

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“It is now getting very hard to find used EVs to buy in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. And we’ve also seen prices increase by 10 to 15 percent – in some cases, 20 percent as well,” the Sydney-based businessman told Al Jazeera.

As conflict in the Middle East drives petrol and diesel prices worldwide, demand for EVs has been surging in numerous countries.

The United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, have both seen a surge in EV sales after market slumps in 2025.

Chinese manufacturers reported an 82.6 percent rise in month-on-month sales in March, according to the China Automotive Dealers Association.

US EV sales last month topped 82,000 units, down by one quarter year over year, but up by more than 20 percent from February, according to Cox Automotive.

In Vietnam, local EV brand Vinfast reported a 127 percent rise in year-on-year sales in March.

Euan Graham, an analyst at the energy think tank Ember, said the war on Iran has accelerated a trend of growing EV adoption in emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, spurred by past energy shocks such as the war in Ukraine.

“We’re now in a period in the 2020s where we’ve seen two fossil fuel shocks, one after the other,” Graham told Al Jazeera, referring to the energy crunch that followed Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“What usually happens, based on past examples… is countries look for alternative solutions, and in the 2020s, there are increasingly competitive alternative solutions, and EVs are one of them,” Graham said.

“So I would really expect this to be a kind of permanent shift in the pace of EV adoption in a number of countries,” he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s EV sales nearly tripled year-on-year last month, while South Korea saw domestic purchases surge by 172 percent.

In Europe, France recorded a three-fold increase in new registrations of Tesla cars, while Norway, Sweden and Denmark reported similar surges in new registrations for the EV brand.

In Australia, battery EVs accounted for 14.6 percent of total vehicle sales in March, nearly double the proportion recorded during the same month in 2025, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

David Smitherman, the CEO of Sydney-based BYD distributor EVDirect, said he had seen a sharp uptick in inquiries that he expected to translate into sales in the coming months.

“We’ve just seen a lot of people come into the stores, obviously concerned about the price of fuel and their ability to control their own transport needs,” Smitherman, whose company manages 90 of the Chinese carmaker’s showrooms, told Al Jazeera.

In Melbourne, Kevin Alberica, operations and sourcing manager at EV dealership Evolve Motors, said one of his staff had recently sold seven Teslas in a single Saturday.

“’I’ve never seen multiple people queueing for one car,” Alberica told Al Jazeera.

“We had over 100 Teslas in stock. Now we have barely anything,” he said. “I am trying to replace everything we have, but it is difficult.”

While Australia is a major exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, the country imports about 80 percent of its petrol and diesel needs.

Australia’s government said last month that the country had about one month of fuel in reserves, with upcoming shipments secured through to May.

“The news is definitely scaring people,” Alberica said. “You have a lot of business owners that have maybe diesel vans come in and buy a Tesla Model.”

Charles Lester, data manager at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the trajectory of global demand for EVs would depend on petrol prices.

“If the price is sustained for a long period, and when it comes to consumers and when they’re deciding to purchase a vehicle, their heads will turn towards at least thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle,” Lester told Al Jazeera.

For EV advocates, the rise in demand has spurred hopes that governments will take a more active role in supporting the transition away from the combustion engine.

In Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales, the state government earlier this month unveiled a $71m initiative to fund the installation of EV chargers in regional areas.

Such moves have been tempered by a review of Australia’s generous tax breaks for EVs at the federal level, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers widely expected to scale back the exemption from fringe benefits tax in May’s budget.

Australia is “uniquely well positioned” to benefit from the electrification of its transportation because of “the success we’ve had in not only large-scale renewable energy, but also in consumer renewable energy over a couple of decades”, James Pickering, national president of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, told Al Jazeera.

For some Australian consumers, the switch to an EV has been a godsend after years of above-average inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jarred, a 27-year-old public servant in Melbourne, bought his first EV in February, just before the start of the war on Iran.

“The running costs have blown me away,” Jarred, who asked to be identified by this first name, told Al Jazeera.

“I can do a full charge at home for just $6.60 with my new home electricity rates,” he added.

“I really haven’t had anything to complain about yet.”

The Houston Rockets routed the Los Angeles Lakers 115-96 to stay alive in the NBA playoffs as San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama made a triumphant return to put the Spurs on the brink of advancing.

Amen Thompson scored 23 points to fuel the Rockets, who bounced back from a crushing overtime loss in the last game to cut the deficit in their best-of-seven Western Conference series to 3-1 on Sunday.

The Spurs and the Boston Celtics took commanding 3-1 leads in their series, with San Antonio rallying from 19 points down to beat the Trail Blazers 114-93 in Portland and Boston thrashed the 76ers 128-96 in Philadelphia.

In Toronto, the Raptors edged the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-89 to level their series at two games apiece.

Denied a sweep in Houston, the Lakers can still finish off the Rockets when they host game five on Wednesday.

The Rockets, still without star Kevin Durant, harried the Lakers into 24 turnovers, yielding 30 Houston points.

Wemby returns to winning ways

In Portland, Wembanyama returned after missing one game because of a concussion and scored 27 points with 11 rebounds, three assists, four steals and a whopping seven blocked shots.

“I had lots of emotions in me before the game, obviously,” said Wembanyama, named the 2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and in the running for Most Valuable Player.

“Excitement, frustration, so I let it all out tonight,” he said.

The 22-year-old Frenchman praised the doctors who oversaw his path through the NBA concussion protocol but voiced dissatisfaction with the process that requires a gradual return to physical activity under medical supervision.

“The way the situation was handled was very disappointing,” Wembanyama said, declining to elaborate.

San Antonio’s De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 28 points, and the Spurs outscored the Trail Blazers 73-35 in the second half.

They’ll try to clinch the series when they host game five on Tuesday.

Houston Rockets in comeback win over LA Lakers

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James made just two of nine attempts from the floor on the way to 10 points. He handed out nine assists but made eight turnovers.

With Los Angeles still missing their top scorers in injured Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, centre Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

But Los Angeles were already down by 19 when he was ejected in the third quarter after catching Rockets centre Alperen Sengun in the head with his forearm.

Tari Eason added 20 points, and Sengun scored 19 for Houston, who are trying to become the first NBA team to rally from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.

Celtics thump 76ers

The Celtics spoiled the return of 76ers star Joel Embiid, who played his first game since undergoing an emergency appendectomy on April 9 .

Payton Pritchard scored 32 points off the bench, and Jayson Tatum scored 30 points with seven rebounds and 11 assists for the Celtics, who led by 16 points after one quarter and by double digits the rest of the way.

Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but Philadelphia couldn’t counter the Celtics’ barrage of 24 three-pointers.

In Toronto, Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram scored 23 points apiece as the Raptors held off the Cavaliers despite making just four of 30 from three-point range.

The Raptors trailed by five with 2:10 left to play but surged ahead with a 9-0 scoring burst and held on.

Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points to lead the Cavs, and James Harden added 19, but Mitchell missed two attempts in the final 30 seconds as Barnes made six free throws down the stretch to seal it.

Abbas Araghchi will speak with ‘senior officials’ in Moscow, Iran’s Foreign Ministry says.

Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, has left Islamabad for Moscow, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, as mediators hope to keep the prospect of more Tehran-Washington talks alive.

Araghchi sandwiched a trip to Muscat, Oman, in between visits to the Pakistani capital, leaving on Sunday to be in Moscow the following day. But there was no indication that direct talks between Iran and the United States would resume.

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However, in a sign that indirect efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency reported that Iran had transmitted “written messages” to the Americans via mediator Pakistan, which were “about some of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz”.

But the messages were not part of any negotiations, Fars said.

US President Donald Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire that Washington and Tehran agreed to on April 7, which has largely halted the fighting that began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

But a permanent settlement remains elusive, and the economic shockwaves of the war continue to reverberate around the globe.

Iran has effectively blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz, cutting off vast quantities of oil, natural gas and fertiliser from the global market, and sending prices soaring. The US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in response.

There had been hopes for a new round of talks on Saturday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner due to visit Islamabad, but Trump later told Fox News he had scrapped the trip, saying there was no point “sitting around talking about nothing”.

On Sunday, Trump told the same channel: “I said, we’re not doing this any more. We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines”.

Asked earlier whether cancelling the trip meant a return to open hostilities, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that.”

Shuttle diplomacy

On Saturday, Araghchi met Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar, before flying on to Muscat. He returned to Islamabad on Sunday.

In Russia, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said he would speak with “senior officials”.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Araghchi would visit Moscow, but did not say if he would meet President Vladimir Putin.

Amid the flurry of meetings, Araghchi signalled scepticism over Washington’s intentions, saying he had “yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy”.

President Donald Trump says suspect wrote an anti-Christian declaration and is ‘sick guy’.

United States authorities believe a gunman who is accused of trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was targeting US President Donald Trump and members of his administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says.

Blanche said on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect travelled from California to Washington, DC, by train via Chicago.

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Shots were fired on Saturday evening near the ballroom where the dinner was being held as Secret Service agents subdued the gunman and as Trump, top government officials and hundreds of journalists attended the event.

Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but multiple US media outlets have identified him as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

Trump told Fox News that the family of the suspect raised concerns about him to local police before the event. The president also told the TV news channel that the accused man had written an anti-Christian declaration.

“The guy is a sick guy,” he told Fox News. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians.”

Law enforcement officials who made initial examinations of the suspect’s electronic devices and his writings believe he intended to target Trump administration members in attendance at the dinner.

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told the NBC TV network.

The suspect is believed to have bought the two firearms he carried with him on Saturday night in the past couple of years, the attorney general said. He is not being cooperative with law enforcement and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday, Blanche said.

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer with multiple degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering.

Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran towards him. One officer in a bullet-resistant vest was shot but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured but was taken to hospital to be evaluated, police said.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

Trump used the incident to push his plans to construct a large ballroom next to the White House, a plan that has faced legal challenges and that polls indicate most Americans oppose.

“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

The $400m ballroom has become a passion project for Trump during his second term.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years, calling for unity and bipartisan healing.

Mohamed Salah has become the latest player to sustain an injury weeks ahead of the World Cup, adding to his team’s and supporters’ woes as Egypt return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition.

Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Saturday, with a top Egyptian football official confirming the forward will miss the rest of his club’s season.

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The Egyptian talisman is not the only player to have suffered a blow ahead of the global tournament, and joins an increasing list of major players spending the rest of the club football season on the sidelines.

With the World Cup kicking off in less than two months in Canada, Mexico and the United States, several players find themselves in a race against time to overcome injuries and prove their fitness.

Title contenders and former champions Spain, Brazil and Germany will be among those hoping some of their key players recover in time for the tournament, which begins on June 11.

Here are some of the big names who have sustained injuries ahead of the World Cup:

Mohamed Salah: Egypt

The Egyptian and Liverpool forward was in pain as he limped off the field and held his hamstring after being substituted in the league game.

While his club manager Arne Slot refused to say whether Salah would miss the rest of Liverpool’s season, his national team’s director confirmed that the 33-year-old will be out for four weeks.

“We have to wait and see how his injury is and if he is able to return to play,” Slot told reporters after the match.

“What I do know about Mo is that throughout all of these years, he has taken such good care of his body that he will have the minimum time required to recover from an injury,” he added.

However, Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan confirmed that Salah’s club season was over.

“He has suffered a hamstring tear and will require four weeks of treatment,” Hassan told the Reuters news agency.

Hassan said Salah would be fit for the World Cup, where Egypt face Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in Group G.

Salah is no stranger to pre-World Cup blows, having injured his shoulder before the 2018 edition in the Champions League final. He missed the Pharaohs’ opening game, but recovered for the remaining two group matches and scored two goals in a campaign that ended at the group stage.

Egypt at World Cup 2026: Belgium (June 15), New Zealand (June 21), Iran (June 26)

Lamine Yamal: Spain

All eyes will be on the award-winning football prodigy, but his World Cup debut has been thrown into doubt after a hamstring injury in his left leg (biceps femoris muscle).

Barcelona announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but the international forward should be fit to represent Spain at this summer’s World Cup.

The 18-year-old’s participation is still doubtful since it could take four to six weeks to recover as he follows a “conservative treatment plan”.

Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England. Then just 16 years of age, he showed speed and guile on the ball that marked him as one of the hottest properties in global football.

Spain at World Cup 2026: Cape Verde (June 15), Saudi Arabia (June 21), Uruguay (June 27)

Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Serge Gnabry: Germany

The 33-year-old first-choice goalkeeper for Germany has spent more time recovering than playing this year after a severe hamstring injury in February sent him into rehabilitation.

German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann told Marc-Andre ter Stegen in March that his chances of playing for the national side were “very slim” and that he had to speed up his recovery to be fit for the tournament in June.

The four-time champions could rely on Oliver Baumann in Stegen’s absence.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Serge Gnabry took to social media this week to announce he would be “supporting the boys from home”. The 30-year-old suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right thigh that also ruled him out of Bayern Munich’s remaining Bundesliga season.

Germany at World Cup 2026: Curacao (June 14), Ivory Coast (June 20), Ecuador (June 25)

Estevao, Rodrygo and Eder Militao: Brazil

Brazil and Chelsea forward Estevao has also been ruled out of the remaining Premier League season after suffering a hamstring injury that left the teen in tears as he was taken off the pitch.

Chelsea’s interim coach Calum McFarlane expressed his hope for the 19-year-old to make it to the Brazilian squad, though he cautioned there was no guarantee yet.

Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras last year and has scored eight goals this season. He was expected to be part of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the World Cup after scoring five times in his last six international appearances.

Unlike Estevao, Brazil forward Rodrygo has been decisively ruled out of the World Cup squad due to a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.

“One of the worst days of my life, how much I always feared this injury,” the 25-year-old wrote in a social media post after the setback in March.

Rodrygo made five appearances for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Yet another blow to Brazil comes from a hamstring injury sustained by Eder Militao during Real Madrid’s 2–1 win over Deportivo Alaves.

The 28-year-old defender is set to undergo surgery, and according to reports, will not be available for Brazil’s World Cup campaign as previously expected.

Brazil at World Cup 2026: Morocco (June 13), Haiti (June 19), Scotland (June 24)

Hugo Ekitike: France

France striker Hugo Ekitike has also been ruled out of the World Cup entirely after tearing his Achilles tendon in April during the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

He recently underwent surgery, which Liverpool manager Arne Slot said went well, although recovery and a return to the pitch for the 23-year-old could take as long as 2027.

France at World Cup 2026: Senegal (June 16), Iraq (June 22), Norway (June 26)

Wataru Endo and Takumi Minamino: Japan

A question mark lingers over the participation of Japan captain and Liverpool defender Wataru Endo, who has not played since sustaining an ankle injury at Sunderland in February. Liverpool manager Slot recently provided an update, saying the 33-year-old midfielder may return just in time for the end of the season.

Teammate Takumi Minamino is also in the same situation after rupturing his ACL in December.

Japan at World Cup 2026: Netherlands (June 14), Tunisia (June 20), Sweden (June 25)

United States President Donald Trump has cancelled a planned visit to Pakistan by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had been expected to explore indirect talks, which remain deadlocked over issues that include the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, signalling that Washington for now would not send negotiators to Pakistan, the country that is mediating between the longtime adversaries.

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With neither Washington nor Tehran showing much willingness to soften their positions, prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough in the US-Israeli war on Iran and securing a lasting ceasefire remain stalled.

The conflict spilled into the larger Middle East region, including Lebanon, causing the worst global energy crisis since the 1970s and risking a global recession.

So what do we know about the talks and where they stand as of now?

What has the US said?

The US president on Saturday told reporters in Florida that he scrapped his envoys’ visit because the talks involved too much travel and expense to consider an inadequate offer from the Iranians.

After the diplomatic trip was called off, Iran “offered a lot, but not enough”, Trump said.

On Truth Social, he wrote that there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.

“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he posted. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!”

What has Iran said?

In Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that his government will not enter negotiations while the US maintains a blockade on Iranian ports.

In a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday night, Pezeshkian said Washington “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” before any new talks can begin, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Islamabad on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate meetings with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Sharif.

In a post on Telegram, Araghchi said their discussions covered regional dynamics and Iran’s non-negotiable positions without disclosing specifics. He added that Tehran intends to engage with Pakistan’s mediation efforts “until a result is achieved”.

After departing Islamabad on Saturday, Araghchi travelled to Oman, where he discussed ways to end the conflict with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, according to state media.

He was then scheduled to continue on to Russia. Iran’s IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected to return to Islamabad on Sunday for additional talks.

What has Pakistan said?

Despite hardening public positions from Washington and Tehran, Pakistan’s political and military leadership is continuing to mediate, two Pakistani officials said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press news agency. They were quoted as describing the indirect ceasefire contacts as still alive but fragile.

There were no immediate plans for US envoys to return for talks, according to the Pakistani officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, AP added.

Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Islamabad, said Pakistani officials are underscoring that the expected return of Araghchi to Islamabad is seen as a “hopeful sign”.

“What they hope is that this will in fact be something that can be incremental in the process and will advance forward,” she reported.

What is happening with the ceasefire?

The US-Iran ceasefire began on April 8 after nearly six weeks of US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory Iranian attacks against Israel and across the Gulf region.

The two sides held talks in Islamabad on April 11 aimed at securing a permanent deal, but they ended after 21 hours with no breakthrough.

After repeated threats of restarting the war if Iran did not heed Washington’s demands, Trump extended the ceasefire on Tuesday without a set deadline, saying he was in no rush to conclude a peace deal with Iran.

While the truce has held for the most part, the two sides continue to accuse each other of violations.

Iranian forces, which have essentially blocked the Strait of Hormuz, have captured commercial vessels, and the US has intercepted or detained ships suspected of violating its naval blockade of Iranian ports just one week after the ceasefire went into effect.

The naval blockade is seen by Iran as a breach of the ceasefire. Tehran has warned that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible as long as the blockade remains in place.

The critical waterway has become a central dispute in the conflict. One-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped through the strait, which links the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, before the war began.

Iran insists on sovereignty over the waterway, which lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. It has also floated the idea of levying tolls while Washington demands full freedom of navigation. The Gulf nations, which export most of their petroleum through the strait, have opposed the Iranian plan to impose tolls.

Another key issue is the debate over Iran’s stock of enriched uranium.

The US and Israel are pushing for zero uranium enrichment and have accused Iran of working towards building a nuclear weapon while providing no evidence for their claims.

Iran has insisted its enrichment effort is for civilian purposes only. It is a signatory to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Tehran says it has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme. But according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear watchdog, Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent, a level that is far higher than what is needed for civilian use.

United States President Donald Trump has been rushed out of the White House correspondents dinner at a hotel in Washington, DC, after a gunman fired shots and tried to breach security.

The president, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s cabinet members were unharmed in the shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel.

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A Secret Service agent was hit but was protected by a bullet-resistant vest. Trump said he was in “great shape”.

The White House said the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California, is in custody. Trump said he was heavily armed and appeared to be acting alone.

The White House correspondents dinner will be rescheduled in 30 days, he said.

Here’s what to know about the shooting and the suspect:

What happened to Trump?

The president was to speak at the White House Correspondents’ Association ‌dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.

The dinner is an annual event at which journalists who cover the White House celebrate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which ensures the freedom of speech and the press, and raise money for journalism scholarships. The president and other US leaders also generally attend.

But the gala was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, and Secret Service agents rushed the president out of the room and the hotel.

A man armed with a shotgun had fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told the Reuters news agency. The agent was hit but in an area ⁠covered by protective gear and was unharmed, the official said.

US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi later told reporters that the officer had been released from hospital.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Chris Sheridan said everyone was eating and socialising at the dinner and suddenly shots were heard.

“I thought it sounded like it came from behind where we were sitting, but it was quite loud. It was an echo. Quite a loud boom of at least five shots, which resonated throughout the ballroom just outside where we were,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher also described unusual events at the White House, where the president addressed the media, who all arrived straight from the dinner.

“We don’t often get the president stepping from an assassination attempt, which is what it appears like on the face of it now, into the briefing room to give the media an update with everyone in their finest clothes,” he reported from Washington, DC.

The Hilton hotel is no stranger to assassination attempts after John Hinckley Jr’s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan there in 1981. That event is perhaps what the hotel is most famous for and not the annual White House correspondents dinner.

Fisher said Trump seemed quite taken aback by the shooting.

“He himself initially had thought a tray had been dropped or it was gunfire, and the Secret Service agent spirited him out of the hall along with the first lady and other members of the cabinet,” he said.

He noted that Trump had made it clear that he wanted to continue the event, but the Secret Service wouldn’t allow it.

Is Trump safe?

All US federal officials, including Trump, have been declared safe.

About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on his Truth Social platform that a “shooter had been apprehended”.

“Quite an evening in DC, Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump wrote.

Trump said he had been asked to leave the dinner and said it will be rescheduled.

“The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition,” he said. “I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”

Addressing reporters a short time later, Trump lauded the bravery of the Secret Service agent who he said “was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job”.

“I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great. He’s in great shape. He is in very high spirits, and we told him we love him and respect him,” he said.

Who is the suspected gunman?

The New York Times and CBS News identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen.

Washington, DC, interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. Carroll added that he has been taken to a local hospital to be evaluated but it was too soon to say what his motivation was.

Based on preliminary information, Carroll said the suspect was believed to have been a guest at the hotel.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Richard Gaisford said authorities have not released the name of the suspect in custody but various news reports have identified him.

“It appears this was gleaned from the information he gave when he checked in to the Washington Hilton before this event. He had a room at the hotel and is being named as Cole Tomas Allen from a place called Torrance in California. He is 31 years old,” he said.

“We saw that video of him rushing that police line, in effect to try and get into the ballroom, where, of course, Donald Trump was sat close to his wife, Melania, and other members of the cabinet and all of the members of the press who were gathered for the White House correspondents dinner there,” he added.

Gaisford noted that in some of the pictures, the gunman is almost half-naked because he was stripped by police to ensure he wasn’t carrying any form of explosive device.

Trump described him as a “sick” man.

“The man has been captured. They go into his apartment. I guess he lives in California, and he’s a sick person, a very sick person. And we don’t want things like this to happen,” the US president told reporters.

He added that the events were traumatic for the first lady and the response from law enforcement agencies was “really incredible”.

“We’re going to reschedule. We’re gonna do it again. We’re not gonna let anybody take over our society. We’re not gonna cancel things out.”

Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, told journalists that the investigation is ongoing.

“I expect you will see charges filed shortly. The charges should be self-evident, given the conduct, but as you’ll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting, the possession of firearms and anything else that we can get on this guy,” Blanche said.

Has Trump been attacked in the past?

Trump has faced numerous assassination attempts and death threats throughout his years as president and as a presidential candidate.

The closest call came in July 2024 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman got onto a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to then-candidate Trump as he spoke on stage. A bystander was killed, and Trump was wounded in the ear. Agents shot dead the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, at the scene.

Two months later, an armed man hid near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida with the intent to kill him, according to officials. Prosecutors said Ryan Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as the president played golf. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before he was able to open fire, and he was soon arrested nearby. Routh was found guilty last year of attempting to kill the president and was sentenced to life in prison in February.

Also in February, a 21-year-old man, Austin Tucker Martin, was shot dead after entering Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with a shotgun, but the president was not there.

EXPLAINER

The incident at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner is only one of a series of security-related events involving Trump since 2024.

Donald Trump and top White House officials were evacuated from an annual media gala event after an armed man stormed the lobby and opened fire.

The suspect was arrested at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton hotel and taken into custody. US media identified him as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance in California.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges would be filed shortly. It was not clear if the suspect was planning to target Trump.

The US president has been involved in various security-related incidents, including assassination attempts during his presidency and election campaigns.

Here is a timeline:

July 2024 – Trump shot at Pennsylvania rally

The US president was injured in a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler County on 14 July 2024, three months before he was elected president for a second term.

While Trump spoke to the crowd, at least five gunshots were heard around 6:15pm (22:15 GMT). He dropped down, while multiple US Secret Service agents rushed onto the stage to shield him.

Several minutes later, he was helped to his feet by the agents and escorted offstage to his motorcade, with blood visible on his right ear and smeared across his face.

The Secret Service shot and killed the suspect within seconds of the gunfire. Before being taken away, he appeared to pump his fists and yell “Fight!” towards the crowd.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later named the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

September 2024 – Second assassination attempt

On September 15, Trump was at his West Palm Springs resort in Florida when the incident occurred at about 2pm local time (18:00 GMT).

According to local media reports, Trump was moving between holes five and six at his golf course with his friend and now envoy Steve Witkoff when gunshots were heard. The course was quickly locked down.

Officials said a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel in some bushes near the edge of the course. Multiple officers fired at least four rounds at him. It was unclear if the suspect fired back at the agents.

The suspect was identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh.

Prosecutors said Routh had stayed in South Florida for about a month, and mobile phone records placed him in the vicinity of the golf course and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

In February, Routh was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of plotting to kill Trump.

September 2025 – Off-duty policeman infiltrates Trump’s security team

Melvin Eng, an officer with the New York Police Department (NYPD), turned up at the Ryder Cup golf tournament at Bethpage Black Course in New York, armed and in full tactical gear, pretending to be part of Trump’s security detail, US media reported.

It was later discovered that Eng was on sick leave, had no official assignment to be part of the president’s detail and no assigned role at the event.

The incident reportedly led to Eng’s suspension, pending further investigation by the NYPD.

February 2026 – Gunman killed after crashing security perimeter at Trump home

A man carrying a gas can and shotgun was fatally shot by Secret Service agents after crashing his vehicle into the security perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The president was in Washington at the time. Police identified the attacker as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin from North Carolina. His family had reported him missing and it is not clear what his motive was.