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South Korea Hopes Iran's Frozen Funds Will Be Resolved Smoothly

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
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South Korea Hopes Iran's Frozen Funds Will Be Resolved Smoothly

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, January 2022 (File photo: South Korean Foreign Ministry)

South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday that it hopes the issue of Iranian frozen funds will be resolved smoothly.

The ministry said it had no information regarding media reports that Iran may free five detained US citizens as part of a deal under which $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would be unfrozen, according to Reuters.

"Our government has been closely consulting with involved countries such as the United States and Iran to resolve the frozen fund issue, and hopes that the issue will be resolved amicably," the ministry said in a statement.

Iran has transferred five Iranian-Americans from the IRGC-affiliated Evin prison to house arrest in exchange for frozen funds in South Korea.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that the Iranian assets, which were previously held in South Korea, were converted through a Swiss bank.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said the next step would be the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian frozen assets in South Korea to a special account in Qatar which Iran could access only for humanitarian purchases such as food and medicine.

Ties between South Korea and Iran have been tense in the past five years, after South Korea froze over $9 billion in Iranian funds under US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

On 29 July, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi submitted a bill to parliament called “The Referral of Dispute between the Central Bank of Iran and the Government of the Korean Republic for Arbitration”.

Shahriar Heydari, deputy head of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in press statements that the draft allows the government to reconsider the diplomatic ties with South Korea.

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World

Kenya’s President Defends Planned US-Backed Ebola Quarantine Facility

A protester raises a Kenyan flag near a burning barricade during a demonstration against a proposed Ebola quarantine center to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, Kenya, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP)
A protester raises a Kenyan flag near a burning barricade during a demonstration against a proposed Ebola quarantine center to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, Kenya, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP)
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Kenya’s President Defends Planned US-Backed Ebola Quarantine Facility

A protester raises a Kenyan flag near a burning barricade during a demonstration against a proposed Ebola quarantine center to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, Kenya, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP)
A protester raises a Kenyan flag near a burning barricade during a demonstration against a proposed Ebola quarantine center to be established by the United States at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, Kenya, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP)

Kenyan President William Ruto defended a planned US-backed Ebola quarantine facility at a military air base in central Kenya, saying it was part of a wider national preparedness plan and a long-running health partnership with Washington.

Last week, Kenya approved a US request to establish a facility at a military air base in central Kenya for Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola.

Residents and local leaders in Nanyuki, near the base, held a protest on Monday against the planned facility, saying they feared it could expose the community to Ebola and ‌questioning why Kenya ‌should host a quarantine center for US citizens.

The protest ‌followed ⁠growing public criticism ⁠of the arrangement and legal action seeking to halt the project.

Speaking for the first time about the facility, Ruto said it was not unusual and was similar to others already established in Kenya.

"The facility that is at Laikipia Air Base is not a facility different from all the other facilities that we have across Kenya," Ruto told reporters in northern Kenya late on Monday, urging Kenyans not to doubt the government's preparedness.

The ⁠Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are battling the rare ‌Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in ‌an outbreak that has so far killed 48 people and been declared a public health emergency of ‌international concern by the WHO. The outbreak is outpacing the global response, which ‌got off to a late start.

COURT ORDERS TEMPORARY SUSPENSION

Ruto said he approved the facility after US President Donald Trump asked Kenya to support it, citing decades of cooperation with Washington on health programs including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and COVID-19.

The president said Kenya had prepared isolation, surveillance and ‌treatment facilities in 23 counties, adding the facility would serve Kenyans as well as foreign partners, including Americans, if needed.

Ruto ⁠dismissed criticism of ⁠the plan, saying Kenya had a duty to prepare for any potential Ebola cases, including among Kenyans living or serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A court last week temporarily suspended the plan after a lawsuit argued the site could endanger public health. Ruto did not acknowledge the existence of the court order.

A US military C-130 transport plane flew into Nanyuki as recently as Friday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

Two Nanyuki residents also reported seeing military aircraft flying towards the base over the weekend, though Reuters was unable to confirm if they were US aircraft.

Kenya has tightened screening at land and air borders and is screening about 3,000 people daily, Ruto said, adding that no Ebola cases had been detected in the country.

"We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing," he said.

World

Russian Attack on Ukraine Kills at Least 11 and Traps others in Damaged Buildings

A man takes a picture of a street as smoke rises in the background after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
A man takes a picture of a street as smoke rises in the background after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
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Russian Attack on Ukraine Kills at Least 11 and Traps others in Damaged Buildings

A man takes a picture of a street as smoke rises in the background after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
A man takes a picture of a street as smoke rises in the background after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

Russia attacked Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, injuring dozens and trapping others, authorities said.

At least four people were killed in Kyiv and 58 people were injured, including three children, Ukraine's state emergency service said in a statement on Telegram. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight of Kyiv's districts.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across Ukraine. In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, at least six people were killed and 36 others injured after Russian strikes hit the city of Dnipro, according to the emergency service. A second attack as first responders arrived at the scene killed one rescuer, Reuters said.

A two-story residential building and part of a four-story apartment block were damaged, with people trapped beneath the rubble of the larger building.

The boom of explosions echoed through most of the night and into the early morning. Kyiv had been bracing for another mass attack for days, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was preparing a renewed assault and urged people to remain cautious and seek shelter during air raid alerts.

In the Podilskyi district, there was partial damage to the upper floors of a nine-story building, trapping people under the rubble. Rescue operations were still underway in the early hours of the morning, even as the air raid alert remained in effect.

In the Solomianskyi district, a 20-story building and a 24-story building were damaged.

Ukrainian officials have been pressing allies for more air defense missiles to counter Russia’s ballistic missile attacks. While Ukraine continues to intercept a high percentage of drones, ballistic missiles remain a major vulnerability for the country’s air defenses.

World

Israel Says France Bans Its Officials from Weapons Show

A convoy of military vehicles is seen in southern Lebanon from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
A convoy of military vehicles is seen in southern Lebanon from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Says France Bans Its Officials from Weapons Show

A convoy of military vehicles is seen in southern Lebanon from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
A convoy of military vehicles is seen in southern Lebanon from the Upper Galilee on the Israel-Lebanon border, 01 June 2026. (EPA)

Israel's defense ministry said on Monday France had banned Israeli government officials from a major weapons show in Paris, and had imposed restrictions on companies from the country exhibiting there.

France's defense ministry — which barred Israel from taking part in the 2024 Eurosatory arms exhibition over the war ‌in Gaza — ‌later said Israeli companies would ‌be ⁠limited to showing equipment ⁠and materials related to air defense and missile defense, but did not go into any detail on the reasons.

It did not address the report that Israeli officials would not be allowed to attend.

"This is a disgraceful decision, ⁠one that reeks of political and ‌commercial calculation, and ‌regrettably, it comes as no surprise," the Israeli defense ministry ‌spokesperson said.

"It fits a deeply troubling ‌pattern in French conduct in recent years — a pattern that has consistently placed France on the wrong side of history."

Israeli-French relations have deteriorated since late 2023, with ‌Paris criticizing Israel's conduct in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and ⁠the ⁠decision by Israel and the United States to launch a war against Iran earlier this year.

Israel's right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also protested at President Emmanuel Macron's decision last year to recognize Palestinian statehood.

More than 2,600 exhibitors are due to take part in this year's Eurosatory — one of the world's largest weapons shows — which begins on June 15, according to its website.