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US Says Shot Down Iran Drones in Fresh Escalation

A US F-16 fighter jet on patrol near the Strait of Hormuz last month (CENTCOM)
A US F-16 fighter jet on patrol near the Strait of Hormuz last month (CENTCOM)
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US Says Shot Down Iran Drones in Fresh Escalation

A US F-16 fighter jet on patrol near the Strait of Hormuz last month (CENTCOM)
A US F-16 fighter jet on patrol near the Strait of Hormuz last month (CENTCOM)

The United States said it shot down a pair of Iranian drones threatening the Strait of Hormuz, the latest escalation of violence as the war crept into its 100th day on Sunday with no end in sight.

Weeks of indirect talks marked by tit-for-tat threats and sporadic exchanges of fire have failed to secure a deal to end the conflict or reopen the vital waterway, a chokepoint for Gulf oil and gas shipments, said AFP.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it destroyed two Iranian drones "that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz", hours after announcing it struck four other drones and coastal surveillance radar sites.

Tehran responded with a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait on Saturday, drawing a furious response from the Gulf states and piling pressure on a shaky ceasefire agreed on April 8.

CENTCOM said Iran launched seven ballistic missiles towards Bahrain and Kuwait, with six intercepted and one falling short. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted "enemy bases in the area" with missiles.

Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, denounced the latest attacks as "blatant aggression", while Kuwait said they "represent a dangerous escalation".

In Bahrain's capital Manama, an AFP journalist heard three explosions as air raid sirens sounded.

In Kuwait, another AFP journalist heard repeated blasts near the international airport, where a Wednesday strike blamed on Iran killed one person.

"We woke up to a huge explosion," said Reem, a mother of two. "My children were terrified, and I couldn't calm them down."

- 'Flagrant violations' -

Iran's foreign ministry denounced the latest US strikes as "flagrant" violations while condemning Washington's "hostile and provocative behavior".

Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the conflict has rattled global markets and increased pressure on US President Donald Trump at home ahead of midterm elections.

"The negotiations are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock," Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN as he called for the release of some $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

Washington instead may seek to use the funds to pay for damage wrought by Iranian strikes on Gulf allies.

The US "Treasury will utilize all tools available to allow Iranian assets to be made available to our Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for any future damage caused by Iran", a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's thinking said.

Lebanon -- drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 -- called on Friday for Iran to stop interfering in its affairs.

Beirut's army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday for Pakistan, which has emerged as a central mediator between the United States and Iran.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi landed in Tehran the same day to meet Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iran, in its peace negotiations with Washington, has insisted the fighting in Lebanon and the war in the Gulf are inextricably linked.

On Saturday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike in the country's south killed three of its soldiers. Israel's military said it was "reviewing the incident" and insisted its campaign in Lebanon was targeting Hezbollah, not government forces.

The health ministry said two women were killed and 22 people wounded in an Israeli strike on Saksakiyeh in the south.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, on Saturday announced the death of two of its soldiers.

The ceasefire announced in April did not stop the fighting in Lebanon, and a new conditional truce deal announced this week was flatly rejected by Hezbollah.

- Football flare-up -

The latest unrest came amid a diplomatic row over the United States' refusal to grant visas to some staff of Iran's World Cup football team.

Iranian state television confirmed the team's players and technical staff had received visas, but reported that 15 administrative and managerial members of the delegation had been refused.

An unnamed US administration official said: "We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses."

Iran's embassy in Türkiye demanded FIFA "hold the US accountable for violations of its rules and for the discriminatory treatment" of the Iranian team.

Iran's Football Federation, whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa, described the decision as "political interference in sport in its worst form".

Adding to the tensions, Iran's ambassador to Mexico said Saturday the squad had been notified that under conditions of their visas, the team must enter and leave the US on the same day as their matches.

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World

Russian Drone Strikes Kill Two in Ukraine

Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Drone Strikes Kill Two in Ukraine

Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)

Russian drone strikes killed two people in Ukraine, officials said Sunday, as world leaders gathered in London to discuss piling pressure on Moscow over its four-year war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet the leaders of France, Germany and Britain on Sunday for talks on the way forward as Russia suffers military setbacks in the invasion of its neighbor.

A Russian drone strike killed a 56-year-old man working as a minibus driver in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine wrote on Telegram on Sunday.

A 59-year-old man was killed in a separate attack in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, when Russian drones and aerial bombs rained down over two districts, regional military chief Oleksandr Ganzha posted on Telegram on Sunday.

The attacks wounded a 35-year-old man and damaged infrastructure, Ganzha said.

Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces in May for the second straight month, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed earlier this month.

Russia's offensive has meanwhile led to rising prices, tax hikes, two-decade-high borrowing costs, business shutdowns and labor shortages, putting the economy in its trickiest spot since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in an open letter to the Russian leader on Thursday, saying he was also ready for a "full ceasefire".

Putin, speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum on Friday, rejected suggestions the Russian economy had collapsed, saying "we have descended to the same level at which Eurozone countries have been experiencing growth for the past few years."

World

With China’s Xi in North Korea, Kim to Project Confidence, Defiance

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the day of their bilateral summit in Beijing, China, September 4, 2025, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the day of their bilateral summit in Beijing, China, September 4, 2025, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
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With China’s Xi in North Korea, Kim to Project Confidence, Defiance

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the day of their bilateral summit in Beijing, China, September 4, 2025, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands on the day of their bilateral summit in Beijing, China, September 4, 2025, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang on Monday, feeling in a position of strength with a firm ally in Russia, a nuclear arsenal and little apparent appetite to engage with Washington.

For Xi, leader of the world's second-biggest economy, the two-day visit to China's neighbor, his first in seven years, is part of an effort to draw Pyongyang back into its orbit.

Xi hosted Kim, among other leaders, at a massive military parade in Beijing last year, and the two countries have since resumed some passenger rail and air services.

This week's summit is likely to present a contrast to Xi's first visit to the isolated state in 2019 - months after a meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump fell apart over denuclearizing North Korea and sanctions relief.

XI'S VISIT 'A BIG DEAL' FOR NORTH AFTER 'COMEBACK'

Since then, Kim has forged closer military and trade ties with Moscow, bolstered by his dispatch of troops to fight for Russia in the ‌Ukraine war, continued ‌to build up his nuclear capabilities in defiance of UN sanctions and locked down the North Korean ‌border ⁠to stop the ⁠flow of escapees.

North Korea has sought to flex its strength on the eve of Xi's arrival, announcing plans on Saturday for a 10,000-ton naval destroyer and reaffirming its status as a nuclear-armed state on Sunday.

"Having Xi visit Pyongyang is a big deal and the culmination of a good couple of 'comeback' years for Kim," said Andrew Gilholm, an analyst at consultancy Control Risks.

In 2019 Kim gave Xi a lavish reception that included thousands of people holding up placards that formed a picture of Xi's face and the Chinese flag, and a performance of the song "I Love Thee, China".

But relations between the two have been strained at times, particularly over North Korea's nuclear program. Beijing has publicly opposed Pyongyang's nuclear tests and called for it ⁠to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea has been cautious about becoming over-reliant on China, with which ‌it shares an 1,400-km (880-mile) border. Support from Russia is likely providing some balance.

"North Korea ‌is certainly gaining economically from what they're able to provide militarily to Russia," said John Delury, a senior fellow of the Asia Society. "That actually puts ‌North Korea in a position where they may feel more confident to increase the volume of trade and investment with China."

PUSH FOR ‌TOURISM, RED LINE ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Any substantive outcome of the meeting is likely to be about economic cooperation, a regional diplomat said, as North Korea starts a five-year development plan that includes expanding tourism into a solid industry and building more housing.

North Korea shut its borders to foreign tourists in early 2020 as it imposed some of the world's strictest COVID-19 controls, cutting off a modest but important source of hard currency.

Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were ‌the backbone of North Korea's tourism industry, accounting for 90% of foreign tourists by some estimates. The first known leisure tourists allowed back after COVID were about 100 from Russia's Far East in February ⁠2024, according to Russian provincial ⁠authorities and a Western tour guide.

North Korea has managed to make economic progress, Singapore's foreign minister said after visit last month. He said Pyongyang appeared to have little interest in engaging with the United States or South Korea.

North Korea has rejected reunification with South Korea, which had long been a goal of both nations, divided since the 1950-1953 Korean War. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, however, remains keen on dialogue and has asked Xi to assist his efforts.

"Improving inter-Korean relations through the mediation of President Xi Jinping, we are hoping that President Xi would play that kind of role," said Moon Chung-in, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul who was national security adviser to a previous South Korean president.

Kim has drawn some red lines, including on his nuclear program. In addition to Sunday's announcement, he called on Thursday for an "exponential" expansion of the country's atomic arsenal.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kim was likely to continue expanding fissile-material production, increase and deploy nuclear weapons and emphasize the legitimacy of strengthening Pyongyang's nuclear deterrent.

"Kim is emboldened," said Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

"He feels able to publicly pursue a marked expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal with a confidence that comes from knowing that as long as he doesn’t foment outright instability in the region, Beijing will not try to stop him."

World

Pentagon Raises Threat of Israeli Spying to 'Critical', According to US Media

The Pentagon (AP)
The Pentagon (AP)
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Pentagon Raises Threat of Israeli Spying to 'Critical', According to US Media

The Pentagon (AP)
The Pentagon (AP)

The Pentagon has raised its counterintelligence threat level for Israel to its highest level, US media reported on Saturday.

The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said Israel's "ability to conduct human espionage and technical collection is at a 'critical level'," NBC News said, citing US officials.

The move came after concerns that Israel had been attempting to spy on top US officials to get information on "the Trump administration's internal deliberations and decision-making on the conflicts in the Middle East," the American network said.

The New York Times cited reports of Israeli efforts to eavesdrop on senior officials, including President Donald Trump's top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, and the Pentagon's top policy official, Elbridge Colby.

The United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, triggering the war.

Since then, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's relationship appears to be under strain, AFP says.

Trump unleashed a profanity-laced tirade over the phone at Netanyahu over Israel's threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported earlier in the week.