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North Korea has opened a memorial museum in Pyongyang for its soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in the war in Ukraine, in the clearest sign yet of how central the conflict has become to the growing alliance.

The inaugural ceremony at the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations was held on Sunday. It also marked the first anniversary of what the two countries describe as the end of an operation to “liberate” Russia’s Kursk border region from a Ukrainian incursion, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday.

KCNA said North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un attended the event along with senior Russian officials, including State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Defence Minister Andrei Belousov.

South Korea’s intelligence agency has estimated that North Korea deployed about 15,000 soldiers to fight for Russia in the Kursk region, and that about 2,000 of them were killed. Moscow and Pyongyang have not disclosed any figures.

During the ceremony, Kim sprinkled earth over the remains of one soldier and laid flowers for others whose bodies had been placed in a mortuary, according to KCNA. Kim and the Russian officials then signed a guestbook at the newly opened museum.

In his speech, Kim said the fallen North Korean troops would remain “a symbol of the Korean people’s heroism” and would support “a victorious march by the Korean and Russian people”.

He accused the United States and its allies of pursuing a “hegemonic plot and military adventurism” on the Russia-Ukraine front, praising Russian and North Korean forces for thwarting those efforts.

Meeting Belousov separately, Kim pledged full support for Russia’s policy of defending its sovereignty and security interests, KCNA said.

Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Belousov as saying that Moscow is ready to sign a military cooperation plan with Pyongyang covering 2027-31.

In a letter read by Volodin, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new museum would be “a clear symbol of the friendship and solidarity” between the two countries and pledged to further strengthen their “comprehensive strategic partnership”.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kim has tilted his foreign policy decisively towards Moscow, supplying troops and conventional weapons in exchange, analysts say, for economic support and possibly sensitive technologies.

Officials in South Korea, the US and allied countries fear Russia could transfer advanced know-how to Pyongyang that would boost its nuclear and missile programmes.

Military experts say North Korean troops initially suffered heavy losses in Kursk due to their lack of combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain, making them vulnerable to Ukrainian drone and artillery fire.

But Ukrainian military and intelligence officials have assessed that the North Koreans later gained crucial battlefield experience and became central to Russia’s efforts to overwhelm Ukrainian forces by deploying large numbers of soldiers in the region.

The arrest is part of an ongoing counter terrorism investigation into a series of attacks on premises linked to the Jewish community in north west London, an attack on a Persian-language media organisation and the discovery of jars of a non-hazardous substance in Kensington Gardens.

Four years ago, Robert Brovdi was more comfortable in auction houses like Christie’s than filthy trenches. A well-off grain dealer in those days, with a sideline as an art collector, fragments of his pre-war life survive in the paintings and sculptures by Ukrainian artists dotted around the bunker. They’re displayed beside missile casings and captured drones. He’s an ethnic Hungarian, from Uzhgorod in western Ukraine, and best known by his military call sign, Magyar. Clean-shaven before the war, he now wears a long ginger and grey-speckled beard.

A highway bomb attack in southwestern Colombia has killed 19 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election.

Buses and vans were left mangled in the blast Saturday on the Pan-American Highway, in the restive southwestern Cauca department.

Several cars were flipped over by the force of the explosion and a large crater was blown out of the roadway.

The department’s governor on Saturday evening provided a death toll of 14, with more than 38 injured, but the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences said Sunday morning it had begun the examination of 19 bodies.

Military chief Hugo Lopez told a news conference on Saturday that the bomb had exploded after assailants stopped traffic by blocking the road with a bus and another vehicle.

The attack comes just over one month ahead of national elections, in which voters will pick a successor to President Gustavo Petro.

Petro blamed the bombing on Ivan Mordisco, the South American country’s most-wanted criminal, whom the president has compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

The violence came after a bomb attack on Friday on a military base in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, injured two people and set off a string of attacks in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments.

According to Lopez, 26 attacks have been recorded in the two departments over the past two days.

Authorities have boosted military and police presence in the areas, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

Security is one of the central issues of the May 31 presidential election. Political violence was brought into sharp focus last June, when young conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogota and later died from his wounds.

Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, an architect of Petro’s controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is ahead in polls.

He is trailed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, both of whom have pledged to take a hard line against rebel groups.

All three have reported receiving death threats and are campaigning under heavy security.

Iran’s foreign minister heads to Russia as Trump says Iranian leaders can call on the phone if they want to talk.

Brent crude rises more than 2 percent after Washington and Tehran fail to hold second round of talks in Pakistan.

Oil prices have climbed higher amid stalled peace talks between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude rose more than 2 percent on Sunday after hopes for a second round of ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran unravelled over the weekend.

After easing slightly, Brent, the primary benchmark for global prices, stood at $106.99 as of 1:30 GMT.

Stock markets in Asia shrugged off the impasse to open higher on Monday, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI gaining 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in morning trading.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan by his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, after Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad before any direct engagement could take place between the sides.

Araghchi arrived in Russia’s Saint Petersburg on Monday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials as Tehran seeks a way out of the diplomatic impasse.

Araghchi’s trip, which follows a whistle-stop visit to Oman on Sunday, comes as uncertainty hangs over the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

Trump announced an extension to their two-week truce last week, without specifying a deadline for reaching a deal to end the war.

As US and Iranian negotiators struggle to break the deadlock, Tehran’s threats against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have reduced traffic to a trickle, paralysing a large portion of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas.

On Saturday, 19 commercial vessels transited the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies, according to maritime intelligence platform Windward.

Before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February, the waterway saw an average of 129 daily transits, according to the United Nations Trade and Development.

WASHINGTON — A night devoted to celebrating the 1st Amendment and journalism turned into a breaking story of its own.

The attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday took cover under the tables in the Washington Hilton ballroom when they heard gunshots outside, which led to the evacuation of President Trump and many of his Cabinet officials at the gala.

But instinct kicked in swiftly, and many of the journalists in the crowd of 2,600 people were using their phones to capture video. Uploading pictures to social media was a challenge as the internet coverage in the ballroom was poor, but they would eventually provide a detailed chronicle of the night.

“I reached for my phone as soon as I could and started shooting video to capture as much of the moment as I could,” said Sara Cook, a CBS News producer and press association board member seated on the dais near the president, First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who were hustled out while a SWAT team swarmed the stage.

“I could hear Secret Service officers saying, ‘Where is it coming from?’” Cook said. “They seemed to be quite confused onstage about exactly what was happening, where the threat was coming from and if there still was a threat.”

Authorities identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance. He was apprehended after rushing a security checkpoint one floor above the ballroom. Law enforcement officials said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.

After guests were told the evening program would not proceed, many of the TV anchors and correspondents in the crowd headed to their Washington studios. Many didn’t wait. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who was returning from a restroom on the floor where the incident occurred, delivered an eyewitness account from the Hilton lobby using a Webex app on a smartphone.

There was at least one fog-of-war moment as well. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins reported on air that the armed suspect was killed by the Secret Service, attributing it to security for Education Secretary Linda McMahon. She had to correct the report after Fox News said Allen was alive and detained by agents.

“CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Doukopil and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss walked several blocks from the Hilton to waiting vehicles that took them to the network’s offices and studios on M Street. (Weiss granted a reporter’s request to go behind the scenes to observe the news-gathering operation.)

Matt Gutman, Nancy Cordes, Tony Dokoupil and Bari Weiss at the CBS News Washington bureau on April 25, 2026.

When Doukopil and Weiss arrived at the bureau, CBS News national correspondent Matt Gutman and Nancy Cordes, chief White House correspondent, were already on the air with a special report, showing video shot by its journalists in the ballroom.

Doukopil joined his colleagues, all still dressed in formal wear, and took over the coverage. The newsroom soon filled with executives and producers arriving from the Hilton, several dressed in long gowns and carrying their high-heeled shoes.

CBS News President Tom Cibrowski stood over a large multiview screen, monitoring his network’s broadcast alongside the competition.

When Cibrowski was on the floor of the ballroom when the commotion began, he texted his family to let them know he was OK. He then called David Reiter, the executive producer of special events for CBS News, to alert him that they would be breaking into regular programming on the network, a rarity lately with so many 24-hour news sources available.

Reiter left his seat at a Broadway show and headed to the CBS News studios on the west side of Manhattan to get the feed on the air.

Weiss walked over to the Washington set and consulted with Doukopil, Cordes and Gutman during a break, providing a bipartisan list of government officials and activists who were subjected to politically motivated violence in recent years. She settled in at a workspace to turn out a memo to staff, acknowledging the rapid work of getting its images from inside the ballroom on the air.

“This is what we do,” wrote Weiss, a digital entrepreneur who has dealt with criticism over her lack of experience in TV news since taking on her high-profile role in October. “Most importantly, we are thankful that everyone is safe.”

Later, she led a lengthy meeting to plan further coverage, which included Norah O’Donnell interviewing Trump for Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes.”

After Doukopil finished his special report, he was off to prepare a segment to air on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“It’s very strange to go from drinking wine to drinking coffee,” Dokoupil said as he departed the set.

Every journalist in the ballroom left with a story.

Tom Llamas, anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” was seated next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio when Secret Service agents pulled Rubio and his wife away as White House officials were evacuated. Llamas had to alert the agents that another, less high-profile Cabinet member, Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, and his wife were at the table as well.

Llamas made his way from the hotel to the NBC News bureau with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and veteran Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell. The anchor took over the network’s special report and felt compelled to explain his attire.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas reports on the shooting at the dinner on April 25, 2026.

“It is unusual to come on the air in a tuxedo, but this is a very unusual night,” he told viewers.

Llamas praised the performance of his peers who have seen the image of their profession take a beating in recent years.

“There was a while there, we did not know what was going on,” he said. “For all the crap that is written about our industry, I saw people jump into action immediately, and it was incredible. I was proud of all my colleagues.”

The canceled dinner created a predicament for MS NOW and NBC News, which both planned lavish after-parties late Saturday evening. Many of the big-name on-air talent stars and executives expected to attend were working on the story.

After a half-hour of deliberations, both networks decided their parties would go on. But planned stunts for the MS NOW soiree at DuPont Underground — such as a performance by a university drum line — were scrapped.

NBC’s event at the home of the French ambassador was billed as “The After Party.” A text message told attendees to expect a more subdued affair described as “a gathering for people who wanted to convene, eat and drink and be with community.”

Privately, one network executive explained why the festivities moved forward. “Nobody died,” he said.

Videos and other imagery bearing witness to the awesome destructive power of nuclear detonations remain some of the most enduring legacies of the Cold War. But of the more than 2,000 nuclear weapons tests that have been carried out since 1945, only very, very few have involved a live weapon dropped from a fighter-bomber.

A nuclear strike performed by the Su-7

At least one such test took place in the Soviet Union, however. On his X account, Sam Wise, an aviation analyst at Janes, brought our attention to footage that purportedly shows that test, or at least portions of it.

The test in question was especially notable in that it involved a free-fall tactical nuclear bomb that was delivered by a crewed fighter-bomber, specifically a Su-7 Fitter attack jet, in an end-to-end test.

Of those 2,000-plus nuclear tests, only a small fraction involved bombs dropped from aircraft of any kind — roughly 200 to 250 according to records compiled by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Those tests almost always involved bombers, aircraft with multiple engines, several crew members, and, often, dedicated to delivering nuclear weapons.

The vast majority of nuclear tests were conducted underground, at sea, or on land. In the latter case, the devices were typically detonated from an elevated position, either atop a tower or suspended from a balloon. This better replicated the conditions of a typical nuclear detonation, with the weapon engineered to explode in an air burst above the ground, for maximum effect.

One reason for the relative scarcity of air-dropped nuclear bomb tests was the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which pushed testing underground.

At the same time, dropping a live nuclear weapon from a crewed aircraft brings additional risks for relatively little benefit.

At the beginning of the nuclear age, air-dropped tests were useful to prove that bombs could be delivered, but they were inefficient in terms of scientific measurement and riskier to conduct from a safety point of view. Dropping a nuclear device from an aircraft adds variables (altitude, speed, trajectory) that complicate measurements. If something goes wrong, you risk losing a plane, or worse, an accidental detonation or contamination spread.

Based on the available information, it appears that the U.S. military never tested a live tactical nuclear bomb dropped by a tactical combat jet, despite the very many platforms, both Air Force and Navy, that were cleared to carry them operationally.

It should be noted that the U.S. Air Force did detonate one tactical nuclear weapon after launch from a fighter. However, this involved an air-to-air rocket, the nuclear-tipped Genie, which was fired on this occasion from an F-89 interceptor, in 1957’s Operation Plumbbob John.

Project Genie : Air-to-air rocket nuclear testing

France does appear to have conducted a live test of an air-dropped tactical nuclear bomb, with an AN52 dropped from a Jaguar attack jet in August 1972, to help prove that weapon for service.

Returning to the Soviet Union, on August 27, 1962, pilot Lt. Col. A. I. Shein took off in a single-seat Su-7B, with a live 244N nuclear bomb carried on the centerline station below the fuselage. He then headed for the Semipalatinsk test site on the Soviet steppe. Also known as “The Polygon,” the Semipalatinsk range was the main test site for Soviet nuclear weapons. It is in the Abai region, in what is now Kazakhstan.

Shein put the jet into a climb at an angle of around 45 degrees. This was an ‘over-the-shoulder’ toss maneuver, typical for fighter-bombers of this era. This involved the attacking aircraft pulling upward before releasing its bomb to compensate for the weapon’s gravity drop in flight. The result would put the weapon on the target, without the aircraft having to pass over it. Instead, the jet would complete a half roll and (hopefully) avoid the blast effects so it could escape. The launch maneuver sequence, as shown in the video, is apparently simulated, or at the least, heavily edited.

Shein later recalled:

“I take off, the excitement subsides, I enter the combat course, and make an approach. Everything is normal, I make an approach for a combat release, bring the aircraft into a nose-up attitude, and monitor the G-forces. After four seconds, I hear a signal, then a second, a short third, and I press the ‘release’ trigger. The green light goes out, indicating the release has been completed. The bomb’s release is felt by the shaking of the aircraft. I continue the nose-up attitude. For control, I note the release angle; it is almost constant and equal to 44–50 degrees. After passing the top point, I then descend at a 50-60 degree angle, perform a half-roll, increase engine speed and, consequently, aircraft speed, descend to the lowest possible altitude, and try to get as far and as quickly as possible from the target.”

This method required a bomb computer to calculate the release point. For the U.S. Air Force, this was the Low Altitude Bombing System, or LABS, while the Su-7 was fitted with the equivalent PBK-1 device, a separate box that was added to the left side of the instrument panel. In this context, PBK denoted Pritsel dliya Bombometaniya s Kabrirovaniya, or toss-bombing sight.

A video shows a U.S. Air Force B-47 bomber flying the LABS maneuver:

Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Low Altitude Bombing System) LABS Maneuver

After release from the Su-7, the bomb exploded at an altitude of around 800 feet, at the coordinates of 50.4°N and 77.8°E. The detonation had a yield of 11 kilotons.

As for the Su-7, this was the Soviet Union’s first-generation supersonic attack jet. It was rapidly equipping fighter-bomber regiments, and nuclear strike would become one of its most important duties.

The streamlined 244N was the first mass-produced Soviet tactical nuclear bomb specifically intended for carriage by supersonic jets.

A photo showing the earlier, non-streamlined RDS-4 tactical free-fall bomb:

RDS-4 “Tatyana” was a Soviet atomic bomb that was first tested with a yield of 27 kilotons at Semipalatinsk Test Site, on August 23, 1953. The Soviet Union’s first mass-produced tactical nuclear weapon. pic.twitter.com/c7xdODw0tZ

— NUKES (@atomicarchive) August 24, 2023

At this point, it should be noted that there is a possibility that the video shows not the 244N, but an IAB-500, a so-called ‘imitation bomb’ that replicated the shape, dimensions, weight and flight characteristics of the nuclear device. Filled with a mixture of liquid petroleum and white phosphorus, it also produced a large fireball that subsequently turned into a mushroom cloud.

With that in mind, the video could at least show portions of an IAB-500 test, although the location and the original voiceover point squarely to the 1962 Semipalatinsk test. The apparent installation of a camera pod below the Su-7’s wing, to record the detonation, also suggests a nuclear test rather than training.

Regardless, the 244N was successfully tested and was put into operational service in several variants, including with different yields up to a maximum of 30 kilotons. Most of these bombs were deployed by Soviet units stationed close to what would have been the front line in the event of a confrontation with NATO: in East Germany, Hungary, and Poland.

Starting in 1967, Western intelligence began to note training activities involving nuclear weapons at Soviet airbases in East Germany, including Su-7s taking part in LABS-type maneuvers.

In one of its reports from 1967, the U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) noted that its staff identified Su-7s from Grossenhain Air Base performing at least four LABS practice delivery runs on October 7 of that year.

“The aircraft passed over the airfield at approximately 2,000 feet, pulled up into vertical climb to 3,500 feet, pitched over, flew inverted for several seconds, then rolled over again departing to the west.”

Two days later, the USMLM reported “A very active program of local navigational, touch-and-go landings, LABS maneuvers, and possible range activity flown by Grossenhain-based Fitter and [two-seat Su-7] Moujik” aircraft.

Air-dropped tactical nuclear weapons still play a significant role in Russia’s military strategy, as evidenced by recent moves to station tactical devices in Belarus. Many Russian combat aircraft have variants capable of carrying nuclear bombs, and most Russian air-launched missiles weighing over around 1,000 pounds have the option of a nuclear warhead.

Russia really wants West to see they’re doing a tac nuke exercise. After several exercise videos they put the head of the 12 GUMO in front of a Belarusian Su-25 (possibly at Lida air base) loaded with what is said to be “training nuclear ammunition.” https://t.co/h9rHp2qvGv pic.twitter.com/sTzAqSNd9f

— Hans Kristensen (also on Bluesky) (@nukestrat) June 13, 2024

Starting in the 1960s, the 244N was superseded by a modernized development of the same weapon, the 10-kiloton RN-24, as well as the one-kiloton RN-28. These were carried, among others, by the MiG-21 and Su-7.

These bombs were followed in the 1980s followed by the RN-40 and RN-41, carried by the MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, Su-17, Su-24, and Su-27.

To this day, the IAB-500 also remains in use to train combat jet pilots in nuclear bomb delivery. Alongside it, although much less known, and barely ever seen, are tactical nuclear bombs, the descendants of the 244N that was proven in a unique test back in 1962.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Israel has violated the so-called Gaza “ceasefire” more than 2,400 times in the more than six months since the agreement was reached. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami gives an overview of the deteriorating situation.

As part of promoting the Chinese Global Security Initiative (GSI) as an alternative to the Western approach, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a four-point initiative for peace and stability in the Middle East in mid-April 2026, following escalating tensions in the Middle East and the US-Israeli war against Iran. This initiative aims to offer Chinese wisdom for conflict resolution based on sovereignty and development, in contrast to what China considers destabilizing Western alliances. President Xi Jinping discussed and presented this initiative in mid-April 2026 during his meeting with Khalid bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, outlining a comprehensive four-point initiative aimed at preserving and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. This Chinese initiative comes within the context of Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its role as a diplomatic mediator following the escalation of tensions in the region. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s four peace initiatives for 2026 are the commitment to the principle of peaceful coexistence, supporting Gulf and Middle Eastern countries in improving their relations, and building a comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security architecture in the region based on the principle that the countries of the region are neighbors and cannot be geographically relocated. (Commitment to the principle of national sovereignty), through China’s support for and respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and its rejection of interference in their internal affairs, while emphasizing the protection of the security of states, their people, infrastructure, and institutions. (China’s full commitment to the principle of the rule of international law), by adhering to the basic norms of international relations and supporting the international system centered on the United Nations, to prevent a return to the law of the jungle. (Reconciling development and security by affirming that security is a prerequisite for development and working to create a favorable environment for sustainable economic development to ensure long-term stability.)

These Chinese moves come as part of China’s efforts to present its Global Security Initiative (GSI) as an alternative to the Western approach to conflict resolution. They are considered a direct response from China to Western and American policies. These Chinese peace proposals emerged in the context of Beijing’s criticism of the American blockade on Iranian ports, which it described as dangerous and irresponsible. By presenting a Chinese security model, China seeks to position itself as a partner committed to peace and dialogue, rather than the American military alliances that Beijing considers a threat to global security. Furthermore, this initiative aims to reinforce the Beijing Declaration, as China seeks to solidify its role as a mediator (following Saudi-Iranian and Palestinian faction mediation efforts) through a formal initiative.

Thus, the Chinese initiative emerged as a direct response to the escalating tensions in the Gulf region and Iran and as a countermeasure to the American blockade. The Chinese Foreign Ministry described the American blockade of Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz as dangerous and irresponsible, threatening the security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Especially after the failure of US negotiations with Iran and US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports on April 12, 2026, following the collapse of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, China stepped in as an international mediator. Consequently, China is attempting to promote its own model by presenting itself as a peace partner focused on economic dialogue, in contrast to Western military alliances, which Beijing considers a threat to global security.

In this context, China is trying to leverage its past diplomatic successes to solidify its role in promoting the Beijing Declaration and to play a mediating role in resolving conflicts, such as the Saudi-Iranian mediation. Based on the 2023 Beijing Agreement to normalize relations, China seeks to strengthen its role in the Gulf region. Furthermore, China is working to solidify the Beijing Declaration of July 2024, which aimed to end the Palestinian division, achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions, and form a national unity government, as a model for its mediation in resolving complex conflicts. With the strengthening of the Beijing Declaration, the new proposal aims to transform the Beijing Declaration from a factional agreement into an official, internationally supported initiative to solidify China’s role as a key mediator in Palestine as well.

These Chinese moves are part of a broader Chinese strategy to promote the Global Security Initiative (GSI) as an alternative to the Western approach, as outlined by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the period 2022-2026. China emphasizes its rejection of the Cold War mentality, criticizing Washington’s military alliances, such as the trilateral AUKUS security pact between the US, Australia, and the UK, and alliances in the Middle East. China also emphasizes the concept of indivisible security, promoting the idea that a nation’s security cannot be achieved at the expense of other nations’ security. China seeks influence through mediation, aiming to position itself as an alternative superpower capable of addressing the root causes of conflicts through development, rather than through the threat of force.

After a break of 83 from Higgins in the ninth frame, O’Sullivan won two in a row, thanks to runs of 116 and 80, to hold a dominant five-frame advantage at 8-3.

Higgins won the 12th, but O’Sullivan’s break of 91 left the Englishman 9-4 in front.

But the final three frames were very dramatic. Higgins looked in control of the 14th, with O’Sullivan needing a snooker to have any chance, which he then got, although he could not capitalise.

Higgins took the 15th on a black-ball finish, with O’Sullivan then punching the table in frustration after missing a red early on in the last frame of the night.

His mood was not improved when he potted a long red but then saw the cue ball follow it into the same pocket, with that foul proving crucial as Higgins took the frame to give himself some hope.

O’Sullivan is fighting to make the Crucible quarter-finals for a 24th time and looking for an eighth world title, which would be a record in the modern era.

He was watched by former Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes during his 10-2 win over Chinese debutant He Guoqiang and, this time, UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett and Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez were in attendance.

They, along with the rest of the crowd at the Crucible, would have left thoroughly entertained.

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.

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”.

An Israeli settler was filmed throwing rocks and trying to break into the home of Palestinian activist Issa Amro while an Israeli soldier watched. The settler was briefly arrested and then released.

Here, both sides decided to get down to it from the get-go. No feeling their way in, no shadow boxing. With Hearts going for the title and Hibs busting a gut to derail them, there was a school of thought that this was the biggest Edinburgh derby of them all in the league.

And it felt like it. Boy, did it fizz and crackle. Seven minutes in and Martin Boyle scored. His last derby and there he was, writing his own farewell script. Or so he would have hoped.

Jamie McGrath’s vicious free-kick, Beni Banigime dozing and in rushed Boyle – cool and calm, a sidefoot to the solar plexus of the visitors. Down the Hearts end, too. A perfect view of their nightmare start.

Easter Road basked not just in the sunshine but in the anxiety of their guests, the unspeakable horror of having their league dream buffeted by their greatest rivals.

What unfolded was pulsating, a red card for Sallinger only four minutes after Boyle scored, a daft act of handling the ball outside his own area and a call that was easier to make than the officials made it look.

Everybody knew that Sallinger was goosed on first, or second, viewing. The officials took five or six minutes. It was a calamity for Hibs.

The mood completely shifted and shifted some more when the news came through that Rangers had blinked first in the title race. Later, McInnes spoke of the importance of winning your first post-split game and he was right.

Hearts and Celtic are now on the front foot.

Hezbollah rejects allegations from Benjamin Netanyahu that it is undermining the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

Israel has issued new forced evacuation notices for areas in southern Lebanon, ordering residents of seven towns that lie beyond its so-called “buffer zone” to leave, ramping up the conflict with Hezbollah despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement on X on Sunday that the Lebanese armed group was violating the ceasefire ⁠and that Israel would act against it, telling residents to head north and west.

The towns are north of the Litani River, in an area where Israeli troops have continued military operations despite the ceasefire. They lie outside of what Israel has declared a “buffer zone”, an area stretching roughly 10km (6 miles) north of the border inside southern Lebanon where Israeli forces remain.

Hezbollah rejected allegations that it is undermining the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, saying its continued attacks are a “legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire”, which it claims have exceeded 500 incidents.

The Iran-aligned group said in a statement on Telegram on Sunday that it shouldn’t be linked to a ceasefire that it didn’t approve, as it had “no say or position”, adding that the group will not “place out bets on a failed diplomacy that has proven its ineffectiveness.”

“It must be understood that Hezbollah’s violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting.

The US-mediated ceasefire, which started on April 16 and has been extended to mid-May, has brought a significant reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, though both sides have continued to fire at each other, trading blame over breaches.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tyre, Heidi Pett, said “there have been multiple airstrikes across south Lebanon” on Sunday, with many people fleeing to the towns of Sidon and Tyre.

“We once again have thousands of people leaving their homes, joining the hundreds of thousands who were already previously displaced,” she said.

Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli troops inside Lebanon as well as the rescue force that came to evacuate them, targeting a newly established Israeli artillery position in the town of Biyyada with a swarm of drones.

It also claimed two drone attacks on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the town of Taybeh, saying casualties were reported among Israeli forces, without giving further details.

‘The security of Israel’

The Israeli army said a 19-year-old soldier, Sergeant Idan Fooks, was killed “during combat” in southern Lebanon, while five others were injured.

“From our perspective, what obliges us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, the security of our communities,” Netanyahu was cited as saying at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, by Reuters news agency.

Under the terms of the truce, Israel reserves the right to respond to “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks” and has been striking what it says are Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon almost every day.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s “military infrastructure sites used to advance attacks,” in a post on X.

Since the war was renewed between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, at least 2,509 people have been killed and 7,755 wounded by Israeli attacks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Syria has begun its first public trial of former Assad-era officials, with ex-security chief Atef Najib appearing in a courtroom cage over his role in the 2011 Deraa crackdown.

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.

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.