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Iranian media has released video showing missiles being launched towards Israel, while videos captured incoming missiles making impact in northern Israel. Iran says it’s a response to Israel attacking Beirut in violation of a US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon.

June 7 (UPI) — Pope Leo drew more than 1 million people to an open-air mass in Madrid on Sunday morning to start his week-long visit to Spain.

The mass, to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, was held in the Plaza de Cibeles and saw the Pontiff ride through the 1.2 million strong crowd that overflowed into nearby streets to the stage where he performed mass, The Guardian and The BBC reported.

Pope Leo arrived in Madrid on Saturday to start the visit, the first time in 15 years that a Pope has spent time in Spain, and was greeted with fanfare and Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.

Along with the mass, Pope Leo had plans on Sunday to meet with the members of the Order of St. Augustine and attend a gathering of Spanish representatives of the country’s culture, arts, business and sports.

Among remarks in Pope Leo’s sermon, he told those in attendance that, like God, they should work to help “the poor, the downtrodden, those who are alone and forsaken,” adding that religion remains “a school of faith from which” they can draw in their daily lives.

The large crowd on Sunday morning followed the Pope addressing between 500,000 and 600,000 people on Saturday night at a prayer vigil — and saw him address younger people in the crowd with the “6-7” hand gesture that has gone viral online.

Monday, the Pope is expected to address the gridlocked Spanish parliament, where his comments likely will address the type of political polarization in Spain and many other nations right now.

On Thursday, Pope Leo has plans to visit the Canary Islands, a landing spot for people looking to migrate to Spain.

Alexander Zverev has finally secured his maiden Grand Slam title with a dramatic five-set victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final on Sunday.

The second seed became the first German man to win a major tournament since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 victory after four hours and 16 minutes.

“This court is so special to me in so many ways… but now finally, it’s a happy end,” said Zverev, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the 2022 semifinal against Rafael Nadal on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where he was also edged out in five sets by Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 final.

It was Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam final and second at Roland-Garros after some heartbreaking near misses in his career.

“We’ve been through losses, we’ve been losers at times as well in the most important moments,” he said during the trophy presentation, turning to his team.

“But at the end of the day, we’re Grand Slam champions now, and that’s what counts.”

Cobolli, the 10th seed, was bidding to become the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta to win the French Open in 50 years.

The 24-year-old had never even played a Slam semifinal before, let alone a final, after his last-four opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

“It’s not easy for me to talk right now,” said Cobolli after receiving his runner-up trophy from Panatta, before addressing Zverev.

“I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad because I was close and I feel it. So now you’ve achieved your dream, let me win the next time.”

Both players appeared to struggle with nerves at various points in the match, especially Cobolli during an error-strewn first set.

But Zverev’s greater experience showed in a deciding set that was far tenser than the scoreline suggested, as he managed to get over the line.

The 29-year-old was handed a golden opportunity to break his Grand Slam duck by the injury-enforced absence of reigning champion Alcaraz and surprise early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.

The world number three was not always in control, making 54 unforced errors, but did enough to finally shed the tag of being one of the best players to have never won a major.

Zverev had previously also lost in six Slam quarterfinals and seven semifinals, alongside his three final defeats.

The most agonising miss of all was his first major final, when he blew a two-set lead and failed to serve for the championship against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

The now-retired Thiem was watching on from the stands at Roland-Garros as Zverev belatedly put the memories of that match to bed six years later.

Cobolli’s nervy start

Cobolli made a nervy start and appeared to be struggling to deal with the occasion as the first set quickly got away from him in 39 minutes and he made 16 unforced errors.

He managed to settle into the match with three successive holds of serve in the second set, and then made his move out of nowhere to break in the seventh game.

Zverev had been completely untroubled on serve previously, but produced a scrappy game featuring two double-faults and a wild forehand on break point before turning to gesticulate angrily towards his coaching staff.

Cobolli started to grow in confidence and served out the set to breathe life into the final.

A higher-quality third set disappeared from Cobolli’s grasp in the 10th game, though, as from 30-0 up, he lost four points in a row, including a poor forehand that flew well wide on set point.

The world number 14, who will climb into the top 10 for the first time next week, hit straight back with a break in the opening game of the fourth set.

He could not pull away in the set, though, as both players ended up being broken twice, including Cobolli when he served for it at 5-4.

But the Italian rallied himself to push it into a tie-break, which he took to force a decider with a blistering forehand winner on his second set point.

Following a delay before the start of the final act after Cobolli left the court, Zverev struck first blood with a break in the first game.

Cobolli’s hopes were finally all but extinguished when he missed a break-back point and then dropped serve again to slip 3-0 down.

Zverev staved off three more break points in the fourth game and eased to victory from there, falling to the clay in celebration after Cobolli shanked an overhead on his second championship point.

June 7 (UPI) — The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Sunday agreed to increase production by nearly 200,000 barrels per day despite the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, making it near-impossible to ship any of it.

Ordinarily, OPEC increasing oil production among the group of nations that comprise it would lower its cost, but experts have called the move largely symbolic because of the ongoing war in Iran, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported.

The Strait of Hormuz, which 20% of the world’s oil supply ordinarily would pass through daily, has been closed since early in the war as part of Iran’s effort to counter the war launched by the United States and Israel in February.

The OPEC members that agreed to the 188,000-barrel increase for July — the fourth month in a row that the group is increasing production — include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman.

The countries agreed to the increase as part of the group’s “commitment to support oil market stability” and said the latest production increase would also allow the participating nations to “accelerate their compensation,” OPEC said in a statement.

“The countries will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability, they reaffirmed the importance of a cautious approach,” the group said in the statement.

The Trump administration continues to negotiate an end to the war that would lead to the reopening of the Strait, in addition to working to limit Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon, amid a shaky weeks-long cease-fire.

New law grants president power to use military to clear roadblocks set up amid weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

Bolivia’s legislature has passed a law granting President Rodrigo Paz the authority to use the military to clear roadblocks set up by antigovernment protesters.

The legislation passed in Bolivia’s Chamber of Deputies on Sunday following an overnight debate. It had previously been approved by the Senate and was expected to be signed into law by Paz.

“This law is hereby passed,” announced Roberto Castro, President of the Chamber of Deputies.

The military has so far only been used in support roles for anti-riot police during weeks of demonstrations calling for Paz, the centre-right leader backed by the US, to step down.

About 100 roadblocks have been set up across the country in recent weeks. Authorities have said the road blockades have led to food and medicine shortages.

On Saturday, dozens of riot police backed by military vehicles fired tear gas as they attempted to clear a road in the town of San Julian.

Protesters threw stones and burned tyres to try to halt the police advance, said an AFP reporter at the scene.

The new law would allow soldiers to use force against protesters, and also grants them a “presumption of legality” in conflict situations. That means their actions will be deemed lawful unless proven otherwise.

It comes after Bolivia’s legislature voted last month to repeal a 2020 law that restricts the use of the military to crack down on protests.

Farmers, miners and transportation unions have been among those leading the protests. The demonstrations come amid widespread unrest over rising inflation, low wages and Paz’s move to abolish fuel subsidies.

Paz, who was elected last year, has charted a course as a pro-business leader, vowing to guide the country through an ongoing economic crisis.

He has received the backing of the US, with the administration of the US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Shield of the Americas” regional coalition vowing support during protests..

“We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies to the Bolivian people through fake road blockades,” said the alliance members, who have vowed to take a militaristic response to crime in Latin America

Antonelli takes his fifth Grand Prix win in a row in race interrupted by crashes after asphalt breaks apart.

Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed ice-cool to ⁠win a ⁠chaotic Monaco Grand Prix and extend his run of victories this season to five.

The 19-year-old Italian built a ⁠commanding lead on Sunday after starting from pole in his Mercedes but that evaporated after a late red flag to inspect a crumbling ⁠surface at the final corner following a crash that took out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

After a delay of about 40 minutes while repairs were carried out, the race resumed with a standing start but Antonelli remained unfazed ‌as he became the youngest-ever winner of the iconic race.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was runner-up for the second successive Grand Prix with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar provisionally third, although he was one of a number of drivers under investigation for a variety of infringements.

Hamilton, who equalled the late Ayrton Senna’s eight Monaco podiums, ⁠moved above Antonelli’s teammate George Russell into ⁠second place in the standings, 66 points behind Antonelli.

“It’s been an incredible weekend and an incredible race,” said Antonelli, who was not even born the last time an ⁠Italian won the Monaco Grand Prix – Jarno Trulli in 2004.

“We had incredible pace and it all ⁠came so natural and that gave me ⁠the confidence to push.”

A year after finishing last on his F1 debut at Monaco, Antonelli showed incredible poise to shrug off the red flag drama that meant he effectively ‌had to win two races.

“I wasn’t super keen on re-starting but once the notification came out I just gathered my emotions and ‌re-focused ‌again. Once I got away and was P1 into the first corner I could enjoy the last few laps.”

Iran’s World Cup squad has landed in Tijuana, Mexico ahead of the World Cup – amid a diplomatic row with cohosts United States, which is at war with Tehran and has refused visas for several members of the Iranian delegation.

The squad touched down shortly after 5am (1200 GMT) in the Mexican city, across the border from San Diego in California, after ‌an overnight flight from Turkiye, where they have been training for the past three weeks.

The Iranian football federation negotiated at the last minute to move the team’s base camp from Arizona to Mexico, due in part ⁠to uncertainty over whether ⁠they would be granted visas to enter the US.

The US awarded visas to all the players on Friday, just ⁠10 days before their first match, but several members of the ⁠support squad were not ⁠given visas, including “key managerial and administrative members,” according to the federation.

The dispute comes days before the tournament kicks off on Thursday, when Mexico play South Africa in Mexico City.

Iran will be based in the city throughout the tournament, despite playing their entire group stage on the US West Coast.

When they do play in the US, it will be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.

‘Hold the US accountable’

Iran’s team spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkiye to apply for visas for the three host nations.

On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington’s envoy to Turkiye, Tom Barrack, said on X late on Friday.

But Iran’s embassy to Turkiye said 15 administrative and management staff had been denied visas.

“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy posted on X on Saturday, calling for world football’s governing body FIFA “to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules”.

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

“We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day,” Iran’s envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters.

That appeared to contradict what the team’s spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier.

“The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match,” Alavi said.

FIFA rules for World Cups stipulate that a team’s coach must give a news conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played.

‘Political interference’

Iran’s Football Federation – whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa – has described the decision as “political interference in sport in its worst form”.

In response, a US administration official confirmed that “the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”

Without directly addressing the matter of those whose visas were refused, the official added: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences.”

In April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any problem would not be with the Iranian players but “some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them,” suggesting some had ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is on the US blacklist of “terrorist” groups.

Iran are in Group G and will play New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21, followed by Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

The US defence department has reportedly raised its assessment of the espionage threat posed by Israel to the highest category of “critical”, according to media reports citing American intelligence and defence officials.

The assessment, first published by NBC News on Friday and followed by The New York Times, comes at a time when Washington is pursuing diplomatic engagement with Iran, while its ally Israel is opposed to the talks aimed at ending the conflict now 100 days long on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have publicly diverged in their approach to the war – Washington wants to extricate itself amid political pressure, while Israel is still pushing to topple the Iranian government.

This is not the first time Israel has been accused of espionage against the US – its closest ally and benefactor – with which it maintains extensive security and intelligence cooperation.

Here is what you need to know:

What did the Pentagon say?

According to NBC News and The New York Times (NYT), citing anonymous current and former US officials, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) arm recently upgraded Israel’s counterintelligence threat level from “high” to “critical”, the most serious designation in its internal assessment system.

The warning was based on Israeli intelligence agencies intensifying efforts to collect information on US military personnel, government officials and policy discussions.

The news reports said the concern was focused on American officials involved in shaping Washington’s approach towards Iran, as the two foes continue to negotiate an end to the war that has sent global energy prices soaring.

“An intensified Israeli effort to learn about US positions in talks with Iran has crossed a line, according to some American officials,” the NYT said.

According to the news outlet, intelligence assessments pointed to increased Israeli surveillance efforts in recent weeks targeting US military and government figures.

They include Trump envoy and key negotiator Steve Witkoff; the Pentagon’s top policy official, Elbridge A Colby; and one of his deputies, Michael P DiMino IV, the NYT reported.

Witkoff was chief negotiator in the nuclear talks before Israel and the US launched the attack on Iran on 28 February.

The reports also referenced incidents in which US defence personnel working in Israel allegedly discovered software on their phones “to tap their communications had been surreptitiously installed on their phones”, the NYT added.

The newspaper said the DIA reports found Israeli spying on the US, which has occurred before, surged from late 2024 onwards, coinciding with US President Joe Biden’s administration stepping up pressure on Israel over its genocide in Gaza.

The reported increase in spying continued after Trump was elected to a second term in November 2024 and began shaping his administration’s policy towards Iran.

Tensions between Trump and Netanyahu have come to the surface in the past week, amid reports the US president called the Israeli prime minister “f****ing crazy”, due to Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. At least 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Trump has been pressing Israel to halt its attacks on Lebanon, but the bombardment in the south has continued, undermining a potential deal with Iran which insists both issues are inseparable.

While intelligence gathering between friendly nations is not unusual, some US officials reportedly believe recent Israeli activities have gone beyond what Washington traditionally considers acceptable among allies.

According to officials cited in the reports, US intelligence agencies have become increasingly concerned that Israel is seeking greater insight into US policy discussions and negotiating positions, specifically with Iran.

What has been the response from the Israeli and US governments?

Israel has denied the allegations.

According to NBC, the Israeli embassy in Washington said it was “completely false” that the country spies on US government officials or American institutions.

“Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials,” NBC quoted the spokesperson as saying.

A White House official also reportedly dismissed the NBC report, saying the “entire story is false and sourced to someone who doesn’t have any knowledge of what’s going on”.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the media reports and the US and Israeli responses.

Has Israel previously spied on the US?

Yes. Israel has previously been involved in espionage cases targeting the US, although such incidents have not been spoken about much given their close ties.

The most famous example is the Jonathan Pollard affair. The civilian intelligence analyst working for the US Navy was arrested in 1985 after passing large quantities of classified information to Israel. He later pleaded guilty to espionage and served 30 years in prison before being released on parole in 2015.

The Pollard case remains one of the most significant espionage scandals in the history of US-Israeli relations and continues to shape perceptions within parts of the American intelligence community.

However, espionage between close allies is not uncommon, says academic Andreas Kreig.

“Israel has a particularly long track record of conducting intelligence operations inside the United States,” the professor at the Department of Security at King’s College London told Al Jazeera.

“Over decades, Israel has sought to penetrate US policymaking circles through both formal and informal networks, including intelligence and lobbying channels, in order to gain insight into American strategic thinking and decision-making,” he added.

Nevertheless, Washington has for years provided billions in military aid and weapons sales to Israel, including throughout the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The US Congress is also currently debating a section of a new defence bill, which would integrate the two countries’ research and development for weaponry to an unprecedented degree. The US has also provided diplomatic cover to Israel at the UN and other international bodies.

Why has Israel allegedly ramped up its espionage activities in the US?

According to academic Kreig, Israel is “deeply concerned” about the trajectory of US negotiations with Iran.

“From the Israeli perspective, the recent conflict with Iran was effectively a joint US-Israeli war, yet the United States is now in a position to shape the diplomatic endgame,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The principal Israeli concern is that Washington could agree to a deal that establishes an enduring diplomatic framework, potentially lasting years or even decades, which would constrain Israeli freedom of military manoeuvre against Iran in the future. Israeli policymakers therefore have a strong incentive to stay ahead of US deliberations and understand negotiations in real time.”

Moreover, Kreig said Israeli intelligence gathering also serves a “strategic purpose”, which is to identify “opportunities to influence, derail, or undermine negotiations if Israeli leaders judge the process to be contrary to their security interests”.

“While Israel sees the United States as its indispensable patron and closest strategic partner, it has simultaneously treated the US as a legitimate intelligence target whenever interests diverge,” he added.

“What surprises many observers is the extent to which Israel, despite being heavily dependent on American military, diplomatic and financial support, has developed the capacity to penetrate multiple layers of US policymaking and cultivate influence across key institutions involved in American statecraft.”

According to analyst and Iran expert Negar Mortazavi, Israel’s reported espionage in the current context is not new and has past precedent. Israel’s opposition to US-Iran negotiations goes back to the time of US President Barack Obama when he signed a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, which the US under Trump withdrew from in 2018.

“The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not want any deals or serious negotiations or normalisation between Tehran and Washington, and he tried to stop it publicly and privately in any way he could,” she told Al Jazeera.

Moreover, Mortazavi said the ongoing war on Iran was “not going as planned or as promised”, and that Trump wants “to exit the war and he has to do it through diplomacy”.

“At this point it is very clear that US interests and Israeli interests are no longer overlapping, they’re divergent,” she added.

June 5 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics said Friday it will launch a monthlong customer appreciation campaign worth 400 billion won, or about $261 million, as part of a broader social contribution plan linked to strong performance in its semiconductor business.

The campaign, called “Together With the People, Samsung Electronics Appreciation Festival,” will begin Monday. Customers who buy Samsung Electronics products during the event will receive Onnuri gift certificates equal to 20% of the purchase price, the company said.

Onnuri gift certificates can be used like cash at traditional markets and small neighborhood businesses across South Korea. Samsung said it chose the certificates instead of direct discounts to help stimulate local economies and support small merchants.

The event is part of Samsung Electronics’ earlier pledge to expand social contributions by 5 trillion won, or about $3.26 billion, over the next five years. The company announced the plan after reaching a labor-management agreement last month, saying it would invest in “mutual growth and a healthy ecosystem” as well as “future talent development.”

Samsung said soldiers, police officers, firefighters and correctional officers, which the company refers to as “K-heroes,” will receive a 30% benefit when buying products through the Samsung Electronics Family Mall. More than 700,000 people are expected to be eligible.

Samsung Electronics has operated a separate “K-Hero Family Festa” since 2024 to provide price benefits to members of the military, police, fire services and correctional service.

“The dedication and sacrifice of K-heroes made South Korea one of the safest countries in the world, and Samsung Electronics was able to achieve strong performance and growth thanks to that,” the company said. “The program is intended to honor the devotion and hard work of the heroes around us and express our gratitude and support.”

Samsung is also reviewing additional social contribution measures, including support for partner companies, inclusive finance and artificial intelligence talent development.

The company said those plans may include strengthening the competitiveness of industrial ecosystems through supplier support, expanding financial access for vulnerable groups and small business owners and increasing university-industry cooperation to train talent in AI and other future industries.

“We will continue to think deeply about what role a company should play in our society while considering the expectations of the people,” Samsung Electronics said. “As a company that grows together with society, we will faithfully carry out our responsibilities and role.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260605010001833

The pontiff praises Madrid as a beacon of inclusion as about 1.2 million people gather for Sunday mass.

An oceanic crowd has filled the streets of the Spanish capital Madrid with chants, cheers and applause to greet Pope Leo XIV on the second day of a weeklong apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands.

The Vatican and local organisers said about 1.2 million people braved the heat to be present in the landmark Cibeles Square on Sunday in what is expected to be the largest event during his visit to the country.

Throngs of people pressed along barriers near the square – best known as the rallying point for Real Madrid football fans celebrating the club’s titles – waving flags and shouting “Long live the pope”, as Leo arrived in his white popemobile for the event. Some tossed flower petals marking his arrival.

“May Madrid continue to be a welcoming and inclusive city, where social life is inspired by true human values,” the pontiff wrote in the guestbook as he was handed the key to the city by its mayor.

Leo began his trip on Saturday, ⁠meeting migrants and the homeless and attending a vigil with about 600,000 young people in Madrid. His June 6-12 visit also includes stops in Barcelona and the Canary Islands, where he will meet migrants and refugees who ⁠risked their lives crossing there from West Africa.

He said he hoped the visit, his first to a European Union country outside Italy, ⁠⁠would set an example to the world about respecting “every ⁠⁠human being” and urged leaders to stop dividing electorates.

“I am delighted that he is praying for us migrants and for our safety,” said Andrea Margarita, a 72-year-old Peruvian who arrived in Spain six months ago, as she ‌‌waited in the crowd in a wheelchair with her daughter.

After mass, Leo was scheduled to hold a private meeting with fellow members of his Augustinian religious order in ‌‌the afternoon ‌‌before meeting figures from the world of entertainment, sport and culture at a concert venue in central Madrid.

Israeli police said they killed two suspects allegedly involved in the shooting.

At least one man has been killed and five wounded in central Israel, Israeli medics have said, in what police called a suspected “terror attack”.

Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said a 35-year-old man died of gunshot wounds in the attack on Sunday, while the other casualties have been transferred to two hospitals. Two of those injured are in serious condition, it added.

Israeli police said they killed a suspect allegedly involved in the shooting following a manhunt. The suspected gunman was a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship from the nearby ⁠Israeli city Tayibe, they said, adding that police forces, border guard soldiers and special units were conducting searches for additional suspects. The weapon used by the attacker has been located, the police said.

“The public is asked to be vigilant, obey the instructions of the police and report any suspicious incident or person to the police,” it added.

In an earlier statement, the police said Israeli forces intervened after a report of shooting towards passersby at a gas station at the entrance to the Kochav Yair area, close to the ⁠occupied West Bank city ⁠of Qalqilya. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said the attacker began a shooting spree at Kochav Yair and continued at the entrance to the nearby towns of Tzur Yitzhak and Tzur Natan.

A source told the Army Radio that the Israeli internal security agency and police have launched a raid campaign in Tayibe. A security cordoning has also been imposed on several neighbouring Arab villages.

Hamas commended the attack, calling it a “heroic” operation, but did not claim responsibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it was holding a situational assessment on the shooting attack.

Lior Zilberberg, from the Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, has described the response after the shooting began in central Israel.

“We were in a large training exercise in a nearby community when we received reports … about gunshot casualties at several scenes close to us. We immediately stopped the exercise and set out with intensive care units and ambulances to the gas station in Kochav Yair, Tzur Yitzhak, and Tzur Natan,” said Zilberberg in a statement.

“During the drive, civilians signalled me to stop and called me to provide medical treatment to an unconscious casualty inside a vehicle. He was pulseless and not breathing, with gunshot wounds to his body, and after medical assessments we were forced to pronounce him dead.

“Near the vehicle, another injured person was lying conscious, suffering gunshot wounds to the upper body. After initial medical treatment at the scene, he was evacuated.”

June 5 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s presidential office said Friday there has been no major change in the plan to build nuclear-powered submarines in South Korea as Seoul and Washington resume talks on nuclear cooperation and wartime operational control.

A senior Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters that recent security talks between South Korea and the United States were “very productive and useful.”

“There has been no major change in the position that nuclear-powered submarines will be built in South Korea,” the official said.

The official said the two sides discussed uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing and nuclear-powered submarines. The talks also included what the official described as an “umbrella” consultation framework.

“We have not set a target deadline, but we will move quickly and try to produce concrete results by the end of the year,” the official said.

South Korea and the United States held formal talks in Seoul this week on follow-up discussions related to Seoul’s push for nuclear-powered submarines and expanded rights for uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. The talks followed earlier bilateral agreements on nuclear cooperation and submarine development.

On enrichment and reprocessing, the senior official said Seoul and Washington need “several new frameworks of agreement.”

“We intend to make progress, including by revising what needs to be revised,” the official said.

The official said talks on enrichment and reprocessing are now moving into a full-fledged phase.

“These discussions are based on trust in South Korea’s denuclearization, so there are no additional denuclearization conditions,” the official said.

Asked about coordination between Seoul and Washington on the timing of South Korea’s recovery of wartime operational control, the official said the two allies do not have a significant difference of opinion.

“Efforts to meet the conditions have continued for more than 10 years, and several years ago there was even an assessment that the conditions had been more than 90% met,” the official said. “Because there is little difference in views on the conditions, we can coordinate and align them.”

The official said the two sides also do not differ sharply on the timing of the transfer.

“There is a gap of a little over a year, about one year-plus,” the official said. “We do not see that gap as something that cannot be adjusted.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260605010001877

June 6 (UPI) — Pope Leo XIV landed in Madrid Saturday to begin his one-week papal visit to the country, the first in 15 years.

Leo was greeted at the airport by King Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia, then addressed them at the Royal Palace along with politicians and diplomats.

He acknowledged political polarization and called for an end to it in Spain and elsewhere in the West.

“I come among you to affirm, encourage and instill a renewed fidelity to the Gospel among believers, as well as a deeper reconciliation and collaboration among the various elements of this nation,” the first American pope said.

“In reality, the message of peace, which at present unfortunately strikes some as naive and others as confrontational, is welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies, but are rather open to the truth,” Leo said.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz told the Washington Post that the left in Spain embraces the pope.

“The [left’s] alignment with Pope Francis was immediate: He defended Spain’s labor reform and the Episcopal Conference also supported it, something that would have seemed unthinkable 20 years ago,” she said. “With Leo XIV, that alignment deepens.”

The Spanish far-right are battling the Church, which they believed an ally. They are particularly upset over the church’s advocacy for migrants, The Washington Post reported. The left once saw the Church as complicit in the Franco dictatorship.

“The far right in Spain wants to copy the far right in the United States,” Bishop José Mazuelos Pérez, who heads a Canary Islands diocese providing shelter, food, blankets and medical care for arriving migrants, told The Post. “To go to war with the bishops over the issue of migration.”

On Monday, Leo will address the Spanish parliament, which is gridlocked. He’s expected to discuss that type of polarization, and his other visits around the country highlight differing segments of the Church.

He will have a prayer vigil with young people Saturday, then march Sunday in a traditional Spanish street procession.

On Thursday, Leo plans to visit the Canary Islands, a landing for Latin American migrants and for those arriving by sea from the African coast. He is planning to visit Lampedusa on July 4, an Italian island where migrants from Africa and beyond land.

On his flight to Spain, Leo acknowledged that he would be competing popular with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who played the Super Bowl halftime show this year, for Spanish attention. Bad Bunny is scheduled to perform in Madrid Saturday night.

Leo said that more young people are turning to the Church, looking for something more.

“If they are confronted with the question: do they want to see Bad Bunny or do they want to see the pope, I think many will see Bad Bunny,” Leo said. “But I think there will also be a few here to see the pope. And that says something.”

On Sunday, the pope will celebrate mass on the feast of Corpus Christi in the Plaza de Cibeles. There will be a Corpus Christi procession, the Vatican said. He will also meet privately with members of the Order of St. Augustine to which he belongs.

Later, he will go to a gathering of representatives of culture, arts, business and sports at Madrid’s Movistar Arena.

The Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said, “Leo XIV’s trip to Spain is a sign that, despite the secularization of society, the pope still has something to say in many areas, in Spain and in Europe, where he can play a constructive role in public debate,” Euro News reported.

June 6 (UPI) — A second case of New World screwworm was confirmed in Texas this week in a one-month old calf nearly six miles from where the first case was detected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the second confirmed case on Friday, which was detected in Zavala County, Texas, but 5.6 miles away from the first one.

The second case was confirmed just 24 hours after the first, which had been detected in a three-week old calf, and has spurred the USDA to step up surveillance, as well as take other actions to prevent the infestation from spreading.

New World screwworm is spread by flies that lay their eggs in the exposed flesh of living animals — livestock, pets, wildlife and humans are all susceptible — and when the fly larvae, or maggots, emerge from the eggs they burrow through muscle as they grow.

Although screwworm was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, severe infestations in recent years in Central America slowly moved toward the southern border and was detected here in 2025, according to the USDA.

“With our partners in Texas, we are responding with speed and strength,” the USDA said in a statement about the second case that was posted on X.

“We have defeated this pest before, and we will do it again,” the agency said. “America’s livestock producers have USDA’s FULL support.”

The primary way of controlling the spread of New World screwworm is a combination of trapping flies for testing, implementing detection and quarantine zones where it confirmed, and releasing sterile flies into the area it has been detected to prevent infected insects from reproducing, the agency said.

The USDA has encouraged people in the area of the two cases to check their pets and livestock for draining or enlarging wounds, if not maggots or eggs around bodily opening such as the nose, ears or genitals, or around the navel of newborn animals.

Although screwworm infection in humans is relatively rare, the infestations can happen in ways similar to animals and require immediate medical attention.

A US influencer and actor have caused outrage after mocking Palestinians subject to rape and beastiality in Israeli prisons. Elon Gold and Lizzy Savetsky made the comments at the Tribeca Film Festival as they promoted a new film made in Israel.

June 6 (UPI) — Several people were shot Saturday afternoon at an outdoor festival in Ohio, with “many victims” sent to the hospital.

At least eight people were shot around 5:30 p.m. at the Old West End Festival in Toledo, Ohio, all of whom were transported to the hospital and all of whom are expected to survive, the city’s mayor, Wade Kapszukiewicz, told WTOL-11.

As of 8:00 p.m., police said that they were still looking for the suspect or suspects that were involved in the shooting.

“The investigation currently includes scenes in the area of Delaware Avenue and Robinwood Avenue,” the Toledo Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.

“Residents and visitors are asked to avoid scenes in the area and expect a significant police presence as officers continue their search and investigators work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the police department said.

The Old West Festival, an event that has been held for more than 50 years, is a celebration of the history of the area, and was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine said in a statement on social media.

“We are confident that law enforcement will locate the suspects involved in this senseless crime,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Sunday is significant for one reason.

It’s not that they are meeting: The two men met in Beijing just a year ago when China held a massive military parade to mark 80 years since Japan surrendered unconditionally to Allied forces, bringing an end to the second world war.

What’s surprising is that Xi is travelling at all.

The Chinese leader has not travelled to Pyongyang since 2019, having steadily cut down his travel in recent years, and world leaders like US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin generally come to him these days.

“We need to remember that Xi Jinping has not really travelled abroad that much,” William Yang, Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Northeast Asia, told Al Jazeera. “The growing trend is foreign leaders heading to Beijing to meet with him.

“For Xi Jinping to be the one who decides to travel to Pyongyang, it shows the level of significance that China attaches to this trip.”

Xi averaged about 14 trips a year between 2013 and 2019, but dropped to approximately six a year between 2022 and 2025, according to the Asia Society. In 2020, he made just one overseas trip, and in 2021, he made none, as China grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

He may be travelling now, though, amid concerns about North Korea’s relationship with Russia, Yang said.

Senior partner no more?

Traditionally, Beijing played the role of senior partner in the China-North Korea relationship, with North Korea heavily dependent on China for as much as 95 percent of its trade, according to one 2022 estimate from the National Committee on North Korea, a US-based nonprofit.

That dynamic has been changing since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, however. North Korea has provided Russia with critical weapons, artillery and manpower and is credited by observers with helping to keep Moscow’s war machine going.

South Korea’s Institute for National Security Strategy, a government-funded research institute, estimates that since 2023, Moscow has paid North Korea as much as $14.4bn for troop deployments and the export of “artillery, shells, and guided and ballistic missiles”.

The report said that North Korea may only have received between $580m and $1.5bn of that in the form of “goods”, which means there is a “significant possibility that the majority of the payment from Moscow was in the form of ‘sensitive military technology or related precision parts and materials that are difficult to observe via satellite’,” according to a translation.

Although China shares a mutual defence treaty with North Korea, it is still wary of North Korea acquiring new military technology, Yang said.

“Beijing has always been very careful about providing military assistance to North Korea because they do not see a militarily stronger North Korea as necessarily in its favour,” he said. “A North Korea that is militarily emboldened through its relationship with Russia could be a potential source of disruption to the balance of power and status quo on the Korean Peninsula.”

North Korea has already carried out eight missile launches since the start of the year, and in May unveiled a new AI-guided tactical cruise missile, according to North Korean media and the US Naval Institute.

Earlier this week, North Korean state media also released photos of Kim touring a new “weapons-grade nuclear materials” factory, which would be used to expand Pyongyang’s nuclear capability at an “exponential rate”.

Fluctuating tensions

North Korea has technically been at war with South Korea since 1950, with the conflict suspended by a 1953 armistice agreement. The two countries are divided by a 250-kilometre-long (155-mile-long) Demilitarized Zone, splitting the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions have fluctuated dramatically over the years, reaching a recent low point in 2024 when Kim abandoned the long-term goal of Korean unification.

He has largely cut off communications ever since, according to observers. On Friday, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it hopes that Xi’s trip will “play a constructive role in addressing issues related to the Korean Peninsula” – suggesting that Seoul may have lobbied the Chinese leader to try to smooth over relations.

South Korean Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young separately told reporters last month that he expects the two leaders to discuss a possible meeting between Kim and Trump later in the year.

Xi may also be alarmed by other security developments in East Asia, including news of a possible military-logistics ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌support pact between South Korea and Japan, which was raised at the Shangri-La Dialogue of regional defence officials in Singapore last weekend.

While China and South Korea’s relationship fluctuates, its ties with Japan are acrimonious due to longstanding grievances dating back to Imperial Japan’s occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s. Beijing has also objected to recent moves by Tokyo to expand its de facto military.

June 6 (UPI) — President Donald Trump pardoned former U.S. Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., who was convicted on four counts of securities fraud in 2023 after he left Congress.

Buyer had been convicted and sentenced to 22 months in prison after he was charged with trading stock based on two mergers he knew about based on work at his consulting firm, ABC News and The New York Times reported.

The two mergers he based trades on were T-Mobile’s deal to acquire Sprint and the professional services firm Guidehouse’s deal to buy its competitor Navigant.

In a proclamation released Thursday by the White House, President Donald Trump included a list of current and former members of members of Congress, including Sens. Roger Wicker and Lindsey Graham and Reps. Pet Sessions and Jack Bergman, among several others.

“Mr. Buyer’s career serving as a judge advocate general in the United States Army and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the State of Indiana was distinguished and highly productive,” Trump said.

Buyer was first elected to Congress in 1992, retired from the House in 2010 and then formed his consulting company.

The trades he made based, which were based on executives of the companies he was working for, netted him well over $330,000 in profit when he sold shares of the companies after the mergers were announced.

During his time in Congress, Buyer also was a House prosecutor during the impeaching of former President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.

For the sixth-straight day, thousands of protesters have rallied in the Albanian capital against a proposed luxury beach development linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Environmental groups accuse authorities of lacking transparency and allowing for the destruction of protected biodiversity on the country’s Adriatic Coast.

A Palestinian father in Hebron has buried his seven-month-old son after the baby was killed by Israeli gunfire directed at the family’s car. The shooting, which also wounded the child’s parents, is the latest deadly incident amid escalating Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank.

Republican Stephen Buyer was convicted and sentenced to 22 months in prison, though he has maintained his innocence.

United States President Donald Trump has issued a pardon to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office.

The pardon was dated Thursday and released by the White House late Friday night.

Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, as well as pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025.

The Supreme Court in May rejected Buyer’s appeal without comment or noted dissent.

In granting “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon” to Buyer, Trump cited the Republican’s work, both as a judge advocate general in the US Army and as a politician in the US House. Trump described his career as “distinguished and highly productive”.

Buyer said the pardon “corrects a politically motivated prosecution” and that it was “horrific to be imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit”. He maintains that he is innocent.

Trump used his Truth Social media platform on May 31 to share a pair of letters requesting a presidential pardon for Buyer, a lawyer and Gulf War veteran who left office in 2011.

He was a House prosecutor at Democratic President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial, and in 2016, he served on Trump’s transition team, focusing on veterans’ issues.

A letter signed by more than 40 former Republicans in Congress said Buyer was “targeted by the deep state” because of his involvement in Clinton’s trial.

“Like you, Mr President, Steve has been the victim of lawfare conducted by the Biden Administration,” they wrote in the April 2025 letter.

A second letter, from five current House Republicans, said pardoning Buyer would bring justice to his case. The June 2025 letter was signed by Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Ken Calvert of California, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, Jack Bergman of Michigan and Pete Sessions of Texas.

Buyer, 67, was convicted in connection with insider trading involving the $26.5bn merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, announced in April 2018, and illegal trades in the management consulting company Navigant when his client Guidehouse was set to acquire it in a deal publicly disclosed weeks later.

The US Constitution gives the president broad power to grant pardons for federal crimes.

A pardon does not erase a recipient’s criminal record but can be seen as an act of mercy or justice.

June 6 (UPI) — A former Central Intelligence Agency officer who was caught with $40 million in gold bars allegedly created a fake intelligence program in order to steal the money.

David J. Rush was arrested in May and charged with theft of public funds after he lied to the agency about his military history, education and pilot license, and was then accused of stealing the gold bars and $2 million in cash that was found in his home.

U.S. officials have now said that Rush created a fake intelligence operation, or “special access program,” related to the “continuity of government operations” that he used to convince another agent to transfer the money to his operation, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported.

“He made up a contract,” one of the officials told The Post.

Rush allegedly read in two CIA colleagues on the fraudulent operation, which he claimed was related to keeping the government running in the event of a catastrophic event, such as destructive weather or a military attack.

It is not clear how the former officer was able to create a secret program and obtain the funds without involving superiors in the agency, but he managed to convince one of the colleagues to purchase the gold and transfer it to him.

The fact that Rush managed to apply to and was hired by the CIA using false credentials has raised questions about the agency’s background checks and security when hiring, the Times and the Post reported.

Additionally, several former U.S. officials question how somebody could be hired and then assigned to a significantly sensitive intelligence-gathering program that is classified.

Rush was caught and charged after the agency conducted a review of expenses and could not locate the gold or cash he had requested.