Lebann and Israel agree 45 day extension to ceasfire, but civillians still being killed

Today’s headlines: Trump raises cases of the arrested pastor and Jimmy Lai in talks with Xi: openness on the first, a wall on the second; Iranian authorities are denying medical treatment to a Christian convert, who is in prison with heart problems and two tumours; A new meeting between the South Korean president and the Japanese prime minister in Lee’s hometown; India’s anti-terrorism unit has charged 10 people responsible for an attack in Delhi in November and linked to al-Qaeda.

LEBANON - ISRAEL - PALESTINE

An Israeli airstrike on a town in southern Lebanon has killed six people, including three paramedics, on the day that Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered 45-day extension of the ceasefire in Washington. Yesterday, the US State Department announced that the two sides had agreed to extend the fragile truce, following two days of negotiations. Meanwhile, today, the leadership of Fatah (the main Palestinian political faction) is meeting to elect the party’s highest internal decision-making body, in the first conference in a decade. The 90-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – who governs by decree – was re-elected as head of Fatah in recent days.

CHINA - UNITED STATES

US President Donald Trump has stated that he raised the issue of the possible release of a detained Christian pastor and of the Catholic activist and publishing magnate Jimmy Lai, sentenced to 20 years in prison, during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. In response, the Beijing leader reportedly said he could consider the request regarding the former, but that Lai’s case was too “difficult” and he would not be released. The White House occupant told reporters that Xi would give serious consideration to the case of Ezra Jin Mingri, a pastor of an underground church detained in China in October in what observers have described as an escalation of repression against religious freedom. The case of the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, who has been accused of anti-Chinese activities, is different and more complicated.

IRAN

A Christian convert from Islam who is serving a two-year sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran is being denied access to the medical treatment she desperately needs. This is reported in a report by the Human Rights Activists Agency (Hrana), according to which the 50-year-old mother Mahshar Parandin suffers from a heart condition and two tumours, but the authorities are preventing her from undergoing surgery. One of the two tumours has affected her brain, impacting her balance, movement and speech.

Meanwhile, the second tumour in her throat has also grown and is now visible. An artist and painter, she would be entitled to parole, but the public prosecutor has rejected the request for conditional release. At least 50 Christians are imprisoned in Iran for reasons of faith.

SOUTH KOREA - JAPAN

Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will hold a summit in Andong, the South Korean president’s hometown, on 19 and 20 May. This was reported yesterday by the Blue House in Seoul; it will be the second meeting this year, following the South Korean leader’s visit to Takaichi’s hometown (Nara) last January, as part of the ‘shuttle diplomacy’ initiated by the two countries (also) with an anti-Chinese slant. Takaichi will visit Andong, in the northern province of Gyeongsang, to strengthen the increasingly close relationship between the leaders of the two countries and bilateral ties between Korea and Japan. Group activities and initiatives focused on culture and friendship are planned.

INDIA

The anti-terrorism agency has charged 10 men in connection with last year’s car bomb explosion in the capital that killed at least 11 people, as they are believed to be linked to a group inspired by al-Qaeda. The explosion on 10 November struck near a crowded metro station, close to the historic Red Fort in Delhi’s old quarters. The group also includes the driver of the vehicle, who was burned to death in the attack and whose remains were identified using DNA.

PHILIPPINES

Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao of Bayombong is calling on the faithful and the general public to support and show solidarity with residents who are fighting, by erecting barricades, against mining exploration in the town of Kasibu, in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. Northern Luzon Mineral Resources Corp. is seeking to explore more than 4,400 hectares covering the villages of Pao, Kakiduguen and neighbouring communities. In addition to his call for resistance, the bishop has urged the public to help and support the residents with donations of essential goods such as rice, drinking water, medicines and daily food supplies.

RUSSIA - BRICS

Moscow is hosting the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank, or BRICS Bank, whose leadership has aligned itself with Western sanctions against Russia and ceased operations in the country following the Ukraine crisis. Russian officials see an opportunity to use alternative methods of trade and lending that bypass the dollar and sanctions, given that the conflict in the Gulf is contributing to the gradual phasing out of the US currency from oil transactions. Meanwhile, participants at the BRICS summit in Delhi concluded the two-day meeting without issuing a joint statement, due to divisions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the war.

CENTRAL - PAKISTAN - MONGOLIA

The US Central Command (Centcom) has announced that the multinational exercise Regional Cooperation 2026 will take place in the US in June, with the participation of partners from Central and South Asia. This will be the 30th edition of the exercise, which last year saw the participation of military personnel from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Mongolia.

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