Today’s headlines: In Indonesia, the former head of the agency overseeing the free meal program has been arrested; Beijing sanctions four New Zealand lawmakers for visiting Taiwan; Christians are among the more than 6,000 Iranians arrested since the start of the war; Birth rate hits new all-time low in Japan; Democrats make gains in South Korea’s local elections but fail to win in Seoul. Bollywood stars oppose the use of elephants in films.

LEBANON - ISRAEL - GULF

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the ceasefire “conditional” on a “complete cessation” of Hezbollah attacks and the creation of “pilot” security zones within Lebanon, where elements of the pro-Iranian movement cannot operate. The two sides, also in Washington yesterday, further agreed to launch a new round of talks the week of June 22, with a view to a “comprehensive” peace agreement. The agreement came in the wake of Israeli attacks that killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, prompting a missile strike in response by Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the death toll from yesterday’s attack on Kuwait International Airport has risen to one dead and at least 63 wounded, with Kuwaiti officials accusing Tehran of “criminal aggression.” The Pasdaran deny any involvement and speak of a “mistake” by a U.S. interceptor missile, while Washington reiterates the claim of a “deliberate” Iranian attack.

INDONESIA

Authorities yesterday arrested the recently dismissed former head of an agency overseeing President Prabowo Subianto’s free meal program. Along with Dadan Hindayana, former head of the National Nutrition Agency, two other senior officials were detained. The charges include embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds; if convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. The ambitious free meal program was a key part of Prabowo’s campaign to win the 2024 election, with the government allocating at least billion to provide free meals to 83 million children and pregnant women across the archipelago.

CHINA - TAIWAN - NEW ZEALAND

Beijing has sanctioned four New Zealand lawmakers (Maureen Pugh, Duncan Webb, Laura McClure, and David Wilson), who were part of a delegation that visited Taiwan in May; they will be barred from entering China for one year. The delegation was part of the “All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan,” a cross-party initiative launched in 2023 to coordinate legislative relations, soft diplomacy, and economic cooperation between Wellington and Taipei.

INDIA

Bollywood stars have promoted a campaign to end the use of elephants in Indian films, with life-size robot replicas and AI-generated images that can effectively and humanely replace them. Among those who have joined the initiative launched by PETA India are leading directors, producers, and actors. According to the WWF, there are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, most of them in India, followed by Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. There are over 2,600 elephants in captivity in the country, used for tourism, entertainment, and in temples.

IRAN

There are also several Christians among the more than 6,000 Iranians arbitrarily arrested and, in some cases, subjected to enforced disappearances since the start of the war with Israel and the United States in late February. This is revealed in a report by Amnesty International, which documents detentions and threats against hundreds of protesters, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and activists, as well as students and teachers. Other minorities, such as Baha’is, Baluchis, and Kurds, are also being targeted. Among the examples of mass arrests in at least 20 provinces is that of the convert and former prisoner of conscience Mary Mohammadi. Among the charges is that of belonging to a “Christian evangelical network.”

SOUTH KOREA

In South Korea, President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party secured a clear victory in the local elections and parliamentary by-elections, winning the crucial mayoral seat in the traditional conservative stronghold of Busan, while the conservatives of the PPP—the main opposition force—retained the Seoul mayoral seat. The Democratic Party won 12 of the 16 major mayoral and gubernatorial seats up for grabs. But in Seoul, incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected to a fifth term.

JAPAN

Japan’s fertility rate has fallen again, hitting a new all-time low last year, according to official data released yesterday, which confirms the demographic crisis facing the world’s fourth-largest economy. The Land of the Rising Sun has one of the lowest birth rates, a shrinking and aging population, leading to labor and taxpayer shortages, and putting the stability of the social and welfare systems at risk. The total fertility rate—the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime—fell by 0.01 from the previous year, settling at 1.14 and marking the tenth consecutive year of decline. The number of children born fell to 670,000 (-15,000), the lowest figure since records began in 1899.

RUSSIA

Russian and Belarusian fencers will be able to compete internationally using their national anthems and symbols. The decision was made by the International Fencing Federation (FIE), effective starting with the World Championships in Hong Kong, China, to be held from July 22 to 30. Restrictions on the use of national symbols by Russian and Belarusian junior fencers had been lifted in December 2025, as noted by Currentime.

AZERBAIJAN - GEORGIA - TURKEY

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project represents a successful example of cooperation between Baku, Tbilisi, and Ankara, according to Georgian Prime Minister Iraklij Kobakhidze during the line’s inauguration ceremony. He described the reconstruction of the Marabda-Kartsakhi railway section as one of the region’s largest infrastructure projects, noting that the BTK has been operating in test mode since 2017, transporting over one million tons of cargo, including 80,000 containers.