Politics

America and Iran maintained a shaky ceasefire. The two countries held peace negotiations in Pakistan, their highest-level official talks since Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979. The talks ended without a deal, but both sides are preparing to hold another round of discussions. Donald Trump said the war is “close to over”. America claimed its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was successful, targeting ships going to and from Iran’s ports and through its coastal waters.

Hopes for peace were also given a boost when Israel and Lebanon held their first official direct talks in decades, as their ambassadors met in Washington. After the meeting America said they had agreed to launch negotiations. The Israeli ambassador declared that Israel and Lebanon were “united in liberating Lebanon” from Hizbullah. The Iranian-backed militia has made thinly veiled threats of a coup against the Lebanese government should it try. Meanwhile, Israel’s ground assault in southern Lebanon continued, as did Hizbullah’s rocket attacks on Israel.

Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, appointed Roelf Meyer as the country’s new ambassador to America, following the expulsion of the previous ambassador last year for accusing Mr Trump of projecting “white victimhood”. Mr Meyer was one of the National Party’s chief negotiators with the African National Congress in the talks to end apartheid. He later helped found the centre-left United Democratic Movement.

The Australian government announced a rise in defence spending from 2% of GDP to 3% by 2033. Australia “faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances” since the second world war, said the defence minister.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that North Korea has made “very serious” advances in its nuclear-weapons programme, and has probably developed a new uranium-enrichment facility. It is thought that the regime has several dozen nuclear warheads.

Around 250 people were missing after a boat capsized in the Andaman Sea. The vessel had left Teknaf, a town in southern Bangladesh that borders Myanmar, and was headed to Malaysia. It was carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis.

George Robertson, a former NATO secretary-general and former British defence secretary, levelled a scathing critique at current defence policy. Lord Robertson, who wrote the latest British strategic defence review, says Britain is in “peril” because of the government's “corrosive complacency”, blaming the Treasury for its failure to fund the review’s recommendations. His conclusion is that the country is underprepared, underinsured, under attack and not safe, giving as an example recent Russian activity around British undersea infrastructure.

In Canada the Liberal Party secured a small majority in the House of Commons after winning three special constituency-elections. The Liberals had hitherto been in power with a minority government, first under Justin Trudeau as prime minister and then under Mark Carney. Mr Carney has been credited with reaching out to disaffected members of the opposition; four Conservatives crossed over to the Liberals in recent months.

Keiko Fujimori advanced to the second round of Peru’s presidential election. It is her fourth run for the office. Ms Fujimori is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000 and later convicted of ordering an army death squad to massacre alleged supporters of Shining Path, a Maoist terrorist group.

At least 15 people were killed in another wave of drone attacks by Russia on Ukraine, including Kyiv, the capital. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s army captured a Russian position using unmanned ground systems and drones for the first time in the war, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, without any loss of Ukrainian life. The president said that ground robotic systems were used more than 22,000 times on Ukraine’s front line during the first three months of the year.

The centrist Tisza party won around two-thirds of the seats in Hungary’s election, booting Viktor Orban and his populist-right Fidesz party out of office after 16 years in power. Peter Magyar, the incoming prime minister, made improving relations with the EU a priority. Soon after his victory Mr Magyar spoke to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. He also suggested that he would reverse Hungary’s block on a €90bn ($106bn) EU loan to Ukraine. The Kremlin said it wanted a “pragmatic dialogue” with the new government.

Following several days of protests the government of Ireland announced a support package to help people affected by the spike in fuel costs. Protesters had blocked highways with lorries and tractors and snarled up traffic by forming slow-moving convoys.

A pupil at a school in south-east Turkey shot and killed at least nine people. The previous day a former pupil at a separate school wounded 16 people before killing himself.

Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist prime minister of Spain, launched a scheme to offer permanent residency to half a million illegal migrants. The migrants must have lived in Spain for five months and have no criminal record. Separately, Mr Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, was charged with corruption following a lengthy investigation. She denies the charges. Mr Sánchez has said the allegations are rooted in conservative dissatisfaction with his government.

The prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, said her administration had suspended the renewal of its defence co-operation agreement with Israel in light of “the current situation”. Italy’s conservative government has hitherto been a comparatively reliable ally for Israel, and has not recognised Palestinian statehood. In March Italy said it would not allow America to use an air base in Sicily as a launch pad for operations against Iran.

Ms Meloni’s refusal to support America’s war with Iran has angered Mr Trump, who said he was disappointed with her, telling an Italian newspaper: “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.” Ms Meloni also waded into the furore caused by Mr Trump’s scathing criticism of Pope Leo, after the pontiff took a strong stand against the Iran war. J.D. Vance, a Catholic convert, also suggested the pope stay out of international affairs. Ms Meloni said Mr Trump was wrong, and it was “right and normal” for Pope Leo to call for peace.