Salam and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris to see how to strengthen Lebanon’s hand in possible direct future negotiations with Israel, as Beirut turns to a trusted European ally

International News via Reuters:

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his government was not seeking confrontation with Iran-backed Hezbollah, but would not allow itself to be intimidated as it prepares direct talks with Israel to end the conflict.

Salam and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris to see how to strengthen Lebanon’s hand in possible direct future negotiations with Israel, as Beirut turns to a trusted European ally.

The U.S. will host ambassador-level talks with Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, although it remains unclear whether the objective is to extend a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah or pave the way for deeper negotiations.

‘NOT INTIMIDATED BY HEZBOLLAH’

“We are continuing along this path, convinced that diplomacy is not a sign of weakness, but a responsible act to leave no avenue unexplored in restoring my country’s sovereignty and protecting its people,” Salam said.

Israeli troops occupy territory deep in the south, aiming to create a buffer zone to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack, while the group says it maintains the “right to resist” Israeli occupation.

Lebanon in 2025 said it would disarm Hezbollah but its army treaded carefully, wary of igniting internal tensions. The United States and Israel criticised Lebanon for not moving fast enough.

“We are not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah. On the contrary, I wanted to avoid confrontation with Hezbollah, but believe me, we will not be intimidated by Hezbollah,” Salam said when asked about the state’s ability to disarm the group.

Salam said the country would need 500 million euros ($587 million) over the next six months to deal with the humanitarian crisis that has seen 1.2 million people displaced from Lebanon’s south, east and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

FRANCO-LEBANESE HISTORICAL TIES

France, which has deep historical ties with Lebanon, has sought alongside Washington to mediate in the conflict, brokering the ceasefire in 2024 and helping establish a mechanism to monitor it.

But relations with Israel have soured over France’s stance on Gaza and the West Bank, its accusations that Israel’s actions in Lebanon are disproportionate, and its contacts with Hezbollah’s political wing.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington said last week that France should be excluded from any talks, describing Paris as having “no positive influence.”

The U.S., while maintaining contact with France on the issue, has also sought to marginalise its role.

European and Lebanese diplomats say they fear that if direct negotiations begin, Lebanon’s government could be too weak to resist unrealistic demands, potentially fuelling domestic tensions given Hezbollah’s refusal to negotiate with Israel.

“We are trying our best to get them [France] back in the discussions, but the U.S. and Israel are adamant not to include them,” said a Lebanese diplomat.

France has pushed initiatives only to be rebuffed by the U.S. and Israel.

Macron said the priority was to end the war and ensure stability for the future, promising to help Lebanese authorities prepare negotiations.

“France does not need to be at any negotiating table, wherever it may be, in order to stand by Lebanon,” he said.

Echoing the need for French support, Salam said negotiations with Israel would be demanding, and as a result, Lebanon would need the “active” support of all its partners.

Paris argues that unlike Washington it has a significant presence on the ground in Lebanon with some 700 UN peacekeepers, and that any peace deal would still need a significant international presence to implement it.

A French soldier was killed in southern Lebanon this week in an attack the French government said was carried out by Hezbollah.

In a sign of the ceasefire’s fragility, Israeli troops have continued demolitions of homes in the southern Lebanese border strip they now occupy and the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israeli troops in that zone on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

($1 = 0.8515 euros)

Editing by Maya Gebeily, Alexandra Hudson, Rod Nickel

Attacks on human rights defenders, journalists and activists searching for disappeared persons in Mexico continued in 2025 as disappearances climbed to 133,500 cases, Amnesty International said on Tuesday

International News via Reuters:

Attacks on human rights defenders, journalists and activists searching for disappeared persons in Mexico continued in 2025 as disappearances climbed to 133,500 cases, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

KEY CONTEXT

• Disappearances rose 10.5% by December, while murders fell 27.4%, Amnesty’s annual report said.

• Mexico remains among countries with the highest torture rates, according to the Global Torture Index presented in 2025.

• Threats, attacks and killings of human rights defenders increased alongside reduced government protection mechanisms, the rights group said.

• Migrants crossing Mexico face extortion, kidnapping and difficulties accessing healthcare, education and employment, Amnesty said.

• A UN committee in early April called for the General Assembly to examine forced disappearances in Mexico as crimes against humanity.

• President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the UN call as politically motivated.

• UN High Commissioner Volker Turk is on a four-day visit to Mexico and is expected to address human rights issues on Wednesday.

• “It is difficult to find the words to describe the exchanges I had today in Mexico with the families of disappeared persons,” Turk said on Tuesday. “Their unwavering courage, strength and resilience inspire me deeply; their search for truth and justice must be addressed.”

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Editing by Iñigo Alexander

Security authorities said 13 people were injured in the incident

International News via Reuters:

A gunman shot dead a Canadian woman as he opened fire at Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramids on Monday before killing himself, authorities said, in a rare attack at a major tourist attraction.

Security authorities said 13 people were injured in the incident. It was not immediately clear how many were shot. One witness, who requested anonymity, told Reuters that a young boy was shot in the leg.

Local prosecutors said in a post on X that the gunman was Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez, a Mexican national. They did not provide further details.

The shooting began at just after 11 a.m. at the Pyramid of the Moon, one of the most prominent structures at the site outside Mexico City, according to the witness, who had just descended from the temple’s mezzanine when they heard “pops” and saw a stampede of visitors.

The gunman remained at the top of the mezzanine, the witness said, adding that he appeared to fire most shots into the air, rather than directly at people, while carrying a digital tablet and shouting.

Bystanders, including some with medical training, provided first aid to the injured, using water bottles and clean cloths to slow bleeding until paramedics arrived, the witness added.

Security authorities said some of the injured had been taken to hospitals, including three Colombians, one of whom was a 6-year-old child, as well as U.S., Russian and Brazilian nationals.

A second Canadian was also wounded in the attack, according to a post on X from Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on social media: “What happened today in Teotihuacan pains us deeply. I express my deepest sympathy to those affected and their families.”

The shooting is set to increase scrutiny of Mexico’s security at major tourist and cultural sites as it prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside the United States and Canada. The event is expected to draw millions of visitors from abroad.

The pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan was one of the most important cultural centers in Mesoamerica and it is one of Mexico’s most popular tourist sites, receiving 1.8 million visitors last year.

While Mexico has many shooting incidents due to cartel activity, violence at tourist attractions is rare.

Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Lizbeth Diaz and Natalia Siniawski, Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Edwina Gibbs

The flames that engulfed seven residential towers, each of 31 floors in the northern district of Tai Po, killing 168 people, took nearly two days to douse, and eclipsed London’s Grenfell Tower inferno of 2017

International News via Reuters:

Victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades began government-supervised visits to their ravaged former homes on Monday for the first time since the November blaze, looking to retrieve personal items that might have survived.

The flames that engulfed seven residential towers, each of 31 floors in the northern district of Tai Po, killing 168 people, took nearly two days to douse, and eclipsed London’s Grenfell Tower inferno of 2017.

“I have taken away most of the stuff I wanted, those items of value,” said Steven Chung, 50, adding that he did not know how to describe his emotions after sifting through his old apartment but now worries more about finding affordable housing.

Chung was among around 270 former residents returning to the complex on Monday, many carrying objects such as paintings, computers, and bicycles as they left the government-subsidised housing.

A former resident surnamed Leung said he was able to find his wedding ring easily as it glittered through the ashes of his room where he had kept it. “True gold fears no fire,” he said.

Photos of his scorched apartment he shared with Reuters showed charcoal-grey debris with only a few household objects including a plate intact. Walls and window grates were completely charred.

A 67-year-old woman surnamed Tsang said she was happy she found her burnt jewelry box under her bed.

“I found the jewel box under the bed among the ashes. That’s the only thing I can retrieve,” she said.

Until May 4, former residents of the complex, Wang Fuk Court, can spend three hours in their flats on each visit, while wearing facemasks, helmets and gloves for protection.

Firemen are among the 1,000 staff tasked to assist the estimated total of 6,000 visitors, who will be escorted by officials to ensure items are kept safe.

“I hope everyone will abide by the three-hour rule,” Warner Cheuk, Hong Kong’s deputy chief secretary, told reporters outside the complex, patrolled by officers and cordoned off with orange tape and crowd-control barriers.

Up to four people can register to enter each home, but for severely damaged flats the number is limited to one.

Many affected residents are elderly, with more than a third older than 65, Midland Realty’s analysis of government data showed.

Months after the fire, people in the Asian financial hub are still grasping for answers to how it started and demanding accountability.

An independent committee began hearings in March to decide the causes and the scale of bid-rigging by construction firms in building projects.

The panel’s lead lawyer blamed human factors for the failure of most of the fire safety systems.

Authorities have threatened severe punishment for anyone who tries to “politicise” the disaster.

In April, the Housing Bureau ruled out redevelopment of the site, on grounds of the long time required and surrounding uncertainties. In February the government said it aimed to spend about HK$4 billion ($512 million) to buy out the owners.

Reporting by Jessie Pang and Joyce Zhou; Editing by Farah Master, Clarence Fernandez and Muralikumar Anantharaman