Montreal-based IFALPA said airlines should recognize how conflict zone operations can create mental and emotional strain in the cockpit

International News via Reuters:

Pilots must be given a “final and non-negotiable” say allowing them to refuse to fly over or within conflict zones without influence from commercial pressures, global union group International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) said.

The position paper on Monday from IFALPA comes as the six-week-long Iran war is reshaping airspace across the Middle East and increasing disruptions to flights due to drone and missile attacks and interceptions, heightening safety risks for airline crew members and their passengers.

Montreal-based IFALPA said airlines should recognize how conflict zone operations can create mental and emotional strain in the cockpit.

“The Commander’s decision regarding the conduct or rerouting of a flight, including refusal to overfly a conflict zone, must be final and non-negotiable,” the paper said. “Additionally, this decision must not be influenced by financial or other incentives, career repercussions or other penalties, or commercial pressures.”

While many carriers have canceled services to affected destinations, Dubai-based Emirates is now operating at about 69% of its normal capacity and Qatar Airways at 26%, according to Flightradar24 data. That equates to hundreds of flights per day in airspace that has been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.

The United Arab Emirates has instituted “safe corridors” with specific flight paths, but planes still regularly enter holding patterns during attacks and in some cases have been turned back or diverted to other destinations when airspace was closed temporarily.

Qatar Airways said “the safety of our passengers and crew remains paramount” and all flights to and from Doha were being operated through dedicated flight corridors established in close coordination with the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

Emirates, which has also said it prioritizes safety, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The IFALPA paper said airlines needed to provide pilots operating in conflict zones with mitigation measures like post-flight recuperation time and confidential support.

“If rerouting, delay, holding, elevated workload, diversion complexity, or sector uncertainty are recurrent and foreseeable, they should be incorporated into scheduling assumptions, fatigue controls, and roster buffers with additional safety margins such as augmented crew rostering, rather than repeatedly managed as an ad hoc exception,” it said.

Separately on Monday, the United Nations aviation agency said its governing council condemned Iran for unlawful airspace violations against Gulf neighbors like the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia affecting civil aviation safety.

“The council deplored Iran’s illegal use of unmanned aircraft systems for military purposes against civilian infrastructure over the territories of the affected member states,” the International Civil Aviation Organization said in a statement.

The council’s decision follows a paper submitted by multiple Arab states over Iran’s use of weaponized drones against its neighbors, a source familiar with the matter said.

Iran has submitted a separate paper regarding its territory that is to be heard during a future council session, although the source was not familiar with specific details.

Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Jamie Freed

He was charged with five counts of war crimes in connection with the murder of five people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, Australian Federal Police said

International News via Reuters:

Australia’s most decorated soldier was arrested on Tuesday and charged with five counts of war crimes relating to the killing of unarmed civilians while on deployment in Afghanistan.

Police said a 47-year-old former Australian Defence Force member had been arrested at Sydney Airport. Court records named the man as Ben Roberts-Smith.

He was charged with five counts of war crimes in connection with the murder of five people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, Australian Federal Police said. The maximum penalty for each charge is life imprisonment.

“It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett told a press conference.

“It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed.”

Police will also allege the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinates acting on his orders and in his presence, she said.

The AFP said he had been denied bail and would appear in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday.

Roberts-Smith was hailed as a national hero after being awarded several top military honours, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012.

He has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing during his service, some of which were first reported by Nine Entertainment newspapers in a series of articles starting in 2018.

Among the accusations reported were that Roberts-Smith had shot dead an unarmed Afghan teenager and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him to be shot dead.

Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), unsuccessfully challenged the reports in what became Australia’s most expensive defamation trial, with a Federal Court judge ruling in 2023 the newspapers proved four of the six murder accusations they levelled. A final appeal bid was dismissed by the High Court in September 2025. 

A 2020 report found credible evidence that members of the SAS killed dozens of unarmed prisoners in the lengthy Afghan war. 

An investigation into the SAS soldier by the federal police and the Office of the Special Investigator, set up to examine allegations of war crimes by ADF members in Afghanistan, was opened in 2021.

Ross Barnett, director of investigations at the OSI, said the process was complex and time-consuming because authorities were unable to go to Afghanistan to see the alleged crime scenes.

“We don’t have access to the crime scenes, we don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood-spatter analysis, all of those things we would normally get at a crime scene,” he said at the press conference.

The joint OSI-AFP has held 53 investigations involving allegations of war crimes by ADF members in Afghanistan, with 10 ongoing. Another former special forces soldier is due to face trial for war crime murder next February, the OSI said. 

“If the evidence leads to other people needing to be charged, you can be assured that will happen,” Barnett added.

Amnesty International said Roberts-Smith’s arrest was a “critical step toward global justice and accountability efforts”.

“Australian authorities must now ensure all credible allegations are fully investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted,” said Zaki Haidari, Amnesty International Australia strategic campaigner. 

Police footage showed officers escorting Roberts-Smith off a flight upon arrival at Sydney Airport and into a police car waiting on the tarmac.

Local media reported that he had travelled to Sydney from Brisbane with his girlfriend and two teenage daughters.

Roberts-Smith’s lawyer for his defamation trial did not respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Hugh Lawson

The price moves on Monday were dwarfed by an 11% surge for WTI and an 8% rise for Brent during the previous trading session on Thursday, the biggest absolute price increase since 2020

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices retreated in choppy trade on Monday, as investors awaited clarity on the status of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran, wary about sustained supply losses due to shipping disruptions.

Brent crude futures were down 0.22% to $108.79 a barrel at 11:49 a.m. CDT (1649 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading down 0.08% to $111.45 per barrel.

The price moves on Monday were dwarfed by an 11% surge for WTI and an 8% rise for Brent during the previous trading session on Thursday, the biggest absolute price increase since 2020.

The U.S. and Iran received a plan framework to end hostilities, but Iran rejected immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal by the end of Tuesday.

Iran also said it had formulated its positions and demands in response to recent ceasefire proposals conveyed via intermediaries.

“It’s a very fluid situation with peace plans being put out there,” said John Kilduff, a partner with Again Capital. “The rhetoric out of Iran seems to reject a ceasefire proposal, but they are allowing more ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The strait, which carries oil and petroleum products from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, remains largely closed due to Iranian attacks on shipping after the war began on February 28.

Some vessels, however, including an Omani-operated tanker, a French-owned container ship and a Japanese-owned gas carrier, have passed through the strait since Thursday, shipping data showed, reflecting Iran’s policy to allow passage for vessels from countries it deems friendly.

“The market is trying to realise what to expect going forward. The most important headline this weekend has been that some ships passed through the strait,” said SEB Research analyst Ole Hvalbye.

Hvalbye also highlighted that Europe continued to lose physical barrels and products to Asia due to the market tightening. 

SEEKING ALTERNATIVE SOURCES 

The Middle East supply disruptions have led to refiners seeking alternative sources for crude, particularly for physical cargoes in the U.S. and Britain’s North Sea. Spot premiums for U.S. WTI crude have jumped to all-time highs on competition between Asian and European refiners.

Indian refiners have also postponed maintenance shutdowns of their units to meet local fuel demand.

On Sunday, OPEC+, consisting of some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, agreed to a modest rise of 206,000 barrels per day for May. 

“OPEC movements look to be challenged based on export availability,” said Rystad analyst Janiv Shah.

Saudi Arabia also set the official selling price of May Arab Light crude oil to Asia at a record premium of $19.50 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, an increase of $17 from the previous month, Aramco said.

Russian supply has been disrupted recently by Ukrainian drone attacks on its Baltic Sea export terminals. Media reports on Sunday said its Ust-Luga terminal resumed loadings on Saturday after days of disruptions.

Exports from the Black Sea port of Tuapse are set to rise to 794,000 metric tons in April, up 8.7% on a daily basis from 755,000 metric tons planned for March, according to two traders and Reuters calculations.

Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston, Seher Dareen in London, Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore; Editing by Keith Weir, Ros Russell, Janane Venkatraman, Rod Nickel

The NIS said the imagery of the daughter driving a tank was intended to highlight her supposed military aptitude and dispel doubts over a female heir, lawmakers said

International News via Reuters:

South Korea’s spy agency now believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter has been positioned as his successor, lawmakers said on Monday, citing a recent public display of her driving a tank that was likely intended to dispel any doubts.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers its assessment was not based on circumstantial inference but on what it described as “credible intelligence” collected by the agency, according to briefings by ruling and opposition party members after a closed-door parliamentary meeting.

The NIS said the imagery of the daughter driving a tank was intended to highlight her supposed military aptitude and dispel doubts over a female heir, lawmakers said.

North Korea’s state‑run media KCNA last month published photos of Kim and his daughter driving a new tank, following earlier images showing her firing a rifle at a shooting range and using a handgun.

Such scenes are intended to pay “homage” to Kim’s own public military appearances during the early 2010s when he was being prepared to succeed his own father, ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said.

The latest assessment of Kim’s daughter, who is believed to be around 13 and to be named Ju Ae, is a progression from earlier analysis by the spy agency which said she was likely being groomed to succeed her father.

Ju Ae’s repeated presence at defence‑related events is aimed at easing doubts over a female successor and accelerating the construction of a succession narrative, the lawmakers said, citing the NIS.

Lawmakers have previously said the agency believes her increasingly prominent role suggests she is already being treated as the de facto second‑highest figure in the North’s leadership.

People Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said the NIS noted that suggestions Kim’s younger sister Kim Yo Jong might be unhappy about the focus on Ju Ae were misplaced, as Kim Yo Jong does not hold independent power.

Some North Korea experts, however, urged caution in interpreting the images as definitive succession signals.

Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Ju Ae’s tank appearance alone was insufficient to conclude she had been confirmed as Kim’s heir, noting she appeared alongside her father rather than independently, unlike Kim Jong Un’s own solo military appearances during his grooming phase.

Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies