Leader mentions for first time lengths to which troops go to avoid falling into enemy hands while fighting for Russia

Kim Jong-un has praised North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up with grenades in order to avoid capture while fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia’s western Kursk region, confirming the existence of the extreme battlefield policy.

Mounting evidence, including from intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors, has indicated North Korean soldiers are explicitly told to resort to self-detonation or other forms of suicide to avoid falling into enemy hands.

KYIV: Ukraine and Israel were on Tuesday locked in a diplomatic row over allegations Tel Aviv had accepted shipments of grain, which Kyiv said Russia had “stolen” from parts of occupied Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Kyiv summoned Israel’s ambassador to protest the alleged shipments.

One of the world’s largest grain producers, Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of illegally exporting agricultural products from territory that Moscow has captured since it invaded in February 2022.

“Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement on social media.

“The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying,” he added.

The development came after an investigation by Israeli outlet Haaretz found that the cargo ship Abinsk, ostensibly belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet, had docked at Haifa a couple of weeks ago.

Although Kyiv said it had warned Israel about the ship’s cargo in advance, Tel Aviv claimed that Kyiv had not provided evidence to support its claims and rejected that the ship had arrived at the port of Haifa.

However, the Haaretz report indicates that this was not the first time that stolen grain from Ukraine was imported by Israel: by 2023, at least two ships carrying stolen grain had arrived in Israel, and at least one of them unloaded here.

“The Ukrainian government has not submitted a request for legal assistance… nor has the Ukrainian government provided evidence for its claims,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a news conference in response to a question.

Ukraine alleges Russia stole more than two million tonnes of grain from occupied territory in 2025. It said it had tracked shipments to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2026

• Iranian envoy lauds Pakistan for ‘persistent labour’ to pave way for dialogue
• Trump claims Tehran asked him to lift Hormuz blockade
• Spy agencies studying ‘likely response’ to US declaring victory
• Iran’s military says ‘still in state of war’
• Vance questions Pentagon assessment of conflict with Iran
• UAE tanker evades Hormuz blockade

WASHINGTON: Even as US President Donald Trump appeared reluctant to accept an Iranian offer to end the Middle East war, reports suggested Tehran would share a fresh proposal with Pakistan “in the next few days”, despite a public show of defiance.

According to CNN, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will consult Iranian leaders upon his return from Russia for the new proposal, but “process is slow” due to “difficulty in communicating with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose location is being kept secret”.

The development came as President Trump reviewed the Iranian proposals amid concerns over the Pentagon’s assessment of the ongoing war with Iran. Senior Iranian officials told Reuters the proposal carried by Iran’s Araghchi to Islamabad over the weekend envisioned talks in stages, with the nuclear issue to be set aside at the start.

A first step would require ending the US-Israeli war on Iran and providing guarantees that the US cannot start it up again. Then negotiators would resolve the US Navy’s blockade of Iran’s trade by sea and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran aims to reopen under its control. Only then would talks look at other issues, including the longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump appeared to confirm the contents of the Iranian proposal, saying that Tehran wanted the US to “open the Hormuz strait”.

“Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse’,” he said. “They want us to “Open the Hormuz Strait,” as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!).”

CNN, however, reported that Trump was unlikely to accept Iran’s proposal to restore traffic in the strait, as Qatar warned of the possibility of a “frozen conflict” if a resolution was not found.

Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam appreciated Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and the foreign ministry officials for facilitating talks. “As trusted harbingers of international harmony, diplomats are the architects of peace, entrusted with navigating the delicate complexities of international relations through the patient craft of dialogue, empathy, and understanding,” he said in a tweet.

“Their dedicated efforts translate political will and principled determination into the practical avenues and arrangements necessary for any diplomatic process to take shape. This is diplomacy in its truest sense…” he said in a comment on Pakistan’s efforts.

‘State of war’

As the US mulled its offer, Iran struck a defiant tone, with its UN envoy also seeking guarantees that Washington and Israel would not attack again in return for security assurances for the Gulf.

Iranian defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik, meanwhile, said that Washington “must abandon its illegal and irrational demands.”

According to Iran’s army spokesperson, it was still “a war situation” for Iran. “There is continuous monitoring … surveillance,” Fars news agency quoted Amir Akraminia as saying. “If the enemy takes a new action, they will be faced with new tools, methods, and arenas.”

Separately, Reuters reported that in order to understand the implications of Trump potentially pulling back from the damaging war, US intelligence agencies are studying how Iran would respond if the US were to declare “unilateral victory”.

The intelligence community is analysing the question along with others at the request of senior administration officials, Reuters reported, adding that some are worried the war could contribute to deep Republican losses at the midterm elections later this year.

Vance questions Pentagon assessment

In the US, President Trump faces domestic pressure as the conflict led to a spike in gas prices, while his deputy, JD Vance, appeared concerned over the Pentagon’s assessment of the Iran war.

Average US gas prices have climbed to their highest level since the start of the Iran war, as concerns grow over a prolo­n­ged energy crisis amid the Hormuz deadlock. According to AAA data, gasoline prices rose to an average of $4.18 a gallon on Tuesday — the highest since 2022.

Behind closed doors, Vance is said to have questioned whether the extent of depletion in US missile stockpiles had been fully reflected in official briefings.

Although the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked, it was reported that a UAE-flagged LNG ship had managed to slip through.

According to marine tracking firm Kpler, the LNG carrier Mubaraz is operated by the Emirati national oil company ADNOC.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2026

Defendant, 21, in court with second man over alleged scheme to kill music fans outside Vienna stadium

A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty in an Austrian court over a jihadist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago, which led to shows by the US megastar in the country being scrapped.

The plan to kill onlookers massing outside the venue was thwarted at the 11th hour but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three scheduled performances in August 2024.

Arrests of Audias Flores and César Alejandro ‘N’ lead to gunmen blocking roads, as US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa after earlier arrest

The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads in the western state of Nayarit.

Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero”, is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.

Pakistan officials dismiss Afghan media reports and official statements about strikes on university in Kunar province as ‘blatant lie’

Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan on Monday struck a university and civilian homes in north-eastern Afghanistan, killing seven people and wounding at least 85, Afghan officials said.

Pakistan denied the accusation of targeting a university.

Cocaine-trafficking rebels blamed for worst attack on civilians in decades, which also left 56 people injured

The death toll in a Colombian highway bombing blamed on cocaine-trafficking rebels has risen to 21, the government said on Monday, in the country’s worst attack on civilians in decades and just ahead of elections.

The attack on Saturday left 56 injured and buses and vans mangled on the Pan-American Highway, in the restive south-western Cauca department.

Military video shows boat moving swiftly in water before explosion leaves it in flames

The US military said on Sunday three men were killed when it struck a boat it claimed was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

This latest strike – which follows dozens of similar attacks on alleged drug boats in recent months – brings the US campaign’s death toll to at least 185, according to a tally compiled by Agence France-Presse.

Michael Jackson biopic has shrugged off controversy, bad reviews and a troubled production to take $217m worldwide, including $97m in North America

Michael, the big-budget Michael Jackson biopic, has shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with a $97m opening in North American theaters, contributing to its enormous $217m (£160m, A$303m) worldwide box office and shattering the record for the biggest biopic opening of all time.

The film, a highly authorised portrayal of the “king of pop” that was co-produced by the Jackson estate and stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, took $120.4m internationally and $97m domestic – combining to surpass Oppenheimer’s $180.4m worldwide opening weekend in 2023 and Bohemian Rhapsody’s $124m in 2018.

The Israeli government and Hezbollah have traded blame over breaches to the truce, which is set to run for several more weeks

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed 14 people on Sunday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force over a week ago.

The health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israel said one of its soldiers was also killed.