Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday called for strengthening the role of the committee overseeing the ceasefire mechanism in southern Lebanon, urging continued international pressure on Israel to halt its violations, withdraw from occupied territories, and release Lebanese detainees.

His remarks came during a meeting with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, outgoing head of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, US Major General Jasper Jeffers, and incoming committee head Major General Michael Leeney, who officially assumed his duties on Wednesday.

According to a statement released by Lebanon's presidency, Aoun emphasised that "the Lebanese army is fully carrying out its duties in the south, particularly south of the Litani River, where it continues to confiscate weapons and ammunition and dismantle armed groups."

He cited Israel's occupation of five strategic hills and ongoing violations as "the main obstacle to completing the army's deployment."

Clashes intensified in the southern suburbs of Damascus amid rising sectarian unrest, according to a major monitoring group in Syria.

Renewed clashes involving light and medium weapons, including RPGs, were reported in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Gunfire and at least one explosion, believed to be caused by a mortar shell, were reported in Sahnaya and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, prompting the General Security Directorate to enforce night curfews in both towns.

SOHR reported that the death toll from the ongoing violence had risen to 18, including nine residents from the areas of Jaramana, Sahnaya, and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, and nine members of pro-government forces.

At least 15 others were wounded, with several in critical condition. The casualty figures are expected to rise due to continued instability.

North Korea and Russia on Wednesday launched the construction of a road bridge linking them across the Tumen River, a Russian report said, as the two nations have been deepening cooperation.

Premier Pak Thae-song attended the ceremony from the North Korean side.

In June last year, North Korea and Russia agreed to build the motorway bridge across the border river with its construction expected to be completed by the end of 2026, as the leaders of the two nations signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty to prop up cooperation.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday said that the successful conduct of the multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) by Manila and its allies, US and Australia, demonstrates the "growing synergy" between partner nations.

"The 9th MMCA demonstrates the growing synergy among like-minded partners in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. These exercises are vital in strengthening our collective defence posture and operational readiness," AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said.

Additionally, the Philippines said there was nothing provocative about the MMCA conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), together with allies from the United States and Australia.

"The AFP stands firm in exercising our sovereign rights within our maritime domain. The conduct of joint exercises and maritime domain awareness operations within our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone is not a provocation -- it is preparedness," AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said on Wednesday.

The ongoing doctors' strike at all three major government hospitals in Pakistan's Rawalpindi left thousands of patients distressed in the city.

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) have been on strike since last week in protest against the Punjab government's plan to outsource public hospitals.

The protesting doctors boycotted the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) services at Holy Family Hospital (HFH), Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital (RTH) Raja Bazaar on the call of the YDA Punjab, according to local media reports.

The protest brought OPD services to a standstill as patients at the three hospitals continue to suffer. The officials from the divisional administration visited the hospitals but reportedly did little to engage the Young Doctors Association (YDA) to resume services at the OPDs, quoting sources.

Russia and the United States have yet to discuss the nuances of a peace plan, said Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya, as both nations continue their dialogue on finding a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict.

"The Russian-American dialogue is ongoing, and lots of nuances regarding the future contours of a peace plan have yet to be discussed," Nebenzya told a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

"Since the onset of the conflict, we have stated that we prefer diplomatic ways of attaining the objectives of our special military operation. This is why Russia is still committed to finding long-lasting solutions that would remove the root cause of the conflict and prevent it from reigniting," he further said.

Meanwhile, Acting Alternate Representative of the US Mission to the United Nations John Kelley said that Russia currently has a great opportunity for a durable peace in Ukraine, and the United States will fully support Moscow and Kyiv on their path to a "lasting peace."

South Korea and the United States will hold working-level talks this week to set details of their recent agreement concerning the Donald Trump administration's tariff scheme, Seoul's industry ministry said on Wednesday.

The two-day "technical discussions" will begin on Wednesday (U.S. time) in Washington as a follow-up to last week's agreement to craft a package deal on the new U.S. tariffs and ways of bilateral economic and industrial cooperation before the 90-day pause on the tariff measures expires on July 8, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The upcoming discussions will be attended by officials from the ministry and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), reports news agency.

Governor of the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan Mohammad Ashouri Taziani refuted on Tuesday the hypothesis that an act of sabotage was behind a deadly blast at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran.

He made the remarks while elaborating on the likely causes of the explosion that occurred on Saturday and its subsequent fire, in which at least 70 people were killed and over 1,200 others injured, the official news agency reported.

Ahsouri Taziani said some foreign media raised the speculation that the incident had probably been the result of an act of sabotage, but preliminary investigations showed that the sabotage hypothesis failed to be of "sufficient strength."

He added that according to a statement by the provincial crisis management headquarters, a failure to properly observe safety and passive defense measures had been among the main causes of the incident.

On Monday, Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni identified "certain negligence" as one of the reasons behind the deadly explosion,news agency reported.

The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 3,770 as of April 28, the state-owned daily The Mirror reported on Tuesday.

In addition, 5,106 people were injured and 106 people were reported missing, news agency reported.

Myanmar has experienced a total of 157 aftershocks following the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28.

The aftershocks ranged from magnitude 2.8 to 7.5, the department said.

Issuing a strong warning to Islamabad, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry has stated that strict penalties will be imposed on Pakistani citizens found violating Haj permit regulations this year.

The warning came at a time when Pakistan formally commenced its Haj flight operations on Tuesday with the first batch of 442 pilgrims departing from Islamabad to Madina under the Makkah Route Initiative.

The Saudi ministry’s latest warning further stated that penalties will be applicable from today (Tuesday) till June 10, 2025. The ministry warned that any Pakistani performing or attempting to perform Haj without a valid permit, will face a fine of up to SR20,000. The penalty includes all types of visa holders, including those entering and staying in Mecca.