ISRAEL-LEBANON | RUSSIA-UKRAINE | INDIA- AUSTRALIA | SHANGRI-LA | NewsX World

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:05]Hello and welcome. I'm Roshan Keduani and you are watching the world report.

[00:00:09]Let's take a look at the top headlines for this hour.

[00:00:15]Israeli defense minister hails the capture of a Beaufort castle as a strategic win. The Israeli flag flutter atop the historic [music] site in southern Lebanon.

[00:00:32]IAEA chief voices concern over reported attacks on nuclear facilities. The recent strikes spark global anxiety regarding potential radiation leaks.

[00:00:49]The second India-Australia defense ministers dialogue begins in Delhi. Both nations discuss security cooperation and strategic partnerships in the region.

[00:01:05]The United States president states that he secured guarantees from Tehran to not develop nuclear weapons. He transmits a new framework proposal with tougher peacetime [music] terms for Iranian consideration.

[00:01:22]Government officials firmly rebuke accusations of rising militarism across the region. Leaders emphasize that Japanese security policies remain strictly defensive and peaceful.

[00:01:40]The German defense chief criticizes China for skipping the Shangri-La defense summit held in Singapore. He warns that missing the [music] forum represents a significant lost opportunity.

[00:02:02]>> The People's Liberation Army deploys naval and air forces [music] for combat readiness operations near the Scarborough Shoal. Military officials state the patrol serve as a countermeasure to safeguard sovereignty amid allied regional drills.

[00:02:23]Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pledges solidarity with the nation to fight the evolving Bundibugyo strain outbreak. He emphasizes that establishing community trust and ownership is decisive to ending transmission.

[00:02:48]And now here are the top stories for this hour. First things first, Israeli Defense Minister hails the capture of Beaufort Castle as a strategic win. The Israeli flag flutters atop the historic site in southern Lebanon.

[00:03:08]And according to Katz, troops led by the Golani Brigade crossed the Litani River and seized the Beaufort Ridge during an expanded military operation. He said the position is one of the most important strategic points for defending communities in northern Israel and maintaining the security of Israeli forces. Katz added that the operation had been subject to an information blackout and said fighting in the area remains ongoing. The Israeli Minister also pledged to continue military efforts against Hezbollah and strengthen security along Israel's northern border.

[00:03:48]The medieval Beaufort Castle overlooks the Litani River in Lebanon's Nabatieh Governorate and has long held military significance because of its commanding position over the surrounding region.

[00:04:03]Now joining us live to tell us more is Kobi Michael, Israeli political analyst joining us live from Tel Aviv. Mr. Michael, thanks so much for joining us.

[00:04:14]Tell us more about this strategic victory and why it matters so much.

[00:04:21]>> I'm not sure that I am I like too much the terms of a victory and and winning. I think that it is a significant military achievement. It was supposed to be long ago.

[00:04:34]Because all the Ali Taher Ridge, which the Beaufort is part of it, actually [clears throat] geographically and topographically controls the very big part of of the northern part of the state of Israel. And and Hezbollah used this ridge and this topographical advantage in order to to launch terror attacks on on Israel, mainly drones and and rockets.

[00:05:10]In addition to that, in this area, Hezbollah is very deeply concentrated and it has a lot of I would say places that are used for storing weapons.

[00:05:27]And it is a sort of gravity center from the military point of view for Hezbollah. And therefore, it was important to take this place and to to to dismantle Hezbollah capabilities there.

[00:05:46]And I assume that this will not be the last phase in the war against Hezbollah.

[00:05:54]>> So, essentially when it comes down to why this is essentially successful for the IDF, like you mentioned, then this has got to do with essentially breaking down or bringing down Hezbollah. Is that correct? And what else can the IDF do to essentially decimate Hezbollah moving forward?

[00:06:17]>> I think that it has also a symbolic dimension because as I said before, this is the gravity center of Hezbollah there.

[00:06:28]There were many Hezbollah operatives that were located in this place, and actually when it comes to the direct collision with the IDF, we see that the IDF is much more successful, I would say, than Hezbollah. They usually most of them just run away, but many of them were killed as well, and the IDF captured all of their all of their storages and all of their locations, and I think that in this regard it is a very significant advantage for the IDF, and from the moral point of view, this is a very huge disadvantage of Hezbollah.

[00:07:15]>> Hm. And when it comes down to Hezbollah, sir, what's your take on why the US has not essentially intervened thus far?

[00:07:27]>> It looks in my eyes as a big mistake.

[00:07:30]All the idea of connecting the the arenas, connecting the fronts, and and follow following the the Iranian demand with regard to Lebanon and Hezbollah is, is a big mistake. I believe that, um, even if, there was no ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, actually there is no ceasefire, there is an official ceasefire, but on the ground there is no ceasefire, but I mean, if Israel would, would have attacked, Hezbollah even in Beirut or in the northern part of the Bekaa, uh, along the border between Lebanon and Syria, I don't believe that, the Iranians, uh, would have stopped the, negotiation.

[00:08:17]Uh, on the other hand, by, um, forcing the Americans to, to connect, Lebanon and Hezbollah to the negotiation with Iran is something that, uh, eventually strengthens Iran, uh, and, provides the image of Iran as an effective umbrella of its proxies.

[00:08:41]And, uh, this is something that, of course, helps Hezbollah, and this is something that, causes huge troubles to Israel, but mostly to the Lebanese government.

[00:08:50]Because, in order to enable the Lebanese government to, take responsibility and to be a sovereign in each country, Israel has to weaken dramatically, Hezbollah. Because, under the current circumstances, the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army are not capable to tackle Hezbollah. So, I think that, at the end of the day, it is a mistake. And, I don't believe that Israel will be able to tolerate containment vis-a-vis Hezbollah for a long period of time, and we see that, in each day, there are some developments in this regard, and the IDF goes, northern and northern the, the Litani.

[00:09:35]And, I believe that we will reach by road as well because uh, I don't see that the gaps between both sides Iran and the US are bridgeable gaps and I don't believe that they will be able to reach to a sort of an agreement.

[00:09:50]>> Right. Please stay with us, sir. We'll be right back with you.

[00:09:54]Next up, we have some news with regards to the IAEA.

[00:09:58]A dangerous escalation has detonated in southeastern Ukraine sparking global fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe. International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Rafael Grossi issued a dire warning declaring that recent military attacks on strategic atomic facilities are equivalent to playing with fire. The alarm was raised after a drone struck a turbine building at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant blowing a hole directly into a wall of the facility's sixth unit.

[00:10:35]Russia state nuclear corporation Rosatom has accused the Ukrainian military of executing the strike but confirmed that core reactors and critical equipment escaped direct damage. This explosive incident marks the first direct aerial strike within the actual perimeter of Europe's largest nuclear facility in over 2 years as UN inspectors rushed to first-hand assess the destruction.

[00:11:04]>> Now joining us once more is Kobi Michael, Israeli political analyst joining us live from Tel Aviv. Mr. Michael, thanks so much for joining us once more. When it comes down to the IAEA and this latest announcement, walk us through how radiation can be so catastrophic for the surrounding regions of a nuclear power plant, please.

[00:11:30]>> I'm not sure that uh, I understood the question, but, uh uh, uh, if you if you mention to, um, to Iran, um, then, um, I believe that, um, >> [clears throat] >> without, uh, a very, um, I would say robust, uh, inspection of, uh, the IAEA, uh, the Iranians will be able to reach very quickly to a nuclear bomb. Uh, but the problem is that before the inspection of the IAEA, um, we have to assure that Iran will not be able to enrich uranium, and we have to assure that the enriched uranium, and not only in the degree of 60%, but also the enriched, uh, uranium in the degree of 20%, and even less than that will be taken out of Iran. Otherwise, uh, we, uh, provide the ultimate recipe for the Iranians to run forward for, uh, towards the nuclear bomb.

[00:12:32]>> Mm. And when it comes down to nuclear bomb, of course, the repercussions are extremely tragic. Walk us through what exactly these are, in the sense that when a nuclear bomb goes off, entire nations are or can be blown up, correct?

[00:12:52]>> Yes, but, uh, I don't think that the Iranians, uh, will use, uh, their nuclear bomb, uh, in order to bomb the the country, even Israel, here in the Middle East. They will use the nuclear bomb as an umbrella that will provide them with the immunity to continue, um, their efforts to hegemonize the the Middle East, uh, to continue supporting their proxies, uh, to continue destabilizing the entire region, and, um, um, And the the players here in the region and beyond the region, even superpowers like the United States, will be less capable to tackle Iran and to stop Iran from doing all of these things because they will have the ammunition of of the nuclear bomb. It is like North Korea, if you want. But the the big difference between North Korea and Iran is that when it comes to North Korea, the regime there has no intention to hegemonize the all the area of of East Asia, okay? And this is not the situation with Iran. They have intentions to hegemonize the entire Middle East and even beyond.

[00:14:14]And therefore, it is very dangerous if they will reach to to a nuclear bomb.

[00:14:22]>> Right. Thank you so much for joining us, sir. Much appreciated. We'll speak soon as we have more developments. Thank you.

[00:14:28]Next up, we have some news that's coming out of Delhi now with regards to India and Australia. Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles are set to co-chair the second annual India-Australia Defense Ministers Dialogue in New Delhi tomorrow. Marles is arriving in the capital directly from Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue where regional defense leaders held tense debates over maritime security and growing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. The New Delhi meeting comes just weeks after both nations concluded high-level defense policy talks to finalize a joint maritime security roadmap. As core members of the Quad alliance alongside the United States and Japan, both ministers have increasingly labeled each other as top-tier security partners.

[00:15:24]Tomorrow's formal discussions are expected to focus heavily on increasing the complexity of joint military exercises, securing critical sea lanes, and creating deep industrial pipelines for the codevelopment and co-production of military hardware in what is a tense global and regional security climate.

[00:15:46]Now joining us live to tell us more is retired Major General G.G. Dwivedi, Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies, joining us live from New Delhi. Good afternoon to you, sir.

[00:15:58]Thanks so much for joining us.

[00:16:00]>> Thank you.

[00:16:02]>> Sir, when it comes down to this dialogue in New Delhi that's set to take place, essentially what more can you tell us about past relations between Australia and India that have essentially led to this point?

[00:16:15]>> Uh firstly, thank you, Roshan, for having me on your show. Always a pleasure. Well, this is a very important institutionalized dialogue, which is the second edition is taking place from tomorrow. And you have given certain background to this issue. You know, about a decade back, India-Australia relation, primarily, we are more of economic nature, but there have been a huge transition.

[00:16:41]And now these relations are more importantly as strategic partners and both in the security and strategic domain, of course, beside the economic domain. And you made two very important references. One was the Indo-Pacific.

[00:16:59]Rightly so, because India and Australia, along with Japan and America, are part of the Quad. And the Quad meeting took place, foreign minister meeting took place only last week, and they have come to some very important understandings and also certain decisions regarding the maritime. You also mentioned about Shangri-La dialogue. Incidentally, I know American foreign defense secretary uh Peter Hexted had made some very categorical statement on Indo-Pacific America's policy on Indo-Pacific and importantly India's role in Indo-Pacific. So, coming with this background, now when you look at India and Australia, there is a huge area of convergence and strategic cooperation. And this is a number of domains. Uh firstly, of course, how the both the countries augment their defense capabilities, uh especially in Indo-Pacific and when the threat of China looms large. Secondly, is about the defense cooperation in the co-production, co-development, and also interoperability between the armed forces. And uh in Australia, as it is with partner in the Malabar exercise.

[00:18:19]So, uh all I can say is that uh India-Australia partnership is very important both from the bilateral and also in the larger canvas Indo-Pacific and all as very important partners of Quad. Roshni.

[00:18:35]>> Right, sir. When it comes down to what we're seeing right now, and I've asked this question to a few guests during some bulletins here on NewsX World, do you believe we're now seeing an impasse not just between the West and the anti-West, but also between nations who are essentially strengthening their relationships based on everything that's happening within the Middle East? For example, with India and Australia, do you believe that this comes at a time when relations are strained in the Middle East and this will only be for the benefit of India and Australia moving forward as the world moves towards relationships that essentially excuse the United States as well?

[00:19:19]>> Well, Roshan, this is a very important question and rightly so. Many analysts are, you know, delving onto this and applying their minds. There are three four important issues in this. First and foremost, global policy is undergoing tremendous journey and the old orders are actually being broken, being disrupted and therefore new alignments are emerging. Firstly, the Chinese challenge to American unipolarity is I think well on the cards and well visible. When President Trump in fact visited Beijing recently, I think Xi Jinping made it very clear and he referred to the Thucydides trap that the rising power and the status quo power must avoid confrontation. So, that is one area where the new axis is developing and China today is leading the axis with Russia, Iran, Turkey and others and North Korea. Second point is the Middle East again. There is a strategic rebalancing taking place because the conflict has given rise to new development because today the Gulf region realize that they need to look at their whole security afresh and they cannot no more depend upon the American umbrella. So, also the other partners like, let's say Japan, South Korea, Australia because Trump administration made it very clear that all the partners must do more heavy lifting. So, therefore, point I'm trying to make is that every country is looking now beyond their traditional partnership, beyond their traditional alliances and they are looking at fresh alliances and the main triggers are, of course, President Trump's policies, China's rise, Middle East crisis, Ukraine war, all these put together and we see now the new development, new axis, new partnership taking place and therefore every country is adjusting to these developments depending upon their own core interest, own national interest and how they fit into the larger geopolitical canvas of the new order that is developing.

[00:21:30]>> Right.

[00:21:31]>> Sir, and one last question before we let you go. When it comes down to India's military capabilities and resources, how does that essentially stand against, for example, the Australian military capabilities or the United States military capabilities? And as far as resources are concerned, for example, in Singapore there is a uh obligat- obligatory enlistment that citizens have to join for a minimum period of around 2 years and this is with regards to male citizens in Singapore. As far as India is concerned, are there enlistment procedures or requirements? And what more can you tell us about the numbers of soldiers in India that stand up against other nations around the world?

[00:22:21]>> Well, Roshan, first and foremost, every country organizes its defense forces depending upon the threat perception.

[00:22:29]Therefore, India's threat perception are totally different from Australia because India faces direct threat and the territorial context, our borders are being contested both on the western and northern borders. So, we have a threat right at our doorsteps. And accordingly, because India has fought four wars which have been imposed upon it, it is not by choice, it is because of the aggressive attitude of our neighbors. And therefore, we have to augment our defenses. And today, Indian defense forces, I would say, are strong and quite capable of defending his national interest, national borders. But then the defense, you know, upgradation, building capability is ongoing process because it is also related how the adversaries are augmenting their own capability.

[00:23:19]Second point is you talk about Australia. Australia basically they're not having a contest on the borders.

[00:23:26]It's a marine, you know, power, marine country. But yes, they are facing different threat from China because Australia is highly dependent upon economically on China. And therefore they're very concerned about the sea lanes and Indo-Pacific, specially free, open, inclusive, and rule-based order in Indo-Pacific. They are quite concerned about it. That's why they're a member of the quad. And the third point you talked about Australia is Singapore enlistment.

[00:23:55]Incidentally, I've trained Singapore cadets when I was an instructor in Indian Military Academy because Singapore has a very small population.

[00:24:03]And therefore they have to ensure that there is a enlistment or they have to do these compulsory military service for about 2 years. And that is the case in countries where there's problem of having enough, you know, people or enough capable people to join the armed forces. Fortunately, India doesn't have this problem. We have a very many volunteers. In fact, any time a recruitment rally take place for one position there are almost 10 applicants.

[00:24:34]So India doesn't have to right now be concerned. But yes, our policies must be very pragmatic that it encourages young people to come and join the armed forces depending upon the legacy because I served in the armed forces for 40 years.

[00:24:48]And people come to join the armed forces based on the national pride, patriotism, legacy. And we must ensure that uh that process continues to be hold good. And uh my last point is that every country looks at his own security perspective, his own culture, his own challenges, and therefore it's very difficult to compare one against the other. But uh my you know, concluding point is security today, Roshan, has become the buzzword.

[00:25:19]It has become dynamic. It has become all pervasive. Old definition security no more hold good. It is in the Like you're fighting war in time of peace. You know, strategy, you know, gray zone warfare, unconventional warfare, your strategic interests, your supply chains, all these are part of the security today. And therefore, we need to look at security from a different perspective and accordingly prepare so that our territorial national interests are secure and safeguarded, Roshan.

[00:25:49]>> Right, sir. Thank you very much for those insights and perspectives. Much appreciated.

[00:25:54]Next up, we have some news coming out of the defense summit that was recently held in Singapore. The major transatlantic rift has boiled over on the global stage, exposing sharp divergences between Western allies on military dependency. French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin has fiercely pushed back against sharp criticism leveled by United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has publicly accused European nations of relying far too heavily on the Washington security umbrella for their regional defense needs. Speaking in Singapore, Vautrin strongly defended Paris' combat capabilities, announcing that France will officially double its defense budget over the next decade. The French minister reiterated that Paris remains a highly reliable ally committed to collective security, strategically declaring that while the two powerful nations are allies, They are not always aligned. Let's listen in.

[00:27:34]That's all we have time for. Keep watching News X World for more news updates from around the world.