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Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:17]Hello and welcome. I'm Thomas Porteus and you're watching the newsroom here on News X World. Let's first look at the top headlines leading this hour.

[00:00:28]According to sources, Iran and the US reach a deal to extend their ceasefire [music] for another 60 days and allow traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:00:39]The agreement is allegedly awaiting Donald Trump's approval and follows the trading of strikes over the past [music] 7 days by both countries.

[00:00:51]In Washington, Vice President J.D. Vance signals optimism in negotiations, but emphasizes there is still work to be done. Claiming that an agreement [music] is very close. However, the US administration's inflating of prospects [music] when it comes to talks has not been uncommon throughout the negotiations.

[00:01:15]Over in Tehran, the Tasnim News Agency says the text of the agreement has not yet been finalized nor [music] confirmed, but that talks are ongoing.

[00:01:26]If the plan is approved by leadership, it would be the biggest step towards peace since the conflict broke out on February the 28th.

[00:01:38]Elsewhere in the region, Israeli Prime [music] Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he directed forces to increase control of Gaza to 70%.

[00:01:48]The move is seen as a direct contradiction of the Trump-led ceasefire agreement, [music] which saw Israel agree to controlling 53% in October of 2023.

[00:02:04]Romanian President Klaus Iohannis >> [music] >> has convened an emergency defense council meeting after a Russian drone >> [music] >> crashed on Romanian territory injuring two people in the process. [music] Iohannis calls it the most serious incident since the start of the war in Ukraine as [music] NATO vows absolute solidarity with Bucharest.

[00:02:30]In Africa, the World Health Organization [music] recommends three experimental treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The virus continues to spread across the DRC with cases also [music] reported in the Ugandan capital.

[00:02:51]In the US, an uncrewed Blue [music] Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on the launch pad during a test in a setback for Jeff Bezos's space venture.

[00:03:03]This comes as [music] the Amazon chief's project seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk's IPO-bound SpaceX.

[00:03:16]And finally, Lionel Messi is [music] to captain the Argentinian national team at the upcoming World Cup in North America.

[00:03:24]Four years on since lifting the [music] trophy in Qatar, the 38-year-old will return to lead the 26-man [music] squad in his sixth World Cup tournament appearance.

[00:03:40]Those are your top stories for the hour.

[00:03:43]We start off with the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran which appear to be moving closer to a possible breakthrough aimed at preventing a wider regional conflict. Reports suggest negotiators have reached a tentative understanding for a 60-day ceasefire extension while talks continue over Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief.

[00:04:11]US President Donald Trump has said a deal is largely negotiated though final approval is still pending from both Washington and Tehran.

[00:04:22]The proposed agreement could include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing restrictions on Iranian oil exports, and launching fresh nuclear talks.

[00:04:33]However, major differences remain over Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and the scope of sanctions relief.

[00:04:41]Despite recent military strikes and tensions in the Gulf, both sides are signaling they want to keep diplomatic channels open to avoid further escalation.

[00:04:54]Joining us now is Ruby Barlow. She's my colleague and correspondent. She joins us live from the newsroom. Ruby, um in terms of uh information and developments coming out of these negotiations, it can be rather confusing to keep up with. Um Donald Trump signaling one thing, um then saying uh the other. Uh where are we right now?

[00:05:21]>> Yes, Tom. So, there has definitely been some signaling uh very confusing signaling statements coming from Donald Trump over the last couple of days. But, today we have heard our Vice President J.D. Vance say that he thinks the Iranians are negotiating in good faith.

[00:05:37]However, he hasn't been able to put a date on with if or when a uh agreement can actually be signed. Now, of course, uh over the last week we have seen strikes, we've seen uh different statements from the American administration. Of course, we saw strikes only yesterday, and then this announcement uh that's come overnight as well uh that a uh memorandum of understanding is very, very close to being signed. Apparently, it only needs a couple of days of uh analysis by the American president uh and then it may be signed. But, the Iranians are also saying that uh it's not confirmed by their end, either. Of course, there has been confusing signaling uh coming out of both. There's been uh statements released uh in both the Iranian media and the American media indicating that both sides are looking for very different things. Of course, Tom, the issue of the nuclear program remains a very, very polemic issue. Uh indeed, what to do with the enriched uranium is apparently one of those points that will be negotiated over these 60 days of ceasefire. And so, whether that is a dissolution of that uranium into a weaker uh concentration or a movement to a third country, perhaps an Iranian ally, perhaps not.

[00:06:59]Russia has put their name forward in the past, I believe. Uh so, of course, there is uh lots of details that still do need to be uh negotiated. Of course, one of the central issues, Tom, is the reopening and the securing of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, in some Iranian media, there's been reports that uh the United States is willing to let Iran keep control of the Strait of Hormuz. In American media, there's been reports saying that's not true, that uh that wasn't part of negotiations.

[00:07:30]Um so, this draft uh reportedly includes discussions on sanctions relief, uh potential release of frozen Iranian assets. A figure of 12 billion was reported to be gradually unfrozen. Also guarantees around shipping access as well. So that's one of the immediate conditions that they're wanting to see is a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and then negotiations for the nuclear program to follow. Um and of course uh these oil markets have reacted uh with a mixed reaction to this news. Uh some going up, some going down, some are cautious about where the negotiations do go from now. Uh but perhaps uh since the statement over the weekend where Trump said uh that this statement was the largely negotiated it does look like uh what's come out overnight could be one of the most significant steps forward in negotiations that we have seen so far.

[00:08:34]Uh because the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would uh eventually uh give much more relief to the global markets uh increase supply of oil uh to the global markets as well. Of course there's also talk about the United States lifting the blockade on Iran. Uh so of course that would also be incredibly significant. Now uh of course there hasn't been uh anything confirmed as of yet. So there's been hardliners in Tehran and Washington um that may oppose these concessions. Uh we've seen mixed statements coming out from the White House over the past week. And it's not clear whether this is due to a difference in opinion with the uh Iranian negotiators or perhaps mixed opinions within the White House itself as well. Uh there might be different opinions inside of the defense establishment there. Uh but of course these negotiations are going through a third party so perhaps there may have been some misunderstandings. There's been Iranians in the media in the past saying that uh the Pakistanis were uh passing along incorrect messages and that both parties weren't negotiating on the exact same terms. So, we might be looking at uh another situation here, but yes, indeed, it does look like uh this development that we've seen overnight is one of the most major shifts forward in terms of negotiations uh between these two countries, the United States and Iran, uh and potentially another 60 days of calm uh further in the region if indeed this ceasefire does uh extend for 60 days and this memorandum of understanding does get signed. Of course, if we do hear of any more developments, which I'm sure will come very, very soon, we'll bring them right to you here on NewsX World.

[00:10:28]Uh back to you, Tom.

[00:10:30]>> Thank you very much, Ruby.

[00:10:32]We turn now to Europe, where a situation is developing in the Romanian city of Galați, where a Russian drone crashed into the flats uh in the southwestern Romanian city.

[00:10:49]The Romanian Prime Minister, Ilie Bolo Jan, has strongly condemned a major airspace breach after a Russian military drone struck a 10-story residential building in the city of Galați.

[00:11:04]Commenting on the strike, the Prime Minister stated that a balcony collapsed off the apartment block, injuring residents inside, calling the situation completely unacceptable and something his government condemned without hesitation.

[00:11:21]The incident has sparked widespread public concern, but the Romanian military confirms that air defense systems had very little opportunity to shoot down the weapon safety.

[00:11:32]Safely, apologies. According to the Romanian military, the drone was only tracked in national airspace for a brief 4-minute window.

[00:11:42]Military commanders stated that the target was flying at a low altitude directly over a densely populated urban area, meaning any attempt to intercept it would have risked raining explosive debris onto civilian infrastructure below, creating a severe threat of collateral damage.

[00:12:04]The strike has triggered an immediate response from NATO leadership. In a post on the social media platform X, the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called Russia's behavior reckless and a danger to us all, adding that he has spoken directly with the Romanian presidency to affirm that NATO stands absolutely ready to defend every inch of allied territory. Let's take a listen in to what the Prime Minister of Romania and the Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces Command said, respectively.

[00:13:21]>> system of the >> in the zone of the frontier a situation very complex in this night in which were involved approximately 50 attack devices with single use as well as the attack started The attack started around 9:15 p.m. and lasted until around 2:20 a.m.

[00:13:46]targeting the ports of Reni, Izmail, Kiliya, and Vylkove. system that ensures the surveillance of the airspace of Romania and the airspace adjacent to Romania within the technical and radio horizon, because the airspace surveillance systems are advanced. We have ground-based air defense systems that are designed and built before 2023 when this drone war started, and Romania has a permanent concern to improve its air defense system and combat such air threats. Joining us now is my colleague once again, Ruby Barlow. Um, Ruby, a significant event in Europe today, uh, quite surreal. We're seeing the top of a block of flats inside Romania, um, damaged from a drone strike from Moscow.

[00:14:26]And what more can you tell us about the developments surrounding this? And and can we expect any more responses from the respective governments?

[00:14:52]>> Uh, well, in terms of responses from NATO, uh, it remains to be seen, uh, but let's get into that a little bit later.

[00:15:00]In terms of the damage to this building, yes, we have seen damage to the apartment building. There's also been some people injured from this strike as well. There was also an evacuation order, uh, issued to some of those residents in that apartment building in Galati, in Romania. Now, this city is right next to the border of Ukraine.

[00:15:22]Ukraine and Romania of course share a 650 km border between the two of them.

[00:15:28]And so of course there has been several countries in that region that have had to deal with incursions into their airspace since the war between Ukraine and Russia has begun. Now Romania is both a NATO and an EU member.

[00:15:45]And so there was questions raised about whether there would be a response to from the EU, from NATO.

[00:15:53]But at this stage there hasn't been any strong indications so far.

[00:15:59]Of course Romanian authorities are saying that this is the first incident where civilians in Romania have been directly injured by a Russian drone strike. So the first of its kind so far.

[00:16:12]Now there has also been legislation passed in Romania very recently that's been that allows its military to shoot down unauthorized drones entering its airspace. So they did have a an opportunity there to shoot down these drones. However, officials have said the drone was flying at a low altitude limiting radar tracking and response options. So we've got the reason there for why it wasn't shot down by the Romanian authorities. Now fighter jets and helicopters were scrambled but the military said that there was no opportunity to intercept this drone before the attack. Of course Romania, the government has condemned the incident as a serious violation of international law. And it's also summoned the Russian ambassador which is a very uh very impactful action in the world of diplomacy.

[00:17:11]However, it has not expelled the Russian ambassador just as of yet. Now this incident has occurred amid a broader Russian drone assault on Ukrainian infrastructure near the Romanian border.

[00:17:24]So, in the wider context, it's important to see the impact of the war so far over the last 4 years. Now, this is a major escalation because it does directly affect civilian inside of NATO territory. And as such, there could be legal basis for retaliation for NATO.

[00:17:45]But it does also raise some fresh questions about NATO air defense preparedness against low-flying drones.

[00:17:53]And it could also intensify pressure on NATO members to strengthen their eastern flank against air defense systems. Of course, we have heard earlier today comments by Russian representatives saying that Europe is just storing up defense resources in Ukraine preparing for an inevitable war with Russia.

[00:18:14]And it may maybe that if indeed there are there is more strikes like this, there may be counterstrikes from some of those European partners in NATO.

[00:18:26]But it also does highlight how the Ukraine war is spilling across borders and it has been for quite a while now.

[00:18:33]There's been incursions across airspace.

[00:18:36]There's been several fragments of Russian drones dropping on Romanian territory as well. There's also been incursions into airspace in other countries as well in that region.

[00:18:51]So, now Romania kind of faces a decision here whether to avoid escalation, show deterrence, or beef up their defenses as well.

[00:19:03]Luckily, there was no one dying in this incident. However, there was unfortunately some injuries. But it has raised questions about Romania's preparedness, especially if this drone was able to pass radar tracking and response options. Now, the incident also may spark some debate over NATO's response thresholds if a member territory is struck by Russian weapons, even if it is struck accidentally. Now, it will remain to be seen if if NATO does take this as a response to strike back, but at this case so far not I mean, so far there's only been a recall of the Russian ambassador.

[00:19:51]There hasn't been an expulsion of the Russian ambassador from Romania so far.

[00:19:55]So, if Romania wanted to take stronger actions, they could and and they may possibly in the future, but at the moment this is the extent to the actions they have done. Now, of course, Tom, this war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on now for more than 4 years.

[00:20:12]Ukraine, of course, is trying to get into the EU membership through a fast-track lane, but it does face problems related to corruption, which is one of the major issues into EU membership as well. Uh Uh there's also been issues there with Russia and their diplomatic relationships with members of NATO now. Um and we have seen recent meetings between Russia and some of its diplomatic allies. So, it may be shoring up relationships and also trying to you know, force Ukraine away from some of its relationships as well. It's made warnings over the weekend to diplomat in Kyiv. So, it looks like this conflict perhaps may be intensifying, but all the updates we'll bring them to you right here on NewsX World.

[00:21:02]>> Thank you very much, >> Ruby, thank you.

[00:21:05]We now turn over to West Asia, where conflict continues to rage on in the country of Lebanon. Apologies, we have some breaking news coming in first when the World Health Organization has confirmed these seven cases of Ebola in Uganda, um, intensifying regional health anxieties. Epidemiologists report that three of these cases were imported directly from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where a wider outbreak is currently unfolding. The remaining four infections were identified locally within Uganda through rapid contact tracing. Health authorities have already implemented heightened border screenings and isolation protocols to prevent further transmission. The WHO is working alongside local ministries to deploy emergency medical supplies and specialized rapid response teams to the affected zones. Despite the cross-border transmission, the WHO still maintains that no community transmission of the disease has been reported in Uganda yet.

[00:22:18]We'll keep you posted on that, but now we will head over to West Asia, um, where fighting does continue to rage on in the country of Lebanon, particularly in the south, where a Lebanese police officer has been killed in a drone strike in the town of Abba in the Nabatieh Governorate as rescuers simultaneously recovered the bodies of two people killed in an overnight Israeli attack that targeted a house in the town of Taybeh Deir Debba.

[00:22:52]The attacks came just ahead of scheduled talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, raising urgent questions about whether Israel is willing to honor even the basic premise of diplomatic engagement while its bombs continue to fall. Lebanon's culture minister, Ghassan Salame, has delivered a devastating warning to the world saying that Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon are putting the country's irreplaceable heritage sites in serious danger.

[00:23:25]Salame has also said that the bombs have fallen very close to the ruins of Tyre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has stood for thousands of years and that the medieval Beaufort Castle overlooking Nabatieh has been directly hit.

[00:23:43]He has added that these are not just buildings, they are physical memory of human civilization and they're being bombed.

[00:23:51]Ruby Bala joins us once again. Um, Ruby, in terms of um the situation in southern Lebanon, we're continuing to see more violence despite this ceasefire going on. What does that escalating death toll mean for those talks in Washington that coming in the days ahead?

[00:24:09]>> It well, Tom, it definitely increases the pressure on these talks. There's actually been previous calls uh by Lebanon uh to US diplomats asking for them to place pressure on Israel to decrease strikes in the south of Lebanon. So, indeed, this rising death toll does uh definitely place pressure on the Lebanese government to uh you know, take the responsibility in this role. Of course, we have also seen um risks there to UNESCO Heritage Sites. This will also definitely place pressure on these talks and diplomatic pressure as well. We did see uh a couple of months ago some defacements of some statues of Jesus uh in some Christian villages in the south of Lebanon as well. Uh and that did cause quite an uproar um from Christians worldwide. And there was actually an apology issued, I believe, from uh some senior members of the Israeli government.

[00:25:10]Uh and so, if we if we see something similar happening with UNESCO heritage sites, uh I it is it is uh it is possible that we will see something [music] uh similar in terms of reaction.

[00:25:22]Uh now, of course, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued despite this ceasefire. It seems to be in some sort of uh period between war and peace. There's been intermittent strikes, uh but still the death toll continues to rise. Now, uh there has also been uh these threats to uh civilians as well. There's been displacement orders.

[00:25:46]There's been more than 1 million Lebanese displaced so far in the country, I believe.

[00:25:51]Um and of course, uh that's it's quite a significant portion of the population that have had to be displaced. Now, um these continued strikes suggest the truce is increasingly fragile and and and may be close to breaking, but of course, these negotiations do continue between the Lebanese and the Israeli leaders. Uh but it also does place pressure on the Lebanese government um by their own citizens as well, who will be looking at their government's role in this and and wondering how uh best to move forward. Of course, Hezbollah is a major uh military force in the region, a major political force in Lebanon as well. They have a political wing and the military wing. Uh but they aren't party to these discussions that will be underway in Washington. Now, any more developments, uh we will bring them here to you, uh but that's all from me. Back to you, Tom.

[00:26:47]>> Ruby, thank you so much for filling us in there.

[00:26:51]We turn now to where Beijing has raised concern and intensified its criticism of Japan's expanding defense posture, urging the international community to confront what Beijing calls rising neo-militarism in Tokyo.

[00:27:12]Speaking in Beijing, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin accused Japan of sharply increasing defense spending, developing offensive weapons, easing restrictions of lethal arms exports, and pushing to revise its pacifist constitution.

[00:27:29]Jiang warned that Japan's growing military ambitions are creating concerns across the region, describing the trend as a gray rhino.

[00:27:39]He said Japanese militarism had once brought catastrophic disasters to the world and alleged that Tokyo's actions contradict its claims of maintaining an exclusive defense-oriented policy.

[00:27:54]China's also criticized Japan's deepening security cooperation with the US and regional allies, especially around Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

[00:28:04]Tokyo, however, denies pursuing militarism, insisting its defense reforms are aimed at countering regional security threats and preserving stability in the region.

[00:28:17]Well, that is all that we have time for.

[00:28:19]For more news and updates, stay tuned on News X World.

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