🇮🇷🇰🇷🇺🇸 Iran Denies Hormuz Ship Attack as US-Iran Talks Stall

Iran's embassy in Seoul formally denied any involvement in the May 4 blast aboard the Panama-flagged HMM Namu, a South Korean cargo vessel that caught fire while transiting the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew on board. Trump contradicted Tehran, claiming Iran had fired on the ship, and separately called on South Korea to join US-led efforts to restore shipping through the waterway. The incident occurred amid an active US-Israel conflict with Iran launched in late February.

Trump paused a short-lived US military operation to reopen the strait, citing progress in back-channel diplomacy, while warning that strikes would resume at higher intensity if talks collapsed. Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed a new US proposal remains under review, with Tehran set to relay its position through mediator Pakistan. Iran's chief negotiator publicly framed the US posture as an attempt to force surrender via naval blockade and economic pressure.

No formal response from Tehran has been issued, leaving the diplomatic track in deadlock as Hormuz transit risk remains elevated.

#Iran #SouthKorea #USA

@asianomics

🇫🇷🌍 French investors pour over €4.6bn into Africa as Paris seeks diplomatic reset

France's development finance arm Proparco committed more than €4.6bn ($5.4bn) to Africa between 2022 and 2025, with €924m ($1bn) — 37% of its total 2025 global project signings — earmarked for the continent. In 2025, €450m was mobilised for African SMEs and start-ups through its Choose Africa initiative. French FDI stock in Africa stood between €60bn and €68bn in 2024/25, roughly 25% above 2018/19 levels. Major French multinationals including TotalEnergies, Orange, and CMA CGM have also expanded operations across multiple African countries, with TotalEnergies financing projects including the 1,443-kilometre East African Crude Oil Pipeline connecting Uganda to Tanzania's coast.

President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly urged French firms to invest more aggressively in Africa, arguing that hesitation has allowed rivals including Russia to gain ground in markets where France once dominated. A shift toward anglophone markets has also accelerated as anti-French sentiment in parts of West and Central Africa has weighed on commercial activity in Francophone economies.

#France

🔸 Source

@africaintel

💥 Perun operators of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Brigade are preventing the Russians from advancing in the Novopavlivka direction.

Drones hit a tank, Bukhanka, 2 occupiers, 3 antennas and an enemy shelter

Украинский МиГ-29 сбивает "Герань-2" ракетой "воздух-воздух" над Ровненской областью.

Военный Осведомитель

🇺🇸🇺🇦👀 The US has removed Ukraine from the list of countries that were subject to automatic restrictions on arms imports, - Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Stefanishyna.

The 1997 rules that equated Ukraine with Russia and other post-Soviet countries in terms of arms purchases are being repealed.

Now Russia remains the only country under the ban.

Attacks attacks attacks everywhere.

This is not a ceasefire. This is war with a higher intensity than even before

Damn you and damn everyone

Just when it seemed the Russians couldn't come up with anything stupider, they do this. Russian opposition poet Dmitry Bykov wrote a satirical poem asking for permission to hold a future victory parade in Moscow.

There were less airstrikes during the war.

Yatar alone was attacked more than 24 times today

The chief of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan has appointed a senior officer to be responsible for finding solutions for the drone threat troops are facing in southern Lebanon.

The officer, a brigadier general and a pilot, heads the Ground Forces' Strike Division, which is normally tasked with developing doctrine for combined air, intelligence, and ground operations.

Several officers are working under the general to find solutions for first-person view (FPV) drones, especially those guided by fiber-optic cables, which are immune to electronic jamming and difficult to detect.

To counter the fiber optic FPV drones, the IDF has deployed passive physical defenses in southern Lebanon, such as netting above troops, vehicles, and outposts. According to the military, these measures have proven effective when troops "maintain operational discipline."

The IDF has also deployed mobile radars to southern Lebanon, which are adapted to identify drones flying at different ranges and alert forces, who can then attempt to shoot them down.

The military is examining and implementing several methods of shooting down the drones by ground troops, including shotguns at short ranges, special ammunition that disperses in the air, and automated turrets.

The Ground Forces is also experimenting with other technological solutions for the drones, and cooperating with international partners as part of the effort, according to the military.

Nikol Pashinyan will not attend the May 9 parade in Russia.

The Armenian prime minister said that during his April visit to Russia, he informed Vladimir Putin that he would not travel to Moscow. He cited the start of the parliamentary election campaign on June 7 as the reason.

Amid the war, Armenia is increasingly distancing itself from the Kremlin. Pashinyan has stated that the country “is not Russia’s ally on the issue of Ukraine,” is pursuing closer ties with the US and the EU, and has spoken about a possible withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

This week, Pashinyan also met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Yerevan.

An NRC investigation says a controversial porn platform featuring videos of sex with seemingly unconscious women is hosted through a Dutch company owned by Israeli businessman Simon Shlomi Elimeleh.

The report says Elimeleh had been connected to the platform for years through his own Israeli company before acquiring the Dutch hosting provider in 2018 via a Bulgarian firm.

Despite repeated complaints about illegal content — including suspected child abuse material and rape-themed videos — his companies allegedly continued providing hosting and technical services.

‼️ In April, the Russians used 705 Molniya drones only in the direction of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, — Dmytro Zaporozhets

Lieutenant Colonel added that on average last month, 5 airstrikes were recorded per day throughout the entire zone of responsibility.

💬 “80% of the drones were launched by the Russians precisely in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, and 20% were used by the enemy along the front line. 91 “Shahed” were also shot down. That is, the number of UAVs used by the enemy is measured in tens of thousands. If we take FPV drones throughout the entire zone of responsibility, then 9300 were FPV, and another 9000 were UAVs of other types. In total, there were up to 19 thousand different lethal drones,” he noted.