No Dong Jun, but plenty of China at Shangri-La Dialogue - CNA

• Iranian state media announced that talks with the U.S. have halted and warned that "other fronts" are opening, including potential attacks on key waterways. • This escalation follows statements from Donald Trump suggesting the Iranian regime "really wants to make a deal" to resolve ongoing tensions.

• China is promoting its Global Security Initiative (GSI) to reduce international confrontation and foster security cooperation through dialogue and diplomacy. • The GSI has been implemented via mediation efforts, peace talks, counterterrorism cooperation, and support for UN-centered multilateralism.

• French philosopher, sociologist, and former Resistance fighter Edgar Morin has passed away at the age of 105, having lived from 1921 to 2026. • A pioneer of "complex thought," Morin's intellectual work reshaped modern approaches to education, knowledge, and human understanding across global platforms.

• The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to war in the Middle East has triggered significant negative consequences for the global economy. • The crisis has highlighted critical structural vulnerabilities and the extreme sensitivity of international trade to disruptions in this strategic maritime corridor.

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli army to expand its military invasion of Lebanon as of Sunday, May 31, 2026. • The escalation is part of a broader conflict involving a war between Israel, the United States, and Iran.

• Middle Eastern states are increasingly utilizing digital diplomacy—including strategic communication and online narratives—to project soft power and manage national images on a global scale. • These digital tools allow governments to bypass traditional media to engage directly with international audiences, manage crises, and connect with their respective diasporas.

• Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf stated on Sunday that Tehran will refuse any deal with the United States until the rights of the Iranian people are fully secured. • Separately, official Berri highlighted that the primary obstacle to a ceasefire is not the resistance's position, but the ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon.

• The article highlights a contradiction between the rise of nationalist rhetoric among global politicians and the actual public desire for international cooperation. • It argues that global solidarity remains remarkably popular among citizens, despite political efforts to belittle foreign alliances and promote isolationism.

Artist said Man in a Black Scarf was not his but evidence has emerged to show he painted it when a student in SuffolkAn early portrait by Lucian Freud, which the artist denied was his for years, is to be exhibited for the first time after experts proved it was painted by him.Man in a Black Scarf was created in 1939 by the British artist when he was still a student at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The sitter is thought to be John Jameson, a friend of Freud’s and scion of the whiskey family. Continue reading...

Government should not be involved in providing redress to victims of Horizon IT scandal, campaigner tells MPsSir Alan Bates has said that the schemes set up to compensate post office operators over the Horizon IT scandal have been an “utter disaster” and that the government should not be involved in running them.Bates, who led a two-decade fight for justice for thousands of subpostmasters falsely accused and wrongfully convicted for theft and false accounting, has previously accused the government of presiding over a “quasi-kangaroo court” system for compensation. Continue reading...

Pat Brogan preparing to walk his daughter down the aisle after trial of treatment designed to stop disease from hiding• Smart drug that strips cancer cells of ‘invisibility cloak’ can shrink tumours by 30%, trial showsOne of the first patients to benefit from a pioneering smart drug that appears to melt away the “invisibility cloak” that can shield cancer cells from treatment is Pat Brogan, from Cowdenbeath, Scotland.The 68-year-old, whose tumours have shrunk by almost a third, is preparing to walk his daughter down the aisle this month and holiday in Spain with his wife, Linda – milestones he once feared he would never reach. Continue reading...