Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Friday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks and will also stop in Oman and Russia.
The trip to Pakistan comes as officials there have been trying to get the United States and Iran to a second round of ceasefire negotiations. The report said the trip, beginning Friday, is focused on “ongoing regional developments” and the US-Iran war.
Also, U.S. President Donald Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries since last week. The initial 10-day ceasefire, which took effect last Friday, had been due to expire Monday.
Judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed charges of crimes against humanity against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for deadly anti-drug crackdowns he allegedly oversaw while in office.
A three-judge panel found unanimously there were “substantial grounds” to believe the ex-leader was responsible for dozens of murders, first as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later when he was president.
Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in the Philippines last year and flown to The Hague, where the global court is located. He denies the charges against him.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it will offer ultra-fast review to three psychedelic drugs being developed to treat mental health conditions, including depression, the latest indication of the Trump administration’s commitment to the experimental treatment approach.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last weekend directing the FDA and other federal agencies to speed access and loosen restrictions on psychedelics, a class of hallucinogenic drugs which remain illegal under federal law.
Bridget Schmid can be reached at beschmid@stthomas.edu.
