US President Donald Trump said on May 25 that he asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords en masse to normalise relations with Israel as he tries to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran.
Pakistan rejected the proposal. None of the other countries has so far publicly reacted to Mr Trump’s demand and a positive response was unlikely when the public mistrust of Israel in these Muslim nations remains high over the scale of its military offensive in Gaza.
Mr Trump said he spoke on May 23 to leaders of those countries, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have already signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalise relations with Israel.
“I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
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The Israeli army intensified strikes in southern Lebanon on May 25, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in Lebanon in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah.
The airstrikes come as the United States and Iran seek to finalise the terms of an agreement to end the Middle East conflict, which could include the Lebanon front, where Israel and Hezbollah have waged war since March 2.
Despite a ceasefire that came into effect on April 17, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire on a near-daily basis.
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Russia said on May 25 that it intended to launch “systematic strikes” on targets in Kyiv linked to the Ukrainian military as well as decision-making centres, and urged foreigners to leave, a day after one of its heaviest bombardments of the city since the start of the war.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged Kyiv’s allies not to give in to “Russian blackmail.” And the head of the EU mission in the city said the 27-nation bloc was “not going anywhere.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement, that the impending strikes were “in response to the continuing terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime” against civilians in Russia.
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Temperatures hit record highs for May in Britain, Ireland and France on May 25, as forecasters warned of a prolonged period of extreme heat across Europe throughout the week.
A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer.
Temperatures in Spain were expected to peak later this week at 38 deg C, while parts of Italy imposed restrictions on working outdoors.
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Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz said on May 25 he would slash his salary by 50 per cent to try to end weeks of anti-government protests.
But the announcement by the centre-right leader fell on deaf ears, with protesters calling for his resignation and clashing again with police in the Andean city of La Paz.
The US-backed Paz has made various gestures aimed at ending a popular revolt that has exploded just six months into his presidency.
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