06/05/2026

WEDNESDAY | MAY 6, 2026

9

Middle East truce in doubt

last September. In that lawsuit, Sun denied shorting WLFI’s token. In the legal action on Monday, World Liberty said its ability to freeze tokens had been disclosed in the terms of sale. World Liberty’s token rallied after news of the lawsuit, gaining about 12% over the last 24 hours, but is overall down about 72% since it began trading on Sept 1. Sun’s stake of 4 billion tokens in World Liberty is worth around US$264 million (RM1.05 billion). – Reuters YEREVAN: France’s president donned his crooning hat during a state dinner on Monday, leading Armenian leaders in a rendition of La Boheme , the 1965 classic by the late Charles Aznavour, a singer beloved in both countries. Often called France’s Frank Sinatra, Aznavour was born in France to Armenian immigrants, going on to become one of the most iconic voices in French music and a revered figure in the two countries. Aznavour, who died in 2018 at age 94, often served as a cultural bridge between France and Armenia; a role that was on full display at a state dinner held on Monday evening in the Armenian capital in honour of the visiting Macron. In a performance captured in a video posted on social media, Macron launched into a rendition of Aznavour’s classic about youth, love and the passage of time, as he sat behind a piano, microphone in hand. Armenian President Vahagn Khatchatourian stood by his side and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has recently launched his own band, joined in on drums. “In the nearby cafes, we were a few who waited for glory,” Macron sang in French to the delight of clapping audience members. “And though miserable, with empty stomachs, we never stopped believing.” “Music in the spirit of friendship,” Franceinfo director Agnes Vahramian, who posted the video of the performance, said on X. The impromptu concert did not stop there. Khatchatourian later took to the piano to play Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves), a post war French classic. For Macron, La Boheme is a familiar number. He previously sang the song during a dinner at the Elysee Palace in 2023. The musical interlude came as Macron was on a state visit to Armenia, with the former Soviet republic seeking to pivot away from old master Russia and closer to Europe. France is home to some 400,000 people of Armenian descent, the largest Armenian diaspora after those in Russia and the United States. – AFP France, Armenia leaders unite in song

o US, Iran fight for control of strait

its engine room, though no one aboard was hurt. A South Korean government spokesperson said it was unclear if the fire was caused by an attack. Also on Monday, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported two ships had been hit off the coast of the UAE, and the Emirati oil company Adnoc said one of its empty oil tankers was hit by Iranian drones. Iranian authorities released a map of what they said was an expanded sea area now under their control, extending far beyond the strait to include long stretches of the UAE’s coastline. After reported drone and missile attacks inside the UAE throughout the day, including one that caused a fire at Fujairah, an important oil port, the UAE said Iranian attacks marked a serious escalation and it reserved the right to respond. Fujairah lies beyond the strait, making it one of few export routes for Middle East oil that does not require passing through it. – Reuters

strait, without saying when, with the support of Navy guided-missile destroyers. While Iran denied any crossings had taken place, Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax , a US-flagged ship, exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by the US military on Monday. The commander of US forces in the region said his fleet had destroyed six small Iranian boats, which Iran also denied. Iranian media quoted a military commander as saying US forces targeted civilian boats, killing five civilians. Iran also said on Monday it had fired on a US warship approaching the strait, forcing it to turn around. Iranian officials later described the fire as warning shots. Reuters could not independently verify the full situation in the strait as the warring sides issued contradictory statements. South Korea reported one of its merchant ships, HMM Namu, in the strait suffered an explosion and fire in

MOSCOW: Russia cut off mobile internet services to many customers in Moscow yesterday ahead of the May 9 annual parade celebrating victory over Nazi Germany that has been scaled back due to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine. Russia has this year cracked down on the internet, blocking mobile services and forcing millions to turn to VPNs as part of what President Vladimir Putin’s opponents said was an attempt to shore up domestic control after four years of war. The Kremlin said the limits were introduced to ensure security amid a heightened risk of Ukrainian drone attacks. Six Reuters reporters in Moscow said that mobile internet did not work on their telephones yesterday in different parts of the capital. Telephone calls could still be made from many areas of Moscow, they said. Russian mobile phone operators said there could be problems with mobile internet due to the need to ensure security over coming days. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, also cautioned that there could be issues with mobile internet and messaging. The taxi unit of Russia’s largest internet company, Yandex, said there could be problems with ordering taxis online due to limits on the internet. Four years after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the two sides are engaged in the biggest drone war ever fought. Their long-range drones are targeting everything from command points to energy infrastructure, far behind the “death zones” created by short range drones along the front lines. – Reuters DUBAI: The fragile truce in the Middle East was in jeopardy yesterday after the US and Iran launched new attacks as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after President Donald Trump sent the navy to escort stranded tankers through the strait in a campaign he called “Project Freedom”. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said in a social media post yesterday that the security of shipping and energy transit had been threatened by breaches of the four-week-old ceasefire by the US and its allies. The strait is a vital thoroughfare for oil, fertiliser and other commodities that has been virtually closed since the US and Israel began Russia limits mobile internet

attacks on Iran on Feb 28, causing price rises around the world. Several merchant ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires on Monday, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts a large US military base, was set ablaze by Iranian missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has effectively closed the narrow waterway under threat of mines, drones, missiles and gunboats. The US has responded with a blockade of Iranian ports. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Monday’s events showed there was no military solution to the crisis. He said peace talks were progressing with Pakistan’s mediation, and warned the US and the UAE against being drawn into a “quagmire”. The US military said two US merchant ships made it through the

FOR A GOOD CAUSE ... A boater steers a narrow boat during the Canalway Cavalcade waterways three-day festival in Little Venice, London, on Monday. The fundraising event has been held since 1983. – REUTERSPIC

Trump family crypto project countersues billionaire

MIAMI: World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons, said on Monday it had filed a defamation lawsuit in Florida state court against Hong Kong-based crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, as a dispute escalates between the project and one of its most prominent backers. World Liberty posted a copy of its lawsuit on X in which it accused Sun of launching a “public smear campaign”. It alleged that Sun had improperly transferred some of his WLFI tokens

Zach Witkoff, World Liberty’s CEO, said in a separate post on X on Monday. Sun told Reuters: “The alleged defamation lawsuit that World Liberty announced on X today is nothing more than a meritless PR stunt. I stand by my actions and look forward to defeating the case in court.” Sun sued World Liberty last month, saying the company had illegally frozen the tokens he had bought. Sun said World Liberty secretly installed tools to prevent the sale of his tokens after they became tradeable

that come with voting and governance rights to crypto exchange Binance and, separately, that he had placed bets that WLFI would decline in market value, known as short-selling. That was part of a coordinated effort to push the token’s market price down as public trading began in September, the lawsuit alleged. “Justin Sun engaged in a defamatory campaign to torch World Liberty Financial’s reputation. He knew his claims were false and made them anyway to harm WLFI token holders,”