BEIJING: China’s top diplomat urged Pakistan to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, and to help “properly” address the reopening of the Hormuz strait, Chinese state media said on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in a call on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua reported. US President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening for talks with leader Xi Jinping, whose country is a key strategic and economic partner of Iran.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump ‌said on Tuesday that Americans’ financial struggles are not a factor in his decision-making as he seeks to negotiate an end to the Iran war, saying that preventing Tehran ​from acquiring a nuclear weapon is his top priority. Asked by a reporter to what extent Americans’ financial situations were motivating him to strike a deal, Trump said: “Not even a little bit.”

ORVAULT, France: At night, silence fell over the Louisiana immigration detention facility where 85-year-old Marie-Thérèse Ross was held. Then the wailing began. ’’Children crying, and even babies,” said Ross, the French widow of a US military veteran, whose arrest last month as part of the Trump administration’s i mmigration crackdown made international headlines.

ABUJA: Nigeria and Morocco expect to sign an intergovernmental agreement in the fourth quarter of 2026 ​to advance a major Atlantic coast gas pipeline project, Nigeria’s foreign ministry said. The planned agreement, to be signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, follows preliminary technical studies on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas ‌Pipeline, also known ‌as the African ​Atlantic ‌Gas ⁠Pipeline.