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(AWP Alliance News) - US envoys headed to the Pakistani capital on Saturday in a bid to kickstart a new round of peace negotiations with Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, though the prospect of direct talks remained uncertain.

The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would engage in an 'in-person conversation' with Iranian representatives, but Iranian state media said that direct negotiations were not in the cards.

Iran's foreign minister arrived in Islamabad on Friday.

Despite President Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday of a three-week ceasefire extension in Lebanon, Israeli strikes in the south of the country killed six people on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

While Trump expressed confidence at the prospect of a lasting peace in Lebanon, sealing a deal to end the wider Middle East war is a thornier proposition, even as urgency mounts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff and Kushner would head to Pakistan on Saturday 'to engage in talks...with representatives from the Iranian delegation'.

'The Iranians reached out, as the president called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation,' Leavitt said, adding that the talks would 'hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal'.

Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance, who led a first round of negotiations in Islamabad two weeks ago that concluded without a deal, would not be joining for the time being, but was on 'standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary'.

It remained unclear late Friday whether the Iranian side would meet directly with the US envoys.

Iranian state television said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has no plans to meet with the Americans, and Islamabad would serve as a bridge to 'convey' Iranian proposals to end the conflict.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad to discuss 'ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability' with Pakistani officials, without directly referencing talks with Witkoff and Kushner.

An Iranian spokesman said Araghchi would visit Oman and Russia after the Pakistan stop to discuss efforts to end the war launched against the Islamic Republic by Israel and the US on February 28.

Since the last round of talks, efforts to bring the two sides back to the table have hit an impasse, with Iran refusing to participate as long as a US naval blockade on its ports remained in place.

Iran has imposed a de facto blockade of its own on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only a trickle of ships to pass through the vital waterway, throwing global energy markets into turmoil.

Oil prices slid on Friday amid hopes that fresh peace talks would see an end to Tehran's disruption of trade through the strait.

European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday that the strait 'must immediately reopen without restrictions and without tolling'.

'This is vital for the entire world,' Costa said.

Major Wall Street indices closed at fresh records on Friday as markets cheered the latest batch of earnings reports and US and Iranian officials headed to Pakistan.

The US continued meanwhile to build up its forces in the Middle East with the arrival of its third aircraft carrier in the region, the USS George H.W. Bush.

Trump spoke in glowing terms on Thursday of peace prospects for Lebanon after meeting with Israeli and Lebanese envoys, voicing hope for a three-way meeting with the Lebanese and Israeli leaders.

The two countries have been officially at war for decades, and until last week had not met so directly since 1993.

Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, urged the Lebanese government to withdraw from direct talks with Israel and warned that a lasting peace deal of the kind sought by Trump 'will in no way enjoy Lebanese national consensus'.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy the Iran-backed movement, said: 'We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it's clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this.'

In south Lebanon's Tyre, Mohamad Ali Hijazi was searching a mountain of rubble for mementoes of family members killed in an Israeli airstrike minutes before the ceasefire took hold.

'I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush...and a bottle of perfume that she loves,' said Hijazi, 48 - some of the last things he sent her from France, where he has long lived with his wife and two daughters.

'My life has been destroyed. I haven't slept for five days,' he told AFP, repeatedly fighting back tears.

By AFP teams in Beirut, Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem

source: AFP

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - A US federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump cannot prevent migrants from seeking asylum at the border.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that Trump exceeded his legal authority by banning migrants who have illegally crossed the US-Mexico border from making asylum claims.

'Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts,' the judges said.  

'Congress enacted the asylum statute... to grant all foreign individuals 'physically present' in the US a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated,' they said.

'If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act): Congress.'

District Judge Randolph Moss had ruled last year, in a case brought by immigrant rights groups and asylum seekers, that Trump's proclamation barring asylum requests was a violation of the INA.

Trump campaigned for president promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the US.

Since returning to the White House in January last year, the Republican president has sped up deportations and reduced border crossings.

Some of his mass deportation efforts have been thwarted or stalled by the courts over concerns that migrant rights to due process are being ignored.

source: AFP

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Shares ended mostly higher in New York on Friday on news that US President Donald Trump is sending two negotiators to Pakistan for renewed talks on ending the war in Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 79.61 points, 0.2% at 49,230.71. The S&P 500 rose 56.68 points, 0.8%, to 7,165.08. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 398.09 points, 1.6%, at 24,836.60.

For the week, the DJIA fell 0.2%, the S&P rose 0.8%. The Nasdaq gained 1.6%.

'US government sources signalled a high likelihood of a breakthrough in US-Iran talks in Islamabad, with Iran's foreign minister expected to arrive imminently, while President Trump has extended the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire by three weeks to support ongoing diplomacy. US yields ended the week higher as the Fed is broadly expected to hold the federal funds rate steady next week, with markets pricing in no additional rate cuts for the remainder of the year,' said IG Chief Technical Analyst Axel Rudolph.

'After four weeks of falling prices crude has risen by over 10% in the course of this week with Brent oscillating around the USD100 per barrel mark. US consumer sentiment hitting its lowest level on record hasn't dampened the bullish mood ahead of the weekend,' Rudolph added.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations with Iran.

Pakistani mediators will facilitate 'direct talks' on Saturday between the envoys and 'representatives from the Iranian delegation,' Leavitt told Fox News.

'The Iranians reached out - as the president called on them to do - and asked for this in-person conversation,' she added.

The news follows President Trump's announcement on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The pledge followed a meeting at the White House with Israel, Lebanese and US officials, Trump said.

'The Meeting went very well!' the president wrote in a Truth Social post. 'The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,' he added, referring to the Iran-backed militia group.

A barrel of Brent was quoted at USD99.18 late Friday, down from USD100.00 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate fell to USD94.57 from USD96.44.

On the data front, the University of Michigan on Friday said its index of consumer sentiment declined to 49.8 points in April from 53.3 in March, down 4.6% from 52.2 a year earlier.

The reading marks a level comparable to the trough seen in mid-2022, reflecting a broad-based deterioration across income groups, age brackets and political affiliations.

The index of current economic conditions fell to 52.5 points from 55.8 in March and from 59.8 a year earlier, while the index of consumer expectations dropped to 48.1 from 51.7, although it remained slightly above the 47.3 recorded a year prior.

'After the two-week cease-fire was announced and gas prices softened a touch, sentiment recovered a modest portion of its early-month losses,' noted survey director Joanne Hsu.

Inflation expectations rose sharply during the month. Year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.7% from 3.8% in March, marking the largest monthly increase in a year and exceeding levels seen throughout 2024.

Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1715 late Friday, up from USD1.1685 on Thursday. Sterling rose to USD1.3525 from USD1.3468. Against the yen, the dollar was at JPY159.43, down from JPY159.72.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was at 4.31% late Friday, down from 4.32% on Thursday. The 30-year yield was flat at 4.92%.

Gold rose to USD4,719.05 an ounce late Friday from USD4,697.03 on Thursday.

Microsoft is planning to cut around 7% of its employees, CNBC reported on Thursday, joining Meta as the next major technology company to be reportedly planning large cuts.

Employees to be targeted are those at the senior director level or lower, whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or more, according to CNBC.

Both firms are set to report first quarter earnings next week.

Meta is planning to lay off about 8,000 employees and leave thousands of other positions unfilled next month, a source told AFP on Thursday, following media reports earlier in the week.

'We believe that this is part of Meta's strategy to increasing leverage AI tools to automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs,' Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote.

'We are encouraged by managements cost-cutting efforts thus far.'

Meta closed up 2.4%. Microsoft gained 2.1%.

Intel shares ballooned 24% on Friday after it reported 'unprecedented' demand in the first quarter.

Intel said revenue increased 7.2% to USD13.58 billion in the three months to March from USD12.67 billion a year ago, topping Visible Alpha consensus of USD12.37 billion. Adjusted basis earnings per share totalled USD0.29, improved from USD0.13 a year ago, and ahead of USD0.01 VA consensus.

Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan told the earnings call that first quarter results demonstrate 'continued and steady progress' across the business, reflecting 'strong demand for our products and disciplined execution to expand available supply.'

US President Trump on Friday floated a US government purchase of budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in 2025 for the second time in a year.

'I think we'd just buy it,' Trump said in the Oval Office. 'They have some good aircraft, have good assets, and when the price of oil goes down, we'll sell it for a profit.'

Under a potential plan being discussed, the US government would make a loan to Spirit and receive warrants to take a large stake in the carrier, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Days before US strikes on Iran sparked a surge in fuel prices, Spirit had announced an 'agreement in principle' to restructure its debt with creditors, saying it expected to emerge from bankruptcy by early summer.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 ended down 0.8%. The DAX 40 eased 0.1% in Frankfurt. The CAC 40 fell 0.8% in Paris.

In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed up 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.1%

Monday's corporate calendar has first quarter results from Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Cadence Design Systems.

The global economic diary has the Dallas Fed manufacturing index. South African markets are closed for Freedom Day.

By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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