U.S. Secretary of State said Wednesday that he hopes the latest round of high-level political talks between Israel and Lebanon will result in a joint statement on ending hostilities.

In testimony before lawmakers that started Wednesday shortly after the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. began meeting at the State Department for a second day of negotiations, Rubio said the aim of the talks is to "produce a joint statement and an action plan on a track for security in that country, independent from Hezbollah, independent from nefarious influence."

Injuries to some of soccer's star players, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, sparked concern ahead of the World Cup.

All three have been included in their national team squads for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but others have not been so fortunate.

An Israeli strike Wednesday hit a car on a busy highway just south of Beirut, hours before the second day of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington are set to take place.

The strike in Khaldeh came without warning, and it was not immediately clear if the person targeted was killed.

They went to war together against Iran, but Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu's relationship is under strain after the U.S. president reportedly called the Israeli premier "crazy."

Trump unleashed a profane tirade over the phone at Netanyahu over Israel's threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported.

A fire swept through a building in a New Delhi neighborhood Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others, police said.

The building in the Malviya Nagar neighborhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and a hotel above. The predominantly residential area is densely populated and is popular with students and young professionals.

Ukrainian long-range drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and set it ablaze, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, as the Russian city hosted an annual international economic forum promoted by President Vladimir Putin.

The drones flew more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to hit the terminal, Zelenskyy said on social media. Clouds of black smoke rose over the city's port after the attack.

The United Nations chief has proposed three options to help end the decades-old conflict between Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants and Israel when the 8,100-member U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon ends on Dec. 31.

All of the options presented to the U.N. Security Council by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would continue U.N. military monitoring of the boundary between Israel and Lebanon, support Lebanese forces in deploying throughout the country and strengthen political efforts to end the fighting, which has persisted despite a nominal ceasefire.

Israeli weapons exports reached a record high of more than $19 billion last year, a 30% increase from 2024, Israel's Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

More than half of 2025's sales were "mega-deals" valued at $100 million or more, the ministry said, adding that sales have more than doubled in the last five years, despite widespread criticism of Israel's conduct in its wars in Gaza, with Hezbollah and with Iran.

Year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians face as the Islamic Republic worries about the war with Israel and the United States restarting.

A report Monday by Iran's Central Bank represents the first official acknowledgment of what Iranians shopping, paying for a taxi or visiting a medical clinic already know: The rial currency is battered by the war and uncertainty around it resuming.

Ceasefires have been announced, often to great fanfare, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. So why is there still so much fighting?

In just the last few weeks, Israeli forces have captured more territory in Gaza and killed two top Hamas militants there, as well as more than a dozen other people. In Lebanon, Israeli troops captured a Crusader fortress over the weekend in their deepest incursion in 26 years, as Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into northern Israel.