Vice president JD Vance will not be joining the senior officials from the US and Iran gathering in Switzerland today to hammer out the final points on peace deal.

The announcement came after Wednesday’s signing ‌of the memorandum of understanding, when preparations for technical talks at the Swiss mountaintop resort of Buergenstock were well advanced.

The broad interim deal requires the United States, Iran and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the deal.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi in a telephone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Friday, ⁠said the United States would be responsible for any violation of its commitments under the deal, including ending the fighting in Lebanon, his ministry said.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi were both headed to Switzerland for talks, Axios reported, as a ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact into a lasting regional deal.

US vice president JD Vance canceled plans on Thursday to travel to Switzerland for the talks, however, amid rising tension in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.

With the ceasefire in place, Witkoff is heading to Switzerland to join Jared Kushner, president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who is already there, Axios said. Araqchi plans to travel there on Saturday, it added.

The development may signal that both sides intend to begin technical negotiations aimed at securing a permanent truce. The White House did not respond to questions about Witkoff’s travel.

Diplomatic niceties broke down at the United Nations on Friday when Israel’s ambassador and the UN secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict became embroiled in a furious shouting match at a public hearing.

At a meeting in New York to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Israeli envoy, Danny Danon, demanded the resignation of Pramila Patten, who produced a report that blacklisted Israel for such alleged abuses for the first time, accusing her of bias.

“You caved to the secretary-general’s obsession with targeting Israel,” Danon ⁠said, referring to UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Another UN official, Vanessa ​Frazier, ⁠Guterres’ representative for children and ‌armed conflict and compiler of a separate report that also blacklists Israel, interjected by shouting a point of order.

She ‌demanded that Danon refrain from “personal attacks” and ‌added that she had “verified evidence.”

Danon said Frazier should be quiet. “We are a member state, and you work for the UN, and you will ⁠be quiet now. You will be quiet… you and your shameful report,” he said.

Frazier, Malta’s former UN ambassador, issued her report this week on behalf of Guterres warning that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations against children as the UN chief voiced alarm at ‌what he called a “staggering” rise in violations against ​Palestinian children.

Israel itself already features in that report’s so-called list of shame annexes for alleged violations. When Patten’s report was issued last ⁠month, Danon called it “a new low” and Israel’s foreign ministry vowed to ‌sever all ties ​with Guterres, who leaves office ‌after 10 years at the year-end.

Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi has departed for Tehran today for meetings with senior Iranian officials, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

IRNA said ‌Naqvi would ‌discuss the ⁠progress of negotiations between Iran and the United States ‌during his ​visit, ‌without providing ⁠further details.

Working at sea was a dream for 28-year-old Rex Pereira. But after witnessing the outbreak of the US-Iran war from the deck of his stranded ship in southern Iraq, he tells Maroosha Muzaffar he is a changed man:

At least five people were killed in ⁠Israeli air strikes and drone attacks in southern Lebanon today, Lebanese state media reported, ⁠just hours ​after a ceasefire ⁠between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group took ⁠effect.

A ‌senior Israeli official ​and two Hezbollah sources confirmed ‌the agreement ⁠to Reuters. The US ⁠official said the truce was to begin ‌at ​4pm yesterday.

State news agency NNA said Israeli warplanes and drones carried out a series of strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into Saturday morning, destroying residential buildings and homes, while Israeli artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire on Friday following an escalation in hostilities in Lebanon, according to a US official.

US President Donald Trump couldn’t help but boast about his hand-picked color scheme of the $400 million jet gifted by Qatar as he unveiled America’s new Air Force One.

On Friday, the president traveled to Joint Base Andrews and delivered remarks to service members while standing in a hangar in front of the massive jet. The red, white and blue paint scheme is similar to Trump’s private plane and a departure from the light blue of the old Air Force One that was recently retired.

Trump’s acquisition of the jet – which he will keep after his term – was met with outrage over security concerns and conflict of interest claims.

US President Donald Trump has praised Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him a “natural born warrior”.

“I also want to thank, I think a natural born warrior, his name is Pete Hegseth”, Trump said at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday. “So far, we’ve been winning all the time.”.

US President Donald Trump has insisted the interim peace deal signed by the US and Iran is “very popular,” despite pushback from his own party.

“Very popular agreement, except for the Fake News and their partner, the Dumocrats!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday.

But some Republicans have spoken out against the deal, with one calling it the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”. Read more from James C. Reynolds: