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Geneva (AFP) – The United States is "complicit" in Israel's strikes in Iran, Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations claimed Wednesday, vowing that his country would respond if Washington crosses a "red line".

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel says its surprise air campaign that began on June 13 is aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran denies.

Iran said early Wednesday that it fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the arch foes.

US President Donald Trump has said that Washington has played no part in the bombing campaign by its ally Israel, but has also warned Iran that his patience is wearing thin.

"We firmly believe that the United States is complicit in what Israel is doing," Iranian ambassador Ali Bahreini told a press conference.

"And at any time, at any point, if we come to the conclusion that the United States is directly involved in attacks against Iran, we will start responding to the United States."

He said Tehran was "vigilant" about Trump's "completely unwarranted" and "hostile" remarks.

"There is a line which, if crossed, there should be a response on our side... once the red line is crossed, the response will come," Bahreini said.

"We will respond strongly and we will stop aggression from any side, be it Israel or the United States," he told the UN correspondents' association.

"And we have given a message to the United States that we will respond very firmly and will stop the aggression by anybody -- including the United States.

Bahreini also said Tehran was "resolute in responding to Israeli attacks".

"We will respond very, very, very seriously and strongly, and that is what we are doing now. Nobody should expect Iran to show any kind of restraint," he said.

He also criticised the attitude of Western and European nations.

"Not only they are not condemning the attacks and aggression, they are trying to justify the aggression," he said.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Bahreini issued a warning to Israel's allies.

"The Israeli regime's supporters, and the United States at the forefront, should know that supporting this regime means directly supporting international humanitarian and human rights law violations," he said.

Penjwen (Iraq) (AFP) – Near the once-bustling Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh, Iranian driver Fatah stocked up on rice, sugar and tea, staples that have become increasingly hard to get back home.

Fatah -- who like others in this story is being identified by a pseudonym -- was among dozens of truck drivers waiting impatiently to cross back into Iran from Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, hauling not only their commercial cargo, but also essential goods for their families after days of Israeli attacks.

AFP spoke with at least 30 Iranians near the Bashmakh crossing. They all refused to be interviewed on camera, and the few who agreed to describe life back home asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals back in Iran.

"There are shortages of rice, bread, sugar and tea," Fatah said Tuesday.

Finding fuel has also become a major problem, with long queues of cars waiting hours in front of gas stations hoping the fuel did not run out, the 40-year-old driver added.

A long journey awaits Fatah, who must deliver his load of asphalt to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas about 1,700 kilometres (1,060 miles) away, before turning around and driving almost the same distance back to the western city of Marivan, where his family lives and which has so far been spared bombardment.

But "my route passes near the Natanz nuclear facility", Fatah said, referring to one of Iran's underground uranium enrichment sites that Israel has struck several times since the start of its campaign last week.

Israel launched a devastating surprise attack on Friday targeting Iran's military and nuclear sites and killing top commanders and scientists.

Israel says its attacks are aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran denies.

At least 224 people, including women and children, have been killed in the Israeli strikes, according to official figures.

The assault has prompted retaliatory barrages of missiles from Iran that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the prime minister's office.

Aram, 28, keeps calling his wife, fearing for his family's safety after they had to flee their home when a strike hit a military site nearby in the city of Sanandaj.

"My family is safe, but they had to move in with relatives in a village," Aram said.

His wife told him that many families who lived near military sites in the area had been similarly displaced.

The father of two said the shortages back home were mostly due to panic-stricken Iranians who rushed to markets to stockpile basic supplies.

Back in Iran, car dealer Shwan recalled how Israeli jets struck several military sites near his city of Bukan in the west.

"People are shocked and distraught, they don't know what they should do," the 35-year-old told AFP via a messaging app from inside Iran.

"We have a major problem with bread shortages," he said.

People were queuing at bakeries for hours to get loaves of bread, sometimes to no avail, Shwan said.

"Sometimes four members of one family go around bakeries looking for bread," he added.

"It is also difficult to find rice or oil," and many civil servants have not received their salaries yet, he said.

Avin, a 38-year-old seamstress, told AFP via a messaging app that the war "has spread fear among residents", even though the bombs have not touched her town of Saqqez in northwest Iran.

"Some families with children left to villages outside the city," she said.

Like others, she fears more shortages to come.

"Most of the provisions come from Tehran," which has seen a massive exodus and is also grappling with scarcity.

"Because of this, the market in our city came to a standstill."

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Gaza's civil defence agency said 33 people were killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded "after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens" who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza.

The military told AFP that its forces operating in central Gaza identified "a group of suspicious individuals" approaching "in a manner that posed a potential threat to the forces."

It said its troops then fired "warning shots", but that it was "unaware of injuries".

The civil defence agency said another 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, which it said targeted houses and a tent for displaced people.

The Israeli military told AFP regarding one of those attacks that its troops were "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities".

Three more people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a neighbourhood northeast of Gaza City on Wednesday, Bassal said.

Tehran (AFP) – Israel said it struck a nuclear site near Tehran on Wednesday, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.

Hours after US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's surrender, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed his country would show "no mercy" towards Israel's leadership.

Trump insists the United States has played no part in ally Israel's bombing campaign, but also warned his patience was wearing thin.

The long-range blitz began Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.

After the Israeli military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district of Tehran for their safety, Israeli warplanes hit the capital early Wednesday.

"More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets... carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours," the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities were hit.

"As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted."

Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear reactor.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles at Tel Aviv.

"The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles" was carried out, the Guards said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.

No missile struck Tel Aviv overnight, despite Iran's claims that its attacks were "repeatedly shaking the shelters", though AFP photos showed Israel's air defence systems activated to intercept missiles over the commercial hub.

Iran also sent a "swarm of drones" towards Israel, while the Israeli military said it had intercepted a total of 10 drones launched from Iran.

It said one of its own drones had been shot down over Iran.

Trump fuelled speculation about US intervention when he made a hasty exit from the G7 summit in Canada, where the leaders of the club of wealthy democracies called for de-escalation but backed Israel's "right to defend itself".

Back in Washington on Tuesday, Trump demanded the Islamic republic's "unconditional surrender".

He also boasted that the United States could easily assassinate Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there -- We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump met with his National Security Council to discuss the conflict. There was no immediate public statement after the hour and 20 minute meeting.

US officials stressed Trump has not yet made a decision about any intervention.

Hours later, Khamenei responded with a post on X, saying: "We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy."

Israel's attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas.

Residential areas in Israel have also been hit, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries.

Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu's office.

Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.

More than 700 foreigners living in Iran have crossed into neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia since Israel launched its campaign, according to government figures.

On Tuesday in Tehran, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as people rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.

Iran's ISNA and Tasnim news agencies on Wednesday reported that five suspected agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had been detained, on charges of tarnishing the country's image online.

With air raid sirens regularly blaring in Tel Aviv, some people relocated to an underground parking lot below a shopping mall.

"We've decided to permanently set camp here until it's all clear, I guess," Mali Papirany, 30, told AFP.

The UN nuclear watchdog said there appeared to have been "direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls" at Iran's Natanz facility.

Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.

The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate with the United States while under attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had a critical role to play in restarting diplomacy with Iran, where any attempts at "regime change" would bring "chaos".

Madrid (AFP) – Spain is resisting US President Donald Trump's demands to hike defence spending to five percent of national output, potentially threatening NATO unity at a crucial alliance summit this month.

The European country ended 2024 as the NATO member that dedicated the smallest proportion of its annual economic output to defence, falling short of the two percent target set in 2014.

Faced with Trump's threats to withdraw US security guarantees from member states perceived as not pulling their weight, Spain has announced fresh spending to hit the two percent mark this year.

But Madrid is baulking at suggestions the target should rise to five percent as an aggressive Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has stretched into a fourth year, menaces Europe.

With Germany and Poland already backing the new benchmark, Spain could find itself isolated among its allies at the June 24-25 NATO summit in The Hague.

"Many countries want five (percent), we respect that... but Spain will fulfil those objectives set for us," Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO counterparts in Brussels this month.

"What is really important is that Spain will meet the capacities and objectives" assigned by NATO and "we cannot set ourselves a percentage", she said.

For Felix Arteaga, a defence specialist at Madrid's Elcano Royal Institute, "internal political reasons" are determining the stance of the minority left-wing coalition government.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a balancing act of aligning with NATO allies and cajoling his far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, which is hostile to increasing military spending.

He has not submitted to parliament the plans for new defence spending of more than 10 billion euros, sparking criticism from his parliamentary allies whose support is crucial for the government's viability.

The fragile coalition has wobbled in the past week after a corruption scandal implicating one of Sanchez's inner circle sparked a crisis within his Socialist party.

In Spain, "high political fragmentation makes it difficult to reach deals similar to those of other countries" such as Germany, said Santiago Calvo, an economics professor at the Universidad de las Hesperides.

Calvo also pointed to "delicate" public finances, with Spain's debt one of the highest in the European Union at 103.5 percent of gross domestic product.

That figure has nonetheless receded in recent years, and continued strong economic performance should give the government "margin" to spend more, said Arteaga, who instead identified "cultural" hindrances.

The Iberian Peninsula's greater distance from Russia than eastern European countries like Poland "reduces concern and urgency... we do not feel threatened, we do not want to enter armed conflicts", Arteaga said.

"The government must explain to Spanish citizens the need to show solidarity" with countries in northern and eastern Europe, he said.

Ambiguity also surrounds the idea of investing five percent of GDP in defence.

NATO chief Mark Rutte has mentioned 3.5 percent of military spending in the traditional definition of the term by 2032, with the remaining 1.5 percent going to security in a broader sense, including border protection and cybersecurity.

At the NATO summit, "everything will come down to details" such as the flexibility of the definition of defence spending and the timeframe to achieve it, Arteaga predicted.

Robles said "Spain will not veto anything" at the summit, calling her country "a constructive ally".

Tokyo (AFP) – Sweltering temperatures prompted heatstroke alerts in multiple Japanese regions on Wednesday, with dozens of people seeking emergency medical care in the capital Tokyo.

The hot weather was headline news in the country, which last year experienced its joint warmest summer ever as climate change fuelled extreme heatwaves around the globe.

Record temperatures were logged in 14 cities for June, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, while in central Tokyo the mercury hit 34.4 degrees Celsius (94 Fahrenheit).

Doctors treated at least 57 people for heat-related malaise in the capital on Wednesday, adding to the 169 people seen on Tuesday.

At least three heat-related deaths were reported in other parts of the country this week.

Some Tokyo residents wore heat-repellent clothing to beat the high temperatures, like Junko Kobayashi, 73, who showed AFP her cooling scarf.

"I soak it in water and then wrap it around my neck. It feels refreshing. And I use this umbrella too. It blocks the light and heat so it feels cooler," she said.

Other elderly residents said they were trying to take it easy so as not to risk heatstroke, while 80-year-old Naoki Ito said he was making sure to regularly drink water.

"I don't need to take a big gulp, just a small sip here and there. It's important to remember that," Ito said.

Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public, especially elderly people, to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke.

Senior citizens made up more than 80 percent of heat-related deaths in the past five years.

Japan is also experiencing a record influx of tourists, with foreign visitors up 21 percent year-on-year in May.

"It's been pretty stinking," said 31-year-old Australian tourist Jack Budd, who was trying to find shade whenever possible with his travel partner.

"The breeze is quite warm so it's hard to get out of it unless you go inside," he said.

Wellington (AFP) – New Zealand on Wednesday approved the medicinal use of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound notably found in so-called "magic mushrooms".

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said rules had been relaxed so psilocybin could be used to treat certain types of depression.

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in some species of mushroom and can cause hallucinations and an altered state of mind.

"Psilocybin remains an unapproved medicine, but a highly experienced psychiatrist has been granted authority to prescribe it to patients with treatment-resistant depression," Seymour said.

"This is huge for people with depression who've tried everything else and are still suffering.

"If a doctor believes psilocybin can help, they should have the tools to try."

There will be tight rules for prescribing the drug.

Only psychiatrists who have been involved in psilocybin clinical trials will be allowed to prescribe it, and they must strictly report its use and keep detailed records.

Party drugs such as as MDMA and magic mushrooms are increasingly being used in mainstream medical settings, helping treat post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Australia approved the medicinal use of psilocybin in 2023.

Denpasar (Indonesia) (AFP) – Three Australians were arrested in Indonesia over the murder of a male compatriot on the resort island of Bali and face the death penalty, police said Wednesday, after a days-long manhunt.

Authorities had been searching for several suspects over the shooting of Zivan Radmanovic, a 32-year-old Australian national, on Saturday.

He was killed when two people burst into his villa in the tourist hub of Badung and at least one opened fire. A second man, 34-year-old Sanar Ghanim, was seriously wounded in the attack.

"Three suspects have been arrested along with several pieces of evidence allegedly used to carry out the shooting," Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya told reporters.

He said the three suspects -- all Australian men -- were charged with multiple offences, including premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death, as well as murder and torture resulting in death.

Murder carries the maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while torture resulting in death carries a potential seven-year jail term.

One of the suspects was detained while he was about to leave the international airport in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and flown back to Bali, in cooperation with immigration and national police officials, he said.

"The other two already fled and were successfully returned because of the coordination between interpol countries in the Southeast Asia region," he added, without specifying the countries involved.

He did not disclose the alleged role of the third suspect, despite the search initially focusing on two suspects.

Bali police also showed on Wednesday several pieces of evidence to the media including a hammer, several pieces of clothing, and bullet casings.

Witnesses, including Radmanovic's wife, said the perpetrators who fled the scene after the attack were speaking in English with a thick Australian accent, according to a local police statement.

The Australian embassy in Jakarta directed questions to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which did not immediately respond to an AFP comment request.

Gun crime on the island of Bali and wider Indonesia is rare, and the archipelago nation has strict laws for illegal gun possession.

Seoul (AFP) – North Korea will send military builders and sappers to help restore Russia's Kursk region after Ukraine's incursion, Moscow's security chief said, in a fresh sign of deepening ties between the two countries.

Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia's Security Council, was in Pyongyang for the second time this month for talks with leader Kim Jong Un on the one-year anniversary of the signing of a sweeping military deal between the two countries, state media from both countries reported.

North Korea has become one of Russia's main allies during its more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk.

Now, Pyongyang is going to dispatch more specialist military forces to help with reconstruction efforts, with both sides reaching a deal "on continuing constructive cooperation", the TASS news agency quoted Shoigu as saying.

North Korea will send "a division of builders, two military brigades -- 5,000 people" as well as 1,000 deminers to the Kursk region, Shoigu said.

"This is a kind of fraternal assistance from the Korean people and leader Kim Jong Un to our country," he was quoted as saying.

Russia and North Korea signed the military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, according to South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, citing the country's intelligence service.

Pyongyang in April confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine -- and admitted that its troops had been killed in combat.

North Korean state media said Kim had confirmed plans for further cooperation but did not provide details.

Kim and Shoigu discussed "items of immediate cooperation" as well as "long-term plans" to carry out "important matters agreed by the heads of states of the two countries through the exchanges of personal letters for several weeks," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim also expressed North Korea's "steadfast" will to "invariably and unconditionally support" Russia's policy to defend its "state sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Plans to honour North Korean soldiers who died "in the operations for liberating the Kursk area" were also discussed, KCNA said.

Seoul's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the "acceptance and employment of North Korean overseas workers constitute a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions".

"The South Korean government expresses serious concern over the continued illicit cooperation between Russia and North Korea and urges an immediate halt to such activities," it said in a statement sent to AFP.

New South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who took office this month following a snap election triggered by his predecessor's disastrous martial law bid in December, has pledged a more conciliatory approach toward Pyongyang.

Lee's administration recently halted the loudspeaker broadcasts the country had resumed last year in response to a wave of trash-laden balloons sent by Pyongyang.

In turn, North Korea has stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had been a major nuisance for residents in the area.

"The mention of building infrastructure to expand various exchanges and cooperation appears intended to emphasise the possibility of increased interaction" between Russia and North Korea, Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

Hong said railway links along the North Korea-Russia border are currently being restored, with the possible launch of air routes also under consideration.

Jakarta (AFP) – Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia's resort island of Bali were cancelled on Wednesday, according to authorities and the island's airport, after a volcano in the archipelago's east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10 kilometres into the sky.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with authorities raising its alert status to the highest level of a four-tiered system.

"Due to volcano activity of Lewatobi Laki-Laki in East Nusa Tenggara, several flights at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport are cancelled," airport operator Angkasa Pura Indonesia told AFP in a statement.

The flights cancelled included Jetstar and Virgin Australia flights to cities across Australia, with Air India, Air New Zealand, Singapore's Tigerair and China's Juneyao Airlines also cancelling flights "due to volcano", Bali's international airport website said.

Jetstar confirmed cancellations to and from Bali in a statement on its website Wednesday, adding that some afternoon flights would be delayed until ash cleared.

"Forecasts show the ash cloud is expected to clear by later tonight. As a result, this afternoon's flights will be delayed to operate later this evening," it said.

Several domestic AirAsia flights leaving for popular tourist hotspot Labuan Bajo on Flores were also cancelled.

A Bali airport customer service agent told AFP the aviation hub was still operating normally despite the cancelled flights.

"It depends on the route and also the airline," the agent, who declined to give her name, said.

Volcanic ash rained down on several villages around Lewotobi Laki-Laki and forced the evacuation of at least one village late Tuesday, the country's disaster mitigation agency said.

It added tremors were still being detected, which indicated ongoing volcanic activity.

The geology agency said residents and tourists should avoid carrying out any activities within at least seven kilometres of the volcano's crater.

It warned of the possibility of hazardous lahar floods –- a type of mud or debris flow of volcanic materials –- if heavy rain occurs, particularly for communities near rivers.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

In November, the volcano erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali, and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Laki-Laki, which means "man" in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano peak named after the Indonesian word for "woman".

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

Kananaskis (Canada) (AFP) – India and Canada agreed Tuesday to return ambassadors to each other's capitals, turning a page on a bitter spat over an assassination as Canada's new leader welcomed counterpart Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office in March, invited Modi to the Canadian Rockies as a guest at the summit of the Group of Seven major economies.

Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau last year publicly accused India of involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil and expelled the Indian ambassador, triggering a furious reciprocal response from India.

Carney and Modi agreed that the two countries would name new high commissioners, as ambassadors are known between Commonwealth nations, in hopes of restoring normal operations for citizens and businesses.

Carney said he hoped the meeting would "provide the necessary foundations to begin to rebuild the relationship, based on mutual respect, sovereignty, trust."

"I would describe it as foundational -- as a necessary first step, a frank, open exchange of views around law enforcement, transnational repression," he told a news conference.

He noted that India is invited each year to G7 summits of major industrial democracies, pointing to the size of its economy.

The row had severely impeded diplomatic services between the two countries, which traded $9 billion in 2023 and have close cultural ties due to the vast Indian diaspora in Canada.

Canada had to suspend in-person services at all missions in India outside its embassy in New Delhi.

Modi took a conciliatory tone as he met Carney at the mountain resort, saying that both Canada and India were "dedicated to democratic values."

"The relationship between India and Canada is very important in many ways," Modi said.

He congratulated Carney on guiding his Liberal Party to an election victory and voiced confidence that going forward, "India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas."

Sikh protesters rallied on the streets of Calgary, the closest large city to the summit, as many criticized Carney's inclusion of Modi, who is accustomed to invitations to major international gatherings despite criticism of his Hindu nationalist government's human rights record.

The left-wing New Democratic Party, the fourth largest party in parliament which is not formally part of Carney's government, denounced the invitation to Modi and pointed to allegations of Indian surveillance against its former leader Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh.

"Continuing to engage Modi's government without accountability undermines all efforts to defend human rights, transparency, and the rule of law," it said in a statement before the visit.

Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India. With some two percent of Canadian population and clustered in suburban swing areas, the community has exerted growing political influence.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalized Canadian citizen who advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia in 2023.

Trudeau accused India of direct involvement. Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign of intimidation against Sikh activists in the country.

India denied involvement in the killing and said Canada should take more action against violent advocates for Khalistan, which has been reduced to a fringe movement inside India.

Carney declined to say if he specifically mentioned Nijjar's case in his talks with Modi, noting that it was the subject of ongoing litigation.

The United States, which has a warm relationship with India, also accused an Indian agent of involvement in an unsuccessful plot against a Sikh separatist on US soil but addressed concerns more quietly than Trudeau.

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump will this week give TikTok a fresh 90-day extension to find a non-Chinese buyer, the White House said Tuesday, the third time he has put off a threatened ban on the popular app.

A federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump's January inauguration.

"President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running. As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

"This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure."

Trump, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media, has previously said he is fond of the video sharing app.

"I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said in an NBC News interview in early May. "If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension."

Trump said at the time that a group of purchasers was ready to pay TikTok owner ByteDance "a lot of money" for the video-clip-sharing sensation's US operations.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed risks that TikTok is in danger, saying he remains confident of finding a buyer for the app's US business.

The president is "just not motivated to do anything about TikTok," said independent analyst Rob Enderle. "Unless they get on his bad side, TikTok is probably going to be in pretty good shape."

Trump had long supported a ban or divestment, but reversed his position and vowed to defend the platform after coming to believe it helped him win young voters' support in the November election.

Motivated by national security fears and belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, the ban took effect on January 19, one day before Trump's inauguration, with ByteDance having made no attempt to find a suitor.

TikTok "has become a symbol of the US-China tech rivalry; a flashpoint in the new Cold War for digital control," said Shweta Singh, an assistant professor of information systems at Warwick Business School in Britain.

The Republican president announced an initial 75-day delay of the ban upon taking office. A second extension pushed the deadline to June 19.

Trump said in April that China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for a dispute over his tariffs on Beijing.

ByteDance has confirmed talks with the US government, saying key matters needed to be resolved and that any deal would be "subject to approval under Chinese law".

Possible solutions reportedly include seeing existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.

Additional US investors, including Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance's share in the new TikTok.

Much of TikTok's US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company's chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.

Uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok's valuable algorithm.

"TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand -- it's simply not as powerful," said Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering.

Meanwhile, it appears TikTok is continuing with business as usual.

TikTok on Monday introduced a new "Symphony" suite of generative artificial intelligence tools for advertisers to turn words or photos into video snippets for the platform.