Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River to create a “defensive buffer”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, spelling out for the first ‌time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a tenth of Lebanon, Reuters reported.

At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani,” a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30 km (20 miles) north of Israel’s border.

Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said any Israeli occupation south of the Litani would be met with resistance. “We have no choice but to confront this aggression and cling to the land,” he told Reuters.

IQAir has announced the release of its 8th annual World Air Quality Report, offering a comprehensive analysis of global air pollution data from 2025 and highlighting persistent health risks, emerging regional trends and critical monitoring gaps worldwide.

For this year’s report, IQAir said it analyzed data from monitoring stations across 9,446 cities in 143 countries, regions and territories.

The report adds 12 countries and territories not included last year, seven of which appear in the dataset for the first time ever—marking continued expansion of global air quality monitoring coverage.

Comparing this year’s report to the previous year, 54 countries experienced increases in annual average PM2.5, 75 saw declines, two remained unchanged and 12 were newly represented in this year’s dataset.

Key findings from the 2025 World Air Quality Report published on the IQAir website:

Only 14% of global cities met the World Health Organization (WHO) annual PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m³, down from 17% the previous year. Only thirteen countries or territories met the WHO annual average PM2.5 guideline: French Polynesia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, New Caledonia, Iceland, Bermuda, Réunion, Andorra, Australia, Grenada, Panama, and Estonia. 130 out of 143 countries or territories, representing 91%, exceeded the WHO annual average PM2.5 guideline value.

The five most polluted countries were Pakistan with 67.3 µg/m³, Bangladesh with 66.1 µg/m³, Tajikistan with 57.3 µg/m³, Chad with 53.6 µg/m³, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 50.2 µg/m³. Loni, India, was the most polluted city, recording an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 112.5 µg/m³, which is a nearly 23% increase from 2024 and more than 22 times the WHO guideline. Nieuwoudtville, South Africa, was the world’s cleanest city, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 1.0 µg/m³.

The world’s 25 most polluted cities were all located in India, Pakistan, and China, with India home to three of the four most polluted. The most polluted major U.S. city was El Paso, Texas. Southeast Los Angeles, California, was the most polluted region in the United States. Seattle, Washington, was the cleanest major U.S. city.

The year 2025 marked the second consecutive year in which no cities in East Asia met WHO PM2.5 guidelines. Pollution patterns in China indicated a westward shift in elevated concentrations. Europe saw mixed air pollution trends in 2025, with 23 countries recording higher PM2.5 concentrations and 18 seeing declines. Winter wood burning, summer smoke from Canadian wildfires, and Saharan dust worsened seasonal pollution in Europe.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, air quality trends were largely positive. 208 cities recorded decreases in annual average PM2.5 concentrations, 95 cities saw increases, nine remained unchanged, and 13 new cities were added to the monitoring network. Oceania remained one of the world’s cleanest regions, with 61% of cities meeting the WHO guideline, although record-breaking cold in New South Wales, Australia, in June 2025 led to seasonal PM2.5 spikes.

According to the report, wildfires, intensified by climate change, played a major role in degrading global air quality in 2025. Record biomass emissions from Europe and Canada contributed to approximately 1,380 megatons of carbon. Canada was the most polluted country in Northern America for just the second time in this report’s eight-year history, as its second-worst wildfire season on record affected air quality across Canada, the United States and parts of Europe.

In the United States, annual average PM2.5 levels increased to 7.3 µg/m³. Smoke from wildfires in both Canada and the U.S. raised averages across parts of the Great Lakes states in the summer and in the Pacific Northwest in the fall.

Ambassador of Armenia to the United States Narek Mkrtchyan held a meeting in Washington, D.C. with Bethany Kozma, Director of the Office of Global Affairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to discuss prospects for the development of Armenia–U.S. cooperation in the field of healthcare, the embassy reported.

Julie Wallace, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Office of Global Affairs), also participated in the meeting.

According to a readout, the sides addressed the bilateral cooperation agenda, particularly emphasizing the importance of strengthening the institutional foundations of cooperation in the healthcare sector.

A number of issues were also discussed, including opportunities for cooperation in the areas of biosafety, development of laboratory capacities, medical education and training, as well as the application of innovative technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in the healthcare sector.

The importance of expanding collaboration with relevant U.S. institutions and professional organizations was also underscored, with a view to enhancing professional capacities and promoting the exchange of expertise.

The parties agreed to continue the dialogue to ensure the practical implementation of the issues discussed.

Authorities on Tuesday denied a media report claiming that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health would be merged into a single ministry.

Nver Kostanyan, spokesperson for Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan, branded the report as fake and said that no such plans exist.

“One of the media outlets has once again circulated false information, claiming that the issue of merging the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Health is currently under discussion. Not limiting themselves to publishing entirely false information, the authors of the piece have gone on to weave conspiracies around their fabricated ‘news’ and to speak about supposed ‘discontent’ regarding a non-existent project. Dear colleagues, a project to merge the ministries has neither been discussed nor circulated at any time over the past eight years, and it is not being discussed now. I urge you, once and for all, to stop speculating on this topic,” Kostanyan said in a statement on social media.

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Arsen Torosyan, announced on Tuesday a 30% salary increase for staff at various care institutions operating under the ministry.

 “I would like to share some good news, especially for care institutions operating under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, as well as for day care centers. Starting April 1, the salaries of all employees at care centers under our authority—serving children, the elderly, and citizens with mental health conditions—as well as staff at children’s day care centers, will increase by 30 percent. We have achieved this through budgetary discipline and effective management. Therefore, in May, dear colleagues, you will already receive a 30 percent increased salary. As minister, I expect you to deliver better performance and to invest greater effort in working with, caring for, and providing services to our thousands of citizens. Your working conditions are a priority for me—they have been since day one—and I will do everything possible to gradually improve them,” Torosyan said in a statement on social media. 

Member of Parliament Vladimir Vardanyan has been nominated by President Vahagn Khachaturyan as a Constitutional Court judge.

The confirmation hearing is taking place on Tuesday during the plenary session of Parliament.

Vardanyan has been serving as an MP since 2019 and chairs the parliamentary Committee on State-Legal Affairs.

Vardanyan had been affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract for years but resigned from the party, after the President nominated him, to become nonpartisan, which is a requirement for serving in the independent judicial body.

Vardanyan vowed in parliament to remain impartial and uphold the constitution if elected. He pointed to lawmakers the oath of office for an MP. 

“I have been in the Parliament for seven years, and each of us is under oath, which contains a clear requirement—to uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. From the moment of taking the oath, you assume responsibilities, and regardless of your political orientation or personal preferences, you are obliged to act in accordance with your oath,” Vardanyan said.

The Ministry of Defense convened a consultation with the participation of the staff at its Financial and Budgetary Department.

According to the statement released by the Ministry of Defense, key issues related to the sector were discussed, and new approaches to solving existing problems were presented. During the meeting-consultation, a number of issues were also addressed concerning the implementation of public sector accounting policies within the Ministry, the further development of the implemented software system, existing challenges, and potential solutions under consideration.

Armenia does not have territorial demands against any country, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, said on Tuesday.

He told reporters that Armenia emphasizes the importance of building relations in the region so that no one even considers attacking another.

“Armenia should never have territorial claims and does not have any territorial claims toward its neighbors. We must build relations in the region in such a way that no one even thinks about attacking another. We must do everything possible to ensure our region remains peaceful, that no war happens,” he said.

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, again warned voters ahead of the June 7 elections that they will have to choose between peace and a possible war.

“I understand that the forces currently in the [parliament] hall, and those who want to enter Parliament, need war—they need to talk about war in order to build something politically on it. But right now, there is no war; there is peace,” Simonyan said, referring to the opposition. 

He emphasized that for the past two years, there has been no deadly gunfire on the border, unlike before.

“Is it war now, or is it peace? Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, never before have Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in trade, and never before have the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan spoken about peace from both sides,” he said at a press briefing. 

Simonyan highlighted that the established peace must be safeguarded so it “does not slip away.”

“The current government of the Republic of Armenia—the Civil Contract party—is a party of peace, while the main opposition actors are parties of war. That is the reality. If people say that claims must be made, that is called war,” Simonyan said.

According to him, after its collapse, the Soviet Union left unresolved border issues everywhere—in Central Asia, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus region.

“And they told us: you, who live in Armenia, always dream that your home is not only here, it is also there, and we will take care of it. The goal is for us to always remain dependent on them. Yes, there is a party of war, and there is a party of peace. And yes, the 2026 election will be about peace and the possibility of war,” the Speaker of the National Assembly emphasized.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned last week that the country could face an imminent war if some opposition forces, whom he described as being controlled from abroad, win the upcoming parliamentary elections. He accused these opposition forces of attempting to revise the recently established peace and making belligerent statements.

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan reiterated on Tuesday that the government-initiated constitutional reforms have nothing to do with Azerbaijan’s calls for constitutional changes. He said the adoption of a new constitution is in Armenia’s interests.

“The Constitution of Armenia and the proposed amendments are being made for the interests of Armenia. They are not being made for the interests of Azerbaijan. They are being made for Armenia’s survival and its future,” Simonyan, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, said at a press briefing in response to allegations that the changes were initiated at Azerbaijan’s demand.

Responding to a question about whether Armenia could demand that Azerbaijan change its Constitution, the Speaker said that a peace agreement with Azerbaijan has already been negotiated, and there is no such provision in the agreement. All clauses in the peace agreement are bilateral.

“There is no such agenda. Armenia needs to have a strong military. I am working to ensure that the Armenian army can be well-armed and capable of defending itself. I am not thinking about imposing anything on Azerbaijan, Türkiye, or Georgia so that tomorrow they might think of imposing something on us. I am thinking about Armenia’s interests. And Armenia’s interest dictates that we must have a constitution that does not give anyone an excuse to see us as a threat in the region,” Simonyan emphasized.

Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan announced earlier in March that the text of the proposed new Constitution, developed to replace the current one via referendum, is ready and will be discussed at the ruling Civil Contract party’s board meeting, as well as by its parliamentary faction. Speaking to reporters, she was asked whether the reference to the Declaration of Independence in the current Constitution’s preamble has been removed in the new text, something Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has endorsed, citing its “conflict logic.” Galyan said the text doesn’t have a preamble but didn’t clarify. She said the final version would be published after finalization. 

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told reporters on Monday that Azerbaijan has notified that it will not finalize the initialed peace deal as long as the current wording about Nagorno-Karabakh remains in the Armenian Constitution, referring to the preamble that includes a reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly accused Armenia of having what it describes as territorial claims in its Constitution through its preamble reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence, which in turn mentions Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has denied that this reference constitutes territorial claims, and the country’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the mention in no way amounts to such claims. Armenian officials have stated that signing the initialed peace deal with Azerbaijan would resolve all of Azerbaijan’s concerns.

Meanwhile, the Pashinyan administration has initiated constitutional amendments, with work ongoing to develop the draft, but officials have emphasized that this is an unrelated internal matter that has been in the plans for many years.

Armenian officials have repeatedly stated that Armenia has no territorial claims against any country.