PRAGUE, March 30 (Reuters) - A fifth person was detained in connection with an arson attack on an optics and drone factory in the Czech Republic, a public prosecutor said on Monday.

Police said on Saturday they had detained a fourth suspect over the March 20 fire, for which a previously unknown pro-Palestinian activist group had claimed responsibility. Czech police said they were searching for other suspects.

In a statement on Monday, the Prague high public prosecutor's office said another person was detained on Sunday, but it did not provide details.

Since the start of the war, US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran have killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and a whole echelon of the political and military elite in the Islamic republic.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the war had achieved "regime change" and that "we're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before".

But several key figures have survived and the Islamic republic has shown resilience in rapidly replacing killed leaders and also keeping up the war against the US and Israel.

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Two Chinese container ships sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday at the second attempt after turning back into the Gulf on Friday, ship-tracking data showed.

The vessels were sailing in close formation out of the strait and into open waters, according to data on the MarineTraffic platform.

Officials from COSCO, the shipping group that operates the two vessels, could not be reached for immediate comment.

The critical waterway has effectively been shut since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States was in talks with a "more reasonable regime" to end the war in Iran but repeated his warning to Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S attacks on its oil wells and power plants.

CAIRO, March 30 (Reuters) - Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to stop the Iran war, saying only he could do so, and warned that fears of the oil price going above $200 a barrel were not exaggerated.

"I tell President Trump: nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you," Sisi said at the Egypt Energy Show 2026 conference in Cairo. "Please, Mr. President, please. Please help us stop the war. You are capable of doing so," he added.

By Stelios Misinas and Renee Maltezou

ATHENS, March 30 (Reuters) - Abdulaziz Aldarwish decided to take drastic action after his son Yahia's young kidneys failed.

The Syrian construction worker could not afford the 1,200 euros ($1,380) per month needed for dialysis treatment and in any case the public healthcare system in Lebanon, where he worked, is in a state of near-collapse after years of conflict and neglect.

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - European Council President Antonio Costa said he had held a 'good call' with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the war in Iran.

"Good call today with the Prime Minister of Pakistan @CMShehbaz Sharif to hear his assessment on the Iran war, as well as the outcome of the recent consultations between the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey held in Islamabad," wrote Costa on X.

"The EU is gravely concerned over the prolongation of the war and its increasing global impact," added Costa.

BEIRUT, March 30 (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday its ambassador to Lebanon would remain in his post in Beirut, defying the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, which has declared him persona non grata and told him to leave.

With war raging in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel, the Iranian envoy's status has emerged as a focal point of tension between the Iran-backed group and the Lebanese government, which has been heavily critical of Hezbollah for entering the regional war in support of Tehran and called for talks with Israel.

PRISTINA, March 30 (Reuters) - Kosovo on Monday approved sending troops to Gaza for an international security force as part of a U.S.-backed initiative after last year's ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Several nations including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania have committed troops to the International Stabilization Force to keep peace and back a transitional administration in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace."

By Tom Balmforth and Max Hunder

LONDON/KYIV, March 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine's war has forced the country to become a trailblazer in drone interception. The conflict in the Middle East could be its make-or-break moment to take the technology global.

In an effort to export Ukrainian systems and know-how, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criss-crossed the Gulf region this weekend to hash out deals with countries that have been targeted by waves of Iranian drone attacks this month.