Pakistan is set to host talks between Iran and the United States in a bid to turn a fragile two-week ceasefire into a lasting end to a war that has left thousands dead and roiled global energy markets.

Here are five things to know about the Islamabad talks:

- The war behind the talks -

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched deadly coordinated strikes that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and struck Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure.

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure against the island, even as Beijing presses a message of peace and cooperation in meetings with Taiwan's opposition leader.

KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine is in talks with Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain to cooperate in the security sector and share its drone defence expertise and technology, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy visited several Middle Eastern countries last month to offer Ukraine's technology and expertise on how to counter Iranian drone attacks. Security cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar were signed, and a deal with UAE was announced.

Exiled Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani has a huge following back home for his biting humour.

And one of his recent sketches sums up the "dilemma created by the regime" over the US-Israel bombing of his homeland and how it divides Iranians.

Two men hold a banner with the words "No to war". But one is in a balaclava and is also holding a gallows with a man hanging from it.

"It's difficult to work right now," said the Paris-based artist. "You either get labelled as a lover of the war or of the Islamic Republic."

Indonesia said Friday it had submitted a joint statement on peacekeeper security with dozens of allied nations to the United Nations after three of its blue helmets were killed in Lebanon.

In the joint statement, the countries urged the UN Security Council to conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents in Southern Lebanon that killed three Indonesian peacekeepers and wounded several others, including from France, Ghana, Nepal, and Poland.

It was a war JD Vance never wanted. Now the US vice president has been tasked with ending it.

Vance heads to Pakistan this week with orders from President Donald Trump to turn the shaky Iran ceasefire into a lasting peace deal.

For the 41-year-old Vance, who has kept a notably low profile during the Middle East conflict, it will be one of the biggest moments of his career.

But the man widely regarded as a leading contender in the 2028 US presidential election will face huge challenges too when talks begin Saturday in Islamabad.

By Parisa Hafezi, Maya Gebeily, Maayan Lubell and Ariba Shahid

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT/ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) - A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran showed further strain on Friday, a day before they are to negotiate in Pakistan, as Washington accused Tehran of breaching promises on the Strait of Hormuz and Israel struck Lebanon with attacks that Iran has claimed violate the truce.

April 10 (Reuters) - Israel's military said on Friday that Hezbollah launched a missile at Israel, triggering air raid sirens in parts of the country, including in Tel Aviv.

The missile was intercepted, according to the Times of Israel.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli military infrastructure in the northern city of Haifa in the late hours of Thursday. It was not immediately clear if the Iran-backed armed group was referring to the same attack.

April 9 (Reuters) - The World Bank Groupcould mobilize $20billion to $25 billion in rapid financing to countries grappling with the economic fallout of the war in Iran, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing World Bank President Ajay Banga.

If the conflict persists, the World Bank is trying to see if it can get another $50billionto $60billionin capacity to help, Banga told Bloomberg Television. Any World Bank support would add to that from the International Monetary Fund.

(Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese)

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday Iran should not charge fees to tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded since the start of the Iran war, causing the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history.

"There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now."