US-Iran peace talks advance, Lebanon remains sticking point and Qatar gas plant explosion

In today’s episode of Trending Middle East, US and Iranian negotiators agree on a roadmap towards a final peace agreement after their first round of talks in Switzerland. Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan announce new mechanisms to oversee negotiations, monitor the ceasefire in Lebanon and help prevent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz. We also have the latest from Qatar, where an explosion at the Barzan gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City has left 54 people injured and 18 missing. Emergency crews remain at the scene as authorities investigate what QatarEnergy describes as an operational incident. Lebanon remains one of the biggest unresolved issues in the wider US-Iran negotiations, with Israel insisting it will keep troops in parts of southern Lebanon while Hezbollah warns it will respond to any further violations of the ceasefire. In business, Egypt’s Midar and Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim sign a multibillion-dollar agreement to develop a large mixed-use community in New Cairo, underlining the growing scale of Gulf investment there. And in the UAE, experts welcome the country's landmark ban on social media use for children under 15, saying the new rules could help tackle excessive screen time and improve young people's digital well-being. Trending Middle East is AI-assisted, using original reporting published in The National and curated and edited by humans.