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  Israel’s army says it carries out the largest coordinated strike across Lebanon since its renewed war on the country. Israeli strikes have hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning, hours after a  ceasefire  was announced in the United States-Israeli war on Iran. Israel’s army said that on Wednesday it carried out the largest coordinated strike across Lebanon since it started a new military operation in the country on March 2. The attacks targeted areas in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier that the US-Iran  truce excluded Lebanon , a country Israel has invaded in a new campaign against the armed group Hezbollah. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were wounded in the attacks, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the attacks targeted Hezbollah infrastructure. The Israeli military “carried out ...

  For most of the past six weeks, we have brought you maps of a gummed-up Strait of Hormuz. Approximately 800 ships are believed to have been stuck in the Gulf, many transporting oil and gas, and have been unable and unwilling to exit onto the open seas. During that time, there has been a direct line from the world's biggest traffic jam to rising petrol and diesel prices, higher airfares and swelling mortgage rates around the globe. Many countries are also dependent on these waters for significant supplies of other petrochemical products, made at the refineries in the region. These include jet fuel, diesel, fertiliser ingredients and industrial products such as helium, essential for microchip manufacture. The good news is that the overnight ceasefire pauses any further escalation of the conflict, and provides a pathway for deescalation and peace. This is why the markets have responded positively with 15% falls in the market price of oil and gas and a rally in stock markets. However...

  The Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill backed steps like impeachment and removing the president via the 25th Amendment, even after Trump's ceasefire announcement. Dozens of congressional Democrats called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office Tuesday after he used extreme rhetoric  against Iran  that included threatening to  wipe out "a whole civilization." More than 70 lawmakers, including a handful of senators, said in separate social media posts that Trump's Cabinet needs to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and declare him unfit to serve, Congress should impeach and convict him, or both. "The House and Senate must return to session. The House must pass articles of impeachment, and then the Senate must vote to convict and remove the President. Or, the cabinet and Vice President, with congressional concurrence, must invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump," Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.,  wrote in a statement on X . Sen. Chris Mu...

  President Donald Trump's   support for his war with Iran began to publicly fray within his own party, as some in the GOP bucked the president’s threat Tuesday morning. Trump has for several days suggested he would order the military to destroy much of Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including energy sites and bridges, if the country does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump planted that flag again Tuesday morning, declaring that a " whole civilization will die tonight " if Iran does not act before his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline. While the threat was reversed shortly before the deadline in a Truth Social post revealing a two-week ceasefire after talks with Pakistani leaders, Trump's strategy is unpredictable. "Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated," Trump wrote. "On behalf of the United States of America, a...

  During a visit to a memorial for Taiwan's founding father in Nanjing, KMT leader Cheng Li-wun called for "reconciliation and unity" with Beijing. Taiwan's ruling democrats say China needs to stop its aggression. The leader of  Taiwan 's Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party Cheng Li-wun was in  China 's eastern city of Nanjing on Wednesday  in a visit  heavy with historical symbolism. Seen as a proponent of closer ties with Beijing, Cheng is the first KMT leader to visit China in a decade,  amid tensions  over Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose leadership Beijing doesn't recognize. Cheng was  invited to China  by President Xi Jinping in March. In accepting the invite, Cheng had said she hopes to meet with Xi, although a meeting has not been officially announced.  Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan  as a breakaway province  that one day will be "reunited" with the mainland, and  bristles at any political di...

  Iran and the US have agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire, during which shipping traffic will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the US have agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire, during which shipping traffic will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz. This comes more than a month after the US and Israel launched co-ordinated attacks on Iran, and hours after US President Donald Trump threatened "a whole civilisation will die tonight" if Iran did not reopen the Strait. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has been mediating negotiations, said early on Wednesday that the ceasefire was effective immediately. Here's what we know so far about the deal. What have the US and Iran said? Trump said he had agreed to "suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks" if Tehran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and other exports from the Gulf. In a post on Truth Social, Trump sai...