Inclusion of Lebanon is significant difference in interpretation of truce agreed at 11th hour on TuesdayMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe fate of the two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict looked uncertain on Wednesday as both sides gave divergent versions of what had been agreed, Israel intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon and Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli ceasefire breach.Iran and Pakistan, which brokered the 11th-hour truce, both asserted that the ceasefire included Lebanon. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, disagreed and Israeli forces unleashed their heaviest attack of the war so far on more than 100 targets, killing at least 254 people. Donald Trump, after initially remaining silent, said Lebanon was “a separate skirmish” and not part of the deal. Continue reading...

Middle East ceasefire threatens to unravel as Israel assaults Lebanon and Iran blocks oil tankers
Inclusion of Lebanon is significant difference in interpretation of truce agreed at 11th hour on Tuesday Middle East crisis – live updates The fate of the two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict looked uncertain on Wednesday as both sides gave divergent versions of what had been agreed, Israel intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon and Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli ceasefire breach. Iran and Pakistan, which brokered the 11th-hour truce, both asserted that the ceasefire included Lebanon. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, disagreed and Israeli forces unleashed their heaviest attack of the war so far on more than 100 targets, killing at least 254 people. Donald Trump, after initially remaining silent, said Lebanon was “a separate skirmish” and not part of the deal. Continue reading...
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At least 182 killed across Lebanon in large wave of Israeli strikes
Attacks hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, hours after a US-Iran ceasefire was announced.

Middle East crisis live: ceasefire must include Lebanon or war will continue, Iran’s foreign minister says
As Israel attacks on Beirut continue, Abbas Araghchi points to announcement that says ceasefire includes Lebanon – and tells US it can’t have both Middle East ceasefire in serious doubt as Israel assaults Lebanon and Iran blocks oil tankers Will shipping in the strait of Hormuz – and oil prices – return to normal? A genocidal threat, and then the US president, Donald Trump, blinked – without any apparently meaningful concessions from Iran. As in so much concerning the second Trump administration, the two week ceasefire “deal” that will see the strait of Hormuz reopened – if it can be described as such – is maddeningly vague and short on detail, apparently kicking the can on key issues down the road. Iran’s nuclear issue, Trump said, would be solved “perfectly.” “It was a big day for world peace”, Trump posted on Truth Social. “Iran can start reconstruction” he added. “Big money” could be made. Yada. Yada. Yada. Continue reading...

Senate Democrats will force war powers vote, says minority leader Chuck Schumer – US politics live
Schumer spoke after top House Democrat called for immediate vote on Donald Trump’s ‘reckless war of choice’ Sign up for the Breaking News US email Pete Hegseth repeated Donald Trump’s social media comments that Iran will cease uranium enrichment – a condition that Tehran has previously refused to budge on. “Any material they should not have, will be removed right now,” Hegseth said. “The president has been clear from the beginning, there will be no Iranian nuclear weapons.” Continue reading...

Oil prices plunge and stocks jump after Trump announces conditional ceasefire with Iran
Oil heads for biggest daily fall since pandemic as Iran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz under its management Middle East crisis – live updates US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire as Tehran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday and global stock markets rallied after the US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire. Investors welcomed the news that Donald Trump had held off on his threat to bomb Iran into “the stone ages”, while Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said passage through the strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under the management of Iran’s military. Wall Street recorded its biggest single-day rally in a year. Continue reading...