By Renju Jose SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday that 13 members of Australian families in Syria linked to the extremist group Islamic State plan to travel home, but will receive no government assistance. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said there were "very
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was halting the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after just one day, in a bid to reach a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war. Trump's so-called "Project Freedom" to help vessels leave the Strait of
By Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Saul BOSTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The CS Anthem chemical tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, its operator said on Tuesday, becoming the second commercial U.S.-flagged vessel known to do so while accompanied by U.S. military assets. Maersk
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Iran "to make a sensible choice" and resume negotiations.
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that peace between Israel and Lebanon was achievable but that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was a problem. "By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is imminently
CAIRO, May 5 (Reuters) - A cargo vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile within the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Tuesday, adding that the environmental impact from the incident was unknown. (Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Ten civilian sailors have died due to the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday. Speaking at the White House, Rubio said the U.S. would continue to deploy its assets to defend
Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.
May 5 (Reuters) - Iran has set up a new mechanism to manage the transit of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday. Iran has warned the U.S. Navy to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz and that commercial vessels will need to coordinate any
Hours after the UAE's top oil executive said the country had "emerged stronger" from war and as thousands attended an Abu Dhabi summit to boost the local economy, phones across the country were alerting that missiles were incoming. The first attacks since a truce came into
Hours after the UAE's top oil executive said the country had "emerged stronger" from war and as thousands attended an Abu Dhabi summit to boost the local economy, phones across the country were alerting that missiles were incoming. The first attacks since a truce came into
May 5 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were hurt after a fire broke out in a shopping centre west of Tehran, Iranian media reported on Tuesday. Iran's state broadcaster IRIB cited the fire department as saying that the fire had been "largely contained". The cause of the incident
The visit comes ahead of President Donald Trump's long-awaited trip to Beijing next week.
(Refiles, no change to text) By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed Iran's military capability and said Tehran "should wave the white flag of surrender" but is too proud to do so. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that
Ankara is pursuing normalization with Armenia ahead of June parliamentary elections in a thaw also positioned to advance its broader Middle Corridor ambitions.
Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi could die in prison unless she is urgently given proper health care after suffering two suspected heart attacks in recent weeks, supporters warned on Tuesday. Representatives of her Paris-based support committee said
By Francois Murphy VIENNA, May 5 (Reuters) - Vienna police expect protests against Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest to include "blockades and disruption attempts", they said on Tuesday, calling the competition in the Austrian capital one of the biggest
By Melory Ghazi, Lauren Bacquie and Noemie Olive PARIS, May 5 - The husband of Iran's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi described the family's fears on Tuesday after her hospitalisation for severe medical problems and the authorities' refusal to transfer her
Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.
By Ahmad Al Kerdi and Raghed Waked BEIRUT, May 5 (Reuters) - A private school in the heart of Beirut converted into a wartime shelter has become a flashpoint for social tensions brewing across Lebanon over the mass displacement caused by the war between Israel and the Lebanese
Israel's defense establishment has been on high alert since the United Arab Emirates announced Monday that Iran had launched a combined attack against the country, with strikes around the Gulf wounding five
The latest developments in the Middle East war: - Hegseth threatens 'devastating' response - Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the United States was "not looking for a fight" in the Strait of Hormuz, but vowed "overwhelming and devastating American firepower" in response to any
Sudanese officials had earlier accused Ethiopia of involvement in drone strikes on its territory, including one on the country’s largest airport.
The United Arab Emirates said Iran had committed an unprovoked 'terrorist' attack and an 'unacceptable act of aggression,' saying it is within its rights to retaliate
KYIV, May 5 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pitched a drone deal to Bahrain during a visit to the country on Tuesday, advertising Ukraine's battle-tested security expertise. Since the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran erupted on February 28, Ukraine has been offering its
Only four commercial vessels had transited the strait in the 24 hours before Tuesday morning, according to ship-tracking data.
The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday. The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second
By John Irish PARIS, May 5 (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council members will begin talks on Tuesday on a U.S.- and Bahrain‑backed draft resolution that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that a U.S. operation to protect commercial ships from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is temporary, Washington is not looking for a fight and the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect. "The
RAMALLAH, May 5 (Reuters) - The millionaire businessman son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to run for a steering role in his 90-year-old father's political party, sources say, as a succession fight looms for control of the embattled Palestinian Authority.
CAIRO/GAZA, May 5 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians and wounded several others in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said. Medics said a Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded by an Israeli airstrike near the Sheikh Radwan
By Steven Scheer and Elena Rodriguez JERUSALEM/MADRID, May 5 (Reuters) - An Israeli court has extended by another six days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece. Saif Abu
"We expected there would be some churn at the beginning," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said of the US Navy-led operation to open the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
ANKARA, May 5 (Reuters) - Turkey and Saudi Arabia plan to sign an agreement to scrap visa requirements for their citizens during talks between their foreign ministers in Ankara on Wednesday, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Tuesday. Relations between Ankara and Riyadh were
By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, May 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expects a "frank" meeting with Pope Leo during a visit to the Vatican this week, the U.S. ambassador said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump took a fresh pot-shot at the pope for
ANKARA, May 5 (Reuters) - Turkish nationalist party leader Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday the jailed head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) should be given an official role to help advance a peace process aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Bahceli, a close
An Israeli court has extended the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla until Sunday, a rights group representing them said, as authorities continue to question the pair. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian national Thiago Avila appeared
An Israeli court on Tuesday extended the detention of two foreign activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla by six days, a lawyer representing them said. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon for
US forces are ready to resume combat operations against Iran if ordered, Washington's top military officer said Tuesday, as the Pentagon threatened a "devastating" response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Hormuz strait. The warnings came after Iran's powerful
Iran's powerful chief negotiator warned the United States against any further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a spate of attacks risked reigniting the Middle East war. The US military said its Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit six Iranian boats threatening commercial
2,000 vessels carrying about 20,000 sailors are effectively trapped in the Persian Gulf, with no clear idea of when they'll return home. Trump presents his 'Project Freedom' as a major breakthrough, but Iran has made it clear that its response won't necessarily be one the
By Haseeb Alwazeer GAZA, May 5 (Reuters) - As Israeli restrictions continue to curb the entry of goods into Gaza, local carpenters are turning to scrap wood and shipping pallets to make much-needed basic beds and tables in a strip battered by two years of war between Hamas and
A meeting between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors is set for this week in Washington, D.C., as IDF ground and aerial operations in southern Lebanon continue; On Monday, Israeli strikes killed 17 and wounded 35, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The fragile truce in the Middle East was in jeopardy on Tuesday after the U.S. and Iran launched new attacks as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well
By Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang TAOYUAN, Taiwan, May 5 (Reuters) - President Lai Ching-te arrived home on Tuesday from Eswatini saying Taiwan would not give in to pressure, having taken a circuitous route over the southern part of the Indian Ocean to skirt airspace controlled
A former senior U.S. intelligence analyst said recent U.S. strikes have not prioritized nuclear-related targets; unchanged estimates may stem from a lack of major nuclear targets that can be readily and safely destroyed, according to some analysts
Despite his threats to destroy Iran's national infrastructure, Trump does not appear eager to return to a full scale war. Having said that, nothing has fundamentally changed for the U.S. President, who makes the ultimate decisions
