Indian prime minister has a habit of collecting awards on his travels, some as their first and only recipient
As Narendra Modi touched down in Seychelles over the weekend, the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean swiftly bestowed one of its “highest” honours upon the Indian prime minister.
Modi beamed as he accepted the Guardian of the Blue Horizon award from Patrick Herminie, the Seychelles president, complete with a trophy and certificate.
Continue reading...Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civilians
The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to capture El Fasher, Amnesty International has alleged.
Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand energy shock, is now gaining from global solar and EV push
China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The report by the Asia Group thinktank concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict.
Continue reading...US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks.
In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as US media reported that the two sides had agreed to halt strikes after tit-for-tat attacks that once again cut off shipping through the crucial waterway.
Continue reading...Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it
The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience.
For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control.
Continue reading...Document appears to have been subject to conflicting interpretations on key issues of Lebanon ceasefire and strait of Hormuz
The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war.
It appears the deliberately opaque wording in the memorandum has been unable to withstand the pressure of conflicting interpretations, and as a result supporters of the deal inside Tehran are on the back foot. Statements to the effect that Iran’s government should never have agreed to reopen the strait of Hormuz are proliferating – and not just among the country’s hardliners.
Continue reading...Iran attacked Bahrain and Kuwait after US strikes, and threatened a ‘complete halt’ to talks
We will soon be closing this liveblog, but you’ll be able to stay up-to-date with our ongoing coverage of the Middle East here.
Here is a summary of today’s events:
Iran launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to US airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks.
US president Donald Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement in a post of social media and said the US may be “forced to militarily complete the job”. Iran also accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement.
JD Vance continued to reiterate the administration’s triumphant line on the war with Iran hours before the latest round of strikes were exchanged. “America wins either way,” he said.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was in Baghdad for a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart. He called for a security framework to be established with the Gulf nations after it struck US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation to US strikes.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRCG has said on state-run SNN TV that it will respond with more force if there are any more blow-for-blow attacks from the US.
Countries including Jordan, the UAE and Italy all condemned Iran’s attacks.
Continue reading...Tehran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait amid efforts to open strait of Hormuz without Iran’s direct oversight
A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”.
On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war. Trump said that a moment might come soon when he abandoned talks and the US would “militarily finish the job”.
Continue reading...Across region there is a push to disarm militia and reinforce state authority but the temptation to use proxies remains
As Marco Rubio ended his brief visit to the Middle East on Friday, he sought to cast in the best possible light his discussions with leaders of the Gulf states. Those leaders are deeply anxious that the deal agreed earlier this month between Iran and the US fails to address their worries about continued Iranian efforts to project power and influence throughout the region.
“They’ve shared with us some very concrete concerns,” the US secretary of state admitted, and insisted that any definitive agreement will require Tehran to not only restrict its nuclear programme but also halt its support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, militia in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen.
Continue reading...No immediate reports of damage after Bahrain hit by ‘number of drones’ as ship in strait of Hormuz also targeted
Bahrain has said it was attacked by Iran with drones on Saturday, apparently in response to overnight US strikes on Iran. A ship in the strait of Hormuz was also attacked.
Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a “number of drones” were launched at the country, though there were no immediate reports of damage. It condemned the attack and described it as a “flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents”.
Continue reading...Vice-president appeared on Bill Maher’s show hours before more military strikes were exchanged in strait of Hormuz
JD Vance said on Friday that the US wins “either way” regarding negotiations with Iran, pointing to what he called the destruction of its nuclear program and diminishment as a country.
“If we make the final deal, then great,” the US vice-president told HBO’s Bill Maher. “If we don’t make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They’re still much weaker as a country, so my attitude is America wins either way.”
Continue reading...Agreement could also end hopes of ICC jurisdiction in Lebanon, which advocates pushed for to prosecute Israel
A new agreement between Lebanon and Israel could block victims of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon from pursuing accountability and hinder future efforts to give the international criminal court jurisdiction in the country, legal experts have said.
Lebanon and Israel signed a 14-point framework agreement in Washington on Friday designed to work towards an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Continue reading...Candidates who believe Israel has committed genocide won big in New York – will it push the party to move their way?
Regardless of which party wins control of Congress in November, New York City voters have all but ensured that next year a vocal bloc of new House Democrats will arrive on Capitol Hill, elected, in large part, because they believe Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.
That is an upshot of the primary elections held Tuesday in New York, where voters ousted two incumbent House Democrats and replaced a third who is retiring with progressives championed by Zohran Mamdani.
Continue reading...Arabic’s rich history of poetry lends itself well to ‘beautiful commentary that … sounds like a love letter to football’
Even before Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range shot had hit the back of net, the commentator had begun shouting. “Allllllllaaaaaaah!!!!” exclaimed Amer al-Khudhiri, an Omani football announcer for BeIN Sports, as the Portugal star scored his first goal of the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
He took a deep breath and then began his soliloquy. “I knew you were coming for revenge. I knew you would answer everyone, the world, the World Cup, the doubters, those who have lost their memory,” al-Khudhiri said. “Oh history, put Ronaldo here as Portgual’s all-time top scorer, through all its history. Allah, Allah, Allah!”
Continue reading...Strikes against military facilities were in response to drone attack a day earlier on a cargo vessel
The US has struck Iran in a tit-for-tat response to a drone strike on a cargo ship, as the ceasefire between the US and Iran that reopened the strait of Hormuz undergoes its greatest test yet.
The US strikes targeted multiple missile and drone facilities in Iran near the strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island on Friday in what appeared to be a limited strike meant to respond to Iran’s attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship without escalating the conflict.
Continue reading...US president calls it ‘foolish violation’ of ceasefire agreement after drone damaged ship’s upper deck
Donald Trump on Friday blamed Iran for carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the US.
One drone damaged the upper deck of the ship but the ship was able to proceed, the US president said. The US shot down three other drones aimed at the ship, he said.
Continue reading...International Maritime Organization says safety guarantees must be confirmed before ships can move again
A United Nations agency has paused the evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN.
The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said on Thursday that the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait would be on hold until the agency could confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.
Continue reading...Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a 71-year-old physician well known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested in the occupied West Bank
Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank, prompting widespread condemnation.
Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah.
Continue reading...Stock markets on both sides of Atlantic up as concerns ease over prospect of another inflationary shock
Oil prices have fallen to pre-Iran war levels as more oil tankers exited the strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell to a low of $72.24 a barrel on Thursday, slightly lower than the day before the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Tehran on 28 February. Prices have fallen more than 20% this month.
Continue reading...Defence minister says troops not withdrawing though Tehran sees end to war in Lebanon as part of deal with US
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that Israeli troops would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, further complicating Iran peace talks as fighting in Lebanon continues to be an obstacle to permanent peace.
Speaking on stage in an interview in Tel Aviv, Katz said Israeli troops would remain in south Lebanon – echoing sentiments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Continue reading...