World News

Israel has conducted the first air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah is based, since a ceasefire with the group came into force in November.

The Israeli military said it had hit a drone storage unit used by Hezbollah on Friday, after issuing an evacuation warning that sparked panic.

The attack occurred hours after two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel. Israel said it had intercepted one rocket, while the other failed to cross the border.

Hezbollah said it was not involved. Israel said the attack was a ceasefire “violation”, while the office of Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun also said Israel’s attack was a “violation of the agreement”.

The strike came after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for a building in the Hadath area in the Lebanese capital. Videos showed people leaving in panic. Schools were ordered to…Read more here.

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Vladimir Putin has suggested that Ukraine should temporarily be placed under UN control to elect what he called a more “competent” government.

It is the latest attempt by the Russian president to challenge the legitimacy of the Kyiv government.

Ukraine accused Putin of proposing “crazy” ideas to delay further movement towards a peace deal – being championed by US President Donald Trump.

The White House insisted Ukraine’s governance would be decided by its constitution and people.

Putin’s remarks come as the US seeks to broker a ceasefire in the full-scale war with Ukraine, now into its fourth year.

On Tuesday the White House said the two sides had agreed to a limited truce in the Black Sea.

But Russia then put forward a list of conditions including lifting of some Western…Read more here.

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Russia has said some Western sanctions must be lifted before it begins a maritime ceasefire with Ukraine.

Within hours of the US announcing the two sides had agreed to halt strikes in the Black Sea in separate deals, the Kremlin said it would only take place once sanctions on a number of Russian banks were lifted.

The demands include revoking sanctions on the state agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank and restoring the firms’ access to the Swift international payment system.

Overnight, Moscow launched a drone attack on the port city of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian officials said, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the strikes were “a clear signal” Russia did not want peace.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and its allies suspended access to Swift for a number of Russian financial institutions.

The aim was for Russian companies to lose access to the normal smooth and instant…Read more here.

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Hundreds of people have taken part in the largest anti-Hamas protest in Gaza since the war with Israel began, taking to the streets to demand the group step down from power.

Masked Hamas militants, some armed with guns and others carrying batons, intervened and forcibly dispersed the protesters, assaulting several of them.

Videos shared widely on social media by activists typically critical of Hamas showed young men marching in the streets of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza on Tuesday, chanting “out, out, out, Hamas out”.

Hamas has not commented directly on the protest, but in a statement on Wednesday it blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for resuming the war.

Pro-Hamas supporters downplayed the significance of the protests and accused the…Read more here.