Middle East crisis live: Israel to continue ground operation in southern Lebanon despite agreed ceasefire

• Global stability is facing a systemic threat as economic warfare, resource shortages, and geopolitical tensions create a dangerous chain reaction of overlapping failures. • These intersecting crises are driving increased migration pressures and widespread social unrest, which further destabilize societies and intensify international conflict.

• The "Geneva fiasco" highlights the risks of replacing professional diplomats with business dealmakers who misinterpret diplomatic compromise as weakness. • This shift in approach transformed a negotiable crisis into an active conflict with Iran, undermining traditional diplomatic strategies.

• Former President Donald Trump admitted to calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy," reflecting a shift in his previous strong support for the leader. • Trump claimed that Israel's current actions and policies are complicating potential peace negotiations and diplomatic efforts involving Iran.

• The text examines how major global conflicts over the last 200 years, including the two World Wars and the Cold War, fundamentally reshaped international borders and power structures. • These confrontations drove significant technological progress and forced a redefinition of global diplomacy and defense strategies.

• Israeli strikes in Lebanon have resulted in at least 1,070 deaths and 2,966 injuries, according to the Ministry of Public Health. • The conflict has displaced over one million people, representing approximately one-fifth of Lebanon's total population.

Police allege the 44-year-old lauded for disarming one of the gunmen in December’s attack put his father in a headlockGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Sydney man who disarmed one of the Bondi terror attackers has been charged with assaulting his father.Ahmed al-Ahmed, 44, is accused of allegedly putting his father in a headlock on 9 March at a house in Bankstown, in the city’s west. Continue reading...

Farage’s party brings in £9m largely from crypto billionaires in three months, more than twice that of Labour and Tories• UK politics live – latest updatesReform UK is raising millions more than the other political parties from private donations, bringing in £9m largely from cryptocurrency billionaires in the first three months of the year.Nigel Farage’s party took a £3m donation from the cryptocurrency and aviation investor, Christopher Harborne, who is a British-Thai dual citizen, and £4m from the cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo, who is relocating to the UK from Hong Kong. Continue reading...

State election officials continue to sift through uncounted primary ballots, which could take days or even weeksThe California governor’s race remained unsettled Thursday, as state election officials continued to sift through uncounted primary ballots – a process that could take days or even weeks as voters eagerly await the results.Polls indicated that British-born conservative pundit Steve Hilton was narrowly leading the race, followed by former US human services and health secretary Xavier Becerra. Billionaire Tom Steyer trailed behind the pair. Under California’s primary system, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister says her position is to ‘always believe women’ when sexual assault allegations are madeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says she believes the Australian women who have alleged they were raped and beaten by Israeli soldiers after being detained as part of a humanitarian flotilla attempting to bring aid to Gaza.Appearing at Senate estimates, Wong said the treatment of the Australian women was “unacceptable”, and the allegations they had subsequently made were “distressing”. Continue reading...

Cenk Uygur was due to appear at SXSW alongside streamer Hasan Piker but Home Office cancelled travel authorisationUK politics live – latest updatesA leftwing US political commentator has described the UK government’s decsion to ban him from entering the country as “haunting and hilarious” and “Kafkaesque”.Cenk Uygur, the founder and a host on Young Turks, a well-established progressive media outlet, was banned earlier this week from entering the UK to attend a speaking engagement alongside Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who has become a popular figure on the US political left. Continue reading...

Civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw warns Birmingham City University’s decision part of extremist campaign that has ‘travelled across Atlantic’A leading US civil rights scholar has urged Birmingham City University (BCU) to reverse its decision to close its black studies course, comparing it with the attack on diversity, equity and inclusion in the US.Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia University, expressed “profound concern” about plans to withdraw the MA in black studies and global justice, just months after the course was launched. Continue reading...

Matt Styler charged with assaulting officer and Daniel Frost with violent disorder and possession of offensive weaponTwo men have been charged in connection with the disorder that broke out in Southampton after the sentencing of a man for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.Eleven police officers were injured in the disturbance, which took place close to the home of the killer, Vickrum Digwa. Continue reading...