Strike

Preliminary deal aimed at ending the war has collapsed as US and Iran fight to break deadlock over strait of HormuzUS says another service member killed as Israel warns Tehran’s attacks coming closeHello and welcome to our live coverage of developments in the Middle East.The US military says it is beginning its ninth night of strikes on Iran, with an interim deal aimed at ending the war appearing to have all but collapsed.Bahrain’s interior ministry said overnight to Monday that its air raid sirens had sounded. “Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” it said on X. Bahrain, host of the US Fifth Fleet, has been targeted by Iranian strikes in recent days.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday it launched a “surprise attack” on an enemy command centre in Syria, in a statement reported by state news agency Irna. They attack was “in revenge for the blood of martyred soldiers of Iranshahr”, a city in south-east Iran, Irna said on Telegram.Iran said it targeted two US bases in Kuwait in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks, which Tehran says have hit transport and infrastructure sites, including an under-construction nuclear power plant.Kuwait and Bahrain have borne the brunt of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbours since hostilities resumed this month despite a ceasefire and memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.Jordan also reported intercepting missiles, a day after the US military said the two service members were killed there Friday and another had gone missing in action as they “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks”.US Central Command’s announcement that a service member died in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone brought to 17 the confirmed number of American military fatalities since the war began. Iran’s health ministry said on ‌Saturday that 50 people had been killed ​and more than 500 injured in US strikes ​on the country over the past three weeks. Continue reading...

• The United States launched bombing strikes against Iran to "swiftly punish" the regime for the deaths of two American soldiers. • In retaliation, Iran targeted Gulf states hosting U.S. troops, including a second attack within two days on a Kuwaiti power and water desalination plant. • The strike in Kuwait sparked a significant fire at a facility critical to the nation's infrastructure, as Kuwait relies on desalination for approximately 90% of its drinking water.

• The U.S. launched retaliatory strikes early Sunday following an Iranian attack on a military base in Jordan last Friday. • Two U.S. service members were killed in the assault, and a third remains missing in action, according to U.S. Central Command. • These deaths mark the first U.S. fatalities from hostile fire since a cease-fire between Iran and the United States collapsed last week.

Fresh attack comes after Iran’s supreme leader warned Washington would pay for ‘seeking to escalate’ the conflictTwo US troops killed and one missing in Jordan after Iranian attacksThe US military said it launched new airstrikes against Iran to “swiftly punish” the country’s Revolutionary Guard for an attack in Jordan that killed two American service members, left one missing and four requiring hospitalisation.Speaking to the New York Post, the US president, Donald Trump, described the deaths as a “shame”. “They did it because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of the troops. “And it just shows you how bad (the Iranians) are,” he added.The two US troop deaths on Friday were its first from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”Iran appeared to target Saudi Arabia as ​well as other US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after US attacks on Iranian bridges, power facilities ‌and other infrastructure.Mojtaba Khamenei said US actions had shown that Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility”, warning of “even heavier costs and further humiliation” for ‌the US, in a statement carried by the ‌official social media accounts of Iran’s supreme leader and state media.The American deaths brought the number of US service members killed since the war began to 16, while more than 430 have been injured. Iran’s health ministry said on ‌Saturday that 50 people had been killed ​and more than 500 injured in US strikes ​on the country over the past three weeks.In Iraq, a base near Irbil of the Kurdistan Freedom party, an Iranian Kurdish dissident group, was struck by a drone early on Sunday, wounding eight of its members, according to a military official with the group.The most significant damage from Iranian strikes on Saturday occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny nation that depends on desalination for 90% of its drinking water. Continue reading...

• Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk has been hospitalized after completing a 20-day hunger strike. • Wangchuk initiated the fast to demand the resignation of India’s education minister, citing alleged irregularities in medical examinations. • The protest highlights growing concerns over transparency and fairness within the national medical testing system.

• U.S. Central Command launched a new wave of airstrikes targeting Iran's surveillance sites, military logistics, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities. • The strikes reportedly hit critical infrastructure, including electricity and water desalination plants located in the State of Kuwait. • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks as a flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council Resolution 2817.

Poor air quality from wildfires continues to plague New York City as neighborhoods hit by thunderstormsSaturday is delivering a double dose of dangerous weather across the north-eastern US, with smoky skies from Canadian wildfires giving way to severe thunderstorms that have already triggered a flash flood warning as torrential rain pounds parts of the region.After a brief break on Friday, smoke from the wildfires moved back into New York City and surrounding communities on Saturday, sending air quality back into unhealthy levels. Continue reading...