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An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people and wounded several others outside a school housing displaced Palestinians yesterday, health officials said, in the latest violence overshadowing the fragile US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal. Before the strikes, some Palestinians had clashed with members of an Israeli-backed militia, who they said attacked the school in an attempt to abduct some people, medics and residents said. In the midst of the clashes, east of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Israeli drones fired two missiles into the area, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others, they added.It was not immediately clear how many civilians had been killed in the strikes, which hit in a closely packed neighborhood of mostly displaced Palestinians. Ahmed al-Maghazi, an eyewitness, said their area was attacked by members of the Israeli-backed militia who operate in the territory adjacent to where the Israeli forces are in control, before the militia opened fire.“The residents tried to defend their homes, but the occupation forces targeted them directly,” he told Reuters. Later yesterday, a leader of one of the Israeli-backed militias said in a video, which Reuters couldn’t immediately authenticate, that they killed some five Hamas members . There was no immediate comment from Hamas, which brands those groups that operate in areas under Israeli control as “Israeli collaborators.” Earlier yesterday, an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian and wounded a child as they travelled on a motorbike in Gaza City, medics said.Medics said that Israeli forces killed another Palestinian when they opened fire on a vehicle in central Gaza, taking yesterday’s death toll to at least 12. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on any of the three incidents yesterday. The Palestinian group Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, and Israel have traded blame over violations of the ceasefire that kicked off in October. The Gaza health ministry says Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the ceasefire began. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by fighters in Gaza over the same period. The violence comes as Hamas has continued to resist relinquishing its weapons, a major obstacle in talks to implement the next steps in US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza. On Sunday. Hamas’ armed wing said that discussing the group’s disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of Trump’s Gaza plan was an attempt to continue what it called a genocide against the Palestinian people. Source link
Multan Sultans romped to their fourth win in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and second consecutive across two days as they beat Rawalpindiz by seven wickets chasing the 183-run target in 16.2 overs in Lahore last night. Rawalpindiz have now lost their first four matches in the tournament and will be looking for their first victory as they are set to play their remaining six league matches in Karachi. Multan Sultans completed their fourth successful chase in the tournament with aplomb as Sahibzada Farhan and Josh Philippe scored aggressive fifties and also combined for a thumping century partnership. Shan Masood and Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 20s added the finishing touch. With the ball, Faisal Akram shone bright dismissing Abdullah Fazal, Kamran Ghulam, Daryl Mitchell and Asif Afridi to collect figures of 4-31 – his best return across 26 T20s so far. In the chase, Mohammad Amir struck in the second over of innings to remove the in-form Steven Smith for a run-a-ball five with Abdullah taking a brilliant catch at deep square. At this juncture Sahibzada and Philippe took it upon themselves to change the course of the game with a 58-ball 110-run stand. Sahibzada struck 68 off 38 balls striking four fours and five sixes, while Philippe’s 30-ball 56 stood on the back of six fours and three sixes. The duo helped their team collect 58 runs by the end of powerplay. Later a four sixes laden 10th over, which also included Sahibzada’s hat-trick of sixes against Rishad produced 26 runs taking them to 110-1. With 73 needed off last 10 overs, the Sultans lost Sahibzada and Philippe in a space of 13 balls to right-arm pacer Mohammad Amir Khan and left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir, respectively. Shan and Turner hurried their team to victory with the skipper finishing the game with a four and six in the 17th over. Earlier, Rawalpindiz were lifted to a competitive total by Sam Billings, who notched his fifth PSL fifty in his 400th T20 match, and was the only batter from his side to face more than 24 balls and cross the 35-run mark. Billings’ 56 not out off 34 balls came after he entered the fray with Rawalpindiz 79-4 in 9.3 overs and were soon reduced to 94-5 in 12 overs with the wicket of Mitchell (17, 12b, 2x4s), who was caught and bowled by Faisal. From this point onwards, Billings struck seven fours and one six and stitched a brisk 17-ball 33-run stand with Dian Forrester for sixth wicket, a 13-ball 23-run stand with Asif Afridi (7, 6b, 1×6) and the most valuable ninth-wicket stand of 31 from 15 balls with Mohammad Amir Khan, who remained unbeaten on naught off two. Forrester showed off his big hitting skills by clubbing Mohammad Nawaz for three consecutive sixes in the latter half of the 13th over and then hit Mohammad Wasim Jnr for four in a 11-ball 24-run knock. At the beginning of the Rawalpindiz innings, Mohammad Ismail castled Yasir Khan for a seven-ball five, while Arafat Minhas accounted for Mohammad Rizwan by trapping him leg-before for a 13-ball 19 comprising four fours. Ghulam injected the much-needed impetus to the innings albeit for a short time by striking three fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 35 after walking in at 15-1. No.4 Abdullah struck a four and a six and looked threatening before his stay at the crease was cut short for an eight-ball 14 with Rawalpindiz 66-3 in 7.3 overs. Faisal’s regular strikes in eighth, 10th and 12th over hamstrung the Rawalpindiz innings reducing them to 94-5 in 12 overs. Arafat returned another miserly spell of four overs giving away 22 runs and taking two wickets. Ismail and Peter Siddle picked up one wicket each.BRIEF SCORES: Multan Sultans 186 for 3 (Farhan 68, Philippe 56, Amir 2-32) beat Rawalpindiz 182 for 8 (Billings 56*, Ghulam 35, Faisal Akram 4-31) by seven wickets Source link
Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Cheng Li-wun speaks to the media ahead of her trip to China, in Taipei, Taiwan. (Reuters/File Photo) Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun leaves today for China and a potential meeting with President Xi Jinping on what she says is a peace mission as Beijing makes a renewed push to convince Taiwanese to support “reunification”. Cheng, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s largest opposition party, is travelling at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, and as the opposition-dominated parliament stalls a government plan for $40 bn in extra defence spending. The KMT and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have released duelling social media messages ahead of the trip, using the imagery of war and peace. “Peace is the only foundation for prosperity, and the hope for Taiwan’s future,” the KMT said on Sunday, putting out a video featuring young people relaxing on the ground, in a pool and smiling while looking up at the stars. The DPP shot back in a Facebook post that the KMT was trying to “co-operate with the Chinese communists’ scheme to weaken Taiwan’s defence capabilities”, pointing to the delay in passing defence spending, plans the US government has backed. Cheng told foreign reporters last month that “peace cannot possibly be achieved through defence capabilities alone” and political efforts were equally indispensable. She is going to China a month before US President Donald Trump’s summit with Xi in Beijing. While the two sides could strike goodwill agreements in Beijing on trade in agriculture and aircraft parts, they are also expected to discuss areas of deep tension such as Taiwan, where little progress is expected. In a February call, Xi told Trump that the US “must carefully handle arms sales to Taiwan”. This is the first trip by a KMT leader to China in a decade, though China has yet to confirm whether Xi will definitely meet Cheng, who will be in Beijing from Thursday. Last week, Taiwan’s China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said Cheng should tell Beijing to stop its military threats and respect the Taiwanese people’s right to choose their own future. China refuses to speak to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a “separatist”. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, but says its preferred option is “peaceful reunification”. It has stepped up efforts in recent weeks to try and persuade Taiwanese of the benefits, including energy security, which Taiwanese officials have rejected. On Friday, the Eastern Theatre Command, which would lead any attack on Taiwan, published a cartoon picture of what “Taiwan province” would look like during the traditional Tomb Sweeping Festival, marked on Sunday, if it were united with China. People lay flowers at a “Monument for the complete reunification of the motherland”, in front of another sign showing the location — Taipei’s Machangding Memorial Park, where accused communist spy Wu Shi was executed by the KMT government in 1950. KMT forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. Opinion polls in Taiwan have repeatedly shown minimal support for accepting Beijing’s sovereignty under its “one country, two systems” model.Asked at the news conference with foreign reporters about her views on “reunification”, Cheng said the time was still far from ripe for such a discussion. “What we need to deal with now is how to create peaceful and stable cross-strait relations,” she said. Source link
An Israeli airstrike yesterday hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Israel’s army said it was targeting the Hezbollah group, as Lebanon reported more attacks in the country’s south. AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing across the skyline after the strike on the southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold which has largely emptied of residents following repeated Israeli attacks and evacuation warnings. Israel’s army said it was “striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut”, after previously warning it would hit the area. Israel has launched strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran. Shortly before the warning, an AFP journalist in the southern suburbs had seen just a few shops open, as well as a gas station belonging to the Al-Amana fuel company that was destroyed in a previous raid. The Israeli army had announced targeting Al-Amana stations recently that were “controlled by Hezbollah”. Fresh portraits mourning Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli attacks on February 28 that triggered the war, were also visible along some roads. The latest attacks came a day after the first reported strike on the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, which killed three people including two women, according to Lebanese authorities.Among the dead were Pierre Mouawad, a local official in the Lebanese Forces, a party strongly opposed to Hezbollah, and his wife. Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, said yesterday that “the Israelis were targeting a member of the Quds Force”, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm, but he did not seem to have been killed. Israel’s military said it had struck a “fighter target” east of Beirut and was reviewing the incident after “reports of casualties among Lebanese civilians not involved in the fighting”. In a statement, the Lebanese army said its investigation showed there were “no new tenants” in the targeted building. “While it was discovered that a person was seen leaving the building on a motorcycle immediately after the attack, the investigation is ongoing to determine his identity and uncover further details.” In south Lebanon, the health ministry said four people were killed in an attack on a car in Kfar Rumman, near the city of Nabatiyeh. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported deadly strikes elsewhere in the country’s south and east, including in the Tyre district village of Burj Rahal, where an AFP correspondent saw mangled metal and household items among the rubble of destroyed buildings. “The preliminary toll is 15 homes damaged, which are no longer liveable,” said Burj Rahal mayor Daoud Ezzedine.“The residents want to return home, but unfortunately they will not be able to.” Later, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for more than 40 southern Lebanese towns. The NNA reported several strikes on the south. Hezbollah announced attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon and across the border, including launching an advanced missile and attack drones at a base near the central city of Hadera.Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli attack killed a paramedic from the Hezbollah-allied Risala Scouts association yesterday.It also said two paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee were killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier. Lebanon says 1,497 people have been killed since the war erupted, including 57 health workers. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the WHO “has verified 92 attacks on health facilities, medical vehicles, personnel, and warehouses”.“These acts cannot become the new norm,” he added.On Sunday, a strike in the capital’s Jnah neighbourhood hit near the country’s largest public medical facility, killing five, the ministry said.Israel’s military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visited troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah. Source link
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. (Reuters/File Photo) Spain’s ruling Socialist Party has gained voter support amid Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s staunch opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran, while far-right Vox, which supports the offensive, has seen a decline, two surveys published yesterday showed. Sanchez has emerged as one of the most vocal Western leaders criticising what he calls an illegal and reckless war, closing Spanish airspace to US planes involved in the strikes and banning them from using jointly operated military bases in southern Spain.Vox — closely allied with US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement — has harshly criticised Sanchez’s stance.A survey by state pollster CIS showed last month that 85% of respondents rejected the war. Monday’s new poll by Sigma Dos for newspaper El Mundo showed support for Sanchez’s Socialists rising to 27.7% from 26.4% last month, reducing the lead of the conservative People’s Party (PP). Another survey, by 40dB for El Pais, put them at 28.6%, up from 27.7%. Meanwhile, Vox dropped to 17.1% in April from 18.3% according to Sigma Dos, and slipped by 0.1 percentage point to 18.7% in the 40dB survey. The PP topped both polls, securing 32.5% and 31.1% of voting intentions, respectively, up by less than one percentage point in both polls. The party accuses Sanchez of damaging transatlantic relations and has refrained from publicly denouncing Trump and Israel, though its leader has also echoed the “no to war” slogan. A common trend is the transfer of voting intention from the extremes of the spectrum to the two mainstream outfits. The PP appears to be stemming the flow of votes to Vox and the Socialists are picking up former voters of its hard-left junior coalition partner Sumar, the polls showed.A fragmented electorate still means coalitions are required to secure a government and both polls point to a right-wing majority if elections were held now.The next general election is due in August 2027. Source link
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (centre, back), along with representatives from Central Asian states, takes part in the Afghanistan-Central Asia Consultative Dialogue at the Foreign…
US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would lay waste to every bridge and power plant in Iran if it fails to bend to his demands, as he touted the high-risk operation that rescued two downed airmen. Dismissing accusations that such a move would be a war crime, Trump told a White House press conference that “the entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.” The president gave lengthy opening remarks on the recovery of two F-15 crew members recovered from behind enemy lines in Iran, which he compared to finding a “needle in a haystack.” But Trump also doubled down on his threats of destruction before his self-imposed deadline for Tehran’s leaders that is due to expire today at 8pm (0000 GMT Wednesday) Iran must make a deal that involves the “free traffic of oil” through the critical Strait of Hormuz or else there will be “complete demolition… and it’ll happen over a period of four hours,” he said. “Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again.” Trump added that he was considering a plan to charge a toll for oil passing through the Strait — echoing Iranian threats to do the same to the waterway through which one fifth of global crude passes. The 79-year-old’s fresh warnings came just hours after he said during a White House Easter Egg roll that a proposal for a ceasefire with Iran was a “very significant step.” “It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step,” Trump told reporters, under the gaze of First Lady Melania Trump and a mascot dressed as a giant Easter bunny. Source link
Tehran’s response includes lifting sanctions, safe passage in Strait of Hormuz, reconstructionTrump threatens severe action if Iran does not agree to deal by deadlineIran said yesterday it wanted a lasting end to the war with the US and Israel, and pushed back against pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while US President Donald Trump warned the country could be “taken out” if it did not meet his deadline tonight to reach a deal. Responding to a US proposal through mediator Pakistan, Tehran rejected a ceasefire and said a permanent end to the war was necessary, the official IRNA news agency reported. The Iranian response consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction, the agency added. Trump, who has threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8 pm EDT today (midnight GMT) to open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies, rejected the Iranian response and said his deadline was final. At a news conference, Trump said Iran could be “taken out” in one night “and that night might be tomorrow night,” referring to today. He vowed to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges, brushing off concerns that such actions would be a war crime or alienate Iran’s 93mn people. Without an agreement with Tehran, Trump said, “Every bridge in Iran will be decimated” by midnight EDT (0400 GMT) tomorrow and “every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.” After the US and Israel attacked on February 28, Iran effectively closed Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply.The waterway’s stranglehold on the global economy has proved a powerful bargaining chip, and Tehran is reluctant to relinquish it too easily. The Pakistani-brokered framework for ending the war proposed an immediate ceasefire, followed by talks on a broader peace settlement to be concluded within 15 to 20 days, a source aware of the proposals said.Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran’s demands “should not be interpreted as a sign of compromise, but rather as a reflection of its confidence in defending its positions.” He added that earlier US demands, such as a 15-point plan, were rejected as “excessive”. RESCUE MISSIONAt the news conference, Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised the successful weekend retrieval from Iran of a US airman whose jet was shot down on Friday.Hegseth, who has faced scrutiny for outspokenly blending his evangelical religious faith with military operations, described the rescue in explicitly religious terms. The rescue mission came amid rising concern about the nearly six-week-long war’s effect on the global economy, including a sharp rise in fuel prices. The conflict has also hit Trump’s approval ratings and intensified anxiety among Republicans about November’s midterm elections. VOWS TO DESTROY INFRASTRUCTUREFresh aerial strikes were reported across the region yesterday. Hegseth said today would see even more.Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, had died. Israel claimed responsibility for his death. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to destroy Iran’s infrastructure and hunt down its leaders “one by one.” The Israeli military also said it had targeted Iran’s air force through a series of strikes on theBahram, Mehrabad, and Azmayesh airports. Iran said two of its petrochemical complexes were attacked. Emergency and firefighting teams brought a blaze under control at the South Pars complex in Asaluyeh, Iran’s National Petrochemical Company said. No casualties were reported.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on the petrochemical facility in southern Iran was part of dismantling Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “money machine”. Experts have said strikes on civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges would constitute war crimes. Trump said Iranians are “willing to suffer that in order to have freedom,” saying that the US has intercepted messages asking for bombings. “They’re saying, ‘Please come back,’” he said. FIGHTING BACK Iranian weekend strikes on petrochemical facilities and an Israeli-linked vessel in Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE underscored the country’s ability to fight back despite Trump’s repeated claims to have knocked out its missile and drone capabilities. Israel saw a heavy day of rocket volleys yesterday, with the sounds of sirens and missile interception booms ringing out across the country throughout the day.Israel’s military told Reuters there had been 20 missile launches from Lebanon and five from Iran during the day. Several attacks resulted in impacts.A missile hit Haifa overnight, killing four. This raised the war’s death toll in Israel to 23, according to Israel’s ambulance service.Yemen’s Houthis said yesterday that they also carried out missile and drone attacks against Israel.Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East in the Iran war, including 3,546 in Iran. Source link
South Korea has decided to allow crude oil tankers to sail via the Red Sea as an alternative route, amid disruptions to oil transport through the Strait of Hormuz caused by the ongoing conflict in West Asia.Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Lim Jung-kwan, said on Monday that the ministry will support private-sector efforts to secure additional crude oil supplies by permitting tankers that meet certain requirements to transit the Red Sea, in cooperation with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.In turn, Korea’s Oceans Minister, Hwang Jung-woo, said the industry ministry has shared information on crude oil tankers with confirmed shipping contracts as of April 3, adding that his ministry has completed notifying relevant shipping companies of the approval to sail via the Red Sea route.The Red Sea route is considered a detour via the Saudi port of Yanbu, which receives crude oil from eastern oil fields through a 1,200-kilometer pipeline.Hwang noted that an average of 39 vessels per day are currently using the Bab Al-Mandab Strait to exit the Red Sea.South Korea had previously recommended against using the route on March 1, immediately after the outbreak of the conflict in West Asia, but has decided to allow navigation as the crisis is expected to be prolonged. Source link
Sri Lanka on Monday raised prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by nearly a quarter, blaming higher global prices triggered by the Iran war.As well as gas, Sri Lanka also imports all of its oil and buys coal for electricity generation.Colombo has warned that a prolonged war in the Middle East could seriously undermine efforts to emerge from its economic meltdown of 2022.The increase in cooking gas prices on Monday is on top of an eight percent hike last month.A private company, which accounts for about a quarter of the domestic LPG market, raised its retail price by 23 percent to 5,700 rupees ($18.08), up from 4,630 rupees ($14.69).The state-owned Litro Gas, the main supplier of LPG used in cooking stoves, increased the price of a 12.5-kilogramme refill to 4,765 rupees ($15.62), up from 3,990 rupees — an increase of 19.42 percent.”We have supplies for the entire month of April,” a Litro spokesman said, adding that higher global LPG prices and shipping costs had forced the latest revision.Last month, Sri Lanka raised both fuel and electricity prices by more than a third as US-Israeli strikes against Iran and retaliatory attacks drove up global energy prices.The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of global crude oil and gas exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed since the start of the conflict. Source link