AFP/RSS

The worst bout of fighting between Washington and Tehran since their April 8 ceasefire has cast further doubt on US President Donald Trump's earlier claim that negotiations were in their "final throes" before reaching an enduring settlement to end the Middle East war.  

The 7.8-magnitude tremor just off the coast of Mindanao on Monday brought down buildings, triggered landslides and set off tsunami warnings across a swathe of the southern island.

Pakistani strikes killed at least 12 people in Afghanistan near their border, Afghan government officials and local sources said Wednesday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the world's nuclear powers had an estimated total of 12,187 warheads, with about 9,745 of them in stockpiles for potential use.

Despite hand-wringing over the risk that travellers will baulk at paying higher fares, the ongoing war did not appear to ruffle feathers at the International Air Transport Association's annual conference in Rio, which concluded on Monday.

Following the strikes, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of retaliation, saying no attack would go “unanswered.”

The total cost of the series of interconnected regional conflicts that began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 stood at 405 billion shekels ($138 billion) as of late April, according to the governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron.

Sarana Gunawardena, who served as a junior minister under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the latest member of the ousted Rajapaksa administration to be jailed this year.

Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The annual "Conflict Trends" report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) said 65 conflicts involving at least one state were recorded worldwide last year, a new high since 1946.