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Pakistani, Afghan border forces clash as UN says war displaces 100,000

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar

KABUL, March 6 (Reuters) - Pakistani and Afghan troops exchanged fire at dozens of points along their border on Friday as the U.N. said their week-old conflict has forced the displacement of more than 100,000 people.

The South Asian nations show no signs of rapprochement in their worst fighting in years, adding to the volatility in a region also contending with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran - a nation that borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

FILE PHOTO: A displaced Afghan family who fled following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces at a border crossing arranges their belongings in a makeshift camp as they take refuge in Lal Pur district in eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Fresh Israeli strikes on Lebanon as PM warns of 'looming humanitarian disaster'

Fresh Israeli strikes on Friday battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned "a humanitarian disaster is looming" due to mass displacement.

An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel presses attacks on Lebanon's south, east, and in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Speaking to foreign ambassadors, the Lebanese premier said "the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented".

Israel warned hundreds of thousands of residents of Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate before the strikes

Maersk suspends two shipping services due to Middle East crisis

COPENHAGEN, March 6 (Reuters) - Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, said on Friday it has temporarily suspended two services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt global supply chains.

The Danish group said in a statement it would halt its FM1 service connecting the Far East to the Middle East and its ME11 service linking the Middle East to Europe

FILE PHOTO: A sign for Maersk outside their offices in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo

52 French ships stuck in the Gulf amid Iran conflict, minister says

PARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - Around 50 French ships are currently blocked in the Persian Gulf and another eight in the Red Sea, France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Friday, as Paris seeks support to build a coalition of countries to secure shipping traffic in the region.

"There are around fifty ships - 52 to be precise - in the Persian Gulf and eight in the Red Sea, and we are also in permanent contact with the crews, as there are French sailors aboard a number of these vessels," Tabarot told French broadcaster CNews/Europe 1.

FILE PHOTO: French Minister for Transport Philippe Tabarot looks on during the Changi Aviation Summit at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Chia/File Photo

South Korea, US militaries discuss moving Patriot missiles to Iran war, Seoul says

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Friday the U.S. and South Korean militaries are discussing the possible redeployment of some U.S. Patriot missile defence systems based in South Korea to be used in the war against Iran.

Cho was responding to questions at a parliamentary hearing following media reports on Friday that units of the U.S. mobile missile interceptor system had been moved to the Osan Air Base in South Korea from other locations in the country.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun attends the 20th East Asia Summit (EAS), as part of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain

War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Saturday:

- Blasts in Dubai, Manama -

AFP journalists heard explosions in Dubai and Bahrain's capital, Manama, on Saturday, one week into Iran's retaliatory attacks on targets around the Gulf.

A warning siren sounded in Manama, with Bahrain's interior ministry urging residents in an X post to "head to the nearest safe place".

- US approves weapons to Israel -

Smoke and fire rise from the site of airstrikes in a central area of the Iranian capital Tehran on March 6, 2026

Israeli airstrikes pound Beirut suburb, Hezbollah warns Israelis

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut overnight after ordering its residents to leave, while the Iran-backed group warned Israelis to leave towns and villages at the frontier.

Explosions and flashes lit up the night sky over the Beirut southern suburbs, Reuters footage showed. The Israeli military said it had carried out 26 waves of strikes overnight in the southern suburbs, saying targets included Hezbollah's command centres and weapons storage facilities.

Smoke billows following strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, March 5, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Wealthy Asians look to move Dubai assets closer to home on Iran war fears

By Xinghui Kok, Rae Wee and Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE/DUBAI, March 6 (Reuters) - Soon after the first Iranian missile and drone attacks on Dubai last week, two Indian entrepreneurs based there tried to move more than $100,000 each from their local bank accounts to Singapore to hedge risk.

Technological glitches in the aftermath of the Iranian attacks initially scuppered those plans, the entrepreneurs, who did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

FILE PHOTO: Vehicles drive along a highway, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 4, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Rula Rouhana/File Photo

Indonesia says will withdraw from Board of Peace if it does not benefit Palestinians

JAKARTA, March 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has reassured local Islamic groups that he will withdraw from U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' if the platform does not benefit Palestinians, a government statement said on Friday.

The participation of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, on the board, and its decision to contribute troops for a Gaza stabilisation force,has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home, who say it compromises its long-standing support for the Palestinian cause.

Boys in solidarity with Palestinians hold signs as they take part in a protest, outside the U.S. embassy, against Israel and demanding that the Indonesian government cancel the proposed multinational peacekeeping force for Gaza, following  Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto invitation to Washington later this month for the first meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana