Skip to main content

Lebanon PM says working to get Israeli troop withdrawal

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Sunday he was working to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war, even as Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in south Lebanon that the fight there was far from over.

The Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that one of its paramedics had killed in the south.

They said its teams had been "directly targeted by an Israeli drone" while on a humanitarian mission, even though "the ambulances and their crews bore the protective Red Cross emblem".

First responders at the site of an April 10, 2026 Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese State Security Center in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh

Saudi Arabia summons Iraq envoy over drone threats from Iraqi territory

April 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had summoned Iraq's ambassador over what it described as threats targeting the kingdom and other Gulf states from drones launched from Iraqi territory.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement that it had "emphasised the importance of Iraq dealing responsibly with these threats and attacks".

(Reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Alexander Smith)

A man walks as a Saudi flag flutters in the background at Al Qaisareyah Market, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 4, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

'No other way': Mideast prepares for more fighting as talks fail

A sense of dread spread across the Middle East after talks between the US and Iran collapsed, as fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region with Donald Trump ordering a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following more than 20 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, US Vice President JD Vance admitted the yawning differences between the US and Iran proved to be insurmountable for the moment.

In Iran, many had hoped for an end to the war sparked by US-Israeli strikes

At US-Iran talks, Pakistan's field marshal takes centre stage

When US Vice President JD Vance disembarked his plane ahead of high-stakes talks with Iran in Islamabad on Saturday, he was greeted by the powerful Pakistani army chief, his civilian attire blending in with those around him.

The image illustrated what many experts say is Field Marshal Asim Munir's growing role at the centre of Pakistan's foreign relations.

"He is a soldier, a statesman and a diplomat," Islamabad-based political analyst Qamar Cheema told AFP. "Munir has created a momentum for Pakistan at a global level to change Pakistan's perception."

Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir (R) has been at the center of the historic Iran-US talks in Islamabad

Trump says US to start blockading the Strait of Hormuz immediately

April 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Sunday said the US Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz and would also interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran.

Trump made his remarks in a Truth Social post hours after US-Iran peace talks ended without a deal. Trump said the meeting "went well, most points were agreed," but added the two sides had not agreed on Iran's nuclear program.

FILE PHOTO: President Donald Trump arrives from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington.     Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Trump orders US naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of failed peace talks with Iran -- a significant escalation that would test an already fragile ceasefire.

In lengthy social media posts and an interview on Fox News, Trump acknowledged that the marathon negotiations in Islamabad had gone "well" and "most points were agreed to."

US President Donald Trump says marathon negotiations with Iran had gone 'well' despite the peace talks ending in failure, and he is ordering a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz

Australia PM Albanese to visit Brunei, Malaysia to shore up fuel supply

SYDNEY, April 12 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Brunei and Malaysia this week, continuing diplomatic efforts to secure fuel supplies from Asian allies after disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

Albanese will travel to Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Lumpur from April 14 to 17, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

He is scheduled to meet Brunei's ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong would also meet her counterparts in Brunei and Malaysia, the statement said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves Lakemba Mosque after a visit for Eid al-Fitr in Sydney, Australia, March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Israeli strike kills infant girl in south Lebanon during father's funeral

(Correcting last name of doctor in paragraphs 19-20 to Attiyeh, not Khattiyeh.)

By Thomas Suen and Louisa Gouliamaki

TYRE, Lebanon April 12 (Reuters) - Wrapped in bloodied bandages, Aline Saeed, seven, barely survived the Israeli strike on her home in south Lebanon last week. She was there to bury her father as hopes of a truce spread across the region, but a new strike killed her infant sister and other relatives.

A young woman mourns over the body of her sister Hawraa, 22,  during the funeral service of six women and a man killed in Israeli strikes yesterday in Abbasiyeh, at a mosque in Tyre, Lebanon, April 10, 2026. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

Israel's Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

JERUSALEM, April 12 (Reuters) - Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshippers and drawing condemnation from Jordan.

The compound in Jerusalem's walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/where-is-al-aqsa-mosque-why-is-it-so-important-islam-2023-04-05/. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam's third-holiest site.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits Al-Aqsa compound also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City August 13, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. Temple Mount Administration/Handout via REUTERS.