World
Back to homepage
Israeli strikes hit Beirut as Lebanese media reports Hamas official killed
BEIRUT, March 5 — Israel said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah on Thursday, while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war
Read More
China to boost military spending by 7pc in 2026 amid rising regional tensions
BEIJING, March 5 — China said on Thursday its defence budget, the world’s second largest after the United States, will increase by seven per cent in 2026, in line with expectations but slightly below last year’s. Beijing plans to spend
Read More
Trump commerce chief agrees to testify as congressional Epstein probe widens to Gates and others
WASHINGTON, March 4 — US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to testify in the congressional inquiry of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the chairman of the committee conducting the investigation said yesterday. “Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear
Read More
UK triggers ‘emergency brake’ to stop study visas for four countries and Afghan work visas
LONDON, March 4 — Britain said yesterday it would block study visas for nationals from four countries and halt work visas for Afghans, using what it called an “emergency brake” to curb rising asylum claims from people entering through legal
Read More
France deploys aircraft carrier to Mediterranean as Macron warns of conflict spillover
PARIS, March 4 — France is sending its flagship aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean in response to the widening conflict in the Middle East, President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday. “I have ordered the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, its air
Read More
US military says it has hit nearly 2,000 targets in Iran as air defences ‘severely degraded’
WASHINGTON, March 4 — The US military commander in the Middle East said yesterday that American forces had struck nearly 2,000 targets so far in Iran as part of the largest firepower buildup in the region in a generation. “We’ve
Read More
Israel says it struck Iranian launch sites and air defences in new ‘broad wave’ of attacks
JERUSALEM, March 4 — Israel’s military said today that it launched a “broad wave of strikes” on targets in Iran, after the Islamic republic fired rounds of missile barrages at Israeli territory. The military said the targets of its latest
Read More
Trump says Iran was ‘weeks from a weapon’ as he signals US Navy tanker escorts and contradicts Rubio
WASHINGTON, March 4 — President Donald Trump said yesterday the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through a crucial Gulf shipping route, as he justified his war on Iran by saying he believed Tehran was about to strike
Read More
More than a secretary, less than a general: The hunt for the next UN chief begins
UNITED NATIONS, March 4 — A new United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027. Here are the candidates – and potential candidates – so far, and details on how the
Read More
Tehran reels from US–Israeli strikes as Trump declares it is ‘too late’ for talks
TEHRAN, March 4 — US and Israeli strikes pummelled targets across Tehran yesterday, as President Donald Trump warned it was “too late” for Iran to seek talks to escape a war now in its fourth day. Drones and missiles crashed
Read More