Editorial: Let’s hope Trump has cooled on a new Iran attack

We must be cautious of any Trump proclamations, but there is room this time for optimism. Read below.

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 23:30

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Netanyahu says

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as a US official said the militia had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten US-Iran negotiations.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows despite a 16 April 16 aimed at halting the ⁠deadliest spillover of the US-Israeli joint war on Iran.

Tehran has demanded a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition in talks with the U.S. aimed at ending the broader war.

As the US and Iran appeared to draw closer to a potential deal on Sunday, Netanyahu said he and president Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that Israel would retain the right to confront perceived threats on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Netanyahu doubled down on that message on Monday night, saying in a video released on Telegram: "We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will ⁠intensify our strikes."

He said Israel's military was not taking its "foot off the gas. On the ​contrary, I ⁠said to step on the gas even more."

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or from Lebanese officials.

Israel's military has remained deployed in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon since the truce, with its air force striking what it describes as ⁠Hezbollah positions and its ground forces demolishing towns where it says the militia holds sway.

Hezbollah has fired explosive drones at Israeli troops and toward towns in ​northern Israel, killing ⁠at least 11 soldiers since the truce, the military says.

At least 608 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks during the same period, according to the World Health Organisation. Hezbollah has not released figures on its war dead.

Fearing a renewed Israeli assault on Beirut, which suffered weeks of heavy bombardment before the truce, people began fleeing the city's southern suburbs on ‌Monday night after Netanyahu's video message was released, Lebanese security sources said.

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 23:16

Explosions heard in Iran, reports

Explosions were ⁠heard in Iran's Bandar Abbas city and coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian ⁠media reported ​on ⁠Monday, adding that the cause was unknown.

Iran's Mehr ⁠news agency said the ​situation ⁠in Bandar ‌Abbas was under control and there was no cause for ‌concern after the explosions ‌were heard east of the city. It said official ⁠sources had not yet commented.

The Tasnim news agency said three explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, while the Fars news agency said similar ‌sounds were heard close ​to Sirik and Jask ‌near the ⁠strategic waterway.

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 22:54

Iran's top envoys discussing potential peace deal with Qatar prime minister, official says

Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit told Reuters on Monday, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.

US Secretary ⁠of state Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier that the US would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in "another way".

There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait (of Hormuz), get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Monday, Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going "nicely", but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It "will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all," he ⁠wrote.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a briefing that conclusions had been reached on many topics ​but that ⁠did not mean the sides were close to agreement.

The official briefed on the Iranians' Doha visit told Reuters the discussions focused primarily on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium while Iran's central bank governor attended to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal.

Baghaei said earlier ⁠that nuclear issues would only be negotiated on if the framework accord is agreed first.

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 22:30

All we know about the latest draft US-Iran peace deal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said that the “final aspects and details of the deal” were being discussed, with his comments confirmed by US secretary of state Marco Rubio who said that “significant progress” had been made.

Rubio also hinted at further good news to come on Sunday “at least in regards to the Strait”. Details leaked to US and Iranian media suggest that significant work has been done to agree a draft memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.

Read more below:

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 21:30

Iran's foreign minister in talks with Qatar on potential peace deal

Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a weekly briefing on Monday that a conclusion had been reached on many topics in the peace deal, but that does not mean that "we're close to signing an agreement".

The official ⁠briefed on the Iranians' Doha visit said that the discussions were focused primarily on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while the country's central bank governor ​is also part of ⁠the delegation to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part ‌of a final deal.

Holly Bancroft25 May 2026 20:30

Iran war poses new threat to harvests in hunger-striken Sudan

Farmers across Sudan say the hike in global fuel and fertiliser costs resulting from the Iran conflict will force them to cut back on planting this summer, restricting food production in a country where war has caused acute hunger.

Eight farmers from different parts of Sudan, as well as experts working in the sector, told news agency Reuters that fuel and fertiliser price increases would compound problems caused by a civil war, hitting staple domestic crops such as sorghum and millet as well as exports like sesame.

Sudan is particularly vulnerable to the fallout from the Iran crisis as it relies on the Gulf for more than half of its fertiliser needs, according to UN data, while the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left it entirely dependent on fuel imports. The country is also already at the forefront of a looming global food crisis at a time of shrinking aid budgets.

About 19.5 million people, more than 40 per cent of the population, are facing crisis levels of hunger.

Holly Bancroft25 May 2026 19:26

Iran's president orders reopening of international internet access, state media reports

Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian ⁠state media reported on Monday, citing an official after a near-90-day blackout in the wake of the war against the US and Israel.

The report cited ⁠the head of public ​relations ⁠at Iran’s Communications Ministry.

The mechanism for how and when Iran would reconnect ⁠to the global web following the decision was ​unknown.

Most ⁠Iranians have been ‌unable to access the worldwide web for 87 days according to the internet observatory ‌NetBlocks on Monday, with only a ‌few citizens having access to expensive and advanced VPNs that circumvent the restrictions.

Authorities initially imposed an internet ⁠blackout from 8 January in response to nationwide anti-government protests, with connections gradually getting back to normal in February, before a new blackout was initiated following the start of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February.

In ‌normal times, access to the ​global internet remains heavily restricted via censorship ‌of many websites, ⁠while authorities are increasingly relying on an ⁠intranet to provide connected services without relying on the ‌worldwide web, ​notably for schools which are ‌currently following an online curriculum.

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 19:08

Full story: Trump demands multiple countries sign diplomatic deal with Israel as part of any Iran peace plan

Dan Haygarth25 May 2026 19:02

Did Marco Rubio call Donald Trump ‘stupid’? Racism question overshadows top US diplomat’s India visit

US secretary of state Marco Rubio was caught off guard when confronted about racist remarks made against Indians in the US during his visit to the South Asian country to reset fraying ties.

During a joint press conference involving the US secretary of state in New Delhi on Sunday, a reporter appears to have indirectly raised president Donald Trump’s endorsement of an American podcaster’s remarks describing India as a “hellhole”.

Mr Trump had shared the “hellhole” remark on his Truth Social platform, prompting India’s government to denounce it as inappropriate and “in poor taste”.

“We have a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians, Indian Americans. This goes against the basic premise of the India-US relationship. What’s your take on that?” Mr Rubio was asked during the press conference after his talks with Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar.

“Who made those comments?” Mr Rubio asked. “Which ones?”

The Indian reporter responded that the comments were “pretty well known” and that “we have seen endorsement of those comments”, without specifying what he was referring to.

Mr Rubio then offered a general answer saying that there were stupid people everywhere. “I don’t know how to address that but I’ll take that very seriously, about the comments,” he said.

Read the full story here:

Holly Bancroft25 May 2026 18:32