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Israel's heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March killed over 300 people on Wednesday and rattled the uneasy truce between Washington and Tehran less than 48 hours after it came into force.

US-Iran War News LIVE Updates: US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-day ceasefire just hours before the deadline he had set for Iran to capitulate, warning that otherwise a "whole civilisation will die tonight."

The American role is not limited to troops. The US makes up the backbone of NATO's nuclear deterrence.

Greece has announced a ban on social media access for children under 15, effective 1 January 2027, targeting platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat.

Vice-president leading US delegation in negotiations due to take place in Islamabad on SaturdayNetanyahu says there is no ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel launches fresh strikesThe streets of Islamabad are on strict lockdown as Pakistan’s capital prepares to play host to historic negotiations between Iran and the US that have dangled the promise of an end to war that has devastated the Middle East.Even as the US-Iran ceasefire looked increasingly precarious, amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon and disputes over the terms of the talks, Pakistani officials insist that the make-or-break peace negotiations will be going ahead over the weekend as planned Continue reading...

Prime minister says conversation with US president on Thursday night focused on need for ‘practical plan’ to open strait of HormuzTony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, has joined those saying the government should allow drilling for oil and gas in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.Both applications were approved by the last Conservative government, but then overturned by a court ruling. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has to make a decision about the revised applications operating in a quasi-judicial capacity, which means he has to follow due process and can’t take the decision purely on political ground.The current debate [on energy policy] is deadlocked between two incomplete responses. The government argues the answer is to accelerate Clean Power 2030, focusing on decarbonising the electricity system as quickly as possible. The opposition argues that the answer is to expand domestic oil and gas production. Both positions contain elements of truth, but neither addresses the core strategic problem: outside the power sector the UK economy remains overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels, and electricity is still too expensive to support mass electrification.The UK is caught in a self-reinforcing high-cost, low-electrification trap. High electricity costs suppress demand, slowing the uptake of electric vehicles, heat pumps and industrial electrification. Weak demand growth, in turn, means that the fixed costs of the system – from networks to long-term contracts – are spread across a smaller base, keeping prices high. The result is a system that is too expensive to electrify and therefore remains dependent on fossil fuels and exposed to global shocks …The first of these vital measures will ban anyone from possessing or publishing harmful pornography that shows incest between family members, and sex between step or foster relations where one person is pretending to be under 18.A further amendment will criminalise the publication and possession of pornography where an adult is roleplaying as a child.This government is uncompromising in our mission to protect women and girls online, and we have taken action to stop tech firms from publishing this abusive content.In February, we told platforms that they must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours.I greatly welcome the government’s plans to fully address harmful pornographic content such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse. This content that is freely and widely available online is deeply harmful, normalising child sexual abuse and abusive relationships within families …Today the government has answered our calls for change, and I am delighted that once again the UK is leading the way on regulating this high harm industry. Continue reading...

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which governs international sea law, says that countries bordering straits cannot demand payment simply for permission to pass through.

UK military bases have been invaluable to US, says John Healey, and Britain’s efforts ‘speak for themselves’Middle East crisis live – latest updatesThe UK’s actions in the Gulf should be the basis for any US judgment of the country’s value rather than Donald Trump’s social media posts, Britain’s defence secretary has said.Speaking at a conference in London, John Healey said the UK’s recent efforts “spoke for themselves”, as Keir Starmer flew home after a trip that included discussing how to keep the strait of Hormuz open with Donald Trump, as well as meeting leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Continue reading...