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The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what US Vice President JD Vance called a "fragile" deal.

Iran announced alternative routes on Thursday for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, citing the risk of sea mines in the main zone of the vital waterway.

Experts believe the data may have been extracted from the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin (NSCC), a key facility that provides computing infrastructure to over 6,000 clients across China.

Such bets have repeatedly raised questions from the public as well as members of Congress about whether some traders are using inside information

In today’s newsletter: The truce offers a reprieve after weeks of turmoil, ​b​ut unresolved disputes and competing interpretations ​of what was agreed, threaten to pull the region back toward crisis​ at a moment’s noticeGood morning. On Tuesday, just an hour before the deadline imposed by Donald Trump for Iran to reopen navigation in the strait of Hormuz or face a wave of “civilisation-ending” strikes, a two-week pause in hostilities was announced. After weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Tehran, and Iranian retaliation across the region, the news prompted relief among world leaders.But unanswered questions are piling up. Israel’s assault on Lebanon continues, with Trump describing that conflict as a separate skirmish not included in the deal, despite Iran seeming to think otherwise. Overnight the US president has used social media to warn that “the ‘shootin’ starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before” unless Tehran complies with “the real agreement”.Middle East | The fate of the two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict looked in peril as both sides gave divergent versions of what had been agreed. Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli ceasefire breach.Middle East | Israel carried out its largest attack on Lebanon since its war with Hezbollah began, killing at least 254 people and wounding 837.Middle East | The UK has a “job” to help reopen the strait of Hormuz, Keir Starmer said on arriving in the Middle East, as Iranian reports said the key shipping route was closed again just hours after the supposed US-Iran ceasefire.Ukraine | The US has ignored compelling evidence that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it misguidedly “trusts” Vladimir Putin, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Education | Many English universities are taking excessive financial risks with borrowing and expansion of student numbers, threatening not only their own survival but that of others in the sector, the thinktank Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has warned. Continue reading...

Shipments of fuel into Australia secure until at least the middle of May, energy minister saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia could get more fuel from the US, Mexico or its Asian neighbours, with a new government policy helping refineries bid for oil shipments as diesel prices spike to new record highs.Anthony Albanese is flying to Singapore on Thursday to lock in ongoing petrol supplies from our biggest source of refined fuels. On his way out of Australia, the prime minister confirmed that the government had used new powers to extend assistance to Ampol and Viva refineries, with Canberra to underwrite their efforts to buy new shipments of oil on the open market. Continue reading...

Council backs £700,000 plan to save historic landmark at former RAF base in the New ForestA unique RAF watch office that has been crumbling for decades is to be turned into a smart hideaway home to be shared by holidaymakers – and the bats that already use it.The Landmark Trust, which rescues at-risk buildings, has been given permission to convert the ruined property in Hampshire into a holiday retreat with four bedrooms and a roof terrace. Continue reading...

Trump has been a longtime critic of NATO and in his first term had suggested he had the authority on his own to leave the alliance.