US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, effective 5 P.M. EST, citing direct conversations with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The agreement follows weeks of Israeli military operations in Lebanon tied to the broader US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which spilled into Lebanese territory on March 2 when Hezbollah attacked Israel. Lebanese authorities report more than 2,100 deaths and over 1.2 million displaced since that date; Israel counts two civilian deaths and 13 soldiers killed in Lebanon. Trump framed the deal as a diplomatic breakthrough, noting that representatives of the two countries met in Washington for the first time in 34 years, facilitated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He directed Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine to pursue a lasting settlement, and said he would invite both leaders to the White House for talks described as the first substantive bilateral engagement since 1983. The durability of the pause faces immediate stress tests. Israeli strikes continued in southern Lebanon through Thursday, including the destruction of the last bridge over the Litani River, effectively severing roughly a tenth of Lebanese territory. Lebanese authorities say they believe Israel sought a battlefield gain in the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil before diplomatic progress could advance. Aoun's office stated that Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon remains a precondition for substantive negotiations.
Iranian armed forces attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, briefly halting traffic through the waterway. The strike threatens a fragile US-Iran arrangement and could push shipping insurance costs and oil prices higher.
The US has struck Iran, with President Trump citing an Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz as justification. The action raises immediate risks for global oil flows through one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints.
The US struck ten Iranian targets on the second consecutive day of military action, putting a fragile ceasefire under serious pressure. The escalation raises immediate risks for Gulf shipping, global oil supply, and regional stability.
Venezuela's twin earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have killed at least 164 people and injured 971, interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Thursday. The quakes are the country's strongest since 1900, collapsing buildings across Caracas and prompting a state of emergency, with the death toll expected to rise as
