The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
Iran, US agreed to a two-week on April 8; the truce was later extended indefinitely and remains in place
Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks ended without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
US and Iran exchanged fire on May 8 despite the ceasefire
Even as hostilities briefly renewed, Washington said it was awaiting Iran’s response to a US proposal that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved for now
Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the outskirts of the towns of Kfar Tibnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and Harouf in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent on the ground reports.
In another incident, an Israeli drone attack hit the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the report added.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan have held a phone call to discuss regional issues amid the US-Israel war on Iran, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Russian foreign ministry.
“The discussion focused on the situation around the Strait of Hormuz, including deliberations on this issue at the UN,” the statement said.
“The Russian side emphasised the need to concentrate on supporting the ongoing negotiation efforts between Iran and the US,” it added.
According to the ministry, Moscow reaffirmed its position that the prospects for stabilisation must not be jeopardised by a resumption of hostilities, which would cause civilian casualties and damage civilian infrastructure both in Iran and neighbouring countries.
“The foreign ministers agreed to remain in contact and work towards aligning the approaches of all parties involved in the search for a long-term, sustainable settlement,” the statement concluded.
The Israeli military called on residents of more than half a dozen villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate ahead of expected attacks against Hezbollah despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting, AFP reports.
“In light of the terrorist Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it forcefully,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, listing nine villages.
Moscow is urging the US and Bahrain to withdraw a draft resolution in the UN Security Council that calls on Iran to end its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.
According to Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov told the Izvestia daily news outlet that Moscow “cannot support” the resolution, which is also backed by Gulf states.
“We now call on the co-authors of the US-Bahraini draft to withdraw it and not rush decisions on it, as we don’t yet see any potential for this document,” Alimov said.
Hassan Rasouli, a member of Iran’s Reformists’ Supreme Council for Policymaking, has told the country’s official IRNA news agency in an interview that US President Trump’s efforts to create a rift among Iranian officials are “psychological warfare”, Al Jazeera reports.
Rasouli told the news agency that, in his view, by instilling division and discord in the ranks of officials, US-Israeli forces are “trying to achieve victory without firing a single bullet”.
With his decision to pull some US troops from Germany, his threats to draw down forces elsewhere in Europe and his downplaying of recent attacks on an important Gulf partner, President Donald Trump’s latest moves foreshadow what could be the war’s enduring legacy: the fraying of ties with key allies.
Even as the US and Iran inch toward a potential off-ramp, Trump’s words and deeds have revived fears among Washington’s long-standing friends — from Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific — that the US might be unreliable in a future crisis.
In response, some traditional US partners are starting to hedge their bets in ways that may bring long-lasting changes in relations with Washington, while adversaries such as China and Russia are looking to exploit strategic openings.
With temperatures climbing, wedding invitations seem to have mercifully dwindled to a stop for those who dread the sweat of suits, heels, and layers of makeup. And not a day too soon, given how the ongoing war has impacted this wedding-obsessed country.
Amid surging fuel rates and inflation, pricing volatility has reached new highs. Several venues have raised rates by up to Rs500 per head, while others are refusing to commit to winter pricing altogether, citing uncertainty around oil and input costs, says Izzah Zaman, co-founder of wedding-tech startup Shadiyana.
Alongside this, the government’s austerity measures have led to stricter regulatory enforcement: a 10pm wedding cutoff, police intervention in cases of violations, and crackdowns on the one-dish policy, resulting in venue closures across Islamabad.
A member of the Red Cross provides learning activities to children inside a tent at Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium turned into a temporary shelter in Beirut, Lebanon on May 8, 2026. —Reuters
A youth walks past tents inside Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium, turned into a temporary shelter in Beirut, Lebanon on May 8, 2026. —Reuters
People sit outside their tent at Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium turned into a temporary shelter in Beirut, Lebanon on May 8, 2026. —Reuters
A displaced woman looks out from inside her tent at Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium turned into a temporary shelter in Beirut, Lebanon on May 8, 2026. —Reuters
Iranian Ambassador to China Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has said that Tehran’s relations with Beijing will grow “broader and deeper” in the post-war period, according to the South China Morning Post.
“China has always continued to support and help Iran during difficult times, and we will never forget our friends in times of hardship,” he said.
Fazli also confirmed that negotiations were under way between the US and Iran to finalise a memorandum of understanding to resolve the ongoing conflict.
China’s trade grew faster than expected last month, official data showed, withstanding pressure from war in the Middle East and reversing a decline in exports to the United States, AFP reports.
The war with Iran, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has produced new risks for China’s economy, though its trade has so far appeared to be weathering the disruptions.
Exports from the manufacturing powerhouse were up 14.1 percent in April compared to the same month last year, the General Administration of Customs said.
Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Moghadam believes the region could witness new political alignments once the ongoing war involving the United States and Israel comes to an end.
The Iranian envoy, reflecting the thinking in Tehran, said Iran considers its relationship with Pakistan a priority in the neighbourhood.
While noting that Iran maintains relations with other states, including India, he said Pakistan remained a key partner and the relationship was steadily growing stronger.
Talks between the US and Iran could resume as early as next week in Islamabad, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, according to Anadolu.
The Journal said the two sides are working with mediators to formulate a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding that would set the parameters for a month of talks aimed at ending the war.
US President Donald Trump has warned that Washington may escalate its military posture in the Strait of Hormuz if a deal with Iran is not finalised, threatening to revive and expand the paused “Project Freedom” operation, Anadolu reports.
“We’ll go a different route if everything doesn’t get signed up, buttoned up,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
When asked whether the US would return to “Project Freedom,” Trump responded, “I don’t think so,” but added that it still “might do it.”
Satellite images appeared to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic, AFP reports.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was located off the small Gulf island’s west coast.
The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has mocked Donald Trump’s recent threat of a nuclear strike on Iran, Al Jazeera reports.
“It is a grotesque absurdity that they claim to seek peace and prevent a nuclear crisis, yet their proposed solution is ‘one big glow’,” Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X.
He accompanied the post with a clip from the 1964 American film, Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, by director Stanley Kubrick.
US President Donald Trump has said that he is expecting Iran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal on a deal to ending the Middle East war by “tonight”, AFP reports.
“I’m getting a letter supposedly tonight, so we’ll see how that goes,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
Employers in the United States delivered 115,000 new jobs last month, despite the economic shock from the US-Israeli war on Iran, Al Jazeera reports.
The number of new hires exceeded the 65,000 jobs forecasters had expected, but the total was below the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a relatively low 4.3 per cent, according to the US Labour Department.
Egypt has condemned the latest Iranian attacks on the United Arab Emirates, which left three people injured.
“Egypt affirms that the continuation and repetition of these attacks constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the sisterly United Arab Emirates, a clear breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and a direct threat to the security and stability of the region,” the Egyptian foreign ministry has said in a statement.
Expressing solidarity with the UAE, it calls the attacks an unacceptable escalation which “undermines all regional and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and establishing stability”.
According to the United Arab Emirates’ Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), a meeting has been slated for May 10 to decide on whether to have educational institutions continue distance learning or resume on-site schooling.
“This decision will follow an assessment of the current situation in coordination with the concerned authorities, in a manner that ensures the safety of the educational community and the continuity of the educational process,” the authority adds.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged European allies to move beyond rhetoric and take concrete action against Iran as it blocks the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.
Speaking after meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Rubio has warned that Tehran is attempting to assert control over the strategic waterway, calling the move “unacceptable” and a threat to global security.
“Everybody says Iran is a threat. Everybody says that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon … but you’ve got to do something about it,” Rubio telss reporters in Rome. “If the answer is no … then you better have something more than just strongly worded statements to back it up.
“The world has to start asking itself, what is it willing to do if Iran tries to normalise control of an international waterway? I think that’s unacceptable.”
