Page 130 - Latest Updates on West Asia Conflict

Asian shares slide, oil prices surge after Israel's strike on Iran

Markets in Asia opened lower early Friday while oil prices surged after Israel attacked Iran's capital amid the ramping up tensions over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. US benchmark crude oil rose by $5.6, or 8.2%, to $73.61 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by $5.52 to $74.88 per barrel. In share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 37,721.63 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.7% lower to 2,900.14. Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.4% to 23,929.62 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,394.52. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.3% lower to 8,540.80. An Israeli attack on Iran poses a top ten of our global risk, but Asian markets are expected to recover quickly as they have relatively limited exposure to the conflict and growing ties to unaffected Saudi Arabia and the UAE, said Xu Tiachen of The Economist Intelligence. On Thursday, US stock indexes ticked higher following another encouraging update on inflation across the ...

Defence stocks HAL, BDL, BEL gain up to 3% in weak market; here's why

At 09:3 AM; Nifty India Defence index, the sole gainer among sectoral indices, was up 0.64 per cent, as compared to 1.1 per cent decline in the Nifty 50.

Sensex sinks 1,337pts, Nifty below 24,500: 5 reasons why markets fell today

Stock Markets Falling Today: Fearing a disruption in supply chains amid Israel's attack on Iran, oil prices jumped to five-month highs Friday morning

Decoded: How Iran and Israel's decades-old conflict exploded into war

Iran's nuclear programme has long been at the centre of Israeli fears, with Tehran's enrichment advances seen by Israel as an existential threat

Rupee slides past 86 to hit 2-month low as West Asia tensions flare

Indian Rupee today: The domestic currency fell 53 paise to open at 86.13 against the dollar, after closing at 85.60 on Thursday

Israel launches 'preemptive strike' on Iran's nuclear sites, confirms IDF

This comes a day after US President Donald Trump pulled out troops from West Asia and warned that Israel could soon launch a possible strike at Iran's nuclear sites

Iran's top two generals Bagheri and Salami killed in Israeli strikes

The attack on Iran's nuclear sites comes at a time when tensions have escalated over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme

Oil prices jump over 11% as Israel strikes Iran, rattling investors

US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $5.38, or 7.91 per cent, at $73.42 a barrel after hitting a high of $74.35, the loftiest since February 3

Israel preparing for possible strike on Iran nuclear sites, says US intel

US officials say Israeli strike planning has intensified after Trump's Mideast tour; intercepted comms and air drills cited as signs of escalating intent

Netanyahu's criticism of Iran's nuclear programme muted with Trump in power

When the US and Iran met for nuclear talks a decade ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against an emerging deal from the world's most public stages, including in a fiery speech to Congress seen as a direct challenge to the Obama administration as it was wrapping up the talks. Now, as the sides sit down to discuss a new deal, Netanyahu has fallen silent. Netanyahu sees an Iran with nuclear weapons as an existential threat to Israel, and he is just as wary of any new US agreement with its archenemy that may not meet his standards. Yet he finds himself shackled with Donald Trump in the White House. Netanyahu is unwilling to publicly criticise a president who has shown broad support for Israel, whom he deems to be Israel's greatest friend, and who doesn't take well to criticism. He can't do anything that goes against Trump. He's paralysed, said Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based think tank. Israel is in a .

Will Hezbollah disarm under pressure as Israel strikes its missile depot?

Israel's latest airstrike on what it called a Hezbollah missile storage facility in Beirut's southern suburbs came during increasing pressure for the Lebanese militant group to disarm. The disarmament of what has been the region's most powerful non-state armed group has come to look increasingly inevitable. Hezbollah is severely weakened after a war with Israel in which much of its top leadership was killed, and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a conduit for Iran to send arms. Israel and the US are pushing for swift disarmament, but when and how it will happen - if it does - is contested. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has said he is committed to bringing all arms in the country under state control, but that it will happen through discussions around a national security plan and not through force. Many fear that an attempt to force the issue would lead to civil conflict, which Aoun has called a red line. Hezbollah officials have said

Hezbollah chief asks govt to take action to end Israel's attacks on Lebanon

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group called on the government on Monday to work harder to end Israel's attacks in the country a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a suburb of Beirut. Naim Kassem said in a televised speech that Hezbollah implemented the ceasefire deal that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in late November. But despite that, Israel is continuing with near-daily airstrikes. Kassem's comments came as the Israeli military said it carried out more than 50 strikes in Lebanon this month saying they came after Hezbollah violated the US-brokered ceasefire. On Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck Beirut's southern suburbs after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. The Israeli military said it struck a precision-guided missiles facility. "The resistance complied 100 per cent with the (ceasefire) deal and I tell state officials that it's your duty to guarantee protection," Kas

Israeli jets intercepted Iranian planes aiding Syria's Assad: Netanyahu

Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country's embattled president at the time, Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. The remarks in a speech gave a new glimpse into Israel's thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by insurgents last December. Speaking to a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate, a pro-Israel news agency, Netanyahu claimed that arch-rival Iran wanted to save Assad after watching the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon suffer heavy losses in fighting with Israel. "They had to rescue Assad," Netanyahu said, claiming that Iran wanted to send "one or two airborne divisions" to help the Syrian leader. "We stopped that. We sent some F-16s to some Iranian planes that were making some routes to Damascus," he said. "They turned back." He gave no further details. In fighti

Israeli strikes kill 14 in Gaza, destroy rubble-clearing equipment

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and destroyed bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble. Separate strikes on Tuesday killed two people in Lebanon. Israel's 18-month offensive against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, raising fears that much of it may never be rebuilt. The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also needed to rescue people from the rubble after Israeli strikes and to clear vital roads. A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on its parking garage destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped broker the ceasefire that took hold in January. Israel ended the truce last month, renewing its bombardment and ground operations and sealing the territory's two million Palestinians off from all imports, including food, fuel and medical supplies. The strikes also destroyed a water tanker and a

Israel to dismiss air force reservists who condemned Gaza conflict

Israel's military said Friday it will fire air force reservists who signed a letter condemning the war in Gaza and accusing it of only serving political interests and not bringing the hostages home. In a statement to The Associated Press, an army official said there was no room for any body or individual, including reservists in active duty, to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting, calling it a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates. The army said it decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. It did not specify how many people that included or if the firings had begun. Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists and retirees signed a letter, published in Israeli media Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the fighting. The letter comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza, trying to pressure Hamas to agree to free hostages, 59

Israeli airstrike on Gaza building kills at least 23, say health officials

Israeli aircraft struck a residential block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated Palestinian enclave showed no signs of letting up. The Al-Ahly hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike, including eight women and eight children, figures confirmed by the territory's Health Ministry. The strike hit a four-story building in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble, according to the Health Ministry's emergency service. The civil defense, a rescue group which operates under the Hamas-run government, said other neighbouring buildings were damaged in the strike. The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas militant who it said was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah. It did not name him or provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of civilians on the militant group, because it embeds itself in dense

Netanyahu to urge Trump for tariff relief during meeting in Washington

Netanyahu, who has spent the last few days visiting Hungary, departs for Washington on Sunday for an impromptu visit with Trump that is expected to take place on Monday

Israeli strikes kill nine in Syria as tensions rise over Turkish influence

Israeli strikes in Syria reportedly killed at least nine people in the southwest of the country on Thursday, as Israel accused Turkey of trying to build a protectorate in Syria. Syrian state news agency SANA said that those who died in the strikes were civilians, without giving details. Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that they were armed residents from the Daraa province. Israel had also struck five cities in Syria late Wednesday, including more than a dozen strikes near a strategic air base in the city of Hama, where Turkey, a key ally of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, reportedly has interests in having a military presence. Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the strikes had resulted in the near-total destruction of the Hama military airport and the injury of dozens of civilians and military personnel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accused Turkey of playing a negative role in Syria. They are doing their utmost to h

Israeli strike on school in Gaza kills at least 27: Palestinian officials

An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed at least 27 Palestinians sheltering at a school in northern Gaza and wounded 70 more, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi, as Israeli forces have expanded their strikes and evacuation orders across the war-torn territory in recent days. The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, and the death toll could still rise because some of the wounded had critical injuries, al-Wahidi said. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas command and control centre in the Gaza City area, and said it took steps to lessen harm to civilians. It was not immediately clear if the military statement was referring to the strike on the school. Israel gave the same reason -- striking Hamas militants in a command and control centre -- for attacking a United Nations building used as a shelter on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people.

Israel hits Beirut for first time since ceasefire ended war with Hezbollah

Israel has launched an attack on Lebanon's capital for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a loud boom and witnessed smoke rising from an area in the city's southern suburbs that Israel's military had vowed to strike. It marked Israel's first strike on Beirut since a ceasefire took hold last November between it and the Hezbollah militant group, though Israel has attacked targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then. Israel's army said it hit a Hezbollah drone storage facility in Dahiyeh, which it called a militant stronghold. The strike came after Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields, warned residents to evacuate the area. The area struck is a residential and commercial area and is close to at least two schools. Israeli officials said the attack was retaliation for rockets it said were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. They promised strikes on Bei