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Live Second French peacekeeper killed in Lebanon attack Middle East Stay with us for live coverage from the Middle East after US President Donald Trump said he would extend the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to make room for additional peace talks.

Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump's pick to run the US Federal Reserve, used his confirmation hearing to draw a firm line: if confirmed, he said, the White House would not dictate his decisions. Facing pointed questions about his personal wealth and the Fed's autonomy, Mr Warsh said he would safeguard the central bank's freedom to set monetary policy without political interference. A former Fed governor, Mr Warsh moved quickly to underscore what he called his commitment to "ensuring that the conduct of monetary policy remains…

Pressure from Downing Street to install Peter Mandelson in Washington was relentless, with security concerns seemingly treated as an obstacle to be pushed aside, a dismissed senior official told MPs today. Olly Robbins, until last week the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, said Keir Starmer's team showed a "dismissive attitude" toward the security vetting process for the government's choice of ambassador to the United States. He appeared before a parliamentary watchdog committee as the prime minister continued…

El Salvador has opened one of the largest mass prosecutions of President Nayib Bukele’s anti-gang campaign, putting 486 alleged gang members on collective trial as his government continues to wield contentious emergency powers in its fight against violence. According to prosecutors, the case against the alleged Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, members covers more than 47,000 crimes carried out between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend that became the country’s deadliest since the end of its civil war. Those allegations include…

In a surprise move that underscored the volatility of the conflict, US President Donald Trump said he would extend the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to make room for more peace talks, though it remained unclear whether Iran or Israel, Washington’s ally in the two-month war, would accept the arrangement. In a social media statement, Mr Trump said the US had accepted a request from Pakistani mediators “to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified…

Pressure is mounting on Eurovision 2026 after more than 1,100 musicians and cultural figures, including Kneecap, Paloma Faith, Massive Attack and Paul Weller, backed a call to boycott the contest over Israel’s inclusion. The appeal, organised by campaign group No Music For Genocide (NMFG), has also drawn support from artists such as David Holmes, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Macklemore. Paul Weller In the letter, signatories urge countries to take the same course sought from the national broadcasters of Ireland, Iceland,…

Amnesty International has accused the leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia of driving a new "predatory" world order, warning that too few governments are willing to challenge them. Presenting the rights group's annual report in London, Secretary General Dr Agnès Callamard singled out US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, branding them "predators". According to the report, such leaders have turned away from the multilateral framework built after…

Nearly 7,900 people died or vanished along migration routes in 2025, pushing the total number of migrants reported dead or missing since 2014 past 80,000, according to the United Nations' migration agency. The UN's International Organization for Migration said the toll reflects the dangers people face when safe routes are unavailable, forcing them into perilous and irregular journeys. The agency urged governments to muster the political resolve needed to prevent more deaths along migration corridors. "The deaths or…

The European Union signalled fresh financial backing for Ukraine, with foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying she expects "positive decisions" tomorrow on a €90 billion loan package. "We expect some positive decisions tomorrow on the €90bn loan," she said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, where ministers are also set to hear a renewed call to suspend trade relations with Israel. "Ukraine really needs this loan and it's also a sign that Russia cannot outlast Ukraine," Ms Kallas said. Her remarks came…

With the clock ticking down on a fragile pause in fighting, Iran said it has yet to dispatch a delegation for fresh peace talks with the United States, even as the temporary ceasefire that halted the Middle East war edged toward expiry. Tehran and Washington have traded blame over alleged violations of the two-week truce, which is due to end by tomorrow, deepening doubts over whether diplomacy can prevent the conflict from flaring again. At the first round of talks in Pakistan earlier this month — the most senior contacts…