Regional
Hostilities flare in Iran war, oil jumps with talks at a stalemate
Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday, with an Iranian missile attack damaging Kuwait’s airport and the U.S. military carrying out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran showed little progress.
The latest flare-up, which sent oil prices up more than 1%, comes with the conflict stalemated in a shaky ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, more than three months after initial U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Reuters reported.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended and diverted elsewhere until further notice, the state news agency said, citing aviation authorities, after an Iranian drone and missile attack on its T1 building.
The attack caused injuries and severely damaged some airport facilities, it added, but gave no further details. Kuwait Airways suspended operations after the attack, the airline said in a statement.
Bahrain’s army intercepted three missiles and several drones, it said in a statement.
Earlier, the U.S. Central Command said two Iranian missiles shot at Kuwait fell short or broke up in flight, while several ballistic missiles aimed at regional targets failed and three missiles heading for Bahrain were intercepted.
Since the conflict began, Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in the Gulf region home to U.S. military bases.
Central Command said the U.S. military also downed Iranian drones targeting civilian ships in regional waters and U.S. forces in Kuwait, and carried out strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz following attempted attacks by Iran.
Iran’s state media said the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as well as an airbase and helicopters in an unspecified regional country.
It sent missiles and drones in response to what the IRGC described as a U.S. attack on a communications tower south of Qeshm.
Central Command said all the attacks failed, however, and U.S. forces stayed ready to repel “unwarranted Iranian aggression.”
Last week, Iran and the United States said they had reached a tentative initial agreement to halt the war, but they have yet to sign off on the deal.
Iranian media said Tehran has not communicated with Washington for several days, but U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations had not stopped.
“The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today,” he said in a social media post.
DISCUSSIONS ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Since mid-March, Trump has repeatedly said he is close to a deal to end the fighting and allow negotiators to tackle thorny issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is developing a nuclear bomb and says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
Tehran is seeking access to billions of dollars in oil revenues, waivers on crude exports, a lifting of a U.S. blockade on its ports and continued leverage over the strait, traversed by a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas traffic before the war.
Iranian media said the IRGC’s navy targeted a vessel it identified as the Panaya with missiles in response to what it said was a U.S. attack on an Iranian tanker near Hormuz.
“Disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the U.S. military,” media cited the IRGC as saying.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the U.S. would agree to sanctions relief only if Iran agreed to give up its nuclear activity.
“The war is over,” Rubio declared during a sharp exchange with Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who disagreed.
ISRAEL KEEPS UP STRIKES IN LEBANON
The war has killed thousands since it began on February 28, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, while also causing global economic pain by pushing up energy prices.
It also triggered the latest round of conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, with Israel pursuing its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 25 years.
On Tuesday, Israel kept up strikes on a string of southern towns, Lebanese security sources said, despite a U.S.-mediated partial ceasefire unveiled on Monday.
The move failed to reassure many Lebanese, 1.2 million of whom have been displaced, and an Israeli drone over Beirut kept residents on edge on Tuesday.
“Every time we return to our homes, there is a warning for us to be displaced again,” said Faten Al Chehime, who fled to a displacement camp on Monday from her home in Beirut’s southern suburbs, just two weeks after she had returned.
On Tuesday, the world’s largest shipping group, MSC, said two projectiles struck one of its vessels while in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port the previous day.
The IRGC said it carried out the attack in retaliation for a U.S. attack on an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
Children’s agency UNICEF flagged the widening humanitarian crisis as surging transport prices and supply chain disruptions hinder life-saving aid to countries from Gaza to Nigeria.
Regional
Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities there warning on Sunday that more flash floods are possible, Reuters reported.
India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh recorded 66.5 mm of rain between September 25 and the morning of September 27, compared with a normal 7.6 mm for the period, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, the state’s relief commissioner, said on Sunday.
Authorities are carrying out rescue operations in waterlogged areas and distributing relief, while officials have been told to assess crop damage and provide compensation.
In addition to the 56 deaths, 46 people have been injured and more than 1,000 houses have been damaged.
Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers and tributaries continued to rise.
Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by last month’s deadly floods that killed more than 1,450 people and left thousands still missing, should remain “alert” but were not currently considered high-risk areas.
Power supply has been completely disrupted in the Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Baglung districts, with authorities working to restore electricity, energy ministry officials said.
Flooding of the Rahuganga River damaged the structure and transmission-line towers of a 40-megawatt hydropower project, Water Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said.
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Several major rivers, including the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada, were above danger levels, read the report.
Floods and landslides also disrupted telecommunications in parts of Nepal after damage to optical fibres and power supplies, Communications Minister Bikram Timilsinha said.
In a separate incident in Nepal, 10 local workers were also missing after an avalanche buried the base camp of the 7,126-metre (23,379-ft) Himlung Himal in the northern Manang district, hiking officials said.
The workers had been setting up tents for foreign climbers, who were not present when the avalanche struck.
Regional
Aimal Wali Khan calls Dera Ismail Khan attack a ‘state failure’
Khan called on the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to take greater responsibility for protecting citizens and addressing the deteriorating security situation in the province.
Awami National Party (ANP) President and Senator Aimal Wali Khan has condemned the suicide attack on the Aman Mela checkpoint in the Darazinda area of Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan district, describing it as a failure by the state to ensure the security of citizens.
According to Dawn, Khan called on the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to take greater responsibility for protecting citizens and addressing the deteriorating security situation in the province.
In a statement, Khan said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is experiencing one of the darkest periods in its history. He alleged that the Pashtun population is facing systematic violence and said prolonged insecurity has left the province deeply affected by terrorism.
Khan also condemned an attack on an ambulance reportedly carrying the body of a person killed in the blast, describing it as an “inhumane act.”
The ANP leader questioned the government’s response to the worsening security situation, saying that blaming groups referred to by authorities as “Fitna al-Khawarij” and “Fitna al-Hindustan” does not absolve the state of its responsibility to protect citizens.
He urged the federal and provincial governments to stop blaming each other and instead focus on restoring peace and strengthening security across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Regional
Blast in Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan kills 11, injures 30
Eleven people were killed and 30 injured in a blast in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, emergency service Rescue 1122 said.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
The blast occurred near Aman Mela in the Darazinda area of the district, Rescue 1122 said in a statement.
Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service said.
Security incidents have continued in the district this month, including attacks involving the Pakistani Taliban.
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