File- Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” as Israeli forces expand their ground invasion.
- Israeli forces kill a paramedic in southern Lebanon and continue to push towards the city of Nabatieh, as Hezbollah claims more attacks on northern Israel.
- US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is warning that Washington is ready to resume strikes against Iran if the ongoing negotiations collapse.
- Palestinians in Gaza are mourning Jamal Abu Aoun, a doctor who was killed in an Israeli strike in central Deir el-Balah.
- Trump is no hurry to sign off on ceasefire extension
US President Donald Trump met with his advisers on Friday at the White House in the Situation Room, which is the room where the president tends to make the biggest wartime decisions.
He was there, and then he left. And there’s still really no word on why he did not make a decision on this framework for potentially extending the ceasefire.
This was after reporting on Thursday that the US and Iran were nearing a memorandum of understanding that just lacked Trump’s sign-off, which would indeed extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz potentially, and then have an agreement that both sides would then, at that point, start to talk about how to solve the nuclear issue between them.
Well, none of that has happened thus far.
We did hear from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence for the US, who was in Singapore. He said on Saturday that he was confident a deal would be reached. But he emphasised that the US naval blockade of Hormuz, in the meantime, remains in place. And as we heard, he said, the US is still ready to resume strikes and that its military posture in the region remains stronger than ever.
- Iran unveils fast attack boat capable of launching cruise missiles
- Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the military has unveiled its newest naval attack craft, named “27 Rajab”, during a ceremony in Tehran’s Enqelab Square.
- The agency said the vessel can achieve speeds of up to 100 knots (185km per hour) and is equipped to launch long-range cruise missiles.
- It described the deployment as a new symbol of Iran’s maritime military capabilities.
