Tehran calls Trump’s peace talk claims ‘fake news’, as attacks continue

Dubai: US President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying the US will hold off striking Iranian power plants for five more days. Trump said US envoys have been holding talks with a “respected” Iranian leader, and Iran wants “to make a deal.” Iranian officials denied any such negotiations, and declared that the American leader had backed down “following Iran's firm warning”. Trump also said the US would seek to retrieve Iran's enriched uranium and end its nuclear programme as part of a deal, telling reporters: “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon. Not even close to it.” The death toll has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.

Here is the latest:

Impact reported in northern Israel after missile warning

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Search and rescue teams operated at a site in northern Israel following reports of an impact, the Home Front Command said early Tuesday.

The public was urged to avoid gathering in the area. The statement came some time after the Israeli military warned that missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.

Israeli jets pound Beirut's southern suburbs

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The Israeli military carried out overnight strikes on multiple neighbourhoods in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. No injuries were immediately reported.

Low-flying jets were heard over the city as the strikes took place.

The military had earlier renewed evacuation warnings for several neighbourhoods, as tens of thousands of residents had already fled the area.

Large fires and plumes of smoke were seen rising across the southern suburbs following the strikes.

Israeli strikes have so far killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced around 1 million others, according to Lebanese authorities.

Ukraine's UN ambassador warns of Russia-Iran military cooperation

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Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations is making the case that military cooperation between Russia and Iran, including on drones, “constitutes an enormous threat to international security” during the war in the Middle East.

Andriy Melnyk told the UN Security Council on Monday that Russia is providing intelligence support, including satellite imagery and other data, to help Iran target US military assets in the region. He said there also is sufficient evidence that Russia, which now produces an advanced version of the initially Iran-designed Shahed drone, is now sending these attack drones to Iran.

He urged the US and the international community to take the threat seriously, saying Russia's supply of drones would allow Iran to keep striking targets across the Middle East.

Melnyk said that providing Ukraine with the means to hit drone production sites deep inside Russia and helping Ukraine ramp up its own production of long-range missiles “would support collective efforts to bring peace to the Middle East”.

Iran and Oman foreign ministers discuss Hormuz Strait developments

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Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi, who had played a key mediating role between Iran and the US, held a phone call on Monday to discuss developments in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state media reported.

The two sides “agreed to continue bilateral consultations”, according to the report.

A Gulf diplomat also says Egypt and Turkey are leading de-escalation efforts

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“For now, it appears they managed to avert an energy catastrophe” that would result if Trump attacked Iran's energy facilities and Iran responded, said the Gulf diplomat.

An Egyptian official has also told The Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran exchanged messages through Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan over the weekend.

Both officials were not authorized to speak with journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Small comforts fade and big worries grow as fuel prices surge globally

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A birthday beach trip. Weekend jaunts with the kids. Even a bedtime beer.

As gas prices remain high, people are stretching their paychecks, giving up small comforts as everyday costs bloat and they try to keep up with their biggest bills.

“For now, we're still managing to hold on,” said Luis Catalano, a taxi driver waiting to fuel up at a gas station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “But I don't know for how long.”

Around the globe, it seems many can agree that the spike in gas is just the latest blow for average people who've grown accustomed to relentless high costs.

“Everything is going up,” said Felicia Iwasa, of Lagos, Nigeria. “The economy is not easy for us.”

Iran war commander-in-chief goes Graceland

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The president, who has often compared himself to Elvis Presley, said during an appearance in Tennessee on Monday that he'd be visiting the home of the King of Rock and Roll. “I love Elvis,” he declared.

Trump's side trip to a top tourist attraction presents a stark contrast to the domestic and international issues Trump spoke about at the the beginning of his remarks in Memphis.

Although Trump noted that he had ordered a “temporary” halt to planned strikes on Iranian power plants, American forces are still embroiled in the sprawling regional conflict, in which at least 13 US service members have been killed.

Israeli leader says attacks on Iran and Lebanon won't stop

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Netanyahu says Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon as the US considers a ceasefire.

Netanyahu says he spoke to Trump, who told him “there is a chance” to leverage battlefield gains into an agreement that realizes the war's objectives.

“At the same time, we continue to strike, both in Iran and in Lebanon,” he said. “There's more to come. We will protect our vital interests in any situation.”

Senior Israeli Cabinet minister says Israel should annex southern Lebanon

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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the war against Hezbollah must end with a “fundamental change” that includes control of Lebanon up to the Litani River, roughly 30 kilometers north of the Israeli border.

“The Litani must be our new border with the state of Lebanon,” he told members of his Religious Zionism party on Monday, comparing it to boundaries Israel has set in Gaza and the Golan Heights.

Israel already has sent thousands of troops into southern Lebanon as it moves to push Hezbollah militants north. Smotrich leads a small ultranationalist party and is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy-making Security Cabinet.

Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministers speak

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During Monday's phone call, Pakistan's top diplomat emphasised the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in promoting “peace, security and stability in the region and beyond” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

US and Iran exchanged messages' through regional mediators, official says

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Washington and Tehran exchanged the “messages” over the weekend through Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, an Egyptian official said.

The exchanges aimed at averting strikes on energy infrastructure in Iran and the wider region, he said.

“This is the top priority now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

UK summons Iran envoy over after 2 men charged with spying

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Britain summoned Iran's ambassador, Seyed Ali Mousavi, to protest what it called Tehran's “reckless and destabilising actions” after two men were charged last week with spying on London's Jewish community on behalf of Iran.

The Foreign Office said the UK takes threats from Iran and its proxies “extremely seriously”.

Trump says Iran means business in peace talks even as Iranian officials deny negotiations

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Trump said his administration has been negotiating with Iran “for a long time” and he believes a deal is close. But he didn't clarify who's been involved in the talks. Iran's parliament speaker and foreign minister denied again Monday that any such negotiations have happened.

“They want peace,” Trump said. “They've agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, you know, et cetera, et cetera, but we'll see.”

In his remarks in Memphis on Monday, Trump said there's a “very good chance” of a deal this week. He credited his threat to blow up Iranian power plants, which he then paused for another five days. “Then we're going to see where that takes us,” he said.

Pakistan and Turkey discuss Iran war de-escalation

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Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said its top diplomat Ishaq Dar spoke with his Turkish counterpart on Monday, urging continued diplomacy as Islamabad steps up its outreach in the region.

Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact last year saying any attack on either nation is an attack on both.

Regional heavyweights Turkey and Egypt speak to warring parties in first sign of coordinated mediation

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary in past talks between Tehran and Washington.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday on whether the country had relayed messages between Iran and the US on Sunday, Turkish officials said Fidan had also spoken to his counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and the European Union, as well as with US officials as part of efforts to end the war.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Cairo has delivered “clear messages” to Iran focusing on de-escalating the conflict, according to his office. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was making “constant efforts and communications” with all parties.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that the U.K. was ware of talks between the US. and Iran, but told British lawmakers “we mustn't fall into the false comfort of thinking that there will necessarily be a quick and early end to this”.

Red Cross chief warns that striking civilian infrastructure risks war crimes

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Without naming specific countries, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said in a statement that “deliberate attacks on essential services and civilian infrastructure can amount to war crimes”.

She said the trend isn't unique to the region or the current war, “but what we have seen in recent days in the Middle East risks reaching a point of no return”.

Earlier Monday, Jamal Abdi, head of the National Iranian American Council, said Trump “threatening to bomb Iran's power plants is a threat to millions of civilians.”

“This is not a targeted' strike. This is collective punishment,” Abdi said.

Death toll in Lebanon reaches 1,039

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The Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday that 10 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.

At least 118 children and 79 women were among those killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the outbreak of a new Israel-Hezbollah war, the ministry said.

The ministry said 90 more people were also wounded, raising the total number of injured to at least 2,876.