05/03/2026 – 06:17Lebanese state media says Israeli strike killed Hamas official
05/03/2026 – 06:07Qatar Airways to operate limited relief flights from Muscat and Riyadh
Qatar Airways will operate limited relief flights starting Thursday for stranded passengers departing from Muscat and Riyadh, it said on X.
Flights are planned from Muscat to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Madrid and Rome, as well as from Riyadh to Frankfurt.
05/03/2026 – 06:06House to vote on war powers resolution over Trump’s Iran attack
The House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution to halt President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering US priorities at home and abroad.
It is the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing the American people in wartime and all that entails – with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.
The tally in the House is expected to be tight, but the outcome will provide an early snapshot of the political support, or opposition, to the US–Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.
05/03/2026 – 05:39Iran targets Kurdish group headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iran said Thursday it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iranian state media, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
“We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency posted on Telegram, quoting a military statement.
05/03/2026 – 05:04IMF chief warns Middle East war testing global economic resilience
Global economic resilience is being tested once again by the latest war in the Middle East, the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, warned on Thursday.
“This conflict, if it proves to be more prolonged, has obvious potential to affect global energy prices, market sentiment, growth and inflation, and place new demands on the shoulders of policymakers everywhere,” Georgieva said during a livestream of the “Asia in 2050” conference in Bangkok.
05/03/2026 – 04:55South Korea activates $68 billion stabilisation fund amid Middle East turmoil
South Korea’s president on Thursday ordered the activation of a $68 billion market stabilisation fund, citing the need to smooth volatility caused by the war in the Middle East.
“The escalating crisis in the Middle East is significantly worsening the global economic and security environment,” President Lee Jae Myung said.
“First, we must respond proactively to heightened volatility in financial markets, including equities and foreign exchange.”
05/03/2026 – 04:40Canadian and Australian leaders call for Iran de-escalation, deny nuclear ambitions
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for a de-escalation of the Iran war, with Carney saying, “We want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerents involved.”
“We stress that that cannot be achieved unless we’re in a position where Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, develop a nuclear weapon, and export terrorism is ended. So that process must lead to those outcomes,” he added.
Albanese said: “The world wants to see a de-escalation and wants to see Iran cease the escalation of its attacks.
05/03/2026 – 04:18Pakistani suspect denies willingly aiding alleged plot to kill Trump
A Pakistani man accused of planning to kill President Donald Trump told jurors on Wednesday that he did not willingly work with Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to devise the alleged plot, media reported.
The Justice Department has accused Asif Merchant of attempting to recruit people in the United States in a plan targeting Trump and other US politicians in retaliation for Washington’s killing of the Corps’ top commander, Qassem Soleimani.
The Corps plays a central role in Iran through its combination of military and economic power, as well as an extensive intelligence network.
“I was not wanting to do this so willingly,” the New York Times quoted Merchant as telling a court during his trial on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges, adding that he participated to protect his family in Tehran.
05/03/2026 – 04:12Middle East war casts shadow over regional tourism
Cancelled flights, postponed trips and a great deal of uncertainty: the war in the Middle East is casting a long shadow over the tourism outlook for a region that has become a prized destination for travellers worldwide.
“My last group of tourists left three days ago, and all the other groups planned for March have been cancelled,” said Nazih Rawashdeh, a tour guide near Irbid in northern Jordan.
“This is the start of the high season here. It’s catastrophic,” he told AFP.
“And yet there’s no problem in Jordan. It’s perfectly safe.”
05/03/2026 – 04:06US energy secretary says Iran conflict’s impact on oil markets will be temporary
The impact of the Iran conflict on energy markets will be temporary and a “small price” to pay for US military goals, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Wednesday.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran, and Tehran’s subsequent response, have heightened regional tensions and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, affecting vital Middle East oil and gas flows and pushing energy prices higher. Oil prices rose on Thursday in Asia amid concerns over the prolonged closure of the strait.
“This will definitely be temporary,” Wright said on the “Ingraham Angle” programme on Fox News.
“We have the world just massively well-supplied, abundant oil around the world, and American production at record highs. So we’ll get through this; it’ll be a bump on the road.”
05/03/2026 – 04:04Iran launches multiple missiles at Israel, early alerts sound in Jerusalem
Iran launched several rounds of missiles at Israel early Thursday, the Israeli military said, triggering alerts in multiple areas and explosions heard in Jerusalem, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
After a lull of more than seven hours, Israel’s military issued three separate alerts warning of Iranian missile fire in under two hours.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB also reported the launches.
AFP reporters in Jerusalem heard explosions following the third reported launch.
But Israel’s emergency services, Magen David Adom, said it had received no reports of casualties following Thursday’s early rocket fire, and the military has cleared people to leave their shelters.