Paramedic groups say a fourth Lebanese rescue worker has died after three consecutive, targeted strikes by the Israeli military Wednesday that also wounded six others.<\/p>\n
The back-to-back Israeli attacks on the southern village of Mayfadoun, near the bigger town of Nabatiyeh, hit the first group of medics responding to a distress call from wounded civilians, a second group trying to assist their wounded colleagues and a third group rushing to aid the first two teams that had been targeted.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the strikes beyond saying it was \u201clooking into\u201d what happened. It has previously accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group of using ambulances as cover for militant activities, without offering evidence.<\/p>\n
\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n Fire damages Australian oil refinery, further reducing nation\u2019s fuel supply threatened by the Iran war<\/p>\n Officials say there were no suspicious circumstances behind the blaze that broke out late Wednesday at the Viva Energy Geelong refinery southwest of Melbourne, and no one was injured.<\/p>\n The facility is one of two refineries in Australia and provides 10% of the nation\u2019s gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.<\/p>\n Australia has agreed to underwrite two companies buying fuel at prices inflated by the war. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned last week that supply disruptions would \u201chave a long tail\u201d even if the Iran ceasefire holds.<\/p>\n The government had agreed to terms with Australia\u2019s largest suppliers Ampol and Viva Energy to underwrite contracts for gasoline and diesel bought on the spot market for prices above normal commercial rates, Albanese said.<\/p>\n Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Thursday it was too early to tell the extent of the fire\u2019s impact on gasoline production.<\/p>\n \u201cThe refinery is still producing diesel and jet fuel at reduced levels as a safety precaution,\u201d Bowen told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.<\/p>\n On gasoline, Bowen said, \u201cIt\u2019s not a positive development. It will have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Firefighters said the blaze had been contained to the gasoline plant.<\/p>\n Sharif praises Saudi restraint<\/p>\n According to the statement, Sharif assured the Kingdom of Pakistan\u2019s \u201cfull solidarity and support\u201d and praised what he described as Saudi Arabia\u2019s restraint under the crown prince\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n Pakistan has a defense agreement with the Kingdom, which has faced retaliatory attacks from Iran in recent weeks, causing damage.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s prime minister briefs Saudi crown prince on efforts to ease US-Iran tensions<\/p>\n Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to the Kingdom, briefing him on Pakistan\u2019s efforts to ease U.S.-Iran tensions and assuring him of Islamabad\u2019s \u201cfull support,\u201d his office said before dawn Thursday.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s meeting lasted more than two hours, and Sharif was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.<\/p>\n The statement said the crown prince praised what it described as the constructive role played by Sharif and Pakistan\u2019s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in the peace process.<\/p>\n Sharif dispatched Munir to Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders.<\/p>\n Pakistan has long maintained close ties with Saudi Arabia while also keeping relations with Iran.<\/p>\n Military adviser to Iran\u2019s supreme leader says he does not support extending ceasefire, according to state media<\/p>\n \u201cWe are subject to the decisions of the relevant officials, but personally I do not agree to extend the ceasefire,\u201d said Mohsen Rezaei, formerly a commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who now advises Mojtaba Khamenei on military affairs, Iranian state media reported.<\/p>\n Rezaei also urged officials to be more cautious than they had been before in negotiations over economic matters with the U.S.<\/p>\n He said Iran was setting the preconditions in the next round of talks, not the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike the Americans who are afraid of continuous war, we are fully prepared and familiar with a long war,\u201d he said, according to the report.<\/p>\n Blockade \u2018has been fully implemented,\u2019 US admiral says<\/p>\n That\u2019s according to Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, who says: \u201cU.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going in and out of Iran by sea.\u201d<\/p>\n The command said Wednesday that no vessels have made it past its forces during the blockade\u2019s first 48 hours. The blockade began Monday.<\/p>\n Central Command noted that 10 vessels have complied with directions to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or Iran\u2019s coastal area.<\/p>\n The blockade is being enforced \u201cimpartially against all vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran,\u201d the Command said. Vessels avoiding Iranian ports are not affected.<\/p>\n The action could put serious pressure on the Iranian economy, while Tehran\u2019s earlier cutoff of the waterway<\/a> crucial to oil and gas supplies has sent energy prices higher<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n Wall Street hits a record on hopes for an end to the Iran war<\/p>\n The U.S. stock market hit a record Wednesday after adding to its two-week rally<\/a> built on hopes the war won\u2019t create a worst-case scenario for the global economy.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and eclipsed its prior all-time high set in January. After falling nearly 10% below its record<\/a> in late March, the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts has since roared more than 10% higher.<\/p>\n Much of the rally was due to expectations for calming tensions in the war and a resumption of the full flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. Hopes remained high as regional officials told The Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran had an \u201cin principle agreement\u201d to extend a ceasefire<\/a> to allow for more diplomacy.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n US aircraft carrier sets deployment record<\/p>\n The world\u2019s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, broke the U.S. record Wednesday for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span that saw it take part in both the military raid that captured Venezuela\u2019s leader and the Iran war.<\/p>\n The ship\u2019s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest modern deployment by an aircraft carrier, when the USS Abraham Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the nonprofit U.S. Naval Institute.<\/p>\n Sen. Tim Kaine said the record-breaking deployment has taken \u201ca serious toll\u201d on the mental health and well-being of the crew.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should be home with their loved ones, not sent around the world by a President who acts like the U.S. military is his palace guard,\u201d the Virginia Democrat said.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate in \u2018critical\u2019 condition after heart attack<\/p>\n