The United States launched fresh strikes against Iran on Tuesday, prompting retaliation from Tehran, which targeted a major US naval base in Bahrain and an airbase in Jordan. It came just hours after US President Donald Trump vowed to retaliate for what he described as the hostile downing of an American AH-64 Apache attack helicopter over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The escalation tested a fragile US-Iran ceasefire that had taken effect on April 8 as both sides negotiate terms to end the...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is holding regular high-level discussions with Britain to secure the long-term future of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, a US official has told the South China Morning Post. The confirmation comes amid reports that the White House is actively considering buying the Chagos Islands – host to a strategically important joint US-British military facility – amid concerns over China’s expanding naval ambitions in the...

The Middle East is bracing for renewed conflict as a fragile ceasefire appears to have collapsed following the resumption of direct strikes between Iran and Israel on Monday. US President Donald Trump appealed for restraint in back-to-back social media posts on Monday, saying both sides “must immediately stop ‘shooting’”. He later announced that Iran and Israel were “looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!”, and that “final” peace negotiations were “proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity...