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...

North Korea said on Sunday that its nuclear weapons programme was “irreversible”, challenging the US push for denuclearisation a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit. After President Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi last month, the United States said the two leaders shared the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula, although the Chinese statement did not mention the issue. But Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, described the comments as “false...