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Democrat praised for serving with ‘immense dignity and courage’ during five-decade career while also perfecting ‘workdays’ to connect with constituentsFormer US senator and two-term Florida governor Bob Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate intelligence committee in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, has died aged 87.Graham’s family announced...

Israel’s prime minister has rejected Hamas’ response to a ceasefire proposal and ordered troops to enter the overcrowded city of RafahNetanyahu rejects Gaza ceasefire deal and says victory is ‘within reach’A journalist and his son have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the central Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera.Nafez Abdel Jawad, who worked for Palestine TV, was killed in...

Commander of Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria among dead after attack in eastern neighborhood of MashtalA US drone strike on a car in Baghdad has killed three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials said after a string of blasts were heard in the Iraqi capital.The strike late on Wednesday came on a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighbourhood...

US secretary of state to fly to Cairo after meeting Saudi crown prince as UN reports increase in Israeli strikes on southern former ‘safe’ city of Rafah US-backed Kurdish fighters killed in drone strike on US base in SyriaFrench diplomat to review UNRWA after claims of staff role in Hamas attackAt least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed and 66,978 wounded in Israeli strikes on...

Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iranian-backed militia, claims attack after at least six fighters killedAt least six US-backed Kurdish fighters have been killed in a drone strike on a US base in eastern Syria. The attack was claimed by an Iranian-backed militia that was the target of US airstrikes on Friday.The deaths are the latest indicator of how conflict is seeping across the Middle...

President says ‘If you harm an American, we will respond’ as US forces strike in what is expected to be first of multiple attacksUS airstrikes in Iraq and Syria – live updatesJoe Biden has warned “if you harm an American, we will respond” as US forces attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to...

Strikes expected to take place in Syria and possibly Iraq, after three US soldiers were killed at a base in JordanMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US has ordered a series of reprisal strikes to be launched over more than one day against an Iranian-backed militia, the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has said.Austin said all drones in the region attacking the US were...

Tehran warns Washington but regime unsure of degree of support for interventionist foreign policyIran has told the US via intermediaries that if it strikes Iranian soil directly, Tehran will itself hit back at American assets in the Middle East, drawing the two sides into a direct conflict.The warning comes as Iran waits on high alert to see how Joe Biden responds to the death...

The group that claimed responsibility for deadly attack on US military base in north-east JordanMiddle East crisis – live updatesThree US service personnel were killed and dozens wounded after a drone hit a military outpost in Jordan, known as Tower 22, which lies on the border with Iraq and Syria. The US president, Joe Biden, has blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack and said:...

Pentagon calls attacks ‘necessary and proportionate’, after US personnel were injured in a weekend attack in IraqSee all our Middle East crisis coverageThe US has carried out strikes in Iraq against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militia, the Pentagon has said, after a weekend attack on an Iraqi airbase that wounded US forces.“US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used...

Whistleblowers allege large sums are being lost to corruption in Iraq as donors fail to track spending on postwar reconstructionStaff working for the UN in Iraq are allegedly demanding bribes in return for helping businessmen win contracts on postwar reconstruction projects in the country, a Guardian investigation has found.The alleged kickbacks are one of a number of claims of corruption and mismanagement the Guardian...

Two killed and five wounded, militia officials say, before US secretary of state’s tour of Middle EastMiddle East crisis – live updatesA US airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday killed the commander of an Iranian-backed Shia militia that Washington blames for attacks on American forces in the region, according to US officials.One official said that a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba, later named by the Pentagon...

Three US soldiers were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq, which Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group claimed credit forJoe Biden ordered the US military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three US service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq.A national security council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, said one of the troops suffered critical injuries in the...