International from Thursday, April 16th, 2026

Speakers of the legislative councils of the Gulf Cooperation Council have stressed the importance of adopting a unified Gulf position and working toward resolutions at the Inter-Parliamentary Union condemning recent Iranian attacks on GCC states.

People uprooted by the war in Lebanon began returning to devastated towns and neighbourhoods on Friday, with many finding their homes destroyed or uninhabitable and hesitant to stay for fear a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could unravel.

The US naval blockade of Iran is just an example of 'polite' behaviour during the ongoing ceasefire and US forces are ready to strike Iran's power plants and energy industry if ordered, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Thursday.

Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday after US President Donald Trump attacked him again on social media.

Optimism grew on Thursday that the Iran war may be near an end, with a key Pakistani mediator having made a breakthrough on "sticky issues", a source said, although Iran warned the fate of its nuclear programme had not been resolved.

The US military said on Wednesday it struck a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people, in the Trump administration's latest strikes that have been condemned by human rights advocates.

A fire at the largest of Australia's two oil refineries has hit petrol production, company and government officials said on Thursday, just as the nation faces pressure to shore up fuel security with the Iran war disrupting global supply.

Russia unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities overnight, killing 16 people, and wounding scores, in drone and missile strikes, officials said on Thursday.