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World Reacts after India, Pakistan Agree to Stop Firing

A Kashmiri woman row her wooden boat on Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025.(AP)
A Kashmiri woman row her wooden boat on Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025.(AP)
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World Reacts after India, Pakistan Agree to Stop Firing

A Kashmiri woman row her wooden boat on Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025.(AP)
A Kashmiri woman row her wooden boat on Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025.(AP)

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate ceasefire" after a fourth day of strikes and counter-strikes against each other's military installations.

This is what global leaders have said about the latest development between the nuclear-armed neighbors:

US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both countries on using common sense and great intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

US SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO

"I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site. We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace."

BANGLADESH'S INTERIM LEADER MUHAMMAD YUNUS

"I most sincerely commend Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan for agreeing to a ceasefire with immediate effect and to engage in talks. Bangladesh will continue to support our two neighbors to resolve differences through diplomacy."

EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF KAJA KALLAS

"The announced ceasefire between India and Pakistan is a vital step toward de-escalation. All efforts must be made to ensure it is respected. The EU remains committed to peace, stability, and counter-terrorism in the region."

BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID LAMMY

"Today's ceasefire between India and Pakistan is hugely welcome. I urge both parties to sustain this. De-escalation is in everybody's interest."

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World

Netanyahu, Trump Strike a Defiant Tone as Iran Says Can Fight for Months

Explosions erupt following strikes in Tehran on March 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Explosions erupt following strikes in Tehran on March 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Netanyahu, Trump Strike a Defiant Tone as Iran Says Can Fight for Months

Explosions erupt following strikes in Tehran on March 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Explosions erupt following strikes in Tehran on March 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country's forces could fight an intense war for six months against the United States and Israel, which said it struck Tehran's commanders at a seaside hotel in the heart of Beirut.

Tehran accused the US and Israel of striking an oil depot in the Iranian capital on Saturday, the first reported assault on the country's oil infrastructure as stock markets have slumped and crude prices surged.

The Israeli military said it struck "a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran" that were used "to operate military infrastructure".

Israel's military also launched a new wave of strikes "across Tehran" on Sunday, after carrying out a precision strike targeting "key commanders" in the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, at a hotel in an area of central Beirut popular with tourists.

Lebanon's health ministry said the strike killed at least four people at the hotel, where an AFP photographer saw shattered windows and charred walls.

First aid responders inspect a Ramada hotel room targeted by an Israeli strike, in Beirut's seaside Rawche area, on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on with the war against Iran "with all our force", with a plan to eradicate the country's leadership after joint US-Israeli raids killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei last week, sparking the regional conflict.

Despite the threat, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that Iranian forces could wage an "intense war" for six months at the current speed of fighting.

Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used "first and second generation" missiles, but will use "advanced and less-used long-range missiles" in the coming days.

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani accused the Trump administration of seeking to replicate a scenario similar to Venezuela where it ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

"Their perception was that it would be like Venezuela -- they would strike, take control and it would be over -- but now they are trapped," he said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on state TV on Saturday.

Netanyahu said Israel had achieved almost total control of the skies over the Iranian capital.

US President Donald Trump Trump struck a similarly defiant tone, repeating the claim that Iran had been close to developing a nuclear weapon.

He also suggested US troops could eventually be needed to secure Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles.

Separately, he blamed Iran for what the country's authorities said was a deadly strike on an elementary school in Minab last Saturday that killed at least 150 people. Iran has blamed Washington for the strike.

World

Eight Dead as Tornadoes Surge Across Central US

A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Eight Dead as Tornadoes Surge Across Central US

A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)
A tree is left uprooted following a tornado that hit several cities in rural southwest Michigan on March 7, 2026 in Union City, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)

Tornadoes tore through the central United States in a series of storms that continued into Saturday, leaving eight people dead and at least a dozen others injured, authorities said.

Four people were reported killed in Oklahoma, where the twisters gained strength, and four others died further north in the Midwestern state of Michigan.

The Branch County Sheriff's Office said a tornado touched down near Union City in southern Michigan on Friday, killing three people and injuring 12.

About 50 miles (80 kilometers) west, officials in Cass County said one person was killed and "several injuries" were reported after a tornado hit the area.

"Our thoughts are with those who have lost family, friends, and property during this incident," the Branch County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Authorities in Cass County said a number of trees had fallen onto roads and buildings, and more than 500 people were reported to be without power.

"Emergency Management personnel will be conducting damage assessments in the affected area as required by the State of Michigan," the local sheriff's office said.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Friday evening she was activating a state emergency operations center "to coordinate an all-hands-on-deck response to severe weather in southwestern Michigan."

In Oklahoma, the extreme weather led to fourth deaths late Thursday and Friday, and people were waking up Saturday to scenes of destruction and loss in several towns across the state.

"Severe weather struck Major County last night and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter," Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt posted on X.

Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said in a statement that two people died in a tornado that hit the town of Beggs on Friday night.

World

US Starts Using UK Bases for ‘Defensive’ Iran Operations

A US Air Force C-5 Galaxy lands at RAF Fairford in south west England on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
A US Air Force C-5 Galaxy lands at RAF Fairford in south west England on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
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US Starts Using UK Bases for ‘Defensive’ Iran Operations

A US Air Force C-5 Galaxy lands at RAF Fairford in south west England on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
A US Air Force C-5 Galaxy lands at RAF Fairford in south west England on March 6, 2026. (AFP)

The United States has started using British bases for certain operations against Iran during the Middle East war, the UK government announced on Saturday.

Britain's defense ministry said the US had begun using the military sites for "specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region".

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer annoyed US President Donald Trump for initially refusing to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which started a week ago, on February 28.

He later agree to a US request to use two British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose".

Those bases are Fairford in Gloucestershire, western England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

A US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber landed at Fairford on Saturday, an AFP photographer saw.

An American C-5 Galaxy plane could also be seen on the runway of the base, as anti-war protesters demonstrated outside.

Trump had said he was "not happy with the UK" and mocked Starmer by saying "this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with".

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has defended his initial decision by saying any UK "must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan".

He has also insisted that he was right to change his position because Iran's retaliation with missiles and drones to the US-Israeli strikes have threatened British interests and allies in the region.

Lawmakers in Starmer's ruling Labour party remain haunted by former prime minister Tony Blair's disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

A Survation poll of 1,045 Britons published on Friday found that 56 percent of respondents believed Starmer was right not to involve Britain in the initial strikes. Only 27 percent said he was wrong.