- Anxious wait for Iran response to US deal -

World capitals and markets were waiting on Thursday for Tehran to respond to Washington's latest proposed deal to end the war in the Middle East and to reopen the key shipping lane out of the Gulf.

Asian stocks soared and oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump said again that an agreement could be near after positive talks, and Iran said it would pass on its latest position to mediator Pakistan.

- Israel stages attacks on southern Lebanon -

Israel pummelled southern Lebanon on Thursday, state media and AFP correspondents said, a day after it targeted a Hezbollah commander in its first strike on Beirut's southern suburbs since a truce sought to end weeks of fighting.

The Israeli army said Thursday that the strike on the southern suburbs killed "the commander of Hezbollah's 'Radwan Force' Unit", an elite unit within the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

- Israeli army probes statue desecration -

The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon.

An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the revered Christian figure and holding a cigarette up to her mouth was widely shared on social media on Wednesday.

- Rubio meets pope amid war tensions -

The top US diplomat, Marco Rubio, went to the Vatican on Thursday for talks with the first US pope, Leo XIV, against the backdrop of sharp tensions between the White House and the Vatican notably over the Middle East conflitc.

- Iran denies striking South Korean ship -

Iran denied that it was behind an explosion that damaged a South Korean ship in the Strait of Hormuz this week.

Tehran's embassy in Seoul said Thursday it "firmly rejects and categorically denies any allegations regarding the involvement of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the incident involving damage to a Korean vessel in the Strait of Hormuz".

- Trump says Iran deal 'very possible' -

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war was "very possible" following "very good talks" over the past day.

"We've had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it's very possible that we'll make a deal," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

- Macron calls UAE strikes 'unjustified' -

France's President Emmanuel Macron told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday that attacks on Emirati civilian infrastructure and ships near the Strait of Hormuz were "unjustified".

"I expressed my deep concern about the ongoing escalation and condemned the unjustified strikes against Emirati civilian infrastructure and several ships," Macron said on X after the discussion.

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