- Israeli strikes kill 13 in Lebanon -

Israel hammered south Lebanon with more strikes Tuesday, killing 13 people in the south, including two rescuers responding to an earlier raid in the city of Nabatieh and a wounded person they went to save, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Beirut reported 380 people had been killed in intensified Israeli attacks since an April 17 ceasefire took effect and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem vowed to turn the battlefield into "hell" for Israeli forces.

- Iran's missile capabilities -

The New York Times reported Tuesday that classified US intelligence assessments say Iran still has substantial missile capabilities -- with about 70 percent of its mobile launchers and pre-war missile stockpile still in action -- and has restored access to 30 of 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz.

- Australian shipping defence -

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia will join a "strictly defensive" mission led by France and Britain to secure shipping through the strait, once it is established, and contribute a surveillance aircraft to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iranian drone attacks.

- Oil prices climb -

Oil prices climbed over the impasse in US-Iran talks that has left the Strait of Hormuz mostly closed to oil tanker traffic.

The price of international benchmark Brent North Sea crude rose 3.4 percent to $107.77 a barrel and the main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, was up 4.2 percent, at $102.18 a barrel.

- Iran dismisses Kuwait claims -

Iran labelled as "absolutely baseless" an accusation made by Kuwait that four Iranian officers attempted to infiltrate Bubiyan, the Gulf country's largest island, saying they entered Kuwaiti waters because of disruption to navigational systems.

The foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the "improper action" of the Kuwaiti government in exploiting the case for propaganda.

- Trump on Xi -

US President Donald Trump insisted he does not need help from China on ending the war with Iran but said he would talk at length with Xi Jinping when they meet this week.

He told reporters before leaving for Beijing: "We're going to have a long talk about it."

But he added: "We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control."

- US inflation spikes -

Consumer inflation in the US hit a three-year high in April, with the economic fallout of Trump's Iran war rippling through the world's largest economy.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.8 percent year-on-year, up from March's 3.3 percent figure, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said.

- Pentagon ups cost estimate -

The Pentagon said the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict.

The new figure, revealed by the defence ministry during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion higher than the estimate offered by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth two weeks ago.

- Israel in Litani -

The Israeli military said its troops had conducted a days-long raid in the area of the Litani River in south Lebanon, where exchanges of fire with Hezbollah persist despite a ceasefire.

In a statement, the military said that over the past week, troops had conducted a "special operation to clear terrorist infrastructure from the Litani area and establish operational control in the area".

- US must accept deal: Iran -

Iran's chief negotiator said the US must accept Tehran's latest peace plan or face failure, a day after Trump said the ceasefire was on "life support".

"There is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal. Any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.

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