Australia to join France, UK defensive mission in Hormuz

CANBERRA, May 13 (AFP): Australia will join a "strictly defensive" mission led by France and Britain to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Minister Richard Marles said Wednesday.Australia will contribute a Wedgetail E-7A surveillance aircraft, already deployed in the region to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iran...

Read more

Trump posts graphic of Venezuela as 51st US state

WASHINGTON, United States, May 13 (AFP): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday posted a map graphic on his Truth Social platform depicting Venezuela with an inset American flag and the label "51st State."The provocative post -- published while Trump was en route to China for a high-stakes summit -- comes...

Read more

Saudi Arabia launched ‘covert’ attacks on Iran

RIYADH/DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters): Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said.The Saudi attacks, not previously reported, mark the first time that the kingdom...

Read more