The United States plans to slash the number of fighter jets and warships it provides to Nato in Europe, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Iran’s foreign minister yesterday said that a deal with the United States to end the Middle East war was closer than ever, as a senior US official and key mediator Pakistan both expressed mounting optimism for an elusive agreement.

Shares in Elon Musk’s SpaceX jumped 11 percent to $150 on their first day of trading yesterday after the biggest initial public offering in history, making the polarizing entrepreneur the world’s first trillionaire as he vowed to take humanity to Mars.

Violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has reached record levels, with an average of six attacks daily causing casualties or damage, the UN said Thursday.

Draft deal reportedly includes sanctions relief and release of frozen assets 

Remarks come amid ongoing tensions and accusations over negotiations

Iran seeks sanctions relief, release of frozen assets and war reparations

Draft reportedly includes sanctions relief and reopening of Strait of Hormuz

Fears of regional escalation and economic disruption loom large

Trump, earlier, claimed to have reached a 'great settlement' to end the war

Cites high-level negotiations and broad regional approval for halting strikes

The weather phenomenon El Nino has arrived, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said yesterday, and scientists expect it will intensify into the end of the year, potentially to historic strength.

US President Donald Trump yesterday said he was calling off strikes on Iran hours after vowing to hit the country “very hard tonight” and flagged the signing of a possible deal with Tehran.

Cuba’s government said Wednesday that the US oil blockade that has crippled the island is preventing the United Nations from distributing 170 containers of humanitarian aid.

A Thai woman who police said was arrested over the death of a US diplomat in Myanmar was remanded in custody yesterday, a police source said.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to embrace data showing inflation has risen more than 4 percent, telling reporters that he “loved” inflation and reiterating his belief that prices will fall as soon as the Iran war ends.

At least two people from the Kuki community were killed in attacks by armed men in India’s restive state of Manipur yesterday, two senior police officers said, a day after authorities recovered the bodies of six men from the rival Naga community, who were believed to have been taken hostage.

Fuel stations on the Russian-held Crimean peninsula were out of petrol yesterday, Reuters witnesses said, as a Ukrainian campaign against supply lines to the peninsula escalates.

Efforts to reach an interim deal to end hostilities between Iran and the US have intensified, three Iranian sources and a European official told Reuters, despite strikes launched by both sides. The talks focus on releasing frozen Iranian funds.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of “following the path of Hitler” after the Israeli leader alleged he was an “antisemitic dictator” who had committed a “genocide” against the Kurds.