International News from Wednesday, July 15th, 2026

Lebanon and Israel concluded US-brokered talks in Rome on Wednesday, with a US official saying they had made progress on implementing a plan that could see Israeli forces begin to withdraw from some parts of southern Lebanon within days.

The US conducted a new wave of strikes against Iran's coastal defence systems and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy endorsed the head of the state energy company on Wednesday to be Ukraine's new prime minister, while giving no clear answer on the future of the defence minister at a pivotal juncture in the war.

Russia and Ukraine stepped up their battle over the Black Sea and key trade routes on Wednesday, with Moscow killing three people in an attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and Kyiv's drone forces striking Russian shipping.

India's aircraft accident investigating body has prepared a cockpit voice recorder transcript, conducted a psychological autopsy and moved into the final stages of its probe into last year’s deadly Air India crash, a court filing showed.

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased to 2,011, including 754 deaths, government data showed on Tuesday.

Britain will introduce a default overnight curfew on  social media  apps for 16- and 17-year-olds, the government said, adding new restrictions for older teenagers to its plan to introduce a sweeping ban on social media for under-16s.

The US Coast Guard has called off its search on Wednesday for people missing from a triple-deck pontoon boat that capsized in San Francisco Bay a day earlier, leaving the casualty toll at one confirmed death and three others lost at sea.

President Donald Trump has reimposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on Tuesday and threatened to hit power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes negotiations as the US military completed another round of strikes on Iran.

Kuwait's Ministry of Defence has reported the injury of four service members after Iranian attacks targeted the country's Navy vessel on Tuesday evening as its air defence forces intercepted six missiles and 33 drones.