A draft of a possible deal between Iran and the US includes cooperation between Tehran and Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, reported Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, which said it had obtained the deal.

Iran would commit to returning the number of commercial ships going through the strait to pre-tension levels within a month, according to the draft, Iran’s Mizan news agency cited the broadcaster as reporting on Wednesday, adding that military vessels are not covered by the agreement.

Under the deal, the US would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to the report.

Washington has also “pledged to withdraw its military forces from Iran’s periphery,” it stated, adding that “whether this clause includes forces deployed to the region or forces residing in bases requires negotiation.”

“If a final agreement is reached within 60 days, this agreement will be approved in the form of a binding UN Security Council resolution,” it said.

An agreement has not yet been finalised and “no step will be taken by Iran without tangible verification,” the report added.

Washington, however, denied the report.

“This report from Iranian-controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. Facts matter,” the White House said on X on Wednesday.

Regional tensions boiled over on February 28 when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with barrages of drones and missiles that hit targets across the region as Tehran shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement.

US President Donald Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while maintaining a blockade on vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway, and periodically saying a peace deal was close.

Andy Burnham has accused former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair of failing to understand “what’s going on” in people’s lives and underestimating the impact of inequality.

Sir Tony used a 5,600 word essay, external to argue the Labour government had “no coherent plan” for the country and had introduced policies that had held back business.

He urged Labour not to move to the left and to embrace the “radical centre” instead.

But Burnham, who is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he wins a by-election next month, told the Observer, external Sir Tony “doesn’t mention inequality once” in his critique of where the Labour government has gone wrong.

“If you don’t get how that’s driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what’s going on,” said the mayor of Greater Manchester.

Burnham is seeking to become an MP again on 18 June in the Makerfield by-election, on the outskirts of Wigan, in what is expected to be a closely-fought contest with Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon.

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also said he will stand if there is a leadership contest – but Sir Keir has said he will not walk away from the top job.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said a return to war with the United States was unlikely, while warning that the Islamic republic stood ready against any attack.

The statement came a day after Iran accused the US of breaching the ceasefire in place since April, and warned it was ready to retaliate after the most serious strikes since the truce took effect.

The Middle East war erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, spreading swiftly across multiple fronts and engulfing the region while throwing global energy markets into chaos.

“The possibility of war is low because of the enemy’s weakness, the armed forces are lying in wait with full magazines,” said Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

“Do not doubt that we will turn the area from Chabahar to Mahshahr into a graveyard for aggressors,” he said, naming places at each end of Iran’s lengthy southern coast.

Iran and the US have for weeks been engaged in a war of words as they negotiate a deal with mediation efforts led by Pakistan.

With no clear winner in the war, neither side appears ready to compromise on the key sticking points in negotiations, which include the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is vital to global energy flows, in retaliation for the war, while the US responded with a counterblockade of Iranian ports.

Stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, with guarded optimism that the US and Iran could reach a deal.

Within reach

Iranian state media had reported blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday its forces downed a US drone entering its airspace and fired at an F-35 fighter jet.

“The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire … has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.

It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation,” without elaborating.

Hours earlier, CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins had announced the new American strikes on Iran.

“US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Hawkins said.

He gave few details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”

In a statement marking the start of the Eid Al-Adha holiday, Tehran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared Washington was losing its influence in the Middle East and warned countries in the region to stop hosting bases from which the US could launch attacks.

The United States, he said in a written statement, “in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day.”

Despite the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a peace deal remained within reach, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened “one way or the other.”

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said that “the conditions and procedures for passing through the Strait of Hormuz will be completely different from the conditions before the conflict over Iran began,” in comments carried by Iran’s Mehr news agency on Wednesday.

He added Iran and Oman are currently negotiating how the passage will be managed.

US President Donald Trump said Iran “thought they’d outwait me” in negotiations over a possible agreement with Washington.

“They want to just make a deal,” Trump said. “I don’t think they have a choice.”

Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump reiterated that he believes Iranian leaders “want very much to make a deal”.

“So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be,” he told reporters.

“Either that or we’ll have to finish the job.”

South West State Minister of Security, Hassan Abdukadir, has called on the Federal Government to hand over federal lawmaker Dahir Amiin Jeesow to the South West administration to face trial.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Minister Abdukadir accused the MP of instigating deadly clan conflicts and acting as a spoiler in Walanweyn district and other parts of the Lower Shabelle region. He urged the people of Yaqbari Weyne to work toward peace, coexistence, and maintaining stability in the area.

The Minister also welcomed the recent rulings of the Military Court, which imposed harsh sentences on individuals involved in the latest clan clashes in Walanweyn. He praised the Somali National Army and the South West Dervish forces for restoring order, saying they had “completely stabilized the situation” in the district.
Meanwhile, MP Dahir Amiin Jeesow issued denied the Minister’s accusations, describing the remarks as “a violation of the law and the reputation of a national MP.”

“I am not responding to a local minister, and he is a man whose land is under al-Shabaab control,” he added.

The MP insisted that he has long played the role of peacemaker and mediator in efforts to stabilize and reconcile warring clans.

The Lower Shabelle region has experienced a series of deadly clan conflicts in recent weeks, despite the Military Court sentencing several individuals linked to the violence.

Asylum seekers will be banned from using taxis for medical appointments from February, the government has announced.

It comes after a BBC investigation found some people had travelled long distances by taxis or minicabs, with one asylum seeker saying they went on a 250-mile cab journey to a GP, costing the Home Office £600.

In response the government launched an urgent review into the use and cost of taxis to transfer asylum seekers from their hotels to appointments in September.

Now, the government has confirmed it has spent an average of around £15.8 million per year on transport for asylum seekers.

Earlier this year, BBC Radio 4’s File on Four found asylum seekers were being issued with a bus pass for one return journey per week. For other necessary travel, like doctor’s appointments, taxis were used.

And on Friday, one subcontractor told the BBC his firm would do up to 15 drop-offs daily from a hotel in south east London to a doctors surgery around two miles away. These journeys alone would cost the Home Office £1,000 a day, he said.

But Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this was now going to change.

She said: “I am ending the unrestricted use of taxis by asylum seekers for hospital appointments, authorising them only in the most exceptional circumstances.

“I will continue to root out waste as we close every single asylum hotel.”

She said the government had inherited expensive Conservative contracts.

Instead of taxis, ministers want asylum seekers to use alternatives like public transport.

There will be some exemptions for people with physical disabilities, chronic illnesses and pregnancy related needs. These will have to be signed off by the Home Office under the new rules.

There are other circumstances in which taxis can be used – such as moving between accommodation – but ministers are reviewing the wider use of taxis for asylum seekers and want to extend the principle that they are only used in exceptional circumstances with support evidence.

Ministers have pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the next election. They want to increase the use of alternative accommodation, such as large military sites.

But figures earlier this week showed 36,273 people were still living in asylum hotels in the UK – an increase compared to June.

There has also been criticism of the growing cost of running asylum accommodation – which has gone up significantly since the contracts were signed.

When the home secretary was asked if the government was prepared to exercise break clauses in contracts with providers in a BBC interview earlier this year, Mahmood said she would explore all options.

But doing so would mean alternative accommodation needs to be found.

The government has also announced significant changes to overhaul the asylum system – with refugee status becoming temporary and the ending of guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers.

The government has recovered £74m since it came to power – but the chair of the home affairs select committee said that was only a start.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The issue is that Labour can’t get a grip on the illegal immigration crisis.

“As Labour hammer working people with £26 billion in tax rises, they have allowed costs for illegal arrivals to spiral because Labour don’t have the backbone to take the tough decisions needed. Namely, deporting all illegal arrivals and leaving the ECHR. Until that happens, the bills will keep mounting.”

The home secretary has said she will end the UK’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers as part of a major immigration crackdown which she claims will prevent division in Britain.

Shabana Mahmood has outlined a raft of radical measures, including introducing a 20-year wait for those who arrive in Britain by means such as small boats or lorries to qualify for a permanent stay.

But her big announcement, which will be finalised in the Commons on Monday, has been overshadowed once again by Labour leadership rumours after a turbulent week for the government involving anonymous briefings about an alleged coup against Sir Keir Starmer.

Ms Mahmood described the row, which centred around disputed claims that Wes Streeting is vying to be prime minister, as “deeply mortifying” and referred to it as a “tittle tattle”.

It comes after former deputy leader Angela Rayner insisted she had “not gone away” when quizzed on whether a return to frontline politics may be on the cards.

US President Donald Trump has authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, provoking outrage from the South American nation’s leader.

The US has conducted at least five strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. US Air Force B-52 bombers also circled over the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday for several hours.

Trump has said the US “is looking at land” and eyeing more strikes on drug cartels in the area. The flurry of action came as a top US military leader in the region announced his sudden retirement.

Nicolás Maduro, whose legitimacy as Venezuela’s president is internationally contested, has appealed for peace with the US.

He addressed the “people of the United States” in the television address, saying “no war, yes peace”.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said he believed the military had sea drug operations under control but was now looking at land.

The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack. There are reportedly about 10,000 US forces built up in the Caribbean, either on ships or in Puerto Rico, a US territory.

UN-appointed human rights experts have described the US strikes as “extrajudicial executions”.

BBC Verify confirmed that three B-52 bomber planes – the likes of which have been used during conflicts in Iraq and Syria – took off from Barksdale Air Force base in the gulf state of Louisiana.

A Global Strike Command spokesperson also confirmed to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner, that the three aircraft had flown missions near Venezuela.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, announced on social media that he would retire by the end of the year. His purview includes the Caribbean Sea, where the US has conducted strikes against alleged drug boats at Trump’s behest.

“The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation, and will continue to do so,” he said. “I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe.”

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth praised Holsey’s career and wrote on social media that the admiral “demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation”.

What could the CIA do on Trump’s orders in Venezuela?

According to the New York Times, Trump’s authorisation of the CIA would allow the agency to carry out operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any wider US military activity.

It remains unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela, or whether those plans are being kept as contingencies, but the spy agency has a long history of activities in South America.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was questioned about the New York Times report.

“Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?” a journalist asked.

“I authorised for two reasons really,” Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgement from a US commander-in-chief about an intelligence organisation whose activities are typically shrouded in secrecy.

“Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

He added: “And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also.”

Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in the region’s drug trade. The president would not be drawn on whether the CIA’s goal was to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.

“Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” he said.

In the most recent US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near Venezuela’s coast.

On Truth Social, Trump said that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO [drug-trafficking organisation] drug-trafficking route”.

As has been the case in previous strikes, US officials have not specified what drug-trafficking organisation was allegedly operating the vessel, or the identities of those aboard.

Maduro took to the airwaves on Wednesday night to warn against escalation.

“No to regime change, which reminds us so much of the endless, failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on,” said the Socialist leader.

“No to CIA-orchestrated coups d’état.”

He added: “Listen to me, no war, yes peace, the people United States.”

Earlier in the day Maduro ordered military exercises in the Caracas suburb of Petare and in neighbouring Miranda state on Wednesday.

In a message on Telegram, he said he was mobilising the military, police and civilian militia to defend the oil-rich country.

Foreign Minister Yván Gil said on Telegram that Venezuela “rejects the warmongering and extravagant statements of the president of the United States”.

“We view with extreme alarm the use of the CIA, as well as the military deployments announced in the Caribbean, which amount to a policy of aggression, threat, and harassment against Venezuela,” he added.

Trump has deployed eight warships, a nuclear-power submarine and fighter jets to the Caribbean in what the White House says is an effort to crack down on drug smuggling.

In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it had determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organisations.

US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of an organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.

Mick Mulroy, a former CIA paramilitary officer and Assistant Undersecretary of Defense, told the BBC: “In order to conduct covert action, there needs to be a presidential finding for the CIA specially authorizing it, with specific actions identified.”

Mulroy added that such a finding would mark a “substantial increase” in efforts against drug trafficking organizations.

“Perhaps a real life ‘Sicario’,” he said, referring to a 2015 film that depicts US operatives launching clandestine operations against drug cartels in Mexico.

The Trump administration again finds itself caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein saga after the House Oversight Committee released emails from the late convicted sex offender’s estate that mentioned President Donald Trump.

In one of the messages, the disgraced financier tells longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump spent “hours” at his house with one of Epstein’s victims and in another states that he “knew about the girls.”

The latest tranche of private emails and messages reveal that the commander-in-chief was a regular topic of discussion as Epstein frequently turned to close Trump ally Steve Bannon, journalist Michael Wolff and others for counsel as the net closed around him. He died in a New York jail cell in August 2019.