Author: Verified News Online

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel so that they could be protected from Hezbollah militants.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider war in the Middle East on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops now occupy…

TEHRAN: Tens of thousands of Iranians thronged a vast outdoor prayer complex in Tehran on Saturday to view the coffins of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader killed at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and his family.Dressed in black and draped in the red, white and green flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran, mourners held up portraits of Khamenei and his son and successor, Mojtaba.In a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic's theocratic state and revolutionary zeal, Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for the supreme leader killed in February by the opening airstrikes of the war.After a day lying in state indoors for senior Iranian leaders and foreign officials to visit, Khamenei's coffin was put on display under glass outdoors, along with those of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old granddaughter. There has still been no public sighting or image released of Mojtaba, the new leader, said to have been injured in th..

MOSCOW: Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces have taken four villages in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, and one more in the neighbouring Donetsk region.In its daily briefing, the ministry said Russian forces had taken control of Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, as well as Vasylivka in Donetsk region.Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.Rejecting Russian claims that Kostiantynivka has been captured, President Zelensky and the General Staff said on Saturday that Ukraine still controls the strategically important eastern city.Russia's military told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka, a target that Moscow has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region.”Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story,” Zelensky said on X. “If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then per..

Asean military observers have now visited both sides of the Thai-Cambodian frontier, measuring damage and recording claims as Bangkok and Phnom Penh continue to trade allegations of ceasefire breaches following last year’s deadly clashes.
In late June, a delegation from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fanned out across Thailand and Cambodia, escorted through contested ground and competing narratives.
The fighting last year resulted in more than 100 military and…

An evacuation was ordered on Saturday evening at the National Mall as storms gathered around Washington just hours before US President Donald Trump was scheduled to deliver a speech commemorating America’s 250th anniversary of independence.
Those on the Mall were encouraged to go to federal buildings nearby or Smithsonian museums.
“Freedom 250 will share updates on programming and doors reopening,” Freedom 250 spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Plans for fireworks were still…