Topic: Middle East — Neutral reports only
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[2026-04-18 13:00 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Zero Hedge
Snippet: The Iran war seems to be cooling, as a two week ceasefire holds, but people are still dying from spillover effects and sporadic conflict in neighboring Iraq.
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[2026-04-18 12:59 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: The US Central Command (Centcom) said 21 ships attempting to enter or leave Iranian ports have complied with directions from US forces to turn around and return to Iran.
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[2026-04-18 12:57 UTC+10:00] [World / Middle East] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Age
Snippet: The bombs have stopped, the strait is notionally open and the price of oil is down. Donald Trump called it “a great and brilliant day for the world”.
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[2026-04-18 12:56 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 92]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Iran will not impose “traditional fees” on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
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[2026-04-18 12:45 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: AP News
Snippet: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at a roundtable event with President Donald Trump about no tax on tips, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Lucas Peltier)
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[2026-04-18 12:40 UTC+10:00] [Petrol prices] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Guardian Australia
Snippet: Anthony Albanese was in meeting of 49 countries to discuss key shipping route when news broke that Iran was reopening strait
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[2026-04-18 12:19 UTC+10:00] [World] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Age
Snippet: Products & ServicesOpen Products & Services section
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[2026-04-18 11:54 UTC+10:00] [All News] [Factuality: 90]
Source: The Korea Herald
Snippet: Iran said Friday that it reopened the crucial Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels in line with a temporary Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, but US President Donald Trump said a US naval blockade of Iranian ports will remain "in full force" until a peace deal is signed.
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[2026-04-18 11:52 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 90]
Source: New York Post
Snippet: The US Navy denied a report Friday that warships deployed to the Middle East were short on food and sailors were purportedly being served what some on social media described as “rationed slop.”
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[2026-04-18 11:49 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: The war on Iran has removed about 500 million barrels of crude from the global market, the largest energy supply disruption in modern history, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
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[2026-04-18 11:38 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: A spokesperson for Iran’s Defence Ministry said the Strait of Hormuz is “only open under ceasefire conditions and conditionally,” according to Fars News Agency.
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[2026-04-18 11:14 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Manila Times
Snippet: NEW YORK — Oil prices dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, and U.S. stocks raced to another record Friday after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
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[2026-04-18 11:09 UTC+10:00] [All News] [Factuality: 90]
Source: The Korea Herald
Snippet: US President Donald Trump has said he expects the United States and Iran to reach a peace deal "in the next day or two," noting that a new round of negotiations between the two sides may take place this weekend, according to a report.
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[2026-04-18 11:06 UTC+10:00] [All News] [Factuality: 90]
Source: The Korea Herald
Snippet: Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Friday that the Korean won has been stabilizing against the US dollar following its depreciation amid the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing hopes that it will align with market expectations.
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[2026-04-18 11:00 UTC+10:00] [Trump administration] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Guardian Australia
Snippet: Iran’s parliamentary speaker warned it would will shut the strait again if the US blockade continues, which Trump said would remain in place until the conflict was fully concluded – key US politics stories from 17 April at a glance
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[2026-04-18 10:51 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: A senior Iranian official said Iran did not agree to halt uranium enrichment indefinitely and “will not accept being an exception to international law,” CNN reported.
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[2026-04-18 10:47 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: The American Jewish Committee is calling on US President Donald Trump to make the return of Americans in Iranian custody an “urgent national priority,” as his administration works to preserve a fragile ceasefire with Iran.
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[2026-04-18 10:47 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: The Israeli public has suffered multiple negative effects on health-related behavior due to the Iran war, according to the results of a study published by the Hebrew University School of Public Policy.
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[2026-04-18 10:47 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: Ex-al Qaida member and former British Secret Intelligence Service agent Aiman Dean claimed that the US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is being used as leverage against Iran in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday.
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[2026-04-18 10:47 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 90]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: IDF officers stationed in southern Lebanon said they were not informed about the ceasefire and only found out via foreign media reports and Telegram posts, according to an N12 report on Friday.
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[2026-04-18 10:34 UTC+10:00] [News] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Michael West Media
Snippet: April 18, 2026 10:34 | News
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[2026-04-18 10:30 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: It has been more than 24 hours since air raid sirens sounded in any part of Israel, with the last alert early Friday in a small community near the border with Lebanon later determined to be a mistaken identification, Associated Press reported.
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[2026-04-18 10:28 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 92]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Oil prices fell sharply and Wall Street rallied to a record after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying crude, Associated Press reported.
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[2026-04-18 10:19 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said all recent claims by US President Donald Trump were “false,” adding that “they did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either.” Writing on X, Ghalibaf listed several of Trump’s statements from the past hour and dismissed them.
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[2026-04-18 10:07 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 92]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Explosions were reported in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops blew up homes in border towns they continue to control, despite a ceasefire in place, local media said.
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[2026-04-18 10:00 UTC+10:00] [Australia] [Factuality: 100]
Source: SBS News
Snippet: Officers arrested 20 people for 14 charges of displaying a prohibited expression and seven charges of reciting a prohibited expression. Source: Facebook / UQ Greens
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[2026-04-18 09:55 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: The United Nations children’s agency said that two men it contracted to drive a truck to provide clean water to families in the Gaza Strip were killed by Israeli fire early Monday at the Mansoura water filling point in northern Gaza.
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[2026-04-18 09:40 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Zero Hedge
Snippet: The Lebanon ceasefire appears to be legitimate and holding, and the biggest evidence of this is that Lebanese citizens themselves are pouring back into the war-ravaged south of the country, seeking to recover to their homes which are in some cases 'unlivable'.
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[2026-04-18 09:38 UTC+10:00] [Michigan] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Guardian Australia
Snippet: Jordan Acker, who pushed legal action against protesters, is running for re-election in race reflecting tensions on Israel
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[2026-04-18 09:36 UTC+10:00] [National] [Factuality: 100]
Source: 9News
Snippet: Property News: Australia's most popular suburbs in every capital city.
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[2026-04-18 09:36 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: South Korea
Snippet: (ATTN: RECASTS headline; UPDATES throughout)By Song Sang-ho
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[2026-04-18 09:35 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: New York Post
Snippet: The first commercial ship successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz Friday after Iran agreed to reopen the vital waterway following a weeks-long closure.
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[2026-04-18 09:33 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: BBC News
Snippet: Major mortgage lenders are making "meaningful" cuts to the rates on new deals, bringing some solace to first-time buyers hit by the economic impact of the Iran war.
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[2026-04-18 09:04 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: New York Post
Snippet: It looks like Iran’s rulers have finally blinked — but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to weasel out of every promise they’re now making.
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[2026-04-18 08:55 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: AP News
Snippet: Embarcaciones navegan por el estrecho de Ormuz, al fondo, mientras que en primer plano se observan los daños que, según testigos, fueron causados por varios ataques aéreos recientes durante la campaña militar de Estados Unidos e Israel, el lunes 13 de abril de 2026, en un muelle pesquero en la isla de Qeshm, Irán.
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[2026-04-18 08:45 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 90]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: US President Donald Trump told reporters that ceasefire talks with Iran will continue "over the weekend" and said that "a lot of good things are happening that includes Lebanon too."
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[2026-04-18 08:40 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: AP News
Snippet: LEBANON, NH ---- (AP) Latest snow conditions, as supplied by
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[2026-04-18 08:26 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: CNBC
Snippet: Oil tankers are remaining cautious about sailing through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran declared Friday that the sea lane is open to commercial ships, video footage shows.
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[2026-04-18 08:26 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: BBC News
Snippet: Iran's foreign minister has said the Strait of Hormuz has reopened for commercial vessels, but added that ships should use designated safe lanes.
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[2026-04-18 08:18 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 90]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that a ceasefire agreed to by his country should be transformed into "permanent agreements," without saying whether he was referring to a prospective peace deal with Israel.
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[2026-04-18 08:18 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Snippet: Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied a Friday claim from US President Donald Trump that the US will work with Iran to recover its enriched uranium and bring it back to the United States.
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[2026-04-18 08:06 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has decried the Israeli bombing of the Qasmieh bridge, the main access point for civilians in southern Lebanon to food, medical supplies, and other humanitarian aid.
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[2026-04-18 08:00 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: South China Morning Post
Snippet: Businesses are rethinking short-term strategies as they adapt to rising costs and slowing growth across major economies
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[2026-04-18 08:00 UTC+10:00] [overseas investment] [Factuality: 100]
Source: South China Morning Post
Snippet: Businesses are rethinking short-term strategies as they adapt to rising costs and slowing growth across major economies
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[2026-04-18 07:46 UTC+10:00] [National] [Factuality: 100]
Source: The Age
Snippet: Products & ServicesOpen Products & Services section
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[2026-04-18 07:32 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: Iraq resumed southern oil exports on Friday after a halt of more than a month caused by disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with one tanker beginning to load crude, four energy sources said.
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[2026-04-18 07:31 UTC+10:00] [World] [Factuality: 100]
Source: SBS News
Snippet: Trump's upbeat comments have raised hopes that two of the primary obstacles to an agreement between the US and Iran have now been removed. Source: AAP / Alex Brandon/AP
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[2026-04-18 07:30 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: AP News
Snippet: Backdropped by ships in the Strait of Hormuz, damage, according to local witnesses caused by several recent airstrikes during the U.S.-Israel military campaign, is seen on a fishing pier in the port of Qeshm island, Iran, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Asghar Besharati)
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[2026-04-18 07:06 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 90]
Source: Middle East Eye
Snippet: The US and Iran announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that shuttles a quarter of the global oil supply, is now back open to all vessels after Tehran wrested control of the strait following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
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[2026-04-18 07:00 UTC+10:00] [General] [Factuality: 100]
Source: Nikkei Asia
Snippet: Prospective pilgrims in South Tangerang, Indonesia, practice at a replica of the Kaaba that sits in the middle of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Each year the Hajj pilgrimage season attracts travelers from across Asia, home to about two-thirds of all Muslims. © AFP/Jiji
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