France and Britain are chairing a meeting of around 40 countries in Paris today aimed at planning a defensive multinational mission to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz once the conflict ends.

The meeting, attended in person by Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, will address the safety of more than 20,000 stranded seafarers and trapped commercial vessels, as well as outline military options including mine-clearance, intelligence sharing and naval escorts.

The initiative does not for now include the US or Iran, though European diplomats said any realistic mission would ultimately need to be coordinated with both. Britain, France and others have said joining Washington’s blockade on Iranian ports, imposed on Monday, would amount to entering the war, but have signalled willingness to help keep the strait open once a lasting ceasefire is in place.

“It can involve intelligence sharing, mine-clearance capabilities, military escorts, information procedures with neighbouring countries and more,” a senior French official told Reuters. “The resources deployed will naturally depend on the situation.”

Britain said today’s talks would feed into a multinational military planning meeting next week. China has been invited but it was not immediately clear whether it would attend.

António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, has welcomed the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

“I hope this will pave the way for negotiations towards a long-term solution to the conflict & contribute to ongoing efforts toward a lasting & comprehensive peace in the region”, he wrote on X Thursday night.

US president Donald Trump has hinted at significant developments in Lebanon without providing details, posting on Truth Social: “May have been a historic day for Lebanon. Good things are happening!!!”

The post comes as a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, following weeks of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets. Earlier, Mr Trump said he had held “excellent conversations” with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun and planned to invite both to the White House for “meaningful talks.”

Donald Trump has claimed inflation in US caused by the Iran war is “fake.”

The US president called war-related inflation “fake inflation” at an event in Las Vegas Thursday local time.

Inflation surged 0.9 percent since February, according to the US government’s Consumer Price Index for March. Driving inflation is the cost of energy, with gas prices rising a whopping 21.2 percent in March.

After the US and Israel began launching strikes against Iran on February 28, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passageway, which caused gas prices to surge.

Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel, as investors grew cautiously optimistic about a near-term resolution to the Middle East war despite the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, with Asian stocks on course for a second consecutive week of strong gains.

Brent crude futures fell more than 1 per cent to $98.14 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.6 per cent to $93.15, after Donald Trump said the next meeting between the US and Iran could take place over the weekend, when the current ceasefire is due to expire. A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel also went into effect yesterday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.6 per cent this morning but remained close to its highest level since 2 March, the first trading day after the Iran war broke out. The index is up 14.5 per cent in April after dropping 13.5 per cent in March, with almost all stock markets now back to pre-war levels. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.9 per cent after hitting a record high yesterday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose to record closing highs for a second straight day yesterday.

Amit Sofer, head of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council in northern Israel, has said the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is “worse” than the status quo of fighting.

“It is unreasonable for Donald Trump to tie the Lebanese arena to the Iranian arena; by doing so, he condemns northern residents to more years of a constant threat”, Sofer said in a statement shared by CNN.

The Lebanese Army has said citizens fired weapons into the air after the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire went into effect early Friday morning local time.

“Following the ceasefire agreement entering into force, a number of citizens resorted to firing into the air using military weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, thereby endangering citizens’ lives and causing damage to public and private property.

“The army command warns against this dangerous phenomenon and calls on citizens to adhere to the laws and refrain from firing under any circumstances. It also affirms that it will pursue those who fire, work to apprehend them, and refer them to the competent judiciary”, the Army said.

Hezbollah has said it carried out 56 military operations in the 24 hours before the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire took effect early Friday morning local time, Al Jazeera reported.

The Israeli military reported striking 380 Hezbollah targets ahead of the 10-day ceasefire, according to The New York Times.

Donald Trump has insisted that the US economy is booming despite “our little diversion” to Iran.

The US president said at an event in Las Vegas Thursday local time, that the economy is even better than that of his first term “despite our little diversion to the lovely country of Iran”.

Trump painted a rosy picture for Americans struggling at the pump as the Iran war causes oil prices to surge. The national average price of gas has risen to more than $4 per gallon as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil.

The Israeli military has said it struck 380 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the 24 hours leading up to the new ceasefire, The New York Times reported.

The 10-day pause in fighting started early Friday morning local time.