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An Israeli strike on Beirut killed at least three people on Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said after Israel announced its second strike on the country’s capital in a fragile four-month truce.Israel’s military said it “targeted a Hezbollah terrorist” just days after striking the city in response to rocket fire from Lebanon which it blamed on the militant group.The raid in Hezbollah’s Dahieh stronghold left “three martyrs and seven wounded” according to a Lebanese health ministry toll, quoted by Lebanon’s National News Agency.The top two floors of a multi-storey building were destroyed by the strike, an AFP photographer at the scene said, while panicked residents poured out of their homes.The photographer saw at least three wounded people being helped by rescue workers and debris covering a street.Israel’s military said the unnamed militant “had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians”.It “acted to eliminate him and removed the threat”, the military said in a joint statement with the domestic Shin Bet security agency.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned the country’s military would “strike everywhere in Lebanon against any threat” in response to the rocket fire.Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Saturday condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on the city.”This aggression must end. We cannot allow this to continue,” Qassem said in a televised address.- ‘Enforce’ truce -Israel’s military said Friday two “projectiles” were fired towards Israel, with one intercepted and the other falling inside Lebanon.Hezbollah denied involvement in the rocket fire.But Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Lebanon’s “government bears direct responsibility for any fire toward the Galilee” and if it does not enforce the ceasefire, “we will enforce it”.Lebanon’s military later said it had identified the site of the rocket launch, just north of the Litani River, and was trying to identify the perpetrators.Israel has continued to carry out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon in the months since the ceasefire, hitting what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems “strategic”.The agreement also required Hezbollah to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.The Lebanese army has deployed in the south as the Israeli military pulled back.

The US government will review $9 billion of funding for Harvard University over alleged anti-Semitism on campus, authorities said Monday, after it cut millions from Columbia University, which has also seen fierce pro-Palestinian student protests.President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted prestigious universities that saw bitter protests sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping their federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators, including those with green cards.Officials would look at $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard and the government, as well as $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to the prestigious Ivy League institution, the General Services Administration said in a statement.Critics argue that the Trump administration’s campaign is retributive and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and to protect Jewish students.Education Secretary Linda McMahon said “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination — all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry — has put its reputation in serious jeopardy.” “Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” she added.In a statement, Harvard president Alan Garner said: “If this funding is stopped, it will halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.””The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment.”Garner objected to this characterization, saying the university “strengthened our rules and our approach to disciplining those who violate them” over the past 15 months as a means of addressing anti-Semitism on campus.Trump has also targeted New York’s Columbia University, initially putting $400 million of funding under review, detaining for deportation a graduate student linked to the protests, and seeking to arrest others.Columbia then announced a package of concessions to the government around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.They stopped short, however, of meeting some of the more strident demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.”Today’s actions by the Task Force follow a similar ongoing review of Columbia University,” said Monday’s official statement. “That review led to Columbia agreeing to comply with nine preconditions for further negotiations regarding a return of cancelled federal funds.”

Support for cryptocurrencies from US President Donald Trump or Argentine leader Javier Milei has seen investors lose billions of dollars and is damaging a sector struggling for credibility, researchers told AFP.”The entire crypto industry is being tarnished,” said Claire Balva, strategy director for fintech company Deblock.Argentine prosecutors are reportedly examining whether Milei engaged in fraud …

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