World roundup: US sanctions Iranian LPG export network, Israel strikes southern Lebanon

The United States US on Friday imposed sanctions on a network allegedly exporting liquefied petroleum gas LPG from Iran to South and Eastern Asia by falsely flagging it as originating in Oman the Treasury saidThe network used front companies in the United Arab Emirates and China and a shadow fleet of vessels according to a Treasury statementThe system designed to evade existing US sanctions moved LPG worth hundreds of millions of dollars it addedThe US has tightened sanctions on Iran since it jointly launched its war on the country with Israel in late FebruaryIn addition Washington on Friday also sanctioned an Iranian currency exchange house and individuals associated with it for allegedly helping Iran facilitate billions in financial transactionsThese sanctions are part of the Administrations Economic Fury campaign which maintains maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and disrupts its ability to generate revenue for weapons development support for terrorist proxies and regional aggression said US State Department Spokesperson Tommy PigottIsrael strikes southern Lebanon after evacuation warningsIsraels air force struck different parts of southern Lebanon on Friday as the military issued evacuation warnings for nine villages including one that has been spared much of the destruction and was sheltering thousands of people displaced by the threemonth warSix people were killed Lebanons state news agency reported The warnings forced hundreds of families to flee the village of Anqoun and the area of Aarnaya on the edge of the predominantly Christian village of Maghdoucheh near the southern port city of SidonThe strikes came a day after the Hezbollah militant group rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from LebanonLebanons Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri a strong ally of Hezbollah who has been acting as a mediator on behalf of the group said in his first comment on the agreement reached in Washington this week that he accepts Hezbollahs withdrawal from the areas south of the Litani River as long as it coincides with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern LebanonThe river located about 30 kilometres north of the border with Israel forms the boundary of a 2006 UNestablished buffer zone in which Hezbollah is banned Israeli troops have currently pushed far past the Litani River into southern LebanonBerri added in a statement that the ceasefire should be complete and comprehensive without any restrictions or conditions on land at sea and in the air and without bulldozing and demolishing everything that exists He was referring to wide areas that have been demolished by Israeli troopsBerri criticised the creation of pilot zones in the agreement as well as calls for a unilateral ceasefire by Hezbollah and its withdrawal from border areas south of the Litani RiverInternational Space Station crew moves to safety over leak concernAstronauts working on the International Space Station briefly sheltered in a docked capsule Friday as Russian colleagues assessed leak repairs NASA saidFive astronauts had briefly entered the docked Dragon spacecraft as a precautionary measure the capsule functions as a lifeboat of sorts in the case an evacuation is neededNASA gave the all clear and the astronauts were able to return to their stationsA NASA spokesperson told AFP that Roscosmos cosmonauts took measurements of the leaks and were now assessing dataWith todays operations they wanted to be extra safe extra precautionary and have the crew move into the safe haven posture the spokesperson saidNASA Spokesperson Bethany Stevens then said on social media NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space StationIn a statement cited by Russian state media Russias Roscosmos space agency said that while pressurising the transfer chamber known as PrK a leak was recordedWith AFP and AP inputs