The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize. It could begin very soon, U.S. news portal Axios reported on Wednesday.

A U.S. military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like full-fledged war than last month's pinpoint operation in Venezuela, sources told Axios.

An explosion at a fireworks' shop in China's Hubei province on Wednesday killed 12 people, state media reported, the second such explosion as the country celebrates the Lunar New Year.

Emergency responders put out the blaze at the fireworks shop in the town of Xiangyang, in central Hubei province, on Wednesday afternoon, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Investigators are now looking into the cause of the explosion, the report said without giving further details.

The United States will deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons "one way or the other", U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday.

"They've been very clear about what they would do with nuclear weapons. It's entirely unacceptable," Wright told reporters in Paris on the sidelines of meetings of the International Energy Agency.

France's hard-left France Unbowed party said Wednesday it had to evacuate its Paris headquarters following a "bomb threat", after it was accused of partial responsibility in the killing of a far-right activist.

"The national headquarters of LFI have just been evacuated following a bomb threat. Police services are on site. All employees and activists are safe," the party's coordinator Manuel Bompard said on X.

Iran and Russia will conduct naval maneuvers in the Sea of Oman on Thursday, following the latest round of talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva, Iranian media reported.

On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, also launched exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a challenge to U.S. naval forces deployed in the region.

The Cuban foreign minister visited Moscow on Wednesday as the island faces blackouts and severe fuel shortages caused by a U.S oil embargo.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and was set to meet later in the day with President Vladimir Putin.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday the latest talks with the United States saw them agree on "a set of guiding principles" that would pave the way for a deal.

Veteran U.S. civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the nation's most influential Black voices, died peacefully Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family said.

President Donald Trump praised the late Jesse Jackson on Tuesday as one of a kind and took credit for helping the iconic civil rights leader as he fought to empower Black Americans.

A Russian military police building collapsed on the grounds of an army base outside Saint Petersburg, the local governor said Tuesday, adding that authorities were probing the causes of the incident.