Paul McNamara , Senior Political Correspondent

Even as reports of the Storm Shadow strikes were emerging, the Defence secretary was in the Commons announcing cuts to naval ships, drones and helicopters.

The business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has called for a change of culture at the Post Office, as he gave evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon scandal.

Leading GPs have urged the chancellor to make practices exempt from the higher national insurance contributions by employers – announced in this week’s budget. 

There’s a lot of detail to unpick in the budget, from spending on transport to the billions of pounds pledged to infrastructure. 

‘Financially unsustainable and in urgent need of reform’ was the bleak verdict of the National Audit Office when it looked into the way support is offered to children with special educational needs and disabilities in England.

The bill is being introduced by Labour MP Kim Ledbeater and she says there will be really strict limits on who would be eligible.

There are still – even two years after the end of the pandemic – shockingly high numbers of children who don’t go to school regularly.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been discussing his victory plan in Downing Street with Sir Keir Starmer and the  new head of NATO, Mark Rutte.

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick vie for Conservative leadership.

Israel says it has carried out large-scale air strikes on Yemen, targeting what it called military targets of the “Houthi terrorist regime”. 

As Israel continued to launch strikes into Lebanon today – Iran’s supreme leader has declared 5 days of mourning for the Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah – saying his death would “not go unavenged”. 

Huge explosions have rocked Beirut – levelling multiple buildings in the city’s southern suburbs. So far Lebanon’s health ministry says at least two people are known to have died, with 76 others wounded and the numbers certain to rise.

The day began with hopes of a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon. But they were soon dashed by Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade fire throughout the day. Hezbollah fired rockets at several northern towns and military bases in Israel, though no casualties were reported. 

More than 90 thousand people are now sleeping in schools, cars, parks and on the beach in Lebanon, after three days of intense Israeli air strikes.

Despite President Biden’s calls for restraint in his speech this morning, few here believe that anyone who matters in the Middle East is actually listening.