US secretary of state condemns airstrike in Iran; discussion ‘leans more towards infiltration than attack’ says anonymous Iranian official

• Israel has mounted strikes on Iran, US says, as Tehran plays down attack
• What we know so far about Israel’s strike on Iran
• What’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilities

It’s 7:24am in Tehran and 6:54 In Tel Aviv. Let’s get a reminder of what we know so far:

US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out military operations against Iran but did not describe those operations.

The Israeli military has told news agencies including Agence France-Presse and Associated Press: “We don’t have a comment at this time.”

Iran’s state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan Friday

Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the north-west of Isfahan province, while Iran’s space agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.

Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources”.

Flights were suspended across swathes of Iran on Friday. “Iran’s air defence has been activated in the skies of several provinces of the country,” Tehran’s official IRNA news agency said.

Mehr news agency reported that “flights to Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and airports in the west, northwest and southwest have been suspended.”

Flight-tracking software showed commercial flights avoiding western Iran, including Isfahan, and skirting Tehran to the north and east.

There was no immediate comment from Dubai’s Emirates airline, which was operating several of the planes.

Blasts were also reported in southern Syria, according to a local activist group. “There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south, reports AFP.

Oil prices surged more than three per cent in early Asian trade on Friday after the reports of explosions.

Iranian official indicates no ‘immediate’ plan for retaliation after explosions reported in sky over Isfahan and Tabriz

• Middle East crisis: live updates
• What’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilities

US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out airstrikes against Iran, as explosions were reported in the sky over the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz, while the Iranian government sought to play down the scale of the attack.

According to Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, speaking later on Friday, the US told the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri that it had received “last minute” information from Israel about a drone action in Iran.

Israeli prime minister’s main concern is his political survival but a multi-front war is still a strong possibility

• Follow live for latest updates

In the aftermath of Iran’s unprecedented salvo of missiles and drones fired directly at Israel at the weekend, Benny Gantz, a centrist member of the Israeli war cabinet, said that the country would respond “in the place, time and manner it chooses”.

On Friday morning, that turned out to be explosions in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Although no Israeli official has claimed responsibility for what seem to have been drone strikes on a military installation , Tehran, which retaliated after an airstrike on its consulate in Damascus, has downplayed the incident. The limited response may have for now staved off the threat of regional war.

Labour leader told PMQs a ‘billionaire peer’ was ‘smearing a working-class woman’ after coverage of Rayner’s tax affairs

The row between Keir Starmer and Michael Ashcroft deepened on Friday after the billionaire Conservative donor demanded an apology from the Labour leader for accusing him of “smearing” Angela Rayner over her tax affairs.

Lord Ashcroft hit back two days after Starmer said at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday: “We have a billionaire prime minister and a billionaire peer, both of whose families have used schemes to avoid millions of pounds of tax, smearing a working-class woman.”

First minister of Scotland describes case as a ‘very serious and concerning matter’

Humza Yousaf has said he is shocked by the embezzlement charges levelled against Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National party.

Police Scotland announced on Thursday evening that Murrell, who is married to Yousaf’s mentor and predecessor as first minister Nicola Sturgeon, had been rearrested and charged with embezzlement of SNP funds.

Department under fire for forcing people to repay huge sums as data shows widespread ill health among those caring for relatives

• ‘We’re already vulnerable’: the carers told to repay huge sums by the DWP

Carers have described suffering an “avalanche of utter stress” due to the government’s “abhorrent” approach to clawing back benefits, as official figures revealed the widespread ill health of those caring for loved ones.

The Department for Work and Pensions has been under fire since the Guardian revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers are being forced to pay back huge sums – and in some cases prosecuted for fraud – over “honest mistakes” that it could have spotted years earlier.

Dozens of secretly filmed, voyeuristic videos feature women often in short dresses on nights out

Women who have been secretly filmed on nights out are being urged to contact UK police after videos posted online have racked up millions of views and attracted an abundance of misogynistic comments.

Police are trying to catch people responsible for dozens of voyeuristic TikTok and YouTube videos that have titles such as “Manchester nightlife” and feature women who do not know they are being filmed.

Move extinguishes one of the last hopes of legal action over killing of 13 civil rights demonstrators in Derry in 1972

Relatives of Bloody Sunday victims have condemned a decision not to prosecute 15 former soldiers for perjury, calling it an affront to the rule of law.

Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) on Friday announced the 15 army veterans plus a former alleged member of the Official IRA would not face prosecution for allegedly giving false evidence to the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

Gabriel Marinoaica, 20, dragged victim, who could not swim, out of her depth and attacked her

A man who raped a 15-year-old girl who could not swim after taking her out of her depth in the sea off Bournemouth beach has been sentenced to six and a half years’ detention.

Gabriel Marinoaica, who was 18 at the time, grabbed the girl as she played a game of catch with her friends and dragged her off the crowded beach into a water.

Trade bodies say ongoing confusion about when checks will come in is ‘incredibly challenging’

• UK to delay start of health and safety checks on EU imports

Businesses have described Britain’s Brexit border plans as being in “complete disarray” after it emerged the introduction of some checks on EU imports will be delayed.

Post-Brexit border rules, due to come into force on 30 April, will require many meat, dairy and plant products from the EU to be physically checked at government border control posts (BCPs).