“Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters,” Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.

Fighting picked up again this week between the US and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalise an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.

The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.

But the Islamic republic accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure in order to detract from the funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Bridges and railway links between the capital Tehran and Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on Thursday, were hit, according to Iran.

Iranian authorities say 17 people have been killed in US strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who informed him of the latest American moves in the Gulf.

Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, where Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant is located.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so “with even greater force”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The U.S. and Iran traded strikes this week, with the Iranian armed forces launching attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in Gulf states on Thursday following U.S. strikes on Iran’s southern coastal and eastern provinces.

Iran will respond against Israel if infrastructure attacked: security official

The two nations reached an interim deal last month to end a four month conflict that has throttle worldwide energy supplies.

Trump’s inability to end the war has frustrated the president, whose Republican Party faces midterm elections later this year amid high gas prices and voter discontent.

Shipping companies and governments are monitoring the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian attacks this week on commercial vessels and U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iran.

Data from Kpler and LSEG showed at least five ballast LNG tankers without cargo have entered the strait in recent days.

They include GasLog Shanghai, controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog, and QatarEnergy-linked carriers Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Al Gattara and Al Rayyan.

The GasLog Shanghai and Al Rayyan likely moved into the strait overnight, having been seen outside the waterway on July 9, the data showed.

The other three QatarEnergy-linked vessels were last seen outside the Strait of Hormuz, off the west coast of India several weeks ago, with Al Samriya and Al Gattara last seen around June 18 to 19 and Al Dafna on June 29.

QatarEnergy and GasLog did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of business hours.

On Thursday, the Very Large Crude Carrier Nissos Kea entered the strait, while the VLCC Lila Vadinar left it.

More LNG, Japan-linked vessels transit Hormuz despite renewed Mideast tensions

“What’s different now, compared to the start of the conflict, is that Iran is striking vessels using the Omani route rather than targeting all vessels, which means vessels will increasingly turn towards the Iranian route or transit dark when transiting through the strait,” said Xavier Tang, a senior market analyst at Vortexa.

Difficulty of tracking vessels

Shipping industry sources said vessels were increasingly switching off their public AIS tracking transponders, making it hard to see all of the ships crossing.

Kpler analysis of ships that can be monitored found LNG and oil tanker traffic dropped to its lowest daily level since June 28 on Thursday when 10 ships went through versus 14 on Wednesday and 22 on Monday.

Daily traffic in the last two weeks had risen to its highest since U.S. and Israeli airstrikes began the Iran war at the end of February, averaging 40 ships transiting the strait. That was still far off the pre-conflict average of 125 to 140 daily sailings.

Some war insurers this week advised ship owners to pause voyages after the attacks on tankers, prompting war insurance rates to rise.

Oil tanker traffic through Hormuz at near standstill as attacks strain Iran truce

“Rates have risen again following attacks on shipping by Iran in the region and it is unlikely that they will come back down until the market genuinely believes that the risk environment has changed,” said Marcus Baker, global head of marine with insurance broker and risk management group Marsh.

Four Japan-linked vessels remain in Gulf

Twenty-two Japan-linked vessels, including six large crude oil tankers, transited the strait to exit between July 7 and 9, leaving only four vessels in the Gulf, Japanese transport minister Yasushi Kaneko told a news conference on Friday.

Asked how vessel safety had been ensured, an official at the transport ministry’s overseas shipping division declined to comment, citing security reasons.

The number of Japan-linked vessels in the Gulf has dropped from 45 with about 1,100 crew members at the start of the conflict to four vessels with about 100 crew members, according to a spokesperson for the Japanese Shipowners’ Association.

Traffic slows through Strait of Hormuz as Iran tensions flare

The talks aim to address the implementation of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and the issues that triggered the recent escalation between Washington and Tehran, including disputes over navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the source said.

Police said one innocent person had been lynched by angry crowds. Protesters had blocked roads and torched vehicles since the girl’s body was found in a pond on Sunday, a day after she went missing, in Baruipur city of West Bengal state about 30 km (20 miles) from Kolkata.

“We have arrested 35 people for violence and vandalism so far … others involved are being identified through multiple videos that went viral,” senior state police officer Arvind Kumar Anand told Reuters.

India police arrest one for alleged child abuse at Capgemini daycare campus

Separately, police said they had shot dead one of four men who had been arrested for the girl’s rape and murder. The suspect, Prabhas Mondal, was shot in the early hours of Wednesday while attempting to escape, having been taken to the crime scene as part of the investigation, police said.

Mondal’s mother refused to accept his body, saying she did not want to bring it home because he “did not do anything good”.

“The sin committed by my son, he has received punishment for it,” she said in a TV interview.

Indian media quoted the family of one of the other suspects as saying he was innocent and had been arrested in a case of mistaken identity. There was no report of comment from the families of the other two suspects.

Fire at training centre in India’s Lucknow kills at least eight, police say

Suvendu Adhikari, who became West Bengal’s chief minister after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won state polls in May, said there would be “no leniency” for those committing crimes like rape and violence, or for those beating “innocent and blameless” people to death.

“This new government will pursue such criminals to the fullest extent of the law and ensure justice is served,” he said on X on Thursday.

The case has again highlighted concerns about women’s and girls’ safety in India, despite tougher laws introduced after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of a 22-year-old woman led to nationwide demonstrations. Four men convicted of that killing were hanged.

West Bengal came under intense global scrutiny in 2024 after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital triggered nationwide protests over women’s safety.

The South Asian nation’s longest-serving leader said she and members of her Awami League aim to return voluntarily to the country they fled two years ago and present themselves in court, testing Bangladesh’s handling of its most prominent political opponent.

“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Hasina, 78, said in the nearly hour-long telephone interview late on Thursday and into Friday. “Still, I have to go,” she said.

“My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed.”  

Bangladesh-India ties strained by exile

Hasina fled Bangladesh in 2024 after protests ended her 20 years as prime minister across multiple terms.

The country’s war-crimes court sentenced her in November to death in her absence for ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has denied the charges from exile.

A return could sharpen political divisions in the garment-export powerhouse as the government in Dhaka seeks to restore stability after two years of upheaval.

On the other hand, it could improve strained ties with India, which deteriorated sharply after New Delhi gave her refuge. Bangladesh has repeatedly urged India to extradite her.

Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina warns of mass voter boycott as her party barred from election

Hasina, who has fielded written questions from news outlets but not previously given an interview during her exile, said she has not consulted with any foreign government on whether or when to return.

This is the first time she has set out a timetable for her return, said she plans to surrender or said other exiled Awami League leaders would do so.

Among them, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal also faces a death sentence. Reuters could not contact the other party members or establish where they were. The authorities in Dhaka “want to take me back, they are repeatedly sending letters to India seeking to have me sent back”, she said.

“I will go myself.” Spokespeople for the Bangladesh government did not respond to requests for comment on Hasina’s remarks. India’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

In April, the ministry said it was examining Bangladesh’s request to extradite her and that it wanted to “engage constructively with the new government and further strengthen bilateral ties”.  

Onetime democracy champion accused of crushing dissent

Hasina was a dominant figure in Bangladesh for half a century after being thrust into the spotlight by the assassination of her father, an independence leader, and much of her family in a military coup.

She fought for democracy early on and was credited with turning around the economy of the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million, but her long rule generated accusations that her government had crushed dissent and dismantled democratic checks and balances — allegations she denies.

The crackdown that led to her downfall killed as many as 1,400 people, according to a UN report.

“Cases have been filed against almost all of our leaders and workers, and many of them are in hiding,” Hasina told Reuters from her exile home in Delhi.

“So I said that this time I am returning home, and one day, all of you should come. All together, we will all surrender in court.” She declined to give a date for her return or say exactly when she would surrender or to what court.

Bangladesh suspends job quotas after student protests

“I believe in justice and I feel that once proceedings start, it will be clear to the people how farcical the court is — and that I want to prove it.”  

‘Let the people decide,’ Hasina says

 Many Awami League workers have faced arrest, legal cases and physical attacks since her government was toppled, according to media reports and government officials.

Hasina said she had not been in touch with Dhaka over her plans to return.

“Democracy, voting rights, the political rights of the Awami League and justice are not subjects for secret talks.”

She said she was not worried about jail time, noting that she had been arrested several times before.

After returning from exile in 1981 following her father’s assassination, she was detained repeatedly during campaigns against military rule.

She was jailed again in 2007 by a military-backed caretaker government on corruption charges before being freed and winning elections in 2008.

Leading her to flee this time, she said, were threats on her life as crowds advanced towards her residence. “When a government works for a long time, mistakes can happen — no government is above error,” she said.

“But the right to judge the good and bad, the right and wrong of a government belongs to the people. I leave that judgment to the people.”

Hasina said she has held online meetings covering 125 of Bangladesh’s 300 parliamentary constituencies as part of efforts to reorganise the Awami League.

“They may have convicted me, and I may not be able to contest elections,” she said.

“But why should they suspend the Awami League? If we have done badly, let the people decide.”

Global oil markets received some respite last month as a peace agreement between the US and Iran facilitated the opening of the Strait, the effective closure of which had taken out as much as 14 million barrels per day of crude flows during the peak of the largest oil supply crisis in history.

Global gas demand to fall 0.5pc as tighter supply raises prices: IEA

The IEA said global oil supply rose by 4.1 million bpd in June, but remained 9.4 million bpd below pre-war levels.

The agency predicts supply will expand by 7.5 million bpd next year after a 3.7 million bpd contraction this year, but that is contingent on improved Hormuz transits.

“An escalation in hostilities on 7-8 July, however, clouds the outlook and could upend the forecast that sees the market flipping to a surplus next year,” it said, adding that a lasting peace agreement is a “must” for oil markets to normalise.

The IEA’s 2027 forecasts imply that supply will outweigh demand by 4.62 million bpd next year from an 860,000 bpd deficit this year, provided producers can restart fields and refiners can resume normal product shipments.

The Paris-based agency, which advises industrialised nations, sees global oil demand falling by 1 million bpd this year, before rebounding to rise 2 million bpd in 2027.

In the nearer term, it sees the peak summer fuel demand season lifting consumption by around 8 million bpd when compared with May’s low point at the peak of the crisis.

Iranian media later reported multiple explosions across southern Iran, including Bushehr, where one of Iran’s nuclear plants is located, along with Konarak, Choghadak and Bandar Abbas. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.

The developments came on the day that Iran buried its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a shrine in Mashhad, the culmination of a week of mass funeral processions and rallies.

Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, as part of a US-Israeli barrage against the nation that set off a months-long conflict that has killed thousands and throttled worldwide energy supplies. Attacks on Qatari and Saudi shipping vessels earlier this week upended the fragile ceasefire, with US President Donald Trump declaring the truce “over.”

Khamenei’s funeral procession reached the country’s holiest shrine for his burial with a huge crowd packing the courtyard, some bearing banners denouncing the US president and reading, “We Will Kill Trump.”

Iran’s Tehran-Mashhad railway suspended after US strikes: state TV

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said the US attacks and intervention in redirecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupting the waterway’s slow reopening.

The Guards said the number of vessels transiting the strait under Iranian supervision had recovered to about 50% of pre-war levels over the past two weeks, adding that permission was being granted only to ships using routes designated by Tehran.

Any further US intervention will draw a “crushing response”, the Guards said.

The US military said on Wednesday that its latest strikes were aimed at keeping the Strait open after it said Iranian forces had struck three tankers in the area. The US assault came hours after Trump said he believed the interim ceasefire was over.

While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.

Oil prices, which had spiked due to concerns that the renewed attacks would disrupt shipping and global supplies, fell back on Thursday as investors considered the possibility that the flare-up was temporary, or might augur a complete collapse in the ceasefire.

Iranian officials said the US attacks had killed 14 people and injured 78 across five provinces on July 8 and 9, state media reported. The Fars news agency said one US strike had hit a rail bridge used for trade with Russia and China.

Several explosions were heard on Thursday morning in Iran’s Bushehr province and in Bandar Abbas, a port city on Iran’s south coast, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Bushehr is home to a Russian-built nuclear power plant and a local official later told state media that a US projectile had hit the perimeter area of the facility. The perimeter had already been hit several times before an April 8 ceasefire.

Targeting US bases in gulf states and Jordan

Iran’s army said in a statement released by state media that it had launched attacks at US Patriot systems in Kuwait, an early-warning site in Qatar and a US Army fuel depot in Bahrain.

Kuwait said its armed forces had engaged with a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and 10 drones in its airspace, and that one person had been injured from falling shrapnel.

Sirens also sounded in Jordan after missiles launched from Iran were detected, the state news agency reported. Eight were intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported.

Also read: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say it targeted US positions in the region in response to attack

The Revolutionary Guards later said Iran had fired 10 ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Azraq military base, which is used by US forces, and also a US military control center in the Middle East, without elaborating.

Qatar, which hosts the largest US base in the region and has often mediated between Washington and its adversaries including Tehran, condemned attacks on commercial shipping but also called for a return to diplomacy.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Oman also stressed the need to avoid further military escalation in separate calls with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi.

In a call with the army chief of Pakistan, which has also mediated in the conflict, Araqchi condemned what he called US “warmongering policies”.

The Strait of Hormuz handled about a fifth of global oil supplies before the war. Tehran has since largely taken control of the strait, allowing it to force a stalemate in its confrontation with the world’s most powerful military.

“The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through US threats,” Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, wrote on X.

Trump does not expect return to full-fledged war

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday its forces had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile and drone storage sites.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Also read: US strikes Iran following attack on cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz

However, the US leader, who was attending a NATO summit in Turkey, also said he did not think the latest military strikes would escalate into a full-fledged conflict with Iran.

“Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly … and will only make it safer, including for oil,” he told reporters in Ankara.

Asked before the NATO summit on Wednesday whether the memorandum of understanding with Iran was over, Trump said: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them.”

The Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and LNG shipments, has been closely watched by shipping companies and governments following Iranian attacks this week on commercial vessels and US retaliatory strikes on Iran that have reduced traffic through the waterway.

But at least five ballast LNG tankers have entered the strait in recent days, according to data from Kpler and LSEG.

The vessels include GasLog Shanghai, controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog, and QatarEnergy-linked carriers Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Al Gattara and Al Rayyan.

The GasLog Shanghai and Al Rayyan likely transited into the strait overnight, having been seen outside the waterway on July 9, the data showed.

The other three QatarEnergy-linked vessels were last seen outside the Strait of Hormuz, off the west coast of India several weeks ago, with Al Samriya and Al Gattara last seen around June 18-19 and Al Dafna on June 29. QatarEnergy and GasLog did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of business hours.  

Four Japan-linked vessels remain in gulf

 Meanwhile, 22 Japan-linked vessels, including six large crude oil tankers, transited the strait to exit between July 7 and 9, leaving only four vessels in the Gulf, Japan transport minister Yasushi Kaneko told a news conference on Friday.

Asked how vessel safety had been ensured, an official at the transport ministry’s overseas shipping division declined to comment, citing security concerns.

The number of Japan-linked vessels in the Gulf has dropped from 45 with about 1,100 crew members at the start of the conflict to four vessels with about 100 crew members, according to a spokesperson for the Japanese Shipowners’ Association.

As chair of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines will lead Sunday’s gathering in Bangkok, the first in-person meeting with Myanmar’s top diplomat since a 2021 coup and ensuing conflict that led to the exclusion of the ruling generals from the bloc’s summits.

The coup by an army that has ruled Myanmar for five of the past six decades triggered chaos, with a crackdown on protests leading to a civil war in which an estimated 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, with the military accused of widespread atrocities.

Myanmar’s military denies those allegations.

The country is now ruled by a nominally civilian government following an election earlier this year, with the former armed forces commander and junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as president.

Ukraine minister urges ASEAN to stop Russian ‘hunger games’

The Philippine foreign ministry stressed Myanmar remained an integral part of ASEAN and Sunday’s meeting would be informal, giving Myanmar’s foreign minister a chance to brief counterparts on the situation in the country.

“They are expected to exchange views on ASEAN’s engagement with Myanmar, as well as on possible concrete steps in which Myanmar may address concerns on the cessation of violence, constructive dialogue among concerned parties, and humanitarian assistance,” it said in a statement.  

Myanmar pushback on peace plan

Min Aung Hlaing is seeking to end the impasse with ASEAN and made his first state visit to an ASEAN member country last week.

Central to Myanmar’s exclusion was his failure to implement a “five-point consensus” he agreed with ASEAN after the coup, which outlined steps towards de-escalation and dialogue between warring groups.

But normalising ties could be made more challenging by a motion in Myanmar’s military-aligned parliament to counter the peace plan, calling it interference in its internal affairs and a violation of ASEAN’s core principles.

An article on Friday that stretched across two pages of the Global New Light of Myanmar, the military’s mouthpiece, said lawmakers had endorsed a resolution asking the government to review and challenge ASEAN’s position.

“During the discussions, lawmakers from both houses largely supported the motion, arguing that ASEAN should reassess its position on Myanmar following political developments and the formation of a new elected government,” the newspaper said.

Minister ⁠of the Presidency, Health, and ​Emergencies Antonio Sanz called the ​fire “the most devastating fire to date in our region” and described the ​situation as an “unprecedented tragedy”.

Earlier, ​there were reports of six deaths from ‌the ⁠wildfire.

Massive French wildfire now contained, 16,000 hectares affected, local authorities say

“Our deepest condolences to the families of the six people who lost their lives ​in the ​Los ⁠Gallardos and the affection from all of us ​to the municipalities affected ​by ⁠the fire,” Juanma Moreno, the leader of Spain’s southern Andalusia ⁠region ​wrote in a ​post on X.

Laboratory testing by Australia’s national science ​agency confirmed the case in a greater crested tern ​found in the South Australian coastal town of ⁠Robe, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said.

It is the first ​confirmed infection in an Australian seabird, with all other cases ​being found in migratory seabirds.

It brings the total number of confirmed detections in the country to 12, after authorities on Friday also confirmed ​two additional infections in South Australia and one in ​Western Australia.

Collins said the development was “concerning” but not unexpected, adding that there ‌was ⁠still no evidence of mass mortalities or spread to the poultry or broader agriculture sector.

“Our scientists are undertaking further work to establish the potential pathway that resulted in the ​Australian sea bird’s ​infection,” she ⁠said.

Australia ramps up bird flu surveillance, testing after first mainland cases reported

“What we do know is that this is a coastal seabird that has been overlapping ​coastal range with migratory seabirds that have previously ​tested ⁠positive for H5.”

Australia in June became the final continent to confirm a mainland-based case of H5N1, although the virus had been ⁠detected ​in late 2025 on the sub-Antarctic ​territory of Heard Island, about 4,100 km (2,600 miles) from continental Australia.

“Moments ago, a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr was attacked and hit by a projectile of the American-Zionist enemy,” state news agency IRNA quoted deputy governor of Bushehr Ehsan Jahanian as saying.

Also read: Iran says it hits US military targets in Gulf, buries slain leader Khamenei

A US defence official however said that the US military was not currently carrying out any strikes on Iran.

The vital oil and gas corridor is a key point of contention in the Middle East war, with Tehran insisting on control of the strait despite it being open to free passage before US-Israeli attacks sparked the conflict in February.

After the foes traded attacks on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over”, but left the door open to more talks and added any strikes would end quickly.

US forces said the latest attacks against Iran were aimed at “their ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”, citing recent strikes against commercial ships in the waterway.

The US Central Command said they had struck approximately 90 military targets, including missile and drone storage as well as military logistics sites along Iran’s coastline.

The strikes killed three people and wounded several others on the outskirts of Ahvaz in Iran’s southwest, the country’s official news agency IRNA reported, quoting an official.

Iran’s reprisals came quickly, with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) saying they had struck “key infrastructure and facilities” at US bases in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain.

The Iranian army later said it had targeted sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar with one-way attack drones as part of its attacks on US bases in the Gulf, state TV reported.

An AFP journalist heard blasts in Bahrain’s capital Manama and Kuwait reported intercepting “hostile missile and drone attacks”.

American strikes hit a railway bridge in Iran’s northeast, according to official media, and IRNA reported strikes on a military base in coastal Bushehr, which hosts the nation’s only civilian nuclear power plant.

Earlier, warplanes were heard over Iran’s Kish Island and explosions rocked the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar, part of which lost electricity, IRNA reported.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. “If it happens again, it will get much worse!”

Late on Wednesday, while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the Iranian side had “called a little while ago,” and that they wanted “to make a deal so badly”.

Trump did not provide further details of the call — including who was on the line — but went on to cast doubt over the value of any deal, calling the Iranians “sort of crazy”.

Iran’s chief negotiator said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened only under “Iranian arrangements”.

“The United States still has not learned that bullying and breaking its promises no longer come without consequences,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X. “Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck.”

Since the start of the war, Tehran has insisted on controlling the strait, saying it will charge fees for passage and threatening to hit vessels that deviate from its authorised route.

Its military struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday.

The strikes on Thursday came hours ahead of the burial of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader, who was killed at the outbreak of the war on February 28.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called meanwhile “on all parties to exercise maximum restraint” — as did Pakistan, a key mediator in the US-Iran talks.

Iran said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatar’s prime minister had spoken over the phone on Wednesday and “underscored the importance of using diplomatic means to resolve regional issues”.

Both the United States and Iran said they had hit dozens of targets in the initial wave of attacks, which Iranian state television said had killed eight Iranian military personnel. CENTCOM said its forces struck more than 80 targets on Tuesday, while the Guards said they hit dozens of US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Oman, which sits on the other side of Hormuz from Iran, condemned the strikes on ships, but without blaming Iran.

The former mediator has not blamed Iran for attacks throughout the war, in an effort to maintain its neutrality, which is being tested by talks with Tehran over the administration of Hormuz.

Washington wants free passage for ships while Iran is insisting on fees and has refused to allow vessels to pass through Omani waters.

All three vessels recently struck were sailing close to Oman, which had announced a temporary transit corridor hugging its coastline.

Maritime traffic had tentatively resumed after Washington and Tehran signed the deal to end hostilities last month.

But almost 6,000 seafarers remain stranded in the area, International Maritime Organisation chief Arsenio Dominguez said Wednesday.

The latest remarks came as new fighting erupted between the United States and Iran, raising fears of a return to full-scale war after an April ceasefire and a June US-Iran agreement to end hostilities.

“The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, in order to regain air superiority and strike again… in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary,” Katz said at a military ceremony.

“If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force,” he added.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had been weakened by the two previous military campaigns Israel launched against it.

But he also acknowledged that the conflict was not yet over.

“The Iranian axis is weaker than ever before, while Israel is stronger than ever before,” he said.

“We proved that the long arm of the Israeli Air Force can reach anywhere, from Yemen to Iran. Yet we must also acknowledge that the campaign is not over.”

The war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran that killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader and other senior officials.

It was Israel’s second campaign against Iran, following a 12-day war in June 2025.

Energy prices surged after the US-Israeli war on Iran led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict.

But while crude prices fell sharply after last month’s ceasefire deal — and have risen relatively modestly on bursts of ​renewed fighting since — fuel prices have remained elevated.

That suggests the inflationary pressures weighing on industry and consumers, and worrying central banks, ​is set to continue, even if flows through the Strait of Hormuz have improved.

Pressure on fuel markets intensified ⁠this week after Russia banned diesel exports as Ukrainian attacks battered its refining infrastructure and raised the risk of domestic shortages.

The gap between ​fuel and crude prices — a proxy for refinery profit margins — has widened sharply even as refiners in Europe and the US struggle to absorb ​a glut of crude oil from emergency stock releases and from the Middle East during the US-Iran ceasefire.

“There’s just not enough refining capacity left globally to deal with all this,” Sparta Commodities analyst Neil Crosby said, adding high fuel prices could soon curb consumer demand.

European diesel refining margins hit a record high of over $60 a ​barrel on Wednesday, after Russia announced the diesel export ban. European gasoline traded at a premium of about $41 a barrel to crude this ​week, its highest since summer 2022 during the peak disruption from the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the US, the prompt Nymex 3-2-1 crack spread contract, a proxy for refinery ‌profitability, ⁠hit a record high of $64.58 a barrel on July 8.

Russian diesel exports already down

Russian diesel and gasoil exports were already declining before the latest Ukrainian attacks, falling to a record low of about 400,000 barrels per day, according to Kpler data, and dropping to less than half that level so far in July.

Asian diesel margins have risen to around a one-month high as traders anticipate tighter supplies in Western markets, even ​though Asia remains relatively well supplied.

Natalia ​Losada of Energy Aspects said ⁠Russia’s export ban would force major buyers including Brazil, Turkey and countries in North and West Africa to seek replacement cargoes from the US, the Middle East and India, potentially leaving Europe competing for fewer available ​supplies.

A diesel supply crunch would come at an awkward time for farmers across the Northern Hemisphere, ​who face higher fuel ⁠bills ahead of the autumn harvest season.

Low inventory levels

Gasoline profit margins have also climbed to fresh highs after showing signs of tightness heading into the Northern Hemisphere’s peak summer driving season.

US gasoline stocks were at their lowest for early July since 2021 in the week to July 3, according to ⁠Energy Information ​Administration data.

In Asia, low inventories have helped support prices despite expectations of higher Chinese ​fuel exports.

Overall OECD oil product inventories remain below their 2015-2019 average despite recovering from spring lows, highlighting limited buffers in global fuel markets and leaving them vulnerable to further ​supply disruptions.

“On the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Ankara, we agreed with the American government that American Tomahawk missiles will be purchased by us and stationed in Germany,” Merz told MPs in a statement to parliament.

The move will “close an important strategic gap in our defences”, he said.

“At the same time we will work on developing our own European systems and stationing them in Europe.”

Merz did not say when he expected the Tomahawks to be delivered.

The missiles are mainly launched from submarines and warships and can travel more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles).

“The USA possesses key capabilities that we in Europe cannot do without,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

Pistorius said that Germany was committed to building up Europe’s defence industry, but buying Tomahawk missiles from Washington is currently “the only way” to deliver on Germany’s NATO commitments.

“This applies particularly to the offensive capabilities needed for deterrence – and for responding to an attack on NATO territory, which we aim to prevent,” Pistorius said.

He added that the deal was “a strong sign of transatlantic friendship and trusting cooperation”.

Berlin views the deployment of long-range cruise missiles – such as the US-made Tomahawk – as a key part of its deterrence strategy against Russia.

Moscow has deployed Iskander cruise missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave, which could strike targets in European NATO countries.

European spending

A German government source said the defence ministers for both countries signed a letter of intent for the Tomahawk missile deal on Tuesday after previous negotiations between Merz and US President Donald Trump and senior security officials from both countries.

In the letter, the United States committed to granting formal approval for the sale of Tomahawk missiles and ground-based Typhoon launchers by August, although the number of missiles acquired would remain classified.

On Wednesday, Britain announced that a dozen European NATO allies – including Germany – would jointly spend about $50 billion over the next decade to develop new long-range precision strike weapons.

The German government source said that Berlin plans to contribute roughly half of the cost of the project.

Pistorius said the group would “develop long-range cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles, and procure off-the-shelf long-range drones”.

The announcement came after months of uncertainty over whether the US would station the missiles in Germany, which had been promised by Trump’s predecessor, former US president Joe Biden.

In May, Merz suggested that a planned deployment of Tomahawk missiles was being called off.

At the time, Merz cited depleted arsenals because of the wars in Iran and Ukraine as the reason.

It also followed a spat between Merz and Trump over the war in Iran.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees, many of whom fled Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017, live in congested camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.

The refugees live in basic shelters on hillsides cleared of trees – making the land unstable during monsoon rains.

Since Monday, at least 15 people have died in the camps and more than 4,000 refugees have been displaced after torrential rains triggered multiple landslides, officials said.

In a report on Thursday, the UNHCR highlighted severe congestion in the camps and renewed calls for space expansion.

“The incidents reinforce the importance of ongoing advocacy for camp space optimisation and additional space, where feasible,” the report said.

“Additional space would support safer relocation from high-risk areas.”

Ivo Freijsen, a UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, said many of the dangers facing Rohingya refugees were “neither unforeseen nor unavoidable”.

The lack of space, coupled with funding shortages, was limiting opportunities to decongest the most “overcrowded and hazardous locations and to plan safer infrastructure”, he said in a statement.

Bangladesh authorities, who say they are already overstretched, have called for the dignified return of the Rohingya to their homeland.

The 2017 Myanmar crackdown, when Rohingya villages were burned and civilians were killed, is the subject of a genocide case at the UN’s top court in The Hague.

Just two tankers had so far sailed through the strait in the early hours of Thursday. They included the crude supertanker Berg 1, which had loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island and is subject to U.S. sanctions, according to analysis from Kpler.

The Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker Well Sail, also transited the strait, Kpler analysis showed. Its previous loading destination was near Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, according to LSEG ship tracking data.

Shipping industry sources said vessels were increasingly switching off their public AIS tracking transponders, making it harder to see all of the ships crossing.

“Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has essentially stopped, which tells you more about risk perception right now than any statement from Washington or Tehran,” Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, wrote in a report.

Latest flare-up leaves US-Iran truce teetering

Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states on Thursday in response to U.S. strikes on Iran’s southern coastal and eastern provinces, putting further strain on a three-week-old truce.

The latest flare-up in the four-month conflict began earlier this week with attacks on three tankers in the strait that the U.S. blamed on Tehran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Thursday that U.S. attacks on Iran and intervention in redirecting shipping were disrupting the strait’s gradual reopening, warning that any further U.S. intervention would draw a “crushing response”.

The Strait of Hormuz handled about a fifth of global oil supplies before the war erupted on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran.

Daily traffic in the past two weeks had risen to its highest levels since the war’s outbreak, averaging 40 ships transiting the strait, which was still far off the pre-conflict average of 125 to 140 daily sailings.

LNG tanker attack exposes risk to high-value vessels

Some war underwriters have advised shipping companies to pause voyages through the strait while others are reviewing their policy terms after the renewed vessel attacks, insurance industry sources told Reuters.

“The Hormuz reopening story looks more fragile after the latest escalation,” ship broker Clarksons said in a report.

One of the three vessels hit this week, the Marshall Islands-flagged Qatari LNG tanker Al Rekayyat, remains stranded and awaiting salvage operations off Oman after a projectile strike late on Tuesday sparked a fire in its engine room.

Despite earlier fears of an explosion, industry sources said that risk was low for now and its cargo of liquefied natural gas appeared secure.

The ship registry of the Marshall Islands, one of the world’s top flag states, told Reuters there were no reported injuries or environmental impacts as a result of the incident involving the Al Rekayyat.

“As recent incidents have shown, the (marine war) market is now facing the prospect of potentially severe losses involving vessels of substantial value,” said one marine war underwriter, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Jordan said earlier on Thursday that it had intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran, with no casualties or damage reported, according to the state news agency.

Iran says US attacks disrupt reopening of Strait of Hormuz, statement

The Revolutionary Guards said U.S. bases in the region would be targeted if “U.S. aggression” was repeated.

The Guards added that transit capacity under Iran’s supervision had recovered to about 50% of pre-war levels over the past two weeks, and that transit capacity was only being expanded for vessels granted permits to use routes designated by Iran.

US military carries out fresh strikes on Iran, prompting Iran attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain

They warned that any further U.S. intervention would draw a “crushing response”.

Faced with an almost-insatiable appetite for electricity in the world’s most populous nation, Modi has outlined plans to substantially scale up nuclear power generation in coming years.

Australia lays claim to around 28 percent of the world’s uranium resource, but legal hurdles and political sensitivities have hindered exports to India.

“We have signed an important agreement today on nuclear energy,” Modi said after talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Melbourne.

“This will pave the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give our clean energy objectives fresh momentum.”

A joint statement said the arrangement allowed long-term uranium exports for “exclusively peaceful purposes”.

The exports would fall under safeguards established by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India, to help increase the share of non-fossil fuel power capacity,” Albanese told reporters.

India and Australia entered a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2015 that paved the way for uranium exports.

The two countries have grown considerably closer in recent years, partly driven by a joint desire to keep Beijing’s military ambitions in check while cultivating trading partners outside China.

‘New phase’

In the evening, Modi received a rock-star welcome from nearly 30,000 cheering and applauding fans from the Australian-Indian community who packed into the Marvel Stadium for a “Melbourne Meets Modi” event.

Australia’s prime minister and his “very dear friend” Modi hugged and held their joined hands aloft before addressing spectators.

“Australians of all backgrounds have been enriched by your bringing your culture here and adding it to our multicultural character – we are a better nation because we have you in it,” Albanese told them.

Modi promised the adoring crowd: “A new phase of India and Australia partnership is about to start.”

Australia’s prime minister has previously referred to Modi as “The Boss”, joking that he could pull bigger crowds than US rock icon Bruce Springsteen.

For the first time on record, the biggest group of Australian residents born overseas came from India, statistics for last year showed in June.

“In 2014, the Indian diaspora community in Australia was relatively small,” said Teesta Prakash from the Australia India Institute.

“But in 2026, it is now the largest diaspora community within Australia. It has outstripped the British, which is a huge demographic change,” she told AFP.

Modi’s visit stirred up opposition, too, including criticism that he has fostered a dangerous brand of Hindu nationalism at home.

Australia’s Alliance Against Islamophobia called for a protest outside the stadium event, drawing attention to what it said was the persecution of minority groups in India.

Anti-immigration protesters also gathered ahead of the rally, holding placards calling to “put Australians first”.

In their talks, Modi and Albanese agreed to strengthen defence cooperation and to bolster supply chains for critical minerals.

The two nations would build a “temporary space tracking terminal” on Australia’s Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, which will support Indian space flight projects, according to a joint statement.

Modi is scheduled to fly to New Zealand after Australia.

The monsoon delivers about 70% of India’s annual rains to replenish crucial water sources in the nearly $4 trillion economy, where nearly half of farmland lacks irrigation and about half the population earns its livelihood from agriculture.

“The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is unlikely to be favourable over the next fortnight and the chances of any low-pressure system developing during this period are also low,” S. D. Sanap, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD), told Reuters.

India monsoon revives after two-week stall, heads into central belt

“As a result, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are likely to receive below-average rainfall.”

An MJO is an eastward-moving band of clouds, rain and winds that circles the tropics every 30 to 60 days. It is a key driver of short-term monsoon activity, with its active phase boosting rainfall and its suppressed phase often bringing dry spells.

India received 39.8% below-average rainfall in June and the IMD has forecast below-average rainfall for July as well.

India’s summer crop planting lags after slow monsoon start

Heavy rain during the first eight days of July, particularly along the west coast, shrank the country’s rainfall deficit to 15.2%. However, the deficit is expected to widen again in the coming days as the monsoon enters a break, said a weather department official who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The sowing of summer crops like rice, cotton, corn and soybeans has trailed last year’s pace due to weak June rainfall, with farmers planting 35 million hectares (86.5 million acres) as of July 5, down 21% from a year earlier, farm ministry data showed.

“Farmers have been advised to cultivate short-duration and low-water-intensive crops such as corn, pearl millet and green gram to minimise the impact of delayed rainfall,” said Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the farm minister, on Wednesday.

Farmers in central, western and southern India will begin sowing in rainfed areas after the recent showers, but if a dry spell follows immediately, it could affect crop growth, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading house.

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in 2006, when Hamas won, defeating Abbas’s Fatah party, which had previously dominated Palestinian politics.

As a result, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, has not met since 2007.

“The presidential decree calls on the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in free and direct legislative elections to elect members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on the date specified,” the official Wafa news agency reported, citing the decree.

Holding elections is part of the reforms demanded by the international community, which supports the Palestinian Authority financially.

Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of four years, meaning his term should have expired in 2009.

However his term was extended and no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad.

In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in May and July of that year respectively.

They were then postponed indefinitely due to the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in east Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

In April, Palestinians went to the polls to elect municipal council heads in the occupied West Bank, in the first vote since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.

The PA has faced widespread criticism over corruption, stagnation and declining legitimacy, with donors increasingly tying their financial and diplomatic support to reform, particularly of local governance.

In June, Abbas announced that presidential elections would be held in early 2027, without saying if he would run.

Lebanon is demanding that Israel withdraw from these zones before taking part in a new round of negotiations scheduled for July 15 and 16 in Rome, a diplomatic source familiar with the talks told AFP on Wednesday.

The two countries reached a framework agreement on June 26 that calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory while Lebanon’s army deploys into “pilot zones”.

The US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, told President Joseph Aoun that “an American military delegation will arrive in Beirut in the coming days to… determine the mechanism for implementation on the ground,” according to the Lebanese presidency.

The agreement – rejected by Hezbollah – does not set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a “security zone” 10 kilometres (six miles) deep as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

“It is essential to avoid any vacuum when Israeli forces withdraw from the designated area,” Issa added, according to a statement from the presidency.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, for his part, once again called on the United States to “exert pressure on Israel to halt military operations and comply with the provisions of the framework”.

Aoun is expected to visit Washington later this month at the invitation of his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on southern and central China this week, bringing torrential rain and severe flooding in Guangxi, with a super typhoon heading towards eastern provinces this weekend.

Twenty-six of the deaths were linked to a dam breach at Liulan Reservoir, with seven still missing there, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Floodwaters had receded when AFP reporters arrived in Liulan on Wednesday but the streets and houses were swamped with thick mud.

Rescuers search for survivors of China storms as super typhoon nears

Water from the reservoir was still rushing through the river, as a rescue team sent large drones carrying food and supplies to people trapped on the other side.

Videos published by state broadcaster CCTV earlier this week showed torrents of water surging through the crumbled concrete walls of the reservoir dam, while rescue workers wearing life vests were deployed on inflatable boats.

Residents in Liulan were also seen cleaning up their devastated homes, with some of them using excavators to scoop up their damaged household items, AFP correspondents saw.

Around 4,270 of ​the deaths were among people aged ​75 and older, the RKI said in a weekly report. More women than ​men died, mainly because they ​make up a higher share of the very ‌old.

June heat topped 35°C for two-thirds of Europe population

The ⁠German data add to a grim picture across Europe. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said ​in a ​bulletin ⁠on Thursday that Western Europe had its hottest ​June on record with an ​average ⁠of 20.74 degrees.

National authorities have reported more than 4,700 excess deaths during ⁠the ​June 20-28 heatwave ​in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways blamed “a criminal attack by the US-Israeli enemy” on the route and said it had dispatched repair teams, the state broadcaster reported, adding that road transport was being arranged for stranded passengers.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused the United States of targeting “two bridges in the eastern provinces leading toward Mashhad in an effort to overshadow” Khamenei’s funeral, state TV said.

The burial in Mashhad, Khamenei’s hometown, will be the final act of a multi-day funeral, after Iran’s leader for more than three decades lay in state in Tehran before being processed through the Iranian capital and the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that began the Middle East war.

While Washington and Tehran have agreed a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding towards a long-term peace deal, Thursday marked the second night in a row in which the two sides exchanged fire.

US Central Command said it had hit around 90 military targets, while the Revolutionary Guards said they had hit back against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

“It was Iran that, by targeting ships sailing in Omani waters, violated its own commitments as well as international law,” Barrot told TF1 television when asked about the latest US strikes.

“Iran violated the agreement reached with the United States” last month, Barrot added, calling for calm between the rival forces.

“This type of manoeuvre must absolutely stop so that these crucial negotiations can continue under the best possible conditions,” he said.

The United States and Iran traded strikes for the second day Thursday as they battle over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

US forces said their latest attacks on Iran were aimed at “their ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”, citing recent strikes against shipping in the waterway.

Iran said it had launched attacks against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Here are some details:

One ​person was rescued alive from the building ​collapse debris in Delhi, news agency ANI reported.

India’s ⁠weather office issued a “red” alert for parts ​of Delhi and the neighbouring state of Haryana, ​forecasting heavy rain.

The Delhi airport advised passengers to allow extra travel time because of waterlogging on some roads leading to ​the airport.

In the southern state of Kerala, ​a landslide in Wayanad on Tuesday killed at least four ‌people, ⁠local media reported.

Six killed in India’s Mumbai as rains wreak havoc, disrupt travel

In the western state of Maharashtra, at least 13 people were killed in rain-related incidents, a state government minister said earlier this week.

In ​the Maharashtra ​city of ⁠Pune, near Mumbai, a large mound of garbage collapsed at a waste ​treatment facility. At least seven people have ​been ⁠rescued, with nine others were feared trapped.

Elsewhere in the country, visuals showed waterlogged streets in Agra and ⁠flooded ​highways in Gujarat, with residents ​wading through knee-deep waters.