World

The death toll in Spain’s Ceuta border crisis with Morocco has climbed to 67, the Spanish government said Saturday. They included some who drowned and some who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier.

Spain announced it was installing a 500-meter-long containment barrier along the breakwater fence into the sea after some 60,000 migrants breached the tiny Spanish territory’s frontier between Thursday and Friday.

A handful of exhausted migrants who swam to Ceuta’s urban Tarajal beach Saturday morning were met by soldiers who escorted them back across the border. Spain’s interior ministry says the majority of those who entered the Spanish territory in North Africa have already returned to Morocco.

After days of chaos and streets packed with people who had hoped for a better life in Spain, residents of Ceuta woke up Saturday to an uneasy calm.

Even so, security for residents of the autonomous city of 84,000 remained bruised.

“Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident,” said Ceuta’s President Juan Jesus Vivas.

“The return of people has begun satisfactorily but the process must be completed,” he said. “The city has not yet returned to normal.”

Some determined migrants, however, remained in Ceuta. Among them was Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan.

“They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country,” he said.

“But even if they close it down … we’re round to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not.”

Iran said Monday that it is not currently engaged in negotiations with the US and that any future talks would depend on Washington changing its conduct.

Addressing a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei dismissed reports that Tehran had sought negotiations with the US.

“That does not accord with our principles. Claims that Iran has requested negotiations are merely reports,” Baqaei said in his comments carried by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

He said Iran has consistently viewed diplomacy as a tool for safeguarding its interests.

“We have never hesitated to use diplomatic tools to protect our national interests. We consider diplomacy a means of protecting Iran's national interests,” he said.

While acknowledging that mediators may be conveying messages between the two sides, Baqaei said: “At the present time, we are not conducting any negotiations with the American side.”

Asked about Iran's conditions for starting negotiations, Baqaei said the US “must first demonstrate more responsible behavior.”

“The United States must learn how to behave like a responsible government,” he said, accusing Washington of acting “like a mafia gang” over the past one to two years by disregarding international law.

“As long as this behavior continues, we cannot hope to create a favorable public atmosphere,” he added.

On Sunday, Iranian military spokesperson Amir Mohammad Akraminia said the US had halted its attacks over the previous two days and that Iran's "counter-operations" had also stopped.

According to an Axios report on Saturday, US President Donald Trump had directed the US military not to launch new strikes on Iran, ending nearly two weeks of daily attacks.

​​​​​​​Tensions between the US and Iran have intensified in recent weeks, with Washington carrying out attacks on Iran and Tehran responding by targeting what it said were US military facilities and equipment in countries across the region.

Spain will deploy its military to restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta after thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny Spanish territory, with at least nine dying in the attempt.

The announcement came after local authorities in Ceuta had asked the central government in Madrid for reinforcements to manage a border crisis that boiled over Thursday with large crowds of people breaching the border fence.

Spain’s government said it would send the Armed Forces to help the Civil Guard “maintain security in the city of Ceuta.” It also announced that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez would join Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in a visit to Ceuta on Friday.

“The situation is absolute chaos,” Rachid Sbihi, head of the association that represents Spain’s Civil Guard officers who police the border in Ceuta, told The Associated Press. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said, adding that the border had “totally collapsed.”

Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in northern Morocco, described the situation as “exceptional.”

“The Tarajal border was opened under unusual circumstances this morning and people crossed,” he said.

Video footage showed crowds of people, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach onto local roads. While most appeared to be young men, there were also families with women and small children.

“Viva España!” some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the AP. It was not immediately clear what prompted so many migrants to cross to Ceuta.

Spain’s government delegation in Ceuta said at least nine people died Thursday during the chaos. It did not provide details on the circumstances of the deaths but bodies could be seen floating in the water. Dozens have died this year trying to reach Ceuta, according to local authorities.

Arrivals had been increasing, but reasons are still unclear

The escalation at the frontier between Spain and Morocco comes after a surge in migrants attempting to reach the small exclave, mainly by swimming, on Wednesday.

Moroccan authorities have not publicly commented on the crossings, and Morocco’s Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said the Moroccan government was “closely cooperating” with Spain to handle the situation and that Moroccan police are stopping “numerous people” who are trying to cross the border. Both countries agreed to work together “for the return, as soon as possible, of all the people who entered Ceuta illegally.”

The ministry earlier said it would guarantee the safety of citizens and the integrity of the nation’s border but that the Spanish government could not declare a national emergency — as local authorities had asked — over migration concerns.

The chaos had ripple effects in Italy, another key destination for migrants. Premier Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain “to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens,” though Italy doesn’t share a border with Spain.

Ceuta authorities had previously linked the surge to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that barred authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea without due process. The ruling does not apply to migrants who enter Spain by land, including by climbing over the border fence.

But some activists in Morocco expressed doubt that the ruling was behind the surge, arguing most migrants would have been unaware of such legal decisions.

Spain is a main point of arrival into Europe for migrants seeking better economic opportunities or an escape from violence in their home countries.

To reach Ceuta, located on the northern African coast, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 3.1 miles (5 kilometers) to reach Spanish territory. Others attempt the crossing from the nearby town of Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.

The scenes of people streaming across the frontier recall the border crisis of May 2021 when more than 8,000 migrants poured into Ceuta in just two days.

At the time, Morocco was accused of easing border controls and allowing migrants to cross into Ceuta after Spain allowed Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to receive treatment at a Spanish hospital, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid. The pro-independence Polisario Front for decades has claimed to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people of the Western Sahara. Morocco claims Western Sahara as its own.

Ceuta authorities ask Madrid to declare emergency, send army

Juan Jesús Vivas, the head of Ceuta’s regional government, called for the national government to declare an emergency on grounds of national security, asking for more police and for the army to be deployed on the border “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety.”

He had warned Wednesday that migrant reception centers were overwhelmed with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets after more than 1,500 migrants entered the territory in the past week. Thousands more crossed overnight and on Thursday.

Spain’s Interior Ministry, which tracks irregular migration, would not confirm the number of migrants who had made it to Ceuta in the last few days but said it would publish its next migration report on Aug. 3. As of July 15, nearly 3,000 migrants had entered Ceuta by land or sea this year, according to ministry figures.

Legislation covering a declaration of national emergencies does not consider migration flows as a risk to national security, according to the ministry, which said government agencies are “coordinating to respond with speed and efficacy to the situation in Ceuta.”

Ceuta, which is perched on a historical isthmus, has been a Spanish possession since 1580. Its mixed population of Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers, lives in relative harmony behind a border fence that many desperate migrants from across Africa attempt to cross for a better life in Europe.

(Associated Press)

President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel would have been “terminated” without U.S. military intervention against Iran, arguing that his administration’s strikes on Tehran’s nuclear program prevented destruction to America’s closest ally in the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Michigan, Trump defended the U.S. campaign against Iran, saying it fundamentally altered the balance of power in the region.

“You know who wouldn’t survive without us? Israel. Bibi’s coming, he’ll tell you,” Trump said. “If I didn’t get involved, and I didn’t blow up those nuclear, essentially, soon to be nuclear weapons to dust, Israel would have been terminated months ago.”

Later Monday, while delivering remarks at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan, Trump touted the United States’ strikes in Iran, saying the U.S. had destroyed Tehran’s navy and air force, while diminishing its drone and missile manufacturing capabilities.

While he touted the U.S. military strikes on Iran as a major success, the audience was notably less enthusiastic about his remarks on the war than they were about immigration and the southern border.

Trump was in Milford to bolster support among auto workers and voters in the key battleground state by highlighting his administration’s efforts to revive domestic manufacturing, expand auto industry jobs and strengthen the economy ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump’s remarks came one day before he is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Trump said he and Netanyahu remain “pretty close” on Iran ahead of their scheduled meeting Tuesday, though he acknowledged minor differences without elaborating.

The U.S. and Iran halted attacks over the weekend, but Trump has repeatedly warned that military action could resume if the talks fail. The president told reporters Iran had reached out seeking renewed negotiations.

“Iran took a beating over the last 14 days, and they asked us very nicely, ‘Please stop. Let’s meet,’” Trump said. “If we don’t make a deal, we go back to the same thing.”

The president also brushed aside concerns raised by Netanyahu over the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, signaling that he would not allow foreign leaders to dictate U.S. arms sales.

(Agencies)

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Board of Peace reached an agreement for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, with Israeli forces set to withdraw as the process moves forward.

Trump said the deal, which he described as a "historic" step toward peace and security, would be carried out in phases.

"The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors,” he wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

He said the agreement represents a “major milestone” in implementing his 20-point plan for Gaza, adding the territory would eventually be governed by a “new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people.”

Trump also thanked Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye for their mediation efforts, saying their work, along with his administration's team, helped make the “historic breakthrough” possible.

“One year ago there was a violent raging war, humanitarian crisis and hostages kept in brutal captivity. We have made historic progress and there is still much work to do,” he said.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which started following an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 others, most of them women and children, while destroying about 90% of the enclave's infrastructure.

The ceasefire was brokered under Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza that is being overseen by the Board of Peace, which is chaired by Trump.

Despite the ceasefire, which took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, Israel has continued daily attacks across Gaza, killing 1,214 Palestinians and injuring 3,977 others, most of them women and children, while causing widespread destruction.

In a post on the US social media platform X, the Board of Peace said Hamas has agreed to a "detailed Roadmap for implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire."

"Our focus now turns to implementation. The Board of Peace has worked closely with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)," it said.

"It will soon begin a phased transition toward full authority, backed by the International Stabilization Force (ISF), and will accelerate implementation of the rule of law, security, and humanitarian improvement in Gaza," it added.

(Agencies)

An explosive fire at a popular bar and restaurant in Thailand’s capital Bangkok has killed 27 people, the country’s prime minister and other officials said on July 13, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years.

“We have recovered 27 bodies. Others are being sent to hospital,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site of the fire that broke out at 11.57pm on July 12 (12.57am Singapore time).

Footage on Facebook showed screaming patrons fleeing the bar as flames and smoke envelope the front door before an explosion causes a horizontal plume of fire to jet out of the exit. One patron is on fire, while another emerges with burnt clothes.

Thai news outlet The Bangkok Post said the dead comprised nine men and 18 women. It added that firefighters put out the blaze near Soi Lat Phrao 1 Road in about half an hour.

The New York Times said two of the bar’s musicians were among the dead.

Authorities said they had identified 10 of the victims so far, nine of them Thai nationals and the other from Laos.

Another 63 people were injured, 22 critically, in the incident at the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar and have been hospitalised, said Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The Bangkok Post said the injured were taken to 16 hospitals.

The restaurant owner was among those receiving medical treatment, according to Thai news outlet The Nation.

The bar and restaurant is located in a busy part of northern Bangkok connected by its urban rail systems, adjacent to two shopping malls and within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market that is popular with foreign tourists.

No leniency if laws have been broken: Anutin

Anutin, speaking to reporters at City Hall later on July 13, said the venue was licensed to operate as a restaurant, adding that police were looking at its inspection record.

He assured the victims and their families they would “receive the best possible care”.

Initial inquiries suggested there were “blind spots” without a visible fire escape route, he said.

He urged everyone to wait for the investigators’ report, but added: “There will be no leniency if any laws have been broken.”

He said rescue workers had been permitted to answer calls made to the mobile phones of injured or deceased customers so that information from worried relatives could be recorded, reported The Nation.

The initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in an air-conditioner located in the ceiling caused the fire, the disaster administration said.

Based on survivor accounts, officials said the fire is understood to have started at the front stage section of the bar and spread rapidly, forcing many to run to the back of the venue, which houses the kitchen and the bathrooms.

“There are two fire exits, one is near the kitchen. There were beer crates in the way,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters, adding that there was a table in the way of the other fire exit, hindering evacuation.

“We need to wait for forensic investigators to examine the scene more closely,” he added.

The live music venue has a stage, two bars and a kitchen, with a total capacity of more than 300 people, as well as four fire exits, according to a post on its Facebook page promoting a live show in July.

The Bangkok Post quoted Chadchart as saying that it operated in a single-storey concrete building and musical performances were allowed inside. It had passed inspection in April.

He also quoted waiters as saying there there were about 300 customers inside when the fire broke out. Normally, the place attracts 600 to 700 people each night.

Thai media outlet Khaosod said some of the victims were tourists who were eating and drinking inside the venue when they were trapped and unable to escape.

By the time the rescue workers arrived at the scene of the accident, the fire that witnesses said ignited at the front of the venue’s stage had already burnt through the area, according to the Disaster department’s Suriyachai.

“We have to wait for the police to investigate,” he added.

Preliminary findings show the pub had two emergency exits, one of which passed through the kitchen area, reported Bloomberg. Investigators will determine whether the layout and use of that escape route met required safety standards.

Governor Chadchart said the pub had procured proper permits and had fire exits, but the fire spread rapidly and smoke filled the room, potentially making it hard for patrons to escape.

He said the blaze spread through the ceiling towards the front entrance, prompting customers to rush to the back, where the fire exits were located. But some customers became confused and rushed into the toilets where many then passed out. He said the collapsed victims, including those in front of the fire exits, blocked the escape route for other fleeing customers, reported the Bangkok Post.

Smoke, then an explosion and fire

Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom, 45, said he arrived on the first fire truck to see the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar alight and many patrons stranded inside, several of them trying to escape from the back of the venue. The few people coming through the front of the venue had suffered burns.

“The fire was not that aggressive, but the smoke had engulfed 100 per cent of the venue. The smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were choking on smoke.”

An emergency worker’s body-camera footage seen by Reuters showed firefighters in oxygen masks moving through the darkened remains of the pub with torches as they searched for survivors and victims.

Several victims can be seen lying prone on the floor near the pub’s toilets while rescue workers carried in stretchers.

The video also shows what appears to be the fire-damaged main room of the venue, with bar tables and stools still visible.

“We sent in a rescue and search squad and found that a lot of people were inside the toilet. Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the flame was at the front,” said Chakrit.

In the early hours of the morning, emergency personnel remained at the scene as bodies were prepared for transport and forensic teams collected evidence to help identify the victims.

Numbered bodies lay in two rows awaiting removal, surrounded by a large number of rescue workers. Firefighters stood near the pub’s entrance, its facade scorched and blackened by the blaze.

‘Smoke, no oxygen’

Motorbike taxi driver Surin Jaiharn, 45, said he saw the fire burst into the street from the bar door and helped about five people fleeing with burns and blistering skin.

“I feel depressed. I saw many deaths and I do not know the fate of the people I helped,” Surin told AFP.

He said he used clothing to put out flames on the victims’ bodies, while another driver carried a female victim away from the danger.

A band member at the venue told local media that smoke suddenly filled the room after the lights briefly went out, followed by a massive explosion and fire.

“After the explosion, I didn’t see anybody trying to run. Most of them were on the floor asking for help,” he told reporters, his head still bandaged, without giving his name.

“I ran towards the door from the stage, about five metres. It was dark and there was smoke, no oxygen.”

A Laotian tourist, Kan Kutirat told AFP he was drinking alone at the bar at around 10pm when he noticed smoke rising near the stage.

He said: “I heard loud screaming from a lot of people inside – chaos happened.”

He posted a video on Facebook, verified by AFP, that showed patrons, several with their shirts ablaze, fleeing into the street as flames surged out the door.

“I never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “The images are still stuck in my mind.”

He said he helped carry a woman out of the bar.

In his post, he added: “I could only get one person out. I tried my best. I’m sorry.”

In the hours after the fire, Sukanya Wongwongwai waited outside the pub, looking for a friend who is missing. Survivors had told her about the chaos that had ensued inside.

“My friend, who was singing on stage, said at first they noticed the smell of something burning, then a little after they saw the ceiling was on fire,” said Sukanya, 32.

“Some people were injured because of the (debris) from the ceiling because it seems that the ceiling was made out of foam material to absorb sound.”

Thai national police said in a social media post at around 2am on July 13 that the fire had been “brought under control”.

Suriyachai said authorities had arrived five minutes after the incident was reported, but by that time “the fire had already spread through the whole area, making it quite difficult for us to get in”.

“When we went in to search, we found tables and seating blocking the way everywhere and the heat was intense,” Suriyachai told AFP.

Most of the victims’ bodies were found in a rear restroom, the official said.

Thailand’s lax approach to health and safety regulations, particularly in its bars and nightclubs, has long raised concerns.

Twenty-five people died after a fire ripped through the Mountain B nightclub in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province in 2022.

A huge fire tore through a New Year’s Eve party at Bangkok’s Santika club in 2009, killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.

(REUTERS, AFP, THE NATION/ANN, NYTIMES)

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister ‌Benjamin Netanyahu explored all possible paths to curb Iran's nuclear program in their meeting, including diplomacy, economic pressure and force, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.

Netanyahu did not tell Trump that Israel's preference now was for further attacks on Iran, the official said in ​briefings with reporters after the two men met in the White House on Tuesday.

"In the end, it's his decision," ​the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of Trump.

The U.S. president has three options ⁠and all were discussed at length, said the official, listing them as "a (negotiated) deal, continuing the blockade and economic pressures, ​and a massive strike." Netanyahu also added unspecified new ideas to the mix, the official added.

Trump had voiced irritation with ​Netanyahu ahead of their meeting, complaining that details had surfaced publicly about the Israeli leader's plans to talk about new intelligence on Pickaxe Mountain, a deep-underground, nuclear-linked facility that Trump has threatened to bomb.

Pushing back against any notion of tensions over the issue, the official ​said the two allies readily share intelligence, denied that Netanyahu had pushed Trump to escalate militarily against Iran and ​left open the possibility of a diplomatic solution.

At the same time, the Israeli official acknowledged that Trump is the "senior partner" while Netanyahu ‌is the "junior ⁠partner" in the allies' conflict with Iran.

The official said that there were signs Iran's clerical rulers have been rattled by rising inflation and public frustration, but that the impact on the global economy and oil markets was also a consideration.

Oil prices shot up on Wednesday in one of the sharpest spikes since the war began on February 28, with a joint ​Israeli-U.S. aerial bombing campaign in ​Iran. Tehran responded with strikes ⁠on
Israel and Gulf states.

Israel had not taken part in the latest two-week U.S. bombing campaign this month that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response, but ​it has warned Tehran that it would respond forcefully if attacked.

Israel sees its biggest threat ​from Iran's ⁠nuclear program and wants to be sure it can never get a nuclear weapon, the official said. Tehran has insisted it is not seeking a bomb.

On Wednesday, the United States and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq, and Trump vowed to "beat ⁠the fucking ​shit" out of Iran for firing on U.S. troops days after ​he halted air strikes.

Iran confirmed overnight that it had fired on U.S. bases in Jordan and at ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and also ​spurned an Omani proposal to jointly manage the strait.

(Reuters)

Oil prices surged over 4% on Monday as energy shipments via ​the Strait of Hormuz remained under threat, with the U.S. and ‌Iran announcing renewed military strikes.

Brent crude futures climbed $3.10, or 4.08%, to $79.11 by 0325 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.95, or 4.11%, to $74.36 a barrel.

U.S. forces completed another wave of strikes ​against Iran on Sunday, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with ​precision munitions, the Central Command said. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on ⁠Monday they attacked U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

U.S. President Donald Trump said ​on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial traffic, although Iran ​declared earlier that it closed the strait after a vessel traveled on an unapproved route and was struck.

Some 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transited the strait before ​the war began at the end of February.

Six vessels transited the strait on ​Sunday, ship-tracking data from Kpler showed, the lowest number in five weeks.

The escalating attacks cast further ‌doubt ⁠on the future of an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month that aimed to reopen the strait and end the war after a further 60 days of negotiations.

Following the agreement, global oil supply rose by 4.1 million barrels per day in ​June, but remained 9.4 ​million bpd below ⁠pre-war levels, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report on Friday.

"Hopes of a relatively quick resolution to the recent ​skirmishes may be in doubt after tension escalated over the ​weekend," ANZ ⁠analysts said in a note.

IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the relatively tame rise in oil prices suggested the market was taking the view that the current flare-up ⁠represented an ​escalation within a fragile truce and fell well ​short of a complete collapse of the ceasefire.

"How accurate that view is remains to be seen," he ​said in a note.

(Reuters)

Oman has won backing from Gulf states for a plan that would let Tehran collect voluntary fees to use the Strait of ​Hormuz, a Gulf source told Reuters on Tuesday, a path towards ending the disruption to oil trade caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

President Donald ‌Trump, who abruptly called off a two-week U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend in his latest strategic U-turn, said there were “good talks” under way with Iran but threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations deliver. Iran denies seeking to resume talks with the United States.

Washington launched its renewed bombing campaign earlier this month to break Iran’s grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas ​flowed before the war.

Iran effectively shut the strait to ships other than its own after the United States and Israel attacked on February 28. A deal last ​month between the United States and Iran partially reopened it, but the agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using ⁠a channel it does not approve.

Iran has said it wants to manage the strait alongside Oman which controls the opposite shore, and charge service fees to ships that use ​it. Washington wants to return to the status quo prior to the war, when ships were able to pass freely with no payments, and says charging mandatory fees would be illegal.

Under ​the Omani proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, a source told Reuters. The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi discussed the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani and Saudi counterparts on Monday and stressed ​the need for regional cooperation, an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said.

TRUMP WARNS OF MORE STRIKES

Trump called off his latest campaign of air strikes after receiving advice from military commanders ​that the strategy had run its course. The 13 nights of renewed U.S. bombing killed scores in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets.

Iran had responded with ‌attacks on ⁠U.S. bases in neighbouring countries that killed four service members, and strikes on civil infrastructure in Gulf states that it said was retaliation for U.S. strikes on civilian targets.

Iran has said it would hold fire as long as Washington does. But drone attacks were reported in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and northern Iran on Monday, and Jordan reported another drone being downed on Tuesday.

Speaking on Monday, Trump expressed optimism for a deal to end the five-month conflict, while warning that U.S. strikes would resume if negotiations failed to deliver.

“I think there’s a good ​chance that something could happen, and if ​it does, good, if it doesn’t, we ⁠go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”

Iran says it has not sought any new negotiations with the United States, which it accuses of violating the agreement reached last month on a framework for talks to end the war.

The U.S. president is ​scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday. Although Israel was involved in the initial bombing campaign, ​it has not been part ⁠of subsequent peace talks, and recent relations between the two leaders have been strained.

Trump has had to rein in the Israeli leader from attacking targets in Lebanon to try to weaken Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, complicating peace talks with Tehran.

The end of the U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend sent oil prices tumbling by around 8% on Monday, and the fall continued on Tuesday. Brent crude ⁠futures were ​down more than 2.5% at around $86 a barrel by mid-morning on Tuesday.

Washington and Tehran reached an agreement in ​June on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme.

But they have disputed the meaning of the memorandum’s language about the strait, with Washington ​insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel, while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.

Source: Reuters

-Agencies

President Donald Trump warned Iran that the US military would “completely decimate and destroy all areas” of the Islamic Republic if its leaders attempted or carried out his assassination.

The president’s message, in a Truth Social post late on July 10, came at the end of a week in which clashes between Iran and the US seemed to extinguish hope that the tentative accord reached between the two countries will hold, and after the days-long funeral of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, who has been succeeded by his son Mojtaba Khamenei, was killed in an attack as the US and Israel began their military campaign against Iran at the end of February.

“1,000 missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!” Trump wrote.

“Orders have been given, and the US Military is ready, willing and able,” he added.

On his way back from the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this week, Trump switched Air Force One planes at a British military base.

Asked by reporters, after departing Britain, if a security concern prompted the decision, Trump said, “no, no, why would there be?”

When asked if he was aware of any credible threat from Iran against Air Force One, Trump said: “Well, I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list.”

Trump has been the target of several assassination attempts. During the 2024 presidential election, he was briefed by Biden administration officials regarding “real and specific threats from Iran” to kill him, his campaign said.

It was reported this week that Israel had warned Trump of a new Iranian plot.

(Source: The Strait Times)

A major earthquake rocked Japan's southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, rupturing roads ‌and injuring at least 50 people.

Speaking to reporters at her office in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the full extent of casualties and damage from the 7.1 magnitude quake was still being assessed.

"We have already been informed that people have been injured," Takaichi said. "Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also ​been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings."

One hospital had reported more than 50 injuries, public broadcaster ​NHK said. Several people on a high-speed train at the time of the quake were also injured, Nikkei ⁠newspaper said.

Multiple buildings were damaged, including an Aeon (8267.T), shopping mall that NHK said had suffered an explosion, while footage from the broadcaster also ​showed other buildings on fire or partially collapsed. A spokesperson for Aeon did not immediately have a comment on the situation.

Large cracks appeared on major roads, including ​an elevated highway, and a goods train derailed, according to NHK, while rail services were halted and flights grounded.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, evacuated workers from its plant in the area as a precaution, a spokesperson for the firm said.

Sony, and Fujifilm, also evacuated staff from their plants in the area, Nikkei newspaper reported. A Sony ​spokesperson earlier said it was checking the situation.

More than 150,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centres, the disaster management agency said.

Residents ​in the areas that felt the biggest tremors must beware of further strong quakes for about a week as well as the risk of landslides, an ‌official for ⁠the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

TRAINS HALTED, AIRPORT CLOSED

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every 5 minutes. Located along the "Ring of Fire" of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan accounts for about 20% of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more.

The Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all ​on Japan's southern Kyushu island. The ​JMA also initially issued a ⁠tsunami warning for a wave measuring 1 m (3.28 feet) but later lifted it.

Kyushu Electric Power said about 40,000 homes had lost power as a result of the latest quake, while railway company JR Kyushu said ​that it had suspended services, including its high-speed bullet trains. Kumamoto airport also shut its runway, as ​airlines diverted and ⁠cancelled flights.

Telecoms operators KDDI and Docomo said there was disruption to their mobile phone services due to power shortages and transmission-line failures.

There were no irregularities reported at the nuclear power stations in the area, Japan's nuclear regulation authority said.

A massive earthquake in Kumamoto 10 years ago killed 275 people ⁠and injured ​a further 2,739, according to an official count, and damaged thousands of buildings including ​the city's castle, a top tourist site.

Some portions of the stone walls at the castle also collapsed as a result of Tuesday's quake, an official at the castle's office ​said.

Source: Reuters

--Agencies 

At least nine police personnel were killed in night-long clashes with militants in southwestern Pakistan, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in Ziarat district, also a tourist destination in Balochistan province, where police and militants clashed in the early hours of Tuesday, deputy commissioner Ziarat Abdul Quddus Achakzai told reporters.

The clash started after militants attacked a security checkpoint, Achakzai said, adding that the bodies of the slain cops were shifted to a local hospital.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the outlawed separatist group, Balochistan Liberation Army, has long been involved in attacks on security forces and government installations in the restive region.

Security forces launched an operation in the region after the attack.

Balochistan, a mineral-rich region and a key route for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has long been plagued by separatist militancy.

Source: Anadolu Agency