World

At least 7 people have been reported killed and 15 other people injured in a school shooting in Thailand on Friday morning, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.

The shooting took place at a school in Central Thailand's Nonthaburi province. The fatalities have been listed as three students, three teachers and the suspected shooter. It has been reported that the attacker turned the gun on himself after shooting the students and teachers.

The shooter, wearing a purple tracksuit, fired multiple rounds inside the school, according to a witness at the scene. Initial reports indicated that the attacker was a student, according to Thai PBS, citing Thai Permanent Secretary for the Interior Arsit Sampantharat.

A student who was inside the school said he initially thought there were firecrackers going off or that someone was banging an object.

"I didn't think it was a gun at first," he told the Reuters.

"There were many shots: bang, bang, bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again."

Extending sympathy to those killed and injured, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told media that "I am very sorry that this is happening.

"It is horrible. This should not have happened," he said, adding that the problem of gun violence had prompted his government to ban the carrying of handguns by unauthorized people and to more widely restrict the possession of firearms.

With details of the incident still under investigation, officials have asked the public to await an official update.

The deadly incident is the second school shooting in Thailand this year. A teacher died of her injuries after a shooting in Songkhla province in the south of the country in February.

In October 2022, 37 people, including 22 children, were killed when a former policeman with a history of drug abuse attacked a day-care center in Nong Bua Lam Phu province in the upper northeastern region of Thailand.

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.”

Russia fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and destroying warehouses and logistics centres of major retailers, Ukrainian officials said, as a shortage of air defence missiles leaves Ukraine vulnerable.

Multiple explosions ripped through the area during the night, and fires lit up the dark skies over the Ukrainian capital, which has come under missile attack every three to four days in recent weeks as Russia has escalated its air war.

"Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram, urging Ukraine's foreign allies to replenish its supplies of interceptors. Deliveries of air defence missiles were three times smaller than in 2025, he added.

Ukrainian air defences downed nearly 90% of the 115 drones launched by Russia but failed to intercept a single one of the ⁠24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon cruise missiles, the air force said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had struck seven logistics centres in Kyiv and the region, accusing them of being used to store or distribute dual-use goods and drone components.

For months, Ukraine has suffered from a critical shortage of air defence missiles for U.S. Patriot systems, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing Russia's ballistic missiles, which travel at many times the speed of sound.

Since the Iran war broke out in February, Patriots earmarked for Ukraine have been diverted to the U.S. military and U.S. allies in the Gulf.

Russia, meanwhile, has intensified its ballistic strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities as its advances on the frontline have slowed considerably this year.

BODIES SCATTERED ACROSS PLATFORM

Officials said more than 40 people were injured in the attack.

At a commuter station in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, seven bodies were scattered across the platform. The body of an eighth victim lay in the bushes nearby, Reuters TV images showed.

"People missed their last train. For now, we know of eight dead," said Volodymyr Bigun, head of Brovary's local administration, adding that five logistics warehouses had been hit in the district, ⁠including food retailer Fozzy. "The enemy continues to hit civilian infrastructure." Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

As Kyiv aims to bring the war back to Russia, Ukraine hit a logistics hub of Russian online retailer Wildberries overnight, adding to more than a dozen it has damaged recently.

FACILITIES DESTROYED WITHIN MINUTES

Epicentr, Ukraine's largest home improvement and DIY retail chain, said two key logistics facilities and a factory were destroyed within minutes during the attacks, and it was still assessing the full scale of the damage.

"This is a deliberate attack on Ukrainian manufacturing, logistics, jobs and the country’s ability to ⁠recover," Epicentr said in a statement.

Food retailer Silpo said on Facebook at least six of its employees had been killed and two distribution centres set ablaze by the strikes.

Iryna Chechotkina, co-founder of leading online retailer Rozetka, said she watched overnight as the work of her entire life went up in flames after strikes by three ballistic missiles. "How did I feel that night? Devastation and pain," she said on Facebook. “A feeling that I must carry ⁠on despite everything. ROZETKA is still operating.”

Ukraine's economy has proved remarkably resilient over more than four years of war, backed by billions in financial aid from Western partners. But this year the business losses are piling up.

The Kyiv regional military administration said 13 warehouses were damaged in Wednesday's attack, as well as a manufacturing facility and four private homes, and dozens of vehicles.

Prime Minister Sergii ⁠Koretskyi, who took office last month in a reshuffle, said the government would call an emergency meeting with businesses to work out how to secure smooth operations of logistics and trade companies.

Kyiv sought more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot interceptor missile.

The United States is pressing ahead with talks to allow Ukraine to make Patriot missiles, even after President Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said.

Source: Reuters

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)

Russia fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and destroying warehouses and logistics centres of major retailers, Ukrainian officials said, as a shortage of air defence missiles leaves Ukraine vulnerable.

Multiple explosions ripped through the area during the night, and fires lit up the dark skies over the Ukrainian capital, which has come under missile attack every three to four days in recent weeks as Russia has escalated its air war.

"Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram, urging Ukraine's foreign allies to replenish its supplies of interceptors. Deliveries of air defence missiles were three times smaller than in 2025, he added.

Ukrainian air defences downed nearly 90% of the 115 drones launched by Russia but failed to intercept a single one of the ⁠24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon cruise missiles, the air force said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had struck seven logistics centres in Kyiv and the region, accusing them of being used to store or distribute dual-use goods and drone components.

For months, Ukraine has suffered from a critical shortage of air defence missiles for U.S. Patriot systems, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing Russia's ballistic missiles, which travel at many times the speed of sound.

Since the Iran war broke out in February, Patriots earmarked for Ukraine have been diverted to the U.S. military and U.S. allies in the Gulf.

Russia, meanwhile, has intensified its ballistic strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities as its advances on the frontline have slowed considerably this year.

BODIES SCATTERED ACROSS PLATFORM

Officials said more than 40 people were injured in the attack.

At a commuter station in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, seven bodies were scattered across the platform. The body of an eighth victim lay in the bushes nearby, Reuters TV images showed.

"People missed their last train. For now, we know of eight dead," said Volodymyr Bigun, head of Brovary's local administration, adding that five logistics warehouses had been hit in the district, ⁠including food retailer Fozzy. "The enemy continues to hit civilian infrastructure." Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

As Kyiv aims to bring the war back to Russia, Ukraine hit a logistics hub of Russian online retailer Wildberries overnight, adding to more than a dozen it has damaged recently.

FACILITIES DESTROYED WITHIN MINUTES

Epicentr, Ukraine's largest home improvement and DIY retail chain, said two key logistics facilities and a factory were destroyed within minutes during the attacks, and it was still assessing the full scale of the damage.

"This is a deliberate attack on Ukrainian manufacturing, logistics, jobs and the country’s ability to ⁠recover," Epicentr said in a statement.

Food retailer Silpo said on Facebook at least six of its employees had been killed and two distribution centres set ablaze by the strikes.

Iryna Chechotkina, co-founder of leading online retailer Rozetka, said she watched overnight as the work of her entire life went up in flames after strikes by three ballistic missiles. "How did I feel that night? Devastation and pain," she said on Facebook. “A feeling that I must carry ⁠on despite everything. ROZETKA is still operating.”

Ukraine's economy has proved remarkably resilient over more than four years of war, backed by billions in financial aid from Western partners. But this year the business losses are piling up.

The Kyiv regional military administration said 13 warehouses were damaged in Wednesday's attack, as well as a manufacturing facility and four private homes, and dozens of vehicles.

Prime Minister Sergii ⁠Koretskyi, who took office last month in a reshuffle, said the government would call an emergency meeting with businesses to work out how to secure smooth operations of logistics and trade companies.

Kyiv sought more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot interceptor missile.

The United States is pressing ahead with talks to allow Ukraine to make Patriot missiles, even after President Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said.

Source: Reuters

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)

Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people across India since July, official data showed Wednesday (Aug 5), with thousands forced to flee their inundated homes.

While the annual monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, scientists say climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the South Asia region.

India's northeastern state of Assam is among the hardest hit by the annual rains, with at least 87 people killed, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

In the state's worst-affected Sivasagar district, some 47 people have been killed as several areas remain under water.

State authorities have appealed for financial donations from the public to support relief and rehabilitation efforts.

"The devastation here is unlike anything these areas have witnessed before," Sarma posted on X.

“Material losses can be restored, but no compensation can replace a loved one.”

SEVERE WEATHER

AFP images showed residents using rafts and inflated boats to reach higher ground with the help of the state's disaster response officials.

In India's southern state of Kerala, Chief Minister VD Satheesan said at least 15 people have been killed and another seven were missing after heavy rains over several days.

More than 300 relief camps have been set up in the state, sheltering over 10,000 people, after rains triggered landslides and swollen rivers breached their banks.

In the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir, at least 31 people have been killed, according to a report by the public state broadcaster.

Monsoon-related disasters are an annual occurrence across India after the region's long summers when many parts of the country face water scarcity and drought.

Neighbouring Sri Lanka has also seen unusually heavy monsoon rains that have caused flash floods and mudslides, claiming the lives of at least eight people since Monday, according to the Disaster Management Centre.

Some 12,000 people have been driven out of their flooded homes in the central region.

At the same time, the country's eastern regions were in the grip of a severe drought, with authorities having to transport drinking water for residents in tanker trucks.

The government last month said the severe weather events were due to this year's El Nino weather phenomenon, which warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The government is yet to estimate the potential loss to Sri Lanka's economy from the effects of El Nino, but has set up a ministerial task force to mitigate its impact.

Source: AFP

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)

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he wants to give Iran a “last chance” before taking what he described as a “decapitation” action, while claiming negotiations are "going on” despite Iranian denials.

“Iran did not want to be hit, and they said we want to talk,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.

“We’re talking at the request of Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia, backed by UAE and backed by Qatar in particular, but others also,” he said.

“This is the last chance for them to sign a good document,” Trump said.

“I want to give him every last chance before decapitation,” he said when pressed further.

Asked whether talks with Iran were now off, Trump said: “They’re going on right now.”

“When they’re talking, they don’t like saying that they’re talking… We’re in talks, and they’ll sometimes deny it, even though they spend hours and hours together talking,” he said.

Trump said the talks would proceed in two phases, with the first focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the second addressing Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“We’re talking about the Strait, the opening of the Strait, having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that’s phase one. And phase two is we then will talk about the nuclear capacity,” he said.

Asked where the talks would take place, Trump said the location would be decided “today or tomorrow,” adding that discussions would move quickly.

He also added that the US will not allow Iran to charge the ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. “There's not going to be charging. We're not talking about charging at all.”

Trump said that the oil prices will drop after the US is “finished with Iran,” while adding that top US oil producers ExxonMobil and Chevron “made too much money.”

“When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they would give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. Too much money,” he said.

Iran said Monday that it is not engaged in negotiations with the US and that it is working with Oman to establish "a temporary route" in the Strait of Hormuz to ensure safe navigation through the strategic waterway.

“Our current discussions with Oman are focused on ensuring the safe passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said at a press briefing.

Baqaei rejected reports of negotiations between Tehran and Washington, saying: “We are not having negotiations with the United States.”

In recent weeks, the US and Iran have exchanged military strikes, with Washington attacking targets inside Iran and Tehran responding by targeting what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, particularly Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The escalation followed a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran in June and the launch of negotiations toward a final agreement.

The talks later stalled over disagreements concerning security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important routes for energy supplies and global trade.

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

Iran on Monday executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency amid the ongoing war with the US and Israel, the country's judiciary said.

According to the official IRNA news agency, the judiciary identified the men as Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, describing them as Mossad agents convicted of espionage and treason.

The judiciary said the two were found guilty of supplying Mossad officers with coordinates, photographs and information about Iranian military and security sites during the Israel attacks on Iran on June 13, 2025 and broader conflict that erupted on Feb. 28, 2026, between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other side.

Over a 13-day period ending on July 24, the US and Iran exchanged military strikes, with Washington launching attacks on targets inside Iran and Tehran responding by targeting what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, including Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The escalation followed a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran on June 18 and the launch of negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement.

The talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most strategic routes for global energy supplies and trade.

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