NEW DELHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the key maritime chokepoints in the Gulf, reduced significantly on Wednesday from the previous day, shipping data showed. Just two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz, including a Panama-flagg
Aug 6 (Reuters) – Rescuers worked on Thursday to douse fires and clear debris in Ukraine’s eastern city of Balakliia after Russian strikes on homes killed three overnight, authorities said on the Telegram messaging app. Three people were also killed overnight and at least 19 wounded in Russian attac
DHARMGHAR, Nepal (AP) — Monkeys are becoming one of the most persistent and destructive enemies of farmers in Nepal. At dawn, rural communities across the country gather to fan out across fields carrying slings, sticks and homemade noise cannons and keep watch on the tree line. Some bring dogs, othe
BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military-backed government arrived in Thailand on Thursday for an official visit that could serve as a major steppingstone in his effort to win political legitimacy more than five years after seizing power from an elected civilian government. President Min Aung H
HANOI, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, will visit Australia and New Zealand next week as part of efforts to bolster partnerships and enhance cooperation in science and technology, the government said in a statement. Lam will travel from August 9 to 14, the government said without spe
By Kyu-seok Shim SEOUL, Aug 6 (Reuters) – South Korea’s heatwave is expected to peak over Seoul on Thursday, with the capital forecast to hit 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) in a spell of extreme weather already blamed for more than 20 deaths. “Extreme heat on a scale we have never exper
DHAKA, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Windows were smashed and petrol bombs hurled at former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan’s residence after he joined ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s first public media interaction since her 2024 removal from power, in which she vowed to return in December. Pol
By Steve Gorman Aug 5 (Reuters) – Firefighters making big strides against a cluster of blazes near Spokane, Washington, scrambled on Wednesday to secure their gains as they anticipated a return of extremely hot, dry weather in the days ahead. Officials said crews had carved buffer lines around a tri
By Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s junta chief turned President Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Thailand on Thursday, as Bangkok makes a push for re-engagement between its war-torn neighbour and the regional bloc ASEAN. Myanmar’s leaders have been barred from summ
TORONTO, Aug 5 (Reuters) – When his teleprompter malfunctioned on Wednesday in the middle of a news conference on housing policy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney smiled and took a swift jab at U.S. President Donald Trump, saying, “I do not view this as a conspiracy.” Carney’s remark was an appar
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A gunman killed a social media influencer during a live stream in Mexico’s volatile northwestern state of Sinaloa, authorities said Wednesday, a public killing that underscored ongoing violence targeting social media personalities in the Latin American nation. The influencer, Césa
Aug 5 (Reuters) – A power cut plunged most of the former Soviet state of Georgia into darkness on Wednesday, an outage that may have been triggered by testing at a major hydroelectric plant, according to Russian media. Russian news agencies said major cities including the capital, Tbilisi, in the So
MEXICO CITY, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Mexico’s health ministry is testing food and water at more than a dozen hotels in the tourist hub of Quintana Roo after British health authorities reported cases of cyclosporiasis in travelers who had stayed there, the ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said that
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Activity at Guatemala’s Fuego volcano that began Monday morning and caused widespread evacuations is gradually decreasing, authorities said Wednesday. However, the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction, or CONRED, urged the population to remain cautious because rainfall f
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When Russia fires a ballistic missile at Ukraine, air-defense systems have only minutes — sometimes seconds — to detect and intercept the deadly threat. The lack of time has left Kyiv and other cities increasingly exposed to devastating attacks by the missiles that come down so
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro on Wednesday picked his running mate, a lawmaker from his party who will run for vice president in the October election after centrist parties largely failed to endorse his candidacy or opted to stay neutral in the race. The sen
Aug 5 (Reuters) – The Israeli military said it had begun targeted strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to a “Hezbollah violation”, a day after the latest round of U.S.-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon took place in Rome. The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strik
By Parisa Hafezi and Samia Nakhoul Aug 5 (Reuters) – Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatenin
MEGARA, Greece (AP) — Sasa, an alert and floppy-eared mixed-breed puppy, did not return home when the remaining containment lines were lifted Wednesday in the wake of a wildfire that swept across mountains and coastal areas near Athens. The pup was one of hundreds of pets and wild animals rescued by
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Temperatures in Central Europe soared to extreme levels again on Wednesday with Slovakia and Austria both having their hottest day on record. For Slovakia, it was also the third time this summer that temperatures reached a record high. The country’s south recorded tempera
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government on Wednesday offered a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Juan Carlos González, or “Pelón,” scaling up pressure on a U.S. citizen who has emerged as the figurehead of Mexico’s most powerful cartel. The reward was bumped up from $5 mill
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband discussed the importance of Europe taking a greater role in its security during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, the State Department said in a statement. Rubio told reporters before the meeti
Russia Names Middle East Veteran as New Ambassador to Syria Rizik Alabi / The Media Line [DAMASCUS] Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday appointed veteran diplomat Dmitry Dogadkin as Moscow’s new ambassador to Syria, replacing Alexander Yefimov, as Russia seeks to recalibrate its relationship
PARIS (AP) — France next week will ban unsolicited telemarketing calls under a new law aimed at protecting consumers from intrusive sales pitches and shielding vulnerable people from fraudulent commercial practices. The law backed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government enters into force on Aug. 1
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s ruling party has taken a commanding lead in elections for the legislative assembly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, results from the first two phases of voting showed on Wednesday, despite weeks of protests and calls for a boycott by a banned political group. Candidates
NEW DELHI (AP) — Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to her country from exile in India in December despite facing a death sentence in Bangladesh over a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2024. In an audio address to an event in New Delhi mar
By Inti Landauro PARIS, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Two French streamers received suspended jail terms on Wednesday following the death of a man they had subjected to violence and humiliation for several days on his own live video stream, apparently with his consent, a lawyer for one of the accused said. The
Aug 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had removed counter-terrorism sanctions from Iraq’s Fly Baghdad Airlines and two aircraft that were imposed in 2024 over links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, citing changes in the airline’s behavior. A Treasury officia
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here. For the first time in weeks, Israel’s military told residents of an area in Lebanon to evacuate. The military said it was in response to what it described as “a blatant v
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party on Wednesday filed a bill in parliament to advance a peace initiative aimed at ending the decades‑long conflict with Kurdish militants, including a provision for an effective pardon for former fighters. The Kurdistan Workers
