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BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers are gathering Monday to assess how much backing exists among member nations for new steps to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions.

The talks will center on a confidential document prepared by the European Commission that outlines three possible approaches: an import licensing system, steep tariffs designed to discourage trade, or an outright ban. A senior EU diplomat and a European official confirmed the existence and general contents of the paper.

The EU has historically found it difficult to make sweeping decisions on Middle East policy, largely due to deep and longstanding disagreements among its 27 member nations — especially when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, pressure within the bloc to act on the settlement issue has intensified in recent months, driven by growing violence from Israeli settlers and mounting frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has continued to expand settlements in the region.

The EU took action in May, imposing sanctions on four organizations and three individuals over what it characterized as serious and systematic human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlement activity in the West Bank are illegal. The court also said that other nations should take steps to avoid trade or investment relationships that help sustain that situation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar previously called efforts by some European governments to act on that advisory opinion “shameful.”

United Nations bodies and the majority of countries around the world consider Israel’s West Bank settlements to be illegal. Israel disputes this position, viewing the land as contested territory and pointing to a Jewish historical presence in the region spanning thousands of years.

One diplomat, speaking anonymously to discuss the confidential internal process, described what to expect from Monday’s session: “I think what you will see on Monday is a discussion on the options, and we will get a bit of a picture of where everybody is.”

Diplomats noted that no formal vote or binding decision on any specific measure is anticipated from Monday’s meeting.

The divisions among EU members also touch on the procedural question of how any decision would be reached. Some diplomats argue that a trade ban could be approved with a qualified majority — meaning at least 15 EU member states representing 65% of the bloc’s population. However, the Commission’s paper appears to suggest that a ban might require unanimous agreement among all members, a threshold that would make approval far less likely.

European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho confirmed that the paper was shared with member countries but declined to discuss its specific contents.

A deadly highway crash in the Mexican state of Jalisco claimed nine lives and left approximately ten people injured on Sunday, according to Civil Protection authorities. The collision was caused by a tractor-trailer and involved multiple vehicles.

Two of the victims who lost their lives were minors. Among the injured, two members of the National Guard sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Magdalena Hospital in Guadalajara for treatment.

Video footage shared on social media by local news outlets captured the aftermath of the wreck, showing multiple vehicles engulfed in flames along a highway that connects the cities of Guadalajara and Tepic.

All four of the injured American citizens were reported to be in minor condition. “Four patients in minor condition, all U.S. citizens, were transferred to the Arboledas Hospital in Guadalajara by a private ambulance from the highway,” Jalisco Civil Protection said in a statement.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — American forces launched multiple rounds of strikes against Iran on Sunday, responding to an Iranian assault on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that ignited the vessel and left one crew member unaccounted for. Iran struck back by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman — the nation sharing the other side of the strait that Tehran has been pushing to partner with in controlling ship traffic through the waterway.

The U.S. military released a statement saying its goal was to reduce Iran’s capability to freely attack commercial vessels passing through the vital strait. That statement followed a third wave of strikes that extended from late Sunday night into early Monday morning inside Iran.

Iranian state media acknowledged the latest round of attacks early Monday but reported no deaths or harm to civilian infrastructure in the regions near the strait. Whether any military targets were successfully hit remained unclear at that time.

The initial strikes Sunday morning came in direct response to Iran’s attack on a container ship in the waterway the previous day. Iran then launched retaliatory strikes against Gulf Arab nations, setting off a cycle of escalating violence that pushed ongoing peace negotiations between Tehran and Washington dangerously close to falling apart.

A second round of U.S. strikes followed later Sunday. The governor of Qeshm Island, located near the strait, told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency that projectiles had been fired at military targets without causing any casualties. Residents also reported hearing explosions in the coastal city of Bandar Abbas and in Hajiabad, a city to the north.

A U.S. official, speaking without authorization to comment publicly on military activities, said a limited number of strikes were aimed at missile and air defense systems as well as paramilitary Revolutionary Guard watercraft.

The conflict comes as Iran and the U.S. are roughly halfway through a 60-day interim agreement designed to lead to a permanent end to the war. The Strait of Hormuz — long regarded as an international waterway and a critical corridor for the world’s oil and natural gas supply — has become a major point of contention in negotiations that now appear at serious risk of breaking down.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “a return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences,” according to an official statement.

Earlier Sunday, the U.S. military reported hitting approximately 140 targets, which included missile and drone launch sites, weapons storage depots, communications equipment, and other facilities. The intensity of the attacks surpassed those seen in recent days. Over the past week, the U.S. has conducted three rounds of airstrikes on Iran in response to attacks on ships traveling through the strait via a route along Oman’s coast, which ships have been using to avoid Iranian territorial waters.

“We bombed the hell out of them last night,” President Donald Trump said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Semiofficial Iranian news outlets reported that a navy officer was killed in the strikes. Iran retaliated by attacking regional nations that host U.S. military personnel, while maintaining its position that it alone must control the strait and may require ships to pay fees to pass through it.

“The era of one-sided deals is OVER,” wrote Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a key negotiator. “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”

Iran declared the strait closed until the situation stabilizes and warned it could strike “additional enemy bases in the region” if attacks continued. The U.S. military and President Trump both maintained that the strait remained open for navigation.

The U.S. military reported that more than 140 ships had passed through the strait over the previous week. A multinational organization under U.S. Navy oversight said vessel traffic was continuing “at reduced levels” along routes near both Oman and Iran, noting that nearly 140 ships had been transiting daily before the war began.

Prior to the war, roughly one-fifth of all globally traded oil and natural gas moved through the strait. Iran’s control over the waterway triggered a worldwide energy crisis, though oil prices have fallen sharply from wartime peaks of $120 per barrel.

Qatar’s military announced it had intercepted incoming Iranian fire, with explosions also reported in the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Three individuals, including a child, sustained injuries from shrapnel during the interception, according to Qatar’s Interior Ministry.

Missile alerts were triggered in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Kuwait’s Defense Ministry reported that three northern land border posts and an offshore drilling platform operated by the Kuwait Oil Company were damaged, with one worker injured.

Three Iranian missiles struck locations across Jordan, causing minor damage but no reported injuries, according to Jordan’s state news agency.

Oman’s state news agency reported that drones hit sites along the waterway — just one day after Oman and Iran had held talks about the strait and agreed to keep talking. The strait runs through the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman. Oman called in the Iranian ambassador to formally protest the strikes, the first such diplomatic action since the war began, and labeled Iran’s actions “irresponsible.”

The Cyprus-flagged container ship struck by Iran sustained “significant engine room damage,” according to the U.S. military. Oman’s maritime authority said it rescued 23 crew members, but one remained missing. India’s foreign ministry identified the missing individual as an Indian national.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which operates under British military oversight, confirmed the ship had been traveling along Oman’s coastline at the time of the attack.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed that multiple vessels “disregarded our warnings” and failed to follow what it described as an approved route, saying one ship “was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop.”

Iranian state media subsequently reported U.S. strikes across the country, including in southern Iran in the province nearest the strait and at military installations in a province close to Tehran.

President Trump suggested last week that the interim ceasefire deal was “over,” but mediating nations including Pakistan, Qatar, and Egypt have continued working toward a resolution. A regional official involved in the mediation effort, speaking anonymously to discuss the sensitive talks, said efforts to preserve the ceasefire continued on Sunday. Pakistan confirmed that its foreign minister spoke by phone with Iran’s top diplomat and called for “de-escalation” from both sides.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who had not been seen publicly since the war began, issued his first statement Saturday since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He vowed that Iranians would seek revenge for his father’s death, which occurred in the war’s opening strikes on February 28.

Some buildings quietly hold history within their walls. At Berggasse 6 in Vienna, Austria, that history is anything but quiet.

The structure, built in the mid-1850s, is owned by the Catholic Schottenstift Abbey. Its ground floor is home to a pizzeria run by a Palestinian owner. And from 1896 to 1898, the building served as the residence of Theodor Herzl, one of the founding figures of modern Zionism. Adding yet another layer to its complex past, several Jewish residents connected to the building were later deported and killed during the Holocaust.

A commemorative plaque honoring Herzl stands near the building — unveiled by Israeli President Isaac Herzog just one month before the October 7 massacre. The plaque has since been vandalized with red markings.

Where Zionism Became a Movement

On January 6, 1897, Herzl wrote in his diary: “The road from Palestine to Paris is beginning to pass through my room.” Though he lived at the address for only two years, his apartment in Vienna’s 9th District became a critical hub for the push to establish a Jewish state.

Dr. Daniel Polisar, executive vice president and co-founder of Shalem College in Jerusalem, described the apartment’s significance to The Media Line: “In a very real sense, his home was also the central office of the Zionist movement. But you could also say that from his home, he built the Jewish state. A large number of the most important meetings took place there. A lot of the most important work took place there. A lot of his writing took place there.”

Polisar, who served as the founding chairman of the National Council for the Commemoration of the Legacy of Theodor Herzl, called the period Herzl spent at the building “the peak of his activity.” During those years, Herzl launched the newspaper Die Welt, organized the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, and later coordinated activities for the newly established World Zionist Organization — including hosting its executive meetings — all from that address.

Herzl also received diplomatic figures there. A diary entry dated December 13, 1896, included a letter in which he offered to welcome Prussian Minister of War Julius von Verdy du Vernois to his home to argue the case for a Jewish state. He also met with Jewish community leaders including Dr. Joseph Samuel Bloch, an Austrian parliamentarian and rabbi; Rabbi Sigmund Gelbhaus, a Galicia-born scholar then active in Vienna; Sigmund Mayer, a Viennese Jewish merchant and communal leader from Pressburg; and J. K. Poznanski of Łódź, a wealthy Russian Polish Jewish industrialist.

The Residents Who Never Escaped

Decades after Herzl moved out, the building became linked to a far darker chapter. At least three Jewish residents were deported from Berggasse 6 and murdered during the Holocaust.

Hugo and Irene Roden were deported on July 14, 1942, to Terezín — the ghetto and concentration camp located in what is now Czechia. Of the 1,009 people on their transport, 950 perished, including Hugo. Irene was among 59 survivors of Terezín, but she was later sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. The exact dates of their deaths remain unknown.

Three days after the Rodens were deported, Camilla Tandler was also removed from the building. She died at Auschwitz, her date of death also unknown.

Heinrich and Adele Kurtz, who had lived in the building in 1919, applied in 1939 for permission to emigrate to Mandatory Palestine, where Jewish immigration was controlled by British authorities at the time. They never made it to safety. Heinrich was transported from Terezín to Treblinka in September 1942, where he was killed. Adele died on February 23, 1942 — four months before her husband was deported from a different Vienna address. The cause of her death is not known.

A Palestinian Owner Beneath It All

Today, the closest most visitors can get to Herzl’s former apartment is Pizzeria Valentino, the restaurant occupying the building’s ground floor.

The irony of the address is hard to miss. The work Herzl did in the floors above, nearly 130 years ago, helped shape the life of the restaurant’s current owner — Hakim Hadid, a Palestinian.

In the very building where Zionism evolved from an idea into an organized political movement, Hadid keeps a framed photograph of himself with Yasser Arafat, the longtime leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and later president of the Palestinian Authority. Hadid said he had known Arafat since the age of 12, through an uncle who had a close relationship with the former leader.

When asked how he felt about the building’s history, Hadid told The Media Line simply: “Not good.”

Born in Nablus, the 67-year-old Hadid moved to Libya as an infant. He later came to Vienna to pursue a master’s degree at the Technical University of Vienna, but left the program after two years. He has now worked at the pizzeria for 43 years, spending the last 18 as its sole owner.

Hadid said visitors — including Israelis — frequently stop in to ask about the building’s past. He said he simply wants to be left in peace, adding that he sometimes gets the sense that people want him gone, and that Israelis “have already taken my house” in the West Bank. He also questioned why so much attention was paid to Herzl’s brief stay, given that he himself had been at the location for roughly four decades longer.

In his back office, taped near a printer, hangs a newspaper photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beneath the German headline “Haftbefehl gegen Netanjahu” — which translates to “Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu.”

Despite the weight of his personal history, Hadid said he believes peace between Israelis and Palestinians is possible — a Palestinian state existing alongside a Jewish one. He views Israel as an “illegal” state, but acknowledges the reality that it is not going away.

He summed up his view of coexistence not as something warm, but as something unavoidable.

“We cannot kill all the Israelis,” Hadid said.

Interview translation provided by Prabhu Guptara and Clemens Öllinger.

French counterterrorism prosecutors launched a formal investigation on Sunday after police uncovered a military-style rifle, a loaded handgun, and ammunition inside an abandoned car parked near a synagogue in Sarcelles, a suburb north of Paris with a well-known Jewish population. The discovery triggered the evacuation of roughly 300 people on Saturday night.

Domestic intelligence officials tipped off police to the suspicious vehicle on Rue Henri Dunant at approximately 9:30 p.m., citing concerns it could be connected to a potential attack targeting the Jewish community. Officers set up a security perimeter and cleared out patrons from nearby restaurants and a movie theater while bomb-disposal experts examined the car.

No explosives were found inside the vehicle. According to French reports, investigators recovered a rifle loaded with seven rounds and a handgun containing 10 rounds. The operation wrapped up just before midnight. As of the latest reports, no arrests had been announced, and authorities were working to identify anyone linked to the vehicle and determine why the weapons were left there.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that investigators had recovered “a long firearm, a military-grade weapon.” When asked whether authorities believed an attack had been imminent, he responded, “We simply don’t know.”

Nuñez clarified that the vehicle was found in the general area of the Great Synagogue of Sarcelles, not directly outside it. The surrounding neighborhood also includes restaurants and entertainment venues, leaving investigators uncertain whether the synagogue, another nearby location, or no specific site had been chosen as a potential target.

Sarcelles has historically been home to one of France’s most prominent Jewish communities and has faced antisemitic incidents in the past, including attacks on Jewish-owned businesses during protests in 2014.

The investigation comes amid an ongoing struggle with antisemitism in France. The Interior Ministry recorded 1,320 antisemitic incidents in 2025 — a 16% drop from 2024 — but that figure remains significantly higher than levels seen before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Authorities have not established a motive and have not confirmed that any attack was actually being planned.

VINA DEL MAR, Chile — A member of the Chilean navy who was off duty drove his personal vehicle into a crowded open-air market in the coastal city of Vina del Mar on Sunday, leaving several people dead, according to an official statement from the navy.

Video footage shared on social media, captured by a residential security camera, appears to show the moment the vehicle slammed into the market stalls. Additional videos show the driver being hurried into a nearby police car as furious bystanders chased after him.

“The accident resulted in the deaths of several people and left others with injuries of varying severity,” the navy said in its statement, noting that the branch is working alongside authorities to determine exactly what led to the crash.

While the navy did not specify the exact number of fatalities, local media in Chile reported at least six people had died. Hospital officials at Gustavo Fricke Hospital confirmed five injured individuals — among them two babies — were admitted with various traumatic injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Two additional injured people were treated and released.

“At this stage of the evaluation, they are stable and out of life-threatening danger, but of course they are still awaiting the completion of all the examinations required in these cases,” said Denise Cataldo, the hospital’s deputy director.

Interior Undersecretary Máximo Pavez confirmed that the navy member — the sole person detained in connection with the incident — tested negative on a breathalyzer.

Col. Jorge Guaita, the police prefect for Vina del Mar, told reporters that the driver claims to have no recollection of what happened, and that investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash.

“Witness statements from people who saw the crash indicate that the vehicle was traveling in the correct direction of traffic, at high speed,” Guaita said. He added that the car jumped onto the sidewalk and spun around before coming to a stop. “Fortunately, the bus stop brought it to a halt. Otherwise, it might have continued forward and caused even more damage,” he said.

Some witnesses told local media they believe the driver may have lost control after a collision with another vehicle.

Chilean President José Antonio Kast addressed the tragedy on X, writing that the incident had plunged “the entire country in mourning.” He added: “All state institutions are working to assist those affected and to establish with complete clarity the responsibilities for this painful event.”

The Caupolican market, where the crash occurred, is a large open-air market held every Thursday and Sunday in the upper section of Vina del Mar. It features more than 1,000 vendor stalls along with informal sellers in the surrounding streets, and typically draws large crowds of shoppers.

A woman named Melissa arrived in South Africa a decade ago, taking whatever jobs she could find and sending money back to her family in Zimbabwe. This month, she began packing her bags.

“I am planning to go back home, because I’m no longer safe in this country,” she told The Media Line. She noted that many of those departing had been living there legally. “Some of us have papers, but now we are forced to go.”

Melissa is one of tens of thousands of foreign nationals who have departed South Africa as anti-immigrant demonstrations, scattered violence, and fears of further unrest have rippled across the country. What started as a domestic dispute over immigration has grown into a full-blown diplomatic crisis for a nation whose post-apartheid foreign policy has long championed Pan-African unity.

Several neighboring countries — including Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria — have assisted their citizens in returning home while voicing alarm over their safety. By early July, Malawi reported bringing back more than 38,000 of its nationals, while Zimbabwean officials said more than 60,000 citizens had returned during the unrest and stepped-up immigration enforcement.

Anti-immigrant groups set June 30 as a deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave, following weeks of confrontations and attacks. Mozambique reported that five of its citizens were killed in Mossel Bay in late May. Ghana and Nigeria each raised concerns about the deaths of their nationals, while thousands of migrants lined up at consulates, temporary camps, and repatriation centers.

March and March, the most prominent group within a coalition of more than 20 anti-immigrant organizations, organized demonstrations across South Africa on June 30. Its leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has consistently pushed back against characterizations of the movement as xenophobic.

“We don’t care if it’s white people, Chinese or anyone else,” Ngobese-Zuma said at a June 24 press briefing in Midrand. “We just want people to be in the country legally.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa met with protest organizers ahead of June 30 and urged them to pursue their grievances through lawful means. In a weekly letter released by the Presidency on June 29, Ramaphosa acknowledged that South Africa’s immigration system needed “substantial reform” and said the government was working to strengthen border security and crack down on undocumented immigration. He also cautioned that private citizens and groups cannot take on powers that belong to the state.

Police and military personnel were deployed across the country on June 30.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili told reporters at a July 1 press conference that officers recorded 120 marches that day. Of those, 108 remained peaceful while 12 required police intervention.

In Johannesburg’s Alexandra township, one person was shot and killed late on June 30 as residents looted shops owned by foreigners. A separate shooting in Hillbrow, in the heart of Johannesburg, left two people wounded. Police arrested more than 900 individuals on charges that ranged from public violence and robbery to immigration violations and harboring undocumented migrants.

On July 3, Ramaphosa informed Parliament that 3,405 members of the South African National Defense Force had been deployed beginning June 28 to assist police.

The unrest has also sparked questions about how South Africa’s internal tensions square with its long-held Pan-African foreign policy commitments.

Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), told The Media Line that the government does not believe the unrest signals an abandonment of those principles.

“Our commitment to the continent remains foundational to our foreign policy identity,” Phiri said. “We do not see our historical role as a champion of Pan-African solidarity as diminished by localized tensions, but rather as being tested.”

DIRCO views the unrest, he said, “not as an ideological failure of Pan-Africanism, but as an urgent domestic governance issue that requires a human-rights-centric response.”

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has sought influence through the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, while holding up human rights and international law as cornerstones of its foreign policy.

Loren Landau, a migration scholar at the University of Oxford and the University of the Witwatersrand, told The Media Line that the protests reveal something deeper than frustration over immigration policy.

“My greatest takeaway from the marches and the lead-up to them is that they are less about immigration and more about the nature of South African politics,” Landau said, “and the degree to which it has become captured by people willing to use the language of hate, threats of violence, and actual violence to shape the country’s political future.”

“Politicians who lack genuine or practical solutions to economic inequality, poverty and unemployment are using immigration to advance their political careers,” he argued.

Phiri said the government is working to resist populist pressures while defending its regional standing.

“As Minister Lamola has recently articulated, we reject populist or xenophobic narratives that seek to turn Africans against each other,” he said. “Our standing relies on our ability to openly confront these internal social challenges while remaining steadfast in the AU and SADC agendas.”

Ronald Lamola, the minister of international relations and cooperation, expressed that position in a May 8 statement after Ghana requested a debate at an African Union summit on what Accra described as xenophobic attacks against African nationals in South Africa.

XenoWatch, a research project at the University of the Witwatersrand, has documented 1,321 xenophobic incidents since 1994, including 698 deaths and the displacement of nearly 129,000 people.

John J. Stremlau, an honorary professor of international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, told The Media Line that political calls for tougher immigration enforcement cannot simply be brushed aside.

“We live in a world of nation-states,” he said. “South Africa has experienced an inflow of people who are desperate for work. South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, so political pressure to restrict illegal immigration is understandable.”

“Personally, I wish South Africa could afford to receive more refugees, but it can’t,” he added.

Even so, Stremlau made clear that economic and political pressures do not justify attacks on migrants.

“The violence itself is not understandable,” he said, connecting part of the political climate to Zulu nationalism and figures including former President Jacob Zuma and his MK party.

The diplomatic friction has been intensified by conflicting accounts of deaths involving foreign nationals.

Nigeria raised concerns over the deaths of two of its citizens in separate incidents involving South African security personnel in April. In early May, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu called the deaths “utterly condemnable and unacceptable” and demanded that justice be served.

South African police said on July 7 that one of the men, Nnaemeka Matthew Andrew Ekpeyong, collapsed after being arrested by officers during a drug-related operation at his apartment in Pretoria. Police said the death had no connection to anti-migrant violence. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is looking into the matter, and South Africa has asked Nigeria to submit evidence regarding allegations against its security forces through official diplomatic channels.

Ghana has also disputed South Africa’s account of the death of one of its citizens. Ghanaian authorities identified the man as Bashiru Isak, 40, and said he was killed in Cape Town during the period of the June 30 protests, calling for an independent investigation.

South African police said they had no record of a murder in Khayelitsha matching Ghana’s description and asked for more details. Police said the Ghanaian death they were investigating involved Kwabena Boagen, 35, who was shot on June 29 in Nyanga, outside Cape Town. They characterized that case as suspected extortion-related violence rather than a xenophobic attack.

Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has said police records showed no deaths during the June 30 demonstrations.

Phiri confirmed that DIRCO had received formal communications from several African governments regarding the safety of their citizens.

“Receiving these concerns is standard diplomatic practice during periods of social friction,” Phiri said. “We welcome this direct engagement, as it allows us to counter disinformation with verifiable facts about our domestic stabilization efforts.”

On July 7, Ghana postponed high-level bilateral meetings with South Africa that had been set for August.

Ghana’s minister of state for government communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, told Reuters that anti-migrant violence risked overshadowing the meetings, which Ghana was scheduled to host and which Presidents John Dramani Mahama and Cyril Ramaphosa were expected to co-chair.

Phiri pushed back against reports framing the postponement as a diplomatic snub directed at Ramaphosa.

“We want to explicitly correct the record here. There was no ‘snub.’ Neither the Presidency nor DIRCO requested a formal state visit that was subsequently declined by Accra,” he said. “We recognize that relations have experienced some strain due to broader concerns over anti-immigrant rhetoric on the continent.”

He added that Minister Lamola remained in “continuous, constructive communication with his Ghanaian counterpart to strengthen our historical bilateral bonds.”

The diplomatic strain actually began before the June 30 demonstrations. In May, African ambassadors and high commissioners did not attend South Africa’s Africa Day celebration.

The protests have not stopped since June 30. Ngobese-Zuma had promised weekly demonstrations for six months, and protesters returned to the streets in Johannesburg, Soweto, and Durban on July 9.

Reuters journalists in Alexandra reported that protesters entered or tried to force open homes and businesses while searching for suspected undocumented migrants, removing some individuals and handing them over to police.

Among those taken was a Malawian woman carrying a child. A Zimbabwean man told Reuters he held legal status under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit.

Some flyers promoting the July 9 demonstrations advertised a “peaceful march” followed by “door to door.”

The government has repeatedly stated that only official state authorities have the legal power to arrest, deport, or determine a person’s immigration status.

South Africa’s migrant population is deeply woven into the construction, agriculture, retail, and transportation sectors. United Nations data from 2024 estimated that 2.6 million international migrants live in South Africa, making up roughly 5% of the population. A 2018 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labor Organization estimated that immigrants contribute about 9% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Landau warned that the reputational damage from the unrest could hurt South African companies doing business elsewhere on the continent.

“South African businesses will find it harder to operate because their brand has been damaged,” he said. “Many countries now have alternatives, and I think they will increasingly choose non-South African options where possible.”

Landau described the June 30 security deployment as “unfortunately necessary” but said authorities had allowed tensions to fester through an extended period of inaction.

“It came after a long period of non-response,” he said.

The long-term solution, he argued, requires broader negotiations “about how migration can strengthen the regional economy for everyone.”

Meanwhile, South Africa is ramping up immigration enforcement. Justice Minister Kubayi said at a July 12 briefing that 53,449 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation or repatriation as of the previous day. Authorities deported 4,898 people in June alone.

As for Melissa, her mind is made up. After a decade in South Africa, she is heading back to Zimbabwe.

“My family calls me every day and tells me to come home as soon as I can,” she said. “So now I’m going back to Zimbabwe and starting over. I know it won’t be easy. Even finding work there is difficult.”

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Qatari emir who steered his nation from a regional player to a major international force across 18 years of rule, passed away at the age of 74, according to state media reports released Sunday. Qatar’s government-run news agency confirmed the death but offered no information regarding the cause.

Sheikh Hamad came to power in 1995 by ousting his father, Sheikh Khalifa, in a peaceful palace coup. He governed the country until June 2013, when he voluntarily stepped aside and transferred authority to his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — a relatively rare act of voluntary abdication in the region.

Throughout his tenure, the energy-wealthy nation grew its global footprint considerably. Among his most notable achievements was the founding of the Al Jazeera satellite news network. Qatar also made significant overseas investments, including a stake in London’s Harrods department store, and won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Sheikh Hamad charted an independent course in foreign affairs, cultivating relationships with Iran, Hamas, and Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood — moves that created friction with certain regional neighbors and Western partners. At the same time, Qatar became home to a critical Pentagon logistics hub following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Qatar also carved out a role as a neutral mediator in several international disputes, including conflicts involving Sudan’s Darfur region, rival Lebanese political factions, and the competing Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah.

In October 2012, Sheikh Hamad made history by becoming the first head of state to set foot in the Gaza Strip since Hamas had taken control five years prior. During the visit, he pledged $400 million in development projects and investments. Earlier, in 2007, he had met with Israel’s then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the United Nations General Assembly. Qatar had permitted Israel to maintain a trade office in its capital, Doha, until closing it in response to Israeli military operations in Gaza in late 2008.

When the Arab Spring swept the region, Qatar dispatched warplanes to support NATO-led operations against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and provided both military assistance and financial backing to Libyan rebel groups. The country also emerged as a leading political supporter of opposition forces fighting then-President Bashar Assad in Syria.

In the period just before his abdication, Sheikh Hamad oversaw the formal opening of an official office for Afghanistan’s Taliban in Qatar, a move that eventually paved the way for negotiations between the Taliban and the United States.

When Sheikh Hamad announced he was stepping down, he addressed the Qatari people with a message of optimism: “The future lies ahead of you, the children of this homeland, as you usher into a new era where young leadership hoists the banner.”

Jordan and Bahrain found themselves increasingly entangled in the widening fallout from renewed US-Iran hostilities this weekend, as Iran unleashed another round of missiles and drone strikes targeting American military facilities and countries where US forces are stationed — a response to sweeping US military strikes carried out inside Iran.

The latest round of fighting represents a major escalation of clashes that first reignited on July 8 and 9, and has effectively gutted the memorandum of understanding that Washington and Tehran had signed on June 17. Iran once again announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed to traffic, though the United States disputed that claim, stating that commercial shipping continued to move through the waterway.

US forces conducted strikes targeting Iranian missile installations, naval assets, communications infrastructure, and a range of other military targets. The conflict is placing mounting pressure on Gulf governments, which are struggling to maintain a careful balance between their own security needs and the demands of regional diplomacy.

The United States carried out its third round of military strikes against Iran early Sunday morning, aiming to weaken Tehran’s capacity to threaten sailors and commercial ships in the region. The action came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps attacked a container ship traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US military.

In response to the American strikes, Iran reported multiple explosions across several locations in its southern territory, while the IRGC announced it had targeted US military and logistics facilities in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, and Oman using missiles and drones.

US Central Command stated that the latest round of American strikes was a direct response to the Iranian attack on the GFS Galaxy, a Cypriot-flagged container ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was forced to abandon ship and take to a lifeboat following the attack.

“A civilian crew member is missing, and a fire broke out on the ship, causing significant damage to the engine room, preventing it from continuing its voyage,” US Central Command said in a statement.

The Revolutionary Guards later announced they had also struck a second vessel they claimed had violated their border in the strait.

The US military accused Iran of violating a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, stating that “the strikes are intended to continue degrading its ability to attack sailors and commercial vessels.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took to X to respond, writing, “Iran made a poor choice, and now it is paying the price.”

Iranian media outlets reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Qeshm Island, and Chabahar. Three blasts were recorded in Bandar Abbas and two in Sirik, both located in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s PRESSTV also reported explosions in Bushehr and Asaluyeh. The IRGC said US forces struck multiple military bases, communication towers, and infrastructure along Iran’s southern coastline.

The IRGC claimed to have hit Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, saying it destroyed a “fighter jet maintenance center and command and control center.” The group also said it attacked a US military radar installation in Kuwait as part of its retaliatory operation.

In Jordan, the IRGC claimed it destroyed a command and control center along with hangars housing MQ-9 drones at Prince Hassan Air Base. The group further announced it had “destroyed American-owned logistics centers supporting ships and refueling docks for aircraft carriers at the port of al-Duqm in Oman.”

Qatar confirmed it had intercepted a missile attack after explosions were reported in its capital, Doha. The country’s Defense Ministry said it was continuing to manage the ongoing missile threat, while the Interior Ministry elevated the security alert level and instructed residents to stay inside, avoid going outdoors, and keep away from windows and open areas.

Qatar’s Interior Ministry reported that three people, including a child, suffered injuries from falling shrapnel during the interception of Iranian attacks.

The United Arab Emirates announced that its air defense systems were “currently operating against a missile and drone threat from Iran.” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry also reported attacks and air raid sirens, with Arab media outlets confirming additional explosions in the country.

Jordan’s military reported that three missiles fired from Iran landed within its borders, resulting in no deaths and only minor property damage. The Jordanian military issued a firm statement: “Jordan’s forces will not allow the kingdom’s airspace or territory to be turned into a conflict zone and will deal firmly with any threat to the state’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.”

Adding to the regional tension, the Revolutionary Guards Navy declared the Strait of Hormuz closed until further notice after firing a warning shot at a vessel it said was attempting to pass through an unauthorized route. The IRGC stated the closure would remain in place “until American interference in the region ceases,” warning that any “wrong move by the enemy will be met with a severe response.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf shared a photo on X showing Article 5 of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, along with a pointed message: “The era of one-sided deals is over. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking on the door.”

Article 5 of the agreement reads: “Iran will act and make every effort to ensure safe passage of commercial vessels free of charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administrator and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.”

A devastating fire broke out at a pub in Bangkok in the early hours of Monday morning, claiming the lives of at least 27 people before emergency crews were able to extinguish the flames, according to officials.

Video footage posted online by first responders captured the massive blaze shooting out of the front entrance of the Na Ladprao pub, located in the northern section of the Thai capital. Thick black smoke could be seen rising into the night sky as people scrambled to escape. Emergency crews reported receiving the call about the fire near midnight.

Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul spoke to reporters at the scene, confirming the death toll of 27 and noting that multiple injured victims had been transported to area hospitals. He stated that authorities are actively working to determine what caused the fire.

Anutin relayed an account from a musician who had been performing at the venue that night. According to the prime minister, the performer told him he noticed smoke coming from a circuit breaker close to the stage just before the power cut out, followed by an explosion and a rapid buildup of thick smoke throughout the building.

Anutin also noted that many of the victims were discovered near the restrooms at the rear of the pub.

It took firefighters roughly 30 minutes to bring the fire under control. Images taken after the blaze show the pub’s interior left in ruin, with charred furniture and extensive damage throughout.

This is not the first time Thailand has experienced a tragedy of this kind. In 2022, a fire at a music pub in the eastern region of the country took 14 lives. And going back more than a decade, 66 people were killed and over 200 others were injured during a New Year’s Eve celebration on January 1, 2009, at the Santika nightclub in the Thai capital — a fire believed to have been ignited by an indoor fireworks display.

CARACAS — The number of lives lost following two devastating earthquakes that hit Venezuela on June 24 has climbed to 4,490, according to an announcement made Sunday by National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez via his Telegram account.

The official injury count remains at 16,740, unchanged from previous reports. Rescue teams have pulled 6,462 people to safety since the twin disasters struck.

According to the latest figures, 17,907 people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the earthquakes.

A fire that swept through a Bangkok pub in the early hours of Monday morning claimed the lives of at least 27 people, according to the Associated Press, which cited officials familiar with the situation.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined and remains under active investigation, the AP reported.

While full details were not immediately available, reports from Sky News indicate the fire is believed to have originated at a pub located in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.

Local media in Thailand identified the establishment as Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, a venue that Sky News described as a popular gathering spot in the area.

The United States military has carried out a sweeping series of strikes against Iranian military installations near the Strait of Hormuz, following a missile attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that severely damaged a commercial cargo vessel.

U.S. Central Command reported that the Cyprus-flagged container ship sustained a fire and major damage to its engine room as a result of the Iranian missile strike, leaving the vessel unable to continue its journey. One civilian crew member is still unaccounted for.

In response to the attack, American forces hit approximately 140 Iranian targets using precision-guided weapons launched from aircraft, drones, and naval ships. Among the sites targeted were radar installations, facilities used to store missiles and drones, launch sites, and air-defense systems.

CENTCOM stated that the goal of the operation was to diminish Iran’s capacity to pose a threat to commercial vessels passing through one of the globe’s most vital maritime corridors.

The military exchange follows demands from the Trump administration that Iran ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Rather than comply, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared the waterway closed in the wake of the cargo ship incident, alleging the vessel had disregarded warnings to change course.

Iran has additionally fired drones and missiles toward Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan as part of its retaliatory actions.

Despite Iran’s claims that the strait is closed, President Trump and U.S. military officials maintain that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to international shipping traffic.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s national election is set to take place on October 27, the country’s ruling coalition confirmed Sunday, marking the first time voters will head to the polls since Hamas carried out its devastating 2023 attack and the military conflicts that followed in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

There had been some uncertainty about the exact election date after the Israeli parliament voted in May to dissolve itself, which opened the door to the possibility of an earlier vote. But coalition head Ofir Katz put that speculation to rest, telling a parliamentary committee Sunday that the election would proceed on the October 27 date already established under Israeli law.

A string of opinion polls indicates that Netanyahu’s coalition — made up of nationalist and religious parties — is likely to lose the upcoming vote. Even so, his political opponents have yet to establish a clear route to forming a government, and the political situation could still change before ballots are cast.

Netanyahu made a political comeback in 2022, leading what was described as Israel’s most right-wing government in the country’s history. But his reputation on national security took a serious blow when Hamas launched its surprise assault on October 7, 2023. More recent polling shows widespread public dissatisfaction with Netanyahu over the outcome of the conflict with Iran.

Completing a full four-year term is uncommon in Israeli politics. Netanyahu holds the distinction of being the country’s longest-serving leader and has repeatedly demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive political setbacks.

The United States carried out a series of military strikes against Iranian missile and air defense systems in the region surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report published Sunday by Axios.

A senior U.S. official told Axios that the strikes hit multiple locations in the area. In addition to the missile and air defense systems, American forces also targeted small speedboats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the IRGC.

Iran’s official state news outlet, IRNA, reported Sunday that missiles were fired in the direction of Qeshm Island, according to the agency’s account of the incident.

The news agency described the attack as being carried out by the “enemy,” though it did not identify a specific party responsible. IRNA also stated that no injuries or deaths were reported as a result of the missile launches.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s newly formed legislature convened for the first time on Sunday since the removal of former President Bashar Assad, as the country takes steps to rebuild its political institutions after years of conflict and one-family rule.

The 210-seat People’s Assembly is made up of two distinct groups: two-thirds of the members were chosen through electoral colleges, while the remaining one-third were directly appointed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The body is expected to serve for 30 months as the nation prepares for future democratic elections.

The opening of parliament signals that Syria is pressing forward with creating new legislation as it works to recover from decades of harsh rule under the Assad family dynasty and a catastrophic war that claimed the lives of roughly half a million people.

Addressing the assembled lawmakers, al-Sharaa declared, “After liberating our homeland and regaining our freedom, we are all moving toward consolidating the state.”

Following an oath-taking ceremony, the legislators chose Abdul Hamid al-Awak to serve as speaker of the assembly. According to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, al-Awak hails from the northeastern Hassakeh province and spent a decade working as a judge within the Justice Ministry. Reports indicate he was among a number of Syrian officials who broke away from the Assad government during the early stages of the uprising and subsequently relocated to Turkey.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron issued a stark warning Sunday about the return of what he called the “demons of antisemitism” — a dark force he said has long haunted France and continues to threaten it today.

The French leader joined others in unveiling a statue dedicated to Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish military officer whose false conviction for treason in the 1800s laid bare deep-seated anti-Jewish prejudice within France. Sunday’s ceremony marked 120 years to the day since France’s highest court cleared Dreyfus of all wrongdoing — and that same court is now where his statue stands.

The day’s events were shadowed by a serious security incident just hours before the ceremony. Police evacuated approximately 300 residents from the Paris suburb of Sarcelles after intelligence officials discovered a suspicious vehicle near a synagogue. The vehicle was found to contain a military-grade weapon. Sarcelles is home to a large Jewish community, and prosecutors launched a terrorism investigation into the matter.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed the vehicle held what he described as a “long military weapon,” while noting that investigators have not yet determined whether the Jewish community was the intended target.

France has the largest Jewish population in Europe and experienced a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents — including threats, property destruction, and physical attacks — in the wake of the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the conflict in Gaza that followed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner both criticized Macron, claiming his decision to recognize Palestine last year has contributed to rising antisemitism.

Speaking at Sunday’s ceremony, Macron said, “We know that the old demons of antisemitism have never completely disappeared from our country,” and called for constant vigilance to stop acts that “target people because of who they are.”

Dreyfus was a Jewish French army captain who was convicted of treason in 1894 on fabricated charges that he had leaked military secrets to Germany. He was sentenced to life in prison. Prominent voices of the era, including celebrated novelist Emile Zola, publicly argued that Dreyfus had been used as a scapegoat by the French military establishment.

On July 12, 1906, France’s Court of Cassation — the country’s highest court — overturned his conviction and exonerated him completely. Macron announced that July 12 will now be observed as a national day of commemoration honoring Dreyfus’ innocence, beginning this year.

Following his exoneration, Dreyfus returned to military service and went on to serve in World War I. He passed away in 1935.

Among those attending Sunday’s ceremony was Dreyfus’ 99-year-old grandson, Charles. “I must sadly admit that I would not have imagined, at my age, seeing antisemitism resurface with such virulence in our country,” he said.

Despite his grief, Charles Dreyfus said he felt what he described as “the deep joy” of witnessing his grandfather’s statue placed outside the Palace of Justice — a sculpture depicting Dreyfus standing tall, holding a broken sword.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least five Palestinians, including a 9-year-old child, lost their lives Sunday due to Israeli military fire in Gaza, with several others wounded, according to local health officials.

A drone strike targeted a blacksmith shop in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, claiming the lives of at least four people and injuring one more, according to officials at Shifa hospital, where the victims were transported.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out a strike in that area, stating it had hit what it described as “terrorist infrastructure,” though it offered no further details.

Following the initial strikes, Palestinian residents received evacuation orders from the military. Approximately one hour later, a second round of heavy airstrikes hit the same blacksmith shop location.

In a separate incident that same day, 9-year-old Tala Abu Matar was killed by Israeli gunfire at a displacement camp in central Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military stated it had no knowledge of that incident.

While Israeli strikes have dropped off significantly since a ceasefire went into effect on October 10, they have continued on a near-daily basis. Israel’s military maintains that its strikes target Hamas and other armed groups, frequently claiming those individuals were planning attacks. However, many civilians have also died as a result.

Since the ceasefire began, at least 1,098 Palestinians have been killed — including at least 260 children — according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Five Israeli soldiers have also died during that same period.

The conflict traces back to the October 7, 2023 attack carried out by Hamas-led militants, which killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 individuals being taken hostage. Israel’s military response has since killed 73,221 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government but is staffed by medical professionals. United Nations agencies and independent experts generally consider its records to be reliable. The ministry does not separate civilian from militant deaths, but notes that women and children account for roughly half of all fatalities.

Talks between Israel and Hamas over moving into the second phase of the ceasefire remain largely at an impasse. Key sticking points include the disarmament of Hamas and plans for rebuilding Gaza. More than 2 million residents remain displaced, with large numbers living in overcrowded tent camps that lack basic services or sheltering in the ruins of destroyed buildings.

Four people lost their lives and four more were wounded after Ukrainian drones struck the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar, according to Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, who made the announcement on Sunday.

Enerhodar is the home of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and came under Russian control within just a few weeks of Russia launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced her resignation Sunday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed sweeping changes to the country’s government.

Taking to social media, Svyrydenko expressed pride in her service, writing that she was “proud to have had the honor of leading the government during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine’s modern history.” She noted that she and Zelenskyy had spoken about her “next steps,” though she offered no specifics on what comes next.

“I remain ready to serve the Ukrainian state and carry out every task aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s position, defending our national interests and bringing a just peace closer,” Svyrydenko wrote.

Svyrydenko, who previously served as Ukraine’s economy minister, was appointed prime minister in July 2025 at age 39. She had been credited with playing a central role in securing a minerals agreement between Ukraine and the United States — a deal viewed as a key mechanism for aligning American interests with Ukraine’s security needs.

In announcing her departure, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “changing its political strategy.” He also indicated he had extended an offer to Svyrydenko to take charge of “a new, important area” in Ukraine’s relationship with a major international partner.

Zelenskyy described the broader restructuring, saying, “Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect.” He added that changes would also be coming to the upper ranks of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies.

On the battlefield, a Ukrainian military strike in southwestern Russia left one person dead and three others wounded, including a child, according to local Russian officials on Sunday. The governor of Russia’s Samara region said residential homes, apartment buildings, and an unidentified “industrial site” were damaged in the attack.

Russian media reported that the strike targeted the Syzran Oil Refinery in the Samara region — a facility owned by energy giant Rosneft located roughly 800 kilometers, or about 500 miles, east of the Ukrainian border. Photographs circulating in Russian media appeared to show thick black smoke rising from the site. The refinery has been struck by Ukrainian forces on multiple previous occasions.

Separately, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region reported that a drone attack damaged a tanker in the Azov-Black Sea maritime canal. Officials said the vessel was empty and that there is no risk of an oil spill.

Ukraine’s ongoing campaign of drone strikes against Russian oil facilities and other infrastructure has contributed to a significant fuel shortage across multiple Russian regions, with motorists reportedly waiting hours to fill their tanks and rationing measures in place. Russia has responded by stepping up missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, highlighting Ukraine’s continued vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes.

Zelenskyy has framed the strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as part of what he calls a campaign of “long-range sanctions” — a direct response to Moscow’s refusal to end its four-year invasion of Ukraine.

In a separate development, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed Sunday that it had struck the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk in the Odesa region. Ukrainian officials had not yet responded to those claims.

Approximately 300 people had to leave their homes in Sarcelles, a multicultural suburb outside Paris that is home to a large Jewish community, after a vehicle parked near the neighborhood synagogue raised serious security concerns.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed the evacuation during an appearance on French broadcaster BFM, noting the situation unfolded on Saturday evening.

Nunez told the network that investigators found a “military weapon” inside the suspicious car. He added that authorities have not yet determined who was responsible or what the motive may have been, and that an investigation remains ongoing.

President Donald Trump declared Sunday that commercial vessels are free to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, even as hostilities between the United States and Iran continue to raise alarms about security along one of the most vital oil shipping lanes in the world.

Trump made the remarks during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, addressing growing international concerns over the waterway’s safety as the two nations continue trading attacks in the region.

DAMASCUS — Syria’s newly established parliament held its first-ever session on Sunday, a landmark moment in the nation’s ongoing political transition that came roughly 19 months after rebel forces led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa brought down the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking before lawmakers gathered in Damascus, Sharaa urged the body to “make this council a model of responsibility and competence” and called it “a platform for truth and justice.”

“Syria is writing a glorious history that reflects its heroism, and we face the responsibility of building both the nation and the individual,” Sharaa said.

The opening of parliament has been widely viewed as a test of Sharaa’s commitment to establishing an inclusive political system in a country that was governed as a police state under the Assad family for decades. Under Assad, the legislative body was widely regarded as little more than a rubber stamp.

The 210-seat chamber was assembled under interim governing rules. Two-thirds of its members were selected last year through regional electoral colleges, while Sharaa personally appointed the remaining third on July 1. Officials have defended this approach, arguing that years of armed conflict left millions of Syrians displaced and made it impossible to rely on accurate population data or voter registration records.

Critics, however, contend the process gives the executive branch significant influence over who sits in the legislature.

Sharaa has said he supports moving toward general elections once the country’s infrastructure and documentation systems are capable of supporting them.

A temporary constitutional declaration introduced in 2025 granted the parliament limited authority. Notably, the government is not required to secure a parliamentary vote of confidence. The assembly does have the power to propose and pass legislation. It holds a 30-month renewable term and will serve as the country’s legislative authority until a permanent constitution is adopted and elections are organized.

Women account for about 10 percent of the chamber’s membership, with 21 female lawmakers seated — 15 of whom were among those directly appointed by Sharaa. He formally cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016, though he was previously affiliated with the militant group.

Since taking power, Sharaa has worked to build relationships with Western nations and has pledged a new era of freedoms for Syria. His first year in office, however, was marked by several outbreaks of violence between pro-government fighters and members of minority communities.

Authorities have not released a detailed breakdown of lawmakers by ethnic or religious background. Unofficial counts suggest that 10 of the seats filled last year went to members of minority groups, including Kurds, Christians, and Alawites — the religious sect to which Assad belongs.

Four seats currently remain vacant: one lawmaker has died, and three seats set aside for the predominantly Druze province of Sweida have not yet been filled. Officials say the selection of representatives for Sweida has been delayed until “conditions become suitable.” The region has been outside government control since clashes between government-aligned fighters and Druze residents last July, a conflict that the United Nations says claimed approximately 1,700 lives.

SEOUL — South Korea’s unification ministry has reached out to North Korea, asking for assistance in locating a navy sailor who disappeared near the two nations’ shared border along the east coast, the ministry announced Sunday.

Because no active communication channel exists between the two countries, the appeal was delivered through a text message sent to journalists, according to the ministry, which oversees relations between the two Koreas. Officials said the message was intended for Pyongyang.

“On July 12, a navy seaman went missing while on a coast guard duty on the East Sea, and it seems there is a possibility of being drifted north across the Northern Limit Line,” the message stated, referencing the maritime boundary that divides the two countries along the coast.

“As our navy is currently searching for the missing person, we request for cooperation with the search and return from a humanitarian perspective,” the message continued.

North Korea’s embassy in London had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.

South Korea’s current administration, led by President Lee Jae Myung, has made efforts to reduce hostilities with Pyongyang since coming to power last year. However, those repeated attempts to open dialogue have been turned away by North Korea, which formally labeled South Korea a “hostile nation” in 2024.

LONDON — Germany is financing the acquisition of 50,000 attack drones destined for Ukraine, according to a source with direct knowledge of the arrangement — making it one of the most substantial drone purchases by any Western government in support of Kyiv.

Ukraine has leaned heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles throughout its more than four-year conflict with Russia. Ukrainian forces currently carry out thousands of drone strikes each day, and the country is now producing millions of drones on its own every year.

The drones at the center of this deal are Shrike first-person-view, or FPV, models manufactured by prominent Ukrainian drone maker SkyFall. They are equipped with software developed by U.S. defense technology company Auterion, which allows the drones to autonomously identify and strike moving targets during the final moments of flight.

Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the scale of the contract, describing it as worth approximately €90 million — equivalent to about $103 million — and said it was funded by a European country. Meier told Reuters that a portion of the drones had already been handed over to Ukraine’s government, with the remaining units set to be shipped before the end of the year.

SkyFall acknowledged Germany’s role in the deal but stated it was unable to discuss the specifics of the purchase. Germany’s Defence Ministry declined to provide any comment, citing operational security concerns. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry also chose not to comment.

The Shrike drone, which has been in use in Ukraine since 2023, has recently drawn wider international attention. A variant called the Shrike 10-F, developed by SkyFall in partnership with UK firm Skycutter, came out on top in the first round of a Pentagon-organized competition. That competition is part of a $1.1 billion U.S. initiative aimed at purchasing hundreds of thousands of single-use attack drones. Auterion noted that its software is being used in multiple entries in the contest.

Meier said Auterion is working with various hardware manufacturers to supply a combined total of 100,000 drones to Ukraine in 2025, with funding coming from multiple Western governments. That figure includes a separate $50 million Pentagon contract to deliver 33,000 drones, which Meier said have already reached Ukraine.

Last month, Britain announced it would send 150,000 drones to Ukraine this year as part of a wider £752 million — approximately $1.01 billion — aid package.

At least five people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a 9-year-old girl, according to Palestinian health officials.

Medical workers reported that Israeli gunfire struck a tent encampment on the eastern edge of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, fatally wounding a young girl identified as Tala Abu Matar. The Israeli military offered no immediate response regarding her death.

Separately, an airstrike targeted a metal foundry in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, claiming four lives. Eyewitnesses reported that three Israeli missiles struck the location.

When contacted by Reuters, the Israeli military stated it had hit what it described as “terrorist” infrastructure but declined to provide additional details.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was established in October 2025, bringing an end to the heaviest fighting in the territory. However, Israeli strikes have continued since then, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians. During that same period, militants in Gaza have killed four Israeli soldiers.

The latest bloodshed is unfolding while Hamas officials are meeting with Egyptian counterparts in Cairo to discuss moving forward with the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace initiative for Gaza. Those discussions center on Hamas disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, though sources familiar with the negotiations say no significant progress has been made.

Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents — the vast majority of whom have been uprooted from their homes multiple times — are now crowded into a narrow coastal corridor, living primarily in makeshift shelters or partially destroyed buildings under Hamas governance.

According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led fighters killed approximately 1,200 people during their cross-border assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since that attack, Gaza’s health ministry reports that more than 73,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the territory.

Foreign ministers from the Southeast Asian bloc known as ASEAN received assurances Sunday from their Myanmar counterpart that former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held in detention since a military coup in 2021, is healthy and will be cared for. The update came from ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar following a diplomatic meeting in Bangkok.

Maria Theresa Lazaro, the Philippine foreign minister serving as ASEAN’s special envoy, has been pushing for direct access to Suu Kyi, who is 81 years old. Lazaro relayed what she heard from Myanmar’s foreign minister at a press conference, saying: “My recollection of the statement of the Myanmar foreign minister on Aung San Suu Kyi is that she’s in good health and that the premise of how he said this is that she is a relative, she’s a sister and therefore we will take care of her.”

Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence, which was recently reduced by one-third. She was convicted on multiple charges — including incitement, corruption, election fraud, and violating state secrets laws — charges that her supporters say were invented to remove her from the political arena. Suu Kyi has maintained her innocence.

Sunday’s gathering marked the first time in years that the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations held an in-person meeting with a Myanmar representative at the foreign minister level, since the country’s military leadership was barred from top-tier ASEAN gatherings following the coup. The exclusion stemmed from Myanmar’s failure to follow through on a “five-point consensus” peace agreement it had reached with the bloc.

The ongoing civil war in Myanmar has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and forced several million people from their homes.

Since April, Myanmar has been governed by a nominally civilian administration that took shape after elections earlier this year. Former military chief Min Aung Hlaing now holds the presidency and has been working to rebuild ties with ASEAN.

The exact location where Suu Kyi is being held remains unknown, though Lazaro previously indicated she had been moved to a “designated location,” offering no further details.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow confirmed that Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe fielded pointed questions during Sunday’s informal Bangkok session about the condition of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. “We also made our comment that if the ASEAN special envoy could be given the opportunity to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, that would be even better so that we can be able to verify the claims that the foreign minister made,” he said, using a Myanmar honorific to refer to her.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced Sunday that he is moving to replace Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, signaling a significant shake-up within Ukraine’s government.

In a post on X, Zelenskiy expressed appreciation for Svyrydenko’s service, writing: “I am grateful to Yuliia for her clear, steady, and effective work as Prime Minister, for her years of productive service on Ukraine’s team, and I have offered her the opportunity to lead a new and important area of relations with a key partner.”

Zelenskiy went on to say, “I expect that, together with MPs, we will make the corresponding changes in the Government of Ukraine.”

The president stated the government overhaul was necessary to “ensure the implementation of an updated political strategy,” but did not elaborate further on what that strategy entails.

Svyrydenko had been appointed to the position in July 2025. Zelenskiy did not disclose what role she would move into, nor did he name a potential successor. He did note, however, that leadership changes would also take place within law enforcement agencies.

Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak suggested on Telegram that Svyrydenko is expected to become Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. “That means she will leave the post of prime minister and the entire government will be reshuffled,” Zhelezniak wrote.

Under Ukrainian law, the resignation of a prime minister must be approved by parliament and automatically triggers the resignation of the entire cabinet.

Lawmakers have floated several names as possible replacements, including Svyrydenko’s predecessor, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal; Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov; and Serhiy Koretskyi, who heads the state energy company Naftogaz.

London — Police in the United Kingdom announced Sunday that their investigation into the death of former British government minister Ann Widdecombe has turned up no evidence of a political motive, following the arrest of a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman confirmed the arrest, which was announced late Saturday, and stated that investigators are not pursuing any other individuals in connection with the killing.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday, leading a formal government delegation following an official invitation from the United States, according to a statement made Sunday by government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi.

Al-Aboudi addressed reporters at a press conference, saying, “The agreements to be signed will include several memorandums of understanding in the oil and gas sector as Iraq prepares to bring in various U.S. companies that will provide momentum to increase oil production capacity.”

The visit signals a push by Baghdad to deepen energy cooperation with American firms as Iraq works to expand its petroleum output.