Author: Admin

LONDON — More than seven decades after being hanged for shooting her abusive partner outside a London pub, Ruth Ellis — the last woman ever executed in Britain — is set to receive a conditional pardon, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced Wednesday.

Ellis was a 28-year-old single mother who worked as a nightclub hostess when she shot race-car driver David Blakely outside the Magdala pub in London’s Hampstead neighborhood on April 10, 1955. She was executed by hanging on July 13, 1955.

“While the pardon does not claim she was innocent of killing David Blakely, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognize a profound injustice in this exceptional case,” Lammy said.

The case gripped the nation at the time, turning Ellis into a widely discussed public figure. On the day she was executed, a crowd of 1,000 people gathered outside Holloway Prison in north London to hold a silent vigil.

Her case is widely credited with reshaping British law. During her trial, she was prohibited from arguing that the emotional toll of the abuse she suffered influenced her actions. Just two years after her execution, Parliament passed legislation allowing defendants to use a diminished responsibility defense.

The push for a pardon came from Ellis’s grandchildren, who spent years fighting to have her conviction reduced. They argued that the repeated sexual, emotional, and physical abuse she endured was never taken into account — not during the trial and not afterward, when she could have been spared from execution.

“Justice has finally been done,” said Laura Enston, a granddaughter of Ellis, in a written statement. “This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken — the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgment matters profoundly to our family.”

Lawyers for the family filed for the pardon last year, presenting evidence that Ellis likely suffered from what is now referred to as “battered woman syndrome.”

According to the Mishcon de Reya law firm, which represented the family, Ellis and multiple witnesses — including friends and medical professionals — described how Blakely threatened to kill her and repeatedly assaulted her in public, including pushing her down stairs. At one point, she was reportedly struck in the abdomen with such force that it caused a miscarriage.

Despite all of this, jurors were specifically instructed not to take into account that Ellis had been “badly treated by her lover.” The trial lasted barely more than a day, and the jury returned its verdict in under 30 minutes.

Attorneys who sought the pardon argued that if the diminished responsibility defense had existed at the time, Ellis would have faced a manslaughter conviction at most and would not have been sentenced to death.

Britain suspended capital punishment in 1965 and permanently abolished it in 1970.

Enston also spoke about the lasting damage the execution caused to Ellis’s two children — her mother and uncle.

“My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed,” Enston said. “The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”

The story of Ruth Ellis has been told on screen multiple times, including in the 1985 feature film “Dance with a Stranger” and a miniseries that aired on ITV last year titled “A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.”

Civilian and naval search teams off the coast of Pakistan located and recovered wreckage Wednesday from a cargo plane that disappeared while on approach to the southern port city of Karachi, with the hunt for five missing crew members still ongoing, officials confirmed.

The aircraft, belonging to private carrier K2 Airways, had taken off from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Before contact was lost, the crew reported a problem with the plane’s navigational system. Radar and radio contact went silent late Tuesday night.

Pakistan’s Airports Authority announced on X that navy vessels and civilian aircraft and ships found the wreckage after roughly 12 hours of searching in the Arabian Sea. The effort to locate the five people who were on board continues.

Three officials with knowledge of the search operation, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the situation, said rescue teams are facing major obstacles — including a vast search zone and turbulent monsoon-season waters.

Pakistan’s Airports Authority previously reported that radar data captured the plane making a sudden change in direction and dropping rapidly before disappearing from radar at approximately 9:21 p.m., at a point roughly 155 nautical miles — about 178 miles — west of Karachi.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered his condolences to the families of the missing crew members and ordered the government to commit every available resource to the search, according to a statement from his office.

K2 Airways released a statement identifying the five missing crew members as Capt. Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan. “We continue to pray earnestly for the safety of our colleagues,” the airline said.

Aviation expert Imran Aslam, speaking to local broadcaster ARY News on Tuesday night, said the cause of the disappearance remained unknown. He noted that even a complete engine failure would typically allow a plane to glide rather than drop abruptly from radar. He added that investigators would need to gather more evidence before the true cause could be determined.

Pakistan has experienced notable aviation disasters in recent years. In May 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 passengers and crew went down in a heavily populated area near Karachi’s airport while attempting to land. All but one of the 99 people on board lost their lives. A subsequent government inquiry determined that mistakes made by the pilots and air traffic controllers were responsible for the crash.

Pakistani search and rescue teams discovered the wreckage of a missing Boeing cargo plane Wednesday following a 12-hour deep-sea search operation off the coast of Karachi, as crews continued working to locate the five people who were on board, officials confirmed.

The Pakistan Airports Authority reported that the wreckage of the K2 Airways Boeing 737 was found approximately 53 nautical miles — or about 98 kilometers — south of Ormara port.

The Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency deployed what authorities described as “various air and sea borne assets” to locate the debris field. The search for the crew members was still ongoing, officials said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had previously ordered authorities to accelerate the search effort for the 27-year-old converted freighter, which disappeared over the Arabian Sea after the crew reported a problem with the aircraft’s navigational system.

K2 Airways identified the five people on board as two pilots, two engineers, and one support staff member. While no official determination has been made regarding their fate, Prime Minister Sharif offered his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those on board.

According to flight-tracking service Flightradar24, the aircraft may have gone down in the sea southwest of Karachi following a series of dramatic altitude changes that culminated in a steep final dive.

The plane’s navigational system issue was first reported at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time — 1618 GMT — while the aircraft was heading toward Karachi, the airports authority said. Local air traffic controllers attempted to assist the crew, but just three minutes later, radar showed the plane dropping rapidly and all communication was lost. At that point, the aircraft was approximately 155 nautical miles, or 287 kilometers, west of Karachi.

Flightradar24’s final tracking data painted a chaotic picture of the plane’s last moments — dropping roughly 5,000 feet in under a minute, then climbing about 6,000 feet in just 30 seconds, before entering a catastrophic plunge from an altitude of 36,550 feet. The last data point recorded the plane at 1,100 feet above sea level, descending at a vertical rate of minus 22,400 feet per minute — equivalent to approximately 400 kilometers per hour — an extraordinarily steep and abnormal rate of descent.

The aircraft involved is a Boeing 737-400, a model two generations older than the 737 MAX that has been at the center of a separate aviation safety controversy. Its engines were manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran.

According to Flightradar24, the plane was originally delivered as a passenger aircraft to Russia’s Aeroflot in 1999 and was later converted to a freighter in 2012. It was K2 Airways’ sole aircraft and had only entered service with the carrier in 2024. The plane’s most recent previous flight was recorded on June 28.

K2 Airways stated it is cooperating fully with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies. Boeing has not issued a comment at this time.

If confirmed as a fatal crash, it would mark Pakistan’s first aviation disaster of this kind since 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 fell short of the runway in Karachi, claiming the lives of 97 people.

Car ownership in Singapore just got even more out of reach. The price of a government-issued certificate required to own a small car in the city-state has climbed to an all-time high, approaching $100,000 — a record for smaller vehicle categories.

Singapore controls the number of vehicles on its roads through a system that auctions a set number of “certificates of entitlement,” each granting the holder the right to own a car for ten years. The program keeps the total number of vehicles in the country at roughly 1 million — a significant limit for a nation of 6.1 million people that can be driven across in under an hour.

These auctions have already earned Singapore the title of the world’s most expensive place to purchase a car, and the latest figures suggest that distinction isn’t going away anytime soon.

Certificates for small vehicles — those with engines under 1.6 litres — have jumped to four times what they cost before the pandemic, with no indication that prices will ease. Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow addressed the issue in parliament back in May, explaining that demand remains high due to competitive pricing on electric vehicles, while the number of small-car certificates being offered at auction has been shrinking.

To put the certificate price in perspective: that single document now costs the equivalent of four Toyota Corollas purchased in the United States. When you factor in the certificate, registration fees, and taxes, buying that same Toyota Corolla in Singapore carries a total price tag of S$179,888 — roughly $139,000 U.S. dollars.

That figure is staggering when compared to the typical household income in Singapore. The median annual household salary stands at S$149,352, and even a small government-subsidized apartment starts at around S$139,000.

The current record for small-car certificates comes after a gradual climb. Back in October 2023, certificates for larger vehicles crossed the $100,000 threshold while small-car certificates were sitting at about $77,500. Prices for the smaller category started this year at $78,844 (S$102,009) at the first auction and have risen steadily since.

In response to the high costs, many automakers adjust the engines on popular models specifically for the Singapore market, tuning them down so the vehicles qualify for the less expensive small-car certificate category.

(Exchange rate: $1 = 1.2938 Singapore dollars)

At least five children lost their lives Wednesday when a landslide fueled by monsoon rains crashed through an Islamic school inside a Rohingya refugee camp in the Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh, according to a local fire official.

The camp is home to more than one million refugees. Dollar Tripura, the area’s top fire and civil defense official, confirmed that the landslide struck while children were in the middle of their classes.

Tripura said rescuers were able to pull five additional children from the rubble with injuries, though officials feared more victims could still be trapped beneath the debris.

Search and rescue efforts were still underway as of Wednesday evening.

The tragedy follows a separate series of landslides just three days prior, which claimed the lives of at least eight people at other Rohingya camps in the same region.

Weather forecasters in the nation’s capital, Dhaka, warned that additional rainfall is expected over the coming days.

Officials said they have been working to move refugees away from dangerous hillside areas, with more than 1,000 people already relocated. However, authorities noted that many refugees are hesitant to abandon their temporary shelters, even when warned of the risks.

Bangladesh has long called on the international community to support efforts to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, but that repatriation process remains at a standstill.

Global markets and oil prices have been thrown into turmoil after the United States and Iran exchanged new strikes, with President Donald Trump suggesting that fragile peace negotiations between the two nations may be finished.

The stakes are enormous — the lives of Iranians and people throughout the broader region, including those in Israel and Lebanon, foreign nationals living in Gulf countries, American military personnel stationed across multiple nations, and thousands of sailors aboard ships hoping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz all hang in the balance.

Below is a chronological look at how the conflict and diplomatic efforts have unfolded:

The war began when Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with other senior officials. Iran responded swiftly with strikes against Israel and targets across the Gulf region, while also asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz — a critical passage for the world’s oil and natural gas supplies.

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, joined the fighting by launching rockets into Israel. Israel struck back, eventually launching a ground invasion that came to occupy large portions of southern Lebanon.

In the wake of Khamenei’s death, Iran named his son Mojtaba as the new supreme leader. Mojtaba has not appeared publicly and is believed to be in hiding, reportedly having been injured during the initial strikes that started the war.

A shaky two-week ceasefire was negotiated — though Israel was left out of those discussions entirely.

The U.S. and Iran held historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan’s capital, but the hours-long session concluded without any agreement being reached.

Trump announced that the U.S. had begun blocking Iranian ports in an effort to pressure Tehran into relinquishing its hold on the strait.

For the first time in decades, Lebanon and Israel held direct diplomatic talks in Washington.

Iran announced it had reopened the strait to shipping traffic, but that opening proved short-lived.

Trump declared he was extending the ceasefire indefinitely.

Trump also announced a U.S. effort to escort ships through the strait — an initiative that also did not hold.

Israel’s ground campaign in Lebanon pushed further than it had in more than 25 years, even as Hezbollah kept up rocket attacks on northern Israel.

Israel and Lebanon said they had agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish security zones designed to keep Hezbollah out — but both sides quickly resumed firing at one another.

Iran launched strikes at Israel for the first time since a ceasefire had taken effect in early April, and Israel returned fire.

Trump announced that an interim agreement had been reached with Iran and would be signed within days. Iran maintained the deal also meant an end to fighting in Lebanon.

Trump signed a formal agreement with Iran requiring Tehran to reduce its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The deal also waived U.S.-backed sanctions, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil on the open market.

Vice President JD Vance said new discussions with senior Iranian officials held in Switzerland had created a “good foundation for a successful final deal.”

Israel and Lebanon announced a U.S.-backed framework agreement, described as an initial step toward lasting peace.

Host nation Qatar reported that U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, with “positive progress made.”

Iran’s joint military command issued a warning that all oil tankers moving through the strait must follow its approved shipping routes or face a “forceful response.”

Iran held a multi-day funeral for the late Supreme Leader Khamenei. Talks aimed at reaching a final deal on both the war and Iran’s nuclear program were expected to pick back up after the ceremonies concluded.

Iran was then accused of striking three vessels in the strait on a single day — the highest number since late April. The U.S. responded by hitting dozens of targets inside Iran and reinstating sanctions on Iranian oil sales. Iran’s chief negotiator declared that “The era of bullying and extortion is over.”

Trump then announced that the ceasefire itself was “over,” though he left open the possibility that negotiations could continue — a statement that has raised serious fears the broader conflict could reignite.

The International Monetary Fund has once again trimmed its outlook for global economic growth in 2026, bringing the forecast down to 3.0% while flagging continued risks tied to the ongoing war in the Middle East, the fragmentation of international trade, and the possibility of a market correction tied to artificial intelligence expectations.

The Washington-based lending institution said the world economy had managed to avoid a more severe downturn despite the war, with strong demand in the technology sector helping to make up for reduced energy supplies caused by the conflict. Growth is expected to climb back to 3.4% in 2027 — though that figure still falls short of the 3.5% average recorded in both 2024 and 2025.

The IMF also bumped up its 2026 global inflation forecast by 0.3 percentage points compared to its April projection, bringing it to 4.7%. Inflation is then expected to ease to 3.9% in 2027. Energy prices are currently running 25% higher than they were before the war broke out on February 28 and are expected to stay elevated. The updated forecast assumes the Strait of Hormuz will begin reopening in mid-July, with conditions returning to prewar levels by March 2027.

“The global economy as a whole has, so far, weathered the shock from the war better than feared,” the IMF wrote in its updated World Economic Outlook. The fund noted that energy-exporting nations and countries deeply connected to the tech sector are faring better, while commodity-importing nations with little exposure to AI-related growth have generally seen their forecasts cut.

Global trade growth is expected to slow sharply — from 5% in 2025, a year when businesses rushed to get ahead of U.S. tariffs, down to 3.5% in 2026, before recovering to 4.3% in 2027.

Deniz Igan, who leads the World Economic Studies division of the IMF Research Department, said the global economy is showing more resilience than analysts expected back in April, even as the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to create challenges. She said higher prices and weaker confidence have been partially offset by the release of strategic oil reserves and commercial stockpiles, along with improvements in energy efficiency. Businesses have also adapted by finding new shipping routes and alternative supply sources.

“So far things have been okay, but that doesn’t take away the risk factors that are there, particularly with the war,” Igan told Reuters. She warned that if the current peace deal collapses and fighting resumes, the consequences could be severe — especially since most countries have already drawn down their reserves and have limited flexibility to respond.

Adding to those concerns, the U.S. military launched a fresh round of strikes against Iran on Tuesday and revoked a license that had allowed the country to sell oil, following attacks on three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The moves have put additional strain on an already fragile ceasefire.

“A renewed conflict in the region is going to catch the global economy in a worse position than it was the first time,” Igan said. She also cautioned that if many countries simultaneously try to rebuild their oil reserves, that could drive prices sharply higher.

“If there is a perception that this is going to be more prolonged, then both the incentive and the room to use those reserves is going to shrink very fast,” she added.

Igan noted that while inflation and inflation expectations have risen, the increase has been mostly short-term, with little sign so far that medium-term expectations are shifting.

The IMF’s updated report dropped the three separate war scenarios it had published in April — before the U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire — and returned to a more conventional single baseline forecast. Comparisons are drawn against the April reference forecast, which had assumed a shorter conflict.

On individual economies, the IMF left its U.S. growth forecast for 2026 unchanged at 2.3% and nudged its 2027 projection up by 0.1 percentage point to 2.2%. The euro area’s 2026 forecast was cut to 0.9% from 1.1% in April, while the 2027 outlook held steady at 1.2%.

Japan’s 2026 growth estimate dipped 0.1 percentage point to 0.6%, while its 2027 forecast was raised by the same margin to 0.7%. Emerging market and developing economies saw their 2026 forecast trimmed by 0.1 percentage point to 3.8%, with 2027 raised by 0.3 points to 4.5%.

China’s 2026 growth is now projected at 4.6%, up from 4.4% in the April forecast, with 2027 expected at 4.1%, slightly above the prior estimate of 4.0%. India, one of the world’s fastest-expanding economies, saw a small downgrade to 6.4% for 2026 from 6.5% in April, but the IMF raised its 2027 forecast for India to 6.7% from 6.5%.

The Middle East and Central Asia region, which has been hit hardest by the war, had its 2026 growth forecast slashed by 1.2 percentage points to just 0.7%. However, the IMF also raised that region’s 2027 forecast by 1.9 percentage points to 6.5%, reflecting expectations of a significant recovery once the conflict subsides.

Speaking from Ankara, Turkey, where he was attending a NATO summit, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States was preparing to launch another wave of strikes against Iran — just hours after he declared the existing ceasefire was finished.

When reporters asked about the possibility of returning to open hostilities, Trump did not hold back. “We hit them very hard last night,” he said. “We’ll probably hit them hard again tonight.”

Trump framed the ongoing strikes as retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing the country of launching drones and a missile at ships. “They are behaving very badly,” he said of Iran.

While acknowledging that fears of a full reignition of the war were understandable, Trump declared the interim pause in fighting “over” — though he left the door slightly open for continued diplomacy. “For me, I think it’s over,” he said when asked about the ceasefire’s status. He added that U.S. representatives could keep talking, but expressed little confidence in the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

Formal negotiations toward a final agreement had been expected to begin after the multi-day funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Feb. 28 in the opening moments of the war. That funeral period, which concludes Thursday, was supposed to be a time of reduced hostilities. The planned talks were set to address the most difficult issues, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Iran’s contested nuclear program.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf responded defiantly on social media platform X. “The era of bullying and extortion is over,” he wrote. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

US Military Strikes Hit Iranian Targets

The U.S. military’s Central Command confirmed that American forces carried out strikes designed to “impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” The military said it struck Iranian air-defense systems, radar installations, and more than 60 small watercraft operated by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Those vessels had been central to Iran’s strategy of threatening ships in the strait, a waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas flowed before the war began. Iran’s ability to choke off shipping there proved to be its most powerful strategic tool, and the resulting spike in energy, fertilizer, and food prices created pressure on the U.S. to negotiate. On Wednesday, the international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped more than 5% following Trump’s remarks.

The U.S. military stated it remains “prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed,” and indicated this particular round of attacks had concluded.

Iranian state media reported explosions at multiple locations, including Bandar Mahshahr, where one member of the Revolutionary Guard was killed. Attacks were also reported near Bushehr, the site of Iran’s nuclear power plant complex.

Earlier Wednesday morning, both Bahrain — home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet — and Kuwait, where U.S. Army forces are stationed, activated missile alerts. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement acknowledging it had targeted American military installations in both countries. Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran, and the country’s Electricity Ministry reported that power lines were knocked out after shrapnel fell on them.

A similar exchange of Iranian attacks on shipping and U.S. retaliatory strikes had taken place late last month, which also prompted Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. Wednesday’s U.S. strikes occurred while Trump was in Turkey for the NATO summit.

Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, condemned Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, calling them “a clear indicator that Tehran remains incapable of committing to the requirements of de-escalation and turning the page on war.”

US Pulls Oil Sales License Granted to Iran

Prior to the latest strikes, the U.S. revoked a special license that had — for the first time in years — permitted Iran to conduct oil sales openly in U.S. dollars as part of the interim deal. Iran had long been suspected of selling sanctioned crude oil to China at below-market rates.

The license was pulled following the attacks on shipping. One tanker was struck and caught fire off the coast of Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Iranian state television said the vessel had been attacked after ignoring warnings but stopped short of claiming direct responsibility.

A spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, Majed al-Ansari, confirmed the tanker was carrying Qatari natural gas and called the attack an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He said Qatar — which has served as a key mediator alongside Pakistan in the ongoing talks — holds Iran “fully legally responsible.” Two additional ships suffered minor damage but no injuries were reported, and both vessels continued on their routes, according to the U.K. agency.

Under the terms of the interim agreement, Iran and the U.S. had agreed to allow ships to pass through the strait without fees for 60 days. However, Tehran has insisted it must control the routes those vessels take and has pledged to eventually charge passage fees — a move that would overturn decades of established practice in the waterway. The ships struck Tuesday all appeared to be traveling a route near Oman’s coastline rather than one dictated by Iran. Both the U.S. and a number of Gulf Arab nations have made clear they will not accept Iran imposing charges for passage through the strait.

Funeral Services for Khamenei Held in Iraq

Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei were held Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attended, along with other Iranian and Iraqi officials including Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi. Funeral prayers were also planned at the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala. Khamenei’s remains are set to be returned to Iran for burial Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund issued a downgraded outlook for the global economy on Wednesday, pointing to the energy shock triggered by the ongoing conflict involving Iran as a major drag on growth. However, a wave of investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies is helping to cushion some of that economic pain.

The IMF now projects the world economy will grow at a modest 3% pace in 2026 — a step back from 3.5% growth recorded last year and below the 3.1% the organization had predicted back in April.

The trouble began when Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli military strikes on February 28 by closing off the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping passage through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas travels. The move sent energy prices sharply higher, putting pressure on both businesses and consumers around the world. The IMF now anticipates oil prices will climb nearly 32% this year, and that global consumer prices will rise 4.7% in 2026 — up from 4.1% in 2025. That would mean two years of hard-won progress against inflation has effectively stalled.

Nations that produce and export their own energy and are benefiting from the AI investment boom are largely shielded from the worst of the war’s economic fallout. The United States is one of those countries. The IMF expects the American economy — still the largest in the world — to grow a healthy 2.3% this year, an improvement over the 2.1% recorded in 2025 and in line with what the IMF had forecast in April. President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax cuts, productivity gains, and a strong stock market are all contributing to the U.S. economy’s resilience.

In contrast, the 21 European nations that share the euro currency are feeling the pinch of higher energy costs. Those countries combined are expected to grow just 0.9% this year, compared to 1.4% in 2025.

China, the second-largest economy in the world, is forecast to expand 4.6% this year — slower than the 5% seen in 2026 but slightly ahead of what the IMF had anticipated in April. While China is being weighed down by elevated energy prices and a collapse in its property market, government infrastructure spending, a rise in high-tech manufacturing, and strong export activity are helping to offset those headwinds.

India is once again on track to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with projected growth of 6.4% this year. That figure is down from a remarkable 7.7% last year but is still being driven by robust consumer spending.

The IMF is a 191-member lending institution focused on encouraging economic growth, maintaining financial stability, and reducing poverty worldwide.

LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage has long claimed the political establishment is working against him. His latest effort to prove that point, however, has not unfolded as he may have hoped.

Facing mounting scrutiny over his personal finances, the anti-immigration Reform UK leader made a dramatic announcement: he is stepping down from his parliamentary seat to force a special election, then immediately declared his intention to run for that same seat again. Critics wasted no time calling it a calculated maneuver to escape a parliamentary ethics investigation. Farage framed the upcoming vote as a battle of “people versus the establishment.”

His political rivals, though, have refused to cooperate with the narrative. Every major political party has announced it will not put forward a candidate to run against Farage, meaning he will face little real opposition at the ballot box.

The strategy carries significant risk. If the parliamentary standards inquiry into his finances continues after he wins — which appears likely — and concludes he broke the rules, a second special election for his seat could be required within months.

Farage only entered Parliament two years ago after seven previous failed attempts to win a seat. Despite that rocky road, he is widely considered one of the most consequential British politicians of the past several decades. His relentless push to remove the United Kingdom from the European Union helped transform Brexit from a fringe idea into reality. More recently, he has channeled public anxiety about immigration and social change in ways that mirror the approach of his ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, and various European populist figures.

Farage has made political hay — his critics say he has deliberately inflamed tensions — over migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, referring to the phenomenon as an invasion. He has also claimed that white people face discrimination at the hands of police.

Reform UK holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, yet the party consistently tops opinion polls and scored major victories in local and regional elections in May. Those results contributed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer being pushed out by members of his own Labour Party. If the current political trajectory continues, Farage could find himself in position to become prime minister following the next general election, which must be held by 2029.

Beyond his lawmaker’s salary, Farage draws income from a variety of sources, including selling gold bullion, hosting a television current affairs program, delivering paid public speeches, and recording personalized video messages through the Cameo platform.

Parliament’s standards watchdog is currently examining a donation of 5 million pounds — roughly $6.7 million — from Christopher Harborne, a cryptocurrency billionaire based in Thailand. Farage maintains the money was a personal gift used to cover the cost of his private security, and that it was given before he was elected to the House of Commons. Under parliamentary rules, newly elected members must disclose gifts exceeding 300 pounds (about $400) received in the prior 12 months if those gifts are connected to political activities.

Farage is also under scrutiny for his financial ties to George Cottrell, an aristocratic entrepreneur in the crypto-gambling space who previously served a U.S. prison sentence for fraud.

A finding that Farage violated parliamentary rules could result in his suspension, which would itself trigger a special election for his seat — the coastal constituency of Clacton in eastern England.

Rather than wait for the investigation to run its course, Farage chose to force that election himself.

But political observers note that if he wins — as most expect — the standards inquiry will likely pick up where it left off. A finding of wrongdoing could then set off a second Clacton election in short order.

Farage has publicly expressed frustration and exhaustion with political life, and he has a track record of walking away from parties he once led. He previously stepped down from both the UK Independence Party and its successor, the Brexit Party, over the past decade.

Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, believes Farage will ultimately stay in the fight to lead Reform into the next general election.

“Fighting and winning a by-election is perhaps his best hope of suggesting to people that he is still very much a man alone, fighting the establishment,” Bale said.

Farage insists he has “done nothing wrong” and portrays himself as the target of dirty tricks by political enemies and “constant demonization” by media outlets. He says his need for substantial funds is partly driven by serious threats to his personal safety that require private security.

Bale acknowledged the strategy offers Farage some cover, saying it “allows him to distract from the details of that story and those allegations.” But he cautioned that Farage risks coming across “as a self-pitying, angry guy on an ego trip who is determined to distract people from some awkward facts.”

Political opponents called the resignation a stunt and a sign that Farage is struggling. Reform UK has dropped three consecutive special elections it had hoped to win, raising questions about whether the party’s support is beginning to soften. The most recent defeat came against Labour’s Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to succeed Starmer as prime minister within weeks.

With Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party all declining to run candidates against Farage, the field is essentially open to single-issue campaigners and novelty candidates — including a comedian known as Count Binface, who campaigns with a trash can over his head.

The person behind the costume is Jon Harvey, who describes himself as a 5,000-year-old intergalactic space warrior. Harvey is a recurring presence in high-profile British elections, with no serious expectation of winning. His past opponents have included former Conservative Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and most recently, Burnham.

Dressed in the style of a low-budget science fiction film, Binface mixes absurdist humor with hyper-local policy proposals, such as synchronizing traffic lights on a congested street or relocating the hand dryer in the Crown & Treaty Pub in Uxbridge “to a more sensible location.”

In his most recent race against Burnham, his top campaign promise was to “cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s.” He also maintains a standing pledge to cap the price of croissants at 1.10 pounds, or about $1.47.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Binface said his central pitch to Clacton voters would be simple: “I’m not Nigel Farage.” He suggested that the absence of mainstream candidates said more about those parties than about him.

“Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel’s running a cunning stunt?” he said.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani military announced Wednesday that insurgents killed 18 police officers who had been held captive since earlier in the week, along with 11 soldiers who died in a separate attack in the troubled southwestern part of the country.

The bloodshed represents the latest flare-up in a region where armed groups have been intensifying their assaults on both security forces and civilians.

Military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry stated at a televised press conference that the combined death toll since Monday has reached 42 people, with most of the victims being soldiers and police officers. He added that security forces had killed 54 insurgents across multiple operations during that same timeframe.

According to Chaudhry, the 18 officers had been in captivity since late Monday, when dozens of militants stormed a police post in Ziarat district in Balochistan province, killing nine additional officers in that initial assault. He identified the attackers as members of what the Pakistani government refers to as “Fitna al-Khawarij” — a label the government applies to the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, or BLA, which Pakistan claims receives backing from India. India has denied any support for insurgent organizations operating inside Pakistan.

The 11 soldiers who died Wednesday were killed when insurgents ambushed the vehicle they were traveling in along a highway in Balochistan, Chaudhry said, adding that armed groups have struck at civilians and security personnel across several areas since Monday.

His statements came shortly after the BLA claimed credit for a series of recent attacks on security forces in Balochistan, a province where the Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — also holds a significant presence.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by land area but its least populated. It has been the site of a long-running separatist insurgency as well as repeated attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The BLA, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 2019, has taken responsibility for a large number of attacks targeting both security forces and civilians in the province over recent years.

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Eight children lost their lives and five others were hurt Wednesday when torrential monsoon rains caused a landslide that buried a madrassa at a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh, according to officials.

Rescuers pulled 13 children from beneath the mud and debris that had engulfed the religious school. Eight of those children did not survive, while the remaining five were taken to medical facilities within the camp for treatment.

The tragedy follows a series of deadly weather events in the same area earlier this week. Separate rain-triggered landslides had already claimed the lives of eight Rohingya refugees — including women and children — in the camps just days before Wednesday’s disaster.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees are crowded into camps in Cox’s Bazar, which is recognized as the world’s largest refugee settlement. The population fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in neighboring Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017.

The vast majority of families there live in temporary shelters constructed from bamboo and tarpaulins, perched on steep, deforested hillsides that offer little protection against the landslides that threaten the region each monsoon season.

Authorities have been working to move families away from the most dangerous areas as rainfall continues to intensify the risk. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has predicted additional rain in the days ahead, and officials say they are remaining on high alert for further landslides and flash flooding.

SAO PAULO — Brazilian federal police descended on the home of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday, conducting a search for weapons and ammunition that ultimately turned up nothing, according to one of his attorneys.

Lawyer Joao Henrique de Freitas shared the outcome in a post on X, writing: “The defense had already previously informed the whereabouts of all the weapons. Result: Nothing was found.”

The Brazilian newspaper Estadao first broke the story, reporting that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had authorized the search.

Bolsonaro, who is 71 years old, has been behind bars since November, serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government following his loss to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election.

Just last Friday, Justice Moraes granted Bolsonaro permission to serve his sentence under house arrest, citing health concerns. The former president has dealt with significant medical issues in recent years stemming from a stabbing he suffered while campaigning back in 2018.

Adding to the legal complications, a gun belonging to Bolsonaro was confiscated from one of his security team members at a police checkpoint last month. Despite that incident, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet — in an opinion sought by Moraes — recommended that Bolsonaro be allowed to remain under house arrest.

A Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, faced the possibility of an explosion after sustaining serious damage during an attack on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to one source.

Although the LNG industry has seen accidents at land-based facilities over the years, a catastrophic explosion of an LNG cargo tank aboard a commercial vessel at sea has never occurred. Still, growing concerns have emerged as warring parties in both the Ukraine and Iran conflicts have increasingly targeted energy shipping vessels.

Tuesday’s attack on the tanker Al Rekayyat is the second time this year an LNG ship has been drawn into a war-related incident. Back in March, a Russian LNG tanker called the Arctic Metagaz caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea after being struck by Ukrainian naval drones, forcing its crew to abandon ship — an account provided by Russia’s transport ministry.

What exactly is LNG, and how is it transported?

LNG is natural gas that has been chilled to approximately minus 162 degrees Celsius, or minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit. That extreme cooling converts the gas into liquid form and reduces its volume by roughly 600 times, which makes it far more practical and cost-effective to ship across oceans.

The liquid is held in heavily insulated cryogenic tanks that maintain those extremely cold temperatures. At export terminals, the LNG is loaded onto specialized carrier ships built with double hulls and insulated cargo tanks engineered to keep the gas cold for the entire journey.

During transport, a small portion of the LNG naturally evaporates. If not managed, this so-called boil-off gas builds up pressure inside the tanks. Ships typically capture this gas and use it as fuel for their engines.

What dangers does LNG pose?

In its liquid state, LNG does not burn. The danger emerges if LNG leaks, warms up and converts back to gas, blends with air at the right ratio, and then encounters an ignition source.

To guard against these risks, LNG vessels are equipped with double-hull construction, multiple containment barriers, gas detection systems, pressure-relief equipment, emergency shutdown systems, firefighting tools, and strict operational protocols backed by thorough crew training.

Could the Al Rekayyat actually explode?

The Al Rekayyat reported a fire in its engine room, and a source indicated the ship was at risk of exploding — though there was no sign that the LNG cargo tanks had been breached. All crew members were evacuated without injury.

In theory, any LNG carrier could face catastrophic risk if damage causes a large LNG release, forms a flammable gas cloud, and that cloud reaches an ignition source. However, modern LNG vessels are built with multiple layers of protection specifically designed to stop any ignition from reaching the cargo tanks. Industry experts emphasize that an engine room fire does not automatically lead to an explosion.

The danger would grow significantly if the fire were to spread to the cargo systems, damage the containment tanks, or trigger a major LNG leak.

One industry source said Wednesday that as long as the Al Rekayyat does not come under any additional attack, the vessel would likely remain in its current condition and not explode.

Pakistan’s military announced Wednesday that 42 members of its security forces — including both police and army personnel — have been killed following three separate militant attacks in Balochistan, a troubled province in the country’s southwestern region.

The attacks took place beginning July 6, according to military officials. In addition to the security personnel who died, the military reported that 54 militants were also killed during the course of the three incidents.

Balochistan has long been a region of unrest, and the latest wave of violence marks a significant loss for Pakistani security forces in a short period of time.

(Note: The views expressed in this analysis are those of the author, Reuters Breakingviews columnist Pierre Briancon.)

French courts have already sent a former president to prison. Now they have handed down a detention sentence to a potential future one — far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Unlike that former president, who actually served prison time, the most Le Pen can expect is home confinement with an electronic ankle bracelet, a situation she is hoping to overturn through an appeal.

Regardless of her legal troubles, Le Pen announced Tuesday that she plans to enter the presidential race scheduled for April 2027. This time, she stands a genuine chance of reaching the Élysée Palace. Bond markets appear largely unconcerned about the populist economic proposals her party is advancing, or her capacity to handle the country’s finances. That calm may be misplaced.

Whoever steps into the presidency after Emmanuel Macron will face a country in deep financial difficulty. Recent French governments have repeatedly failed to rein in out-of-control budget deficits. The national public debt has now climbed to €3.6 trillion — a 60% jump since Macron took office more than nine years ago. According to the IMF, that debt is on pace to hit 120% of GDP next year. Budget deficits have exceeded 5% of economic output for three straight years and are unlikely to shrink significantly in the near term. The 2027 budget debate is expected to be a fierce battle, given a fragmented parliament and a crowded field of nearly 20 declared presidential candidates so far.

Over the years, Le Pen has pulled back from some of her more extreme earlier positions. She has abandoned her push to exit the euro, softened her pro-Russia stance on Ukraine, and even took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump, calling his approach to Iran “erratic.” Still, core elements of her economic agenda have stayed in place. She has consistently opposed government efforts to raise the retirement age to shore up the pension system. Her central argument — that reducing immigration will generate enough savings to pay for tax cuts for both households and businesses — is widely viewed as unrealistic.

Le Pen and her protégé Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old she elevated to party leader while dealing with her legal battles, have been making overtures to the business community. In April, they sent a letter to business leaders saying they wanted to “listen” to them and identify what was holding back economic growth. This has fueled speculation that Le Pen might follow the example of Italy’s right-wing prime minister, who surprised many in Europe by managing her country’s finances with unexpected restraint over the past four years — even with a debt load of 140% of GDP. Italy’s borrowing costs have gradually moved closer to France’s, with both countries’ 10-year bond yields now within a percentage point of Germany’s.

While nothing is off the table, Le Pen remains committed to an interventionist economic approach centered on government benefits aimed at her core supporters in France’s struggling industrial regions. She has a long way to go before she can offer a convincing roadmap for addressing France’s serious fiscal challenges.

BACKGROUND: A French appeals court on July 7 upheld Le Pen’s conviction for misappropriating European funds but reduced the length of her ban from holding elected office, potentially reopening the door for her 2027 presidential run. The court imposed a three-year jail sentence, suspending two years of it, and ordered her to wear an electronic ankle tag for one year — a condition that could make running a presidential campaign both politically and practically difficult.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right movement, received a mixed welcome Wednesday as she took her presidential campaign to the streets of La Fleche, a small town in western France’s Loire Valley — just one day after an appeals court ruled she could still run despite confirming her criminal conviction.

As Le Pen worked the crowd at a local street market, some bystanders shouted “Give the money back!” and “Go to jail!” while others rallied behind her with chants of “Marine, President!” — a vivid snapshot of the deep divisions her candidacy is stirring across the country.

On Tuesday, the Paris appeals court upheld Le Pen’s March 2025 conviction for misappropriating European Parliament funds to pay staff members of her party. However, the court reduced the length of her ban from seeking public office, clearing the path for her campaign.

At 57, Le Pen has made three previous bids for the French presidency. Her anti-immigrant party, the National Rally, currently leads opinion polls, giving her a renewed push toward what would be a historic win as France’s first far-right president in modern times.

The appeals court had also ordered Le Pen to wear an electronic ankle tag for one year — a requirement that would have forced her to return home each night during the campaign. However, Le Pen announced she is taking the case to France’s highest court, and that appeal has temporarily suspended the ankle tag requirement.

Le Pen’s political protégé, 30-year-old Jordan Bardella, had been prepared by the National Rally to serve as the party’s candidate in her place. Now that Le Pen is back in the race, she has said that if she wins the presidency, Bardella will serve as her prime minister.

Bardella joined Le Pen in La Fleche on Wednesday — a town that has traditionally leaned left but elected a 25-year-old National Rally mayor, Romain Lemoigne, back in March. Supporters eagerly sought photos with Le Pen, with one exclaiming, “Marine, you’re the best!”

Le Pen appears to be drawing a parallel to former U.S. President Donald Trump, banking on voters setting aside her legal troubles and focusing instead on her promise to strengthen French sovereignty.

Her campaign team had already unveiled a new website earlier in the day, featuring an image of Le Pen with arms outstretched on a stage and the slogan: “For France, Revival.”

Speaking to reporters in La Fleche, Le Pen explained the meaning behind that message, saying it stood for “the revival of education, the revival of the justice system, the revival of security for our fellow citizens, the revival of control over our borders, and the revival of our sovereignty.”

Polling analyst Adélaïde Zulfikapasic of BVA pollsters said she believes Le Pen will likely advance to the second-round runoff of the presidential election, scheduled for May 2, due to her strong and loyal voter base.

“There is a degree of ambivalence among French voters: when asked which qualities they most want in a president, they point to honesty and probity. In practice, however, they tend to be less demanding,” Zulfikapasic said.

Still, the analyst noted that Le Pen’s bigger challenge will be expanding beyond her existing supporters, and that the guilty verdict could make winning over new voters more difficult.

Officials at France’s highest court, known as the Cour de Cassation, have previously indicated they aim to issue a ruling in early 2027, ahead of the election. If that court upholds Tuesday’s judgment, Le Pen could be required to wear the electronic monitoring device during the final stretch of her campaign.

CAIRO — More than 20 civilians have been killed in a series of drone strikes on civilian vehicles in Sudan over recent days, according to human rights organizations, as the use of unmanned aircraft grows increasingly widespread in the war-torn nation.

The Sudan Doctors Network reported Wednesday that a drone struck the outskirts of Khartoum, killing 10 civilians — among them five women from the same family — who were on their way to a wedding. The medical aid organization, which has been documenting violence between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the conflict’s four-year span, attributed Tuesday’s attack to the RSF. The strike occurred on a road west of Omdurman, a city neighboring the capital, Khartoum. Everyone aboard the vehicle, which burst into flames, died.

The group described the strike as “deliberate and carried out using a guided drone” and urged the international community to put pressure on RSF leadership to end attacks on civilians.

A separate incident on Tuesday saw a drone hit a transport vehicle near a water facility in the province, claiming two more lives, according to Emergency Lawyers, a group that monitors violence across Sudan. The day before, 13 civilians — including five women — were killed when a drone struck their vehicle as they traveled to a wedding in the town of al-Shaatout in North Kordofan province, the same group reported.

Emergency Lawyers described the violence as part of a troubling trend, stating: “This attack is part of an escalating pattern of drone attacks on civilians as drones continue to fly over the northern parts of the province…monitoring residents’ movements.”

North Kordofan province has experienced a significant increase in drone strikes, amid repeated warnings from international observers about RSF forces advancing on the strategically important city of el-Obeid, which is home to the army’s 5th Infantry Division. According to the United Nations, drone attacks on the city have damaged civilian infrastructure, including power facilities and residential neighborhoods, as well as bridges and critical supply routes.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 following long-standing tensions between the national army and the RSF. Since then, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 59,000 people, forced roughly 13 million from their homes, and driven large portions of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are currently in need of humanitarian aid.

CLACTON, England — Nigel Farage, the 62-year-old leader of Britain’s populist Reform UK party, has made a bold political wager by triggering a special election for his own parliamentary seat. The unusual move could result in his only competition coming from Count Binface — a satirical character who wears a silver trash can as a helmet.

Farage, currently under investigation by parliament over millions of pounds in gifts from wealthy supporters, announced Tuesday that he wanted voters in his Clacton district in southeast England to weigh in on his conduct themselves. He described the parliamentary standards committee examining him as a “political tool” wielded by those threatened by his electoral rise, and characterized the scrutiny as coming from a liberal “establishment” determined to bring him down. He has denied any wrongdoing.

However, within hours of his announcement, every major political party declared they would sit out the Clacton vote, calling it a “stunt” meant to shift focus away from questions about his personal finances.

That decision left the field open for Count Binface — the creation of comedian Jonathan Harvey — who announced his candidacy on X. The character, who previously went by the name Lord Buckethead, has run against three prime ministers over the past decade as a way of poking fun at politics while, he says, honoring democracy.

“I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house,” Count Binface posted on X.

Dressed in a silver outfit with a matching cape and his signature trash can helmet, Binface called on Clacton residents to give “your friendly neighbourhood intergalactic space warrior” the 10 nominations required to appear on the ballot.

Reactions from Clacton residents on Wednesday were varied. While some expressed confusion over the move, and a few said it confirmed their belief that Farage makes everything about himself, the majority said they still supported the longtime Brexit campaigner on issues they care most about, including immigration.

Zoe Banks, a 53-year-old office worker who did not vote for Farage in 2024 — saying she felt no politician could truly change things — told reporters she had no issue with the money in question as long as it was obtained legally, and that she believed he was being targeted by the political establishment.

“He’ll walk it,” she said of the upcoming vote. “This time I might actually vote for him, because if he’s not broken any rule … then, yeah, he’s got a right to complain.”

Bus driver Ray Lynaugh, 54, took a sharply different view.

“I dislike the man immensely,” he told Reuters. “What he stands for, what he’s done to the country. He is self-serving, self-centred. He’s an abysmal human being. Why people vote for him, I don’t know.”

For members of the governing Labour Party, the opposition Conservatives, and other parties, the prospect of Count Binface being Farage’s lone challenger underscores what they view as the ridiculousness of the whole situation.

“Nigel Farage vs Count Binface neatly illustrates the farce that is the Clacton by-election,” said Conservative lawmaker Ben Obese-Jecty.

Reform UK, however, sees the mainstream parties’ boycott as proof of their fear of facing Farage directly. Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs policy chief, argued on BBC News that established parties believe it is “their birthright to have a stranglehold over British politics, and that is why Nigel Farage is so threatening to that.”

ROME — A new legislative proposal introduced Wednesday by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party would fast-track the removal of foreign nationals convicted of crimes and expand the government’s ability to strip them of Italian citizenship.

Under the draft bill, any non-EU citizen sentenced to more than one year behind bars would be sent back to their home country, whether or not they agree to go. Party members unveiled the measure at a parliamentary press conference.

The deportations would be carried out through bilateral agreements that Italy would negotiate with the offenders’ home nations. Those facing removal would have very few options to fight deportation — limited mainly to cases where they could face inhumane treatment or the death penalty upon return. Anyone sent back under the program would be permanently banned from re-entering Italy.

Brothers of Italy lawmaker Sara Kelany said the bill would also widen the list of crimes that could result in the loss of Italian citizenship for those born outside the country.

Separately, Italy’s parliament is already debating a related measure put forward by coalition partner the League, which would tighten the rules around obtaining citizenship and make it easier to strip people of Italian nationality.

Both Brothers of Italy and the League are facing electoral pressure heading into next year’s parliamentary vote. An emerging far-right anti-immigration movement called Futuro Nazionale is gaining traction in polls, reportedly pulling support away from both established parties.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Four people, including a prominent Palestinian aid official who played a key role in setting up public World Cup viewing events throughout Gaza, were killed in an Israeli airstrike moments before the Egypt-Argentina match got underway Tuesday, local health officials report.

The explosion transformed what many Gazans had hoped would be a joyful, communal moment — watching a possible upset of Argentina by an Arab team — into yet another grim reminder that deadly Israeli strikes continue to claim civilian lives despite a ceasefire that was reached in October.

The bomb struck a vehicle in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City at dusk Tuesday. Among those killed were Mohamed al-Wahidi, director of public relations for the Egyptian Committee in Gaza; 10-year-old Hamza al-Deri and his 8-year-old brother Fari; and the car’s driver, Ahmed Daghmush, 33. Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, which received all four bodies, confirmed the deaths.

The Israeli military stated that al-Wahidi, who was involved in coordinating the soccer screenings, was not the intended target. According to the military, the strike was aimed at a Hamas militant, and it said it was investigating whether Daghmush was the person they were targeting.

Abu Selmiya said Daghmush was a taxi driver with no known ties to any militant organization.

A separate Israeli strike had hit the same street about 30 minutes earlier, resulting in no casualties.

The Egyptian Committee, where al-Wahidi served, functions as the humanitarian arm of the Egyptian government, delivering food, shelter, and other aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The committee also spearheaded the effort to set up large screens across the territory for residents to watch World Cup matches together.

A large portion of the Palestinian diaspora lives just across the border in Egypt, which played a central role in brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Support for Team Egypt among Gaza residents has surged throughout the tournament, largely because coach Hossam Hassan has repeatedly used press conferences and on-field moments to draw attention to the suffering of the Palestinian people. After his team’s win over Australia on Friday, he dedicated the victory to both Egyptians and Palestinians and waved a Palestinian flag on the pitch.

During a Monday press briefing ahead of the Argentina match, Hassan called on the global community to take greater action on behalf of Palestinians.

When it comes to Greenland, President Donald Trump keeps returning to the same argument: the United States needs to control it. Rising international tensions, a warming planet, and shifting global trade patterns have thrust this remote Arctic island into the center of a major geopolitical debate — and Trump wants America to come out on top.

Greenland’s position above the Arctic Circle has long made it a cornerstone of North American defense strategy. About 80% of the island lies within the Arctic Circle, and roughly 56,000 people — most of them Inuit — call it home. Until recently, the island received little global attention. That has changed dramatically.

Greenland is a self-governing territory belonging to Denmark, a longstanding U.S. ally. Both Denmark and Greenland’s own government have pushed back firmly against Trump’s advances, with Greenland’s leaders insisting that the island’s people will determine their own future.

Trump’s persistent calls for U.S. ownership of Greenland — including earlier suggestions that taking it by military force was not off the table — have unsettled NATO allies and raised alarms among European partners who have long counted on the U.S. for their defense. He has since said military options are no longer being considered.

At a recent NATO summit, Trump made his position clear: “Greenland is very important to the United States, but it’s not important to Denmark. We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States.”

Trump has also claimed, without evidence, that Russian and Chinese military forces are operating near Greenland’s shores. He argues that controlling the island is essential to countering threats from both nations.

Greenland’s strategic value stretches back to World War II, when the U.S. moved to occupy the island to prevent Nazi Germany from seizing it and to protect vital North Atlantic shipping routes. During the Cold War, the Arctic was largely a zone of international cooperation. But melting sea ice is now opening up potential new trade routes — including a northwest passage — and reigniting competition over the region’s vast natural resources.

China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in 2018 in a bid for greater regional influence, and has announced plans to develop what it calls a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its broader global infrastructure initiative. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed back sharply, asking: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”

Russia, meanwhile, has been asserting dominance over large swaths of the Arctic, rebuilding old Soviet-era military infrastructure and constructing new facilities. Since 2014, Moscow has opened several Arctic military bases and worked to restore airfields in the region. Russia’s Northern Fleet is based there, and Russian military officials have indicated the area could once again be used for nuclear weapons testing if deemed necessary.

European anxiety deepened after Russia launched its war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged concern over NATO’s Arctic activities and pledged to bolster Russian military capabilities in the region — while also saying Moscow remains open to broader international cooperation there.

The U.S. already has a significant military footprint in Greenland. The Department of Defense operates Pituffik Space Base in the island’s northwest, established after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. The base supports missile warning systems, missile defense operations, and space surveillance for both the U.S. and NATO.

Greenland also plays a key role in monitoring what is known as the GIUK Gap — named for Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom — a stretch of ocean where NATO tracks Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.

Despite all this, at least one defense expert argues that outright U.S. ownership of Greenland would offer no real security benefit. Thomas Crosbie, an associate professor of military operations at the Royal Danish Defense College, told The Associated Press: “The United States will gain no advantage if its flag is flying in Nuuk versus the Greenlandic flag. There’s no benefits to them because they already enjoy all of the advantages they want.”

Crosbie added: “If there’s any specific security access that they want to improve American security, they’ll be given it as a matter of course, as a trusted ally. So this has nothing to do with improving national security for the United States.”

Denmark’s parliament passed a bill last year allowing U.S. military bases on Danish soil, expanding a 2023 agreement with the Biden administration that gave American troops broad access to Danish air bases. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen also noted last summer that Denmark would have the right to end the agreement if the U.S. attempts to annex all or part of Greenland.

Beyond security, Greenland holds enormous economic appeal. The island is home to significant deposits of rare earth minerals — essential ingredients in cellphones, computers, batteries, and other high-tech products expected to drive the global economy for decades to come. Western nations are eager to reduce their dependence on China, which currently dominates the rare earth market.

However, developing those resources is no easy task. Greenland’s extreme climate makes extraction difficult, and strict environmental regulations have added further obstacles for potential investors.

KYIV, Ukraine — Three people were killed across Ukraine during overnight Russian attacks on Wednesday, including one fatality in Kyiv, where powerful blasts rocked the capital for the second consecutive night.

Multiple explosions were heard shortly after midnight — before officials had even issued an air raid warning. That unusual sequence raised concerns, as alerts are normally sent out ahead of strikes so that residents have time to seek shelter.

In the city of Kharkiv, two people were killed and 20 others were wounded in a string of overnight strikes, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 169 long-range strike drones and seven missiles — including five ballistic missiles — at the country overnight. Air defenses managed to shoot down or electronically jam 139 of the drones, and two anti-radar missiles failed to reach their intended targets. However, all five ballistic missiles and 20 drones successfully hit targets at 15 different locations, highlighting the ongoing pressure on Ukraine’s air defense network.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its military struck arms production sites in Kyiv, saying it hit a factory manufacturing components for Flamingo cruise missiles and another facility that assembles medium- and long-range drones.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also reported that its air defenses brought down 415 Ukrainian drones between late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person, injured several others, and caused damage to unspecified industrial facilities in the region.

Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belyayev reported that Ukrainian drones damaged industrial sites in his city and left several people injured, though he did not identify which facilities were affected.

Yuri Slyusar, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said Ukrainian drones struck and damaged two oil tankers in Taganrog Bay, injuring two crew members. One of the vessels had to be evacuated. Slyusar noted there was no oil spill, as both tankers were empty and heading toward the port of Rostov-on-Don.

Back in Kyiv, one woman was killed and two others were injured in the Russian assault, according to city administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the attack damaged several administrative buildings, warehouses, a garage complex, and multiple city trams.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian guided bomb injured an elderly man and a woman overnight, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.

Rescue crews in the southern Indian state of Kerala are in a race against time to find five people still unaccounted for, one day after powerful monsoon rains triggered a deadly landslide, according to officials.

The disaster struck near a tunnel construction site in Wayanad district — a hilly area recognized for its dense forests and sweeping green terrain — claiming the lives of at least three workers. Seven additional workers sustained injuries and are currently receiving hospital care.

Search teams, including disaster response units and sniffer dogs, fanned out across the area, which authorities divided into search zones. A local police official named Devamanohar told reporters that ongoing heavy rainfall has made the search effort significantly more difficult.

Video footage captured the moment a massive wall of mud collapsed during the downpour, tearing trees from the ground and demolishing metal and fabric barriers surrounding the construction site.

Kerala’s home minister T. Siddique spoke with reporters and characterized the event as something other than a natural disaster. According to the Press Trust of India news agency, he stated it was “not a natural landslide but a man-made one caused by the unscientific dumping of earth,” and alleged that construction debris had not been removed despite warnings from officials.

The construction company involved pushed back against those claims, asserting that the slide began well above the area where workers were operating, according to the same news agency.

Authorities have opened a formal investigation into the incident.

This latest disaster follows a pattern seen across India in recent years, with cloudbursts, floods, and landslides causing widespread loss of life and property damage.

Climate scientists warn that human-driven climate change is making South Asia’s monsoon seasons increasingly unpredictable. The monsoons, which traditionally occur from June through September and again from October through December, are now arriving in sudden, intense bursts that drop extreme amounts of rainfall in brief windows — followed by periods of little to no rain.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to talk through a controversial proposal to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, according to a source familiar with the discussions who spoke to Reuters.

The source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the topic, also said Hegseth is expected to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz during the visit, with Iran anticipated to be a key subject in those talks.

Netanyahu made his position on the F-35 sale clear in a CNN interview on Tuesday, saying he had already communicated his opposition directly to President Trump. “It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkey has aggressive aspirations,” Netanyahu said.

Turkey, which is a NATO member, has been a vocal critic of Israeli military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. The country has also repeatedly accused Israel of working to undermine a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement brokered by Pakistan.

President Donald Trump, who traveled to Turkey to attend a NATO summit, announced Tuesday that he intends to lift U.S. sanctions that had been placed on Ankara following its 2019 purchase of Russian air defense missiles. Trump also signaled he was open to selling Turkey F-35 jets — a move that is expected to face significant pushback both in Congress and from Israel.

The relationship between the U.S. and Turkey had soured considerably after Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 missile defense system, which led Washington to impose sanctions on a major Turkish defense contractor and remove Turkey from the F-35 program entirely. Relations between the two countries have improved noticeably since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, though current U.S. law still blocks the jet sales.

Speaking ahead of a NATO summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara, U.S. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran to end the ongoing conflict is finished.

“To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them,” Trump said at the gathering.

The temporary ceasefire agreement, which had been brokered through Pakistan’s mediation between Washington and Tehran, was designed to open a 60-day window for both sides to work toward a permanent resolution. However, indirect negotiations held in Qatar wrapped up last week without any meaningful progress, and the U.S. military launched a new round of strikes against Iran on Tuesday.

Standing alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump went further in his criticism of Iranian leadership. “They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

Adding to the escalating tensions, the United States also moved Tuesday to cancel a license that had allowed Iran to sell oil on the international market. That action came after three oil tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz.

The license in question had been issued by the U.S. Treasury on June 22 as part of the interim agreement, permitting the sale of Iranian crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products through August 21. By revoking it Tuesday, the Treasury gave Iran a deadline of July 17 to complete or wind down any existing transactions under that authorization.

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Najaf, one of Iraq’s holiest cities, on Wednesday to witness the funeral procession of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose coffin has crossed the border from Iran as part of a six-day ceremony.

Crowds carrying large images of the deceased leader gathered along the procession route, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as Khamenei’s coffin was transported through the city streets atop a large truck.

Both Iraqi and Iranian flags were visible throughout the crowd, along with banners representing powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups, whose members joined the procession in large numbers.

Najaf carries deep religious importance for Shi’ite Muslims around the world, as it is the burial site of Imam Ali, who was both the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad.

The coffin had arrived the previous evening at Najaf’s international airport, where Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, along with senior government officials and religious figures, took part in a formal reception ceremony.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also traveled to Iraq to participate in the procession. The coffin is expected to continue on to the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala before ultimately being returned to Iran, where Khamenei will be laid to rest.

A legal fight that has stretched nearly a decade may be reaching its conclusion Wednesday, as a top English court prepares to hear the final appeal in a case challenging Trinidad and Tobago’s ban on gay sex.

Supreme Court judges in London are set to consider a significant human rights case that, if decided in favor of the challenger, could make same-sex relations legal in the eastern Caribbean nation — and potentially influence how other Caribbean countries handle similar laws.

The case was originally brought in February 2017 by Jason Jones, who contends that his country’s so-called “buggery” laws — holdovers from the colonial era that criminalize gay sex — are unconstitutional. Anyone convicted under those laws faces up to five years behind bars.

Standing against Jones is the government of Trinidad and Tobago, which has the support of the country’s Council of Evangelical Churches and its largest Hindu organization, Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.

The legal journey has passed through multiple courts over the years. Trinidad’s High Court ruled the laws unconstitutional back in April 2018, but a local appeals court partially overturned that decision in March 2025. That July, Trinidad’s Court of Appeals gave Jones the green light to bring the matter before England’s final appeals court.

The case is now in the hands of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and LGBTQ advocates throughout the Caribbean are watching closely to see how it unfolds.

The region has seen a mixed record on the issue. The Bahamas decriminalized homosexuality in 1991, and the U.K. government struck down similar laws in 2001 across Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. More recently, courts in Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda have also thrown out comparable laws. However, gay sex remains a criminal offense in Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Jones, now 61, has been openly gay since age 16 and left Trinidad and Tobago in 1996, citing what he described as homophobic violence and discrimination he experienced there.

LGBTQ organizations backing Jones noted in a recent court filing that his story reflects a broader reality, stating that he “is unable to fully express his sexuality without being branded a criminal.”

Jones himself has framed the issue as one of secular values, arguing that “Trinidad and Tobago is a secular society and a multi-racial one. Christian morality is neither universal nor superior.”

Attorneys and advocates point out that even though the buggery laws have not been actively enforced in recent times, their existence still carries real consequences. As one written argument recently submitted in Jones’s favor put it, “A law of this kind operates not only through arrest and conviction, but through the stigma, fear, concealment and exclusion.”

That same filing argued that criminalizing gay sex “compounds stigma at precisely the stage at which young people may be forming identity, seeking support, accessing education and healthcare, and deciding whether it is safe to disclose abuse, bullying or self-harm risks.”

The five-judge panel of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council could announce a decision as soon as the Wednesday hearing concludes, though there is no set deadline for them to do so.

TAIPEI — A top Taiwan official issued a stark warning Wednesday that China’s slow but steady escalation of pressure tactics could fundamentally change the situation in the Taiwan Strait — and the rest of the world might not realize it until it’s already too late.

Kuan Bi-ling, who leads Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council and oversees the island’s coast guard, made the remarks during a forum held in Taipei. She pointed out that China’s aggressive maritime behavior is not aimed at Taiwan alone — Japan and the Philippines are also feeling the pressure, particularly in the disputed South China Sea.

At the heart of her concern are so-called “grey zone” tactics — actions that fall short of open warfare but are designed to intimidate and coerce. Kuan warned that as these actions build on one another, the overall situation can shift dramatically without any single moment triggering alarm bells.

“Each individual action may not appear to trigger an international crisis. Each escalation of pressure may still be judged as not constituting war. But when a series of actions accumulates, it may create an entirely new status quo,” she said.

China, which considers Taiwan part of its own territory despite the island’s democratic self-governance, sends military aircraft and naval vessels into the airspace and waters around Taiwan on a daily basis. Regular Chinese Coast Guard patrols near Taiwan’s eastern coastline have also drawn sharp objections from Taipei, which insists Beijing has no legal claim to maritime jurisdiction in those waters. China, for its part, does not recognize any sovereignty claims made by Taiwan.

Kuan also cautioned that the long-term consequences of this pressure could ripple through international commerce and security — potentially causing shipping lanes to be rerouted, insurance companies to reassess their risk calculations, and frontline personnel to face mounting strain.

“And the international community, through repeated judgements that each incident is ‘not yet a crisis,’ may gradually become accustomed to things that should never be regarded as normal,” she warned.

“In the end, we may suddenly discover that no decisive war ever occurred on any particular day, yet the original status quo no longer exists,” Kuan added.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the forum. Beijing has blamed Taiwan for the current tensions, particularly targeting Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, whom it labels a “separatist.” Lai has maintained that only the people of Taiwan have the right to determine the island’s future.

Last month, the United States, Britain, France, and Germany all voiced concern over the new Chinese Coast Guard patrols operating off Taiwan’s eastern coast.

Also present at the forum was U.S. Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who became the first U.S. senator to travel to Taiwan since U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing back in May.

ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — Russian military forces are working to neutralize a powerful Ukrainian drone strategy by hiding military cargo in civilian vehicles and deploying advanced electronic jamming equipment designed to knock out Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, according to Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots who spoke with Reuters.

Ukraine’s so-called “mid-strike” drones — capable of accurately hitting targets dozens of kilometers behind the front lines at relatively low cost — have fundamentally changed the nature of the conflict. These drones are frequently operated through Starlink connections, which had long been considered resistant to jamming attempts.

Throughout this year, Ukraine has used mid-strike drone campaigns to hammer Russian supply lines, fuel storage sites, air defense systems, and command centers. The effort has disrupted Russian logistics and created fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.

A Reuters crew that visited Ukraine’s 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment in the southern Zaporizhzhia region heard from four drone commanders and pilots about the growing list of Russian countermeasures.

JAMMING SYSTEMS

An advisor to Ukraine’s defense ministry, Serhii Beskrestnov, identified one specific Russian jamming system called the Volna Kupol Garant. He said the device emits a signal powerful enough to destabilize Starlink connections across an area of roughly 20 square kilometers — about 7.7 square miles. Approximately 10 of these systems have been detected so far, he said.

However, the jamming units have themselves become targets. The 422nd regiment has participated in strikes against two of these systems. One was destroyed just hours after being located, in a joint operation with Ukraine’s SBU security service. Video of one such attack showed a massive explosion as a drone struck a site containing six large trailer-like boxes.

“As soon as we struck that installation, our Starlink-equipped (drones) flew without problems,” said a crew commander who goes by the callsign ‘Dyryhent.’

Meanwhile, Musk has blocked Russian forces from accessing Starlink to prevent Moscow from using it to guide its own drone attacks.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did Russia’s defense ministry. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the specific tactics Russia is employing.

HIDING SUPPLIES IN CIVILIAN VEHICLES

During the Reuters visit to the 422nd regiment, soldiers working under the dim red glow of headlamps loaded a high-explosive warhead into a winged drone. The propeller engine coughed to life, and the craft — called the “Zozulya,” or “Cuckoo” — was launched by catapult into the darkness, heading southeast toward Crimea to strike a base used by Russian drone operators.

Drone commanders described how Russian forces have adapted their supply logistics to avoid Ukrainian strikes. Fuel and other materials are now being concealed in everyday civilian vehicles.

“We hit water tankers and the tankers were burning because there was gasoline inside,” said Kolesnyk, one of the commanders. “We’ve hit painted-up milk trucks that had diesel fuel in them.”

Russian forces have also begun running small fuel convoys escorted by pickup trucks armed with machine guns, taking back roads to stay off surveillance radar, and using civilian cars, quadbikes, and motorcycles to move fuel, ammunition, and supplies to the front, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.

Russia is also using camouflaged underground shelters, abandoned structures, agricultural buildings, and civilian gas stations to store military fuel and supplies, intelligence officials said.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, called Ukraine’s mid-strike campaign perhaps the most significant battlefield development of the year — but acknowledged that Russia is beginning to find ways to push back.

“If they scale production of the jammers, they could make it more difficult to conduct the middle-strike campaign,” he said.

Still, the campaign has not halted deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine. Russia continues to hold roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, four years after launching its full-scale invasion, and not every Ukrainian drone strike finds its mark.

During the Reuters visit, the 422nd regiment fired a RAM-2X drone at a fuel tanker — and missed. The surveillance drone tracking the truck was then shot down by a Russian Tor surface-to-air missile system.

“At least we know it’s there now,” said one crew member, who logged the Tor missile system into Ukraine’s digital battlefield targeting database — marking it for a future strike.

Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made a firm declaration that Denmark would stand behind every part of the NATO alliance — including its own territory — just one day after U.S. President Donald Trump once again pushed for American control over Greenland.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States must acquire or take control of Greenland, which operates as a semi-autonomous territory under Danish rule. Those claims have created lasting tension between Washington and Copenhagen, both of which are founding members of NATO, and have more broadly strained U.S. relationships across Europe. The dispute has since shifted into diplomatic channels.

“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory … Of course we will defend the kingdom of Denmark,” Frederiksen said, making it clear once again that Greenland is not on the table for purchase or transfer.

The Danish leader also reflected on the founding purpose of the alliance itself. “One of the reasons why we have built NATO many, many years ago, is if anything happens to one of us, then everybody should stand up for each other,” she said.

NAJAF, Iraq — Funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei got underway Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf, drawing thousands of mourners into the streets.

The multi-day funeral began Saturday in Tehran, where Iranian authorities shut down roads, airspace, and much of daily life as crowds gathered to honor the man who ruled Iran for decades with a firm grip while repeatedly clashing with Western nations. Following ceremonies in Najaf, Khamenei’s body will be transported to the city of Karbala before making its final journey back to Iran.

Diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran appear to be paused until after the burial concludes. Meanwhile, military exchanges between both countries in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and into Wednesday have raised concerns that a fragile interim agreement — meant to halt the monthslong regional war — could collapse. The U.S. military carried out strikes on Iran early Wednesday, saying Tehran had first targeted three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched retaliatory strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain.

Khamenei’s remains arrived in Najaf — one of the most sacred cities for Shiite Muslims worldwide — on Tuesday. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other top officials accompanied the body. Crowds lined the streets holding portraits of the late leader, while some mourners performed acts of self-flagellation as a sign of grief.

The casket carrying Khamenei was draped in Iran’s national flag and enclosed in glass. Mourners in the streets waved Iranian flags alongside red and black banners representing mourning and a desire for revenge.

One attendee, Jaafar Jawad, expressed his feelings about the occasion. “We the people of Iraq will remain a thorn in the eyes of the enemies,” he said. “His arrival to us is the greatest possible honor, and God willing we will be loyal, and repay a little of his due in the holy city of Najaf.”

Funeral prayers in Najaf are scheduled to take place at the Shrine of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. The ceremony will be led by Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim, a senior religious scholar at the Najaf seminary.

In Karbala — another city of deep significance to Shiite Muslims, where Imam Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson, was killed in 680 AD — prayers will be held at the Imam Hussein Shrine. Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalaei, a representative of Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority, will lead those services.

Khamenei was killed in late February during large-scale strikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran. He was one of several high-ranking Iranian leaders who died during the conflict. He was 86 years old.

Iran’s newly designated supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared at any of the funeral events so far. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly sustaining injuries in the same airstrike that killed his father.

American military forces carried out a series of strikes on Iranian targets in the early hours of Wednesday morning, following attacks on three merchant vessels in waters off the coast of Oman. The action brought the Strait of Hormuz back into the global spotlight as NATO leaders gathered for the second day of their summit in Ankara, Turkey.

U.S. Central Command announced through a social media post that the strikes were launched “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”

The NATO summit is centered around demonstrating the alliance’s growing military strength at a time when U.S. attention is shifting away from European defense. Leaders are presenting military initiatives worth billions of dollars, with the goal of convincing President Trump that Europe is building a stronger defense posture within the alliance.

As Wednesday’s summit sessions got underway, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte declared that the overnight U.S. strikes on Iran were justified, stating that Iran had broken the terms of the ceasefire. “I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully reacts,” Rutte said. He also called on NATO members to reaffirm that Iran must never obtain nuclear capabilities and to stand behind the principle of free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

On Tuesday, President Trump met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the summit and announced plans to lift sanctions against Turkey, which could open the door to selling F-35 fighter jets to the country — a move that faces opposition from Israel.

Trump also took aim at NATO’s ability to operate without U.S. leadership, expressing frustration that some alliance members declined to participate in the military campaign against Iran — a war he launched alongside Israel without first consulting NATO partners.

The president once again pushed his position that Greenland should be “controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” a stance that has been described as the single greatest threat Trump has posed to the NATO alliance.

Responding directly to Trump’s comments at the summit, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was unequivocal: “Greenland is of course not for sale.” She added, “We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people right for self-determination. And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.” Frederiksen also affirmed that Denmark stands ready to defend every corner of NATO territory, including its own, and expects fellow alliance members to honor their mutual defense commitments.