Author: Admin

MADRID — Spanish government officials announced Thursday that 609,737 undocumented migrants who applied for legal status through the country’s recent amnesty program have been issued temporary work permits, allowing them to enter the formal workforce while their applications are being processed.

The program, which ran from April 16 through June 30, offers a one-year renewable residence permit to undocumented migrants who can show they lived in Spain for at least five months before the close of 2025 and have no criminal history.

Officials from the Secretary of State for Migration and the Secretary of State for Social Security — Pilar Cancela and Borja Suárez, respectively — shared additional details about the program’s results on Thursday.

The total number of applications came in at more than 1.17 million, which is more than double the government’s original projection of 500,000. The majority of those applications came from migrants with roots in Latin American countries.

Of the roughly 610,000 people who have received temporary work authorization so far, approximately 160,000 had already secured jobs in the formal economy as of June 30. Additionally, 11,000 applicants have been fully approved and issued their one-year residence permits.

The Spanish government is also working alongside businesses in the construction, tourism, transportation, and caregiving industries to connect migrants with available job opportunities.

Demographic data released by officials shows that around 81% of the undocumented migrants who applied are under the age of 45, and 57% of all applicants are male.

BERLIN — Germany is working on landmark legislation that would dramatically expand what its intelligence agencies are allowed to do, giving them the ability to hack into foreign systems, spread disinformation, and disrupt hostile operations, according to a draft law reviewed by Reuters.

For decades, German spy agencies have operated under some of the tightest restrictions in the world. In the aftermath of World War Two, the country’s lawmakers deliberately prevented any single security body from accumulating too much power. As a result, the agencies have largely been confined to observing and reporting on threats rather than actively countering them.

The proposed legislation is being driven by what the German government describes as a growing threat environment, particularly from Russia. Officials want their services to be able to do more than simply watch — they want them to be able to act.

The draft law would rewrite the legal foundations governing both the domestic security agency and the foreign intelligence service, establishing a unified framework for covert activities, with a particular focus on operations carried out in cyberspace.

Under the interior ministry’s proposal, threats would be sorted into categories that would determine what level of response is permitted — ranging from basic surveillance all the way up to what the draft describes as “particularly serious” monitoring measures.

Most significantly, the agencies would gain the ability — for the first time — to interfere with the technical infrastructure of those attacking Germany, and to deliberately plant false information to mislead hostile actors.

In the digital realm, and under strict conditions, agents could break into the computer systems of adversaries, copy or erase data, and neutralize tools being used in foreign state-sponsored campaigns — including during large-scale cyber attacks.

The draft also addresses how government spyware may be used for online searches and for intercepting communications at the source. Companies operating in telecommunications, digital platforms, transportation, and financial services would be subject to secret, legally binding orders to hand over information. Failure to comply could result in fines reaching up to €1 million, and firms could face on-site inspections.

The legislation also spells out clearer rules around the use of confidential informants, including provisions that could, in the most serious threat scenarios, allow individuals as young as 16 years old to assist in investigations.

To ensure accountability, the draft proposes the creation of a new independent oversight body called the Independent Control Council. This single watchdog would replace the current patchwork of oversight agencies, combining authority over wiretap approvals and data protection. It would be required to pre-approve the most invasive intelligence activities, including extended undercover operations and surveillance conducted inside private homes.

DUBAI — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced Thursday that they had killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, known as the PDKI, a banned organization, in the country’s northwestern region, according to state media reports.

The Guards stated that the group was caught in an ambush after crossing into Iranian territory through mountainous border areas near the city of Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan province. Officials did not provide a specific date for when the operation occurred.

The Norway-based Kurdish rights organization Hengaw reported that the confrontation took place Wednesday evening.

The PDKI has engaged in on-and-off armed conflict with Iran’s Islamic Republic for decades, and Tehran has long considered Kurdish armed factions to be separatist threats to the country’s territorial integrity.

During a recent period of conflict with Tehran, both U.S. and Israeli hopes that Kurdish fighters might serve a ground combat role against Iran quickly fell apart. Mixed signals from Washington and Israel, combined with Iranian military strikes and threats against Kurdish positions in Iraq, discouraged those groups from entering the fighting.

A comparable incident near Piranshahr had already been reported by Iranian state media on Tuesday, when the Revolutionary Guards claimed to have killed six members of what they called an “opposition and separatist group.”

Also on Tuesday, state media reported that two Revolutionary Guards members were killed and two others wounded during a shooting in Kermanshah province in western Iran, which occurred Monday evening. Hengaw reported that a newly formed Kurdish armed group claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the Guards’ role in crushing a protest movement that took place between 2022 and 2023.

The head of the Palestinian political movement known as New Path, or Masar Jadid, says that upcoming Palestinian legislative elections could open the door to a major shift in leadership. Samer Sinijlawi announced that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to declare later this month that the elections will take place on November 28. Sinijlawi called the anticipated vote a chance for new political voices to rise “after years of political stagnation.”

According to Sinijlawi, the expected announcement comes after sustained pressure from those who have been pushing for greater Palestinian democratic participation. If held, the vote would be the first Palestinian legislative election in more than two decades.

In mid-June, President Abbas issued an official decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and legislative elections later this year, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The decree did not indicate whether Abbas himself would seek the presidency again.

Abbas, who is 90 years old, last won a Palestinian presidential election in 2005. That victory came with a four-year mandate, which would have ended in 2009. His term was subsequently extended, and no presidential election has been held since. Abbas has governed through presidential decrees, a practice that has drawn criticism both within Palestinian territories and internationally.

Israelis are set to hold their own government elections no later than October 20, with Palestinian legislative elections anticipated shortly after.

“For the first time in more than two decades, there is a genuine opportunity for a new Palestinian leadership to emerge through the ballot box,” Sinijlawi said.

He projected that the established Fatah party would capture roughly 20% of the vote, with Islamist parties earning a comparable share. He suggested the remaining votes would likely be split among two or three newer parties, including New Path, which he characterized as moderate, democratic, and reform-focused alternatives to the current political establishment.

At the same time, Sinijlawi pointed out that significant hurdles still stand in the way of a truly level playing field. He noted that the Palestinian Authority has yet to pass a Political Parties Law that would ensure equal conditions for all competing political movements. He also accused Palestinian security forces of interfering with the activities of newer political groups.

“In recent days, several leaders of New Path in the West Bank were summoned for questioning by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service in what we view as attempts to intimidate and harass our movement,” he said.

Sinijlawi urged the international community to pay close attention to the situation and to stand behind what he described as the Palestinian people’s right to elections that are free, fair, and genuinely competitive.

“A new Palestinian leadership with democratic legitimacy would serve the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.

Sinijlawi wrapped up his remarks by stressing that the outcome of these elections could shape the entire future course of Palestinian politics.

“Change is now within reach. We stand before two clear alternatives: either elections that open the door to a new era of moderation, partnership, and peace, or the continuation of the current reality, which will almost certainly produce another generation of wars and conflict.”

German federal prosecutors have formally charged a former Ukrainian military officer as a co-perpetrator of a war crime in connection with the 2022 explosions that struck the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines. The charges allege he was acting on behalf of Ukrainian government entities.

Prosecutors announced Thursday that charges had been filed against the man, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, in a regional court in Hamburg. He faces accusations of participating in a war crime by attacking civilian infrastructure, causing an explosion, destroying critical infrastructure, and disrupting public services.

Officials in Kyiv said Thursday they lacked sufficient information about the case to respond in detail to the German prosecutors’ allegations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted on Wednesday that he had not yet received the full details of the indictment, which had been formally served that same day. The complete list of charges was made public on Thursday.

“The relevant authorities of our countries will get in touch, and when we receive more details, we will probably be able to respond. For now, it is too early to speak,” Zelenskiy said.

According to prosecutors, the goal of the attack was to permanently cut off gas deliveries through the pipelines and deny Russia the natural gas revenue it was using to fund its military campaign.

Both Russia and Western nations have characterized the September 2022 blasts as deliberate sabotage. The explosions came after Russia had launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. The blasts caused damage to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — a key conduit for Russian gas flowing into Europe — and also struck the Nord Stream 2 branch, which had not yet begun operating.

At the time of the alleged attack, Russia had already suspended gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, citing Western sanctions and technical problems. Europe, however, accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon.

The German indictment states that Serhii K. was a Ukrainian army officer in 2022 who, working with other military personnel and acting on behalf of Ukrainian state bodies, helped devise a plan to destroy both pipelines.

Prosecutors allege that Serhii K. led a team that included professional divers, a boat captain, and an explosives specialist. The group entered Germany using forged Ukrainian passports in September 2022 and boarded a yacht rented with falsified identification. They then transported large amounts of military-grade explosives through international waters to a site near the Danish island of Bornholm, where they attached the explosives to the pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor and set timed detonators.

Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August and transferred to Germany in November. He has denied any involvement in the blasts. His German legal team was not immediately reachable for comment Thursday, but his Italian attorney said he welcomed the indictment.

“We do not fear the indictment — we demand that the facts be established, and in public,” said lawyer Nicola Canestrini in a written statement.

Under German law, a conviction for directing an attack on civilian objects carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison, or one year in less serious circumstances.

German courts have claimed jurisdiction in the case because the damaged pipelines terminate at Lubmin, located in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and their destruction was deemed a threat to Germany’s energy security and internal safety.

German federal prosecutors took a major step Thursday, filing formal charges against a former Ukrainian army officer accused of carrying out the underwater blasts that severely damaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany nearly four years ago.

Due to local privacy regulations, the suspect has been identified only as Serhii K. He faces a serious list of charges, including deliberately causing an explosion, destruction of property, disruption of public services, and serving as an “accomplice to war crimes” by targeting civilian infrastructure, according to a statement from prosecutors.

The underwater explosions occurred on September 26, 2022, destroying sections of the pipelines that were constructed to transport Russian natural gas beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany.

The blasts intensified already-high tensions surrounding Russia’s war against Ukraine, coming at a time when European nations were working to reduce their reliance on Russian energy following the Kremlin’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to prosecutors, the goal of the attack was to permanently cut off the flow of gas through the pipelines and block Russia from using natural gas revenues to fund its military campaign.

Serhii K. was taken into custody last August after authorities raided a bungalow in an Italian village where he had been staying with his family. Police reported he gave himself up without a struggle. He was subsequently extradited to Germany in November.

Investigators say Serhii K. and others allegedly departed from the German port city of Rostock aboard a yacht that had been rented from a German company using falsified identification documents and with assistance from intermediaries.

The explosions tore through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which had served as Russia’s primary route for delivering natural gas to Germany until Moscow halted those deliveries in August 2022. The blasts also caused damage to Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that never became operational after Germany put its certification on hold shortly before Russia launched its invasion.

Russia has repeatedly blamed the United States for orchestrating the explosions, an accusation that Washington has firmly rejected. Both pipelines had long drawn criticism from the U.S. and several of its allies, who argued they made Europe dangerously dependent on Russian energy supplies.

A major Russian assault on Ukraine’s capital city overnight into Thursday left many people dead and dozens more injured, as thunderous explosions rocked Kyiv for hours in the darkness.

The large-scale attack sent shockwaves through the city, with residents enduring a prolonged barrage that caused widespread destruction. Associated Press photo editors have put together a gallery of images documenting the scene left behind in the wake of the overnight bombardment.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his coalition government partners rolled out an ambitious 34-point reform plan Thursday, hoping to breathe new life into an economy that has been slow to grow.

The wide-ranging package covers income tax relief for low- and middle-income households, a restructuring of the country’s strained pension system, stricter requirements around employee sick leave, and significant reductions in bureaucratic red tape.

Speaking Thursday, Merz framed the reforms as a turning point for the nation. “These reforms all have one goal: We’re setting out into the future,” he said. “We’re strengthening ourselves so that we can live well in these new times.”

Merz’s coalition — made up of center-right and center-left parties — took power just over a year ago with promises to turn Germany’s economy around. Europe’s largest economy has seen the coalition grow increasingly unpopular, largely due to public perception that the government has been more focused on internal squabbling than on delivering results.

The chancellor made clear he intends to shake that image. “From the very beginning, we set an agenda with a single goal in mind: We want to get Germany back on track. It is now clear that this is possible,” he said.

Germany’s economy did manage modest growth last year after two consecutive years of contraction. However, the government is only projecting 0.5% growth for this year — a figure weighed down by the fallout from the war in Iran.

The country of 83.5 million people was already contending with stiff competition from Chinese businesses, soaring energy costs stemming from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the economic pressure of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade threats. Deeper structural problems also persist, including high production costs, weak private investment, and increasingly expensive health and pension systems driven by an aging population.

Officials said Thursday that once fully in place by 2028, the tax cuts would deliver roughly 600 euros — about $64.40 — in annual savings for a household with two working parents, two children, and a combined taxable income of 60,000 euros (approximately $64,416). The overall tax relief across the reform package is estimated at around 10 billion euros, or about $11.4 billion, per year.

The pension overhaul would gradually raise the retirement age — currently set between 65 and 67 years depending on years of service — in step with rising life expectancy. Coalition leaders said they plan to adopt recommendations made last month by a government-appointed panel of experts and politicians to stabilize the pension system, with the goal of keeping pension levels steady and avoiding a large, long-term increase in the contributions workers pay into the system.

Under the new sick leave rules, employees would no longer be permitted to stay home for up to three days without a doctor’s note, or to request a week-long sick leave letter by phone without an in-person visit. Going forward, employers would have the right to require a doctor’s certificate beginning on the very first day an employee is absent. Merz has repeatedly pointed to Germany’s high rate of sick leave as a drag on the country’s productivity.

The government also announced plans to eliminate various reporting and documentation requirements, reduce data protection rules to the European Union’s minimum standard, and simplify the process of filing tax returns.

Not everyone welcomed the package. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party — which finished second in last year’s national elections — dismissed the reforms sharply. On the social media platform X, she called the measures “even more left-wing redistribution, and minimal compromises that don’t deserve to be called ‘reforms.’”

“The fact that this is being sold as a ‘breakthrough’ shows only one thing: this government’s complete inability to reform,” she wrote.

Despite the criticism, Merz appealed directly to the German public for support. Speaking at the chancellery’s garden in Berlin as the reforms were unveiled, he said, “We know that you, ladies and gentlemen — the citizens of our country — want decisions, and you don’t want conflict. And that is exactly what we have delivered.”

“Join us; support us in carrying out the reforms that are now necessary,” he added.

South Korea’s government is pushing back against a U.S. congressional report that accused Seoul of treating Coupang, a Seattle-based e-commerce company listed on U.S. markets, unfairly. The dispute comes after South Korean authorities hit Coupang with a record 625 billion won — roughly $403 million — fine in June, stemming from a massive data breach that affected millions of South Korean customers.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il voiced regret over the report, which was released Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee. He said the document reflected “only Coupang’s unilateral claims” and left out Seoul’s perspective entirely.

Park maintained that South Korean authorities handled the Coupang case strictly according to domestic law, rejecting any suggestion that the company was singled out or treated unfairly. “Our handling of the Coupang case has focused on handling the personal data breach and protecting consumers, and our investigation into the company and the related measures have been carried out lawfully and without discrimination under relevant domestic laws,” he said.

He added that claims Seoul “carried out discriminatory investigations” and “imposed unfair regulations” on the company did not hold up to scrutiny.

The 35-page House Judiciary Committee report alleged that South Korea’s antitrust authorities used “coercive investigation tactics” and conducted a “harassment campaign” against Coupang. The report framed those actions as part of a broader pattern of discrimination targeting American-owned businesses operating in South Korea.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission, after issuing the fine in June, said the breach exposed the personal data of more than 37 million individuals, including 33 million Coupang customers. The commission noted that Coupang failed to report the breach within the legally required 72-hour window and that the company’s security measures were inadequate — pointing out that the breach did not involve sophisticated hacking and could have been prevented with basic safeguards.

According to South Korean officials, a former Coupang employee used a stolen security key to gain unauthorized access to customer accounts. The company’s weak security protocols allowed the unidentified Chinese developer to continue accessing all customer data even after departing from the company.

Coupang issued an apology for the breach but announced it would contest the fine in administrative court, arguing that the privacy regulator failed to adequately take into account the company’s steps to improve security and limit further damage.

In a statement emailed to reporters, Coupang said: “We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation, and we remain committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries.”

Coupang describes itself on its website as a “U.S. technology and Fortune 150 company” that connects American businesses and brands to international markets. Despite its U.S. headquarters in Seattle, the bulk of the company’s revenue comes from South Korea, where it is widely known for its speedy delivery of food, groceries, and everyday consumer goods.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, citing U.S. Senate lobbying disclosure records, reported that Coupang has spent more than $1 million on lobbying efforts in the United States since the data breach controversy surfaced in November. Those efforts have reportedly included outreach to both the White House and Congress.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Japan have announced a set of new agreements aimed at deepening their cooperation in defense, economic security, and maritime affairs following high-level talks held Thursday in New Delhi between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

After the meeting concluded, Modi told reporters that the two nations would work together on naval radio antenna systems and had adopted a joint road map focused on economic security. He added that both leaders agreed to boost cooperation across several sectors, including artificial intelligence, shipbuilding, biogas, semiconductors, and other critical technologies.

“India and Japan view economic security as a shared security interest,” Modi said.

Japan ranks among India’s biggest foreign investors and has supported major infrastructure developments in the country, including a high-speed rail line connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Roughly 1,400 Japanese companies currently operate in India, with nearly half of them engaged in manufacturing.

According to Indian government figures, trade between the two countries reached $27.5 billion during India’s 2025-26 fiscal year, while Japanese investment totaled $3.2 billion between April and December 2025.

Takaichi traveled to New Delhi for a three-day visit centered on the 16th annual India-Japan summit. The visit builds on momentum from Modi’s trip to Tokyo last year, during which Japan committed to more than doubling its investment in India to over $61 billion across the next decade. Both nations are looking to strengthen their partnership throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

India and Japan are both members of the Quad, alongside the United States and Australia. The grouping focuses on regional security, maritime cooperation, and defense matters, particularly in response to China’s expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Takaichi emphasized that both New Delhi and Tokyo are committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific, grounded in freedom of navigation and respect for international law. “Expansion of maritime security cooperation is especially important for regional peace and stability,” she said.

When asked about the initiative, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded Thursday that certain countries were promoting “freedom and openness” while actually pursuing “confrontation and division.” He argued that such an approach contradicts what the region truly wants.

“Asia-Pacific needs stability, not turmoil; focus on cooperation, not division,” Guo said during a regular press briefing held in Beijing.

BEIJING (AP) — A pilot who deliberately flew a small aircraft into Beijing’s tallest building last Friday left behind diary entries referencing “ending his life,” according to Chinese authorities who announced their findings Thursday.

Officials from Beijing’s Chaoyang district government posted a statement on social media saying the investigation determined the crash resulted from “personal reasons.”

The pilot, a 66-year-old man identified only by the surname Liu, was killed in the crash. Thirteen other people sustained injuries, though none are considered life-threatening. One of those hurt has already been released from care, the government statement noted.

The incident occurred in a downtown high-rise district around 6 p.m. as workers were heading home, sparking concerns about security in the Chinese capital. The plane struck the glass exterior of the 108-story CITIC tower — commonly known as the “Zun” building due to its resemblance to an ancient wine vessel of the same name — leaving a visible hole in its facade.

According to the Chaoyang district statement, Liu initially flew with another person aboard the two-seat training aircraft before departing alone from a general aviation airport on the outskirts of Beijing. He then veered off his planned flight route and ground controllers lost contact with him.

Authorities described Liu as someone without steady employment who was divorced and living by himself. He reportedly suffered from insomnia and anxiety, and his diary contained multiple mentions of wanting to end his life.

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A young couple faced public caning in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Thursday after an Islamic Sharia court found them guilty of breaking religious law by sharing a kiss during a TikTok livestream.

The Sharia court handed down a sentence of 21 rattan cane strikes each for the pair, who were not married to one another. The punishment was carried out on a public stage at Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh by individuals dressed in robes and hoods, with a crowd of at least 100 people watching.

The couple — a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman — were taken into custody in April following a February 27 livestream that showed them kissing inside a car in Banda Aceh. The video spread widely online and triggered complaints to local Sharia authorities.

Aceh holds a unique status as the sole province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that operates under a form of Islamic law. The country’s secular national government gave the province the authority to enforce religious law in 2006 as part of an agreement that brought an end to a separatist conflict. In 2015, Aceh extended that law to cover non-Muslims, who make up roughly 1% of the province’s residents.

Under the law, offenses related to morality — such as adultery and same-sex relations — can result in up to 100 lashes. Caning is also used as punishment for gambling, drinking alcohol, women wearing form-fitting clothing, and men who miss Friday prayers.

Although the couple was originally sentenced to 25 lashes each, the total was reduced to 21 strokes to account for the four months they had already spent behind bars.

As part of the case, the court also confiscated a cellphone and a USB flash drive containing the TikTok video, both of which are to be destroyed. Four additional individuals were also publicly caned Thursday on charges related to online gambling and adultery.

Amnesty International Indonesia characterized the public caning as a human rights violation, calling it cruel, inhumane, and an affront to human dignity — particularly given that Indonesia has signed an international agreement requiring the elimination of inhumane punishments.

Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, spoke out against the sentence Thursday. “Such behavior might be considered inappropriate because social media is viewed by people of various age groups, including children. But is it a crime that warrants imprisonment or even caning? That would be excessive,” he said.

Not everyone shared that view. Aini Nadhirah, 22, a Banda Aceh resident who was present at the caning, felt the punishment was warranted. “In my opinion, this caning is entirely justified because it serves as a warning to other Aceh residents to be more careful when using social media. It also raises awareness that such actions are unacceptable, thereby educating the public,” Nadhirah said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian state television made headlines this week by claiming a foreign ship became grounded in the Strait of Hormuz after its crew ignored navigation instructions from the Islamic Republic’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. But a closer examination of the facts tells a very different story.

The vessel in question appears to be an Iranian-connected ship that has been stuck in those waters for months — not a foreign ship that recently defied Tehran’s orders.

Based on the ship’s physical appearance, its reported position, and other identifying details, experts believe the vessel is the container ship Arista, which appears to be flying a fraudulent flag connecting it to the island nation of Comoros. The Arista was previously known as the Panama-flagged Gauja — a ship the U.S. Treasury Department included in sanctions targeting what it described as a network that had been “generating tens of billions of dollars in profit” for Iran’s ruling elite.

Iranian state television broadcast on-screen alerts Wednesday describing a foreign ship that had run aground after disregarding orders from the Guard’s naval forces. A news anchor on the broadcast stated: “A foreign container ship, because of choosing a route other than the one designated under the Iranian order, has run aground in the Strait of Hormuz. This comes as the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has consistently warned that any entry into or exit from routes other than ‘the Route of Authority’ in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable incidents.”

The broadcast appeared designed to reinforce Tehran’s assertion that it holds authority over the strait, a critical passageway for global oil and natural gas shipments. Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran has used its ability to restrict traffic through the waterway as a major bargaining chip, causing disruptions in global energy markets and the flow of other essential goods.

TankerTrackers.com, a firm that monitors oil shipments at sea, was among the first to identify the vessel as the Arista. Video recorded by an Armenian news outlet matched the ship seen in Iranian state television footage to the Arista, with analysts pointing to the color patterns of the containers on deck and the vessel’s paint scheme as identifying features. Iranian state television never showed a close-up of the ship’s name or registration number — and in one shot, the name was deliberately blurred out.

Marine tracking records indicate the Arista has been grounded north of Hormuz Island, within Iran’s own territorial waters, since mid-March. Data shows the ship had been traveling between Hormuz and Asaluyeh, another Iranian port, when it became stuck.

Iranian state television and Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to questions from The Associated Press on Thursday regarding the broadcast.

On July 30, the U.S. Treasury Department connected the Arista — at that time still known as the Gauja — to a large-scale oil smuggling operation run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, a son of Ali Shamkhani, who had served as a senior security adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The elder Shamkhani was killed in an airstrike at the beginning of the war, along with Khamenei.

According to the Treasury Department, the smuggling network moved sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil, along with other commodities, to buyers across the globe.

“The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behavior,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement released at the time of the sanctions.

Following the imposition of those sanctions, the Gauja was renamed the Arista and began operating under a Comoros flag — which shipping records classify as a “false” flag, meaning it is used to conceal a vessel’s true origins. This practice is commonly used by ships in Iran’s so-called shadow fleet to avoid detection and enforcement.

Catastrophe and risk modeling firm Verisk announced Thursday that it expects economic losses from the recent Venezuelan earthquake to surpass $10 billion.

Two powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela near heavily populated areas on June 24. The death toll has climbed into the thousands, and the government has declared a national state of emergency in response.

According to Verisk, the hardest-hit areas were the Caracas metropolitan region and the coastal state of La Guaira. The firm noted that an estimated 1,400 buildings were destroyed across those areas.

Verisk also cautioned that estimating insured losses for this event carries more uncertainty than usual. The company pointed to several complicating factors, including difficult macroeconomic conditions, elevated inflation, low rates of insurance coverage among the population, and market complexities tied to international sanctions.

WARSAW — Poland’s defense minister is publicly accusing Ukraine of breaking a technology-sharing agreement, saying Kyiv has failed to hand over promised drone technology even as Poland has remained one of Ukraine’s most steadfast military allies.

Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz made the accusation during an appearance on Polish radio broadcaster Trojka on Thursday, saying negotiations over exchanging the remaining MiG-29 fighter jets for access to Ukrainian drone technology had been ongoing for several months.

“Initially, they agreed to such a resolution, but today they are not honouring the agreement,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

Poland has stood firmly behind Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, offering military assistance and functioning as a critical logistics corridor for aid flowing in from Western nations. Despite that strong partnership, the two countries have seen their relationship tested at times by disagreements over agricultural imports and unresolved historical grievances.

The current strain follows a decision by Polish President Karol Nawrocki to revoke Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s highest Polish state honor. That move came amid a dispute over a Ukrainian military unit named after insurgents that Warsaw holds responsible for the killing of Polish civilians during World War Two.

Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out what he sees as a double standard, noting that Ukraine has been selling drones commercially to other countries even while fighting a war.

“If Ukraine is already able to sell drones to Kuwait and generate revenue from it while at war, then it is capable of reciprocating to those who provide their equipment and — at times, symbolically — sharing its own capabilities,” he said.

When asked why Ukraine was refusing to follow through, the minister suggested that President Zelenskiy’s government was deliberately keeping historical disputes with Poland alive for political purposes back home.

“I think this stems from the strategy they have adopted now — that a conflict rooted in history is what is currently building President Zelenskiy’s image,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

He also warned that this approach is having unintended consequences, arguing that it is giving fuel to far-right political parties looking to exploit anti-Ukrainian sentiment among the Polish public.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Just after 1 a.m. Wednesday, Abdelrahman Badr said he heard footsteps approaching his home in Hebron, located in the occupied West Bank. Moments later, Israeli forces were knocking at his door — and they were there for his wife.

The forces took away Itaf Badr, who sits on the board of a well-known health charity, telling her husband she was wanted for questioning. She was driven off in the middle of the night, according to Abdelrahman.

Itaf was one of five Palestinian women taken into custody by Israeli security forces across the West Bank that morning. The pre-dawn operations targeted several cities, among them Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem, according to the detainees’ families and Palestinian rights organizations.

Throughout most of Israel’s decades-long occupation of the West Bank, Palestinian men and boys have largely been the ones swept up in military detentions — jailed for years, sometimes for actions as minor as throwing rocks at Israeli troops. But that dynamic is shifting.

Abdullah Al-Zaghari, who heads the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club — a nongovernmental organization that advocates for political prisoners held in Israeli jails — said Israeli security forces are increasingly detaining women and girls. He said gender is no longer a factor in who his organization believes Israel is targeting, with arrests spanning political activists and student leaders at Palestinian universities alike.

According to Israeli rights group Hamoked, which collects data from the Israel Prison Service, women now represent a small but growing portion of the approximately 9,300 Palestinians currently held in Israeli detention.

The number of Palestinian women and girls in Israeli custody has more than doubled since the Israel-Hamas war began and has risen 80% since the start of 2026. Fifteen women have been arrested since the beginning of June alone, pushing the total to 99, based on data from the Prisoners’ Club.

Al-Zaghari said some of those arrested were taken in after posting content on social media, including messages critical of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank or the ongoing war in Gaza. Others were affiliated with student branches of Palestinian political parties at their universities.

Many detainees have been held without formal charges under Israel’s administrative detention policy, which permits authorities to imprison Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months at a time.

Just last month, Israeli soldiers arrested at least five other young women, including four members of the Palestinian national soccer team and a 20-year-old Palestinian-American named Sama Safi. The military stated those women were suspected of “promoting terrorist activities.” At least one has since been freed, while the others have yet to be formally charged, according to their lawyers. Safi’s detention has prompted criticism from several U.S. senators, who have called for her immediate release.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military directed questions about the arrests in Ramallah and Nablus to Israel’s Border Police, which also operates in the West Bank. Regarding Itaf’s arrest in Hebron, the military said it was looking into the matter but did not provide a response explaining why she was detained.

The families of the women arrested Wednesday said they remained in the dark about the reasons behind the detentions.

In Nablus, Wael al-Faqih said Israeli forces came to his home and arrested his wife, Maiser al-Faqih. She had been detained before and, like Itaf, had previously worked with the Union of Health Work Committees, a charity that delivers medical services to low-income communities.

Israel has claimed the organization has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which it has labeled a terrorist group. The charity has denied those allegations.

“We still don’t know what it was about,” Wael said. He recounted how Israeli forces searched both him and his son before instructing Maiser to put on her hijab — and then taking her away.

Abdelrahman said he believes his wife’s involvement with the charity made her a target. His account of her arrest echoed Wael’s. Itaf was first brought outside and then handcuffed on the street.

“I looked at them from the window, they shouted at me and my son,” he said. Then, “they grabbed her, blindfolded her and put her in the military vehicle.”

LONDON — The British government is preparing to issue a formal apology Thursday for its role in forcibly separating tens of thousands of unmarried mothers from their babies — a practice that spanned several decades before ending in the 1970s.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will take to the floor of the House of Commons to acknowledge the government’s involvement in forced adoptions and offer an apology to those who lived through the experience.

The United Kingdom joins a number of nations confronting a troubling history rooted in social stigma, religious institutions, and government policy — all of which combined to shame unwed mothers, confine them during pregnancy, and hand their children over to married couples for adoption.

Between 1949 and 1976, approximately 185,000 babies born to unmarried women were adopted in England and Wales. Advocates have spent years pushing for official recognition that many of these mothers were pressured, misled, and threatened into surrendering their children.

Ann Keen, a former U.K. health minister who had her own baby taken for adoption in 1966 when she was 17, said she is eager to finally feel “released from my shame.”

“We need this apology, because we have always been accused of giving up our babies, and we didn’t give them up,” she told the BBC. “We’ve now got the opportunity to really put this wrong right.”

A 2022 report from Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights called on the British government to apologize for “the pain and suffering caused by public institutions and state employees that railroaded mothers into unwanted adoptions.”

Scotland and Wales, which operate with a degree of self-governance, both issued their own apologies the year after that report. However, the Conservative government in power at the time chose not to follow their lead.

The apology now coming from Prime Minister Starmer’s Labour government arrives just two weeks after the Church of England offered its own acknowledgment of wrongdoing in connection with forced adoptions.

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally stated that “we are profoundly sorry for the pain, trauma and stigma experienced — and still carried — by many people because of historical adoption practices in homes affiliated to the Church of England.”

Several other countries have faced similar reckonings. In 2013, Australia’s then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a nationally significant apology for that country’s forced adoption history, calling it a source of “lifelong legacy of pain and suffering.”

Ireland has also grappled with the dark history of mother-and-baby homes operated by the Catholic Church, where tens of thousands of women were kept in frequently degrading conditions. A 2021 inquiry revealed that 9,000 children had died across 18 such homes during the 20th century.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin offered an apology for the “profound and generational wrong” done to the mothers and children who passed through those institutions.

PARIS (AP) — Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, says a court order requiring her to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet would force her out of next year’s presidential race.

A Paris appeals court is scheduled to hand down its verdict on Tuesday in a case that could determine whether Le Pen is eligible to seek the French presidency.

Le Pen, who is 57 years old, is contesting a ruling from March 2025 in which a Paris court found her and fellow members of her National Rally party guilty of misappropriating European Union Parliament funds. The scheme allegedly involved hiring assistants between 2004 and 2016 who were said to be doing party work rather than fulfilling their parliamentary duties.

Should the appeals court uphold the conviction, Le Pen could face a ban from holding elected office, electronic monitoring, or both, along with other possible penalties.

Speaking in a late Wednesday interview on LCI channel, Le Pen made clear that her ability to campaign freely was the deciding factor. “If I can be a candidate, I will be a candidate, provided that I am able to campaign,” she said. “Because if I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible.”

When a reporter asked whether the electronic bracelet specifically would be the main barrier to her running, she was direct: “Well, of course. I can’t be dependent on a judge to authorize me to go hold a campaign rally … or to visit a market.”

Le Pen has consistently rejected the allegation that she was the driving force behind what prosecutors described as a scheme to divert EU funds. The original March 2025 verdict concluded that Le Pen sat at the core of “a fraudulent system” her party used to siphon roughly 2.9 million euros — approximately $3.4 million — from the European Parliament. Under that ruling, she received a five-year ban from holding public office and two years of house arrest with electronic monitoring.

France’s next presidential election is scheduled to begin with its first round on April 18, followed by a runoff on May 2.

If the appeals court rules against her, Le Pen says she intends to exhaust every legal option available. “If I cannot be a candidate, I will make use of every available avenue of appeal,” she said. One such option would be taking the case to the Court of Cassation, a body that does not re-examine the facts but instead reviews whether lower courts properly followed the law. That process could take roughly six months.

Political observers widely consider Le Pen a leading contender to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron if she is permitted to run. If she is barred, her 30-year-old protege Jordan Bardella is expected to step in as the party’s candidate.

When asked how she and Bardella differ, Le Pen pointed to her three previous presidential campaigns as evidence of her experience, while also praising her younger colleague. “We are complementary. I believe I have a certain experience, but Jordan has an absolutely incredible dynamism; he has the strength and energy of his youth,” she said.

Russia likely used so-called shadow fleet ships as launch platforms for drones that repeatedly flew over European nations, disrupting air travel and gathering intelligence on NATO military installations, according to a new report from the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank published Thursday.

The report, which was shared with The Associated Press ahead of its release, tracked 144 suspected drone sightings across Europe — including over NATO member nations Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Denmark — spanning 2024 through 2026.

The frequency of those sightings peaked in late 2025, forcing temporary closures at several European airports, including facilities in Germany, Spain, and Denmark.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the events in her country the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

According to the IISS, Russia deliberately kept the campaign below the level that would trigger a formal NATO collective response. The think tank called the situation a “strategic failure” for Europe, saying the continent’s air defenses are simply not equipped to handle this type of threat.

Air Chief Marshal John Stringer, NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, told AP that each alliance member nation bears the responsibility of deciding how to handle such threats — and that many are now treating them with increasing urgency.

While several senior European officials acknowledged the difficulty of directly attributing the drone activity to Russia, Stringer stopped short of blaming Moscow. However, he noted that the behavior fits a broader pattern of disruption across Europe that Western officials have attributed to Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Among the countries that have confirmed drone sightings, only Sweden has publicly pointed the finger at Moscow — in a case where a military drone flew toward a French aircraft carrier from a Russian spy ship.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in May that Russia is not conducting a sabotage campaign against Europe.

Drones present a unique detection challenge because they travel at low altitudes and slow speeds, often appearing on radar as birds or small aircraft. They can be launched from within or near a country’s borders, making traditional missile defense systems — built to intercept high-speed projectiles fired from far away — largely ineffective. Additionally, even when a drone is brought down, tracing its origin and identifying who deployed it remains extremely difficult.

The IISS concluded that European nations must rapidly upgrade their drone defense capabilities in response to the growing number of incursions.

Lt. Gen. Jonny Lindfors, Sweden’s military representative to NATO, told AP that building a full picture of drone threats is complicated by the fact that responsibility for addressing them is divided among multiple agencies and authorities. He also described the decision to shoot down a drone as a “tough decision” given the potential for civilian casualties.

A June report from Denmark’s Defense Command acknowledged that the country’s armed forces “could have been in a stronger position” to respond to drone sightings and identified weaknesses in detection equipment. Denmark and several other European nations have since pledged to strengthen their drone defenses.

Stringer noted that countries that may have taken a “benign” view of drone threats just a few years ago now recognize that counter-drone systems are an essential component of air defense.

The IISS analyzed the movements of Russian shadow fleet vessels — ships with unclear ownership used to help Russia evade international sanctions — and determined it is highly likely these ships are being used to deploy drones.

The report concentrated on drone activity across central and northwestern Europe and did not cover incursions along NATO’s eastern flank, where both Russian and Ukrainian attack drones have crossed into European airspace.

The IISS noted that on December 2, a shadow ship called the Vezhen — previously linked to the cutting of a Baltic undersea cable — was sailing in circles off the coast of Ireland at the same time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived for his first official visit to the country. A second vessel was reportedly nearby with its tracking signal switched off.

During that same period, four large military drones were observed off the Dublin coastline, circling above an Irish navy vessel for roughly two hours. The Irish Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.

The report highlighted several additional incidents tied to the presence of shadow fleet ships, many of them in Denmark:

On January 3, 2025, as the shadow fleet vessel Arctica traveled along the Danish coast, up to 20 drones were observed flying over the port of Koege before heading back out to sea.

On September 22, drone activity led to the closure of Copenhagen Airport. The IISS identified several shadow ships in the surrounding waters at the time, including the Arctica and the Boracay.

Over the following days, as the Boracay navigated around Denmark and other vessels were in the vicinity, additional drones were reported throughout the country, including near military sites.

The IISS said suspicion for at least some of the September sightings centered on the Boracay. French military personnel boarded the vessel at the end of that month, and French President Emmanuel Macron said he could not rule out the ship’s involvement in the drone flights over Denmark.

Denmark’s Defense Command confirmed that drones were detected in Danish airspace during September and October 2025. While it stopped short of linking them directly to Russia, it noted that Moscow is conducting hybrid attacks against the West on a “character and scope far beyond what Russia carried out before the war in Ukraine.”

Lindfors called it “a reasonable assumption” that Russia is using shadow ships to launch drones, though he acknowledged it is often “almost impossible” to conclusively attribute them to any single country or actor.

The IISS report also concluded that Russia likely attempted to gather intelligence on military installations in the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany, while also forcing NATO nations to activate air defenses — potentially exposing radar positions and gaps in coverage. Notable incidents cited in the report include:

The U.S. Air Force in Europe reported multiple drone sightings in November 2024 over four American air bases in the United Kingdom.

German authorities logged more than 1,000 suspicious drone sightings in 2025, including over defense manufacturers and military bases where Ukrainian soldiers were receiving training.

Defense officials in the Netherlands and Belgium reported drones spotted over military installations in November and December 2025. The IISS noted those bases are believed to store American B61 nuclear weapons.

Drone sightings were also reported at the Ile Longue submarine base in France, home to the country’s nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.

The U.S. Air Force in Europe declined to provide additional details on the incidents in the U.K., Netherlands, and Belgium, and would not confirm the presence of American nuclear weapons at those sites.

A British defense official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the subject, said a defense police investigation found no conclusive evidence linking the U.K. drone sightings to Russia. The Dutch Defense Ministry confirmed that drones were observed over Volkel Air Base and said it took protective measures at military sites.

The French army’s chief of staff headquarters said an investigation into the drones spotted over Ile Longue remains ongoing and did not address questions about whether shadow fleet ships may have been involved.

Requests for comment were also submitted to defense ministries in Belgium, Denmark, and Germany.

With the sheer volume of incidents mounting, Lindfors said “it would be naive to believe it’s just a coincidence” — suggesting that drone threats of this kind have become the new normal for European security.

Indian authorities are working to retrieve the remains of a climber widely known as “Green Boots” from the upper slopes of Mount Everest — nearly three decades after the mountaineer lost his life on the world’s tallest peak.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police, an Indian paramilitary organization, has launched the process of hiring specialists trained in high-altitude recovery missions. The goal is to bring back what officials believe are the remains of Dorje Morup from Everest’s northern route, which runs through Tibet.

Morup was among six Indo-Tibetan Border Police members who attempted to climb Everest in May 1996. As conditions near the summit turned dangerous, three members of the group turned around and headed back down. Morup and two other climbers pushed forward — and all three perished in a storm that ultimately killed eight people across several expeditions. It was considered one of the deadliest tragedies in Everest’s history at that time.

Morup’s remains earned the nickname “Green Boots” due to the vivid green mountaineering boots he was wearing when he died. His body rests in Everest’s so-called “death zone,” above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet), and has long been used as a reference point by climbers navigating the mountain’s northeast route.

Because the remains are located on Everest’s Tibetan side, any recovery operation requires approval from Chinese authorities, who tightly control access and climbing permits in that area. China has closed the mountain to foreign climbers for the 2026 spring climbing season, though no official explanation has been given for that decision.

Bringing in the recovery specialists is just the first step. The actual operation would still require Chinese authorization and favorable weather conditions before it could move forward. It remains unclear whether an Indian, Nepali, or Chinese team would ultimately carry out the retrieval. Chinese officials have made no public statement regarding the plan.

Pemba Sherpa, who founded the Kathmandu-based Xtreme Climbers Treks and Expedition, explained the challenges involved. “It is not impossible to retrieve the body from Everest, but the first challenge is getting permission from the Chinese officials and then only can they proceed to bring the body down,” he said.

Since Mount Everest was first successfully climbed in 1953, nearly 350 people have died attempting the ascent. The bodies of many climbers remain on the mountain’s frozen slopes because bringing them down is both dangerous and costly.

Recovering remains from the death zone is especially treacherous. Helicopters are unable to operate at that altitude, meaning experienced Sherpa guides and high-altitude climbers must physically carry bodies down steep terrain on foot — all while contending with avalanche dangers, brutal weather, and the physical toll of extreme altitude and oxygen deprivation.

BANGKOK — Eight Buddhist monks lost their lives Thursday after an 11-year-old boy drove a pickup truck into their group during a pilgrimage walk in northeastern Thailand, according to officials.

A total of 35 monks from Mukdahan province, located roughly 600 kilometers northeast of Bangkok, were participating in the religious walk when the crash occurred. Five monks died at the scene, while three more passed away at a hospital. Mukdahan Governor Worrayan Boonnarat confirmed the death toll and noted that 14 additional monks were taken to the hospital, with four of them in critical condition.

The pilgrimage group had only been walking for about 30 minutes when the crash happened. They were headed on a 260-kilometer journey to Ubon Ratchathani province.

Security camera footage released by a local rescue organization, the Ruam Jai Mukdahan Rescue Association, captured the terrifying moment. The video shows the monks walking in a single-file line along the roadside before the truck suddenly veers off the road and slams into the group.

The 11-year-old driver has been taken into custody, according to local police. Authorities said he will be formally questioned once state child protection officers are present.

Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash. Investigators said surviving monks reported seeing the truck swerving before it left the road and struck the group.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s joint military command issued a stern warning Thursday, declaring that all oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz must stick to routes approved by Tehran — or face what it called a “forceful response.” The announcement marks another escalation in tensions surrounding one of the world’s most critical waterways for energy shipments.

The narrow passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf has become a central flashpoint in ongoing efforts to negotiate a lasting end to the Iran war. The warning, issued by the Khatam al-Anbiya military command and broadcast on Iranian state television, came just one day after U.S. and Iranian diplomats separately met with mediators in Qatar on Wednesday.

The exact trigger for the threat was not immediately apparent. However, U.S. military’s Central Command had recently released a statement following a meeting with officials from Middle Eastern nations in Bahrain, in which “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.” That language appears to have drawn Iran’s ire.

Iran is also preparing for funeral services beginning this weekend for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening moments of the war in February.

The Iranian military’s statement left little room for ambiguity: “Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels.”

The statement went further, taking direct aim at American air activity in the region. It declared that the ongoing presence of U.S. fighter jets above the strait “causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security.” Iran also warned that “any attempt by the United States to interfere in security matters or any disruptive action in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty and will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

As part of a temporary agreement, Iran and the United States had agreed to allow ships to pass through the strait without fees for 60 days. However, Tehran has insisted it must control the paths those vessels take and has pushed for the right to collect passage fees going forward — a position that would overturn longstanding international practice in the waterway.

The United States and many Gulf Arab nations have refused to accept those fee demands. A recent attempt by Oman and a United Nations agency to establish an alternative shipping route near Oman’s coastline set off a series of attacks across the Middle East last weekend, underscoring just how volatile the situation remains.

DUBAI — A senior Iranian military commander issued a stern warning Thursday to the United States and Israel, urging both nations not to take any aggressive action against Iran as the country prepares to hold state funeral ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on the opening day of the war.

Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, delivered the warning through Iranian state media. “We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime (Israel), to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country,” he said.

Funeral processions for Khamenei are scheduled to begin on July 4 in Tehran. The ceremonies will also include stops in Qom and Iraq before concluding on July 9 with his burial in his hometown of Mashhad.

The warning echoes similar remarks made Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who stated that Tehran would respond immediately and forcefully to any threat directed at its people or leadership. His comments came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described Iran’s current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as “marked for death.”

Iranian media also reported that security has been significantly increased throughout the funeral period. The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation confirmed Wednesday that temporary flight restrictions will be put in place over several cities, including Tehran and Mashhad, during the ceremonies.

NEW DELHI — India and Japan formalized several new agreements Thursday aimed at deepening their partnership across artificial intelligence, metals, and energy, with the two nations also mapping out a shared strategy for economic security.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the deals following face-to-face discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who arrived in New Delhi for a three-day visit as part of the two countries’ 16th annual summit.

“The convergence of Japan’s precision technology and India’s software capabilities will give a new momentum and strength to global AI development,” Modi told reporters after the talks concluded.

According to Indian government figures, bilateral trade between the two nations hit $27.5 billion in fiscal year 2025/26, while Japanese investment flowing into India totaled $3.2 billion between April and December of 2025.

Both countries are also members of the Quad grouping, and Modi noted that they reached a milestone by signing an agreement on their very first joint defense co-development project.

Modi also highlighted a new initiative focused on clean energy. “Through the India-Japan bio-gas Initiative, we will set up 1,000 bio-gas and organic fertilizer plants in India,” he said.

Japan ranks among India’s top investors, with financial backing behind major infrastructure efforts such as the high-speed rail corridor connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Japanese companies have also been increasing their stakes in Indian businesses, including a recent $1.6 billion investment for a 20% share in Yes Bank.

Takaichi made the trip accompanied by a sizeable business delegation and was scheduled to address a business conference later Thursday.

Central bank leaders from across the globe believe they may have found a reliable partner in the new head of the Federal Reserve, offering a rare moment of goodwill in what has otherwise been a strained relationship with Washington.

During a three-day gathering hosted by the European Central Bank in Sintra, Portugal, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh held a series of one-on-one meetings with counterparts from Europe and other regions. Among those meetings was an extended lunch with ECB President Christine Lagarde, held in the courtyard of the historic former convent where the conference takes place.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, the conversations stayed largely at a high level, with little focus on specific topics like inflation trends, shadow-banking risks, or cross-border policy coordination.

Even so, central bank officials read Warsh’s willingness to engage as a positive signal — an indication that the Fed intends to remain an active participant in the international forums that have long served as the backbone of global monetary cooperation.

That signal carried real weight. Behind closed doors, some central bankers had expressed concern that a Fed chair chosen by the Trump administration might be more vulnerable to White House pressure on interest rates, or less invested in the kind of international coordination that has defined global monetary policy for decades.

The stakes are considerable. The Federal Reserve serves as the primary source of dollar liquidity during financial crises and, for certain countries, holds a significant portion of their gold reserves. It also carries the most influential voice in worldwide conversations about monetary policy and financial regulation.

With that in mind, policymakers arrived in Sintra eager to determine whether the strong working bonds many had built with former Fed Chair Jerome Powell would carry over under new leadership.

Several attendees who had previously worked alongside Warsh — either during his time as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, or through his later participation in the Group of Thirty consultative organization — said they recognized the same policymaker they had known for years. Others urged caution, noting it was premature to draw conclusions about how he would handle the dual pressures of maintaining credibility and managing expectations from the White House.

Warsh’s reception at the conference stood out, particularly given that many of those same attendees had previously rallied around Powell during his extended public dispute with former President Trump. That group had publicly defended Powell’s independence, and participants at last year’s Sintra conference had given him a standing ovation.

This year’s atmosphere was notably warmer. Lagarde set the tone at the opening dinner, greeting the late-arriving Warsh with air kisses and publicly stating her eagerness to work together. Warsh responded in kind.

Fluent in French after having studied in France, Warsh conversed with several French attendees in their native language. Rather than staying in a tight circle as some high-profile guests tend to do, he moved freely among central bank governors at Tuesday’s informal dinner.

Appearing on a panel with Lagarde, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, Warsh adopted a notably warm and collaborative tone, saying he was “honoured to be on stage with three colleagues.”

While such details might appear minor, personal relationships carry genuine importance in the tight-knit world of central banking — particularly when coordinated action is needed during moments of financial instability.

Conference participants also noted areas of agreement on how central banks communicate their policies. Warsh’s preference for straightforward messaging and his skepticism toward forward guidance — the practice of signaling future policy moves — appeared to align with a broader “back to basics” theme that emerged throughout the gathering.

He used the conference to reaffirm the Fed’s independence and acknowledged that policymakers across different countries share a number of “common calls.”

Lagarde suggested the ECB no longer required “complex forms of forward guidance,” while Bailey observed that such guidance was “much easier to put in place than it is to take it away.”

There were some underlying differences. Lagarde said the ECB would continue to explain how it responds to new economic data, describing the approach as “framework guidance” — a phrase that later appeared in Macklem’s remarks as well. Warsh, meanwhile, showed little inclination to discuss the Fed’s own policy approach in detail.

Despite those distinctions, attendees tended to emphasize the shared ground rather than the gaps. Some pointed to internal ECB discussions about normalizing bank reserve requirements as further evidence that central banks on both sides of the Atlantic are stepping away from the emergency-era policies that defined the past decade and a half.

BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan has formally reached out to Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan for help securing stable fuel supplies, as fears mount over potential shortages stemming from Ukraine’s ongoing drone strikes against Russian oil refineries.

The landlocked Central Asian nation, home to approximately 7 million people, depends on Russia for more than 90% of its gasoline. That heavy reliance has become a serious vulnerability as Russia itself grapples with growing domestic fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the problem last week, saying Moscow may move to ban diesel exports as domestic supply pressures continue to mount.

Kyrgyzstan’s energy ministry confirmed the outreach in an official statement, saying: “To ensure sustainable fuel supplies, official requests have been sent to the relevant government authorities of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.”

Despite the diplomatic requests, the ministry said current fuel stocks remain adequate and that deliveries are continuing on schedule. Kyrgyz authorities had already taken steps in June to stabilize prices, introducing retail price controls on certain types of fuel.

However, the country’s oil traders’ association painted a somewhat different picture, noting that some gas stations are experiencing shortages of AI-95 grade gasoline. The more commonly used AI-92 grade is reported to have sufficient reserves to last between 30 and 45 days. Diesel fuel, which is especially important during the harvest season, remains available.

Kyrgyzstan’s situation reflects a broader challenge facing Central Asian economies, which are deeply connected to Russia’s. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, these nations have endured repeated bouts of inflation. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan has emerged as a major transit hub for goods being rerouted to Russia in response to Western sanctions.

BEIJING — China’s foreign ministry confirmed Thursday that senior lawmaker He Wei will travel to Tehran to attend funeral ceremonies for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A ministry spokesperson revealed at a routine press conference that He is scheduled to attend an event on July 3.

He Wei holds the position of vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which serves as China’s primary lawmaking body.

Khamenei died on February 28, the opening day of combined Israeli and U.S. airstrikes targeting Iran. According to Iranian state media, his official state funeral is set to begin in Tehran on July 4, with his burial planned for July 9 in his hometown of Mashhad, a holy city located in northeastern Iran.

Regional authorities in Germany confirmed Thursday that a fire broke out at a hospital in the northwestern city of Ludwigslust, resulting in the deaths of two patients, according to the German news agency dpa.

A spokeswoman for the Ludwigslust-Parchim district told dpa that both victims were patients at the facility, which is located northwest of Berlin. Early indications suggest the fire originated inside one of the patient rooms.

The blaze spread to the hospital’s roof before sunrise, prompting staff to evacuate both patients and personnel from the building. While additional people were reported injured in the incident, dpa indicated that none of those injuries were considered serious.

BERLIN — Facing intense political scrutiny, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s governing coalition announced a broad set of policy reforms Thursday that includes approximately €10 billion ($11 billion) in yearly tax relief aimed at lower-income workers, along with changes to the country’s pension structure and efforts to expand affordable housing.

Merz and his coalition partners have been under considerable pressure to deliver results, as polling shows the coalition trailing behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The chancellor has also faced challenges navigating internal disagreements within the coalition that have slowed his ability to build political momentum.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Merz struck a determined tone. “We want to get Germany back on track,” he said.

The reform package covers a wide range of issues and is designed to reduce bureaucratic red tape across multiple sectors. Among the measures included are an action plan to combat benefit fraud, the elimination of workers’ ability to obtain sick leave documentation over the phone, and a target to reduce staffing levels at federal ministries by 8% through increased digitization of government services.

To help pay for the tax relief benefiting lower earners, the government plans to raise the top income tax rate from 45% to 47% for individuals earning €280,000 or more annually.

Google and its parent company Alphabet have suffered a major legal defeat in Europe, with the continent’s highest court upholding a record-breaking antitrust fine stemming from practices tied to the Android mobile operating system.

Back in 2018, the European Commission slapped Google with a €4.34 billion penalty, citing agreements the company had in place that required phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, the Chrome browser, and the Google Play app store on Android devices. Those agreements also prevented manufacturers from using competing versions of the Android system.

Google challenged that penalty, and a lower court reduced the fine to €4.1 billion in 2022. The tech giant then took its case to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union — the EU’s top court — in hopes of overturning the ruling entirely.

That effort failed. The court ruled against Google and Alphabet, with judges stating: “The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system.”

A Google spokesperson pushed back on the decision, arguing the ruling did not properly account for the company’s investments in keeping Android open, interoperable, and free of charge.

“In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers,” the company said in a statement.

This latest ruling adds to a growing pile of EU antitrust penalties against the tech giant. In total, Google has accumulated nearly €11 billion in fines from European regulators over the past several decades for various violations.

More fines could be on the horizon. Google is currently facing scrutiny under the EU’s Digital Markets Act for allegedly favoring its own products in search results and for certain practices related to its app store.

The case is officially recorded as C-738/22 P Google and Alphabet v Commission.

A U.S. House Judiciary Committee interim report is accusing South Korean authorities of carrying out a sustained campaign of discrimination against Coupang, a Seattle-based online retailer that operates as the largest e-commerce platform in South Korea.

According to the Republican-controlled committee, that discrimination intensified following a data breach at Coupang last year, with the report describing what it called a “whole-of-government assault on Coupang” by South Korean agencies.

The committee’s report also stated that such discriminatory actions against Coupang and other U.S. and foreign companies “directly violates” a recent bilateral trade agreement between the two nations.

South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesperson Park Il fired back, calling the report one-sided and saying it reflected only Coupang’s version of events — despite months of communication between the South Korean government and the committee. He flatly denied that Coupang or any other U.S. companies had faced discrimination.

The data breach at the center of the controversy involved a former Coupang employee who accessed customer data tied to as many as 33.7 million accounts. Coupang later clarified that the individual only stored and kept data from approximately 3,000 of those accounts.

Following the breach, the report says more than 10 South Korean government agencies launched dozens of investigations into Coupang that had no connection to the breach itself. Those investigations generated more than 4,000 document requests and included at least 652 interviews with Coupang staff.

The report further alleges that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, known as the NIS, pressured Coupang into conducting a risky recovery operation. That effort reportedly involved sending a company employee to China to retrieve devices and sworn statements from the former employee behind the breach. Coupang also hired divers to pull a discarded laptop from a river as part of the recovery effort.

The report states that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on that recovery operation.

The NIS denied in December that it had directed or overseen Coupang’s investigation or recovery efforts, saying it had only requested materials from the company. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly Intelligence Committee, said Thursday there had been “absolutely” no coercion involved. The presidential Blue House had no immediate comment.

In a statement, Coupang said it regretted the events that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation. The company added that it is “committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries.”

In Russia’s grain-growing heartland, farmers are worried they may not be able to bring in their harvests as a fuel crisis — set off by Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and storage facilities — disrupts everyday life across the country.

Ukraine has been targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure in an effort to pressure Moscow toward peace talks. The resulting damage has squeezed fuel supplies in a country that is itself rich in oil, triggering restrictions across most regions and growing unrest among the public.

With fuel hard to come by, drivers have turned to crowd-sourced maps and online tips to track down stations that still have gas and shorter wait times. Tempers have flared as well, with videos circulating on social media showing drivers coming to blows while waiting to fill their tanks.

In one widely shared clip titled “The Ultimate Luxury 2026,” a man slowly fills his lawnmower from a jerry can and quips: “What riches. Who can afford this now?”

The desperation is showing up in internet searches too. Online queries for “how to siphon fuel” skyrocketed from 697 searches to more than 9,300 by June 21, according to the website iPhones.ru, which cited data from the search engine Yandex.

The situation is an uncomfortable one for Russian authorities, who had initially tried to dismiss the fuel shortages as isolated supply problems. But social media posts are painting a broader picture — including farmers in the fertile Black Earth region struggling to pay for fuel needed to run their equipment, and one account describing a farmer who had to drive his combine harvester directly to a regular gas station because he wasn’t permitted to fill a container.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm those accounts.

Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s own energy infrastructure since launching what it calls its special military operation in 2022, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity or heat during the winter months.

On Sunday, President Vladimir Putin publicly admitted there were problems and pledged action to steady the fuel market. He stressed the importance of keeping the agricultural sector supplied, saying “the harvest depends on it.”

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Putin’s point person on energy matters, said Wednesday that the issues were being worked through. Reuters also reported exclusively that Russia has begun importing gasoline by sea from India, and that Kazakhstan has agreed to ship 50,000 metric tons of fuel to Russia in July and August.

Even before the shortages worsened last month, a new poll showed Russians were already feeling more economically pessimistic than at any point in the last two decades.

Some regions are already seeing cutbacks in basic services. In the Zabaikalsky region, which borders China and Mongolia, authorities have cancelled certain bus routes and a waste collection company suspended operations in four districts, both citing lack of fuel.

“More scary is how much groceries will cost. All deliveries are done by road,” one person wrote in response to a story about the service cuts on the regional news site Chita.ru. The comment received more than 100 likes.

If the strikes continue and fuel shortages drag on, analysts warn the hardship could chip away at public support for the war, which began in February 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is now in its fifth year.

At a filling station in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday, a resident named Tatiana Sedykh told Reuters she was relieved to be driving a diesel vehicle. “The line for gasoline is just insane,” she said. “I’m starting to think maybe I should begin walking to work.”

ALGIERS, Algeria — Algerians headed to the polls Thursday in a parliamentary election marked by widespread economic frustration and controversy over the exclusion of candidates who have challenged the ruling government.

Close to 25 million eligible voters across Africa’s largest nation by land area are selecting from 1,235 candidates vying for 407 seats in the lower chamber of Parliament, each carrying a five-year term.

Officials are watching turnout closely after citizens largely stayed away from campaign events in the lead-up to the vote. To boost participation, the government designated Thursday a paid national holiday.

For many Algerians, the election takes a back seat to pressing daily concerns — including the rising cost of living, declining public services, and shrinking freedoms in the political, media, and labor sectors.

Adding to the distraction, many Algerians are fixated on the World Cup, where their national soccer team is set to face Switzerland in a knockout-round match early Friday.

The current pro-government majority controls roughly 300 seats in the outgoing Parliament, with the Islamist MSP party holding the second-largest bloc at 64 seats.

Some MSP candidates were among the 269 people barred from participating in the election. The banned group notably included former leaders and activists tied to the Hirak pro-democracy movement, which played a key role in ousting longtime autocratic President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019. Since then, freedoms have continued to erode under his successor, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who won reelection to a second term in 2024.

The country’s electoral authority said those disqualified were excluded due to alleged “links to illicit financial networks” and “suspicious political activities.”

Security personnel were deployed outside polling stations in the capital city of Algiers beginning Wednesday.

In Algeria’s southern regions and across the Sahara Desert, voting was moved up by 48 hours so that nomadic communities could participate. Ballot boxes were transported by off-road vehicles belonging to local administration and escorted by police in Land Rovers.

Among Algerians living abroad — approximately 854,225 registered voters, with the largest concentration in France — voting took place over the previous Saturday and Sunday at consular offices. State news agency APS reported strong turnout and a “family atmosphere” at those locations.

The government also rescheduled end-of-year school exams to free up classrooms and teachers, who typically serve as polling station workers in exchange for a daily stipend.

With campaign venues mostly empty, political parties and independent candidates shifted to informal outreach — holding small gatherings in streets, markets, and neighborhood cafes. A widely circulated video from last week showed the leader of one political party unsuccessfully attempting to persuade a young man to cast a ballot.

Despite the lackluster atmosphere, parties pressed forward with their messages. The presidential majority, spearheaded by the long-established FLN party, called for high voter participation to strengthen the country in the face of global geopolitical pressures.

The Trotskyist opposition Workers’ Party focused its campaign on raising pensions and wages and opposing a mining sector overhaul that it says favors foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the head of the Socialist Forces Front — considered the leading party of the democratic movement — urged the freeing of political prisoners and greater media freedom, arguing that boycotting the election would ultimately benefit the government rather than challenge it.

One thousand days have now passed since a Hamas-led assault on Israel set off the ongoing war in Gaza — a conflict that has reshaped the region, spawned additional fighting on multiple fronts, and left millions of lives in limbo.

The fate of more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza remains deeply uncertain. Under the ceasefire that went into effect on October 10, Israeli forces already controlled more than half of the territory — and Israel’s government has since expanded that footprint, stating it intends to hold 70% of Gaza.

Movement in and out of the territory is severely restricted. Meanwhile, the next phases of the ceasefire agreement — including Hamas giving up its weapons and the enormous undertaking of rebuilding Gaza — have ground to a halt.

“Much more needs to be done so that even a semblance of normality can come back, and we are far, far away from this,” said Nicolas von Arx, the International Committee of the Red Cross regional director, in comments made this week.

Although Israeli airstrikes have decreased significantly since the ceasefire began, they have continued nearly every day. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 1,053 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, as of Tuesday — a count that includes more than 350 women and children. Among the recent victims were a teenage girl who was on her way to school and a mother along with her one-year-old daughter.

One Palestinian woman, Wisal Abu Khater, expressed raw frustration following yet another deadly strike this week. “Where is this ceasefire they keep talking about?! Shame on them,” she said, directing her anger at Arab nations she accused of abandoning Gaza’s people while watching World Cup matches.

The United Nations issued a warning Wednesday that Israel’s territorial expansion in Gaza is putting civilians at greater risk of being killed in “areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government and keeps detailed casualty records considered generally credible by U.N. agencies and independent analysts, reported more than 3,400 wounded since the ceasefire began. The ministry does not separate civilian deaths from militant deaths but notes that women and children account for roughly half of those killed. Israel’s military maintains that it targets Hamas fighters and other armed groups, often stating those individuals were preparing attacks, and charges Hamas with using civilians as cover.

The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken. All of those hostages — or their remains — have since been released or transferred, with some survivors describing mistreatment during their captivity. In total, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 73,066 Palestinians as of Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The senior diplomat managing the ceasefire, Nickolay Mladenov, has been direct about the impasse: progress toward the next stages of the U.S.-brokered agreement has stalled over the contentious question of Hamas disarming.

This situation has become a significant test for the Board of Peace, an initiative created and led by U.S. President Donald Trump. Launched with considerable attention and billions of dollars in international funding commitments earlier this year with the specific goal of helping Gaza recover from war, the board has gone largely quiet in recent weeks.

Hamas disarming would unlock other steps in the process, including establishing new governance in Gaza and bringing in an international stabilization force to help with security and rebuilding. Hamas has not flatly refused to disarm, but has signaled it wants to retain some weapons and is seeking additional concessions from Israel.

For Israelis, the past 1,000 days have been marked by trauma stemming from the October 7 attack — the deadliest in Israel’s history — as well as fighting that spread to Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, to Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, and against Iran itself. Iran’s armed proxy forces had launched attacks on Israel, claiming solidarity with Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed U.S. President Trump on February 28 to join in striking Iran, a move that reignited the conflict in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have now pushed to their deepest position in more than 25 years.

None of those additional conflicts has fully quieted. The cumulative weight of these wars — including rising Israeli soldier casualties, continued attacks along the Lebanese border, and international accusations of genocide in Gaza that Israel disputes — is taking a toll on Israeli society as Netanyahu prepares to seek reelection this fall.

While Netanyahu has maintained a confident public posture, he faces serious political headwinds. A poll published last month by The Israel Democracy Institute found that more than 60% of Israelis believe he should not run again. Public anger remains elevated over the security lapses that allowed the October 7 attack to happen, the absence of a formal government inquiry into those failures, and controversial military service exemptions extended to Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.

Palestinians in Gaza describe themselves as pushed to their breaking point. Many are sheltering in sprawling tent camps with little or no basic services, or in the gutted remains of bombed buildings, all while living under the constant buzz of Israeli surveillance drones and the ever-present threat of strikes.

The ceasefire was supposed to allow a significant increase in humanitarian supplies, including medicine and fuel. Aid organizations and others say that surge has not materialized. All border crossings into Gaza remain tightly controlled and have closed entirely at various points. The United Nations reported last month that 17 hospitals are still not operational.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said last month that Israeli approval and customs procedures are “cumbersome” and are blocking essential supplies — noting that even prosthetic limbs have been held up over concerns they could potentially be used as weapons.

Famine was declared in Gaza City last August, though food security specialists later noted “notable improvements” following the ceasefire. The Israeli military body responsible for coordinating civilian matters in Gaza, COGAT, said Wednesday that “the quantities of food that are being brought in far exceed the nutritional needs of the Gazan civilian population.”

As Israeli forces push further into Gaza and Hamas militants face accusations of illegally executing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel or committing crimes such as looting, residents describe themselves as exhausted and under constant stress.

“We had everything before the war,” said Mahmoud Ashour, a 33-year-old shop owner in Khan Younis. “And now we’re just craving a bite to eat.”

A punishing heatwave that shattered temperature records across Europe last month has put a spotlight on a critical blind spot for a continent that has prided itself on its ambitious climate goals: being ready for the effects of global warming happening right now.

The European Union has long positioned itself as a global leader in fighting climate change, becoming one of the first major economies to enshrine a legally binding commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But when temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius — that’s 104 degrees Fahrenheit — in parts of Europe this June, it became clear that businesses, public services, and essential infrastructure across the continent were woefully unprepared to handle the real-world consequences of a warming climate.

Poland’s Deputy Climate Minister Krzysztof Bolesta was blunt in his assessment. “We’ve not been good enough on adaptation,” he told Reuters, speaking as power outages hit parts of the region, outdoor labor was prohibited in some areas, train service was halted in Germany, and a cargo train in Sweden derailed after extreme heat warped the metal rails beneath it.

Spain was among the hardest-hit nations, reporting 1,000 excess deaths attributed to the record temperatures.

Responsibility for making buildings and public spaces more heat-resistant falls largely on individual nations and regional governments rather than the EU itself. EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, who plans to unveil an EU-wide “climate resilience plan” later this year, explained the reasoning to journalists: “There’s no point in trying to say from Brussels how the Greeks or the Spaniards need to battle wildfires. They know that much better than we do as the Dutch know much better how to build dikes.” He said the EU plan would center on shared scenarios and best practices.

Nevertheless, the EU’s own financial commitment to adaptation has remained modest. Official data shows that between 2021 and 2025, nearly three-quarters — 72% — of climate-related spending from the EU’s shared budget went toward mitigation, meaning efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases driving warming. Only 18% was directed at adaptation, with 9% addressing both areas. This is despite Europe warming faster than any other continent on Earth.

The EU does have an array of financial tools designed to cut emissions, including renewable energy subsidies and its Emissions Trading System, which places a ceiling on how much companies can pollute and allows cleaner businesses to sell their unused pollution permits for a profit. But Poland’s Bolesta noted that no comparable financial incentives exist to push businesses toward investing in adaptation.

“It’s easier to see the business case for mitigation, because you have the cap-and-trade system, you have carbon credits, you have renewables companies,” he said. “Adaptation, it’s mostly regarded as a cost with very long-term benefits, so delayed gratification, but also sometimes just an insurance policy — it might or it might not kick in.”

The economic toll is becoming impossible to ignore. Dutch bank ING reported this week that climate-driven extremes such as heatwaves, drought, and flooding shaved 0.3 percentage points off Europe’s already sluggish economic output last year. “The uncomfortable truth is that heatwaves have quietly graduated from ‘weather event’ to ‘macro variable,’” ING wrote, adding: “The thermometer, it turns out, has become a leading indicator.”

The economic damage takes many forms — from lost tourism and farming income in southern countries to reduced worker productivity in office buildings not built for hot weather. Germany offers a striking example: official estimates put the cost of a single day above 30 degrees Celsius at €430 million — roughly $465 million — in lost productivity. Yet only about half of German office buildings have air conditioning, compared with 90 to 95 percent in southern Europe, according to the Federal Environment Agency.

“For decades, we built against cold and not against heat and that’s an adaptation gap,” said Geraldine Dany-Knedlik of the German Institute for Economic Research DIW.

Irene Seemann, who leads climate adaptation efforts for businesses in the large German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said attitudes are beginning to shift. “To use a football analogy, Germany has been one-nil down because heat has not been much of an issue,” she said. “Now companies see that it has a direct impact on their operations.”

Some solutions are surprisingly straightforward and affordable. A German flooring company called Project Floors, whose historic glass-domed headquarters in Cologne is protected by heritage laws that prevent structural changes, applied reflective film to its windows and cut indoor temperatures by 10 degrees Celsius. “It was simple, effective, and required no power,” said managing director Bernd Greve.

Other fixes demand deeper changes — rescheduling work shifts to cooler parts of the day, redesigning public transit systems, and rethinking how urban spaces are built and used.

Progress has been made since the devastating 2003 heatwave, when peer-reviewed research found approximately 70,000 excess deaths occurred across Europe over that summer. The World Health Organization estimated this week that heat-related deaths in Europe would have been around 80% higher today without the adaptation steps already taken — including heat-health action plans, early warning systems, cooling centers, and targeted outreach to vulnerable populations.

“They are saving lives right now,” said the WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Henri P. Kluge. “We need more of them, across all of the European region.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a recount of events from June 6, 1989, when millions of Iranians gathered to mourn Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the driving force behind the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The situation spiraled out of control almost immediately. As Iran now prepares to lay Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to rest, The Associated Press has released its original reporting and historic photographs from Khomeini’s funeral.

Mourners packed the sweltering streets of Tehran, rhythmically striking their heads and chests in grief, while the cries of women pierced through the deafening noise of the crowd. The scene turned dangerous when the massive throng surged toward the casket, causing the 86-year-old cleric’s white-shrouded body to spill out into the sea of people.

Early reports indicated the mayhem left at least eight people dead and approximately 11,000 others injured. Guinness World Records would later recognize the event as the largest share of any nation’s population ever to attend a funeral — an estimated 10.2 million people, representing roughly one-sixth of Iran’s entire population at the time.

By ALEX EFTY — TEHRAN, Iran (AP)

Countless mourners beating on their own heads and chests brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral procession to a complete standstill, with scores of people — including Khomeini’s own son — being crushed in the overwhelming chaos.

The relentless crowd left authorities with no choice but to postpone the burial entirely.

The full toll of casualties — whether killed, injured, or simply overcome by the 91-degree heat — was not immediately known. At least eight people had already died and hundreds more were hurt the previous day, Monday, during a similarly massive outpouring of grief.

Security forces discharged weapons into the air in an attempt to push the crowds back, but the grieving masses refused to disperse, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Members of the Revolutionary Guards physically struck mourners on their hands to force them to release their grip on Khomeini’s coffin.

Khomeini’s only son, Ahmad, 43, was knocked to the ground in the dusty north Tehran square outside the Mosalla Mosque, where Khomeini’s body had been lying in state since Monday inside an air-conditioned, glass-enclosed bier. Ahmad Khomeini’s white turban fell from his head as he was lifted above the crowd and passed from person to person until he reached an ambulance waiting at the edge of the square. He appeared pale and sluggish, but remained conscious.

The hearse transporting the body became stranded in a vast ocean of black-clad mourners, completely unable to advance, IRNA reported.

Tehran television declared it was “impossible” to push through the grieving masses and complete the burial before sundown. Islamic tradition prohibits burying the dead after nightfall.

Khomeini had died the previous Saturday at the age of 86.

He was to have been laid to rest at the Baheshte Zahra cemetery, located 22 miles south of Tehran, alongside those who died during the Islamic revolution that brought him to power a decade earlier, as well as thousands who perished in the Iran-Iraq war.

Television broadcasters said alternative plans for the burial would be announced at a later time.

Cries of “Allah Akbar!” — God is Great — rang out across the city. Two hours into the procession, the hearse had barely traveled half a mile.

Many of Tehran’s 6 million residents came out to say their final farewell to Khomeini, while millions more traveled into the city from surrounding regions, according to official state media.

The procession got underway at 7 a.m., when Khomeini’s devoted Revolutionary Guards lifted his body down from the bier.

Five helicopters circled overhead as a military band performed solemn music below.

Khomeini’s body, draped in the Islamic republic’s flag, was placed on the ground in the open air while the white-bearded Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani led prayers. Golpaygani, one of only four senior ayatollahs remaining in Iran, frequently paused to compose himself, lifting his glasses to dry his eyes with a handkerchief.

Following the 30-minute ceremony, Khomeini’s body was placed inside a wooden coffin covered with a white cloth, then carried by the Revolutionary Guards from hand to hand into a white van.

The crowds wept uncontrollably. Recitations from the Koran blared from the mosque’s minaret as the masses cried out, “Farewell beloved imam!” and “Oh Khomeini, why have you left us?”

They struck their heads and chests with closed fists in the traditional Shiite Muslim expression of mourning.

Amid the disorder, women dressed head to toe in black chadors found themselves pressed against men — a breach of the Islamic prohibition on physical contact between women and men outside of marriage.

Firefighters turned their hoses on the crowd in an effort to cool people down.

Roughly 2 million frenzied mourners had maintained an all-night candlelit vigil around the bier.

Some in the crowd scratched their own faces until they bled and threw ashes over their clothing.

Khomeini had died of a heart attack 11 days after undergoing intestinal surgery, leaving the question of his successor unresolved. He left behind a 29-page political testament, excerpts of which were read on Tehran radio the previous Monday.

The portions made public contained no guidance on how Iran should be governed following his death, though such instructions may have been contained in sections not yet released.

President Ali Khamenei, 49, had been named caretaker leader on Sunday. A presidential election and a referendum on constitutional changes — which were expected to expand the president’s executive authority — were scheduled for August 18.

Khamenei’s rapid appointment was seen primarily as a move to fill the power vacuum created by political instability that had been building since February, when Khomeini called for the death of British novelist Salman Rushdie.

With no single figure capable of matching Khomeini’s combined religious and political stature, analysts believed Iran would likely be governed by a collective leadership going forward.

Khamenei had thrown his support behind Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani, 55, a political ally and the only announced presidential candidate at the time.

Former Iranian President Abolhassen Bani-Sadr, speaking from exile in France, said Khamenei’s appointment represented a “total failure” by the government.

“Imagine a church that cannot find a pope. It is exactly the same, like a dynasty that cannot find a king. … It will not last,” he said.

ROME (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s sharp attacks on Italy’s prime minister have produced a result he likely did not intend.

After Trump questioned whether Italy could be counted on as a wartime ally and claimed that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had groveled for his attention, European leaders rushed to her defense. In doing so, they began warming up a relationship that had previously been cold due to Meloni’s far-right political background.

This is just the latest sign of how the frequently polarizing American president is inadvertently pushing European nations toward greater unity.

Across the continent, leaders are finding more common ground on issues like defense spending, trade tariffs, and foreign policy as they deal with wars in Ukraine and Iran, a growing trade gap with China, and ongoing threats from Russia. Analysts say this trend leaves Trump — who has typically preferred to deal with European countries one at a time — with less room to do so.

“Most of the mainstream leaders realize that Europe is getting squeezed between China and America, and so, if not now, then when?” said Sudha David-Wilp, vice president at the German Marshall Fund. “They need to act as a bloc in order to maintain Europe’s place in the world.”

This growing sense of European solidarity faces a significant test next week when NATO leaders gather for a summit in Turkey.

Meloni’s public clash with Trump has actually helped her build stronger relationships with European leaders who once viewed her party’s post-fascist history with suspicion.

A turning point came in March when Meloni refused to allow U.S. bombers heading to the Middle East to use a military base in Sicily without first getting approval from Italy’s parliament.

For years before that, France and Germany often left Meloni out of the smaller, informal talks that helped shape Europe’s approach to major international crises. That exclusion continued into 2026, fueled in part by disagreements over how to handle Russia’s war on Ukraine — including Meloni’s opposition to a British and French proposal to send European troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

But Trump’s increasingly harsh words toward Meloni — who had already called his criticism of Pope Leo “unacceptable” — changed the atmosphere. European leaders began rallying around her, in part because they, too, have been targets of Trump’s criticism.

By late June, Meloni was firmly included in a Berlin meeting with the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, and Poland. The following day, she sat down with French President Emmanuel Macron in southern France for the first bilateral summit between the two countries since the pandemic.

Even far-right and nationalist parties across Europe that once embraced Trump’s political brand are now stepping back. His trade policies and the war with Iran have proven unpopular with voters, forcing a recalibration.

In France, far-right leader Jordan Bardella recently condemned U.S. actions as “foreign interference” and described Trump as “erratic” and “extremely unsteady.” That’s a sharp reversal from Bardella’s earlier praise of Trump’s nationalism as a “wind of freedom.”

In Germany, top figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party have spoken out against the U.S. military campaign in Iran. The party’s co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, said in March that he was “extremely disappointed” with Trump, a politician he had believed would steer clear of new military conflicts.

This shift in tone is happening as elections draw closer in several countries, putting more emphasis on issues closer to home.

“This pushes everyone to consider a European horizon more than an international one,” said Lorenzo Castellani, a political analyst and professor at Rome’s LUISS University.

These forces are reshaping politics well beyond the European Union’s borders, stretching from the Arctic to the Balkans.

When Trump threatened to seize Greenland by force, protests broke out both in Greenland’s capital of Nuuk and in Copenhagen, Denmark. Leaders from across the political spectrum reacted with alarm at the perceived threat to European sovereignty and worried it could fracture the already strained NATO alliance.

In Albania, a luxury development project tied to Trump’s family business has become a flashpoint in domestic politics, sparking protests in June.

Perhaps nowhere was the political danger of aligning too closely with Trump more clearly demonstrated than in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — long considered Trump’s most loyal supporter within the European Union — was voted out of office in April, despite receiving backing from Trump himself and prominent figures in the MAGA movement.

An analysis by the consultancy Maplecroft suggested that negative views of the Trump administration may have contributed to Orbán’s political downfall.

While Meloni remains in step with Trump on issues such as immigration and security, she has long disagreed with him on Ukraine. Her consistent support for Kyiv has helped repair and strengthen Italy’s relationships with European partners, making it a central element of the continent’s increasingly unified stance toward Washington.

During their very public dispute last month, Meloni acknowledged that her friendship with Trump had come at a significant political cost.

Responding to Trump’s claim that she had “begged” to be photographed with him at the recent G7 summit in France, Meloni wrote on social media: “As for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you.”

A recent Pew Research Center survey confirmed that Trump is deeply unpopular in Italy. The poll found that 83% of Italians have no confidence in Trump’s ability to make sound decisions on international affairs. His handling of issues including Iran, tariffs, and U.S. immigration policy all received low marks.

With a national election required by 2027 — and possibly coming as soon as next spring — Meloni is under growing political pressure from multiple directions, including public backlash over the Iran war and her past closeness with Trump.

Voters across Europe may ultimately hold their own leaders responsible for the consequences of decisions made in Washington, noted Castellani.

“At a certain point, when voters see the price of gasoline rising because of a war perceived as distant, they ask Meloni for the bill, not Trump.”

A newly released report funded by the European Union is painting a grim picture for the continent’s computer chip industry, warning that pressures from both China and the United States are pushing the sector toward a difficult road ahead.

The independent study, produced by the EU’s Institute for Security Studies and French think-tank Institut Montaigne, was released Thursday. It concluded that Chinese export controls on critical minerals and magnets — along with the threat of armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait — represent serious dangers to the semiconductor supply chain.

The report also flagged Europe’s heavy dependence on the United States for key technology, including chip design software. Adding to that concern is the possibility that Washington could force ASML, Europe’s most valuable company and a major chipmaking equipment supplier, to halt exports to China.

That scenario is not far-fetched. The U.S. Congress is currently debating legislation that would give Washington the authority to unilaterally impose export restrictions on allied countries and their companies.

“While Beijing still appears to be the biggest threat, dependence on Washington seems to have become of much greater concern under the second Trump administration,” said Joris Teer, a policy analyst at the Institute for Security Studies and co-author of the report.

In response to these challenges, the European Commission has been working to strengthen the bloc’s chip industry. In June, it put forward a Chips Act 2.0 proposal that EU lawmakers are now tasked with reviewing. The proposal includes incentives to boost demand for chips made within Europe and also aligns the EU with Washington’s “Pax Silica” initiative, a cooperative effort among allied nations to secure semiconductor supply chains.

Teer said that beyond working with allies to counter China, Europe’s “only viable path” is to capitalize on areas where it already holds strength — such as the chipmaking equipment sector anchored by ASML — to improve its negotiating leverage.

The report drew from industry, political, and academic sources and also pointed to additional factors dragging down Europe’s competitiveness, including persistently high energy costs, a shortage of private investment capital, and a decline in the industries that rely on chips.

KYIV, Ukraine — A massive Russian assault using missiles and drones hammered Ukraine’s capital overnight into Thursday, with powerful explosions rattling the entire city of Kyiv for hours.

The strikes left one person dead and wounded numerous others, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that at least 11 people were injured in the attacks, which also caused damage to residential buildings throughout the city.

The assault — carried out with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones — hit all 10 of Kyiv’s districts, spanning both banks of the Dnipro River. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials issued early warnings about the incoming attack, many residents sought safety inside metro stations.

Klitschko urged the public to stay in shelters, calling it a relentless “furious enemy attack” on the capital. He reported that five people were hurt in the Shevchenkivskyi district, including one paramedic who was left in extremely critical condition.

In the Desnianskyi district, residents became trapped inside a damaged nine-story apartment building, prompting rescue crews to rush to the scene. A fire ignited on the roof of a multistory building in the Holosiivskyi district, while blazes and debris trapping people were also reported in the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts.

Tkachenko said the attack partially destroyed a residential structure in the Desnianskyi district and sparked fires near homes in two locations within the Pecherskyi district, as well as near an administrative building in the Solomianskyi district. Additional damage was recorded in the Obolonskyi and Podilskyi districts as well.

The assault comes amid a period of escalating Russian strikes on Kyiv in recent weeks, even as Ukraine has continued its own long-range drone campaign targeting Russian military installations and energy infrastructure — a campaign that has triggered fuel shortages and disrupted supply lines inside Russia.