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PARIS (AP) — It was supposed to be men’s fashion season. But women were a constant presence throughout.

At Amiri and Ami, women and men shared the runway together. At Vetements, female models wore much of what was billed as menswear, with Sharon Stone closing out the show in thigh-high boots.

Within the fashion world, none of this raised an eyebrow.

The blurring of gender lines wasn’t happening on the fringes — it was woven into the fabric of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which concluded Sunday. The event is where a multibillion-dollar luxury industry previews what it believes men will want to wear next.

The trend has made its way into advertising as well. In 2023, a pregnant Rihanna served as the face of Pharrell Williams’ debut Louis Vuitton men’s campaign, appearing on a massive Paris billboard with her baby bump on display and her arms draped in Vuitton bags.

Joseph McBrinn, an art historian at Ulster University, noted that this isn’t entirely new territory. Women have been appearing in menswear collections for so many seasons that fashion insiders barely take notice anymore — even as a Gen Z audience, only now discovering the gender-bending style that David Bowie made famous in the 1970s, treats it as something revolutionary.

Over recent decades, McBrinn said, fashion has shifted “from very binary understandings of gender and fashion to something which is today very fluid” — a reflection, he added, of how younger generations now see the world.

At Issey Miyake’s IM Men, the brand said the entire cast was male — yet the show still carried a distinctly androgynous feel.

The boundary between men’s and women’s clothing keeps wearing away, both on bodies and on the fashion calendar. It hasn’t disappeared entirely, and that erosion has as much to do with money as with gender identity.

Andrew Groves, a menswear systems professor at the University of Westminster, put it plainly: “Androgyny only works because people understand what is being crossed.” He added that the real story isn’t that menswear has broken free of its rules, but that designers are discovering new creative freedom within one of fashion’s most restrictive playbooks. The runways may look like they’re dissolving gender — but it’s precisely those categories that make the statement meaningful.

At Dior, Jonathan Anderson — the first designer in the house’s history to oversee both its men’s and women’s lines — dressed models in pearls, pink, and sheer blouses with soft bows at the collar. He told reporters the collection was about how he “connects with the feminine.”

At Saint Laurent, male models went shirtless in body-hugging tops, wore leather briefs, and walked in transparent shoes borrowed directly from the women’s runway. Saint Laurent opened Paris Men’s Week, and its investment in menswear goes beyond aesthetics — reports indicate the house has set a goal of doubling men’s sales by 2030.

Many fashion houses have merged their men’s and women’s collections onto a single shared runway. What once felt like a bold provocation became a scheduling strategy by the late 2010s — part creative vision, part convenience, and largely driven by commerce.

When Anthony Vaccarello took the helm at Saint Laurent in 2016, he eliminated the brand’s standalone menswear show and integrated men into the women’s runway, only bringing back a separate men’s show in 2018. Vetements and Balenciaga made similar moves around the same time.

Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, was candid about the motivation: “I don’t think having men and women on the same runway means a greater belief in nonbinary genders. That’s really more of an economic thing.”

A combined show consolidates media attention and allows a designer to tell one unified story — something that matters in a luxury market that has faced headwinds over the past couple of years.

Women already purchase menswear regularly, which helps explain why Ami, originally launched in 2011 as a men’s brand, eventually expanded into womenswear.

The blending of clothing styles is actually the older part of this story. Long before “nonbinary” entered everyday conversation, Yves Saint Laurent was putting women in men’s tailoring back in 1966. Bowie smudged the line in the ’70s. Jean Paul Gaultier sent men out in skirts in the ’80s. Fashion was speaking this language long before society had the words for it.

Veteran fashion critic Suzy Menkes traces the history even further back. Men once wore “the most dramatic, precious, glamorous and priceless jewels,” she noted, without anyone questioning whether such adornments were appropriate for them. It was the 20th century, she said, that narrowed the concept of male dress — before fashion began to push those boundaries open again.

The exchange between men’s and women’s fashion has never been balanced: a woman in a men’s suit, 60 years later, barely registers; a man in a skirt or heels still reads as transgression.

“Women’s bodies are still consumed in ways that men’s bodies are not,” McBrinn said. Men, he added, “can still be seen as deviant” when they cross that line.

Away from the runway, the cultural moment is tense: aggressive online masculinity movements, “manosphere” influencers like the Tate brothers, and a wave of anti-trans legislation are all part of the backdrop.

Last year, J.Crew sparked a conservative backlash simply by marketing a pink sweater to men — even as Dior, Paul Smith, and Willy Chavarria were sending pink down their own runways. The controversy was cultural, but there was a commercial dimension too: reports showed pink apparel sellouts climbed 17% year-over-year in spring-summer 2025.

Menkes said color is part of the same broader story. Post-war Europe helped cement the idea that certain colors were “suitable” for men, she said, and it took “a surprisingly long time” for shades like lilac or pale pink to be accepted as male choices.

Steele noted that openness to androgyny peaked in the 1920s, the ’70s, and the ’90s — and pulled back each time.

“Everything is moving to the right,” McBrinn said. “Fashion may go back to being much more entrenched within gender binary” — possibly, he warned, within five to 10 years.

After years of expanding legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, progress is now reversing in many countries, with transgender individuals at the center of the debate.

“We are seeing tremendous backlash internationally against trans people,” Steele said.

Ultimately, Steele argued, the runway matters less than everyday life. Real change happens when people see androgynous clothing on friends, coworkers, and the men around them.

Increasingly, she suggested, they’re just clothes.

KYIV, Ukraine — At least eight civilians lost their lives and 35 others were hurt Monday after Russian missiles and drones struck multiple locations across Ukraine, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to denounce what he called “horrific attacks.”

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago and has since carried out sustained bombing campaigns aimed at crippling the country’s infrastructure and breaking the will of its people. The United Nations reports that more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the conflict began.

Zelenskyy announced on social media that a Russian missile aimed at infrastructure hit the central city of Dnipro, leaving five people dead and 29 injured. Separately, Russian drones struck a passenger minibus in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three people and wounding six others, including a child.

National Police also reported that drone attacks in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region claimed the lives of a 69-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man. Authorities said deadly strikes also took place in at least six additional regions of the country.

The wave of attacks also disrupted electricity service for customers across eight Ukrainian regions on Monday. Grid operator Ukrenergo noted that demand had already been elevated due to hot weather, as residents turned to air conditioning to cope with the heat.

Zelenskyy used the occasion to renew his appeal for European nations to accelerate the development of air defense systems capable of intercepting Russia’s ballistic missiles, which have proven difficult to shoot down.

“People need greater protection from such horrific attacks,” Zelenskyy said. “Above all, we need anti-ballistic capabilities. It is essential that Europe is as active as possible in developing its own anti-ballistic defense – its own systems and missiles.”

Western officials say the war has shifted notably in recent months, as Ukraine’s growing drone strike campaign has caused fuel shortages inside Russia and in Russian-occupied territory. Analysts say those strikes have weakened Russian military supply lines along the eastern and southern front lines, slowing Russia’s advance.

Ukraine’s advancements in drone technology have made it a recognized leader in military drone use, and the country is now assisting partner nations — a reversal from its earlier position of seeking foreign military aid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Sunday that Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian oil facilities have contributed to fuel shortages within Russia. Those shortages have sparked public frustration, with people waiting in line for hours at gas stations. Despite this, Putin rejected any concessions to end the war and maintained that Russia would ultimately win, dismissing current difficulties as “temporary.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed that position, saying Russia’s stance on Ukraine has not changed and that Russian forces are pressing forward with their offensive operations. “Their effort makes us confident that our goals will be achieved,” Peskov told reporters.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, characterized the Kremlin’s posture as an attempt to pressure the West and Ukraine into accepting Russia’s terms. However, the organization added that “Russia’s battlefield performance continues to decline in 2026 and Russia’s ability to seize its objectives militarily is in question.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses intercepted 209 Ukrainian drones between late Sunday and early Monday. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 82 of the 108 drones Russia launched overnight.

Five people lost their lives Monday in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in Stade, a town in northern Germany, according to police. Two individuals were taken into custody in connection with the incident, one of whom is believed to be the gunman.

Authorities confirmed that additional people were injured in the attack, though no specific number of wounded was provided.

The shooting occurred at a facility on Dankersstrasse, a street located south of Stade’s town center. The facility serves as temporary housing for pregnant women and young mothers with children.

Police stated there is no ongoing threat to the general public. Video recorded after the shooting showed a heavy law enforcement presence at the scene, joined by other emergency responders and multiple ambulances.

Investigators said they are actively working to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting and piece together exactly what took place.

Germany maintains stricter gun laws than the United States, and while mass shootings in the country are uncommon, they are not without precedent.

Stade is home to roughly 50,000 residents and sits approximately 40 kilometers — about 25 miles — from the city of Hamburg.

Elite units from Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service took 38 politicians, lawmakers, and high-ranking government figures into custody during overnight raids carried out inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, as part of a widening corruption probe.

The operation was conducted under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. Security forces sealed off all access points to the Green Zone at approximately 2:00 a.m. Sunday before launching coordinated raids on the residences of prominent officials throughout the secured district.

Security sources also confirmed that authorities simultaneously raided the headquarters of the Midland Oil Company, located south of Baghdad, as part of the same operation.

In the wake of the arrests, videos circulating on social media captured extended bursts of gunfire in the area. Military vehicles and tanks were also filmed moving through the Green Zone following the operation.

Among those taken into custody were at least five sitting members of Parliament, whose legislative immunity had previously been lifted. Several senior security officials and civil servants were also arrested. Security sources noted that a number of suspects managed to flee before authorities arrived, triggering an expanded manhunt for additional individuals connected to the investigation.

The crackdown traces back to the arrest last month of former Deputy Oil Minister Adnan al-Jumaili. Officials say his confessions, along with documents recovered during his detention, allegedly revealed what investigators described as a large, organized network engaged in corruption, illegal accumulation of wealth, and abuse of power.

According to security sources, Sunday’s overnight operation stands as one of the largest coordinated enforcement actions ever taken against senior officials in the Iraqi capital. The raids were concentrated within the Green Zone, the tightly guarded enclave that houses major government buildings and official residences.

Authorities have not indicated that the investigation is complete. The search for suspects who evaded arrest continues, and officials say the broader corruption inquiry remains active as they pursue all individuals allegedly tied to the reported network.

In a unanimous decision on Sunday, Israel’s cabinet approved a resolution formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide — a significant policy reversal that now moves to the Knesset for a final legislative vote.

The measure was put forward by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who described the formal acknowledgment of the mass killings as a “moral and historical duty.” Following the cabinet’s approval, Sa’ar took to X to express his reaction, writing: “It’s never too late to do the right thing.” He went on to say, “I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for the support and the government ministers for their unanimous support in approving the resolution proposal.”

The resolution formally acknowledges the killing of approximately 1.5 million Armenians during the dying years of the Ottoman Empire. It also calls on Israel to stand against any attempts to deny, downplay, or distort the historical record surrounding those events.

Sa’ar introduced the proposal last week, setting off what the government characterized as a notable change in policy direction. For many decades, Israel had avoided formally recognizing the genocide in order to preserve diplomatic and trade ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan. The cabinet’s vote signals a departure from that stance, coming amid growing tensions between Israel and Turkey in recent years.

The legislation still requires approval from the Knesset before it can take effect as state law.

Background text accompanying the proposal explains that the Armenian Genocide began in April 1915, when Ottoman authorities arrested, deported, and killed hundreds of Armenian intellectuals, community leaders, and members of the educated class in Constantinople. What followed, according to the proposal, was a broader, systematic campaign against the Armenian population at large.

Armenian men were forced into labor before being killed. Women, children, and elderly civilians were driven from their homes and made to march toward the Syrian desert, where victims were subjected to mass murder, rape, deliberate starvation, and dehydration, the proposal states.

The document further notes that the genocide wiped out a cultural and historical legacy that had existed across Anatolia for thousands of years. It also highlights what it describes as ongoing, organized efforts to deny or minimize what happened — pointing specifically to what it calls the manipulative rewriting of history books, primarily by Turkey.

According to the proposal, 32 countries have already recognized the Armenian Genocide through parliamentary resolutions, legislation, or official declarations. Beyond recognition, the Israeli resolution calls for condemnation of all efforts to obscure, minimize, or deny the atrocities carried out against the Armenian people.

Hezbollah’s top leadership came out swinging on Saturday against a newly signed Israel-Lebanon framework agreement, branding it a “humiliation” and declaring it has no legal standing.

The agreement was finalized on Friday following five rounds of negotiations in Washington. It lays out a step-by-step plan to wind down the conflict by gradually replacing Israeli Defense Forces positions in southern Lebanon with the Lebanese army, while also pushing forward the disarmament of the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared the deal “null and void” and a “humiliation,” insisting it should be thrown out in favor of a memorandum of understanding currently being negotiated — one that would fold a Lebanon ceasefire into a broader agreement involving Iran. Israel has pushed back against that approach.

Qassem drew a hard line, saying any attempt to link an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Hezbollah giving up its weapons crossed “red lines.” He further argued that entering into such a deal with Israel would “legitimize the Zionist occupation.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a known ally of Hezbollah, went even further, calling the accord an “incitement to civil war.”

Hezbollah’s Lawyers’ Association also weighed in, contending the agreement conflicts with Lebanon’s constitution because it states that Israel and Lebanon “affirm the right of each state to exist in peace.” The group argued the constitution “considers Zionism to be a challenge to human dignity” and calls for working “to eliminate it.”

The U.S. State Department, for its part, described the framework as a structured process to dismantle Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure, strip the group of its weapons, and allow Israeli forces to exit Lebanon once the threat posed by Hezbollah has been neutralized.

Under the terms of the deal, the United States will create a new trilateral body called the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon, or MCG4L, charged with overseeing how the framework is put into practice. Washington also pledged to bolster the capabilities of Lebanon’s armed forces, back Lebanese military operations against Hezbollah, and deliver $100 million in humanitarian aid to be coordinated through the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the agreement on Friday, calling it “a major achievement for the State of Israel.” He said Israel would “remain [in] the security zone in southern Lebanon” while working through a phased withdrawal of Israeli Defense Forces as the Lebanese army moves in, disarms Hezbollah, and asserts its authority over the region.

“The favorite is whoever is not in power, not whoever is on the right,” said Andrés Malamud, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, as he described the changing political landscape across Latin America. The victories of Javier Milei in Argentina, José Antonio Kast’s rise in Chile, Abelardo De La Espriella’s win in Colombia, and Keiko Fujimori’s return to power in Peru may appear to be a sweeping conservative movement — but Malamud says the data tells a more complicated story: voters are turning against whoever holds power, punishing governments that failed to control crime, rein in inflation, fight corruption, and maintain basic order.

“What is happening in Latin America in this decade is a shift toward the opposition more than a shift toward the right,” he said. That distinction carries real weight as right-wing parties gain ground across the region. Argentina kicked off this cycle in November 2023 when Milei, a libertarian outsider, channeled widespread anger at the political establishment into a presidential victory. Chile followed when Kast took office in March 2026 after a campaign focused on crime, immigration, and fiscal discipline. Colombia rejected Gustavo Petro and chose De La Espriella, a hardline right-wing newcomer to national politics. Peru, after years of political turmoil and repeated unsuccessful runs, has brought the Fujimorismo movement back to the presidency under Fujimori.

The picture is not uniform, however. Brazil and Mexico — the two largest nations in Latin America — remain under left-wing leadership. Uruguay returned the Frente Amplio to power in 2024. In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is still polling ahead of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro before an October election that analysts say will either confirm the regional rightward drift or reveal its limits. That uncertainty is why experts are hesitant to declare a definitive ideological realignment. The right is winning more frequently, but not everywhere, and not always by large margins.

What has spread more rapidly than any ideology, analysts say, is voter impatience.

Malamud offered historical context for the shift. In the first decade of this century, he said, left-wing candidates won approximately 60% of presidential elections in Latin America. In the following decade, that figure dropped to around 55%. So far in this decade, the share has fallen further to roughly 40%, meaning right-wing candidates now win more often than before. But the stronger pattern, he said, is alternation — opposition candidates now win about 75% of elections regardless of ideology. “The right wins 60% in this decade, the oppositions win 75%,” he said. “That means the favorite is the one who is not in power.”

That framing matters, Malamud explained, because several recent victories — including those in Colombia and Peru — were decided by narrow margins. Describing the moment as a simple rightward tide, he argued, risks underestimating how closely divided public opinion actually is and how intense political polarization has become. Latin America, in his view, is moving both to the right and against incumbents simultaneously.

The new wave of right-wing leaders is far from a unified bloc. Milei represents an economic and libertarian rebellion in Argentina. El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele has built his government around a security-first approach. Kast’s Chile leans more conservative and institutional. De La Espriella’s Colombia blends law-and-order politics, deregulation, and open admiration for President Donald Trump. Fujimori carries a family political brand tied to security, market economics, authoritarian history, and Peru’s long institutional crisis. Malamud said what these leaders share is a common language of rejection — broadly opposing what they label communism, globalism, socialism, and feminism — more than any shared governing agenda.

Christian Pino, a Chilean journalist with a master’s degree in international relations, security, and defense from Chile’s National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies, ANEPE, views the movement through the lens of Chile’s history of political pendulum swings. Chile, he noted, has spent two decades alternating between left and right: Michelle Bachelet, Sebastián Piñera, Bachelet again, Piñera again, Gabriel Boric, and now Kast. Similar back-and-forth patterns have played out in Argentina — moving between Kirchnerism, Mauricio Macri, and Milei — and in Brazil, which shifted from Jair Bolsonaro to Lula.

But Pino said the pendulum is now “being dyed with more conservative ideas,” primarily because voters are demanding order. In Chile and elsewhere, he argued, irregular immigration, organized crime, and new forms of violence have reshaped political debate. “Mainly, I understand it, because of the demand for order that irregular immigration has brought in several countries,” he said, drawing comparisons to the appeal of the punitive public security model championed by El Salvador’s President Bukele.

Security stands out as the clearest common thread running through many of the region’s new right-wing campaigns, even where economic platforms differ. Malamud said Kast, Fujimori, De La Espriella, and Bukele are all responding to public safety as a top voter concern. Milei is an exception, he noted, because Argentina’s crisis was primarily economic. Bolsonaro’s original rise, Malamud added, was driven more by opposition to Brazil’s Workers’ Party and anger over corruption than by crime — even though insecurity has long been a serious issue in Brazil.

Prof. Arie Kacowicz, professor of international relations and the Chaim Weizmann Chair in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, also urged caution against drawing simple conclusions. “It is not one explanation,” he told The Media Line. Some observers link the shift to what they call the “effect” of President Donald Trump’s return to power — as though Latin American countries were rushing to align with Washington. Kacowicz acknowledged that may be part of the backdrop but said he does not view it as the central driver. The deeper issue, he argued, is whether citizens believe governments “deliver or do not deliver.”

For Kacowicz, Latin America’s capacity to punish incumbents is one of the region’s most powerful political forces. When voters conclude the economy is stagnant, corruption remains entrenched, or crime is unchecked, governments get replaced. That dynamic, he said, helps explain the elections in Colombia, Peru, and Chile without reducing them to a single ideological narrative. He described the current moment as a “grey tide” — a conservative counterpart to the earlier “pink tide” of left-wing governments — but emphasized that voters typically prioritize their daily lives. The average Latin American voter, he said, is less focused on geopolitical issues like Iran, Hezbollah, Israel, or the Middle East than on whether he can walk down the street without being robbed.

Immigration — particularly from Venezuela — has intensified that domestic debate. Malamud said Venezuelan immigration has had its greatest political impact in the Andean countries and in Chile, where it has become a central political rather than merely social issue. In Argentina and Uruguay, he noted, many Venezuelan migrants arrived as professionals and did not provoke the same political reaction. In Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, by contrast, Venezuelan immigration became closely linked to debates over public safety, state capacity, and national identity.

Pino described the Venezuelan crisis as a regional shock that disrupted Chile’s long-held sense of geographic isolation. Chile, he said, had traditionally viewed itself as protected by the northern desert, the Andes to the east, Antarctica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The arrival of new criminal networks and high-profile violent crimes shattered that self-image. Kast’s promise of “order and justice,” Pino said, created high expectations that will be difficult to meet quickly. He added that Brazil could face a similar political dynamic if crime and public frustration come to dominate that country’s campaign.

Beyond domestic politics, the shift carries geopolitical implications. The new right-wing governments tend to speak more comfortably with Washington, more warmly toward Israel, and more skeptically about China, Russia, and Iran. But the gap between campaign rhetoric and actual state policy remains large. The Trump administration has positioned Latin America within a broader competition over influence, infrastructure, communications, and strategic alignment. Yet even governments sympathetic to the US president cannot easily break from Beijing, which has become central to trade, investment, and infrastructure across much of South America.

Malamud said Washington’s concern about China extends beyond Trump and reflects a broader anti-Chinese consensus within the US political establishment. That consensus, he said, has produced red lines for allies — especially regarding communications technology such as Huawei’s 5G and 6G networks — and in sensitive infrastructure like deep-water ports or space observation facilities with potential military applications. Sometimes Washington manages to shape or block projects before they move forward; sometimes it arrives too late.

He also rejected the idea that China, Russia, and Iran function as a coordinated bloc in Latin America. Washington may group them together, he said, but in practice their cooperation is limited. China pursues commercial interests. Russia pursues its own agenda. Iran seeks political influence, but neither Russia nor China intervened directly when Iran came under attack. Right-wing Latin American leaders may be inclined to accept Washington’s framing, but trade creates firm limits. Both Bolsonaro and Milei talked about reducing business with China, Malamud said, yet neither could break from Beijing because the commercial relationship was too important.

Brazil illustrates that constraint clearly. During Bolsonaro’s presidency, Malamud said, the government’s public rhetoric leaned strongly toward the West, but the military establishment quietly maintained ties with China. Former Vice President Hamilton Mourão, himself a military figure, helped preserve that relationship when Bolsonaro neglected it. For Malamud, the example demonstrates why ideology does not automatically override trade relationships, institutions, or geography.

Chile faces a similar tension. Pino said China, Russia, and Iran have all expanded their presence in Latin America, with China especially visible in Argentina and Chile. He cited the debate over a Chile-China communications cable as an example of the pressures facing Santiago. Chile, he said, is “caught in the middle” — a country of 20 million people navigating a relationship with a power the size of China. In his view, Kast’s government is working to repair what he described as a damaged foreign policy under Boric, particularly regarding Israel and in areas connected to defense and commerce.

Israel is where the ideological shift becomes most visible, even if it rarely drives voter decisions. Under Milei, Argentina has developed an unusually close relationship with Jerusalem. Chile, after years of diplomatic friction under Boric, is moving toward rebuilding those ties. Colombia, after Petro severed relations with Israel, is expected to restore them under De La Espriella. Brazil remains the larger unresolved question: relations under Lula have been deeply strained but not formally broken.

Kacowicz said Israel tends to view Latin American elections through a narrow lens — whether a given candidate is pro-Israel or anti-Israel. Colombia is the clearest case, because Petro broke off relations and a new government is expected to reopen diplomatic channels. Kacowicz noted that Colombia has historically been a close Israeli partner in security matters and also sells coal to Israel. Brazil, he said, is more strategically significant and more complicated. Lula, he said, is not anti-Semitic, but made “very, very extreme” statements about Israel’s actions in Gaza, including comparisons to the Nazis.

Still, Kacowicz cautioned that pro-Israel rhetoric does not translate equally across the region. Argentina has gone further than most under Milei, moving its embassy to Jerusalem and deepening ties with Israel. Brazil remains more complicated because of its relationships with Arab nations, China, and Iran, and because its diplomatic tradition has generally resisted abrupt breaks. Those constraints apply even to governments that are friendlier toward Israel. “It is complicated,” he said. Even so, he added, Israel stands to benefit from the rightward shift if diplomatic relations improve in Chile, Colombia, and — depending on Brazil’s election — in Brasília as well.

Malamud was more direct in describing Israel as an ideological marker. In today’s Latin America, he said, left-wing governments tend to be suspicious of Israel’s government while right-wing governments tend to support it. But he stressed that this matters far more to political elites than to ordinary voters. Leaders can take strong positions on Israel because the electoral cost is typically low. Latin American voters, he said, mostly cast their ballots based on security, the economy, and immigration — with Israel ranking much lower on the public agenda.

In Chile, Pino said the issue is especially sensitive because of the country’s large Palestinian community and much smaller Jewish community. Publicly supporting Israel, he said, carries social and political costs. But he also argued that the Middle East remains distant for most Chileans, beyond activists and communities directly engaged with the issue. Chile lost citizens in the October 7, 2023 attack, but Pino said the country never fully told their stories or made the attack part of a national conversation. For most voters, crime, wages, and immigration remain far more immediate concerns.

That is why Brazil now stands at the center of what comes next. If the right wins in October, the ideological map of South America will look dramatically different. If Lula survives, the region stays divided, and the notion of a consolidated conservative wave becomes much harder to sustain.

Kacowicz called Brazil the most important case to watch — for both Latin America and Israel — not only because of its size but because its runoff election system makes coalition-building decisive.

Malamud argued that even a right-wing victory in Brazil would not automatically produce a coherent conservative bloc across the region. Ideological affinity, he said, has rarely generated durable regional institutions in Latin America. The left-wing cycle of the early 2000s brought leaders like Lula, Néstor Kirchner, and Hugo Chávez to power simultaneously, yet left few lasting structures. “There is no pipeline that goes from Caracas to Buenos Aires,” he said. A new right-wing wave could generate enthusiasm and high-profile summits, but economic integration would remain limited because the region’s main commercial partners lie outside Latin America. Security cooperation would also face obstacles because right-wing leaders tend to be strongly protective of national sovereignty.

That leaves Latin America in a paradox. The region is moving right, but it is not necessarily building a conservative international order. Its leaders may speak more favorably about President Trump, more warmly about Israel, and more skeptically about China, Russia, and Iran. But they govern divided societies, unstable legislatures, crime-plagued borders, and economies tied to Chinese demand, US pressure, and local hardship. Their voters want immediate order — not geopolitical doctrine.

For now, the balance has shifted enough to be significant. Argentina has moved openly toward Washington and Jerusalem. Chile is repairing its relationship with Israel and drawing closer to regional conservatives. Colombia is preparing to reverse Petro’s break with Israel. Peru is returning Fujimorismo to the presidency. Ecuador, Panama, and others have added to the broader rightward trend. But Mexico remains under Morena, Brazil remains under Lula, Uruguay has returned to the center-left, and the new conservative governments still have to prove they can actually govern after winning on public anger.

For Israel, the change is already tangible. A region that recently included several governments openly hostile to Jerusalem now offers the possibility of restored diplomatic ties, renewed security cooperation, and a more receptive political climate in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, and — depending on Brazil — Brasília. For Washington, the same movement creates an opening to rebuild influence in a hemisphere where China has become too economically embedded to ignore.

But the rightward turn will not erase the other powers already deeply rooted in Latin America. China will remain a buyer, lender, and infrastructure partner. Russia and Iran will continue seeking political, media, and diplomatic space. Even governments that feel ideologically aligned with Trump or Israel will face the constraint Malamud described: campaign language can move faster than trade relationships, institutions, or geography. The new political map should be read as an opening — not a reversal of the regional order.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the podium Saturday to defend the framework agreement his country reached with Lebanon, making the case that the deal strengthens Israel’s position rather than limiting it.

At the start of the briefing, Netanyahu explained that Israeli forces had only pulled back from two pilot areas that military commanders determined were not operationally needed. He said Israeli troops would continue holding what he referred to as the “yellow security zone.”

“We remain in the yellow security zone that protects us, and that is a tremendous, tremendous achievement,” he said, noting that outside pressure to remove Israeli forces from that area had not succeeded.

Netanyahu extended thanks to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli negotiating team, and the Lebanese government for their roles in reaching the accord. He said Israel had “dealt Hezbollah a severe blow” and was “breaking not only Iran’s axis of terror, but also its political axis.”

The prime minister said Hezbollah had held approximately 150,000 rockets and missiles before the conflict began. He said Israel had destroyed around 90% of that stockpile, eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah along with commanders of the Radwan Force, and killed more than 1,000 Hezbollah fighters since the war started — including more than 200 in just the past two weeks.

Netanyahu also noted that Israeli forces had taken control of the Beaufort and the Ali al-Taher Ridge overlooking Bint Jbeil, and that operations to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure throughout the security zone were continuing.

“There are bunkers there, there are tunnels there, there are terror villages there. We are eliminating all of it,” he said, while acknowledging that explosive drones remain a significant ongoing threat.

When i24NEWS reporter Nadav Elimelech asked whether the agreement restricts Israel’s operational freedom against Hezbollah, Netanyahu was direct. He said military orders remain unchanged and that soldiers are required to act when they identify a threat.

“If you see a threat, act,” he said. “It is not only the right to act — it is the obligation to act against an immediate threat.” He cited a recent operation in which Israeli forces destroyed a building housing seven Hezbollah fighters before they could carry out an attack.

On the topic of domestic politics, Netanyahu called for national unity, invoking former Prime Minister Menachem Begin. “As Menachem Begin said, ‘No more civil war.’ There will not be one here,” he said. He expressed his intention to form “a broad national government — not a narrow government, not a left-wing government dependent on Arab parties,” and said any party that supports Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, individual rights, a free economy, technological progress, and Israel’s right to defend itself would be welcome.

On the question of Haredi conscription, raised by Elimelech, Netanyahu said arresting Torah students inside yeshivas discourages military enlistment rather than encouraging it. “Young Haredim want to enlist,” he said, arguing that such enforcement produces “exactly the opposite” effect. He added, however, that those not engaged in Torah study should still be subject to the full force of the law.

Channel 14 reporter Saria Herush pressed Netanyahu on what would happen if Hezbollah violated the agreement and what guarantees Israel had received from Lebanon and the United States. Netanyahu replied that Israel’s main assurance was its own military strength. “The moment they violate the agreement … we strike with great force,” he said. He called Lebanon’s decision to sign the deal “a very courageous move” because it effectively communicated to Hezbollah and Iran, “We are making peace with Israel.”

Netanyahu said support for the agreement had come from Lebanon’s Christian, Druze, Muslim, and even some Shiite communities. He cautioned, however, that Israel would evaluate the deal based on Lebanon’s actions, and he said the Lebanese army still needs to reform because, in his words, “There are jihadists within its ranks.”

Ynet reporter Itamar Eichner raised criticism from opposition lawmaker Gadi Eisenkot, who called Lebanon “a political graveyard for prime ministers.” Netanyahu brushed off the remark, saying that following Eisenkot’s advice would have meant halting operations in Khan Yunis, bypassing Rafah, staying out of Lebanon, and leaving Hamas and Hezbollah largely untouched.

“So, you know what I say? I’ll answer you in Yiddish,” Netanyahu said. “Who cares?” He added that national security, not politics, drives his decisions. On a separate question about recognizing the Armenian Genocide, he responded, “I did not block it, and I certainly support it.”

Israel Hayom reporter Danny Zaken asked whether the Lebanon deal conflicted with a US-Iran memorandum of understanding. Netanyahu said Israel is not party to that agreement but will continue acting in its own interests. He announced plans to send a delegation to Washington to present Israel’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had backed Israel’s position on maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon.

On the question of future coalition partners, Netanyahu said he would welcome any party that accepts his core principles. He firmly rejected the creation of a Palestinian state “between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,” saying public sentiment has shifted during the war. He argued that most Israelis oppose internal conflict and that a broad national consensus is needed to build on military gains in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

Closing the press conference, Netanyahu pushed back against critics who said Israel had fallen short of its wartime goals. “Your government didn’t achieve 100 percent; you only achieved 80 or 90 percent,” he said of his opponents. “That is a joke. It is simply not serious.”

He said Israel had neutralized the immediate nuclear threat from Iran, significantly damaged Tehran’s ballistic missile production, secured the return of all hostages from Gaza, dismantled most of Hamas’s military capability, and shifted the strategic balance in Lebanon. He concluded that those achievements must now be protected through a broad national government capable of tackling what remains and pursuing further regional agreements.

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — A powerful aftershock shook Venezuela in the early morning hours Monday, adding to the fear and uncertainty already gripping the country following last week’s pair of devastating earthquakes, as both civilians and emergency crews pressed on in their search for anyone still alive beneath the wreckage.

The tremor hit at 7:01 a.m. local time, centered roughly 27 kilometers — about 17 miles — north of Caraballeda along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. The United States Geological Survey measured the aftershock at magnitude 4.6, while Colombia’s geological survey placed it slightly higher at 5.1.

Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, reported that no additional damage had been confirmed from Monday’s quake, though the shaking was strong enough to send residents of the capital city of Caracas running and screaming into the streets.

Among those who fled their homes was Concepción Hernández, a 51-year-old resident of the Chacao municipality of Caracas, who evacuated her apartment building when the ground began to move. “Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” she said.

The aftershock also rattled the already hard-hit port city of La Guaira, where local and international rescue teams have been working around the clock since the twin earthquakes struck the northern region five days ago.

The government has confirmed at least 1,450 deaths tied to the earthquakes, and thousands more people are still unaccounted for. Officials are facing mounting criticism from Venezuelans who say the government’s response has been insufficient and overshadowed by civilian-led rescue operations at collapsed buildings.

Despite the dwindling odds of finding survivors as time passed, rescue workers continued to pull people from the debris, giving desperate families reason to hold onto hope. While the critical window for survival following a disaster is typically the first 48 to 72 hours, experts note that survival is possible longer when victims have access to food and water.

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said late Sunday that the search for survivors would go on even after that time threshold had passed. The government reported that more than 2,600 rescue workers had arrived from countries around the world, bringing with them trained search dogs and heavy equipment.

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — A coastal housing complex built under the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez once represented hope for residents displaced by deadly flooding years earlier. Today, two devastating earthquakes have reduced parts of that same development to rubble, and engineers are demanding the government immediately inspect similar public housing that remains standing.

The 1,100-unit complex, informally called ‘Los Cocos’ after a nearby beach, was partially destroyed when two back-to-back earthquakes struck on Wednesday. Resident Yelsa Rojas, who has lived on the second floor of the building since 2015, returned to find her apartment completely destroyed.

“I lost my whole apartment,” Rojas said. “We think everyone on the second floor is dead.” She survived only because she happened to be at a medical appointment when the quakes hit.

While construction specialists say it is premature to pinpoint the exact reasons individual buildings failed, they believe that years of neglect, poor enforcement of building codes, and questionable licensing practices under both Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, likely increased the human toll of the disaster. Experts also cited soil instability in La Guaira state as a major contributing factor.

As rescue teams continue searching for survivors in the debris, civil engineers fear other structures may still be at risk. So far, the government has met with the country’s main professional engineering association but has not launched any formal assessments — a delay that is drawing sharp criticism.

“It’s criminal that the government is not taking up offers from engineers and universities more quickly,” said Enrique Larrañaga, an architect and urban planner at Simon Bolivar University who has previously advised the government on national development.

Venezuela’s Communication Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. On Sunday, interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced she was forming a commission to evaluate damaged housing structures, though she gave no timeline for when those evaluations would begin.

The government has also faced criticism for being slow to deploy heavy rescue equipment and search teams in the critical first days after the disaster, leaving residents to dig through wreckage with their bare hands, shovels, and ropes. By Saturday, state television showed heavy machinery sorting through crushed concrete and brick. Residents said foreign rescue teams had helped recover bodies and called for additional support.

Larrañaga said many housing developments were rushed for political reasons and have been safety hazards for years. He also noted that Venezuela lost a significant portion of its engineering expertise during the country’s economic collapse that began in 2013. “They need to give people that have know-how access to information and resources,” he said.

Because the government has yet to begin its own inspections, volunteer engineers have stepped in to assist residents directly, according to Glennys Gonzalez, an architect and civil engineer who is coordinating dozens of professionals. Her group’s early findings suggest building codes were not followed in many instances, but further study is needed to understand why some structures survived while others completely collapsed.

La Guaira has a long history with catastrophic natural disasters. In 1999, mudslides wiped out entire coastal communities in the area, killing between 10,000 and 30,000 people. The region’s geography — steep mountains that drop sharply to a narrow strip of coastline — means floods and landslides tend to funnel directly into populated areas, said Richard Casanova, director of Venezuela’s College of Engineers.

That same geography produces soft soil, Casanova explained, making the area especially vulnerable during seismic events. He drew a comparison to the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, where similar geological conditions contributed to the deaths of more than 50,000 people.

Four days after the 7.2-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, Venezuelan officials confirmed on Sunday that at least 1,450 people had died and 3,150 others were injured. Citizen-organized efforts to document the missing have gathered nearly 50,000 names.

Nicolás Labrópoulos, a civil engineer and professor at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, explained that the loose sand, gravel, and debris that makes up La Guaira’s ground can cause seismic waves to slow down but grow more intense, amplifying the shaking felt at the surface. Casanova added that, squeezed between mountains and sea, the soil can become almost fluid during an earthquake, making building there even more dangerous.

Many private buildings in the area also collapsed, likely due to a combination of the same soil weaknesses, years of corrosion, and inadequate quality control, Casanova said. He also noted that older structures may not have been updated to meet stronger codes put in place after a 1967 earthquake. “You can build there,” he said, “but you have to really adhere to strict codes, and given how the government has handled construction over the past two-and-a-half decades, I have my doubts in many cases.”

Following the 1999 disaster, Venezuela updated its construction laws and building codes, Casanova said. The problem, however, has never been the code itself — it has been enforcement.

Chávez’s government began constructing complexes like Los Cocos just before Venezuela’s 2012 elections as part of a broader initiative to build millions of affordable housing units across the country. Maduro continued and expanded the program. But as both leaders consolidated power, institutional oversight weakened, and so did quality controls over new construction and maintenance of existing buildings, according to architects and engineers.

The developments were built rapidly by a mix of government agencies and contractors from China, Turkey, and Belarus, working under military supervision but with little public transparency, according to Gonzalez and Casanova. The lax enforcement of codes in public buildings also sent a signal to private developers that they could cut corners, Casanova said — a stark contrast to countries like Chile, where stricter enforcement has kept earthquake death tolls relatively low.

A magnitude-8.8 earthquake in Chile in 2010 killed roughly 525 people, an outcome widely credited to rigorous building codes. In contrast, a weaker magnitude-7.0 quake in Haiti that same year killed hundreds of thousands.

Reports from multiple organizations and news outlets in recent years have documented corruption and shoddy construction tied to Venezuela’s public housing program, including buildings erected in geologically risky zones and structures showing cracks, leaks, and other serious deficiencies.

“The history of Chávez’s public housing is one of corruption and low-quality constructions built without supervision, inspection or adherence to specific codes in many cases,” Casanova said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Malaysian government has agreed to extend its deep-sea search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 by another year, keeping alive the hopes of families who have waited more than a decade for answers.

The country’s Cabinet gave its approval on Friday to extend a contract with marine robotics company Ocean Infinity through June 30 of next year. Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced the decision Monday, describing it as a sign of the government’s dedication to the families affected.

“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide a closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” Loke said in a written statement.

The additional time will allow Ocean Infinity to finish searching the remaining 7,428.54 square kilometers — roughly 2,868 square miles — of ocean floor that has yet to be covered. The company had temporarily shifted its main search vessels to other commercial work before the extension was granted.

Flight MH370 was a Boeing 777 that vanished from radar shortly after departing on March 8, 2014. The aircraft was carrying 239 people, the majority of them Chinese nationals, on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite tracking data indicated the plane deviated from its intended route and flew south toward the far reaches of the Indian Ocean, where investigators believe it went down.

A large-scale multinational search effort failed to locate the aircraft, though pieces of debris later washed up along the East African coastline and on various Indian Ocean islands. A separate private search conducted by Ocean Infinity in 2018 also came up empty.

Last year, Malaysia authorized Ocean Infinity to launch a renewed effort at a new search zone covering 15,000 square kilometers — about 5,800 square miles — in the southern Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity, which maintains headquarters in both the United States and Britain, stands to receive $70 million only if wreckage from the plane is actually found.

Loke noted that Ocean Infinity’s vessels are expected to return to the MH370 search mission sometime between November and April of next year. That window is considered the safest and most productive period for underwater operations due to calmer sea conditions in the region.

A Russian court has sentenced three people — the owner of an LGBT nightclub and two of its employees — to prison terms in what the court described as the first case prosecuted under Russia’s prohibition on what the government labels the “LGBT movement.”

The court announced Monday that the three individuals, arrested following a law enforcement raid on a club called “Pose” in the southwestern city of Orenburg two years ago, had organized and taken part in activities connected to what authorities classified as an “extremist organization.”

Club owner Vyacheslav Khasanov, 37, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 1 million roubles, equivalent to approximately $12,755. Club manager Diana Kamilyanova, 30, received a sentence of six years and three months, while art director Alexander Klimov, 23, was sentenced to two years and three months behind bars. All three maintained their innocence.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has significantly restricted LGBT rights, framing them as a Western influence that undermines what the government describes as traditional Russian values rooted in family, national identity, and Orthodox Christian faith.

In 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court officially classified the “LGBT movement” as an extremist organization, and those who support it have been designated as terrorists. That ruling opened the door to serious criminal charges against LGBT individuals and those who advocate for them.

The crackdown has extended broadly — music platforms and online film services face routine fines for hosting LGBT-related content, and in April, employees of a Russian book publisher were questioned by authorities over potential “LGBT propaganda” found within its catalog.

The Pose club had been in operation since 2021, regularly hosting drag performances. As restrictions on LGBT expression grew, the venue began promoting itself as a “parody bar theatre,” according to Russian independent news outlet Mediazona.

In March 2024, the club was raided by Orenburg regional authorities alongside Russia’s National Guard. Video footage posted online by a far-right group captured patrons standing with their hands raised as masked individuals moved through the club’s neon-lit interior. Others were shown lying on the floor with their hands crossed over their heads.

In its ruling, the court stated that the three defendants had “under the guise of running a nightclub, organised events centred on the common theme of demonstrating affiliation with people of non-traditional sexual orientation for an unspecific group of the venue’s patrons.”

LGBT rights attorneys in Russia have stated that the Orenburg case will function as a legal precedent, enabling future prosecutions of LGBT people and their supporters, while also eliminating what they describe as remaining “safe havens” for LGBT individuals within the country.

An Israeli airstrike struck a tent housing displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, leaving at least three people dead, among them a young child. Israel said the strike was aimed at a militant sheltering in the tent.

Gaza health officials said the attack hit a residential area in Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza that has seen relatively less destruction than other parts of the territory. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reported that those killed were two adult men and an 8-year-old child, with a fourth person — another man — suffering injuries.

The Israeli military named the intended target as Zaher Abu Salem, describing him as an active member of Islamic Jihad who played a role in the October 7, 2023 militant attack on Israel — the assault that set off the current war.

Although the most intense combat has died down since a ceasefire went into effect in October, Israeli forces have continued to carry out airstrikes across Gaza. Health officials in the territory say those strikes have claimed the lives of 1,045 Palestinians. Israel has publicly announced multiple strike operations targeting militants, including three separate strikes over the past weekend.

Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government, keeps detailed records of casualties. United Nations agencies and independent analysts generally consider those records to be credible, though the ministry does not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths. Militants have also carried out shooting attacks against Israeli troops, and Israel says its ongoing strikes are a direct response to those and other violations of the ceasefire terms. Five Israeli soldiers have died since the ceasefire began.

The October 7 attack killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 individuals being taken hostage. In response, Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza. Since that campaign began, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that more than 73,058 Palestinians have been killed, a figure that includes those who have died since the ceasefire took effect.

Australian police announced Monday that a Thai airline worker has been arrested and charged with allegedly smuggling more than one kilogram — roughly 2.2 pounds — of heroin into Melbourne.

The 26-year-old woman was working aboard an international flight when it landed at Melbourne Airport on Thursday. Authorities say she drew suspicion during a routine baggage screening, prompting a closer look by the Australian Federal Police.

An X-ray scan and follow-up testing revealed white powder hidden inside the linings of 12 tote bags she was carrying. A preliminary test came back positive for heroin, and the total seizure was estimated to have a street value of roughly 500,000 Australian dollars — approximately $345,000 U.S.

She now faces charges of importing and possessing an illegal drug. The offense carries a maximum penalty of 25 years behind bars. She is scheduled to appear before a Melbourne court in September.

The agency’s Acting Commander Simone Butcher issued a firm warning in the wake of the arrest. “The AFP remains unwavering in its efforts to target individuals who use their employment or community standing to support drug trafficking,” she said.

Australian police have not released the woman’s name or identified the airline she works for. However, Thai Airways — Thailand’s national carrier — confirmed in a statement Monday that one of its staff members had been detained in Melbourne and said the airline has been working with the relevant authorities.

Thai Airways said it would “take decisive action” if misconduct is confirmed, adding that its workers are strictly forbidden from any involvement with narcotics or illegal items. The airline also stated it is working to ensure the detained employee has access to basic legal protections.

MANCHESTER, England — Andy Burnham, the man widely expected to become Britain’s next prime minister, is preparing to deliver a major speech Monday laying out a sweeping economic plan centered on shifting power away from London and toward local governments across the country.

Burnham’s office says the speech will present a 10-year vision for what he calls “good growth in every postcode” — a direct response to the long-standing concentration of wealth and political power in London and southern England.

Speaking in Manchester, where he spent nine years serving as mayor, Burnham is expected to announce plans to relocate part of his prime ministerial operation to the northwestern city. He also intends to expand the authority of regional mayors, giving them greater control over housing, welfare, and education policy.

His broader economic approach draws from his time leading Greater Manchester, where he worked to combine public and private investment to improve transportation, housing, and infrastructure. He hopes to apply that same model across the entire United Kingdom.

The speech is also expected to include pledges to create new industrial jobs, expand educational opportunities, and overhaul the country’s privatized water and energy utility systems, which have been widely criticized as inefficient and costly.

While Burnham earned considerable praise for his work revitalizing Manchester, he has been absent from national government for nearly two decades. Critics question whether his so-called “Manchesterism” approach can be successfully scaled up to a nationwide level.

His rise to power comes as current Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepares to step down. Starmer, who won a landslide election victory in July 2024 after announcing his own 10-year national transformation plan, is departing after just two years in office. His tenure was marked by a series of political missteps and poor judgment calls that damaged his standing with both his own party and the broader public.

Burnham secured a seat in Parliament through a special election on June 18 and was officially sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22 — the very same day Starmer announced his resignation, effective once a replacement is selected.

As the clear frontrunner in the Labour Party leadership contest, Burnham faces no declared challengers at this point. If that remains the case, he could be installed as prime minister as soon as July 20.

Despite being regarded as more personable than the reserved Starmer, Burnham will inherit many of the same difficult challenges — a sluggish economy, struggling public services, and a cost-of-living crisis. He will also be bound by Labour’s 2024 election promises, which included a commitment not to raise taxes on working people.

On the international front, Burnham will face pressure shared by all NATO member nations to significantly boost defense spending in response to growing Russian aggression and uncertainty about U.S. reliability as an ally. A long-awaited defense investment plan — which triggered the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — is expected to be released ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey scheduled for July 7 and 8. Burnham’s government would be expected to honor whatever commitments are included in that plan.

Not everyone is impressed with Burnham’s pitch. Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake dismissed the economic vision, saying: “Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians. Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s president declared Monday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds held by Qatar are set to be released, even as ongoing hostilities in the Persian Gulf put pressure on negotiations between Iran and the United States.

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s remarks appear designed to build domestic support for the interim agreement, especially as Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz has come under pressure. Recent efforts have sought to open Oman’s territorial waters to both incoming and outgoing traffic through the Persian Gulf. Iranian attacks and threats had halted the movement of cargo ships and oil tankers through the strait — a waterway through which roughly one-fifth of all globally traded oil and natural gas passed during peacetime — triggering a worldwide energy crisis.

Though the strait runs through the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman, it has long been treated as an international waterway. In recent days, Iran attacked vessels twice along a route near the Omani side of the strait, prompting retaliatory U.S. airstrikes and raising fears that peace negotiations could be thrown off course. On Sunday, Iran also launched drone and missile attacks directed at Bahrain and Kuwait.

Pakistan, which is serving as a key mediator in the talks, indicated that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over the terms of their interim agreement would pick back up on Tuesday. The Trump administration stated Sunday that nothing has been called off and that technical discussions remain on schedule. Iran has not yet confirmed whether it will participate.

Pezeshkian praised the interim deal in remarks published Monday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, describing it as “a great victory for the Iranian people.”

“Based on the plans made, $6 billion out of the total $12 billion of Iranian resources in Qatar will be released and returned to the country, and necessary follow-ups are being carried out,” he said, without providing further details.

Pezeshkian, who is considered a reformist within Iran’s theocratic government, is the most senior Iranian official to publicly reference the release of the Qatar-held funds. Qatar, along with Pakistan, has been playing a central mediating role in the negotiations. However, U.S. officials maintain that no frozen Iranian assets have actually been released. Qatar has not acknowledged any such transfer, and notably, Iran struck a tanker carrying Qatari crude oil during the weekend’s clashes in the Persian Gulf.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a prominent ally of Hezbollah, is speaking out forcefully against a U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning that it could fracture Lebanese society and declaring that it will never take effect.

In remarks published by Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday, Berri argued that negotiations between Iran and the United States represent the only realistic path toward getting Israeli forces out of Lebanon. He said any effort to keep Lebanon separate from the U.S.-Iran diplomatic track would only extend Israel’s occupation of the country.

Israel has been occupying a portion of southern Lebanon following a war with Hezbollah that began on March 2, when the group launched attacks against Israel in a show of solidarity with Tehran after Iran came under assault by U.S. and Israeli forces.

The conflict in Lebanon has become deeply intertwined with broader diplomatic efforts to resolve the wider U.S.-Iran standoff. Iran has insisted that any interim deal with Washington must include a ceasefire in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the United States has been facilitating separate, direct negotiations between the Lebanese and Israeli governments — talks that Beirut has participated in despite Hezbollah’s strong opposition.

The agreement was signed by the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the deal, saying it allows Israeli troops to remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah has not disarmed. Hezbollah, which had demanded that Beirut walk away from direct talks with Israel, has rejected the agreement outright, calling it a capitulation to Israel.

Berri, who leads the Shi’ite Muslim Amal Movement, dismissed the agreement as nothing more than “dictates.” According to al-Akhbar, he said the most alarming aspect of the deal was not just its political terms, but “the potential for it to incite internal divisions and draw the Lebanese into a confrontation among themselves.” He added flatly that the agreement “won’t be implemented.”

The Lebanese government, led by Maronite Christian President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a Sunni Muslim, chose to engage in direct talks with Israel early in the conflict despite fierce resistance from Shi’ite Hezbollah. The move exposed deep rifts over Hezbollah’s decision to enter the war in support of Iran. Since last year, the Beirut government has been working toward disarming Hezbollah, after the group suffered significant losses during a previous war with Israel in 2024.

President Aoun spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, expressing hope that Washington would push Israel to pull its forces out of southern Lebanon. Israel established what it calls a security zone stretching into Lebanese territory during the war, saying it was necessary to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah rocket fire.

On the ground, the Israeli military reported overnight that it destroyed a Hezbollah tunnel measuring 200 meters — roughly 656 feet — in the south. The military also said it struck three Hezbollah command centers in southern Lebanon on Sunday, citing what it described as ceasefire violations by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah pushed back in a statement issued Monday, saying it has honored the ceasefire “until now” and asserting its right “to defend its homeland and its people.”

Malaysia has given deep-sea exploration company Ocean Infinity one additional year to continue its underwater search for the long-missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, according to the country’s transport ministry.

The Boeing 777 jet disappeared in 2014 while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it vanished, leaving behind one of aviation history’s most baffling unsolved mysteries. Despite multiple search efforts focused on the southern Indian Ocean, the plane has never been found.

Ocean Infinity had previously conducted search operations for the aircraft through 2018. Last year, the company entered into a renewed agreement with Malaysia to resume the search across a zone covering 15,000 square kilometers — roughly 5,792 square miles. Under the terms of that deal, Ocean Infinity would only receive payment of $70 million if it actually locates the wreckage.

Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the contract extension covers the period from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2027.

“This decision is a manifestation of the government’s continuous and unwavering commitment to provide a closure for the next of kin of the passengers aboard flight MH370,” Loke said in an official statement.

The additional time is intended to allow Ocean Infinity to finish searching a remaining area of approximately 7,428.54 square kilometers that has yet to be fully covered, Loke explained.

The minister also noted that the extended timeline accounts for Ocean Infinity’s other business obligations, which will require the search team’s main equipment to be temporarily shifted to a different location between November 2026 and April 2027.

With a critical deadline just hours away, several non-governmental organizations across Spain are making a last-ditch effort to help undocumented migrants register for the country’s special mass regularisation program before it closes on Tuesday.

The program, which offers a one-year residence permit, has drawn far more interest than officials expected. Between April and June, the Spanish government received close to double the 500,000 applications it had projected. By Friday, the total number of submissions had climbed to 1.27 million, according to Cesar Perez, the union leader for Spain’s immigration officers.

Rights organizations CEAR and Cepaim are urging migrants to submit their applications even if they are still waiting on required documents from countries such as Mali, Iran, or Venezuela. Spain is estimated to have around 840,000 people working without legal status, and obtaining legal residency through normal channels can take more than a year.

Elena Muñoz, coordinator of CEAR’s legal team, described the final push underway at her organization. “We’re carrying out a final check of all the people who have come to our offices and who may have been missing some documentation at the start of the process,” she said. “If a case is not yet complete … we will submit it before June 30 so that they do not miss the opportunity to benefit from the regularisation process.”

Juan Segura, director-general of Cepaim, explained that migrants are being encouraged to apply now because doing so will give them additional time to supply any missing documents afterward.

Experts have noted that migrants from conflict-affected nations such as Iran and Mali have run into obstacles when trying to get documents authenticated at Spanish consulates — a process that has also proven difficult in Algeria and Nigeria. Venezuelans, meanwhile, have faced delays in obtaining apostilles for criminal record certificates. Spain’s policy changes earlier this month also forced some asylum seekers to switch to this regularisation process with little time to prepare their paperwork.

“This meant some Venezuelans had less time to gather the necessary documents,” Segura said, adding that extending the deadline would be advisable given the difficulties many applicants now face.

However, Spain’s Migration Ministry has stated it has no plans to push back the deadline.

Silvana Cabrera, who leads an NGO in Valencia, reported that the application platforms had experienced technical problems in the final hours. “It’s a distressing situation … many migrants may not manage to register,” she said.

NGOs are also concerned about what happens after the deadline. CEAR has argued that a permanent solution is needed so that migrants are not required to spend two years in an irregular status before they can obtain residency. Advocates also fear that at least 20% of the roughly one million applications submitted could ultimately be rejected, largely because of missing documents and limited flexibility within the administrative process.

One applicant, Jose Luis Quiroga, a Colombian migrant who arrived in Spain just hours after the eligibility cutoff date, submitted his application on the advice of the NGO Aculco. “There’s no certainty, but it seems unfair they wouldn’t approve my application just because I was four hours late,” he said.

KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 36 civilians are dead and more than 160 others were injured after Pakistani military forces carried out overnight airstrikes inside Afghanistan, Afghan officials announced Monday, deepening an already volatile conflict between the two neighboring nations.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said security forces first conducted a ground operation along the shared border late Sunday, then followed up with strikes against what officials described as militant hideouts and safe havens. Pakistani authorities reported 29 fighters were killed in the operations, which they said were launched in direct response to a series of militant attacks carried out inside Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government sharply condemned the strikes, calling them a “cowardly act of aggression” and an “act of brutality.”

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, said Pakistani forces initially struck a residence in the Chamkani district of Paktia province, killing an elderly man and a child while injuring several other family members. When local residents rushed to the scene to help the wounded, the area was struck a second time, leaving 28 villagers dead and 158 more injured, Fitrat said.

Six additional people — most of them women and children — were killed when another home was hit in the Giyan district of Paktika province, according to Fitrat. A separate home in Kunar province was also struck, though no human casualties were reported there; approximately 30 livestock were killed.

Militant attacks on Pakistan’s police and security personnel have risen sharply in recent years. Pakistani authorities have attributed most of the violence to the Pakistani Taliban — formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — along with allied militant organizations. The Pakistani Taliban, while distinct from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, share an alliance with the Afghan Taliban, who reclaimed power in 2021.

The military operation came after a militant assault on the regional headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, which left three soldiers dead. Pakistani security forces killed three of the attackers and captured a fourth, who the military identified as a wounded Afghan national. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.

Sunday’s strikes and ground operation took place less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military conducted a previous round of airstrikes on alleged militant positions inside Afghanistan — ending roughly a month of relative quiet following what Islamabad had characterized as an “open war” between the two countries, despite international efforts to negotiate a durable peace agreement.

The latest violence is part of a months-long cycle of retaliatory military exchanges. Hundreds of lives have been lost in cross-border clashes since February, when Afghanistan launched its own strikes in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.

Numerous rounds of diplomatic talks have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire. China brought both sides together for negotiations in April, and Beijing later reported that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to avoid further escalation and to work toward a peaceful resolution.

COPENHAGEN — Canada has awarded C$7 million (approximately $4.93 million U.S.) in grant funding to support a molybdenum mining operation in Greenland, according to an announcement Monday from Greenland Resources.

The company is working to develop the open-pit Malmbjerg mine in eastern Greenland, which sits atop significant deposits of molybdenum — a metal that both the European Union and the United States have classified as a critical mineral.

The Canadian government formalized the commitment through a signed agreement providing a non-repayable contribution via Natural Resources Canada’s Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration programme, the company said.

Greenland Resources noted that Canada has become the first G7 nation to put money into Greenland’s mining sector.

Molybdenum is a silvery-white metal used mainly to reinforce steel and boost its ability to withstand heat and corrosion. Those properties make it essential for industries including defence manufacturing and clean energy development.

Western nations have grown increasingly uneasy about access to the metal after China — which produces roughly 40% of the world’s molybdenum supply — imposed export restrictions on it in early 2025.

Interest in Greenland’s mineral wealth has surged in recent months following efforts by former President Trump to pursue control of the Arctic island, a push that was rejected by both Denmark and Greenland’s government. Despite its abundant natural resources, Greenland’s mining sector has historically struggled to grow due to regulatory hurdles and limited access to financing.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia and Vanuatu have officially signed a long-anticipated security and economic treaty that prohibits China from establishing a military base on the South Pacific island nation.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Vanuatuan counterpart Jotham Napat put pen to paper on the so-called Nakamal Agreement in Australia’s capital on Monday. The signing came nine months after Vanuatu’s government turned down an earlier version of the deal, citing concerns that the original terms would restrict its ability to bring in infrastructure investment from other countries.

Speaking to reporters after the signing, Albanese said, “Our agreement reflects and confirms Australia’s role as Vanuatu’s largest and most comprehensive economic, security and development partner, a responsibility that we take seriously.”

Napat added that the pact “reaffirms our shared commitment to continuing and strengthening the comprehensive partnership between our two countries, founded on mutual respect, trust and our common vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.”

According to an official government statement, the agreement requires Vanuatu to prohibit any foreign military base or military-related infrastructure within its borders. It also mandates that the nation’s critical infrastructure remain free from militarization, foreign interference, or unauthorized access.

The Nakamal Agreement is part of a broader effort by Australia to strike security deals with neighboring Pacific nations in order to limit China’s growing influence in the region.

Under the finalized terms, Vanuatu must consult with Australia before entering into any third-party arrangements involving its critical infrastructure. However, unlike the original proposal, Australia does not hold veto power over those decisions.

The agreement also commits Vanuatu to giving priority to policing cooperation with members of the Pacific Islands Forum — a group of 18 countries and territories that includes Australia. Notably, the deal does not explicitly exclude Chinese police. While China does not maintain a permanent police presence in Vanuatu, Chinese police personnel do make regular visits to the nation, which has a population of approximately 350,000 people.

Additionally, Vanuatu has agreed to turn first to Australia, New Zealand, and France when responding to major natural disasters.

The original draft of the agreement had included a proposed financial commitment of 500 million Australian dollars — roughly $344 million U.S. — to be provided to Vanuatu over ten years. Albanese indicated that the financial details of the updated agreement would be released publicly by December.

Napat also addressed a separate agreement Vanuatu is negotiating with China, saying the details would be shared once the deal received “clearance from Beijing.” He has previously referred to that deal — known as the Namele Agreement — as a “comprehensive development cooperation” arrangement, stressing that it is not a security pact.

Vanuatu has received substantial loans and aid from China in recent years, funding the construction of buildings, wharves, and other infrastructure projects.

“Currently, it’s not yet signed. We will share the (Namele) agreement. There is nothing to hide. Our government is transparent and I am so grateful that the Prime Minister (Albanese) has also given me the clearance to share with them (China) the Nakamal Agreement,” Napat said.

The road to Monday’s signing was not without setbacks. Last September, Albanese was informed that Vanuatu had rejected a previous draft of the treaty just hours before he was scheduled to fly there for the original signing ceremony.

KYIV/NEAR DRUZHKIVKA, Ukraine — Russian forces are slowly fighting their way into Kostiantynivka, a pivotal stronghold in Ukraine’s eastern defensive corridor that Moscow has long sought to capture, even as progress along most of the roughly 1,200-kilometer front line has largely ground to a halt.

Combat has now begun to spill into the city itself. Senior Ukrainian military commanders reported last week that small groups of Russian soldiers are attempting to push into the city’s outskirts — a development that suggests street-level, close-quarters fighting may be on the horizon.

Kostiantynivka sits at the southern end of a chain of four critical settlements that form a defensive line Ukraine is relying on to hold the heavily industrialized Donetsk region in the country’s east.

Russia’s continued push toward the city highlights Moscow’s persistent advantage in troop numbers, even as Ukrainian mid-range drone strikes targeting Russian supply lines have degraded some of its battlefield capabilities, according to analysts.

Emil Kastehelmi of the Black Bird conflict analysis team in Finland put it plainly: “The effect (of mid-range strikes) hasn’t been so great that it would have forced the Russians to suspend their offensive. So even though Russia has been taking increasingly heavy losses in the rear, they are still able to continue their offensives, at least in certain sectors.”

Taking Kostiantynivka would give Russian forces a launching point to push northward along the defensive belt, which has become the central focus of their military campaign. However, analysts warn that any such advance would likely be prolonged and costly — potentially mirroring the brutal sieges seen in other eastern cities like Pokrovsk and Avdiivka.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia must gain full control of the Donetsk region before the war concludes. Ukraine still controls roughly one-fifth of the region after more than four years of conflict.

Putin said last week that Russian forces were on the verge of capturing Kostiantynivka, a city whose pre-war population of nearly 70,000 has dwindled to around 2,000 residents. Senior commanders of Ukraine’s 19th Army Corps pushed back on that claim in comments to Ukrainian media, calling it an exaggeration and saying their troops were eliminating small Russian units that had managed to enter the city.

Maj. Gen. Viktor Nikoliuk, who leads Ukraine’s eastern operational command, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster on Thursday that Kostiantynivka could continue to hold at the current pace, provided troop levels and resources remain steady.

While the situation on the ground is deteriorating for Ukrainian forces, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said in a June 23 assessment that the Russian infiltrations are not sufficient to trigger “a rapid operational breakthrough.”

Nevertheless, Russian efforts to surround the city using pincer movements are steadily making it more costly for Kyiv to keep defending it, according to Ukrainian analyst Ruslan Mykula of the DeepState open-source mapping group. “A choice will have to be made: either raise the stakes or withdraw,” Mykula said. “And right now, the situation is such that the stakes are rising with each passing day.”

Kastehelmi added that the city’s fall “seems to be more of a question of time.”

Russian troops are also pressing on the northern end of the defensive corridor, threatening the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk with regular air and drone attacks launched from roughly 15 kilometers away.

Ukrainian supply routes in the area are under sustained attack, with artillery, drones, and guided bombs striking infrastructure along the road running north from Kostiantynivka, according to troops stationed nearby.

Reuters recently accompanied members of the “Predator” rifle brigade, part of the National Police, as they patrolled the battered supply route against drone threats and remotely dropped mines. Fiber-optic cable used to guide first-person-view drones was visible strewn across anti-drone netting stretched over the road, glinting in the intense summer heat.

Ground robots carrying food, water, and supplies — now the primary means of delivery within what soldiers call the “kill zone” — rolled back and forth along the route while soldiers zipped past on quad bikes.

Serviceman Oleksandr Kosmin, 34, explained that the route is far too dangerous for standard vehicles to carry out casualty evacuations: “Everything happens on foot.”

Civilian life in the surrounding area is collapsing under the weight of the ongoing fighting. In Druzhkivka, located about 12 kilometers to the north, residents are being forced to flee as the conflict creeps closer. On one tree-lined street, a husband and wife were found dead inside a van that had been struck by a Russian drone — white ribbons intended to identify the vehicle as civilian still fluttered from its roof.

Larysa Sereda, 59, spoke from inside a police evacuation vehicle as she prepared to leave. “Why am I leaving? Because I’m scared. Drones are flying,” she said. “But I plan to return home. I don’t want to stay in some strange place. The war will end, and I’ll come home.”

Russia’s slow advance around Kostiantynivka is unfolding despite growing pressure on its war effort from Ukrainian strikes on supply lines to and from Crimea, as well as longer-range attacks on Russia’s oil sector. Russian-installed authorities on the occupied Black Sea peninsula have declared a state of emergency to address economic problems and have suspended all fuel sales to individuals and businesses.

Across the broader battlefield, Russian forces appear stretched thin, with frontline assaults often involving only one or two soldiers at a time, according to analyst Mykula.

Still, Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed leader of the occupied portion of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, told Reuters that Russia’s push to take more cities was ongoing. “Talking about whether this is happening slowly or quickly isn’t really the point,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian hardliners have been pressuring Putin to walk away from the U.S.-backed peace process and escalate military operations as Ukrainian strikes intensify — including attacks reaching into Moscow itself.

SYDNEY — Australia is set to introduce new legislation in parliament aimed at strengthening its ban on social media use for children under the age of 16, while also expanding the powers of its internet regulator to take tech giants to court when they fail to follow the rules.

The proposed laws come after the country became the first in the world to enact such restrictions, which went into effect last December. Many other nations have been watching Australia’s approach closely, especially as evidence continues to emerge that children are still finding ways onto the platforms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said tech companies are not doing nearly enough to comply with the existing law, and that far too many children remain active on social media.

“We’re calling time on the social media companies today and doubling down on the changes that we have made and that we’re prepared to make,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

“Today, we’ll introduce legislation this afternoon that goes further to ensure social media companies are doing everything within their power to stop children under 16 being on their platforms,” he added.

Australia’s internet regulator is currently investigating five platforms for possible violations: Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Google’s YouTube. Meta, Google, and Snapchat had no immediate response, while TikTok declined to offer any comment.

Albanese also urged the conservative coalition opposition to support the bill, pointing out that the original policy received backing from both sides of the political aisle.

The proposed changes, which were announced on Sunday, would double the maximum penalty for non-compliance from A$49.5 million to A$99 million — roughly $68.2 million U.S. dollars.

The new legislation would also give the eSafety Commissioner the authority to demand internal company documents, including board meeting minutes and private emails, to help build the strongest possible legal cases against platforms that are not complying.

Communications Minister Anika Wells made clear the government has no intention of backing down.

“My message to Big Tech is this: we are not stopping. Every effort you make to frustrate these laws will be met with our efforts to make these laws work,” she said.

“If the eSafety Commissioner finds companies are not doing everything they can to comply, they will face the full force of the law,” Wells added.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China announced new export control measures Monday targeting 40 Japanese companies, accusing them of contributing to what Beijing calls Japan’s “remilitarization.”

According to China’s Commerce Ministry, 20 of those companies — including Mitsui E&S, a manufacturer of ship engines and related equipment — have been added to a watch list covering dual-use items, meaning products that can serve both civilian and military functions.

Chinese companies that wish to export goods to those firms will now be required to obtain special licenses, provide risk assessment reports on the Japanese businesses, and submit written commitments that any dual-use items will not be used for military purposes.

Separately, 20 additional Japanese companies that were placed on a watch list back in February have now been moved to a stricter control list. Under that designation, both Chinese and foreign exporters are prohibited from selling them any dual-use products manufactured in China. Among those on the control list are several divisions of Mitsubishi Corporation.

In its official statement, China’s Commerce Ministry defended the actions: “China’s measures are entirely justified, reasonable and lawful. They are aimed at firmly deterring Japan’s reckless pursuit of ‘new militarism.’”

The statement went further, adding: “We hope Japan will recognize its mistakes, reverse its wrongful course, genuinely reflect on its past and return to the right track.”

The friction between the two nations has been building since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last year that Japan could step in militarily if China moved against Taiwan — a self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory.

Takaichi’s government has also been expanding Japan’s military capacity, including placing longer-range missiles on remote islands and opening the door to lethal weapons exports under a newly adopted policy. Japan is also expected to revise its defense and security documents by December, a move that could push its defense budget even higher.

On Monday, Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force announced the deployment of a Type-12 missile launcher on Minamitorishima, the country’s southernmost remote island — a move widely seen as a response to China’s growing military presence in the Pacific.

China’s latest actions mirror steps it took in February, when it placed 20 Japanese companies on an export control list and another 20 on a watch list.

Beijing has been steadily increasing military pressure on Taiwan, viewing the island as territory that must eventually be reunified with the mainland, by force if needed.

Earlier this month, China’s Coast Guard conducted patrols east of Taiwan, which state media described as a “pointed warning” to Japan and the Philippines following a joint announcement that the two countries would discuss their shared maritime boundaries in waters Beijing considers its own.

Last week, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France issued an unusual joint statement condemning Chinese actions in the waters east of Taiwan and declaring their opposition to any change in the current status quo between China and Taiwan.

PARIS (AP) — The phone at one Paris mortuary rings every few minutes, and the answer is almost always the same. Since a record-breaking heat wave began claiming lives across France and filling cold storage facilities beyond capacity, funeral directors and grieving families have been calling mortuary owner Zouhaeir Hertelli with one desperate question: Is there any room left?

With all 32 spaces in his cold room occupied, Hertelli finds himself forced to gently say “Non” — again and again.

“We’re facing a really catastrophic situation,” he said. “I’m getting hundreds of calls.”

As the historic heat wave pushed its deadly temperatures eastward into other parts of Europe over the weekend, France began the grim task of counting lives lost in its aftermath.

The full accounting of heat-related deaths — a process that can take weeks or even months — has only just begun. But it is already clear that the suffering caused by the relentless extreme temperatures was severe in France, the first country to be struck starting in mid-June. Older people who died alone at home made up a significant portion of the casualties.

“We’re dealing with an enormous spike of deaths because of the heat wave and we’re really full, full, full,” Hertelli said.

In an initial preliminary estimate, France’s national public health agency reported that deaths climbed sharply during the heat wave’s peak last week, when temperatures in many areas surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of the country. Nighttime temperatures also broke records, leaving already exhausted bodies with no chance to recover.

Public Health France reported more than 1,200 deaths last Wednesday — the day France recorded its hottest temperature ever, breaking a record that had only been set the day before. The death toll climbed further to more than 1,400 on Thursday and another 1,400 on Friday. For comparison, France’s typical daily death rate in April and May hovered between 900 and 1,000.

The agency warned that its estimate of at least 1,000 additional deaths during just those three peak days is likely to grow as more death certificates arrive from people who died at home and in care facilities for the elderly — locations where electronic death registration is still not widely used.

“Mortality will as a consequence be higher than these first figures,” the agency stated.

The agency also noted that 85% of deaths recorded during the three days studied involved people aged 65 and older, and that deaths at home jumped by roughly 40%, particularly in the Paris region.

Hertelli and other funeral industry professionals said Paris mortuaries ran out of storage space almost immediately. City Hall announced that two temporary storage units, each holding 20 bodies, were set up at municipal mortuaries, and city hospitals added another 50 spaces. Even so, Hertelli said funeral directors told him they were transporting bodies as far as Chartres — 80 kilometers, or about 50 miles, from Paris — and to other surrounding regions just to find available space. He said he has requested permission from authorities to set up refrigerated containers outside his mortuary near Paris’s Orly airport, but is still waiting for approval.

“Families are suffering,” he said. “We have no solution to offer them, because the funeral homes are full. So we are deeply affected, we have empathy for them, but there’s nothing we can offer. We are really facing a problem, a big problem.”

The current heat wave surpassed the historic high temperatures of 2003, which were blamed for 15,000 deaths in France and sparked a national conversation about how the country cares for its elderly population. An exceptionally hot summer the previous year was also linked to more than 5,700 deaths.

Paris funeral director Véronique Bertrand said she worries that the hard lessons of 2003 have faded from public memory.

“Most of the deaths that we are dealing with at the moment were people who were living alone at home, isolated. Given the circumstances in which they were found, there can be no other conclusion than that these were deaths caused by the heat,” Bertrand said.

She urged the public to reconnect with a sense of community responsibility. “I think people absolutely need to wake up, that solidarity needs to come back, that what happened in 2003 led to a movement in that direction, with people thinking about their neighbors, of those around them who live alone and perhaps checking from time to time that they’re drinking water and are being looked after,” she said.

“With the passing years, we’ve perhaps forgotten that it could happen again and that things would even perhaps be worse,” Bertrand added.

HONG KONG — A nearly 40-hour voyage on a small rubber dinghy with a fading phone battery and detention in South Korea — that’s part of the extraordinary ordeal Chinese dissident Dong Guangping went through to escape his homeland. He touched down in Canada late last week, reaching a country he had been trying to get to for more than ten years.

Dong had been imprisoned in China multiple times, including for activities honoring the memory of pro-democracy demonstrators who were suppressed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, as well as for previous escape attempts.

“It’s like living in a cage. Very suffocating,” he told The Associated Press during a video interview conducted from Toronto, describing the absence of free expression in China.

The 68-year-old said that following his release from prison, he was cut off from retirement benefits, could not renew his passport, and was kept under continuous police surveillance.

He had tried to flee China at least three times before: in 2015 to Thailand, where he was deported back to China; in 2019 when he attempted to swim to a Taiwanese island off China’s eastern coast; and in 2020 when he made it to Vietnam, only to be sent back once again.

Last month, he made another attempt.

In the early morning hours of May 24, Dong departed from Weihai — a coastal city in Shandong province in eastern China — aboard a gray rubber dinghy equipped with an engine, under clear skies. His destination was Japan, where he believed authorities would not force him to return to China.

The following day brought thick fog. When he noticed his phone — his only GPS navigation tool — was down to its last bar of battery, panic set in. His backup power bank had also given out. He quickly pivoted to his backup plan and set his course for South Korea instead.

He recalled the deep fear that gripped him, knowing his small vessel could overturn if conditions worsened. But he had no way to turn back, and he pushed past his fear of dying.

“Living conditions back in the country are so terrible that being alive is little different than being dead. So there is no point fearing death,” he said. “If you move forward, there’s a chance at life.”

As evening fell, he spotted lights in the distance and steered toward them. The first vessel he approached could not hear his calls for help and moved on. He eventually came across a fishing boat whose crew agreed to bring him aboard. He asked the fishermen to contact authorities on his behalf.

The South Korean Coast Guard took him into custody for allegedly breaking the country’s immigration laws. Officials sought a formal arrest warrant, but a court turned it down, ruling it was “difficult to recognize sufficient grounds and necessity” for his arrest.

Dong was then transferred to a refugee center in Incheon, a port city near Seoul. Earlier this month, the U.N. refugee agency reached out to him via video call, he said.

A manager at the refugee center later asked him about his height, weight, and eye color. Though he was initially nervous, it turned out to be a promising sign. His attorney informed him the request had come from the Canadian diplomatic mission, he said.

Roughly a week later, Dong boarded a plane and arrived in Toronto on Friday. He said he was still unsure exactly what legal steps were involved, but believed it came down to coordination between the South Korean and Canadian governments along with the U.N. agency.

“I feel very surprised, extremely surprised. It’s like still in a dream. It’s very fast,” he said.

He believes the resettlement status in Canada that his family secured back in 2015 — before Thai authorities sent him back to China — remains valid.

The Canadian Embassy in South Korea declined to comment on his situation. The U.N. refugee agency and the South Korean government did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Dong said he feels at home now that he’s in Toronto, describing it as the first taste of genuine freedom he’s had in more than a decade.

“There’s not even a hint of fear,” he said.

He hopes to support himself by working as a truck driver or an Uber driver.

Despite his relief, Dong has not forgotten how Thailand and Vietnam both sent him back to China. In 2015, he and his family traveled to Thailand to seek refugee status through the U.N. refugee agency, but Thai authorities arrested him and returned him to China, according to Amnesty International. His ex-wife and daughter were able to settle in Canada. He fled to Vietnam in 2020 but was sent back in 2022. Each time he was returned to China, he was jailed. He said he intends to consult a lawyer about the possibility of suing both Thailand and Vietnam.

For Dong, the struggle is not over. He also plans to continue advocating for China’s democratization.

In the late 1990s, the former police officer distributed leaflets containing his writings on subjects including the Tiananmen crackdown. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2001 on charges of inciting subversion of state power. He also spent more than eight months behind bars after being arrested in 2014 for participating in a memorial for victims of the crackdown.

“My ultimate goal is for China to achieve constitutional democracy,” he said.

A senior Israeli cybersecurity official says the number of Iranian cyberattacks targeting Israel has risen sharply since the start of a U.S.-Israeli military offensive against Iran this year.

Yossi Karadi, Director General of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, spoke with German newspaper Die Welt, revealing that Israeli authorities recorded approximately 1,600 hostile cyber incidents during June 2025, when Israeli military operations against Iran were underway. That number soared to roughly 4,800 incidents during the same month in 2026.

“Some groups are very skilled,” Karadi told the newspaper. “We can handle them, but we have to take them seriously. Unlike in the kinetic realm, there’s no ceasefire in cyberspace.”

Karadi explained that the attacks have been aimed at a wide range of targets, including critical infrastructure systems, major organizations, small and medium-sized businesses, and the general public. He specifically mentioned law practices and accounting firms among the smaller entities that have been hit.

“So far — and hopefully it stays that way — we’ve managed to fend off attacks on critical infrastructure,” he said.

He added that organizations with weaker defenses often had their computer systems completely wiped out, though he declined to name any specific victims.

Iran has historically denied involvement in hacking operations against other nations, even as it reports being the target of cyberattacks itself.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko traveled to Beijing for a face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to the Belarusian presidential Telegram channel Pul Pervogo, which reported the development on Monday.

During the meeting, Xi told Lukashenko that relations between China and Belarus have reached their “historic peak,” as quoted by Pul Pervogo.

Lukashenko responded warmly to the remark. “This is exactly what we talked with you before,” he said, according to the Telegram post. “And perhaps, to some extent, what we had dreamed of on the eve of this global cooperation between Belarus and … China.”

The Beijing visit follows talks Lukashenko held with Russian President Vladimir Putin just last week. The diplomatic activity comes at a time of heightened tension between Belarus and Ukraine, whose president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has stated his belief that Putin is working to push Lukashenko into increasing his backing of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.