Breakfast News Recap: US and Iran strikes deepen Gulf tensions as Europe swelters and Lebanon deal frays

The United States has widened its campaign against Iranian targets, saying it struck 10 military sites and then hit missile and drone storage locations again, as a fragile ceasefire around the Strait of Hormuz came under renewed strain. President Donald Trump warned Iran must never get nuclear weapons and said the US could act again if Tehran breaches the ceasefire.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Gulf states moved to protect shipping and civilians as the crisis spread. Bahrain and Kuwait raised alerts, while the UN maritime agency said it had evacuated about 2,500 stranded seafarers from the Persian Gulf before suspending its rescue operation.  🔗  🔗

In the Middle East, the ceasefire politics remained unsettled. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a newly signed US brokered security framework between Lebanon and Israel as a surrender, even as Israel said its troops will stay in southern Lebanon after the deal and carried out fresh strikes in the south.  🔗  🔗

Europe faced a separate emergency as a severe heatwave swept east across western Europe, breaking national temperature records and leaving hospitals, roads and rail networks under pressure. The extreme temperatures were linked to dozens of deaths across the region.  🔗

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Brussels also pushed back on trade pressure from Washington, with the European Commission rejecting Donald Trump's warning that tariffs of up to 100 percent could be imposed on exports from European countries.  🔗

In the Balkans, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said he will resign within weeks, opening the way for early presidential and parliamentary elections amid sustained protests.  🔗

Elsewhere, Burkina Faso severed diplomatic relations with France, deepening its break with the former colonial power, while New Caledonia opened its first provincial vote since 2019 as status talks with France continue.  🔗  🔗

Across Asia and the Pacific, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off Japan's Iwate coast with no tsunami warning issued, and in Pakistan an explosion and gunfire were reported near the Rangers offices in Karachi.  🔗  🔗

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In the Americas, Venezuela said the death toll from two earthquakes that hit on Wednesday has risen to 1,430, with 3,238 injured as rescue work continues. In the United States, the UAE delegation held Washington meetings on trade, finance and illicit finance, while in India police in Madhya Pradesh prepared a coordinated crackdown on wildlife trafficking through the railway network.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Security and law enforcement developments also included an Albanian man charged in Surrey over a people smuggling probe linked to small boat crossings, and Europol saying Operation Endgame disrupted SocGholish, Amadey and StealC cybercriminal networks.  🔗  🔗

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