Breakfast News Recap: US Iran strikes widen as Ukraine toll rises and global tensions ripple

The United States kept up airstrikes on Iran for a sixth straight night, while Iranian state media said new hits damaged civilian and transport infrastructure, deepening fears of a wider regional conflict.  🔗

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Tehran also accused Washington of striking near a children's cancer hospital in Ahvaz, saying 211 patients had to be evacuated after the blast came close enough to force the move.  🔗 Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps separately warned that the Bab al Mandeb Strait could become a new front in its war with the United States, adding to pressure on shipping routes already under strain.  🔗

Shipping risks in the Gulf were underlined by reports that tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have been highly targeted in recent weeks, with analysts saying the attacks were not random and that the southern corridor has now been shut.  🔗 In a related move, the United States approved a potential $1.96bn weapons sale to Saudi Arabia to strengthen its air defences as tensions across West Asia intensify.  🔗

In Ukraine, at least 13 people were killed in Russian and Ukrainian strikes on civilian areas across several regions, including Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, according to local officials.  🔗 The violence came as Palestinians were also reported injured in separate settler attacks across the occupied West Bank.  🔗

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Elsewhere in the Middle East, Syria said it had seized a shipment of missiles, rockets and drones at the border with Iraq, claiming the weapons were bound for Hezbollah.  🔗 Dubai authorities denied reports of explosions in the city centre after initial claims linked the booms to missile activity, while US Vice President JD Vance accused some Israeli officials of trying to sway American opinion against an Iran deal.  🔗 🔗

In Africa, the World Health Organization warned that Ebola is spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo faster than in any previous outbreak, as the country struggles to contain the disease.  🔗 In Asia, a large landslide in Pengshui, in Chongqing municipality, buried people and damaged homes, with rescue work still under way.  🔗

China featured in several developments, with Xi Jinping calling for global cooperation on artificial intelligence at a Shanghai conference and warning against any one country dominating the technology.  🔗 Kim Jong Un also met Wang Huning in Pyongyang and pledged to deepen ties with Beijing, while Papua New Guinea said it would close Taiwan's trade mission in Port Moresby to reassure China.  🔗 🔗

Diplomatic and political tensions widened elsewhere too, as the EU's internal affairs commissioner urged member states to cut visas for Russian citizens, Nicaragua cut ties with Italy over a Moro extradition dispute, and Ilhan Omar renewed her push for the United States to join the International Criminal Court.  🔗 🔗 🔗

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In Britain, Labour is due to confirm Andy Burnham as its new leader at a special conference on Friday, setting up a change of prime minister in London, while the government formally nationalised British Steel after months of concern over its Chinese owner.  🔗 🔗 In the Americas, the United States said it will impose 25% tariffs on thousands of Brazilian imports from 22 July, Canada wildfire smoke worsened across the US Midwest and Northeast, and Venezuela's earthquake death toll rose to 4,930.  🔗 🔗 🔗

Other headlines included Japan revising its imperial succession law while keeping the ban on a female emperor, BIMSTEC security chiefs agreeing joint action against terror and maritime threats in New Delhi, and two US criminal cases, one in Louisiana over Social Security fraud and another in Brooklyn linked to pig butchering scams.  🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗

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