Day News Recap: Deadly violence and regional tensions dominate as floods hit US and Thailand

South Africa was hit by a wave of violence, with police saying at least 27 people were killed in separate mass shootings in Cape Town and Johannesburg, in one of the country’s deadliest recent outbreaks of gun crime.  🔗

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In the Middle East, Iran is looking to the Caspian Sea as a possible alternative route for oil exports and imports while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, underlining the pressure on its southern shipping lanes.  🔗 Yemen also saw fresh bloodshed, with an airstrike killing at least seven people and wounding dozens near the Mawiya junction as fighting intensified around the Bab al Mandab area.  🔗

Israel and Gaza remained under intense political strain, as the US led Board of Peace said UNRWA would have no role in Gaza reconstruction, deepening disputes over aid and recovery plans.  🔗 Separately, fresh revelations about warnings before Hamas’s 7 October attack increased pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a full scale war in the occupied West Bank.  🔗  🔗

Across the wider region, Iraq is in talks with Washington after four airports suspended flights to and from Iran, as the aviation fallout from the regional crisis spread.  🔗 Saudi Arabia warned that rising threats across the Middle East are affecting international peace, energy security and global stability.  🔗

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Europe saw several security and political flashpoints. In Greece, emergency teams recovered six bodies after an explosion brought down a two storey apartment block in Athens’s historic Plaka district, with the cause still under investigation.  🔗 In Germany, officials are debating whether the far right AfD should be blocked from sensitive intelligence access after its election win in Saxony Anhalt.  🔗 In Gloucestershire, five men remain in custody after a major counter terror response near RAF Fairford, with evacuations still linked to the operation.  🔗

Elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland’s voters rejected stricter neutrality rules, with about 70 percent voting no and all cantons backing the rejection.  🔗 Northern Ireland’s High Court allowed the Orange Order to march through Garvaghy Road in Portadown, reviving a long running parade dispute.  🔗 Ireland is meanwhile facing higher energy, fuel and mortgage costs after the escalation of the war involving Iran.  🔗

In eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes that killed at least 16 people across Ukraine, Russia and occupied territory over 24 hours, according to statements from both sides.  🔗 Ethiopia’s army said it was acting with restraint as fighting spread across the north, raising fears of a wider conflict.  🔗 Afghanistan said its forces killed 28 fighters in Nuristan after cross border clashes with a group it said had entered from Pakistan.  🔗

In Asia Pacific, Bangkok was declared a disaster affected zone after nearly 300 mm of rain caused widespread flooding across Thailand’s capital and all 50 districts.  🔗 In the United States, a powerful nor’easter brought coastal flooding, strong winds and heavy rain to the north east, prompting emergencies in New York and New Jersey.  🔗

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In the Americas, Venezuela released 39 political prisoners after a second round of talks between the interim government and the opposition.  🔗 Cuba used its speech at the UN General Assembly in New York to condemn the US oil blockade, even as Donald Trump predicted a deal.  🔗 In the United States, Trump also said he had approved new fuel economy rules ending the Biden era EV mandate.  🔗

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