TOP NEWS

Brent crude edges up as tit-for-tat strikes imperial return to normality in key waterway.

Oil prices have climbed following the latest flare-up in hostilities between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude, the primary international benchmark, rose about 0.9 percent on Monday after tit-for-tat US and Iranian strikes over the weekend renewed doubts about a return to normal shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent futures for August delivery stood at $73.21 a barrel as of 03:30 GMT, 127 cents higher than the day before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

“Brent’s partial rebound this morning reflects a market that had perhaps run too quickly on ceasefire optimism,” Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG in Sydney, Australia, told Al Jazeera.

“Oil had nearly unwound its entire war premium, despite an MoU with no enforcement details and ongoing strikes. Thursday’s attack on a commercial vessel was a reality check, and this weekend’s tit-for-tat exchanges have compounded that,” Yip said.

Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday morning, with losses in Tokyo and Seoul and gains in Hong Kong and Taipei.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was 0.7 percent lower, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.9 percent.

Japanese and Korean stocks tied to the AI boom saw some of the biggest losses amid heated debate about whether tech firms’ massive investments in the emerging technology will pay off.

Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group fell about 5 percent, while Advantest Corporation, a key maker of semiconductor testing equipment, slumped 3.7 percent.

South Korean memory chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped about 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index and Taiwan’s Taiex both rose, gaining 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

“Quarter-end profit-taking is adding to the selling pressure, with investors locking in gains from what has been a remarkable run. The Kospi is up roughly 95 percent this year, and the Nikkei up 37 percent,” IG’s Yip said.

“The underlying concern, however, is whether the AI boom can continue to translate into sustained earnings growth, or whether margin pressure is arriving sooner than the market anticipated.”

US Central Command announced strikes against Iran on Friday and Saturday, citing Iranian attacks on two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which in peacetime serves as a conduit for about one-fifth of the global trade in oil and liquified natural gas.

Iran responded to the strikes by launching a series of missiles and drones targeting US military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Washington and Tehran agreed to cease their attacks and renew their negotiations on ending the war, multiple media outlets reported late on Sunday, citing unnamed US officials.

Axios, citing an unnamed senior US official, reported that the sides would hold talks in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

Iran has yet to comment on the reported agreement to cease hostilities or the planned talks.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war on June 17, but the agreement has repeatedly come under strain due to flare-ups in hostilities and disagreements about the meaning of the text.

Australian national Simon Peter Carman has been charged with murder after the body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was found inside a suitcase. CCTV footage appears to show the pair entering a hotel together and Carman leaving hours later with only a suitcase.

June 28 (UPI) — Ukrainian long-range weapons struck two major Russian oil refineries on Sunday as President Vladimir Putin promised to ramp up security against Kyiv’s attacks in an address to United Russia party members.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a social media post that the Slavyansk oil refinery in the Krasnodar region and another facility in the Yaroslavl region were hit, accompanying those claims were video showing buildings ablaze with thick smoke pouring into the sky.

The Slavyansk refinery is about 186 miles from the front lines of the Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine, while the Yaroslavl facility significantly farther away, at approximately at 434 miles.

Zelensky said Ukrainian forces celebrated the nation’s Constitution Day with the attacks, which continued Kyiv’s recent ramping up of its strikes on Russian infrastructure located far behind the front lines through the use of sophisticated long-range weaponry.

“We continue our operations that weaken Russia’s ability to wage this war,” Zelensky said. “Each of our long-range sanctions means fewer resources serving Russia’s war machine, and another step toward peace.”

Sunday’s strikes appeared to be a continuation of Zelensky’s newly announced 40-day “influence campaign” of using intermediate- and long-range weapons against Russia’s oil infrastructure in a bid to bring Putin to the negotiating table.

The Russian-installed occupation authorities in the Crimean Peninsula announced a regional state of emergency on Friday amid gas shortages shortly after the initiation of campaign.

In Moscow, meanwhile, Putin on Sunday obliquely admitted Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign was affecting Russians’ lives, but then quickly dismissed those concerns.

In a speech to the 23rd congress of his United Russia Party, Putin vowed to improve security and defenses against Ukrainian attacks.

“The congress of United Russia, our leading political party, is taking place at a difficult time — it would be safe to say that it is a pivotal moment for our country and a period of radical and systemic transformation of the entire world,” the president said, while pointing the finger at “Western elites.”

“Once again, Russia is confidently repelling any attempts to deter our progress. We have sufficient resources, means, and political will, and nobody should doubt that,” he declared.

Putin did not mention the wide-scale gasoline shortages being felt around the country but vowed to ensure the security of Russia.

From the prime minister to sport celebrities and fans on social media, Canadians have revelled in their team’s win.

Canada have enjoyed a historic run at the FIFA World Cup 2026, and it will continue thanks to Stephen Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute goal against South Africa, which sent the cohosts into the global tournament’s round of 16 for the first time.

The 29-year-old midfielder’s strike on Sunday rewrote Canadian football history, capping off a narrative that Jesse Marsch has been scripting since taking the reins two years ago.

“Think about how we talked about sticking to the plan, sticking to who we want to be, playing aggressive, accessing the quality, you guys showing your character,” an impassioned Marsch told his team as they circled around him on the pitch following their victory.

“You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes for the future children of this country, who play this sport. This sport has a big future because of you guys.

“You should be so proud of who you are. You should be so proud of this game. You went after it, moment after moment.”

The same words were echoed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had barely exited his flight and watched the final minutes of the game on his phone.

“What a game. What a team. What a country,” Carney wrote on social media.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, where Eustaquio was born and raised before his family moved to Portugal, congratulated the team for advancing to the next round, as did Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre.

Mayor of Vancouver, Ken Sim, wrote to the team, saying: “You wore your hearts on your sleeves, gave everything on the field, and gave all of us a memory we’ll never forget.”

Social media was flooded with footage of Canada fans turning watch parties and fan festivals into a sea of red. Even Los Angeles Stadium, where Canada came down the West Coast to play South Africa, was thronged with fans supporting the World Cup cohosts.

Football enthusiasts and analysts on social media said the victory felt surreal for Canada, where sport like ice hockey, basketball and baseball enjoy far more popularity than football.

Fellow Canadian athletes joined in the social media celebrations. Multiple Olympic champion swimmer Summer McIntosh, tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Olympic champion runner Andre de Grasse were some of Canada’s top athletes to back the men’s football team after their win.

Famed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield also congratulated the team after wishing them well earlier on Sunday.

FC Bayern congratulated Alphonso Davies for returning to international duty after he sustained a hamstring injury with them in May, during the UEFA Champions League semifinal. The game saw a noticeable shift in pace and tactic when Davies was subbed in on the 74th minute.

From the opponent’s side, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Canada for winning “with Bafana Bafana breathing down your necks”.

Former German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger, however, who was called out by Ivory Coast manager Emerse Fae for racist undertones in his remarks on the African team, seemed unfazed by Canada’s historic win.

“Overall, not a convincing performance, but thanks to the clearer chances, progressing is fine. Alphonso Davies brought fresh wind after coming on as a substitute,” he wrote on social media.

“However, against the Netherlands or Morocco, the team will have to improve significantly.”

Washington and Tehran have agreed to stop attacks and renew talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, Axios reports.

Ireland won the second T20 by one run over India, who did not hand a debut to teen sensation Sooryavanshi.

Ireland have secured a landmark series win over T20 world champions India in Belfast with a tense one-run victory after India again denied teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a debut.

Harry Tector marked his 100th T20 international appearance with a fine 50, as Ireland recovered from a slow start to post 154-8 at Stormont.

India-born Jai Moondra, who struck with his first ball in international cricket on Friday, had Sanju Samson lbw off the first ball of India’s chase.

He also dismissed Abhishek Sharma in the same over, before soon removing India captain Shreyas Iyer.

India regrouped after a rain delay, with Tilak Varma making 55 and Harshit Rana 21 late on, but that was not enough, as they finished on 153-9.

India’s 15-year-old batting prodigy Sooryavanshi forced his way into the squad for the white-ball tours of Ireland and England following several stunning displays in the 20-overs-per-side Indian Premier League.

Sooryavanshi emerged as the leading run-scorer in this season’s edition after amassing 776 runs for the Rajasthan Royals, a tally that included one century and five fifties.

But as had been the case in the first of the two-match series on Friday, when Ireland won by 34 runs for their first international men’s win over India in any format, the rising star was left out.

Sooryavanshi’s next chance to make an international debut will come in Wednesday’s first T20 against England at Chester-le-Street, the headquarters of county side Durham.

June 28 (UPI) — Three firefighters were killed while battling a wildfire in western Colorado, the Department of the Interior announced Sunday.

Two others were being treated for burn injuries sustained in the Saturday “burnover” incident at the Knowles and Gore fires in Mesa County near the Colorado-Utah border, officials in a statement.

The identities of the fallen Wildland Fire Service and Forest Service firefighters were not immediately released pending notifications of their relatives.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was “devastated about the loss of three heroic firefighters who died in the line of duty in Western Colorado.”

In a statement, the he praised “the men and women who serve on the front lines of these fires risk their lives to keep us safe and to protect the lands and communities we love.

“To the loved ones of those lost, and to their fellow crew members — some who are still battling the flames — know that the State of Colorado mourns alongside you.”

Polis said the Colorado National Guard, the federal Bureau of Land Management and local officials and firefighters have been deployed to fight the Snyder-Mesa Fire, which on Sunday was estimated to be more than 28,000 acres, and to recover the bodies of the three fallen firefighters.

The governor said the two surviving firefighters had been extracted by helicopter.

On Saturday he activated the State Emergency Operations Plan and directed the Colorado Department of Public Safety to take responsibility for all response, recovery and mitigation efforts on the Snyder Mesa Fire.

The deaths came as powerful wind gusts, extremely low humidity and the threat of dry lightning fueled an outbreak of large wildfires across the southwestern United States.

Utah has been the hardest hit. Including the deadly blaze along the Colorado border, multiple fires exceeding 10,000 acres have erupted over the past week across the state. The Cherry and Iron Fires southwest of Provo, along with the Cottonwood Fire in south-central Utah, are among the largest active wildfires.

The weather pattern responsible for the heightened wildfire danger is expected to persist through much of the week, forecasters say.

June 28 (UPI) — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Sunday he plans to send housing affordability legislation to President Donald Trump for a signature Monday despite his refusal to sign the package last week.

In an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Johnson said he believes Trump will sign the legislation.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him Monday, and it will become law,” Johnson said.

“I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

Both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act last week. The legislation seeks to lower housing costs, expand homeownership access, and limit corporate and institutional ownership for rental purposes.

The bill includes 60 pieces of legislation that would also seek to ease bureaucracy to hasten housing development, modernize federal housing programs and banking regulations, and incentivize local governments to prioritize housing.

The non-profit National Low Income Housing Coalition said the United States is facing a shortage of 7.2 million affordable units for low-income renters, resulting in a housing crisis in every state.

The House voted 358-32 and the Senate voted 85-5 in favor of the bill.

Trump was originally scheduled to sign the legislation Wednesday, but he canceled those plans, saying he won’t sign housing legislation until lawmakers approve the SAVE America voting bill.

There haven’t been enough votes to pass the legislation, which would require people to prove their citizenship before they can register to vote. Opponents to the law say it would disenfranchise millions of legitimate voters.

In an appearance Sunday on NewsNation‘s The Hill Sunday, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said he wouldn’t be surprised if Trump doesn’t sign the housing legislation.

“I don’t know with this president, because he’s said that he doesn’t care about rising costs,” Subramanyam said.

“He said … if he doesn’t have a housing problem and his friends don’t have [a] problem with housing, then it doesn’t matter to him. So I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t sign it.”

June 28 (UPI) — The Israeli government on Sunday voted unanimously to recognize the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a genocide.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar proposed the vote during a cabinet meeting.

“Despite the extensive and unambiguous historical documentation, the Armenian genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” Sa’ar said during the meeting.

“It is widely believed that the Ottoman Empire committed crimes amounting to genocide in a systematic manner, with the aim of destroying the Armenian people.”

The fact that the Armenian genocide happened beginning in 1915 is well-accepted within academic circles. However, the Turkish government has continued to deny the culpability of its predecessor — the Ottoman Empire. More than 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1923.

Ahead of the vote, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz described the Israeli resolution as “an attempt to cover up their own crimes.”

In 2024, the Armenian government officially recognized an independent Palestinian state, months after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. Armenia said a two-state solution, which is backed by other nations including the United States, is the best option to bring peace to the region.

In response, Israel summoned the Armenian ambassador for a “harsh reprimand conversation.”

Israel joins more than 30 countries across the globe that have acknowledged the Armenian massacres, using the term “genocide,” Politico reported. Among them are France, Germany, Lebanon, Syria and the United States.

President Donald Trump, however, has repeatedly declined to use the term and rejected a 2016 congressional vote to formally and symbolically recognize the genocide.

The last U.S. president to publicly acknowledge the massacres as a genocide was Joe Biden, who, in 2021, marked the 106th anniversary of the atrocities on April 24, Armenian Remembrance Day.

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said.

“We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history,” he said, using the Armenian term for the genocide. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”

Keir Starmer is out after a short tenure as prime minister during which he failed to connect with voters and much of Britain’s media. As Andy Burnham prepares to become the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade, can he navigate a media landscape transformed by Brexit and the rise of Reform UK?

Contributors: 
Chris Painter – Professor, Birmingham City University
Peter Oborne – Journalist and broadcaster
Shehab Khan – Political editor, Zeteo UK
Polly Toynbee – Columnist, The Guardian

On our radar

A controversial luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s family has sparked weeks of protests in Albania. With much of the country’s media looking the other way, Ryan Kohls examines how demonstrators are using independent journalism and social media to shape their own narrative.

Argentina’s Far-Right Rewrite of the Past

As right-wing populists take power across Latin America, they have waged a ‘cultural battle’ to reclaim the past. In Argentina, President Javier Milei – and a legion of supportive influencers and YouTubers – are revising how the country’s history of military dictatorship is remembered and debated.

Featuring:
Agustín Laje – President, Fundación Faro; YouTuber
Sol Montero – Professor, National University of San Martín

Reporter: Tariq Nafi
Producer: Ella Willis

The search for survivors continues in Venezuela after a powerful earthquake left hundreds dead and thousands missing. Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from one of the country’s worst-hit areas where many residents have lost their homes and are now sleeping outdoors.

June 28 (UPI) — The Iranian military launched fresh attacks at U.S. sites in Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday morning amid an escalation of violence that threatens a fragile peace agreement.

Bahraini and Kuwaiti government sources said each intercepted attacks from Iran, including two ballistic missiles in Kuwait’s airspace. Bahrain said one of the strikes damaged a residential building near an international airport, The Guardian reported.

Neither country declared any casualties, The New York Times reported.

The renewed violence came after an Iranian drone struck a Singapore-flagged cargo ship while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. The U.S. military accused Iran of also striking a Panama-flagged tanker carrying oil on Saturday.

The United States responded Saturday with its own attacks targeting Iranian drone sites. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping.”

President Donald Trump announced the U.S. strikes in a post on Truth Social that also threatened further violence against Iran. He accused the country of violating a memorandum of understanding that both he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed earlier this month.

“It is very possible that they will never learn!” Trump wrote of Iran.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

Shipping via the Strait of Hormuz largely came to a halt in March after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran beginning Feb. 28. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that under the MOU signed June 17, Iran is the sole country responsible for managing the strait.

He warned the United States against interfering in shipping through the waterway, the Times reported. He said that further interference could delay the full reopening of the strait.

“Under the memorandum of understanding, no other entity or country has any responsibility in this regard,” he said at a news conference in Baghdad.

George Russell’s victory over Max Verstappen further reduces teammate Kimi Antonelli’s lead in the drivers’ title race.

A thirsty George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to trim Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli’s Formula One championship lead to 40 points.

Max Verstappen finished 1.6 seconds adrift, after crashing in qualifying and starting fifth, at his Red Bull team’s home circuit with Antonelli third and 0.3 behind after a thrilling chase to the line at scenic Spielberg.

The win was Russell’s second of the season, after he took the opener in Australia, his career seventh and Mercedes’ seventh in eight rounds so far.

Antonelli has 171 points to Russell’s 131 with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, fifth on Sunday after running second and battling Verstappen wheel-to-wheel, dropping to third on 125.

In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes have 302 points to Ferrari’s 204.

“Incredible to be back on the top step. It’s been a little while, so I am definitely going to enjoy this one this evening,” said Russell, who can now head to his home British GP at Silverstone next weekend on a high.

He revealed over the radio after taking the chequered flag that his drinks system had failed during the race, the first of the season to be declared a “heat hazard”. “Nice race for it to do so, I’m a little bit thirsty,” he said.

Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Hamilton, with Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull.

Reigning champion Lando Norris, last year’s winner in Austria, was seventh with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc eighth and Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.

“I was having to push every single lap and when you push those boundaries there’s bound to be a small mistake or two,” said Russell.

“I knew how quick the guys were behind. Kimi has been extraordinarily quick this whole season, so every lap I was looking at the timing board.”

Iraqi security forces arrested several politicians, lawmakers and senior officials in dawn raids across Baghdad as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign ordered by Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi. Elite Counter Terrorism Service units carried out operations in the Green Zone.

Tehran, Iran – The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last week between Iran and the United States appears to be in jeopardy after a second day of military strikes, as well as the a framework agreement that entrenches Israeli forces on Lebanese soil.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday released video showing the launch of ballistic missiles overnight, with a message written on them in English and Persian saying US President Donald Trump was insisting on a “defeated war”.

The IRGC said it had fired missiles and drones towards the US Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait and the US Fifth Naval Fleet in Bahrain in retaliation for a second day of US strikes. It threatened more attacks if the deal is violated again by the “deceitful” US, which, along with Israel launched air attacks across Iran on February 28.

The exchanges of fire come after the US coordinated the transit of vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz in cooperation with Oman and the International Maritime Organization.

Many ships were being directed through Oman’s waters, which prompted the IRGC to hit a container ship and a tanker with explosive-laden drones in an attempt to force traffic to pass through Iranian waters instead.

Speaking to reporters in neighbouring Iraq on Sunday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran will exercise sole management and oversight of the critical waterway for the next 30 days before allowing full traffic to resume.

He also emphasised the first clause of the June 17 MoU, which says military operations must immediately and permanently end on all fronts, including Lebanon, and urged Washington to exert pressure on Israel to stop attacking southern Lebanon.

The governments of Israel and Lebanon reached a US-brokered framework deal on Friday that allows Israeli forces to remain in southern Lebanon, until Tehran-backed Hezbollah is fully disarmed. That appears to contradict the MoU signed with Iran.

Hezbollah swiftly rejected the agreement, calling it “humiliating, shameful and a surrender” of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said she expected the Lebanon issue to negatively impact the MoU because Hezbollah was not on board and the Lebanese government’s previous ceasefire deals with Israel have been repeatedly violated.

She also told Al Jazeera that Iran has found tremendous leverage with the Strait of Hormuz, treating it as a “golden card”, as the disruption to oil exports has heavily impacted markets and made the war unpopular among many, including in the US.

“They are using that leverage to the max and not going back to the status before the war, pretending like no war happened,” she said, adding that Iranian authorities and the IRGC have sought to centre themselves in the process of coordinating transit through the strait.

“They’re saying they want traffic to go through in coordination with them, and I think they will be able to exert that kind of power,” she said.

On Saturday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei released an image of their first publicised trilateral meeting since the start of the war more than four months ago.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard from since succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli attack on the first day of the war. But a new written text message attributed to him on Sunday said: “What is certain is that the criminals must be seized by the collar and made to face the punishment for their criminal acts”.

Supporters of the Islamic Republic cheered on the latest IRGC attacks against US interests as they continued demonstrating on the streets overnight into Sunday as hardline politicians and analysts called for further attacks until Iran gets better concessions.

On the state-linked talk show, Tamam Rokh, political analysts said Tehran should significantly strengthen its ties with Moscow and Beijing.

“We could do many things with help from Russia and China to damage US strategic equipment in the region like vessels, refuelling aircraft and electronic warfare,” pro-state analyst Ali Samadzadeh said on the programme on Saturday.

“There was no movement in Tehran to tie Beijing and Moscow to the war, and this major flaw exists in the form of the negotiations and the text of the MoU as well,” he said.

More than 60 hardline legislators on Sunday postponed plans to protest against the closure of parliament since the start of the war after its presiding board said it would meet to reconvene the assembly, following Ali Khamenei’s burial next month.

Many others say demands for extracting major concessions from the US and Israel do not correspond with the reality of the situation after months of war.

“In terms of military power, we couldn’t do anything about the US blockade and we didn’t think the crisis would get so serious,” pro-state commentator Vahid Ashtari told crowds at a street event in Tehran.

“I think a type of blind idealism has emerged that believes we are on top and at the peak, so we shouldn’t make a deal. But there are facts on the ground. We have some missiles and drones to carry out an asymmetric defence, but we have no fighter jets to fly to the US and hit Trump. Not only could we not avenge [Khamenei], we could not avenge Haj Qassem either,” he added, in reference to General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US in 2020.

After two nights of attacks, Iran’s financial markets also reacted poorly, with the national currency losing gains since the signing of the MoU to trade at about 1.7 million rials against the dollar in Tehran’s open market on Sunday.

The main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange also lost more than 100,000 points to stand at just over five million points at the end of trading on Sunday, the second day of the working week in Iran.

Vahid, a 37-year-old mechanic who also deals in car parts in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, told Al Jazeera that while the market has marginally improved since the signing of the deal with the US, it is still treading on thin ice.

He said parts for foreign cars are becoming harder to find, while prices have been rising rapidly for both domestic and foreign vehicle parts.

“I think the war will start again over the coming months and some in the bazaar think the same,” he said.

Iran’s foreign minister has urged ‘all parties not to interfere’ in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, after the US bombed Iran for a second day following a drone attack on a vessel. Abbas Araghchi says the MoU gives Tehran control of the waterway, during a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad.

Authorities say pilot and all 10 ⁠passengers – ​five students ⁠and five instructors – died in the accident in Tomblaine.

At least 11 people have died after a plane carrying people on a skydiving trip crashed in the town of Tomblaine, in northeastern France, local authorities say.

The aircraft went down at 11am local time on Sunday, Yves Seguy, the prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, told reporters near the scene of the crash.

The pilot and all 10 ⁠passengers – five students ⁠and five instructors – died in the accident.

Seguy said emergency services responded immediately, adding that authorities were collecting statements from witnesses.

Police urged people to “strictly avoid” the area around the airport in Tomblaine to allow emergency responders and law enforcement unrestricted access to the crash site.

The Ministry ‌of the Interior said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was on his way to the scene.

Bahrain and Kuwait have condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks after a second day of US strikes on Iran. Tehran University academic Hassan Ahmadian argues the US is trying to find its way out of the Memorandum of Understanding that Trump signed 10 days ago, ending the war.

Elite security personnel carry out a large-scale operation at dawn in the Green Zone and several neighbourhoods in Baghdad, security source says.

Several Iraqi politicians, lawmakers and officials have been arrested on corruption charges, Iraqi state-run media report.

Several people, including members of parliament “whose immunity had been lifted and officials whose names appeared in … confessions”, were arrested early on Sunday in the capital, Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency reported, quoting a security source.

It was not immediately clear who had been arrested. There was no immediate official statement on the arrests from the Iraqi government or security forces.

A security source told Al Jazeera that elite Iraqi security forces carried out a large-scale arrest operation at dawn in the fortified International Zone (Green Zone) and several neighbourhoods in Baghdad.

The source said the arrests were carried out by the Counter Terrorism Service and were based on statements provided by Adnan al-Jumaili, deputy oil minister, after his arrest last month on corruption charges.

Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, has pledged to fight corruption and mismanagement that have plagued Iraq for decades.

Authorities seized about $86m in cash this month that was allegedly part of the corruption case against al-Jumaili.

The Associated Press news agency reported that seven people were arrested on Sunday, including five members of parliament. It cited a security agency report it obtained. The AP said some of those arrested were from the political bloc of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

During November’s parliamentary elections, al-Sudani’s bloc won the largest share of seats, but he did not return as prime minister. He stepped aside amid a deadlock in the Coordination Framework, a group of Shia parties allied with Iran that brought al-Sudani to power. They disagreed for months over their preferred candidate for the post.

Iran has launched attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait after the United States struck five Iranian targets, escalating tensions and threatening the fragile ceasefire agreed by the two sides earlier this month.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the attacks on Sunday, saying it launched ballistic missiles and drones at the US Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait and the US Fifth Naval Fleet at Port Salman in Bahrain.

Bahrain condemned the attacks, saying they violated its sovereignty and undermined “opportunities for de-escalation and stability in the region”, while Kuwait described the “repeated heinous Iranian aggressions” as a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty”.

The US military hit Iran’s Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh and Qeshm Island on Saturday. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its navy and air force “conducted strikes tonight on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz”, saying the attacks were a response to an Iranian drone attack on the Kiku oil tanker.

It said the Panama-flagged vessel was carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil when it was attacked as it transited near the strait early on Saturday.

Britain’s UKMTO maritime security agency ⁠said the tanker hit on Saturday had sustained damage to its bridge, with all crew reported safe.

Strait of Hormuz

The weekend attacks come after the US struck Iran on Friday following drone attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Singapore-registered Ever Lovely container ship was hit by a drone on Thursday. No injuries were reported. The US responded by hitting locations near Sirik, while Iran responded by attacking US military locations in the region.

Iran has said vessels transiting the strait can only use its designated route and warned that ships using any other routes would be violating the ceasefire agreement.

The International Maritime Organization suspended its plan to evacuate ships stranded in the strait on Thursday after the attack on the Ever Lovely.

President Donald Trump said late on Saturday that Tehran had violated the ceasefire agreement, which was signed on June 17.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” he posted on social media. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US strikes on its monitoring and surveillance facilities on its southern coast. It said the “brutal attacks” were in violation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the United Nations charter.

It added that they showed the US “does not place the slightest value and credibility on its commitments” and said Iran would defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against “US military aggression”.

Agreement under strain

The MoU signed by the US and Iran extended a ceasefire in their war that began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, giving both sides 60 days to negotiate an end to the fighting.

Access through the Strait of Hormuz is a key element of the MoU. During the war, Iran blocked the waterway through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes, triggering a global energy crisis.

Article 5 of the MoU states that Iran will “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” through the strait during the 60 days. It states that Iran and Oman, along with other Gulf states, will discuss the future administration of the strait.

Wolfgang Pusztai, a defence analyst, told Al Jazeera that while neither the US nor Iran have an interest in a bigger escalation, “there is a risk that this might happen unintentionally.”

“If there are some hits in residential areas, if a larger number of civilians are getting killed in the Arab Gulf states, if an American base is hit severely so that the American soldiers are killed, this might easily get out of control,” he said.

June 27 (UPI) — The United States attacked Iranian drone sites Saturday morning, and Iran hit Bahrain in response.

In Bahrain, two one-way attack drones hit the country, according to the New York Times. One was shot down by a ground-launched air-defense weapon, a U.S. official told the Times, and the other landed without harm in a remote airfield.

“This constitutes a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, a blatant threat to the safety of citizens and residents,” Bahrain’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The United States used six F35 and F16 Air Force jets to hit four Iranian sites in the strait, an anonymous official told The Times.

Ebrahim Azizi, a conservative Iranian lawmaker, said in a social media post that the U.S. attacks on Friday were a “reckless violation of the cease-fire” and warned that the attacks would lead the United States to “retreat and regret.”

Azizi added that the strikes show that President Donald Trump “has no commitment to the principles of negotiations.”

On Friday afternoon, Trump ordered strikes on Iran after it staged a drone strike on a shipping vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The president had made vague threats on Iran and said that the country had attacked ships in the strait.

Vice President JD Vance, who has been handling the negotiations, posted on X that the United States had honored the MOU.

“If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,” he posted. “But violence will be met with violence.”

Saturday morning, another ship was hit in the strait by an “unidentified projectile” damaging its bridge but causing no injuries to the crew, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. The organization didn’t say who launched the attack.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former Iranian military chief who advises Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the United States of “continuing to create tensions” in the strait. “The response to the violation of any article of the memorandum of understanding will be swift and decisive,” he said in a post on social media, The Times reported.

June 27 (UPI) — Europe may have to brace for even broken records as the historic heat wave that has roasted the continent over the last week is unlikely to let up.

Temperatures in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands all set heat records on Friday, and events in both Spain and France were cancelled, while most of central Europe issued the latest in days of warnings about the dangerous temperatures, The BBC and The Washington Post reported.

Although some meteorologists, including those in the United Kingdom, have said that temperatures in some areas will start cooling off, forecasters in Czechia, Austria and some Balkan nations are bracing for their own broken heat records this weekend.

The heat wave, which experts at the World Meteorological Organization have called the worst in Europe since the mid-1970s, reinforces what the organization has called “the world’s most rapidly warming continent.”

“In the 50 years since the historic heatwave of 1976, Europe as a whole has warmed by around two degrees,” John Kennedy, head of climate information at WMO, said in a press release.

“It’s the fastest warming continent, and extremes of temperature have increased, too,” Kennedy said.

France this week recorded it’s hottest June temperature three days in a row, the United Kingdom and Spain set records two days in a row, and Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands all saw historic June heat records fall.

The WMO said on Friday that it expects the heatwave to keep spreading cross large swaths of Western, Central and Southern Europe during the next two weeks, with a significant focus of the heat expected to blast the Balkans.

WMO said that Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania all should expect heat that is 3 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius above weekly June averages.