Japanese emergency workers searched tirelessly for survivors at a wrecked shopping mall yesterday, as the death toll from a major earthquake hit 34 and tens of thousands were left without power in punishing heat.

Israeli strikes killed at least four people, including two children, in the Gaza Strip yesterday, health officials said, as mediators held new talks with Hamas leaders to work towards full implementation of a US-brokered Gaza peace plan.

Armed militants killed nine police officers in an attack on a checkpoint in northern Pakistan on Wednesday that also left 15 of the gunmen dead in ensuing fighting, police said yesterday.

As the Iran war escalates, Gulf Arab states are turning to China—not Washington—to use its economic leverage over Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Their push reflects frustration that US‑Israeli strikes since February 28 have hurt Iran but also disrupted Gulf energy exports and exposed them to retaliation.

Nine civilians were killed in a drone attack Wednesday, a medical source told AFP, two days after paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said he had “unleashed” his Rapid Support Forces.

Russia pounded Ukraine with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, killing eight people in overnight attacks yesterday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, decrying shortages of air defence supplies and urging allies to help.

The US military said it struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, in a two-hour operation launched after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East.

Matar was also convicted of supporting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, after investigators found materials from the organization at his home.

The Bell 412 aircraft had been training before heading to a neighboring province to help put out days-long fires when it crashed in Ischigualasto natural park.

The United States military launched "powerful" strikes on Iran on Thursday, in retaliation for Tehran's attacks targeting US bases in Jordan

Tuesday's 7.1-magnitude tremor caused widespread damage, flattening homes, damaging bridges, triggering fires and leaving tens of thousands of residents without power and water in temperatures forecast to hit 38C this weekend

Rescuers frantically searched for survivors yesterday, a day after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook southern Japan, killing at least 13 people, knocking out power to thousands of homes and rupturing roads across the region.

Temperatures soared again in France and Spain yesterday in a fourth heatwave of the summer, increasing the threat from wildfires that have forced large-scale evacuations of people, scorched through forests and killed wildlife.

Ukrainian drones hit oil refineries and logistics facilities in the Russian cities of Perm, Ryazan and Taganrog, as well as the Crimean peninsula early yesterday, with the country’s top online retailer Wildberries evacuating its Ryazan warehouse.

The United States yesterday launched its first airstrikes in the Middle East since suspending its bombing campaign last week, hitting Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq jointly with Saudi Arabia, while Tehran spurned an Omani plan to manage the Strait of Hormuz.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham yesterday relaunched his years-long bid to create a national service to tackle a UK crisis in the care of elderly and vulnerable adults.

Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment of up to 400 Chinese‑made shoulder‑fired air‑defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States.

The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities

A major earthquake that severely damaged a shopping mall and a factory in Japan killed at least 13 people, officials said Wednesday, as rescuers desperately tried to reach survivors feared trapped in the wreckage.

US and Saudi warplanes carried out strikes on Tuesday against Iran-backed militants in Iraq who launched more than two dozen drone attacks in recent days, the US military said.