Thailand Says Four Nationals Killed Near Israel-Lebanon Border

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town Al-Ahmadieh on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town Al-Ahmadieh on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)
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Thailand Says Four Nationals Killed Near Israel-Lebanon Border

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town Al-Ahmadieh on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town Al-Ahmadieh on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)

Four Thai nationals were killed and one was injured by rocket fire near the town of Metula, close to the border between Lebanon and Israel, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa posted on the social media platform X on Friday.
Last year, 46 Thais were among the 1,200 people killed when Hamas militants launched an attack across Israeli borders, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Thirty Thai nationals were abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and six are believed to still be in captivity, according to Thai authorities.
The Israeli response to the attack has since laid waste to the Palestinian territory of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of people. Israel has also launched attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Reuters reported.
Before the conflict, about 30,000 Thai nationals worked in Israel, mostly in the agriculture sector, making up one of the largest groups of migrant workers in Israel.
"Thailand continues to strongly urge all parties to return to the path of peace, in the name of the innocent civilians gravely impacted by this prolonged and deepening conflict," Thai foreign minister Maris said.



Serbia Urges Citizens to Quit Iran ‘As Soon as Possible’

People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Serbia Urges Citizens to Quit Iran ‘As Soon as Possible’

People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk past an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, January 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Serbia has urged its citizens in Iran to leave the country "as soon as possible", after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over the country's nuclear program.

The Balkan nation had already invited Serbian nationals in mid-January to leave Iran and not to travel there, as the country's clerical authorities launched a bloody crackdown on a mass protest movement.

"Due to the deteriorating security situation, citizens of the Republic of Serbia are not recommended to travel to Iran in the coming period," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website published overnight Friday to Saturday.

"All those who are in Iran are recommended to leave the country as soon as possible."

Iran said on Friday that it was hoping for a quick deal with the United States on Tehran's nuclear program, long a source of discord between the two foes.

But Trump, after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran, said on Friday that he was "considering" a limited military strike if the negotiations proved unfruitful.


Trump to Remove Vietnam from Restricted Tech List

(FILES) US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
(FILES) US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
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Trump to Remove Vietnam from Restricted Tech List

(FILES) US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
(FILES) US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump told Vietnam's top leader To Lam he would "instruct the relevant agencies" to remove the country from a list restricted from accessing advanced US technologies, Vietnam's government announced Saturday.

The two leaders met in person for the first time at the White House on Friday, after Lam attended the inaugural meeting of Trump's "Board of Peace" in Washington, said AFP.

"Donald Trump said he would instruct the relevant agencies to soon remove Vietnam from the strategic export control list," Hanoi's Government News website said.

The two countries were locked in protracted trade negotiations when the US Supreme Court ruled many of Trump's sweeping tariffs were illegal.

Three Vietnamese airlines announced nearly $37 billion in purchases this week, in a series of contracts signed with US aerospace companies.

Fledgling airline Sun PhuQuoc Airways placed an order for 40 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners, a long-haul aircraft, with an estimated total value of $22.5 billion, while national carrier Vietnam Airlines placed an $8.1 billion order for around 50 Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

When Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs in April, Vietnam had the third-largest trade surplus with the US of any country after China and Mexico, and was targeted with one of the highest rates in Trump's tariff blitz.

But in July, Hanoi secured a minimum 20 percent tariff with Washington, down from more than 40 percent, in return for opening its market to US products including cars.

Trump signed off on a global 10-percent tariff on Friday on all countries hours after the Supreme Court ruled many of his levies on imports were illegal.


NORAD Intercepts 5 Russian Aircraft near Alaska, Though Military Says There Was No Threat

An F-16 fighter jet takes off (file photo - Reuters)
An F-16 fighter jet takes off (file photo - Reuters)
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NORAD Intercepts 5 Russian Aircraft near Alaska, Though Military Says There Was No Threat

An F-16 fighter jet takes off (file photo - Reuters)
An F-16 fighter jet takes off (file photo - Reuters)

Military jets were launched to intercept five Russian aircraft that were flying in international airspace off Alaska’s western coast, but military officials said Friday the Russian aircraft were not seen as provocative.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s and one A-50 operating near the Bering Strait on Thursday, The Associated Press said.

In response, NORAD launched two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3 and four KC-135 refueling tankers to intercept, identify and escort the Russian aircraft until they departed the area, according to a release from the command.

“The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” according to the NORAD statement. It also noted this kind of activity “occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

The Russian aircraft were operating in an area near the Bering Strait, a narrow body of water about 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide separating the Pacific and Arctic oceans, called the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

Such zones begin where sovereign airspace ends. While it’s international airspace, all aircraft are required to identify themselves when entering zones in the interest of national security, NORAD said.

The command used satellites, ground and airborne radars and aircraft to detect and track aircraft

NORAD is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, but has its Alaska operations based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.