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US Central Command: Strait of Hormuz Is Not Closed

Satellite images released Monday show fires burning and vast plumes of black smoke rising from Iran’s main naval headquarters at Bandar Abbas (AFP) 
Satellite images released Monday show fires burning and vast plumes of black smoke rising from Iran’s main naval headquarters at Bandar Abbas (AFP) 
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US Central Command: Strait of Hormuz Is Not Closed

Satellite images released Monday show fires burning and vast plumes of black smoke rising from Iran’s main naval headquarters at Bandar Abbas (AFP) 
Satellite images released Monday show fires burning and vast plumes of black smoke rising from Iran’s main naval headquarters at Bandar Abbas (AFP) 

US Central Command said the Strait of ‌Hormuz, ‌a key ‌shipping ⁠route for the ⁠world's oil supply, is ⁠not ‌closed ‌despite statements ‌by Iranian officials, ‌Fox News reported ‌on Monday.

CENTCOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters.

The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait.

Jeremy Nixon, CEO of container carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE), said on Monday that container ships account for roughly 100 of the 750 ships ensnared in the Strait of Hormuz ‌backups following US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

“About 10% of the container ship global fleet is caught up in this,” Nixon said at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s TPM26 ⁠container shipping conference in Long Beach.

Maritime insurers ceased covering voyages through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, as Iran retaliated against US and Israeli strikes.

The commander of the country's Revolutionary Guards told Iranian state television Monday that any ship that attempted to transit the strait would be set aflame.

“All of ‌that ⁠cargo is going to start backing up” in shipping hubs and key ports in Europe and Asia, Nixon said.

ONE and rival container carriers such as industry leader MSC have stopped booking cargo to the Middle ⁠East, said Nixon, who on July 1 is stepping down as CEO of ONE.

The company is a privately held joint venture established by ⁠Japanese shipping lines Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines and K Line.

Industry experts also warned that an extended closure of ⁠the Strait of Hormuz would cause oil prices to soar.

“That would create a big energy spike,” Nixon said.

 

 

 

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World

Congo Says Number of Confirmed Ebola Cases Rises to 2,267, Including 893 Deaths

The entrance to the Ebola Treatment Center at Rwampara General Hospital stands unstaffed during a medical staff strike in Rwampara, Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 July 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
The entrance to the Ebola Treatment Center at Rwampara General Hospital stands unstaffed during a medical staff strike in Rwampara, Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 July 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
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Congo Says Number of Confirmed Ebola Cases Rises to 2,267, Including 893 Deaths

The entrance to the Ebola Treatment Center at Rwampara General Hospital stands unstaffed during a medical staff strike in Rwampara, Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 July 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE
The entrance to the Ebola Treatment Center at Rwampara General Hospital stands unstaffed during a medical staff strike in Rwampara, Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 July 2026. EPA/DIEUDONNE DIROLE

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo ‌has ‌increased to 2,267, ‌including ⁠893 deaths, government ⁠data showed late on Saturday.

The figure represents the ⁠total number ‌of ‌confirmed cases ‌as of ‌Friday, according to a situation report ‌that documented 86 new cases and ⁠29 ⁠new deaths in the previous 24 hours, Reuters said.

World

Southern China Braces for More Rain, Chongqing Landslide Search Continues

Rescuers work at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui County, southwestern China's Chongqing on Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP)
Rescuers work at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui County, southwestern China's Chongqing on Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP)
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Southern China Braces for More Rain, Chongqing Landslide Search Continues

Rescuers work at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui County, southwestern China's Chongqing on Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP)
Rescuers work at the scene of a landslide in Pengshui County, southwestern China's Chongqing on Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP)

China's ‌meteorological authority on Sunday issued a heavy rain alert for parts of southern China, following a warning a day earlier of mountain flood risks in areas like Chongqing and Yunnan and potential emergency evacuations in vulnerable places.

Cutting south China diagonally, the sprawling rain ‌belt stretches from ‌the southwestern province of ‌Yunnan ⁠to the Yangtze River ⁠Delta in China's eastern coast.

Rail authorities suspended some passenger trains on the Shanghai–Kunming railway on Sunday due to heavy rain, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

In Yunnan, ⁠several scenic spots including ‌the Tiger Leaping ‌Gorge were temporarily closed following heavy ‌rain over the weekend.

Parts of ‌southwestern Guangxi region, still recovering from the impact of Typhoon Maysak earlier this month, was bracing for a new ‌round of rain through Tuesday.

Hydrological authorities in Guangxi's ⁠Baise ⁠said some rivers rose by one to three meters (three to nine feet) over the past 24 hours, CCTV reported Sunday.

A rain-triggered landslide in a county in southwest China's Chongqing on Friday has killed eight people, while rescuers are still racing to find 34 people that remain missing.

World

Democratic Taiwan Must Not Become ‘China’s Taiwan’, President Says

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks at the annual congress of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, Taiwan, July 19, 2026. July 19,2026. (Reuters)
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks at the annual congress of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, Taiwan, July 19, 2026. July 19,2026. (Reuters)
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Democratic Taiwan Must Not Become ‘China’s Taiwan’, President Says

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks at the annual congress of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, Taiwan, July 19, 2026. July 19,2026. (Reuters)
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaks at the annual congress of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei, Taiwan, July 19, 2026. July 19,2026. (Reuters)

Taiwan must work together to protect its democracy and not become part of China, President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday, calling on members of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to oppose the "red terror" coming from Beijing.

Lai, who won election two years ago, and his ruling DPP, champion Taiwan's separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing which views the island as an inviolable part of Chinese territory.

Speaking to the DPP's annual ‌convention, Lai ‌said Taiwan must remain vigilant in times of peace, pointing ‌to ⁠what he said ⁠was China's "legal warfare", such as its new ethnic unity law which gives Beijing the basis to take action against people outside its borders.

That has alarmed Taiwan, because it could give Beijing another legal basis to try and prosecute or arrest Taiwanese it views as separatists. China has rejected all criticism of the law. China's legal system has no jurisdiction in Taiwan.

"I also expect comrades within the party to ⁠stand on the front lines, unite as one, and jointly ‌oppose the threat posed by China's 'red terror' to ‌Taiwanese society," Lai added, speaking in Taiwanese, also known as Hokkien or Hoklo, rather than the ‌main language of government, Mandarin.

"We must work together to protect our ‌democratic and free way of life, and absolutely never allow 'democratic Taiwan' to turn back and become 'China's Taiwan'," he said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has rebuffed Lai's repeated calls for talks, calling him a "separatist".

Lai, who is also ‌DPP chairman, reiterated that Taiwan is already an independent country, whose constitutional name is the Republic of China, and it ⁠is not ⁠subordinate to the People's Republic of China.

"Regardless of ethnic group, regardless of who came earlier or later, anyone who identifies with Taiwan is a master of the country. Taiwan's future must be decided jointly by the 23 million people of Taiwan," he said.

The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who formed the People's Republic.

To this day neither government formally recognizes the other and no peace treaty to end the civil war or armistice has ever been signed.

Over the past decade of DPP government, Lai said Taiwan had not backed down in the face of "authoritarian expansion", disinformation attacks, military threats, and diplomatic pressure.

"Taiwan has shown the world that democracy is not a weakness; democracy is strength," he added.