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US Strikes Iran, Drawing Retaliatory Attack on American Base

Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
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US Strikes Iran, Drawing Retaliatory Attack on American Base

Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).

The United States struck southern Iran on Thursday, drawing retaliation from Tehran against a US military base, in the most serious clashes since an April ceasefire began.

The fighting threatened to jettison a fragile diplomatic push to forge a peace agreement and open the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a key point of contention in efforts to formally end the war.

The fresh fighting appeared to begin when Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

US forces launched strikes that hit a ground control station in the southern port area of Bandar Abbas, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP, prompting swift response by Iran.

"Following this morning's aggression by the invading US military against a location on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport using aerial projectiles, the American air base that served as the source of the attack was targeted at 4:50 am (0120 GMT)," the Guards said, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

The Guards did not provide details on the location of the base, though Kuwait's military said its air defenses were responding to an "enemy" attack on Thursday.

The clashes threw into question talks aimed at formally ending the war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

A key focus of the proposed deal has also been restoring full traffic to the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed, leaving global energy markets grappling with curbed supplies of the huge amounts of oil and gas that normally pass through it.

Oil prices bounced higher on Thursday after reports of the strikes, reversing much of Wednesday's fall on the hopes of a possible imminent deal.

Fresh strikes were also reported in Lebanon, another front of the war.

Israel said it hit the southern city of Tyre, after warning it would take action against Iran-backed Hezbollah and declaring all areas south of the Zahrani River, which lies roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, as "combat zones".

The United States Treasury also announced sanctions on Wednesday against Iran's Gulf Strait Authority, Tehran's new agency that collects fees for travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

- Lebanon operations intensify -

Iran and the United States have traded threats for weeks while negotiating through Pakistani mediation.

Neither side appeared ready to compromise on the main sticking points: Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.

On Wednesday, the Guards' navy said only ships "willing to abide by Iranian order" could pass through Hormuz.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that a deal remained within reach, but that the Hormuz would be reopened "one way or the other".

Iran has also insisted any peace accord must apply to Lebanon, where an April 17 ceasefire has done little to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which drew the country into the war by attacking Israel in early March in retaliation for the death of Iran's supreme leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to "crush" Hezbollah, while army chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that Israel was "intensifying our operations" against the group.

After the warning to evacuate large areas in southern Lebanon, many residents fled to Tyre, according to AFP journalists -- the city subject to new Israeli evacuation orders and where the military said it had begun strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure on Thursday morning.

- 'Nothing is certain' -

In signs of a possible return to normality despite conflict around the region, Iranian authorities partially restored access to the global internet this week after a three-month shutdown.

"I do feel better now because I finally can use my favorite applications," said Hana, a 20-year-old student in Tehran who gave only her first name.

"At the same time, I have this concern that war might resume any minute and just cut me off again from my friends."

Amir, a 27-year-old software developer in the Iranian capital, also feared renewed fighting despite talk of a deal.

"I feel like nothing is certain yet," he said.

"The daily question is: Will there be missile strikes tonight?"

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World

Far-Right Triumph in Eastern Germany Leaves Migrants Questioning Their Future

A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
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Far-Right Triumph in Eastern Germany Leaves Migrants Questioning Their Future

A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)
A general view taken on September 7, 2026 in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, shows Saxony-Anhalt's State Parliament, the day after the state election. (AFP)

Mamad Mohamad watched with mixed emotions as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) swept to a historic victory on Sunday evening in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

A member of the Greens, the 46-year-old is set to become one of the first lawmakers with an immigrant background to enter the state parliament, alongside Mustafa Groener of the Left (Die Linke) party.

For Mohamad, who arrived in Germany from Syria as a 16-year-old Yazidi Kurd in 1996, it was a milestone that should have been a moment of celebration. Instead, he described it as a "poisoned victory".

"My heart was split," Mohamad said, recalling the first projections that showed the AfD outperforming expectations ‌while Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ‌governing conservatives slumped to a historic low.

'CULTURALLY ALIEN'

The AfD has long ‌campaigned ⁠for tighter immigration ⁠and asylum policies, arguing that Germany has lost control of its borders and that migration is putting heavy pressure on public services, security and social cohesion.

According to its election manifesto, an AfD-led Saxony-Anhalt would launch a state-level campaign to deport rejected asylum seekers.

The party also proposes encouraging businesses to adopt artificial intelligence and automation rather than rely on skilled migration from what it describes as "culturally alien" backgrounds.

The AfD rejects accusations that its rhetoric contributes to a hostile climate for migrants, insisting it opposes only illegal and uncontrolled ⁠migration.

"Everyone is warmly welcome who contributes positively to our society, who ‌wants to work here, who is qualified, who pays taxes, ‌and who abides by the law," AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said on Monday.

PACKED BAGS

The mood in Mohamad's ‌family was somber on Monday.

His daughter, he said, was reluctant to attend school, one of ‌several criticized by the AfD over projects that examine threats to democracy.

Though anxiety is running high in many immigrant communities, the result has prompted unease rather than surprise, said Undra Dressler, managing director of the State Network of Migrant Organizations in Saxony-Anhalt.

People with migrant backgrounds have long faced discrimination and structural barriers in access ‌to work, education, healthcare and public services, Dressler said.

"All of this is our reality," she told Reuters.

Sunday's result nevertheless marks a turning ⁠point, she said. "There are ⁠many people in our communities who say: 'We've already packed our bags and have concrete plans, and we'll be leaving soon,' or, in some cases, have already left."

Pascal Begrich, managing director of democracy advocacy group Miteinander, said he did not expect a large-scale exodus, partly because of economic realities, but agreed that many migrants but also employers were reassessing their future in Saxony-Anhalt.

"There are companies asking themselves whether they really want to locate here and whether they can ensure their workers will be safe," Begrich told Reuters.

CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS

Mohamad said he feared the political shift could make it harder to attract newcomers to a state already grappling with demographic decline.

"Skilled workers and families will look elsewhere," he said.

Despite concerns about the state's political direction, both Dressler and Begrich stressed that any future government would remain bound by Germany's constitutional order and protections for minorities.

"Every government is bound by this," Dressler said. "And the 15 other federal states have a duty to monitor this and, if necessary, to intervene."

World

Russia Announces the Closure of the German Consulate in St. Petersburg

A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
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Russia Announces the Closure of the German Consulate in St. Petersburg

A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev
A person walks past the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 2, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Dmitry Vasilyev

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the German consulate in St. Petersburg will have to close, a tit-for-tat move that reflected the simmering tensions between the two countries.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the German consulate must stop operations by Sept. 18, following an earlier move by Moscow to close German cultural centers on its territory.

The ministry said the closure was in retaliation for Germany’s decision Wednesday to close both the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in the German capital, Berlin.

Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4, when an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian plane.

The airport is a major international freight hub used for providing support to Ukraine. The drone was later defused.

Moscow has denied involvement.

 

 

 

World

North Korea, Russia Open their First Road Bridge, a Symbol of Expanding Ties 

The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
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North Korea, Russia Open their First Road Bridge, a Symbol of Expanding Ties 

The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS
The first road bridge between Russia and North Korea across the Tumen River, locally known as Tumannaya, on the border with North Korea in the Primorsky region, Russia, in this still image from a video released September 7, 2026. Russian Government/Handout via REUTERS

North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge on Monday in a carefully choreographed display of friendship, a structure which spans the Tumen river and which both sides cast as an important milestone in their deepening strategic partnership.

The first flag-adorned trucks trundled across the 1 km (0.6 mile) long two-lane bridge as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korea's Premier Pak Thae Song tuned in by video link to address workers and government officials from both countries.

Construction of the new bridge, which had been under discussion for years, began in April last year after the project was agreed during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024. There are already direct air and rail links between Moscow and Pyongyang, but until Monday there had not been a proper road link. Instead, since 1959 and by special arrangement, planks had been placed on the nearby rail bridge - for decades the sole border crossing point - in order to move vehicles across the border between the two countries.

"I am convinced that the expansion of cross-border transport infrastructure will provide a powerful impetus for the further development of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation," said Mishustin, who said ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were "at an unprecedented high level" and called the opening of the bridge "a genuinely historic event."

The construction of the bridge was not merely an engineering project, he said, but "a new symbol of friendship".

Mishustin said up to 300 vehicles would be able to cross every day and that the bridge would be linked to Russia's federal road network and have easy access to the transport corridor which runs from the far eastern city of Vladivostok to St Petersburg. Trucks would begin to use the bridge immediately to transport cargo, the Russian government said. At the end of this year, the bridge would be fully operational and could be used for passenger traffic too.

The bridge was built near an existing "Friendship Bridge", a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war. Symbolically, the new bridge is named after Yakov Novichenko, a Red Army soldier who Pyongyang credits with protecting the life of North Korea's first leader Kim Il Sung in 1946 by intercepting a grenade thrown at him and others.

Ties between the two countries have grown stronger since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, with Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to help repel a 2024 Ukrainian incursion there.

Mishustin made a reference to that in his speech on Monday, referring to "the Korean heroes who, only recently, fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and defended Russian soil".