International leaders have joined forces to demand de-escalation and stability in the region that is on the precipice of all-out war.

Leaders of some of Europe’s most powerful countries and allies have endorsed the latest push by mediators to broker an agreement ending the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.

The statement, signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, also called for the return of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid. Mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan.

The plan would involve Hamas releasing the remaining hostages taken during the October 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, with Israel agreeing to withdraw from Gaza.

The statement, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, also calls on Iran and its allies to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions after the killing of two senior militants last month in Beirut and Tehran.

“We are deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and united in our commitment to de-escalation and regional stability,” the joint statement posted on social media platform X said. “No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”

Biden-European leaders’ meeting

President Biden called the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain Monday to discuss the growing tensions, the White House said.

The call was “largely for all the leaders to repeat what they have said before in terms of reaffirming Israel’s defence” and to “send a strong message that we don’t want to see any rise in violence, any attacks by Iran or its proxies”.

The leaders also called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with difficult talks set for Thursday on halting the conflict.

‘Significant’ Iran attack this week, says White House

Iran could launch a ‘significant’ attack on Israel as soon as this week, the White House said Monday, as President Biden discussed the crisis with European leaders.

“We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here – could be this week,” added Kirby.

Kirby’s comments came as the United States is rushing an aircraft carrier strike group and a guided missile submarine to the region.

Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group have vowed to avenge last month’s killings of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

Israel has been braced for a major attack since last month when a missile killed 12 youngsters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Israel responded by killing a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in Tehran his country had “the right to respond” to any aggression, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged de-escalation amid soaring tensions with Israel.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Iranian President Pezeshkian yesterday as part of de-escalation efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East, the premier’s office said.

Iran’s vice president resigns after 11 days in office

Meanwhile, Iran’s vice president, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has announced he was resigning, leaving President Pezeshkian’s Cabinet just 11 days after his appointment.

“I am not satisfied with my work and regret that I have not been able to fulfil expectations,” the moderate politician said on the social media platform X.

Zarif, Iran’s former foreign minister, hinted that the selection of ministers for Pezeshkian’s new Cabinet had been the reason for his decision. At least seven of the 19 ministers nominated were not his first choice, according to Zarif.

President Pezeshkian, who took office at the end of July, presented his Cabinet, which included one woman, to parliament on Sunday for approval. The proposed list drew criticism from some among Iran’s reformist camp, including over the inclusion of conservatives from the government of late president Ebrahim Raisi.

His resignation is the second crisis Pezeshkian has faced since taking office, following the killing of the Palestinian militant Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Zarif was a key figure in the president’s politics. During Pezeshkian’s presidential election campaign, Zarif was his right-hand man and, due to his popularity, also played a key role in Pezeshkian’s victory.

Zarif was also one of the key figures for Pezeshkian in the implementation of his new foreign policy line. Zarif was the country’s chief diplomat between 2013 and 2021 and was able to conclude the landmark international nuclear agreement with the six world powers in 2015 as head of the Iranian negotiating team.

With Zarif and a new team of diplomats, Pezeshkian had hoped to resume the nuclear negotiations so that the sanctions that are paralyzing the Iranian economy could be lifted.

Africa deserves permanent seat at Security Council – Guterres

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called for urgent reform of the Security Council, criticising its outdated structure and lack of representation for Africa, which he argued undermines the body’s credibility and global legitimacy.

Addressing the Council, he emphasised that its composition reflected the balance of power at the end of World War Two and had failed to keep pace with a changing world. “In 1945, most of today’s African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs,” he said.

“We cannot accept that the world’s pre-eminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people. Nor can we accept that Africa’s views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world.

“I urge all Member States to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported, and African needs are met,” he urged.

Guterres was speaking at a high-level debate on addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation on the Security Council, convened by Sierra Leone, Council President for August.

The 15-member Security Council includes five permanent members with veto power – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – while the remaining 10 non-permanent seats are allocated regionally.

The regional allocation includes three seats for African States; two each for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Other States; and one for Eastern European States.

Putin vows to ‘drive enemy’ out of Kursk

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given some of his most detailed remarks to date on a surprise Ukrainian military offensive in Russia’s Kursk border region that was launched last Tuesday.

He accused Ukraine of attempting to “sow discord” among the Russian public, while attempting to gain leverage for possible cease-fire negotiations in the future.

The acting Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, said some 121,000 people had fled the Kursk region since the start of the fighting, and Ukrainian forces control 28 towns and villages, with its forces having penetrated 12 kilometers into the region.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says it holds around 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the border region, and that military operations there were ongoing.

Zelenskyy says war has ‘come home to Russia’

Ukrainian President Zelensky said that war was “coming home” to Russia in his nightly address on Monday.

“Russia brought war to others, now it’s coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace,” he said.

Monday marked the first time Zelensky publicly acknowledged the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

Zelensky said the incursion into Russia was a matter of security for Ukraine, with Ukrainian troops capturing areas where Russia had launched strikes from.

“Russia must be forced to make peace if [President Vladimir] Putin wants to fight so badly,” he added.

Trump rips Kamala Harris’s handling of border crisis

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump termed the assassination attempt against him “not pleasant” during his much-awaited interview with Elon Musk on X. The conversation, which began after a lengthy delay of about 40 minutes due to a technical glitch, also saw the two men discuss border issues and inflation crisis.

Thousands of users tried to join the conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, with more than one million people tuned in when the interview started, according to a counter on X.

“Congratulations on breaking every record in the book,” Trump said, an apparent reference to the number of people who tried to tune into their conversation.

During the interview, Trump renewed his attack on Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. Calling her a “third-rate phony candidate” and Biden’s “border czar”, the 78-year-old repeated his claims of other countries sending criminals and those with mental illness across the US border.

“These people are fake. Over 20 million entered into our country. We have had a catastrophe,” Donald Trump told Elon Musk. He said that if elected, he would oversee the “largest deportation” in the history of America.

Musk chimed in, saying the US needs to limit illegal immigration, as he recounted an experience of travelling to the southern border. The billionaire said the people he saw at the border “did not look friendly”.

Los Angeles hit by 4.4 magnitude earthquake

A 4.4 magnitude earthquake was strongly felt Monday afternoon from the Los Angeles area all the way to San Diego, swaying buildings, rattling dishes and setting off car alarms, but no major damage or injuries were immediately reported.

Monday’s quake was centred near the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Highland Park, about 6.5 miles northeast of Los Angeles’ City Hall, and about 7.5 miles below the surface, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake was felt from greater Los Angeles south to San Diego and east to the Palm Springs desert region, according to the USGS community reporting page. A small number of reports were filed from the southern San Joaquin Valley about 100 miles northwest of LA.

It shook a medical building, a live interview on ESPN was interrupted, and the ground swayed in Anaheim, where Disneyland is located in Orange County. Dishes rattled in the storied LA neighbourhood of Laurel Canyon, home to many celebrities, and photos on social media showed shampoo bottles and other items littering the floor of a Target store in LA.

Los Angeles firefighters from all 106 stations surveyed the 470-square-mile city and found no significant damage, spokesperson Margaret Stewart said in a statement.

Issac Hayes’ family threaten to sue Trump for $3m

The family of the late soul singer Isaac Hayes has ordered Donald Trump to stop playing the star’s song Hold On, I’m Coming at his campaign rallies.

A letter sent to Trump and his team, and shared by Hayes’ son on social media, threatens to sue the former US President if he does not comply byAugust 16.

The family is also demanding $3m in licensing fees for the campaign’s repeated use of the song between 2022 and 2024.

The song, which was made famous by soul duo Sam and Dave, is a regular feature of Trump’s rallies, often playing before and after his speeches.

In their legal letter, Hayes’ family claimed to have “asked repeatedly” for Trump to stop using the song. They go on to cite 134 occasions on which the campaign went ahead anyway.

Their lawyer, James Walker, alleged that the Trump campaign has “wilfully and brazenly engaged in copyright infringement”. The letter also stated that if a resolution was not made and a lawsuit was issued, the Hayes family would demand damages of $150,000 per use of the song, amounting to more than $20m. The Trump campaign has yet to respond to the letter or the threat of legal action.

Security guard disarms Leicester Square knifeman after two stabbed

A security guard has spoken of the moment he “jumped on” and disarmed a knifeman in Leicester Square, after two people, an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman, were stabbed.

The guard, who gave his name as Abdullah, 29, and works at TWG Tea shop in the square, said: “I heard a scream, at that moment I saw there was one person, and he was like, stabbing a kid. “I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was (carrying) a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him.” Abdullah said he and his colleagues gave first aid to the child before the police took over and arrested the attacker and both the girl and the woman were taken to hospital.

Police said the girl does not have life-threatening injuries but will require hospital treatment, while the second victim suffered more minor injuries.