Amid Iran’s threats and Israel’s determination to defend itself following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions have continued abroad.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked his counterparts from the G7 nations to exert diplomatic pressure on Iran, Hezbollah and Israel to “maintain maximum restraint” but said Washington expected an attack on Israel as early as Monday.

The United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Turk, called on “all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation”.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose country currently holds the rotating G7 presidency, said in a statement: “We call on the parties involved to desist from any initiative that could hinder the path of dialogue and moderation.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made a rare trip to Tehran on Sunday to deliver a message from King Abdullah II to President Masoud Pezeshkian. There are fears that Jordanian airspace could be violated in any serious exchange of fire between Iran and Israel.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Sunday that his country was “determined to stand against” Iran and its allied armed groups “on all fronts”.

‘Several’ US personnel injured in rocket attack on Iraq base

Several US personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack Monday against US and coalition forces at Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, a US defence official said.

The attack comes amid extremely high tensions in the Middle East and just days after Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered additional military assets to the region, sending a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East.

Meanwhile,Israel announced that Air Force planes killed Abdel-Zarii, Hamas’ Minister of Economy, with a significant role in managing the control of the arrival of humanitarian goods in the Strip and in the management of the markets controlled by the Islamic militia. Furthermore, he was responsible for distributing fuel, gas and funds for terrorist operations.

Iran defends ‘legal right to punish’ Israel

Iran said on Monday that it was not actively seeking to escalate regional tensions in the Middle East but that it has a “legal right to punish” Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

“Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, using a term commonly deployed in Iranian government circles to describe the state of Israel.

Kanaani also called on the United States to end its backing for Israel and instead support the “punishment of the aggressor”.

Tehran blames the killing of Haniyeh, the late political leader of the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, on Israel, although Israel has not claimed responsibility.

Officials have, however, confirmed that it was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) drone strike that killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut, also last week.

Also on Monday, Iranian acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani summoned foreign ambassadors in Tehran to reiterate Iran’s will to strike back at Israel.

Tehran announced as well an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday, held at its request to discuss the killing of Haniyeh and Iran’s response.

Iran previously launched strikes against Israel in retaliation for what they said was an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria in April, in what was then an unprecedented move. Almost all of the weapons were intercepted by Israeli air defences with support from an international coalition including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Jordan.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps’ top commander, Hossein Salami, on Monday repeated the elite unit’s threat that Israel “will receive punishment in due time”.

UN says 9 UNRWA staff ‘may have been involved’ in October 7 attacks

The United Nations has announced it is terminating the employment of nine individuals at its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) due to their potential involvement in the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.

The UN said its investigation indicates that in nine cases, UNRWA staff “may have been involved” in the attacks conducted by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel.

The attacks killed 1,200 Israelis and prompted the ongoing war in Gaza, where officials from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry say nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been thus far killed.

Israel had earlier accused UNRWA staff of involvement in the attacks.

A statement by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) said 19 cases were investigated.

In one case, the OIOS could not obtain any evidence to support involvement in the attack. In nine other cases, the evidence obtained was insufficient.

Starmer vows specialist police ‘standing army’ to battle far-right unrest

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday a “standing army” comprising specialist police would be set up to deal with far-right rioting currently gripping the country.

There would also be a “ramp up” of the justice system to name the approximate 400 individuals arrested during violent clashes that have rocked the nation of the past week, he said outside 10 Downing Street.

Starmer described the actions of those demonstrating as “pure violence” and “not protest”. “We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim community,” he added.

Starmer convened an urgent meeting dubbed “Cobra” with cabinet ministers and intelligence officials after lawlessness, which he blamed on far-right activists and misinformation on social media.

It was whipped up anger over a stabbing rampage at a dance class that left three girls dead and many more wounded. False rumours spread online that the suspect was an asylum-seeker, which led to attacks on immigrants and Muslims.

“The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities,” Starmer said.

Dozens of police officers have been hospitalised for injuries in the past six days after being struck with bricks, bottles and large wooden posts.

Australia raises terror threat level

Australia Monday raised its terrorism threat level to “probable”, with the country’s top intelligence official citing a homegrown rise in “extreme ideologies”.

Intelligence chief Mike Burgess said there was no indication of an imminent attack, but there was an increased threat of violence in the next 12 months.

“Australia’s security environment is degrading, is more volatile and more unpredictable,” Burgess told reporters.

“You’ve heard me say many times that espionage and foreign interference are our principal security concerns… intelligence suggests that is no longer accurate.

“Politically-motivated violence now joins espionage and foreign interference as our principal security concerns.”

Burgess said extreme ideologies had increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, and more recently during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“An escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, particularly in southern Lebanon, would inflict further strain, aggravating tensions and potentially fuelling grievances,” he warned.

Venezuela opens criminal probe against opposition leaders

Venezuela’s top prosecutor on Monday announced a criminal investigation against the opposition’s presidential candidate Edmundo González and its leader Maria Corina Machado over their call on the armed forces to abandon their support for President Nicolás Maduro and stop repressing demonstrators.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab’s statement tied the investigation directly to the written appeal that the two members of the opposition sent hours earlier about Maduro and the demonstrators who have come out in force to defend their votes in the July 28 election.

In a written announcement posted on the social media site X, Saab said the duo in their statement “falsely announced a winner of the presidential election other than the one proclaimed by the National Electoral Council, the only body qualified to do so.” Saab also said they openly incited “police and military officials to disobey the laws”.

Gonzalez’s and Machado’s statement shows the alleged commission of various crimes including usurpation of functions, dissemination of false information to cause fear and conspiracy, Saab said.

Wall Street tumbles as global stock market sell-off takes hold

Markets around the world have seen stocks plunge downwards, including FTSE 100 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which suffered its worst day since 1987.

London’s blue-chip index – which tracks the shares of well-known and financially stable publicly traded companies – was 2.4 per cent down after the open on Monday falling 193 points to 7,982, in its sharpest fall since July last year.

Stocks on Wall Street also plunged on Monday, prompting concerns about a recession in the United States.

The S&P 500 was down by four per cent in early trading, while Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,197 points, or three per cent on Monday morning.

Nasdaq composite slid 5.5 per cent to pull it 15 per cent below its record set last month.

Markets in Asia, suffered similar downward turns, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 12.4 per cent for its worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987.

The Japanese benchmark index fell 4,451 points to 31,458 on Monday.

The global stock market sell-off was sparked by a jobs report released on Friday, showing US employers slowed hiring last month by much more than economists expected.

US judge rules Google is monopoly in key anti-trust case

A US judge on Monday handed Google a major legal blow, ruling in a closely-watched anti-trust case that it has a monopoly with its dominant search engine.

The landmark decision against a “big tech” giant could alter how the sector operates in future.

District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google maintained a monopoly for search and for text ads through exclusive distribution agreements that made it the “default” option that people were likely to use on devices.

“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.

The internet behemoth “has a major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals: default distribution,” he added.

The anti-trust trial pitting US prosecutors against Google ended in May with a two-day hearing.

The case was the first of five major lawsuits by the US government to reach trial, with Meta, Amazon, Apple and a separate case against Google also heading for federal courtrooms.

Sheikh Hasina resigns as Bangladesh PM, flees country

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned Monday and fled the country, multiple sources said, as more people were killed in some of the worst violence since the birth of the South Asian nation more than five decades ago.

Army chief General Waker-Us-Zaman said in a televised address that Hasina 76, had left the country and that an interim government would be foed.

Media reports said Sheikh Hasina had flown in a military helicopter and, according to CNN-News18 television network, she had landed in India in the northeastern city of Agartala after fleeing the Presidential Palace in Dhaka. Intelligence sources said India was willing to offer the former prime minister “safe passage”.

General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced in a speech to the nation broadcast by state TV that he would form an interim government following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who in the meantime left the capital Dacca shortly before the protesters took over assault on her official residence.

Television visuals showed thousands of people pouring into the streets of the capital Dhaka in jubilation and shouting slogans. Thousands also stormed Hasina’s official residence ‘Ganabhaban’, shouting slogans, pumping fists and showing victory signs. There were crowds in the drawing rooms of the residence, and some people could be seen carrying away televisions, chairs and tables from what was one of the most protected buildings in the country.

The Bangladesh army has decided to lift the curfew announced by the government of the deposed prime minister and to reopen schools and universities on Tuesday. President Mohammed Shahabuddin also decided to release former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia from prison, as well as the people arrested during the demonstrations in recent days.

Olympics Football: Spain v. France in Men’s final

Semi-finals results: Morocco v. Spain 1-2; France v. Egypt 3-1.Women’s today’s football programme: Semi-finals: 6pm USA v Germany; 9 pm Brazil v. Spain.