At least 27 killed in blaze at Bangkok pub, Thai officials say

• US-Iran tensions have escalated following a ship attack in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the most significant military surge since the last ceasefire. • The conflict erupted shortly after Oman proposed a diplomatic solution to allow vessels to use both Omani and Iranian shipping lanes without additional approvals.

• Iran's state news agency, IRNA, reported that 10 to 11 enemy projectiles struck Qeshm Island on Sunday. • The attack targeted a strategic location within the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global artery for oil and shipping.

• Renewed hostilities between the US and Iran, alongside Israel's ongoing military campaigns, are increasing the risk of a wider Middle East conflict. • These geopolitical tensions are triggering global energy and food security crises, which threaten to cause drastic economic growth deceleration in the Philippines.

• Gulf nations are currently navigating a "grey zone" between war and peace, where traditional crisis management is no longer sufficient to ensure stability. • National security is now inextricably linked to development, with financial centers, energy projects, and global ports serving as critical pillars of power.

Republican senator, who died Saturday, had a global reach few could rival and was vital in shaping Trump’s worldviewIt was revealing that one of the first tributes to Lindsey Graham, a US senator who died on Saturday aged 71, came from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, a far-right provocateur who recently caused widespread anger by sharing footage of himself taunting bound activists who had been trying to sail to Gaza with aid.Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was not far behind, calling Graham a “great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine”, and he was quickly followed by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who described him as “a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer”. Continue reading...

Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait of Hormuz and warned vessels not to sail without its authorisationThe US and Iran have again exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states across the Gulf and saying it had again closed the vital strait of Hormuz.The US military ⁠began launching more strikes against Iran at 5 pm ET on Sunday, US Central Command said in a statement, “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait of Hormuz.” Continue reading...

Senator says in statement he has undergone battery of tests after weeks of mounting speculation about his healthUS senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about the Kentucky Republican’s condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he has undergone a battery of tests as doctors try to determine what led to his fall. He explained the long silence about his condition by saying that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older”. Continue reading...

Almost 55% of homes at auction were sold, weekend figures show. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastRichard Scolyer to have state memorial service at Sydney Opera HouseRichard Scolyer, the 2024 Australian of the Year, will be honoured with a state memorial service on Monday, after his death from brain cancer on 7 June. He was 59.Every day, this remarkable man – the cancer specialist who became his own subject – took us into his confidence and he lifted us all in the process. Continue reading...

Congressman says Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s ‘blood is on Trump’s hands’ after federal agents killed Texas builderThe builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side. Continue reading...

Israeli ambassador to US accuses Ro Khanna of political stunt to distract from support for Graham PlatnerRo Khanna accused the Israeli government and military of “lying” on Sunday about the US congressman’s detention by armed settlers and Israeli soldiers during a recent visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Khanna – a California Democrat – had posted video evidence on social media of Israeli settlers and soldiers blocking the path of his convoy on Wednesday in the South Hebron hills, near the village of Zanuta, where Israelis have driven Palestinians from their homes in what Amnesty International calls a government-backed “ethnic cleansing campaign”. Continue reading...

Fire in Walthamstow producing a ‘significant amount of smoke’, says London fire brigadeMore than 100 firefighters are tackling a fire at a railway embankment in east London.Twenty-five fire engines and about 125 firefighters were called to the incident near Vallentin Road in Walthamstow. Continue reading...