International News from Thursday, June 25th, 2026

Foreign ministers from the United States and Gulf Cooperation Council countries have met in Bahrain, reaffirming their commitment to regional security and their longstanding strategic partnership.

The United Nations’ shipping agency on Thursday paused an evacuation effort to get hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers out through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

The city mayor told busy Parisians to slow down on Thursday as large parts of Western Europe remained in the grip of a deadly heatwave that has claimed dozens of lives, disrupted power supplies, and shut schools and cultural landmarks.

President Donald Trump's administration has asked the US Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran war, setting the stage for another fight with lawmakers already frustrated with the conflict.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 has struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.

At least 164 people were confirmed dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around Venezuela's capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.