World News updates: Strait of Hormuz sees sharp drop in shipping traffic as US-Iran war drags on

Former Ecuadorian president Abdala Bucaram was sentenced to nine years in prison by a court in connection with a corruption case linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case relates to alleged corruption during the pandemic, though no further details were provided in the initial report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would sue Haaretz newspaper over a report claiming he was warned by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed about a possible Hamas attack 10 days before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu rejected the report as false in a statement on X and said he would also sue its authors, Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yaval. The UAE has declined to comment on the allegations. The report comes as Netanyahu seeks to maintain his position ahead of the Knesset elections scheduled for October.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the Mecca agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey is a “defensive alliance” and that there are currently no plans to expand it. When asked how Pakistan would fulfil its obligations after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Foreign ministry spokesperson said Islamabad would act under the agreement when the time comes.

Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets region and a seaport in Dagestan over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday. Zelenskyy said eight other Russian infrastructure facilities supporting the war were also hit, along with unnamed sites in the Moscow, Voronezh, Astrakhan and Bryansk regions. This comes after Russian drone attacks killed five people and injured 24 in Ukraine’s Sumy region on Thursday.

Lublin and Rzeszow airports resumed operations after a temporary closure linked to military activity. Polish airports in Lublin and Rzeszow resumed air operations after being temporarily closed due to military aviation activity, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said on Thursday. The Polish Air Force was conducting preventive operations in response to Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, the Polish army said.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said Putin was willing to make a deal and that it would be positive if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also agreed. The comments came after Trump spoke with Putin by phone on Tuesday.

"He is wanting to make a deal, ​and if (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy is wanting to make ⁠a deal, that'd be very nice," Trump told reporters ​before boarding Air Force One en route to Dallas for ​the Republican National Convention. US, Ukrainian and European intelligence officials, however, continue to doubt whether Putin is seriously interested in ending the war, now in its fourth year.

Searchers in southeastern China found another body from rain-triggered landslides in Jiangxi province, raising the death toll to 16, state media reported on Thursday. Thirteen people were killed in a mudslide in Gaoping town, while two died in Zuo’an and one in Tanghu, all in Suichuan county. More than 18,000 people have been evacuated from the area. Heavy rain lashed the region after Typhoon Saudel made landfall on China’s east coast. Two more people were also killed in neighbouring Hunan province following rains linked to the typhoon.

A woman was killed and two people were injured after drone debris fell on a house in Borisoglebsk in Russia’s Voronezh region, Governor Alexander Gusev said on Thursday. Gusev said air defence systems destroyed 19 drones over the region. Russia’s Defence Ministry said 448 Ukrainian drones were shot down across multiple regions overnight.

Saudi civil defence authorities issued an all-clear on Thursday after an emergency alert was declared in Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours. Officials said the danger had passed. At least 73 people were wounded in recent Houthi attacks on four southern Saudi cities, including Khamis Mushait, according to the Saudi-led coalition. The Houthis said they had attacked an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities. The coalition said Houthi attacks on Saudi national assets and infrastructure continued on Wednesday. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has intensified in recent months, raising fears of a wider conflict after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted years of war.

A pilot on an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane that crashed in Miami warned they were flying “too fast” just over a minute before landing, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The Boeing 767 overran the runway by about 1,300 feet and hit two vehicles, killing five people and injuring five others. The cockpit recording showed repeated warnings about the aircraft’s descent and terrain. One pilot called for the landing to be aborted 15 seconds after touchdown, but the plane was still travelling at 120 knots before the throttles were reduced to idle.

A flight carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Norway was delayed after Moldova closed its airspace following a drone incursion. A Russian drone crashed in a field in northern Moldova on Tuesday, causing four fires but no injuries. Airspace restrictions were later lifted and Zelenskyy’s flight took off. The drone had earlier entered Romania, where Spanish F-18 fighter jets tracked its trajectory before it re-entered Moldovan airspace.

US President Donald Trump said US strikes on Iran prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump said that without his decision to withdraw from the JCPOA and US strikes using B-2 bombers, Iran would have a nuclear weapon now.