"I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States' national security and foreign policy interests," Trump said in the letter, dated July 10, and seen by Reuters on Monday.

The fire erupted Sunday in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest, a former royal hunting estate that today is dotted with quiet villages, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of the capital

His visit comes against the backdrop of renewed military escalation between the United States and Iran, Iraq's main allies

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday they had carried out missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, after the Gulf country urged citizens to take shelter as a siren sounded

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen yesterday accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate.

The United States is “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz and will be paid for protecting it, US President Donald Trump declared yesterday, as Washington and Tehran once again fought over the vital waterway.

The EU said yesterday that European donors had put some $1 billion on the table to help initial recovery efforts in war-torn Gaza.

An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said yesterday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.

The US military said on Sunday it completed a new round of strikes in Iran aimed at preventing the Islamic republic from attacking shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz

The official death toll from Venezuela's devastating twin earthquakes rose to nearly 4,500 on Sunday, as the government reported more than 19,500 people were now living in camps due to the destruction

European countries reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed the west of the continent in late June, official data showed

The final day of the Salsa on St Clair festival was canceled

Two people were killed and at least four others seriously wounded in a shooting at a salsa festival on Saturday that drew thousands of people in Toronto, Canada police said.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers pressed their Myanmar counterpart for “concrete” progress on a stagnant Asean peace plan for the country during a meeting in Bangkok yesterday, top Thai and Philippine diplomats said.

Israeli police said they arrested four suspects on Saturday for allegedly damaging a vehicle carrying foreign journalists in the occupied West Bank, in an incident that US broadcaster CNN described as an attack on its crew by Israeli settlers.

A Ukrainian drone struck a tanker as it was entering the Azov-Black Sea Canal, Yury Slyusar, governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said yesterday.

Qatar’s government yesterday announced the death of former leader Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who led the country from 1995 to 2013. He was 74.

Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to strike mainland China this year, brought heavy rain to the eastern coast yesterday and lashed densely populated cities with violent winds, testing the country’s ability to cope with extreme weather.

Gaza’s civil defence and hospitals said an Israeli drone strike and gunfire killed five people and injured several others yesterday.

Some 44 million Americans were under a heatwave warning on Saturday as temperatures in the Rocky Mountains and northern plains of the United States were expected to hit 110F (43C) over the weekend.