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Kremlin says Russia is in touch with Turkey on fate of Russian S-400 missiles

MOSCOW, July 10 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia was in touch with Turkey about the fate of Russian S-400 missile systems which Ankara owns after a news outlet reported that Turkey was poised to transfer the air defence missiles to an unnamed Gulf country.

Turkish news outlet Hurriyet reported earlier on Friday that Turkey could announce it would resell the S-400s to one of the Gulf nations as soon as today in order to persuade the United States to lift sanctions on Ankara.

FILE PHOTO: Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems drive during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2023. Pelagiya Tikhonova/Moscow News Agency/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Thai court to consider damages sought by crew of ship attacked in Strait of Hormuz

BANGKOK, July 10 (Reuters) - Thailand's Labour Court on Friday accepted a petition from three Thai sailors seeking damages after a deadly attack on their cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz in March, during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, their lawyer said.

The petition, seen by Reuters, seeks damages of at least 1 million baht ($30,000) for each sailor from companies and agencies linked to the vessel owner, Precious Shipping, and its captain.

Noppadon Wongsuvan, 33, a Thai crew member of the cargo ship Mayuree Naree that was struck on March 11, killing three crew members, while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, and his lawyer, Kunpat Singhathong, arrive at the Central Labour Court to file a lawsuit accusing Thailand-based company Precious Shipping of ordering the vessel to sail through the waterway despite military tensions between the U.S. and Iran, in Bangkok, Thailand, July 10, 2026. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

One million women lose aid access due to funding cuts, UN Women says

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, July 10 (Reuters) - At least one million women and girls have lost access to life-saving support within the last year due to global donor aid cuts, a new United Nations report on Friday found.

Nearly nine in 10 women’s organisations can no longer meet the needs on the ground despite a large increase in demand since January last year, following the steepest drop in aid funding on record, the U.N. Women report found.

The United Nations logo adorns a window at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

Explainer-What is Islamic State, the group linked to this week's Damascus bombs?

By Michael Georgy

DUBAI, July 10, (Reuters) - Preliminary investigations into the cell behind Tuesday's bombings in Damascus, near a hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, indicate it was affiliated with Islamic State, a senior Syrian security official said.

Two bombs exploded near the hotel, wounding 18 people and overshadowing Macron's visit — the first by a European Union head of state since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

WHAT IS ISLAMIC STATE?

Emergency personnel work as smoke and fire rise at the site where explosive devices blew up near a hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was meant to be staying, in Damascus, Syria, in this screengrab obtained from a video, July 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar

ASEAN to discuss engagement with Myanmar at special meeting, Philippines says

MANILA, July 10 (Reuters) - An upcoming meeting between foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian grouping ASEAN and their counterpart from Myanmar will tackle the country's civil war and its engagement with the bloc after five years in the cold, the Philippines said on Friday.

As chair of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines will lead Sunday's gathering in Bangkok, the first in-person meeting with Myanmar's top diplomat since a 2021 coup and ensuing conflict that led to the exclusion of the ruling generals from the bloc's summits.

Slain Iranian leader buried as successor remains out of sight

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, July 9 (Reuters) - Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried in the country's holiest shrine, state media said early on Friday, after huge crowds gathered for his funeral with his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei still hidden from public view.

The burial in Mashhad in northeast Iran follows a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies that has coincided with a renewed burst of conflict with the United States following weeks of truce in the four-month-old war.

Mourners attend a funeral procession on the day of the burial of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, in Mashhad, Iran, July 9, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Turkey's Erdogan gives NATO leaders revolver conundrum after summit

MADRID, July 9 (Reuters) - Belgium's prime minister was a little surprised on landing back home from Wednesday's NATO summit in Turkey to find that he had a handgun and ammunition in his luggage.

After NATO leaders gathered for Wednesday's fractious summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, handed each an unusual parting gift: a vintage revolver, along with live ammunition indicating it was not just for show.

Erdogan wanted to showcase Turkey's defence industry, which has become a key export and foreign policy tool.

A gun gifted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at NATO summit in Ankara. Picture taken in Vilnius, Lithuania July 9, 2026. Lithuanian President's Office/Handout via REUTERS

Syria says IS behind Damascus blasts, finds explosives cache

Syrian authorities on Friday said they uncovered an explosives cache after having captured an IS-linked cell responsible for two bomb blasts during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Damascus earlier this week. On Friday, the interior ministry said that "intensive investigations with members of the terrorist cell" allowed authorities to find "a secret cache the cell had designated for storing explosives in preparation for a series of terrorist attacks".
Two blasts hit central Damascus on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding dozens during the French president's first visit to Syria

Netanyahu races to keep promises to allies ahead of election

With the Israeli parliament set to dissolve in the coming days, just four months before national elections, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a series of bills, drawing fierce criticism from opposition. The veteran prime minister, who has held office for nearly two decades across multiple terms, is facing public anger over a series of failures -- particularly those that led to Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.
With Israeli parliament set to dissolve in the coming days, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a series of bills

Syria says preliminary probe links Damascus bomb cell to Islamic State

July 9 (Reuters) - Preliminary investigations into the cell responsible for Tuesday's bombings in Damascus have shown it was affiliated with Islamic State, a senior Syrian security official said on Thursday.

• "We were able to track down one member of the cell responsible for the July 7 Damascus bombings, and by monitoring him we identified the rest of the group's members," Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, told Syrian state-run Ekhbariya TV.

A cordoned-off area and a damaged structure in the aftermath of explosions near a hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was meant to be staying, in Damascus, Syria, July 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar