By Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul and Angus McDowall
DUBAI/LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz and ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf even if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said.
By Victoria Waldersee and Corina Pons
July 1 (Reuters) - Spain's reparations law granting descendants of Spaniards the right to citizenship has sparked a heated political debate, with right-wing opposition figures accusing the government of trying to sway next year’s elections with new voters.
At least 544,722 people have so far been granted citizenship under the law passed in 2022, with 306,000 registering on the electoral roll, according to government data. Around 650,000 applications remain unprocessed.
By Jonathan Spicer
ANKARA, July 1 (Reuters) - Five years ago, the West risked a full-blown diplomatic crisis with NATO ally Turkey when 10 ambassadors called for the release of a man they saw as a political prisoner, prompting an angry President Tayyip Erdogan to order their expulsion.
After two frantic days in 2021, the sides stepped back from the brink with the U.S., French, German, Canadian and other envoys issuing conciliatory statements and Erdogan saying they would be more careful in the future.
And so they have been.
Indian sailors shaken by war have finally cleared the Strait of Hormuz after being stranded there for months, but some fear they have little choice but to return to make a living.
The country is one of the largest contributors of sailors to merchant shipping, sending out hundreds of thousands of seafarers to work worldwide.
Thousands of Indian sailors have left the Gulf since the war began, including more than 3,600 aided by the South Asian nation's shipping ministry.
SEOUL, July 1 (Reuters) - South Korea's Oceans Ministry said on Wednesday the cargo vessel Namu, operated by HMM, would exit the Strait of Hormuz in mid-July at the earliest once the damage sustained in an attack in May was repaired.
The bulk carrier's hull was hit near the stern in the attack, which Seoul said on May 27 probably involved an Iranian anti-ship missile, summoning the Iranian ambassador to share the results of its investigation and lodge a protest.
By Andrea Shalal
June 30 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged countries to cover a $100 million gap in funding for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, saying the body was nearing a breaking point after deep cost-cutting and austerity measures.
Guterres told an ad hoc meeting of the General Assembly on voluntary contributions that UNRWA's situation was increasingly precarious given sweeping restrictions throughout occupied Palestinian territory that impeded its work, and the large cash shortfall.
By Vivian Sequera
CARACAS, June 30 (Reuters) - Jordanian emergency workers in Venezuela, which was hit by devastating twin earthquakes last week, rescued a child early on Tuesday, the only reportedsurvivor on the sixth day of rescue efforts, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Klieber Moran was pulled from the Los Corales Garden 1 building in La Guaira state by rescuers from Jordan after spending six days trapped under the rubble, Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message via Telegram.
By Lili Bayer, Gram Slattery, Andrew Gray and Fatos Bytyci
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON/TIRANA, June 30 (Reuters) - As NATO leaders prepare for a summit in Turkey next week, plans for an alliance summit in Albania next year have been thrown into doubt due to resistance from the Trump administration and dissatisfaction among NATO members with Tirana's low defence spending, a NATO diplomat, European official and three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
It's 7:13 am on a sultry June morning and a passenger train pulls into the station in Abu Dhabi, oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates. An unremarkable scene in many cities but here, the first of its kind.
The UAE's inaugural passenger service, from sleepy Fujairah, carried enthusiastic travellers who watched Thursday's sun rise as they sped across the desert, relaxing on brand-new upholstery.
TEL AVIV, June 30 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday visited Lebanese territory occupied by the Israeli military, telling soldiers that Israel would not withdraw from the country's south as long as Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to pose a threat.
It was the first visit by Netanyahu to occupied Lebanese territory since the Israeli and Lebanese governments reached a security agreement last Friday mediated by the United States under which Israel will hand over two areas to Lebanon's army.
