Iran foreign minister to attend OIC meet in Turkey on Saturday, source says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Saturday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Thursday, as war rages between Israel and Iran, Reuters reported.
The source said a special session of the 51st OIC Council of Foreign Ministers is expected to focus on Israel's recent strikes against Iran, including Thursday's attack on the Khondab nuclear site in Arak.
The Israeli military said it targeted a partially built heavy-water reactor at the site, which experts say could produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Turkey has sharply criticised Israel, called its actions illegal and said Iran was legitimately defending itself, according to Reuters.
Opening the two-day summit, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call on Muslim countries to unite in the face of "destabilising actions" across the region, the ministry source said. President Tayyip Erdogan will also address the conference.
Thai PM faces calls to quit after leaked phone call
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's coalition government is on the brink of collapse after her phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen about a festering border dispute was leaked, BBC reported.
The leak provoked public anger and prompted a key coalition partner of the 38-year-old Paetongtarn's Peu Thai party to quit.
In the call, she addressed Hun Sen, a family friend and senior politician in the South East Asian region, as "uncle" and appeared to dismiss a Thai military commander.
"I would like to apologise for the leaked audio of my conversation with a Cambodian leader which has caused public resentment," Paetongtarn said Thursday, as the pressure on her intensified, according to BBC.
Trump approves Iran attack plan but has not made final decision, reports say
Donald Trump has approved plans to attack Iran, but has not made a final decision on whether to strike the country, the BBC's US partner CBS reports, Associated Press reported.
The US president held off from initiating strikes in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme, a senior intelligence source told CBS. Trump is reportedly considering a US strike on Fordo, an underground uranium enrichment facility in Iran.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected Trump's demand for unconditional surrender, as the US president said his patience had run out, according to Associated Press.
On Wednesday, Trump said, "I may do it, I may not do it", when asked a question about US involvement in Iran.
Kyiv rescuers find more bodies as death toll from latest Russian attack climbs to 28
Emergency workers pulled more bodies Wednesday from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian missile, raising the death toll from the latest attack on the Ukrainian capital to 28, Associated Press.
The building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district took a direct hit and collapsed during the deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year. Authorities said that 23 of those killed were inside the building. The remaining five died elsewhere in the city.
Workers used cranes, excavators and their hands to clear more debris from the site, while sniffer dogs searched for buried victims. The blast blew out windows and doors in neighboring buildings in a wide radius of damage.
The attack overnight on Monday into Tuesday was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth year, according to Associated Press.
