- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
West tells Iran to 'stand down' Israel attack threats
The United States and European allies called on Iran to "stand down" Monday, as fears mounted of an imminent attack on Israel that could spark an all-out war in the Middle East.
Tensions are soaring in the region, with the United States rushing a missile submarine and an aircraft carrier group in a show of support for its key ally.
Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killing of the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran, and of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
International efforts to stave off an Iranian attack intensified, with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain warning Tehran in a joint statement on Monday.
"We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place," they said after speaking on Monday.
The White House warned that a "significant set of attacks" by Iran and its proxies was possible as soon as this week, saying that Israel shared the same assessment.
As the frantic diplomacy continued, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to urge de-escalation.
But Pezeshkian said Monday his country has the "right to respond to aggressors."
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh had been in Tehran for the new Iranian president's inauguration last month when Haniyeh was killed in an attack that Iran has blamed on Israel.
Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut a day earlier, leaving the region on edge.
- 'No further time to lose' -
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said his country was "ready to foil any threat in real time" but added that he was "not familiar" with reports that Iran was expected to launch an attack in the next 24 hours.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country had strengthened defenses and organized "offensive options" as "threats from Tehran and Beirut may materialize."
Washington and the four European nations meanwhile intensified their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, regarding the conflict sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel as the root cause of the tensions in the Middle East.
They backed a call by Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar for renewed talks between Israel and Hamas this Thursday, "and stressed there is no further time to lose."
They also called for "unfettered" delivery of aid to devastated Gaza.
The pressure to bring an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to release its hostages came as the militant group's armed wing said it had killed one Israeli captive and wounded two more in "incidents".
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that two of its fighters "assigned to guard" the hostages had fired at them in "two separate incidents" and that a committee had been formed to investigate.
Hamas has urged mediators to implement a truce plan earlier presented by Biden instead of holding more talks.
But Israel has accepted the invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to send negotiators.
"The reason we're doing that is to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told a news conference.
- 'Stop this war' -
Pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza grew after civil defense rescuers in the Hamas-run territory said an Israeli air strike on Saturday killed 93 people at a school housing displaced Palestinians.
Israel said it targeted militants operating out of the school and mosque.
On Monday, witnesses told AFP Israel struck Khan Yunis and Rafah from the air. Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which has been fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said its militants were battling Israeli troops in Khan Yunis.
In central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, Suhail Abu Batihan said the Israeli bombardment was "causing terror" among residents, calling on mediators and "the world... to intervene to stop this war."
The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,897 people, according to a new toll from the territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
burs-dk/st
M.A.Colin--AMWN