While President Donald Trump has said a deal reopening the strait is imminent, U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted they would never agree to Iran controlling access to the world’s most important trade route for energy supplies

International News via Reuters:

A proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end five months of war between Iran and the United States would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.

There was no immediate U.S. comment on the proposal. While President Donald Trump has said a deal reopening the strait is imminent, U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted they would never agree to Iran controlling access to the world’s most important trade route for energy supplies.

An agreement that gives Iran authority over traffic through the strait would mean the war launched by the United States and Israel in February had resulted in a major shift in the balance of regional power in Tehran’s favour. Before the war, the strait was freely open to all ships with no fees.

Amid a wider diplomatic effort in the region, Iran and Oman have been engaged in bilateral talks regarding the strait that they each control through northern and southern channels. Iran reported “significant progress” in the talks and said both inward and outward journeys would pass through Iranian waters.

Meanwhile, Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington’s closest regional allies.

“The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if America targeted Iran’s infrastructure, they would retaliate by striking Gulf energy facilities and other regional targets,” one Gulf source said.

Iran has been striking back with missiles and drones against Washington’s allies in the region, while also targeting commercial ships transiting the strait without its permission.

UNRESOLVED ISSUES

Regarding any deal between Iran and Oman, the regional and Iranian sources who spoke to Reuters cautioned that significant issues remained unresolved and also pushed back against suggestions from Trump that a deal reopening the strait was imminent.

“The concession has already been made regarding some form of control over Hormuz,” one of the regional sources told Reuters.

The other regional source said there were still details to be determined about how “control” would be defined, with Gulf negotiators insisting regional countries supervise inspections of ships, and that any payment of fees be voluntary.

According to the senior Iranian official, Iran is seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from ships using the strait. Oman is discussing fees of around 3%, while Washington wants no fees at all.

The senior Iranian source said the text of an agreement already on the table envisioned Iran having control of ships heading into the Gulf through the strait, and one of the main sticking points was what role Iran would also have over ships heading in the opposite direction.

In comments to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the arrangement was “designed in such a way that commercial ships will pass through Iranian territorial waters, both on the inbound and outbound legs.”

He said talks with Oman had “reached fundamental understandings” and added: “This progress is on the verge of being finalised.”

Gharibabadi also said Iran had received messages from the United States indicating that it was “fully prepared to return to its commitments” under a mid-June memorandum of understanding with Iran that provided for immediate cessation of military operations.

He said this was a condition for reopening of the strait, while adding that no talks with the United States had been held in recent days.

TRUMP FACES VOTER PRESSURE

Trump, who at the start of the war said it would end in Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and with him approving the choice of its leader, has been under pressure to find a way out of a conflict U.S. voters oppose by two-to-one ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.

Months of U.S. military efforts, including a two-week campaign of strikes in July, have not broken Iran’s grip on the strait. U.S. commanders advised Trump in July that they were running low on some munitions. Reuters reported on Tuesday that the U.S. Army had used up nearly all of its long-range precision missiles.

Crude prices have plunged over the past two days after Trump called off renewed attacks on Iran, citing talks he said could end the conflict.

Prices edged lower on Wednesday, although losses were capped by a maritime embargo declared by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saudi ports and vessels, heightening risks to Red Sea shipping.

The Houthis said on Wednesday they had launched a missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of the Red Sea port city of Yanbu and another missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden. There was no Saudi confirmation on either incident.

Reporting Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Timour Azhari in Riyadh, Menna Ala El Din in Cairo and Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Writing by Peter Graff, Alison Williams, David Brunnstrom and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Alison Williams and Sanjeev Miglani

Germany opened a counterterrorism investigation on Wednesday after the drone prompted the closure of parts of one of Europe’s biggest cargo hubs

International News via Reuters:

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the explosive-laden drone found near a runway at Leipzig/Halle airport overnight was a hybrid attack which opened a new level of danger.

Germany opened a counterterrorism investigation on Wednesday after the drone prompted the closure of parts of one of Europe’s biggest cargo hubs.

“Drone sightings and drone threats in a hybrid context are something we have known from the past, but a drone armed with explosives being present on airport grounds is a new threat scenario,” Dobrindt said, after an emergency meeting with the heads of Germany’s security services on Wednesday night.

Airport workers discovered the drone in a restricted cargo area near the southern runway overnight. Flights were suspended and several aircraft, including some owned by German logistics firm DHL, were diverted.

Authorities said there had been no danger to passengers or airport staff and most operations resumed by morning after one runway was reopened.

All speculation about the explosives, the drone, its origin, and who is behind it, is now part of the investigation, the interior minister said.

“It is part of the nature of hybrid threats that it is not always immediately clear where they originate,” Dobrindt said.

DIVERTED PLANE HITS UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT

Investigators were also examining what a cargo plane had struck in the air after being diverted from the airport in eastern Germany during the disruption.

Minor damage was discovered after it landed in Hanover, authorities said. A source familiar with the incident said the plane belonged to DHL.

The southern runway of the airport, a major hub for DHL and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines, remained closed while explosives experts examined the drone and removed its detonator, according to authorities.

LATEST IN A SERIES OF DRONE THREATS

German airports are on high alert after a series of unauthorised drone overflights at sites including military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies.

“What is happening now also shows that the assessment made months ago — that we are dealing with a high level of danger — was justified,” Dobrindt told reporters.

Federal police have said the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.

Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that the Leipzig drone had been found lying in the immediate vicinity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane. The airline has used Leipzig/Halle as an operating base since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Anti-extremism prosecutors and counterterrorism officers took over the investigation after experts confirmed the drone was carrying explosives.

“Such threat situations are not carried out by amateurs, but must be prepared very professionally and executed professionally,” Dobrindt told reporters.

European security agencies have been investigating a series of incendiary devices concealed in parcels that caught fire in 2024, raising concerns about sabotage of air cargo operators.

Some of the devices were found at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig and in freight shipments in transit across Europe.

An Interior Ministry spokesperson said no connection with Tuesday night’s incident could be determined at this stage.

Russia has denied any involvement in the 2024 incidents and the more recent overflights.

Reporting by Friederike Heine, Markus Wacket, Miranda Murray and Maria Martinez in Berlin and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf; Editing by Sabine Wollrab, Kevin Liffey and Daniel Wallis

The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty over Bolsonaro’s choice, as the senator struggled to build alliances beyond his own Liberal Party (PL) and failed in an attempt to add a woman to the vice-presidential slot to broaden support

International News via Reuters:

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the leading right-wing challenger to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October’s presidential election, named conservative Congressman Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate on Wednesday in a surprise choice that underscored his campaign’s challenges.

The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty over Bolsonaro’s choice, as the senator struggled to build alliances beyond his own Liberal Party (PL) and failed in an attempt to add a woman to the vice-presidential slot to broaden support.

A PL member, the 55-year-old Gaspar has represented the northeastern state of Alagoas in the lower house of Congress since 2023. He previously served as Alagoas’ secretary of public security.

“I am a simple person, but one willing to fight. I will have the courage for us to confront corruption, organized crime and this shattered economy,” Gaspar said at an event in Brasilia. “We will move beyond rhetoric and tackle the nation’s problems.”

Gaspar led a probe in Congress into the National Social Security Institute (INSS), the government agency responsible for Brazil’s public pension and social security system.

Lula’s son, Fabio Luis Lula da Silva, is being investigated over allegations he received improper payments linked to a scheme involving deductions from pensions administered by the INSS.

“He has the authority to discuss a subject that makes Lula uncomfortable. He also talks a lot about public safety,” said Lucas de Aragao, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, adding that Gaspar was a surprise pick.

Gaspar on Tuesday launched a Senate campaign in Alagoas.

The lawmaker emerged as an internal PL pick to be Bolsonaro’s running mate after others touted by the senator for the role — such as Senator Tereza Cristina and Daniella Marques, the former head of state-owned savings bank Caixa Economica Federal — failed to secure support from their parties to join the ticket.

Despite leaning to the right, some major Brazilian parties, including Cristina’s Progressives and Marques’ Republicans, have declined to nationally endorse Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Those parties have calculated that remaining neutral in the presidential race is the best strategy to maximize their representation in Congress, hoping to appeal to voters who oppose Flavio Bolsonaro in northeastern Brazil and other Lula strongholds.

Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia, Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Paul Simao

Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks

International News via Reuters:

The temperature in Austria climbed to a record high on Wednesday, while Hungarians curbed power use as the latest heatwave and drought took their toll on central and southern Europe.

Europe, the world’s fastest warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks.

The focus of the heatwave has shifted further east, with Italy placing its major cities under a red heat alert as temperatures climbed to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas. In Albania, emergency services battled a wildfire in the southern region of Mallakaster.

The heat prompted the Vatican to move Pope Leo’s first weekly general audience after the July break indoors rather than hold it in St. Peter’s Square. Visitors to Rome welcomed the decision as they sought relief from the sweltering conditions.

“I suppose it’s better to hold it indoors because of the heat,” a tourist from Mexico, Diego Amaya, said.

AUSTRIA HAS RECORD HIGH AGAIN

The temperature hit a record 41.2 C (106.2 Fahrenheit) in the Austrian town of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the border with Slovakia, national weather service GeoSphere Austria said. The previous record of 41.0 C was set on Tuesday in nearby Vienna.

Across the border in Hungary, companies and households cut power consumption this week after a government appeal to ease pressure on the grid amid the severe drought. The capital Budapest is facing the peak of the heatwave over the next two days, with temperatures rising close to 40 C on Wednesday afternoon.

Dwindling water levels on the Danube have forced Hungary to largely shut down its sole nuclear plant, which uses the river’s waters for cooling, creating an energy crisis that has stretched power supply capacity to its limits.

Slovenia’s only nuclear power plant, Krsko, which supplies neighbouring Croatia as well, said on Wednesday it would begin reducing reactor output overnight due to exceptionally high temperatures and low flows on the Sava River, which flows into the Danube. The plant will initially cut generation to 80% of capacity.

Further west, water levels on the river Rhine in Germany have hit new lows, with some cargo services stopping and other sailings continuing but with greatly reduced loads. The Rhine is a route for commodities including grains, ores and petrol.

WILDFIRES BURN IN ALBANIA

In Albania’s southern Mallakaster region, wildfires forced the evacuation of about 15 families along with their livestock and pets, while ground and aerial crews fought to stop the flames reaching homes near a village.

Efforts continued to tame another wildfire, likely caused by lightning, in rocky, mountainous terrain south of the Albanian city of Gjirokaster.

In neighbouring Greece, a wildfire, possibly caused by vibrating electricity conductors and fanned by gale-force winds, has burned thousands of hectares of farmland near a popular holiday destination northwest of Athens.

The blaze appeared largely contained on Wednesday, but hundreds of firefighters remained in the area to prevent flare-ups as six helicopters doused scattered smoking spots.

The hot, dry summer is having a worrying impact on agriculture.

Britain’s cereal harvest is on track to be the worst since comparable records began in 1984, according to an analysis published on Wednesday, as crops wither after one of the driest and hottest spring-summer periods on record.

Reporting by Francois Murphy, Florion Goga, Krisztina Than, Veronica Altimari, Matteo Negri, Ivana Sekularac and Michael Hogan; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou and Keith Weir; Editing by Mark Potter, Alex Richardson and Ros Russell

Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway

International News via Reuters:

Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, and a joint announcement is being finalised, provided certain third parties did not interfere, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday.

Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway.

The proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.

Despite the apparent step towards yielding to Iranian demands, the sources pushed back against assertions by U.S. President Donald Trump that a deal reopening the strait was imminent, saying important details still had to be agreed.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the negotiations between Tehran and Muscat as “professional” and “moving forward”, saying “the two sides had reached a mutual understanding on the geographical parameters of the route under discussion”.

Baghaei added that, if some third parties do not obstruct the process, the joint statement between the two countries, containing the main considerations and key points of understanding, was in the final stages of review and drafting.

Reporting by Elwely Elwelly and Menna Ala El DinEditing by Ros Russell and Alison Williams

The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year profit and sales outlook, but investors focused instead on slightly weaker-than-expected sales for its new Wegovy pill and another setback for next-generation obesity drug CagriSema

International News via Reuters:

Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar sought to reassure investors on Wednesday that the drugmaker can strengthen its pipeline, pledging faster research and bolt-on acquisitions after an upgraded 2026 outlook failed to lift sentiment.

The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year profit and sales outlook, but investors focused instead on slightly weaker-than-expected sales for its new Wegovy pill and another setback for next-generation obesity drug CagriSema.

Novo is under pressure after losing ground to U.S. rival Eli Lilly in the obesity drug market that analysts expect will be worth over $100 billion a year by 2030. Its new pill and pipeline of new drugs are a key focus for investors.

Novo’s stock was down over 4% while Lilly’s rose more than 7% after it delivered strong earnings.

“Because of the setback, we need to have more shots at goal. We need to be faster and we need to learn from the failures and reinvent ourselves again,” Doustdar said, referring to recent trial results.

NOVO NEEDS A STRONG PIPELINE AS PATENT CLIFFS LOOM

Doustdar, a year into the top job, is trying to convince investors Novo can find new blockbuster obesity drugs before semaglutide, the active ingredient in its Wegovy and Ozempic treatments, loses patent protections by early next decade.

A string of late-stage trial setbacks has intensified investor calls for deals and put scrutiny on Novo’s R&D.

“They need to have a strong pipeline to withstand the pressure when semaglutide hits the patent gap,” said Morten Gregersen, chief portfolio manager at Danish asset manager and Novo shareholder Formuepleje.

“There is another disappointment from CagriSema, and it probably underlines the biggest strategic problem for Novo.”

Novo’s Copenhagen-listed stock has recovered some 30% from a March low but remains at less than a third of its 2024 peak, when Novo temporarily became Europe’s most valuable listed company.

Doustdar said the Wegovy pill, launched this year in the U.S., Britain and the United Arab Emirates, had captured around 90% of the oral obesity market despite competition from Lilly’s pill. He said Novo planned to launch the drug in Germany “soon”.

Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said the upgraded outlook was driven by stronger GLP-1 sales and growth outside the U.S., while Novo still expects U.S. sales to decline this year. He said pricing of the pill was “in the right place”, though it would depend on competition and consumer behaviour.

LIFE BEYOND WEGOVY AND OZEMPIC?

The failure of cardiovascular drug ziltivekimab and recent setbacks for obesity and diabetes drug CagriSema would prompt Novo to move faster rather than changing course, Doustdar said.

Novo would accelerate research, pursue bolt-on acquisitions and broaden its focus beyond obesity and diabetes, he said.

One of Doustdar’s first moves as CEO was to combine Novo’s R&D units under a single executive rather than two, which has sped up decision-making and development timelines, he told Reuters in an interview.

Doustdar said Novo would reveal more early-stage projects at its September investor day, acknowledging that investors remained sceptical because many programmes had yet to be disclosed.

Novo is also looking beyond diabetes and obesity. Doustdar said the biology behind GLP-1 medicines could unlock treatments for conditions including addiction and skin diseases. Novo would “follow the science,” he said.

For now though, investors remain focused on the disappointing trial results for CagriSema, a drug Novo still plans to launch next year.

“This puts the spotlight on Novo Nordisk’s pipeline and its robustness,” AL Sydbank said in a note to clients, adding that while Novo’s earnings should have prompted a sigh of relief from investors, the latest data and impairment charges had dented sentiment.

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, Maggie Fick, Louise Rasmussen, Bhanvi Satija; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Rashmi Aich, Mark Potter, Elaine Hardcastle