The EU climate monitor said Thursday that August was the hottest single month ever recorded globally and that summer in western Europe was the warmest it had measured.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said global average air temperatures in August were 16.96C -- surpassing by 0.01C the previous high set in July 2023 -- and that western Europe endured its "warmest summer on record".

Yemen's Houthi rebels reported about 40 airstrikes launched by Saudi forces on Thursday in a fresh salvo following attacks by the Iran-backed group against the kingdom.

"The Saudi enemy's air force conducted around 40 strikes in recent hours in the governorates of Taiz, Hodeida, Al-Jawf and Marib," Houthi news agency Saba said.

Lebanon’s army on Wednesday accused Israel of a deadly escalation in the country’s south in recent days that threatened a framework deal between the countries and the military’s efforts to implement it.

The army said in a statement that continued Israeli attacks in recent days "threaten existing understandings and arrangements, and hinder the army’s efforts to establish stability" in the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that the war with the United States could end if Washington stopped threatening the Islamic republic and met Tehran's conditions, including regarding its nuclear program.

"If the enemy wants an end to this situation, it must, while completely stopping the war, refrain from renewed threats, withdraw the Israeli regime's army from Lebanon, end the blockade of Yemen, release $24 billion in Iran's frozen assets and refrain from any interference in the country's nuclear and missile capabilities," IRGC Spokesman Hossein Mohebi said, according to the Fars news agency.

An explosion at an arms depot in Syria's northwestern Idlib province killed 14 people on Wednesday, the local health department said, without specifying the cause of the blast.

"The toll from the explosion in a temporary storage for collecting weapons and war remnants near the city of Sarmada... registered 14 killed and 11 injured in a preliminary count," the Idlib health department said.

Iran's foreign ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned U.S. strikes on its oil tankers, describing the attacks the previous day as a threat to regional security.

"The aggressive actions by the United States against Iranian commercial vessels not only increase the dangers of tensions in the region but are also considered an overt threat to regional and international peace and security," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Iranian forces had targeted U.S. military facilities in the region in "self-defense".

The Lebanese military said Tuesday it had rescued over 20 people off the country's northern coast after a boat trying to smuggle them out broke down.

A military statement said the naval forces, along with the civil defense agency and the Red Cross, rescued "22 people during an attempt to smuggle them illegally aboard a boat after it broke down off the coast of Tripoli," the largest city in the north.

The mountain section whose collapse triggered fatal floods in Nepal and China on August 26 had experienced unprecedented heat for the time of year, meteorological data analyzed by a researcher shows.

Average temperatures on the mountain glacier at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,060 feet) were estimated at around five degrees Celsius between August 21 and 26.

Twelve countries including Britain, Canada and France Tuesday said they would slap sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, after increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied territory.

"Today, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures," the nations' foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday there had been "significant progress" in talks with Oman over the administration of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

According to an Iranian foreign ministry statement, Araghchi "explained the latest status of Iran-Oman talks on the Strait of Hormuz, reporting significant progress" during a call with his Japanese counterpart.