U.S. envoy Tom Barrack on Monday called on Israel to honor commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group.

Under the November truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be restricted to the state and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces at five border points it deems strategic.

A lot has happened in just a year on both sides of the Lebanon-Syria border. A lightning offensive by Islamist insurgents in Syria toppled longtime autocrat Bashar Assad and brought a new government in place in Damascus.

In Lebanon, a bruising war with Israel dealt a serious blow to Hezbollah — the Iran-backed and Assad-allied Shiite Lebanese militant group that had until recently been a powerful force in the Middle East — and a U.S.-negotiated deal has brought a fragile ceasefire.

The future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon has split the United States and its European allies, raising implications for security in the Middle East and becoming the latest snag to vex relations between the U.S. and key partners like France, Britain and Italy.

At issue is the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of August and will need to be renewed by the U.N. Security Council to continue. It was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel's 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the monthlong 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Syria's southern city of Sweida and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the right to self determination for the Druze minority, the largest protests to take place since deadly clashes in the area last month.

Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags to thank Israel for intervening on their side during heavy clashes in mid-July between Druze militias and armed tribal groups and government forces.

On opposite sides of ethnically divided Cyprus, even the resting places of the dead haven't been spared the fallout of war.

Shattered granite crosses are strewn about the weed-choked Greek Cypriot cemeteries in the island's northern third that's in Turkish Cypriot hands. In the Greek Cypriot south, Muslim headstones in Turkish Cypriot cemeteries are concealed by overgrowth. Until 2003, no one could cross a United Nations-controlled buffer zone to place flowers at loved ones' graves.

Heavy rains lashed parts of southeastern China on Thursday as Tropical Storm Podul made landfall after leaving one missing on the self-governing island of Taiwan.

School was canceled in Hong Kong and Macao. Some Macao streets were closed because of flooding, and Hong Kong suspended court proceedings. The Hong Kong Observatory, the meteorological agency for the city, advised residents to stay away from the shore.

Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal raced Thursday to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes' advance. Much of southern Europe, however, remains at high risk under hot, dry conditions.

A drop in wind speeds allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up water drops, concentrating on existing fire zones rather than chasing fast-moving fronts. Authorities warned that extreme temperatures are likely to persist.

At least 32 people are dead in flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a top disaster management official said Thursday, as rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village brought at least 100 people to safety.

Mohammed Irshad said rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village of Chositi brought at least 100 people to safety. He said initial estimations suggested at least 50 others were still missing.

The Premier League's top official called for patience Wednesday while the seismic legal case involving Manchester City drags on into another season.

City was charged by the league in February 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about its sources of income. The case was heard by an independent commission between September and December last year but no verdict has been reached.

Thomas Müller has a lot to adapt to with the Vancouver Whitecaps after 25 years at Bayern Munich.

First up, flying without an old friend.