Trump signs executive order implementing U.S.-Japan trade agreement

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday implementing the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, the White House said.

"Under the Agreement, the United States will apply a baseline 15 percent tariff on nearly all Japanese imports entering the United States, alongside separate sector-specific treatment for automobiles and automobile parts; aerospace products; generic pharmaceuticals; and natural resources that are not naturally available or produced in the United States," said the executive order.

"Japan, meanwhile, will provide American manufacturing, aerospace, agriculture, food, energy, automobile, and industrial goods producers with breakthrough openings in market access across key sectors," it added.

Death toll from Afghanistan earthquake climbs to 2,205

The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan has climbed to 2,205, with 3,640 others injured, the Afghan Red Crescent Society reported Thursday.

Rescue operations remain underway amid reports that many people are still trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed homes, the organization said.

It added that the casualty figures are based on preliminary information and are expected to rise further.

Tents have been set up for displaced families in several locations, while the organized distribution of emergency relief supplies is ongoing, Afghan interim government deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said in a post on X.

Israel says controlling 40 pct of Gaza City, vows to expand offensive

Israel's military spokesperson Effie Defrin said Thursday that Israeli forces control about 40 percent of Gaza City and will "expand and intensify" the offensive in the coming days to seize the enclave's largest urban center.

Defrin said in a briefing that as part of the assault, which he said began "in recent weeks," tens of thousands of reservists have been mobilized to join regular forces currently maneuvering in the Zeitoun neighborhood in the southeast of the city and in Sheikh Radwan in the north.

"Hamas will meet the full force of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) in Gaza City," Defrin said. "We will increase the pressure on Hamas until its defeat."

Defrin showed aerial video footage of several blocks exploding, which he said was the destruction of underground infrastructure in Zeitoun.

Gaza health authorities say 84 killed in Israeli strikes in past 24 hours

Gaza health authorities said on Thursday that 84 Palestinians were killed and 338 wounded in Israeli attacks across the enclave in the past 24 hours.

The latest casualties brought the Palestinian death toll since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, to 64,231, with 161,583 injured. At least 2,356 people have been killed and more than 17,244 wounded while trying to obtain food, the authorities said in a statement.

Hospitals in Gaza also reported three new deaths from starvation and malnutrition in the past day, raising the total to 370, including 131 children, since the start of the conflict, according to the authorities.

Israel says airstrike killed 12 senior Houthi officials in Sana

The Israeli military said on Thursday that a dozen senior Houthi officials were killed in the airstrikes on a meeting point in Sanaa last week.

The strikes last Thursday targeted a military facility in the Yemeni capital used by senior Houthi commanders, where military officials and government ministers were present, the military said in a statement.

It did not name the officials, but the Houthis confirmed last week that Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi of the Houthi-run government was among those killed.

Also on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed a strong response to recent Houthi attacks on Israel.

Washington, D.C. sues Trump administration over National Guard deployment

Washington, D.C. has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the deployment of National Guard troops in the nation's capital, the district's Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Thursday.

"We are suing to block the unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to DC," Schwalb posted on social media platform X. "The forced military occupation of the District of Columbia violates our local autonomy and basic freedoms. It must end."

The attorney general's office argues that the deployment violates the Home Rule Act which grants a local government (like a municipality or a district) the authority to govern itself, exercising powers of governance within its own administrative area.