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Iran’s 14-Point Proposal Demands $300 Billion ‘Recovery Plan,” Complete Troop Withdrawal, Leaves Missile Program Off the Table  

Iranian media outlets close to Tehran’s negotiating team have published details of a reported 14-point draft framework that would govern a potential agreement between the United States and Iran on sanctions, regional security and nuclear issues.  

A notable feature of the reported proposal is the absence of any provisions addressing Iran’s ballistic missile program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly told its ally, the United States, that any acceptable agreement must address both Iran’s nuclear activities and its missile capabilities.  

The framework also reportedly calls for a $300 billion economic recovery and reconstruction package for Iran, despite repeated US statements rejecting the idea of paying reparations to Tehran.  

Separately, a pro-Hezbollah media outlet reported that the provision concerning the withdrawal of foreign forces from areas surrounding Iran could be interpreted to include demands that Israel abandon its remaining strategic positions in Lebanon.  

According to Mehr, the proposal is still being reviewed by Iranian authorities and has not yet received final approval. The framework reportedly combines immediate confidence-building measures with a longer-term negotiating process aimed at reaching a final nuclear agreement.  

The reported provisions are:  

An immediate and permanent ceasefire would take effect on multiple fronts, including Lebanon.  

Washington would pledge not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.  

Naval measures imposed on Iran would be lifted within 30 days.  

American forces would be withdrawn or reduced in areas Tehran considers strategically sensitive.  

The waterway would resume normal operations within 30 days under arrangements agreed with Iran.  

Restrictions on Iranian oil, petrochemical and related exports would be removed.  

The United States and allied countries would provide at least $300 billion in reconstruction and development assistance.  

A two-month negotiating period would be established to reach a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency.  

Iran would formally reaffirm its adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restate that it does not seek nuclear weapons.  

The United States would refrain from increasing troop deployments in the region or imposing new sanctions while negotiations continue.  

A total of $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen abroad would be released, with half made available before final negotiations begin.  

A system would be established to oversee compliance with commitments undertaken by both parties.  

Any final agreement would require approval through a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Final negotiations would not begin until half of Iran’s frozen funds had been released, energy sanctions had been suspended and naval restrictions had been lifted. The talks would focus on nuclear issues, sanctions and economic recovery, while Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional proxy groups would remain outside the scope of the negotiations. 

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By Parisa Hafezi and Humeyra Pamuk

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – Hopes grew on Friday for peace between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump said a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend, even as Tehran said it had not made a final decision on a pact. 

The deal, if confirmed, would be the most significant diplomatic breakthrough yet to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher after Iran all but closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

“The strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon, maybe over the weekend in Europe,” he said, adding that Vice President JD Vance would attend the deal signing.

Asked if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the deal, Trump said, “I understand the answer is yes.”

Since mid-March, Trump has repeatedly claimed a deal with Iran to end the war was close. The two sides have traded strikes this week, straining a ceasefire announced in April. 

Iranian media reported Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying large parts of the agreement have been finalized, but Iran would not compromise on its red lines. 

“We have not reached a final conclusion on this matter,” he said. “This is a very important issue that is currently being reviewed by the relevant decision-making bodies.”

MARKETS RALLY DESPITE TENSION

Asian stocks joined a strong global rally on Friday on hopes that a peace deal may finally materialise, while oil prices fell to two-month lows.

Still, tension remained high around the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. forces shooting down two Iranian one-way attack drones after Tehran attempted to strike commercial ships transiting the vital waterway, a U.S. official said.

Iran’s military stopped a tanker from transiting the strait, state media said, reporting the sound of explosions early on Friday.

Trump’s announcement came after he called off planned military strikes on Iran, citing progress in talks. 

“It’s a very strong memorandum of understanding that is a little conceptual,” Trump told reporters. 

Trump has repeatedly said any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking such a weapon. 

Iran’s demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The big thing is there will be no nuclear weapons in Iran. That means not developed and not purchased,” Trump later said during a campaign event held by telephone.  

TIT-FOR-TAT STRIKES

Earlier on Thursday, Trump said the United States would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and wanted eventually to take its oil infrastructure hub, Kharg Island. 

The conflict has become a political headache for the White House, with polls showing Trump’s approval ratings sinking amid voter anger over high gasoline prices.

Some Republicans have openly worried that the war’s unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

But Trump’s political considerations also include satisfying Iran hawks within his Republican Party, who scuttled a prior effort, that any agreement closes Tehran’s path to developing a nuclear weapon. 

The reaction of other Middle East powers will also be crucial. 

Trump said on social media the agreement had been approved by countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the Israeli leader and Trump spoke that Israel was not a party to the memorandum of understanding with Iran. 

Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for Trump’s commitment to securing a deal that includes removing enriched material, dismantling enrichment infrastructure, limiting missile output and ending support for regional proxies, the summary showed.

Tehran has been demanding an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where fighting has continued in a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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HANOI, June 12 (Reuters) – Vietnamese police have busted a group suspected of trying to establish a large-scale online scam centre in the country, authorities said on Friday, as criminal networks spread their operations across Southeast Asia.

Police in Phu Tho province uncovered and disrupted a transnational group linked to online fraud syndicates operating in Cambodia, preventing it from setting up what they described as a major scam hub in Vietnam, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

Four people were arrested, including a Chinese national and three Vietnamese, according to the statement.

Investigators said the group had rented multiple resorts, farmstays and villas in Hanoi, Lao Cai and Phu Tho to house dozens of people as part of their preparations, adding that many of them had previously worked at scam centres in Cambodia.

Police also seized dozens of computers, hundreds of mobile phones and internet devices allegedly used for online fraud, saying the site was close to becoming operational.

The raid “prevented the formation of a large-scale transnational high-tech fraud centre within Vietnam,” and also helped safeguard national security and protect people’s assets, the ministry said.

Speaking at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey described scam compounds as among “the most significant threats facing the world today”, warning that their impact across Southeast Asia was “growing at an exponential rate”.

Bailey said the operations are run by sophisticated transnational networks that move people, money and technology across borders, exploiting weak governance and emerging tools to expand globally.

Amnesty International said ‌in a report on Monday that dozens of suspected ​global scam compounds in Cambodia are still in operation despite a months-long crackdown by authorities.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by David Stanway)

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DHAKA, June 12 (Reuters) – Bangladesh and India have agreed to deepen cooperation along their shared border with improved intelligence sharing and coordinated patrols, according to a joint statement released on Friday, amid strained relations over alleged undocumented migration.

Dhaka has accused Indian authorities of attempting to force migrants across the border without due process, complicating efforts to stabilise ties following the 2024 ousting of Sheikh Hasina and India’s broader effort to identify and deport undocumented migrants.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) described the discussions as “cordial, positive and forward-looking”, according to the statement released at the end of a four-day meeting of top border officials in New Delhi. 

The regular talks also covered “illegal, inadvertent and forcible crossing at border areas,” an increasingly contentious issue in recent months.

Bangladesh and India share a more than 4,000‑km (2,500-mile) border, one of the world’s longest. India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which governs key border states including Tripura, West Bengal and Assam, has said tackling alleged undocumented migration ​is a priority and has been trying to push Bengali-speaking Muslims branded “illegal infiltrators” into Bangladesh since last year.

Bangladesh has said it has sent more than a dozen letters to New Delhi seeking an end to the practice. 

The BGB has reported foiling several alleged attempts in recent weeks and has stepped up deployments, intelligence operations and drone surveillance in border areas.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said that any push-ins without due process were “absolutely unacceptable,” warning they could undermine efforts to improve bilateral ties.

Bangladesh said it had intensified patrols and launched awareness campaigns along parts of the frontier to tackle the alleged forced crossings, while India said in May it had asked Dhaka to verify the nationality of more than 2,860 suspected Bangladeshi nationals living in India without formal documentation.

The joint statement said the two sides also discussed human trafficking, border deaths, smuggling, infrastructure and implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan.

“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, tranquility and stability along the India-Bangladesh border,” the statement said, adding they would strengthen coordinated patrols, enhance vigilance, improve real-time information sharing and step up joint action against trans-border criminal networks.

The top border officials will next meet in Dhaka in November, the statement said.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Saurabh Sharma in New Delhi; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

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VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) — The two burly men stare straight ahead, hands intertwined on a pottery wheel, fingers buried in the clay. They sense each other’s presence through touch alone.

One is a veteran who lost his sight in combat and now teaches other blind veterans. Slowly, a piece resembling a cup takes form.

The instructor, Ivan Shostak, 37, said he has made more than 1,000 such pieces but has never seen a single one. The craft came into his life only after he lost his sight during one of Ukraine’s bloodiest and longest battles.

Making plates, cups, mugs, candle holders and other objects helped him find new meaning in a life upended by trauma. What began as a rehabilitation exercise has grown into a business and a mentoring practice for veterans and others.

“I have two kids I have to help through life and show by my own example that you have to fight for your life,” Shostak said.

Shostak rejoined the army in the early years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, not joining right away since he wanted to be there for his second son’s birth. He previously fought in eastern Ukraine after the conflict broke out in 2014.

His second tour lasted a few months. While fighting in the battle of Bakhmut in March 2023, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded just above his head. The blast destroyed his eyes.

Besides blindness, he also had a concussion, a traumatic brain injury and displaced vertebrae in the neck.

He said the real ordeal began at home. His wife at the time could not endure it. She left him alone with his new challenges.

“There was a family, and after the injury there was no family,” Shostak said. But his parents stayed close, supporting him.

He spent half a year bedridden, dulling the pain with medication. The despair was harder to manage. No pills could ease that.

A fellow soldier home on leave came to his aid, taking him to a local rehabilitation center for people who had lost their sight. Within a month, staff taught him to use a phone and a cane and to handle daily life.

“It turned out you could live even in total darkness,” Shostak said.

One day, he and others from the center were invited to visit a pottery workshop, where he made his first plate. “And after that came the thrill that I could still do something,” he recalled.

He began attending classes regularly and later sold his work. He became an instructor after the first “Pottery in the Dark” project, supported by Sweden and the U.N. Development Program, in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. The program helps veterans who lost their sight, including in the war.

Then he launched his business.

Shostak has three others on his team who help him sell his pottery, mostly through his Instagram page. He keeps no strict schedule, working according to his mood in a workshop that his older brother, also a soldier, set up for him in his apartment.

“Clay is that kind of material, and pottery is that kind of work, where if you feel bad, there’s nothing to do here. It won’t come out at all. Everything breaks, comes out crooked,” he said. “Only when you feel good, you sit down, you work, and it all turns out great.”

The later stages happen in another workshop, where he gets help with firing and glazing. But he chooses every color himself, guided by his imagination.

Each piece bears the emblem of the air assault forces he served in — a dome, wings and a sword — with the motto “Nobody but us” and his name on the side.

Roman Shtohryn, director of the Podillia rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia, said six of the 11 project participants who completed the pottery training already earn an income from it. All but one are veterans.

“We planned all this so it would turn into a business,” Shtohryn said.

Pottery serves multiple functions, he said. The first is psychological: A person concentrates on something, stops thinking about problems and stays in a kind of flow, in the moment. Second, working with clay yields an immediate result.

At the rehabilitation center, Shostak works with fellow veteran Viacheslav Sadovskyi, 47.

“All good? Hands working?” Shostak asked, laughing, before reaching for Sadovskyi’s hands. He guided them toward the wheel.

“There, I can feel it,” said Sadovskyi, who had served in the military since the start of Russia’s invasion. In 2024, a drone exploded near him, damaging the left side of his face and forcing him to undergo five surgeries.

Shostak directed him, telling him how to press the clay and from which side, his hands never leaving Sadovskyi’s.

“It matters that a veteran teaches a veteran,” the director Shtohryn said. “We’re equals. We understand and support each other.”

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June 12 (Reuters) – The Russian city of Nizhnekamsk in the central region of Tatarstan will cancel all public events on Friday, amid a drone attack threat, its mayor, Radmir Belyayev, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The country marks Russia Day on June 12 with a national holiday.

Several major industrial facilities, including Sibur’s Nizhnekamskneftekhim petrochemical plant and Tatneft’s TANECO oil refinery, are located in the area.

Belyayev did not mention any damage caused by drones. Russia downed down 231 Ukrainian drones overnight, news agencies said, citing the defence ministry.

The city of Togliatti, home to Russia’s biggest carmaker Avtovaz and some industrial facilities, has come under drone attack, Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on Telegram, without giving details.

(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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By Cynthia Kim, Joyce Lee and Kyu-seok Shim

SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) – Arriving to cast her vote in South Korea’s local elections, Yoomi Lee was surprised to find the polling station had run out of ballot papers, turning the quick stop she had planned into an hours-long wait and quarrels with election officials.

“They should have prepared the right amount,” Lee said. “They know the number of the voters (expected).”

Frustration over the shortages at more than 90 polling sites last week unleashed one of South Korea’s most extensive political protests since its martial law crisis in 2024.

Voters scuffled with police, conspiracy theories and accusations of election fraud spread, and the poll authority chief resigned, prompting President Lee Jae Myung Lee to order an investigation and vow to overhaul procedures.

Reuters interviews with six voters at affected ballot stations and more than a dozen protesters show how a straightforward landslide victory expected by Lee’s ruling party erupted in damaging contention instead.

The effort also illustrates how a series of decisions by the independent National Election Commission led it to print fewer ballots than in previous years.

RISK TO PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

Within two days of the debacle, crowds sometimes numbering 40,000 began gathering daily outside a stadium in Seoul to demand an election rerun.

Such an exercise could endanger key election wins for both Lee’s left-leaning ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP), despite the investigation calls.

“If the response is perceived as inadequate or defensive, it could become a source of criticism and weaken public confidence,” said Joan Cho, a professor at Wesleyan University who studies the Korean democracy movement.

However, if the Lee administration responds transparently and provides a clear account of what happened, it could reinforce public confidence, she added.

For now the imbroglio seems to have benefited the opposition, as the first opinion poll by Realmeter after the election showed it nearly erasing the gap in its support to less than 1% versus the DPP’s lead of nearly 25% late in March.

A perception of “administrative responsibility for the ballot shortage” was partly responsible, Realmeter said.

The shortages were especially severe in areas that lean conservative, said opposition leader Jang Dong-hyeok of the PPP.

DEMONSTRATING FOR THE FIRST TIME

Several protesters said they were demonstrating for the first time as the election panel’s explanation failed to convince and they saw it as a trampling on their fundamental right to participate in the political process.

“At first it was concern about the ballot shortage,” said one such first-timer, 41-year-old office worker Cha Ye-rin.

“But after coming here and talking to people, I am more certain about how democracy is under threat by the people in power.”

The protests have run through the week, with the numbers tending to swell in the evenings and far-right Youtube personalities as well as PPP figures joining in.

Democratic rights in South Korea have been hard won, making citizens wary of any perceived threats, such as the attempt to declare martial law in 2024.

Democracy Day on June 10, for example, marks the citizen-led nationwide protests of 1987 that successfully ended decades of military rule and forced the government to hold direct presidential elections.

RESIGNATION FAILED TO DEFUSE PROTEST

Even Thursday’s resignation by Rho Tae-ak, a former Supreme Court justice who had been chief of the NEC since April 2022, before Lee took power last year, failed to assuage protesters.

Tempers flared on election day in Seoul’s southeastern district of Songpa, where the shortage dragged out voting by four hours to 10 p.m., voters at a polling station in a senior citizens’ centre said. Even then, few were able to vote.

Cho Eun-kyung, 67, said she was among those who began protesting before a standoff with polling station staff as more people arrived to block officials from taking away ballot boxes for vote counting.

Human chains around the polling station were dispersed by police on Friday, she said, while videos from other residents showed police pulling away a few dozen protesters blocking entrances.

Seoul police said they had no separate comment on the clashes with protesters around the voting station.

People streamed across the capital to join a crowd outside the stadium where the ballot boxes were gathered for counting, as social media and students from top universities warned of a threat to democracy.

Young couples with small babies in prams, gig workers and university students were among those holding hand-lettered signs demanding “Election Rerun”, a phrase they chanted while pumping their fists in the air.

Some said their frustration grew as votes were being counted from 6 p.m. on election day, even though others had been unable to vote.

The spectre of election manipulation figures in conspiracy theories that spread on social media, with even the conservative mayor of the port city of Incheon questioning some results.

FEWER BALLOT PAPERS PRINTED

Asked how many people were unable to vote, an NEC official said the panel did not have that data, as it was unclear if complete records were kept of those who left without voting when the shortage happened.

The official declined to be identified on grounds that accusations of election fraud, among other issues, were a sensitive topic.

For Wednesday’s election, the NEC set a minimum ballot printing guideline of 50% of eligible voters, the official said.

That contrasts with figures of a minimum of 70% traditionally printed for presidential elections, and 60% for local elections, which draw lower turnout, the official added.

The 50% guideline was backed by a task force set up last year to improve procedures, after a similar study commissioned in 2022 that weighed the number of ballots.

Higher advance voting and accusations of “concealing evidence of election fraud” fed by large numbers of leftover ballots in prior years also contributed, the official added.

“These various factors combined and led to the result we have today.”

GROWING CALLS FOR RERUN

Lee’s Democratic Party swept most of the seats in the elections for mayors, provincial governors, county officers and members of local assemblies, but lost the crucial Seoul mayoral role to the opposition incumbent.

The only solution would be “to hold a nationwide re-election”, the PPP’s Jang said, though some in his party oppose such a step, including Seoul’s re-elected mayor, Oh Se-hoon.

The NEC official said the relevant law, the Public Official Election Act, did not include ballot shortages among the conditions for an election rerun, making it difficult for the commission to hold one of its own volition.

“At the very least, our basic rights must be protected,” said Gu Young-gwang, 33, a protester outside the stadium, who said he was joining a political protest for the first time.

“The goal is not revenge,” said another protester, Lee Hee-won, 25, calling for a fair and transparent rerun. “The goal is to restore trust in democracy.

(Additional reporting by Minwoo Park, Daewoung Kim, Jihoon Lee, Yena Park, Yunji Ha; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out drone strikes overnight in central Sudan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, health officials said Thursday, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the more than three-year war in the African country.

The attacks, which started late Wednesday, targeted various areas of the city of el-Obeid, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obed Hospital, which received the victims. More than 10 people were also wounded, some critically, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, after long-simmering tensions between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Dr. Mohamed Elsheikh, a spokesperson with Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks casualty tolls, told The Associated Press that in el-Obeid, RSF drones also hit a funeral gathering at a cemetery, killing four people there, and a gas station. He could not immediately confirm if the casualties were civilians, combatants or both.

An aid worker with Mercy Corps told the AP that drone attacks have intensified across el-Obeid in recent days, targeting gatherings of people in the city. The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said schools have suspended classes and markets are only partially open because of the attacks.

Emergency Lawyers, a local aid monitoring group, said Thursday the toll is likely to increase as drones were still flying over the city.

The group said homes near military headquarters of the 5th Infantry Division in el-Obeid were hit, as well as a truck carrying food supplies into the city. Its driver was killed, the group said.

“This series of attacks indicates a widespread pattern of targeting civilian gatherings, neighborhoods and infrastructure, including during rescue operations and funerals,” the group also said, expressing concerns about the indiscriminatory nature of the attacks.

The war, now in its fourth year, has left the Sudanese military in control of the north, east and central regions, including Sudan’s Red Sea ports and its oil refineries and pipelines. The RSF and its allies control Darfur and parts of Kordofan along the border with South Sudan — both regions rich in oil fields and gold mines.

Drone warfare has become the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan ’s conflict and both the military and the RSF are being supplied by a number of countries in the Middle East and beyond, experts have said. A surge in drone attacks in Kordofan has also hampered aid operations there, humanitarian workers say.

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Abdalla reported from Shendi, Sudan.

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.

In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.

Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.

Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.

He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon’s dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.

On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable” and that “burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.

Capobianco said that the deforestation figures “debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.

Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.

“And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don’t understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,” the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.

“It’s a matter of justice, of Brazil’s contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,” he said.

Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.

After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula’s administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.

Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.

Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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BERLIN (AP) — More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Thursday.

More above-average temperatures could be on the books this summer, and they are more than an inconvenience: They can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

“The impacts of climate change are a clear and present danger, and its most immediate and lethal manifestation is extreme heat,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, director of the WHO’s Europe office, in a statement. “Heatwaves are no longer freak weather anomalies. They are now a recurring crisis inflicting suffering, claiming lives and fracturing our health systems and infrastructure.”

Kluge’s office called for countries and institutions to implement heat plans that range from opening cooling centers to introducing breaks or flexible shifts that enable workers to stay out of the midday sun, the statement said.

“Our goal is clear and our ambition is bold: zero heat-related deaths,” Kluge said.

Also on Thursday, meteorologists announced that El Nino, nature’s chaotic climate agent, has formed in a warmed-up Pacific Ocean and is expected to grow to historic strength. Experts said the natural warming cycle would further heat a globe already warming from fossil fuel pollution and will likely turbocharge extreme weather across the planet.

Here are some of the WHO’s suggestions to avoid heat-related illnesses and stay cool this summer:

Stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. If you have to go outside midday, avoid strenuous activity and seek out shaded areas where the perceived temperatures can be lower. If possible, spend two to three hours a day in a cool place. Remember to check official heat warnings in your area.

In the daytime, close windows and cover them with blinds or shutters. Open the windows after dark when the outdoor temperature is cooler than it is indoors. Set your air conditioner to 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) and turn on an electric fan to make the room feel cooler. Urban and rural poor populations are often disproportionately affected by overheating due to low-quality housing and lack of access to cooling amenities like air conditioners.

Drink enough water (1 cup per hour) and take cool showers or baths. When that’s not possible, wet your skin with a damp cloth or spray. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothes, and use similar bed linens. If you’re going outside, grab a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and sunscreen.

Never leave children or animals inside a parked vehicle, where temperatures can quickly skyrocket dangerously high. Use a thin, wet cloth to cover a baby stroller — never use dry fabric because it makes it hotter inside the carriage — and consider adding a portable fan. Check in on people aged 65 and older, and anyone with a disability or a heart, lung or kidney condition. People living alone can also be vulnerable.

Manual and outdoor workers are especially susceptible to heat-related illnesses when they do not have flexibility in their schedules.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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