NYT

Both nations accused the other of firing first in their deadliest fighting in more than a decade. Thai authorities said the clashes had killed 11 civilians and a soldier.

Many of the blasts, some of them deadly, have been at weapons storage sites, raising questions about whether ordnance from Syria’s civil war has been properly secured.

The Trump administration said it was protecting Americans unjustly held abroad. One of the rescued men, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, killed three people, according to court documents.

Both countries lay claim to centuries-old worship sites perched on the mountains that divide the two nations, sometimes stoking nationalistic fervor.

The fire had burned more than 24,000 acres in Cyprus, where officials had warned of fire danger as temperatures rose above 100 degrees.

The deals highlight the countries’ deepening relationship under the new Syrian government, and a wave of investment in a country squeezed by war and sanctions.