A cargo ship moving through the Strait of Hormuz on a route backed by the United Nations was hit by a projectile Thursday, the British military said, as several tankers made their way out of the channel using the same path.

It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran's permission.

U.S. gasoline prices decreased an average of 49 cents a gallon in the last month as expectations rose for an end to the war with Iran. But they're not falling fast enough for President Donald Trump.

Trump, who wants to stave off the economic fallout of the war ahead of midterm elections, is now pointing at oil companies as the culprit. The president said on social media early Wednesday that he had tasked the Justice Department with investigating whether "customers are being 'gouged."

Much of western Europe has been baking under a "heat dome" this week, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many places.

The extreme conditions have come in June, earlier in the summer than is usual. Records are tumbling by day and by night. Add in the humidity and it's more tropical than temperate.

A series of tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday despite threats to shipping from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, using a new route close to Oman's shore that has been promoted by a U.N. maritime agency.

The development comes as Iran and the United States are increasingly debating the terms of the interim deal signed last week aimed at permanently ending the Iran war — from getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

A powerful earthquake struck off the northern coast of Japan during rush hour on Thursday morning, but the country's meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami and no serious injuries were reported.

The temblor shook dozens of towns across northeastern Japan and was even mildly felt in the capital, Tokyo. It hit in an area where strong earthquakes have repeatedly been reported in recent months, including one that triggered a weeklong mega-quake caution advisory in December.

It's halftime at the World Cup. Take a break, everyone.

Wednesday marked the midpoint of the 104-match tournament — technically, just past the midpoint, with 54 matches now in the books and 50 remaining before a World Cup champion is crowned in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.

The European Union has disbursed the first 3 billion-euro ($3.4 billion) tranche of a 90 billion-euro ($101 billion) loan to Ukraine, the country's prime minister announced Thursday at the opening of a conference on Ukraine's post-war recovery in Poland.

The conference, attended by key European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Ukraine's Western supporters are in it for a long haul.

Switzerland put a damper on Canada's World Cup party.

The Swiss got goals from Rubén Vargas and Johan Manzambi to beat Canada 2-1 on Wednesday and win Group B. Switzerland will get a week of rest before returning to Vancouver to face one of the eight best third-place finishers on July 2.

Ashoura comes as many of the more than one million displaced Lebanese people are trying to return to their villages in southern Lebanon. Cities and towns had held sermons and events in the buildup to the holy day surrounded by buildings reduced to rubble and ruins.

Ashoura, a holy day symbolizing sacrifice and martyrdom, holds special significance for many this year in Iran and Lebanon.

Looking out from a friend's balcony, Milia el-Cheikh struggled to find her own home in the ruins of her now-deserted village, its entrances strung with barbed wire.

Her village of Dibbine is one of several Shiite-majority communities across southern Lebanon destroyed by Israeli forces battling Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel has occupied vast areas and fighting has raged through declared ceasefires. The latest truce — part of the interim peace deal between the United States and Iran — appears to be holding.