Ankara, Mar 15 (AP) Crowds gathered Sunday for the burial of 29-year-old Huseyin Firat in Reyhanli, southern Turkiye, the Demiroren News Agency reported.

He died from wounds sustained in a March 6 attack on a convoy returning from Afghanistan to Turkey, according to Turkish media reports.

Video footage taken days later showed his vehicle shredded by shrapnel and a large crater near the city of Zanjan, in northwest Iran.

US expects other nations to back efforts on Hormuz: Wright ------------------------------------------------------------------ US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he's been “in dialogue” with some of the countries that Trump hopes will send warships to counter Iran's efforts to restrict shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. He's not saying which ones.

Asked on NBC's “Meet the Press” whether shipping through the critical waterway is safe at the moment, Wright responded: “No, it is not.” He noted that many other countries, especially in Asia, are more dependent than the United States on energy supplies that are shipped through the strait.

“So of course the whole world will be united on the need to open Hormuz and clearly we will have the support of other nations to achieve that objective,” he said.

Wright said he expected China to “be a constructive partner” in efforts to reopen the strait.

He said there's been a “short-term disruption' to the flow of energy and that “Americans are feeling it right now. Americans will feel it for a few more weeks.” Asked whether the war will be over in a matter of weeks, Wright said: “I think that's the likely time frame, yes.” He said gas prices will start to come back down after the war is over.

“At the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies. We'll go to a world more abundant in energy, more affordable energy.” Asked about whether pump prices will fall below $3 per gallon by the summer travel season, Wright said: “there's a very good chance that'll be true. There's no guarantees in war.” Egypt pledges unity with Qatar, other Gulf nations struck by Iran ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi promised “full support and solidarity” in a message to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, who was visiting Qatar on Sunday on the first stop of a tour of the Gulf region, delivered the president's message.

Abdelatty called for a deescalation of hostilities in the region. He said activating a Joint Defence Treaty would “safeguard the security, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Arab states”.

Turkmenistan sends humanitarian aid to neighbouring Iran ---------------------------------------------------------------- State media reports that four refrigerated trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies, clothing and food left the capital Ashgabat for Iran on Sunday.

The shipment, funded by a charitable foundation, was sent “to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, primarily children, as a sign of friendly and fraternal relations,” according to state media. It showed footage of a prayer being recited for the safe delivery of the supplies.

Officials said approximately 250 people from 16 countries have so far crossed into Turkmenistan, an isolated, gas-rich Central Asian nation, which shares a 1,148-km border with Iran.

Turkmenistan maintains one of the strictest visa policies in the world. It provided safe passage to more than 4,000 foreign nationals from 52 countries during the Israel-Iran war last summer.

Tel Aviv cleans up after multiple impacts --------------------------------------------- Police and city workers scoured the area of what appeared to be a cluster munition impact in Tel Aviv on Sunday, attempting to locate and clear any unexploded ordnance.

City workers used street sweepers and power washers to hose down an area where a small munition damaged two cars and spread shrapnel across a small park. Cluster bombs can be exceptionally dangerous for the public as small munitions that are released may not explode on impact and pose a serious danger for passersby.

The impact also left a hole in the pavement, next to a bomb shelter that serves as a youth centre at the local swimming pool. Within 90 minutes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment arrived to clear debris and patch the hole.

Israel police said there were a number of impact sites in the greater Tel Aviv area after Sunday's attacks that left four people injured, one moderately.

Violent storm hammers displaced Lebanese people on Beirut's waterfront ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The displaced struggled to keep their tents intact as pouring rain and fierce winds hammered the city's downtown waterfront area Sunday.

An AP team on the ground witnessed one tent succumb to the winds, blowing away entirely.

Fadi Younes, one displaced man who fled to the beach from Beirut's southern suburbs, found himself battling with his collapsed tent. He had already rebuilt it once after a storm two days ago, he said.

He gestured to new mattresses, now waterlogged, that he bought after the last ones got soaked through.

“I hope that today things in the country will be set right and everyone can return to their homes. A person only truly feels at ease in their own home,” he said.

Younes is among more than 830,000 people displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation warnings in Lebanon. The Norwegian Refugee Council says that amounts to one in every seven people.

UN envoy Waltz says Trump weighing options to hit Iran's oil hub -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UN Ambassador Mike Waltz was asked on CNN Sunday whether the US president was prepared to target oil facilities on Kharg island, which handles 90% of Iran's crude oil exports, and if so, if he was worried that that could risk even more of an escalation in the war.

“President Trump's not going to take any options off the table,” Waltz said. “I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their their energy infrastructure.” US Central Command posted on X Saturday that it had struck military targets on the island, but preserved the oil infrastructure.

Iran says strategic strait open to all vessels except US, its allies ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's comments about the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz came in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed published Sunday.

“The Strait of Hormuz is not generally closed, but only to the US and its allies, and we will continue this policy as long as the attacks continue,” he was quoted as saying.

Aluminium Bahrain to gradually stop some production ----------------------------------------------------------- The world's largest aluminum smelter outside China said Sunday it would gradually shut down nearly one-fifth of its production capacity as exports remain blocked through the Strait of Hormuz.

Aluminium Bahrain, or Alba, promised a “controlled and safe shutdown strategy.” Smelters run at high temperatures and take time to shut down or restart without endangering equipment or damage the containers that hold molten metals.

The company told buyers last week it couldn't meet its obligations. The timeline of a phased partial shutdown means global aluminum supplies could remain tight even if transit through the Strait of Hormuz quickly returns to normal, keeping upward pressure on prices for products such as construction materials and cars.

Aluminum and oil make up a big part of Bahrain's economy and limits on production and export threaten to deepen woes in the Persian Gulf Island nation being hit with Iranian airstrikes.

The United Arab Emirates said it was attacked Sunday by 4 ballistic missiles and 6 drones from Iran.

There was no immediate word on damage or casualties. (AP) SCY SCY