8.38am BST

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Middle East, with a particular focus on Syria.

Bedouin fighters and their allies have reportedly continued to clash with Druze fighters in the Syrian province of Sweida after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters.

This is despite an order by the Syrian government to put down their arms in a conflict that has killed more than 900 people since last Sunday.

The Syrian interior ministry said yesterday evening that clashes in Sweida had been halted after the intervention of its forces in the city.

Sweida was “evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighbourhoods were halted”, Syria’s interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram.

It came after the Syrian presidency announced a ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities.

The deal, approved by Israel as part of a US-mediated agreement, included a halt to Israeli military airstrikes as long as the Druze citizens were protected. Fighting nonetheless reportedly persisted in some parts of Sweida province.

Armed tribes had clashed with Druze fighters on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure.

Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has accused Israel of enflaming Syrian factional tensions and pushing the country into “a dangerous phase” with its “blatant bombardment of the south and government institutions in Damascus”.

For context: Israel had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians.

We will have more on the volatile security situation in Syria throughout the day so stick with us.

Clashes continued in Sweida late on Saturday, despite a ceasefire declaration that had been announced earlier in the day.

Government forces were redeployed on Saturday to Sweida to halt the renewed fighting that had erupted late Thursday.

Shortly after the announcement, Syria’s interior ministry said the fighting had stopped and that Sweida had been cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters. However, several clashes were reported to have taken place in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida.

Clashes began last Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Syria’s southern Sweida province. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze.

On Thursday, government forces largely withdrew from the southern province of Sweida, a day after Israel launched several strikes on Damascus, citing a need to protect the Druze community.

However, shortly after, state media reported that Druze militants had launched retaliatory attacks on the Bedouin communities.

In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed the conflict’s escalation between “lawless groups on one side and Bedouin communities on the other, leading to an unprecedented deterioration of the situation.”

He had urged all parties to “fully commit” to the ceasefire.

“Everyone must understand that this moment requires unity and full cooperation in order to overcome the hardships we all face and to protect our country and land from foreign interference and internal strife,” he said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report at least 940 people have been killed since clashes erupted on Sunday. Meanwhile, the UN estimated that roughly 80,000 people have been displaced.

From 26m ago 09.19 BST ‘Tense calm’ reported in Sweida after withdrawal of Bedouin fighters The Reuters news agency has spoken to residents who say there is a “tense calm” in Sweida after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, told Reuters residents were still, however, struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone. Syrian government troops are amassed at a security checkpoint outside of Swedia city, preventing factional fighters from entering. An Internal Security Forces officer stands guard to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida. Photograph: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters Share

6m ago 09.40 BST US special envoy says Syria ‘stands at a critical juncture’ US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said this morning that Syria stood at a “critical juncture”, adding that “peace and dialogue must prevail – and prevail now”. In a post on X, he wrote: President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions was a principled step, offering the Syrian people a chance to move beyond years of unimaginable suffering and atrocities. The international community has largely rallied behind the nascent Syrian government, watching with cautious optimism as it seeks to transition from a legacy of pain to a future of hope. Yet, this fragile ambition is now overshadowed by profound shock, as brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government’s authority and disrupt any semblance of order. All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance. Syria stands at a critical juncture – peace and dialogue must prevail – and prevail now. His comments came a day after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, urged the Syrian government’s security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and “carrying out massacres” in the south, and called on Damascus to “bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks”. The government is headed by Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa. He is the former leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group which led the military operation to topple the former president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, in December. Witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses, including summary executions, when they entered Sweida earlier in the week. Share Updated at 09.41 BST

26m ago 09.19 BST ‘Tense calm’ reported in Sweida after withdrawal of Bedouin fighters The Reuters news agency has spoken to residents who say there is a “tense calm” in Sweida after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, told Reuters residents were still, however, struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone. Syrian government troops are amassed at a security checkpoint outside of Swedia city, preventing factional fighters from entering. View image in fullscreen An Internal Security Forces officer stands guard to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida. Photograph: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters Share

49m ago 08.56 BST The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shia Islam, are an Arabic-speaking religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. They make up the majority of the population of the southern Sweida province in Syria. Many Druze who live in Israel are loyal to the Israeli state because of participation in the country’s military service. As my colleague William Christou notes in this story, the Druze have been negotiating with the Islamist-led authorities in Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in an attempt to achieve autonomy. The interim government, led by the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has had strained relations with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities since it toppled al-Assad, who belonged to the Alawite religious minority, in December. On Saturday, al-Sharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes to “fully commit” to the ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with Druze-linked militias. This week’s fighting marks the most serious outbreak of violence since government forces battled Druze fighters in Sweida province and around Damascus in April and May, leaving more than 100 people dead. Share Updated at 09.11 BST

Dozens of masked assailants wielding metal bars, mortars and molotov cocktails attacked cars on a highway and clashed with police early on Saturday in the city of Limoges in central France, officials said.

The overnight clashes left nine police wounded, according to authorities, who said they suspected a gang turf war.

The unrest came in the middle of France’s summer tourism season.

The armed attackers descended on the RN141 throughway and tried to block it during a battle with police, according to officials.

“There were between 100 and 150 masked individuals, armed with molotov cocktails, fireworks, stones, iron bars and baseball bats,” the local police union leader Laurent Nadeau told AFP.

Police responded with teargas and crowd-control munitions.

Mayor Émile Roger Lombertie called the rioters an “urban guerrilla group”.

“They’re organised, structured, there’s a plan, weapons,” he said. “This was not a spontaneous protest to complain about something. No pretext, nothing. It’s about destroying things and showing the territory belongs to you.”

Prosecutors said vehicles, some with families and children, were attacked but there were no immediate reports of wounded drivers. “None of the motorists were physically assaulted. However, several are particularly shocked,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Unrest had erupted nearby, in Val de l’Aurence, on the night of 14 July, France’s national day. Lombertie said this “very poor neighbourhood, with young people from immigrant backgrounds” had become a “lawless zone”.

The Limoges prosecutor, Émilie Abrantes, said that although the neighbourhood was known for drug trafficking, there was no evidence linking the unrest to recent investigations into drug trafficking.

France’s interior ministry said it would deploy a special security force to the city.

A tourist boat capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, killing 38 people and leaving seven others missing.

The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members on a sightseeing the tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors, state media reported.

Rescue workers saved 12 people and recovered 38 bodies near the site of the incident, the VNExpress newspaper said. Several people remained missing on Sunday.

“At least 38 of those on board have been confirmed dead and 10 rescued,” the government said in a statement.

The official Vietnam News Agency reported that all the tourists were Vietnamese, including several children.

The boat overturned as a result of strong winds, the newspaper said. A 14-year-old boy was among the survivors. He was rescued after four hours trapped in the overturned hull.

One survivor, Dang Anh Tuan, told the Associated Press that he survived by swimming out of a window of the upturned and water-filled boat.

“It rained for about 15 minutes, and then the boat started to shake vigorously, tables and chairs were jostled around and seconds later the boat overturned,” said the 36-year-old. “Water gushed in and I lost all orientation.

“I tried to breathe. But more water came in. I took a deep breath, got rid of my life vest and dove down. I saw a streak of light and followed it to swim out, escaping the boat, and then I climbed on the overturned boat to look for help.”

Tuan and three others survived by clinging on to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting another two hours until the rain stopped and rescue arrived.

Before the accident, passengers had asked for the boat to turn back to shore, but the crew reassured them they were almost at their destination and kept the boat moving forward, Tuan said.

VNExpress said most of the passengers were tourists, including about 20 children from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.

A tropical storm was also moving toward the area. A national weather forecast said Storm Wipha was expected to hit northern Vietnam, including the coast of Ha Long Bay next week.