SYDNEY (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency is investigating reports that two boats carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority have capsized in the Bay of Bengal.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement Tuesday that the boats reportedly departed Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine in late June before sinking.
“We are deeply concerned by the potential loss of life and are working to verify further details,” the UNHCR said.
The agency declined to release additional details, including how many Rohingya were believed to be on board or the approximate location where the boats sank.
Around 1.2 million stateless, predominantly Muslim Rohingya remain trapped in squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing waves of violence by Myanmar’s security forces.
The refugees have no way to safely return to Myanmar, where the military that killed thousands of Rohingya in 2017 during what the United States declared a genocide remains in charge of their homeland. The Rohingya still living in Myanmar face severe restrictions and many are confined to internment camps.
Steep cuts to foreign aid by the U.S. and other countries have led to ration cuts in Bangladesh’s refugee camps, while the ruling military and an ethnic armed organization in Rakhine have fought for control of the region.
The unrest has led to an increasing number of Rohingya attempting to make the dangerous ocean crossing to Malaysia on rickety boats. Thousands reportedly have died in the process, including babies, children and pregnant women. Local maritime authorities have frequently abandoned the Rohingya at sea, often ignoring reports of boats in distress.
“Saving lives and rescuing those in distress at sea is a humanitarian imperative and a longstanding duty under international maritime law,” the UNHCR said Tuesday, calling on nations to step up search and rescue efforts and urging regional authorities and the international community to take more action. More than 6,500 Rohingya fled and nearly 900 were reported dead or missing in 2025, the deadliest year for Rohingya who tried to leave by boat. The figure represents the highest mortality rate of any major route for refugee and migrant sea journeys in the world, the UNHCR said.
More than 5,400 Rohingya refugees have fled by boat so far this year, with 540 reported missing or dead.
FILE -UNCHR High Commissioner Barham Salih talks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Rome, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini), File)
PARIS (AP) — This year’s Bastille Day celebrations aren’t just about France. Troops and warplanes from around Europe joined Tuesday’s pomp-filled parade through Paris, in a showcase of support for Ukraine and a symbolic flexing of European military muscle.
On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he is hosting around 30 other leaders for an event that appears aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.
Macron's wife, Brigitte, welcomed leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they arrived for the celebrations. Zelenskyy got an ovation from the assembled dignitaries.
Meanwhile, raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave are shaking up France’s biggest national holiday, forcing the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls.
Here’s what to know about Bastille Day this year.
It’s celebrated on July 14 because that’s the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.
Today, the day is central to the French calendar. Presidents use it to vaunt France’s accomplishments and national pride, mayors host village festivals and families gather for holiday meals.
The centerpiece is the Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Elysees avenue, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.
A huge French tricolor flag hanging below the monumental arch rippled in the wind as a military band on horseback rode down the tree-lined avenue followed by Macron standing in an open military vehicle to kick off the parade.
Spectators wore hats and brandished small fans to fend off the heat as a formation of air force planes roared overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.
Zelenskyy joined Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.
Ukrainian troops marched along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France will fly two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.
On the ground, the parade opened with around 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ grouping of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security.
Macron said Monday night that it’s a ″great honor″ to welcome to the parade ″all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity.″
The foreign fighters in combat fatigues and dress uniforms marched with their national flags, in a break with tradition — usually only one foreign country is invited to take part in the parade. It was the first time in some 20 years that British troops took part. Ukrainian forces got the loudest cheers from the crowd.
In the skies, aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy were taking part.
The parade set a record in terms of number of troops: The Paris military governor said 7,600 troops were marching this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025. Thousands of soldiers started taking up positions early Tuesday, many taking selfies as helicopters flew overhead.
Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heat wave this year.
As a result, authorities in some regions — including the French capital — banned fireworks and firefighters' balls customarily held around Bastille Day.
The Eiffel Tower's fireworks and drone show was maintained, however, and held Monday night, including a drone formation shaped like the Statue of Liberty — a gift from France to the United States that arrived in New York in 1885 to mark the U.S. centennial, the end of the American Civil War, and friendship between the two countries.
Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, centre right, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy before the start of the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, stands in the command car with General Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Fabien Mandon during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron greets senior military officers after his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
