SAUDI ARABIA: A former Saudi spook alleges Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began the country’s disastrous Yemen war by forging his father’s signature on a royal decree launching it.

Saad al-Jabri made his allegation to the BBC. He lives in exile, having worked with a previous crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, who has been imprisoned since being dropped for bin Salman in 2017.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: Philippine and Chinese coastguard ships collided near an atoll close to the disputed Spratly Islands today.

The disputed archipelago is claimed in whole or in part by China; Taiwan, as part of its claim to be the true Chinese government; the Philippines; Vietnam; Malaysia; and Brunei, with all but Brunei stationing troops there.

PAKISTAN: Flash floods killed another 14 people in Punjab over the last 24 hours, officials said today, bringing the death toll from flooding since July 1 to 209.

Pakistan is in the middle of the annual monsoon season, which runs from July to September. Scientists and weather forecasters have blamed climate change for heavy rains in recent years.

KOREA: The US and South Korea began military exercises involving tens of thousands of troops today.

North Korea said the “provocative war drills for aggression” showed it needed to maintain its nuclear weapons to “maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence.”