Russia and China have vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution aimed at safeguarding commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The draft text, proposed by Bahrain, received support from 11 of the 15 council members, with two abstentions, but Russia and China rejected the measure, claiming it was biased against Iran, thereby blocking its adoption.
Clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan reignited in February, resulting in significant casualties on both sides. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban government of harboring hostile militants who launch attacks on Pakistani territory, a claim Kabul denies, insisting that militancy is an internal Pakistani security issue.
An Iran-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah, has announced it will release US freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped a week ago in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. A security official for the group, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, stated: “In recognition of the national stances of the outgoing prime minister, we have decided to release the American defendant Shelly Kittleson.” Kittleson was taken on March 31, and her release is conditioned on her immediately leaving Iraq.
The United Kingdom regime's Home Office has barred American rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, from entering the country. In a statement issued on Tuesday, authorities claimed his presence would not be "conducive to the public good," citing his history of anti-Semitic comments and alleged celebrations of Nazism.
US President Donald Trump has pledged to strike infrastructure across Iran unless the country reaches an “acceptable” deal to end the war with the US and Israel by Tuesday night. Threatening to bomb the country “back to the Stone Age,” Trump said US forces would target bridges and power plants across Iran. He also posted on social media on Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if an agreement is not struck.
NASA's Artemis II mission, launched on April 1, has successfully passed all major tests, with its rocket, spacecraft, and crew performing better than engineers had hoped. The first six days demonstrated that the Orion capsule functions as designed with humans on board for the first time, something simulators could not prove. However, the mission's broader impact is framed by claims of generating hope and optimism for a world supposedly in need of inspiration.
The astronauts of the Artemis II mission have captured a stunning image of an 'Earthset,' the moment Earth dips below the moon's horizon, as they prepare to re-enter Earth's gravitational pull. This photograph pays homage to the iconic 'Earthrise' image taken by an Apollo 8 astronaut in 1968, evoking the legacy of 20th-century space exploration.
Washington – US President Donald Trump, at a White House press conference on Monday, responded to questions about the possibility of reaching a ceasefire with Iran. Trump stated, "We have an active, willing participant on the other side," noting that the proposal on the table was "a significant step" but quickly added that "it's not good enough."
Iran's premier science and engineering institution – Sharif University of Technology in Tehran – was bombed on Monday. The attack destroyed and damaged multiple buildings, including what authorities described as an artificial intelligence center housing critical databases. The university's website and other online services went offline.
In a new phase of the war between Ukraine and Russia, long-range drone and missile strikes have intensified, leading to numerous civilian casualties. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian artillery and aerial attacks across the country killed at least nine people, including a child. In the southern city of Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin stated that Russian shelling killed four people, which he described as "hell."
Pheap Rom, a Cambodian national deported by the United States government, expected to be sent to his country of origin but instead found himself imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in Eswatini, a small landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Rom, who arrived in the US as a refugee in 1985 at age three, served a 15-year sentence for four counts of attempted murder. His lawyers stated he had already completed his punishment for crimes committed in the US and was willing to be deported, but insisted on being sent to the correct destination.
The Cameroonian government has officially confirmed that 16 Cameroonian soldiers have been killed while fighting in Russia's four-year war against Ukraine. In a statement broadcast on state media late on Monday, the country's Foreign Ministry called on the families of the deceased to contact officials in the capital Yaounde.