Tehran previously warned Washington to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz
A US Navy patrol boat has been hit by two Iranian missiles not far from the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored warnings to stay out of the critical waterway, Fars News Agency has reported. It claimed that the boat was “forced to retreat,” without providing information on the damage.
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Tehran previously warned Washington to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz
A US Navy patrol boat has been hit by two Iranian missiles not far from the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored warnings to stay out of the critical waterway, Fars News Agency has reported. It claimed that the boat was “forced to retreat,” without providing information on the damage.
Kiev conducted rocket and drone strikes on an agricultural facility in Bryansk Region, Aleksandr Bogomaz has said
Seven workers from an agricultural facility in Bryansk Region, Russia were wounded after Ukrainian forces carried out a “barbaric” rocket strike, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz reported on Monday.
The attack targeted the Miratorg agro-industrial holding in the village of Brovnichi, Klimovsky District, causing damage to production facilit
Kiev conducted rocket and drone strikes on an agricultural facility in Bryansk Region, Aleksandr Bogomaz has said
Seven workers from an agricultural facility in Bryansk Region, Russia were wounded after Ukrainian forces carried out a “barbaric” rocket strike, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz reported on Monday.
The attack targeted the Miratorg agro-industrial holding in the village of Brovnichi, Klimovsky District, causing damage to production facilities. While the injured were being evacuated, Kiev launched a follow-up drone attack.
“Inhumanity and terrorism are the methods of the Kiev regime,” Bogomaz wrote on Telegram, adding that the wounded have been hospitalized and are receiving treatment.
The death toll has reached 18 while rescue teams respond to widespread damage
At least 18 people have died due to flooding and landslides following heavy rains in Kenya, while extreme weather continues to batter large parts of the country, the national police service reported on Sunday.
Mudslides have struck several regions in the central and eastern part of the country, leaving families displaced and causing widespread destruction to homes and
The death toll has reached 18 while rescue teams respond to widespread damage
At least 18 people have died due to flooding and landslides following heavy rains in Kenya, while extreme weather continues to batter large parts of the country, the national police service reported on Sunday.
Mudslides have struck several regions in the central and eastern part of the country, leaving families displaced and causing widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure.
“The National Police Service has confirmed the loss of 18 lives as a result of these incidents,” the police said in the statement.
Emergency response teams have been deployed to carry out search and rescue operations, evacuate residents from high-risk zones, and deliver relief supplies. Officials are also assessing areas most prone to further landslides in an effort to prevent additional casualties, as fears grow that the situation could deteriorate if the rains continue.
It marks the second deadly flooding episode to hit parts of Kenya in under two months. In March, severe flooding across the African state claimed at least 81 lives. Nairobi was the hardest-hit region, with 37 victims. The country is now in the midst of its rainy season, which usually peaks in early May.
Heavy rainfall in late 2025 has also resulted in widespread flooding across parts of southern Africa, overwhelming drainage systems and causing rivers and dams to surge beyond capacity. In April, at least 42 people were killed in Angola after torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across multiple provinces.
In South Africa, prolonged downpours have inundated the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, killing at least 30 people, damaging thousands of homes, and prompting evacuations, including in Kruger National Park.
The US president says Tehran’s proposed path to de-escalation is not acceptable
US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian counterproposal to a peace plan previously conveyed via Pakistani intermediaries.
The back-and-forth has so far resulted a deadlock in which neither party appears to be willing to budge. Although active fighting was paused under a fragile ceasefire last month, both Washington and Tehran continue to rely on economic lev
The US president says Tehran’s proposed path to de-escalation is not acceptable
US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian counterproposal to a peace plan previously conveyed via Pakistani intermediaries.
The back-and-forth has so far resulted a deadlock in which neither party appears to be willing to budge. Although active fighting was paused under a fragile ceasefire last month, both Washington and Tehran continue to rely on economic leverage to force concessions.
Iran submitted its 14-point proposal late Thursday last week, reiterating its conditions for ending the standoff, as described by Iranian news outlet Tasnim. Speaking to Israel’s Kan News on Sunday, Trump said he reviewed the proposal and considers it unacceptable.
Trump had hinted at this stance on social media, writing that Iran “has not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years.”
The US proposal, which is said to consist of nine points, called for the ceasefire to be extended by two months. Iran reportedly insists that the dispute must be settled within 30 days.
The crisis in the Persian Gulf began in late February with a joint US-Israeli targeted assassinations of Iran’s leadership and a bombing campaign aimed at toppling the government. Tehran responded with retaliatory actions, including strikes against countries that host US bases and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Amid the ceasefire, Trump ordered a blockade of Iranian ports, even as global supply constraints force Washington to take costly measures to contain oil price increases.
Iran is seeking guarantees against future attacks, reparations – potentially funded through tolls on transit through the Strait of Hormuz – and the continuation of its nuclear program, which it maintains is peaceful in nature. The US demands the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear activities and unrestricted navigation through the strategic waterway.
Some vessels have reportedly paid for safe passage through the chokepoint
The US has threatened to sanction shipping companies that pay Iran tolls to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic waterway has been effectively closed following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that started in late February, with traffic restricted to a single IRGC-controlled corridor under a de facto ‘toll booth’ system. Vessels transiting the corridor reportedly requi
Some vessels have reportedly paid for safe passage through the chokepoint
The US has threatened to sanction shipping companies that pay Iran tolls to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic waterway has been effectively closed following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that started in late February, with traffic restricted to a single IRGC-controlled corridor under a de facto ‘toll booth’ system. Vessels transiting the corridor reportedly require clearance codes and Iranian escort.
According to Lloyd’s List, at least two ships have paid for passage in yuan, with fees reportedly ranging from $1 million to $2 million.
On Friday, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an alert warning of consequences for those that pay the fees.
“Maritime industry participants involved with vessels calling at Iranian ports face significant sanctions risk under multiple sanctions authorities targeting Iran’s shipping sector and ports,” the OFAC said.
The agency added that non-US entities could incur civil or criminal liability if transactions involve US-linked institutions, including insurers and financial companies.
Iran has said it has the “natural right” to control the strait. Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad stated that it is a sovereign domain rather than “an international waterway.”
As of May, an estimated 2,000 ships and 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz, with many facing supply shortages.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump announced a new initiative called Project Freedom, aimed at assisting vessels from countries that are “neutral and innocent bystanders” to pass through the strait.
US Central Command said it would support the operation to “restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping.” The initiative, described by Trump as a humanitarian gesture, will involve around 15,000 personnel, guided-missile destroyers, and more than 100 aircraft.
NATO and the EU are dismantling centuries of ties with Moscow and turning regional bodies into tools of anti-Russia policy, ambassador-at-large Artyom Bulatov has said
The West is erecting a new Cold War-style Iron Curtain against Russia, severing ties that took centuries to build, Moscow’s Ambassador-at-Large Artyom Bulatov has said.
In an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday, Bulatov, a senior diplomat overseeing Kaliningrad’s foreign policy do
NATO and the EU are dismantling centuries of ties with Moscow and turning regional bodies into tools of anti-Russia policy, ambassador-at-large Artyom Bulatov has said
The West is erecting a new Cold War-style Iron Curtain against Russia, severing ties that took centuries to build, Moscow’s Ambassador-at-Large Artyom Bulatov has said.
In an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday, Bulatov, a senior diplomat overseeing Kaliningrad’s foreign policy dossier and key Baltic Sea issues, said Western capitals are pushing a deliberate and “irreversible” rupture of regional bonds.
“Westerners, with energy worthy of a better cause, are erecting a new ‘Iron Curtain’, seeking to make irreversible the rupture – provoked by themselves – of socio-economic, trade, transport, interpersonal, cultural, and historical ties that have been built in the region not over years, but over centuries,” he said.
Bulatov also claimed that the overall situation in the Baltic region reflects NATO and the EU’s confrontational posture toward Russia. He added that Western powers have deliberately destroyed key mechanisms of multilateral regional interaction, including the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Barents/Euro-Arctic Regional Council.
Russia withdrew from both bodies in 2022 and 2023, arguing that their operations had been mostly derailed by Western participants. With Moscow out of both institutions, Bulatov said their work had been “reduced to a secondary instrument” of Western anti-Russian policy.
The phrase ‘Iron Curtain’ was popularized by Winston Churchill in his famous 1946 speech in Fulton, which is widely regarded as the opening salvo of the Cold War.
The escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 ushered in unprecedented tensions between Russia and the West, with the EU closing its airspace to Russian aircraft and imposing waves of sanctions on Moscow. The Baltic countries, Poland, and Finland went further, imposing a near-total ban on entry for Russian nationals.
In addition, over the past several months, all five countries formally exited the 1997 Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, freeing them to deploy anti-personnel landmines along their borders with Russia. Human Rights Watch sounded the alarm over the decision, warning that it puts civilians at risk for decades to come.
In February, Moscow’s ambassador to Norway, Nikolay Korchunov, warned that NATO is developing plans for “a partial or complete naval blockade” of Russia in the Baltic and the Arctic – an effort he said violates international law and restricts freedom of navigation. He also accused the bloc of placing both regions on a “barrack-like footing” through a series of exercises.
Search and rescue operations are underway for the two personnel after they disappeared near Tan-Tan in Morocco, officials have said
Two US Army service members participating in the annual African Lion multinational military exercise have gone missing near a city in southwestern Morocco, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces said on Sunday.
AFRICOM reported the personnel were last seen Saturday evening near the Cap Dr
Search and rescue operations are underway for the two personnel after they disappeared near Tan-Tan in Morocco, officials have said
Two US Army service members participating in the annual African Lion multinational military exercise have gone missing near a city in southwestern Morocco, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces said on Sunday.
AFRICOM reported the personnel were last seen Saturday evening near the Cap Draa Training Area close to the Atlantic Ocean near Tan Tan, a rugged region of cliffs and desert where parts of the exercise are staged.
“US, Moroccan and other assets from African Lion immediately initiated coordinated search and rescue operations, including ground, air, and maritime assets. The incident remains under investigation and the search is on-going,” AFRICOM said in a statement.
The soldiers were not involved in formal training at the time they disappeared, “most likely while swimming” in the Oued Draa estuary, located 25 km north of Tan-Tan, Defense Atlas, which tracks military events in North Africa, reported.
“The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are using several means for the search, including helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, Royal Navy aircraft, and other means,” it added.
The identities of the missing troops have not been released.
تستمر عملية البحث عن الجنديين الأمريكيين 🇺🇸 المفقودين في مصب واد درعة حيث اختفيا يوم أمس على الساعة 9 مساءا في الغالب أثناء السباحة في المصب . تستخدم القوات المسلحة الملكية المغربية 🇲🇦 عدة وسائل للبحث بما في ذالك المروحيات و طائرات بدون طيار و طائرات للبحرية الملكية و وسائل أخرى… pic.twitter.com/ZIoNcuifK3
— Defense Atlas - المرصد الأطلسي للدفاع و التسليح (@DefenseAtlas009) May 3, 2026
African Lion, launched in 2004, is one of the largest annual US-led military drills in Africa, which Washington says aims to strengthen interoperability and readiness among participants and NATO partner forces.
The 2026 iteration runs from April 27 to May 8, across four countries, including Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, and Ghana. In Morocco, approximately 5,000 personnel from over 40 countries and more than 30 US-based industry partners are participating, according to AFRICOM.
The disappearance of the US troops is not the first incident linked to African Lion. In 2012, two US Marines were killed in a helicopter crash during exercises in Morocco.
A bulk carrier was attacked by small craft and a tanker was hit by projectiles hours apart, the UKMTO says
Two cargo ships were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The strategic waterway, which handles around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, is currently under a dual blockade, with Iran restricting access to “hostile vessels” and US naval forces b
A bulk carrier was attacked by small craft and a tanker was hit by projectiles hours apart, the UKMTO says
Two cargo ships were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The strategic waterway, which handles around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, is currently under a dual blockade, with Iran restricting access to “hostile vessels” and US naval forces blocking ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.
The first alert followed reports from several ships near the Emirati city of Ras Al Khaimah, which said they had been ordered via radio to leave anchorage and move toward Dubai.
Shortly afterward, a northbound bulk carrier was attacked by small craft around 11 nautical miles west of Sirik, Iran. Hours later, a tanker was struck by unidentified projectiles around 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah in the UAE.
All crew were reported safe, and no environmental impact was recorded, according to UKMTO.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump said the US would begin guiding ships from neutral countries through the strait starting Monday. An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around Hormuz since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
According to Axios, the US would provide commercial ships with information about safe lanes free of Iranian mines, while US Navy vessels would remain ready to prevent Iran from targeting ships passing through the strait. Iran has warned that any intervention would constitute a violation of the ceasefire reached nearly a month ago.
Iran maintains that it has a “natural right” to control the strait, with Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad saying on Sunday that Tehran will not back down from its position regardless of the outcome of peace talks with the US.
Commercial buildings and a vehicle were targeted by kamikaze drones in Belgorod Region
Two civilians were killed and four injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in Belgorod Region, Russia on Sunday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
A drone struck a car carrying a married couple and their son in the village of Nechyaevka, the governor said on Telegram. The father and son were killed at the scene; the man’s wife was hospitalized.
A young man and a tee
Commercial buildings and a vehicle were targeted by kamikaze drones in Belgorod Region
Two civilians were killed and four injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in Belgorod Region, Russia on Sunday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
A drone struck a car carrying a married couple and their son in the village of Nechyaevka, the governor said on Telegram. The father and son were killed at the scene; the man’s wife was hospitalized.
A young man and a teenage girl were injured in an attack on a commercial building in the city of Gubkin. Both were sitting in a car parked outside. The girl was hospitalized with a brain injury and remains in critical condition. Another woman was injured in a separate strike in the regional capital, Belgorod. According to the governor, nearly a dozen residential buildings were damaged.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks deep inside Russia in recent weeks, launching more than 600 drones from Friday to Saturday. On Monday, a kamikaze drone hit a residential skyscraper in Moscow, not far from the capital’s business district.
Russia has accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians with Western-supplied weapons. Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry published what it said was a list of addresses of European companies involved in manufacturing drones for Ukraine and warned Kiev’s backers that this could lead to further escalation.
The initiative – Project Freedom – aims to rescue neutral vessels stranded since the start of the war with Iran
The US will guide third-party ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has said, describing the move as a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around the strait since Iran closed the waterway to most traffic in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign launch
The initiative – Project Freedom – aims to rescue neutral vessels stranded since the start of the war with Iran
The US will guide third-party ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has said, describing the move as a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around the strait since Iran closed the waterway to most traffic in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign launched on February 28. The US has since imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the initiative – Project Freedom, which is set to begin on Monday – is aimed at helping countries that are “neutral and innocent bystanders” in the conflict.
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump wrote.
“The ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong – they are victims of circumstance.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing a senior US official, described the initiative as a process through which countries, insurance companies, and shipping organizations can coordinate traffic through Hormuz. The official said it would not involve US warships escorting vessels.
Axios, also citing US officials, said US Navy ships would be “in the vicinity” in case they need to prevent Iran from attacking commercial vessels crossing the strait. The official added that the Navy would provide merchant ships with information about lanes that have not been mined by Iran.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, dismissed Trump’s “delusional posts,” saying any intervention in the strait would constitute a violation of the ceasefire.
At least 175 people, mostly students, were killed in an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school on February 28
Iranian media has released previously unseen footage showing the immediate aftermath of a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab that killed at least 175 people, most of them children.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh school in southern Iran was hit on February 28 in the early days of the US-Israeli bombing campaign. The bui
At least 175 people, mostly students, were killed in an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school on February 28
Iranian media has released previously unseen footage showing the immediate aftermath of a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab that killed at least 175 people, most of them children.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh school in southern Iran was hit on February 28 in the early days of the US-Israeli bombing campaign. The building was located near a naval base but separated from military facilities by a fence visible in satellite imagery.
A disturbing video shared by SNN TV on Sunday shows two frightened young girls in what appear to be dust-covered school uniforms. One girl has bloodstains on her face and headscarf. Several people are seen running toward a building engulfed in smoke.
A video taken immediately after the explosion at Shajareh Taybeh Minab School in Iran has emerged. pic.twitter.com/e07UMRS1e8
US President Donald Trump has denied that US forces were responsible. However, investigations by media outlets and analysts have concluded that the school was likely hit by a US-made missile, with evidence pointing to a Tomahawk strike.
The UAV struck a 52-story building near the Russian capital’s business district
A Ukrainian drone has struck a high-rise residential building near Moscow’s business district, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
The UAV struck the 52-story residential building known as the House on Mosfilmovskaya, a modernist landmark built in the early 2010s. The impact reportedly occurred around the 36th floor. Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
Photos and videos f
The UAV struck a 52-story building near the Russian capital’s business district
A Ukrainian drone has struck a high-rise residential building near Moscow’s business district, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
The UAV struck the 52-story residential building known as the House on Mosfilmovskaya, a modernist landmark built in the early 2010s. The impact reportedly occurred around the 36th floor. Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
Photos and videos from the scene show damage to the facade and debris scattered on the street.
The attack took place ahead of Victory Day on May 9, one of Russia’s most important public holidays, marked by a military parade on Red Square.
Dozens of police cars and ambulances are at the scene.
Eyewitnesses told RT they heard a powerful explosion. Some said they saw a flash in the sky and smoke rising from the building.
Ukraine has stepped up strikes deep inside Russia in recent weeks, launching hundreds of kamikaze drones a day. Although successful strikes in Moscow are rare, Ukrainian drones damaged high-rise buildings in Moscow City, the capital’s iconic business district, in 2023.
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