Author: Publisher
Iran hit several ships in the Strait of Hormuz Monday and set a UAE oil port ablaze, as President Donald Trump’s attempt to use the US Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago.Trump’s new mission “Project Freedom”, which he announced on social media overnight to release ships stuck in the strait, was the first apparent attempt to make use of naval power to unblock the world’s most important energy shipping route.But at least in the initial hours Monday, the gamble appeared to have backfired, bringing no surge of merchant shipping through the strait while provoking a show of force from Iran, which had long threatened to respond to any escalation with new attacks on its neighbours.The US military said two US merchant ships had made it through the strait, without saying when. Iran denied any such crossings had taken place.The commander of US forces in the region said his fleet had destroyed six small Iranian boats, which Iran also denied. Admiral Brad Cooper said he “strongly advised” Iranian forces to keep clear of US military assets carrying out the mission.Iranian authorities, for their part, released a map of what they said was an expanded sea area now under their control, which went far beyond the strait to include swathes of international waters, including long stretches of the United Arab Emirates’ coastline on either side of the strait.South Korea reported one of its merchant ships had been hit by an explosion and fire inside the strait. The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported two ships had been hit off the coast of the UAE, and the Emirati oil company ADNOC said one of its empty oil tankers was hit by Iranian drones while trying to cross.”Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” Trump posted on social media Monday.After reported drone and missile attacks inside the UAE throughout the day, including one that caused a fire at an important oil port, the UAE said Iranian attacks marked a serious escalation and it reserved the right to respond.Trump has struggled to find a solution to the disruption of international energy supplies caused by Iran’s blockade of the strait, which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.In the more than two months since Trump launched an air war against Iran alongside Israel, Tehran has largely blocked the strait to ships apart from its own. Since last month, the United States has imposed its own blockade of ships leaving and entering Iranian ports.The warring sides issued contradictory statements Monday about the initial impact of the new US mission, and Reuters could not independently verify the full situation there.But there was no immediate sign that large numbers of merchant ships were making new attempts to cross, and major shipping companies said they were likely to wait for an agreed end to hostilities before trying to sail through.In a post on X, US Central Command said some of its Navy guided-missile destroyers were inside the Gulf supporting the operation, and that two US-flagged merchant vessels had crossed the strait “and are safely headed on their journey”.It did not identify either the warships or the merchant vessels or say when any of those crossings had taken place.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said no commercial vessels had crossed the strait in the past few hours, and that US claims to the contrary were false.Earlier, Iran said it had fired on a US warship approaching the strait, forcing it to turn around. An initial Iranian report had said a US warship was struck, but Washington denied this and Iranian officials later described the fire as warning shots.South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said there was a fire and an explosion onboard the Namu, a merchant ship operated by South Korean shipper HMM. Yonhap news agency reported that the government was checking intelligence indicating the vessel may have been attacked.The UAE, meanwhile, reported a fire at an oil installation in its port of Fujairah following an Iranian drone attack. Fujairah lies beyond the strait, making it one of the few export routes for Middle East oil that does not require passing through it.Oil prices jumped more than 5% in volatile trade as news of the increased Iranian attacks emerged.In his social media post announcing the new mission, Trump gave few details of what action the US Navy would take to get ships through the strait.”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.In response, Iran’s unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers:”We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces … We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, and US and Iranian officials held one round of face-to-face talks. But attempts to set up further meetings have failed.Iranian state media said on Sunday that Washington had conveyed its response to a 14-point Iranian proposal via Pakistan, and that Tehran was now reviewing it. Neither side gave details of any US response.The Iranian proposal would postpone discussion of Iran’s nuclear programme until after an agreement to end the war and resolve the standoff over shipping. Trump said over the weekend he was still studying it but would probably reject it. Related Story Source link
Palestinian medical sources said that one person was killed and another seriously injured early Tuesday in an Israeli occupation airstrike targeting Gaza City.The sources said a Palestinian was killed and another critically wounded when an Israeli drone struck a group of people on Al Jalaa Street, north of Gaza City.Earlier, three Palestinians were killed and others were wounded in the occupation strikes on the central and northern parts of the Gaza Strip.The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 72,612 people, with 172,457 injured, since Oct. 7, 2023. Source link
Cameron Young poses with the trophy after winning the Cadillac Championship. (Jeff Romance-Imagn Images) Cameron Young had it all working during the Cadillac Championship, and the result was another tournament title.Young shot a 4-under-par 68 in the final round and was never threatened on the way to a six-stroke victory Sunday outside Miami.Young finished as the wire-to-wire winner at 19-under 269 at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course, where President Trump was in attendance.“I feel like I had different parts of the game working on different days,” Young said. “Today I drove it a lot better. First couple days I putted great and I drove it a little bit more all over the place. Thankfully I feel like I’ve got a lot of tools right now and throughout the week I was able to use different parts of the game to keep myself moving in the right direction.”World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler also posted 68 to finish as the runner-up for his third straight start. Ben Griffin (68) was third at 12 under.Australia’s Adam Scott (64), Austria’s Sepp Straka (66) and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (70) all tied for fourth place at 11 under.Young has won two tournaments this year – this followed his breakthrough at The Players Championship in March – and three overall in his PGA Tour career. He didn’t make Sunday’s round complicated. “I think it was made easier by the weather forecast,” Young said. “We didn’t know exactly how the day was going to go, whether we would be starting and stopping. Started with a delay. It was just one of those times that I feel like that played into my hands and just being really accepting of what came next.”Korda rolls to RivieraMaya title for third win of ‘26Nelly Korda didn’t take long to return to the winner’s circle, posting a final-round, 3-under-par 69 to win the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba by four strokes Sunday in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.Korda continued her victorious ways at El Camaleon Golf Course seven days after capturing the Chevron Championship – the first major of the season and the third such title of her career – and returning to the No. 1 world ranking.Korda entered the day with a three-shot advantage and wound up four ahead of Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol (70). In third at 12 under was China’s Yu Liu (69), feel-good story Brianna Do (71) finished fourth at 10 under and Colombian amateur Maria Jose Marin (69) placed fifth at 8 under.“I think it was a perfect week after a major championship, too, where it felt like it was super relaxing but I knew that I needed to grind and I was here to work,” Korda said.“I’ve had such an amazing time. Yeah, I mean, emphasizing it with a win, at the end of the day that’s what I was coming here for.”Korda’s only scoring stretch amid two runs of pars came at the fifth through seventh holes. She holed an eagle at the par-5 fifth, then birdied the next two for a 4-under run.From there, it was 10 straight pars until cleaning up a bogey 6 at the 18th.“I guess there (were) two parts to my round,” Korda said. “Definitely on my front nine I had my A-game, and then on the back nine I wasn’t playing bad; just wasn’t hitting it close. And then I was kind of cruising and then golf humbled me on the last hole. Made my (second bogey) on the weekend.” Korda continued a thoroughly dominant season to this point. In six starts, she now has three victories and three second-place finishes. Source link
Everton’s Jake O’Brien (centre) heads the ball to score his team’s second goal against Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool. (AFP) Jeremy Doku’s stoppage-time strike salvaged Manchester City a 3-3 draw at Everton, but a second half collapse handed the destiny of the Premier League title back to Arsenal last night. The Gunners now just need to win their final three games to end a 22-year wait to become the champions of England. City remain five points adrift of Mikel Arteta’s team, with a game in hand, and will struggle to recover from the manner of their implosion at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side appeared to be cruising to victory when Doku opened the scoring at the end of a dominant first half. However, an error-strewn second period was punished as Thierno Barry scored twice for the Toffees, either side of Jake O’Brien’s header. Erling Haaland and then a sensational effort from Doku in the 96th minute did however rescue a point which could ultimately keep City in the race. Arsenal visit relegation-threatened West Ham on Sunday before hosting Burnley and visiting Crystal Palace on the final day of the campaign. Two Arsenal victories since City last played in the league had ramped up the pressure on Guardiola’s side. City’s first team had gone the best part of two weeks without a proper outing after Guardiola heavily rotated for last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton. The visitors looked fresh rather than rusty as Everton were penned back inside their own box for practically the entire first half. City’s pressure finally found its reward two minutes before half-time when Rayan Cherki found Doku, who curled a shot into Jordan Pickford’s top right-hand corner. Things could have been even worse for the Toffees before the break as Michael Keane escaped with just a yellow card for a wild lunge on Doku. That decision proved to be vital as City paid a heavy price for a serious of basic defensive errors. Twice Guardiola’s men did not heed a warning that an Everton equaliser was coming. Gianluigi Donnarumma parried Iliman Ndiaye’s effort back into the danger area but Merlin Rohl was not alive to the rebound. Ndiaye then had a glorious chance after an error from Matheus Nunes but again could not beat the giant Italian in the City goal. When the equaliser finally arrived, City were again architects of their own downfall. Marc Guehi’s underhit passback handed Barry the simple task of slotting past the stranded Donnarumma. Another casual City mistake moments later led to Everton’s second. This time Abdukodir Khusanov was caught in possession by Ndiaye and bailed out by a last-ditch challenge from Guehi. But from the resulting corner, O’Brien rose highest to power home a header. Barry prodded home a third for Everton from Rohl’s deflected cross with City all at sea from a rapid counter-attack. Within seconds they had a lifeline, though, as straight from kick-off Mateo Kovacic played in Haaland to halve the arrears. Doku delivered a dagger to Everton’s hopes of European football next season right at the death. But it may have come too little, too late to rescue City’s chances of a seventh title in nine years. Related Story…
Mumbai Indians’ Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma bump fists during their IPL match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai Monday. (Reuters) Openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton hit attacking knocks as Mumbai Indians beat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets to keep their slim playoff hopes alive in the IPL Monday.Rohit, who hit 84, and the left-handed Rickelton (83) put on 143 runs to lay the foundations for Mumbai’s chase of 229 with eight balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.Five-time champions Mumbai, who were without unwell captain Hardik Pandya, stay in the 10-team table with three wins in 10 matches.Lucknow, led by Rishabh Pant, languish at the bottom and are nearly out of the race for the playoffs.The top two teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the playoffs.The 39-year-old Rohit returned from an injury after missing five matches to hit his second fifty of the season as he struck six fours and seven sixes in his 44-ball knock.South Africa’s Rickelton kept up his blazing form in his 32-ball blitz to pummel the opposition attack before his departure in the 11th over.Rohit came in as impact substituteRohit, who came in as an impact substitute after Lucknow’s batting innings of 228-5, kept up the momentum with his trademark pull shot and wristy flicks to entertain the home crowd.He finally fell to Manimaran Siddharth’s left-arm spin and Tilak Varma soon fell for 11 to raise Lucknow’s hopes.Stand-in-skipper Suryakumar Yadav departed for 12 before Naman Dhir, who made 23, and Will Jacks, who hit the winning six in his 10, steered the team home.Earlier Lucknow’s West Indies star Nicholas Pooran struck form with a 21-ball 63 to put Lucknow on course to a big total. Australian opener Mitchell Marsh provided the early impetus with his 44 off 25 balls and put on 94 runs for the second wicket with the left-handed Pooran.Pace bowler Corbin Bosch dismissed Pooran and Marsh in the ninth over to hit back for Mumbai, but Lucknow kept pace with unbeaten knocks from Aiden Markram and Himmat Singh.Markram, who hit 31, and Himmat, who top-scored with 40, put on 68 runs for the sixth wicket to boost Lucknow’s score, which ultimately proved insufficient. BRIEF SCORESMumbai Indians 229 for 4 (Rohit 84, Rickelton 83, Siddharth 2-47) beat Lucknow Super Giants 228 for 5 (Pooran 63, Marsh 44, Bosch 2-20) by six wickets …
A child looks on next to her mother holding a placard, during a march by a South African anti-xenophobia group following a recent campaign by another…
US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport. (AFP) US President Donald Trump said yesterday that US officials were holding “very positive discussions” with Iran over potential steps toward ending the war that has upended the Middle East. “I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.Iran’s foreign ministry earlier said that Tehran had submitted a 14-point plan “focused on ending the war” and that Washington had responded to it in a message to Pakistani mediators. Trump also said the United States will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz from today, claiming that “countries from all over the world” had requested it. “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 posted on his Truth Social platform. “This process, Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time.” Earlier, Iran said it had received a US response to its latest offer for peace talks, a day after President Donald Trump said he would probably reject the Iranian proposal because “they have not paid a big enough price”. Related Story Source link
TOPSHOT – Security personnel escort Brazilian activist Thiago Avila to a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who…
Pope Leo XIV will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, the Vatican said Monday, just weeks after serious criticism of the pontiff by US President Donald Trump.The private visit with the top US diplomat, who is a Catholic, will take place at 11:30 am (0930 GMT), according to a calendar published on the Vatican’s media site.A Vatican source on Sunday confirmed for AFP Italian media reports that the meeting was an attempt to “thaw” relations between the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and the US government.Rubio is also expected to meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani while in Rome, according to an Italian government source on Sunday. Rubio had also asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump’s closest European allies, against whom he turned after she defended the pope, the source added.Leo has increasingly spoken out against international conflicts and the politicians waging them, and last month issued his most forthright critique yet of the Trump administration’s actions.Thursday’s visit will be the second time that the pope and Rubio have met. The secretary of state was received at the Vatican with US Vice President JD Vance in May 2025, just days after Leo was elected pope. Related Story Source link
The UAE on Monday strongly condemned an Iranian drone attack on an ADNOC oil tanker in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, as the US was due to start guiding ships through the waterway.Two drones hit the MV Barakah off the coast of Oman but no one was injured, according to ADNOC, the UAE state oil giant, adding that the ship was not loaded. “Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said.The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency earlier reported that projectiles struck a ship in the same area late on Sunday. The latest incident came as President Donald Trump said the US would start guiding ships through the vital waterway from Monday.The US and Iran remain deadlocked in peace negotiations since a ceasefire in the Middle East war came into effect on April 8. Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and the United States has put in place a naval blockade in return.US Central Command said it would use guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members to guide ships through the Hormuz strait. As of April 29, more than 900 commercial vessels were located in the Gulf, according to maritime intelligence firm AXSMarine. There had been more than 1,100 at the start of the conflict.Oil prices have rocketed since the closure of the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, threatening widespread economic damage. Related Story Source link