Israel has displaced Palestinians again with a new order to evacuate Rafah in southern Gaza. At least people two were killed in an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people during Eid. Over 900 have died since Israel broke the ceasefire on the March 18.
The White House has said that it is moving on from recent controversy over the mistaken sharing of war plans on commercial messaging app Signal, declaring that the “case has been closed”.
Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that steps had been taken to ensure that the same scenario – which made Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, privy to a group chat on planned US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis – was not repeated in the future. But she did not elaborate on the measures.
Leavitt said the US was “moving forward”, her statement appearing to end speculation that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who invited the journalist to the chat, and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive information, would be punished.
Democratic lawmaker Madeleine Dean accused Republicans of showing a “weakness of thought” by deflecting away from the “blunders” of the so-called Signalgate controversy.
“The Trump Administration’s mishandling of sensitive military plans was a staggering failure”, she wrote in a social media post. “Republicans have devolved into ‘ what-about-ism. ‘ It’s time for accountability. It’s time for answers”.
The Trump Administration’s mishandling of sensitive military plans was a staggering failure.
Republicans have devolved into “what-about-ism”.
It’s time for accountability. It’s time for answers. pic. twitter.com/nxclTrDEyQ
As the White House attempted to close the embarrassing chapter, US President Donald Trump renewed his threats to the Houthis, targeted over attacks against Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes conducted in support of Gaza, promising to hit them “harder and harder”.
Houthi leaders have denied US claims that their capabilities have been degraded by attacks, saying that the strikes have only managed to kill civilians and administrative officials.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you”, said Trump in a social media post. “Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran”.
Iran, for its part, responded to Trump’s previous message that it , will face heavy US bombardment , if it fails to reach a nuclear weapons deal.
“They threaten to attack us, which we don’t think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief, they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow”, said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of the US and its ally, Israel.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned a Swiss diplomat “acting as protector of US interests” to pass on a “warning note” to the US, emphasising its “firm and immediate resolve” to respond to “hostile acts”.
Trump intends to visit Saudi Arabia in mid-May to discuss a range of topics, including Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and investments, according to sources cited by the Reuters news agency and Axios.
Saudi Arabia recently hosted US-mediated talks with Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending the war, but prospects of a ceasefire appeared to dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, lacked the legitimacy to sign a peace deal, prompting Trump to declare in an interview with NBC that he was “very angry, p***** off” with the Russian leader.
Trump added that if he were unable to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and determined Russia was to blame, he would impose a 25 percent secondary tariff on all Russian oil.
Addressing the state of US-Russian relations on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated in comments carried by Russia’s Interfax news agency that Moscow was “working on implementing certain ideas related to Ukrainian conflict resolution”, though there was “no specific progress” to report yet.
Peskov also said Putin is still open to speaking with Trump and that a conversation could be “arranged as needed”, according to TASS news agency.
Elon Musk says “terrorism” was behind a fire at a Rome Tesla dealership that reduced 17 vehicles to burned out shells. The cause of the fire is under investigation but occurred the same day dealerships in at least two other countries were vandalised.
The United States has imposed sanctions on six Chinese and Hong Kong officials to punish China for its ongoing crackdown on democracy advocates in the financial hub, which was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The US Department of State announced the sanctions on Monday. They target prominent figures, including Hong Kong Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam for playing a role in efforts to “intimidate, silence and harass 19 pro-democracy activists”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Beijing had “broken its promises” after pledging to allow the territory a high degree of autonomy, “depriving Hong Kongers of freedoms” and engaging in “acts of transnational repression targeting activists on US soil”.
. @StateDept’s latest Hong Kong Policy Act Report demonstrates that Beijing has broken its promises to the people of Hong Kong. The United States is imposing sanctions on six individuals for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, depriving Hong Kongers of freedoms, and in being…
The sanctions, marking a rare foray into human rights by the administration of President Donald Trump, will block any interests held by the six individuals in the US and generally criminalise financial transactions with them under US law.
They also target Dong Jingwei, a former senior official at China’s main civilian intelligence agency who is now the director of Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, along with senior security and police officials Sonny Au, Dick Wong, and Margaret Chiu.
Beijing promised a separate system for Hong Kong when Britain handed over the financial hub in 1997.
But it then went on to launch major crackdowns on dissent, imposing draconian national security rules after large and at times destructive protests in favour of democracy swept the city in 2019.
The State Department’s latest Hong Kong Policy Act Report, published on Monday, pointed to two laws – the Beijing-imposed 2020 National Security Law and the Hong Kong government’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – which it said had been used to “aggressively” prosecute pro‑democracy and media freedom advocates.
Targets included the two former chief editors of the now-defunct independent news outlet Stand News – Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam – who were last year jailed on charges of conspiring to publish seditious publications.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities said the National Security Law – which punishes subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison – has brought stability to the Chinese-controlled territory since the 2019 protests.
The six sanctioned officials were targeted in line with a US law that champions Hong Kong democracy.
A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement, ordering a five-year ban on running for office and two years of electronic tracking. Her far-right National Rally party must now decide on a new candidate for the 2027 presidential elections.
A blast at a mine in Spain’s northern Asturias region has killed at least five workers and injured four others, according to local emergency services.
The accident occurred Monday morning at the Cerredo mine in Degana, some 450km (280 miles) northwest of Madrid, killing five people from the neighbouring Leon region ranging from the ages of 32 to 54 years old.
Adriana Lastra, a representative of the central government in Asturias, told reporters at the scene that initial indications showed the blast may have been caused by methane forming an explosive mixture in the mine, a phenomenon known as firedamp.
“Police are already investigating what happened, they are already at the scene”, said Lastra.
The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, two of them by helicopter, suffering burns and, in one case, a head injury.
As news of the blast spread, workers ‘ families flocked to the site, which was surrounded by police and emergency services vehicles.
“It’s scandalous. Companies used to guarantee safety, but they are doing it less and less”, Jose Antonio Alvarez, a relative of one the miners who died, told regional newspaper El Comercio.
Local newspaper La Voz de Asturias said the mine is owned by a recently created local company called Blue Solving, which was trying to repurpose the site for the extraction of “high-performance minerals” for industrial use.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent his “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims and wished a “speedy recovery” to the injured, in a message posted on X.
The head of the regional government of Asturias, Adrian Barbon, declared two days of mourning “as a sign of respect for the deceased”.