RFK Jr met Republican diplomat days before controversial 2019 trip to Samoa, emails show

• US Central Command announced military strikes on Iranian missile sites located near the Strait of Hormuz using bunker buster weapons. • The strikes target Iran's military infrastructure and represent an escalation in the three-week conflict between the US and Iran. • The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical global shipping route through which approximately 13 million barrels of oil pass daily.

• US President Donald Trump attacked NATO allies on March 17, accusing them of making a "very foolish mistake" by refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran. • French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Trump's calls for NATO involvement, saying France would "never" participate until the situation stabilized, with most other US allies similarly declining. • Trump framed the rebuff as a test of NATO's reliability, questioning whether the alliance would support the United States when needed.

• Iranian rescue workers are conducting daily recovery operations amid a relentless barrage of US and Israeli air strikes across Tehran, with local authorities reporting over 1,300 deaths. • Rescue team members report working 2 to 10 call-outs per day since the war began, risking secondary explosions while extracting bodies—including children—from rubble. • The Iranian Red Crescent Society workers face severe psychological trauma and show no signs of respite as strikes continue with no prospect of de-escalation.

• Brent crude oil prices rose 3.2% to USD 103.42 per barrel, while US oil prices increased 2.9% to USD 96.21 per barrel due to Strait of Hormuz tensions and reduced vessel movement. • The Trump administration plans to ease sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector by issuing permits for foreign companies, aiming to boost crude production and counter soaring prices. • Global oil markets remain volatile as the Strait of Hormuz, through which 13 million barrels pass daily, faces ongoing disruptions from the Iran conflict.

Snub comes as Iran vows revenge for killing of Ali Larijani. Plus, judge orders reinstatement of Voice of America staffGood morning.Donald Trump has said the US does not need Nato after a number of the organization’s members rejected his call to send their warships to reopen the strait of Hormuz.How many people have been displaced in Iran? Up to 3.2 million people, according to the UN’s refugee agency. Here, Tehran residents speak about their daily life under bombardment.For the latest updates, follow our liveblog. Continue reading...

The stars of Sex Education and The Morning Show will appear in a new West End production of Edward Albee’s classic, directed by Marianne ElliottGillian Anderson is to return to the West End in a role she has coveted “for decades”. The Sex Education star will appear opposite Billy Crudup in a revival of Edward Albee’s marital meltdown classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the autumn. Staged in-the-round, the production will be directed by Marianne Elliott at the intimate @sohoplace theatre.Anderson will play Martha who spars with her professor husband George over drinks with a young married couple in the 1962 play. “Martha’s rage is inseparable from her longing, her disappointment and her need to be seen – all things still eminently relatable 60 years on,” said Anderson. The role was first played on Broadway by Uta Hagen, on screen a few years later by Elizabeth Taylor (opposite her husband Richard Burton) and in a 1996 London revival by Diana Rigg. “I’ve wanted to play Martha for decades,” said Anderson. “I’m thrilled Billy Crudup is joining me in the ring as George.” Continue reading...

Sky News Arabia has been accused of broadcasting propaganda and whitewashing genocide in SudanSky is considering terminating its joint venture with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after accusations it is involved in broadcasting propaganda and genocide denial.Sky is in talks with its partner in the UAE on Sky News Arabia over the potential termination next year of the licence to use its brand. Continue reading...

$11.3bn more than enough to fund EPA or National Cancer Institute, where administration sought to slash budgetsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US spent $11.3bn on just the first week of its military assault on Iran. This huge expenditure dwarves the annual budgets of many of the public health and scientific agencies the Trump administration has sought to cut, raising stark questions about the country’s priorities.In the six days that followed the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran on 28 February, $11.3bn was spent on American taxpayer-funded bombs that hit the country and caused hundreds of deaths, the Pentagon has told lawmakers. This figure does not capture the full cost of the conflict, such as deployment of forces, and will now be far higher given the ongoing nature of the war. Continue reading...

Afghan Taliban government says more than 400 people killed and 265 injured, as Pakistan disputes target of strikeFamilies and friends of people who were being treated at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul have continued to search for their loved ones two days after it was bombed by Pakistan, in the deadliest attack so far in the months-long conflict between the two countries.The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed and 265 others wounded in the airstrike, which took place on Monday night as people and staff at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

City lawyers say former mayor is not entitled to public-funded defense over alleged 1993 sexual assaultSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxNew York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration wants to stop representing Eric Adams in a lawsuit that alleges the former mayor sexually assaulted a woman more than three decades ago, according to a court filing on Tuesday.The move comes just a few months after Mamdani took office, following a bitter campaign season last year that had the two Democrats taking turns bashing each other in often caustic and personal terms. Continue reading...

Ottawa wants to modernize a region in the north that’s about six times the size of Texas, ‘just like in the 1800s’Picture an Arctic territory, marginalized by its own country, almost entirely lacking roads, ports and power sources, but rich in mining potential and suddenly feeling vulnerable to outside threats.It’s not Greenland; it’s the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading...

Pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, Ben Delo provides funding, networking, and podcasting space for a range of groups, including those with hardline views on migration and abortionA British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by “anti-woke” and rightwing activists.Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right – while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove. Continue reading...