Global Pulse

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  • WHO chief reassures Tenerife residents ahead of hantavirus cruise ship arrival

    WHO chief reassures Tenerife residents ahead of hantavirus cruise ship arrival

    Tensions are running high on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife this weekend, as public health authorities and local emergency services finalize strict containment protocols for the imminent arrival of the MV Hondius — a Dutch cruise vessel grappling with a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has already claimed three lives.

    As residents voiced deep anxiety, with lingering trauma from the 2020 COVID-19 cruise ship outbreaks still fresh for many, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus delivered a direct public message to ease community fears, stressing that this event poses far lower public health risk than the coronavirus pandemic.

    “I know you are worried,” Tedros told Tenerife residents in a public address Saturday. “I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak’ and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.”

    Six confirmed cases of hantavirus have been linked to the voyage, which originated in South America. Three passengers have died from the infection to date: the first fatality was recorded on April 11, a second on May 2, and a 69-year-old Dutch passenger who disembarked in St. Helena on April 24 died in South Africa two days later. Two infected British passengers are currently receiving care in the Netherlands and South Africa, while a third Briton is undergoing treatment for a suspected case on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the ship made a mid-April stopover.

    The MV Hondius is scheduled to dock at Granadilla Port between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. GMT Sunday, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García confirmed at a press briefing Saturday. The decision to allow the vessel to dock in Tenerife has been deeply controversial: regional president Fernando Clavijo has openly opposed the move, questioning why the vessel could not complete its outbreak response at its previous stop in Cape Verde. Far-right Spanish party Vox has attacked the national central government over the call, and local protests have broken out across the island in recent days. In contrast, Tedros praised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for the decision, framing it as “an act of solidarity and moral duty,” noting that Tenerife was selected specifically for its robust medical infrastructure, emergency response capacity, and ability to facilitate safe repatriation of passengers.

    To eliminate any risk of community spread, Spanish authorities have put in place a rigorous set of containment measures. All passengers will remain quarantined aboard the vessel while initial health screenings are conducted, and no one will be permitted to disembark until a repatriation flight is waiting on the island’s tarmac to carry them directly back to their home countries. Repatriation flights are arranged for passengers from the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany, Belgium, and Ireland, with Spanish passengers prioritized for disembarkation and repatriation.

    All people who interact with passengers during transfer — including bus drivers and logistics staff — will be required to wear FFP2 masks, and passengers will only be permitted to bring a small, sealed bag of essential items such as identification documents, mobile devices and chargers, and basic personal necessities when disembarking. Notably, the body of the passenger who died aboard the vessel will not be unloaded in the Canary Islands; the ship will continue onward to the Netherlands after repatriations are complete, where the remains and personal belongings will be disinfected before being removed.

    Health experts explain that hantaviruses are most commonly carried by wild rodents, and the strain detected in this outbreak — the Andes strain — can spread between humans, a mode of transmission that has raised targeted concerns. All infected passengers are believed to have contracted the virus during pre-voyage travel through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, where they visited areas with populations of rodent species known to carry the pathogen, Tedros confirmed. As of this publication, the exact origin of the outbreak remains unclear, and public health teams have not yet confirmed whether any additional crew or asymptomatic passengers have been exposed to the virus. A WHO expert is already aboard the vessel to monitor conditions, and Tedros has announced he will travel to Tenerife personally to observe the response operation first-hand. Symptoms of hantavirus infection range from mild flu-like effects including fever, muscle aches, fatigue, and abdominal pain to severe respiratory distress in advanced cases.

  • ‘Ghost of the forest’ returns to Kenya as conservationists reintroduce rare antelope into the wild

    ‘Ghost of the forest’ returns to Kenya as conservationists reintroduce rare antelope into the wild

    Deep within the dense, mist-shrouded forests of Kenya, an elusive creature once known only as the “ghost of the forest” is one step closer to making a lasting comeback. The mountain bongo, a rare striped antelope unique to East Africa’s highland woodlands, has teetered on the edge of extinction for decades, but a dedicated team of Kenyan conservationists is working to reverse its decline through a carefully managed captive breeding and rewilding initiative.

    Characterized by its rich chestnut-brown coat, distinct vertical white stripes, and spiraled horns, the mountain bongo is a master of camouflage, able to disappear into thick undergrowth in seconds. This shy nature helped it evade predators for centuries, but it could not escape the dual threats of disease outbreak and habitat loss that collapsed its wild population by the late 20th century. Today, fewer than 100 mountain bongos remain in undisturbed wild habitats across Kenya, making the conservation program at the 1,250-acre Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy—perched on the forested slopes of Mount Kenya near Nanyuki—one of the most critical endangered species recovery efforts on the African continent.

    Last week, the initiative gained a major boost with the arrival of four new male bongos, imported from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria via the Czech Republic. The new arrivals are currently undergoing strict quarantine and round-the-clock veterinary monitoring, before they are integrated into the conservancy’s existing breeding population. Their addition is intentional: the conservancy’s existing herd traces its roots to 18 bongos imported from the United States in 2004, and introducing new genetic lines will eliminate the risk of harmful inbreeding, a common threat to small captive populations of endangered animals.

    Dr. Robert Aruho, head of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, emphasized that genetic diversity is as important as overall population size for long-term survival. “We want bongos that are not only strong in body, but strong in the genes they pass to the next generation,” he explained. This focus on genetic health builds on a recovery plan that stretches back to the 1980s, when conservationist Don Hunt made the controversial decision to export 36 wild mountain bongos to U.S. zoos as an “insurance population” after disease outbreaks in the 1960s had killed thousands of individuals in Kenya. That proactive move saved the species from total extinction, creating a global captive population that could be used to rebuild wild herds once habitat conditions improved. When the conservancy launched its formal program in 2004, it received the first 18 descendants of those original exported bongos, growing the captive herd to 102 individuals today. The long-term goal is bold: establish a sustainable wild population of 750 mountain bongos across their native range by 2050.

    Before any bongo is released into the wild, the conservancy’s team puts each candidate through months of rigorous training and monitoring to prepare it for life outside human care. Captive-bred bongos must learn to forage for their own food, recognize and escape native predators, and build natural immunity to wild diseases—skills their wild ancestors knew instinctively. Program officials also prioritize shyer, more elusive individuals for release: more docile bongos are far more likely to fall prey to leopards and other predators in the open forest.

    That preparation is already paying off. In 2022, the conservancy made history by releasing the first 10 bongos into the Mount Kenya Forest, the first time the species had roamed its native slopes here since the last confirmed wild sighting in 1994. Today, those released bongos thrive among the orange climber vines and dense shrubs they prefer, and the program celebrated a major milestone last year with the birth of the fourth wild bongo calf on conservancy-managed protected land. For the team, that calf’s birth was more than a win for the bongo—it was proof that rewilding works.

    Beyond its importance for the species itself, the recovery of the mountain bongo is deeply tied to Kenya’s environmental health. The antelope is native to four key Kenyan forest ecosystems: Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Eburu, and Mau, all of which are critical sources of the country’s fresh water supply. Protecting habitat for the bongo also safeguards these vital watersheds that support millions of Kenyans. The project has also changed local perspectives on the rare antelope: for Caroline Makena, a gardener at the conservancy who grew up in the Mount Kenya region, she only heard stories of bongos as a traditional source of bush meat from her grandmother, until she saw the animals in person at the conservancy. “I never knew the bongos were this beautiful, and I think my community loved them not just for the meat but because of their beauty,” she said.

    Challenges remain: mountain bongos have a nine-month gestation period, which slows population growth, and the species is far more sensitive to changes in vegetation and weather than other antelope species that share its ecosystem. The conservancy team continues to supplement the diet of released and captive bongos with nutrient-dense pellets to support their health. But for conservationists, local community members, and the thousands of tourists who visit the conservancy each year to catch a glimpse of the “ghost of the forest,” the slow progress offers hope: a species once written off can return to its native home, if humans act proactively to save it.

  • AFL 2026: Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirms Scott Pendlebury’s milestone game

    AFL 2026: Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirms Scott Pendlebury’s milestone game

    AFL side Collingwood is standing firm on its controversial pre-planned strategy to rest veteran star Scott Pendlebury for an upcoming clash against ladder-topping Sydney, doubling down on its commitment to stage his historic record-breaking match in front of a home crowd at the iconic MCG the following week.

    Head coach Craig McRae made the stance clear in the aftermath of the Magpies’ lopsided 54-point defeat at the hands of Geelong on Saturday night, a result that has left Collingwood’s 2024 season prospects hanging by a thread. Even with a critical matchup against competition leaders Sydney looming next round, McRae says the club will not waver from its long-held plan to hold Pendlebury out to set up his milestone game against West Coast on home turf.

    “No, Scott won’t play next week, we’re unashamed in our plans to play him the week after all going to plan with his body,” McRae told reporters post-match. Over the weekend, Pendlebury tied the all-time VFL/AFL record of 432 career games, jointly held by retired Kangaroos star Brent Harvey, in the round clash against Geelong.

    The veteran leader was captured sharing an emotional embrace with former Collingwood captain and coach Nathan Buckley after the final siren, a moment that underscored his standing as one of the club’s greatest ever products. McRae argued that prioritizing a home celebration for this once-in-a-career milestone is a fitting call for one of the sport’s modern greats, even amid a tight run of fixtures and a rocky season for the club.

    “This is a plan we stick to, high-performance but also rewarding and celebrating one of the greats of our game,” McRae said. “We’re excited for what that looks like in a couple of weeks time, we’ll sit in this now and have a shallow loss, dust ourselves off quickly and get up to Sydney, put on a good performance for our fans because it wasn’t good enough tonight.”

    McRae added that the club will name a full 22 plus interchange to face the Swans, and is fully focused on putting up a competitive performance that the club’s supporter base can be proud of, even without their veteran playmaker.

    Beyond the Pendlebury plan, Collingwood is also facing fresh injury concerns: starting captain Darcy Moore was forced out of the Geelong clash before halftime after sustaining a concussion in a heavy collision with Geelong midfielder Oisin Mullin, ruling him out of contention for the Sydney matchup as well.

    McRae conceded that the absence of both Moore and Pendlebury will exacerbate a long-running problem for the Magpies: poor performance in winning and defending centre clearances, an issue that was brutally exposed by Geelong on Saturday night. The Cats kicked six goals directly from centre bounce possessions, a stat McRae admitted is well below the standard his side needs to compete against top opposition.

    “Six goals tonight (from centre bounce) is just not at a level against teams like Geelong, we can’t afford to have that,” he said. “The numbers balance around, it was pretty even, I think it was 13-apiece but it’s a little bit of inability to stop scoring out of that source.”

    McRae also acknowledged that Geelong’s dominant performance exposed uncharacteristic flaws in Collingwood’s usually solid defensive system, marking the first time this season the club’s defensive structures have been tested so severely. Geelong recorded more than 20 marks inside Collingwood’s 50-metre arc, a sign that the Magpies’ defensive pressure was not up to its usual standard for the full 80 minutes.

  • Canary Islands brace for arrival of hantavirus-hit cruise ship

    Canary Islands brace for arrival of hantavirus-hit cruise ship

    A cruise ship grappling with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is making its way to Spain’s Canary Islands, where authorities are preparing to evacuate nearly 150 passengers and fly them back to their home countries after weeks of isolation at sea. Three fatalities have already been linked to the outbreak on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, and multiple other passengers have fallen ill with the rare pathogen, which is most commonly carried and spread by rodent populations.

    The vessel, which departed Cape Verde after three infected people were evacuated earlier this week, is projected to reach offshore waters near Tenerife by early Sunday dawn, between 03:00 and 05:00 GMT. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is personally assisting with coordination of the complicated evacuation operation, after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid Saturday ahead of traveling to the archipelago with the country’s health and interior ministers.

    Confirmed cases on the ship have been identified as Andes virus, the only strain of hantavirus capable of spreading between human beings — a detail that has sparked widespread international concern over potential secondary transmission. To mitigate this risk, regional Canary Islands authorities have rejected requests to allow the ship to dock at a local port. Instead, the MV Hondius will remain anchored offshore during the evacuation, which is scheduled to take place between Sunday and Monday, the only window health officials say weather conditions will permit for the complex operation.

    On the quay at Granadilla de Abona port, AFP reporters observed emergency response teams have already erected white screening tents, but daily life across the island has continued largely unchanged. Local lottery vendor David Parada noted that while there is underlying worry about potential community risk, most residents have not panicked over the situation. Tedros sought to further calm public fears in an open letter to Tenerife residents Saturday, stressing that “this is not another Covid” and that the population-wide risk of transmission from the ship remains “low”.

    Spanish officials have echoed these assurances, outlining strict protocols to prevent any contact between passengers from the ship and local communities. After completing medical screenings on board the MV Hondius, passengers will be transferred via small boats to shore, then bussed directly to the airport along fully sealed routes. A maritime exclusion zone will be enforced around the anchored vessel, and all areas passengers transit through on shore will be closed off to the public. Evacuations will proceed in groups organized by nationality, with the 14 Spanish citizens on board set to leave first, according to Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez. A portion of the crew will remain on the ship to sail it onward to the Netherlands after the evacuation is complete.

    As of Friday, the WHO confirmed six positive hantavirus cases out of eight earlier suspected cases on the vessel, and no new suspected cases remain on board. Global health authorities are now conducting extensive contact tracing for passengers who disembarked the MV Hondius earlier in its voyage, which began on April 1 when it departed Ushuaia, Argentina for a transatlantic cruise to Cape Verde. Argentine health officials have concluded that the initial infected Dutch passenger almost certainly did not contract the virus in Ushuaia, based on the pathogen’s incubation period.

    Multiple secondary testing and monitoring efforts are underway across the globe: A KLM flight attendant who developed mild symptoms after coming into contact with an infected passenger tested negative for the virus, though a Spanish woman who sat two rows away from one of the fatal cases on a Johannesburg-Amsterdam flight has been isolated in a Spanish hospital for testing, with officials noting her infection remains highly unlikely. Two former passengers in Singapore tested negative but will remain in quarantine as a precaution, and British health authorities are investigating a suspected case on the remote South Atlantic outpost of Tristan da Cunha, which is home to just 220 permanent residents.

  • Experts wonder ‘Where is the CDC?’ as a hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship

    Experts wonder ‘Where is the CDC?’ as a hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship

    A high-profile hantavirus outbreak aboard a South Atlantic cruise ship is sparking widespread criticism of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with public health experts warning the agency’s absence from the frontline response signals a dangerous erosion of its once-legendary global leadership in infectious disease management.

    The outbreak first emerged in early April, when a 70-year-old Dutch passenger developed a fatal febrile illness during a voyage traveling from Argentina to Antarctica. His death was followed by two more fatalities — his wife and a German passenger — and hantavirus was formally confirmed as the causative pathogen on May 2. The World Health Organization formally classified the cluster as an outbreak days later, with roughly two dozen U.S. citizens on board the vessel: seven disembarked last month, while 17 remain on the ship currently docked in the Canary Islands.

    Unlike past international public health emergencies, where the CDC stepped in immediately as a core partner to the WHO leading on-site investigations, risk communication and passenger coordination, this outbreak has been almost entirely managed by global health bodies and foreign authorities. Multiple leading public health experts say the CDC’s delayed, low-profile response represents a stark departure from its decades-long reputation as the world’s preeminent public health agency.

    “The CDC is not even a player,” stated Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University expert in global public health law. “I’ve never seen that before.” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the outbreak a critical test of U.S. preparedness for emerging biological threats — one the country is failing. “This is a sentinel event that speaks to how well the country is prepared for a disease threat. And right now, I’m very sorry to say that we are not prepared,” she explained.

    The muted CDC role comes after 16 months of restructuring under the second Trump administration, which has already withdrawn the U.S. from the World Health Organization, restricted CDC scientists from communicating with international colleagues at multiple points, and cut thousands of roles across the agency — including specialists working in its ship sanitation program. The administration has pivoted away from multilateral global health coordination, instead pursuing a network of one-on-one bilateral public health agreements with individual nations, which it says will advance American innovation in global health. To date, roughly 30 such agreements have been finalized.

    HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has framed current agency reforms as an effort to “restore the CDC’s focus on infectious disease, invest in innovation, and rebuild trust through integrity and transparency.” But experts argue the current hantavirus response exposes the flaws in this new approach.

    Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s Pandemic Center, noted that hantavirus poses minimal broader risk, as it does not spread easily between humans — the only reason the current situation has not spiraled out of control. Even so, she argues the agency’s response lays bare its weakened current state. “This situation just shows how empty and vapid the CDC is right now,” Nuzzo said.

    The CDC has not remained completely silent on the outbreak. Earlier this week, the agency released a brief statement calling the risk to the U.S. general public “extremely low” and framing the U.S. as “the world’s leader in global health security.” Nuzzo pushed back on that messaging, arguing it failed to meet core public health communication standards: “Not only was that not helpful, it actually does damage because a core principle of public health communications is humility.”

    Acting CDC Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya posted on social media that the agency is sharing technical expertise, coordinating with domestic and international stakeholders, and monitoring the health of all U.S. passengers in preparation for medical support. Arizona state officials confirmed this week that one asymptomatic, non-contagious U.S. passenger who disembarked earlier has already returned to the state, with notification coming via the CDC. WHO officials also confirmed the agency has shared basic technical data related to the pathogen.

    For the most part, however, federal health officials have declined interview requests and remained tight-lipped, with key updates emerging only through anonymous leaks. It was not until Friday evening that the CDC officially confirmed it would deploy a small response team to the Canary Islands to meet the ship, with a second team prepping at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska to receive evacuated U.S. passengers at a dedicated quarantine facility.

    Experts have drawn a sharp contrast between this slow response and the CDC’s aggressive action during the 2020 Diamond Princess COVID-19 outbreak, another large cruise ship outbreak off the coast of Japan. At that time, the CDC immediately deployed on-site personnel, led evacuation efforts for U.S. passengers, managed quarantine protocols, shared viral genetic data, coordinated closely with the WHO and Japanese authorities, held regular public briefings, and published rapid research that became the global reference for COVID-19 transmission on cruise ships.

    While the overall Diamond Princess response did draw criticism for failing to stop the virus’s global spread, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden and other experts note that the agency was actively engaged from day one. “The CDC was right on top of it, very visible, very active in trying to manage and contain it,” Gostin said, contrasting that with the current delayed, subdued response. He added that the administration’s bilateral approach to global health cannot replace multilateral coordination: “You can’t possibly cover a global health crisis by doing one-on-one deals with countries here and there.”

  • Rosenberg: Scaled-back Victory Parade in Moscow’s Red Square

    Rosenberg: Scaled-back Victory Parade in Moscow’s Red Square

    In a marked departure from tradition, Moscow’s iconic Red Square played host to a significantly scaled-back Victory Day Parade this year, according to analysis from the BBC’s senior Russia correspondent, who reported on the ground from the Russian capital.

    Annual Victory Day celebrations mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, and for decades, the event has been defined by elaborate military displays, thousands of marching troops, fleets of armored vehicles rolling across Red Square’s cobblestones, and flyovers by Russian air force jets that draw tens of thousands of spectators and global media attention. This year, however, the public event unfolded in an unprecedentedly subdued atmosphere.

    The BBC’s Russia editor, who has covered Victory Day events in Moscow for years, noted that the usual crowds of onlookers lining the streets leading to Red Square were absent, and the scope of military hardware on display was dramatically reduced compared to previous years. Many traditional fanfare elements that have long been central to the celebration were cut from the official program, leading to a far quieter observance than the nation has come to expect.

    Local authorities had announced adjustments to the event weeks earlier, citing security concerns as the primary reason for the scaled-back format. The muted celebration has drawn international attention, as analysts point to it as a visible reflection of shifting priorities and current security dynamics facing Russia amid ongoing regional tensions.

  • Japanese council votes to remove unconscious mayor

    Japanese council votes to remove unconscious mayor

    In an extraordinary and rare administrative move that underscores the balance between governance continuity and personal misfortune, the town assembly of Hachirogata, a small rural community in Japan’s northeastern Akita Prefecture, has unanimously approved a no-confidence motion to remove 72-year-old Mayor Kikuo Hatakeyama from office. Hatakeyama, who has led the town of roughly 5,000 residents since 2008, has remained unconscious for months after suffering a life-altering brain hemorrhage when he fell seriously ill back in February.

    Local legal frameworks created an unexpected impasse after the mayor’s family requested an official assessment of his ability to carry out his duties. According to local Japanese outlet the Japan Times, Hatakeyama’s own wife approached the assembly last month, stating that a resignation from the post would be the best outcome for both her husband and the town. However, Hachirogata’s local administrative rules stipulate that a mayor must submit formal notification of their resignation directly to the assembly chair — a step Hatakeyama cannot take in his current unresponsive state, and a request submitted on his behalf by family members was ruled invalid by the town government in April.

    Faced with a growing administrative vacuum that threatened the delivery of local public services in a community whose economy relies heavily on agriculture and commercial fishing centered on its surrounding rice fields, the assembly moved forward with the no-confidence motion as the fastest legally viable path to resolve the leadership gap. The motion itself explicitly framed the removal as a decision rooted in administrative necessity, rather than any rebuke of the long-serving mayor, noting that the vote represented a deeply difficult choice for all assembly members.

    Japan’s National Association of Town and Village Assemblies has confirmed that such a no-confidence motion against an incapacitated mayor due to serious illness is almost unprecedented in the country’s local governance history. Per the terms of the motion, Hatakeyama will formally lose his position on May 19. A special election to select his permanent successor is scheduled to be held within 50 days of the vacancy taking effect, allowing the town to quickly restore full functional leadership for its residents.

  • War in the Middle East: latest developments

    War in the Middle East: latest developments

    As the Middle East grapples with sustained regional conflict, a cascade of new developments has unfolded across the Gulf, the Israel-Lebanon border, and global diplomatic channels over the past 24 hours, deepening uncertainty for both regional populations and international stakeholders. Ongoing dual blockades imposed by the United States Navy and Iran continue to choke commercial shipping movement into and out of the Gulf, creating a protracted logjam that has left thousands of seafarers stranded for more than two months.

  • Putin chides NATO in speech at scaled-back Victory Day parade

    Putin chides NATO in speech at scaled-back Victory Day parade

    On Saturday, Russia’s annual Victory Day commemoration marking the Soviet Union’s 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany unfolded far differently than usual on Moscow’s Red Square, with a drastically downsized parade overshadowed by the ongoing full-scale war in Ukraine and punctuated by a new US-brokered three-day truce between Moscow and Kyiv.

    For 25 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has centered the legacy of the Soviet World War II victory as a core ideological pillar of his leadership, with past celebrations featuring elaborate displays of military hardware, thousands of marching troops, and dozens of high-profile foreign dignitaries. But this year, a wave of recent long-range Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory forced the Kremlin to tighten security measures and slash the scale of the event, marking the first time in nearly 20 years that no heavy military equipment was featured in the parade. Only a small group of foreign leaders, most from Russia’s close allied nations, attended the ceremony: the heads of state of Belarus, Malaysia, Laos, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, a sharp drop from 2024’s guest list that included Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    In his opening address to the assembled parade participants – which included Russian military units and a contingent of soldiers from North Korea – Putin invoked the World War II victory to rally domestic support for what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, framing the conflict as a fight against a NATO-backed aggressive force. “The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin told the crowd. “They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward. I firmly believe that our cause is just.”

    The scaled-back event came amid growing war fatigue among many Russian residents in Moscow, where strict security measures included widespread street closures and intentional mobile internet disruptions. Speaking to AFP, 36-year-old Moscow economist Elena summed up the muted public mood: “Nothing. I need the internet, and I don’t have it,” she said, adding she had no plans to watch the parade broadcast.

    The lead-up to the parade was marked by escalating tensions: Russia had threatened to carry out a massive strike on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted the Moscow commemoration, and urged foreign diplomatic staff to evacuate the Ukrainian capital ahead of the event. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially pushed back against the idea of a truce tied to the Russian celebration, warning Russia’s allies against attending the event.

    That changed after former US President Donald Trump, who has prioritized ending the Ukraine war, announced a three-day ceasefire agreement between the two warring parties that would take effect starting May 9, accompanied by a large-scale prisoner exchange. “Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Friday. The Kremlin later clarified that as of the announcement, there were no plans to extend the temporary truce beyond its three-day timeline.

    Zelensky ultimately confirmed Ukraine would abide by the ceasefire, issuing a formal order barring Ukrainian forces from launching attacks to disrupt the parade and noting the truce would allow for the exchange of 1,000 detained service members from each side. “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home,” Zelensky said in a statement.

    In the first overnight period of the truce, both the Ukrainian Air Force and Russian Ministry of Defense reported a sharp drop in drone attacks compared to previous nights, a promising sign for the temporary agreement. This ceasefire marks the third attempted truce between Russia and Ukraine this week, after two earlier agreements fell apart quickly.

    Now entering its fifth year, the war in Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of people and become the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. US-mediated peace talks have stalled since February, when the United States shifted its diplomatic and military focus to its ongoing conflict with Iran. While the current truce has reduced violence temporarily, it remains unclear whether it will open a path to longer-term negotiations to end the wider war.

  • Iran warns the US against attacks on its oil tankers and other ships but ceasefire appears to hold

    Iran warns the US against attacks on its oil tankers and other ships but ceasefire appears to hold

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Just one month into a tentative ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, regional tensions are reigniting, with competing military escalations and high-stakes diplomatic negotiations unfolding across the Persian Gulf. In a stark public warning issued Saturday by the naval branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, any offensive targeting Iranian commercial and oil vessels will trigger a devastating retaliatory strike against both U.S. military bases in the region and enemy shipping, the force confirmed.

    The warning came 24 hours after U.S. forces intercepted two Iranian oil tankers attempting to break Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports, a move that has cast significant doubt over the durability of the month-long truce that U.S. officials continue to insist remains in effect. As tensions mount, Bahrain – the small Persian Gulf island nation that hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and regional headquarters – announced the arrest of 41 individuals it claims are connected to an Iran-aligned network linked to the Revolutionary Guard.
    According to Bahrain’s interior ministry, investigations have confirmed the group maintained direct communication with the Revolutionary Guard and was raising funds to transfer back to Iran to support what it describes as terrorist activities. The Sunni-ruled monarchy, which is home to a majority Shiite population like Iran, has long faced accusations from international human rights groups that it weaponizes regional tensions between Washington and Tehran to crack down on domestic political dissent.
    Iran has issued a sharp rebuke to Bahrain over its actions. Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, warned in a social media post that aligning with U.S.-backed initiatives will carry severe long-term consequences. “The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global energy lifeline; do not risk closing it off to yourselves forever,” Azizi said.
    Since the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran on February 28, Tehran has largely blocked access to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint through which nearly 20% of global oil supplies transit daily. The closure triggered an immediate spike in global fuel prices and sent shockwaves through international financial markets. In response, the U.S. imposed its own naval blockade of Iranian ports, with U.S. Central Command confirming Saturday that its forces have turned away 58 commercial vessels and disabled four ships since the blockade went into effect on April 13.

    As regional powers and global actors work to de-escalate, Western nations are already positioning military assets to secure the strait once a lasting truce is reached. Britain’s defense ministry announced Saturday it is deploying the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to the Middle East to preposition for a future multinational mission protecting commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz once hostilities cease. The destroyer will prepare to join a U.K.- and French-led international security initiative, after France announced earlier this week it is moving its full aircraft carrier strike group to the Red Sea in preparation. The two countries have coordinated talks with more than 30 nations to build a coalition to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait, but have emphasized the mission will not launch until a sustainable ceasefire is in place and the global maritime industry can be assured of safe passage.

    Diplomatic efforts to cement a lasting peace deal are continuing around the clock, with multiple global mediators working to bridge gaps between Washington and Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to resume full-scale bombing campaigns against Iran if Tehran rejects Washington’s proposal, which calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and rolling back Iran’s disputed nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei dismissed U.S. pressure tactics, telling state-run news agency IRNA that Iran is not paying attention to arbitrary American deadlines.
    Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed his government has been holding continuous talks with both U.S. and Iranian officials to extend the current ceasefire and reach a permanent negotiated settlement. Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have publicly called for intensified diplomatic efforts to reach a sustainable, long-term agreement to end the conflict, according to Russia’s foreign ministry. Russian President Vladimir Putin also confirmed that Moscow’s longstanding proposal – to transport Iran’s enriched uranium out of the country to build trust and facilitate negotiations – remains on the table. Putin explained the plan would put all of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile under the full oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, allowing the international community to verify the size and location of Iran’s nuclear materials. Egypt and Qatar’s top diplomats also reaffirmed in a recent phone call that diplomacy is the only viable path to resolving the conflict.

    Amid all the diplomatic and military activity, one key figure remains out of public view: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began. The lack of public appearances has sparked widespread speculation about his health and status. On Friday, a senior Iranian official close to the office of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Mojtaba’s father, who was killed in the opening days of the U.S.-Israeli offensive – told a pro-government gathering that the new supreme leader is in full good health and will appear public once his recovery is complete. Mazaher Hosseini confirmed Mojtaba sustained knee and back injuries in the opening bombardment, but said those wounds have largely healed.
    The Associated Press contributed reporting from Cairo and London to this article.