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  • UK police arrest protesters outside base linked to US jet downed in Iran

    UK police arrest protesters outside base linked to US jet downed in Iran

    On a Sunday in eastern England, law enforcement officers took seven people into custody during a demonstration held just outside RAF Lakenheath, a British base long leased to the United States military that military analysts now connect to a US fighter jet downed over Iran just two days prior. The arrests mark a sharp flashpoint in a growing controversy over the UK government’s role in supporting the US-led war on Iran, unfolding against a tangled legal backdrop over the status of the activist group the arrestees are accused of supporting.

    Military observers have confirmed that the F-15E strike fighter shot down by Iranian forces on Friday matches the profile of aircraft permanently stationed at RAF Lakenheath, the largest US fighter operations hub in Europe, which is home to the 48th Fighter Wing. Both UK Ministry of Defence and US Central Command officials have declined to comment on Iranian claims that the aircraft originated from this Suffolk base. Independent verification from The New York Times, citing senior Royal United Services Institute air power analyst Justin Bronk, adds weight to these claims: Bronk found that wreckage markings published by Iranian state-linked news agency Tasnim align directly with the markings of the 494th Fighter Squadron, a unit permanently based at Lakenheath.

    Local anti-war activists have monitored air traffic at the base closely since the outbreak of the war, and have documented sustained sortie activity linked to strikes on Iran. In the week leading up to the jet’s downing, activists recorded unusual movements: five F-35C stealth fighters landed at Lakenheath on March 24, and more than 20 aircraft departed the base on the morning of April 2, according to local anti-war group claims. Peter Lux, organizer of the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, told reporters on Sunday that his group has tracked between 116 and 118 US bombers departing the base for combat missions since the war began. Lux argued that as a British military facility on UK sovereign territory, the UK government holds full legal responsibility for all operations launched from its grounds. “We need the accountability of those bases, particularly with what’s going on in Iran, which the British government have said they’re not happy about because of international law,” Lux said. The six-day 24-hour vigil organized by his group outside the base concluded on the same day as the arrests.

    The seven detainees – five men and two women – were arrested on suspicion of acting in support of Palestine Action, a direct-action group that organizes demonstrations against Israeli war crimes. The legal status of the organization remains contested: Keir Starmer’s Labour government opted to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in July 2025, but the UK High Court ruled earlier this year that this proscription was unlawful. The government has since appealed the ruling, creating an unusual legal limbo that law enforcement has had to navigate.

    In a statement following the arrests, a Suffolk Police spokesperson clarified that the force is required to enforce existing law as it stands currently, rather than pending the outcome of the government’s appeal. “Although the High Court found the proscription of Palestine Action to be unlawful, it also confirmed that the impact of that judgement will not take effect until the government’s appeal has been considered,” the spokesperson explained, adding that the force “has a duty to enforce the law without fear or favour” and will take appropriate action when offences are suspected.

    The controversy over activity at RAF Lakenheath is part of a wider breakdown of British policy on the war in Iran, marked by repeated U-turns from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government. When the US-Israeli invasion of Iran first began, Starmer initially banned the US from launching combat strikes from the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. That position flipped within just 48 hours, when Starmer approved US use of the base for strikes targeting Iranian missile sites, framing the move as a purely defensive measure. Two weeks later, Starmer announced a second reversal, approving US use of all British bases for strikes targeting Iranian sites in operations meant to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

    Despite Starmer’s repeated concessions that have allowed expanded US war operations from UK territory, former US President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Starmer’s leadership, even going so far as to suggest that the decades-long “special relationship” between the US and UK is in jeopardy.

    RAF Lakenheath is not the only British base being used to support US strikes on Iran. US combat aircraft have also launched missions from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwest England, while nearby RAF Mildenhall – another Suffolk-based facility that supports US Air Force operations – has seen a surge in activity over the past week. On March 31, two US EA-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft were photographed landing at Mildenhall.

    The growing involvement of British bases in the war has sparked serious retaliatory threats from Tehran. Speaking to Times Radio the previous Wednesday, Iranian ambassador to the UK Seyed Ali Mousavi confirmed that the Iranian government is “considering” targeted strikes on British military bases in retaliation for the UK’s support for US operations.

  • US and Iran reviewing ceasefire deal, reports say

    US and Iran reviewing ceasefire deal, reports say

    Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate months of open conflict between the United States and Iran have entered a critical new phase, with Pakistan delivering a last-minute proposal for an immediate temporary truce now under review by both governments.

    Reuters first broke the story on Monday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the backchannel negotiations. Tentatively named the “Islamabad Accords”, the proposal outlines a two-step framework: an immediate halt to all hostilities, followed by negotiations to lock in a comprehensive permanent agreement within a 15 to 20-day window.

    According to the source, Pakistan’s top military commander, Army Chief Asim Munir, maintained round-the-clock contact through the night with three key figures: US Vice President JD Vance, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The source emphasized that all core terms of the ceasefire would need to be finalized the same day the proposal was delivered.

    This is not the only ceasefire framework currently circulating. Just one day earlier, Axios reported that regional mediators had been floating an alternative 45-day truce plan designed to clear a path for permanent conflict-ending negotiations.

    Despite the flurry of diplomatic activity, insiders have warned that the odds of even a partial truce being agreed within the next 48 hours remain very low. The entire push is widely framed as a final attempt to head off major new US attacks, which US President Donald Trump has publicly threatened to launch if Iran does not meet his demands by an extremely tight deadline.

    Trump has set an 8pm ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to unilaterally reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint that Iran closed in response to the US-Israeli military campaign that began more than a month ago. In an inflammatory post on his social platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!” He has also explicitly threatened to target critical Iranian infrastructure, including bridges and national power plants, if his demands are not met.

    This deadline is not the first Trump has issued, nor is it the first he has extended. On March 21, Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to fully reopen the strait, threatening to “obliterate” Iranian power plants if the order was ignored. Two days later, he extended the deadline by five days, citing what he called “good and productive conversations” — a claim Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi immediately denied, stating no official contact had taken place. As that five-day extension approached, Trump granted a second 10-day extension that was set to expire Monday evening, claiming the extension came “as per Iranian Government request.”

    Even with these ongoing diplomatic overtures, Iran has already rejected core elements of the ceasefire proposal. A senior Iranian official told Reuters Monday that Tehran will not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a concession for a temporary truce. The official pointed to Washington’s ongoing refusal to commit to a permanent ceasefire, adding that Iran rejects being pushed into accepting rigid arbitrary deadlines.

    Many high-profile Iranian figures have openly spoken out against any temporary truce. Majid Shekeri, a former senior advisor to Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on social platform X that “A temporary ceasefire benefits Pakistan, Turkey, and America, and harms Iran. It’s astonishing that they even dare to raise such a thing.”

    This is not the first setback for Pakistan’s mediation efforts. The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday that talks had already hit a dead end when Iran refused to hold direct talks with US officials in Islamabad, citing what Tehran called unacceptable US demands.

    The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already had sweeping global economic impacts: the waterway handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s total daily oil and natural gas supplies, all of which have been cut off from global markets since Iran closed the passage.

    The human cost of the ongoing US-Israeli bombardment of Iran has already been devastating. Iran’s own Ministry of Health reports that at least 2,076 Iranians have been killed in the attacks, with an additional 26,500 people wounded. The US-based Iran-focused Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded a higher death toll of 3,531 killed, a count that includes 1,607 civilian deaths and at least 244 children among the dead.

    In addition to his threats against Iran, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at US European allies in recent weeks, accusing them of failing to provide sufficient support for his campaign against Iran and calling them “cowards.” He has also threatened to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over the dispute. To date, Trump has publicly declared victory over Iran at least five separate times, despite the ongoing open conflict.

  • Dozens attend Passover prayers at Western Wall as Al-Aqsa remains closed

    Dozens attend Passover prayers at Western Wall as Al-Aqsa remains closed

    Amid the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran, a deeply controversial and discriminatory access policy for religious sites in occupied East Jerusalem has drawn widespread condemnation, as Palestinian and Christian worshippers remain locked out of holy sites ahead of and during major religious holidays, while Jewish worshippers are permitted to gather for seasonal rituals.

    Since February 28, Israeli occupation authorities have imposed a full ban on all Muslim Palestinian worshippers entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the most sacred sites in Islam. This total closure marks an unprecedented step not seen since Israel began its occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, with no exceptions granted even for Ramadan—Islam’s holiest month—or the major Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting period. The shutdown extends to Christian holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City as well: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Christianity’s most revered locations, has been closed to worshippers, who were barred from gathering for traditional Easter celebrations on Sunday, with only 15 members of the clergy permitted inside to conduct the holiday observance.

    In sharp contrast, Israeli authorities allowed as many as 50 Jewish worshippers to enter the Western Wall, the structure that forms part of the outer boundary of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (known to Muslims as the Buraq Wall), on Sunday. Those in attendance were able to take part in the traditional priestly blessing ceremony tied to the Jewish Passover holiday, held in a covered space adjacent to the Western Wall plaza.

    The unequal application of restrictions does not end at the Western Wall. Thousands of people gathered for a large Passover event in an indoor hall in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, an area that has been heavily targeted by Iranian missile strikes amid the ongoing war. Dozens more gathered for Passover festivities in Jerusalem’s Mamilla neighborhood, located just steps from the Old City. This pattern mirrors restrictions seen during the Purim holiday last month, when large gatherings of Israelis proceeded without interference, while wartime gathering limits were strictly enforced against Palestinian residents.

    Israeli officials have framed the full closure of Al-Aqsa as a necessary security measure to mitigate risks from Iranian missile attacks. But Palestinian leaders and critics reject this justification, arguing the closure is part of a deliberate, long-running effort to consolidate exclusive Israeli control over the contested holy site, eroding long-standing Palestinian and Muslim access rights.

    Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who serves as a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), slammed the discriminatory policy on Sunday, calling for the immediate reopening of both Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Tibi pointed to a recent Israeli High Court decision that allowed gatherings of up to 600 people for anti-war protests, alongside unimpeded mass Jewish holiday celebrations, as proof that security concerns are a pretext. “There is no safety justification for the restrictions at Al-Aqsa; this is a blatant violation of freedom of worship,” Tibi said. He added that Israeli police “act forcefully against worshippers at Herod’s Gate and at the entrances to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is selective enforcement driven by political motives.”

    After Sunday’s prayers at the Western Wall, the Israeli High Court issued a ruling that raised the maximum allowed gathering size from 50 to 100 people for both the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Despite the new legal limit, however, no worshippers—Muslim or Jewish—have been permitted to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque building itself since the war began. Prior to the ruling, only 25 staff members from the Jerusalem Waqf, the Islamic endowment that manages the 14-hectare Al-Aqsa compound, were allowed on site per shift for maintenance work. Even that limited access has been contested: last week, Israeli forces reportedly turned away seven Waqf staff who were scheduled for their shifts.

    It remains unclear whether the new 100-person gathering limit will pave the way for the return of Palestinian Muslim worshippers to the mosque. Prior reporting from Middle East Eye indicates that Israeli officials have informed the Waqf that the mosque will remain closed at least through mid-April. The decision to raise the gathering cap came after intense pressure from Israeli religious and far-right political leaders, coming on the heels of the High Court’s approval of 600-person anti-war protests.

    Israeli police, under the oversight of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have drafted a proposal that would allow up to 150 “Jewish and Muslim worshippers” to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ben Gvir has framed the proposal as an effort to ensure fairness, arguing that since anti-government protests are permitted, “I am obliged to ensure justice and prevent discrimination” against worshippers seeking access to the site. “The High Court must allow access both to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in small groups,” he stated, using the Israeli term for the hill where Al-Aqsa is located.

    Before the outbreak of the war with Iran, ultra-nationalist Israeli settlers carried out twice-daily incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy Israeli police protection, in open violation of the decades-long international status quo agreement that designates Al-Aqsa as an exclusively Islamic holy site governed by Muslim authorities. These daily incursions were paused when the war began, but it remains unclear whether the new police proposal would allow them to resume.

    If the proposal goes into effect, the 150-person cap would actually exceed the pre-war limit of around 100 settlers per incursion. The plan has already been celebrated by Arnon Segal, one of the most prominent Israeli activists who organizes the regular settler raids on Al-Aqsa. Writing on his X account, Segal noted that “Allowing ‘small groups of only 150 people’ onto the Temple Mount is more than the maximum group size Jews have ever been allowed to enter, even on the busiest and most crowded days.” He called the proposal “a dream,” crediting Ben Gvir for advancing the plan and framing it as an unprecedented, historic shift in access to the site.

  • WHO worker among seven killed by Israel in Gaza bombing

    WHO worker among seven killed by Israel in Gaza bombing

    Israel’s continued military operations in the Gaza Strip have left at least seven Palestinians dead over a 24-hour period ending Monday, among them a staff member working for the World Health Organization (WHO), in a new wave of violence that underscores ongoing violations of a October ceasefire agreement. The string of attacks, which stretched across multiple locations from northern to southern Gaza, adds to a mounting death toll that has already surpassed 72,300 Palestinians since the start of Israeli military operations in October 2023, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

  • China records over 845m passenger trips during Qingming Festival holiday

    China records over 845m passenger trips during Qingming Festival holiday

    BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — China’s domestic travel sector continued its upward momentum during the 2026 Qingming Festival three-day holiday, with total passenger trips nationwide surpassing 845 million, a 6% increase compared to the same holiday period last year, China’s Ministry of Transport announced Monday.

    The official data puts the average daily passenger trip volume at 281.79 million across all transport modes. Breaking down the figures by sector, road travel remained the dominant choice for holiday travelers, accounting for 778.45 million trips, a 5.8% annual rise. Rail travel saw stronger growth of 8.2% year-on-year, hitting 57.68 million total trips. Waterway transport recorded a nearly 10% annual jump, handling approximately 3.7 million passenger journeys, while civil aviation was the only outlier, reporting a slight 1.3% dip to 5.5 million trips.

    Industry analysts attribute this robust travel boom to a unique overlapping scheduling factor: the three-day Qingming Festival coincided with spring break for primary and secondary school students in most Chinese regions, creating ideal conditions for multi-day family and parent-child leisure trips.

    On the first day of the holiday Saturday, national expressway vehicle traffic volume crossed the 62.67 million mark, with more than 14 million of those vehicles being new energy cars. This surge in self-drive travel has translated into double-digit spending growth across tourism-related sectors including scenic area tickets, accommodation and car rentals.

    Beyond leisure travel, the two core travel motives for the Qingming Festival — a traditional Chinese occasion for ancestor veneration — also contributed to widespread economic activity across the country. Many travelers returned to their hometowns to conduct tomb-sweeping rituals, while growing popularity of rural spring getaways drove consumer activity in less developed rural regions, helping extend holiday consumption outward from major urban centers to small towns and villages across China.

    To support the high travel flow and ensure a safe, seamless experience for all travelers, national transportation authorities retained the longstanding policy of exempting expressway tolls for passenger vehicles with seven seats or fewer throughout the holiday. Regulators also rolled out targeted adjustment measures to reduce congestion on high-traffic highway sections, and expanded EV charging capacity and services at expressway service areas to meet the growing demand from new energy vehicle owners.

    Local transportation departments across the country supplemented national measures by adding extra transport capacity on key routes, and extended operating hours for public transport services surrounding major travel hubs, including popular scenic destinations and public cemeteries.

  • Veteran Jin Donghui salutes fallen volunteers in Shenyang

    Veteran Jin Donghui salutes fallen volunteers in Shenyang

    As the annual Qingming Festival, China’s traditional occasion for honoring deceased loved ones and fallen heroes, approaches, a 92-year-old veteran of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPVA) has moved the nation with a solemn visit to a martyr’s cemetery in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

    Dressed in his well-preserved original military uniform, every medal pinned to Jin Donghui’s chest tells a silent story of decades-old sacrifice and service. The aged veteran walked slowly through the rows of tombstones at the CPVA Martyrs’ Cemetery, his unsteady steps still carrying the rigid, upright discipline of a lifelong soldier.

    Seventy-plus years ago, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out in 1950, Jin was just a young man when he crossed the Yalu River into Korea to serve alongside his comrades as an military translator. For two years and nine months, he survived brutal frontline combat that claimed the lives of many of the brothers-in-arms he fought alongside. Now, decades later, he has returned to the memorial that holds the legacy of those who never came home.

    Standing among the silent tombstones, Jin reaffirmed the enduring legacy of the CPVA’s sacrifice: “The heroic spirit of the volunteer army is immortal. Heroes have never truly left, and their spirit is passed down from generation to generation.” His visit serves as a poignant reminder of the cost of peace and the responsibility of current generations to carry forward the courage and patriotism of those who gave their lives for their country.

  • Iranian Kurds deny receiving US weapons to arm Iran’s protesters

    Iranian Kurds deny receiving US weapons to arm Iran’s protesters

    A controversial claim from former U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington supplied weapons to Iranian anti-government protesters via Iranian Kurdish groups has been uniformly rejected by senior leaders of every major Iranian Kurdish opposition faction, in statements collected by independent outlet Middle East Eye.

    During an interview with Fox News Sunday, Trump asserted, “We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them. And I think the Kurds took the guns.” This comment represented the latest shift in the former president’s inconsistent public positioning on Kurdish involvement amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that launched on February 28.

    Just weeks earlier, in early March, Trump told Reuters he openly backed Kurdish forces launching an offensive against the Iranian government, a remark that came alongside widespread unconfirmed media reports claiming the Central Intelligence Agency was secretly arming Iranian Kurdish factions. Within days, however, Trump walked back that support, telling reporters he had explicitly blocked any Kurdish military involvement, saying “They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them I don’t want them to go in.”

    Top figures from every major Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group have now directly refuted Trump’s latest weapons claim. Siamand Moeini, a senior leader of the armed Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), told Middle East Eye, “We as PJAK, as I know, have not received anything. As for others, I cannot answer.”

    Hana Yazdanpanah, foreign relations coordinator for the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), emphasized that her group’s only armaments date back to its multi-year campaign against the Islamic State. “We still have our old Kalashnikov that we fought ISIS with for five years and the weapons they abandoned after its defeat,” she said, adding, “We have received no single weapon from the US at this time.”

    Mustafa Mawloudi, deputy secretary-general of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI)—a group based in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region—also denied both receiving weapons and smuggling armaments to activists in Iranian Kurdistan, which Kurdish groups refer to as Rojhalat. “A proof of this is that we cannot send arms through Iraq to our people,” Mawloudi explained, noting that cross-border arms transfers would create immediate legal complications with Iraqi authorities. He also stressed that armed action would fundamentally change the nature of popular protest, saying, “protesters cannot demonstrate with weapons: That would be a war, not a protest.”

    Kako Alyar, a member of the Politburo of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, said the group had no advance knowledge of Trump’s comments and confirmed no weapons had been received. “We weren’t in touch during the protests regarding giving weapons to the Kurds, and the Komala party has not received any weapons,” Alyar said.

    Babasheikh Hosseini, secretary-general of the Iraq-based Khabat Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle, added that his group has never held official meetings with U.S. representatives. “There have been some talks with mediators with one or two friends, but we have not sat down for a meeting,” he said. Hosseini also noted that most of the group’s existing armaments were destroyed in Iranian regime airstrikes on its bases, saying, “Our money, weapons and equipment have been burned and destroyed.”

    Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, which collectively command roughly 6,000 armed fighters, have stayed out of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The inconsistent, shifting statements from the U.S. administration have left Kurdish faction leaders confused and surprised, according to on-the-ground reporting.

    The weapons claim references nationwide anti-government protests that swept Iran in late December, which lasted roughly two weeks before being violently crushed by Iranian state forces amid a nationwide internet shutdown. Rights group Amnesty International estimates Iranian authorities killed thousands of protesters during mass crackdowns on January 8 and 9, while the Iranian government says hundreds of its security personnel were killed in clashes during the unrest. Shukriya Bradost, an Iranian Kurdish security analyst based in the region, told Middle East Eye that no weapons were delivered to Kurdish groups or Iranian activists during those protests.

    Bradost questioned the logic of Trump’s claim, noting that untrained civilian protesters would have no practical use for covert weapons supplies. “Who would receive these weapons and what was the plan for the protesters? To start a civil war or to fight back? The protesters who don’t know how to use weapons or do not have any training,” she said. As of the current stage of the U.S.-Israeli war, no new large-scale anti-government protests have been reported inside Iran, and no armed attacks by civilian activists on Iranian security forces have been documented.

    Long-running cross-border Iranian attacks targeting Iranian Kurdish opposition bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region have intensified since the war launched on February 28. PDKI data confirms more than 650 missile and drone strikes have been launched on targets in the Kurdistan Region since February 28, leaving 14 people dead and 93 wounded. Five of those killed were members of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, including fighters from PAK, Komala, and Khabat. Most recently, a Kurdish security source confirmed three separate drone strikes targeted PDKI bases in Koya, Erbil Province, just this past Sunday. On March 13, a drone strike on Khabat Organization positions in the Bashiqa Mountains northeast of Mosul killed two party members.

    Senior Iraqi Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani previously rejected Western media claims that Iraqi Kurdish authorities were facilitating Iranian Kurdish fighters crossing the border into Iran to carry out attacks, echoing the current denials of weapons supplies.

  • Global guests gather for crabapple poetry party in Beijing

    Global guests gather for crabapple poetry party in Beijing

    Against the soft backdrop of blooming crabapple blossoms at Beijing’s Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling — a historic site that has welcomed visiting international figures for decades — more than 200 guests from nearly 40 nations came together on April 4, 2026 to mark the arrival of spring and celebrate the shared art of poetry. Organized by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation with backing from the municipal government of Xicheng District, the 2026 Crabapple Gala and Poetry Party centered on cross-cultural literary exchange, blending recitations and performances that bridge Eastern and Western artistic traditions.

    Among the standout participants was Michael Crook, chair of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, who stepped to the stage to deliver a recitation of *Crabapple Nook*, a classic work by Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli. Crook, who grew up in China and comes from a pioneering family — his mother was one of the earliest educators to develop modern English language teaching curricula across the country — explained his choice of poem, noting that Yang’s vivid lines perfectly capture the delicate grace of crabapple blossoms following recent rainfall that swept through Beijing. To highlight the shared poetic imagery that connects global literary traditions, he also performed a recitation of A. E. Housman’s beloved British poem *The Loveliest of Trees*, pointing out that Housman’s iconic metaphor of snow-dusted cherry blossoms mirrors thematic and imagery patterns found throughout centuries of Chinese poetry.

    Against the backdrop of 2026 being designated the Year of China-Africa People-to-People Exchanges, event organizers extended special invitations to African diplomats and cultural representatives to take part in the gathering. Attendees were treated to a diverse lineup of performances that wove together Chinese and African cultural influences, including traditional Chinese opera, West African drumming, and collaborative dance pieces. In a multilingual highlight of the event, Chinese actor Du Ninglin joined international performing artists to recite original and classic poetry in five different languages, underscoring the event’s mission of breaking down linguistic barriers through shared appreciation of the arts.

    Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, permanent representative of the African Union to China, summed up the spirit of the gathering, noting that “There is no better way of starting the spring in China.” For his part, when asked about his personal connection to crabapple trees beyond poetry, Crook laughed and shared a lighthearted personal note: “I really like my self-made crabapple sauce.”

    Held in the historic gardens where Soong Ching Ling once hosted global guests amid flowering crabapple canopies, the event went beyond a simple celebration of spring, serving as a living example of how cultural and literary exchange can foster connection between people from every corner of the world.

  • Tehran rejects Trump’s ultimatum as 45-day truce plan emerges

    Tehran rejects Trump’s ultimatum as 45-day truce plan emerges

    Escalating tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran have reached a new boiling point, after Tehran formally dismissed a harsh, expletive-laden ultimatum issued by former U.S. President Donald Trump that threatened widespread destruction of Iranian critical infrastructure. The rejection comes as international mediators circulate a tentative 45-day truce plan aimed at de-escalating the conflict that has roiled the Middle East since late February.

    Trump’s ultimatum set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic global chokepoint for nearly 20% of the world’s daily oil trade. In a provocative social media post, Trump warned that failure to comply would result in devastating targeted strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges, claiming a continued closure of the strait would leave Iran “back to the Stone Age” and its population “living in Hell”. The threat followed a coordinated wave of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes across Iran that had already killed more than 34 people earlier in the conflict, to which Iran responded by launching missile strikes against Israeli and Gulf Arab targets.

    Tehran has refused to back down from its restriction on shipping through the strait, which remained fully open until the U.S.-Israeli military campaign began on February 28. In an official response to Trump’s threats, Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf labeled the targeting of Iranian civilian infrastructure “reckless”, writing on the social platform X that “You won’t gain anything through war crimes.”

    The ongoing conflict has already sent shockwaves through global energy markets. By early Monday spot trading, Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, climbed to $109 per barrel — a 50% jump from pre-conflict levels. On Sunday, OPEC+ announced a modest output increase of 206,000 barrels per day set to launch in May, a small adjustment that has done little to cool rising energy prices.

    As diplomatic efforts move forward, violent clashes continued across the region over the past 48 hours. On Monday morning, Tehran endured another night of intensive airstrikes that targeted eastern, southern and western districts of the capital. Local state media confirmed at least 34 fatalities from the strikes, including six children. The most significant damage was recorded at Sharif University of Technology, one of Iran’s most prestigious higher education institutions, where multiple campus buildings suffered unprecedented destruction.

    Iran continued its cross-border retaliatory strikes on Monday as well. A missile hit a residential building in the Israeli city of Haifa, leaving at least two people dead and four more wounded. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council states, attacks hit power, desalination and oil facilities in Kuwait, while an oil installation was targeted in Bahrain. In the United Arab Emirates, air defense systems intercepted incoming missile and drone attacks early Monday. A stray drone strike damaged a telecommunications building owned by provider du in Fujairah, with no casualties reported, while falling debris from an intercepted attack left one person injured in an Abu Dhabi industrial zone.

    The latest round of violence followed a high-stakes U.S. special operations mission on Friday that rescued the missing pilot of an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iranian territory. The operation, which involved dozens of U.S. aircraft, closed a politically sensitive chapter of the conflict, but U.S. forces were forced to destroy two C-130 cargo planes and at least two MH-6 Little Bird helicopters after the aircraft became stuck in rough terrain during extraction. Iranian state media claimed it had shot down the abandoned aircraft, broadcasting footage of charred wreckage to support the claim.

    Amid the ongoing bloodshed, diplomatic efforts have advanced to end the hostilities. A source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that both Iran and the U.S. have received a draft truce plan that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a ceasefire takes effect. Under the draft tentatively called the “Islamabad Accord”, an immediate ceasefire would be followed by 15 to 20 days of negotiations to finalize a broader long-term settlement, with final in-person talks scheduled to take place in Pakistan. Earlier, Axios reported that U.S., Iranian and regional mediators are discussing a potential 45-day temporary truce that could lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the conflict.

    However, a senior Iranian official has already rejected a core condition of the proposal, stating that Iran will not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for only a temporary truce. The official added that Tehran does not believe the U.S. is currently ready to negotiate a permanent ceasefire agreement.

    Regional stakeholders have laid out their own requirements for any lasting peace deal. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the UAE president, stated on Sunday that any final settlement must guarantee unimpeded, free passage for all commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He added that any deal that fails to address restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile development and drone production would only set the stage for “a more dangerous, more volatile Middle East” in the long term.

  • Bad blood: everything that sparked the US-Iran war

    Bad blood: everything that sparked the US-Iran war

    Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached a boiling point in 2026, with open military conflict erupting after decades of escalating hostility, covert interference, and broken diplomatic opportunities. What began as a 1953 CIA-backed coup to oust a democratically elected leader has evolved into one of the world’s most volatile geopolitical standoffs, with global energy supplies and regional security hanging in the balance.

    The foundational rift between the two nations dates back to the early 1950s, when Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh moved to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, redirecting fossil fuel profits away from foreign corporate control and toward domestic public investment. Fearing Soviet influence would spread across the Middle East and disrupt global oil flows, the U.S. joined the United Kingdom in launching Operation Ajax, a covert operation that toppled Mossadegh and installed a pro-Western government under the autocratic Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. For the next 25 years, the U.S. backed the Shah’s repressive rule, with his secret police force SAVAK violently crushing domestic dissent while many Iranians struggled in poverty amid the Shah’s corruption and lavish spending.

    The 1979 Iranian Revolution shattered this fragile status quo. After the Shah fled Iran for cancer treatment, exiled Shiite leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to overthrow the monarchy and establish the current Islamic Republic. When U.S. President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah to enter the U.S. for specialized medical care that same year, enraged Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 American hostages for 444 days. The crisis led to the permanent severing of formal diplomatic ties between the two nations and set the stage for decades of open hostility.

    Over the following decades, repeated clashes and mutual accusations deepened the divide. In 1980, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, launching an eight-year war that killed more than 600,000 people; the U.S. tacitly backed Hussein, turning a blind eye to Iraq’s use of illegal chemical weapons against Iranian forces to counter the newly formed anti-American Islamic regime. By 1984, Washington officially designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism, imposing a strict arms embargo that led to a secret scandal just years later: the Reagan administration was found to have illegally sold weapons to Iran to fund anti-socialist Contra rebels in Nicaragua, a controversy that rocked the Reagan presidency. In 1988, a U.S. Navy warplane shot down an Iranian civilian passenger jet, Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 people on board. While the U.S. called it an accidental error, Iran viewed the incident as deliberate aggression, and tensions remained high.

    Over the next three decades, tentative overtures for reconciliation repeatedly fell apart. A brief opening emerged in 1997, when moderate Iranian president Mohammad Khatami expressed respect for the American people and called for people-to-people exchanges, but hardline opposition from Iran’s supreme leadership blocked formal progress. Just five years later, President George W. Bush labeled Iran part of an “Axis of Evil” alongside Iraq and North Korea, ending any immediate hopes of detente. In 2002, an exiled opposition group revealed Iran had been operating secret nuclear facilities in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, sparking global alarm; over the following years, the U.S. and Israel launched the Stuxnet cyberattack to disrupt Iran’s uranium enrichment program, slowing its nuclear progress. A 2003 Iranian offer for comprehensive talks on nuclear issues, terrorism, and regional stability was rejected by hardliners in the Bush administration, and the opportunity for reconciliation faded when hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected Iranian president two years later.

    The most significant breakthrough came in 2015, when the Obama administration negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), widely known as the Iran nuclear deal, alongside China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Under the agreement, Iran drastically limited its uranium enrichment program and allowed unfettered international inspections in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. For three years, international inspectors repeatedly confirmed Iran was complying with the deal’s terms, but President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018, reimposing harsh sanctions and escalating tensions once again.

    Tensions boiled over in 2020, when a U.S. drone strike killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the second most powerful figure in Iran’s government, leading Iran to launch ballistic missile strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq. After the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel worsened regional tensions, Trump’s second presidential term in 2025 opened with new nuclear negotiations, but Israeli airstrikes on Iran derailed talks, leading the U.S. to launch its own strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. By early 2026, what had been decades of covert and low-intensity conflict erupted into open war: U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Operation Epic Fury killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders, prompting Iran to strike targets across the Persian Gulf and disrupt shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz, turning a decades-long bilateral rivalry into a full-scale regional conflict.