标签： Asia

A rapidly unfolding crisis in the Persian Gulf’s strategic Strait of Hormuz has sent global shockwaves, after a series of escalatory moves from both the United States and Iran have pushed regional security and global energy supplies to the breaking point. What began with incendiary rhetoric from US President Donald Trump has now devolved into armed confrontation at sea and a complete breakdown of planned diplomatic negotiations, raising grave fears of a broader regional war.

On Sunday, Trump opened the week with an extreme public threat against Iran: if Tehran refused to sign a new US-brokered deal, he warned, “the whole country is going to get blown up.” Minutes later, conflicting claims emerged over a maritime confrontation in the Gulf of Oman. According to Trump’s account, US forces opened fire on an Iranian-flagged vessel, which he claimed ignored repeated warnings before being seized and disabled during operations to enforce a US naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran’s account directly contradicts this narrative: state media affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says IRGC forces repelled US troops and forced them to retreat from Hormuz waters following the clash.

The maritime incident is the latest flashpoint in a crisis that erupted after Trump unilaterally announced plans for a new round of talks set to take place Monday in Islamabad, Pakistan, saying the US delegation would be led by Vice President JD Vance, senior advisor Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran’s official government news agency IRNA swiftly refuted the announcement, calling the claim of planned talks “not true” and dismissing it as “a media game and part of the blame game to pressure Iran.”

Iran’s position has long been clear: it will not enter negotiations with the US while the naval blockade of its ports remains in place, a measure Tehran considers a direct violation of the temporary ceasefire agreed between the two nations earlier this month. When Trump confirmed the blockade would continue, Iran acted Saturday to close all shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, just one day after reopening the route following a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.

An anonymous senior Iranian official familiar with Tehran’s internal decision-making told Drop Site News that the collapse of talks stems from what Iranian leaders see as Washington’s unworkable approach to diplomacy. “Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade” have convinced Iran to pull back its negotiating team, the official explained. While Iran remains open to a future agreement that would secure its right to enrich uranium, deliver meaningful sanctions relief, and establish a long-term non-aggression pact, Trump’s erratic leadership and maximalist demands – including the full surrender of all Iranian enriched uranium – have destroyed any trust that he could be a reliable negotiating partner.

“Our assessment is that Trump effectively lacks both a coherent plan and the capacity to secure even a temporary agreement,” the official said, adding that Trump’s decisions are consistently shaped by daily Israeli security and political input. The official also noted that during the first round of Islamabad talks that produced the earlier two-week ceasefire, Iran explicitly warned the US delegation that public threats to destroy “Iranian civilization” would not be tolerated. Even before Sunday’s new threat, Iran had refused to commit to another round of talks.

Should Trump choose to continue military escalation rather than pursue good-faith diplomacy, the official warned, Iran will suspend all diplomatic channels indefinitely and prepare to impose far greater costs on US interests across the region. “Tehran is prepared for a long war,” the official added.

Tehran-based political analyst Mohammed Sani confirmed that Iran has used the two-week ceasefire to dramatically upgrade its military readiness. “The Americans have been bringing in more troops and equipment to prepare to attack, but the Iranians have also not been resting during these two weeks of ceasefire,” Sani told Drop Site News. “They have been preparing, repairing the underground missile cities, bringing in new air defenses, missiles, and drones. Iran is at a high standard of readiness right now. If there is another round of negotiations sometime later in the future, after another round of American attacks against Iran fail, the Iranian conditions for peace will be much tougher.”

Foreign policy experts say Trump’s reliance on coercive threats is self-defeating, pushing Iran further from the negotiating table even as the president claims he wants an exit from the conflict that has already triggered economic upheaval and dragged down his already low approval ratings. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted that Trump has prioritized public optics of victory over tangible diplomatic progress. “Due to poor discipline, Trump ends up prioritizing the optics of victory over actually getting a deal,” Parsi said Sunday. “Instead of using deescalatory signals from Iran to get closer to a deal, he declares victory and seeks Iran’s humiliation, and by that, he undermines his own diplomacy.”

Global attention is now fixed on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global energy supplies, with market and diplomatic observers bracing for further escalation as both sides maintain hardline positions.

A widely circulated image posted to social media Sunday has ignited international anger after appearing to show an Israeli soldier using a jackhammer to destroy a crucifix statue of Jesus in a Christian village in southern Lebanon. The incident comes just days after a ceasefire took effect Friday, ending Israel’s military offensive launched against Lebanon on March 2 that has left much of the southern part of the country under Israeli occupation.

According to local Christian community leaders, the statue stood in Debel, a majority Maronite Christian village positioned roughly six kilometers northwest of Ain Ebel and just five kilometers from the Israeli border town of Shtula. Officials with Debel’s municipal government confirmed the statue was located within the village when contacted by Agence France-Presse, though they stopped short of verifying the extent of damage shown in the photo.

The image quickly spread across major social platforms, drawing condemnation from unexpected quarters, including prominent former allies of former US President Donald Trump aligned with the MAGA movement. Former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has broken ranks with Trump in recent months over his handling of the Epstein files and his support for Israel’s push for conflict with Iran, shared the image sarcastically on platform X. She wrote, “’Our greatest ally’ that takes billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year,” a sharp rebuke of the decades-long US policy of robust military and financial aid to Israel.

Fellow former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz echoed the criticism, calling the scene captured in the image simply “horrific.” Political analysts note this public backlash from key MAGA figures threatens to erode Israel’s standing among one of its most loyal support bases in the United States: white evangelical Christian voters, who have long backed Israel as a core part of their ideological beliefs.

Regional commentator Muhammad Shehada highlighted the hypocrisy he sees in the incident, captioning the viral post “’Judeo-Christian values’ in Israel” — a direct reference to the framing Israeli leaders often use to win support from Western audiences by highlighting shared cultural values with Europe and the United States.

This incident is not an isolated case, rights observers and religious leaders emphasize. Over recent years, Christian communities living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank have faced a steadily rising tide of anti-Christian attacks, ranging from routine street harassment to the deliberate destruction of religious sites and symbols. Clergy report multiple instances of being spat on and physically assaulted by extremist groups, while churches, cemeteries and other Christian landmarks have been repeatedly vandalized. Most of these attacks have been tied to ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, religious nationalist extremists and Israeli settlers in occupied territories, and human rights groups say the vast majority of these incidents have gone unpunished. Israeli police have repeatedly been accused of failing to intervene to stop attacks or hold perpetrators accountable.

In response to growing outcry over the viral image, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson did not explicitly dispute the photo’s authenticity. In a post on X, the spokesperson said that “If this photo is indeed real and recent,” then the actions shown do not align with the Israeli military’s official values.

This report was originally published by Middle East Eye, an outlet that provides independent, on-the-ground coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding regions.

Just one week after Cyclone Vainau swept through New Zealand’s North Island, the region is facing another extreme weather disaster: record-breaking torrential rain that has triggered catastrophic flash flooding and widespread landslides, prompting official authorities to declare a full state of emergency across the capital city of Wellington.

Viral footage circulated across social and online platforms has captured the full scale of the destruction: passenger vehicles are fully submerged in swollen floodwaters, mature trees have been ripped from the ground by surging currents, and multiple residential properties have sustained severe damage after being hit by debris-heavy landslides. According to Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, the capital saw an unprecedented 77 millimeters (3 inches) of rainfall fall in less than 60 minutes on Monday, a rainfall rate that overwhelmed local drainage systems far beyond their design capacity.

In the wake of the downpour, local emergency management officials have issued urgent guidance for Wellington residents: stay indoors and shelter in place as additional rain is projected to continue over the next 36 hours. All non-essential travel has been strongly discouraged, and residents living in low-lying or historically flood-prone neighborhoods have been advised to relocate to the homes of friends or family members for a minimum of 24 hours to avoid risk.

Disruptions to daily life have been widespread across the region. Multiple commercial flights in and out of Wellington International Airport have been canceled, and dozens of local schools have closed their campuses to protect students and staff from hazardous travel conditions. More than 12 local residents have already been evacuated from high-risk areas, and emergency teams are currently searching for a 60-year-old man who was reported missing in Wellington’s Karori suburb. As of the latest update, no fatalities have been confirmed.

Little described the ongoing unfolding crisis in a video posted to his official Facebook page, noting “The wild weather continues. We’ve had flooding, slips and evacuations… The flooding has been strong enough to move cars, and many manhole covers have been lifted” by the force of the surging water. To support residents displaced by the disaster, the Wellington City Mission has been activated as an official emergency shelter for anyone in need of a safe place to stay amid the ongoing bad weather.

Almost half a century after Shanghai and San Francisco formally established their sister city relationship, a high-level delegation led by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie touched down in Shanghai on April 19, kicking off a two-day visit focused on expanding bilateral collaboration in culture, science and tourism across the Pacific.

This trip arrives as the latest milestone in the 46-year-long exchange between the two major global metropolises, building on decades of uninterrupted dialogue and people-to-people connection to open new chapters of partnership. The itinerary began with a stop at the 146-year-old Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, where delegation members gained firsthand insight into the century-long development and evolution of symphonic music in China.

Following the orchestra visit, the group toured three more iconic Shanghai institutions: the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Shanghai Natural History Museum (a subsidiary branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum), and the Shanghai Grand Opera House. By the end of the first day of the visit, three landmark memorandums of understanding (MOUs) had been signed to formalize new cooperative frameworks. The agreements pair the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum with the California Academy of Sciences, and the Shanghai Grand Opera House with San Francisco Opera, laying the groundwork for long-term exchange across art, science and education.

Speaking on the visit, Lurie emphasized the enduring strength of the two cities’ nearly 50-year partnership. “Our cities share a partnership that is nearly five decades strong. It is a dialogue that has never stopped,” he said. “We are building on that foundation and investing in a future where science, education and sustainability remain at the center of our partnership.”

David Stull, president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, noted that both cities share a natural alignment in their forward-thinking, innovative identities. “When people are excited about new ideas, they gravitate to others who are excited about new ideas. San Francisco and Shanghai have always shared that spirit of imagination, innovation and the spirit of the future,” he explained.

Beyond institutional collaborations, the delegation also took part in a joint tourism promotion event held at Xintiandi, Shanghai’s bustling cultural and commercial hub in Huangpu District. The initiative, launched in partnership by United Airlines and San Francisco International Airport, is designed to drive two-way travel by highlighting the one-of-a-kind attractions and immersive cultural experiences that each city offers.

Mike Nakornkhet, director of San Francisco International Airport, framed the Chinese market as a core growth priority for the airport, pointing to strong existing travel volumes. “If you look at the numbers in 2025, we had 700,000 passengers travel between China and San Francisco — that’s 23 weekly flights to four destinations in China. So it’s a very important market for us,” he said. “We really see China as a growing market for us. There’s a lot of leisure and business travel demand.”

The first day of the visit wrapped up with a celebratory evening cruise along the Huangpu River, where delegates joined a special reception to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the Shanghai-San Francisco sister city relationship. The delegation continued its schedule of meetings and tours in Shanghai on Monday, with additional discussions focused on expanding future collaborative projects across sectors.