The governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia confirmed on Thursday that their respective foreign ministers held a phone conversation the night before, the first known direct contact between the two countries since Iran began a sustained bombing campaign against Saudi Arabia and its allies in March.
The Islamist ruling regime of Iran hosted mourning events nationwide on Thursday for longtime dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei marking 40 days since his elimination, organizing large crowds to honor him but notably failing to attract the public presence of his son, current “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei.
The Chinese Communist Party proclaimed that it would “continue playing a constructive role” in peace in the Middle East following President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announcing a ceasefire on Wednesday.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait reported on Wednesday that they had documented airstrikes, mostly on their energy facilities, that they attributed to Iran, hours after Iran and the United States announced they had agreed to a two-week ceasefire.
Reports suggested that Iran’s “ten-point plan” to end hostilities with the U.S. demands “compensation” and the lifting of all sanctions.
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus issued multiple statements over the past week weighing in on the conflict in Iran, warning that American operations to neutralize the terrorist regime could cause a “nuclear accident” and advising that “peace is the best medicine.”
A South Korean lawmaker, citing the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), revealed in comments on Monday that Seoul believes North Korea is failing to offer full-throated support to its longtime ally Iran to avoid hurting chances of future negotiations with the United States.
Multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday morning Washington time that locals spotted explosions at Kharg Island, a Persian Gulf site that Iran uses for the vast majority of its oil exports — a significant percentage of which go to China.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) revealed on Monday that they had briefly visited Cuba over the Easter holiday and met with figurehead “president” Miguel Díaz-Canel, saying they support greater engagement with the repressive Communist Party.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, receiving a warm welcome from President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Nigerian Christians experienced deadly suspected jihadist attacks in at least five states on Easter Sunday.
The Communist Party of Cuba announced a mass pardon of over 2,000 prisoners on Thursday, allegedly to mark the Christian holiday of Holy Week, but human rights groups have denounced the regime for neither freeing a single political prisoner nor clarifying who it is freeing.
Ruben Enaje, a Filipino carpenter and billboard maker, announced on Friday that he would retire from playing Jesus in a famous ceremony in Pampanga, the Philippines, after being crucified for the 37th time.
Catholic communities nationwide, from some of America’s largest cities to more rural areas, have documented a marked increase in converts this year as they approach the massive initiation ceremonies that coincide with the Easter holiday.
A community that lost over two dozen members to an invasion of unknown gunmen on Palm Sunday, the beginning of the holiest week of the year for Christians, experienced a resurgence of mob attacks on random locals on Wednesday following the lifting of a curfew, Nigerian government officials confirmed.
The American embassy in Baghdad warned U.S. citizens in Iraq on Wednesday that they should leave the country as soon as possible, in part due to the Iraqi government not doing enough to prevent attacks or protect victims.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian – who is technically subordinate to “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei – published a letter on Wednesday evening directly addressing the American people, a move apparently intended to portray himself as the most authoritative leader in the country at the moment.
The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV will carry a cross for the entirety of the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, procession celebrated on Good Friday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is subordinate by law to the nation’s Islamic “supreme leader,” appeared on the streets of Tehran alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday night to join celebrations for Islamic Republic Day.
China, in conjunction with its allies in Pakistan, published a “peace proposal” Tuesday to end the war between Iran and America.
Iran’s top diplomat at the United Nations accused Ukraine of “active participation” in the ongoing conflict between his country and the United States in a letter to U.N. chief Antonio Guterres this week – a response to Kyiv’s offer to help Gulf states protect themselves from Iranian drone attacks.
Christian communities throughout Syria limited or canceled Holy Week festivities, including Palm Sunday observances, after mobs of Muslim attackers targeted Christian communities this weekend, destroying Christian symbols and looting shops.
Unknown gunmen opened fire “indiscriminately” in a residential area of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria on Sunday night, killing an estimated 30 people during a time in which jihadists in the country tend to orchestrate massacres against Christians.
Israeli Police and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa announced they had agreed to allow Holy Week observances in the Old City of Jerusalem.
President Donald Trump suggested in a message on Monday morning that a “NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME” has taken over Iran and is talking to Washington – but warned he was willing to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure if talks did not lead to a durable agreement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the country, during a visit to Jeddah on Friday, emphasizing that Iran has aided Russia’s invasion of his country for years.
Iran’s IRGC announced a campaign to recruit boys as young as 12 to join their forces manning checkpoints repressing Iranian citizens.
Multiple reports in the past week have indicated that the U.S. military has deployed surveillance drones to operate in Nigeria, in conjunction with the nation’s government, to gather intelligence on the various jihadist terrorist groups in the country.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told an Italian newspaper on Wednesday that he believes the governments of Iran and the United States could hold talks to end their current conflict as recently as this weekend, mediated by Pakistan.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Thursday that the country’s military had eliminated Admiral Alireza Tangsiri of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), identifying him as the top official blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Colleges across Cuba announced on Tuesday that they would organize a “University Student Bastion Exercise” forcing students to engage in military training and “revolutionary, patriotic, and anti-imperialist activities.”
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban terrorist government is struggling with an influx of returning Afghan refugees fleeing the ongoing war in Iran and detentions in critical agricultural and raw material shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, reports this week indicate.
The Chinese government, through its state media arms, objected on Monday to Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s visit to the White House last week in which she appeared to enthusiastically enjoy talks with President Donald Trump and the formalities of the welcome she received.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a war update on Monday that the government of Russia was allegedly offering Iran intelligence to help it more accurately target sites, presumably American or Israeli targets, in the ongoing war in the region.
Multiple news outlets reported on Monday afternoon that the nation of Bahrain is working on a draft United Nations resolution greenlighting countries using “all necessary means” to stop Iran from blocking commerce in the Strait of Hormuz.
A video circulating on social media and shared by prominent Latin American journalists appears to show a group of international leftists, believed to form part of the “Nuestra America” pro-regime tour group, making Cuban children dance in the street in exchange for food.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, through the nation’s state media arms, denied President Donald Trump’s claim on Monday that the White House had begun engaging Tehran through “productive” talks that could lead to a rapid end to the ongoing war in the country.
Cuban dissidents and human rights activists reacted with shock and disgust this weekend at the arrival of the “Nuestra America” convoy, a cohort of international celebrity leftists visiting the island to show solidarity with the 67-year-old communist regime.
North Korea published images on Friday of Kim Ju-ae, the tween daughter of communist dictator Kim Jong-un, appearing to drive a tank.
The Chinese Communist Party published a national AI gameplan that specifies blurring the lines between the civil and military to achieve Beijing’s global technological supremacy, author Wynton Hall details in his upcoming book, Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI (HarperCollins).
