Day News Recap: Hormuz tensions deepen as Iran, US and Russia drive a volatile global day

Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz closed and linked any reopening to US demands, while President Donald Trump repeated his claim that the United States has total control of the waterway and will keep it shut. Transit through the strait fell to a one week low, with only eight vessels crossing, underlining the pressure on one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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US forces also stepped up pressure at sea, with Central Command saying a Navy MH 60 helicopter fired missiles into the engine room of the Panama flagged M/V Vela Nova after repeated warnings were ignored. In the Red Sea and Bab al Mandeb, Yemen’s internationally recognised government blamed the Houthis for a deadly attack on the Egyptian owned cargo vessel Tihamah, saying the death toll had risen to six.  🔗  🔗

Trump separately confirmed he secretly changed aircraft during travel linked to a NATO summit in Turkiye after what he described as an Iran threat, and reports said two cabinet members were left aboard a decoy plane. The White House also used Truth Social to promote Trey Gowdy’s new book, while another post said Russia had released former US Marine Robert Gilman after talks with Vladimir Putin.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

In the wider Middle East, Iran said it will soon join the BRICS backed New Development Bank, a move that would deepen its financial ties with non Western partners. Lebanon’s parliament abolished the death penalty in a historic reform, and Venezuela and Israel restored consular relations after a diplomatic thaw.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Elsewhere in the region, an Iraqi source said Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to discuss the Iraqi government’s push to disarm armed groups. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers were reported to be besieging two Palestinian families in their homes in Qusra.  🔗  🔗

In Europe and the security sphere, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threatened tit for tat seizures of European vessels if European states move ahead with plans to take ships carrying Russian cargo. Germany approved a draft law to expand spy agency powers after recent attacks, while Baltic defence startups in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are racing to build low cost tools against Russian hybrid threats.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Ukraine said it had sent new proposals to the United States on ending the war with Russia, even as Moscow’s economy showed fresh strain from a widening budget deficit and deeper Ukrainian strikes. Russian attacks also intensified on fuel and logistics targets near Izyum, including a petrol station destroyed in a fresh strike.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In Asia Pacific, North Korea condemned South Korea’s plan to build nuclear powered submarines and warned of a stronger military response after a missile launch. Taiwan protested China’s plan for a navigation exercise with an Indonesian warship east of the island, while Japan was drawn closer to a diplomatic row in Australia over a joke by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Further afield, Colombia declared three days of mourning after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed more than 200 people and injured 2,595. Brazil’s Supreme Court is due to hear cases that could weaken Amazon protections, UNESCO warned that about 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan remain barred from secondary school, and Wisconsin Democrat David Crowley narrowly won his party’s gubernatorial primary.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Other developments included a Sydney court update in which assault charges were dropped against Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for disarming one of the Bondi Beach shooters. China’s former premier Zhu Rongji died at 97, and Space42 signed a memorandum with Leonardo DRS in Abu Dhabi on UAE national security mission systems.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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