UN chief renews call for U.S., Israel to stop war against Iran
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday reiterated his call for the United States and Israel to stop the war against Iran, and for Iran to stop attacking its neighbors.
"My message is clear. To the United States and Israel, it is high time to stop the war that is inflicting immense human suffering and already triggering devastating economic consequences. To Iran, to stop attacking its neighbors," the UN chief said in remarks to the press.
"The Middle East crisis has lurched into its second month," with the scale of devastation, indiscriminate attacks, and targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure growing, he said.
Noting that the conflict is already being felt everywhere, Guterres warned that the world is on the edge of a wider war that would engulf the whole Middle East with dramatic impacts around the globe.
Trump threatens to hit Iran "extremely hard" over next 2 to 3 weeks
While saying the United States is "nearing completion" of its core objectives in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday night threatened to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," a timeline he has recently set for ending the monthlong war.
"I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong," Trump said in a primetime address to the nation.
The president insisted that the negotiations between the United States and Iran "are ongoing" despite Iran's denial, saying Iran's "regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' deaths" and "the new group is less radical and much more reasonable."
1 dead as 7.6-magnitude quake hits eastern Indonesia, tsunami warning lifted
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has lifted the tsunami early warning issued after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Maluku region of eastern Indonesia on Thursday morning, following monitoring that showed no significant sea level changes.
A woman was found dead during the rescue process after the earthquake. The victim, a 70-year-old resident of Minahasa regency in North Sulawesi, was killed after being struck by collapsing building debris during the quake, said the local search and rescue team in Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi.
The country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement on Thursday morning that the strong earthquake struck the waters southeast of Bitung City, North Sulawesi. Very strong shaking was felt for 10 to 20 seconds in Bitung and the surrounding areas.
4 children killed in daycare school stabbing in Ugandan capital: police
Four children were killed on Thursday in a stabbing attack at an early childhood daycare center in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, police said.
Rachael Kawala, spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police, said in a post on social media platform X that the attacker entered Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program School in Makindye Division and carried out the attack.
Kawala said the suspect has been arrested and the motive remains under investigation, adding that details would be provided in due course.
U.S. launches Artemis II crewed Moon mission
NASA's Artemis II moon mission lifted off from the U.S. state of Florida on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years.
The Space Launch System rocket, topped by the Orion spacecraft, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time (2235 GMT), sending the crew on a historic 10-day journey around the Moon.
It is NASA's first crewed mission under the Artemis program. The four-member crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.■
