John Hayward

Chinese companies have reportedly delayed two major refinery projects, capable of producing 500,000 barrels per day combined, due to the shortage of crude oil from the Middle East after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa said on Monday that Israel has conducted 3,491 airstrikes against targets in Lebanon since the U.S.-brokered “ceasefire” began on April 17.

China announced on Friday that dictator Xi Jinping will make his first trip to North Korea since 2019 next week, in a bid to shore up China’s ties with its erratic neighbor after North Korea grew closer to Russia.

Roger Kamba, Minister of Public Health for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), complained on Friday that travel restrictions against his country due to the Ebola outbreak are “discriminatory” and cannot be justified by science or medicine.

Fighters from an insurgent group linked to the Islamic State killed 16 civilians in the eastern Congo, the area of the Ebola outbreak.

Iranian officials on Thursday denied bombing the Kuwait airport and insisted ceasefire talks with the United States are proceeding.

Two people were reportedly “shot dead” on Monday during protests in Kenya against a planned Ebola isolation center for Americans at a military installation.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday announced sanctions against four Iranian digital asset exchanges, including Nobitex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Iran.

The Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday it will begin repatriating its citizens from South Africa due to a wave of anti-immigrant violence.

Kuwaiti officials said on Wednesday that at least one person was killed and 63 injured by an Iranian missile and drone attack on the Kuwait International Airport.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) announced on Monday that the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) has overseen the deletion of some 8,000 AI-altered videos from online platforms.

A cargo ship was attacked by drones while sailing near the Umm Qasr port in Iraq on Monday. On Tuesday, Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a missile attack against a commercial vessel, describing it as justified retaliation for an attack by the “terrorist and child-killing U.S. military” against an Iranian ship.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday announced the reopening of the airport in Bunia, the capital city of Ituri province, which is the epicenter of the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he brokered a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists of Lebanon, but both sides continued to launch attacks on Tuesday, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are still issuing evacuation orders for Lebanese communities where strikes against Hezbollah are imminent.

The Chinese Coast Guard said on Monday it is conducting “law enforcement” patrols east of Taiwan in response to Japan and the Philippines reaching an agreement on maritime boundaries.

Brazilian health officials said on Saturday they were monitoring two suspected Ebola infections, both travelers who recently arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the epicenter of the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak.

Malaysia began enforcing its social media ban for children on Monday, requiring all social media platforms with 8 million or more users to implement age-verification systems that will prevent people under 16 from creating accounts.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday there will be “no calm in Beirut” unless the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah stop attacking Israel with rockets and drones.

China kept a low profile at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, sending only a group of academics instead of top military officials.

Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman said on Wednesday that renewed military action against Iran is possible if Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities are not neutralized by a prospective peace deal with the United States.

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday evening, seeking to support the medical response to the fast-growing outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iranian oil sales in a bid to choke off funding for Iran’s military apparatus.

Ship trackers said on Thursday that two more tankers were able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz with their transponders turned off.

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said on Thursday that the quarantine period for passengers from the Hondius, the cruise ship that was afflicted by a hantavirus outbreak in April, will be extended from June 5 to June 23.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) accused Iran on Thursday of an “egregious ceasefire violation” for firing a ballistic missile at Kuwait and launching “five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz.”

Syria’s transitional government said on Tuesday it has recovered “remnants” of the secret chemical weapons program created by deposed dictator Bashar Assad, and have arrested 18 suspects who were allegedly involved in the program.

Canada and the Bahamas on Tuesday announced temporary travel bans on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, and South Sudan due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak.

Hamas confirmed its new military leader, Mohammed Odeh, was eliminated by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Tuesday.

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence is unusual in its intense focus on a single new technology.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that “we are intensifying our operations in Lebanon” to create a larger “security buffer zone” between northern Israel and the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump wants all nations involved in peace negotiations with Iran to sign the Abraham Accords.

The foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a group commonly known as the Quad, joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday to announce new security and energy initiatives for the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growing influence of China.

Health officials in the Congo report patients are fleeing from Ebola clinics when they are attacked by angry mobs.

Ship tracking services said on Monday that three tankers filled with liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, headed for Pakistan, China, and India.