Kharg Island threat, Palestinian death penalty law and Australian manhunt end

Trump says the US is considering seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, Spain closes its airspace to U.S. military aircraft involved in operations against Iran, Israel passes a death penalty law for Palestinians, an alleged cop killer is shot dead in Australia after a 216-day manhunt, Russia sends an oil tanker to Cuba, Syria’s leader visits Berlin for talks on rebuilding and refugees,Bank of America agrees to pay $72.5 million in an Epstein trafficking suit, Donald Trump reveals a military complex under the White House ballroom, Amnesty claims the 2026 World Cup poses human rights risks, and J.D. Vance wins the CPAC 2028 straw poll again Sources: Verity.News

House Republicans reject the Senate’s DHS bill and eye a 60-day stopgap measure, G7 nations meet over the Iran war, Trump extends the pause on Iran energy strikes and says talks are going “very well,” Balendra Shah is sworn in as Nepal’s youngest prime minister, A judge temporarily blocks the Pentagon’s ban on Anthropic, The EU probes Snapchat over alleged child safety failures, The DOJ admits an error in its justification for ICE courthouse arrests, Trump’s signature is set to appear on U.S. currency, A 25-year-old Spanish woman dies by euthanasia after a court battle, and the first woman is installed as Archbishop of Canterbury. Sources: Verity.News

The European Parliament conditionally approves an EU-U.S. trade deal, Nicolas Maduro appears in U.S. court, Israel says it killed Iran's navy chief, the U.S. Army raises the enlistment age limit to 42, EU lawmakers back a bill to send asylum seekers to 'return hubs' abroad, transgender women athletes are banned from competing in the Olympics, Canada advances the Combatting Hate Act, a study estimates that U.S. carbon emissions have cost $10 trillion in global economic damages since 1990, Norway and Iceland join the EU's satellite security programs, and Melania Trump walks alongside a humanoid robot at the White House during a global tech summit. Sources: Verity.News

Intrigue surrounds potential dialogue between the U.S. and Iran, The Israeli Defense Minister signals the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, Italy and Algeria boost energy ties, Ghana becomes the first African nation to sign an EU defense pact, The first of three vessels in a humanitarian aid convoy reaches Cuba, A Democrat flips the Florida district that includes Mar-a-Lago, A funding dispute over ICE stalls the DHS budget deal, Meta and YouTube lose the first social media addiction jury trial, Australian Broadcasting Company journalists strike for the first time in 20 Years, and OpenAI shuts down its Sora video app.  Sources: Verity.News

Pakistan offers to host peace talks to end the Iran war, Australia and the EU reach a free trade agreement after eight years of talks, Russia and Vietnam sign a deal to build a nuclear plant, Hong Kong expands its national security law powers, Markwayne Mullin is confirmed as DHS secretary, the U.S. Senate reportedly nears a potential agreement to end the DHS shutdown, Pakistan is named the world's most polluted country in 2025, former Google executive Matt Brittin is reportedly set to become the BBC's new director-general, Melania Trump hosts a global summit on kids' education and AI, and Anthropic's Claude is updated with new computer control capabilities. Sources: Verity.News

President Trump pauses strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure, Jewish ambulances are set on fire in a London attack, Mali frees 100 jihadists to end a fuel convoy blockade, The party of Prime Minister Robert Golob narrowly wins in Slovenia's parliamentary elections, Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire wins the Paris mayoral election, Cuba's electrical grid collapses again, A deadly plane accident takes place at LaGuardia Airport, ICE agents are assigned to airports amid deepening travel delays, Robert Mueller, Ex-FBI Director, dies at 81, 'Kona' storms trigger Hawaii's worst floods in 20 years, and A new dinosaur species is discovered in South Korea. Sources: Verity.News

Iran claims its first-ever strike on a U.S. F-35, Delcy Rodriguez overhauls Venezuela's cabinet and military leadership, A report claims that Denmark deployed troops with runway explosives to Greenland amid U.S. tensions, Tunisian anti-racism Activist Saadia Mosbah is sentenced to eight years in prison, The White House unveils its first national AI framework, A judge rules that RFK Jr. overstepped on a trans youth care declaration, Executives are charged in an alleged $2.5 billion AI server scheme involving China, Category 4 Cyclone Narelle makes landfall in Queensland, Australia, Chuck Norris, actor and martial artist, dies at 86, and CBS will shutter its news radio service after nearly a century. Sources: Verity.News

Trump meets with Japan's Takaichi at the White House, as he threatens to 'massively blow up' the world's largest gas field, Pakistan and Afghanistan declare a temporary ceasefire, Venezuela replaces its defense minister, the U.S. Fed holds rates steady, Iran executes three convicted protesters and an alleged Mossad spy, an Alberta bill tightens the limits on medically assisted dying, the U.S. loses its status as a liberal democracy in an annual index, the White House registers two new government domains related to extraterrestrial life, and the world's longest coastal path opens in the U.K. Sources: Verity.News

Israel kills another top Iranian official, Tensions mount between Ecuador and Colombia over an alleged cross-border bombing, A crewless drone-hit Russian tanker is adrift in the Mediterranean, An ex-Belgian diplomat will face trial in the murder trial of Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first prime minister, Scotland rejects an assisted dying bill, Key primary results roll in from Illinois, Markwayne Mullin faces a Dept. of Homeland Security confirmation hearing, The jury deliberates in the Musk Twitter fraud trial, Amazon launches 1-hour delivery across the U.S., and scientists discover a new "double-charm" quark particle. Sources: Verity.News

Top U.S. intelligence chief Joe Kent resigns over the Iran war, senior Iranian official Ali Larijani is killed in overnight strikes, Trump delays his scheduled trip to Beijing, Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing 400 in an airstrike on a Kabul hospital, Trump says Washington "will be doing something with Cuba very soon," U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino retires, a Chinese rival to Amazon launches in the U.K., a U.S. judge blocks planned changes to the national childhood vaccine schedule, Sri Lanka adopts a four-day workweek to save fuel, and a study predicts that inactivity due to rising heat will cause up to 700,000 additional premature deaths by 2050. Sources: Verity.News