International
Iran promises to punish Israel for destroying its consulate in Syria and killing a general
Tehran promised on Monday a harsh response against Israel for bombing and destroying its consulate in Damascus, where the Iranian ambassador resided, who came out unharmed, but who caused at least eight deaths, including an important brigade general of the Revolutionary Guard.
In one of the hardest blows to Iran in recent years in Syria, Iran’s ambassador to this country, Hossein Akbari, said on Iranian state television from Damascus that “the Zionist regime (Israel) acts against international laws, so he will receive a harsh response from us.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to take countermeasures, and will decide on the type of reaction and punishment of the aggressor,” said, for his part, the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Naser Kanani.
The Syrian authorities accused the “Israeli enemy” of launching a bombing “around 5:00 p.m. today (14.00 GMT),” from the Golan Heights occupied by Israel against the “Iranian consulate building in Damascus,” according to an unidentified military source, which pointed out that the air defenses shot down “some” of the launched missiles.
Akbari witnessed from the embassy window of the attack on the consulate, which, according to him, was carried out with F-35 fighters that fired six missiles at Iranian facilities.
So far, Israel has not claimed this action, as is usual in its attacks on the Syrian territory.
On the battlefield, the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the entire Strip, has been completely out of service after two weeks of military operation by the Israeli Army, which ended this morning.
“The destruction of the complex makes it impossible to resume work and the hospital has been completely out of service,” the director of Shifa, Marwan Abu Saada, told the media.
For its part, the Civil Defense of the Gaza Strip denounced on Monday that, after the departure of Israeli troops from the hospital, they have found corpses with signs of having been executed, others burned and also in a state of decomposition.
“Most of the bodies are decomposing and we reach bodies that are skeletons burned inside the medical complex,” Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Busal said in a statement.
“It is difficult to count the number of martyrs, since the occupation raised the roads and buried the bodies in and near the Shifa complex,” Busal said.
According to the Civil Defense, there are dozens of bodies in the residential apartments in the vicinity of the medical complex for “the massacres committed by the occupation.”
The Israeli troops, who launched the operation on Shifa on March 18, claim to have killed about 200 alleged militiamen and identified 500 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, after interrogating about 800 suspects.
The Army insists that its military operations have not been directed against “patients, health personnel or medical equipment,” although the Gazaz Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, yesterday denounced that this incursion of the troops has left at least 400 dead throughout the area and the destruction of more than a thousand houses.
For Israel, this is one of the most “success” operations they have carried out since the beginning of the war, on October 7, due to the high number of alleged “terrorists” they have managed to capture in the hospital, where they assure that the militias of the Strip were regrouping.
Meanwhile, in Israel, a drone attack hit a building near the port of Eilat, in the south of the country, without injuries being reported.
According to the Israeli Army, the aggression came “from the east,” apparently from Iraq.
“After the sirens that sounded in the city of Eilat and in the Hevel Eilot area over an infiltration of hostile planes, the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces identified a suspicious air target that crossed from the east to Israeli territory,” said a military statement.
“The target fell in the area of the Gulf of Eilat. No injuries were reported and there was minor damage to a building,” he added.
The reference to the projectile coincides with the claim, this morning, by the Islamic Resistance of Iraq of an attack “towards our occupied lands in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza.”
Israeli media suggest that the target of the attack would be the frigate Saar 6, moored in the port of Eilat, since the impact occurred in a nearby building.
Eilat has been the target of launching several ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in parallel to the war, but most of them came from the Houthis of Yemen, a group related to Iran.
Central America
U.S. and Regional Allies Back Panama Amid Dispute With China
The United States, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago issued a joint statement in support of Panama’s sovereignty, arguing that China’s recent actions represent an attempt to politicize maritime trade and undermine the sovereignty of nations in the hemisphere.
“We are closely monitoring China’s selective economic pressure and recent actions affecting vessels flying the Panamanian flag,” the statement released Tuesday said. “Panama is a pillar of our maritime trading system and, as such, must remain free from undue external pressure.”
The statement comes amid growing tensions surrounding the Panama Canal and the operation of key ports linked to global trade.
At the end of January, Panama’s Supreme Court invalidated the legal framework supporting the 1997 concession that granted Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, the right to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals located on the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the Panama Canal.
The ruling followed mounting pressure from the United States to curb Chinese influence around the strategic waterway, through which roughly 5% of global maritime trade passes.
CK Hutchison, which managed the ports for nearly three decades, rejected the court’s decision and accused Panamanian authorities of illegally confiscating its assets. The company has launched international arbitration proceedings against Panama, seeking more than $2 billion in damages.
Following the court ruling, reports emerged of increased detentions and inspections of Panamanian-flagged vessels in China, actions widely viewed as retaliatory measures.
On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the joint statement as “completely unfounded and misleading,” accusing the United States of politicizing port operations and warning that Beijing would take steps to protect its interests in Panama.
International
King Charles III Says U.S.-UK Alliance Is “Irreplaceable and Unbreakable”
King Charles III of the United Kingdom reaffirmed the strength of the British-American relationship on Tuesday during a speech before the United States Congress, describing the alliance between the two nations as “irreplaceable and unbreakable.”
The address, delivered at the Capitol, marked the first speech by a British monarch before Congress since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 and comes at a time of political tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and the Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“As President Trump himself observed during his state visit to Britain last autumn, the bond of kinship and identity between the United States and the United Kingdom is invaluable and eternal. It is irreplaceable and unbreakable,” the king said.
While reflecting on the upcoming 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, which will be commemorated this year, Charles III stated that the partnership between the two countries “was born out of disagreement, but is no less strong because of it.”
The monarch emphasized the democratic values shared by both nations and noted that major global changes have occurred whenever the two allies found common ground.
“When we have found that way to agree, great changes have taken place not only for the benefit of our peoples, but for all peoples,” he said.
King Charles also quoted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who recently described the relationship as “an indispensable alliance.”
Concluding his speech, the monarch described the shared history of the United States and the United Kingdom as “a story of reconciliation, renewal, and an extraordinary partnership.”
He added that Washington and London have forged “one of the most consequential alliances in human history.”
“I pray with all my heart that our alliance continues to defend our shared values, together with our partners in Europe, the Commonwealth, and around the world, and that we ignore calls urging us to become increasingly isolationist,” Charles III stated.
The king ended by urging both nations to “recommit to one another in selfless service to our peoples and to all peoples of the world.”
International
Trump Administration Considers Denying Green Cards Over Political Views
The administration of President Donald Trump is evaluating new immigration guidelines that could deny permanent residency to immigrants based on their political views, according to a report published by The New York Times.
The proposed measures, outlined in internal Department of Homeland Security documents, would instruct immigration officials to take applicants’ public expressions and ideological positions into account when reviewing green card applications.
According to the report, cases involving “possible anti-American and/or antisemitic conduct or ideologies” would need to be referred to higher authorities for additional review.
Even if applicants have not violated any laws, authorities could still reject residency requests if they determine that individuals have “endorsed, promoted, or supported anti-American views.”
Among the factors listed in the guidelines are participation in pro-Palestinian activities, actions considered antisemitic, and the burning of the U.S. flag.
The documents reportedly describe such actions as “heavily negative” factors in immigration evaluations, potentially blocking applicants from obtaining permanent residency and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
The directives also place particular attention on demonstrations held on university campuses following the 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel.
However, flag burning has previously been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as a form of protected free speech under the Constitution.
The proposal has sparked criticism from immigrant advocacy organizations, including the New York Immigration Coalition.
Its president, Murad Awawdeh, warned that the policies could pose a threat to fundamental rights and freedoms.
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