海角大神

Israel's attacks in Lebanon threaten ceasefire. Iran鈥檚 semiofficial news agencies have published a chart suggesting the Revolutionary Guard placed sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the war. It is seen as a likely pressure tactic ahead of possible negotiations in Islamabad on Friday. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres 鈥渦nequivocally鈥� condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon that killed and injured hundreds Wednesday. Israel claims the two-week ceasefire doesn't cover its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, though Iran and Pakistan say it does. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon. 鈥� The Associated Press

Oil prices fall, stocks rise, and limited shipping resumes following ceasefire.听The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 1,200 points following the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices, which had hovered between $144 and $146 on Tuesday, plunged to $94. Some 426 oil tankers remain halted in the Middle East. But ship tracking service Marine Traffic reported that two non-U.S. owned vessels, filled with bulk goods, have successfully traversed through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic is at a trickle because ship owners remain wary of risks.

Israel strikes central Beirut without warning.听Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut Wednesday afternoon without warning, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Lebanon鈥檚 health ministry said dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in an early estimate. Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, although mediator Pakistan said it does. Hezbollah has not agreed to the ceasefire.

The Federal Reserve expects to cut interest rates this year. Minutes from a Fed meeting in mid-March, released on Wednesday, show that members of the board of governors still expect one rate cut this year. The current benchmark rate is at 3.6%, still above its target of 2%. But 鈥渟ome鈥� of the 19 policymakers were concerned that higher gas prices resulting from the U.S.-Iran war might necessitate a future rate hike to push prices down.听

Anthropic withholds new AI model from public听鈥� for now.听Claude Mythos Preview is yet to be released to the public because of cybersecurity risks, the company said. Instead, the model will be shared with more than 40 organizations听鈥� including Google, Apple, and Microsoft听鈥� through a consortium called Project Glasswing. The group aims to identify and fix vulnerabilities before wider release. Early testing has already uncovered thousands of software flaws, raising concerns that such systems could accelerate cyberattacks and strengthen defenses. Recently, Meta introduced its first AI model, Muse Spark, highlighting intensified competition among major tech firms.
Our coverage:听As AI leaps forward, concerns rise that innovation is leaving safety behind.

A rarely seen shark has been spotted in Antarctic waters. The species wasn鈥檛 known to exist in the Southern Ocean until an oceanographer鈥檚 deep-sea camera filmed one at 1,607 feet near the South Shetland islands. Australian researchers from the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre identified the creature as a Southern sleeper shark. Last year, scientists filmed a new species in the form of a 20-armed creature that they named the Antarctic strawberry feather star.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

President Donald Trump and his defense secretary are boasting of military success. But Iran鈥檚 peace proposal, which Mr. Trump says is a "workable" basis for talks, appeared to reflect Iran鈥檚 wishes without making meaningful concessions.

Unaffected so far by the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, the battle to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon has been shaping up to be a main focus of Israelis, renewing the debate: Can military force alone deliver lasting security, or does the absence of a clear political strategy risk costly and open-ended conflict?

With Hungary preparing for parliamentary elections,听Ukraine鈥檚 westernmost region of Zakarpattia has become a campaign hot button. It sits at the center of long-running tensions between Kyiv and Budapest over language and cultural rights.

The United States and China are leading a global competition to build a permanent presence on the moon. Scientific research, national pride, and potentially lucrative lunar mining operations are at stake.

In the wake of a shaky, 11th-hour ceasefire deal, the United States appears in a weaker position globally than when the war with Iran began.

Virtually all of the refugees let into the U.S. in the first six months of the fiscal year came from South Africa. The State Department data released this week appears to support President Donald Trump鈥檚 pledge to prioritize Afrikaners 鈥� white South Africans.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in workplaces across the United States is automating a wide range of administrative, managerial, and even specialized high-tech tasks. Employers and employees alike are understandably concerned.

Yet, the same AI boom is also driving demand for workers in professions long seen as declining in prestige and pay scales: the skilled trades or blue-collar jobs that helped build America鈥檚 middle class.

As the cost of a college education increases, and as young people seek less debt, enrollment in vocational community-college programs and private trade schools has increased by about 6% annually in recent years. Still, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 400,000 skilled trade jobs remained unfilled in 2025.

Paradoxically, these economic and social pressure points highlight new possibilities for expanding pathways to prosperity. Private industry is stepping up its efforts 鈥� and, in the process, also offering Americans an opportunity to reassess how they view work, wealth, and individual worth. (According to a March 2025 Pew Research Center survey, only 30% of blue-collar workers felt that their fellow citizens respect the work they do.)

Last month, the founder of BlackRock, the world鈥檚 largest investment firm, announced a $100 million philanthropic initiative to build up the skilled-trades workforce in the U.S. This week, Fortune magazine reported that Lowe鈥檚, one of the nation鈥檚 largest home-improvement retailers, will invest $250 million toward skilling workers in fields such as carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing.

In an interview with the BBC, BlackRock chief Larry Fink voiced a need to 鈥渞ebalance鈥� views of these professions. And Lowe鈥檚 CEO Marvin Ellison emphasized that skilled trades are 鈥渁 way to create meaningful wealth [and] earn a very dignified living.鈥�

Such views are 鈥渞efreshingly grounded,鈥� and help to reframe the conversation, according to GroundBreak Carolinas, an industry trade group.

鈥淐apital and technology alone do not build progress. People do,鈥� GroundBreak notes on its website, adding, 鈥淭he trades offer something increasingly rare: tangible skills, visible impact, ... and long-term stability.鈥�

This observation ties in to a broader civic need to uphold the dignity of manual or trades work and 鈥渃ombat condescension and credentialist prejudice,鈥� according to Harvard University professor and philosopher Michael Sandel.

鈥淭he most important role we play in the economy,鈥� he wrote in The Atlantic in 2020, 鈥渋s not as consumers but as producers [who] provide goods and services that fulfill the needs of our fellow citizens.鈥�

The Greek philosopher Aristotle, Dr. Sandel pointed out, 鈥渁rgued that human flourishing depends on ... cultivation and exercise of our abilities.鈥� And the 鈥淎merican republican tradition鈥� also taught that such endeavors 鈥渘urture the virtues that equip citizens for self-rule.鈥�

For today鈥檚 young people who pursue trades, the opportunity to become productive citizens and skilled producers could be a double bonus.