海角大神

The U.S. said the ceasefire with Iran isn鈥檛 over. It鈥檚 still in effect, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. Iran has launched cruise missiles, drones, and speedboat attacks against U.S. forces defending commercial ships as part of an effort, dubbed Project Freedom, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 鈥淚t鈥檚 low, harassing fire right now. It feels like Iran is grasping at straws,鈥� Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added during the Pentagon briefing. Though these actions remain beneath the threshold of violating the ceasefire, 鈥渨e would urge Iran to be prudent,鈥� Mr. Hegseth said.

Rival ceasefires emerged from Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin called for a two-day truce with Ukraine that would mark this weekend鈥檚 anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The Kremlin has already scaled back the traditional military parade on Red Square, which Ukraine has called a legitimate target, over fears of drone attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the Russian proposal as a 鈥渢heatrical performance,鈥� and countered with his own plan for an open-ended ceasefire to begin May 6. There has been no official Russian response, but the defense ministry warned of 鈥渕assive retaliation鈥� against Kyiv if Moscow鈥檚 parade is disrupted.

Voters in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan went to the polls Tuesday. In Indiana, five of the seven state senators targeted by President Donald Trump lost their primaries on Tuesday, pointing to Mr. Trump鈥檚 continuing influence in deep red areas. In Michigan, voters in a bellwether district chose a Democrat to represent them in the state Senate, underlining a recent trend of special elections swinging toward Democrats. And in Ohio, primaries set the stage for two major races with national implications, including the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat JD Vance left when he became vice president. 鈥� The Associated Press

The Trump administration will investigate whether Smith College has violated Title IX. The Education Department said it had opened a probe into the Massachusetts women鈥檚 college for admitting transgender women and 鈥済ranting them access to women-only spaces, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams.鈥� Women鈥檚 colleges around the country admit transgender women, and Smith has done so since 2015. In an executive order last year, the Trump administration banned transgender women from participating in college sports, arguing that eligibility is 鈥渄etermined according to sex and not gender identity.鈥�

The Cuban government published new migration and citizenship laws. Part of a broader update to the country鈥檚 legal framework, the regulations replace codes dating to the 1970s and include changes that could strengthen ties with the Cuban diaspora. It鈥檚 now legal to hold dual citizenship. Several new migratory categories have been created, including humanitarian resident and 鈥淚nvestors and Businesses鈥� status, allowing Cubans living abroad to participate in the Cuban economy. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents came to the U.S. from Cuba, has demanded that Cuba enact comprehensive political and economic reforms, and said the Communist nation needs 鈥渘ew people in charge.鈥�

A prison set a U.K. record for inmate employment. At HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire, England, all but seven of the roughly 2,000 inmates are involved in jobs ranging from retail to manufacturing. Prison officials said the work is designed to build skills and prepare inmates for life after release. According to Britain鈥檚 Ministry of Justice, prison education is linked to about a 10 percent reduction in recidivism rates. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a sense of purpose [and] getting away from prison life,鈥� one prisoner told the BBC.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

Congress may now put $1 billion toward the ballroom project, which has so far been funded through private donations. It reflects聽President Donald Trump鈥檚聽effort to leave a physical legacy聽as well as meet a genuine need.

Even though high-profile immigration operations in U.S. cities have eased, President Donald Trump鈥檚 border czar says the administration is hiring more deportation officers and will not back down.

As the global economy feels the impact from a disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, both the United States and Iran claim they control the waterway. America's efforts to open the lanes, coming amid the Iran war, are meeting steep challenges.

Every year Colombia retires thousands of battle-hardened veterans from its armed forces. Many end up enlisting in foreign conflicts 鈥� including the front lines of Ukraine.

The cost of food is rising quickly in Senegal. Nowhere is this more evident than the price of the country鈥檚 national dish, thieboudienne.

In the week since the Supreme Court barred gerrymandering of districts intentionally based on race, many state legislatures have been busy debating how to redraw electoral maps. Some lawmakers have offered non-race-based ideas 鈥� including proportional representation 鈥� to ensure all disadvantaged voters have a voice. Such ideas, however, might first entail a dialogue, both across the aisle and across races.聽

In Alabama, one legislator, Rep. Curtis Travis, offered a different kind of dialogue Monday. In an opening prayer at a State House session on redistricting, he asked 鈥淓ternal God鈥� for His wisdom. Here is part of that prayer:

As this House considers matters that shape representation and influence the future of communities across our state, we ask for Your steadying hand.

Today, as lines are considered and decisions are weighed, grant wisdom that is not partisan, but principled.

Grant all of us clarity of mind, humility of spirit, and a commitment to fairness that rises above pressure, preference, or partisanship.

Grant courage that is not self-serving, but just.

Grant discernment that sees every citizen not as a number on a map, but as a soul created in Your image, worthy of dignity and fair representation.

He then asked this for his fellow lawmakers of all parties:

Bless each representative with courage, patience, and discernment for the work ahead.

In the United States, over its 250 years, prayers like that have often helped defuse tensions in race relations. In many statehouses now, however, the discourse is largely defensive and retaliatory, seeking partisan electoral advantage. Yet many Americans might be looking for what inter-race facilitators call 鈥渂ridging.鈥澛�

In their 2024 book 鈥淏elonging Without Othering,鈥澛爅ohn a.聽powell聽and Stephen Menendian of the University of California, Berkeley wrote that ways to link people across racial or religious divides 鈥渃an be as simple as an interfaith dinner or a multicultural concert.鈥�

鈥淎ctive and empathetic listening is perceived and felt as a form of caring and regard, and it builds trust,鈥� the authors wrote. 鈥淩emarkably, it may have a greater tendency to induce change or shift opinion than listening for purpose of persuasion, to change a person鈥檚 opinion.鈥� Such mutual recognition, they add, can help reduce the kind of zero-sum competition found in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and politics.

In his prayer, Representative Travis conveyed a similar note:

Where there is division, bring clarity.

Where there is pressure, bring integrity.

Where there is uncertainty, bring reverence for what is right.

Taking a moment for prayer in the Alabama State House, he later wrote on Facebook, is a reminder that leadership carries weight 鈥済rounded in reflection, humility, and a sense of service to something greater than ourselves.鈥�