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Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the 'continued malicious drone attacks' launched from Iraq towards Bahrain and several Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The summoning of the Iraqi envoy follows similar action by Saudi Arabia, signalling growing regional concern over pro-Iranian groups based in Iraq. The diplomatic move complicates Baghdad's efforts to rebuild ties with its Arab neighbours. Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered an official protest note to the Iraqi charge d'affaires, Ahmed Ismail al-Karawi, calling on Baghdad to address 'these threats and attacks urgently and responsibly'. Iraq has become a staging ground for a secondary conflict during the US-Israel war on Iran, with drones and missiles launched by Iran-aligned armed groups repeatedly targeting Gulf states and Jordan. US interests in Iraq, particularly the embassy in Baghdad, have also been targeted. Despite a two-week Iran-US ceasefire, several Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks on their territories just hours after the ceasefire was announced. Iran-aligned groups in Iraq had announced their commitment to the ceasefire and suspended their actions towards Gulf countries. The attacks are severely testing Iraq's painstakingly rebuilt ties with its Arab neighbours. Baghdad has categorically rejected the use of its territory to target Gulf states or Jordan, adding that it is taking necessary measures 'in accordance with the constitution and the law'.

Australia announced that Lieutenant General Susan Coyle will assume the role of chief of the Australian Army in July, marking the first time a woman has held the post in the service’s 125‑year history.Coyle, currently chief of joint capabilities, brings nearly four decades of experience, including senior command roles in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and expertise in cyber‑warfare. She will succeed Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, who took the position in July 2022.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the appointment as a historic breakthrough, stating, "From July, we will have the first ever female chief of army in the Australian Army’s 125‑year history." Defence Minister Richard Marles called the move a "deeply historic moment" and emphasized its symbolic power: "You cannot be what you cannot see."The appointment arrives as the Australian Defence Force (ADF) intensifies efforts to raise female participation. Women currently constitute about 21 % of the ADF and 18.5 % of senior leadership roles, with a target of 25 % overall participation by 2030.In October, a class‑action lawsuit alleged that the ADF failed to protect thousands of women officers from systematic sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination, underscoring the urgency of cultural reform alongside the leadership change.Alongside Coyle’s promotion, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the incumbent chief of the navy, will become the head of the ADF, succeeding Admiral David Johnston. Rear Admiral Matthew Buckley is set to replace Hammond as navy chief.The army is also undergoing a major transformation, investing in long‑range firepower, drones, and other modern combat tools. Coyle’s background in cyber‑warfare is expected to bolster the force’s capability to operate in increasingly digitised battlefields.

Donald Trump's military approach against Iran has backfired, emboldening the country rather than weakening it. The 16-hour talks in Pakistan, led by JD Vance, failed to extract a quick accord, highlighting the complexity of issues between Washington and Tehran. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had sold the war to Trump as an opportunity for regime change. However, Trump's plan had no clear strategy beyond killing senior Iranian officials, which only strengthened hardliners within the regime. Trump's goal of destroying Iran's military capacity has also failed. US intelligence indicates that Iran's ability to replenish its missiles and drones remains considerable. Furthermore, Iran is causing significant damage to Gulf states. The main issue remains Iran's nuclear program. The 2015 accord, negotiated by Barack Obama, had required Iran to limit its nuclear activities, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. Today, Iran has nearly 900lb of highly enriched uranium, which could be further refined into a nuclear bomb. Trump's aggressive approach has handed Iran a new weapon: the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for international shipping. This move could wreak havoc on the world economy and give Iran significant revenue through tolls. The article concludes that diplomacy is the only viable solution to the conflict. Negotiation requires compromise and give-and-take, which Trump has so far resisted. The stakes are high, with the potential for genocide and massive war crimes. The door to a deal remains open, but it demands a willingness to negotiate in good faith.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations of violating the Orthodox Easter ceasefire, as the conflict between the two nations continues to escalate. The truce, which was agreed upon for 32 hours, was intended to provide a temporary reprieve from hostilities during the religious holiday.According to the Ukrainian military's general staff, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded, including 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, and 747 strikes by attack drones. In response, Russia's Ministry of Defence accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches, including 258 artillery or tank attacks and 1,329 FPV drone strikes.The ceasefire violations have raised concerns about the prospects of a lasting peace agreement. The Kremlin has stated that it will not extend the truce unless Kyiv accepts its terms, which include control of 17-18 percent of Ukraine's disputed Donetsk region. Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines, but Russia has rejected this, seeking control of the entire Donetsk region.Despite the challenges, the truce did bring some relative calm to the region, with the Ukrainian army reporting no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings, or missile strikes during the ceasefire period. However, the conflict has continued to take a toll on civilians, with Governor Alexander Khinshtein of Russia's Kursk region accusing Kyiv of breaking the ceasefire by attacking a petrol station, injuring three people, including a baby.

Zappa Montag walks through a 76‑hectare (189‑acre) forest of redwoods, madrones and oaks that he co‑manages with five other Black residents at Black to the Land in Boonville, California. Powered by solar panels and supplied by a well, the off‑grid ecovillage embodies Montag’s goal to “reverse‑gentrify the country” by creating a self‑sufficient sanctuary for Black people. Intentional communities—small groups united by shared values—have long served Black and Indigenous peoples, ranging from urban co‑housing to rural ecovillages. In the post‑slavery era, tightly knit Black networks relied on mutual aid for business and farming, a tradition that is resurfacing in places like Alabama, Massachusetts and California as a way to revive ancestral agricultural knowledge. Montag and his daughter Bibi Sarai first imagined Black to the Land in 2015, frustrated by the rapid gentrification of Oakland. After a 2021 introduction to the declining Emerald Earth Sanctuary in Mendocino County, the nonprofit transferred stewardship of the property to their group through a verbal and written agreement. Montag describes the hand‑over as a form of reparations—instead of cash, they invest time learning land stewardship. Tragedy struck in February 2023 when Bibi Sarai died unexpectedly. Yet, reports that visitors felt uplifted after summer stays convinced Montag to stay permanently, turning grief into a catalyst for the community’s growth. Today, the community—members ranging from their late 20s to mid‑50s—funds land maintenance through grants, workshops and fundraising. They host classes on building, gardening and foraging, while some members work remotely to cover personal expenses. African plant‑medicine practitioners prepare herbal remedies, and a partnership with Ghanaian ecovillage leaders introduces natural‑building techniques. In addition to cultivating vegetables, the residents construct clay dwellings, practice yoga, and collectively manage chores such as fire‑wood gathering and trench‑building to prevent driveway flooding. Self‑reliance is the guiding principle, especially amid today’s economic uncertainty. The BIPOC Intentional Community Council, founded in 2020, supports Black and brown groups in establishing similar settlements by providing funding, nonprofit‑formation workshops and land‑trust guidance. Board member Crystal Byrd Farmer notes a growing “back‑to‑the‑land” movement as people seek rural roots. While mainstream media sometimes label intentional communities as radical, Farmer argues they echo millennial human practices of mutual support. Most U.S. intentional communities remain majority‑white due to historic capital access, leaving people of color to feel culturally alienated in those spaces. In Alabama, the Ekvn‑Yefolecv ecovillage—run by Indigenous Maskoke families—reclaimed 3,105 hectares (7,674 acres) of ancestral land. Governed matriarchally, residents speak their language daily, practice traditional foraging, reintroduce buffalo and sturgeon, and share land title, offering a model of ecological sustainability and cultural preservation. Massachusetts hosts the Solidarity Arts & Education Decolonial Initiatives (SAEDi) collective, a communal home for women of color that blends art, food sovereignty and reparations work. Rent is adjusted to ability, and members contribute childcare, meals and chores. Plans include a garden, orchard, and a “green residency” program that will archive elders’ agricultural stories online, aiming to boost security for immigrant families amid rising xenophobia. The modern roots of Black intentional living trace back to 1969’s New Communities in Georgia, a civil‑rights‑era farming settlement that pioneered the nation’s first community land trust. Although federal opposition led to its collapse, a 2009 $12 million settlement acknowledged USDA discrimination. Today, the organization runs workshops on land stewardship and mentors new generations of Black farmers. For Montag, the land also serves as a personal memorial. A clay bench honors his late daughter Bibi Sarai, allowing him to “connect with humanity” and keep her spirit alive. Future plans include grief‑focused rituals and a memorial garden, underscoring the belief that joy and healing are essential components of communal living. Increased security and safety Marginalized groups view intentional communities as safe havens for preserving cultural practices and passing knowledge to youth. Elders’ expertise is documented for future generations, reinforcing resilience against systemic oppression. Empowering collective action From the civil‑rights farms of Georgia to contemporary ecovillages in California and Alabama, these settlements illustrate how shared land ownership, communal labor and cultural affirmation can counter gentrification, foster economic independence, and nurture intergenerational healing.

A temporary 32‑hour ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine started at 4:00 p.m. local time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday and will run until midnight on Sunday, according to the Kremlin. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy affirmed Kyiv’s commitment to honor the pause provided Moscow does the same. President Vladimir Putin ordered the ceasefire to align with Orthodox Easter celebrations, more than a week after Zelenskyy first proposed the truce. Both sides have publicly confirmed their intention to observe it. Zelenskyy posted on social media that Ukraine will “adhere to the ceasefire and respond strictly in kind. The absence of Russian strikes in the air, on land, and at sea will mean no response from our side.” The Ukrainian army added it stands ready to react immediately if the truce is breached. Hours before the truce began, Russian forces launched at least 160 drones against Ukrainian targets, killing four civilians in the east and south and wounding dozens. The southern Odesa region suffered two fatalities and damage to civilian infrastructure. In the Russian‑occupied parts of Donetsk and Kherson, Ukrainian drone attacks killed four people, according to officials installed by Moscow. Public confidence in the ceasefire remains low. Last year’s Easter pause saw numerous accusations of violations from both sides, and similar doubts persist this time. Despite the tension, the warring parties completed a reciprocal exchange of 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday. The United Arab Emirates facilitated the swap, as confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Prisoner exchanges have become one of the few tangible outcomes of the stalled U.S.-brokered peace talks, which continue to falter over territorial issues. Ukraine has reiterated its proposal to freeze the conflict along the current front lines, a suggestion Russia rejected, insisting Kyiv relinquish all territory it holds in the Donetsk region—an offer Kyiv deems unacceptable. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia did not discuss the Easter proposal with the United States in advance and did not signal an immediate revival of the three‑way peace negotiations. Fighting on the front has largely stalled. While Russia has achieved modest territorial gains at a high cost, Ukrainian forces have recently pushed back in the southeast, and Russian advances have slowed since late 2025, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Moscow now occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized in the early weeks of the conflict.

Ukraine’s armed forces reported that Russian soldier losses surged to 35,351 in March, the highest monthly tally since the conflict began. 96% of those casualties were inflicted by Ukrainian drones, with artillery and small arms accounting for the remainder. This represents a 29% increase over February’s figures, according to Ukraine’s commander‑in‑chief. Ukrainian officials say the spike confirms a trend of rising Russian attrition. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Colonel Pavlo Palisa, noted that Russia suffered 316 casualties per square kilometre captured in the first quarter of 2026, compared with just 120 per km² in 2025. Russia’s manpower replenishment is faltering. Although Moscow set a target of 409,000 contract soldiers for the year, recruitment in the first quarter averaged 940 troops per day, well below the required 1,120 per day. At this pace, analysts project a 65,000‑person shortfall by year‑end, a vulnerability Kyiv aims to exploit. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly set a goal of inflicting 50,000 Russian casualties each month to render the invading force “irrecoverably weakened.” Territorial gains for Russia are also receding. The Institute for the Study of War estimates Russian forces captured an average of 5.5 sq km per day in 2026, down from 10.66 sq km a year earlier and 14.9 sq km at the end of 2024. Ukrainian commanders attribute their lethal edge to a rapid expansion of drone capabilities. Commander‑in‑Chief Oleksandr Syrskii disclosed that Ukrainian drones struck 151,207 targets in March, a 50% rise from February, driven by roughly 11,000 sorties daily. Ukraine now enjoys a 1.3:1 advantage in First‑Person‑View drones on the frontlines. Interceptor drones also played a decisive role, with Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reporting a record 33,000 Russian UAVs shot down in March—double the previous month’s tally. His deputy, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, is collaborating with manufacturers on next‑generation interceptors capable of speeds up to 550 km/h to counter emerging jet‑powered Shahed drones. Long‑range strike capacity is set to expand further. Fire Point, Ukraine’s leading long‑range drone producer, announced the near‑deployment of two ballistic missiles with ranges of 300 km and 850 km, the latter theoretically reaching Moscow. These offensive gains have shifted the operational balance. Syrskii asserts that, despite modest territorial concessions, Ukrainian forces have seized the “strategic initiative” by preventing large‑scale Russian offensives and intensifying mid‑range strikes (30‑120 km into Russian rear areas) against logistics hubs, warehouses, command posts and oil depots. On the ground, Ukrainian troops have recaptured eight settlements and reclaimed 480 sq km of land in the Dnipropetrovsk region, underscoring the momentum of Kyiv’s counter‑offensive. Analysts warn that Russia may still pursue broader territorial ambitions, eyeing the Odesa and Mykolaiv coasts and a potential southern buffer in Vinnytsia near Moldova’s Transnistria. President Zelenskyy reiterated that Russian leadership believes a Ukrainian retreat would spare “hundreds of thousands of people,” a claim he dismissed as a strategic ploy during recent ceasefire talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that his country's technology played a crucial role in shooting down Iranian drones in the Middle East. This development comes after Zelenskyy announced last month that expert teams had been deployed to the region following the outbreak of the United States-Israeli war on Iran.In a recent statement, Zelenskyy revealed that Ukrainian forces participated in operations using domestically produced interceptor drones against 'Shahed' drones, which are similar to those used by Russia during its ongoing conflict with Ukraine.Key highlights of Zelenskyy's statement include:Ukrainian forces successfully destroyed Iranian 'shaheds' in several countries.The operations were not limited to training missions but involved actual support in building modern air defence systems.Ukrainian experts provided crucial advice on strengthening air defence systems in countries that collaborated with them.Zelenskyy expressed optimism about the future, stating that it is only a matter of time before mass production of interceptors capable of destroying drones with jet engines commences.Kyiv has effectively utilized cheap drone interceptors to neutralize Russian drones before they reach their targets. As part of the agreement, Ukraine is receiving weapons to protect its energy infrastructure and, in some cases, financial arrangements.During his recent visits to Gulf nations, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, Zelenskyy signed defence agreements with the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

The United States team landed in Islamabad on Friday, gearing up for Saturday’s planned cease‑fire talks with Iran aimed at pausing the ongoing US‑Israel‑Iran conflict.New friction erupted on Friday when senior officials from both sides exchanged conflicting accounts of a 10‑point Iranian proposal that underpinned Tuesday’s temporary pause in hostilities.Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on X that two critical measures—a cease‑fire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets—remain unfulfilled, insisting they must be addressed before negotiations can proceed.Ghalibaf, who is slated to attend the summit alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, echoed the Iranian military’s joint command warning that its “fingers are on the trigger” after what it described as repeated “breaches of trust” by the United States and Israel.Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump escalated rhetoric, telling the New York Post that the U.S. is loading ships with the “best weapons ever made” and will employ them “very effectively” if a deal is not reached. In subsequent Truth Social posts, he dismissed Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz as a “short‑term extortion” and claimed the Iranians are “alive today only to negotiate.”The Trump administration credits Tuesday’s cease‑fire agreement with averting a larger U.S. escalation, yet it has not disclosed the exact framework agreed upon, noting it differs from Iran’s published 10‑point plan.Analysts point to substantial gaps between the parties on several fronts: Iran’s future control of the Strait of Hormuz, the status of frozen Iranian assets, the trajectory of Iran’s nuclear program, and Israel’s ongoing offensive in Lebanon.U.S. and Israeli officials assert that a Lebanese cease‑fire was never part of the deal, contradicting Iran and Pakistan’s position. Nonetheless, President Trump told an Israeli reporter that he urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make Israeli operations against Hezbollah “more low‑key” ahead of the talks.Israeli strikes continued, killing at least 300 people nationwide on Wednesday—the deadliest day of the offensive—while Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported no slowdown in southern Lebanon’s fighting. Kuwait also reported intercepting seven drones launched from Iran into its airspace within 24 hours.Despite the heightened rhetoric, U.S. Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism, stating he expects a “positive” outcome from the negotiations and that he has received “pretty clear guidelines” from President Trump. Vance emphasized that the United States is ready to extend an “open hand” to Iran if it negotiates in good faith, but warned that any attempt to “play us” would meet a “non‑receptive” negotiating team.Vance’s leadership reflects a non‑interventionist strand of the Trump administration, stepping in as Iran’s trust in special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son‑in‑law Jared Kushner has eroded. Witkoff and Kushner previously headed two rounds of indirect talks on Iran’s nuclear program, both of which collapsed—first after Israel launched a 12‑day war on Iran in June 2025, and again after the latest war erupted on February 28.