Thousands of visitors were told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area accessible only by boat as wildfires send dangerously heavy smoke over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this week.

New York City’s self-professed ‘democratic socialist’ mayor Zohran Mamdani has drawn backlash for attributing the recent uptick in rape reports to an expanded definition of what constitutes the crime.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that regional oil and gas exports could be blocked completely in response to US attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw Israeli troops from Syria and begin redeploying forces from southern Lebanon, Axios has reported, citing US and Israeli officials.

His office also denied reports that he is under house arrest, calling the allegations fabricated and intended to sow divisions within Iran.

Brussels rejected U.S. claims that the ICC threatens national sovereignty, stressing the court prosecutes individuals accused of the world's gravest crimes, not sovereign states.

The U.S. military early Wednesday reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports over Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, sparking new strikes on nations hosting American forces as an interim deal to end the war further unraveled.

President Donald Trump told Fox News on Tuesday he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not make a deal.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday the Hormuz strait would remain closed until the United States ends its "acts of aggression" while warning that other regional oil export routes could also become targets.