NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission on Wednesday, (April 1), at 2235 UTC from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B, marking the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, standing 32 stories tall, ignited its twin solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 engines to generate 8.8 million pounds of thrust, lifting the Orion spacecraft named "Integrity" into space.

The four-person crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (Commander), Victor Glover (Pilot), and Christina Koch (Mission Specialist), alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist), who became the first Canadian and non-U.S. citizen to travel to the Moon's vicinity.

Close to three and a half hours into the Artemis 2 mission, pilot Victor Glover took control of Orion after the capsule separated from the Space Launch System rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS. Glover will now manually pilot Orion around ICPS, carrying out a series of maneuvers designed to test the spacecraft's propulsion systems and ability to operate in close proximity to another object in space.

"I see it. Look at that, woohoo! I see the ICPS and the moon in the field of view," Glover said during NASA's live broadcast of the mission.

These tests, known as proximity operations or "prox ops," are a key part of this test flight and will evaluate Orion's ability to fly near and interface with future Artemis program hardware such as the lunar lander that will eventually be chosen for NASA's planned moon landings.

"It's quite nice and very responsive," Glover said, referencing the spacecraft's Digital Autopilot (DAP) system.

The 10-day mission is a lunar flyby that will not involve a landing but will travel approximately 250,000 miles from Earth, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by reaching 4,600 miles beyond the Moon's far side.

Key mission objectives include testing Orion's life support and navigation systems, performing an in-space rendezvous with the spent Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and validating emergency procedures for future lunar landings.

The crew is expected to perform a translunar injection burn to commit to the Moon, fly around the lunar far side, and return to Earth for a planned **splashdown in the Pacific Ocean** around April 11, 2026. This flight serves as the critical second step in NASA's Artemis program, paving the way for **Artemis III (lunar landing in 2027)** and the eventual establishment of a sustainable human presence on the Moon.

The U.S. and Israel conducted joint airstrikes on Isfahan, Iran, early Monday, targeting a major ammunition depot and military infrastructure, including the Badr airbase, using 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. The strikes triggered massive explosions and secondary blasts, with President Donald Trump sharing a video of the fiery aftermath on Truth Social without comment.

According to U.S. officials, the operation was part of Operation Epic Fury, now in its second month, aimed at degrading Iran’s nuclear and weapons capabilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine held a press briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday, confirming the strikes and stating that negotiations to end the war with Iran are “real” and “gaining strength.”

Hegseth disclosed he had recently visited U.S. troops in the Middle East and emphasized that the U.S. is maintaining strategic ambiguity about ground operations, saying, “Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are.” He also urged allied navies, particularly the UK’s, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely closed, spiking global oil prices.

Iran and Hezbollah launched retaliatory attacks following the Isfahan strikes. Iran shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over Isfahan and launched ballistic missiles toward Israel, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and interceptors deployed over Tel Aviv.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, injuring three, prompting Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, Beirut, and the Beqaa Valley. Hezbollah framed its actions as defensive, citing Israeli aggression and occupation of Lebanese territories. The Israel Defense Force claimed to have killed senior Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders in the strikes. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday, also announced plans to occupy Lebanon.

President Trump on Tuesday, has declared that European and allied nations should "go get your own oil" from the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that the U.S. may end its military campaign in Iran even if the strategic waterway remains closed. He emphasized that the "hard part" of the war—dismantling Iran’s military capabilities—has been completed, and suggested allies like the UK and France must now take responsibility for reopening the strait, accusing them of failing to support U.S. efforts.

The U.S. has signaled it will not lead operations to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite its closure by Iran disrupting about 20% of global oil flow and pushing prices above $100 per barrel.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," and warned that the U.S. "won’t be there to help you anymore." Hegseth echoed this during Tuesday's press conference, questioning why allies like the UK, with its "big, bad Royal Navy," aren’t stepping in.

Iran continues to block the strait, threatening to "completely close" it if U.S. attacks proceed. European nations, including Spain, Italy, and France, have refused U.S. military overflight or basing requests, deepening transatlantic tensions.

Iran has retaliated to U.S. strikes, by attacking oil tankers and listing U.S. companies like Apple and Boeing for targeting.

The U.S. has deployed additional forces, including the 82nd Airborne and the USS Tripoli, but Trump has ruled out extending the war beyond his four-to-six-week timeline.

Despite diplomatic overtures, including a peace plan from China and Pakistan, Trump suggested victory could be declared without securing Iran’s uranium stockpile or reopening the strait.

Trump said Tuesday, that the U.S. military campaign in Iran would end within "two or three weeks," asserting that the primary goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon had already been achieved. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump declared, "We'll be leaving very soon," and emphasized that the U.S. would withdraw "whether we have a deal or not," claiming Iran would be unable to develop a nuclear weapon for years due to extensive military strikes.

The president claimed the U.S. had "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear program, missile-making facilities, navy, air force, and leadership, asserting dominance over Iranian skies and describing the new leadership as "much more rational." He dismissed the need for a negotiated deal as essential, though he claimed acknowledged Iranian leaders were "begging to make a deal."

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said there is no ongoing direct negoiations with the U.S. "No negotiation has taken place, he told Al Jazeera. "We have not responded to the US proposal and we have not given a counter-proposal. Trust with the US is at zero. We are waiting for their ground troops."

Israel’s Knesset passed a law on Monday, making death by hanging the default sentence for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis, with the bill approved by a 62-48 vote.

The law, championed by Jewish supremacist and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, applies to military courts in the West Bank and mandates execution within 90 days of sentencing, with no right to clemency, though life imprisonment may be imposed in “special circumstances.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had previously expressed reservations, personally attended the session and voted in favor, calling it a fulfillment of coalition commitments.

Ben-Gvir and coalition lawmakers celebrated the passage with champagne and wore noose-shaped lapel pins, declaring it a historic deterrent against terrorism. The law is widely seen as discriminatory because it effectively excludes Jewish Israelis from facing the death penalty, as it applies only to acts intended to “negate the existence of the State of Israel”—a threshold legal experts say would rarely, if ever, apply to Jewish extremists.

Critics, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, have filed a petition to the Supreme Court, calling the law “discriminatory by design” and enacted without legal authority over occupied territory.

The law does not apply retroactively, excluding perpetrators of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, and faces potential judicial and logistical hurdles before any execution can occur—Israel has not carried out a death sentence since 1962, when Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed.

International condemnation was swift: the European Union, along with France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, issued a joint statement calling the law “de facto discriminatory” and a violation of democratic principles. UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that its application could constitute a war crime, while Palestinian leaders denounced it as “institutionalized extrajudicial killing.” The U.S. State Department said it respects Israel’s sovereignty but emphasized that any measures must uphold fair trial standards.