Israel launches airstrikes on Yemen a day after Houthi rebels strike Israeli airport

Israel’s military targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeida on Monday with a punishing round of airstrikes, killing at least one person and wounding 35. The strikes came a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel’s main airport, Associated Press reported.

The rebels’ media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port Monday afternoon. Other strikes hit a cement factory in the Bajil district, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) northeast of Hodeida city, the rebels said. The extent of damage at the two facilities wasn’t immediately clear.

The Israeli military said more than 20 Israeli fighter planes took part in the operation, dropping more than 50 munitions on dozens of targets.

Hodeida residents said they heard explosions at the port, with flames and smoke seen rising over the area. Ambulance sirens were also heard across the city, they said, according to Associated Press.

Milan clinch win with two quick-fire goals in rainy Genoa clash

AC Milan secured a 2-1 victory over Genoa in a rainy Monday Serie A clash, with a rapid second-half turnaround driven by Rafael Leao's equaliser and an own goal from Morten Frendrup, Reuters reported.

The result keep Milan at ninth place with 57 points, six points behind Juventus in fourth with three rounds remaining.

Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was the stand-out performer in a first half largely dominated by Genoa, making several crucial saves to keep his side level at the break.

The second half started in a largely uninspired fashion, with the relentless downpour proving more consistent than the football, as play was frequently halted for injury treatments, according to Reuters.

Romania PM resigns after far-right wins first-round of president vote

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned on Monday, a day after a far-right opposition leader won the first round of the presidential election re-run and his own candidate crashed out of the race, Reuters reported.

Ciolacu said his centre-left Socialists would withdraw from the pro-Western coalition - effectively ending it - while cabinet ministers will stay on in an interim capacity until a new majority emerges after the presidential run-off.

Hard-right eurosceptic George Simion decisively swept the ballot on Sunday, with some 41% of votes, and will face Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan, an independent centrist, in a May 18 run-off. Coalition candidate Crin Antonescu came third.

Although Ciolacu's leftist Social Democrats (PSD) won the most seats in a Dec. 1 parliamentary election, Simion's AUR and two other far-right groupings, one with overt pro-Russian sympathies, won more than a third of the seats to become a clear political force, according to Reuters.

US appeals court rejects Trump bid to revoke thousands of migrants' status

A federal appeals court rejected on Monday a request by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to allow it to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans living in the United States, Reuters reported.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined, opens new tab to put on hold a judge's order halting the Department of Homeland Security's move to cut short a two-year "parole" granted to the migrants under Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.

The administration's action marked an expansion of the Republican president's hardline crackdown on immigration and push to ramp up deportations, including of noncitizens previously granted a legal right to live and work in the United States, according to Reuters.

The administration argued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had discretion to categorically end the migrants' status and that the judge's order was forcing the U.S. government to "retain hundreds of thousands of aliens in the country against its will."

Trump administration freezes future grants to Harvard

The U.S. Department of Education informed Harvard University on Monday that it was freezing billions of dollars in future research grants and other aid until the nation's oldest and wealthiest college concedes to a number of demands from the Trump administration, a senior department official said, Reuters reported.

The move represents the latest salvo from a Trump administration willing to use the power of the federal purse to force institutions, from law firms to universities, to make sweeping policy changes or else lose billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts.

In a letter to Harvard, U.S. Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon said the university must address concerns about antisemitism on campus, school policies that consider a student’s race, and complaints from the administration the university has abandoned its pursuit of “academic excellence” while employing relatively few conservative faculty members.

"This letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided," McMahon wrote, according to Reuters.

US Defense Secretary Hegseth to slash senior-most ranks of military

 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers, deepening cuts at the Pentagon that have shaken the Department of Defense at the start of President Donald Trump's second term in office, Reuters reported.

Hegseth has long been vocal about how he views the senior-most ranks of the military as too big.

In a memo, the contents of which were first reported by Reuters, Hegseth said there will also be a minimum 20 percent reduction in the number of general officers in the National Guard and an additional 10% reduction among general and flag officers across the military.

"More generals and admirals does not lead to more success," Hegseth said in a video posted on X.

"This is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high ranking officers, nothing could be further from the truth," he said, according to Reuters.

Ukraine claims strike in Russia's Kursk amid reports of fresh incursion

Ukraine said it hit a drone command unit in the Kursk region, amid reports of fresh attempts to cross into Russia, BBC reported.

Sunday's attack on the unit was located near the Russian village of Tyotkino, according to the Ukrainian general staff.

Russian officials also reported an electrical substation in the town of Rylsk had lost power after being damaged in an attack by Ukraine. 

The reports come after Moscow claimed in April to have regained control of the entire region, nine months after a Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion. Kyiv insists it still has soldiers operating across the border, according to BBC.

Israel security cabinet approves plan to 'capture' Gaza, official says

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Hamas which includes the "capture" of Gaza and the holding of its territory, according to an Israeli official, BBC reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet had decided on a "forceful operation" to destroy Hamas and rescue its remaining hostages, and that Gaza's 2.1 million population "will be moved, to protect it".

He did not say how much territory would be seized by troops, but he stressed that "they will not enter and come out".

The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver aid through private companies, which would end a two-month blockade the UN says has caused severe food shortages, according to BBC.