International from Friday, April 3rd, 2026

The UN Security Council is now expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats said on Friday, but veto-wielding China has made clear its opposition to authorising any use of force.

Eight people were killed and one child was injured on Friday when a house collapsed in Kabul following an earthquake in Afghanistan, the National Disaster Management Authority said.

Iran shot down a US warplane on Friday in the first such known incident of the five-week war, officials from both nations said, with one of the crew members rescued after ejecting and the other still missing, according to a US source.

A large-scale daytime Russian strike killed at least two people in Ukraine on Friday, officials said, in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced as an "Easter escalation", as Moscow shifts tactics to avoid Ukrainian air defences.

Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy has reported material damage to a power and water desalination plant due to an Iranian attack on Friday.

Bangladesh has launched fresh measures to curb energy consumption, cutting office hours and trimming public spending as conflict in the Middle East disrupts global fuel markets and strains power supply in the South Asian nation.

The Kuwaiti Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has reported a drone attack that targeted its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery early on Friday, which resulted in a fire breaking out at its operating units, with no injuries reported.

The UN Security Council is to vote on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats said on Friday, but veto-wielding China made clear its opposition to authorising any use of force.

US President Donald Trump has warned late on Thursday about striking and destroying bridges and electric power plants in Iran in his latest threat to hit the country's infrastructure.

Cuba announced on Thursday that it would free more than 2,000 prisoners from the island's jails, according to state-run media, the second time this year its government has announced a prisoner amnesty amid talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump.