​ Rescue team in Iran face ‘harrowing and dangerous’ search for US crew member. 4 hours ago. Bernd Debusmann Jrat the White House. Getty Images. Early reports indicate that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter aircraft downed over Iran was rescued – which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the long history of US combat search-and-rescue missions over decades.. The search operation is ongoing deep inside Iran for a second crew member, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.. Combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions are considered among the most complex, time-sensitive operations that US and allied militaries prepare for.. In the US, elite units of the air force are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often pre-emptively deployed near conflict areas where aircraft could be lost.. What is Combat Search and Rescue?. Put simply, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, aiding and potentially rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and isolated troops.. In contrast to conventional search-and-rescue efforts – which could take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters – CSAR missions occur in hostile or contested environments.. In some cases – as in Friday’s reported recovery effort in Iran – the operations may happen deep in enemy territory.. CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refuelling aircraft in support and other military aircraft on hand to conduct strikes and patrol the area.. A former commander of a pararescue jumpers squadron told CBS News that a rescue operation like the reported one in Iran would involve at least 24 pararescue jumpers scouring the area in Black Hawk helicopters.. They added the team would be prepared to jump from planes if needed, and once on the ground their priority would be to contact the missing crew member.. Upon locating them, the pararescue jumpers would deliver medical aid if necessary, evade the enemy and get to a place where they can be rescued, according to CBS News.. “Harrowing and massively dangerous is an understatement,” the former commander told CBS News.. They added: “This is what they train to do, all over the world. They are known as the Swiss Army knives of the Air Force.”. Verified video that emerged from Iran on Friday appeared to show US military helicopters and at least one refuelling aircraft operating over Iran’s Khuzestan province.. The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area to try and locate the same US personnel the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.. Former US Marine Corps Special Operations specialist Jonathan Hackett told the BBC’s World Tonight programme that a rescue team’s priority would be to look for signs of life.. “They’re trying to work backwards from the last point they knew that person was, and fan out based on the speed that person could move under different circumstances in this really difficult terrain,” Hackett said.. Hackett said this type of reported rescue woul  

​ Artemis II crew now halfway to Moon as they take ‘spectacular’ image of Earth. 3 hours ago. Sofia Ferreira Santos. Nasa/Reid Wiseman. Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they pass the halfway point between the Earth andthe Moon.. The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, took the “spectacular” images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour.. At about 07:00 BST, Nasa’s online dashboard showed the Orion spacecraft was now 142,000 miles (228,500 km) from Earth, and 132,000 miles from the Moon.. Astronaut Christina Koch said the crew had a collective “expression of joy” upon being told of the milestone, which was hit around two days, five hours and 24 minutes after blast off.. The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.. The Earth appears upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right.. Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.. Nasa/Reid Wiseman. The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday.. The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.. Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth’s orbit.. The spacecraft blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.. NASA. After the burn was completed, the crew were “glued to the windows” taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.. “We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon,” he said.. Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts’ enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty.. The commander had initially found it difficult to take pictures of our planet from the spacecraft, saying taking photos at such a distance made it hard to adjust exposure settings.. “It’s like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the Moon,” he told mission control. “That’s what it feels like right now.”. But that is no longer an issue.. Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator.. NASA/Reid Wiseman. Later, Nasa published another image showing the Earth in near-complete darkness, with the electric lights of humankind twinkling in th  

​ After 16 years in power, could Viktor Orban finally be unseated?. 9 hours ago. Nick ThorpeBudapest correspondent. BBC. “All they stand for is anger, hatred, and destruction,” roared a hoarse Viktor Orban. The Hungarian prime minister was speaking at a mass election rally in Györ in western Hungary on 27 March, referring to opposition protesters who chanted “Filthy Fidesz” during his speech. For just a moment, his carefully cultivated image as the voice of calm navigating his country through stormy seas was shattered. His bad-tempered outburst showed a different side of a man used to cracking jokes and charming even his critics.. Most opinion polls put the opposition Tisza party and its leader Peter Magyar far ahead of Orban’s Fidesz – the latest by 58% to Orban’s 35%. And he is doing everything he can to close the gap. After 16 years of virtually unchallenged rule, Orban has been forced to take to the road again. In the past three elections, he gave few rallies. Now Europe’s longest-serving leader is trying to mobilise his supporters and reach the undecided. He has just a week left to rescue his government, and the international populist movement he embodies, from a crushing defeat.. In power since 2010, Orban has had the support of both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has long been a thorn in the side of the EU – and one of the few EU leaders not supportive on Ukraine. For Europe’s growing band of nationalist parties, in power or on the brink of it, he is the model. The 12 April Hungarian parliamentary election is being watched closely all over the world.. NurPhoto via Getty Images. “We can notice a big change in public perception,” said Endre Hann of the Median agency, a public-opinion research firm. In January, 44% of those asked said they thought Fidesz would win, compared with 37% for Tisza. By March, 47% believed Tisza would win, while 35% believed Fidesz would. “This reflects a huge change of trust. People believe that it can be changed,” he says.. An intriguing dynamic is playing out in this election – the same voter anger against those seen as “corrupt ruling elites” across Europe, is now working against him. In Hungary, it is now Orban and his Fidesz party who are seen by many, especially the young, as the “corrupt ruling elite”.. Getty Images. The Orban government has been repeatedly accused of draining state coffers and giving state tenders for projects to companies owned by close associates. The government explains this concentration of wealth as an attempt to put wealth in national, instead of foreign hands.. The projects included bridges, football stadiums and motorways. His son-in-law, Istvan Tiborcz, owns a string of prominent hotels. His childhood friend Lörinc Meszaros, a former gas fitter, has become the wealthiest man in the country. Orban refuses to answer questions about the personal wealth of his friends and family. All deny wrongdoing.. Can Orban save himself by blaming Ukraine – and i  

​ Cuba begins releasing more than 2,000 prisoners as US pressure mounts. 11 hours ago. Adela Sulimanand. Aleks Phillips. Reuters. Cuba has begun releasing prisoners after saying it would free 2,010 as a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture” while facing continued pressure from the US.. More than 20 inmates emerged from La Lima prison in eastern Havana, crying and hugging relatives who had been waiting for them all morning, AFP reported.. Those freed will include foreign nationals, young people, women and those aged over 60, a statement from the Cuban embassy in the US said on Thursday.. Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has made clear his desire to change Cuba’s Communist leadership and has blocked oil shipments to the island, causing severe fuel shortages and widespread blackouts.. Last week, a Russian-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil became the first to dock in one of Cuba’s ports since early January – something Trump said he had “no problem” with.. Cuba holds hundreds of political prisoners behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch, with government critics subject to harassment and criminal prosecution.. Eligibility for the release was based on “a careful analysis” of offences, along with “their good conduct while in prison, the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentences, and their state of health”, the embassy said.. It said the release was taking place “in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which is a customary practice in our criminal justice system”.. Among the first to be let go from La Lima was Albis Gainza, a 46-year-old who had served half a six-year sentence for robbery, AFP reported.. Cuban opposition outlet 14ymedio reported that 41 prisoners had been released from the Toledo 2 Forced Labor Prison in south-west Havana, citing the president of the Spanish-based human rights group Prisoner Defenders.. Six common criminals were freed from El Típico prison in the eastern city of Las Tunas, along with “dozens more” of prisoners from nearby forced labour centres, it reported.. It is the second time this year that Cuba has announced a prisoner release. In March, 51 prisoners were set free after talks with the Vatican.. In 2025, Cuba released 553 people in a deal brokered by the Vatican and the US.. Trump’s rhetoric concerning Latin America has pivoted focus towards Cuba since the US seized Venezuela’s former President, Nicolás Maduro, in a raid on Caracas in January.. Reuters. Venezuela’s interim government has also released political prisoners since – a key US demand – though a prisoner rights group says only a third of those promised had been let go.. Venezuela had been providing Cuba with oil under highly preferential terms, something the US stopped while threatening tariffs on products from nations found to be sending oil to the Caribbean island – exacerbating an existing energy crisis.. Cuba’s Communist government, led by Presiden  

​ French-owned ship passes through Strait of Hormuz. 15 hours ago. Rachel ClunBusiness reporter. Getty Images. A French-owned ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, more than a month after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the vital transport route.. The Malta-flagged container ship owned by French company CMA CGM crossed the strait, media organisation BFM TV – which is owned by the shipping company – confirmed on Friday. CMA CGM declined to comment.. It is the first ship owned by a major Western European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began, shipping analysts Kpler confirmed.. While Iran has said “non-hostile vessels” can use the waterway, the ongoing conflict – in which several ships have been attacked – has halted normal transport activity.. Tracking data showed the French-owned ship passed close to the coast of Oman on the opposite side of the waterway to Iran. It is unclear what the ship was carrying.. A Japanese ship carrying natural gas also made it out of the Strait of Hormuz, Japanese shipping giant MOL confirmed.. “The safety of the vessel and all crew members have been confirmed,” MOL said. “We will continue to place the highest priority on ensuring the safety of our crew, cargo, and vessels as operations proceed.”. Several ships that made the journey through the strait on Thursday hugged “unusually close” to the coast of Oman, according to maritime news and intelligence service Lloyd’s List.. US President Donald Trump has said the US could reopen the strait, but has expressed frustrations with allies for not providing assistance in doing so.. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” he wrote on Truth Social. “IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???”. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf countries.. But when the conflict began in late February, shipping was suspended, leaving about 200 vessels stranded in the surrounding waters according to Lloyd’s List.. The dramatic slowdown in traffic through the strait has led to skyrocketing global oil prices, which in turn has caused fuel prices to rise and led to fears of higher inflation around the world.. Watch: Why is it so hard to pass through the Strait of Hormuz?. How the Hormuz closure could affect food, medicines and smartphones. While traffic is down about 95% compared to before the conflict, shipping through the narrow waterway has not stopped altogether.. About 100 vessels have been able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data analysed by BBC Verify in late March, about five to six ships a day.. Roughly a third of those ships had links to Iran, Verify confirmed, while other vessels were linked to countries such as Pakistan and India.. France. Shipping industry