Trump says U.S. military operation guiding ships out of Hormuz Strait to be paused

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Project Freedom, the U.S. military operation aimed at guiding ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, will be paused to see whether a peace deal can be reached between Washington and Tehran.

"While the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said the decision was based on the request of Pakistan and other countries, as well as the "great progress ... made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran."

Hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. military campaign against Iran, which was jointly launched with Israel on Feb. 28, is "over," as Washington shifted focus to Project Freedom in efforts to reopen the crucial global energy waterway.

Rubio says U.S. military campaign against Iran is "over"

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday the U.S. military campaign against Iran, which was jointly launched with Israel on Feb. 28, is "over."

"The operation is over, Epic Fury, as the president notified Congress. We're done with that stage of it," Rubio said at a White House briefing.

"We're now on to this Project Freedom," a military operation the Pentagon launched Monday to guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio went ahead, noting Washington's priority now was reopening the crucial global energy waterway.

The announcement is seen as the Trump administration's attempt to sidestep the War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to seek congressional authorization to continue military hostilities after 60 days.

Rubio repeated U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the 1973 law that limits the president's war power "is 100 percent unconstitutional."

WHO says deadly hantavirus on cruise ship may be transmitted among humans

Hantavirus victims on the ship Hundius in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise, and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The agency received reports of hantavirus outbreak on the Hundius on May 2. Seven individuals of the 147 passengers and crew have been reported ill and three have died. The situation remains fluid, WHO's chief of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters in Geneva.

"One patient is in intensive care in South Africa, although we understand that this patient is improving," she said, adding that two other patients, still on board the ship, are being prepared for medical evacuation to the Netherlands for treatment.

Van Kerkhove stressed that the situation is being closely monitored. As a precaution, passengers have been asked to remain in their cabins while disinfection and other public health measures are carried out.

"The plan is, and our highest priority is, to medically evacuate these two individuals" to make sure that they receive the required care, and there are no other symptomatic patients on board, she said.

The ship is set to continue on to the Canary Islands, Spain, and the WHO is working with the Spanish authorities "to do a full epidemiologic investigation, full disinfection of the ship," she added.

9 dead, 6 rescued after Colombian mine explosion

Nine miners were killed and six others injured and rescued after an explosion caused by a gas buildup at a coal mine in Colombia's central Cundinamarca department, the country's mining agency said Monday.

The blast occurred at the La Ciscuda mine in Sutatausa, Cundinamarca. All 15 workers inside at the time were affected; six survivors were rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the National Mining Agency.

The agency said an inspection on April 9 had identified safety risks at the site, including gas buildup and inadequate sealing of abandoned tunnels, and issued recommendations to improve ventilation and dust control.

Units of the Colombian Red Cross are also at the scene, providing psychosocial support to victims' families and others, Governor Jorge Emilio Rey said on X, expressing condolences and solidarity with those affected by the mining disaster.■