International news from Tuesday, March 25th, 2025

Britain gave the green light on Tuesday to a new £10 billion (AED 47.5 billion) road tunnel for the River Thames in southeast England, in its latest backing for an infrastructure project to help revive a sluggish economy.

Israeli shelling killed four people in southern Syria on Tuesday, Syria's state news agency reported, after the Israeli military said its troops had clashed with militants there who had opened fire on them.

A motorcyclist who had plunged into a 20-metre (65.62 ft) deep sinkhole in South Korea's capital Seoul was found dead on Tuesday, a rescue official said, while the driver of a car had a narrow escape and suffered minor injuries.

Frozen exhaust smoke from Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket left a spiral plume in the night sky, which had stargazers agog. The UK's Met Office confirmed the illuminated swirl had caused a flurry of reports from stunned onlookers.

The United Nations said it is reducing its international staff numbers in Gaza by about a third after Israeli strikes killed hundreds of civilians, including UN personnel.

A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand's South Island on Tuesday, authorities said, as the country's disaster agency assessed if there were any tsunami threats.

The Israeli military said its forces had fired on Monday at a building belonging to the Red Cross in Gaza's southern city of Rafah as a result of incorrect identification, after an office belonging to the aid organisation was damaged by an explosive projectile.

Top Trump administration officials, including US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, mistakenly included a journalist in a messaging group discussing strikes against Yemen's Houthis, according to a firsthand account by The Atlantic magazine.