THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL is expected to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but in significantly watered-down form after veto-wielding China opposed authorizing force, diplomats said.

Oil prices have surged since the US and Israel struck Iran at the end of February, unleashing a conflict that has run for more than five weeks and seen Tehran largely close the Strait, a vital energy artery.

Efforts by Bahrain, the current chair of the 15-member Council, to secure a resolution have involved multiple drafts seeking to overcome opposition from China, Russia and others. The latest iteration, seen by Reuters, drops any explicit authorization of the use of force.

Instead the text, “strongly encourages States interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate to the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz.”

It says such contributions could include “the escort of merchant and commercial vessels,” and the text also endorses efforts “to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Diplomats said the watered-down version had a better chance of passing, but it remained unclear if it would succeed. It requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US.

Bahrain, which has been backed in its efforts by other Gulf Arab states and Washington, issued a draft last Thursday that would have authorized “all defensive means necessary” to protect commercial shipping, but votes on this were postponed on Friday and Saturday.

Bahrain had previously dropped an explicit reference to binding enforcement.

Last Thursday, China opposed a resolution authorizing force, saying this would be “legitimizing the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation of the situation and lead to serious consequences.”

Iran said on Monday it wanted a lasting end to the war, and pushed back against pressure to reopen the Strait, while US President Donald Trump warned the country could be “taken out” if it did not meet his Tuesday night deadline to reach a deal.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday after speaking to his Russian counterpart that China was willing to continue to cooperate with Russia at the Security Council and make efforts to calm the Middle East situation.

Mr. Wang said the fundamental way to resolve the Strait issue was to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible. China is the world’s largest buyer of oil moving through the Strait. — Reuters

HOUSTON — The four astronauts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis II mission flew deeper into space on Monday than any humans before them, as they cruised through a rare flyby of the shadowed far side of the moon that revealed a lunar surface under cosmic bombardment.

The six-hour survey of the normally hidden hemisphere of Earth’s only natural satellite was highlighted by the astronauts’ direct visual observations of “impact flashes” from meteors pelting the darkened and heavily cratered lunar surface.

About two dozen scientists packed a conference room adjacent to mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to record the lunar phenomena witnessed by the Artemis crew in real time as their Orion spacecraft, about the size of an SUV, sailed around the moon roughly a quarter million miles (402,000 kilometers) from Earth.

The six-hour flyby, which swooped to within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface, came six days into a spaceflight marking the world’s first voyage of astronauts to the vicinity of the moon since NASA’s Cold War-era Apollo missions more than half a century ago.

Six of those missions landed two-man teams on the moon between 1969 and 1972 — the only 12 humans ever to walk on its surface.

Artemis, a successor to the Apollo program, aims to repeat that achievement by 2028, ahead of China’s first landing, and to establish a long-term US lunar presence over the next decade, including a moon base to serve as a proving ground for potential future missions to Mars.

While designed as a crewed dress rehearsal for future lunar excursions, Artemis II generated a wealth of new material for lunar scientists to study, including meteor impact flashes recorded during Monday’s flyby that were reminiscent of sparks and streaks of light described by some of Apollo’s astronauts.

The Artemis II crew, riding in their Orion capsule since launching from Florida last week, began their sixth day of spaceflight as they awoke on Monday to a pre-recorded message from the late NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, who flew aboard the Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 moon missions.

“Welcome to my old neighborhood,” said Mr. Lovell, who died last year at age 97. “It’s a historic day, and I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view… good luck and Godspeed.”

Hours later, the crew consisting of US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, made spaceflight history by venturing farther from Earth than any humans have before, at 252,756 miles.

The previous record, roughly 248,000 miles, was set in 1970 by Apollo 13 after a nearly catastrophic spacecraft malfunction cut short that mission, forcing Mr. Lovell and his two crewmates to use the moon’s gravity to help return them safely to Earth.

NAMING CRATERS
En route to the far side of the moon, the Artemis astronauts spent some time assigning provisional new names to lunar features that previously lacked official designations.

In a radio message to mission control in Houston, Mr. Hansen suggested one crater be dubbed Integrity, after the name given to the crew’s Orion capsule, and that another be named in honor of Mr. Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.

“A number of years ago we started this journey, our close-knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one,” Mr. Hansen said of the mission commander’s late spouse, his voice choking with emotion as he described the position of her lunar namesake. “It’s a bright spot on the Moon, and we would like to call that Carroll.”

Mr. Hansen later said the crew had viewed a number of lunar features that “no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo.”

As Orion hurtled around the moon’s far side, the astronauts photographed a rare moment in which Earth, dwarfed by their record-breaking distance from the planet, set and rose with the lunar horizon as they swung around the moon, a striking celestial reversal of the rising and setting moon typically seen from Earth.

Because the moon rotates at the same speed as it revolves around the Earth, its far side always faces away from our planet and only the Artemis and Apollo astronauts have ever gazed directly on its surface.

RARE DETAILED PHOTOS
Monday’s lunar flyby plunged the crew into darkness and a 40-minute communications blackout as the moon blocked them from NASA’s Deep Space Network, a global array of massive radio communications antennas the agency has been using to talk to the crew.

Following the flyby, US President Donald J. Trump congratulated the four crew members on an audio link from the White House as they appeared on camera by live satellite feed from space.

“Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud,” Mr. Trump said. “You’ve really inspired the entire world. Really, everybody’s watching.”

Ms. Koch told Mr. Trump that one of her most unforgettable moments of the flyby was “coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again.”

Asked by the president how they felt when all communication with Earth was cut off as Orion flew behind the moon, Mr. Glover answered, “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.” — Reuters

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE — Airlines across Asia are cutting flights, carrying extra fuel from home airports and adding refueling stops as the Middle East conflict squeezes jet fuel supply in some countries, adding to pressure on an industry already hit by a sharp jump in fuel costs.

European carriers are bracing for similar disruption after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off nearly 21% of global seaborne jet fuel supply, according to Kpler.

Previous oil shocks mainly drove up prices, but this one is also constraining physical supply, forcing governments, airlines, and airports to consider rationing.

“In my conversation with airlines, they are very concerned about what the future looks like, because we do not know when the war will end and we don’t know when the supply chain, the feedstock, will come from the Gulf area,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.

Asia, Europe, and Africa are most exposed, analysts say, because the US has ample domestic supplies.

Within Asia, the pain has so far been sharpest in lower-income, import-dependent markets such as Vietnam, Myanmar, and Pakistan after China and Thailand halted jet fuel exports and South Korea capped them at last year’s levels.

Budget airline AirAsia X is now loading extra fuel in Malaysia before flying to Vietnamese airports, CEO Bo Lingam told reporters on Monday.

“Not to say that they are not giving us fuel, but they limit the amount of fuel,” he said of Vietnam.

JET FUEL RATIONING
Past temporary jet fuel shortages at airports due to shipment disruptions or contamination have usually led to rationing rather than complete outages.

Airlines have typically responded by loading extra fuel at home airports, adding refueling stops on longer routes or carrying less cargo.

For a more prolonged crisis, another solution is cutting flights, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said last week when he expressed concerns the Middle Eastern conflict may not end this month.

“If there’s a risk to 10% or 20% of the fuel supply in June or July or August, then we and other airlines will have to start looking at canceling some flights or taking some capacity out,” he told reporters.

Asia, which has a thinner supply cushion than Europe and is more dependent on Hormuz flows, has been hit more quickly.

Vietnam Airlines has cut 23 domestic flights per week to conserve fuel, according to the country’s aviation authority.

Airlines based in Myanmar suspended domestic flights for part of March due to jet fuel shortages, its transport ministry said, and some of its carriers have also cut capacity in April, according to aviation data provider Cirium.

Air India is making refueling stops in Kolkata on its return from Yangon to Delhi due to fuel shortages at Yangon airport, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In the South Pacific, Tahiti International Airport has restricted refueling for international flights to quantities essential for flight operations due to the Middle Eastern crisis, a notice to pilots shows.

In Pakistan, pilots are being advised to carry maximum fuel from abroad.

That practice, known as “tankering”, is costly because carrying extra fuel increases fuel burn.

“Some countries are in better shape than others,” said Brendan Sobie, a Singapore-based independent aviation analyst. “Some may be limiting (fuel for) foreign airlines, which then leads to the tankering. This could be proactive as some countries fear they could run out.”

DEMAND DESTRUCTION
A more than doubling of jet fuel prices since the start of the Iran war has pushed some airlines to cut capacity, while others have hiked fares and imposed fuel surcharges.

In one of the starkest examples, Batik Air Malaysia has slashed domestic capacity by 36%, with CEO Chandran Rama Muthy describing the cuts as a necessary and proactive response to a “crisis-mode” environment.

“If we were to continue operating without making adjustments, it could further expose the company to operational and financial risk,” he said.

Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways have been operating well below normal capacity due to the conflict, while other global airlines have also cut flights as fare increases needed to cover fuel costs deter price-sensitive travelers.

Even with flight cuts, airline demand is not falling fast enough to match the drop in jet fuel supply, analysts said.

At least 400,000 barrels per day of jet fuel that normally is produced in the Asia-Pacific region via crude that transits the Strait of Hormuz have been affected since the crisis started, according to Reuters’ calculations.

“There is no easy way to replace the lost volumes, especially as Asian supply will start to tighten as refiners cut runs,” said Alex Yap, senior oil products analyst at Energy Aspects.

Industry sources estimate flight cancelations have lowered April demand in Asia specifically by only about 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day, suggesting deeper cuts may be needed.

“We’re only just at the start of that cycle (of flight cuts) as demand from passengers seems to be resilient, but I think any oil-spike induced economic slowdown could hit demand in the second half of the year,” said Cirium’s Asia editor, Ellis Taylor. — Reuters