Apple has pulled WhatsApp and Threads, two Meta-owned apps, from its app store in China under orders from Beijing's top tech regulator, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Why it matters: The move signals a new intensity in the U.S.'s conflict with China over access to key technologies and information, which has already resulted in a range of tariffs and exports controls on products such as computer chips and telecoms equipment.

The big picture: China has been tightening its "Great Firewall" to censor the internet since 2000, and many major American tech and media companies no longer operate in the country.

Apple also removed Signal and Telegram from the app store in China.

The intrigue: China's move comes as the U.S. Congress moved closer to a Saturday vote on a package of laws that includes a measure forcing Chinese-owned Bytedance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations.

Scientists say they have found new evidence that there is a hidden planet in our solar system.

For years, some astronomers have been suggesting that unusual behaviour on the edge of our solar system is best explained by another, undiscovered planet. That helps explain the orbits of objects that lie at the very far reaches of our solar system, more than 250 times away from the Sun than we are.

Now Konstantin Bogytin, an astronomer who helped popularise the theory, says that he and his team have found yet more evidence that suggests that planet exists. The new work represents “the strongest statistical evidence yet that Planet 9 is really out there”, he said.

In the new work, scientists looked at a set of trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, which is the technical term for those objects that sit out at the edge of the solar system, beyond Neptune

The Hamas terrorist group has reportedly changed its demands for a hostage and ceasefire deal.

Hamas's revised proposal comes with its own set of conditions. The group is seeking a higher number of Palestinian security prisoners to be released, including individuals with more serious charges.

Additionally, Hamas is calling for international guarantees to ensure Israel's compliance with the ceasefire agreement.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer of the film “Rust” who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month for the 2021 on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, was sentenced by a New Mexico judge to 18 months in prison Monday, the maximum possible punishment.

“I did not hear you take accountability in your allocution. You said you were sorry, but not (that) you were sorry for what you did,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in announcing the sentence.

“You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” the judge said. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner, and a little boy would have his mother.”

Gutierrez Reed, 26, had no visible reaction to the sentence. She was taken from the courtroom after the sentence was announced

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Iran's attack on Israel Saturday night is a "wake-up call" for Washington to get moving on supporting American allies.

"It is critical that the United States Congress make the necessary decisions to strengthen America's allies at this critical time," Zelenskyy said in the wake of Tehran's barrage of missiles and drones on Israel overnight — ​​a reference to the recent slowdown of Western military aid and the knock-on effects it could have on global security.

“Ukraine condemns Iran’s attack on Israel using 'Shahed' drones and missiles,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, drawing a parallel between Tehran’s tactics and those employed by Moscow against Ukraine.

Exhorting international leaders to take “every effort” to “prevent a further escalation” of the fighting in the Middle East, the Ukrainian leader argued that “Iran's actions threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia's actions threaten a larger conflict.”

"Iran said the reaction would be a response to Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus and that it would not go beyond this. We were aware of the possibilities. The developments were not a surprise," said a Turkish diplomatic source.

One senior official in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration denied Amirabdollahian's statement, saying Washington did have contact with Iran through Swiss intermediaries but did not get notice 72 hours in advance.

"That is absolutely not true,” the official said. “They did not give a notification, nor did they give any sense of ... 'these will be the targets, so evacuate them.'"

Tehran sent the United States a message only after the strikes began and the intent was to be "highly destructive" said the official, adding that Iran's claim of a widespread warning may be an attempt to compensate for the lack of any major damage from the attack.

A vessel has been seized by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards in the strait of Hormuz, 50 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Commandos dropped from a helicopter on to an Israeli-affiliated container ship, the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, and Iran’s state news agency said the vessel was being transferred to Iran’s territorial waters.

It said the special forces unit of the guards’ navy carried out the attack on the container ship, which is associated with the London-based Zodiac Maritime ship management company, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

Geneva-based MSC later acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew had been aboard the vessel.