Category: Trending

Elon Musk testified during tense cross-examination on Thursday that he knew about early discussions around turning OpenAI into a for-profit company but was reassured by co-founder Sam ​Altman it would remain a nonprofit.
The world’s richest person is suing OpenAI, alleging the company, its co-founder and CEO Altman and its President Greg Brockman secured his $38 million in donations ‌and personal help by promising to build a nonprofit that would prioritize safe development of AI, before pivoting to create a for-profit entity to enrich themselves.

William Savitt, a lawyer for OpenAI, Altman and Brockman, pressed Musk on whether he had read a term sheet that Altman forwarded on August 31, 2017, relating to OpenAI’s shift from a nonprofit to a for-profit overseen by a nonprofit.
“My testimony is I didn’t read the fine print, just the headline,” said Musk, wearing a dark suit, dark solid tie ​and white shirt.
The trial, in its third day in a California courtroom, could determine the future of OpenAI, which spearheaded widespread use of AI with its ChatGPT chatbot and has been raising ​billions of dollars from investors to build out its computing power ahead of a potential trillion-dollar IPO. Musk is seeking fundamental changes to the governance of the company ⁠as well as $150 billion in damages.

OpenAI has said that Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), and SpaceX, is driven by a compulsion to control OpenAI and is bitter about the company’s success after he left its board in ​2018. It has also said Musk did not prioritize safety issues while with the company, and that he is trying to bolster his own AI company, SpaceX unit xAI, which lags OpenAI in user adoption.

‘YOU CUT ME OFF’

At ​times, Musk expressed frustration with Savitt’s cross-examination.
“Few answers are going to be complete, especially when you cut me off all the time,” Musk said.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers later admonished Savitt for not letting Musk answer a question, but rejected Musk’s complaints that the lawyer was leading the questioning.
Musk was asked why he did not sue OpenAI earlier, as well as how and why he did not realize it was going to become a for-profit entity. Savitt pointed to emails sent to ​Musk from other OpenAI founders that show them discussing making OpenAI’s technology closed-source at some point or making money from it.

“I was reassured by Sam Altman and others that OpenAI would continue as a nonprofit,” Musk ​said.
Musk told the court that the for-profit company now has OpenAI’s assets.
“The for-profit is overwhelmingly where the value is. The for-profit has taken the super majority of the value of the nonprofit,” Musk said.
Under questioning, Musk also said his ‌company xAI used ⁠OpenAI to train its own models, adding: “It is standard practice to use other AIs to validate your AI.”
Altman and Brockman were in the courtroom for much of Musk’s testimony, watching intently. Musk was dismissed after more than two hours of questioning, followed by his top aide Jared Birchall taking the stand.

$150 BILLION IN DAMAGES

OpenAI, founded in 2015, has evolved from a nonprofit research lab in Brockman’s apartment to a company worth more than $850 billion that is planning a potential initial public offering.

Musk is seeking the $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft (MSFT.O), one of its largest investors, with proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm. Musk also wants OpenAI to revert to being ​a nonprofit, with Altman and Brockman removed as officers ​and Altman removed from its board.
Musk is accusing ⁠OpenAI of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment. He is suing Microsoft for aiding and abetting the breach of charitable trust.
“I don’t think you should turn a nonprofit into a for-profit,” Musk said in response to questions from Savitt. “There’s nothing wrong with having a for-profit organization, you just can’t steal a charity.”
OpenAI has said ​it created a for-profit entity to allow it to accept private investments to help buy computing power and pay top scientists.
Musk has accused OpenAI of ​abandoning its mission to develop ⁠artificial intelligence for the benefit of humankind.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/elon-musk-return-witness-stand-cross-examination-by-openais-lawyer-2026-04-30/

ROBOT baggage handlers will replace humans during an experimental project as a major airline trials a humanoid crew.

The pilot programme was announced by Japan Airlines, where Chinese-made robots will be integrated into ground operations at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

The country’s biggest airport will host the three-year experiment, where the machines will be tasked with cleaning planes, as well as loading and transporting baggage.

Looking further into the future, the androids could also be operating ground support equipment including baggage tractors, catering trucks and power units.

The airline said bipedal robots were the best suited to working in airport environments, as opposed to other types of robotic machines.

This is because they are quicker and are able to move within and adapt to cramped spaces.

“Being human-shaped allows their introduction without significant modifications to existing airport facilities or aircraft structures,” a Japan Airlines spokesperson said.

“By combining cutting-edge AI technology with the unique flexibility of humanoid forms, the project aims to realise a sustainable operational structure through labour savings and workload reduction.”

“Currently, the aviation industry faces a serious challenge in ground handling labour shortages,” they continued.

The airline said this was because of increased tourism and a declining working-age population in Japan.

“Ground handling operations require highly skilled personnel to maintain safety, such as aircraft marshalling and baggage/cargo handling, while also imposing significant physical burdens,” they said.

Baggage handlers do one of the least glamorous and thankless jobs in the modern world.

Many workers suffer with back injuries and are often faced with complaints about lost and damaged belongings.

The robots were trialled in Haneda this week, with a demonstration showing a skinny 51-inch robot tapping and pushing large storage containers on rollers.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/travel/16291860/robot-baggage-handlers-trial-major-airline/

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met King Charles III at a wreath-laying ceremony for the 9/11 attacks anniversary.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he would urge King Charles III to return the Kohinoor diamond to India if the two were to speak privately. Mamdani made the remarks ahead of his meeting with the King later on Wednesday at a wreath-laying ceremony in lower Manhattan marking the anniversary of the 11 September attacks. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the event, he said: “If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I’d probably encourage him to return the Kohinoor diamond.”

The diamond, which is part of the British Crown Jewels and displayed at the Tower of London, has long been a source of dispute. India has called for its return, citing the legacy of British colonial rule, while other countries including Iran and Pakistan have also laid claim to it.

The King and Queen Camilla are in the US on a four-day visit, which has included a private meeting with Donald Trump, an address to Congress and a state dinner at the White House. They are scheduled to attend the ceremony at Ground Zero, which commemorates the more than 3,000 people killed in the attacks.

Later in the day, Mamdani met King Charles III at the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan. The British monarch — who hasn’t been to New York in nearly 20 years — shook hands and spoke briefly with the mayor.

The king and his wife, Queen Camilla, paid respects by laying a bouquet of white flowers near the memorial’s sprawling pools before pausing for a somber moment of silence. They then also met family members of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/return-kohinoor-to-india-nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-king-charles-meet-article-154201792

The Pentagon says the US war with Iran has cost $25 billion so far, with most spending on munitions and operations.

The Pentagon has revealed that the ongoing US war with Iran has cost an estimated $25 billion so far, marking the first official figure disclosed since the conflict began. Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst told lawmakers during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the majority of the spending has gone toward munitions, along with operational costs, maintenance, and equipment replacement.

“Approximately, of this day, we’re spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury,” Hurst said, adding that the figure reflects munitions expended and other operational expenses. The cost estimate comes as the war nears the 60-day mark, with lawmakers raising concerns over transparency and the financial burden on taxpayers.

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday said it was quitting OPEC, dealing a blow to the oil producers’ group ​as an unprecedented energy crisis caused by the Iran war exposes discord among Gulf nations.
The exit of the UAE – one of the group’s biggest producers – weakens ‌OPEC’s control over global oil supplies and widens a rift between the UAE and its neighbour Saudi Arabia, effectively the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

It could also free the UAE to increase output once exports via the Gulf resume as it would no longer be governed by OPEC quotas.
In his first public comments since the announcement, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei told Reuters in ​a telephone interview that the decision was taken after examining the country’s energy strategies.
He said the UAE had not discussed the issue with any other country.
“This ​is a policy decision, it has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production,” ⁠Mazrouei said.

UAE WILL LEAVE ON MAY 1

He also said the world would demand more energy, implying the UAE would be positioned to meet that need.

Oil prices on international markets trimmed ​gains on Tuesday following the UAE’s announcement it would on May 1 leave OPEC and OPEC+, which brings together OPEC and allied producers.
Mazrouei said he did not expect much ​immediate market impact from the news because of constraints in the Strait of Hormuz.
OPEC Gulf producers have been struggling to ship exports through the Strait, a chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes, because of Iranian threats and attacks against vessels.
As Gulf supplies have become stuck, the International Energy Agency said OPEC+’s share of global oil ​output fell to 44% in March from about 48% in February. It is likely to fall further in April as production shut-ins become more pronounced – and then further in ​May as the fourth biggest producer leaves the group.

A WIN FOR US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP?

The UAE’s exit represents a win for U.S. President Donald Trump, who in a 2018 address to the ‌U.N. General Assembly ⁠accused the organisation of “ripping off the rest of the world” by inflating oil prices.
Trump has also linked U.S. military support for the Gulf with oil prices, saying that while the U.S. defends OPEC members, they “exploit this by imposing high oil prices”.
Analysts said it was also positive for consumers and the broader economy.
“This opens the door for the UAE to gain global market share when the geopolitical situation normalises,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at ADCB.
Jorge Leon, analyst at Rystad, noted the UAE’s significance as one of the few members ​of OPEC, apart from Saudi Arabia, with ​spare production capacity that allows it to ⁠add extra oil to the market.
“Outside the group, the UAE would have both the incentive and the ability to increase production, raising broader questions about the sustainability of Saudi Arabia’s role as the market’s central stabiliser,” he said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/uae-says-it-quits-opec-opec-statement-2026-04-28/

Kim Jong Un has praised North Korean soldiers who killed themselves by detonating their grenades while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, confirming a long-suspected battlefield policy.

In a speech this week, the North Korean leader said those who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack, in order to defend the great honour” were “heroes”.

South Korea estimates at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk, and more than 6,000 have been killed so far. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers.

Intelligence agencies and defectors have said the soldiers were under Pyongyang’s orders to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Ukraine.

“Their self-sacrifice expecting no compensation, and the devotion expecting no reward… This [is] the definition of the height of loyalty of our army,” Kim said in Pyongyang on Monday as he unveiled a memorial for fallen troops, state media KCNA reported.

Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov and the speaker of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, were among those who attended the event.

In North Korea, soldiers are taught that being captured is an act of treason.

Earlier this year, South Korean broadcaster MBC aired a programme featuring two North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine, one of whom said on camera he regretted not taking his own life.

“Everyone else blew themselves up. I failed,” the prisoner said.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said last year they found memos on deceased North Korean soldiers that point to this extreme practice.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddp7pzqdvjo

As the heads of state traded jokes during their dinner toasts, Charles referenced previous comments by Trump aimed at European allies he accuses of freeloading on defense since World War II.

King Charles III gave US President Donald Trump a taste of his own medicine at a White House state dinner on Tuesday when he joked that without the British, Americans would be speaking French.

As the heads of state traded jokes during their dinner toasts, Charles referenced previous comments by Trump aimed at European allies he accuses of freeloading on defense since World War II.

“You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French,” Charles quipped.

The king was talking about places with British and French origins in North America, where the rival colonial powers battled for control of the continent before US independence 250 years ago.

At the Davos summit in January, Trump said that without US help in World War II, “you’d be speaking German and a little Japanese.”

But the king’s lighthearted remark reflected the warm tone as he and Trump bonded over the “special relationship” between London and Washington, despite tensions over the war in Iran.

He made further jokes at Trump’s expense, saying he could not help noticing the “readjustments” to the White House East Wing, which the former real estate tycoon has demolished to build a giant $400 million ballroom.

“I am sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814,” he said, when British soldiers torched the building.

Charles also quipped that the dinner was “a very considerable improvement on the Boston Tea Party,” when colonists dumped shiploads of taxed British tea into the sea in 1773.

Trump — an avid fan of the British royals whose mother hailed from Scotland — saved most of his humor for domestic targets.

“I want to congratulate Charles on having made a fantastic speech today at Congress,” Trump said. “He got the Democrats to stand — I’ve never been able to do that.”

The king meanwhile came bearing a gift, part of a British charm offensive aimed at Trump after he lambasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his refusal to help against Iran.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/king-charles-roasts-donald-trump-at-state-dinner-youd-be-speaking-french-11423409?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

NATO is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual ​summits, six sources told Reuters, a move that could avoid a potentially tense encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump in his final ‌year in office.
Trump’s administration has engaged repeatedly in scathing criticism of many of the U.S.-led defence alliance’s 31 other members, most recently berating some for not providing more assistance to U.S. military operations against Iran.

The frequency of NATO summits has varied over the alliance’s 77-year history but its leaders have met every summer since 2021 and will gather this year in the Turkish capital Ankara ​on July 7 and 8.
But some members are pushing to slow the tempo, a senior European official and five diplomats, all from NATO member countries, told ​Reuters.

NATO MEMBERS LOOKING FOR LESS DRAMA AND BETTER DECISIONS

One diplomat said the 2027 summit, to be held in Albania, would ⁠likely take place that autumn and NATO was considering not holding one at all in 2028 – the year of the U.S. presidential election and Trump’s final ​full calendar year in office.
Another said some countries were pushing to hold summits every two years, adding that no decision had been taken and Secretary General Mark Rutte would have ​the final say.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal NATO deliberations.
In response to a query from Reuters, a NATO official said: “NATO will continue to hold regular meetings of Heads of State and Government, and between summits NATO Allies will continue to consult, plan and take decisions about our shared security.”
Two of the sources mentioned Trump as a factor ​but several said broader considerations were at play.
Some diplomats and analysts have long argued that annual summits create pressure for eye-catching results that distracts from longer-term planning.
“Better to have ​fewer summits than bad summits,” said one diplomat. “We have our work cut out for us anyway, we know what we have to do.”
Another said the quality of discussions and decisions ‌was the ⁠true measure of alliance strength.

TRUMP CASTS LONG SHADOW OVER NATO MEETINGS

Phyllis Berry, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote: “Reducing high-profile summitry would allow NATO to get on with its business and dial down the drama that has marked many recent transatlantic encounters.”
In an article published on the think tank’s website last week, she noted that NATO held only eight summits during the decades of the Cold War. She described Trump’s first three NATO summits in his first term as “contentious events, dominated by his ​complaints about low allied defense spending”.
Last year’s ​summit in The Hague was also ⁠largely shaped by Trump’s demand that NATO members boost defence spending sharply to 5% of GDP – a target they accepted by agreeing to spend 3.5% on core defence and 1.5% on broader security-related investment. The mere fact that it ended without major ​drama was considered a success.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/bruised-by-trump-nato-alliance-considers-end-annual-summits-2026-04-27/

LOGAN Paul has revealed a legendary UFO video dubbed “the best in the world” for the first time.

It comes after the YouTuber’s offer to buy it for $100,000 was turned down and he secretly filmed it.

The UFO-obsessed wrestler drove out to Nevada with a wad of cash after hearing about the footage three years ago.

But when his offer was refused, he filmed the video tape using a secret camera hidden on his clothes.

The “jaw-dropping” video was allegedly shot by two pals from Los Angeles on a road trip to Area 51 in Nevada in 1995.

They gave it to Area 51 expert Chuck Clark, who showed it to documentary film maker James Fox, but it has never been made public until now.

Logan drove out to Chuck’s house with $100,000 in cash but his offer was turned down so he filmed a portion using a hidden button camera.

He had previously said he would never show the public the video because “it’s not right” – although defended his actions of secretly filming it.

Describing the footage on the YouTube show, Jesse Michels said: “A couple of college-age guys drove out to the Black Mailbox, an infamous landmark entrance point to Area 51.

“It’s along the road that leads to Groom Lake, extremely close to where Bob said he worked.

“It’s nighttime, they’re parked right in front of the fence surrounding the secret facility.

“The lights are off on their car and they have a camera resting on the armrest, pointed through the front windshield and then it cuts to under the dashboard and you see something very clearly illuminating the top of the dashboard.

“They’re hunkered underneath the car and they’re whispering to each other like ‘I think it’s out there!’ and ‘I don’t know what it is’ … and they’re kind of scared… then something appears just beyond the glass. The craft is hovering extremely close to the car.

“It’s orange and slightly wobbling or undulating in place as if it’s on a wave. You can hear the two guys whispering.”

The film shows an orange reddish disc floating silently out in the desert. The dashboard of the car is lit up with an eerie orange glow. One of the friends can be heard saying: “It’s out there” and “Get down, get down!”.

Jesse also offers a scientific explanation for the colour of the UFO, saying: “The craft emits an orange reddish colour, which is not a coincidence – a craft with strong field interactions – like the ones that Bob alludes to – creates an ionized plasma sheath around itself.

“The dominant atmospheric gas on Earth is nitrogen. Ionized nitrogen that interacts with plasma glows red orange.

“This classic observation of a glowing reddish or orange ball of light moving silently and erratically is one of the most commonly reported UFO descriptions across decades of sightings worldwide.”

Now he has revealed the grainy footage of a glowing orange orb in the sky to former physicist Bob Lazar, who claims he worked on UFO propulsion at Area 51 in Nevada, on YouTube show American Alchemy with Jesse Michels.

Lazar, who is starring in a new documentary on Amazon Prime called S4 – about the secret site within Area 51, where he says he worked to reverse engineer alien spacecraft, described the video as “very impressive” as he watched it for the first time.

He said: “You can see that it wobbles, it glows like that, in that colour and in that shape. It’s very impressive. It is.”

Logan told the podcast: “I’ve been waiting to do just do something with this footage or receive confirmation of sorts and I see this particular orange disc sometimes in UFO videos and documentaries I’m watching.

“It pops up every now and then but when I was watching the trailer for S4 that you guys released, about 80 per cent of the way through the trailer, you guys show a disc that is at night but then kind of coats itself in this orange thing… dude I paused it there and I said, ‘Oh my god that looks exactly like the footage that I have.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16275823/logan-paul-reveals-ufo-video-proves-aliens-exist/

For decades, the 1990 theft of 13 artworks from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — now valued at more than $500 million — has remained unsolved.

It remains the largest art theft in history — far surpassing more recent museum thefts, including a daylight heist at the Louvre involving far fewer works that was resolved more quickly. In 2013, the FBI said it knew who was responsible for the Boston museum heist but declined to name them, fueling speculation that persists today.

A former FBI agent who led the investigation for more than two decades is now offering the first detailed account of how investigators reached that conclusion — and publicly identifying the men he believes were involved. In a new book, “Thirteen Perfect Fugitives,” Geoffrey Kelly traces how the artworks moved through criminal networks, where violence took the lives of key suspects and witnesses, and challenges long-circulating theories by revisiting key details.

The irony at the center is Gardner’s intention for the museum to remain frozen in time, stipulating in her will that nothing in the Venetian palazzo-inspired building would be changed after her death. Gardner, who lived in the museum and died there in 1924, intended for the paintings, sculptures and architectural fragments to remain exactly as she had arranged.

The empty gilded frames of the missing paintings still hang in the museum today — silent witnesses to what was taken.

The art heist

Early on March 18, 1990, as Boston wound down from St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, two men dressed as police officers arrived at the museum and persuaded a security guard to let them in, violating protocol.

The men handcuffed the guards in the basement and made their way to the museum’s Dutch Room, where they cut Vermeer’s “The Concert” and Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee” from their frames, also taking works by Degas and Manet.

They also took a Napoleonic eagle finial — a decorative metal piece of comparatively little value that investigators later found puzzling — and the museum’s security videotapes.

The museum offered a $5 million reward that they then doubled a decade later for information leading to the recovery of the works.

Boston-area network of criminals

Some tips pointed to the Irish Republican Army and to Boston mob figures, including notorious crime boss Whitey Bulger.

Kelly followed one lead to France, where he watched through binoculars as FBI agents, posing as wealthy intermediaries, lounged on a yacht — drinking Champagne and eating strawberries — in an effort to draw out suspected Corsican mob figures.

Closer to home, agents searched houses across New England, relying heavily on informants. A triple murderer known as “Meatball” who was terminally ill secretly recorded conversations with suspected associates in hopes of earning money for his family.

But none of the tips led to the paintings.

Violence complicates matters

In the decades since the robbery, several people believed to have ties to the heist were killed, and another died under suspicious circumstances.

Robert “Bobby” Donati, a Boston mob associate long suspected in the case, was found stabbed to death in 1991, his body left in the trunk of a car after his home had been ransacked.

Years earlier, Donati visited the Gardner with another known art thief, Myles Connor, to scope it out for a robbery and said that if he ever took the museum’s Napoleonic finial, it would be his “calling card.” Years later, a jeweler told investigators Donati tried to sell a finial but the jeweler declined, saying it was “too hot.”

A separate line of evidence centered on George Reissfelder, who investigators believe owned the getaway car.

Kelly tracked down Reissfelder’s brother, a retired military officer who had initially not believed his brother was involved. He broke down after being shown Manet’s “Chez Tortoni,” saying he recognized it as a painting he himself hung above his brother’s bed.

Reissfelder later died under suspicious circumstances. When investigators searched his home, the painting was gone.

Both men had ties to TRC Auto Electric, a Dorchester shop linked to Charles “Chuck” Merlino’s crew.

Investigation with limited resources

Though investigators believed they knew who was responsible, they had a difficult time finding definitive proof.

In the investigation’s early stages, the FBI assigned a single agent to the case, which Kelly said slowed progress.

“You have to keep in mind when you’re talking about investigations, they come down to dollars and cents,” Kelly said. It was “like pulling teeth” to secure resources. At the time, federal investigators in Boston were heavily focused on violent crime, drug trafficking and organized crime cases.

Kelly said a decision to release surveillance footage despite investigators’ objections became a lasting distraction. With no usable video from the night of the robbery, prosecutors released footage from the night before that showed a museum employee entering the building after his car broke down. Kelly said he objected to the theory that the employee was casing the museum, since that possibility had already been reviewed and dismissed. The footage fueled years of misplaced suspicion; the man was later determined not to have been involved.

Despite those challenges, Kelly credited supervisors who pushed to give the museum’s security director access to the case so investigators could share leads — a rare level of collaboration — and said earlier investigators left extensive notes, first in paper binders and then later transferred to CDs.

Theories about an inside job at the museum

In photos from that night, a museum guard is seen handcuffed in the basement, his head wrapped in duct tape.

Investigators noted that shortly before the robbery, the guard opened a door against policy — one that faced the area where the thieves were later seen waiting — a move investigators considered highly unusual and suspicious.

“It’s the immutable laws of time and space,” Kelly said. “I think that there was enough information back then that he could have been charged. Would it be enough to convict him? I don’t know.”

By the time investigators examined those questions more closely, Kelly said, the statute of limitations had expired, leaving them with little leverage to compel cooperation.

The museum guard, Rick Abath, denied any involvement in the theft. He died in 2024.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art-heist-boston-512da0322ce5c93c1bbafc7a5e228b2c

Among President Donald Trump’s main arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court defending his moves to rescind humanitarian protections that shield hundreds of thousands of immigrants from deportation, one stands out: Courts cannot review his administration’s decisions in this area.
Federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C., barred Trump’s administration from stripping from more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians a legal status provided by the U.S. government that protects them from deportation. Citing widespread violence, crime, ​terrorism and kidnapping, the administration currently warns against traveling to either of these countries for any reason.

The justices are due to hear arguments on Wednesday in the administration’s appeals of those rulings as it defends former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s actions to ‌terminate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for people from Haiti and Syria.
Revoking TPS and other humanitarian protections is part of Trump’s broader crackdown on legal and illegal immigration since he returned to office in January 2025.
When it took up the matter, the Supreme Court did not act on the administration’s request to immediately end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians while the case plays out. The court under similar circumstances last year let the administration end TPS for Venezuelans.

WARS AND DISASTERS
Under a U.S. law called the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS is a designation that allows migrants from countries stricken by war, natural disaster or other catastrophes to live and work in the United States while it is unsafe for them to return to their home countries.
The legal dispute could ​have wide implications, affecting 1.3 million immigrants from all 17 TPS-designated countries, according to the plaintiffs. Trump’s administration has sought to rescind the protections for 13 of those countries so far.
Lower courts have ruled against the administration’s TPS terminations, finding that officials failed to follow protocols required under ​the Immigration Act to assess conditions in a country before revoking its designation.
Trump’s Justice Department disputes those points and makes a broader argument that could doom challenges going forward, asserting that courts cannot second-guess its TPS decisions in ⁠the first place.

“The TPS statute unambiguously bars judicial review of claims that attack the secretary’s TPS determinations, including the procedures and analysis underlying those determinations,” the department said in a Supreme Court filing.
In this and other matters, Trump has asserted an expansive view of presidential powers and a limited view of judicial purview.
Ahilan ​Arulanantham, a lawyer for the Syrian TPS recipients who challenged the administration’s actions, said “a huge amount is at stake” in the legal fight. “If the government is correct, then they can terminate TPS without conducting any country conditions review at all – they can do it for reasons that are completely arbitrary,” Arulanantham said.
The administration’s actions overall ​do not reflect a federal agency’s reasoned decision-making but rather a concerted effort to end TPS entirely, Arulanantham, co-director of the UCLA School of Law’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, told reporters during a conference call.

“This really is about a war on this congressional statute,” Arulanantham added.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has granted the Republican president’s requests to immediately implement various hardline immigration policies while legal challenges continue to play out in courts. For instance, it let Trump deport immigrants to countries where they have no ties and let federal agents target people for deportation based in part on their race or language.
FALSE CLAIMS
Trump, who sought but failed to rescind TPS protections during his first term as president, made clear ​while running for reelection he would try again. For instance, Trump vowed to revoke TPS for Haitian immigrants after making false and derogatory claims that they were eating household pets in Ohio.
Noem, a Trump appointee, moved quickly to act on TPS designations for countries, including on February 1, 2025, to end the protection for ​hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
TPS recipients, some of whom have been in the United States for years and could face separation from jobs and families, have said it is cruel to consider sending them back to countries where they risk danger and even death.
“Temporary Protected Status is, by definition, temporary. It was never intended to be a pathway ‌to permanent status or ⁠legal residency, no matter how badly left-wing organizations want it to be,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Reuters.
During Democrat Barack Obama’s presidency, Haitians were first given TPS in 2010 after a devastating earthquake, and Syrians in 2012 after the country plunged into a civil war. The U.S. government repeatedly extended the statuses amid continuing crises in those countries.
Noem moved to revoke TPS for Syria last September and for Haiti last November, stating the designations were contrary to U.S. national interest in part due to difficulties screening and vetting migrants from those countries. Noem’s TPS decisions were not at issue when Trump fired her in March.
Groups of Syrian and Haitian TPS holders filed class action lawsuits alleging the termination notices were mere pretext for the administration’s plan to end existing designations. The lawsuit said Noem did not comply with the TPS law’s procedural mandate to consult other federal agencies concerning conditions inside a country before revoking its protective status.
The plaintiffs ​said the consultation consisted of a State Department official replying to a Homeland ​Security Department official’s email to say there were “no foreign policy concerns” with ⁠ending the designations.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
Trump’s Justice Department has said rulings backing the plaintiffs in the cases are “an invitation for courts to referee interagency discussions, demand agency verbosity and gauge how much consultation is enough.”
But that defense would be unnecessary if the court accepts the Justice Department’s bolder argument that, in any event, the administration’s actions are shielded from scrutiny.
Leaning on a section of the 1990 statute that states there is no judicial review “of any determination” with respect to giving, extending or ​ending TPS, it said that includes not only final outcomes but also the decisions behind them. In a written filing, it warned against “installing district courts as the ultimate foreign-policy superintendents of temporary status.”
The argument that courts have no ​role in reviewing the legality of certain actions ⁠by a presidential administration is a familiar one for Trump. His administration has made it in numerous challenges to his policies, part of a broader push against the power of judges, according to a Reuters analysis.
The plaintiffs said the administration’s position would insulate even unlawful actions. They contend the statute lets courts scrutinize the compliance of federal officials with statutory procedural requirements.
They also cite a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that blocked Trump from adding a citizenship question to the national census, a move opponents called a Republican effort to deter immigrants from taking part in the decadal population count. The court decided that the stated reasons by administration officials for adding the question were pretextual and ⁠contrived.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-fight-against-deportation-shield-trump-says-judges-have-no-role-2026-04-25/

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old Bangladeshi doctoral students at the University of South Florida (USF), were reported missing on April 17.

A case that began as a missing persons report has taken a grim turn, with a former University of South Florida student now facing two counts of murder after the body of one doctoral student was recovered from a Tampa Bay bridge, and a search continues for the second.

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old Bangladeshi doctoral students at the University of South Florida (USF), were reported missing by a family friend on April 17 after no one could reach them. They had last been seen the previous day near the university campus in Tampa.

Limon was spotted around 9 am at his off-campus home, roughly three blocks from campus, while Bristy was last seen about an hour later. When a family friend failed to reach either of them the following day, campus police were alerted. On Friday, Limon’s body was found on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa. Bristy has not yet been found.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, a former USF student who had shared a flat with Limon, has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in connection with the deaths of both students.

He was taken into custody on Friday morning. Before his arrest, Abugharbieh had been interviewed at least twice by investigators. He had initially cooperated with authorities but stopped doing so during a second round of questioning on Thursday. By Friday, police said they were able to link him to the case and to Limon’s body.

His arrest was not straightforward. Abugharbieh barricaded himself, prompting a SWAT team and crisis negotiators to be deployed. Footage from the scene shows an armoured vehicle parked outside as he emerged through the front door with his hands raised and a bath towel tied around his waist.

The home where he was arrested was the same property a judge had previously barred him from entering, following domestic violence allegations made by his own brother.

Court records show that Abugharbieh was arrested twice in 2023 on battery charges, both of which were later dropped. Following one of those incidents, his brother sought a court injunction to keep him away from the family home, alleging that Abugharbieh had attacked him and their mother during an argument.

Abugharbieh had studied at USF between 2021 and 2023, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in management, according to a university spokesperson.

In addition to the murder charges, he faces allegations of unlawfully moving a body, failing to report a death with intent to conceal, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/zamil-limon-nahida-bristy-hisham-abugharbieh-2-vanished-1-body-found-bangladeshi-students-disappearance-murder-in-us-11408865?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Iran’s Consulate General in Mumbai criticised US President Donald Trump’s remarks labeling India and China as “hellholes” after he shared a social media post promoting changes to birthright citizenship laws.

Iran has taken a swipe at US President Donald Trump after he referred to India and China as “hellholes” in a controversial post on birthright citizenship. In a post on X, Iran’s Consulate in Mumbai shared a video celebrating Maharashtra’s cultural and natural richness, suggesting the US President could use a “cultural detox.”

“Maybe someone should book a one-way cultural detox for Mr Trump, it might just reduce the random bakwaas. Kabhi India aa ke dekho, phir bolna,” the consulate wrote in the post.

Denys Khomenko betrays no emotion recalling the night last year when a Russian strike drone tore into the protective arc covering the part ​of the Chornobyl nuclear plant that suffered the world’s worst nuclear disaster – narrowly avoiding another tragedy.
Maintaining composure at all times was critical to ‌the high-stakes job of keeping the stricken plant powered and protected as it is slowly decommissioned 40 years on, he said.

“Emotions get in the way of logic, so you need to work calmly,” the deputy director for technical operations told Reuters during a recent visit to the plant in its eerily calm wooded exclusion zone some 100 km (60 miles) north of Kyiv.
Workers have since patched ​up the hole with a large panel dwarfed by the hulking, 256 metre-wide steel structure that covers the damaged reactor four. But further repairs are ​needed in an environment still too dangerous to linger in.

DAMAGE FROM DRONE

Large swathes of the exclusion zone have close to normal ⁠levels of radiation, but some areas, particularly around the destroyed reactor, remain highly contaminated.

“A welder or other highly qualified personnel may only be able to work there for ​a few minutes, or perhaps a few hours,” Khomenko said, noting that meant repairs required a large number of such workers, who were not readily available.
It is a ​reminder of the acute risks at the facility more than four years into a war involving regular Russian air strikes on infrastructure across Ukraine. Just outside, wild moose roam the approach road and nearby abandoned town of Prypiat, which has succumbed to nature.

The drone strike means Ukraine will mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster on Sunday needing to reshield the old sarcophagus covering tons of ​radioactive debris inside reactor four, which exploded on April 26, 1986 spewing radioactive clouds across much of Europe.
Khomenko is among around 2,250 employees who still work at ​the facility, which was briefly occupied by Russian forces in the first few weeks of the 2022 invasion that has postponed plans to dismantle the doomed reactor.

The February 14, 2025 drone strike ‌sparked a ⁠weeks-long fire, damaging the membrane sealing the original steel-and-concrete structure hurriedly built over the reactor by Soviet authorities in 1986.
Experts say the 2 billion-euro structure, which was meant to last 100 years when it was built in 2016, must be repaired within the next few years to avoid permanent damage.
“The risk is corrosion and that the structure will be undermined, and then this creates a risk in terms of nuclear safety,” said Odile Renaud-Basso, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The bank ​is seeking to raise funding for the ​repairs, which it estimates will cost ⁠at least 500 million euros.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/forty-years-after-nuclear-disaster-ukraines-chornobyl-plant-is-haunted-by-war-2026-04-24/

Meta will lay off about 8,000 employees and leave thousands of other positions next month, a source told AFP.

Meta plans to cut a tenth of its workforce, looking for productivity gains from its remaining workers as it invests heavily in artificial intelligence.

Meta will lay off about 8,000 employees and leave thousands of other positions unfilled next month, a source told AFP.

The move comes as co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg makes a priority of delivering “superintelligence” in a costly AI race against rivals including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.

Reports on Thursday also indicated that Microsoft is looking to trim its ranks with voluntary buyouts of some US employees in an unprecedented move by the tech stalwart founded in 1975.

About seven percent of US employees at Microsoft were reported to be eligible for an offer aimed at workers who are senior director level or lower, whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or more, according to a CNBC report.

Microsoft, which has also been pouring billions of dollars into AI, declined to comment.

Meta and Microsoft are both set to report quarterly earnings next week.

Meta in January reported quarterly earnings that topped market expectations, as revenue grew along with investments in AI.

Meanwhile, costs tallied $35.15 billion, an increase of 40 percent from the same period a year earlier, the earnings report noted.

Capital expenses, including infrastructure such as data centers to power AI, were $22.14 billion in the quarter, according to the company.

Meta anticipated capital expenditures in the $115 billion to $135 billion range this fiscal year, driven by increased investment in Meta Superintelligence Labs and its core business.

“I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026,” Zuckerberg said on an earnings call.

Meta is locked in a bitter rivalry with other tech behemoths racing to invest heavily in AI, aiming to ensure the technology generates profits in the not-so-distant future.

Most analysts believe Meta will make the investment pay off by improving advertising efficiency and creating new opportunities, such as with its smart glasses through a partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica.

Meta is ramping up spending to record highs, announcing an array of multi-billion-dollar deals with AI partners and incentivizing employees to be more productive by using AI agents for coding and other tasks, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

Ives reasoned that more layoffs could be in store at Meta this year as part of a strategy to use AI to gain efficiencies.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/meta-to-layoff-10-workforce-amid-heavy-ai-investments-report-11400815?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

This achievement stands as a significant example of individual effort in tree planting within a short period.

In an impressive display of dedication and hard work, a man in Canada has set a record by planting a huge number of trees in just one day. The achievement highlights both physical endurance and commitment to environmental work.

Record-Breaking Achievement

Antoine Moses set the record for planting the most trees by an individual in 24 hours. He planted a total of 23,060 trees. This remarkable feat took place in La Crete, Alberta, Canada, on 17 July 2021.

Experience In Tree Planting

Antoine Moses has been planting trees for six years. His experience in this field played an important role in helping him achieve such a high number within a limited time.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/man-sets-world-record-by-planting-23-060-trees-in-24-hours-in-canada-11401243?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

‘World Sees Your Hypocritical Empty Talk’: Iranian President Slams US, Lists Obstacles To Negotiations

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has launched a sharp attack on the United States in a series of posts on X, accusing Washington of undermining the prospects for genuine negotiations through inconsistent conduct and coercive tactics.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement and continues to do so,” Pezeshkian said, while asserting that “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to genuine negotiations.”

In a direct rebuke, he added, “World sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.”

Reinforcing the same message in a parallel post, the Iranian President said “bad faith, siege, and threats” were preventing progress, adding that “the world is witnessing your hypocritical empty talk and the contradiction between your claims and your actions.”

“IRANIANS DO NOT SUBMIT TO FORCE”

Pezeshkian’s latest remarks build on his earlier statements from April 20, where he underscored Iran’s deep mistrust of the US and rejected any notion of capitulation under pressure.

“Honoring commitments is the basis of meaningful dialogue,” he wrote, while pointing to “deep historical mistrust in Iran toward US gov conduct.”

He criticised what he described as “unconstructive & contradictory signals from American officials,” warning that they “carry a bitter message; they seek Iran’s surrender.”

“Iranians do not submit to force,” he said.

In another post the same day, he reiterated that “adherence to commitments is the logic that justifies any kind of dialogue,” adding that “the people of Iran will not bow to coercion.”

STRAIT STANDOFF INTENSIFIES AS IRAN SEIZES SHIPS

The strong messaging from Tehran comes as tensions escalate in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran tightening its grip on the critical maritime corridor.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized two vessels, the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, citing maritime violations, marking the first such action since the conflict began in late February.

The Guards said the ships were operating without required permits and had tampered with navigation systems.

Maritime security sources cited by Reuters also reported that another vessel was fired upon but was able to continue its journey.

The development has heightened global economic concerns, as the strait handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.

With the waterway effectively restricted, oil prices have surged, with Brent crude crossing $100 per barrel, Reuters reported.

CEASEFIRE UNDER PRESSURE, BLOCKADE AT CORE OF DISPUTE

The crisis continues despite a temporary extension of the ceasefire announced by Donald Trump, who said the pause was intended to allow space for diplomacy.

However, Reuters reported that the US has maintained a naval blockade on Iranian trade routes, a move Tehran sees as a violation of the ceasefire’s spirit.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said “a complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade,” adding that reopening the strait was “not possible” under such conditions.

AFP similarly reported that Iran has refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the blockade remains in place, framing it as a “blatant violation” of the truce.

TALKS STALLED DESPITE MEDIATION EFFORTS

Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation have so far failed to gain traction.

Meanwhile, the White House indicated that Washington is waiting for a “unified” response from Iran’s leadership, suggesting internal divisions within Tehran.

Despite the pause in direct hostilities, both sides remain far apart on key demands, with the US pushing for limits on Iran’s nuclear programme and Iran seeking sanctions relief, reparations, and recognition of its position in the strait.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/iran-president-pezeshkian-calls-out-us-hypocrisy-strait-of-hormuz-ship-seizure-ceasefire-tensions-ws-l-10050940.html

Former Secretary of State John Kerry said that the previous US presidents did not agree to go to war with Iran because they had not “exhausted all the remedies of peaceful process”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had proposed a war with Iran to former US presidents too, but all of them declined, said former Secretary of State John Kerry.

Speaking as a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Kerry said, “Obama said no. Bush said no. President Biden said no. I mean, I was part of those conversations.”

The former US official said that the previous US presidents did not agree to go to war with Iran because they had not “exhausted all the remedies of peaceful process”.

He argued that both the Vietnam and Iraq wars share a common lesson, one he knows firsthand as a Vietnam veteran is to not deceive the American public.

“And speaking as a veteran of the Vietnam War, where decisions like that were so critical, we were lied to about what that war was about, and the lesson of that war and of Iraq is don’t lie to the American people and then ask them to send their sons and daughters to fight,” he said.

Sharing this clip of Kerry, Iran’s Press TV wrote, “Former US Secretary of State John Kerry says that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had proposed the war on Iran to Presidents Obama, Bush, and Biden, but they all refused. The prediction was regime change, that people would rise up, but we saw that none of that happened.”

Netanyahu’s “Hard Sell”

A report by the New York Times detailed how Netanyahu convinced US President Donald Trump to attack Iran alongside Israel.

“In the Situation Room on Feb. 11, Mr. Netanyahu made a hard sell, suggesting that Iran was ripe for regime change and expressing the belief that a joint U.S.-Israeli mission could finally bring an end to the Islamic Republic,” the report noted.

According to the report, Trump said, “Sounds good to me,” and subsequently signalled a green light for the joint US-Israeli operation.

Kerry said that the presentation by Netanyahu was a “prediction” and that none of his claims of people taking over the country and regime change happened.

Vance’s Tense Phone Call With Netanyahu

Vance’s Tense Phone Call With Netanyahu
Last month, according to a report by Axios, US Vice President JD Vance had a tense phone conversation with Netanyahu earlier this week, during which he told the premier off for what he viewed as overly rosy assumptions about the war in Iran.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/barack-obama-george-bush-joe-biden-said-no-to-benjamin-netanyahu-iran-war-plan-donald-trump-agreed-john-kerry-11395084?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Since rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah, 35, took office as prime minister, his government has been rocked by instability. Within just 26 days, two ministers have stepped down, raising concerns.

Last year, Nepal saw a Gen-Z-driven political upheaval that reshaped its power structure. Riding that wave of public anger and hope, voters brought in a new government, expecting a clean break from the past, one defined by reform.

However, barely a month in, doubts are already surfacing on whether the new leadership is delivering.

Early Cracks In A New Government

Since rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah, 35, took office as prime minister, his government has been rocked by instability. Within just 26 days, two ministers have stepped down, raising concerns.

The resignations have cast a shadow over Shah’s reformist image and the promises made by his party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which swept to power pledging to curb corruption and bring transparent governance.

Resignations Shake Credibility

Nepal’s Home Minister, Sudan Gurung, became the second minister to resign, citing questions over his investments and personal dealings.

In a public statement, Gurung said he was stepping down in the interest of accountability, emphasising that “morality is greater than position” and that public life must remain clean.

Earlier, Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Sah was forced out after allegations that he misused his office to secure a position for his wife on the board of the Health Insurance Board. He resigned just 13 days after taking the oath, following pressure from within his own party.

For now, Shah has taken charge of the Home Ministry until a replacement is named.

Border Policy Sparks Public Anger

Beyond political turbulence, public frustration is also boiling over, especially in areas along the India-Nepal border.

A new rule mandates that anyone bringing goods worth more than 100 Nepali rupees from India must pay customs duty. Authorities have begun enforcing the rule strictly, checking individuals and confiscating goods from those who refuse to pay.

For many border residents, who rely on cheaper goods from India for daily essentials, the move has hit hard. The policy has triggered visible anger, with videos of enforcement actions circulating widely on social media.

Adding to the confusion, some officials have suggested the directive is not formally documented, raising questions about its implementation.

Inflation Adds To The Pressure

The economic situation is further complicating matters. Following the Iran-US conflict, fuel prices in Nepal have surged sharply. Petrol prices have jumped from around 150 Nepali rupees to nearly 225, a steep increase that has rippled through the cost of living.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/two-resignations-border-anger-trouble-mounts-for-nepals-new-government-11395378?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

“During ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ my thoughts and heart were filled with pride in the character and actions of M., who fell outside Israel while carrying out his duty,” Mossad’s director, David Barnea said.

A Mossad operative who paved the way for Israel’s “Operation Roaring Lion” was killed during operations outside the country, the agency’s director, David Barnea, said. Although he did not clarify who the person was, when they were killed or during which incident, following protocol for active intelligence personnel, he identified them as ‘M.’.

During a Remembrance Day ceremony for Mossad’s fallen, Barnea stated that the missions led by M. significantly influenced the campaign against Iran by combining “creativity, cunning, and advanced technology”.

“During ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ my thoughts and heart were filled with pride in the character and actions of M., who fell outside Israel while carrying out his duty,” Barnea said.

He added, “The operations led by M. combined creativity, cunning, and technology and significantly influenced the success of the campaign against Iran.”

Who Was ‘M.’?

Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster later identified M as a former Mossad operative who died after a tourist boat overturned on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy on May 28, 2023. Israeli media identified ‘M.’ as 50-year-old Erez Shimoni. When he died on 31st May, 2023, Israel’s prime minister’s office wrote in a statement that “due to his service in the organization, it is impossible to elaborate” on his activities.

He was killed alongside two other members of Italian intelligence and the wife of the ship’s captain. He was buried in Ashkelon, and senior officials of Mossad attended his funeral wearing hats and face masks.

According to the Jerusalem Post, at the time, Barnea had described Shimoni as “a man of refined manners, a lover of humanity, kind-hearted, calm, and quiet”.

“He was a man of people. Adults and youth, strangers and Israelis, always surrounded him, and he knew how to speak to them all in their language, in every sense of the word, in a calm and respectful manner,” he said.

The publication reported that he had served in the Mossad for 30 years.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/mossad-operative-behind-operation-roaring-lion-was-killed-on-mission-says-spy-chief-david-barnea-11388835?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Donald Trump’s post on Tim Cook’s succession announcement has prompted varied reactions.

President Donald Trump’s post for Tim Cook, who is stepping down as Apple’s CEO, came with a side of “Trump First.” While he called the exec an “incredible guy”, the President spent the majority of his viral post highlighting his own “big helps” to Cook. He claimed that Cook reached out to him to solve problems that no one else could. Trump’s narrative has been met with scepticism and humour.

In the post, Donald Trump called himself a “big fan of Tim Cook” but also said, “Wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my ass’,” while recalling their first interaction.

Here’s Donald Trump’s full post on Tim Cook:

I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs, but if Steve was not taken from the Planet Earth so young, and ran the company instead of Tim, the company would have done well, but nowhere near as well as it has under Tim. For me it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well. The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to “kiss my ass.” Anyway, he explained his problem, a tough one it was, I felt he was right and got it taken care of, quickly and effectively. That was the beginning of a long and very nice relationship. During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could. Years latter, after 3 or 4 BIG HELPS, I started to say to people, anyone who would listen, that this guy is an amazing manager and leader. He makes these calls to me, I help him out (but not always, because he will, on occasion, be too aggressive in his ask!), and he gets the job done, QUICKLY, without a dime being given to those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants around town who sometimes get it done, and sometimes don’t. Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP

How did social media react?

An individual wrote, “This was unnecessary. A true leader does not need to crow about his achievements. Others will do so for him. It may take time to be publicly done,, but these kinda statements do not project strength but weakness. It’s unnecessary.” Another joked, “From this post, we can wholeheartedly conclude that DJT invented the iPhone and sliced bread.”

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/us/tim-cook-called-to-kiss-my-a-donald-trump-s-post-on-incredible-apple-ceo-is-all-about-himself-101776820598754.html

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, although it was not ​clear on Wednesday if Iran or Israel, the U.S. ally in the two-month war, would agree.
Trump said in a statement on social media the U.S. had agreed to a request by Pakistani ‌mediators “to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal … and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

Pakistan’s leaders have hosted peace talks in Islamabad to end a war that has killed thousands of people and shaken the global economy.
But even as he announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Trump also said he would continue the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iran’s trade by sea, considered an act of war by Iran.
There was ​no response early on Wednesday to Trump’s announcement from senior Iranian officials, although some initial reactions from Tehran suggested Trump’s comments were being treated skeptically.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said ​Iran had not asked for a ceasefire extension and repeated threats to break the U.S. blockade by force. An adviser to Iran’s lead negotiator, the speaker of parliament ⁠Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Trump’s announcement carried little weight and may be a ploy.

Trump’s wartime rhetoric has veered between extremes. In an expletive-filled threat against Iran only two weeks ago he promised that a “whole civilization will die tonight”, ​while at other times he has appeared keen to end the violence and market uncertainty.
With his announcement, Trump again pulled back at the last moment from his threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres ​and others have condemned those threats, noting international humanitarian law forbids attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

NEXT PEACE TALKS UNCERTAIN

The U.S. and Israel began the war on February 28 with aerial bombardments of Iran. The conflict quickly spread to Gulf states that host U.S. military bases and to Lebanon once the Iran-allied militant group Hezbollah joined the fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades sought to oust Iran’s leadership, but Trump has given shifting and sometimes contradictory rationales for joining Israel to launch the war and how he ​foresees it ending, stirring confusion in global markets.
U.S. stock futures rose, the dollar wavered and oil prices turned lower on Wednesday after Trump’s announcement.
More than 5,000 civilians have been killed across the region and hundreds of thousands displaced so ​far, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, and the war has led to the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint in global energy markets between Iran and Oman, sending oil prices soaring and fears that the global economy could ‌enter a recession.
Iran ⁠has repeatedly exploited its ability to control the passage of oil tankers and other ships in the strait in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.

Trump said in his statement he was willing to extend the ceasefire because “the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so,” a reference to U.S.-Israeli assassinations of some of the country’s leaders in the war’s first weeks, including the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been succeeded by his son.
A few hours before his announcement, Trump had told the CNBC news channel that he was not inclined to continue the temporary truce and the U.S. military was “raring to go.”
Those comments came as tentatively scheduled peace talks in Islamabad seemed on the ​verge of falling apart: U.S. Vice President JD Vance, ​whose presence has been requested by the Iranians, ⁠had planned to return to Pakistan on Tuesday but a White House official said he had not yet departed Washington and was taking part in additional policy meetings.
Before Trump’s latest announcement, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran’s negotiators had been willing to attend another round of talks if the U.S. abandoned a policy of pressure and ​threats, and rejected negotiations aimed at surrender.
Iran has condemned the U.S. Navy intercepting and seizing two commercial Iranian ships at sea as part of its blockade, the second ​earlier on Tuesday, with its ⁠foreign ministry accusing the U.S. of “piracy at sea and state terrorism.” The U.S., joined by multiple other countries, has condemned Iran for impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-will-indefinitely-extend-ceasefire-unclear-if-iran-agrees-2026-04-22/

Uganda’s military has said that it and forces from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo freed some 200 hostages in eastern DRC in a joint operation against Islamist militants known as the ADF.

Ugandan and Congolese soldiers rescued at least 200 civilians in a raid on an Islamist camp in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week, Uganda’s military said in a statement.

The Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) said the raid targeted a Ugandan group operating in eastern Congo, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which pledged allegiance to the self-styled “Islamic State” some decade ago.

What did the UPDF military say about the operation?

The military said that the raid targeted a camp along the River Epulu in the east of the DRC.

It was part of the joint “Operation Shujaa,” between the UPDF and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) that had “intensified” since January of this year, the military said, “leading to significant gains.”

The camp was under the control of what the UPDF termed a “notorious ADF commander, Ssebagala, also known as Mzee Mayor.”

It said that several ADF fighters were killed and a cache of weapons were recovered during the raid.

More than 200 civilians were released from captivity, with a 14-year-old girl the youngest of the captives.

The Overall Joint Commander of Operation Shujaa, Major General Stephen Mugerwa, was quoted as telling the rescued civilians that they were not in detention and urging them to cooperate.

“You are not under detention. You are the victims of abduction, and we shall ensure you are handed over to the relevant authorities so you can reunite with your families,” Mugerwa said.

According to the military, many of the captives recounted harsh conditions, a lack of food, forced labor and punishment for disobedience during their captivity.

“Several appeared frail, suffering from untreated illnesses such as malaria, respiratory infections and physical exhaustion,” the UPDF said.

Uganda reports improved conditions in DRC areas once held by ADF

Last week’s offense also targeted other ADF positions, including areas along the River Ituri, the UPDF said.

Uganda and DRC forces have stepped up operations against the ADF in recent months, partly amid somewhat reduced tensions on another eastern DRC frontier not far to the south — with the M23 rebels allegedly supported by neighboring Rwanda. A fragile peace accord for that conflict came into force this year.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/ugandan-military-reports-rescue-of-some-200-hostages-from-adf-militants-in-eastern-drc/a-76863450

Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will step down in September, handing the chief executive job to company veteran John Ternus.

Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will step down as the tech giant’s chief executive officer in September, handing the top job to company veteran John Ternus.

The announcement answers long-simmering questions about a successor for 65-year-old Cook, who said he will become executive chairman of the board when he cedes Apple’s CEO position.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement.

Cook joined Apple in 1998, rising through the ranks and helping drive its success as chief operating officer coordinating the iPhone maker’s complex supply chain.

He became chief executive in 2011 after its iconic co-founder and leader Steve Jobs left due to health issues.

Cook is credited with expanding Apple’s product line and ramping up the company’s value to some $4 trillion based on the value of its shares.

“Tim’s unprecedented and outstanding leadership has transformed Apple into the world’s best company,” outgoing chairman of the board Arthur Levinson said in the statement.

“His integrity and values are infused into everything Apple does.”

Levinson currently holds the board chairmanship in a non-executive role. He will become the board’s lead independent director.

Ternus joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 and became a senior vice president of hardware engineering over the course of the following two decades.

He is credited by Apple with playing roles in an array of products including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, and Mac computers.

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in the same statement.

“Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor.”

Apple marks its 50th anniversary this year as artificial intelligence challenges the Silicon Valley legend to prove it can deliver yet another culture-changing innovation.

Jobs, a driven marketing genius, and Steve Wozniak, who invented the Apple computer, revolutionized how people use technology in the internet age.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-to-step-down-in-september-11385509?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

Pakistan has put a $1.5 billion deal to supply weapons and jets to Sudan on hold after Saudi ​Arabia asked for the agreement to be terminated and said it would not finance ‌the purchase, two Pakistani security sources and a diplomatic source said.
The conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has stoked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis for around three years, turning into a flashpoint for competing foreign interests ​and threatening to break up the Red Sea country, a major gold producer.

Reuters first reported a ​deal was in the final stages in January and had been brokered by Saudi ⁠Arabia, but no financing from Riyadh was disclosed at the time. The deal was among several defence ​sales being negotiated by the Pakistani military after its jets and weapons systems gained prominence following skirmishes with ​India in May last year.
Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and has been a source of critical loans and financing for Islamabad’s ailing economy. Their relationship has deepened since the signing last year of a mutual defence pact treating aggression ​against either as an attack on both.

“Saudi Arabia has signaled that Pakistan should terminate the deal after ​it dropped the idea of financing it,” one of the security sources said.
The Saudi government media office did not immediately ‌respond ⁠to a request for comment. Sudan’s armed forces also did not immediately respond.
The Pakistani military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military and air force had not previously confirmed that a deal was in the pipeline.
The source added that some Western countries had advised Riyadh to stay away from ​proxy wars in Africa.
Saudi Arabia ​and the United ⁠Arab Emirates have backed opposing sides in conflict-ridden countries across the region, including in Sudan.
While both sides say they back a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, Saudi ​Arabia has put its weight behind Sudan’s army, while the UAE has been ​accused of ⁠providing logistical support to the RSF, a charge it officially denies.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pakistan-places-15-billion-sudan-weapons-sale-hold-after-saudi-objection-sources-2026-04-20/

DONALD Trump must stage an Iraq-style mass invasion to have any chance of toppling Iran’s regime, an opposition leader has warned.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, who was jailed for daring to oppose rulers, said hundreds of thousands of troops would have to flood Tehran.

Despite Trump‘s rallying cry to Iranians to “take back their country” just hours into the war, the regime is still clinging to power two months on.

The Sun previously told how its “final pillar”, the ruthless Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, will “stop at no crime” to protect the regime.

Activists and analysts alike have warned it will take more than foreign intervention and bombings to put the final nail in the tyranny’s coffin.

Mohaddessin, the president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said Trump would have to deploy a vast number of soldiers deep into enemy territory.

He said given the sheer size of the nation, it would be extremely difficult – if not impossible – to overthrow the regime just through bombings.

Strikes coupled with sanctions weaken it, Mohaddessin added, but would never be enough to spark a revolution.

He told The Sun: “To overthrow the regime, you need soldiers, forces on the ground. If the US wants to overthrow the regime, it needs soldiers on the ground, just as they did in Iraq in 2003.

“The Americans can send a commando team to Tehran for a specific operation, just as they did to rescue a pilot. But they cannot occupy Tehran [with a small number of troops].

“If they want to occupy Tehran, they must send ground troops from the borders all the way to Tehran.

“Tehran is far from Iran’s western borders – 500 to 600km away – and far from its eastern borders – 800 to 900km away – even farther from the southern borders, and a few hundred kilometres from the northern borders.

“Therefore, it is impossible to occupy Iran with a few thousand soldiers.

“Hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be needed to liberate Tehran or to occupy Iran, a country with a population of over 92 million.”

The regime’s future appears to be hanging by a thread following the obliteration of much of its nuclear empire by the US and Israel.

Many of its top brass – including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – have also been wiped out.

Iran’s first Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power during the revolution of 1979 – ousting the Shah empire and transforming the state into a theocratic Islamic republic.

His bloody rule was taken over by Khamenei following his death a decade later.

Since then, Tehran has ramped up its nuclear ambitions and become an increasingly bigger threat to not only the Middle East, but the West too.

In a clear sign the regime is bleeding, Khamenei’s heir son Mojtaba has not been seen since he assumed power.

Courageous Iranians told The Sun last month they are waiting for their moment to finally end the regime once and for all.

Trump putting boots on the ground inside Iran could spark the final deathblow to the fanatical regime – and inspire an internal uprising.

Mohaddessin said: “You should also take into account the fact that the Iranian people are very patriotic people.

“They are not in favour of their country being occupied.

“Of course, they like and ask for other countries, foreign countries, the US or European countries to support them, but they do not want their country to be occupied.”

The ex-political prisoner said there is a “clear” strategy to overthrow the regime.

He said: “First, public uprising, the uprising of the people. And second, the organised resistance movement, the resistance units within Iran.

“Iranian society is a very, very discontented and volatile society.

“Inflation has reached 75 per cent according to official figures, the highest level of inflation since World War Two.

“And unemployment is somewhere around 25 per cent.

“The Iranian people want freedom; they want democracy. Therefore, a popular uprising is very important and very likely.”

In almost half a century of iron-fist ruling, Iranians have suffered economic hardship, repeated crackdowns – and untold bloodshed, including relentless executions of anyone who dared speak out against the regime.

During January’s bloody protests, up to 40,000 were killed, human rights groups say – while witnesses told The Sun how they saw children gunned down, bodies burnt with acid, and protester’s limbs broken.

Describing themselves as “walking shadows”, they live in fear – and now see a flicker of hope to finally be free from the shackles of the Islamic state.

It comes as more than 1,600 people were executed in the last year in the country’s highest kill count since the post-Iraq war massacre of 1989.

Mohaddessin was himself was jailed after being arrested in 1975 by the Shah’s secret police over his links to the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

He was tortured behind bars and after the Islamic regime began its reign of terror and executions in the 1980s, he was forced into exile and fled to Paris.

“As long as this regime exists, they cannot put aside torture, execution, pressure on the people because the existence of the regime, the survival of the regime, is based on two elements,” Mohaddessin added.

“First, suppression inside Iran, execution and other forms of, other kinds of suppression.

“Second, to export terrorism and fundamentalism and warmongering behind of its borders.

“The best solution to decrease the level of executions is some kind of international condemnation, international punishment to the regime, who massacred 120,000 political prisoners in the last decades, including outside Iran.”

It comes as Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards opened fire at vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz yesterday in a major re-escalation that has tested the fragile two-week ceasefire.

And Trump has warned that US forces will have to “start dropping bombs again” if Iran does not concede to Washington‘s demands to give up its stash of highly-enriched uranium.

Iran has doubled down on its pledge to restrict ships passing through the waterway as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remains in place.

Mediators are now scrambling to secure further talks before the ceasefire expires this week.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16243695/trump-iraq-invasion-iran-regime/

For the first time, humanoid robots have outclassed humans in a half-marathon held in Beijing. The winner beat the men’s record for the distance set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in March.

A humanoid robot has been declared champion at a half-marathon running race held in Beijing, China, on Sunday, far outpacing human participants and beating the world record.

The autonomously navigated robot Shandian was presented with the laurels after a remote-controlled robot, Lightning, who technically finished first, was denied the prize under the event’s weighted scoring rules.

Big robotic improvement

Shandian completed the 21-kilometer (around 13-mile) course in Beijing’s Yizhuang district with a time of 50:26, while Lightning achieved a time of 48:19.

Both times were faster than the human record for the distance set by Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who ran a time of 57:20 at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March.

In the inaugural event in Beijing last year, the fastest robot needed a little over 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach the finishing line.

For the race, thousands of human contenders joined robots from 100 companies and research institutions, with barriers separating the robots’ running track from that of the humans.

China at the forefront in robotic development

The course included more than 10 types of terrain, including flat roads, slopes, curves and narrow sections, to test the robots’ capabilities.

A robot also served as a traffic officer, directing the participants with arm gestures and voice, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/robot-runners-beat-humans-in-beijing-half-marathon/a-76846520

North Korea said Monday it test-launched ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads in the second such test this month, likely underscoring its push to expand its capabilities to penetrate U.S. and South Korean defenses.

The report by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency appeared to refer to the multiple ballistic missile launches South Korea, Japan and the U.S. detected Sunday off North Korea’s east coast.

KCNA photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, both wearing black leather jackets, watching from a coastal observation point as a projectile soared over the water, trailing gray smoke. South Korea’s spy service recently assessed that the daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, could be considered Kim’s heir.

Kim oversaw the launches of five upgraded surface-to-surface Hwasong-11 Ra ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads and fragmentation mine warheads, KCNA said.

The missiles struck an island target and Kim expressed satisfaction over the launches, saying “It is of weighty significance in military actions to boost the high-density striking capability,” according to KCNA.

In the earlier launch this month, North Korea tested Hwasong-11 Ka surface—to-surface ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads that it said “can reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5-7 hectares (16 to 17.2 acres).”

North Korea has tested cluster bomb warheads before. But observers say the Iran war may have prompted North Korea to display it has cluster munitions and accelerate efforts to develop better ones.

The destructiveness of cluster munitions has been highlighted in the ongoing war, with Israel accusing Iran of using such weapons to challenge the country’s stretched air defenses. The warheads burst open at high altitudes, scattering dozens of smaller bomblets across a wide area that are difficult to intercept.

More than 120 countries have signed an international treaty banning the use of cluster munitions, but North Korea, Iran, Israel and the United States are not among them.

North Korea has been pushing to expand its nuclear arsenal and acquire an array of high-tech weapons since Kim’s nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019. Among them are multi-warhead nuclear missiles, hypersonic weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, whose possessions would sharply increase prospects for North Korea defeating U.S. and South Korean missile defenses.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-cluster-bombs-missiles-6e84f9d5a62f2067af2df8735fbc279d

A life jacket worn by a passenger on RMS Titanic as she escaped the sinking steamship on a lifeboat sold at auction on Saturday for 670,00 pounds ($906,000).

The flotation device was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger on the doomed ocean liner, and is signed by her and other survivors from the same lifeboat.

It was the star among items in a sale of Titanic memorabilia by Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes, western England, and sold to an unidentified telephone bidder for well over the presale estimate of between 250,000 and 350,000 pounds.

A seat cushion from one of the Titanic lifeboats sold at the same auction for 390,000 pounds ($527,000) to the owners of two Titanic museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri.

The prices include an auction-house fee known as the buyer’s premium.

“These record-breaking prices illustrate the continuing interest in the Titanic story, and the respect for the passengers and crew whose stories are immortalized by these items of memorabilia,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.

Billed as the world’s most luxurious ocean liner and described as “practically unsinkable,” the Titanic hit an iceberg off Newfoundland during its maiden voyage from England to New York. It sank within hours on April 15, 1912. Some 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew died.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/titanic-sinking-life-jacket-auction-8b435e9092435b0d7fe719f04017b1d2

ELEVEN people with links to space programs and nuclear research have either died or disappeared in mysterious circumstances over the past four years.

Online sleuths and experts have speculated on a sinister link to all of these cases over the last months.

Feverish chatter among online conspiracy theorists has now spread all the way to the White House, where Donald Trump has addressed the rumors for the first time on Thursday.

Although no official connections between any of these deaths and disappearances have been made, the president vowed to have answers “in the next week and a half.”

“Hopefully a coincidence, or whatever you want to call it,” he said.

“Some of them were very important people, and we’re going to look at it over the next short period.”

Trump addressed the rumors on Thursday after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promised the administration would look into the cases during a press conference the day before.

In a statement on Friday, Leavitt confirmed the White House would be looking into “these troubling cases,” which will include working with the FBI and “all relevant agencies.”

“No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them,” Leavitt said.

Here we take a look at all eleven victims who have either died or vanished over the years.

June 11, 2022: Amy Eskridge (Dead)

Eskridge, 34, allegedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Huntsville, Alabama.

Conspiracy theories surrounding Eskridge’s death have only ramped up after a 2020 interview resurfaced where she warned, “My life is in danger.”

While she is only the most recent person to be identified and connected to the swath of missing or dead scientists in recent years, she appears to be the earliest death so far in the ongoing mystery.

Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science with her father, Richard, a retired NASA engineer.

The Institute was unaffiliated with NASA; there, she had been working on developing anti-gravity technology.

Years before her death, which was ruled a suicide, Eskridge had spoken cryptically about why she had founded the Institute in the first place.

“If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off,” she said in a May 2020 interview with YouTuber Jeremy Rys.

“If you stick your neck out in private they will bury you, they will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed and it won’t even make the news,” she continued.

“That’s why the institute exists.”

In the interview, Eskridge drank a beer while she answered Rys’s questions and discussed the government’s potential disclosure of information regarding UFOs.

Franc Milburn, a retired British intelligence officer, has claimed that Eskridge contacted him before her death, according to the Daily Mail.

She had allegedly claimed to be the victim of harassment and intimidation – this included physical attacks and the use of “energy weapons,” Milburn said.

July 30, 2023: Michael Hicks (Dead)

Hicks had worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab before he died in 2023. He was 59 years old.

“His research specialty was the physical properties of comets and asteroids,” the Division for Planetary Sciences wrote in his obituary.

“He served on the science teams of the DART Project, the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) Project, the Dawn Mission, and the NASA Deep Space 1 Mission,” the obit continued.

A cause of death for Hicks has not been made publicly available, and an autopsy has not been performed.

July 4, 2024: Frank Maiwald (Dead)

Maiwald was a longtime senior scientist and researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Los Angeles, California.

A cause of death has not been released, and according to the Daily Mail, an autopsy had not been performed. He was 61.

“Frank managed the development of the SBG-VSWIR instrument and had previously overseen the successful delivery of two instruments for the AMR-C program,” his obituary stated.

“His roles included serving as a technical group supervisor and contributing to various significant projects such as AMR/SWOT, COWVR, AMR/Jason 3, and HIFI.”

The same month he died, Maiwald’s research on the development of an instrument that would monitor the chemical composition of cabin air for human spaceflight missions was published.

He had also done a study on water and oceans located on Jupiter in 2016.

May 8, 2025: Anthony Chavez (Missing)

Chavez, 78, was reported missing from his home in Los Alamos, New Mexico, according to police, in May 2025.

Chavez had been retired from his job as a staffer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, known for housing the top secret Manhattan Project during World War II, making it the birthplace of the atomic bomb.

June 22, 2025: Monica Jacinto Reza (Missing)

Reza, 60, vanished while hiking in the Angeles National Forrest in California. She was with two friends at the time and has not been seen since, according to police.

She had been walking on a popular trail just 30 feet behind one of her companions, who claims he turned around to find her gone.

At the time of her disappearance, Reza worked at NASA’s JPL as the Director of Materials Processing.

She also co-created a special “super-alloy” used to build rocket engines while working at Rocketdyne.

Years prior, she had previously worked on a rocket project at the Air Force Research Laboratory overseen by US Major General William Neil McCasland, who himself would disappear less than a year later.

June 26, 2025: Melissa Casias (Missing)

Casias, 53, dropped off lunch for her daughter at work one June day in 2025 – and then never came home.

The married mom worked as an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The day she went missing, she was captured on surveillance camera walking alone along a highway.

She did not have her wallet, phone, or keys on her – and had told family and friends she would be working from home, according to Dateline.

August 28, 2025: Steven Garcia (Missing)

Steven Garcia, 48, was last seen leaving his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in August 2025.

Surveillance showed him on foot and carrying a handgun. Like Cassias, he had left behind his phone, wallet, keys, and car, according to police.

Garcia worked as a government contractor with alleged ties to the Kansas City National Security Campus, which makes non-nuclear material components used for national defense systems.

His role as a contractor gave him a high level of security clearance, according to Fox News.

December 16, 2025: Nuno F.G. Loureiro (Dead)

MIT scientist Loureiro, 47, was found dead inside his home in Brookline, Massachusetts; he had been shot multiple times while his wife and daughter were home.

A suspect in the shooting was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente.

Officials stated that the two men had gone to the same university together in Portugal between 1995 and 2000.

According to police, Valente died by suicide inside a storage unit in Salem, Massachusetts, just one day after Loureiro had been shot.

Loureiro had been named to take over as the lead of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024, where he worked on advancements in clean energy technology.

He had been a researcher in Lisbon at an institute studying nuclear fusion before his move to MIT.

February 16, 2026: Carl Grillmair (Dead)

Grillmair was found shot outside of his home in the remote Antelope Valley, located in the desert just 75 miles outside of Los Angeles.

When police arrived at the scene, they attempted to perform life-saving measures on Grillmair, but he was pronounced dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the torso.

Freddy Snyder, 29, was arrested for the murder and held on a $2million bond.

Grillmair had been a researcher at Caltech at the time of his death.

He specialized in galactic astronomy – this included dark matter, galactic structure, and stellar populations.

He also served as the principal investigator for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Colleagues of the 67-year-old scientist had praised him and his work as “ingenious,” noting that he had discovered the existence of water on a planet outside of our solar system.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16237713/space-experts-scientist-dead-missing-timeline/

Ghalibaf, in a post on X, asserted that the passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be conducted based on the “designated route” and with “Iranian authorisation”.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned Donald Trump that Tehran will close the Strait of Hormuz if the US continues its naval blockade, shortly after the US President said the blockade will remain in “full force”.

Ghalibaf, in a post on X, asserted that the passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be conducted based on the “designated route” and with “Iranian authorisation”. “With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” he said.

This comes hours after Iran’s announcement that Hormuz is “fully open” for all commercial vessels for the remaining period of the ceasefire. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

Responding to this, Trump clarified that the naval blockade of the strait will remain intact until their “transaction” with Iran is complete. However, he claimed that the process will be concluded “very quickly” as the sticking points have already been negotiated.

Trump also warned that the US may start “dropping bombs again” if the deal is not reached. “Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade (on Iranian ports) is going to remain. So you have a blockade, and unfortunately, we have to start dropping bombs again,” he said.

Ghalibaf to this, said, “They did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either. Whether the Strait is open or closed and the regulations governing it will be determined by the field, not by social media.

The Iranian Parliament Speaker alleged that Trump made “seven claims in one hour” – all of which were “false”. He, however, did not note what exactly the claims are.

Hormuz a nuclear deterrent?

The Strait of Hormuz is the chokepoint that carries around a fifth of the world’s oil supply. Its closure for nearly two months amid the Iran war affected crude oil prices and supply across many countries. Now that Iran has fully reopened the Strait, it is unclear when the commercial ships will gain confidence to resume operations, as some claim they are waiting for “clearer security guarantees”, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report, experts believe that the Strait of Hormuz now functions “almost like a nuclear deterrent”.

Trump vs Iran on enriched uranium

Donald Trump, on Friday, said that the US and Iran would jointly remove “nuclear dust” – the enriched uranium – from Tehran’s nuclear sites with excavators under any peace deal, before the material is transferred to US territory.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/irans-hormuz-wont-remain-open-warning-after-trumps-blockade-post-mohammad-bagher-ghalibaf-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-uranium-11374202?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Iran temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday following a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, raising optimism about peace talks, but Tehran warned that it ​could close the crucial waterway again if the recent U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports continued.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced on social media that the strait, a slender chokepoint in global energy trade, was ‌open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the U.S.-brokered 10-day truce that was agreed on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, which was invaded by Israel after the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who with Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28 that has killed thousands of people and led to the strait’s de facto closure, told supporters at a rally in Arizona that Araqchi’s announcement marked “a great and brilliant day for the world.”
But subsequent statements and clarifications from both sides left uncertainty over how quickly shipping might return to normal, and some vessels ​could be observed making unsuccessful attempts cross the strait on Friday before turning back.
Trump said a U.S. blockade of ships sailing to Iranian ports, announced after talks with Iran last weekend ended without agreement, would remain until “our ​transaction with Iran is 100% complete”.

Iran responded sharply, with Iran’s parliament speaker and senior negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf saying in a social media post that the strait, which until recently carried ⁠about a fifth of the world’s oil trade, “will not remain open” if the U.S. blockade continues. He also said Trump had made multiple false claims about the peace talks on Friday.
Iran has said all ships must coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary ​Guard Corps, which was not the case before the war. The Defense Ministry said in a statement quoted by state television that military vessels and ships linked to “hostile forces”, U.S. and Israel, were still not permitted to pass.
Vessel traffic data showed a ​group of around 20 ships, including container ships, bulk carriers, and tankers, moving through the Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday evening, but most ended up turning back, although it was not clear why. The group included three container ships operated by French shipping group CMA CGM, which declined to comment.

It was the largest group of vessels to attempt the transit since the start of the war.
It also was unclear how the two sides would address Iran’s nuclear program, which has been a key sticking point in peace talks so far, with Iran defending ​its right to what it says is a civilian nuclear energy program.
Trump told Reuters the U.S. would remove Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV the material would not be transferred anywhere.
Separately, a senior Iranian official said ​that Iran hoped a preliminary agreement could be reached in the coming days that could extend a ceasefire that is due to expire next week. That could buy more time for negotiations on lifting sanctions on Iran and securing compensation for war damages, the official said.

OIL ‌PRICES TUMBLE, STOCKS ⁠JUMP

Oil prices , fell about 10%, and global stocks jumped on the news that marine traffic might flow through the strait again.

Shipping companies cautiously welcomed Iran’s announcement but said they would require clarifications, including about the risk of mines, before vessels move through the entry point to the Gulf.
The U.S. Navy warned seafarers that the mine threat in parts of the waterway was not fully understood and said they should consider avoiding the area.
After a video conference on Friday, more than a dozen countries said they were willing to join an international mission to protect shipping in the strait when conditions permit, Britain said.

DIPLOMACY PROGRESS

Trump told Reuters there could probably be more peace talks this weekend. Some diplomats said that was unlikely given the logistics of gathering in the Pakistani capital ​Islamabad, where the talks are expected to take place.
A Pakistani source ​involved in mediation efforts said an upcoming meeting could ⁠result in an initial memorandum of understanding, followed by a comprehensive peace agreement within 60 days.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters there had been an agreement on unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets as part of the accord, without giving a timeline. Later on Friday, Trump, who has repeatedly referred to a peace agreement as a “deal” or “transaction”, said at his Arizona rally ​with supporters that “no money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form.”
At last weekend’s talks, the U.S. proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran ​suggested a halt of three to ⁠five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.
Two Iranian sources have said there were signs of a compromise that could remove part of the stockpile.
Trump told Reuters the U.S. might not act quickly. “We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery,” he said in a phone interview. “We’ll bring it back to the United States.”
He mentioned “nuclear dust”, a reference to the aftermath of bombing strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran’s nuclear installations in June last ⁠year.
Despite Trump’s optimism, ​Iranian sources told Reuters that “gaps remained to be resolved” before a preliminary agreement, while senior clerics struck a defiant tone during Friday prayers.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-says-iran-war-should-end-soon-both-sides-may-meet-weekend-2026-04-17/

Trump also told PM Modi “we all love you” during the phone conversation, according to US envoy Sergio Gor.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he had a very good conversation with his “friend”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over the West Asia conflict.

While speaking to reporters, Trump said, “I had a very good talk with him and he’s a friend of mine from India and he’s doing great. We had a very good conversation.”

Both leaders held a nearly 40-minute phone conversation on Tuesday amid heightened tensions in West Asia following the collapse of US-Iran peace talks.

PM Modi later said in a post on X that he had received a call from his “friend” President Trump, during which they reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation across sectors. “We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas,” he said.

He also emphasised that the two also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.

“Received a call from my friend, President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors. We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas. We also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure,” he said in a post on X.

Trump also told PM Modi, “We all love you” during the phone conversation, according to US envoy Sergio Gor. Speaking about the exchange, Gor said that the remark was made by Trump during the leaders’ interaction, adding that the two world leaders share a close personal equation.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/trump-says-he-had-very-good-talk-with-pm-modi-calls-him-a-friend-10037962.html

“They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” Trump told reporters at the White House, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hand over its enriched uranium supply and said that both countries were “close” to a peace deal.

“They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” Trump told reporters at the White House, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons.

“There’s a very good chance we’re going to make a deal,” he added.

Trump said that the US and Iran are going through a “very successful negotiation”. He said that if the deal happens, there will be free oil, an open Strait of Hormuz and “everything will be nice”.

The Republican leader said that he might travel to Pakistan if the deal is signed in Islamabad.

US-Iran Talks Failed Last Weekend Over Uranium Enrichment

The US and Iran failed to reach an agreement in the 21-hour marathon peace talks in Islamabad last weekend, with Washington insisting that Tehran refused to give up its right over enrichment of nuclear fuel.

US Vice President JD Vance had stressed that if America’s “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear ambitions were met, “then this can be a very, very good deal for both countries.”

Washington has proposed a 20-year freeze on Iran’s uranium enrichment in its proposal, but Tehran had said it could only agree to do it for five years, according to reports by The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier, Tehran had proposed suspending uranium enrichment for up to five years, which was an offer that the Trump administration rejected, insisting on 20 years, the NYT reported, quoting two senior Iranian officials and one US official.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/in-huge-claim-trump-says-iran-has-agreed-to-hand-over-its-enriched-uranium-11368603?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Iran adviser Mohsen Rezaei, known for his hardline stance, further said that he personally opposed extending the ceasefire.

The military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Wednesday warned that Tehran could attack US ships in the Strait of Hormuz if Washington continues to “police” the key shipping bottleneck.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was named as a military adviser to Khamenei, said on state television that any attempt by the United States to “police” the vital shipping route would provoke a strong response.

“Mr Trump wants to become the police of the Strait of Hormuz. Is this really your job? Is this the job of a powerful army like the US?” he said as quoted by news agency AFP.

“These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles and have created a great danger for the US military. They can definitely be exposed to our missiles and we can destroy them,” Rezaei said, adding that US forces in the area would be exposed to Iranian attacks.

Rezaei, known for his hardline stance, further said that he personally opposed extending the ceasefire. He further warned that any US ground invasion would backfire, claiming Iran could capture hostages in such a scenario.

Earlier, Khamenei said that Iran would move the management of the Strait of Hormuz into a “new phase” and demanded compensation for all losses, stressing that the country would not relinquish its rights while viewing the broader “Resistance Front” as a unified force.

In ⁠a statement read ‌out on ‌state ​TV, the Supreme Leader said, “Iran will seek retribution for attacks on it and will take management of the Strait of Hormuz into a new phase.”

His remarks came after Washington imposed a military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. “We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” US President Donald Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office after the blockade took effect.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/is-this-your-job-mojtaba-khameneis-adviser-threatens-to-sink-us-ships-after-hormuz-blockade-ws-l-10035418.html

The US has confirmed the crash of a $240 million MQ-4C Triton drone during the Iran war. Along with other aircraft and drone losses, the total cost has climbed to nearly $1 billion.

The United States has confirmed the loss of one of its most expensive surveillance drones during the ongoing conflict with Iran. According to the United States Naval Safety Command, an MQ-4C Triton crashed on April 9. The brief entry in the mishap report noted that there were no injuries, and the location was withheld for operational security reasons.

The aircraft had been flying a mission over the Persian Gulf when it suddenly descended and disappeared from flight-tracking sites last week, prompting speculation before the Navy confirmed the crash.

The incident has been classified as a “Class A” mishap, a category used when damage exceeds $2.5 million or an aircraft is destroyed. In this case, the loss is far more significant. The MQ-4C Triton is estimated to cost around $240 million.

Built by Northrop Grumman, the drone is designed for long-endurance surveillance missions. It can fly for more than 24 hours at altitudes above 50,000 feet and is used for maritime intelligence and reconnaissance.

Early reports had suggested the drone may have been shot down, but US officials have since clarified that it crashed.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will not meet survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during the state visit to the US this month, a Buckingham Palace source confirmed, as further details about the trip were released.

But it is expected the Queen will meet representatives of groups campaigning against domestic abuse and violence against women at some events during the visit, taking place between 27 and 30 April.

The King will be heading for choppy diplomatic waters given strained relations between the UK and US, including over the Iran war.

Palace sources say he can play a unique role in supporting a UK and US partnership that has “survived many presidencies and of course many reigns”.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman also highlighted how the King’s visit could help strengthen the relationship and protect its long-term benefits.

“So yes, we are close allies, we do disagree on things, but that doesn’t detract from the value that both sides get from this relationship and have done over many decades,” she said.

Other details about the state visit released on Tuesday include:

• The King and Queen will arrive in Washington DC, where over two days they will have a tea party, a garden party and a ceremonial military review. The King and Trump will hold a private meeting and the president will host a state dinner at the White House
• Also while in DC, the King will address Congress, a moment which will be the diplomatic highlight of the visit
• In New York, engagements will include visits to the 9/11 memorial, where the King and Queen will meet first responders, and attend a community project in Harlem, a literacy event reflecting on Winnie the Pooh’s centenary, a business event and a glitzy reception
• In Virginia, the King, who is an enthusiastic environmental campaigner, will visit a national park and encounter some Appalachian culture, meeting indigenous people. There will be a community party celebrating the 250th anniversary of independence.

After leaving the US, the King will pay a visit to Bermuda, before returning to the UK.

The first full day ​of a U.S. blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports made little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic on Tuesday, with at least eight ‌ships including three Iran-linked tankers, crossing the waterway, shipping data showed.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal.

The blockade has created even further uncertainty for shippers, oil companies and war risk insurers. Traffic remains at only a fraction of the 130-plus daily crossings before the U.S. and ​Israel’s war on Iran began on February 28, industry sources said on Tuesday.

“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade,” ​the U.S. Central Command said, on X, adding that six vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter ⁠an Iranian port.
The three Iran-linked vessels that transited the strait were not heading to Iranian ports and were not affected by the blockade.
Panama-flagged Peace Gulf, a medium-range ​tanker, is heading to Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, LSEG data showed.
The vessel typically moves Iranian naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, to other non-Iranian Middle Eastern ports ​for export to Asia, Kpler data showed.

Prior to this, two U.S.-sanctioned tankers passed through the narrow waterway.
Handy tanker Murlikishan is heading to Iraq to load fuel oil on April 16, Kpler data showed. The vessel, formerly known as MKA, has transported Russian and Iranian oil.
Another sanctioned tanker, Rich Starry, would be the first to make it through the strait and to exit the Gulf ​since the blockade began, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
The tanker and its owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co, were placed under U.S. sanctions for dealing with ​Iran. The company could not be reached for immediate comment.
Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its ‌last port ⁠of call, the UAE’s Hamriyah, the data showed.
The Chinese-owned tanker has Chinese crew on board, the data showed.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is “dangerous and irresponsible”, warning that it would only aggravate tensions. The ministry did not mention whether Chinese ships were passing the strait.

FURTHER SAILINGS THROUGH THE STRAIT

Five other vessels had sailed through the strait since the blockade began at 1400 GMT on Monday. These comprised two other chemical and gas tankers, two dry bulk ​vessels and the Ocean Energy cargo ship ​that docked at Iran’s Bandar Abbas ⁠port.
A U.S. military note sent to mariners and seen by Reuters said that humanitarian shipments would be exempt from the blockade.
“The United States does not need to block every type of ship or enter the Strait of Hormuz; it can carry out ​an intermittent blockade,” said Fabrizio Coticchia, professor of political science at Italy’s University of Genoa.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-sanctioned-chinese-tanker-passes-strait-hormuz-despite-us-blockade-data-shows-2026-04-14/

A US judge has dismissed a case against the publisher of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) over a story about ties the US president had to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump sued the American newspaper and its owners including Rupert Murdoch in a Florida federal court last summer, asking for at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in damages.

The president claimed the newspaper defamed him in a 17 July report that said Trump’s name was in a “birthday book” given to Epstein in 2003. In that message, the Journal reported, Trump included a drawing of a woman’s body.

Trump’s lawyer told the BBC, that the president will refile the “powerhouse” suit.

US District Judge Darrin Gayles said Trump came “nowhere close” to showing the WSJ acted with actual malice towards him, which is the threshold for defamation cases in the US.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, though Trump will be allowed to file a new, amended lawsuit. He has until 27 April to do so.

Trump’s lawyer said the president will “continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People”.

The standard for “actual malice” in defamation cases is that the plaintiff must prove that a public statement was both false, and that the news organisation or individual who made the statement knew or should have known that it was false or acted in reckless disregard of its falsity.

In his ruling, Gayles said he had to dismiss the complaint because Trump had “not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice”.

The WSJ, owned by Murdoch’s company News Corp., published exclusive reporting over the summer tying Trump and Epstein together through the birthday book.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c995j57xepmo

Iran’s Ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, has denied any tolls imposed on Indian oil and gas tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, countering claims made by US President Trump regarding alleged extortion.

Iran’s Ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, has clarified that Tehran has not imposed any toll on Indian oil and gas tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz since the charges were introduced after the US-Israeli strikes in late February. The statement comes amid repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has accused Iran of “extortion” for allegedly charging vessels a fee to navigate the strategic waterway. Trump has even threatened to block ships that pay such tolls.“

You can ask the Indian government if we have charged anything up to now,” Ambassador Fathali told reporters during a briefing at the Iranian embassy in New Delhi. He added that despite the current tensions, Iran and India continue to enjoy good relations and “share common interests and a common fate.”

US President Donald Trump on Monday deleted a social media image apparently depicting him as Jesus after an outcry from religious leaders that he was being blasphemous.

US President Donald Trump on Monday deleted a social media image apparently depicting him as Jesus after an outcry from religious leaders that he was being blasphemous.

The image posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform showed him in flowing red and white robes, touching the forehead of what appeared to be a sick man and with light shining from his hand and head.

An American flag waved in the background while various figures gazed up at the president in reverence.

The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.

Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do Red Cross,” he told journalists. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

The post generated an outcry from a series of prominent conservative Christians who are among Trump’s biggest backers.

“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” Megan Basham, a conservative journalist and commentator wrote on X.

“He needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

Trump has previously used religious images in his posts. During his 2023 bank fraud trial, he shared a sketch from a supporter that showed him sitting next to Jesus in the courtroom.

His advisors have also repeatedly cast him in a Jesus-like role.

During an Easter lunch event at the White House earlier this month, Paula White-Cain, a televangelist who has served as his spiritual advisor, likened Trump to Jesus. “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us.”

‘Spared’ for a reason

Trump has more avidly embraced his perceived messianic role after the July 2024 assassination attempt, said Matthew Taylor, a visiting scholar at the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University who studies Christian nationalism.

“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” Trump told supporters in his victory speech after his 2024 election win.

The Jesus image post could further fracture Trump’s base at a time when they are questioning the Middle East war, particularly Catholics offended by his public spat with Pope Leo, who has criticized the US bombing of Iran, Taylor told AFP.

“A lot of right-wing supporters were already pushing back against the war in Iran. The rift was already emerging for a lot of his Catholic base, and with the denunciations of Pope Leo this does threaten to alienate that crowd,” Taylor said.

But Kristin du Mez, a historian at Calvin University, doesn’t see the support among his die-hard fans wavering.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/donald-trump-deletes-jesus-post-of-himself-after-outcry-11353349

Oil prices jumped above $100 a barrel on Monday as the U.S. Navy prepared to block ships ‌from reaching Iran via the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could restrict Iranian oil exports, after Washington and Tehran failed to reach a deal to end the war.
Brent crude futures rose $6.71, or 7.05%, to $101.91 a barrel by 0104 GMT after settling 0.75% lower on Friday.

U.S. ​West Texas Intermediate was at $104.16 a barrel, up $7.59, or 7.86%, following a 1.33% loss in the previous session.

“The ​market is now largely back to conditions before the ceasefire, except now the U.S. will ⁠block the remaining up to 2 million barrels per day Iranian linked flows through the Strait of Hormuz as well,” ​said Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday the U.S. Navy would start blockading the ​Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
He added that the price of oil and gasoline may remain high through November’s midterm elections, a rare acknowledgement of the potential political ​fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago.

U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces would begin implementing the blockade ​of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday.
It would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all ‌nations ⁠entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” a CENTCOM statement on X said.
U.S. forces would not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports, it added.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the move would effectively choke off the flow ​of Iranian oil, forcing Tehran’s allies ​and customers to apply ⁠the necessary pressure to get the waterway reopened.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that any military vessels attempting to approach the Strait of Hormuz would be considered a violation of ​the two-week U.S. ceasefire and be dealt with harshly and decisively.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-bounces-back-above-100-after-us-iran-talks-end-stalemate-2026-04-12/

Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favor of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions.

It was a stunning blow for Orbán — a close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — who quickly conceded defeat after what he called a ″painful″ election result. U.S. Vice President JD Vance had made a visit to Hungary just days earlier, meant to help push Orbán over the finish line.

Election victor Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO — ties that frayed under Orbán. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar.

His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orbán had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside.

It will also reverberate among far-right movements around the world, which have viewed Orbán as a beacon for how nationalist populism can be used to wage culture wars and leverage state power to undermine opponents.

It’s not yet clear whether Magyar’s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament, which would give it the numbers needed for major changes in legislation. With 93% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 37% for Orbán’s governing Fidesz party and looked set to win 94 of Hungary’s 106 voting districts.

“I congratulated the victorious party,″ Orban told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.″

Jubilation erupted along the Danube

In a speech to tens of thousands of jubilant supporters at a victory party along the Danube River, Magyar said his voters had rewritten Hungarian history.

“Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,” he said.

On the streets of Budapest, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed.

Many revelers chanted “Ruszkik haza!” or “Russians go home!” — a phrase used widely during Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, and which had gained increasing currency amid Orbán’s drift toward Moscow.

Turnout in the election was nearly 80%, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any vote in Hungary’s post-Communist history.

‘Choice between East or West’

Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right.

The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orbán repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighboring country in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy imports.

Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orbán’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc.

Members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orbán’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy and the rule of law.

In Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to break down these boundaries borne of hatred.”

Strained relationship with the EU

During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies.

He also heavily strained Hungary’s relationship with the EU. Although Hungary is one of the smaller EU countries, with a population of 9.5 million, Orbán has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity.

Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.

His challenger came from the inside

Magyar, 45, rapidly rose to become Orbán’s most serious challenger.

A former insider within Orbán’s Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily.

In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Russia under Orbán, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe.

Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party, the mainstream, center-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU’s 27 nations.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/hungary-election-orban-magyar-trump-1a4eb0ba6b94e0c80c3cd18bd36254ab

A hotel at one of Miami’s most exclusive locations was demolished Sunday to make way for something bigger.

Demolition experts completed the controlled implosion of the former Mandarin Oriental, Miami on Brickell Key, a human-made island at the mouth of the Miami River, across from downtown. It marked the largest implosion for Miami in more than a decade, officials said.

The 23-story building, which opened 25 years ago, collapsed in less than 20 seconds following blasts that occurred around 8:30 a.m.

People watching the implosion safely from afar cheered and recorded phone videos as the building’s framework collapsed following a series of rapid charges. Dust soon filled the air as building material crashed down. Some watchers wore face masks as they left the area.

Residents within 800 feet (244 meters) of the building were asked to stay inside their apartments during the blast with windows and doors closed.

According to Swire Properties, the demolition will make way for the groundbreaking of The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami, a two-tower ultraluxury hotel and residential development scheduled for completion in 2030.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/building-implosion-miami-mandarin-oriental-8630edc9e941b6abd9887ca0f75737b3

Trump warned China would face “big problems” if it supplies weapons to Iran, responding to reports that Beijing may deliver air defence systems including MANPADs.

US President Donald Trump has warned China of serious consequences following reports that Beijing is preparing to supply weapons to Iran, amid ongoing tensions linked to the conflict between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking to reporters before departing the White House for Miami, Trump was asked about China allegedly preparing to ship weapons to Iran.

“Well, if China does that, China is going to have big problems, okay?” he said.

According to a Reuters report citing CNN, US intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new air defence systems to Iran within the next few weeks.

The network, quoting three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments, said there are indications Beijing is working to route the shipments through third countries to mask their origin.

The report said Beijing is preparing to transfer shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs, citing sources it did not name.

The developments come as the United States and Iran held high-level negotiations on Saturday in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, seeking ways to end their six-week-old war.

US FLAGS POTENTIAL STRAIN ON CHINA RELATIONS

Earlier, on April 10, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated Washington is trying to maintain a stable relationship with China, but warned that Beijing’s involvement with Iran in a manner counter to US interests could complicate ties.

“The underlying goals of our economies are so different. But there’s a way we can have some economic stability. If China is going to be involved in Iran in a way that’s harmful to US interests, then that obviously complicates it, and that’s China’s responsibility to eliminate that,” Greer said in an interview on CNBC.

Greer also said he expects Trump to have a good meeting next month with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“I think the thing to remember with China is, although we’re trying very hard to have stability with China, particularly in trade and economics, not every challenge with them is resolved,” he added.

LONG HISTORY OF US -IRAN HOSTILITY

The United States and Iran have been adversaries since the 1979 Islamic revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran, when 52 Americans were held for 444 days.

Relations have remained strained through multiple developments, including US sanctions, disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme, and Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

There have also been key flashpoints in recent years, including the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020 and strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025.

More recently, tensions escalated further in February 2026 when coordinated US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliatory missile attacks and disruption to global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/donald-trump-warning-china-weapons-iran-air-defence-manpads-us-intelligence-islamabad-talks-ws-l-10028434.html

The U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end their war despite lengthy talks that concluded on Sunday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, ​jeopardising a fragile ceasefire.
Each side blamed the other for the failure of the 21-hour-long negotiations to end fighting that has killed thousands and sent global oil prices soaring since ‌it began over six weeks ago.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vice President JD Vance, the head of the U.S. delegation, told reporters shortly before he left Islamabad.

U.S. CITES ‘RED LINES’, IRAN SAYS DEMANDS ‘EXCESSIVE’
“So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are.”
The ​U.S. delegation later left Pakistan, while the Iranians were to depart later on Sunday, two Pakistani sources told Reuters.
Vance said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including not to ​build nuclear weapons.
“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that ⁠would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

The talks in Islamabad, ​after a ceasefire earlier in the week, were the first direct U.S.-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said that “excessive” U.S. demands ​had hindered reaching an agreement. Other Iranian media said there was agreement on a number of issues but that the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear programme were the main points of difference.
A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry said the talks were conducted in an atmosphere of mistrust. “It is natural that we shouldn’t have expected to reach agreement in just one session,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold ​their commitment to ceasefire,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement after the talks. The two sides agreed on Tuesday to a two-week ceasefire in an attempt to wind down a war that ​began on February 28 with air strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran.

In his brief press conference, Vance did not mention reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies ‌that Tehran has ⁠blocked since the war began.

Vance said he had spoken with President Donald Trump as many as a dozen times during the talks. But even as the negotiations continued, Trump said on Saturday that a deal was not entirely necessary.
“We’re negotiating, whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me, because we’ve won,” he told reporters.
The U.S. delegation included special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iran’s team included Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ
“There were mood swings from the two sides and the temperature went up and down during the meeting,” a Pakistani source said ​in reference to an early round of talks, ​which carried on overnight.
Islamabad, a city of more ⁠than 2 million people, was locked down during the talks with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.
Before the talks began, a senior Iranian source told Reuters the U.S. had agreed to release frozen assets in Qatar and other foreign banks. A U.S. official denied agreeing to release the money.
As ​well as the release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across ​the region, including in Lebanon, ⁠according to Iranian state TV and officials.
Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the differences in Islamabad, three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, in what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-iran-talks-pause-now-disagreements-remain-2026-04-11/

When JD Vance arrives in Islamabad for talks on Saturday with Iranian officials, it will fulfill a wish for ​Tehran’s remaining leaders, some of whom have quietly sought the U.S. vice president to take a lead role in negotiations to end the war, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
Iran ‌views Vance as one of the most anti-war figures in President Donald Trump’s inner circle, said one regional official and four people familiar with the talks.

That reputation, long a fixture of his political brand, has led Tehran to believe Vance is the most likely among Trump’s close associates to seek a deal in good faith, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.
There is no indication Vance would adopt a more accommodating negotiating stance than any other representative sent by Trump, who has threatened to renew the ​U.S. bombing campaign if talks fail.
A White House official said it was Trump’s decision alone to send Vance to Pakistan for the talks, and that the president will make the final call about what deal ​is acceptable.

But the vice president’s presence – and whether Tehran’s instincts about him are right – will nonetheless be one factor determining whether the first face-to-face talks since the war ⁠broke out on February 28 have a shot at succeeding.
The stakes are high for Iran and the Trump administration, which is seeking an off-ramp to an unpopular war seven months before competitive midterm elections in November.
RISK AND REWARD ​FOR VANCE
Vance, an early frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, stands to benefit politically if talks succeed. But he also risks becoming further associated with a foreign quagmire that has killed thousands of civilians and pushed up gas prices ​and inflation if talks drag on or fail altogether, analysts say.
“If this peace negotiation goes well and the result is one that’s popular, it could help Vance’s image,” said Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment. “But I think there’s also some danger for Vance that he becomes more the face of the war.”

Wall Street is reaching for some unusual yardsticks to price Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
At least one of SpaceX’s large institutional investors is privately benchmarking the rocket and satellite company not against aerospace rivals like Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab or telecom giants like AT&T (T.N), opens new tab, but against market darling Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), opens new tab and AI infrastructure plays like GE Vernova (GEV.N), opens new tab and Vertiv (VRT.N), opens new tab – in a bid to ​justify a $1.75 trillion valuation ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.

The framework, described to Reuters for the first time by a source familiar with the company’s thinking, illustrates the unusual challenge of pricing a company with no obvious ‌public peers – and the lengths to which Wall Street is going to rationalize a premium valuation.
SpaceX has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, Reuters reported last week. The company is scheduled to hold an analyst day on April 21, Reuters previously reported.
At a potential valuation of $1.75 trillion, SpaceX looks expensive by many traditional measures, including comparisons to the earnings and revenue multiples at firms often cited as reference points for parts of its business. In space that means Boeing and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, whose United Launch Alliance joint venture competes with SpaceX in launch services. In internet access, the peers would be AT&T and Verizon (VZ.N), opens new tab.

But financial backers of the firm, on track to raise $75 billion in an IPO this year, ​contend that comparisons to established firms in legacy businesses miss the point of SpaceX and other Musk companies – to take advantage of the emergence of long-term, “secular” economic shifts at a time when few competitors are equipped to do so.
Musk’s companies have historically commanded rich multiples ​in part because investors are betting on him personally – Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab being the clearest example — and SpaceX investors expect that dynamic to carry over into any public offering.
It’s “pretty darn exciting” to sell into “the largest total addressable market ⁠in human history” – a potential $370 billion in space business, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen told IPO bankers on a conference call this week, according to two people familiar with the matter. He tabbed the potential market for the firm’s Starlink internet service at $1.6 trillion, the people said.

SpaceX did not respond ​to a request for comment.
RETHINKING COMPARABLES
Finding the right comparables for SpaceX lies at the center of a fierce debate over the pricing of the massive IPO, as bankers and investors grapple with how to value the company despite few, if any, closely comparable public peers.
It is common for investors and bankers ​to sort for comparables by sector, using the longstanding assumption that industry is a good proxy for financial opportunity and risk. But many investors contend that comparable companies do not need to operate in the same industry – because, in this view, what matters are a firm’s potential cash flows, growth profiles and risk characteristics. This approach holds that a better comparison for SpaceX comes from companies selling into the AI data-center buildout, which have famously been rewarded with rising shares and high multiples.

For smaller funds, the calculus is different, said Jay Bala, portfolio manager at Toronto-based AIP, which manages roughly $100 million in assets, a large portion concentrated in SpaceX. “I’m piggybacking on the largest funds ​in the world. A huge amount of due diligence has already been done. I’m not going to second-guess some of the biggest investors on the planet,” he said. He acknowledged it is difficult to obtain detailed financial information about SpaceX: “You can only get so much. It’s hard to get numbers ​sometimes.”
STARLINK VERSUS LEGACY TELECOMS
For Starlink — or what SpaceX calls its “connectivity” business — the reflexive benchmarks are legacy telecom firms, but some investors argue those comparisons are skewed by aging fixed infrastructure, saturated domestic markets and years of modest growth.
“I wouldn’t look at a legacy AT&T and Verizon as being very relevant to the economic model ‌for Starlink, even though ⁠they’re both in the business of giving you communication,” a senior executive at one of SpaceX’s large institutional investors told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential internal work.
Instead, SpaceX investors point to Palantir for its secular growth, high return on invested capital, good margins and asset-light composition — qualities that fans say justify the high multiples the stock commands and suggest greater opportunities down the road.
Palantir is well known as one of the priciest stocks in the market, recently trading at 43 times expected revenue and 75 times earnings. Skeptics say those levels are likely unsustainable, but SpaceX fans contend that the figures show that premium valuations are attainable if backed by outstanding financial performance.
That said, at $1.75 trillion, even Palantir would be cheaper on some of these measures than SpaceX, which would trade at 110 times 2025 revenue estimates, according to a PitchBook calculation.
“Investors should size positions with the understanding that ​they are paying a platform premium today for infrastructure-monopoly economics tomorrow,” PitchBook ​analyst Franco Granda said in a note last month.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/unconventional-logic-behind-spacexs-175-trillion-price-tag-2026-04-10/

Seyed Abbas Araghchi noted that a regional ceasefire, including one with Lebanon, could hasten Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, which is set to resume soon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday warned the United States against allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “kill diplomacy,” as a fragile ceasefire took hold between the nations following 39 days of fighting. He also said that a region-wide ceasefire, including the one about to happen with Lebanon, would expedite his “jailing”.

In a post on social media platform X, Araghchi said, “Netanyahu’s criminal trial resumes on Sun(day). A region-wide ceasefire, incl(uding) in Lebanon, would hasten his jailing.”

President Trump blamed the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies for spurring the release of a deranged Haitian migrant who allegedly bludgeoned a Florida mother to death in broad daylight — and shared horrific footage of the attack.

Rolbert Jaochin, 40, allegedly beat the 51-year-old mother of two with a hammer and left her to die in the parking lot outside a Chevron gas station in Fort Myers Friday morning, according to court records viewed by The Post.

Trump shared a lengthy post Thursday on Truth Social, calling out the “animal” responsible for the grisly killing.

In the same post, he included an uncensored clip of the attack, calling it “one of the most vicious things you will ever see.”

“To my fellow Republicans, and frankly all Common Sense Americans, NEVER FORGET that Joe Biden and the Democrat Party turned the United States of America into a dumping ground,” Trump seethed.

“Please say a prayer for this innocent woman’s family. We will ensure quick and severe JUSTICE is served in this case!” he added.

The president noted that he wouldn’t recommend watching the 20-second footage capturing the victim’s last moments, but thought he “had an obligation to put it up so that people can see what Democrats are protecting.”

In the harrowing video, Jaochin can be seen pounding the windshield of a black SUV in the gas station parking lot before the victim, an employee of the gas station, walks out of a nearby storefront and says something indiscernible to him.

The alleged monster shouted something back while storming over. As he approached the mother, he jumped up and whacked her in the face with a hammer, the clip shows.

She fell back onto the sidewalk, lying face up and prone as he bludgeoned her six more times, the stomach-turning footage shows.

He then stepped over her body and fled as if nothing had happened, according to the video.

The victim was pronounced dead on that same sidewalk not long after. First responders found her there, lying in a pool of her own blood, according to the court documents.

Jaochin was swiftly taken into custody that same day after several officers recognized him from previous encounters.

He reportedly confessed to the senseless murder. He was charged with homicide, criminal mischief, and damage of property over $1,000.

Source : https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/us-news/trump-blames-biden-for-allowing-haitian-migrant-accused-of-bludgeoning-florida-into-us/

Israel pounded Lebanon with its heaviest strikes yet on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people and drawing a threat of retaliation from Iran, which suggested it would be “unreasonable” to ‌proceed with talks to forge a permanent peace deal with the United States.
The warning from Iran’s lead negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bager Qalibaf, laid bare the continued volatility in the region following Tuesday’s ceasefire announcement by President Donald Trump. The two sides have laid out sharply contrasting agendas for peace talks set to start on Saturday, but it was unclear whether the two-week ceasefire would hold until then.

Qalibaf said Israel had already violated several conditions of that ceasefire by ramping up its parallel war against the Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah, while the ​U.S had violated the agreement by insisting that Iran abandon its nuclear ambitions.
“In such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations were unreasonable,” he said in a statement.
Israel and the United States both said the ​two-week ceasefire did not cover Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes would continue.
“I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just ⁠didn’t,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the U.S. delegation, told reporters in Budapest.

The two sides appeared to be far apart on Iran’s nuclear program as well – one of the factors that Trump cited as the ​basis for war.
Trump said Iran had agreed to stop enriching uranium, which can be turned into nuclear weapons, and the White House said Iran has indicated it would turn over its existing stocks.
“The United States will, working with Iran, ​dig up and remove all of the deeply buried … Nuclear ‘Dust,'” Trump said on social media.
Qalibaf, however, said it was allowed to continue enriching uranium under the terms of the ceasefire.
Though both the United States and Iran declared victory in a five-week-old war that has killed thousands, their core disputes remained unresolved. Each side is sticking to competing demands for a deal that could shape the Middle East for generations.
Despite the uncertainty, world stock indexes surged while oil prices plunged 14% to settle near $95 per barrel , after falling as low ​as $90.40.

Benchmark Brent crude remains roughly $25 higher than before the joint U.S.-Israel attacks began. Tehran’s newly demonstrated ability to cut off Gulf energy supplies through its grip on the strait, despite decades of massive U.S. military investment in the ​region, shows how the conflict has already altered power dynamics in the Gulf.

‘FINGER ON THE TRIGGER’

Netanyahu said Israel had its “finger on the trigger” and was prepared to return to fighting at “any moment.”
Lebanon’s civil defense service said 254 people had been killed in Israel’s ‌strikes across Lebanon ⁠on Wednesday. The highest toll was in the capital Beirut, where Israeli strikes killed 91 people, it said. Residents said some of the Israeli strikes had come without the usual warnings for civilians to evacuate.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, said early Thursday that it fired rockets at northern Israel in response to “ceasefire violations.”
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what he called indiscriminate Israeli attacks on Lebanon, saying in a statement on X that Lebanon “must be fully covered” by the ceasefire.
Leaders of 13 European countries, Japan and Canada also issued a joint statement welcoming the ceasefire and calling for a swift end to hostilities in order to “avert a severe global energy crisis.”
Iran also struck oil ​facilities in nearby Gulf countries, including a pipeline in ​Saudi Arabia that has been used to bypass the ⁠blockaded Strait of Hormuz, according to an oil industry source. Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE also reported missile and drone strikes.
The Strait of Hormuz remained shut to vessels sailing without a permit and shippers said they needed more clarity before resuming transit.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy posted a map showing alternative shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz to help ​ships avoid naval mines, the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA said.
In a flurry of online posts, Trump announced new tariffs of 50% on all goods from any country ​that supplies arms to Iran, though ⁠he lacks the authority to do so.

IRAN’S RULING ESTABLISHMENT SURVIVES

Crowds took to the streets of Iran overnight to celebrate, waving Iranian flags and burning those of the United States and Israel. But there was also wariness that a deal would not hold.
“Israel will not allow diplomacy to work and Trump might change his view tomorrow. But at least we can sleep tonight without strikes,” Alireza, 29, a government employee in Tehran, told Reuters by phone.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-agrees-two-week-ceasefire-iran-says-safe-passage-through-hormuz-possible-2026-04-08/

U.S. President Donald Trump vented his frustration with NATO during a private meeting with its secretary-general, Mark Rutte, on Wednesday as relations in the military alliance reached a ​crisis point over the Iran war.
“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” ‌after spending more than two hours at the White House. “This was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends.”

Rutte spoke hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying of NATO: “They were tested, and they failed,” during the Iran war.
Several NATO countries resisted supporting the U.S. military campaign against Iran by denying U.S. military planes use of their airspace or declining to send naval forces to ​help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for energy tankers.
Without specifying the countries, Rutte said his own view was that “some” NATO countries had failed to live up to their ​commitments in the Iran operation but that “the large majority of Europeans” had been helpful.
The White House did not disclose details of the talks. Trump ⁠posted on Truth Social after the meeting in capitalized letters that “NATO wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again.”

Trump has repeatedly called NATO a “paper ​tiger” and threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance in recent weeks, arguing that Washington’s European allies have relied on U.S. security guarantees while providing inadequate support for the U.S.-Israeli bombing ​campaign in Iran.
Although Trump said on Tuesday the attacks on Iran would be paused under a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the conflict has continued to strain ties between Washington and its allies, suggesting the diplomatic consequences may linger longer.
Leavitt on Wednesday said that NATO countries had “turned their backs on the American people,” who fund their nations’ defense, and that Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief.
Trump has called ​for countries that depend on oil from the Gulf region to break Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, but European countries are unlikely to join mine-clearing or other missions to ​free up navigation as long as hostilities continue, according to two European diplomats.

A ‘DANGEROUS POINT’ FOR THE ALLIANCE

Rutte, known in Europe as a “Trump whisperer,” has cultivated a warm relationship with Trump despite the tensions and referred ‌to the ⁠president last year as a “daddy” handling a schoolyard brawl between Israel and Iran. Another European diplomat described Rutte’s approach to Trump as deferential but effective.
Conflict over Iran has worsened transatlantic anxieties over Ukraine, Greenland and military spending, although senior U.S. officials have privately reassured European governments that the administration remains committed to NATO, according to one of the two European officials, who was involved in such conversations.
“This is a dangerous point for the transatlantic alliance,” said Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokesperson now at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.
A NATO official said Rutte, ​while at the White House, would seek to ​increase defense-industry cooperation and to discuss the ⁠wars in Iran and Ukraine.
NATO is a defensive alliance focused on North America and Europe, and it’s not clear precisely what role Trump expected it to play in the Middle East.
“I expect he will keep up the dialogue on Ukraine and burden-shifting within NATO,” another senior European ​diplomat said, adding that the former Dutch politician has said alliance members “should lean into opening Hormuz” after a ceasefire.
Trump also spoke with Emmanuel ​Macron on Wednesday, the French ⁠president said in a post on X.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-meets-nato-chief-iran-war-strains-alliance-2026-04-08/

Mediation efforts to halt the war in Iran were hours from collapse when Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations, four Pakistani sources told Reuters.
The ​effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy, the sources – with direct knowledge of the talks – said.

With a deadline ‌set by U.S. President Donald Trump looming, Pakistani officials mounted a last-ditch attempt to pass messages between Tehran and Washington, after Trump warned that continued fighting that night could wipe out “a whole civilization.”
Pakistan’s effort involved direct contact with top officials across all sides, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and senior Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, one of the sources said.
After what a second source described as several “intense, breathless” hours during which “the talks were almost dead”, Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions ​and to enter negotiations.

“In the evening, Iran was on thin ice after the attacks on KSA (Saudi Arabia) but they knew there would be no extension to the deadline,” the first source said.
Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership remained engaged ​through the night, speaking to senior U.S. and Iranian, Saudi and other officials until Trump announced the breakthrough.
Minutes before Trump posted the announcement, he was on the phone with Pakistan’s army ⁠chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, the source said.

ASSURANCES ON ISRAEL

While Pakistan conveyed its “strongest ever anger” to Iran over the strike on Saudi Arabia, with whom Islamabad has a mutual defence pact that could drag it into the war, it simultaneously sought assurances ​from Washington that it would rein in Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian officials said they had launched the strike on the petrochemical complex in Jubail after an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical facility, the second source said. Tehran could not enter negotiations if ​such strikes continued, they added.

Pakistan then told Washington that Israeli actions were jeopardising its peace efforts and that Islamabad might not be able to persuade Iran to come to the table, the source said.
Only after receiving an assurance that Israel would hold back, was Pakistan able to persuade Tehran to agree to a temporary ceasefire without preconditions.
A source briefed on the matter said that Israel had opposed a deal with Iran, believing more could be achieved militarily to further weaken Iran’s leadership, although Israel had decided to ultimately support any decision made by Trump.
A ​second source said that Israel had pressed the Trump administration against reaching a deal with Tehran.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether Israel had opposed a ceasefire.
An Israeli official said Washington had coordinated ​with Israel, insisting that the truce did not include any commitment to permanently end the war, compensate Iran or lift sanctions.

In any negotiations with Tehran, Washington would insist Iran hand over its nuclear material, halt uranium enrichment and remove the threat posed of its ballistic missile programme, the official said.
In a ‌televised address on ⁠Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had yet to achieve all its goals, but could do so either through a U.S.-Iran deal or by resuming the fighting, warning that Israel’s “finger is on the trigger.”

NO ONE SLEPT

Around midnight (1900 GMT), Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to observe a ceasefire to allow the peace process to begin.
The request was a coordinated move to lock in the ceasefire and came after both sides had already agreed in principle, the first source said.
“We wouldn’t have made the request if the answer was going to be negative,” the source said.
The late-night conversations included repeated exchanges over a 15-point U.S. proposal and two core questions: what would the ceasefire look like and the parameters for the talks, a diplomat from the ​Middle East who has been in contact with both sides ​said.
Iran proposed recognition of its sovereignty over the international ⁠waterway at the centre of much of the conflict – the Strait of Hormuz – a demand likely to be unacceptable to Washington, the diplomat said.
Tehran was also asking for the right to pursue nuclear energy and strike bilateral defence deals with regional states, as mediators tried to steer talks away from issues that could cause immediate clashes, the diplomat added.
Talks will start on Saturday and ​the U.S. delegation will be led by Vance, with Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also part of the team, the White House said in an announcement that followed ​hours of speculation on what Trump would ⁠decide.
Iran has indicated it would turn over its stocks of enriched uranium, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters as she made the announcement about talks.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/talks-were-almost-dead-pakistans-last-ditch-effort-secure-iran-war-truce-2026-04-08/

China and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. resolution encouraging states to coordinate ​efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the measure biased against Iran, while Washington’s ambassador to the world body called on “responsible ‌nations” to join the U.S. in securing the waterway.
The 15-member Security Council voted 11 in favor of the resolution presented by Bahrain, with two against – China and Russia – and two abstentions.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as Iran showed no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, Washington time.
Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran at ​the end of February, unleashing a conflict that has run for more than five weeks while Tehran has largely closed the strait that was previously the route for about ​a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
“The draft resolution has not been adopted, owing to the negative vote of a permanent ⁠member of the Council,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said.

U.S. AMBASSADOR CONDEMNS THE VETOES

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, condemned the Russian and Chinese ​vetoes, saying they marked “a new low” when Iran’s shutting of the strait was preventing medical aid and supplies reaching humanitarian crises in the Congo, Sudan and Gaza.
“No one should tolerate that. ​They are holding the global economy at gunpoint. But today, Russia and China did tolerate it. They sided with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission, even as it brutalizes its own people.”
Waltz said Iran could choose “to reopen the strait, to seek peace and to make amends.”
He added, “But until then and afterwards, we call on responsible nations to join us in securing the Strait of Hormuz, protecting ​it, ensuring that it remains open to lawful commerce, to humanitarian goods, and the free movement of the world’s goods.”

France deplored the vetoes.
“The aim was to encourage strictly, purely defensive ​measures to provide the security and safety for the strait without spiraling towards escalation,” its U.N. ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, said.

RUSSIANS AND CHINESE SAY TEXT WAS BIASED

Russia and China said the resolution was biased against ‌Iran, and ⁠China’s U.N. envoy Fu Cong said adopting such a draft when the U.S. was threatening the survival of a civilization would have sent the wrong message.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Russia and China were proposing an alternative resolution on the situation in the Middle East, including maritime security.
A text of that resolution seen by Reuters urges “de-escalation of the ongoing hostilities” and “a return to the path of diplomacy.”
At a regular news briefing on Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry said that the Security Council should act to ease tensions, stop the conflict and resume talks.

“It ​should not be used to endorse illegal acts ​of war, let alone add fuel ⁠to the flame,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said when asked about the U.N. resolution.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani praised the Chinese and Russian moves, saying “their action today prevented the Security Council from being misused to legitimize aggression.”
Iravani added that the U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy was ​en route to Tehran to pursue consultations. A U.N. source said the envoy, Jean Arnault, who left for the Middle East on ​Monday, intends to visit ⁠Iran as part of his efforts to encourage an end to the war, but his travel plans would depend on security and logistics.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-vetoes-un-resolution-protecting-hormuz-shipping-2026-04-07/

Since the Iran war began on February 28, Trump has repeatedly set deadlines tied to threats, only to extend them.

Hours after threatening that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, stepping back from the threat of strikes on the country’s power plants and bridges.

Trump announced the ceasefire on Truth Social, saying he had accepted a proposal put forward by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Field Marshal Asim Munir. The proposal calls for a two-week halt to hostilities and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about one-fifth of global oil shipments.

Trump said the United States would use the two-week window to work towards a final agreement with Iran.

“The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” he wrote.

Trump added that Washington had received a ten-point proposal from Tehran and considered it a workable starting point. “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” he said.

The announcement came with a caveat. Trump said the ceasefire was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accepted the ceasefire.

“In response to the brotherly request of PM Sharif in his tweet, and considering the request by the US for negotiations based on its 15-point proposal, as well as announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a basis for negotiations, I hereby declare on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council: If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” he wrote on X.

“For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations,” Araghchi added.

According to three Iranian officials cited by The New York Times, Iran accepted Pakistan’s two-week ceasefire proposal following a last-minute intervention by China, a key Iranian ally, which urged Tehran to show flexibility and ease tensions. The officials said the ceasefire was approved by Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Iran has previously said it would only agree to open the strait as part of a full peace settlement that guaranteed no further attacks by the United States and Israel, and not simply in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.

Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly set deadlines tied to threats, only to extend them.

Earlier on Tuesday, he had written on Truth Social that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if a deal was not reached, while also leaving open the possibility of a resolution, saying “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-has-agreed-to-complete-immediate-opening-of-hormuz-says-trump-as-he-pauses-strikes-for-two-weeks-11325783?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The Strait of Hormuz will remain open for the period of two-week ceasefire and a safe passage will be possible, Iran said.

Minutes after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, Tehran accepted the deal. In a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote: “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations.”

In his statement, Araghchi expressed gratitude and appreciation for his “dear brothers” – Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir. He thanked them for their “tireless efforts to end the war in the region.”

“In response to the brotherly request of PM Sharif in his tweet, and considering the request by the US for negotiations based on its 15-point proposal as well as announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a basis for negotiations, I hereby declare on behalf of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council: If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” the statement read.

The Strait of Hormuz will remain open for a period of the two-week ceasefire, and a safe passage will be possible “via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”

Trump on Tuesday night (local time), hours before the deadline to attack Iran’s power plants and bridges, announced ceasefire, saying he had accepted Pakistan’s proposal.

Calling it a “double-sided ceasefire”, Trump said the US has “already met and exceeded all military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”

Trump added that the US received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believes it is a “workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump said, adding “it is an honor to have this longterm problem close to resolution.”

The announcement, however, came with a caveat. Trump said the ceasefire was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran’s “Hands On Trigger” Warning

Iran made it clear that ceasefire does not imply end of the war and its hands remain upon the trigger in case the enemy- US or Israel – act in any way.

In a statement released after ceasefire announcement, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said: “It is emphasised that this does not signify the termination of the war… Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-israel-iran-war-middle-east-crisis-conflict-trump-deadline-iran-accepts-ceasefire-with-us-reopens-strait-of-hormuz-donald-trump-11325928?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The two‑minute clip, shared on Monday by pro‑Iran channel Explosive Media on their X account, has prompted wide praise online.

A new AI‑generated, Lego‑style animation depicting the dramatic rescue of a US airman whose fighter jet was downed over Iranian territory has gone viral. The two‑minute clip, shared on Monday by pro‑Iran channel Explosive Media on their X account, has prompted wide praise online.

Explosive Media, an independent Iranian channel producing AI Lego animations targeting Western audiences and political figures, claims to be the “grassroots creators behind the Lego animations breaking the media silence”.

The latest video, captioned, “In 48 hours, You learned the truth: Everything for Epstein’s pleasure Soldiers thrown in the trash. Black Friday!”, presents the US mission as depicted by the Iranian regime, combining full-on action-packed storytelling with Lego-style animation.

The video attracted widespread attention within hours of being posted, with many praising it as Oscar-worthy and lauding its cinematic portrayal.

One wrote: “New Iranian LEGO movie just dropped another top level trolling and expose.” Another commented: “You learn more from these Lego movies in 2 mins than western news will give you in 24 hours. Excellent!”

Several others added: “I’ve already said this, give Iran the Oscar for the best short animation videos” and “Can you make one with Game of Thrones theme song?”

Some users also raised concerns, pointing out the mix of humour and real-life tragedy: “Do you imply they left soldiers there? I enjoy the clips but just to make it clear: in no way do I support the iranian regime. Neither do I support the trump regime. It’s always the people who suffer and I want somebody to explain how this helps the Iranian people?”

Others questioned the reality behind the animation: “Good grief! Has anyone actually watched this vid and realized what they are saying really took place?”

In recent weeks, Explosive Media’s Lego videos have become a widespread digital phenomenon amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. The animations have drawn millions of views, been re-shared by Iranian government accounts, promoted by Russian state media, and co-opted by various activist groups.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/give-them-the-oscars-internet-cant-stop-praising-irans-new-ai-lego-video-on-us-airman-rescue-ws-l-10017963.html

In 1988, Iran Air Flight 655 was tragically shot down by the USS Vincennes over the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in the deaths of all 290 passengers.

One of the deadliest aviation tragedies of the late 20th century unfolded over theStrait of Hormuz in 1988, not by accident, but in the fog of war and miscalculation. On July 3 that year,Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian passenger jet, was shot down by the USS Vincennes, a US Navy guided-missile cruiser, killing all 290 people on board, including 66 children.

The Airbus A300 had taken off from Bandar Abbas and was headed to Dubai on a routine commercial route. It was flying within a designated civilian corridor and had transmitted its identity. Despite this, the crew of the Vincennes, operating in a tense combat environment during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War, mistook the aircraft for an incoming Iranian F-14 fighter jet.

US naval forces were heavily deployed in the Persian Gulf at the time to protect shipping lanes, as the region witnessed frequent clashes. On the day of the incident, the Vincennes was engaged in a confrontation with Iranian gunboats when the aircraft appeared on radar.

Perceiving it as a threat and citing a lack of clear response to warnings, commanding officer William C. Rogers III ordered the launch of two surface-to-air missiles. The aircraft was struck mid-flight and crashed into the sea.

Washington described the incident as a tragic error caused by misidentification in a high-pressure combat situation, maintaining that the crew acted in self-defence. Then US President Ronald Reagan called it a “terrible human tragedy,” while defending the ship’s actions as necessary for protection.

Tehran, however, condemned the strike as deliberate and unjustified, calling it a crime against humanity.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/290-dead-66-children-killed-when-the-us-shot-down-iran-air-flight-655-mistaking-it-for-a-fighter-jet-article-154009727

“History repeats itself. Operation Eagle Claw, a historic US military failure in Iran’s Tabas Desert. April 24, 1980,” Iran’s embassy said in a post on X

US President Donald Trump’s threat in an expletive-laden post today to strike Iran’s power plants and bridges, if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, was met with acerbic ridicule by the Islamic nation’s embassies across the world.

Trump made the threat on Truth Social after announcing the rescue of a US fighter pilot in a “miraculous” operation, calling it “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US history”.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump said on the microblogging platform owned by him.

Soon after, Iran said it had “foiled” the operation, and distributed images appearing to show the wreckage of several aircraft, but did not deny that US forces had extracted their pilot.

It reminded the US of Operation Eagle Claw, a mission led by American special forces to rescue US personnel in Iran that ended in complete failure.

“History repeats itself. Operation Eagle Claw, a historic US military failure in Iran’s Tabas Desert. April 24, 1980,” Iran’s embassy said in a post on X.

The spokesman of the Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters in Iran said the US military’s “so-called rescue operation” was planned as a “deceptive rapid extraction mission under the pretext of saving the pilot of a downed aircraft at an abandoned airfield in southern Isfahan”.

It “ended in total failure after Iranian armed forces arrived in time,” he said.

Iran also responded to Trump’s aide Karoline Leavitt praising US troops with a “proud of” rhetoric post on X.

“Add these as well,” Iran’s embassy said in a post on X. “Proud of killing the children of Minab school. Proud of attacking hospitals and universities. Proud of supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Proud of the Epstein case. Dear users, please feel free to tell Karoline what else to add.”

Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a vital conduit for oil and gas, and launched strikes on Israel and its Gulf neighbours. Trump warned it to stop choking traffic through Hormuz.

Trump’s warning came as the Omani and Iranian deputy foreign ministers reportedly held talks on easing passage through Hormuz. Many residents of Tehran seemed indifferent to Trump’s threats.

In a large park in the west of the city, a group of young Iranians were having a picnic. Nearby, two friends were playing with a frisbee as techno music blared from a portable speaker, news agency AFP reported. One man was making the most of a windy day by flying his kite in front of the Milad Tower, an iconic landmark of Tehran, it said.

US media reported on details of the rescue operation of the US airman, a weapons systems officer. The New York Times said he was equipped with a pistol, a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers.

Two of the planes meant to transport him and his rescuers to safety were stuck in a remote base in Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, the New York Times and CBS reported.

US forces then used three other transport planes to carry the airman and his rescuers out of Iran, the reports said.

Iran’s military said it had destroyed four US aircraft involved in the operation, which it said had made use of an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province. Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the operation.

Footage released by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was presented as showing charred wreckage of an American aircraft scattered across a desert area, with smoke still rising.

Critical infrastructure across the Gulf also came under attack from Iran again today, with damage reported at civilian facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. Pro-Iran armed groups carried out two attacks on US diplomatic sites in Iraq overnight, the US embassy in Baghdad said.

On another front, Lebanon has increasingly been drawn into the conflict since the Iran-backed Hezbollah group began targeting Israel. Israel has struck back and pushed its ground forces into southern Lebanon.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-iran-war-after-donald-trump-crazy-bastards-post-iran-sends-remember-this-message-operation-eagle-claw-11314939?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Scientists say they have at last solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America in a decade-long epidemic.

Sea stars – often known as starfish – typically have five arms and some species sport up to 24 arms. They range in color from solid orange to tapestries of orange, purple, brown and green.

Starting in 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska. The epidemic has devastated more than 20 species and continues today. Worst hit was a species called the sunflower sea star, which lost around 90% of its population in the outbreak’s first five years.

“It’s really quite gruesome,” said marine disease ecologist Alyssa Gehman at the Hakai Institute in British Columbia, Canada, who helped pinpoint the cause.

Healthy sea stars have “puffy arms sticking straight out,” she said. But the wasting disease causes them to grow lesions and “then their arms actually fall off.”

The culprit? Bacteria that has also infected shellfish, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The findings “solve a long-standing question about a very serious disease in the ocean,” said Rebecca Vega Thurber, a marine microbiologist at University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the study.

It took more than a decade for researchers to identify the cause of the disease, with many false leads and twists and turns along the way.

Early research hinted the cause might be a virus, but it turned out the densovirus that scientists initially focused on was actually a normal resident inside healthy sea stars and not associated with disease, said Melanie Prentice of the Hakai Institute, co-author of the new study.

Other efforts missed the real killer because researchers studied tissue samples of dead sea stars that no longer contained the bodily fluid that surrounds the organs.

But the latest study includes detailed analysis of this fluid, called coelomic fluid, where the bacteria Vibrio pectenicida were found.

“It’s incredibly difficult to trace the source of so many environmental diseases, especially underwater,” said microbiologist Blake Ushijima of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, who was not involved in the research. He said the detective work by this team was “really smart and significant.”

Now that scientists know the cause, they have a better shot at intervening to help sea stars.

Prentice said that scientists could potentially now test which of the remaining sea stars are still healthy — and consider whether to relocate them, or breed them in captivity to later transplant them to areas that have lost almost all their sunflower sea stars.

Scientists may also test if some populations have natural immunity, and if treatments like probiotics may help boost immunity to the disease.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/sea-star-wasting-disease-epidemic-f2ab802ae8787618a5905c566d38e0c5

The Artemis II astronauts saw a side of the moon never before seen by human eyes over the weekend — but it was just an appetizer for their historic lunar flyby expected to begin Monday afternoon.

Orientale basin — a huge, black impact crater on the far side of the moon — came into full view of Artemis II on Saturday, with the crew beaming back stunning photos of the formation as they hurtled through space about 200,000 miles from Earth.

“In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk,” NASA wrote while sharing the photo in a Sunday X post.

“This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes,” the space agency hailed.

“History in the making.”

The United States rescued an airman caught behind enemy lines after Iran shot down his F-15 fighter jet, the U.S. government ​said early on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump with the war on Iran in its sixth week.
The rescue is a bright spot for the United ‌States in a war that has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatens lasting damage to the world economy after Iran virtually shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Saturday for Iran to open the strait, which usually carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, or face attacks on energy facilities.

TRUMP GIVES IRAN MONDAY DEADLINE FOR PEACE DEAL

The injured airman was the second of ​the two crew members from the warplane Iran said on Friday it had brought down with its air defenses, triggering a high-profile search by both Tehran and the ​United States.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” ⁠Trump said in a statement posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.

Although injured, the colonel “will be just fine,” Trump said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.
Several aircraft were destroyed during the U.S. rescue mission, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday, according to the Tasnim news agency. An Iranian military spokesman said a C-130 military ​transport plane and two Black Hawk helicopters were among the downed craft.
Trump, who has threatened to hit Iranian power plants if his demands were not met, indicated his deadline for Tehran to reach a deal to end the war was around 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will ​reign (sic) down on them. Glory be to GOD!” he posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning.

As the war has escalated, Trump has repeatedly mixed hints of diplomatic progress with threats to ​bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.”
Adding to the pressure, a senior Israeli defense official said Israel was preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities within the next week, and was awaiting approval from the ‌United States.
But ⁠a defiant Iran warned the “entire region will become a hell for you” if the United States and Israel escalated attacks, Iranian media said.
Chances for peace talks, which Pakistan is seeking to broker between Washington and Tehran, appear to remain slim, and polls show low U.S. public support for the war.

IRAN WANTS ‘LASTING END TO ILLEGAL WAR’

Still, Iran’s foreign minister left the door open for the talks.
“What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X, adding that Iran had never ​refused to go to Islamabad, which he ​thanked for its efforts.

After a fourth attack ⁠near the Bushehr power plant on Saturday, Araqchi warned the United Nations of an “intolerable situation that poses a serious risk of radiological release,” state media said.
Iran has rained drones and missiles on Israel, while targeting Gulf countries allied to the United States, which have avoided directly joining the ​war for fear of further escalation.
State TV said Iran’s military launched drones at U.S. radar installations and a U.S.-linked aluminum plant in ​the United Arab Emirates and ⁠U.S. military headquarters in Kuwait, in retaliation for deadly attacks on Iranian industrial centers.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/trump-israel-pressure-iran-ahead-deadline-search-continues-missing-us-airman-2026-04-04/

Recent reports indicate that FBI interview notes concerning a woman who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault have not been publicly disclosed. The woman, who claims to have been trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein at the age of 13, alleged interactions with Trump

FBI notes from an interview with a woman who accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager have not been publicly released, according to a report. The Post and Courier said that around 30 pages of documents linked to the woman’s claims were not included in the wider release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The woman, from South Carolina, told the FBI that Epstein had abused and trafficked her when she was about 13 years old. She said he took her to either New York or New Jersey in 1984, where she was introduced to Trump.

According to the report, official FBI summaries of the interviews – known as “302s” – indicated some uncertainty about her travel with Epstein. “He drove her and/or flew her to either New York or New Jersey,” the summary stated. “She was introduced to someone with money, money, money… It was Donald Trump.”

However, handwritten notes taken by FBI agents were described as “slightly less tentative”, suggesting that Epstein both drove and flew her to the locations, which the report said could, if accurate, amount to underage sex trafficking.

The notes also recorded that the woman claimed to have had “two additional interactions” with Trump. When asked about these encounters, she “asked that the interview move on to a different subject for the time being”, the report said.

In summaries of three FBI interviews conducted between August and October 2019, the woman alleged that Epstein took her to a “very tall building with huge rooms”, where she was left alone with Trump. She claimed he ordered others out of the room, unzipped his trousers and forced her head “down to his penis”. She said she then “bit the s–t out of” him, after which he punched her in the head.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected suggestions that files related to the case were withheld. “There are no missing pages and the Department categorically rejects this media-created myth,” a DOJ spokesperson told the Daily Beast. “This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act.”

The White House has also denied the allegations.

“The total baselessness of these accusations is also supported by the obvious fact that Joe Biden’s Department of Justice knew about them for four years and did nothing with them—because they knew President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/trump-epstein-files-row-fbi-notes-teen-accuser-claims-article-153999497

The push, led by Pakistan, has failed to yield a breakthrough, with Tehran formally notifying mediators that it is unwilling to send officials to Islamabad for talks in the coming days.

Regional mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have reached a dead end, mediators said on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The push, led by Pakistan, has failed to yield a breakthrough, with Tehran formally notifying mediators that it is unwilling to send officials to Islamabad for talks in the coming days.

Iran has also stressed that it finds Washington’s demands unacceptable, effectively closing off the current framework for negotiations.

The breakdown has left diplomatic efforts in limbo, prompting Turkey and Egypt to look beyond Islamabad for solutions. The two countries are now exploring alternative venues to host the talks, with Qatar and Istanbul emerging as the leading candidates to salvage what remains of the ceasefire push.

The United States and Iran have been in talks about a possible deal that would trade a ceasefire in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report by Axios.

The report also mentioned that Trump spoke about a possible ceasefire with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over a call on Wednesday.

In a post on Truth Social the same day, Trump claimed that Iran’s president wants a ceasefire and said that it would only happen when the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, and clear.”

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pakistan-led-ceasefire-efforts-collapse-as-iran-rejects-unacceptable-us-demands-report-11308630?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

The UAE is Iran’s second-largest trading partner and also home to roughly half a million Iranians. Why, then, has it absorbed more fire than any other Gulf state?

According to the latest statistics released by the UAE Ministry of Defence, the country’s air defences have engaged 457 ballistic missiles, 19 cruise missiles, and 2,038 drones launched by Iran. This makes the UAE the biggest targetof Iran since the joint US-Israel war on it began on February 28. In fact, on the very first day, Dubai airport, the city’s famed Burj Al-Arab hotel, the landmark Palm Jumeirah, and Jebel Ali port were hit by missiles.

Exasperated by these attacks, the UAE, reports say, has asked the US to continue the war in Iran and complete the job there. In the latest update, however, it has ruled out putting boots on the ground in Iran but has signalled its willingness to join any multi-nation endeavour to open up the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

These developments spotlight a complex relationship between the two neighbouring states that share waterways, communities, and extensive trade links.

The UAE is Iran’s second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to around $25-27 billion annually. In 2024, Iran imported over $20 billion worth of goods from the UAE, making it Iran’s largest single source of imports. At the same time, Iranian non-oil exports to the UAE were more than $6 billion. Around half a million Iranians live and work in the UAE, with the community having stayed there for decades, preceding the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

A Tense History

Yet, tensions have persisted – territorially since the UAE’s birth in 1971, and ideologically since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, spilling over into wider geo-strategic considerations.

Territorially, Iran and the UAE are locked in a dispute over three tiny islands – Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. The largest, Abu Musa, has a population of only around 2,000 people. But they occupy an extremely strategic location – sitting as they are at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, whose importance by now needs no further explanation. These islands serve as useful bases to monitor maritime traffic through the Strait and are critical to Iran’s naval defence architecture.

Britain had occupied the islands in 1908. When the UAE gained freedom from the British in 1971, the British withdrew from these islands. Iran, under Shah Reza Pahlavi, occupied the islands, citing old maps, including those by the British. The UAE, however, maintained that they are the rightful owner. Given Iran’s size and its military muscle, the UAE has been restrained, relying mostly on diplomatic tools to manage the tensions. The UAE’s size – 83,600 sq. km in total – and its population – the local Emirati population is only 1.33 million out of a total population of 11.57 million, comprising expatriates – has shaped its approach towards Iran, as also towards the region as a whole.

The Revolution And The American Turn

The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, which overthrew the Shah and established a Republic, added another layer of complexity to regional politics. All five Gulf Sheikhdoms, along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are hereditary monarchies, with some, like the UAE, also representing a federative union with a constitution, to give it some semblance of a democratic polity. But they all remain absolute monarchies.

Furthermore, as Iran began exporting its revolutionary ideology, small sheikhdoms sought to hedge themselves and their enormous oil wealth by constituting the Gulf Cooperation Council and investing in American security and defence procurement.

Today, all GCC states house US air bases. Of them, the UAE hosts the Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts American, French, and Emirati air forces, while the Jebel Ali port in Dubai hosts US Navy ships, making the UAE a key logistical hub. There are, besides the US, UK and French military bases as well, all of which have been a cause of tensions between Iran and the UAE. The UAE also closely aligned itself with Saudi Arabia, though that alliance has recently come under strain.

Over the years, the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the Arab Spring, and the rise of radical Sunni forces both as state power – as seen in Turkey and in Afghanistan with the return of the Taliban there – and through the emergence of non-state actors such as the ISIS in Iraq and Syria, created another set of dynamics in the region.

The UAE’s Unique Vulnerability

The UAE, given its territory and population, was particularly vulnerable and sought to counter both Shiite and Sunni radicalism. When it took the unprecedented step of intervening militarily, together with Saudi Arabia, in the Yemen civil war of 2015, it was as much to prop up the legitimate government of President Abdul Hadi Mansour as it was to push back against Iran, which was liberally training, arming, and financing the Houthi rebels there. The same logic made the UAE support anti-Assad groups during the Syrian Civil War: to contain Iranian influence in the region. But the intervention in Yemen produced only a stalemate, with the Houthis targeting both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The latter has since withdrawn from Yemen, but it pursued other efforts to counter the twin threats of Sunni and Shiite radicalism.

One was to follow policies for increasing tolerance and pluralism in UAE society, such as building temples, restoring churches in post-conflict Iraq, initiating inter-faith dialogues, and easing social activities and norms for expatriates. This is only practical given that almost 80% of the UAE’s population comprises expatriates, most of whom belong to different faiths and cultures.

The Deal That Changed Everything

The other was to diversify its strategic partnerships with players like Russia, China, South Korea and India. But the most pathbreaking step was the normalisation of relations with Israel, through the Abraham Accords. The UAE became the third Arab country and the first GCC member to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, known for its intelligence-gathering and military prowess. This rang alarm bells in Tehran, which had fought a shadow war with Israel for decades by then. Even a moderate like the then-Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, condemned the move in strong terms as a “betrayal” of the Palestinian people.

The issue of Palestine has placed the Gulf monarchies in an awkward position. On one hand, they continued their aid and pledges to the Palestinian people, yet, despite their close alignment with the US, they have been unable to find any meaningful resolution. A Palestinian state has never seemed more elusive than now.

In contrast, Iran was arming Hamas – even when it is a Sunni group – in Gaza. The Hamas was the only force seen to be countering Israel’s occupation and penalising it for its actions against the Palestinians. The GCC states seemed helpless. Amidst this, the Abraham Accords, from Iran’s point of view, were another instance of Israel prevailing over the Arabs. Following in the footsteps of the UAE was Bahrain. The former, therefore, in a way opened up the process of normalisation between Israel and the Gulf states. Doing so, it also brought Israeli presence closer to Iran, geographically.

Can’t Beat Money

Yet, geography dictates that the UAE and Iran remain connected through trade, financial and other economic linkages. Like Indians, many Iranians helped make the Emirates what it is today. Western sanctions on Iran also made the UAE the primary gateway for Iran’s trade and financial dealings with the outside world. The country’s ports, such as Dubai, and logistics networks made it an important re-export hub for goods entering Iranian markets, providing Iran access to global supply chains.

That is why it remains inexplicable why the majority of Iran’s projectiles have been aimed at the UAE. The latter has responded with remarkable restraint, even as it has condemned Iran’s attacks as well as the joint US-Israel assault on Iran. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has meant that the UAE, along with other Gulf countries that use the Strait, has been unable to transport its energy exports as well as other critical commodities like fertilizers.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/iran-israel-war-why-iran-has-fired-the-most-missiles-at-its-biggest-trading-partner-in-gulf-11306811?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

Trump warns Iran to make a deal soon, saying it risks losing what could still become a great country

Issuing a stern warning to Iran, United States President Donald Trump said, “It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late, and there is nothing left of what still could become a great country.”

Sharing a video on social media on Thursday Trump said the biggest bridge in Iran was taken down in a strike by US troops. A highway bridge linking Iran’s capital Tehran to the western city of Karaj was hit by air strikes on Thursday, Fars news reported. Two people were reportedly killed in the attack.

The Orion capsule carrying four astronauts in NASA’s Artemis II mission executed a key thruster firing on Thursday that will ​kick the crew out of Earth’s orbit and on a path toward the moon, committing them to reaching the farthest distance humans have ever traveled in space.
The successful maneuver ‌put the crew on a path to enter the moon’s sphere of gravitational influence by Sunday morning, as they prepare to beat the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

“We are getting just a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth lit by the moon right now. Phenomenal,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told mission control some 10 minutes after the thruster firing.
Since launching 26 hours earlier from Florida, the astronauts spent their first day in space testing cameras, steering their ​Orion spacecraft and dealing with small toilet and email issues that were later fixed.
They had been in a highly elliptical Earth orbit swinging them as far as 43,000 miles (64,000 km) away on ​one end and about 100 miles close on the other, from where the key thruster firing to the moon began, known as the translunar injection burn.

The maneuver, ⁠which began at 7:49 p.m. ET (2349 GMT), is an orbital exit ramp slinging them out of Earth’s orbit and onto a figure-eight-shaped trajectory toward the moon. It’s the final major thruster firing of the mission, ​leaving the Orion capsule largely under the influence of orbital mechanics for the remainder of the mission.
Commander Reid Wiseman, testing cameras as the crew flew roughly 40,000 miles away from Earth earlier on Thursday, saw the planet ​as a shrinking sunlit globe, and said taking photos from that distance made it difficult to adjust exposure settings.
“It’s like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the moon. That’s what it feels like right now trying to take a picture of Earth,” he told mission control in Houston as he snapped photos of his home planet with an iPhone.

Wiseman earlier faced a minor tech issue when his initial attempts to use Microsoft Outlook to check emails ​failed, but that was fixed quickly with help from mission control.

ASTRONAUTS USE GOPROS AND IPHONES TO DOCUMENT TRIP

The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which launched from Florida on Wednesday, have a few different devices on ​board to take photos of space from inside their Orion capsule throughout the flight.
They include a small GoPro action camera and iPhones, as well as professional Nikon cameras that have been used by NASA astronauts on the International Space ‌Station for years.
The ⁠decision to equip the crew with iPhones was made under NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, a billionaire astronaut who flew on two private SpaceX Dragon missions and used the devices during his own flights, NASA officials have said.
NASA has yet to release any images captured by the crew so far, but expects to do so later in the mission after more climactic moments. Among them is an anticipated “Earthrise” image, echoing the famous photo, taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in 1968 as his spacecraft looped around the moon.

On day six, the astronauts are expected to reach roughly 252,000 miles from Earth, the most distant point ever flown by humans, when ​the planet will appear no larger than a basketball ​beyond the moon’s shadowed far side.

TOILET MALFUNCTION

Not long ⁠after the successful launch, astronaut Christina Koch alerted mission control in Houston to a red blinking light signaling a problem with Orion’s toilet, housed in a small compartment within the crew cabin, itself only slightly larger than a minivan’s interior. Mission engineers implemented a fix after a proximity operations test, NASA said.
Spacecraft toilets are ​often awkward to use but are essential for long-duration missions, with designs varying widely.
On the ISS and Orion, astronauts use a $24 million Universal Waste Management ​System, which uses suction to ⁠collect waste, recycles urine into water and seals solid waste in bags that are eventually jettisoned.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/science/nasa-astronauts-photograph-earth-orbit-ahead-push-moon-2026-04-02/

For a country long dismissed by India as merely a conduit between adversaries, the moment marks a notable shift. New Delhi has been openly sceptical of Islamabad styling itself as a mediator

Far from being a “messenger boy” for Washington, Pakistan has teamed up with China to put forward a five-point peace plan to end the war between Iran and the United States and Israel.

Islamabad appears to be graduating from go-between to take on a much more ambitious diplomatic profile in the peace process. .

The plan presented by Pakistan and China appears to have very little or no resemblance to the aggressive ‘peace plan’ put forward by the US which more or less called for Iran’s surrender on all key issues.

The five-point peace proposals were hammered out after a day of intense negotiations between Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar, who is in Beijing, and a Chinese team. Field Marshal Asim Munir was also in the Chinese capital.

The proposals come on the heels of “crisis talks” hosted over the weekend in Islamabad attended by Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

China and Pakistan’s initiative starts bluntly, calling for an immediate “cessation of hostilities and utmost efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading”.

That is followed by a direct demand for “the start of peace talks as soon as possible”, underlining a clear push to halt the fighting before it widens further.

From there, the proposal lays out a broader framework aimed at stabilising the region. It stresses that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national independence of Iran and Gulf states must be respected, and insists that dialogue and diplomacy are “the only viable option” to resolve the conflict.

All parties, it says, should commit to peaceful dispute resolution and refrain from the use or threat of force during negotiations.

The plan also places strong emphasis on protecting civilians and critical infrastructure, calling for an immediate halt to attacks on non-military targets and full adherence to international humanitarian law.

Energy installations, desalination plants, power grids and civilian nuclear facilities are singled out as essential infrastructure that must be shielded from further strikes.

A key pillar of the proposal focuses on safeguarding maritime trade, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital oil and gas transit routes.

Any disruption there risks immediate global consequences, from spiking energy prices to supply shocks in major importing economies such as India.

Finally, Beijing and Islamabad say their proposal upholds multilateral diplomacy and calls for renewed commitment to the United Nations and the principles of its Charter as the basis for a “comprehensive and lasting peace”.

The timing of the initiative is significant, coming as Pakistan finds itself at the centre of a flurry of high-level diplomacy. Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt spent Sunday and Monday in Islamabad this weekend for two days of “de-escalation” talks.

For a country long dismissed by India as merely a conduit between adversaries, the moment marks a notable shift. Indian officials have been openly sceptical of Pakistan styling itself as a mediator.

At the same time, Islamabad last week relayed a US peace plan which Tehran swiftly rejected as one-sided.

External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said it is not India’s role to act as a “dalal” or broker, while former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao has argued that a conduit “carries messages, it does not define outcomes”.

Yet Pakistan is now attempting to do precisely that. Its emergence reflects a shrinking pool of viable intermediaries. Many Gulf states are now directly exposed to the conflict, limiting their room to manoeuvre. Only a handful of countries, including Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, retain working channels with both Washington and Tehran.

Source : https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/pakistan-not-just-messenger-boy-its-5-point-plan-with-china-to-end-us-israel-war-on-iran-shows/cid/2154113#goog_rewarded

Australia’s online safety watchdog said Tuesday it was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms.

Experts say the Australian courts could decide what steps the platforms can reasonably be expected to take under the laws that took effect on Dec. 10 banning young children from holding accounts.

Julie Inman Grant, who is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, on Tuesday released her first compliance report since those laws took effect demanding 10 platforms remove all Australian account-holders younger than 16.

While 5 million Australian accounts had been deactivated, a substantial number of Australian children continued to retain accounts, create new accounts and pass platforms’ age assurance systems, the report said.

Inman Grant said in a statement her office had “significant concerns about the compliance” of half of those 10 platforms. Her office was gathering evidence against the five that they had not taken “reasonable steps” to prevent young children holding accounts.

Courts could order fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to comply. eSafety would decide on whether to initiate court action against any platform by midyear.

Age-restricted platforms that aren’t under investigation are Reddit, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the five criticized platforms were deliberately not complying with Australian law.

“Social media platforms are choosing to do the absolute bare minimum because they want these laws to fail,” Wells told reporters.

“This is the world-leading law. We’re the first in the world to do it. Of course they don’t want these laws to work because they want that to be a chilling effect on the dozen countries that have come out since Dec. 10 to follow Australia’s step,” she added.

eSafety had identified “poor practices” such as platforms allowing unlimited attempts for a user to pass their age assurance methods and prompting the user to try to pass the age assurance method even after they declared themselves underage.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told The Associated Press it was committed to complying with Australia’s social media ban. “We’ve also been clear that accurately determining age online is a challenge for the whole industry,” the statement said.

Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, said it has locked 450,000 accounts in compliance with the law and continued to lock more every day.

“Snapchat remains fully committed to implementing reasonable steps under the legislation and supporting its underlying goal of improving online safety for young Australians,” a Snap statement said.

TikTok declined to comment on Tuesday and Alphabet Inc., which owns YouTube and Google, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lisa Given, an information sciences expert at RMIT University in Melbourne, said she expected the courts will decide whether platforms have taken “reasonable steps” to exclude young children.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/australia-social-media-ban-children-58c50c845d96057b39529e988bd778bc

Poll shows 66 percent of Americans want a quick end to the Iran war, most disapprove US strikes as fuel prices surge and economic fears rise

A majority of Americans believe the United States should move quickly to end its involvement in the ongoing Iran war, even if Washington does not achieve all of its stated objectives, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, reflecting mounting public concern as the conflict drives up fuel prices and raises fears of economic strain.

According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 66 per cent of respondents said the US should work to end the conflict quickly, even if it means not achieving the goals set by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In contrast, 27 per cent said Washington should continue military engagement until all objectives are met, even if the conflict continues for a longer period.

Six per cent did not respond.

The survey indicates divisions within Trump’s Republican base.

While 57 per cent of Republican respondents supported continuing the conflict until US goals are achieved, 40 per cent said the US should seek a quicker end to the war even without securing all outcomes, Reuters reported.

The war, which has now stretched into its second month and spread across parts of the Middle East, has resulted in thousands of deaths and triggered global economic concerns, particularly due to rising energy costs that are fuelling inflation fears worldwide.

PUBLIC DISAPPROVAL OF MILITARY STRIKES

Public sentiment also appears cautious toward the military campaign itself.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 60 per cent of respondents disapproved of US military strikes on Iran, while 35 per cent expressed approval.

The poll was conducted among 1,021 respondents between Friday and Sunday.

Economic concerns appear to be shaping public opinion.

More than half of respondents said they expect the conflict to have a negative effect on their personal financial situation, including 39 per cent of Republicans surveyed, Reuters reported.

RISING FUEL PRICES EMERGE AS KEY CONCERN

One of the most immediate effects of the war for Americans has been rising gasoline prices.

According to Reuters, gas prices crossed $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years, citing data from price tracker GasBuddy.

The Associated Press reported that the national average price for regular gasoline reached $4.02 per gallon, more than a dollar higher than before the conflict began on February 28.

The increase marks the largest monthly rise recorded by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The AP attributed the surge to sharp increases in crude oil prices, with benchmark crude climbing above $100 per barrel from about $70 before the war began, amid supply disruptions across the Middle East.

Analysts say higher fuel costs are expected to impact broader household expenses, including groceries and shipping, as transportation and logistics costs increase.

WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS RISK OF OIL PRICE SPIKE

Concerns over energy costs are also being discussed within the Trump administration.

According to Politico, White House officials are examining scenarios in which oil prices could climb to $150 per barrel or higher as the conflict continues.

Politico reported that Treasury officials believe oil prices are likely to remain above $100 per barrel for some time, with internal discussions considering the possibility of prices reaching as high as $200 per barrel.

However, a White House spokesperson denied that the administration was predicting such price levels and said officials were continuing to explore options to mitigate short-term supply disruptions.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/us-iran-war-crude-oil-price-hike-fears-poll-survey-shows-most-americans-want-quick-end-to-middle-east-war-ws-l-10008335.html

A day before Israel and the United ​States attacked Iran on February 28, the Indian‑flagged LPG tanker Pine Gas loaded cargo at the ‌United Arab Emirates’ Ruwais port, hoping to reach home within a week.
However, it would be nearly three weeks before the vessel safely transited the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran began selectively allowing ships through the narrow waterway.

Pine Gas Chief Officer Sohan Lal said the ship’s ​27 Indian crew had seen missiles and drones flying overhead every day as they waited. In a ​video seen by Reuters, at least five projectiles can be seen streaking through the night ⁠sky above the vessel.

Lal said Indian officials had asked the crew to be on standby to set sail around ​March 11, but with the war escalating, it took until March 23 before the ship was cleared to move, but ​not through the normal Hormuz shipping lanes.
Instead, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps instructed the tanker to navigate a narrow channel north of Larak Island off Iran’s coast. Lal said Indian authorities and the ship’s owner, Mumbai‑based Seven Islands Shipping, agreed to proceed only if ​every crew member consented to the voyage.
“They needed a yes or a no from all crew,” he said. “Everyone onboard ​agreed.” Lal added that the Larak route, not generally used by shipping, was recommended by the IRGC as the regular passage ‌through Hormuz ⁠was mined.

He said the Indian Navy guided the ship during the transit before four Indian warships escorted it for nearly 20 hours from the Gulf of Oman to the Arabian Sea. Lal said they did not pay a fee for the transit and the IRGC did not board the vessel at any time.
The Indian navy confirmed it was ​escorting Indian-flagged ships after they ​crossed the strait. The foreign ⁠ministry said this month that the Indian Navy has been present in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea for years to secure sea lanes for Indian and ​other ships.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/how-an-indian-lpg-tanker-escaped-hormuz-via-an-unusual-route-2026-03-31/

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Tuesday a Colorado law that banned psychotherapists from using “conversion” talk therapy intended to change an LGBT minor’s ​sexual orientation or gender identity, siding with a Christian licensed counselor in casting the prohibition as an intrusion on free speech rights.
The 8-1 ruling, authored by conservative Justice Neil ‌Gorsuch, rejected Colorado’s argument that its law regulated professional conduct, not protected speech.

The justices reversed a lower court’s decision that had upheld the law in a case brought by counselor Kaley Chiles, who argued that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of free speech.
The Supreme Court held open the possibility that the law could apply to certain forms of conversion therapy, including so-called “aversive” physical interventions, but not to the counselor’s speech at issue in the case.

‘CENSORIOUS GOVERNMENTS’

“Colorado’s ​law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint,” Gorsuch wrote. “Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health ​and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in ⁠thought or speech in this country.”

The justices directed the lower court to conduct further proceedings applying a more rigorous First Amendment standard to the law.
Republican President Donald Trump’s administration backed Chiles in the challenge to the ​law.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter.
The dispute pitted Colorado’s authority to forbid a healthcare practice that it called unsafe and ineffective against First ​Amendment speech protections.
Jackson said that states have the power to regulate medical treatments provided by state-licensed professionals to patients, and Colorado’s decision to “restrict a dangerous therapy” that incidentally involves providers’ speech is not unconstitutional.
“In concluding otherwise, the court’s opinion misreads our precedents, is unprincipled and unworkable, and will eventually prove untenable for those who rely upon the long-recognized responsibility of states to regulate the medical profession for the protection of public health,” Jackson wrote.

Colorado is among more than two dozen states ​and the District of Columbia that restrict or prohibit conversion therapy for patients younger than 18.
Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the first openly gay man to be elected as a U.S. state governor and a ​critic of conversion therapy, signed the measure into law in 2019. Polis said on Tuesday he was evaluating the ruling and working to figure out how to better protect LGBT youths and free speech in Colorado.
“Conversion therapy doesn’t ‌work, can seriously ⁠harm youth, and Coloradans should beware before turning over their hard-earned money to a scam,” Polis said. “We are fighting for everyone’s right to be who you are in our Colorado for all.”
The law prohibited licensed mental healthcare providers from seeking to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity according to a predetermined outcome, with each violation punishable by a fine of up to $5,000. This includes attempts to reduce or eliminate same-sex attraction or change “behaviors or gender expressions.”

Medical groups such as the American Psychological Association have cited studies showing that this type of talk therapy has been associated with harms including an increased likelihood of transgender minors ​attempting suicide or running away from home.

‘ACCEPTANCE, SUPPORT AND ​UNDERSTANDING’

Colorado’s law does permit treatments that provide “assistance ⁠to a person undergoing gender transition,” as well as therapies centered on “acceptance, support and understanding” for “identity exploration and development.”
Chiles, a practicing Christian, has said she “believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God’s design, including their biological sex.” Chiles was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights group that ​previously secured high-profile Supreme Court victories on behalf of a baker and wedding website designer who refused, based on their Christian beliefs, to serve gay ​couples.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-backs-challenge-colorados-ban-lgbt-conversion-therapy-2026-03-31/

In the X post and accompanying letter, Safa said he reached the decision after much reflection. He claimed that some senior figures at the United Nations were serving a powerful lobby.

An official linked to the United Nations has resigned from his positions and accused the international body of preparing for a scenario involving the possible use of nuclear weapons in Iran. Mohamad Safa announced his resignation through a post on X, accompanied by a letter in which he set out his reasons for the decision.

Safa served as the main representative of Patriotic Vision, also known as PVA, at the United Nations. PVA is an international organisation that holds special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

According to the UN environment programme Champions of the Earth, Safa had been executive director of the Patriotic Vision Organisation since 2013. In 2016, PVA nominated him to become its permanent representative to the United Nations.

In the X post and accompanying letter, Safa said he reached the decision after much reflection. He claimed that some senior figures at the United Nations were serving a powerful lobby.

“I don’t think people understand the gravity of the situation as the UN is preparing for possible nuclear weapon use in Iran,” began the post which included a picture of Tehran.

“This is a picture of Tehran. For you uneducated, untraveled, never-served, warhawks licking your chops at the thought of bombing it. It’s not some low population desert. There are families, children, family pets. Regular working class people with dreams. You’re sick to want war,” the post read.

Safa added that Tehran is a city of nearly 10 million people. He asked readers to imagine nuking Washington, Berlin, Paris, London or beyond with nuclear weapons.

“I gave up my diplomatic career to leak this information. I suspended my duties so as not to be part of or a witness to this crime against humanity, in an attempt to prevent a nuclear winter before it is too late,” he wrote.

MSafa also referred to events in the United States the previous day, when nearly ten million people protested under the slogan “No Kings”. He said the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons must be taken very seriously because it is dangerous.

“Act now. Spread this message worldwide. Take the streets. Protest for our humanity and future. Only the people can stop it. History will remember us,” he concluded.

Safa said he had wanted to resign in 2023 and had been patient for three years. He referred to several conflicts around the world and stated that some officials at the United Nations did not want to accuse Israel and the United States of violating international law.

Safa alleged that he had faced criticism after he expressed his concerns and offered a different perspective following the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. That attack led to a war that has continued for more than two years.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-us-war-donald-trump-mohamad-safa-nuclear-attack-on-iran-un-diplomats-stunning-claim-then-resignation-11287469?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll 

The Consulate General of Iran in Mumbai stated on Monday that there have been no direct talks with the US, only excessive and unreasonable demands passed through intermediaries.

After Pakistan claimed it was ready to host direct talks between the United States and Iran to end their ongoing war, Iran has issued a clear denial of any involvement in such Pakistani-led efforts.

The Consulate General of Iran in Mumbai stated on Monday that there have been no direct talks with the US, only excessive and unreasonable demands passed through intermediaries. The consulate said Pakistan’s forums are its own affair and that Iran did not participate in them.

“No direct US talks; only excessive, unreasonable demands via intermediaries. US “diplomacy” flips constantly; our stance is clear. Pakistan’s forums are their own; we didn’t participate. Regional calls to end war are welcome, but remember who started it!” the Consuulate General said in a statement.

The Pakistani announcement came on Sunday after the country’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as deputy prime minister, hosted his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for several hours of talks in Islamabad.

The ministers discussed the impact of the fighting, including the disruption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. In a televised statement, Dar said the visiting ministers had expressed their full support for potential US-Iran talks to be held in Islamabad.

Dar claimed he and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held several telephone calls with senior Iranian government ministers, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Pakistan had also been actively engaged with the US administration, he added.

The Sunday talks in Islamabad were held under tight security and without any representation from the United States, Israel or Iran.

Tehran has refused to admit holding any official talks with Washington but has passed a response to a 15-point plan put forward by US President Donald Trump via Islamabad, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

The United States and Israel maintained their attacks on Iran on Monday. Iran struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait as part of its campaign against Gulf Arab states and also hit an oil refinery in northern Israel.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-iran-war-live-donald-trump-pakistans-forums-are-their-own-tehran-rejects-islamabads-us-iran-talks-offer-11285961?pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

Pakistan said on Sunday it was preparing to host “meaningful talks” to end the conflict over Iran in coming days even though Tehran said it is ​ready to respond if the United States moves in with soldiers on the ground.
Speaking after talks between regional foreign ministers, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said they had covered possible ways to bring an ‌early and permanent end to the war in the region as well as potential U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad.

“Pakistan will be honoured to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in coming days, for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he said. It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. and Iran had agreed to attend.
The U.S. State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on potential talks in Pakistan.
Complicating Pakistan’s bid are the maximalist positions set out by the United States, Israel and Iran on what it would take to ​end the conflict.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf earlier accused the U.S. of sending messages about possible negotiations while at the same time planning to send in troops, adding that Tehran was ready to respond if U.S. soldiers were ​deployed.

“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, our response is that we will never accept humiliation,” he said in a message to the nation.

REGIONAL POWERS PROPOSE PLANS TO REOPEN STRAIT ⁠OF HORMUZ

Initial discussions between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt had focused on proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, sources familiar with the matter said.
Iran’s effective blockade of oil and gas shipments through the strait since the U.S. and Israel ​began attacking the country on February 28 is spreading economic pain around the world.
As the conflict entered its second month, it showed no signs of slowing. Israel’s military said it had launched over 140 air strikes on central and western Iran, including Tehran, over the ​24 hours to Sunday evening, hitting ballistic missile launch sites and storage facilities, among other targets.

Iranian state media reported that strikes had hit Mehrabad airport and a petrochemical plant in the northern city of Tabriz.
The director of the World Health Organization said Israel’s expanding military operations in southern Lebanon had resulted in the death of “yet another” health worker after 51 had already been killed. Israel says Iran-backed Hezbollah militants use medical facilities for cover, which the group denies.
A chemical plant in southern Israel near the city of Beer Sheva was hit by a missile or missile debris as Israel ​fended off multiple salvos from Iran, prompting official warnings to the public to stay away due to “hazardous materials”.
Another missile hit open ground near homes in Beer Sheva, located near several military bases, injuring 11 people.
The war has killed thousands of people and hit ​countries across the Middle East: major aluminium plants in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were damaged by air strikes over the weekend.
The UAE is seeking reparations from Iran for attacks on civilians and vital facilities and guarantees to prevent any repetition, an adviser to the president said.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned ‌Houthis joined the ⁠conflict on Saturday, launching their first attacks on Israel and raising the prospect they could target and thus block a second key shipping route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Israeli authorities said on Sunday that they had intercepted two drones launched from Yemen.

U.S. MARINES START ARRIVING IN MIDDLE EAST

Washington has dispatched thousands of Marines to the Middle East, with the first of two contingents arriving on Friday aboard an amphibious assault ship, the U.S. military has said.
The Washington Post quoted U.S. officials as saying the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, adding that it was not yet clear if President Donald Trump would approve such plans.
Reuters has reported that the Pentagon has considered military options that could include ground forces.
Trump faces a stark choice between seeking a negotiated exit or a military ​escalation that risks a protracted crisis that would likely weigh ​further on his already low approval ratings.
Washington said last ⁠week it had offered a 15-point ceasefire plan, with a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restrict Iran’s nuclear programme, but Tehran has rejected the proposal and put forward alternatives of its own.

ISRAEL HITS DOZENS OF TARGETS ACROSS IRAN

An Israeli official said Israel would continue carrying out strikes against Iran on what were described as military targets, adding there was no intention ​to scale back the campaign ahead of any possible talks between Washington and Tehran.
A building housing Qatar’s Al-Araby TV in Tehran was hit on Sunday, the semi-official Mehr news agency ​reported.
“The missile hit. The ceiling and ⁠everything fell on our heads. … There was no military target here,” said Al-Araby camera operator Mohammadreza Shademan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Sunday that Iran’s heavy water production plant at Khondab, which the country reported had been attacked on Friday, had suffered severe damage and is no longer operational. The installation contains no declared nuclear material, the U.N. nuclear watchdog added in a social media post on X.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/yemens-houthis-enter-iran-war-with-attacks-israel-while-us-marines-arrive-region-2026-03-28/

Demonstrators decrying U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts, war in Iran and other policies took to city streets across the country on Saturday in the third round of the “No Kings” rallies.
More than 3,200 events had been planned in ​all 50 states, after the two previous nationwide events attracted millions of participants.

Large rallies took place in New York, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, but two-thirds of No Kings events were happening outside major cities, ‌a nearly 40% jump for smaller communities from the movement’s first mobilization last June, organizers said.

TRUMP POSES ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT,’ ACTOR DE NIRO SAYS

In Minnesota, a flashpoint in Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, a massive rally was held outside the state capitol in Saint Paul. Many held aloft posters bearing photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this year.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, told the crowd that their resistance to Trump and his policies makes them “the heart and soul” of everything good about the U.S.
“They call ​us radicals,” Walz said. “You’re damn right we’ve been radicalized – radicalized by compassion, radicalized by decency, radicalized by due process, radicalized by democracy, and radicalized to do all we can to oppose authoritarianism.”

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a ​Trump critic who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, also addressed the event in Minnesota. Musician Bruce Springsteen performed his song “Streets of Minneapolis” – a ballad criticizing Trump’s ⁠immigration crackdown and lamenting the deaths of Good and Pretti.
“We will not allow this country to descend into authoritarianism or oligarchy in America,” said Sanders, an independent. “We, the people, will rule.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee criticized Democratic politicians and candidates for supporting ​the rallies.
“These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone and House Democrats get their marching orders,” committee spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.

In New York, a crowd that police estimated at tens of thousands stretched ​more than 10 blocks in midtown Manhattan. Actor Robert De Niro, one of the organizers, said that no president before Trump has posed “such an existential threat to our freedoms and security.”
Holly Bemiss, 54, said she and other New York rally attendees were acting in the same spirit as her ancestors who fought in the American Revolution.
“We fought against having kings and we fought for freedom,” she said. “We’re just doing it again.”
On the National Mall in Washington, the crowd chanted pro-democracy slogans and held anti-Trump signs. Outside a high-rise assisted-living center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a group ​of elderly people in wheelchairs held signs encouraging passing cars to “Resist tyranny,” “Honk if you want democracy” and “Dump Trump.”
Thousands attended a Dallas event that had clashes between No Kings demonstrators and counterprotest groups, including one led by Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of ​the far-right organization the Proud Boys.

Minor scuffles erupted when counterprotesters blocked streets. Dallas police eventually made several arrests.
Trump’s policies have galvanized the opposition, Dallas protester Chris Brendel said.
“One thing I’ll give Trump credit for is mobilizing the dissenters,” Brendel said. “I can’t stand by and be silent ‌anymore simply because ⁠of my boys and their friends and the future.”

MARCHING AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

In Los Angeles retired Burbank, California, resident Theresa Gunnell said she took part because it’s “important for everybody to make a stand against authoritarianism, fascism, and greed.”
“All Trump is doing is making himself wealthy while taking away from regular Americans,” she said.
Two people were arrested for assaulting federal law enforcement as 1,000 “rioters” surrounded a federal building, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday.
It said two officers had been hit with the cement blocks and were receiving medical care in the incident at the Roybal Federal Building.
Multiple demonstrators were arrested for not dispersing from an area near a federal prison, the Los Angeles Police Department posted on social media. Federal authorities had deployed tear gas canisters at a ​crowd after some people threw objects over a fence, police ​said.
Heading toward November’s midterm elections, which will determine the makeup ⁠of the U.S. Congress, rally organizers say they have seen a surge in the number of people organizing anti-Trump events and registering to participate in deeply Republican states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah.
Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 36%, its lowest since his return to the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Competitive suburban areas that have helped decide national elections are seeing “huge” ​increases in interest, said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, the group that started the No Kings movement last year and led planning of Saturday’s events. She cited examples in Pennsylvania’s ​Bucks and Delaware counties, East Cobb ⁠and Forsyth in Georgia, and Scottsdale and Chandler in Arizona.
The first No Kings event, on Trump’s birthday, June 14, last year, drew an estimated 4 million to 6 million people across roughly 2,100 sites nationwide. The second mobilization in October involved an estimated 7 million participants in more than 2,700 cities, according to a crowdsourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rallies-planned-thousands-us-cities-no-kings-protest-against-trump-2026-03-28/

Narendra Modi and Mohammed bin Salman discuss West Asia conflict, attacks on energy infrastructure, maritime security, Strait of Hormuz, and Indian community welfare.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, with the two leaders discussing the escalating conflict in West Asia and its implications for regional stability and maritime security.

In a post on X, Modi said he had raised concerns over attacks on key energy infrastructure in the region and reiterated India’s position on the issue.

“Spoke with Crown Prince and PM of Saudi Arabia, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed the ongoing conflict in West Asia,” Modi said.

He added, “I reiterated India’s condemnation of attacks on regional energy infrastructure.”

The Prime Minister also said both sides agreed on the importance of ensuring uninterrupted maritime movement in the region, amid growing concerns over the safety of shipping lanes and trade routes.

“We agreed on the need to ensure freedom of navigation and keep shipping lines open and secure,” Modi said.

The conversation comes at a time when the Strait of Hormuz and other critical sea routes have emerged as major flashpoints in the ongoing regional conflict, with fears of disruptions to oil, gas, and commercial cargo movement.

Modi also thanked the Saudi Crown Prince for his support to the Indian community living in the kingdom.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/pm-modi-speaks-with-saudi-crown-prince-condemns-attacks-on-energy-infra-10002769.html