03 World

Japan’s defense budget to reach 1.9% of GDP in fiscal 2026– japantoday.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Japan’s initial budget for defense spending and related costs for fiscal 2026 totaled about 10.6 trillion yen ($66.5 billion), equivalent to roughly 1.9 percent of its 2022 gross domestic product, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday.

Japan has set a goal of raising defense spending and related costs to 2 percent of GDP by fiscal 2027 in a notable shift from its long-standing practice of keeping defense spending around 1 percent of GDP amid growing security challenges from countries such as China and North Korea.

Using projected GDP for fiscal 2026, the ratio would stand at around 1.5 percent, Koizumi added while speaking to reporters.

Under its three key security documents adopted in late 2022, the Japanese government outlined plans to spend about 43 trillion yen on defense over the five years through 2027.

Oil prices jump after U.S. seizes Iranian vessel, imperiling ceasefire – The Washington Post– news.google.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

  1. Oil prices jump after U.S. seizes Iranian vessel, imperiling ceasefire  The Washington Post
  2. Iran War Live Updates: Tehran Sends Mixed Signals on Talks After U.S. Seizes Ship  The New York Times
  3. U.S. seizes Iranian-flagged ship, Warsh’s big week, Cursor funding and more in Morning Squawk  CNBC
  4. Live updates: Pakistan prepares for upcoming peace talks despite US seizure of Iranian cargo ship  AP News
  5. Oil and Gas Prices Surge After U.S. Navy Seizes Iranian-Flagged Cargo Ship  Democracy Now!

Russian Oil Is Too Big to Ignore, Kremlin Says– www.themoscowtimes.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

The Kremlin said Monday that a new U.S. sanctions waiver on Russian oil exports proves that the commodity is too vital to the global economy to be sidelined.

“Russia remains a responsible and very important player in global energy markets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The market is going through tough times and, of course, Russian volumes are difficult not to take into account and ignore.”

The U.S. Treasury Department issued the extension on Friday, allowing for the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products loaded onto ships between April 17 and May 16. The move is part of an ongoing effort to stabilize global energy prices, which have surged following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Several Asian countries had lobbied Washington for an extension as they looked for alternatives to Middle Eastern supplies disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Indonesia announced a new agreement to receive Russian crude, while Malaysia said its state energy firm, Petronas, is negotiating its own purchases.

Trump, Iran cite progress in talks as uncertainty hangs over Strait of Hormuz– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Trump defended the US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal before the ceasefire expires on Wednesday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.

Concern remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked on Saturday while trying to transit the waterway. India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

Trump reaffirms US-Israel support after Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by Lebanon comments– www.mirror.co.uk

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Donald Trump posted on social media to reaffirm the US’s support for Israel, calling it a ‘great ally’, just hours after sources told Axios that Benjamin Netanyahu had been left ‘personally stunned and alarmed’ by an earlier post in which Trump said Israel was ‘prohibited’ from bombing Lebanon

President Trump Meets With Visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu At The White House(Image: Getty)

Donald Trump reaffirmed his backing for Israel in a Truth Social message on Saturday evening, merely hours after reports suggested Benjamin Netanyahu had been unsettled by an earlier comment he made.

Writing around 9pm ET, the US president described Israel as a “great ally” of Washington while taking aim at European nations that refused to take part in the Iran conflict.

SETH ORANBURG: Local Municipalities Weaponize Bureaucracy Against Prayer– dailycaller.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

As Congress debates antisemitism legislation and the Religious Liberty Commission holds hearings on rising hate, a case pending before the Supreme Court reveals a more mundane threat: city officials who use zoning bureaucracy to shut down Jewish prayer in a private home.

Daniel Grand invited a handful of neighbors to his house on a Saturday morning to pray. The City of University Heights, Ohio, served him with a cease-and-desist order, calling his home an “illegal house of worship.” Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan then encouraged Grand’s neighbors to surveil his home and report any religious activity for punishment.

When a city criminalizes home worship, you’d figure the homeowner has recourse. On paper, yes. In practice, no. In reality, municipalities across the country destroy faith communities not through action but through something more sinister: selective inaction.

Pope Leo warns African youth against emigration, urges battle against ‘scourge of corruption’– www.lifesitenews.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Pope Leo XIV called on young people in Africa to resist emigration and corruption, and to work for the good of their own countries.

On April 17, Pope Leo XIV addressed students and faculty at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé and later celebrated Mass in Douala, urging African youth to remain in their homeland, combat corruption through moral integrity, and contribute to national development, during the midpoint of his pastoral journey to four African nations.

“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the Pope said during the Mass in Douala. “Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality, and work.”

Why game theory could be critical in a nuclear war– www.scientificamerican.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

“The half-life of humanity is currently around 35 years,” said Nobel laureate in physics David Gross as he concluded an evening lecture at the German Physical Society’s conference in Erlangen in March. Put another way, the physicist believes that in a little more than three decades, there is a 50 percent chance that our species will be extinct.

The alarming statement followed Gross’s estimation that the risk of a nuclear war was increasing from 1 percent per year to about 2 percent annually. After the lecture, the audience was visibly pensive. The current world situation and the award-winning speaker’s warnings hung over attendees like a dark cloud.

“I’m still hoping game theory will come to the rescue,” another physicist later told me at the conference. The rules of logic—provided everyone follows them—would prohibit a nuclear first strike, this reasoning goes.

Iran Pushes Too Far in Hormuz, and the U.S. Pushes Back – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:
President Donald Trump authorized a direct response after an Iranian-flagged vessel moved into a restricted pattern of activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Navy forces intercepted and disabled the vessel after it failed to comply with repeated warnings. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth supported the operation, and the U.S. Central Command coordinated the response, stopping the vessel before it could continue its course through one of the world’s most contentious shipping lanes.

It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.

With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump ’s earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood. He had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday.

Zelensky Says Oil Sanctions Relief Provides Billions for Russian Military– www.themoscowtimes.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday condemned the easing of sanctions on Russian oil after the United States extended a waiver meant to soften surging energy prices driven by the Middle East war.

“Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war” and is used for devastating strikes on Ukraine, Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky did not mention the United States, but President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday issued a month-long sanctions waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products that are at sea.

The action was intended to bring down soaring energy prices. But the U.S. Treasury Department extension came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would not renew the waiver.

US seizes Iranian vessel in Hormuz; Iran vows ‘retaliation soon’ — what we know– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship TOUSKA after it tried to bypass a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz.Iran initially contradicted the claim, saying US forces were forced to retreat…

In a post on Truth Social he wrote, “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA… tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them.”

Trump said the ship was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but it did not comply.

“The US Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!,” he further wrote.

Trump’s bid to win influence in Africa hits wall of entrenched China– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

The Trump administration is rehauling its approach to wrestling influence in sub-Saharan Africa from China, an uphill battle against decades of Chinese momentum.

While the end of the Cold War saw the United States assert its unipolar moment over much of the world, this didn’t extend to sub-Saharan Africa, which ranked low on the list of U.S. priorities. The lack of U.S. interest helped facilitate China’s rise in the region, which has exploded since 2000. China’s dominance in sub-Saharan Africa has now exceeded anything ever achieved by the U.S. in the region.

The Trump administration is looking to buck this trend by drastically reworking its approach from previous administrations, switching from an aid-focused model to one of trade, a focus on critical mineral acquisition, and transactional economic cooperation.

Middle East crisis live: ceasefire under pressure as Iran says it has no plans for talks after US seizes ship | US-Israel war on Iran– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, has been quoted by Al Jazeera as having said that Iran has no plans for a new round of talks with the US, saying Washington has violated the agreement from its implementation.

The spokesperson also said Tehran can’t forget US attacks on Iran during previous diplomatic talks as he insisted that Iran will continue defending its national interests.

Behind Trump’s “Unstable, Insulting” Strategy To End The Iran War– www.ndtv.com

pgnewser April 20, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

US President Donald Trump seems to have lost his appetite for war as the two-week ceasefire with Iran nears an end. He is oscillating between ominous and propitiatory approaches while asking Iran to make a permanent peace deal. Behind the scenes, he’s grappling with fear that the situation can turn into something similar to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis –one of the biggest foreign policy failures of recent times, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Trump’s impulsive style has never before been tested during a sustained military conflict, and according to the report, his top aides are limiting the flow of information t

Airstrike by Nigeria, U.S. ally against Islamist militants, kills scores– www.washingtonpost.com

pgnewser April 16, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

First came the thunderous boom. Then the air billowed with thick black smoke. Fires were “everywhere,” survivors said. Scores of people lay dead.

The Nigerian military, with whom the U.S. military is fighting a growing Islamist threat, initially declared the attack on a weekend market in the remote desert village of Jilli a successful strike “on a known terrorist enclave.” But eyewitnesses describe a starkly different scene: The more than 100 people killed, they say, were traders and other members of the community, and included women and children.