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The Strait of Hormuz is blocked again by Iran as the IRGC’s hardline position appears to prevail in Tehran, setting the stage for the 3-day countdown towards the end of the ceasefire, with no new talks in sight.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed Tuesday to take a harder line against the U.S. over the deaths of Mexican migrants in its immigration detention centres.
Sheinbaum had previously responded to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s anti-immigration provocations by defending Mexico’s sovereignty while meeting his requests to crack down on drug cartel activity. At the same time, the threat of tariffs and other economic or military-style sanctions loomed.
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Left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez climbed to second place in Peru‘s presidential election on Wednesday, positioning himself to face conservative Keiko Fujimori in a June runoff, while his nearest challenger threatened protests over alleged voter fraud.
With more than 90 percent of ballots tallied, the daughter of divisive former President Alberto Fujimori has garnered nearly 17 percent of the vote, followed by Sanchez with 12 percent. Ultraconservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga was third with 11.9 percent.
Sunday’s election ran into Monday in parts of the capital Lima because of delays in the delivery of ballots and other materials.
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The U.N. Navy is aggressively enforcing the blockade against Iran, according to a U.S. official who said two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran were intercepted and turned back by an American destroyer on Tuesday.
The unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that two tankers departed from Iran’s port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, only to be intercepted by a U.S. Navy destroyer that instructed them by radio to turn around. Both ships complied with the order.
Chabahar is a port city on the southeastern coast of Iran. It was originally constructed in 1983, to give Iran alternatives to shipping through the Persian Gulf during the long and bloody Iran-Iraq War.
In recent years, the Indian government made about $500 million in investments to expand the two major port complexes at Chabahar, giving them more deep-water berths for large cargo vessels.
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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the opposition win in Hungary as “the victory of light over darkness,” as he called for “pragmatic, friendly” relations with the new administration.
Speaking alongside the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said that he hoped for “pragmatic” and “friendly” relations with the new Magyar government – in sharp contrast with hostile Orbán administration.
“I am sure we will cooperate with Hungary,” he said, expressing hope Ukraine will be able to “build our relations” with the new government based on “cooperation” and “respect for each other.”
He said that the damaged Druzhba pipeline which has been at the heart of tensions between Ukraine and Hungary in recent months will be repaired by the end of April. “Not completely, but enough to function,” he said.
Zelenskyy also briefly commented on the outcome in the Hungarian election, saying:
“The elections when the Hungarian people made their choice were on Sunday, 12 April. In
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Spain’s prime minister is facing a complaint at the International Criminal Court alleging his government enabled Iran’s “terror machine” through dual-use exports, with the legal group behind the filing arguing that responsibility for war crimes extends to those who provide the means.
The complaint, filed Tuesday by Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, calls on prosecutors in The Hague to open a criminal investigation — and consider issuing an arrest warrant — against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other senior officials.
The complaint alleges that Spain’s socialist government approved the transfer of approximately €1.3 million in dual-use components to Iran in 2024 and 2025, including materials linked to detonators and explosive systems.
According to the filing, the items were not benign industrial goods but “critical components that enable explosive devices to function,” transferred under circumstances in which their use in attacks against civilians was foreseeable.
At the core of the case is the allegation that materials classified as civilian “dual-use” goods function as essential components in weapons systems.
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AI tool Claude, developed by Anthropic, suddenly announced the rollout of a new identity verification system requiring users to complete a real-time selfie check while holding a government-issued ID.
The move has drawn global attention, but for Chinese users in particular, it feels like a heavy blow that erects a difficult-to-cross “wall” in AI access.
This verification is not being applied universally to all users at once. Instead, it is being introduced gradually in specific scenarios. When users attempt to access certain advanced features, or as part of routine platform integrity checks and other safety and compliance measures, a verification prompt may appear.
The process itself appears simple and typically takes no more than five minutes. However, users must prepare a government-issued photo ID—such as a passport, driver’s license, or national ID card—and use a camera-enabled device to capture a real-time selfie.
For Chinese users, the impact of this mechanism is both broad and profound. The barrier to entry has been significantly raised: individuals without passports are excluded from using Claude.
Even for those who do have passports, older accounts may become valuable assets, while new users face hurdles due to real-name verification requirements, making normal access increasingly difficult.
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Finnish President Alexander Stubb says he exchanges messages with Prime Minister Mark Carney almost every day.
“We’re tight,” Stubb said with a smile.
Now, Stubb and Carney have the opportunity to talk in person.
Stubb is in Ottawa for his first official bilateral meetings with Canada’s prime minister. The pair are working to develop trade and defence ties, according to Carney’s office.
“With shared interests, values and a commitment to international security, I look forward to hosting President Stubb to deepen our partnership to create stability, security and prosperity for both our peoples,” Carney wrote in a statement.
One of the ways Stubb said he maintains that partnership is through regular communication.
He said that being the leader of a “small country” means that “information is power.”
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Don’t look now, but Big Oil is making big moves to secure positions in the expanding Venezuelan oil industry as part of the Trump Administration’s plans to revitalize the country’s economy.
On Monday, Chevron officials signed a pair of deals to expand the company’s footprint in the prolific Orinoco Belt as Shell prepares to ink a major deal of its own later this week.
Make no mistake: These deals didn’t happen in a vacuum. They are the direct result of the Trump administration’s bold decision to remove Nicolás Maduro in January, launch a $100 billion reconstruction plan for the country’s shattered energy sector, and push through sweeping reforms to Venezuela’s hydrocarbon law. After years of socialist mismanagement that turned one of the world’s richest oil nations into an economic basket case, sanity is finally returning.
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Péter Magyar has gone from political outsider to Hungary’s most powerful politician almost overnight.
The 44-year-old lawyer and former insider in former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling party swept to victory in Hungary’s 2026 election, ending Orbán’s 16-year rule and stunning Europe.
“Thank you to every Hungarian at home and around the world!” he wrote on X. “It is an immense honor that you have empowered us to form a government with the most votes ever received, and to work for the next four years for a free, European, functioning, and humane Hungary.”
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TEHRAN, April 16. /TASS/. The Iranian armed forces can sink all US naval ships in the Persian Gulf, which are within range of the country’s missiles, Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, said.
“An extension of the ceasefire is not in our interests at all. That’s my personal opinion. Pressure has to be increased. Our launchers are aimed at these ships at the moment, and we would sink them all. None would escape, ” he told Iran’s state broadcaster in an interview.
According to Rezaei, there are currently reasons to maintain the ceasefire and hold talks simultaneously. “However, it’s a military lull, not a permanent ceasefire. This is how the supreme leader describes it,” he added.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit.