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As the United States-Israel war on Iran — paused for two weeks on Wednesday amid fresh diplomatic talks — has roiled the global economy for more than a month, Iran and China have seized the opportunity to address a shared gripe about the global financial system.
Their common cause: ending the hegemony of the US dollar.
The FBI Cyber Division warned organizations and companies that Iran-affiliated hackers are targeting U.S. critical infrastructures.
The warning comes hours before the 8 PM ET deadline President Donald Trump gave Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran-affiliated cyber actors are targeting operational technology devices across US critical infrastructure, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs),” the division wrote on X. “These attacks have led to diminished PLC functionality, manipulation of display data and, in some cases, operational disruption and financial loss.”
Iran-affiliated cyber actors are targeting operational technology devices across US critical infrastructure, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These attacks have led to diminished PLC functionality, manipulation of display data and, in some cases, operational… pic.twitter.com/odBD3lBi0l
— FBI Cyber Division (@FBICyberDiv) April 7, 2026
US President Donald Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for oil tankers and other traffic without any limitations, including tolls, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
from www.news24.com
WASHINGTON, April 8. /TASS/. Iranian representatives offered the United States a revised proposal that has been taken as a basis for negotiations on a potential settlement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing.
“The Iranians originally put forward a 10-point plan that was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded. It was literally thrown in the garbage by [US] President [Donald] Trump and his negotiating team. Many outlets in this room have falsely reported on that plan as being acceptable to the United States, and that is false,” she noted.
Iranian-Canadian communities in Vancouver and Toronto say a temporary ceasefire has brought some relief, but deep concern remains for loved ones in Iran following threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire after Trump’s latest warnings raised alarms internationally.
Human rights advocate Soushiant Zanganehpour said the rhetoric marked a sharp escalation.
Pakistan condemns storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces Pakistan Today
from news.google.com
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are set to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House Wednesday, following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
After Trump pulled back and caved to Iran at the last moment, which creates doubt that the president’s threats to destroy Iranian civilization were ever serious, the United States is asking itself questions like, “Why was this war fought? What was gained by fighting this war? What happens after the war, both to the Middle East and the United States?
Donald Trump’s ceasefire appears to be in the brink of collapse after Iran launched a series of “blatant” missile and drone attacks on Gulf neighbours. The US President had last night boasted there was no question the US had won a “total and complete victory” in the war against the Islamic Republic which America launched alongside Israel on February 28.
Trump and Washington had come under mounting pressure after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz by threatening to attack shipping. The vital waterway usually carries around 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Women who aren’t married are throwing wedding themed birthdays. It’s almost like they’re trying to compensate for something. President Donald Trump has not enacted Power Plant and Bridge Day as the Iranians appear to want to make a deal. The Left reacts. Poorly.
Shippers looking to revive the passage of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz were seeking clarity on the logistics on Wednesday, while refiners inquired about new crude loadings, in response to a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.
Most stranded oil and gas tankers remained inside the Gulf, LSEG shipping data showed, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the two-week ceasefire and said the U.S. would help with the traffic build-up.
Underscoring the precarity of the situation, Iranian state media announced fresh “missile and drone attacks” Wednesday on US-allied Gulf states UAE and Kuwait in retaliation for airstrikes against its oil facilities.
Kuwait said its oil facilities and power and desalination plants were damaged in “an intense wave” of strikes that lasted hours, and demanded Iran cease its attacks.
The UAE said it was intercepting Iranian attacks while Bahrain also said its capital Manama had been hit.
ROME — Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization was “truly unacceptable” and said any attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law.
In some of his strongest comments yet against the war, Leo urged Americans and other people of good will to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to demand they reject war and work for peace.
“Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” he said as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
He was referring to Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran fails to meet his latest deadline to strike a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
If there is one country that can ill-afford a prolonged Strait of Hormuz closure, it is France, the Eurozone’s second-largest member country. Even before the Strait’s closure, France had unsustainable public finances. Those finances were proving difficult to correct in the context of its sclerotic economy, its fragmented politics, and its being stuck in a Euro straitjacket. The energy and fertilizer price spike resulting from the Strait’s closure will substantially exacerbate France’s public finance problem. In turn, that raises the real risk of another round of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, especially given the French government’s high dependence on external borrowing to finance its gaping budget deficit.
The Rundown: Gov. Pritzker calls for Trump’s removal from office WBEZ Chicago
from news.google.com
Israel has passed a law making the death penalty by hanging the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
The UK, Germany, France and Italy said the move was “de facto discriminatory” and “Israel risks undermining its commitments to democratic principles”.
A joint statement called the death penalty “an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterrent effect”.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper posted the statement on X, adding: “The death penalty is wrong and we oppose it around the world.”
President Trump gave the Iranian regime until 8 pm tonight to agree to a ceasefire deal. He made it very clear that Iran is either going to disarm and open the Strait of Hormuz, or he will bomb the regime into submission.
Tomorrow, 8:00 PM Eastern Time. pic.twitter.com/eGqbioePia
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 6, 2026
Of course, the Left is melting down over this, calling the legitimate targeting of infrastructure “war crimes,” while they spent the past three years turning a blind eye to the actual war crimes committed by Hamas and the past 47 ignoring the terrorism Iran has carried out around the globe.
The 41-year-old Lebanese national who targeted the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Mich., on March 12 “acted under Hezbollah’s direction and control,” according to the Department of Justice.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove his car into Michigan’s largest synagogue and opened fire on March 12. A security guard was injured by Ghazali’s car inside the synagogue, but otherwise, no one was hurt.
“This man acted under Hezbollah’s direction and control,” said Jerome Gorgon, Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “I’ve seen some odd attempts to explain away or even lessen this terrorist attack by claiming that he was an isolated lone wolf, but that is misleading,” said Gorgon.
Trying to juxtapose President Trump talking about the war with Iran with the setting of the White House Easter Egg Roll, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel urged his viewers to imagine the new ayatollah laughing at the “lunatic” Trump while watching him stand next to a guy in a bunny suit. The only problem was that Kimmel did not mention the clip he played of Trump was about the U.S. military rescuing the downed airman in a daring operation that left Iran humiliated.
Kimmel introduced a clip of Trump by declaring, “This is a tradition that dates back to 1878, and what you are about to see—even though we did not have video back when Rutherford B. Hayes was running the show—I have to believe that this would rank among, if not at the top of, the most preposterous moments in White House Easter Egg Roll history.”
Jimmy Kimmel reacts to Trump at the White House Easter Egg Roll talking about the rescue of the downed airman (although he didn’t provide that framing) “Having fun, kids? Okay. I want you to take another journey with me, if you will. Can you imagine the new ayatollah sitting in… pic.twitter.com/yEYWi6UViD
This is getting ugly.
And quick!
Videos on X show hundreds of Iranians who are reportedly being sent by the Iranian regime to protest on critical bridges and at power plants as President Trump has threatened strikes on the infrastructure.
President Donald Trump’s deadline of 8.00 p.m. EST for the Iranian regime to open the Strait of Hormuz or face a big attack that could include power plants and/or bridges is counting down.
We reported on Thursday about a United Nations Security Council resolution, designed to try to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The resolution from Bahrain:
“[A]uthorizes member States, acting nationally or through voluntary multinational naval partnerships, with advance notifications to the Security Council,” to use all necessary means “to secure transit passage and to deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
President Donald Trump spoke from the White House on Wednesday night to explain to the American people “why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.” The United States and Israel have been allied in their fight against Iran, which in turn closed the Strait of Hormuz, limiting the worldwide oil supply.
Trump told allies that if they want the oil in Iran they should go get it or they should buy oil from the United States instead. In recent days, Trump has theatened to pull the US out of NATO over the allies’ refusal to aid the US in the Iran fight. He did not mention this in his remarks, nor did he indicate that a ground invasion of Iran was imminent.
The United Arab Emirates has signaled a willingness to participate in military operations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, which cites senior Emirati officials who spoke with the outlet on the condition of anonymity, the UAE is preparing to assist the United States and other allies in opening the strait by force if necessary. If confirmed, the nation would become the first Gulf State to signal openness to military action in order to free the vital shipping lane from Iranian blockades.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman wrote Tuesday that far-left Michigan senatorial candidate — Democrat Abdul El-Sayed — threatened the Beacon with legal action after the conservative news outlet published a recording of El-Sayed saying he wouldn’t comment on the death of murderous Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei because “a lot of people in Dearborn…are sad” and thus would hurt his electoral prospects.
Earth to Brian Stelter, Oliver Darcy, Scott Nover, Brian Steinberg, and the rest of the so-called media reporting class: Where are you on this act of media intimidation?
President Donald Trump issued his bluntest ultimatum yet to Iran’s IRGC on Sunday, demanding they reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. and Israeli strikes on their energy infrastructure. In a Truth Social post, he warned:
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. President DONALD J. TRUMP
The remnants of the regime’s leadership have held roughly 20% of the global oil and gas supply hostage for a month, its last remaining point of leverage.
According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv has information that Moscow shared data on “some 50–53 facilities in total,” adding that these are civilian infrastructure sites with no military significance.
“It resembles the lives of Ukrainians under Russian attacks, when they target our energy grid or water supply systems,” Zelenskyy said.
“Of course, all the experience Russia has obtained during the war against Ukraine is being shared with Iran. This was the case with Shaheds, the same drones the Russians have, only used under a different name and upgraded to newer generations.”
President Donald Trump is weighing a range of military options against Iran as tensions escalate, with Pentagon planners outlining scenarios for what officials describe as a potential “massive final blow.”
According to Axios, President Trump has been presented with four possible paths.
Those plans reportedly include deploying U.S. troops and launching a ground operation targeting Kharg Island, a critical hub in Iran’s oil network.