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    US military says it shot down Iranian drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz

    CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. — The U.S. military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, Friday, and then struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response, raising the risk to a shaky ceasefire as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran . “The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” U.S. Central Command said on social media. The military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s chokehold on the crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments, which has sent energy prices spiking and posed political problems for President Donald Trump's Republican Party ahead of the midterm congressional elections. U.S. Central Command said it hit the radar sites, including an island in the strait, “to defend against further attacks.” It was the latest in back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and efforts to reach a deal to extend that truce. Earlier this week, Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger termin

    3 MIN READBy AP
    US military says it shot down Iranian drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz
  • World

    Iran FM urges Lebanon president to save country from 'real foe'

    1 MIN READBy AFP
    Iran FM urges Lebanon president to save country from 'real foe'
  • World

    Pope Leo heads to Spain with migrants and polarisation in focus

    2 MIN READBy Reuters
    Pope Leo heads to Spain with migrants and polarisation in focus
  • World

    Trump's UFC fight at White House combines punches and politics

    3 MIN READBy Reuters
    Trump's UFC fight at White House combines punches and politics
  • World

    NASA reverses evacuation alert order for astronauts aboard space station

    3 MIN READBy Reuters
    NASA reverses evacuation alert order for astronauts aboard space station
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World

Iran rejects ‘maximalist’ US demands as Pakistan pushes peace

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi laid out Iran's demands and its reservations about U.S. positions on Saturday as Pakistan made a new push to end a war that has killed thousands and shaken global energy markets. After holding talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other top officials, Araqchi and his delegation flew out of Pakistan's capital Islamabad with a military jet escort, government sources said. Details of the talks were scant. The White House had earlier said President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would travel to Islamabad on Saturday. It was not immediately clear if or when Araqchi would return to Pakistan. Iran has previously ruled out a new round of direct talks with the United States. Washington and Tehran are at an impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, while the U.S. blocks Iran's oil exports. Iran sets out its 'principled positions' The conflict, in which a ceasefire is now in force, bega

Apr 26, 2026By Reuters
Iran rejects ‘maximalist’ US demands as Pakistan pushes peace
World

Despite Iran tensions, King Charles III will follow his mother's lead in celebrating US-UK bonds

LONDON — The challenge for King Charles III as he embarks on this week's state visit to the U.S. is, as always, to live up to his mother’s example. The late Queen Elizabeth II wowed Congress in 1991 with a speech that celebrated the shared democratic traditions of Britain and the United States, quoted Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and highlighted the deep bonds between the two nations. Those themes will also be at the top of Charles’ agenda as he celebrates America's 250th birthday and seeks to calm tensions surrounding Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Texas. “We’ve got to always make the distinction that there’s a difference between the government of the U.K. and the kings and queens of Great Britain, who are really always coming to try to put (on) a good face,” Brinkley told The Associated Press. “Politics come and go, prime ministers, presidents, come and go, but there’s something deeper about the

Apr 25, 2026By AP
Despite Iran tensions, King Charles III will follow his mother's lead in celebrating US-UK bonds
World

Local elections in West Bank and part of Gaza could test public trust

RAMALLAH, West Bank — For the first time in two decades, Palestinians in battle-scarred Gaza have a chance to vote in local elections Saturday. And in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, voters are casting ballots for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Turnout may reflect the level of public trust in a broader system led by aging leaders in the West Bank and as Gaza prepares for an anticipated transition from Hamas rule. The vote in the West Bank will determine the makeup of the local councils overseeing water, roads and electricity. The vote in a single city in Gaza, on the other hand, is largely symbolic, with officials calling it a “pilot.” Though it has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, the Palestinian Authority has promoted the local races following reforms it enacted last year after demands from international backers. Under the slogan “We Stay,” the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission has campaigned to encourage participation among the nearly 70,000 voters eligible in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and 1 million in the West Bank. Vo

Apr 25, 2026By AP
Local elections in West Bank and part of Gaza could test public trust
World

Trump sends envoys to Islamabad as Iran rules out direct talks

ISLAMABAD — U.S. envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan, Saturday, in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran, even as Iran ruled out direct negotiations with U.S. representatives as its top diplomat arrived in Islamabad. The latest effort to broker a deal comes as an indefinite ceasefire has paused most fighting, however, the economic fallout is still mounting with global energy shipments disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistan works to get US and Iran back to the negotiating table Pakistan has been trying to get U.S. and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, honoring Islamabad’s request for more time for a diplomatic outreach. The White House said Friday that President Donald Trump would send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to meet with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. But shortly after Araghchi arrived in Islamabad, his ministry said any talks would be indirect, with messages conveyed between the two sides by Pakistani officials. Araghchi and the two Trump envoys

Apr 25, 2026By AP
Trump sends envoys to Islamabad as Iran rules out direct talks
World

Trump says Iran will make offer aimed at meeting US demands: Reuters

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at meeting American demands, a report said, as key U.S. negotiators plan to depart for Pakistan this weekend to engage in direct talks with Iran. During a phone interview with Reuters, Trump made the remarks without elaborating on the offer. His administration has sought to secure Iran's firm commitment not to seek a nuclear weapon and its pledge to hand over its enriched uranium stockpile, among others. "They're making an offer and we'll have to see," Trump was quoted as saying. Earlier this week, Trump extended a ceasefire with Iran until Tehran submits a "unified" peace proposal, as his administration believes that the Tehran government struggles with internal division between hard-liners and moderates, which has made it difficult to make a coherent response. When asked who Washington was negotiating with, the president said that the U.S. is "dealing with the people that are in charge now." Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, plan to head to Pa

Apr 25, 2026By Yonhap
Trump says Iran will make offer aimed at meeting US demands: Reuters
World

US soldier charged in $400K Maduro raid betting case released on bond

RALEIGH, N.C. — A U.S. special forces soldier who took part in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will be released on bond on charges accusing him of using classified information about the operation to win more than $400,000 in an online prediction market, a federal magistrate said Friday. The magistrate in North Carolina said he would allow Gannon Ken Van Dyke to be released and told him to report to a New York federal courthouse by Tuesday to continue his case there. Bearded with arm tattoos, Van Dyke said little during the nearly hourlong hearing, during which he was appointed a federal public defender who declined to comment afterward. The $250,000 unsecured bond did not require Van Dyke to put up any money. Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke used his access to classified information about the operation to capture Maduro in January to win money on the prediction market site Polymarket. The sites allow people to trade on almost anything — from the Super Bowl to U.S. elections and even the winners of the TV reality shows. Van Dyke, who is stationed at Fort Bragg near

Apr 25, 2026By AP
US soldier charged in $400K Maduro raid betting case released on bond
World

Witkoff, Kushner head to Pakistan for Iran talks, White House says

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad, Saturday morning, for talks with Iran mediated by Pakistan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt said the Trump administration has seen "some progress" from the Iranian side in the last couple of days, without elaborating. "Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will be made and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting," she told reporters. Reuters reported earlier that Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected in the Pakistani capital Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the U.S. Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance, who led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month, is ready to travel to Pakistan to join the talks if they prove successful. "The president, the vice president, the secretary of state, will be waiting here in the United States for up

Apr 25, 2026By Reuters
Witkoff, Kushner head to Pakistan for Iran talks, White House says
World

China's DeepSeek rolls out a long-anticipated update of its AI model

HONG KONG — DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup that shook world markets last year, launched preview versions of its latest major update Friday as the AI rivalry between China and the U.S. heats up. DeepSeek’s V4 has been keenly anticipated by users looking to test how it compares to U.S. competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini. Anthropic and OpenAI have accused DeepSeek of unfairly building its technology off their own. Some industry analysts had expected the new model to arrive more than two months earlier at the start of the Lunar New Year. DeepSeek says the new V4 open-source models, which include “pro” and “flash” versions, have big improvements in knowledge, reasoning and in their “agentic” capabilities –-- the ability to perform complex tasks and workflows autonomously. Another big change is they are supported in part by computer chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei, reducing DeepSeek's reliance on U.S. chipmakers such as Nvidia. V4 is a successor to V3, an AI model that DeepSeek released in late 2024. B

Apr 25, 2026By AP
China's DeepSeek rolls out a long-anticipated update of its AI model
World

Iran's foreign minister heading to Islamabad, raising optimism for peace talks

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON — Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Friday, to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, but Pakistani sources said he was not due to meet U.S. negotiators there. Islamabad was the venue for talks, which collapsed earlier this week, between the U.S. and Iran on ending their war. Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia to coordinate with partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, adding that Iran's neighbours remained Tehran's priority. The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media. Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araqchi's visit would be a brief one to discuss Iran's proposals for talks with the U.S., which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad soon for talks with Araqchi, a U.S. official told Reuters, a

Apr 25, 2026By Reuters
Iran's foreign minister heading to Islamabad, raising optimism for peace talks
World

Hegseth calls for allies' role in Strait of Hormuz, says 'free riding over'

WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated the need Friday for Asian and European allies to play a role in securing the crucial Strait of Hormuz, saying "the time for free riding is over." Hegseth made the remarks during a press briefing at the Pentagon, underscoring that the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and vessels is "growing and going global," and that the blockade will last "as long as it takes." "Europe and Asia have benefited from our protection for decades, but the time for free riding is over," the secretary said, stressing that the U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz "should not be America's fight alone." "America and the free world deserve allies who are capable, who are loyal and who understand that being an ally is not a one-way street. It's a two-way street," he added. The Pentagon chief went on to highlight that Europe needs safe passage through the strait for energy imports much more than the United States does. "(Europe) might want to start doing less talking, having less fancy conferences ... This is much more their fight than ours," he

Apr 25, 2026By Yonhap
Hegseth calls for allies' role in Strait of Hormuz, says 'free riding over'
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