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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 on 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 termi

    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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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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World

Iran aims to restore majority of refining capability within two months, oil ministry official says

DUBAI — Iran expects to restore most damaged refining and distribution facilities to 70–80 percent of their pre-attack capacity within one to two months, a senior oil official said, as authorities work to recover from a wave of strikes on energy infrastructure. Deputy Minister of Oil Mohammad Sadeq Azimifar told the Student News Network that repair work had begun and that part of the Lavan refinery is expected to resume operations within about 10 days, with other units coming back online gradually.

Apr 12, 2026By Reuters
Iran aims to restore majority of refining capability within two months, oil ministry official says
World

Russia accuses Ukraine of 1,971 Easter truce violations

MOSCOW — Russia on Sunday claimed that Ukraine had committed nearly 2,000 truce violations, as the warring neighbours traded accusations of breaching an agreement to temporarily halt hostilities for Orthodox Easter. "A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4:00 pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8:00 am on April 12," the Russian defence ministry said, as reported by the TASS news agency.

Apr 12, 2026By AFP
Russia accuses Ukraine of 1,971 Easter truce violations
World

Hungarians vote in landmark election closely watched by EU, Russia, US

BUDAPEST — Hungarians started voting on Sunday in an election that could end Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year hold on power, rattle Russia and send shockwaves through right-wing circles across the West, including U.S. President Donald Trump's White House. Orban, a eurosceptic nationalist, has carved out a model of an "illiberal democracy" seen as a blueprint by Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its admirers in Europe. But many Hungarians have grown increasingly weary of Orban, 62, after three years of economic stagnation and soaring living costs, as well as reports of oligarchs close to the government amassing more wealth. Opinion polls have shown Orban's Fidesz party trailing Peter Magyar's upstart centre-right opposition Tisza party by 7-9 percentage points, with Tisza at around 38-41 percent. Voting in the election for the 199-seat parliament started at 6 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and is due to close at 7 p.m. Vote could bring record turnout, pollsters say "I think we need change in the country. We need an improvement in public mood, we are full of tensions in

Apr 12, 2026By Reuters
Hungarians vote in landmark election closely watched by EU, Russia, US
World

Iran war diverts US military, attention from Asia ahead of Trump's summit with China's leader

WASHINGTON — In 2011, President Barack Obama declared it was time for America to leave behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and “pivot” to Asia to counter the rise of China. Fifteen years later, the U.S. finds itself still at war in the Middle East and has pulled military assets from the Asia-Pacific as it aims to eliminate the threat posed by Iran's nuclear and missile programs. The demands of the Iran war also caused President Donald Trump to delay by several weeks his highly anticipated trip to China, deepening worries that the U.S. is once again getting distracted at the cost of its strategic interests in Asia, where Beijing seeks to unseat the U.S. as the regional leader. Those skeptical of the U.S. involvement in the Middle East say the war is preventing Trump from adequately preparing for his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month, when economic interests are on the line, and they warn that a failure to focus on Asia and maintain strong deterrence could lead to greater instability, if China should believe the time is ripe to seize the self-governed island of T

Apr 12, 2026By AP
Iran war diverts US military, attention from Asia ahead of Trump's summit with China's leader
World

China says it will resume some ties with Taiwan including more direct flights

BANGKOK — China said Sunday it would resume some ties it had suspended with Taiwan such as direct flights to cities across China and imports of Taiwanese aquaculture products as the island's opposition party leader concludes her visit. The Taiwan Work Office under China's Communist Party issued a statement saying it would explore setting up a longstanding communication mechanism between the Communist Party and Taiwan’s Kuomingtang Party, and facilitate the import of Taiwan’s aquaculture products, after it banned them in recent years. Cheng Li-wun, the head of the Kuomingtang, and China’s President Xi Jinping held a high-profile meeting Friday during which both called for peace without offering specifics. Taiwan is self-ruled but China claims the island as part of its territory. Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense since 2016 when the Taiwanese public elected Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party as president. Since then, Beijing cut off most of its official dialogue with Taiwan's government in the capital Taipei and started sending military planes and

Apr 12, 2026By AP
China says it will resume some ties with Taiwan including more direct flights
World

Trump threatens Strait of Hormuz blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks end without agreement

ISLAMABAD — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade to stop ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S.-Iran peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement. Trump sought to exert strategic control over the waterway responsible for the transportation of 20 percent of global oil supplies before the war, hoping to take away Iran’s key source of economic leverage in the fighting. The president added that he has “instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” Trump also said the U.S. was ready to “finish up” Iran at the “appropriate moment," stressing that Tehran's nuclear ambitions were at the core of the failure to end the war. Face-to-face talks ended earlier Sunday after 21 hours, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt. U.S. officials said the negotiations collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning a path to a nuclear w

Apr 12, 2026By AP
Trump threatens Strait of Hormuz blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks end without agreement
World

US-Iran talks hinge on refraining from 'excessive demands': Iran

ISLAMABAD — The success of peace talks between the United States and Iran depends on Washington avoiding "excessive demands" and "unlawful requests," the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesman said early Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad. "The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran's legitimate rights and interests," Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X. He added that the two sides had discussed a range of issues including the strategic "Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, the lifting of sanctions, and the complete end of the war against Iran."

Apr 12, 2026By AFP
US-Iran talks hinge on refraining from 'excessive demands': Iran
World

US-Iran talks pause for now, disagreements remain

ISLAMABAD — Negotiations between the United States and Iran appeared to have concluded for now, Iran's government said early on Sunday, after a series of talks in Pakistan to end the six-week war between Washington and Tehran. The talks in Islamabad were the first direct U.S.-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The outcome could determine the fate of the fragile two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war began. The conflict has sent global oil prices soaring and killed thousands of people. In a post on X, Iran's government said that after 14 hours, the talks had concluded and technical experts from both sides would exchange documents. "Negotiations will continue despite some remaining differences," the post added, though it did not say when they would restart. An Iranian state TV reporter said the talks would continue on Sunday. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Dona

Apr 12, 2026By Reuters
US-Iran talks pause for now, disagreements remain
World

Artemis II's moon-traveling astronauts return home to cheers after a record-breaking trip

HOUSTON — Still marveling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home Saturday from hundreds who took part in NASA's lunar comeback that set a record for deep space travel. The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, flying in from San Diego, where they splashed down just offshore the evening before. After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen took the hangar stage, surrounded by space center workers and other invited guests. They were introduced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, among the first to greet them aboard the recovery ship Friday. “Ladies and gentlemen, your Artemis II crew,” Isaacman said to a standing ovation. The jubilant crowd included flight directors and the launch director, Orion capsule and exploration system managers, high-ranking military officers, members of Congress, the space agency’s entire blue-suited astronaut corps and even retired ones, and more. Their homec

Apr 12, 2026By AP
Artemis II's moon-traveling astronauts return home to cheers after a record-breaking trip
World

US says warships transit Strait of Hormuz in mine clearance op

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. Navy warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines, US Central Command said Saturday — a claim Tehran denied as the Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal "severely" with military vessels crossing the strategic waterway. The announcement of the first such transit since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started "clearing out" the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes. "Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce," said CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper. The USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy are the guided-missile destroyers involved in the operation, but CENTCOM said that "additional U.S. forces including underwater drones" could join the effort in coming days. Iran "strongly rejected" Washington's claims that U.S. vessels entered the strait, military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari told state TV. "The initi

Apr 12, 2026By AFP
US says warships transit Strait of Hormuz in mine clearance op
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