- Iran’s military forces combine state-of-the-art drones and hackers with out-of-date conventional weapons The Conversation
- The US and Iran are using new weapons in the war. Here’s what to know. Breaking Defense
- See the Arsenal of Drones and Missiles Iran Used to Attack Its Neighbors Business Insider
- Iran’s Missile-Drone Campaign and Its Implications for the United States’ Deterrence Global Security Review
- Down but not out? How Iran is combining firepower with cyber warfare Deccan Herald
Trump needs a better Iran deal than Obama’s – but faces major hurdles
US president will need to show heavy costs of war were worthwhile while Iran must choose between instant and delayed gratification
If talks between Iran and the US reconvene within the next few days in Islamabad, Donald Trump will have two major political hurdles to overcome – first showing that any deal he secures is better than the one signed by Barack Obama in 2015 and from which he withdraw in 2018, and secondly proving the deal is more favourable than the one on offer in Geneva in February before he launched his war.
Otherwise he will have inflicted massive damage on the world economy when alternatives were available that were less costly in blood and treasure. He will also have to show that Iran has made no permanent gain by taking control of shipping passing through the strait of Hormuz. These are the yardsticks, or tests, around which his negotiating team will be keeping an anxious eye.
Continue reading...SantaCon organiser charged with stealing $1m from charity pub crawl
Prosecutors say Stefan Pildes spent hundreds of thousands of $2.7m raised for charity on personal expenses.
More than £1bn pledged for Sudan as humanitarian crisis deepens
Donors exceed funding target at Berlin conference but prospects for ceasefire remain distant
More than £1bn (€1.15bn) has been pledged for war-ravaged Sudan at a conference in Berlin, eclipsing the funding target organisers had set to help mitigate the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
The financial commitments made on Wednesday will also help offset a chronic humanitarian funding shortfall in a country devastated by three years of conflict, where two-thirds of its population – 34m people – require assistance.
Continue reading...Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti facing ‘escalating abuse’ in Israeli jails
‘Palestine’s Mandela’ suffers three recent attacks including assault where prison guards set a dog on him, lawyer says
The jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is at immediate risk in Israeli jails, where he has been attacked three times in as many weeks, including in one assault last month where prison guards set a dog on the 66-year-old, his lawyer has said.
Barghouti is often called Palestine’s Nelson Mandela. He is respected across otherwise feuding Palestinian factions, has broad popular support across occupied Palestine, repeatedly engaged with Israeli officials before his detention and long backed a two-state solution.
Continue reading...Hungary’s new leader has vowed to wean his country off Russian energy. It will be a painful transition. – CBS News
- Hungary's new leader has vowed to wean his country off Russian energy. It will be a painful transition. CBS News
- Ukraine war briefing: Hungary’s new leader says he would ask Putin to end the killing in Ukraine The Guardian
- Hungary May No Longer Be Putin’s Ally, but It Can’t Afford a Full Break The New York Times
- Magyar calls on Orbán to lift veto on Ukraine loan before his exit Euronews.com
- Hungary's Magyar will talk to MOL leadership, focus on fuel supplies Reuters
Hamas refuses to give up weapons, demands Board of Peace change Gaza ceasefire plan – The Jerusalem Post
- Hamas refuses to give up weapons, demands Board of Peace change Gaza ceasefire plan The Jerusalem Post
- US and Hamas hold first direct talks since Gaza truce as ceasefire process stalls CNN
- Hamas rejects Gaza disarmament plan, Palestinian official says BBC
- US officials join direct talks with Hamas in Cairo, per ‘CNN’ JNS.org
- Facing a Tuesday Deadline, Hamas Still Opposes Board of Peace's Disarmament Plan Haaretz
Peace activist, 91, walks across Ireland in protest against US military stopovers
Lelia Doolan, who finished 220km trek at parliament gates, says use of Shannon airport violates Irish neutrality
A 91-year-old peace activist has crossed Ireland on foot and arrived in Dublin to petition the government to bar US military flights.
Lelia Doolan completed a two-week, 220km (138 mile) trek on Wednesday, ending at the gates of parliament accompanied by throngs of supporters.
Continue reading...Prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti assaulted three times in a month, family says
The Israeli Prison Service says the allegation that Barghouti was subjected to physical violence by prison guards are "false and baseless".
Israeli settlers block Palestinian kids’ path to school with tear gas and barbed wire – AP News
- Israeli settlers block Palestinian kids’ path to school with tear gas and barbed wire AP News
- Settlers block Palestinian pupils' path to West Bank school with barbed wire Reuters
- Israeli forces fire teargas at schoolchildren holding West Bank sit-in The Guardian
- Israeli settlers block Palestinian students' path to West Bank school with barbed wire The Jerusalem Post
- Israeli Soldiers Tear-Gas Palestinian Children After Settlers Block Access to School Democracy Now!
Chinese national given one year in prison for smuggling ants out of Kenya
Zhang Kequn was arrested in March while trying to travel to China with more than 2,000 live ants.
Putin Demands Answers as Russia’s Economy Undershoots Expectations – The Moscow Times
- Putin Demands Answers as Russia’s Economy Undershoots Expectations The Moscow Times
- Russia's Putin scolds top officials for economic contraction Reuters
- Putin Demands Officials Explain Why Russian Economy Is Slowing Bloomberg.com
- Meeting on economic issues Президент России
- Russia spends $130 billion to circumvent sanctions over four years of war – intelligence Ukrinform - Ukrainian National News Agency
Starmer says he’s ‘not going to yield’ to pressure from Trump on Iran war
It follows a warning from the US president that America's trade deal with the UK "can always be changed".
Suspicion surrounds death of US influencer Ashly Robinson in Zanzibar
Lifestyle influencer died while on vacation with boyfriend, who local officials say has since had his passport ‘withheld’
Ashly Robinson, a US lifestyle influencer, died last week while on vacation in the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar with her boyfriend, Joe McCann. Robinson’s death on 9 April, just days after her birthday and a marriage proposal from McCann, has sparked suspicion on social media, with users doubtful of the current narrative surrounding her death.
No arrests have been made, and police previously said that McCann was not suspected of wrongdoing. But officials in Zanzibar released a statement on Tuesday saying that McCann’s passport has been “withheld”.
Continue reading...Vietnam’s new leader meets China’s Xi on his first overseas trip – AP News
- Vietnam’s new leader meets China’s Xi on his first overseas trip AP News
- Xi Courts Vietnam With His Authoritarian Vision of Security The New York Times
- China's Xi calls for strategic clarity, political security with Vietnam Reuters
- Xi tells Vietnamese counterpart they should ‘jointly oppose unilateralism’ South China Morning Post
- How cultural exchanges foster the China-Vietnam friendship news.cgtn.com
South Africa names apartheid-era negotiator as ambassador to US
Appointment of Roelf Meyer seen as attempt to improve relations amid false US accusations of ‘white genocide’
South Africa has appointed a former apartheid government chief negotiator during the talks that ended white rule in the 1990s as ambassador to the US, in what is seen as an attempt to improve the deeply strained diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
Roelf Meyer replaces Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled in March 2025 after he criticised the Trump administration.
Continue reading...Gina Rinehart has been forced to share her riches. But will she fight on or end the family feud?
A 15-year court battle costing millions of dollars ended in a partial defeat for the tycoon. Will she now bury the hatchet or double down and keep fighting her children and rivals?
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Gina Rinehart does not like to lose.
Engaged in bitter legal battles for most of the past 35 years, Australia’s richest person has shown her propensity to fight tooth and nail to retain control of her family’s iron ore empire – and the riches that flow from it.
Continue reading...Amid Iran War, Companies Look to Extend a Record Profit Run by Raising Prices – The New York Times
- Amid Iran War, Companies Look to Extend a Record Profit Run by Raising Prices The New York Times
- $30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds The Guardian
- Big Oil Brings in Extra $30 Million an Hour in Windfall Profits Due to Iran War Truthout
- EU considering excessive profit taxes on oil and gas companies, foreign profits remain unclear Euronews.com
- Call for an EU-wide windfall profit mechanism in response to the energy crisis transportenvironment.org
Sinlaku rips through Northern Mariana Islands as strongest tropical cyclone this year
More than 1,000 people were in shelters across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as Sinlaku moved away
Super Typhoon Sinlaku hammered the Northern Mariana Islands, flipping over cars, toppling utility poles and ripping away tin roofs.
Authorities were just beginning to assess the damage left behind by the typhoon, which first hit the islands on Tuesday night local time and continued with a barrage of fierce winds and relentless rains for hours on Wednesday. So far, there have been no reports of deaths.
Continue reading...Ant smuggler sentenced to a year in jail by Kenyan court
More than 2,200 ants were found in Zhang Kequn’s luggage at Nairobi airport, with baggage destined for China
A Chinese national has been sentenced to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya, a lucrative trade in east Africa that was exposed last year.
The insects are mostly destined for China, the US and Europe, where they become pets and can be worth about $100 each.
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