Power outages in Tehran, Kabaj after shrapnel hits high-voltage tower in Alborz province – report – The Jerusalem Post

  1. Power outages in Tehran, Kabaj after shrapnel hits high-voltage tower in Alborz province - report  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Tehran Briefly Loses Power After Strikes as Peace Push Ramps Up  Bloomberg.com
  3. Power cuts in Tehran after energy infrastructure hit, Iran says, as industrial complex on fire in Israel  BBC
  4. Blackouts hit parts of Tehran as Israel conducts strikes in Iran amid peace talks  The Times of Israel
  5. Trump says Iran deal may be reached 'soon'  cbs19news.com
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NHS restructure is greatest danger to Streeting’s effort to revive service

Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been ‘a total car crash’

In the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labour’s medicine.

In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary.

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Zelenskyy arrives in Jordan to bolster security ties – Al Jazeera

  1. Zelenskyy arrives in Jordan to bolster security ties  Al Jazeera
  2. Ukraine Finalizes Air Defense Deals With Gulf Nations Amid War in Mideast  The New York Times
  3. Visiting UAE, Zelensky announces defense cooperation with Abu Dhabi amid Iran attacks  The Times of Israel
  4. Ukraine's Zelenskiy discusses security partnership with Jordan's king  Reuters
  5. Ukraine offers Gulf allies drone defense in bid for scarce Patriot missiles  Defense News
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What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region

Fresh attacks on Red Sea shipping would be devastating – but the Iranian proxy has reasons to be cautious

The true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz.

The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt.

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Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of shelling outskirts of eastern city, killing and wounding civilians – AP News

  1. Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of shelling outskirts of eastern city, killing and wounding civilians  AP News
  2. Pakistan, Afghanistan trade fire as Islamabad prepares to host US-Iran talks  reuters.com
  3. What’s behind Pakistan’s war with Afghanistan’s Taliban government?  The Conversation
  4. Afghanistan Was Always Pakistan’s Problem. Now It’s Pakistan’s Crisis.  The National Interest
  5. Border Violence Erupts Between Afghanistan and Pakistan During Diplomatic Talks  Fine Day 102.3
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Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks

Tehran says it will confront any land attack, as Houthi missiles fired at Israel signal further escalation in region

Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month.

As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon.

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Israeli police prevent Catholic leaders from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at church in Jerusalem – PBS

  1. Israeli police prevent Catholic leaders from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at church in Jerusalem  PBS
  2. Catholic Leaders Barred From Jerusalem Holy Site on Palm Sunday  The New York Times
  3. Israel blocks Cardinal from Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, sparking outcry  reuters.com
  4. Jerusalem heads into a subdued Passover and Easter under the shadow of the Iran war  AP News
  5. Police reach agreement with Latin Patriarchate to allow limited groups in Church of Holy Sepulchre  The Jerusalem Post
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Russia’s Ust-Luga port damaged by more Ukrainian drones, fire under control – reuters.com

  1. Russia's Ust-Luga port damaged by more Ukrainian drones, fire under control  reuters.com
  2. Russia was expecting a windfall from soaring oil prices, but relentless Ukrainian drone attacks are devastating nearly half its export capacity  Yahoo Finance
  3. Ukraine steps up attacks on Russian oil industry as Kremlin reaps export windfall  CNN
  4. Damaged Ust‑Luga terminal may force Russian refineries to cut runs, sources say  reuters.com
  5. Fire Reported After Ukrainian Strike on Ust-Luga Port  The Moscow Times
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Russia expected a windfall from soaring oil prices, but Ukrainian drones are devastating exports – Fortune

  1. Russia expected a windfall from soaring oil prices, but Ukrainian drones are devastating exports  Fortune
  2. Russia was expecting a windfall from soaring oil prices, but relentless Ukrainian drone attacks are devastating nearly half its export capacity  Yahoo Finance
  3. Ukraine steps up attacks on Russian oil industry as Kremlin reaps export windfall  CNN
  4. Russia's Ust-Luga port damaged by more Ukrainian drones, fire under control  Reuters
  5. Russia Reports Fire in Strike on Major Baltic Port  The Moscow Times
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Struggling humpback whale stranded for third time on German coast

Weak and sick mammal has become stuck in shallow bays and experts say prognosis ‘doesn’t look good’

The fate of a humpback whale stuck in shallow bays off Germany’s Baltic coast hangs in the balance after it became stranded for a third time.

The roughly 10-metre-long (33ft) mammal appeared weakened and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a route back to the Atlantic when it ran into fresh difficulty.

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