April 13 (UPI) — Cuba’s fuel shortages are disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid managed by the Catholic Church and international organizations as the island’s basic services continue to deteriorate.

The crisis has particularly affected Caritas Cuba, one of the country’s main social assistance channels, which relies heavily on local transportation networks to deliver food and hygiene supplies to vulnerable communities, according to CiberCuba.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski told USA Today in an interview Sunday that aid shipments are being distributed through improvised means with almost no motorized transport because of gasoline shortages.

Wenski, who has coordinated aid shipments from South Florida for three decades, said Cubans have told him the island is approaching “ground zero” of humanitarian collapse.

Organizations linked to Caritas say more people are turning to soup kitchens for food, underscoring worsening food insecurity among vulnerable populations, digital outlet CubitaNow reported.

Cuba has faced increasingly frequent blackouts, chronic shortages of food and medicine and a transportation system largely paralyzed by fuel scarcity in recent years.

The arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the United States interrupted Venezuelan oil shipments of between 25,000 and 35,000 barrels per day that had supplied most of Cuba’s fuel needs, worsening the energy crisis. Mexico also suspended shipments following sanctions imposed by Trump administration.

According to United Nations reports, about 170 containers of essential goods valued at $6.3 million remain stranded at ports because of the fuel shortage.

Francisco Pichón, the U.N. resident coordinator in Cuba, warned that the country’s humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate as the energy crisis compounds damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Despite limited fuel deliveries, including a recent Russian oil shipment, Pichón said “humanitarian needs in the country remain very urgent and persistent.”

He said more than 96,000 surgeries have been postponed, including 11,000 involving children. Another 32,000 pregnant women face heightened risk because of unstable prenatal care access, while 3,000 children are experiencing vaccination delays.

Nearly 500,000 children and teenagers are attending shortened school days.

About 1 million people have been affected by water shortages because they depend on trucked water deliveries.

Pichón noted that Cuba has the oldest population in Latin America, increasing the vulnerability of elderly residents amid the crisis.

The United Nations system and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have proposed a $94.1 million plan to import fuel specifically for humanitarian use and sustain essential services that include healthcare and water access.

Shipping costs have increased by more than 10 percent in the past month due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Shipping and oil costs have continued to surge a month after United States President Donald Trump issued a waiver for the Jones Act, a maritime law that bars foreign-flagged vessels from transporting goods between US ports.

The 60-day waiver came into effect on March 18, as the movement of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, was choked off on account of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Under the Jones Act, goods shipped between US ports must be carried on vessels that are US-built, US-flagged and mostly US-owned, limiting the number of tankers available for domestic shipments.

The Trump administration argued that the temporary waiver of the law would lower energy costs. As the waiver approaches the 30-day mark, it has had little impact on oil prices.

“It is estimated that it’s going to be about 3 cents on the East Coast and it might go up on the Gulf Coast, but these changes are so small that they’re overshadowed by the spikes in oil prices, and the oil prices keep going up,” Usha Haley, a professor of management at the Wichita State University, told Al Jazeera.

“It is minuscule, a drop in the bucket compared to the rise in oil prices.”

Oil prices have continued to rise amid the ongoing conflict, which is disrupting transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures rose 4 percent on the day amid a US blockade of Iranian ports, reaching $98.91 after hitting $101.03 earlier in the day. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.53, or 2.6 percent, to $99.10.

The US Navy imposed a blockade of Iranian ports on Monday to prevent the movement of oil to and from Iran after talks between US and Iranian negotiators failed to reach an agreement.

The strain is also hitting consumers at the petrol pump in the US. The American Automobile Association reports that the average price of gas is $4.125 per gallon (3.78 litres), compared with $3.63 at this time last month.

Meanwhile, shippers have adapted their routes, with more than 34,000 ships diverting from the strait over the past month.

The Containerized Freight Index, the benchmark for shipping container costs, jumped more than 10 percent over the last month, and is up more than 35 percent from this time last year, amid pressure on the market to find alternative shipping strategies.

In March, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd suspended vessel routes through the strait, a waterway connecting the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf.

Also in March, within days of the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, several major vessel insurers cancelled war risk coverage for ships travelling through the waterway, including Norwegian insurers Gard and Skuld, as well as the United Kingdom’s NorthStandard, dissuading ship owners from going through the Gulf.

Since then, even though maritime insurance has become available – at 10 times the price as before the war on Iran – fuel prices are expected to normalise only once traffic through the strait goes back to pre-war levels, experts have said.

BEYONCÉ is a cut above the rest as she turns up the heat in her latest look. 

The superstar, 44, stunned in a beige bustier with matching shorts, jacket and fishnets as she showed off bouncy blonde curls at a launch event for her inclusive haircare line, Cécred. 

Her glossy locks took centre stage as she teased: “Take the heat. Body the look.” 

If this style is anything to go by, her latest venture is set to make waves. 

Beyonce is preparing to co-chair the prestigious Met Gala in New York on May 3, where fans believe she will announce a new album. 

She has been teasing the release of the third record in a trilogy following 2022’s Renaissance and 2024’s Cowboy Carter, with the follow-up expected to be a rock’n’roll-influenced project. 

su-spicious su?

Susanna Reid drops biggest hint yet she’s signed up for Celebrity Traitors

checked in

Britney Spears ‘checks herself into rehab’ after DUI arrest

It’s not all be plain sailing for the star, though, we reported recently how her and Jay-Z’s big move to Britain has been rained off — because the land they had their eyes on is at risk of flooding.

The superstar US couple, worth a combined £1.5billion, were said to be buying a £7.5million 58-acre plot in the Cotswolds.

It had planning permission for a seven-bed property.

But insiders said Beyonce, 44, and 99 Problems singer Jay-Z, 56, had turned their backs on the area after learning it was prone to flooding.

A source said: “Beyonce and Jay-Z buying this plot of land was the talk of the Cotswolds.

“So many locals were excited about them moving in.

“But the plan appears to have fallen through.

“The plot they were looking at has still not been sold and is now being developed by another couple.”

The general consensus is that President Trump’s social media post of himself dressed in robes, after a busy weekend in which he blasted Pope Leo and attended a prizefight while an Iran peace plan fell apart, was an attempt to cast himself as a Jesus-like figure.

But Trump says we have it wrong.

“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better,” he said.

As a graduate of St. Peter Martyr grade school in the San Francisco East Bay area, and as someone who has seen a lot of doctors for various ailments, I feel uniquely qualified to weigh in.

In Catholic school, holy cards are a big deal. You’ve seen a couple hundred of them by the time you hit second or third grade, so you become familiar with the muted ethereal glow, the heavenly gaze and the look of piety. A standard feature is the halo, a clearly defined sphere that sits like a buttered bonnet on the head of the saint.

Let the record show that in his post on his very own Truth Social, which is not always truthful, Trump does not have a halo.

So in total fairness, it’s possible the president was not lying when he said he was supposed to be a doctor.

On the other hand, having seen a good number of cardiologists and surgeons and orthopedic specialists, I don’t recall any doctors who wore flowing robes while bathed in heavenly light, with a flock of eagles coming out of their ears and a team of Navy SEALs busting through the hospital ceiling.

And then there’s the fireball emanating from Trump’s right hand. All of which begs the question: If Trump thinks this is what a doctor looks like, what ailment is he being treated for, and shouldn’t the public be advised?

There’s also the question of creation — not of human life, but of the very existence of a social media post like this from the president of the United States in wartime. It was described as an AI-generated image, but who was at the computer?

Did the president sit down at the end of a long day and churn out an image of himself playing doctor, if not Jesus Christ? Or does he have a team of staffers who do this sort of thing, and if so, how could Elon Musk have missed them when he said the government was bloated and set out to fire half the federal workforce?

You’d at least hope the president would have the courage of his convictions. But as criticism of his post mounted, Trump deleted it Monday morning.

I think he should have stuck with the story — he was portraying himself a doctor because he’s a healer. The next day, he could have been in a New York Jets uniform and told us he’s a quarterback. Then he could have released an image of himself in the Artemis space capsule and told us he’s an astronaut, and he’s thinking of building a string of Trump hotels on the moon. Ask yourself this: Would anyone have been surprised?

A guy who only knows how to go for broke, and always doubles down when things go wrong, has to stick to his guns or the whole shtick unravels. I’d have respected Trump more if he had traipsed around the White House with a stethoscope for a week or two, or maybe performed brain surgery on Pete Hegseth, just to see what’s going on in there.

What’s going on in Trump’s head, if I might volunteer a bit of armchair psychoanalysis, is that failure triggers a sense of grandeur rather than humility.

Things are not going well at the moment, so he’s lashing out. The price of things was supposed to come down on Day One, but thanks to his upheaval of the world economy, prices went up, and now they’re soaring because he helped start a war that made no sense.

A war that has been criticized by Pope Leo, who has pointed out that while the Trump administration has ascribed a religious imperative to the assault on Iran, and Trump promised to blow the country all the way back to the “Stone Ages,” Jesus would probably not be on board.

Trump, who said last year that he wants to “try and get to heaven, if possible,” now realizes he’s not going to get an endorsement from the pontiff.

And so the man who once issued a national call to prayer, said the Bible was his favorite book, joked after the death of Pope Francis that he wanted to be the next pontiff, and has now issued his own holy card, has attacked Pope Leo for being too liberal as well as “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.” He has, in effect, anointed himself as holier than the pope himself.

Even staunch supporters of Trump have worked themselves into a lather over this. They’re lashing out at Trump, as if his criticism of the pope and depiction of himself as Jesus Christ are shocking.

My fellow Americans, certain words have been rendered meaningless in describing the current state of affairs. Among them are shocking, surreal, unbelievable, unprecedented and unexpected.

If indeed Trump thinks he’s Jesus, let his penance begin with 100 Our Fathers, 500 Hail Marys and 1,000 Acts of Contrition.

If indeed he thinks he’s a doctor:

Physician, heal thyself.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

April 13 (UPI) — The Government of Colombia said Monday it will cull up to 80 hippos descended from animals illegally introduced by drug trafficker Pablo Escobar in the 1980s as part of a plan to control an invasive population that now exceeds 160 of the animals, environmental authorities reported.

The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Irene Vélez Torres, signed a circular establishing guidelines and targets for institutional coordination in the management and control of invasive hippos in the South American country.

“With this circular, we are advancing coordinated actions with regional corporations for the management of hippos in the country. Two key protocols are adopted: translocation and euthanasia,” she said on X.

This decision, whose implementation will begin in the second half of 2026, according to local media such as El Espectador, responds to the uncontrolled growth of these animals in the Magdalena Medio region. There, they have altered local ecosystems, affected water sources and generated risks for nearby communities.

The hippos were originally brought by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar to his private estate, Hacienda Nápoles. After he died in 1993, the animals were left without effective state control and began to reproduce in the wild.

They now represent one of the most unusual cases of invasive species in Latin America.

The environment minister said the government evaluated for years alternatives such as sterilization and international relocation, but none have been sufficient to contain population growth.

“This ministry has carried out enormous diplomatic efforts, and at this moment no country wants to take responsibility,” Vélez said in remarks to Blu Radio.

According to official data, the population could reach 500 animals by 2030 if control measures are not implemented. A scientific study cited by the government recommends removing at least 33 animals per year to achieve a significant reduction.

The plan includes two main methods: euthanasia and translocation. Although Colombia keeps open the possibility of sending some animals abroad, authorities acknowledge that euthanasia will be the primary mechanism due to logistical and sanitary limitations.

“We have a euthanasia protocol that seeks to guarantee technical and ethical criteria to carry it out in a safe and responsible manner,” Vélez said.

The procedure includes chemical and physical euthanasia and requires prior confinement of the animals to minimize risks. The cost per hippo can reach up to $14,000, including sedation, the operation and final disposal through on-site burial, according to Blu Radio reports.

One of the main obstacles to international relocation is the genetic deterioration of the hippos.

All current hippos descend from just four individuals, which has caused inbreeding and malformations.

“The gene pool is too limited, and individuals with mutations have already been found,” Vélez said. “There are visible deformities, such as in the snout, and probably other genetic damage.”

In addition to the genetic component, authorities warn that hippos represent a direct threat to native species, such as manatees and turtles, and also affect water quality in rivers and wetlands.

“This is an invasive species that has a direct impact on water and is significantly affecting biodiversity,” the minister said.

The Colombian government allocated approximately $2 million for the implementation of the control protocols. Authorities expect the next administration, which will take office Aug. 7, to continue their execution to prevent the problem from worsening in the coming years.

A pair of Avenger class mine-hunters homeported in Japan have been tracked sailing westward out of the Pacific Ocean in recent days. This comes as President Trump and other officials say an operation is taking shape to clear Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, which will be essential to fully reopening that critical waterway. The United States has also now announced a blockade of all of Iran’s ports.

Until last year, the Navy had four Avenger class ships forward-deployed in the Middle East for exactly this mission. A trio of Independence class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) configured for minesweeping duties subsequently took their place. However, those ships were redeployed from Bahrain ahead of the latest conflict with Iran, and two of them then emerged unexpectedly in Southeast Asia last month. While getting them out of the Persian Gulf was a prudent security measure, it remains unclear why the decision was made to send them literally to the other side of the globe amid the obvious threat of Iran mining the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz. One of them, the USS Tulsa, was also recently spotted sailing west after weeks in port in Singapore.

The Avenger class USS Chief and USS Pioneer were spotted arriving in Singapore on April 8, and they were seen leaving heading west on April 10. This represents half of the Avenger class ships still in Navy inventory, all of which are forward-deployed in Sasebo, Japan.

Online ship tracking site MarineTraffic subsequently showed both Avenger class ships heading northwest through the Strait of Malacca. There are unconfirmed reports that Chief and Pioneer arrived at Ao Makham port in Phuket, Thailand, earlier today. Their final destination is unknown, but USNI News had reported over the weekend that they had been “dispatched toward U.S. Central Command.”

USS Tulsa was also tracked sailing northwest in the Strait of Malacca on April 3, which we will come back to in a moment.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz,” the command had said in a press release on April 11. The Arleigh Burke class destroyers “USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.”

Questions have been raised about the exact purpose of sending USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy through the Strait, and whether either ship actually made a full transit. Michael Murphy was tracked online sailing on the Persian Gulf side, at least briefly. Neither of the destroyers are outfitted for mine clearance missions, though they do have powerful sonars that might be able to help spot mines.

“Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days,” CENTCOM’s release over the weekend added, but did not further elaborate.

“We’re also bringing in more traditional minesweepers” as part of efforts to clear the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump told Fox News yesterday. He also said several times this weekend that mine-clearing operations were already underway in some form.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said earlier that the U.S. is now in the process of clearing the Strait of Hormuz of mines, following reports that U.S. naval vessels transited the strait this morning. According to President Trump, during Operation Epic Fury, 28 Iranian mine laying… pic.twitter.com/fQGHDAmOES

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 11, 2026

CENTCOM declined to comment when we reached out today for more details about the planned force package for the mine clearance mission. TWZ has also reached out to the Navy’s main headquarters in the Pacific for more information about the movement of the Avenger class ships.

Before the latest conflict with Iran broke out in February, the Navy had three Independence class LCSs outfitted for mine countermeasures missions – Tulsa and Santa Barbara, along with the USS Canberra – forward-deployed in Bahrain. The arrival of those ships last year was tied to the long-planned decommissioning of four Avenger class vessels that had been homeported in that Middle Eastern country for decades beforehand. It is unclear how many LCSs the Navy otherwise has that are currently configured for minessweeping missions.

As noted, Tulsa and Santa Barbara subsequently emerged in Southeast Asia, first in Malaysia and then in Singapore, last month. USS Canberra‘s location remains uncertain, but it was reported to be sailing in the Indian Ocean as of March 19.

It should also be stated that the Independence class LCS is a much more modern ship than the Avenger class. When configured for the minesweeping mission, the LCSs also bring new standoff mine countermeasures capabilities, including Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV) drone boats and helicopter-borne systems. Still, questions continue to be raised about whether the Independence class vessels are adequate replacements for the older, but purpose-built Avengers. You can read more about this here.

CUSV®

Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) Video

It is possible that the USS Chief and the USS Pioneer are in Southeast Asia now for exercises or other reasons. Japan-based Avenger class ships have traveled to Thailand, specifically, as well as other countries across the Pacific, to train with allied and partner forces in the past.

That being said, the movements of Chief and Pioneer in the region, as well as Tusla‘s departure from Singapore, did come right around CENTCOM’s explicit statement that more U.S. forces were heading to the Middle East to help with mine-clearing efforts. Furthermore, as already mentioned, the quartet of Avenger class ships in Japan, as well as LCSs that have been in Singapore recently, represent the bulk of vessels specifically outfitted for minesweeping duties that the Navy has available anywhere globally. Any mine-clearing operation in and around the Strait of Hormuz will include other naval vessels, as well.

As an aside, the Navy’s Lewis. B. Puller class Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship USS John L. Canley, which is homeported in the U.S. Pacific territory of Saipan, was also spotted heading west past Singapore on March 23. That ship was subsequently tracked sailing in the Indian Ocean, raising questions about whether it might be headed to the Middle East, as well. None of the Navy’s three other ESBs has been observed heading toward that region recently.

USNS John L Canley and USNS Alan Shepherd passing Singapore just now heading to the Middle East

John L Canley is at Expeditionary Transfer Dock, seemingly carrying an Osprey and 3 Seahawk helicopters on top and then the Alan Shepherd is a dry Cargo vessel

Photo by me pic.twitter.com/anLsxJJDT1

— Singapore Ship Spotting (@sgshipspotting) March 23, 2026

A crisis scenario in and around the Persian Gulf, especially one involving Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz or otherwise threatening that critical waterway, was central to the Navy’s decision to acquire the ESBs in the first place. From the start, a key mission for the sea base ships has been serving, in part, as launch platforms for MH-53E Sea Dragon mine-hunting helicopters. At the same time, the Navy MH-53E fleet has dwindled in recent years to a single squadron, and the type is set to be completely retired by the end of 2027. Canley was seen with an apparent load of V-22 Osprey tiltrotors and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters on its deck as it passed by Singapore last month.

There has been talk in the past about ESBs acting as motherships for Avenger class mine-hunters. Canley be used to launch and recover uncrewed surface vessels (USV) and uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUV) as part of minesweeping and other operations, as well. In the context of the current blockade of Iranian ports, the ship could have a separate role as a valuable platform for staging visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) operations and otherwise supporting the current blockade of Iranian ports.

When it comes to the mission to clear Iranian naval mines, additional warships, as well as aircraft, will be needed just to provide critical force protection. This was already underscored by CENTCOM sending the two Arleigh Burke class destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. In February, before the war with Iran erupted, TWZ also called attention to the importance of force protection in these operations after A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft conducted an exercise with the USS Santa Barbara in the Persian Gulf. A-10s have been prowling the Strait of Hormuz as part of operations against Iran.

How many naval mines Iran has actually laid, and of what types, is murky. In March, CBS News reported Iranian forces had seeded a number of Maham 3 and Maham 7 mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The Maham 3 is a so-called “influence mine,” designed to be triggered by the acoustic and/or magnetic signatures of a passing vessel, and that is moored in place. The Maham 7 is also an influence mine, but that sits on the seabed, and is therefore intended to be employed in shallower waters where it can still be set off by a ship sailing above. Naval analyst H. I. Sutton has more details on these and other Iranian naval mines here. Last Friday, The New York Times reported that Iran had lost track of the disposition of at least some of the mines it had laid, and that this was hampering efforts to reopen the Strait, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

Sweeping for naval mines is a slow-going and complex affair, in general, that carries significant risks even in benign environments. The dangers in case of the Strait of Hormuz are magnified now by the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and the potential for the full resumption of hostilities with the regime in Tehran. U.S. and Iranian officials met this weekend in Pakistan following the announcement of a ceasefire last week. However, those talks ended after a day without any substantive progress toward a diplomatic resolution of the current conflict.

In the meantime, despite extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes over the past six weeks, Iran is still understood to have a significant array of capabilities, including anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, kamikaze drones, and uncrewed explosive-laden boats, that it could also use to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a super weapons engagement zone. TWZ previously explored these threats in greater detail in the context of past discussions about U.S. warships escorting commercial ships in and out of the Persian Gulf.

More about the mission to clear Iranian naval mines, including whether Japan-based Avenger class ships will take part and if the LCSs will finally return from the Pacific Theater, should become clearer in the coming days.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Walker Scobell just wants people to stop sending death threats to every teenage girl who might know him — and anybody else.

The 17-year-old “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” star announced Sunday on social media that he will be skipping his prom and called out those who are threatening everyone who could potentially be in his orbit because of where they live.

“Just to let everyone know, I will not be attending prom,” Scobell, who plays the titular demigod in the Disney+ series, wrote in a message posted to his Instagram Story. “Please stop sending death threats to EVERY teenage girl who could remotely be associated with me based on their proximity to where I live. It’s not fair to them or their families.”

“Maybe also just stop sending death threats in general,” he added. “That’s just not cool. Kinda weird I have to say this.”

“Kinda weird” indeed.

Based on the book series by Rick Riordan, “Percy Jackson” is a coming-of-age twist on ancient Greek mythology that follows Sobell’s title character as he learns he is the half-human son of Poseidon and what that means for him. Scobell was 13 when he was cast in the show.

The actor previously said that it felt “a little bit weird” to go back to school after the first season of the series had been released but it helped that he’s been going to the same school since the fourth grade.

“Because I feel like I know everybody so well, and I’ve known them for such a long time that … it’s weirder to act like it’s weird,” Scobell told People earlier this year. “I feel like you just accept it right away, and everyone has, which has been super nice for me.”

This is not the first time the “Percy Jackson” franchise’s so-called fans have been out of line.

Aryan Simhadri, who portrays Percy’s best friend Grover Underwood in the series, spoke out last year about an unsettling encounter with a handsy fan when a group of “40 drunk college girls” recognized him.

“I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, so I put my hands in my back pockets,” Simhadri told Entertainment Weekly. “And then she reached around and put her hand inside of my back pocket, with my hand already in there. There’s not enough room in the back pocket of jeans for more than one hand. She lingered there a little longer than I would have liked. Not that I would have liked it at all.”

And Leah Jeffries, who plays Percy’s other best friend, Annabeth Chase, was the target of racist backlash when her casting was announced in 2022. Riordan, who also co-created the show, slammed the attacks in a blog post at the time, saying, “We should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong.”

WASHINGTON — The big election over the weekend was in a small European country nearly half a world away from Washington, but the defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has significant reverberations in the United States.

That’s because President Trump and many U.S. conservatives have long embraced Orbán, who has become an icon among the global right for his anti-immigrant stance. The American president’s agenda has striking parallels with the way the Hungarian leader used the levers of government to tilt the media, judiciary and electoral system to keep his party in power for 16 years.

Trump supported Orbán’s reelection bid and even dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Budapest last week — in the midst of the Iran war — to stump for the incumbent.

Orbán’s loss was a reminder of how the war has diminished Trump’s ability to help allied politicians overseas, as well as of the limited ability of leaders to use their power to tilt voting in their direction in an age of worldwide discontent over incumbents of all ideological stripes.

“Oppositions can win despite a tilted playing field,” said Steven Levitsky, a politics professor at Harvard and coauthor of the book “How Democracies Die.” “Democracies are facing many challenges in many parts of the world, but so are autocracies.”

Orbán’s defeat has immediate global implications because he was the European leader closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin and had blocked European Union aid to Ukraine, which is defending itself after Russian’s 2022 invasion.

His fall was celebrated on Sunday by both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom criticized their own administration for such overt support for the Hungarian leader.

“Don’t fiddle-paddle in other democracies’ elections,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said on the social media site X.

“The freedom-loving people of Hungary have voted decisively in favor of democracy and the rule of law,” posted Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is part of the wing of the American right that embraced Orbán. The Conservative Political Action Conference, which Schlapp’s group hosts, held its first European session in Budapest and has made Hungary a regular destination.

Orbán was a featured speaker at the group’s conference in Dallas in 2022.

Schlapp said there’s an easy explanation for Orbán’s loss.

“Eventually, democracies just want change,” he said. “In democracies, you don’t have kings, and the people in the end speak.”

“The people of Hungary were saying, ‘We’re having a difficult time with inflation, the economy and the war. Let’s try the new guy,’” Schlapp said, noting that he backs Trump’s Iran war but the turmoil it’s created, especially in European energy markets, hurt Orbán.

Diana Sosoaca, a far-right member of the European Parliament from Romania, on Sunday called Vance’s Hungarian visit “a big mistake” given widespread revulsion at the Iran war on the continent.

“You invite a representative of the United States of America, who created the big disorder in this world?” Sosoaca said in an interview posted by the Kremlin-controlled network RT, formerly known as Russia Today. “It was the biggest mistake he could do before the elections.”

How Orbán consolidated power

An anti-communist activist in his youth, Orbán was initially elected prime minister in 1998 but took a turn to the right after being voted out in 2002. Upon returning to office in 2010, Orbán and his Fidesz party implemented a legal framework to consolidate authority that he and his allies developed while he was out of power.

Orbán embraced what he dubbed “illiberal democracy,” building a barrier on Hungary’s southern border to block migrants from Africa and Asia who were moving northward through Europe. He and his party stifled LGBTQ+ rights, cracked down on freedom of the press and undermined judicial independence.

Orbán cemented his power when his Fidesz party won enough seats in Parliament during the 2010 global recession to rewrite the country’s constitution. They restructured the judiciary to funnel appointments to the bench through party loyalists, redrew legislative districts to make it much harder for Fidesz members to lose elections and helped push Hungary’s media companies to be sold to tycoons allied with Orban.

The European Union has declared Hungary an “electoral autocracy.”

Orbán backers have scoffed at suggestions that the Hungarian leader is an enemy of democracy, and on Sunday he quickly conceded his loss. Democrats have worried that Trump will try to use his own executive power to tilt November’s midterm elections or the 2028 presidential vote to his party, much as Trump tried to use his official powers to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.

“Most importantly for American voters, even a guy who rigs the system can be defeated when the people unite and turn out against him,” said Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan group that says it combats authoritarianism.

Democrats weigh in

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California took the opportunity to jab at Vance: “Your ally Orban conceded. In 2028, will you @JDVance follow suit if you lose?” he posted on X.

Levitsky said defenders of democracy shouldn’t take too much comfort from Orbán’s loss, noting that in some ways Trump has been more oppressive. He cited Trump’s use of the Justice Department to investigate political opponents and the shooting deaths of protesters by immigration officers — steps that Orban’s government never took, Levitsky said.

But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said he sees parallels between Trump’s and Orban’s political projects, as well as the potential fate of their parties at the polls.

“He was essentially doing what Donald Trump is trying to do here in the United States,” Van Hollen said of Orban. “My read of the election is that the people of Hungary rejected that, just like people in the United States are rejecting that here at home.”

Trump made no public comments Sunday about the election results in Hungary.

Riccardi and Brown write for the Associated Press. Riccardi reported from Denver.

Former Chelsea and Arsenal player Jorginho has issued a statement saying pop singer Chappell Roan was not involved in an incident in which a security guard reduced his daughter to tears.

The 34-year-old Italy international claimed in a post on Instagram last month that an employee of Roan’s had confronted his wife Catherine Harding and their daughter Ada over breakfast at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after the 11-year-old recognised the singer.

Roan responded to Jorginho’s claims saying that she felt “sad for the mother and child” who “did not deserve that”, but added that she had not been aware of the incident and it did not involve her “own personal security”.

Jorginho has now confirmed the security guard involved was not employed by Roan and that the “matter is now closed”.

The midfielder, who has dual Brazilian citizenship and now plays for Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro, stated in a new Instagram post, external that “the situation did occur as described” and that “we acted on information that was available to us”.

He added that the security guard involved in the incident has “confirmed publicly that he was representing another artist at the hotel at the time”.

“Chappell Roan made a public statement, reached out private to Catherine, and our teams also spoke directly,” said Jorginho.

“It became clear that she had no knowledge of what took place at breakfast and had not asked anyone to approach them. She was understanding and sympathetic to what happened to our child.

“While we still do not know what prompted him [the security guard] to approach them, and do not believe an 11-year-old could reasonably be seen as any kind of security threat, it is now clear he was not acting on behalf of Chappell.

“It was, ultimately, a misunderstanding in that respect, and I am glad to set the record straight. It is important to me that this is clarified fairly and accurately. I regret the impact that this situation has had on Chappell Roan, Catherine, Ada and our family.

“I will always stand up for my family. But I also know how to recognise when things were not quite what they seemed at first.”

The incident drew significant media attention both in Brazil, where Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote that he intended to ban Roan from performing in his city, and on social media.

Jorginho went on to state that he does not “support or encourage hate speech or online attacks from any side”.

ALL eyes are on Europe this summer, with cruise lines slashing the price of voyages around the Med and close to home.

With some destinations off-limits right now, holiday sites like iglu.com have recorded a surge in interest for locations such as Northern Europe, the Arctic and the British Isles.

Plus big names including Celebrity Cruises have up to £800 off staterooms.

David Gooch, boss at iglu.com, says: “Holidaymakers remain committed to travelling, but are carefully choosing their destinations.”

You’ll need to be quick to lock in those bargains, though.

Sophie Swietochowski shares her pick of the top summer cruise deals to bag right now:

FJORD FIESTA

I tried the Nordic cruise with dog-sledding, Northern Lights and cable cars

SEA OF FEAR

Cruises thrown into chaos by Iran crisis as ‘thousands stranded’ in Middle East

SPAIN FROM SOUTHAMPTON

YOU can save £55pp on this two-week sailing around Spain’s sun-drenched coastline, ticking off the hotspots of Cadiz and Barcelona, where you can shop and gorge on tapas to your heart’s content.

Best of all, you won’t need to hop on a plane beforehand, as it sets sail straight from Southampton.

Step on board Cunard’s Queen Anne, home to 15 restaurants, a zen spa with a wellness studio and more than enough entertainment to keep you amused.

Exclusive to this ship is the Bright Lights Society, a classy ­velvet-clad venue where passengers can cosy down with a glass of fizz and live musical performances.

GO: The 14-night Sun-Kissed Spain itinerary costs from £1,314pp, departing Southampton on August 16 to Lisbon, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Cartagena, Malaga and Cadiz. See cruise.co.uk or call 0870 990 8824.

BEST OF GREECE

HOW does a balmy week hopping around the rugged islands of Greece sound?

On board the glossy Celebrity Infinity, you’ll tick off the ancient city of Athens, where you can explore sandy ruins before sailing over to Rhodes, which boasts even more fascinating history.

The ship then makes its way to Ephesus in Turkey and Santorini and Hydra in Greece, with a final stop in Mykonos, loved by celebs and famous for more than just its nightlife, with stunning sandy beaches dotted across the island.

If you’re new to cruising, Celebrity Infinity is the perfect ship size for first timers, with room for just over 2,000 passengers and enough space for exploring — but it’s not so large you’ll feel overwhelmed.

GO: The seven-night Best of Greece voyage now costs £799pp (with discounts applied), departing Athens on July 4. Flights cost from £99pp.

See celebritycruises.com.

MED, AEGEAN & ADRIATIC

YOU’LL be spoilt for choice when it comes to late fun on board Princess Cruises’ Enchanted Princess.

A buzzing Vegas-style casino sits alongside swanky cocktail bars and an epic two-storey theatre hosting concerts, movie nights and sports event screenings.

There are cracking kids’ clubs, for those travelling with little ones and teens.

Meanwhile parents can unwind with a daiquiri on a cabana in adults-only The Sanctuary.

In 14 nights you’ll tick off some of the most scenic Greek Islands, Croatian gems and some of Italy’s top foodie spots, including Naples, home to the best pizza in the world — at least the Sun Travel team think so.

GO: The 14-Day Mediterranean, Aegean & Adriatic voyage is from £1,339pp, departing Civitavecchia on August 18 and calling at Corfu, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Naples, Salerno, Santorini, Kusadasi and Katakolon. See princess.com.

NORWEGIAN FJORDS

NORWAY’S bright blue fjords and ice-capped mountains aren’t just for winter.

In fact these magical landscapes look even more spectacular during the summer months, under the sun’s glow.

On this seven-day voyage on board MSC Virtuosa, you’ll get to explore Lerwick, The Shetland Islands’ only town, then experience the spectacular silver sand beach on Maloy and cascading waterfalls in Flam.

Before returning to Southampton, the ship calls at Kristiansand, known for its glorious sandy beaches and fresh seafood.

While on board MSC Virtuosa, swing by the spaceship-themed Starship Club, where a friendly robot bartender named Rob can whip you up a cocktail.

GO: The seven-night Norwegian Fjords from Southampton cruise now costs from £792pp, departing Southampton on July 18. See ­iglucruise.com.

WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

TICKING off some of Europe’s top bucket-list destinations, this week-long Mediterranean sailing is great for adventurous families keen to explore key landmarks but with time to unwind on board.

And if you’ve still got energy to burn, Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas won’t disappoint.

With racing waterslides on the upper decks, a zipline and action-packed laser tag experiences, youngsters will never be bored.

Grown-ups needn’t panic, though, there are plenty of pools and seven whirlpools for those keen to take things at a slower pace.

In one week, you’ll be able to shop ’til you drop in Barcelona, pose in front of the leaning Tower of Pisa, see Rome’s ancient colosseum and more.

GO: The seven-night Western Med Cruise is from £783pp, from Barcelona June 28, calling at Palma, Florence/Pisa, Rome and Naples.

See ­royalcaribbean.com.

Brazilian media reports that Alexandre Ramagem fled the country after being convicted for involvement in a coup plot.

Brazilian media have reported that the country’s former intelligence chief, Alexandre Ramagem, has been detained by immigration authorities in the United States, where he had fled after being convicted in connection with a coup plot on behalf of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.

CNN Brazil reported that Ramagem was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday, citing Brazilian Federal Police and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The Brazilian outlet Globo reported that the arrest took place in Florida.

The Brazilian government has sought the extradition of Ramagem, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his involvement in efforts to keep Bolsonaro in power after he lost the country’s 2022 election to leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Reports state that Ramagem fled Brazil in September, illegally crossing the border into Guyana before taking a plane to the US.

Globo reported that the Brazilian embassy in Washington, DC filed documentation with the US Department of State seeking his extradition on December 30, 2025.

Paulo Figueiredo, a political ally of Bolsonaro who lives in the US, said the detention was not related to Brazil’s extradition request.

“Ramagem was not arrested, but detained following a police approach in Orlando, initially for a minor traffic infraction and, subsequently, referred to ICE – a common procedure in Florida,” Figueiredo said in a social media post.

He added that Ramagem has a pending asylum application and is optimistic that he will be released “as soon as possible” rather than deported.

Al Jazeera is not able to verify the reason for Ramagem’s arrest by US authorities.

Bolsonaro himself is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted in September.

His trial was depicted by Bolsonaro’s allies as a political witch hunt, and sparked the ire of US President Donald Trump, who placed large tariffs on Brazil and called for the trial to be thrown out. Trump later relaxed some of those tariffs following improved relations with President Lula.

The U.S. military has said it will start enforcing a blockade of all Iranian Gulf ports and coastal areas today. The move follows on from U.S. President Donald Trump’s earlier promise to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic shipping route that Iran has already effectively shut to the vast majority of maritime traffic in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes. It comes after negotiators from both sides failed to reach a deal to end the war, which began on February 28 but is currently under a two-week truce.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it would start the blockade at 10:00 a.m. ET, effectively taking control of all maritime traffic linked to Iran.

“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said. “CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”

Reuters reports that the U.S. military sent the following message to seafarers providing more details of the blockade:

“Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture,” the note reportedly said. “The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations.”

We have reached out to CENTCOM for more details about how this will be enforced and what assets will be involved. In the meantime, The Wall Street Journal reports that “more than 15 U.S. warships” are currently involved in the operation.

Meanwhile, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center has issued the following guidelines to ships:

• The restrictions encompass the entirety of the Iranian coastline, including ports and energy
  infrastructure.
• Transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations is not
  reported to be impeded by these measures; however, vessels may encounter military
  presence, directed communications, or right-of-visit procedures during passage.
• Neutral vessels currently within Iranian ports have been granted a limited grace period to
  depart.

In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Sunday that the U.S. Navy was going to start “BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.”

US President Donald Trump says that the US is going to start “BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz” as Islamabad talks fail. https://t.co/GCmLstdLKR

— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) April 12, 2026

“I have also 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 said.

“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he continued.

In a statement today, maritime data and intelligence company Lloyd’s List Intelligence said “all traffic” through the strait had indeed stopped after Trump announced the blockade. It added that two vessels that were leaving the strait turned around after the post.

There has been some movement of vessels through the strait since the ceasefire was announced, but this has been extremely limited, and these ships are still exposed to risk.

Trump:

34 Ships went through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, which is by far the highest number since this foolish closure began. pic.twitter.com/Wf2chAqHdS

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 13, 2026

Referencing Iranian mines in these waters, Trump told Fox News Sunday that “it won’t take long to clean out the strait” and that “numerous countries are going to be helping us,” adding that the United Kingdom and other nations were sending minesweepers. At this stage, we are still awaiting confirmation of non-U.S. military participation in the blockade.

Trump:

NATO countries say they want to come, and they want to help with the strait, and it won’t take long to clean it out.

So we’re going to clean out the strait. pic.twitter.com/3xGW30ekvm

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 12, 2026

Last week, the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization published a graphic instructing ships to follow designated entry and exit routes to transit the strait. The organization warned that ships ran the risk of hitting mines outside of these routes. A spokesperson from Lloyd’s List told the BBC: “We know Iran is essentially still in control of the strait, and the assumption is that ship owners will still need to seek permission from the IRGC… and how that’s going to work is still not clear.”

While Trump said the U.S. military would cooperate with other countries to halt maritime traffic through the strait, NATO allies said on Monday they would not take part in the blockade, Reuters reports. Instead, those countries have reportedly indicated they would only consider involvement after the fighting ends.

NATO allies refuse to join Trump’s Strait of Hormuz blockade

(Reuters) – The United States’ NATO allies said on Monday they would not get involved in President Donald Trump’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, further ratcheting up tensions within the increasingly fragile…

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) April 13, 2026

One country that stands behind the blockade is Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said on Monday that he supports Trump’s decision to impose a naval blockade on Iran and that Tel Aviv is coordinating with Washington on the situation.

“Iran violated the rules [of the peace talks in Pakistan], President Trump decided to impose a naval blockade,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, according to a video statement released by his office.

Netanyahu:

Since Iran violated the rules, Trump decided to impose a blockade, a naval siege, and we of course support this firm position. pic.twitter.com/BhpoAOdDp6

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 13, 2026

In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that “approaching military vessels to the Strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire.”

An Iranian Armed Forces spokesperson said on Monday that restricting vessels in international waters was illegal and “amounts to piracy.”

Iran would decisively implement a “permanent mechanism” to control the Strait of Hormuz, the spokesman added.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the military said, according to the state broadcaster IRIB. “NO PORT in the region will be safe.”

While unclear at this point if related or not, the Ambrey maritime security firm told TWZ that a merchant vessel had sighted an explosion and a fire in the Fateh Oil Field, approximately 45 nautical miles northwest of the port of Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates.

“Video footage and still imagery showed that the fire extended above the horizon to a significant altitude, Ambrey said. “The vessel did not report hearing any distress calls. At the time of writing, no casualties, damage to merchant vessels, or damage to port infrastructure had been reported,” the security firm added.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, took to X with a message to the United States yesterday, posting a map showing gas prices in Washington, DC, and the words: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.

ΔO_BSOH>0 ⇒ f(f(O))>f(O) pic.twitter.com/rVxlC6vFWG

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 12, 2026

Earlier, Ghalibaf said Trump’s new threats would not affect the Iranian nation: “If you fight, we will fight … We will not bow to any threats.”

Iran’s speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responds to Trump:
If you fight, we fight, and if you come with reason, we deal with reason. We will not succumb to any threat. Let them test our will once again so we can give them an even greater lesson.

— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@Alihashem) April 12, 2026

Trump claims that the U.S. military has already “obliterated” 158 Iranian ships. “Iran’s navy is laying [sic] at the bottom of the sea,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump:

Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships.

What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat.

Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere… pic.twitter.com/HPqcaSLiSs

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 13, 2026

The Wall Street Journal previously warned that, while the United States and Israel have wiped out much of Iran’s conventional navy, the fleet of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Tehran relies on to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, remains largely intact.

The paramilitary IRGC maintains a large fleet of smaller, more agile vessels built to dominate the strategic waterway using missiles, mines, and otherwise to harass commercial shipping.

Farzin Nadimi, an Iran-focused senior fellow with the Washington Institute, a U.S.-based think tank, told the WSJ that more than 60 percent of the IRGC’s fast-attack craft and speedboat fleet remains intact and that it continues to pose a threat.

Reflecting on Iran’s “fast attack ships,” Trump said they are not considered “much of a threat” to the blockade. He threatened to take down these ships using the same “system of kill” used against “drug dealers on boats,” a reference to U.S. military operations in the Caribbean.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea.” – President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Gj9nFCfG8T

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 13, 2026

Since the conflict began on February 28, the strait’s geography has enabled Iran to use it as a strategic lever, restricting access through the narrow passage and driving up oil prices as a result. Tehran has also been demanding large payments from some vessels for safe passage.

By enforcing the blockade, Trump could deprive the Iranian government of a key source of income, though it also runs the risk of pushing global oil and gas prices even higher.

This also ties in with reports that Trump and his advisers have received warnings from officials and corporate leaders about the potential hit on the U.S. economy from a prolonged war.

NEW: Inside the meetings + calls where President Trump and his team were given clear indicators that the economy (possible rise in prices) could take a hit if the war in Iran is prolonged.

Treasury Secretary Bessent and the president discussed various measures the Treasury could…

— Brian Schwartz (@schwartzbWSJ) April 12, 2026

On the other hand, there remains a question about just how significant an effect on Iran a blockade of this kind will have.

According to Lars Jensen, the chief executive of analysts Vespucci Maritime, in the near term, the blockade of the strait will only halt “a very tiny trickle of vessels.” Meanwhile, any other ships paying tolls to Iran already face sanctions for funding the regime.

While the blockade is calculated to help pressure Iran into making a deal on American terms, Trump has said he is unconcerned about whether Tehran returns to negotiations. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” he said on Sunday. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”

China is becoming an increasing factor in the crisis in the Middle East. With each passing day, Beijing’s energy situation becomes more of a problem, with impacts from the strangulation of oil out of the Strait becoming more pronounced. Iran is a key supplier of oil to China.

In a statement yesterday, before the blockade came into force, the Chinese defense minister, Adm. Dong Jun, said that his country was “monitoring the situation in the Middle East. Our ships are moving in and out of the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” he added. “We have trade and energy agreements with Iran. We will respect and honor them and expect others to not meddle in our affairs. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, and it is open for us.”

CHINA BACKS IRAN

“We are commited for peace & stability in the world. We are monitoring the situation in the middle east. Our ships are moving in and out of the waters of Strait of Hormuz. We have trade & energy agreements with Iran. We will respect & honour them and expect… pic.twitter.com/7tgWQOo9Ib

— China in English (@En_chinaNews) April 13, 2026

CENTCOM declined to respond to our questions about the current rules of engagement or what would happen should a Chinese vessel try to pass through the strait.

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing officials and people familiar with the situation, Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the blockade of the strait. The same officials reportedly said that a full-fledged bombing campaign is considered less likely, “given the prospect of further destabilizing the region and the president’s aversion to prolonged military conflicts.”

BREAKING: President Trump is looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran, according to officials and people familiar with the situation. -WSJ

Trump could also resume a full-fledged bombing campaign pic.twitter.com/CUr0nFC0h9

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) April 12, 2026

UPDATES:

UPDATE: 4:40 PM EDT –

President Trump’s remarks on Iran during an impromptu White House press appearance on Monday appeared to dampen expectations for a swift diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

“They will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters shortly after accepting a DoorDash delivery of McDonald’s, staged to highlight his tax policy eliminating levies on tips.

“If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, and we’re going to get the dust back. We’ll get it back, either we’ll get it back from them, or we’ll take it.”

.@POTUS: “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon… If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon and we’re going to get the dust back — either we’ll get it back from them or we’ll take it.” pic.twitter.com/SNani9M8hT

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 13, 2026

A U.S. official said “there is continued engagement between the U.S. and Iran and forward motion on trying to get an agreement,” multiple outlets reported.

CNN’s coverage of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict included a direct quote from the official, while a Reuters alert similarly referred to continued engagement, also attributing the information to an official.

UPDATE: 3:23 PM EDT –

AEI estimates Epic Fury costs between $25 and $35 billion.

As of the April 8th ceasefire, AEI’s Elaine McCusker estimates the cost of the war in Iran to be between $25 and $35 billion.

Read her tally of Operation Epic Fury’s cost below.https://t.co/vgFf9kA7mO

— American Enterprise Institute (@AEI) April 13, 2026

UPDATE: 1:30 PM EDT –

The United States asked that Iran agree to a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during talks in Pakistan this weekend, Axios reported Monday.

Citing a source familiar with the situation as well as a U.S. official, Axios said that Iran responded with a proposed “single-digit” timeframe.

☢️🇺🇸🇮🇷The U.S. asked Iran to accept a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend, according the a U.S. official and a source with knowledge. My story on @axioshttps://t.co/rZZfAy72bc

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 13, 2026

Bloomberg reports that it is unclear where Trump got the figure of 34 ships passing through the strait yesterday, saying that it has a smaller figure.

Bloomberg: “It was not clear where the president got that exact figure, as it appears to be higher than the number tracked by Bloomberg” pic.twitter.com/RWp0KkjJEi

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 13, 2026

Trump says Iran wants to make a deal and that he will not come to any agreement that allows Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.

He said that Iran had “called this morning” and that “they’d like to work a deal.”

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush has reportedly passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and is expected to arrive in the eastern Mediterranean before the end of the week. The carrier will take the place of the USS Gerald R. Ford, which suffered a fire while underway in the Middle East, and is now being repaired at Souda Bay in Crete. You can keep up to date on these movements using TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring America’s flattop fleet, including deployed Carrier Strike Groups and Amphibious Ready Groups, using publicly available open-source information.

Carrier Tracker As of April 12, 2026

Trump orders U.S. Navy to blockade Strait of Hormuz as a third carrier strike group steams towards the CENTCOM area of responsibility.https://t.co/fxxOfsHfkE

— The War Zone (@thewarzonewire) April 13, 2026

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday reaffirmed that Britain will not take part in any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to the BBC, Starmer said the government’s priority is ensuring the strait is fully reopened.

“All the time the strait is shut or not free for navigation in the way it should be, that means oil and gas is not getting to market, that means the price is going up, and everybody listening to this is facing higher energy bills,” Starmer said. “I don’t want that to happen. I want their energy bills to be stabilized and lower.”

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz is deeply damaging. Getting global shipping moving is vital to ease cost of living pressures.

The UK has convened more than 40 nations who share our aim to restore freedom of navigation.

This week the UK and France will co-host a…

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) April 13, 2026

After the Islamabad talks, it is clear that the Iranian nuclear issue remains the top sticking point. In a cabinet meeting today, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had spoken to U.S. Vice President JD Vance about the negotiations. “The explosion came from the American side, which could not tolerate Iran’s blatant violation of the agreement to enter the negotiations,” Netanyahu said. “The agreement was that they would cease fire, and the Iranians would immediately open the gates. They did not do that. The Americans could not accept that. He also made it clear to me that the main issue on the agenda for President Trump and the United States is the removal of all enriched material, and ensuring that there is no more enrichment in the coming years, and that could be in decades, no enrichment within Iran.”

Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting: “I spoke yesterday with Vice President J.D. Vance. He called me from his plane on his way back from Islamabad. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations. In this case, the…

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 13, 2026

Again, on the nuclear issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia is ready to take in Iran’s highly enriched uranium as part of a future peace deal with the United States.

Russia is ready to take in Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a future peace deal with the United States, the Kremlin says

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) April 13, 2026

Israel’s military announced on Monday that it has started what it described as targeted ground operations in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon.

Although Iran and Pakistan claim that the temporary ceasefire brokered by Pakistan last week also covers Lebanon, Netanyahu stated that there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and that Israel will continue to strike Hezbollah “with full force.”

The Israeli military has nearly completed capturing the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 members of the terror group in the area in the process, according to the IDF.

The operation in Bint Jbeil is being led by the 98th Division with… pic.twitter.com/Vkh6BSSa0N

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 13, 2026

David Ignatius, an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post, has provided his prediction on what might happen after the failure to reach a deal in Islamabad over the weekend. Ignatius writes:

“After talking Sunday with people close to the negotiations, my sense is that the Islamabad impasse won’t necessarily mean a return to war. The blockade is a pressure tactic, to be sure, but not primarily a military one. Trump has no appetite for further armed conflict. He knows that the upsides are limited and the ‘tail risk,’ as financial traders like to say, is large. His aim instead is to put a severely battered Iran into an economic vise to see if its leaders will set a different course in a big, comprehensive deal.”

David Ignatius: “After talking Sunday with people close to the negotiations, my sense is that the Islamabad impasse won’t necessarily mean a return to war. The blockade is a pressure tactic, to be sure, but not primarily a military one. Trump has no appetite for further armed…

— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) April 12, 2026

Meanwhile, citing a regional source and a U.S. official, Axios reports that Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators will continue talks with the United States and Iran in the coming days, “in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps and reach a deal to end the war.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also indicated on Monday that efforts are still being made to resolve the conflict.

ISLAMABAD, April 13 (Reuters) – Full efforts are still being made to resolve the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, a day after talks between the two sides, held in Islamabad, ended without agreement.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) April 13, 2026

Trump launched a sharp attack on Pope Leo XIV over the weekend, calling him “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” and accusing him of harming the Catholic Church. “Leo should get his act together as Pope,” he wrote on Truth Social. The criticism came after Leo condemned the “delusion of omnipotence” as driving the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and urged political leaders to halt the fighting and pursue negotiations.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime,” begins a Sunday evening message from the President.

Also: “Leo should get his act together as Pope.” pic.twitter.com/2Bl1jTOsc0

— Niall Stanage (@NiallStanage) April 13, 2026

“I have no intention to debate with [Trump],” Leo said today. “The message is the same: to promote peace,” he added.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

David Haye stuns I’m A Celeb camp with comments about pretty girls and their ‘ugly mates’ in a chat about his girlfriend

David Haye left the I’m A Celebrity camp stunned with a string of sexist comments. In the second week of the ITV show, the 45-year-old former boxer made a series of statements related to how women look and their personalities, during a group discussion.

It all started innocently enough when it was suggested the group of celebs should meet up for a party when they left the show, and David said his girlfriend Sian was a great cook and could possibly provide food for the event. He then added: “She’s like tall, blue eyes. She’s lovely. She’s got the personality of a proper ugly bird.”

Scarlett Moffatt replied: “You can’t say that.” But David brushed off the response and added: “She has. Most ugly girls realise they don’t they’re not pretty enough to….they gotta have a personality to banter and to tell jokes and s**t, so people overlook the fact that they’re not aesthetically amazing, straight away.

“Which is what’s called Ugly Duckling syndrome, where girls are ugly, when they start off, and then they and then they kind of they, they get pretty as they get older. But they still got the personality of when they’re ugly. Does that make sense?”

As Scarlett and others made shocked noises, David continued to express his opinions. Haye added: “You get a girl who’s pretty from day one, you get a girl who’s different day one. Everyone goes ‘You’re so beautiful. You’re amazing’. She grows up thinking, I’m amazing. Everyone loves me. I can open any door. I can go anywhere I want.

“They don’t have to have a personality, because most super pretty girls are just idiots. But then their ugly friend, they’ve got work a bit harder, be more personable. They got to be nicer to everyone. Gonna get you a drink.”

READ MORE: Inside David Haye’s ‘throuple’ relationships where ‘one woman will never be enough’READ MORE: I’m A Celebrity’s Beverley Callard breaks silence on David Haye feud ‘It’s not over yet’

Scarlett again took David to task over the comments. She explained: “It is not just ugly people saying ‘would you like a drink’. What are you talking about? You are just talking s***.”

And actor Beverley Callard added: “Complete claptrap. So do handsome men have s*** personalities? I have never heard anything so sexist in all my life.”

Haye then changed to conversation onto the fact when he was growing up only pretty girls were allowed into nightclubs in London’s West End.

He said: “They only let pretty girls into the club, and the pretty girls go, oh, so sorry about that. They leave their ugly friend behind. I’ve seen it, I’ve watched it. I’ve watched it with my own eyes. I’ve seen it. It’s horrible. I feel terrible for these poor girls. She’s the one normally driving as well.”

Admitting he was “digging” a bigger hole for himself, Bev replied the shovel was “not big enough”.

Sinitta tried to bring the chat back to his own situation and Haye concluded he would be with his girlfriend “even if she didn’t look how she looked”.

But on Haye’s girlfriend, Beverley said: “He has hit the jackpot, but his partner has got the booby prize.”

The camp were not the only ones surprised by the comments from Haye.

Show hosts Ant and Dec also weighed in. Dec said the comments “might be interpreted as sexist” and Ant said he made “nine jaws drop to the floor” without throwing a punch.

Haye has been in a relationship with model Sian Osborne since 2020, but over recent years he’s also been linked to Saturdays singer Una Healy. He has been in the headlines more for his colour love life than his former skills in the ring in recent years, with suggestions he was in a throuple situation.

The one-time heavyweight champion is non-monogamous which is when someone has multiple romantic and sexual relationships, with the consent of a partner or spouse. Ant and Dec have commented on this during the series, but Haye himself is yet to bring up his relationship status in camp.

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Nexstar Media Group will host a California gubernatorial candidate debate next week that will air across the company’s TV stations in the state.

“Debate Night in California: The Race for Governor,” will air April 22 starting at 7 p.m. Pacific, the company announced Monday. The event will originate from TV station KRON in San Francisco and be carried on KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KGET in Bakersfield and KSEE in Fresno.

The debate will be moderated by Nikki Laurenzo, news anchor at KTXL and host of its public affairs program “Inside California Politics,” and Frank Buckley, veteran morning news anchor at KTLA.

The debate will include candidates who reached a minimum of 5% support in Nexstar’s March statewide poll conducted in March. Those candidates — Sheriff Chad Bianco, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and philanthropist Tom Steyer — have all agreed to participate in the event.

The debate will also air nationally on Nexstar’s cable news outlet NewsNation and be livestreamed over its political website The Hill. The network will also provide coverage leading up to the event with anchors Chris Cuomo and Leland Vittert, whose show will air live from San Francisco. Katie Pavlich will host post-debate coverage.

CNN previously announced it will bring the gubernatorial candidates together for a debate in Los Angeles that will air May 5 on the network and its subscription streaming platform. The debate will be moderated by Elex Michaelson and Kaitlan Collins.

Monday, 13 April marked five years since Northern Ireland qualified for the Euro 2022 finals.

It was a historic night at Seaview as Northern Ireland beat both Ukraine and the odds to qualify for a first major tournament, which would take place the following year in England.

Of the 23 players who went to Southampton, only nine are still involved for the current World Cup campaign.

That number will hit double figures when influential captain and key striker Simone Magill returns after expecting her first child later in the spring, but a lot has changed for Northern Ireland.

In terms of average age, the squad has dropped from 26.7 to 25.2, while the average caps has also fallen from 42.3 to 28.4.

Not only has Kenny Shiels’ tenure ended, but so has that of his successor, Tanya Oxtoby, and Tuesday’s game with Malta will mark the first game in charge for Michael McArdle as boss.

Rebecca McKenna has been a constant over the past half decade, and at the age of 25 she is on the verge of winning her 60th cap against Malta in 2027 World Cup qualifying.

The Birmingham City defender has seen it all in that time, and she says while she doesn’t think “there’s any real comparisons” between the generations, she feels the current youthful group are as “special” as the Euro 2022 history-makers.

“Qualifying for the Euros five years ago, I think that’s just made us hungrier,” McKenna, who turned 25 on Monday, told BBC Sport NI.

“That was a special moment and for that group and we deserved to be there.

“I think the group we have now is just as special and I think all the girls who are here, deserve to be here.”

US President Donald Trump says Iran wants to make a peace deal “very badly” after talks in Islamabad ended without agreement, insisting any framework hinges on Tehran agreeing never to develop a nuclear weapon.

KATY Perry has hit back at ‘reckless’ claims she sexually assaulted Ruby Rose nearly two decades ago.

Ruby, 40, took to Threads on Sunday to accuse Katy, 41, of assaulting her at a nightclub in a flurry of posts.

In one shocking post, she accused Perry of rubbing her genitals on her face.

The Batman star spoke out in response to an article Complex Magazine had written about Katy going to Coachella.

Writing to her her 19.7 million followers, she said: “Katy Perry sexually assaulted me at Spice Market Nightclub in Melbourne.

“Who gives a s**t what she thinks.”

As fans reacted to Ruby’s shocking claims in the comments, the actress shared more about the alleged incident.

“She saw me ‘resting’ on my best friend’s lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her,” Ruby added.

The Fireworks singer branded the allegations “reckless lies.”

In a statement, her representative said: “The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies.

“Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named.”

The Orange is the New Black star said that she initially made a joke about the ordeal before deciding to tell the truth.

“After it, I threw up on her. I told the story publicly but changed it to be a ‘funny drunk story’ because I didn’t know how else to handle it.

“Later she agreed to help me get my US visa. So I kept it a secret. But I did tell ya’ll she wasn’t a good persona. Instead I got attacked by everyone.

“The psychological manipulation was strong with that one,” Ruby admitted.

In another post, Ruby wrote, “I was in my early 20s, I’m now 40.

“It has taken me almost two decades to say this publicly.

“Though I am so grateful to have made it long enough to find my voice, it just shows how much of an impact trauma and sexual assault takes. Thank you for seeing me.”

Katy attended the first weekend of Coachella with her boyfriend, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 54.

The ex-American Idol judge shared photos and videos from the festival on Instagram, showing the couple holding hands and dancing to Justin Bieber’s set.

According to sources, Katy and Ruby have never seen eye to eye and have had a “complicated” history.

“Ruby and Katy have a complicated backstory – they’ve never really been friends,” an insider told The U.S. Sun.

“This allegation has come as a massive shock to everyone, though.

“Screenshots of Ruby’s messages are being shared around the music industry now, and people don’t know what to think,” they added.

The NBA regular season ended Sunday and the first order of business for teams that fell short of making the playoffs was to evaluate their head coach. Hall of Famer Doc Rivers wasn’t spared the scrutiny.

He agreed to depart from the Milwaukee Bucks after winning 16 fewer games this season than last. Rivers has one year remaining on the $40-million contract he signed in January 2024 and will be paid for the final season.

The Bucks were 32-50 this season largely because superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo played in only 36 games because of injuries. Antetokounmpo, who expressed frustration talking to reporters Sunday, might be next out the door.

If so, the Lakers undoubtedly would be interested. They are projected to have about $60 million in salary-cap space and three first-round draft picks they can use — 2026, 2031 and 2033 — to try to make a deal this offseason.

Despite his insistence that he was healthy fairly soon after he suffered a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise March 15, Antetokounmpo didn’t play in the last 15 games of the season.

“To my understanding, I had to play three-on-three to be able to be available to play,” he said. “I did that multiple times. I’ve never in my life denied participation of practice. Whoever came up with that is disrespectful toward what I’ve done for this team and the way I carry myself.”

The decision was likely made to ensure the trade value of the two-time most valuable player wasn’t diminished by another injury. Antetokounmpo, 31, is under contract for 2026-2027 and has a player option of $62.7 million for 2027-28.

The Lakers — and other trade partners — would be more than willing to give him an extension. The contracts of LeBron James ($52.6 million), Rui Hachimura ($18 million) and Maxi Kleber ($11 million) expire after this season, giving the Lakers the cash to toss in Antetokounmpo’s direction.

The Bucks floundered without him and the coach paid the price. Rivers, 64, hadn’t had a losing full season since 2006-2007, a span that included an NBA title with Boston in 2007-2008, seven seasons with the Clippers and three with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I have truly loved my time in Milwaukee,” said Rivers, who played college basketball at Marquette. “Coming back to where I got my start, to a city that has always embraced me, has been a privilege. I am disappointed that things did not turn out the way any of us hoped, but I am deeply grateful for this experience, the relationships built, and unwavering support from our fans and the community.”

Rivers began coaching after a 13-year NBA playing career and has a 1,194-866 record (.580) with five teams across 27 seasons. His regular-season wins are the sixth most in NBA history and he will be enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year.

The Bucks discussed with him an advisory role in the organization, but Rivers is taking his time deciding what to do next. Asked how long he envisions coaching, Rivers mentioned his grandchildren.

“I won’t answer that, but I have grandkids that I want to see,” Rivers told reporters. “I’ll let you figure it out from there. I have seven grandkids now, and they’re all 8 years and under, and it kills me every time I miss grandparents day with each one of them in school. It’s probably time to go see them more, so I’ll let you figure out the rest.”

His seven consecutive winning seasons with the Clippers are part of the franchise’s current streak of 15 consecutive seasons with a winning record, the longest active run in the NBA and fourth-longest in league history.

Other NBA coaches on the hot seat include Jamahl Mosley of the Orlando Magic and Brian Keefe of the Washington Wizards. Portland Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter also might be replaced.

Splitter took over for Chauncey Billups, who has pleaded not guilty to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other ex-NBA player.