News Desk

US forces have released video appearing to show the capture of an Iranian-flagged ship near the Strait of Hormuz, which President Donald Trump says was attempting to breach its naval blockade. Iran has condemned the operation as ‘maritime piracy,’ warned of retaliation, and cast doubt on new talks with the US. Here’s what we know.

By early 1963, the Station Hotel in London had become an epicenter of the burgeoning British blues scene. On a blustery, snowy night that February, the Rolling Stones’ classic early lineup took the stage for one of the first times, dazzling the audience with ferocious renditions of blues standards like Muddy Waters’ “I Want to Be Loved” and Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City.”

Multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, the band’s founder and leader, synchronized guitars with Keith Richards, who favored a distinctive slashing and stinging style. Drummer Charlie Watts, the group’s newest member, a jazz aficionado and an accomplished percussionist, propelled the music forward with a rock-solid beat.

Anchoring the rhythm section with him was bassist Bill Wyman, who was recruited more for his spare VOX AC30 amp that the guitarists could plug into than for his musical skills. The stoic bassist proved a strong and innovative player. Together, he and Watts would go on to form one of rock’s most decorated rhythm sections.

Ian Stewart’s energetic boogie-woogie piano style rounded out the sound. Months later, manager Andrew Loog Oldham kicked him out of the band for being “ugly,” although Stewart continued to record, tour and serve as the band’s road manager until his death in 1985.

This April 8, 1964, file photo shows the Rolling Stones during a rehearsal. The members, from left, are Brian Jones, guitar; Bill Wyman, bass; Charlie Watts, drums; Mick Jagger, vocals; and Keith Richards, guitar.

(Associated Press)

Fronting the group was Mick Jagger. Channeling the music like a crazed shaman, Jagger shimmied and sashayed, owning the stage like few lead singers have before or since. By the end of the night, the Stones had the crowd in a frenzy. Although only 30 people had made it to the gig because of the treacherous weather conditions, the hotel’s booker had seen enough: He offered the Stones a regular gig.

“The Rolling Stones had caught fire. The music they were playing and the way they played it struck a chord with a young crowd starved for something different, something their own… It was soul-stirring, loud and uncompromising,” writes Bob Spitz in “The Rolling Stones: The Biography,” his magisterial work that charts the 60-year journey of “the greatest rock and roll band in the world.”

Spitz, the author of strong biographies on the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, as well as Ronald Reagan and Julia Child, captures the drama, trauma and betrayals that have kept the Stones in the public’s consciousness for more than six decades. It’s all here: The Stones’ evolution from a blues cover band to artistic rival of the Beatles; the musical peaks — “Aftermath,” “Let It Bleed” and “Exile on Main Street” as well as misfires like “Dirty Work”; Keith’s descent into a debilitating heroin addiction that nearly destroyed him and the band; the death of the ‘60s at the ill-fated Altamont free concert; Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall and other lovers, partners and muses; the breakups, makeups and crackups; and perhaps most important, the unbreakable bond between Jagger and Richards at the center of it all.

Although Spitz unearths little new information, he excels at presenting the Stones in glorious Technicolor. Spitz homes in on the telling details and anecdotes that give the band’s story a deep richness and poignancy.

Take “Satisfaction,” the Stones’ 1965 classic and first U.S. chart topper. The oft-told story is that Richards woke up in the middle of the night, grabbed the guitar that was next to his bed, and recorded the iconic riff and the phrase “I can’t get no … satisfaction” on a cassette recorder in his Clearwater, Fla., hotel room before falling back asleep. But as Spitz notes, the song initially went nowhere in the studio. That is until Stewart purchased a fuzz box for Richards a few days later, which gave the tune a raunchier sound that perfectly matched Jagger’s lyrics of frustration and alienation. A classic was born.

Piercing the Stones mythology

Spitz’s deep reporting often pierces the mythology surrounding the band. Contrary to the popular belief of many fans, for instance, Jones bears much of the responsibility for the rift with his bandmates and his tragic demise.

The most musically adventurous member of the group — he plays sitar on “Paint It Black” and dulcimer on “Lady Jane” — Jones wasn’t a songwriter. That stoked his jealousies and insecurities, along with frontman Jagger stealing the spotlight from him. A monster of a man, Jones impregnated multiple teenage girls and physically and emotionally abused several women, including Pallenberg. Perhaps that’s why she left him for Richards. Over time, Jones made fewer contributions in the studio and onstage, becoming a catatonic drug casualty. The Stones fired Jones in June 1969 but would have been justified doing so a couple years earlier. He drowned in his pool less than a month later.

Author Bob Spitz

(Elena Seibert)

Similarly, Stones lore has long romanticized the making of “Exile on Main Street” in the stifling, dingy basement of Richards’ rented Villa Nellcôte in the South of France, where the Stones had decamped to avoid British taxes. In this telling, Richards, deep in the throes of heroin addiction, somehow managed to come up with one indelible riff after another built around his signature open G tuning — taught to him by Ry Cooder — leading the band to create one of the best albums in rock history. That’s not entirely accurate, according to Spitz.

Yes, Richards came up with the licks for “Rocks Off,” “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice.” But it’s equally true that a strung-out Richards missed myriad recording sessions, invited dealers, hangers-on and other distractions to Nellcôte, and repeatedly failed to turn up to write with Jagger. Far from completing the album in the druggy haze of a French basement, the band spent six months on overdubs at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, where Jagger contributed many of his vocals.

Beatles vs. Stones

One of the more interesting themes Spitz develops is the symbiotic relationship between the Beatles and Stones, with the Fab Four mostly overshadowing them — until they didn’t.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote “I Wanna Be Your Man” and gave it to the Stones, whose 1963 rendition, with Jones on slide guitar, became the group’s first UK Top 20 hit. The Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership inspired Jagger and Richards to begin penning their own songs. In early 1964, the Beatles came to the U.S. for the first time, making television history with their appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and playing Carnegie Hall. A few months later, the Stones kicked off their inaugural American tour at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino. In 1967, the Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” a psychedelic masterpiece. The Stones responded with “Their Satanic Majesties Request,” a psychedelic mess.

The Rolling Stones: The Biography cover

As the Beatles began to splinter, Spitz writes, the Stones sharpened their focus. The band released “Beggars Banquet” in late 1968 and “Let It Bleed” the following year, albums every bit as innovative and visionary as “The White Album” and “Abbey Road.” For the first time, the two groups stood as equals.

When the Beatles broke up in 1970, the Stones kept rolling. With Jones replaced by virtuoso guitarist Mick Taylor — whose fluid, melodic style served as a tasty foil to Richards — they produced what many consider their finest works, “Sticky Fingers” and “Exile on Main Street.” More impressively, the band, with Taylor’s successor, Ronnie Wood, has continued to dazzle audiences with incendiary live shows, touring as recently as 2024 behind the late-career triumph “Hackney Diamonds.” The Beatles, by contrast, retired from the road in 1966 and devoted their energies to the studio.

Hundreds of books have been written about the Rolling Stones, but few sparkle quite like Spitz’s. For anyone who loves or even likes the Stones, it’s indispensable.

Like most of the band’s biographers, Spitz gives short shrift to the post-“Exile” period after 1972. He curtly dismisses 2005’s strong “A Bigger Bang” and 2016’s “Blue & Lonesome,” a back-to-basics album of blues covers, as “adequate endeavors that signaled a band living on borrowed time.” That critique is both off target and under-developed. Spitz ignores the band’s legendary live album, “Brussels Affair,” recorded in 1973, or why the band waited decades before officially releasing it.

These are small quibbles. Spitz has written a book worthy of its 704-page length; another 50 or so pages covering the later years would have made it even stronger. To quote the Rolling Stones: “I know it’s only rock ‘n roll, but I like it, like it, yes, I do.”

Marc Ballon, a former Times, Forbes and Inc. Magazine reporter, teaches an advanced writing class at USC. He lives in Fullerton.

Madrid, Spain – Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is aligned with Spain’s main right-wing party on its economic visions, but they are divided by social issues such as abortion, analysts say.

On a visit to Spain this weekend, Machado chose to snub an invitation to meet Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the left-wing coalition government officials.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner said she had chosen not to meet Sanchez because he was hosting a summit of left-wing leaders from Latin America in Barcelona.

“What has transpired in the past few hours at the meeting held in Barcelona with various political leaders from different countries is proof that such a meeting was not advisable,” Machado told a meeting in Madrid on Saturday.

Instead, she held a series of meetings with leaders from the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party.

Machado received a rapturous welcome from Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the PP party leader and Venezuelan emigres in Madrid, on Friday.

On Saturday, the Venezuelan opposition leader met Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the populist conservative Madrid regional leader, one of Sanchez’s fiercest critics and a possible rival to Feijoo.

Ayuso presented Madrid’s gold medal to Machado, while Madrid’s Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida – also of the PP – handed her the keys to the city before a rally with Venezuelan supporters.

Machado also met Santiago Abascal, the leader of Vox, in the Spanish capital.

Feijoo praised how Machado had championed freedom even at the cost of going into hiding in Venezuela away from her family.

“Spain knows well the value of freedom; it cost us dearly to obtain it. The generations of our parents and grandparents know what it is to live without freedom. That is why we cannot look the other way,” Feijoo said.

What divides Venezuela and Spain’s opposition?

Despite the cordial welcome, there are significant differences between Machado and Feijoo, commentators said.

A liberal conservative, who has said she is an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Machado has been dubbed Venezuela’s “Iron Lady”.

She moved from the right politically to the centre-ground during the 2024 presidential campaign to attract voters in the middle ground.

As a conservative, Machado heads a Venezuelan opposition that is split and which also contains more liberal factions.

In contrast, Feijoo heads a well-organised conservative political party, which has only recently suffered divisions after the formation of the hard-right Vox party in 2013, analysts said.

Carlos Malamud, an expert on Latin America at the Real Elcano Institute, a think tank in Madrid, said the structure of both opposition groups was different.

“Machado is the leader of a small, disorganised opposition, while Feijoo is the head of the PP, which is a well-organised national political party,” he told Al Jazeera.

Malamud said Machado did not demonstrate the traits of a would-be Venezuelan president by refusing to see Sanchez.

“If Machado wants to be the president of Venezuela next year, she needs to be prepared to meet the head of the Spanish government, whoever that may be,” he explained.

“Perhaps the Venezuelan opposition sees the Spanish Socialist Party as being allied to (former Spanish prime minister) Jose Rodriguez Zapatero.”

Zapatero has played a controversial role in acting as a mediator between Spain and the government of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was abducted by the United States in January.

Maduro faces charges of narcoterrorism, conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption, which he denies.

Machado ‘more conservative’ on social issues

Malamud said one factor which unites Machado and Feijoo is that they came from political systems which suffered from polarisation.

“Venezuelan politics is the same as Cuban politics, or like Spanish. They all suffer from the same degree of polarisation,” he added.

Ana Ayuso, an investigator in Latin American affairs at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, said Machado shared the liberal economic theories of Feijoo, but they differed on social issues.

“She is in favour of freedom of trade and a small state, so she is quite liberal on economic affairs like Feijoo,” Ayuso told Al Jazeera.

“She is also closer to Isabel Diaz Ayuso in terms of economics, in terms of free trade and the participation of the state.”

“However, she is more conservative when it comes to social issues. Machado is against abortion, and religious affairs are important to her. She is close to the [Roman] Catholic Church. Feijoo supports the right to abortion.”

In an interview in 2024 with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Machado said she was against abortion but in favour of changing the law in Venezuela to allow abortion in cases of rape.

At present, the law in Venezuela allows abortion only when there is a risk to the life of the mother or child. Otherwise, it is illegal and can carry a jail sentence of up to two years.

“Machado does not have any similarities with Vox. Venezuela does not have a problem with immigration. Emigration is the problem,” added Ayuso.

She said the Venezuelan opposition leader had initially been a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump, but he had shunned her in support of Delcy Rodriguez, the acting Venezuelan president.

Machado was now closer to Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who supported her cause within the MAGA movement, she added.

Russia’s FSB accused the woman, found with a bomb in her backpack, of taking part in a plot hatched by Ukraine.

Russian authorities say they have thwarted a Ukraine-linked bomb plot against security services and arrested a German woman found with a makeshift bomb in her backpack.

Russia’s FSB security agency said the unnamed woman was detained on Monday in the southern city of Pyatigorsk.

In a statement cited by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, the FSB said it had “prevented a terrorist attack planned by the Kyiv regime against a law enforcement facility in the Stavropol region, involving a German citizen born in 1969”.

It said the woman had been recruited by a citizen from a Central Asian country, who was working on orders from Ukraine. That man was found and arrested near the targeted site.

According to the FSB, the device contained an explosive charge equivalent to 1.5kg (3 pounds) of TNT and was intended to be detonated remotely. The agency said the blast was ultimately prevented by electronic jamming.

Video of the purported arrest published by Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency showed armed Russian security agents approach the woman as she was face down in a car park.

Another video showed masked plainclothes agents pulling a man into a station, followed by a controlled explosion of the backpack.

Russia’s previous allegations

Russia has arrested dozens of people throughout the four-year war, mostly its own citizens, on allegations of working for Ukraine to carry out sabotage attacks.

Russia has previously accused Ukraine of working with Islamic fundamentalists to carry out attacks inside Russia, without providing evidence.

Officials initially alleged that the perpetrators of a 2024 massacre at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow that killed 150 people were ISIL (ISIS) members in coordination with Ukraine.

ISIL claimed responsibility for that attack, making no reference of any Ukrainian involvement, for which no evidence was presented by Moscow and which Kyiv denies.

CHLOE Ferry has been criticised by fans and animal charity Peta after her boyfriend surprised her with a new French bulldog puppy.

The Geordie Shore star’s dog Ivy died in October leaving her devastated. In a bid to cheer Chloe up, her boyfriend Alex Swinney bought her a pup she’s named Olive.

Seeing her other dog Narla playing with the new addition immediately brightened Chloe’s mood and she told fans: “After losing my baby Ivy I wasn’t sure I was ready but my boyfriend SURPRISED me with this little one.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally see Narla with her spark back again, just seeing her play has fulfilled my heart so much.

“From grieving to growing she accepted her new sister right away meet baby OLIVE.”

While many fans heaped praise on her property developer partner for the gift and complimented the cute pup, others, including charity Peta, made their reservations known.

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The animal charity commented: “Your boyfriend needs to rethink this. French bulldogs struggle to just breathe, let alone live a happy and healthy life.

“Buying one neglects the tens of thousands of homeless dogs in shelters just waiting to be adopted [broken heart emoji] Tell him to adopt next time.”

Others echoed the sentiment, with one writing: “Puppies are cute, but so, so sad to see people buying breeds with breathing impairments who will never be able to fully enjoy what it means to be a dog. Please stop buying and promoting breathing impaired breeds

“Blue is one of the worst choices when it comes to health issues…”

Another said: “Frenchies can barely breathe, and buying one keeps it going. Shelters are full [broken heart emoji] Adopt next time.”

A third wrote: “If you buy a Frenchie you are asking for heartache. The breeds are not meant to mix and that causes defects. It’s sad but true. Its unfortunate they have become the ultimate chav accessory. Poor babies.”

French Bulldogs are renowned for having breathing difficulties due to the way they’re bred to have flat faces.

They have greater chance of contracting a variety of health conditions and, according to Peta, brachycephalic dogs (flattened faces) have, on average, 40 per cent shorter lifespans than other dogs.

They also struggle to give birth due to the large shape of their heads and narrow hips.

Meanwhile, when Ivy died, Chloe told her followers that the pooch “couldn’t stop being sick” prior to its passing.

She wrote: “Pftt, losing a pet is so hard, it’s just like a human and it [the emotion] comes in waves when you least expect it.

“One day you’re alright the next you’re not.

“Today I’ve just tried to get on with jobs, my house has been a mess, so I’ve tried to clean it.

“It has actually made us feel a little bit better but then you sit and overthink everything, and think could I have done more.

“What makes it worse for me, my other dog Narla, she doesn’t understand.

“I had Ivy first so Ivy was always independent, she didn’t need Narla, but Narla came second and needs Ivy.”

President Lee Jae Myung held summit talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, focusing on deepening economic ties and strengthening the countries’ strategic partnership amid the war in the Middle East.

The two leaders were earlier expected to discuss ways to bolster cooperation in artificial intelligence, defense, and the shipping and shipbuilding industries, while expanding the scope of bilateral manufacturing cooperation beyond electronics and vehicles.

They also likely discussed enhancing coordination on global supply chains and energy security as their countries, both heavily reliant on imported energy, grapple with the fallout from the war between the United States and Iran.

In an interview with The Times of India published earlier in the day, Lee stressed the need for South Korea and India to work together to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for oil and natural gas, and make joint efforts to stabilize global supply chains.

It marked their third in-person meeting since Lee took office in June 2025.

Ahead of the summit, Lee paid tribute at Raj Ghat, a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, and planted a commemorative tree with Modi at Hyderabad House.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

EastEnders fans were not expecting to see one character randomly head back to the BBC soap without warning during Monday’s episode of the BBC soap amid a scene with Ravi Gulati

Fans got a surprise during Monday’s episode of EastEnders as a character returned without warning after four years offscreen.

With the episode now up on BBC iPlayer ahead of it airing on BBC One on Monday evening, we saw Ravi Gulati faced with a blast from the past. The death of his ‘father’ Ranveer Gulati was revisited, as Ravi headed to hospital amid his mental health spiralling.

There, his nurse was none other than his ex and former stepmother Nina Gupta. Fans may recall Nina was having an affair with Ravi behind Ranveer’s back.

Around this time we saw Suki Panesar believe she had killed Ranveer after he sexually assaulted her. She attacked him in self-defence, and Ravi walked in and decided to help her cover up the crime.

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It was soon apparent his ‘dad’ was still alive though, and Ravi killed him. Nina was helping Ravi trying to get Ranveer’s money, and she covered for Ravi for killing her husband too.

Now she’s back, treating Ravi in hospital where she addressed their past. Seeing him struggling, she said it was karma for what he did all those years ago.

Fans were divided over the return, as one fan posted on social media: “Now why did we need to bring Nina back. We didn’t need her the first time and she’s just proven why we didn’t need her this time.”

A second fan said: “I’m glad they bought back Nina for this episode cause even though this sl was triggered by the drugs and the spiking I think it reminds people that everything genuinely stems from Ranveer and Nish.” A third added: “Unexpected Nina in the bagging area!!!”

Another viewer said: “Seeing Nina return today took me by suprise but has equally left me convinced that Kheerat and/or Ash might return at some point. Kheerat took the fall for Ranveer’s death in the end and that showdown at the surgery beteeen Ash and Nina was brilliant.”

The reactions kept on coming too, with one fan saying: “Bringing back Nina Gupta wasn’t on my bingo card!” another confessed: “For some reason I thought Nina died lmao clearly not.”

A final comment read: “I was really divided about Nina. I think it’s really good when you bring back a past character to explore someone else’s past and I think this did that and reminded us of that time in Ravi’s life. But equally why was she acting like she wasn’t a ‘baddie’ style character then too?

“She was hardly innocent! I thought it was a good twist as we didn’t know it was going to happen and it was like oh hello, but at the same time I don’t know if it added much.”

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

April 20 (UPI) — British police overnight arrested two teens in connection with an attempted arson of a London synagogue, authorities said Monday as they investigate a rash of recent attacks targeting the Jewish community as possible terrorism.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told UPI in an emailed statement Monday that a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were arrested overnight in the London area for the weekend arson attack targeting Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, northwest London.

The suspects, who were not identified, remained in police custody on Monday when authorities were expected to announce additional details.

The synagogue was attacked overnight Saturday, suffering only minor smoke damage to an internal room, according to Community Security Trust, a British charity with the mission to protect Britain’s Jewish community. It said in a statement that no injuries or significant structural damage were reported.

There have been at least five separate arson attacks in London since four ambulances used by the Jewish community in Golders Green were set ablaze March 23.

Police said there were three attacks over the weekend: the one targeting Kenton United, another targeting a communal block in Barnet and a third late Friday, targeting a row of shops in Hendon.

Several people have been arrested in connection with the various attacks, including a fourth person detained related to the Golders Green arson attack on Thursday.

The Met’s Counter Terrorism Policing unit is leading an investigation into all of these incidents, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans told reporters outside Kenton United in a Sunday press conference, stating that the “nature” of all the crimes has been similar — “arson attacks targeting Israeli- and Jewish-linked premises in London.”

Most of the attacks have been claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which translates to the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, Evans said.

“This same group has claimed several incidents over recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe. These locations all appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests,” she said.

The attacks were committed amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The Met said that, as the conflict continues, its Counter Terrorism Policing unit is aware the threat Iran poses to Britain and is investigating whether those who committed these arson attacks in London had been recruited by the group to carry out its crimes.

Those recruited often have no allegiance to Iran’s cause but are paid with “quick cash,” she said.

“To anyone even considering getting involved — my message to you would be this — the stakes are high — and it is absolutely not worth the risk for a small reward,” she said.

“Those asking you will not be there when you are arrested and face court. You will be used once and thrown away without a second thought.”

Ashab al-Yamin, a front group with suspected links to Iran, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Europe targeting Jewish and Western institutions since March 9, according to a report published earlier this month by the Washington-based nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies research institute.

No deaths have been reported in the attacks that have spanned Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Britain, it said.

Ukraine’s military intelligence says it struck two large landing ships in Sevastopol Bay in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Ukraine and Russia have attacked each other overnight, with Ukrainian drones striking Russian assets in Black Sea ports and Russia hitting several regions across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence unit claimed attacks on two Russian landing ⁠ships and a radar station in Sevastopol Bay in Russian-occupied Crimea. It says the $150m vessels were successfully hit and radar equipment destroyed.

In Russia, Ukrainian drones targeted the port of Tuapse, killing at least one person, injuring another and damaging transport infrastructure, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev.

The strike was the second on the port in three days, hours after a fire from a previous attack was extinguished.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defences destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine reported a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory overnight, including in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhia regions.

Drones hit a car in the city of Putyvl in Ukraine’s border region of Sumy, injuring three women, as well as two homes in Kyiv’s Brovary district, damaging them and injuring one person, according to Ukrainian officials.

“Tonight, the enemy is again attacking the Kyiv region with drones. Under the sights are peaceful people, homes,” said Kyiv regional military administration head Mykola Kalashnyk.

Russian attacks also damaged railway infrastructure in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian attacks in the Kherson region killed one person and injured seven, while injuring four others in the Zaporizhia region, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow’s forces have hit civilian areas almost daily since the all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four years ago, with the regular assaults occasionally punctuated by massive attacks.

More than 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have died in the strikes, according to the United Nations.

There have been several rounds of United States-brokered negotiations in recent months, but they have failed to reach an agreement to stop the fighting, with the process further stalled since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Even before the war on Iran, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over territorial issues.

Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along current front lines. Russia rejects that, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region, despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine – a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.

When perusing our final list of the 101 best book club picks, my eyes popped. My book club had just read two books that made the final cut.

And they were, on average, both our favorite and least favorite of the year. “Martyr” by Kaveh Akbar was layered and moving. “Big Swiss” by Jen Beagin was spicy and fun but too over the top.

Still, both led to fervent conversation peppered with oh-my-gods. So it goes with book clubs: Even if you don’t love what you’re reading, it can still offer something interesting to tease apart.

To make our lineup, The Times surveyed more than 200 authors, publishers, journalists and general book club enthusiasts to select the best book club reads in 10 categories, including romance, mystery, memoir and literary fiction.

Did we miss any books your book club loves? Tell us in the form below by April 20. We may include your suggestions in a follow-up story.

US band The Strokes used their Coachella set to showcase the US-Israeli destruction of universities in Gaza and Iran, including Gaza’s al-Israa University.

New video from the US military is said to show an operation by its forces to seize an Iranian-flagged ship which attempted to bypass the US blockade of Iranian ports. The US says the cargo ship Touska was linked to a sanctioned company, while Iran condemned the move as ‘piracy’ and a violation of the ceasefire.

HOLLY Willoughby giggled the afternoon away on a boozy lunch with her star-studded girl squad after it was revealed she’s plotting a major career rebrand.

Former darling of ITV, Holly, 45, took centre stage in a fun video clip from a lunch date with pals Nicole Appleton, Emma Bunton, Christine Lampard and Vice President of Artist Relations at Universal Music, Shiarra Bell.

Mojitos looked to be the favoured drink for most of the girl gang, who appeared in playful mood as they looked into the camera.

Holly chose the Sex and the City theme to soundtrack the clip on Instagram and continued the US drama theme in the caption which referenced lead character Carrie Bradshaw [Sarah Jessica Parker].

She wrote: “As Carrie Bradshaw said… They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style. Love my girls…”

The post went down a treat.

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CBB legend Kate Lawler wrote: “Love the energy of this girl gang.”

EastEnders icon Sam Womack said: “Jealous!!!! Love you lot.”

One fan added: “Love that they’ve grown up in the industry together and remained friends. Bet their WhatsApp chats are juicy!”

Holly has been lying low since her time on Netflix‘s Celebrity Bear Hunt early last year.

She’s been absent from TV screens for the longest period in her career, having previously been an ever present on This Morning, Celebrity Juice and Dancing on Ice.

But the mum-of-three, who is married to TV producer Dan Baldwin, is now branching out from traditional TV and is preparing a comeback on YouTube.

Her channel will start with a magazine show similar to This Morning – effectively marking the dawn of “Holly TV”.

Our insider explained: “Holly has been slowly shedding her This Morning self for a few years now and has been gradually letting the fans see the real her more and more.

“Once rarely posting on social media, Holly will now happily share her outfits, favourite tipples and days out with her very cool group of pals.

“When she was on This Morning her friendship with the likes of the Appleton sisters was kept on the down-low but now there’s no need for her to live up to a certain image.

“She has always been a party girl at heart, but kept it very well hidden while on the daytime TV show.”

Since stepping back from the box, Holly has posted edgier content on social media, including an out of character F-bomb.

When American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa announced they would be performing in the UK, a delighted Holly squealed online: “Excuse my language but f**k, I’ve waited my whole life for this.”

The insider continued: “Holly would never have sworn online while she was on This Morning but is deliberately showing a different side to herself. She wants to be seen as cool and edgy.

“She was definitely keeping up appearances while on the show and can now finally be herself fully.”

Though the former kids TV presenter has maintained a clean cut image, her party girl image has long been talked about in media circles.

In 2019 she partied until the early hours at The Streets’ comeback gig afterparty at Brixton Academy with Nicole Appleton, wearing a T-shirt that read: “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go backstage”.

Her legendary drinking stamina has led to her being labelled a “robot” by pal Keith Lemon.

“Holly is a party animal. I’m a drinker, but I can’t keep up with her,” he told The Sun.

While Piers Morgan said: “Piers Morgan backed up his comments, admitting: “If I go to a party and Holly Willoughby is there, you know your liver is in for a caning, and you could end up in a career-ending situation. She’s a very dangerous lady. Very dangerous.”

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is gearing up to host the second round of talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their war, but rising tensions in recent hours have cast uncertainty over Tehran’s participation, as the deadline nears for the end of the two-week ceasefire.

Unlike the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11, the upcoming negotiations could last for multiple days until a temporary deal – mediators are calling it a memorandum of understanding – is signed, effectively extending the ceasefire, sources close to these efforts have told Al Jazeera. If the MoU is agreed, it would give negotiators a longer window – even up to 60 days – to secure a longer peace deal.

But all of that hinges on the participation of Iran, which – as of Monday morning – has not confirmed that it will be sending its negotiators to Islamabad. That follows a rapid escalation in tensions over the past 24 hours.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his representatives were heading to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations with Iran, as a fragile ceasefire, due to expire on Wednesday, edges towards its deadline.  But Trump accompanied his announcement with a revival of earlier pre-ceasefire threats to bomb Iran’s energy and power facilities.

“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan. They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He accused Iran of a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement” after Iranian gunboats fired on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hitting ships including a French vessel and a British freighter.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

The tensions did not ease overnight. In the early hours of Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance had intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, nearly 900 feet (274 metres) long, in the Gulf of Oman after its crew refused to heed warnings to stop.

“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote. US Marines have now taken charge of the vessel, which Trump alleged was under US Treasury sanctions for prior illegal activity.

Iran has described the seizure of the ship as “piracy”.

Pakistan’s preparations

Amid those military and social media exchanges between Iran and the United States, Pakistan has been busy getting ready to host talks that it – as the principal mediator between Washington and Tehran – hopes will yield a deal to end the war, now into its eighth week.

Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel asked guests to vacate by Sunday afternoon. The Serena Hotel, just a few kilometres away and the venue for the first round of talks a week earlier, soon issued the same order and stopped taking reservations.

Roads into the Red Zone, the capital’s most heavily fortified area, were sealed. The district houses key government buildings, including the National Assembly, foreign embassies and both five-star hotels. Thousands of additional police and paramilitary personnel arrived from across the country.

Barbed wire and barricades lined the streets, and most access routes were shut.

But even before Trump’s latest threat to blow up Iranian energy and power facilities, and the subsequent hijacking of the Iranian ship, Tehran was unclear about whether it would join the talks.

Minutes before Trump’s Truth Social message, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote on his social media that violations of international law, the continuation of the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, threats of further strikes, and what he described as unreasonable demands could not be reconciled with a genuine pursuit of peace.

“As long as the naval blockade remains, faultlines remain,” he added.

The negotiators: The US and Iranian teams

Trump first said on Sunday that Vice President JD Vance, who had led the US team in the first round of Islamabad talks, would not visit the Pakistani capital this time around, because of security concerns.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that Vance would join the US delegation, alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the same team that led the first round.

Flight tracking data showed at least four US government aircraft carrying communications equipment and motorcade support landed on Sunday at PAF Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, the primary VIP entry point for Islamabad.

However, by late night, sources close to mediators told Al Jazeera that it was once again unclear whether Vance would travel to Islamabad on Monday. They said that the US might now send Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad first, and if the talks actually happen, Vance might join them.

Amid Iranian hesitation over whether to join the Islamabad talks, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The call lasted about 45 minutes, the Pakistan PM’s office said.

Sharif briefed Pezeshkian on his recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, where he met with their leaders, describing those engagements as helpful in “building consensus in support of a sustained process of dialogue and diplomacy”.

But by early Monday morning, Trump’s revived threats and the capture of the Iranian cargo ship have left the prospects of talks in Islamabad even more on edge than before.

Iran pushes back

Tehran pushed back sharply against Trump’s flurry of social media posts on Sunday.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said reports of a second round of talks in Islamabad were “not correct”, and blamed the lack of progress on what it described as American “greed”, unreasonable demands, shifting positions and “continuous contradictions”.

According to IRNA, the naval blockade – imposed by Trump last Monday, two days after the first round of Islamabad talks – violated the ceasefire understanding and had “so far prevented progress in negotiations”.

It added that “no clear prospect for productive negotiations is foreseen” under current conditions and dismissed US statements on talks as “a media game”, aimed at pressuring Iran through a “blame game”.

In a post on X, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei went further, describing the US naval blockade as “unlawful and criminal” and saying it amounted to “war crime and crime against humanity”.

Despite the public denials, Iranian sources earlier on Sunday indicated a delegation was expected in Pakistan on Tuesday. It could include Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s team in the first round, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who had joined him then.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar spoke by phone on Sunday and discussed “the need for continued dialogue and engagement as essential to resolving the current issues as soon as possible”.

Analysts say the gap between Iran’s public stance and private signalling reflects a deliberate strategy.

“This gap reflects a dual-track negotiation strategy,” Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, told Al Jazeera. “At the public level, Iran maintains a hardline position to preserve domestic legitimacy and increase its leverage; at the non-public level, by dispatching a team to Islamabad, it signals that it has not abandoned diplomacy but is instead testing its conditions.”

Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, agreed.

“When warring parties come to the table to negotiate, they come with the understanding that there is occasionally a gap between public posturing and private positions,” he told Al Jazeera. “My sense is that they will pick up from where they left off, rather than getting too caught up in the rhetoric that has emerged since”.

That divergence extends to the pace of negotiations.

Washington has pushed for a rapid resolution, with Trump repeatedly declaring the war “close to over” even as fighting continues. Tehran, by contrast, has shown little inclination to be rushed.

A diplomat in Islamabad, who has followed the talks closely, described the contrast.

“The previous round of talks is a great example. It appeared as if the Americans brought a stop-watch, whereas the Iranians came armed with a calendar,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

What is achievable?

Officials do not expect a final deal this week.

The immediate goal is likely to be a ceasefire extension, with both sides in Islamabad working towards a limited understanding.

Pakistani officials expressed cautious optimism, saying the process was moving in a positive direction while stressing that a final agreement would require sustained engagement and compromise.

Unlike the first round, talks could run for several days, with the aim of agreeing on a framework for broader negotiations in the coming weeks and months.

Humayun cautioned against viewing the first round as a failure.

“I wouldn’t characterise the first round as having failed, that assumes expectations of resolving the most difficult issues early on, which is unlikely in talks of this nature where the issues are so complex,” he said.

For this round, a ceasefire extension would be “a meaningful outcome in itself”, while both sides would likely be “probing for any shifts or flexibility in positions since they last spoke”.

It is that movement, he added, that would allow both sides to “politically sanction an extension of the ceasefire”.

“A ceasefire extension could represent the most minimal form of agreement achievable in this round,” Jalalzadeh said, adding that the deal Washington seeks is “far broader in scope and is rooted in a history stretching back 47 years”.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye over the weekend, said “significant progress” had been made in the previous round but stressed that a framework must be agreed upon before talks could advance.

He described US demands on Iran’s nuclear programme as “maximalist”.

Ghalibaf was more direct. “There are many gaps and some fundamental points remain,” he said in televised remarks on Saturday night. “We are still far from the final discussion”.

The core sticking points, Iran’s nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz, remain unresolved since the first round, held on April 11, which lasted 21 hours and ended without agreement.

A separate Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is now in place, removing one of Tehran’s stated conditions for talks.

But Jalalzadeh said the ceasefire fell well short of satisfying Iran’s demands. “The current Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is temporary, fragile, and incomplete,” he told Al Jazeera, noting that Hezbollah – Tehran’s most powerful regional ally – was absent from the agreement, which the Lebanese government negotiated with Israel.

“This ceasefire is a tactical palliative, not a substitute for Iran’s strategic demand,” he said, adding that Tehran’s insistence on Lebanon being part of any broader deal, rather than handled through a separate arrangement, remained unchanged.

Humayun said Iran would want the Israel-Lebanon truce to hold and ideally include “some form of assurance against violations”.

The broader question, he said, is “whether Iran can secure at least some degree of US pressure on Israel to adhere to the ceasefire and to refrain from further escalation”.

The Sharif-Pezeshkian call capped an intensive week of Pakistani diplomacy.

Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran last Wednesday, carrying what officials described as a new message from Washington.

Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam said last week in Islamabad that Tehran would “do talks in Pakistan and nowhere else, because we trust Pakistan”.

Analysts say Pakistan’s value as a mediator lies in the rare credibility it holds with both sides.

Humayun said that even if this round produces no breakthrough, it would not necessarily erode trust in Islamabad.

“All parties understand how difficult these issues are and that, without Pakistan’s facilitation, they may not have reached this point at all,” he said.

Jalalzadeh offered a more cautious assessment, saying Pakistan’s role ultimately depends on results.

“If this round also fails, its standing as an effective mediator will be weakened, even if it continues to function as a minimal communication channel,” he said.

Still, he noted, Islamabad has already distinguished itself among countries that have attempted mediation, filling a gap left by others and establishing itself as a credible host.

Trump, however, insisted a deal would come regardless.

“It will happen. One way or another. The nice way or the hard way,” he told ABC News. “You can quote me.”

Islamabad talks in limbo as Tehran says it will retaliate after US marines capture an Iranian-flagged ship near the Strait of Hormuz.

Donald Trump announced on Sunday that a second round of US-Iran talks is to be held in Pakistan on Monday – but Tehran has not confirmed participation, two days before a ceasefire deal expires.

The capture by US Marines of an Iranian-flagged container ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday has further clouded the Islamabad talks, as Tehran has pledged to retaliate.

The attack came hours after President Trump announced he is sending a team to Islamabad for talks, while once again threatening to knock out Iran’s power plants and bridges if there is no deal. The ceasefire, which ended more than a month of war, expires on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, spoke on Sunday with Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, as he reaffirmed his government’s readiness to mediate the conflict.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• ⁠Iran’s top ⁠joint ⁠military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, accused the US of ⁠violating the ceasefire by shooting at ⁠an Iranian ship in the Gulf of Oman and vowed ‌to retaliate.
• President Trump ⁠posted on Truth ⁠Social on Sunday that US Marines ‌captured a vessel that tried to get past ⁠the American blockade on ⁠Iranian ports, adding that ⁠US forces ⁠stopped the ⁠ship by blowing a hole in ‌its engine room.
• Iran ⁠executed ⁠two men convicted of cooperating with Israel’s Mossad ⁠intelligence service and planning attacks inside the ⁠country, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reported on Sunday.
• French ⁠shipping ⁠company, CMA CGM, confirmed on Sunday that “warning shots” were fired at one ⁠of its ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. 
• ⁠Iran’s ⁠armed forces turned back two tankers attempting ⁠to transit the Strait ⁠of Hormuz on Sunday after issuing warnings. The semi-official Tasnim ‌news agency said that was a result of the continuing US maritime ⁠blockade on Iran.
• International flights from Mashhad airport in northeast Iran will resume on Monday, the civil aviation authority said.

War diplomacy

• Iranian state media reported that Tehran had rejected new peace talks, citing the ongoing blockade, threatening rhetoric, and Washington’s shifting positions and “excessive demands.”
• Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Tehran was not planning to take part in talks with the United States, hours after Trump said he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad.
• The US president posted on Truth Social ⁠on Sunday that representatives are going to Islamabad “tomorrow night” for Iran negotiations. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and ⁠I hope they ⁠take it because, if they don’t, ⁠the United States ⁠is going to ⁠knock out every single power plant, ‌and every single bridge, in Iran,” ‌Trump ‌wrote.
• Pakistan’s Prime Minister ⁠Sharif ⁠said on Sunday that he spoke with ⁠Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian about the conflict ⁠in the Gulf.
  Sharif posted on X that he shared insights with Pezeshkian regarding his recent ‌conversations with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye.
• “I appreciated ⁠Iran’s engagement, including ⁠its high-level delegation to Islamabad for the historic talks, and ⁠recent discussions with Field Marshal Syed ⁠Asim Munir in ⁠Tehran,” Sharif said.
• Turkiye’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, said on Sunday he was “optimistic” that a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, which expires on Wednesday, would be extended, allowing more time for talks between the sides.
  

  

In the US

• Trump said on Sunday that the guided-missile destroyer, USS Spruance, fired on and seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship, Touska, in the Gulf of Oman, and US Marines were “seeing what’s on board!”
• The US president said Iran has committed a “serious ⁠violation” of the ceasefire ⁠but still thinks he can get a peace deal, ABC ‌News reporter Jonathan Karl posted on X on Sunday. Trump added that a peace deal “will happen. ⁠One way or another”.

In Israel

• Argentine President Javier Milei, has reaffirmed his country’s support for the campaign against Iran, citing his government’s earlier decision to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a “terrorist organisation”.
• Milei, who is visiting Israel for the third time since taking office, declared on Sunday that the joint US-Israel war against Iran was the “right thing to do”, as he signed on to the so-called Isaac Accords aimed at deepening bilateral ties between Israel and Latin American countries.

In Lebanon

• ⁠The Israeli ⁠military on Monday warned residents in southern ⁠Lebanon not to move ⁠south of a specified line of villages or approach areas ‌near the Litani River, saying its forces remain deployed in the area during a ceasefire ⁠due to what ⁠it described as continued Hezbollah activity.
• The Israeli army also said it had determined that an image circulating on social media showing a soldier in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic and depicts one of its troops.
• The viral photo of the Israeli soldier hitting the Jesus statue with a sledgehammer has sparked outrage.
• French President Emmanuel Macron is due to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris on Tuesday. The announcement follows the killing of a French peacekeeper in Lebanon during the fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
• Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military will use “full force” in Lebanon – even during the ongoing ceasefire – should Israeli troops face any threat from Hezbollah.
• Lebanon’s military said it has reopened a road and bridge between Nabatieh and Khardali, which were damaged by Israeli strikes in the south.

Oil prices rise

• Oil prices surged on Monday following the re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East war However, lingering hopes that a deal to end the seven-week crisis continued to support equities, despite Tehran saying it was not planning to attend peace talks.

Inside the ornate Bovard Auditorium, Larry David kept a full audience in stitches as he discussed the creation and legacy of his improv hit, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which concluded in 2024 after 12 seasons.

In a conversation with Lorraine Ali — who wrote “No Lessons Learned: The Making of Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which retraces the show’s long run with cast interviews, episode guides and behind-the-scenes material — David reflected on the separation between himself and the abrasive on-screen persona he adopted for more than two decades.

“I wish I was that Larry David,” he said.

David spoke about the outrageous audition process for “Curb,” wherein actors tried to navigate a brief written scenario without any dialogue to guide them as David lambasted them in character. Out of this process came iconic one-liners and beloved characters, such as Leon, played by J.B. Smoove.

“People bring out certain things, and when I would act with them, some of them would make me seem funny,” David said. “I go, ‘Oh, that’s good — let’s give him a part.’”

David cited “Palestinian Chicken” as one of his favorite episodes of the show. In the episode, David is caught between a delicious new Palestinian chicken restaurant, a Palestinian girlfriend and an outraged inner circle of Jewish friends.

He also spoke briefly about his upcoming episodic HBO series, “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Happiness,” a historical spoof that will retrace United States history for the country’s 250th founding anniversary. The series will premiere on Aug. 7.

“A lot of wigs, costumes, beards — fake beards,” David said. “Nothing worse than fake beards.”

The controversial ending of “Seinfeld,” which David co-wrote with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, was polarizing among fans when it was released, David said. After a recent rewatch, however, David said he thought it was “pretty good,” to a round of applause from the audience.

Near the end of the panel, an audience member asked a question some definitely had on their mind: Will “Seinfeld” ever get a reunion?

“No,” David replied without missing a beat.

April 20 (UPI) — Two employees of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and two Mexican law enforcement officers were killed in a car crash over the weekend while returning from an operation to destroy laboratories in the northern state of Chihuahua, officials said.

The four people were traveling in a vehicle when they skidded off the road and into a ravine at about 2 a.m. Sunday, Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui Moreno told reporters in a press conference.

He identified the deceased as Agency Director Pedro Roman Oseguera Cervantes and officer Manuel Genaro Mendez Montes of the Chihuahua State Investigation Agency and two instructor officers from the U.S. Embassy, whose names have not been made public.

“From here, we extend our deepest condolences and wish peace and resignation to the families of those who died in this unfortunate accident,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson to Mexico offered his condolences online.

“We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones,” he said in a statement.

“This tragedy is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities. It strengthens our resolve to continue their mission and advance our shared commitment to security and justice, to protect our people.”

The incident occurred as they were returning from an operation that destroyed six clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos, where Jauregui said synthetic drugs were being produced.

The site was located following a three-month investigation and destroyed on Friday and Saturday.

“It is one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were being produced,” Jauregui said during the press conference.

Victor Wembanyama set a new San Antonio record for the most points in an NBA playoff debut as the Spurs outlast Portland.

Victor Wembanyama scored 35 points in his postseason debut as ‌the host San Antonio Spurs used a fourth quarter run to create separation in a 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Game ⁠1 of their Western Conference first-round ⁠playoff series.

The Spurs took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 on Tuesday in the Alamo City before switching to Portland for Games 3 and 4.

Wembanyama broke Tim Duncan’s franchise record (32 in 1998) for most points in a playoff debut. He led ⁠all first-half scorers with 21 points – a league record for most in the first half of an NBA playoff debut going back to 1997, the start of the play-by-play era.

“It’s good to get this one out of the way,” Wembanyama said. “We just tried to do the things we’ve been doing all year and stay ⁠solid. There was pressure on us to win the first game, but it wasn’t that much pressure if we just stayed to the plan.”

San Antonio, the second seed in the West, led by 10 at halftime and by 15 after three quarters before all but cementing the win by scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 93-72.

The seventh-seeded Trail Blazers clawed their way back to within 11 via a 13-3 run capped by Deni Avdija’s dunk with 4:27 to play, ‌but San Antonio held strong down the stretch.

“Something that we learned is that every possession matters,” Scoot Henderson said. “Next game I think we are all gonna be more aggressive defensively. I feel like I could be more aggressive. Defensively I think there could be something more in the tank.”

Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox added 17 points apiece for the Spurs, with Devin Vassell scoring 15 and Luke Kornet hitting for 10.

Avdija racked up 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers. Henderson scored 18, Robert Williams III had 11, Shaedon Sharpe hit for 10 and Jrue Holiday distributed 11 assists along with nine points.

The Spurs jumped to the front in the game’s early moments, building a nine- point lead on Fox’s stepback 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark ⁠of the first quarter and jumping out to a 30-21 advantage after 12 minutes of play.

San Antonio stoked the margin ⁠to 50-34 when Kornet threw down an alley-oop dunk from Castle with 5:24 to play in the second quarter. Avdija’s three-point play with 2:28 left culled the deficit to seven points before Wembanyama poured in a layup and then a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to a dozen points. The Spurs led 59-49 at the break.

“(Wembanyama) has lofty expectations and goals ⁠for himself, and being in the playoffs is squarely a part of a lot of that,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “So it’s good to get the first one and kind of get that experience under your belt.”

Avdija paced the Trail ⁠Blazers with 19 points over the opening two periods.

The Trail Blazers reeled off the first eight ⁠points of the third quarter and had four chances to tie the game or go in front but committed three turnovers and missed a shot over that stretch.

“It’s hard to say,” said Portland coach Tiago Splitter when asked if the team’s lack of playoff experience played a role in the loss. “It’s the first time we’ve played against Wemby this season so there’s a lot to learn. It wasn’t our ‌best night. It’s really hard to take him out of the paint. Those five threes really hurt us.”

San Antonio regained its stride and built the lead to a game-high 17 points on Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer with 53 seconds to play in the period before settling for an 87-72 lead heading into the final ‌12 ‌minutes.

“Our first timeout, in the first quarter, I think it took everybody a minute to kind of settle in,” Vassell said. “Even in the second half, it took a minute when (Portland) went on a run. Basketball is a game of runs, so if we can withstand that, get some stops and start getting some good looks we knew we’d be all right.”

PETER Andre has revealed that he plans to release music with his son Junior in the future.

The Mysterious Girl singer, 53, returned to the spotlight this year after not releasing any new music in 11 years.

Junior has also been working on his own tracks, following in Peter’s footsteps.

Speaking to the Daily Mail about all things music, Peter began by sharing how it’s his mission to achieve another number one hit.

He said: “I won’t stop, whether it’s this album, the next album or the one after that.

“I won’t stop until I get a number one now because that’s my goal.”

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But then the father revealed that he’s more than open to collaborating with his son on songs in the future.

In response to whether any collabs with Junior could be on the cards, Peter simply mused: “When he’s ready. He’s brilliant.”

Junior released his debut single, Slide, back in 2022.

It hit the number one spot on the UK’s iTunes pop chart, while his follow-up track Only One went on to bag the same top spot a year later.

Meanwhile Peter has launched himself back into the charts as well, with his new songs Rock You Right and All About Us 2.0 climbing their way up the ranks.

It’s quite the feat after Peter’s latest album, Legacy, has come out three entire decade after his debut hit Mysterious Girl.

Peter gave Junior one major piece of advice when he began taking an interest in entering the music industry.

The wise musician shared: “When he [Junior] first got into recording at around 15, he wanted to start recording and I said to him, “you have to be a songwriter.”

“It’s like learning a trade. You can always write for other people, even if it doesn’t work out for yourself or if you don’t want to sing anymore.

“And now he’s written well over 200 songs. He’s such an incredible talent, both singing and rapping.”

He rounded off his thoughts by gushing about his children and their talents.

Peter concluded: “My daughter Princess has got an incredible voice, but I’m not really sure what she wants to do on that side of things.

“But Junior definitely, I think watch this space. What he’s got when it comes to music… They are both very talented.”

Peter’s new album Legacy features thirteen tracks, including ten re-imagined versions of ten of his iconi songs.

There are also collaborations on the record with artists including Montell Jordan, Brian McKnight, Kenny Thomas, Lady Leshurr, Bubbla Ranx, and Oritsé Williams.


Social media users condemn Western silence on attacks on religious symbols and sites by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

A viral photograph showing an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer has sparked outrage.

In a statement on Monday, the Israeli military confirmed the authenticity of the image that was widely shared online, garnering more than 5 million views on X.

It said that following an initial review, it was determined that the photograph showed an Israeli soldier “operating in southern Lebanon”, where Israel last month launched a ground invasion in conjunction with aerial bombardment amid its joint war with the United States on Iran.

The military added that an investigation had been opened and that “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings”.

Commenting on social media, Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, wrote pointedly: “We’ll wait to hear the police spokesperson claim that ‘the soldier felt threatened by Jesus’.”

Ahmad Tibi, another Palestinian member of the Knesset, wrote on Facebook that those who blow up mosques and churches in Gaza and spit on Christian clergy in Jerusalem without punishment are not afraid to destroy a statue of Jesus Christ and publish it.

“Perhaps these racists have also learned from Donald Trump to insult Jesus Christ and insult Pope Leo?” he asked, referring to the US president’s recent controversies, including his now-deleted AI-generated image that portrayed him as a Jesus-like figure and his feud with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, who has criticised the war on Iran.

Several activists, academics and writers also criticised the desecration of the statue, which was located on the outskirts of the village of Debl in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel.

Social media users also condemned the international silence following attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers against religious sites and symbols.

“When the Western world remains silent, racists go further,” said Tibi.

Israeli forces repeatedly attacked religious sites, including mosques and churches, during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, settlers vandalised or attacked 45 mosques last year, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Separately, the Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC) documented at least 201 incidents of violence against Christians, primarily committed by Orthodox Jews targeting international clergy or individuals displaying Christian symbols, between January 2024 and September 2025.

The majority of these incidents, which included multiple forms of harassment, including spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism and assaults, took place in Jerusalem’s Old City, located in occupied East Jerusalem.

In recent months, the frequency and intensity of attacks in northern Nigeria have shattered the comforting illusion that the region’s long insurgency has receded into the background of national life. As violent incidents have proliferated, many Nigerians have refused to confront this uncomfortable reality and have opted instead to embrace conspiracy theories suggesting that the resurgence is somehow tied to renewed American involvement in Nigeria’s  counterterrorism efforts.

It is not difficult to see why the theory of foreign collusion with terrorist groups resonates in Nigeria. In February 2025, United States Congressman Scott Perry claimed that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had funded Boko Haram, but offered no evidence for the allegation. Richard Mills, then the US ambassador to Nigeria, rejected Perry’s statement, but by then the claim had already acquired a life of its own in the public space and on social media.

Then, American officials like Congressmen Ted Cruz and Chris Smith made statements that fuelled the “Christian genocide” narrative, which falsely claims that the killings in Nigeria exclusively target Christians.

Attacks on Christians have happened, including most recently on a church in Kaduna state on Easter Sunday, but Muslim communities have also been regularly targeted. The truth is that terrorist groups have long operated indiscriminately.

What this moment demands, therefore, is to go beyond the seduction of easy explanation, and embark on serious analysis of what is really happening in northern Nigeria.

That diagnosis must begin with clarity about what the attacks reveal. First, they reveal that the insurgency has adapted in both form and method. Second, northern Nigeria’s insecurity can no longer be understood in isolation from the rest of the region; it is part of the wider regional disorder across the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel. And third, the violence continues to feed on deeper domestic vulnerabilities that extend far beyond the battlefield: chronic poverty, educational exclusion, weak local governance, and the long erosion of the social contract in parts of the North.

Let us begin with the first point. Recent attacks demonstrate that the insurgent ecosystem has learned, adapted, and expanded beyond the old image of a crudely armed rebellion fighting in predictable ways. The ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP), in particular, has become more adaptive in structure and tactics, while its conflict with Boko Haram has weakened the latter and left ISWAP as the more organised and deeply entrenched threat in the Lake Chad region. It has consolidated its presence in parts of the Lake Chad basin and expanded into Sambisa Forest, widening the space from which it can threaten civilians and military formations alike.

This matters because insurgencies are sustained not by ideology alone, but by terrain, supply routes, local economies, and the ability to move men and materiel through spaces where the state is weak or absent. In that sense, the insurgency is no longer merely surviving in familiar hideouts; it is entrenching itself in a broader and more fluid battlespace, with ISWAP’s control of trade in and around Lake Chad now a major pillar of its resilience.

ISWAP has also refined the way it fights, demonstrating a growing capacity for coordinated assaults, night raids, ambushes, and operations designed not merely to inflict casualties, but to isolate military positions and slow the movement of reinforcements. This challenge is magnified by the sheer scale of the theatre itself.

Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states are each comparable in size to entire European countries: Borno is slightly larger than the Republic of Ireland; Yobe is roughly the size of Switzerland; and Adamawa is slightly larger than Belgium. Policing territories of that scale would test any state, all the more so when they border a fragile regional neighbourhood.

The terrain has also shaped the rhythm of the conflict, with the dry season, particularly the first quarter of the year, ushering in an intensification of attacks.

At the heart of this adaptation is the evolution of technology. What once seemed unthinkable in this theatre has now entered the insurgent repertoire. Drones, including commercially available models modified for combat, are now part of the operational environment. The significance of this shift is not merely technical; it is also psychological and strategic.

Beyond technology, the insurgency’s growing mobility has sharpened the threat further. Rapid assaults by motorcycle-mounted units demonstrate the extent to which insurgent violence now depends on speed, concentration, and dispersal. Fighters can assemble quickly, strike vulnerable locations, and disappear into difficult terrain before an effective response can take shape.

The advantage here lies not in holding territory in the conventional sense, but in imposing uncertainty, stretching the state’s defensive attentions, and proving that the insurgents can still choose where and when to shock the system.

Perhaps the most dangerous dimension of this adaptation is the infiltration of foreign fighters. Their significance lies not only in their numbers, but in what they bring with them: technical knowledge, battlefield experience, tactical imagination, and links to wider militant networks.

Their presence points to a deeper cross-fertilisation between local insurgency and global terrorist currents. More troubling still, they are now playing a more active role in the conflict, not only refining tactics and skills but also participating directly in combat.

That is why the regional dimension must be central to any serious analysis. The weakening of regional cooperation has come at the worst time, creating openings that insurgents are only too ready to exploit. A threat that has always been transnational becomes harder to confront when neighbouring states no longer act with sufficient cohesion.

Niger’s withdrawal from the Multinational Joint Task Force after the reaction of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the military coup there has sharpened that challenge and weakened the perimeter defences of the north-east theatre. The force, comprising troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad, with a smaller Beninese contingent at its headquarters in N’Djamena, was instrumental in earlier gains and remains vital for reinforcing positions, conducting operations in difficult terrain, denying insurgents safe havens, and intercepting the movement of foreign fighters.

Yet even regional analysis, necessary as it is, does not fully explain the problem. Insurgencies endure not only because they move across borders, but because they can recruit, regroup, and exploit social weakness at home.

Violence in northern Nigeria is sustained by a combination of doctrinal extremism, chronic poverty, educational exclusion, and a state whose presence is often too limited to command confidence in the communities where armed groups seek recruits. The argument, therefore, cannot remain confined to the military sphere.

Poverty and lack of education do not directly produce terrorism, but they increase vulnerability, especially where alienation, weak institutions, and manipulative ideological narratives are already present. This is why the educational crisis in northern Nigeria should be seen not only as a developmental challenge, but as part of the wider security landscape. Education does more than impart literacy and numeracy; it provides structure, routine, and pathways to self-actualisation and social belonging.

It is important to note that the government is not without a response. In 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act into law, and the rollout of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has since opened a wider path to post-secondary education and skills development. But the more decisive educational challenge lies earlier, at the basic level, where literacy begins, habits are formed, and attachment to institutions is either built or lost. By the time a young person reaches the threshold of higher education, the foundational work has already been done or neglected.

This is why local governance matters more to security than is often recognised. In Nigeria’s federal structure, primary education sits closest to the weakest and most politically distorted tier of government. If local government remains fiscally weak, administratively paralysed, or politically captured, one of the country’s most important long-term defences against radicalisation will remain fragile.

That is why local government autonomy, though often framed in dry constitutional terms, has direct implications for security. President Tinubu, an ardent champion of local autonomy, welcomed the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgement affirming the constitutional and financial rights of local governments and has pressed governors to respect it. Resistance, however, is unsurprising: many governors have long treated local governments as subordinate extensions of their authority.

So what does the present moment demand from Nigeria? It demands, certainly, continued military pressure on insurgent sanctuaries. It demands stronger force protection, sharper intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, improved rural and urban security, and a more serious approach to trans-border diplomacy. It demands that regional diplomacy be treated not as a luxury of peacetime statecraft, but as part of the operational infrastructure of security.

But the crisis cannot be addressed by military action alone. It also calls for social, institutional, and educational measures across all tiers of government. The state must confront extremism not only through force, but through education and functioning local institutions. It must rebuild governance, restore trust, and close the social and institutional fractures through which violence renews itself.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.