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BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 9 (UPI) — Lebanese officials engaged Thursday in intensive diplomatic contacts to confirm the country’s inclusion in the Pakistan-mediated U.S.-Iran cease-fire and refusing to let Tehran negotiate on their behalf.

The initiative comes a day after Israel carried out large-scale air strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon.-

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, during a telephone call to emphasize that the cease-fire achieved between the United States and Iran on Wednesday “must include Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli aggressions.”

Sharif condemned the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon and affirmed that Pakistan “is working to ensure peace and stability” in the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Western and Arab officials he had contacted to give his country “an opportunity — just as was given to the United States and Iran — to reach a cease-fire and move toward negotiations.”

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting, Aoun, who last month proposed direct talks with Israel starting with a truce, also called for exerting the necessary pressure to ensure that “Lebanon becomes part of the cease-fire agreement, allowing us to proceed with negotiations.”

Israel has rejected the proposal for direct talks and inclusion of Lebanon in the two-week cease-fire, which is said to call for a cessation of hostilities across multiple fronts, Lebanon among them, while pledging to continue strikes against Hezbollah.

Aoun refused “anyone [who] negotiates on our behalf,” a clear reference to Iran, which threatened to withdraw from the temporary cease-fire with the United States if Israel continues to attack Lebanon.

“We have the ability and the means to negotiate ourselves, and therefore we do not want anyone to negotiate for us. This is something we do not accept,” Aoun said.

In separate comments, Aoun said the only solution is to achieve a cease-fire, followed by direct negotiations with Israel.

Ali Fayyad, A Hezbollah member in Parliament, called on the Lebanese government to “insist on a cease-fire as a prerequisite before moving to any subsequent step.”

Fayyad reiterated his group’s rejection of any direct negotiations with Israel, requesting Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, cessation of Israeli attacks and return of the displaced to their villages and towns.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that his country “will never abandon its Lebanese brothers and sisters” after Israel’s Wednesday strikes on residential areas in Beirut and other Lebanese areas killed more than 200 people and injured over 1,000.

Pezeshkian said the Israeli attacks “blatantly violate the initial cease-fire” and that “such actions signal deception and non-compliance, rendering negotiations meaningless. Our hands remain on the trigger.”

While Pakistan has confirmed that Lebanon is included in the cease-fire it mediated, Israel and the United States have claimed otherwise.

The Lebanese Cabinet decided to file an urgent complaint to the U.N. Security Council regarding the “dangerous escalation” of Israeli attacks that resulted in a large number of civilian casualties and came “in defiance of all international and regional efforts to halt the war in the region.”

It also called on the Army and security forces to immediately take action to strengthen the state’s full authority over Beirut, ensuring that weapons are restricted to legitimate forces and the laws are strictly enforced.

The measure specifically targets Hezbollah, which has refused to fully disarm after its war with Israel that began Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Gaza — a conflict that was supposed to end with the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire, which Israel ignored, continuing its strikes against the militant group.

It also came after Israel hit buildings, apartments and hotel rooms in Beirut where Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps allegedly were hiding, risking civilian lives.

While Hezbollah announced Thursday that it resumed firing missiles and rockets on settlements in northern Israel for its violation of the truce with Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the group was “desperate for a cease-fire.”

Katz was quoted by Israeli English-language websites as saying that 200 Hezbollah members were killed in Wednesday’s attacks, bringing the number of “those eliminated” during the new round of fighting since last March to 1,400.

“Hezbollah is stunned by the scale of the blow,” he said.

The Israeli Army said that among those targeted Wednesday in an air strike on a residential building in Beirut was Ali Youssef Harshi, the personal secretary and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem.

It said that Maher Qasem Hamdan, whom it described as the commander of the Hezbollah-affiliated “Lebanese Resistance Brigades,” and seven others also died in a strike on the port city of Sidon in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Israel sparked a new wave of panic by issuing evacuation orders for residents in Beirut’s southern suburbs and surrounding areas, forcing thousands, including already displaced people, to flee in haste.

Early Thursday, rescue teams continued searching in two targeted buildings, one of which collapsed, while many families tried to locate loved ones who have been unaccounted for since Wednesday.

According to medical sources at the government-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital, about 95 bodies, some mutilated, were brought to the hospital and were awaiting identification by their families.

While the health ministry reported Wednesday night 112 killed and 837 injured, the General Directorate of Civil Defense said 254 people were killed and 1,165 wounded, adding that the toll in Beirut reached 92 dead and 742 injured.

April 9 (UPI) — Disney plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees and cut their positions, focusing largely on its marketing department.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday, with CNBC and Variety also reporting that the mass layoffs will occur in the coming weeks. It is the first big move by the media giant under the leadership of new CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took the reins in March.

Disney’s marketing department was consolidated earlier this year under Asad Ayaz, its new chief marketing and brand officer. Ayaz, who was named to the role in January, oversees marketing for all of Disney.

Former CEO Bob Iger was still at the helm when Disney restructured its marketing department, bringing marketing for all its divisions together for the first time in the company’s history.

The last time Disney conducted mass layoffs was in 2023 when it cut about 7,000 employees.

Disney employs about 231,000 people, either full-time or part-time. About 172,000 of its employees are based in the United States.

Disney’s stock climbed to $99.18 per share on Wednesday, nearly a $3 increase over Tuesday. It is up about 3% over a week ago, though it slid down by about 0.25% for the day on Thursday morning.

April 9 (UPI) — The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the rate of economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2025 down Thursday due largely to slower-than-expected investment.

The annual rate of growth for gross domestic product was revised downward from 0.7% to 0.5% to end 2025. The Commerce Department said the revision primarily reflects a downward revision to investment.

“Within investment, the downward revision was led by private inventory investment, particularly wholesale trade, based on updated U.S. Census Bureau inventory data,” Thursday’s GDP report said.

Thursday’s report is the third estimate of economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2025. It was slated to be published on March 27 but was delayed due to the government shutdown in October and November.

Gains in wholesale trade, information services and healthcare were offset by declines in the federal government and nondurable goods manufacturing. Private service-producing industries tallied a 2.3% gain in real value added to the GDP while the federal government’s contribution decreased by 7.8%.

Thirty-five states posted gains to GDP, led by North Dakota at 3.8%. The District of Columbia, where many federal employees are located, had a decrease of 8.3%.

North Dakota was also one of three states with a decrease in personal incomes, down 4%. Personal incomes also declined in South Dakota by 2% and Iowa by 1.5%.

The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, has held global attention since Israel and the US began their war on Iran in February.

Until fighting began, the narrow channel, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are shipped from Gulf producers in peacetime, remained toll-free and safe for vessels. The strait is shared by Iran and Oman and does not fall into the category of international waters.

After the US and Israel began strikes, Iran retaliated by attacking “enemy” merchant ships in the strait, effectively halting passage for all, stranding shipping, and creating one of the worst-ever global energy distribution crises.

Tehran continued to refuse to re-open the strait to all traffic at the start of this week, despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges if it did not relent. Trump backed away from his threat on Tuesday night when a two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, was declared.

That followed a 10-point peace proposal from Iran that Trump described as a “workable” basis on which to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities.

As part of the truce, Tehran has now issued official terms it says will guide its control of the Strait going forward. The US has not directly acknowledged the terms ahead of talks set to begin in Islamabad on Friday. However, analysts say Tehran’s continued control will be unpopular with Washington, as well as other countries.

During the crisis, only a few ships from specific countries deemed friendly to Iran and those which pay a toll have been granted safe passage. At least two tolls for ships are believed to have been paid in Chinese yuan, in what appears to be a strategy to weaken the US dollar, but also to avoid US sanctions. China, which buys 80 percent of Iran’s oil, already pays Tehran in yuan.

Here’s what we know about how shipments will work from now on:

Who is controlling the strait now?

On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said Iran would grant safe passage through the strait during the ceasefire in “coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations”.

On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released a map of the strait showing a safe route for ships to follow. The map appears to direct ships further north towards the Iranian coast and away from the traditional route closer to the coast of Oman.

In a statement, the IRGC said all vessels must use the new map for navigation due to “the likelihood of the presence of various types of anti-ship mines in the main traffic zone”.

It is unclear whether Iran is collecting toll fees during the ceasefire period.

However, Trump said on Tuesday the US would be “helping with the traffic buildup” in the strait and that the US army would be “hanging around” as the negotiations go on.

The Strait will be “OPEN & SAFE” he posted on his Truth Social media site on Thursday, adding that US troops would not leave the area, and threatening to resume attacks if the talks don’t go well.

It’s not known to what extent US troops are directing what happens in the strait now.

Delhi-based maritime analyst C Uday Bhaskar told Al Jazeera that there is a lot of “uncertainty” about who can sail through the strait, and that only between three and five ships have transited since the war was paused.

How does Iran’s 10-point plan affect the Strait?

Among Tehran’s main demands listed on its 10-point plan are that the US and Israel permanently cease all attacks on Iran and its allies – particularly Lebanon – lift all sanctions, and allow Iran to retain control over Hormuz. The plan has not been fully published but is understood to be a starting point for talks.

Iranian media say Iran is considering a plan to charge up to $2m per vessel to be shared with Oman on the opposite side of the strait. Other reports suggest Iran could charge $1 per barrel of oil being shipped.

Revenues raised would be used to rebuild military and civilian infrastructure damaged by US-Israeli strikes, Tehran said.

Oman has rejected the idea. Transport minister Said Al-Maawali said on Wednesday that the Omanis previously “signed all international maritime transport agreements” which bar taking fees.

What does international law say about tolls on shipping?

Critics of Iran’s plan to charge tolls say it violates international law guiding safe maritime passage, and should not be part of a final ceasefire agreement.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) says levies cannot be charged on ships sailing through international straits or territorial seas.

The law allows coastal states to collect fees for services rendered, such as navigation assistance or port use, but not for passage itself.

Neither the US nor Iran has ratified that particular convention, however.

Even if they had, there could be ways to get around this law anyway. Analyst Bhaskar told Al Jazeera that if Iran instead charged fees to de-mine the strait and make it safe for passage again, that could be allowable under maritime laws.

There is no precedent in recent history of countries officially taxing passage through international straits or waterways.

In October 2024, a United Nations Security Council report alleged that the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen were collecting “illegal fees” from shipping companies to allow vessels to pass through the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, where it was targeting ships linked to Israel during the Gaza war.

Last week, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei suggested the Houthis could shut the Bab al-Mandeb shipping route again in light of the war on Iran.

How might countries react to a Hormuz toll?

Tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz would likely most affect oil and gas-producing countries in the Gulf, but ripple effects will spread to others as well, as the current supply shocks have shown.

Gulf countries, which issued statements calling for the reopening of the passage and praising the ceasefire on Wednesday, would also face a continuing degree of uncertainty, analysts say, as Iran could again disrupt flows in the future.

Before the ceasefire was announced, Bahrain had already proposed a resolution at the UN Security Council calling on member states to coordinate and jointly reopen the passage by “all necessary means”. It was backed by Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan. On April 7, 11 of 15 UNSC members voted in favour of that resolution.

But Russia and China vetoed the resolution, saying it was biased against Iran and did not address the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel.

Beyond the region, observers say the US is unlikely to accept indefinite toll demands by Iran as part of the negotiations expected to begin on Friday.

A toll to pass through the Strait of Hormuz “is not going to go down well with President Trump and his expectations that the strait should be open for everyone”, Amin Saikal, a professor at the Australian National University, said.

Other major powers have also voiced opposition. Ahead of the ceasefire, Britain had begun discussions with 40 other countries to find a way to reopen the strait.

Practical realities in the strait might see a different scenario play out with ship owners losing millions each day their vessels remain stranded seeking to get them out quickly and undamaged experts say. They are more likely to comply with Iran, at least for now.

“If I were the owner of a VLCC [very large crude carrier] which weighs about 300,000 tonnes, whose value could be a quarter billion dollars…I would believe the Iranians if they said we have laid mines,” Bhaskar said.

Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem shortly after it reopened following 40 days of closure.

April 9 (UPI) — Oil prices were on the rise again on Thursday amid concerns a “fragile” cease-fire between the United States, Iran and Israel could unravel over continued fighting in Lebanon and few signs the Strait of Hormuz was about to reopen to shipping.

The Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate international benchmarks were both trading around 4% higher at $98.62 and $99.94 a barrel respectively in early afternoon trade on Thursday, after prices plunged Wednesday on the announcement of a two-week cessation of hostilities.

Share prices in Asia also fell overnight with the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo giving up some of the gains made on Wednesday with European stocks following suit when exchanges opened Thursday morning.

The market reacted to warnings from both sides that they were prepared to resume military action if the other did not adhere to truce terms neither party accepts are the same, with Tehran saying Israeli strikes on Lebanon were a “grave violation” and Washington saying Iran must comply with the “real” agreement.

There was also growing concern over the reopening of the Hormuz Strait, a key term of the agreement which must be implemented to ease the disruption to global oil supply that has sent prices soaring.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told BBC Radio on Thursday that Iran would “provide security for safe passage” through the sea lane via which around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas is exported, but only “after the United States withdraws this aggression” — an apparent reference to the Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

He stressed that while the 21-mile wide strait had been “open for millennia” prior to the war, it was not international waters and that shipping only transited on the goodwill of Iran and Oman” — the sovereign countries on either side of the channel.

Khatibzadeh dodged questioning over how safe vessels would be and whether they would be required to pay tolls, saying Tehran wanted a “peaceful” arrangement, but that it would not permit “misuse” of the Gulf by warships.

However, London-headquartered shipping brokerage SSY Global said the Iranian navy had issued a warning to ships in the Persian Gulf that any vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz without permission “will be targeted and destroyed.”

Announcing the cease-fire on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the deal hinged on the “complete, immediate, and safe opening” of the strait, a point pressed home on Wednesday by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who said while there were signs the process was starting Iran was required to fully open the strait.

“The president is very, very clear the deal is a cease-fire, a negotiation. That’s what we give, and what they give is that straits are going to be reopened. If we don’t see that happening, the president is not going to abide by our terms if the Iranians are not abiding by their terms.”

The White House announced Wednesday that Vance would lead the U.S. negotiating team at talks due to get underway in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday.

Khatibzadeh said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, would head up the Iranian side.

The talks will try to reconcile two very different visions of the way forward — a 15-point U.S. plan and a 10-point Iranian plan — with Iran’s nuclear program which the Americans want totally scrapped but Iran insists on retaining for civilian energy purposes — topping the agenda.

SEOUL, April 9 (UPI) — North Korea said Thursday that it carried out a series of weapons tests this week, including a tactical ballistic missile with a cluster-bomb warhead as well as electromagnetic and other electronic warfare systems.

The tests, conducted from Monday to Wednesday, were part of efforts to assess the performance and battlefield use of several new weapons systems, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

KCNA said that its surface-to-surface Hwasong-11Ka missile was tested with a cluster-bomb payload capable of striking targets over a wide area, claiming it could “reduce to ashes” targets spanning roughly 16 to 17.2 acres.

The Hwasong-11 missile, also known as the KN-23, is a highly maneuverable short-range ballistic missile similar to Russia’s Iskander.

The report came one day after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected multiple missile launches on Wednesday from the coastal Wonsan area toward the East Sea. The military also reported the launch of an unidentified projectile from the Pyongyang area on Tuesday.

In addition to the missile tests, North Korea said it conducted trials of an electromagnetic weapon system and carbon-fiber bombs, as well as a mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system.

The tests were overseen by Kim Jong Sik, a senior official involved in the North’s missile development programs.

Kim said the electromagnetic weapon and carbon-fiber bomb are “special assets of strategic nature” that can be combined with various military systems.

Carbon-fiber bombs — also known as graphite bombs— are designed to disable electrical grids by dispersing fine conductive filaments to short-circuit power infrastructure, causing widespread outages without physical destruction.

Electromagnetic weapons, meanwhile, emit high-energy pulses that can disrupt or damage electronic systems, including communications networks, radar and computing infrastructure.

KCNA also said engineers conducted a test to measure the “maximum workload” of a missile engine using low-cost materials.

The reported mix of electronic weapons systems and cost-efficient production methods points to ongoing efforts to modernize and expand the North’s hybrid warfare capabilities.

The tests came after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday expressed regret over unauthorized drone incursions into the North.

His remarks drew a rare response from Pyongyang, as Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, described Lee as “frank and broad-minded.”

Seoul’s Unification Ministry called the exchange a positive signal, saying it represented “meaningful progress toward peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula.”

North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, Jang Kum Chol, later rejected that interpretation, calling it a “hope-filled dream reading” and insisting the South remains “the enemy state most hostile to the DPRK.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

A South Korean military official said the allies are continuing to track developments in the North’s weapons programs.

“We maintain the ability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation under a solid South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture,” Jang Do-young, public affairs director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a press briefing Thursday.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Thursday that his ministry plans to reduce the number of troops deployed to border units “gradually” by 2040, dismissing concerns about a sharp cut in such personnel in a short period of time.

Earlier this week, Ahn told reporters that the defense ministry plans to cut the number of troops deployed at general posts near the inter-Korean border to some 6,000 from the current 22,000 by replacing them with surveillance systems equipped with artificial intelligence technology.

His remarks spawned concerns that the number of troops at border units could be sharply reduced in a short period of time, causing a possible vacuum in the military’s surveillance capabilities.

“(The planned reduction in troops) was a goal to be executed by the year 2040 after phased review,” Ahn wrote in a Facebook post.

“(The plan) should not be translated with the same alarm that suggests (our) troops are shrinking tomorrow,” he said.

The defense chief also said the efficient and scientific management of surveillance operations in border units is a “mandate, not a choice” in a time of sweeping demographic changes. South Korea braces for a drastic population decline, which signals a fall in military manpower resources, in a country where all able-bodied men are mandated to serve at least 18 months.

Ahn earlier stressed the need to revamp the structure of the armed forces, such as introducing a selective conscription system, as part of efforts to tackle the country’s demographic challenges.

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Today, to borrow a phrase, we are all Iranians.

We are Iranians, witnessing the failure of a thuggish logic practised by the United States and Israel, which operates on a single, crude premise: that enough pain can bend any nation to their imperial designs.

The US-Israel axis has long believed that force and coercion would eventually compel Iranians to abandon their sovereignty and accept the leash. It has failed. By refusing to surrender, Iranians have turned a lonely struggle for survival into a universal symbol of resistance — a testament to the endurance of the human spirit.

For weeks, we have watched the predictable mechanics of an empire trying to drain a people’s will. We have seen the familiar script of demonisation followed by the machinery of industrial slaughter. Then, we saw America’s “commander-in-chief” issue a threat that defied decency and defiled statecraft.

US President Donald Trump did not just threaten a government or a military. He threatened to end “civilisation” in Iran.

It was a monstrous decree. It was also a transparent one. This was the desperate act of a desperate man. It was the foul howl of a leader who knew he had lost a war.

So, Trump resorted to the “madman theory” of diplomacy, hoping that by appearing unhinged and capable of infinite destruction, he could scare a proud country into capitulation.

He failed. The prospect of annihilation was meant to trigger a collapse. It was meant to prompt the surviving leadership in Tehran to flee and panicked Iranians to yield.

The American-Israeli axis has made a fatal miscalculation. It remains wedded to the discredited conceit that resolve is a commodity to be bought or broken.

Instead, Iran and Iranians stood fast. The “madman” in the White House was obliged to negotiate with an adversary he claimed had already been defeated.

The moving measure of Iran’s success is found in that defiance. The Iranian people could have wilted, succumbed under the burden of such military, economic and psychological terror.

But Iranians fought back. They proved that you cannot bomb a civilisation into oblivion, nor can you erase a history that spans five millennia with a venomous post on social media.

Iran is prevailing. It is winning a war of attrition militarily, strategically, politically and diplomatically. Iran is winning because it understood its enemies’ limits better than they understood themselves.

Iran is winning strategically since it refuses to fight the war its enemies prepared for. It does not try to match the axis ship for ship or jet for jet. Rather, it stretches the battlefield across borders, allies and time.

It absorbs blows and keeps moving. Its doctrine is simple: survive, retaliate, prolong. In doing so, it raises the price of every strike against it. The axis is now trapped in a reactive crouch — bogged down, bleeding money and credibility, while Iran moves its pieces with precision.

Analysts now warn that the war meant to weaken Tehran may leave it stronger. Iran is winning because it adapts. It uses drones, proxies and patience. It does not need air superiority to impose pressure. It needs endurance. Its “mosaic” strategy — layers of command and decentralised power — means leaders can be killed, but the system survives. It turns vulnerability into resilience. It turns time into a weapon.

Of course, Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz serves as a masterclass in “asymmetric leverage”. By sitting atop a chokepoint through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s liquid petroleum passes, Iran effectively holds a “kill switch” for the global economy.

This geographic reality transforms a narrow waterway into a powerful diplomatic shield. For Iran, “winning” isn’t necessarily about permanently closing the strait — which would hurt its own fragile economy — but about maintaining the credible capability to do so.

This creates a permanent state of strategic caution among Western powers and energy-dependent Asian economies, ensuring that Tehran continues to be an indispensable architect of Middle Eastern security.

Politically, the win is even more stark. The axis has not achieved its paramount goal: “regime change.” The war was launched to fracture the Iranian state. It did the opposite. It appears to have fused the people and the state together against an external existential threat. The American-Israeli axis is not viewed as a force of liberation. It is seen as a collection of would-be occupiers. That perception matters more than any missile.

While Washington is paralysed by chaos and tribalism and Israel is consumed by a descent into blatant, corrosive authoritarianism, Iran — although damaged — is sturdy and intact.

Diplomatically, the United States has never been more isolated. Trump’s ignorance, incoherence, bluster and erratic behaviour have alienated America’s closest allies. Europe, once a reliable partner in so-called “containment,” looks at the bizarre cacophony on display day after dizzying day in Washington and turns away.

Iran, meanwhile, has deepened its ties with the East. It secured its flank with China and Russia. It played the long game while Trump played for the next news cycle.

The world is moving towards Beijing and Brussels, while Washington shouts into the void of its own fading relevance. Iran has turned the “maximum pressure” campaign into a “maximum cost” reality for the West.

The axis can no longer move in the Middle East without accounting for Iranian influence. The hunter has become the hunted.

Still, we must be clear. Iran’s success is not a sterile “win” on a geopolitical scoreboard.  It is not a triumph of flags and parades. Its survival is born of fire and bone. It is draped in black and soaked in grief.

The halting human costs and trauma of this war of choice will last for generations. We must remember the thousands who have been killed and maimed. We must remember the schoolchildren whose lives were extinguished by “precision” munitions. The axis failed to break Iran’s back, but it has broken Iranian hearts. That is the nature of war: the winners are merely those who inherit the ruins.

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

Around 3,000 worshippers entered Al-Aqsa for the morning prayer on Thursday, after Israel lifted restrictions.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem has reopened to Palestinian worshippers after a 40-day closure by Israel.

Video verified by Al Jazeera showed Palestinians streaming through its gates early on Thursday morning. Around 3,000 worshippers attended  morning prayers.

Access had been completely prohibited, or restricted to a few dozen faithful at Christian, Jewish and Muslim sites following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28. Israel often imposes restrictions, especially on Palestinian worshippers.

The Islamic Waqf Department in occupied Jerusalem confirmed that the doors of Al-Aqsa would be reopened to all worshippers from dawn. The Jordanian-affiliated religious authority responsible for managing the mosque did not provide further details.

Video from earlier showed volunteers and caretakers in courtyards and prayer areas preparing to receive worshippers and holding religious rites.

Israeli authorities announced the opening of the mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday evening.

Israeli police attributed the opening of holy sites to what it called “updated instructions from the Israeli Home Front Command”.

The statement noted intensive security reinforcements, including hundreds of police officers and border guards in the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem and roads leading to the holy sites, aimed at “securing visitors”.

Jerusalem and its holy sites have been subjected to strict security measures and frequent closures during the regional war of the past six weeks.

The restrictions subdued Lent, Passover and Ramadan celebrations for many in some of the holiest sites for Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Authorities also prevented Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa this year – the first such restriction since Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

But the bans have been lifted just in time for Orthodox Christians, who celebrate Easter on Sunday, a week after Catholic and Protestants.

No let up in raids in occupied West Bank

Israeli raids have continued across the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces detained a woman and assaulted a man during an early Thursday raid in Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry separately said Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man near the village of Tayasir in the northern West Bank on Wednesday night.

The ministry said 28-year-old Alaa Khaled Mohammed Sbeih “was shot and killed” by Israeli forces, while the Israeli military said an off-duty soldier fired at a stone-thrower.

Wafa said six young men were detained in a raid on the village of Tayasir, while in Ya’bad, south of Jenin, Israeli troops stormed several homes at dawn, destroying the contents of three houses. Forces also raided the villages of Qusra and Awarta, but no arrests were reported there.

Attacks by Israeli forces across Gaza and the occupied West Bank have continued, along with Israel’s wars on Iran and Lebanon.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since 2023, with at least 10,000 forcibly displaced.

The Masters is one of the most prestigious events in sport. But the story behind The Masters Tournament is also tied to the history of segregation in golf. From the PGA’s “Caucasian-only clause” to the Black caddies who knew Augusta better than anyone. And why Tiger Woods’s victory in 1997 changed the image of the game forever. Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson looks at the tournament’s complicated past.

April 8 (UPI) — Authorities in the Bahamas detained a 59-year-old American man in connection with last weekend’s disappearance of an American woman while out at sea.

The woman has been identified by Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue as 55-year-old Lynette Hooker.

According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force, an unidentified man, reportedly her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, reported his wife missing at about 4 a.m. Sunday after arriving at the Marsh Harbor Boatyard by boat.

Police said the man informed officers that he and his wife had departed Hope Town at around 7:30 p.m. EDT Saturday for Elbow Cay aboard an 8-foot, hard-bottom dinghy.

During the journey, his wife fell overboard with the boat keys in her possession, causing the vessel’s engine to cut off, the man told officers, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in an earlier statement.

Strong currents then allegedly carried the woman away. The man lost sight of her and then paddled the dinghy to shore, according to police, which said a search-and-rescue mission was launched for the missing woman.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement that an American man, age 59, was taken into custody at about 7 p.m. Wednesday in Marsh Harbor, Abaco Island.

The suspect “is currently being questioned in connection with this matter,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

The Royal Bahamas Defense Force announced Wednesday that the rescue effort has become a recovery operation.

Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told CBS News on Wednesday that she is urging police to thoroughly investigate the incident as she does not believe the reported sequence of events.

“I don’t understand how she got the key,” she said. “Brian’s always driving. So, he basically is in charge of the key. So, the fact that my mom had it doesn’t make any sense.”

US president meets NATO chief, expresses disappointment over member states failing to back war on Iran.

United States President Donald Trump has lashed out at NATO over its reluctance to join Washington’s war on Iran, and appeared to revive threats over Greenland, following a meeting with the alliance’s secretary-general.

Writing on his TruthSocial platform on Wednesday, Trump said in capitalised letters that “NATO wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again”.

The remarks came after a two hour meeting with NATO’s Mark Rutte at the White House, a day after the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.

Ahead of the meeting, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that member states had “turned their backs on the American people”, who fund their nations’ defence. She said Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief and quoted the US president as saying: “They were tested, and they failed.”

The rhetoric has raised seats in the West that Trump could move to withdraw the US from the transatlantic alliance, which he has repeatedly called a “paper tiger”. Several NATO members refused to open their airspace to US military aircraft or send naval forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy route that Iran has effectively closed.

Trump – following his meeting with Rutte – also appeared to revive his threat to seize Greenland from NATO member Denmark – a move had roiled the alliance before he launched his war on Iran

“Remember Greenland, that big, poorly run, piece of ice!!!”, he wrote.

Rutte, known in Europe as the “Trump whisperer” for his skill in maintaining a productive relationship with the US president, told the CNN broadcaster that Trump was “clearly disappointed with many NATO allies”.

Rutte said he had “very frank” and “very open” discussions with Trump during the meeting, and that while he understood the US president’s frustrations, he had pushed back against some of the broader criticism.

“I was also able to point to the fact that the large majority of European nations have been helpful, with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they live up to the commitments,” Rutte said.

“What the US did with Iran, they could do because so many European countries lived up to those commitments. Not all of them, and I totally understand his disappointment about that, but it is, therefore, a nuanced picture,” he added.

Rutte also rejected the notion that NATO members considered the war on Iran “illegal”, arguing that there was widespread support in Europe for degrading Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. He also said that prolonged diplomacy risked a “North Korean moment” – where talks drag on until a country acquires nuclear capacity and it becomes too late to act.

The NATO chief declined to answer directly when asked multiple times if Trump had said he would leave the alliance.

NATO, which includes European countries, the US and Canada, was formed in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union and has been the cornerstone of the West’s security ever since.

The alliance has only activated its mutual defence clause on one occasion, following the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in the US.

It was not clear what role Trump had expected it to play in the ⁠Middle East.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported that Trump was looking at punishing some NATO members he believed were unhelpful during the conflict by moving US troops out of their countries.

The plan, reported by the Wall Street Journal, would fall short of Trump’s hinted threats to pull the US out of NATO entirely – a move for which he would need the approval of the US Congress.

Rutte did not answer directly when asked about that report.

“The large majority, including France, of European nations, has been doing what they committed before they will do in a case like this,” he said instead.

“So Europe, as a platform of power projection for the United States, was in full play over the last six weeks.”

It’s not clear under what legal authority Trump can tack on this tariff, and analysts called it an ’empty threat’.

United States President Donald Trump has said imports from countries supplying Iran with military weapons will face immediate 50 percent tariffs with no exemptions, announcing the threatened duty in a social media post just hours after agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran.

Trump’s Truth Social post on Wednesday did not specify which legal authority he would invoke to impose such tariffs, as the Supreme Court in February struck down his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act [IEEPA] to impose broad global tariffs, prompting a lower court to order refunds of some $166bn collected over the course of a year.

The 1977 IEEPA law has been used extensively for decades to back financial sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea, but the court ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in using it to impose trade tariffs.

“A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately. There will be no exclusions or exemptions! President DJT,” Trump wrote.

However, “it’s a lot more complicated to do that after IEEPA was struck down”, Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera. “There’s no immediate policy lever and authorisation that is available for the US to do that. So they need either an act of Congress or need to adapt some other trade tool, and there isn’t really a national security-oriented trade tool.”

Trump did not name any countries that could face punitive tariffs. China and Russia have helped Iran build military capacity to counter US and Israeli pressure, supplying missiles, air defence systems and technology intended to bolster deterrence.

But that support appeared capped during the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Both Beijing and Moscow have denied supplying any weapons recently, although allegations against Moscow have persisted.

The Reuters news agency has previously reported that Tehran was considering a purchase of supersonic antiship cruise missiles from China. In March, Reuters reported that China’s top semiconductor maker, SMIC, has sent chipmaking tools to Iran’s military, according to two senior Trump administration officials.

“This is a China-related threat, the way I read it. And China will read it that way,” said Josh Lipsky, vice president and chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council.

Although drone and missile parts routinely flow from Chinese entities to Iran, evading US sanctions, Lipsky said Trump was unlikely to follow through with new tariffs in the near term because that would derail his planned trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May.

“US tariffs on Chinese products have gone down a lot since the court ruling,” said Ziemba, “and slapping on 50 percent tariffs now would be very expensive, especially for US importers and consumers.”

Moreover, with the Trump-Xi meeting looming, “this is kind of an empty threat, but shows that when push comes to shove, Trump comes back to tariffs”, Ziemba said.

Trump does have active “Section 301” unfair trade practices tariffs on Chinese goods from his first term, to which he may be able to add duties and similar pending cases related to excess industrial capacity and China’s compliance with a 2020 trade deal. But these would require a public notice period before they could take effect.

Trump also may be able to invoke Section 232 of the Cold War-era Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows sector-specific tariffs to protect strategic domestic industries on national security grounds, but using this law would require a new months-long investigation and public comments.

Russia has been another source of arms technology for Iran, but US imports of Russian goods have fallen sharply since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the wave of financial sanctions imposed on Moscow as a result.

US imports from Russia, one of the only countries not subject to Trump’s now-cancelled “reciprocal” tariffs, jumped 26.1 percent to $3.8bn in 2025. These are dominated by palladium used in automotive catalytic converters, fertilisers and their ingredients, and enriched uranium for nuclear reactors. The US Department of Commerce is already moving to impose punitive tariffs on Russian palladium after an anti-dumping investigation.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the US-Iran ceasefire as “very good news,” saying it appears to be holding, but warned the situation in Lebanon remains critical and must be fully included in any regional truce. He also praised Iran’s readiness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

April 8 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s postal service chief praised a mail carrier who helped save a man injured at the scene of a suspected gas explosion.

The Korea Post said Tuesday that Park In-hwan, head of the postal service, visited the Gunsan Daeya Post Office in North Jeolla Province a day earlier to commend mail carrier Han Sang-geun.

According to the agency, Han was delivering mail in Gunsan in February when he heard a loud explosion and ran toward the scene.

Han found a man in his 60s collapsed at the site and provided emergency assistance while helping with rescue efforts, the postal service said.

Park said he was proud of Han for acting courageously in a dangerous situation to help save a life.

He added that mail carriers serve as watchful figures in communities across the country and can have a positive impact beyond their daily duties.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260408010002584

April 8 (Asia Today) — South Korea held a rollout ceremony Tuesday for the first mass-produced medium-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle, a domestically developed surveillance platform designed to strengthen the military’s independent intelligence-gathering capabilities.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said the ceremony for the first production model was held at Korean Air’s tech center in Busan.

The medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, or MUAV, is South Korea’s first strategic-class drone developed under the supervision of the defense procurement agency and the Agency for Defense Development, with Korean Air, LIG D&A and Hanwha Systems participating in development and production.

The aircraft is 13 meters long and has a wingspan of 26 meters. It is powered by a 1,200-horsepower turboprop engine and can fly at altitudes above 10 kilometers, allowing it to carry out reconnaissance missions against ground targets.

The agency said about 90% of the aircraft’s components are produced domestically. Once fully deployed, the MUAV is expected to give South Korea the ability to monitor strategic targets in real time around the clock using high-performance cameras and sensors.

Lee Yong-chul, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said the program was the result of sustained efforts by defense companies and researchers.

He said the aircraft would significantly improve the military’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, strengthen the foundation for self-reliant defense and help advance South Korea’s aviation industry.

The MUAV will undergo Air Force acceptance tests before being delivered in phases starting in 2027, when it will begin operations.

About 300 people attended the ceremony, including senior officials from the Air Force, the Defense Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Agency for Defense Development and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260408010002614

UN human rights chief Volker Turk describes Israel’s attacks on Lebanon as ‘horrific’ coming so soon after US-Iran ceasefire announcement.

The US president has lashed out at European partners for declining to contribute military forces to the war on Iran.

United States President Donald Trump has reportedly discussed withdrawing from NATO, the transatlantic alliance that has been a central pillar of Western security for decades.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt framed the US and Israel’s war on Iran as a “test” that the alliance had failed.

Despite Trump’s pressure, NATO allies had declined to contribute military forces to the war, outside of defensive manoeuvres.

Leavitt’s comments came shortly before Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House.

“I have a direct quote from the president of the United States on NATO, and I will share it with all of you. They were tested, and they failed,” Leavitt said.

“I would add, it’s quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks, when it’s the American people who have been funding their defence.”

Trump, she continued, was preparing to have “a very frank and candid conversation” with Rutte that afternoon.

In an interview with the news outlet CNN after their meeting, Rutte likewise described the encounter as “frank and open”. He reiterated his support for Trump, but added that NATO allies had offered support through logistics and access to bases.

“Did the president say he was going to try withdraw from NATO or, at the very least, not support NATO as much as other presidents have,” CNN host Jake Tapper asked Rutte.

“There is a disappointment, clearly. But at the same time he was also listening careful to my arguments of what is happening,” Rutte replied, before pivoting to praise of Trump’s leadership.

The US president has had a mixed relationship with NATO, sometimes threatening to pull US support and, at other times, reassuring allies of the US’s continued commitment to the alliance.

Since returning to the presidency in 2025, Trump has renewed his pressure campaign for NATO’s European partners to step up their defence spending.

Last June, at the 2025 NATO summit, he largely succeeded. The NATO members agreed to nonbinding commitments to increase their defence budgets to 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.

But Spain sought an exemption, leading Trump to denounce the country repeatedly over the past year.

Tensions between the US and its European allies were further strained last year when Trump threatened to use military force to seize the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland, claiming that its ownership was essential for national security.

The US has eased away from those threats. But Trump has continued to assert that US ownership of Greenland is necessary, despite strong protests from the territory’s residents and European leaders.

After the US and Israel unilaterally launched a war against Iran on February 28, Trump lashed out at European countries for their lack of interest in contributing to the campaign.

Many legal scholars consider the war an act of aggression, in violation of international law.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering whether to close US bases or move troops out of countries such as Spain and Germany as punishment for their stance on the war.

When asked by reporters if Trump was considering leaving NATO, Leavitt said it was something the president “has discussed” and could address after his meeting with Rutte.

Trump and Rutte are considered to have a close relationship. Rutte has visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s second term, including in March, July, August and October of last year.

In the past, Rutte has warned that NATO “will not work” without US support.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week after rolling his SUV.

Prosecutors are seeking Tiger Woods ‘ prescription drug records from a pharmacy, a week after his vehicle crashed in Florida and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Prosecutors in Florida on Tuesday said they planned to issue a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Florida, from the start of the year through the end of last month.

Prosecutors in Martin County, Florida, want the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them, according to documents in an online court docket.

Any objections to the subpoena must be filed with the State Attorney’s Office within 10 days. Neither Lewis Pharmacy nor Woods’ attorney, Doug Duncan, immediately responded to emails seeking comment.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week, hours after a sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a trailer and rolled over on its side.

Woods was travelling at high speeds on a beachside, residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30-mile per hour (nearly 50km per hour) speed limit when the accident occurred, authorities said. The truck had $5,000 in damage, according to an incident report. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said.

Woods said last week that he is stepping away to seek treatment.

It’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, after his SUV ploughed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando, he took a leave of absence to work on being a better person. That lasted four months, and he returned at the Masters.

He was also in a 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation.

UEFA Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain claim 2-0 first-leg lead over English Premier League champions Liverpool.

Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League defence remains on course after a dominant 2-0 victory against Liverpool in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie.

The home side took the lead thanks to a deflected effort in the 11th minute on Wednesday, after Desire Doue’s effort from outside the box looped over the helpless Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The Reds are long out of their own title defence in the English Premier League this season and left only with the Champions League as a faint hope of silverware, but Arne Slot’s side rallied in response to the Parisians’ fortune until the half-time whistle.

The second period was a far different matter, and all too familiar to Liverpool fans this season. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia deservedly doubled the advantage in the 65th minute when the Georgian international dribbled into the box before rounding the keeper.

A total of 18 shots were registered by the home side, with six on target. Liverpool managed just three efforts on goal with none on target in reply.

It was far from the most fluent display by Luis Enrique’s side in the French capital, despite relentless passing and a 74 percent share of the possession, but their second-half showing was a vast improvement from the first.

Achraf Hakimi’s 82nd-minute drive was one of the biggest moments to settle the tie, but drew a fine save from Mamardashvili, low to his left, which keeps his side in with a chance as the teams head to Anfield for the second leg next Tuesday.

There was little the Reds’ keeper could do other than hope, as Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele produced a moment of brilliance with two minutes to play when he exchanged a one-two with substitute Lee Kang-In in the box only to see his fierce strike rebound off the post.

It was Liverpool’s fourth consecutive defeat away from home, a first for the Merseyside club since April 2012

The winner will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next round, with the latter holding a 2-1 advantage following the first leg of their quarterfinal in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.

April 8 (UPI) — A Russian hacking group financed by the spy agency GRU managed a large-scale campaign to steal information about militaries and governments by hacking into Wi-Fi routers, the FBI said.

The group known as Fancy Bear is behind the hack done to governments around the world. Intelligence and police services in the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania and others discovered the operation, which attacked poorly protected Wi-Fi routers, they announced in a joint statement Tuesday.

The hackers took “passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails” Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said in a statement.

“This way, they acted as ‘intermediaries’ in the online space to collect passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails, which under normal circumstances are protected by SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] and TLS [Transport Layer Security] cryptographic protocols,” SBU said.

The GRU operatives, who have been using this technique since at least 2024, planned to use the information to “carry out cyberattacks, information sabotage and the collection of intelligence,” SBU said.

The FBI said the GRU has “indiscriminately compromised a wide pool of U.S. and global victims and then filtered down impacted users, especially targeting information related to military, government and critical infrastructure.”

Romania, which participated in the investigation, said the GRU operatives “were collecting military, governmental, and critical infrastructure-related information,” Romanian President Nicușor Dan said.

“Russia therefore continues its hybrid war against Western countries — only those acting in bad faith could fail to see this,” Dan said in a post on X.

The FBI also urged “all network defenders and owners of small office/home office (SOHO) routers to update to the latest firmware versions, change default usernames and passwords, disable remote management interfaces from the internet, and stay alert for certificate warnings in web browsers and email clients.”