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Trump sending Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan to resume talks on Iran war

White House says its Middle East envoys will meet Tehran’s foreign minister in Islamabad

Donald Trump is sending his Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to resume negotiations to end the war with Iran, which has lasted nearly eight weeks.

The White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the travel on Friday, saying that Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, would meet Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in Islamabad.

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© Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

Former NATO commander: Halting mine-laying vessels 'key to unlocking' Strait of Hormuz

24 April 2026 at 12:53
Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO allied supreme commander, suggested on Thursday that reopening the Strait of Hormuz largely hinges on the U.S. military’s ability to stop Iranian mines from being laid in the waterway. “Strategically, what we ought to be doing is going after these small boats before they get underway. And...

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Ben Roberts-Smith to attend first Anzac Day service since war crime charges Ben Doherty and Josh Butler
    Former soldier says he will ‘pay my respects’ at commemoration in Queensland where he has been living since being released on bailGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith will attend an Anzac Day service in Queensland on Saturday morning, describing the day as “sacred” to him, the first commemoration since he was criminally charged.Roberts-Smith, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and once one of Australia’s most lionised soldiers, faces five charges of the w
     

Ben Roberts-Smith to attend first Anzac Day service since war crime charges

24 April 2026 at 07:58

Former soldier says he will ‘pay my respects’ at commemoration in Queensland where he has been living since being released on bail

Ben Roberts-Smith will attend an Anzac Day service in Queensland on Saturday morning, describing the day as “sacred” to him, the first commemoration since he was criminally charged.

Roberts-Smith, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and once one of Australia’s most lionised soldiers, faces five charges of the war crime of murder, allegedly committed during his service with the SAS in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

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© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • US soldier involved in Maduro raid charged over alleged bets on capture Uwa Ede-Osifo
    Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who allegedly made more than $400,000 on Polymarket, could face up to 60 years in prisonA US soldier who played a role in the January capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is now in custody after allegedly cashing in over $400,000 on wagers about the politician’s removal from office, federal authorities announced on Thursday.Prosecutors say beginning in early December the soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, was involved in planning for the military operation to capture an
     

US soldier involved in Maduro raid charged over alleged bets on capture

24 April 2026 at 00:05

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who allegedly made more than $400,000 on Polymarket, could face up to 60 years in prison

A US soldier who played a role in the January capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is now in custody after allegedly cashing in over $400,000 on wagers about the politician’s removal from office, federal authorities announced on Thursday.

Prosecutors say beginning in early December the soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, was involved in planning for the military operation to capture and depose Maduro.

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© Photograph: Leonardo Fernández Viloria/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonardo Fernández Viloria/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonardo Fernández Viloria/Reuters

UK prepared to deploy RAF Typhoons to keep strait of Hormuz open after Iran war

23 April 2026 at 18:08

Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France

Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end.

The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on whether HMS Dragon or another warship would also be deployed.

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© Photograph: AS1 Joshua Whiting/MOD Crown Copyright 2026/PA

© Photograph: AS1 Joshua Whiting/MOD Crown Copyright 2026/PA

© Photograph: AS1 Joshua Whiting/MOD Crown Copyright 2026/PA

Extended naval blockade is admission US military escalation poses even greater risk

23 April 2026 at 18:15

Battle of the blockades may still have more time to run as the US and Iran try to assert control over the strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump’s decision to extend the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely may do nothing to reduce world oil prices – but it could amount to a recognition that further US military escalation in breach of the nominal ceasefire comes with greater risk against a regime disinclined to surrender.

In theory, Trump’s military options are increasing. A third US carrier strike group, the George HW Bush, is due to arrive in the Middle East within days after rounding South Africa. A second taskforce of 2,500 US marines is sailing from the Pacific and is due to arrive by the end of April.

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© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

Trump’s navy secretary ousted over dispute about shipbuilding

23 April 2026 at 16:55

John Phelan firing caused by poor relationship with Pete Hegseth and slow movement on shipbuilding, sources say

The Trump administration fired its top naval official on Wednesday in a move unrelated to the ongoing naval blockade of Iran’s strait of Hormuz, but instead over over an internal dispute about shipbuilding.

The Pentagon confirmed that John Phelan, who ran a private investment fund in Florida and was a Donald Trump donor, had been ousted as the navy secretary. His departure – the first of any service secretary in the Trump administration – came in the same week Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two container ships in the strait of Hormuz, claiming maritime violations and transferring them to Iranian shores.

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© Photograph: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

  • ✇TheHill - Just In
  • O'Reilly: Trump needs Iran win to become a 'victor' Sarah Davis
    Conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly said Wednesday that President Trump "needs to win" the U.S. conflict with Iran, when asked about the war's negative impact on Trump's approval ratings. “See, if he wins in Iran, the equation changes because he becomes the victor, and to the victor go the spoils, as the cliche goes,” O’Reilly said...
     

O'Reilly: Trump needs Iran win to become a 'victor'

23 April 2026 at 16:54
Conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly said Wednesday that President Trump "needs to win" the U.S. conflict with Iran, when asked about the war's negative impact on Trump's approval ratings. “See, if he wins in Iran, the equation changes because he becomes the victor, and to the victor go the spoils, as the cliche goes,” O’Reilly said...

Ben Roberts-Smith planned to leave Australia and researched buying wellness business in Spain, court documents show

23 April 2026 at 07:55

Partner of soldier accused of war crimes says the couple discussed possibility of moving overseas to ‘create some normalcy in our lives’

Ben Roberts-Smith was planning to leave Australia to live overseas and had a business class flight out of the country booked in four days’ time when he was arrested at Sydney airport this month, court documents allege, with investigators telling a court “his willingness to return to Australia to face prosecution cannot be judged”.

Roberts-Smith was ultimately granted bail last week under strict conditions, a move opposed by prosecutors who said there was potential concern he was a flight risk and might try to avoid ever having to face trial for a series of alleged murders he committed in Afghanistan.

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© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

Pentagon says navy secretary is leaving, marking another top leader’s departure

22 April 2026 at 23:27

Exit of John Phelan, navy’s top civilian official, comes a week after Pete Hegseth fired army’s top officer

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the navy’s top civilian official, John Phelan, the secretary of the navy, is leaving his job.

In a statement posted to social media, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately”.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

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