Headlines: 20-26 April 2026

Sunday, 26 April 2026

4 vying to be the next U.N. chief try to set themselves apart as race heats up — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Israeli strikes kill 14 in Lebanon amid ongoing ceasefire: an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson had earlier issued evacuation warnings for several villages in southern Lebanon — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Two former Israeli prime ministers join forces against Netanyahu in upcoming elections — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump's fortune could be wiped out by judge's ruling on 6 January 2021 disturbances: legal analyst — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

North Korea opens memorial museum for troops killed in Russia-Ukraine war — (LINK) ground.news: 23 media reports — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

AI can cost more than human workers now — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Chinese scientists have developed a revolutionary "battery" that can generate electricity from coal without any carbon dioxide emissions. — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Scientists discover plants "scream" — we just couldn't hear them until now — 26 April 2026 (LINK)

Saturday, 25 April 2026

Trump rushed off stage after shots fired at White House Correspondents' Dinner: Vice President JD Vance and members of Trump's Cabinet who were also in attendance were also rushed out. Vice President JD Vance and members of Trump's Cabinet who were also in attendance were also rushed out — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect worked as California teacher and video game developer — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump cancels US envoys' trip to Pakistan for talks on Iran war — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

— Announcing the trip had been called off on Saturday, Trump said there was "tremendous infighting and confusion" within Iran's leadership and that "nobody knows who is in charge, including them". He wrote on his Truth Social platform: "Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!"

Trump cancels US negotiators' trip to Pakistan for Iran talks as Teheran's Araghchi departs Islamabad — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

A federal appeals court has overturned President Donald Trump's sweeping asylum ban, ruling 2-1 that it violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by denying migrants at the Mexican border the right to apply for asylum once inside the U.S. — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

Sri Lankan monks arrested after 110kg of cannabis discovered in their luggage at Colombo — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

A former University of South Florida student has been charged with killing his roommate and the roommate's girlfriend — two doctoral students from Bangladesh who disappeared earlier this month, authorities said Saturday. — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

— AP: Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is a native-born U.S. citizen. The man's remains were found on the Howard Frankland bridge Friday morning, but the woman is still missing, Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said on Friday. Abugharbieh had been a USF student but was not currently enrolled. University records showed he had attended the school from Spring 2021 through Spring 2023, and had pursued a BS in Management, a university spokesperson said. The murdered man was studying geography, environmental science and policy, and the woman was studying chemical engineering

Friday, 24 April 2026

US freezes $344 million in cryptocurrency said to be linked to Iran — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

— On Thursday, Tether, a digital currency company that facilitates crypto transactions around the world, announced it had "supported the US government in freezing" $344 million in cryptocurrency across two addresses, after information was shared "by several U.S. authorities about activity tied to unlawful conduct."

Syrian authorities arrest alleged perpetrator of 2013 Tadamon massacre, a former intelligence officer — (LINK) ground.news: 54 media reports — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

— At least 288 civilians were executed on April 16, 2013, in the Tadamon neighborhood of Damascus by Military Intelligence Branch 227 forces, who forced victims into a pit before shooting them.

Mexico's government said Saturday that two U.S. federal CIA agents recently killed in a car crash in the country's northern region were not authorized to participate in operations in Mexico. — 25 April 2026 (LINK)

— AP: The role of the two CIA agents who were returning from destroying a clandestine drug lab in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua remains unclear. Local government officials have said they were part of a convoy when their car drove off a ravine last weekend and the vehicle exploded. Two Mexican officers also were killed.

US: FBI director Kash Patel has admitted to alcohol-related crimes when a student, report reveals, as Trump stands by him — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

For every generation, vaccines work and they have saved over 150 million lives: WHO. World Immunization Week runs from 24 to 30 April — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

Petroloegas: Scientists discover that airborne microplastics come much more from land than from the ocean (more than 20x) and reveal a massive error in previous models — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

Swiss National Bank faces pressure to divest from Palantir Technologies (PLTR) in view of the company's contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

AFP: the global oil shock is hitting NZ's small Pacific neighbours hard — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

— AFP: The crisis in the Middle East has sent local prices surging even higher. with diesel up 40% and petrol about 30%. With a population of just over 10,600, Tuvalu spends roughly one quarter of its GDP on imported petroleum. Tuvalu spends roughly one quarter of its GDP on imported petroleum. The situation may yet grow worse, with the possibility of no consistent shipments beyond June. By declaring a two-week state of emergency, Tuvalu's government has granted itself special powers to ration supplies and manage services. The Marshall Islands earlier declared a 90-day economic state of emergency. Its non-essential public offices have been closing at mid-afternoon, while strict requirements have been imposed to reduce electricity use.

US Appeals court overturns $8.2 million award to conservative former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore over Democratic PAC’s ad citing allegations that Moore solicited teen girls for sex: Moore did not prove libel or invasion of privacy — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

Natural molecule could provide Ozempic, Wegovy alternative — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

UCSF: How to starve cancer: cut off the nutrients that help tumors grow — 2026 Byers Award Lecture in Basic Science on April 16 — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

Geneva civil servants march against planned budget cuts — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Pete Hegseth 'butted heads' with fired Navy secretary John Phelan over shipbuilding and push to ignore judge's orders in favour of Senator Mark Kelly: reports — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

Thursday, 23 April 2026

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks, Trump says after hosting the countries' ambassadors in the Oval Office — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump orders US military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

— Most US states now allow medical or recreational consumption of marijuana, though it remains illegal at the federal level.

Russian oil to Slovakia resumes flowing through pipeline that crosses Ukraine: expected to unblock a large financial assistance package for Ukraine — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

US Senate Republicans approve budget measure, teeing up bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump set to attend memecoin conference on Saturday after 96 percent wipeout: Mar-a-Lago conference for top investors in Donald Trump’s $TRUMP crypto token featuring the president himself is drawing much less trading than a similar event last year. — 24 April 2026 (LINK)

— The memecoin is currently down more than 95 percent from its January 2025 high.

Long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace bullying and harassment killing 840,000 people a year, ILO report finds: report "introduces an innovative approach structured around three interrelated levels to better understand the factors that shape the psychosocial working environment" — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Warner Bros Discovery shareholders approve sale to Paramount Skydance but cast an advisory vote against executive compensation plans tied to the deal — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

— Al Jazeera: HBO Max, valuable titles like Harry Potter and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof with CBS, Top Gun and the Paramount+ streaming service. Attention now turns to regulatory authorities, with both Washington and London expected to examine the merger's impact on competition. Paramount triumphed over Netflix in a months-long bidding war. The merger has faced considerable opposition from actors, filmmakers and theatre groups that have raised concerns about the loss of a major studio and its impact on the creative community, theatre owners and moviegoers.

US soldier arrested over Polymarket wagers tied to Maduro's capture: bets totaled $33,034 and, ultimately, paid out more than $400,000 — 23 April 2026 (LINK)

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

AP: More confusion looms over Strait of Hormuz after Iran attacks three ships near waterway — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

Trump gives Iran days to end power struggle, return to peace talks — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

— Axios: IRGC generals now in control of the country and Iran's civilian negotiators are openly at odds over strategy.

34 Iran tankers slip past US Hormuz blockade, with over $900 million in oil: report — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

International Finance Bank confirms XRP as a payment rail within ILP stream protocol — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

US: Virginia judge blocks redistricting referendum result that boosted Democrats' election hopes — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

Pete Hegseth fires U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

Intercept: Pentagon erases wounded U.S. troops from Iran war casualty list: "definition of a cover-up" — 22 april 2026 (LINK)

— On the day the ceasefire between the Trump administration and Iran took effect, the tally of U.S. dead and wounded was 385. Despite a pause in hostilities, the number had slowly risen to 428 on Monday, according to Pentagon statistics. Yet on Tuesday, the number of wounded-in-action troops declined by 15 troops without public comment from the War Department, dropping the total to 413. The count held steady on Wednesday, except for one public War Department tally that put the "grand total" of wounded and dead at 411. Two Pentagon spokespersons said they were unable to field questions on the 15 casualties disappeared by the War Department on Tuesday.

The Swiss government has approved a tightening of the screws for systemically important banks. They will have to cover all holdings in foreign subsidiaries. Swiss government wants UBS to increase its capital by $20 billion. Parliament will debate this law from the summer session onwards — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

Judge tosses Kash Patel's defamation suit against former MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi — 22 April 2026 (LINK)

— "Yeah, well, reportedly, he's been visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor of the Hoover building," Figliuzzi said on "Morning Joe" show last year. Figliuzzi's lawyers argued that "this comment was a sarcastic, hyperbolic remark that receives protection from defamation liability." "A person of reasonable intelligence and learning would not have taken his statement literally," the judge said.

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

Time: Trump says he does not want to extend cease-fire as Iran insists it will 'not negotiate under threat' — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

President Donald Trump said he thinks that the U.S. is "going to end up with a great deal" with Iran to end the war — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

Three ships including an Iranian vessel appear to cross Hormuz Strait as US and Iranian blockades remain in place — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

Eight arrested in UK over foiled arson attack on Jewish community in London — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

— Police said that since the March 23 arson attack in the Golders Green neighbourhood of London, in which several ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer rescue organization were set on fire outside a synagogue, a total of eight people have been charged with arson-related offences and 13 people remain in police custody or on bail under investigation.

Japan lifts ban on lethal weapons exports in major shift of pacifist policy: Japanese newspapers said the changes would encompass fighter jets, missiles and warships, which Japan has recently agreed to build for Australia — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

Gunman who fired on tourists at Mexican pyramid carried materials related to 1999 Columbine massacre. Monday marked the 27th anniversary of the massacre in Colorado — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

— The attack killed a Canadian woman and left at least 13 people injured. Taken to hospitals were six people from the U.S., three from Colombia, one from Russia, one from Brazil, one from the Netherlands and one from Canada, the local government said. The youngest person who was hurt was 6; the oldest was 61, Mexican authorities said.

Swiss parliamentary committee supports the lifting of a ban on the construction of new power plants — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

US: Florida Democrat resigns from Congress minutes before House ethics panel was set to weigh her expulsion — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

— Congress previously found Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of a slew of ethics violations, including accusations that she stole millions in pandemic relief funds and used it to bolster her 2021 campaign. Her attorney decried the congressional investigation, arguing that the panel had put the congresswoman — who faces separate federal criminal charges — in an unfair position.

— The Democrat's departure marks the third resignation from the House in the last seven days. Reps. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, resigned last week amid a torrent of explosive allegations against them and the threat of expulsion votes.

Sacked UK Foreign Office chief, Olly Robbins, describes 'pressure' from No 10 and 'dismissive' attitude to Mandelson vetting to be US ambassador — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

— Robbins was sacked after the prime minister discovered he did not tell him that Mandelson had failed the vetting process to be the US ambassador. Guardian: "Robbins still believes that he and the Foreign Office made the correct decision — the PM's position is the exact opposite."

Airlines, though not in the US, are about to run out of jet fuel because of the Iran war, but costs are rising, and United has cut its previously planned schedule by about 5% over the next six months — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

New York sues Coinbase and Gemini, seeking to halt unlicensed prediction market businesses — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

Crypto investor Justin Sun sues Trump's World Liberty Financial over 'misconduct': has invested tens of millions of dollars in President Donald Trump's family's various crypto ventures — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday it will expand its $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative into Europe, extending a programme originally launched in the U.S. to finance and invest in industries critical to national security and economic resilience — 21 April 2026 (LINK)

Monday, 20 April 2026

NPR: Trump says he is sending a team of negotiators to Pakistan today for in-person talks to end the war. But Vice President Vance has not left yet. Iran has never confirmed that talks would take place — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

Two months after the Supreme Court ruled that most of Trump's tariffs were unconstitutional, the federal government has launched an online portal for business owners to request refunds. U.S. Customs has estimated it owes $166 billion in tariff refunds — (LINK)

UK moves to ban smoking for everyone born after 2008. Only the king's signature remains for it to become law — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

— DW: Only one other country, the Maldives, currently has a similar "generational smoking ban" in place. The very first country to do so, New Zealand, swiftly overturned the law following a change in government in 2023.

Mexico’s President Sheinbaum demands explanation after US officials die after IS-Mexico anti-drug operation in Chihuahua — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

Japan lifts tsunami alert after magnitude 7.7 quake in north — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

— Al Jazeera: The quake hit on Monday at 4:53pm (07:53 GMT) in waters off Iwate prefecture on the Pacific coast. It was felt across a wide area, shaking buildings in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres to the south.

Gunman shoots several tourists at historic Teotihuacan pyramids in Mexico, killing one Canadian and leaving at least 13 people injured — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

— The shooter was identified as a 27-year-old Mexican, a state official told the AP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak about the case. The gunman later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said, and security officials found a gun, a knife and ammunition. He was the sole assailant in the attack, the State of Mexico government confirmed on Monday night.

US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving Trump's Cabinet after abuse of power allegations, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

Researchers at the University of Lausanne (Unil) have uncovered a new biological mechanism that exposes a critical vulnerability in tumor cells when they are deprived of vitamin B7 — 20 April 2026 (LINK)

— Science Daily: "Without biotin, cancer cells lose that flexibility and stop growing. Mutations in a cancer-linked gene can make this vulnerability even stronger, offering a promising new target for therapy."