News of the World
04-12-2026, 08:22 PM
Middle East War Special Edition
Hormuz Extortion Update
MIDDLE EAST WAR
Quote:Iran has said it has no plans for further peace talks with the US, after a marathon summit with Vice President JD Vance collapsed on Saturday with no agreement reached.
“No plan has yet been announced for the time, place, or next round of negotiations,” Iranian state news agency Nour reported on Saturday, citing the country’s Supreme National Security Council.
The Iranian regime will also keep its stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint in the Persian Gulf through which flows a fifth of the world’s oil supplies, according to state media.
“Iran is not in a hurry, and until the US agrees to a reasonable deal, there will be no change in the situation of the Strait of Hormuz,” the Fars News Agency reported, quoting an unnamed Iranian official.
It comes after a grueling 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, between US and Iranian delegations ended Sunday morning local time with no agreement reached.
Vance told a press conference that Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear program had been the main sticking point.
The veep called the failure to reach a deal “bad news” for Iran, while Iran’s former Vice President, Ataollah Mohajerani, said it was “worse news … for the United States,” speaking to Fars.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” Vance told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force Two and return to the US.
None of the American delegation — which included special envoy Steve Witkoff and the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — remained behind in Islamabad.
Iranian state media blamed “US overreach and ambitions” for blocking “a common framework and agreement” to bring about an end to the conflict, which started on Feb. 28.
Quote:French President Emmanuel Macron has called on his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian to use the negotiations in Islamabad to achieve sustainable de-escalation, and to restore freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
According to Ukrinform, Macron wrote this on the social network X.
“I held discussions with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. I urged him to seize the opportunity presented by the talks launched in Islamabad to pave the way for a lasting de-escalation and a demanding agreement that provides solid guarantees for security in the region, involving all the countries concerned,” the French President said.
Macron also stressed that Iran must “swiftly restore freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that France is “ready to contribute” to this effort.
The French President added that he insisted on “the importance of full respect for the ceasefire, including in Lebanon.” He emphasized that France fully supports the actions of the Lebanese authorities, “who alone are legitimate to exercise the sovereignty of the state and decide the destiny of Lebanon.”
Quote:The US State Department will host talks between Israel and Lebanon next week, a State Department official said Thursday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier authorised his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible”. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.
Yesterday's key developments:
- French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he urged his US and Iranian counterparts, Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian, to include Lebanon in the ceasefire reached with Iran.
- Pezeshkian said that a Lebanon ceasefire was one of the key conditions of the Islamic Republic's 10-point plan for securing an end to the Middle East war, the ISNA news agency reported Wednesday.
- US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said Tehran's negotiators thought the US-Iran ceasefire agreed to on Tuesday included Lebanon, but the US had in fact not agreed to that.
Quote:As peace talks between America and Iran fell apart over the weekend, President Trump has called for the US military to take control of the Strait of Hormuz and clear the water of Tehran’s mines.
The strait, which oversees 20% of the world’s oil transports, has remained closed since the war began on Feb. 28, with Iran filling the passage with deadly, underwater mines.
To clear the waters, the US will tap its own navy and that of allied nations to deploy minesweepers and clear the Strait of Hormuz to resume global trade, Trump said Sunday.
“We have minesweepers there now,” Trump told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“We have highly sophisticated underwater minesweepers, which are the latest and the greatest, but we’re also bringing in more traditional minesweepers,” he added.
“I understand the UK and a couple of other countries are sending minesweepers. A lot of countries don’t have minesweepers.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said operations to clear the Strait of Hormuz began on Saturday after two American destroyers passed through the waters for the first time since the war began.
The US Navy will be deploying “underwater drones” to locate Iran’s mines and take them out “in the coming days,” CENTCOM added.
The US military has several underwater UAVs capable of traversing the strait, including the 1,7000 pound Knifefish drone, developed by General Dynamics.
“The Knifefish UUV provides the mine warfare commander with enhanced mine-hunting capability by detecting, classifying and identifying both buried mines and mines in high clutter environments,” according to the company.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump announced that the US will begin a sweeping blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to fight back against Iran’s “WORLD EXTORTION” and ensure that no one paying tolls to the regime will get through the critical oil chokepoint.
Trump claimed that the negotiations with Iran that concluded Saturday without a deal “went well,” but faulted the Islamic Republic for refusing to budge on its nuclear program, which he described as “the only point that really mattered.”
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump declared on Truth Social Sunday.
“At some point, we will reach an ‘ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT’ basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen by merely saying, ‘There may be a mine out there somewhere,’ that nobody knows about but them.”
“THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION, and Leaders of Countries, especially the United States of America, will never be extorted.”
“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”
Over a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supply once traversed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has used drones and missiles to deter oil vessels from traveling through the critical chokepoint.
Iran claims to have placed mines in the Strait but has lost track of them. It has attempted to charge a toll of $1 per barrel of oil for ships to get through safely, according to US officials.
Iran has sought to use revenue from those tolls to rebuild its country after the Operation Epic Fury attacks.
The president didn’t lay out a specific timeline for when the blockade will officially begin, but teased that it’s happening “soon.”
Trump announced a fragile two-week cease-fire with Iran last Tuesday after threatening earlier that day that “an entire civilization will die tonight” if Tehran didn’t cut a deal.
If only countries like the United Kingdom and France had sent minesweepers to the Strait days ago...Quote:WASHINGTON — Iran warned Sunday that military vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be a violation of the fragile cease-fire and face a “strong and forceful response” — following President Trump’s announcement of a blockade on the critical oil chokepoint.
Trump announced plans earlier Sunday to stop “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave” the waterway until there’s a point where all oil is allowed to go in and out without obstruction from Iran.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy hit back, insisting it has “full control” of the Strait and that the waterway remains open for non-military vessels.
“Contrary to the false claims of certain enemy officials, the Strait of Hormuz is open for the passage of non-military vessels under smart control and management, in accordance with specific regulations,” the naval forces said in a statement, according to two semi-official Iranian news agencies.
The IRGC warned that any approach by military vessels toward the Strait would be treated as a violation of a cease-fire agreement.
Trump claimed that the cease-fire deal last week meant that Iran would allow the Strait of Hormuz, where over a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies flow through annually, to be reopened.
But Iran has been accused of attempting to charge tolls on vessels going through and claimed that it lost track of the mines it laid down, scaring off ships from traversing the beleaguered waterway.
Despite Iran’s threats to view the deployment of a military vessel through the Strait as a violation of the cease-fire, the US claims that two American Navy destroyers went through it Saturday and took down an Iranian drone.
Quote:More than 60% of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ fast attack ships in charge of patrolling the Strait of Hormuz are still intact despite six weeks of US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s navy, according to a new report.
While America has decimated Iran’s standard navy, sinking more than 155 vessels, the ships under the IRGC’s control are still largely operational and capable of policing the key water route President Trump has vowed to reopen, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The IRGC’s navy is vast, small, and speedy, allowing the attack vessels to evade satellite detection and hide in underground pens along the rocky coast of the 20-mile-wide strait, said Chris Long, a former British navy official in the Persian Gulf.
“It will be a long time before the US can take all those out,” Long told the WSJ.
The formation of the fleet was a direct result of the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s, when the US sank much of Iran’s active fleet in a single-day strike.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has pivoted to an asymmetrical navy, with the IRGC tasked with policing the Strait of Hormuz while Iran’s conventional navy patrols other waterways in the Gulf.
Iran previously showed off the speedy boats during live-fire military drills in February as a show of force against the US naval buildup in the Middle East prior to the start of the war.
The ships were shown to be armed with rocket launchers and able to lay mines in the strait, with the boats capable of moving at high speeds as they moved in and out of their underground pens.
The strategy appears to have paid off for Tehran, given the IRGC’s survival rate compared with that of the conventional navy, which US officials touted as completely destroyed in the first three weeks of the war.
The IRGC’s navy, meanwhile, has been able to effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz with underwater mines and drone attacks, pausing a key trade route that oversees the transport of 20% of the world’s oil supply.
HAMAS
Quote:Hamas representatives were expected to hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip, two Hamas officials told AFP.
The talks will also be focused on “halting Israeli violations,” one Hamas official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with the press.
According to the official, the terrorist group will stress the need for the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw from Gaza, fully reopen the Strip’s borders, increase the number of crossings and allow greater volumes of humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.
The Hamas delegation will also meet with representatives of other Palestinian terrorist organizations to discuss those issues, the second Hamas official told AFP.
On Thursday, the Israeli military eliminated two Palestinian terrorists who were planning “imminent” terror attacks against soldiers deployed in the Strip, the IDF said on Friday.
In southern Gaza, the IDF killed Mahmoud Barim, a terrorist in the Al-Mujahideen Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, a group that splintered from Fatah. Barim “monitored IDF troop activity and possessed a large quantity of weapons,” according to the military.
In the northern Strip, the IDF struck Ahmed Mohammed Saleh, a Hamas Nukhba Force terrorist “who had carried out and advanced numerous terror attacks,” it said. Several additional Hamas terrorists were also hit in the strike.
Prior to the airstrikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to noncombatants, “including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” per the statement.
On Saturday, an Israeli soldier was severely injured as a result of an operational accident in central Gaza, the army stated separately. The soldier was evacuated to a hospital and his family was notified.
The current truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023. The terms of the ceasefire leave the IDF in control of approximately half of Gaza.
Top Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk, have rejected key parts of Trump’s plan in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October.
HOLOCAUST
Quote:Israel’s Foreign Ministry sharply criticized South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday for comments it said trivialized the Holocaust and spread misinformation about Israeli forces.
In a post on X that drew more than nine million views, the ministry said Lee’s remarks, “including the trivialization of the massacre of Jews on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel,” were “unacceptable and warrant strong condemnation.”
Yom HaShoah will be observed in Israel from Monday evening through Tuesday.
Lee had referenced a 2024 video falsely alleged to show Israeli soldiers abusing a Palestinian boy, calling the incident akin to the “Jewish massacre or wartime killings.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the clip came from a disinformation account and that the event had been investigated two years ago.
“President Lee Jae Myung, for some strange reason, chose to dig up a story from 2024 and to cite a fake account that falsely presented it as a current event.
“This account is notorious for spreading anti-Israeli disinformation and falsehoods about Israel. The event discussed occurred during an operation against terrorists, at a time when Israeli soldiers were facing direct and immediate threats to their lives.
“The event was thoroughly investigated and addressed two years ago,” the ministry wrote.
The ministry rebuked Lee for failing to condemn recent Iranian and Hezbollah attacks on Israelis.
“Yet we have not heard a single word from the President about the terrorists who were at the center of this event. Nor have we heard a word from the President regarding the recent Iranian and Hezbollah terror attacks against Israeli citizens,” the post stated.
The ministry ended its post with this sentence: “Mr. President, it’s always better to check before posting.”
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:A Pennsylvania-linked manufacturer has been stripped of control over its Russian operations under a Kremlin order, raising fresh risks for Western companies as Moscow courts renewed economic ties with the United States.
CANPACK, a global aluminum beverage can manufacturer owned by a Pennsylvania-based holding company, operates in multiple countries across Europe and North America and said its Russian business — valued at roughly $700 million — was placed under state "external administration" by a Dec. 31, 2025, decree signed by President Vladimir Putin, effectively transferring control of 100% of its shares to state-appointed managers.
CEO Peter Giorgi said the company lost all operational authority after administrators arrived in mid-January.
"I'm only a nominal shareholder," Giorgi said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "I lose all control of the company."
The case underscores the risks facing Western companies that remained in Russia during the war, even as Moscow signals interest in rebuilding economic ties with Washington as part of potential peace negotiations.
Putin’s envoy for foreign investment, Kirill Dmitriev, is in the United States meeting with officials in President Donald Trump’s administration to discuss a potential Ukraine peace deal and future economic cooperation, according to Reuters.
Analysts say the move is part of a broader shift in Russia’s handling of foreign-owned assets since the Ukraine War.
"Let’s not be U.S.-centric about that," said Alexander Kolyandr, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. "CANPACK is not alone."
CANPACK has operated in Russia for nearly 30 years and held an estimated 35%–40% share of the country’s aluminum beverage can market, according to the company, underscoring the scale of the takeover.
The company has had no direct access to, or communication with, its Russian operations since the move, according to a person familiar with the matter, and several senior executives — including the general manager and chief financial officer — were removed following the takeover.
Company officials say executives in Russia have faced pressure from state-appointed administrators, including demands to approve financial decisions under threat of dismissal or other consequences.
The situation has not changed in recent months, according to the officials. The company’s Russian operations remain under external administration, with no restoration of control or ownership as of April.
The move falls under a legal framework introduced in 2023 allowing the Russian government to place certain foreign-owned assets under temporary state control.
The decree identified a company called Stalelement as the entity overseeing the assets, which company representatives describe as a shell entity with ties to the Russian government.
The company has raised the issue with U.S. officials, but no formal action has been taken.
Quote:Russia warned Sunday it will not extend an Orthodox Easter truce with Ukraine unless Volodymyr Zelensky accepts its terms, saying the war will resume if Kyiv refuses. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cast the decision as Zelensky’s, arguing peace could come “literally today” if Ukraine agrees to Moscow’s demands.
Russia will not extend a truce with Ukraine over Orthodox Easter unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepts its terms, the Kremlin said in an interview aired Sunday.
"Sustainable peace can come when we secure our interests and achieve the goals we set from the very start. This can be done literally today. But Zelensky must accept these well-known solutions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies.
"Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires," Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Earlier Sunday, Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating the truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged on into its fifth year.
Both sides had agreed to observe the halt to hostilities for the religious holiday, after Putin agreed on Thursday to a proposal made by Zelensky more than a week before.
"As of 7am on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones ... and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones," the Ukrainian military's general staff said in a post on Facebook.
"There were no missile strikes, guided aerial bomb strikes, or Shahed-type UAV strikes," it added.
In turn, Russia's defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of its own.
"A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4:00 pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8:00 am on April 12," the ministry said, as reported by the TASS news agency.
The truce had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.
Why have the Ukrainians been fighting Russian forces for over 4 years now? Nobody would put his or her own life in danger to fight their enemies only to later say that it's OK to let them steal your lands, including portions that your enemy has never conquered in battle.Plus, who told Peskov, Putin's spokesman, that their demands were actual solutions? Or should we also think that Russian control over certain regions of Georgia is a working solution?
NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS
Quote:“Monty Python” actor John Cleese warned this week that the world has failed to live up to the ideal of saying “Black lives matter” when it ignores anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria.
Numerous news sources around the world, including The Associated Press, reported that according to local military and officials, at least 26 people were killed in three separate Easter attacks in northern Nigeria.
This has caused multiple prominent commentators to not only criticize the terrorism rife in the region, but the silence of the international community that they argue is politically-motivated.
“It looks rather as though Black Lives Don’t Matter,” Cleese lamented on Tuesday, adding what appears to be a sarcastic critique of liberal media by writing, “Also, writing about it would damage the image of the murderers who killed these poor people.”
Cleese had been responding to a post from the Chair of the DOJ Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Senior Counsel at The Justice Department, Leo Terrell, who had asked, “Why isn’t the world talking about the massacre of Christians by Islamist terrorists??!!!!”
While Cleese is very much a liberal himself — condemning President Trump and his allies frequently — he has been on an ongoing multi-week campaign blasting how liberalism has turned a blind eye toward radical Islam.
He had recently made headlines for condemning a mass Muslim prayer that occurred in Trafalgar Square, a British military memorial.
These gatherings follow a growing trend of mass Islamic prayers of up to thousands of people in iconic Western landmarks.
While these are often organized with government permission, critics like Cleese argue these displays represent a cultural gesture of domination, occupying highly symbolic public spaces to signal a shift in national identity.
Cleese also made waves by tweeting, “The UK has always been based at the deepest level on Christian values, regardless of dogma.
“Despite the many mistakes made by churches, for centuries British people have been influenced by Christ’s teaching. If these values are replaced by Islamic ones, this will not be Britain any more.”
John Cleese is one of many British public icons who were once liberal darlings, but have since spoken out against far-left dogma, similar to how “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling has since waged a long-term campaign against transgender ideology.
Another prominent example includes atheist commentator Richard Dawkins, the author of “The God Delusion,” who has argued that Christianity is something of a bulwark for European civilization and has identified himself as a “cultural Christian.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
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HiddenChest & Roole
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Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
