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Statement by Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC MG, 19th April 2026For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan.As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations and while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan.While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training and within the rules of engagement.I’d also like to say I’m extremely proud of all...

Hungary’s incoming prime minister has vowed to shut down state media news channels when he takes power, describing it as a “factory of lies” in an extraordinary series of interviews after his landslide election win. In its place, prime minister-elect Peter Magyar said, the incoming Tisza party will build a “real, independent public broadcaster – one where the opposition finally has a voice too”. Mr Magyar won a critical election against nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban on Sunday, ending a 16-year tenure that saw his government take strict control over state media channels as part of his so-called “illiberal democracy”....

Buckley Carlson, the son of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, has stepped down from his role as deputy press secretary to Vice President JD Vance, leaving the White House as his father's escalating feud with President Donald Trump continues to escalate. Carlson's departure, first reported by Politico, comes amid a widening rift between Trump and the elder Carlson. The clash appears to have been fueled by sharp disagreements over the war with Iran and has only intensified by the pundit's extraordinary suggestion that the president could be the 'antichrist.'

Accounts on social media have managed to find audio from the Indian oil tanker that was targeted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.Audio of the Indian oil tanker Sanmar Herald pleading with Iranian forces to stop shooting at it in the Strait of Hormuz this morning. pic.twitter.com/7Y5n7Jb7o0— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 18, 2026The captain of the Indian vessel pleaded with the Iranians to stop firing upon their ship, and attempted to remind them that they were the ones who granted clearance to the vessel in the first place. The attack on the Indian vessel led...

Russia struck a Baptist church in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia during a prayer meeting this week, killing at least one person, a minister, and injuring at least eight others. The Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. gave the casualty figures in a public statement issued while rescue workers were still on the scene, identifying the targeted building as The House of the Gospel Church, which had served the community for years, according to Baptist Press.The embassy called the strike a deliberate attack on people of faith who had gathered peacefully to pray.Promoters of “A Faith Under Siege,” a...

President Trump convened an extraordinary Saturday morning meeting in the White House situation room to discuss next steps as the situation in Iran teeters between a peace deal and a resumption of war. The specific subjects under discussion were the status of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian responses to some U.S. proposals. Quite honestly, I imagine one key subject of discussion was "who the hell is calling the shots in Iran?" Because from an outsider's point of view, it looks like the 95 IQ types in the government think they are in charge, but actions on the ground indicate...

CAIRO (AP) — The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz escalated again Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass, in retaliation after the United States pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.The strait is closed until the U.S. blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said Saturday night, warning that “no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as cooperation with the enemy” and be targeted.New attacks on the strait,...

•Iran's security council says it is "determined" to control the Strait of Hormuz until the end of the war, and calls the continuing US blockade on Iranian ports a "breach of the ceasefire"•The key shipping channel was reopened by Iran on Friday but has now been closed again - here's how the situation has evolved•Donald Trump says "very good conversations" are under way with Iran but the US won't be "blackmailed" over the strait•A tanker and a container ship have both reported attacks off the coast of Oman, the UK Maritime Trade Operations says

As stocks soared this week and oil prices dropped amid an apparent cooling of tensions between the United States and Iran, it may have left the impression that the energy shock that rattled the world would quickly fade, along with the risk of sending the global economy into recession.The optimism may have been short-lived. On Saturday, Iran’s military announced it would reimpose restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, throwing the critical waterway’s status into doubt.The uncertainty highlights that beneath that surface, a starkly different reality is unfolding. It is defined by disrupted supply lines and damaged infrastructure, sparking increased concern...

s the Trump administration weighs a second round of U.S.-Iran talks, the failure of negotiations in Pakistan is fueling concern about whether its envoys can deliver a deal. Former diplomats tell TIME that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who led the Iran negotiations with Vice President JD Vance, lack the expertise and diplomatic experience needed to secure an agreement. That, they warn, risks prolonging the war and further destabilizing the global economy. “Iran and the U.S. under Kushner and Witkoff? Failure. They get an F in diplomacy,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US State Department Middle East negotiator who...

A section of central London has been closed off, with emergency services in “biohazard suits” seen investigating after an Iran-linked group claimed to have used drones to deliver “radioactive and carcinogenic materials” into the Israeli embassy. Specialist officers combed Kensington Gardens, onto which the Israeli embassy backs, on Friday over “discarded items” found in the park overnight that came as an Iran-linked group claimed it had launched an attack. The park was closed to the public with “hazardous” signs hung on the shut iron gates, and officers from the Metropolitan Police Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) response team in...

President Donald Trump embarks on a much-anticipated trip to China next month to meet with President Xi Jinping, as the first year-plus of the Trump presidency has redefined global economic affairs and foreign policy.Trump and Xi are set to meet in Beijing on May 14-15. Over the past 15 months, Trump has reasserted the United States’ role on the global stage, whether it be through economic policy, diplomacy, or military operations. In turn, the developments have certainly redefined the U.S.-China relationship.“President Trump has undoubtedly restored American strength on the world stage – showing the entire world that the days of...

The U.S. military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, according to U.S. officials, expanding its naval crackdown beyond the Middle East.

Iran rowed back on its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a tanker attempting to pass the waterway on Saturday. It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.Confusion over the critical chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence a new deal was within reach.Iran’s joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state...

President Donald Trump on Friday posted about making Lebanon great again amid the country’s ceasefire deal with Israel. “Again! This deal is not tied, in any way, to Lebanon, but we will, MAKE LEBANON GREAT AGAIN!” Trump’s TRUTH Social post said. "I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE," the president wrote in a TRUTH Social post. Both nations met earlier this week in D.C. for peace talks, which were mediated by...

Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces." It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. President Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News on Friday that Iran has "agreed to everything," and will work with the U.S. to remove its enriched uranium. He said the two sides are meeting this weekend and the U.S. would continue its military blockade...

US forces have so far directed 21 ships to turn around since the blockade began this week, the US Central Command posted on X overnight, accompanied by an image of an American guided-missile destroyer patrolling the Arabian Sea. Trump also mocked Western allies over plans to deploy a British and French-led naval taskforce to patrol the Strait of Hormuz. Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron said on Friday they would send warships to help secure the key shipping route, which carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil. But the US president dismissed the effort in a post on X,...

Iran is planning to execute four more protesters in an attempt to quell further uprisings while the Islamic nation is in talks with the U.S. The four people, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, Bita Hemmati, Behrouz Zamaninejad, and Kourosh Zamaninejad were arrested in January and sentenced to death earlier this week. Bita Hemmati is the first woman to be publicly executed for her ties to the anti-regime protests. A reporter asked President Trump about these executions, and this was his response. A pretty amazing response from President Trump to this reporter question:REPORTER: Iran is going to execute four more protesters, including the first...

It's not a done deal but the situation in Iran appears to be heading for an off-ramp just as the situation in Cuba might be gearing up. Here's what we know at the moment. First, U.S. officials quietly visited Cuba last Friday to directly make the case for reform.The meeting last Friday itself marks a diplomatic breakthrough because it's the first time a U.S. government plane has touched down since President Obama visited a decade ago in an effort for rapprochement...A senior State Department official told Axios that multiple meetings took place but would not name the participants, except for...

The Speaker of Iran's Parliament has declared the opening of the Strait of Hormuz null and void. In a tweet posted on X, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused President Trump of violating the deal opening the Strait of Hormuz and said the Strait is now closed."With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade until Trump tells them not to. https://t.co/1zFz6q3MVt— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 17, 2026"With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open."Meanwhile, CENTCOM said today they will continue the blockade...