546 stories · Page 11 of 55
Hours after President Trump prolonged the U.S.–Iran ceasefire on 22 Apr 2026 but kept a naval blockade, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized two foreign container ships and fired on a third near the Strait of Hormuz, re-closing the oil chokepoint.
On 22 April 2026, both Houses of the UK Parliament approved the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, locking in a rolling age increase that will bar anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 from ever legally purchasing tobacco once the measure receives royal assent next week.
Hours before the 22 April 2026 truce deadline, President Trump unilaterally prolonged the U.S.–Iran ceasefire yet ordered the Navy to continue blockading the Strait of Hormuz until Tehran presents a single negotiating proposal.
With the two-week U.S.–Iran cease-fire set to lapse late 21 April, the White House signalled it may unfreeze roughly $20 billion in Iranian funds and dispatched (or claimed to dispatch) Vice-President J.D. Vance to Pakistan for last-ditch talks, but Tehran has yet to confirm attendance and shipping blockades persist.
After Progressive Bulgaria won roughly 45% of the 19 Apr 2026 vote, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on 20 Apr publicly welcomed Rumen Radev’s call to reopen talks with Russia.
On 19 April 2026 the USS Spruance disabled the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska with 5-inch gunfire after a six-hour standoff, then U.S. Marines boarded and took the vessel—the inaugural live seizure under Washington’s week-old naval blockade of Iran.
On 20 Apr 2026, less than 48 hours before the two-week Iran ceasefire expires, Vice-President JD Vance’s team is still grounded in Washington and Tehran has not committed to attend the planned second negotiating round in Pakistan.
On 20 Apr 2026 Brussels slated a 22 Apr Coreper vote to release a €90 billion loan to Kyiv after Budapest—under outgoing PM Orbán and incoming PM Magyar—said it will drop its months-long veto once Russian crude resumes through the war-damaged Druzhba pipeline, expected to be tested on 21 Apr.
On 20 Apr 2026 the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance disabled and boarded the Iranian-flagged container vessel Touska near the Strait of Hormuz for violating a week-old U.S. naval blockade, leading Tehran to quit upcoming Islamabad peace talks and vow military retaliation just days before the bilateral ceasefire lapses.
On 19 Apr 2026, the U.S. Navy shot into and seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska near the Strait of Hormuz—the first forcible boarding since Washington’s port blockade began—prompting Tehran to formally pull out of the second U.S.–Iran cease-fire talks that had been pencilled in for 20 Apr 2026 in Islamabad.
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