Trump claims US has total control over strait of Hormuz after Iran seizes two container ships

• US military missile inventories, including Tomahawks, Patriots, and THAAD interceptors, are depleting faster than production rates amid the Iran war launched February 28, 2026. • President Trump extended the Iran truce, prompting questions on whether it's a diplomatic move or a pause to resupply amid sustainability concerns. • The conflict, triggered by US-Israeli airstrikes killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has led to Iranian retaliation and Strait of Hormuz closure, disrupting global oil supplies.

Tensions around US negotiations may reflect mistake of assassinating more pragmatic and experienced figuresMiddle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump has claimed that the infighting between moderates and hardliners in Iran’s leadership is so intense that the country has “no idea who their leader is”, but many Iranian experts questioned his analysis, saying that – given the mass assassinations of senior commanders – the country has shown remarkable institutional cohesion.Trump’s allegations of “CRAZY” splits in the Iranian leadership – the second outing for this argument in three days – is remarkable since he has previously said either he has little knowledge of the new Iranian leadership or that there has already been regime change. Continue reading...

Mandated release of files was marred by missed deadlines, leaked victims’ information and excessive redactionsUS politics live – latest updatesThe US Department of Justice’s office of the inspector general (OIG) announced on Thursday that it is launching an audit of the justice department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.In a news release, the deputy inspector general William M Blier, who the statement said is performing the duties of the inspector general, said that the “preliminary objective” of the internal probe “is to evaluate the [justice department’s] processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act”. Continue reading...

Hope Not Hate campaign identifies election hopefuls calling for a ‘white Britain’ and complaining of ‘kowtowing to the black community’A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number of contenders fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting.The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Continue reading...

Police allegedly found images on iCloud account of singer accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas HernandezA Los Angeles prosecutor said that the singer D4vd, who was charged this week in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was in possession of a “significant amount of child pornography”.Police allegedly found the images on the iCloud account of the 21-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. Continue reading...

Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospitalA mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital. Continue reading...

Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by FranceMiddle East crisis – live updatesBritain 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. Continue reading...

More than 200,000 have signed petitions urging the government to break contracts, amid concerns about the company’s ‘supervillain’ manifestoOver 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils.Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the firm, whose software is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330 patient data contract with the NHS. Continue reading...

Prosecutors say 43 people indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion and drug traffickingMore than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday.The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office. Continue reading...

Forecasting service raises alarm over data from Paris airport used to settle Polymarket wagers on temperatureFrench police are investigating alleging tampering with national weather forecasting service equipment after a series of unusual temperature readings coincided with suspicious winning bets made on Polymarket.Data from a Météo-France weather station at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport was used to settle bets between online gamblers on what the temperature would be in Paris for March and the first weeks of April. Continue reading...

National broadcaster confirms it will not broadcast world’s largest live music eventNational broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia will not air the Eurovision song contest this year, after they decided to boycott the event over Israel’s participation.Having already announced it would not submit a national entry, Slovenian broadcaster RTV confirmed on Thursday it would implement a broadcasting blackout of the world’s largest live music event and instead show a series of films about Palestine. Continue reading...

Battle of the blockades may still have more time to run as both the US and Iran try to assert control over the strait of HormuzDonald 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. Continue reading...