Around

• The People's Liberation Army conducted live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait on April 17, with Chinese warships and fighter jets operating within 50 nautical miles of Taiwan's territorial waters—a proximity not seen since 2020. • Taiwan's defense ministry scrambled fighter jets in response and confirmed the U.S. Navy carrier USS Ronald Reagan transited the strait early on April 18, marking the second transit in four weeks. • U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated the transit "demonstrates the United States' commitment to freedom of navigation and a rules-based international order," prompting a sharp rebuke from Beijing's Foreign Ministry.

In today’s newsletter: A Waitrose worker’s dismissal ​after confronting a shoplifter has become a flashpoint in a wider debate over rising retail crimeGood morning. Overnight, the US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire, which included a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz. It followed a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, but the Israeli government have said the deal does not include Lebanon.You can read our main report here and our live blog will be tracking news throughout the day. My colleague Martin Belam will have more details on what the pause in the fighting means in tomorrow’s First Edition. Today, we are covering the scourge of shoplifting in the UK.Middle East | Donald Trump said he had agreed to a Pakistani-brokered two-week ceasefire, shortly before a deadline at which he had threatened to end the “whole civilisation” of Iran. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, issued a statement saying: “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordinating with Iran’s armed forces.”UK news | Millions of graduates will have the interest on their student loans capped at 6% from September as a temporary measure to protect them from the risk of rising inflation driven by war in the Middle East.Entertainment | The Wireless music festival has been cancelled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West was banned from entering the UK amid a deepening political row over his previous antisemitic statements.Politics | Reform UK would stop issuing visas to people from any country that continues to demand compensation from the UK for its role in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people, the party has said.World news | Australia’s most decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has not applied for bail and will remain in custody after being charged with war crimes. The former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross-recipient is charged with five counts of “war crime – murder” in relation to alleged offences in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012. Continue reading...

• Intense fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces near Khartoum has displaced over 200,000 civilians in the past week and cut off humanitarian access to vast regions, according to UN agencies on April 7. • The UN warns of imminent famine conditions affecting 18 million people; water and sanitation infrastructure has collapsed in multiple cities, raising cholera and disease outbreak risks. • The US State Department called for an immediate ceasefire and pledged $50 million in emergency humanitarian assistance; neighboring countries report mounting refugee flows straining resources.

President Masoud Pezeshkian says 14m people ‘declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives’ for defence of IranMiddle East crisis – live updatesIranians officials called on young people to form human chains around the country’s power plants and people in Tehran stocked up on basic provisions, as the clock ticked down on Donald Trump’s deadline to open the strait of Hormuz or face massive strikes on civilian infrastructure.Iranian media showed people gathering outside electricity stations, waving Iranian flags and holding up banners, including at the country’s largest power plant, near Tehran, and in Tabriz in the north-west. In Dezful in the south-west, people gathered on a bridge said to be 1,700 years old. Continue reading...

CBI figures showing surprise jump in financial sector’s growth will be welcome news for Rachel ReevesBritain’s financial services companies have reported a strong recovery in activity at the start of the year, in a surprise boost to the government after a gloomy end to 2025.Banks, insurers and investment managers said their businesses were growing, with a positive balance of nearly two-thirds noting an expansion, according to a long-running survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a lobby group. That contrasted with the negative balance of 38% in December, despite the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Seven of England’s 24 stroke centres still not providing mechanical thrombectomy 24/7 despite ministers’ pledgesThe NHS has not made a “life-changing” treatment for stroke available around the clock across England despite ministers repeatedly promising that it would.The health service was expected to improve stroke care by making a clot removal technique called mechanical thrombectomy available everywhere in the country 24/7 from 1 April. Continue reading...

Follow latest updates, including how to watch the launch, as four astronauts prepare to set off on a 685,000-mile journey with millions watchingA two-hour launch window for Artemis II opens at 6.24pm EST (11.24pm BST) after an almost four-hour fueling process. Nasa’s final weather briefing on Tuesday reported an 80% chance of favorable conditions for launch.Mission managers will be watching closely data from launchpad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, as well as real-time and forecast weather information. Any last-minute technical issue or weather violation can cause a scrubbed launch attempt, or a delay, right up to T-0 (the moment the countdown clock reaches zero). Continue reading...

Affected communities in Queensland and the NT can apply for an Australian government disaster recovery payment from 2pm SaturdayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThousands of people are bracing for Severe Cyclone Narelle as it barrels towards the Northern Territory, with winds of up to 195km/h expected from the dangerous storm as it moves west from far north Queensland.Narelle was downgraded from a category four to a two as it moved through the Gulf of Carpentaria after making landfall across Cape York on Friday, forecasted to hit eastern Top End late Saturday. Continue reading...

NASA’s DART mission slammed into the small asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, and the impact slowed its orbit around the larger Didymos – and also the pair’s path around the sun

Most coastal risk assessments have underestimated current sea levels, meaning tens of millions of people face losing their homes to rising waters earlier than expected