Trump orders extended naval blockade of Iran

Robert White

Last updated 29 April 2026 7:41am BST

Key moments

• President targets Iranian economy
• US aides are preparing for a prolonged blockade rather than a return to conflict. 
• King 'agrees with me' on Iran, says Trump

The President claims His Majesty supports the mission to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Donald Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended naval blockade of Iran. The US president suggested he would continue squeezing the Iranian economy and oil exports rather than resume bombing. Mr Trump believes a return to conflict, or a withdrawal from the region, would carry more risk than maintaining the naval blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports, officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Here we go again: AI deletes entire company database and all backups in 9 seconds, then cheerfully admits 'I violated every principle I was given'

Software AI News

By Rich Stanton 

Published 11 hours ago

"If you pay for car airbags and they don’t deploy because they don’t exist is that your fault because you got in the accident?"

How Bernie Sanders convinced Democrats to oppose arming Israel

The Vermont Independent’s long-running campaign to block arms sales is demonstrating a sea change in the Senate Democratic Caucus.

By Calen Razor

04/28/2026 

04:45 AM EDT

When Bernie Sanders moved last April to block a U.S. arms sale to Israel, only 14 Democratic senators joined the Vermont independent.
What a difference a year makes: When Sanders objected to another Israeli arms sale this month, 39 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus joined him — a sea change that has raised eyebrows from Washington to Jerusalem.

Justice Department legal argument for the White House ballroom reads like a Trump social media post

By MICHELLE L. PRICE
Updated 1:32 PM PDT, April 28, 2026

The Associated Press 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is pressing for the dismissal of preservationists’ lawsuit over the planned $400 million White House ballroom after the shooting at Saturday’s media gala. But its latest court filing reads more like a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump than a document crafted by government lawyers.

Federal agents conducting raids tied to investigation into alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota

It was not immediately clear how many raids occurred on Tuesday morning. The raids were not connected to immigration operations.

By Michael Kosnar and Rebecca Cohen

April 28, 2026, 5:31 AM PDT 

Updated April 28, 2026, 10:11 AM PDT

Federal law enforcement agencies are conducting a series of raids connected to the investigation into alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota on Tuesday morning, federal authorities have said.

89-year-old man arrested for allegedly wounding at least 4 people with a shotgun in Greek capital

By ELENA BECATOROS
Updated 7:15 AM PDT, April 28, 2026

Photo: Documento

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police in Greece on Tuesday arrested an 89-year-old man who allegedly opened fire with a shotgun in a social security office and a courthouse in central Athens, wounding at least four people.

Ingenious? Orwellian? Or both? Supreme Court considers constitutionality of 'geofence' warrants

 n  p  r 

April 27, 2026
5:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
Nina Totenberg

The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday about a relatively new law enforcement technique that allows police to tap into giant tech-firm databases to find out who was near the scene of a crime and may have been involved. Essentially the question before the high court is whether that technique is ingenious, Orwellian, or both? And, ultimately, is it constitutional?

Iran FM blames US for failure of talks as he meets Putin

AFP teams in Saint Petersburg, Tehran and Moscow

Mon, April 27, 2026

 
Iran's top diplomat blamed Washington Monday for the failure of Middle East peace talks during a visit to Russia, where President Vladimir Putin promised him Moscow's support in ending the war.

Trump not happy with latest Iran proposal to end the war, US official says

By Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland

April 27, 2026 7:01 PM PDT

Updated 1 hour ago
Summary

• Latest Iranian plan would set aside nuclear issue until after war ends, Iranian sources say
• Trump unhappy with delaying deal on Iran nuclear program, official says
• Iran demands blockade be lifted before any negotiations begin

The Gray Tide: Latin America’s Demographic Transformation

By Laurence Blair

April 21, 2026

A perfect storm of plunging birth rates and rapidly aging populations will break over Latin America in coming decades. Is there a silver lining?

Retirees in Buenos Aires protest pension changes by the government of President Javier Milei in September.Catriel Gallucci Bordoni/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Reading Time: 16 minutes

This article is adapted from AQ’s special report on Latin America’s demographic transformation | Leer en español | Ler em português

MONTEVIDEO—For more than 25 years, Jardín Sonrisitas (“Little Smiles Kindergarten”) taught kids their ABCs in Villa del Cerro, a working-class portside district in Uruguay’s capital. But in December, the beloved kindergarten closed: one of three local creches to shut in as many years.

60-foot octopus prowled seas as apex predator during age of dinosaurs, fossilized jaws show

Updated on: April 24, 2026, 

7:39 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The top predator prowling the seas during the age of the dinosaurs, 100 million years ago, may have been the octopus

New analyses of fossilized jaws reveal that massive, kraken-like octopuses once hunted alongside other marine predators. They boasted eight arms and long bodies that extended more than 60 feet, rivaling other carnivorous marine reptiles.

Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz if US lifts its blockade and the war ends, officials say

By SAMY MAGDY, JON GAMBRELL and ELENA BECATOROS
Updated 2:28 PM PDT, 

April 27, 2026

CAIRO (AP) — Iran offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade on the country and ends the war in a proposal that would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, two regional officials said Monday.

22 Buddhist monks arrested at airport after record drug bust

Updated on: April 27, 2026 

6:15 AM EDT / CBS/AFP
CBS News

Twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand were arrested on Sunday at the main international airport with a record 242 pounds of powerful cannabis, officials said.

A Sri Lanka Customs spokesman said the group, returning home after a four-day vacation in the Thai capital, had Kush -- a potent strain of cannabis -- hidden in their luggage.

Trump Goons Scramble After His Twisted Attack on Guardians of History

YOU GOT IT, SIR

Within hours, the Department of Justice was trying to make good on the president’s demands.

Janna Brancolini

Updated Apr. 27 2026 11:31AM EDT Published Apr. 27 2026 7:48AM EDT 

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

The Pentagon replicated a Ukrainian-style drone attack in Florida. Now it’s changing its counter-drone strategy

THREATS
Several things, from the players to the technology, set the exercise apart from previous experiments
BY PATRICK TUCKER
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
APRIL 23, 2026

DRONESPENTAGON

In a September exercise on a Florida airfield, members of the 10th Special Forces Group launched a drone assault that mirrored the “spiderweb” attack that Ukraine had recently staged against Russia. The defenders were counter-drone troops from across the U.S. military, trained for a week on tech that the Pentagon has spent billions to develop. U.S. counter-drone efforts haven’t been the same since.

Gen Z wants to turn back the clock as more of the young generation yearn for the days of no social media

More Gen Z adults say they’d rather live in the past than skip ahead to the future
Graig Graziosi in Washington, DC
Friday 24 April 2026 

Nearly half of Gen Z is ready to unplug and wish they could go back and live in a time without smartphones and social media, according to a new poll.

Drill, baby, drill? US, China fight for the future of energy

BUSINESSCHINA
Thomas Kohlmann

16 hours ago

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is having a major impact on global energy markets. Behind the scenes, another battle is going on as the US and China race for global energy dominance.

Largest 3D Map of the Universe Is Adding Serious Fuel to the Cosmology Crisis

Space & Spaceflight

The conclusion of DESI's first survey marks an important milestone for cosmology, which finds itself in a bind for the best reasons.

By Gayoung Lee 

Published April 26, 2026

Last week, the Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument (DESI) concluded its first official survey. Over the past five years, the experiment recorded more than 47 million galaxies and 20 million stars over 11 billion years of cosmic history.