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North America
United States
20:48 ET, 19 Apr 2026 Trump yesterday reminded FII attendees that he believes he has stopped eight wars. And if they weren't already convinced, Trump said even Russian President Putin congratulated him on doing so. "You know, when I didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize. You gotta understand, I don't care. Norway has lost so credible. I stopped 8 wars," Trump claimed. The conflicts Trump counts among those he has solved are between Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, Rwanda and Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Cambodia and Thailand. Trump, during his second term, has attacked Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, Ecuador, Yemen and civilian boatmen in the Caribbean. His administration also claims to be at war with at least 24 cartels and criminal gangs, many of which it has not named, and has threatened military action against Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Cuba and Colombia. (Source: The Mirror U.S.)
(Saturday), Apr 18, 2026 11:45 IST On Thursday, Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. The US had been pushing for such a truce for several days while also working in parallel on a peace deal with Iran. Under the agreement, Israel retains the right to take military action, even during the ceasefire, in self-defence “at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.” At the same time, Israel committed not to carry out offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military and other state sites. The ceasefire remains politically sensitive for Netanyahu, whose government has stressed that it is not constrained from striking Hezbollah if required. However, Trump used markedly stronger language yesterday. “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough!!!” he wrote. In an interview with Axios, he reiterated his stance, saying, “Israel has to stop. They can't continue to blow buildings up. I am not gonna allow it.” The post stunned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisers, as it contradicted the text of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that the State Department published on Thursday. Trump’s statement suggested he was issuing an order that Israel had no choice but to obey. Netanyahu was personally alarmed when he learnt of the post. Israel sought clarification from the White House. (Source: India Today)
Apr 16, 2026 4:07 PM EDT During his press conference Hegseth claims China is helping to arm Iran: “President Trump has a very strong and direct relationship with President Xi, and they’ve communicated on that, and China has assured us that that indeed is not going to happen,” Hegseth avowed. (Source: The War Zone - U.S.)
Apr 16, 2026 4:07 PM EDT Select Committee on China Chairman Moolenaar sent a letter to Hegseth concerning the operations of Airbus Space 'due to its role in likely providing satellite imagery of U.S. military assets to MizarVision, a Chinese entity, days before the commencement of Operation Epic Fury,' according a committee press release. "While commercial satellite imagery may serve public interest purposes in some cases, unconstrained imagery provision exposing U.S. forces to heightened risk crosses a dangerous threshold,' Moolenaar wrote. “Near-real-time publication of precise, annotated imagery identifying the exact type, number, and location of specific high-value military assets at an active forward operating base - while those assets are actively engaged in combat operations - is targeting data for enemy forces.' (Source: The War Zone - U.S.)
by Altman, a Senior Staff Writer
(April 16, 2026) US President Trump claims Iran is offering to give up nuclear weapons for 20 years and that war in the Middle East is close to ending. "We have a statement, a very powerful statement, that they will not have, beyond 20 years, that they will not have nuclear weapons," he tells. Trump tells reporters that Iran has agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium. They've agreed ’to give us back the nuclear dust,’ Trump told. He also said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire and that the leaders of the two countries will meet next Tuesday for the first time in 34 years. The ceasefire will come into effect at midnight local time, 7am AEST, with Mr Trump saying he had tasked Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio with ensuring a lasting peace between the two sides. Today, the US said it was widening its blockade on Iranian shipping to include what it called contraband, including weapons, weapons systems, ammunition, nuclear materials, crude and refined oil products as well as iron, steel and aluminium. Any vessel suspected of trying to reach Iranian territory would be subject to visit, board, search and seizure, the US Navy said in an advisory. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Caine warned that the US was prepared to use force on any vessel not complying with its orders. The US House of Representatives has backed Trump's military campaign against Iran, narrowly defeating a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war until hostilities are authorised by Congress. The war powers resolution was defeated by 214 to 213 in the Republican-majority chamber, a day after a similar measure was blocked in the Senate. (Source: ABC – Australia)
NATO
April 14, 2026 7:00 pm ET Europe is accelerating a NATO fallback plan in case Trump pulls out. The transition is already under way. A growing number of key NATO command posts are now held by Europeans, and many major exercises held recently or scheduled in the coming months will be led by European forces - notably in the Nordic region, where the alliance borders Russia. No amount of troop reshuffling can quickly replace the U.S. satellite, surveillance and missile-warning systems that form the backbone of NATO’s credibility. ’After Trump threatened to invade Greenland’, Merz and French President Macron then opened discussions replacing the U.S. nuclear umbrella over whether France’s nuclear deterrent could be extended to cover other European nations, including Germany. 'We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us and I said, ‘OK, bye bye,’” Trump said of his threat to leave NATO. Sikorski, the vice-premier of Poland, later posted a video of Trump’s statement to which he appended the comment 'Noted.' (Source: WSJ - U.S.)
by Pancevsky
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