President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan, the White House said Friday, just hours after Iran’s top diplomat headed to the South Asian nation where officials have been trying to get the United States and Iran to convene for a second round of ceasefire »»»

NICOSIA: EU leaders vowed to boost security and economic ties with Middle East partners and push for a diplomatic end to the Iran war, after talks in Cyprus focusing on the fallout from the conflict.Leaders from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan as well as the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperati»»»

GENEVA: Porto holding off Benfica in the Portuguese title race is a rivalry between André Villas-Boas and his one-time mentor José Mourinho. Porto have been revived in two years with Villas-Boas as president of his boyhood club that he coached to a league, cup and Europa League treble at age 33 in »»»

EU leaders vowed to boost security and economic ties with Middle East partners and push for a diplomatic end to the Iran war, after talks in Cyprus focusing on the fallout from the conflict. Leaders from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan as well as the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Counc»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran will not allow anyone to export oil from the Middle East if the country is not able to do it itself, Iranian Vice President for Optimization and Strategic Management of Energy Affairs Esmaeil Saqqab Esfahani said on Friday. On Wednesday, member of the Iranian parliament's Co»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed by the phone the situation in the Persian Gulf, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. "On April 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Fore»»»

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Friday that the European Union could ease sanctions on Tehran as part of a comprehensive deal that would end the Iran war, but other EU leaders struck a more cautious note. The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iran for years, including travel bans »»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah on Friday of trying to "sabotage" efforts to reach a peace agreement with Lebanon. "We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it's clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this," he said in»»»

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah on Friday of trying to “sabotage” efforts to reach a peace agreement with Lebanon. “We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it’s clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this,”»»»

With just one year left in his second five-year term, French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will quit politics in 2027 -- leaving observers and supporters guessing about his next moves. "I wasn't in politics before and I'm not going to be after," Macron said Thursday during a visit to a high»»»

A lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has said that he was detained by police for wearing a kippah with the Israeli and Palestinian flags on it. Alex Sinclair said in a post on Facebook on Thursday that he had been sporting the kippah for 20 years due to “a messy ambivalence of my Jewish»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah on Friday of trying to "sabotage" efforts to reach a peace agreement with Lebanon. "We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it's clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this," he said in»»»

Indonesia once again strongly condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that resulted in the death of a fourth Indonesian peacekeeper, the foreign ministry said on Friday. The peacekeeper sustained severe injuries due to an artillery explosion from an Israeli tank on March 29 and the ministry announce»»»

Switzerland said Friday it had begun sending staff back to Tehran and would gradually reopen its embassy, enabling it to continue as a facilitator for diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran. For decades, neutral Switzerland has played a central role in maintaining basic diplomatic contac»»»

Houssam Naddaf said no words could capture the shock of seeing an Israeli soldier smash a crucifix in his family's private garden in the southern Lebanese village of Debel — an image he recognized instantly as it spread online. "I saw it on the internet like everyone else," he said. Naddaf had not »»»

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press briefing Friday that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has gone global after seizing two vessels in the Indo-Pacific region this week. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a p»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Northern Sea Route is becoming an increasingly appealing logistics route amid events in the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has said. "Amid international turbulence in various regions of the world, the Northern Sea Route is becoming an increasin»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States would welcome a "serious" European effort regarding the Strait of Hormuz instead of "silly" conferences, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Friday. Last week, the United Kingdom and France held an international conference on Strait of Hormuz navigation»»»

This is the first instance of a Central Asian country shipping goods to Pakistan in its own truck. The QTTA route now serves as a stable alternative for any kind of cargo. Pakistan has achieved a major milestone in regional connectivity. The first truck from Kyrgyzstan has arrived in Pakistan throu»»»

Dubai: The Philippine government has confirmed that 15 Filipino seafarers onboard two container ships intercepted in the Strait of Hormuz are safe and unharmed, following an incident involving Iranian forces. The vessels, Epaminondas and MSC Francesca, have been stopped by the Islamic Revolutionary»»»

War-torn Gaza is heavily contaminated by unexploded ordnance, which frequently kill and maim people and could threaten recovery efforts far into the future, the UN said Friday. Unexploded ordnance, ranging from undetonated bombs or grenades to simple bullets, has become a common sight in the Gaza S»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Pentagon is still struggling to secure funding to expedite the replenishment of critical munitions used up during the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, The New York Times reported, citing US officials. In January, US defense contractor Lockheed Martin signed a f»»»

Periods of geopolitical unrest can create uncertainty, and that uncertainty can create space for misinformation and disinformation to thrive. In recent years, we have seen how rapidly unverified claims, edited videos, and misleading commentary, whether accidentally (misinformation) or deliberately »»»

The Egypt amon coalition, a strategic partnership between Poland’s Hynfra and Egypt’s Coxswains, has announced a major green ammonia initiative in Egypt with an initial investment of 5 billion dollars, Bloomberg reported. The project aims to commence production by 2031, with total investments proje»»»

Indonesia once again strongly condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that resulted in the death of a fourth Indonesian peacekeeper, the foreign ministry said on Friday. The peacekeeper sustained severe injuries due to an artillery explosion from an Israeli tank on March 29 and the ministry announce»»»

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Friday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks and will also stop in Oman and Russia. The trip to Pakistan comes as officials there have been trying to get the United States and Iran to a second round of ceasefire ne»»»

Dubai: International Airlines Group (IAG) announced Friday it will raise ticket prices to offset rising jet fuel costs linked to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war, even as it says supply remains stable, according to a Reuters report. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The ai»»»

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has played down a leaked Pentagon email suggesting his country could face being suspended from NATO for not supporting the United States in its conflict with Iran. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sa»»»

The Trump administration announced Friday that it is extending its waiver of the Jones Act by 90 days to combat high oil prices. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- The Trump administration announced Friday that it is extending its waiver of the Jones Act by 90 days to combat»»»

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that he has undergone treatment for prostate cancer in his first public acknowledgment of the diagnosis. He said that roughly a year-and-a -half ago he had prostate surgery. Then two-and-a-half months ago, his doctors discovered and t»»»

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place. In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was ‌released, Netanyahu, ‌76, said an early ​»»»

PARIS: Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio said on Friday the ‌US ‌expects ​its ‌operation ⁠in ​Iran to conclude ⁠in “weeks, not months” after ⁠he met ‌with ‌G7 ​foreign ministers ‌in ‌France.Rubio also said Iran may ‌decide to set up ⁠a ⁠tolling system for the Strait of Hormuz.- More to follow»»»

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE: Pope Leo XIV urged the United States and Iran to return to talks to end the war Thursday and condemned capital punishment, in a wide-ranging press conference en route home from his trip to Africa. Leo also asserted that countries have the right to control their borders but m»»»

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that a US blockade on Iran ​is going global, adding Tehran had a chance to make a “good deal” with Washington.“Our blockade is growing and going global,” Hegseth told reporters.“No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the wo»»»

Pune, India: Blink and you might miss Indian speed climber Deepu Mallesh scaling a wall five buses high in five seconds. India, a country obsessed with cricket, has seen a surge in popularity in climbing but those who want to compete internationally have had to crowdfund and there is little governm»»»

Beijing: Thousands squeezed into the world's biggest car show Friday, snapping selfies beside Chinese electric vehicles as automakers showcased AI, humanoid robots and flying-car ambitions in a cut-throat market. Rows of influencers posed in front of gleaming models at the capital's cavernous inter»»»

The senior officer, who has been accused by Ukrainian military intelligence of involvement in criminal activities on European territory, has been appointed head of the FSB Border Guard Directorate for Karelia. Vladimir Shchemelinin is the new head of the FSB directorate responsible for guarding the»»»

Tyre, Lebanon: Clutching a battered photo album, Mohamad Ali Hijazi searched a mountain of rubble in south Lebanon's Tyre for mementoes of his family, killed in an Israeli strike minutes before a ceasefire took hold. "I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush... and a bottle of perfume that she love»»»

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday urged NATO allies to stick together, after a report that the United States was mulling action against Spain over its refusal to support operations against Iran. "NATO must remain united. I believe it is a source of strength," Meloni told reporters as »»»

CHANTILLY, France: Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take “ages and ages,” UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said Friday, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict. “You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones and then talk to me abo»»»

Iran’s top diplomat is expected to travel to Pakistan by this weekend for talks, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on Friday, raising hopes for revived negotiations in the Iran-U.S. war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to be accompanied by a small government del»»»

Islamabad, Pakistan: Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night, an official source in Pakistan said, without providing details about who he was likely to meet. The Pakistan capital has been gearing up for an anticipated second round of talks between »»»

GENEVA: Drought displaced nearly 62,000 people in just five Somali districts since the start of the year, the UN said Friday, estimating that the countrywide number could be in the hundreds of thousands. The United Nations’ migration agency said that in the five out of Somalia’s 90 districts that i»»»

Kuwait City, Kuwait: The Kuwaiti military said on Friday that two drones coming from the direction of neighboring Iraq struck border posts on its northern frontier with the country, causing damage but no casualties. “This morning, two of Kuwait’s northern land border posts were targeted in a crimin»»»

IZHEVSK, Russia (Sputnik) - Russia hopes that the United States and Iran will be able to reach a final agreement amid the ceasefire extension announced by US President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday. "We hope that they will be able to resolve the e»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Israeli Media: Israel’s Position Worse Than Before War on All Fronts 24-04-2026 15:24 PM Israeli rescue services gather at the site of an I»»»

JAKARTA (Sputnik) - The remote Pacific island nation of the Marshall Islands has no guarantee of fuel supplies for the next two months due to the Middle East conflict, Finance Minister David Paul said. "In order to be realistic, everything is still fluid, and anything can happen. I really cannot pr»»»

Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take "ages and ages", UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said Friday, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict. "You can't be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones and then talk to me about trust. That will»»»

David Wilcock, a self-styled American UFO researcher and a prominent paranormal content creator and author, has been found dead in what has been ruled a suicide. The incident happened days after US President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances»»»

Islamabad: Iran’s top diplomat is expected to travel to Pakistan by this weekend for talks, two Pakistani officials said on Friday. The officials declined to provide any other details about Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit, other than to say he would be accompanied by a small governm»»»