UN human rights chief Volker Turk describes Israel’s attacks on Lebanon as ‘horrific’ coming so soon after US-Iran ceasefire announcement.

The rollout of the Trump administration’s defense budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year is underway, with approximately $1.5 trillion in total funding being requested. This is a whopping $445 billion above what the U.S. military has received for the current fiscal cycle. That is a more than 40 percent year-over-year increase, which includes major planned boosts for aircraft, munitions, missile defense, shipbuilding, and other programs.

The White House and the Pentagon began releasing details about the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 defense budget last week. The $1.5 trillion “topline” request includes a base budget of $1.1 trillion and “$350 billion in additional mandatory resources through reconciliation,” per the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

“The Budget builds upon the historic $1 trillion overall Defense topline for 2026,” according to an OMB fact sheet. “The mandatory funding protects key priorities such as providing flexibility in maturing technology for delivery and allowing for acquisition approaches for portfolios of capabilities that broaden opportunities for new entrants.”

It should be noted that the Pentagon has yet to release more granular documents for its Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, which often contain important additional context and nuance.

Still, there are already many significant takeaways about the proposed defense budget for the next fiscal cycle, which we will dive into below.

Aircraft

• The latest budget request includes major Air Force funding related to Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, including nearly $1 billion in procurement money to actually begin buying them.
• There is also $822 million in a separate procurement line for “Collaborative Combat Aircraft Mods,” terminology that typically refers to planned upgrades and other work on tangential capabilities.
• The proposed budget includes almost $1.4 billion more for continued CCA research and development, as well.
• The Air Force is currently testing two designs, General Atomics’ YFQ-42A Dark Merlin and Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury, under the first phase of its CCA program, and there continues to be a possibility that it could purchase production examples of both. The US Marine Corps and US Navy also have their own CCA programs, which are intertwined with each other, as well as the Air Force’s effort.

• The budget documents appear to show a year-over-year cut of more than $4.2 billion to the B-21 Raider bomber procurement account, but the reasons for this are unclear. How many B-21s the Air Force has ordered to date and what the current estimated unit cost of the aircraft is are unknown. In February, the Air Force announced plans to accelerate B-21 production, which may be further bolstered by the opening of a second production line, and said its target fleet size of at least 100 bombers remained unchanged.
• The Fiscal Year 2027 request for additional research and development funding through the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) program account is largely unchanged from last year ($2.86 billion compared to $2.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2026).

B-21 Takeoff and Landing

• The Air Force is also seeking funding for another 24 F-15EX Eagle II fighters, but there are no details as yet about whether there may be any new changes to the planned total fleet size for those aircraft.
• There are no requested funds for research and development or procurement related to the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft for the Air Force. Congress blocked a plan the Pentagon and the Air Force put forward last year to cancel the E-7 program and purchase more of the E-2D Hawkeye radar planes flown by the Navy in the interim, ahead of the fielding of future space-based capabilities, as you can read more about here.

• A previous budget line for the Air Force’s Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS) effort, which has been exploring stealthy tankers and other future aerial refueling capabilities, is notably closed out in the Fiscal Year 2027 proposal. Just over $13 million is included in what appears to be a new line for Advanced Tanker Systems, though how this relates to prior work on NGAS is unclear.
• The Army is seeking $2.14 billion for continued research and development of its new MV-75A tiltrotor, also known as the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), a roughly $610 million year-over-year increase. The Army is currently rushing the type into operation on a very truncated timeline.

Munitions

• The LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program’s engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) budget is cut by around $300 million in the new proposed spending plan. As of February, Sentinel was still in the midst of a years-long restructuring effort after suffering huge cost overruns and delays.

• The Air Force and Navy are collectively asking for nearly $2.94 billion in procurement funds for new AIM-260 air-to-air missiles, also known as Joint Advanced Tactical Missiles (JATM), up from $894 million in Fiscal Year 2026. This is a sign the missile is entering full production.
• There is a new Air Force line requesting nearly $404 million for the procurement of Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missiles (HACM).
• The service is also requesting $452 million to procure AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapons (ARRW), on top of just over $362 million received last year. ARRW is another hypersonic weapon that the Air Force had previously said it planned to cancel amid an initially checked test record.

• The PAC-3 MSE total includes Navy plans for a first-time procurement of 405 of those interceptors. This very likely points to movement forward on a new sea-based capability via the integration of those missiles into the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System.
• The proposed defense budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year includes notable increases in the procurement of various other missiles and munitions already in service.
• The Army is notably seeking funding to boost year-over-year purchases of Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles from 108 to 1,134. PrSM made its combat debut in recent operations against Iran.

Shipbuilding

• The Navy is requesting approximately $65.8 billion to procure 34 ships in Fiscal Year 2027. This is the largest shipbuilding budget, when adjusted for inflation, since 1962, according to USNI News.
• This includes 18 so-called “Battle Force” ships, as well as 16 other vessels. In Navy parlance, the Battle Force refers collectively to the service’s fleets of aircraft carriers, submarines, major surface combatants, and amphibious warfare ships, as well as combat logistics vessels and some other types of auxiliaries.
• The Navy is seeking funds for the procurement of two Virginia class attack submarines and one Columbia class ballistic missile submarine.
• On the surface warfare front, funds for an Arleigh Burke class destroyer and the first new FF(X) frigate are included in the proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year.

Golden Dome and the push toward space

• The Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal includes $17.5 billion in new funding for the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. Golden Dome is a very large effort with many different components, including planned new sensor architectures and space-based interceptors. The Missile Defense Agency has already established a contracting mechanism with a pool of more than 1,000 vendors to support work related to Golden Dome.

• The Space Force is a bigger winner in the new budget proposal, overall, with its topline rising nearly 80 percent, year-over-year, from $40 billion to $71.2 billion.
• The Space Force’s 2027 Fiscal Year budget request includes a new procurement line for Space-Based Air Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) capability, for which the service is seeking more than $7 billion.
• There is also just over $1 billion in requested procurement funds for Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) capability.
• Space-based AMTI and GMTI sensor systems are chief among the surveillance capabilities the U.S. military wants to increasingly push into orbit, as you can read more about here. Historically, AMTI and GMTI coverage has been provided by aircraft, and space-based developments factor directly into the aforementioned discussion about the future of the E-7 Wedgetail.
• There is also an all-new procurement line item requesting $1.56 billion for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications (SATCOM).

It should be stressed here that the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request is just that. Members of Congress routinely intercede to add or remove funding for different programs, and it typically takes months for an annual defense spending plan to be passed and signed into law, and then even more time for money to be appropriated to pay for it. In addition, this latest proposed defense budget relies heavily on legislators signing off on additional funds through the reconciliation process.

The Trump administration is expected to also make a separate request for billions more in supplemental funding related to operations against Iran, including to restock key munitions. Officials originally expected to seek $200 billion for that purpose, but more recent reports say that figure could now be down to between $80 and $100 billion.

As already noted, our understanding just of different aspects of the defense budget proposal for the 2027 Fiscal Year itself will evolve in the coming weeks as more granular details are released.

Still, the $1.5 trillion defense spending plan the Trump administration has put forward already sets an important tone as it seeks to substantially increase funding for a host of key programs. At the same time, its unprecedented size could present challenges to getting it approved.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

DAVID and Victoria Beckham have offered to meet son Brooklyn with lawyers or therapists to try to end their feud, it is claimed.

Brooklyn, 27, is also said to be considering taking back ownership of his own name — ten years after his mother trademarked it.

The aspiring cookery influencer, who changed his name to Peltz-Beckham after marrying US actress Nicola, reportedly wants to regain control.

It has also emerged that the rabbi at Brooklyn’s 2022 nuptials called him “David” twice.

He has not spoken to his parents in 15 months but reports in the US claim they have offered to meet him with “lawyers, the Peltz parents, siblings, a therapist or a mediator” to heal the rift.

Brooklyn’s devastating six-page Instagram statement in January said the feud had been fuelled by “pressure to sign away the rights to his name”.

READ MORE ON BECKHAM FEUD

BECK & CALL

David & Victoria ‘offer to meet Brooklyn with lawyers or therapist to end feud’

INKED OUT

Brooklyn Beckham shows off tattoo ‘swipe’ at family in racy new shoot with Nicola

He is now said to be considering making a legal move as it is up for renewal in December.

A source said: “Victoria trademarked the Intellectual Property for his full name in 2016-17 in order to protect him, and ensure no one else could exploit his famous name.

“It certainly wasn’t a malicious thing, and the view was that Brooklyn could do with it what he wanted in adulthood.

“But from Brooklyn’s perspective, it was yet another example of control being displayed over him.

“He feels infantilised and just wants to claw back control over the most simple of things — his name.

“He is weighing up all his options but no decisions have been made yet.”

The trademark covers commercial rights in Europe and the UK for goods such as beauty products and toys.

It means Brooklyn would technically need permission to launch a brand using his full name.

Meanwhile, another embarrassing detail from his wedding was revealed by New York-based magazine, The Cut.

It was claimed the football-loving rabbi presiding over the ceremony twice accidentally called Brooklyn “David” after his football star father.

A witness described it as “uncomfortably Oedipal”.

Brooklyn also claimed in his statement that his mother “danced very inappropriately on me” at his wedding.

The Sun first revealed Brooklyn sent Posh and Becks a cease and desist letter last summer, telling them not to tag him on Instagram.

Brooklyn, who has formed a close bond with in-laws Nelson and Claudia, unfollowed chef Gordon Ramsay after his interview with The Sun about the Beckhams’ rift.  

A trove of sensitive Los Angeles police records, including officer personnel files and documents from Internal Affairs investigations, are among the materials seized by hackers in a breach last month involving the L.A. city attorney’s office.

The leak involves 337,000 files, including some of the LAPD’s most closely guarded records. The documents posted online include the disciplinary histories of officers and investigations into complaints against them, materials that are typically sealed from public view under state law.

The massive hack sent shudders through the department. Officials have sought to downplay the extent of the disclosure, but activists who have long pushed for more transparency around acts of officer misconduct quickly put a spotlight on sensitive files they were able to access.

After The Times published a story Tuesday about the hack, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement that said “unauthorized individuals had gained access to a digital storage system,” enabling them to obtain “discovery documents from previously adjudicated or settled LAPD civil litigation cases.”

The department noted that it was a compromise of the Los Angeles city attorney’s office computers and that the “breach does not involve any LAPD systems or networks.”

“We take this incident very seriously and are working with the L.A. City Attorney’s Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breach,” the department’s statement said.

Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said in a statement that the office first became aware March 20 of “unauthorized access to a third-party tool used by the City Attorney’s Office to transfer discovery to opposing counsel and litigants.”

Pine said the office “took immediate steps to secure the tool and investigate what information was accessed,” including contacting law enforcement.

“The City Attorney’s Office has confirmed that no other City applications or systems were involved in this incident,” Pine said. “The information was self contained in this application without any links or access to any department records or systems. Our investigation is continuing to determine what information was present in the tool and we will take appropriate action to notify any affected parties based on the results of this review.”

The Los Angeles Police Protective League — the union that represents the department’s rank-and-file officers — issued a statement Wednesday afternoon that criticized the city attorney’s office for its handling of the breach.

The union’s board of directors said City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto “should have picked up the phone and informed us about this egregious data breach when she claims she learned of it several weeks ago.”

“We first learned of the breach by reading the Times and the City Attorney has still not provided the union with an honest assessment of the breach’s magnitude, who was impacted, what was disclosed and how this could have happened,” the union’s statement said. “To say we are disappointed by the lack of urgency and forthrightness from the City Attorney’s office is an understatement. We will keep asking the tough questions and once we receive answers we will take appropriate action.”

Within the Police Department, there has been virtually no acknowledgment from senior leaders about the breach or its implications, according to LAPD sources who requested anonymity in order to discuss the confidential matter.

According to one of the department sources, there was a vague reference to LAPD employees needing to change their passwords more frequently at a regular meeting Monday of command staff — but no mention of the breach itself or what files had become public.

The data were obtained by a well-known hacking group known for conducting ransomware attacks on large entities and demanding payment, threatening to make the confidential data public on the web. City and LAPD officials did not comment on whether the hackers requested a ransom in return for not releasing the information and whether the city paid one.

A spokesperson for the FBI’s office in Los Angeles said the agency “is aware of the incident, is actively assisting the City’s Attorney’s Office, and is coordinating with partners.”

At least one hacking group on March 20 claimed to have access to the city of Los Angeles files. Cybercrime investigators from both the federal government and the LAPD have been pursuing the hack since last month, according to police sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the open case.

Some of the records have surfaced on social media platforms, including X. Among the first to share a file from the hack was the account @WhosThatCop, which regularly posts about information related to police accountability.

The account’s administrator said a security researcher first disclosed the breach. A link to the files apparently had been taken down by Tuesday afternoon.

The disclosure represents a stunning breach of police data. Some files circulating from the hack included personal health information of officers, witness interviews from criminal investigations and internal probes conducted by the department. Only rarely do Internal Affairs documents surface in civil lawsuits and criminal cases, and even then they are often heavily redacted.

In all, according to posts about the data breach, 7.7 terabytes of information was available for download.

The disclosure of confidential LAPD records could unleash a new round of costly lawsuits by officers. About 900 officers are currently suing the department related to a 2023 release of mugshot-style images — along with names, races and other demographic details of police officers — in response to a public records request.

The LAPD statement described the files in the recent hack as coming from closed cases. But the X account @WhosThatCop published a redacted internal affairs report from an apparently ongoing case. The case involves a lawsuit by a woman who alleges that she was sexually assaulted by an LAPD officer days after the officer took her into custody in 2022.

In a statement to The Times, the account’s anonymous operator applauded the hack.

“Sadly, having the public resort to transparency by relying on 340,000 City Attorney files being published at the hands of criminals is emblematic of the stonewalling and incompetence by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, Mayor Bass, and LAPD Chief McDonnell,” the operator said.

According to court filings, the city reached a conditional settlement with the woman on March 20 — the same day the data theft was revealed by hackers. The matter had been set to go to trial next week.

The lawsuit alleged that the officer, Gabriel Anthony Espadas, detained the woman on a mental health hold after responding to a call for service in the San Fernando Valley. The woman’s lawsuit contends that the officer “engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity” with her after her release.

The city defended itself in the lawsuit, saying the “two sexual encounters” involved an “off-duty, probationary officer” who was “not acting within the course and scope of his employment.”

The disclosure is the latest of several cybersecurity incursions targeting public agencies in Los Angeles. Last month, the city’s metro system shut down parts of its network after its security team detected hacking activity. Law enforcement and cybersecurity specialists are continuing to investigate who was behind the attack, authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court was hit by a ransomware attack in 2024 that infected its computer system with damaging software, forcing it to shut down for two days.

Times staff writers Clara Harter and Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this report.

Match of the Day pundits Nedum Onuoha, Stephen Warnock, and Rory Smith look at the impact Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold had on the Champions League quarter-final first leg between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

MATCH REPORT: Real Madrid 1-2 Bayern Munich

Available to UK users only.

The US president has lashed out at European partners for declining to contribute military forces to the war on Iran.

United States President Donald Trump has reportedly discussed withdrawing from NATO, the transatlantic alliance that has been a central pillar of Western security for decades.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt framed the US and Israel’s war on Iran as a “test” that the alliance had failed.

Despite Trump’s pressure, NATO allies had declined to contribute military forces to the war, outside of defensive manoeuvres.

Leavitt’s comments came shortly before Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House.

“I have a direct quote from the president of the United States on NATO, and I will share it with all of you. They were tested, and they failed,” Leavitt said.

“I would add, it’s quite sad that NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks, when it’s the American people who have been funding their defence.”

Trump, she continued, was preparing to have “a very frank and candid conversation” with Rutte that afternoon.

In an interview with the news outlet CNN after their meeting, Rutte likewise described the encounter as “frank and open”. He reiterated his support for Trump, but added that NATO allies had offered support through logistics and access to bases.

“Did the president say he was going to try withdraw from NATO or, at the very least, not support NATO as much as other presidents have,” CNN host Jake Tapper asked Rutte.

“There is a disappointment, clearly. But at the same time he was also listening careful to my arguments of what is happening,” Rutte replied, before pivoting to praise of Trump’s leadership.

The US president has had a mixed relationship with NATO, sometimes threatening to pull US support and, at other times, reassuring allies of the US’s continued commitment to the alliance.

Since returning to the presidency in 2025, Trump has renewed his pressure campaign for NATO’s European partners to step up their defence spending.

Last June, at the 2025 NATO summit, he largely succeeded. The NATO members agreed to nonbinding commitments to increase their defence budgets to 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.

But Spain sought an exemption, leading Trump to denounce the country repeatedly over the past year.

Tensions between the US and its European allies were further strained last year when Trump threatened to use military force to seize the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland, claiming that its ownership was essential for national security.

The US has eased away from those threats. But Trump has continued to assert that US ownership of Greenland is necessary, despite strong protests from the territory’s residents and European leaders.

After the US and Israel unilaterally launched a war against Iran on February 28, Trump lashed out at European countries for their lack of interest in contributing to the campaign.

Many legal scholars consider the war an act of aggression, in violation of international law.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering whether to close US bases or move troops out of countries such as Spain and Germany as punishment for their stance on the war.

When asked by reporters if Trump was considering leaving NATO, Leavitt said it was something the president “has discussed” and could address after his meeting with Rutte.

Trump and Rutte are considered to have a close relationship. Rutte has visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s second term, including in March, July, August and October of last year.

In the past, Rutte has warned that NATO “will not work” without US support.

Liverpool went into their Champions League last-16 tie against PSG last season with a 74.4% win rate under Slot after 43 games.

Since being knocked out on penalties, the Reds have won just 49.2% of their past 59 games, while their loss percentage has more than trebled.

Slot has retained the support of Liverpool‘s owners and has credit in the bank after last season’s Premier League triumph – but that is likely to change if they do not qualify for the Champions League.

The Reds either have to win this season’s competition – which seems unlikely after Wednesday’s performance – or qualify through finishing in the top five in the Premier League.

They are currently fifth – one point ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea.

“Slot is not going to get sacked for losing 2-0 at PSG,” said Warnock.

“They are one of the best teams in Europe. But the defeats are stacking up, and there’s the danger there could be more damage next week.

“It is going to suit PSG next week because Liverpool have to go at them.

“They can’t play like this and sit in at Anfield, when they need goals.

“But what does Slot do? Liverpool‘s system tonight screams ‘you are better than us’. If he opens up, they leave themselves vulnerable and they could get battered.”

Captain Virgil van Dijk accused the team of “giving up” against City last weekend, when Liverpool conceded four times in the space of 20 minutes either side of half-time.

After losing to PSG, he insisted the team would not give up on their Champions League ambitions.

“We shouldn’t forget we play against the European champions of last season and you see the quality they have in the games that they played already this season,” he said.

“We have to be absolutely spot on with everything we do.

“Hopefully our fans can play a big part in that as well. I’ve been through many special evenings at Anfield, I’m very lucky and privileged, and our fans, that’s the backbone of the club and hopefully they can be there for us again.”

INFLUENCER Molly-Mae Hague has addressed Tommy Fury’s controversial fight date.

She has also detailed the horrible experience she endured when she was left alone after welcoming her first baby.

Earlier this year, the influencer, 26, announced that she and Tommy Fury are expecting their second child together.

She has now opened up about Tommy’s controversial fight date and what she really thinks about it.

Tommy will return to the boxing ring on June 13 in Manchester in a fight against former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall. 

Molly’s baby is due around the same time as Tommy’s fight, with her now opening up about it all candidly in a Q&A video on YouTube.

READ MORE ABOUT MOLLY-MAE

NAME GAME

Molly-Mae reveals shortlist of baby names after saying fans would ‘hate’ choices

bling bother

Molly Mae reveals she WON’T put her engagement ring back on amid Tommy reunion

“A lot of questions about how do you feel about Tommy’s fight and obviously the date of it,” she said in her vlog.

“Obviously I knew that you guys were going to like be concerned about that and have questions about that, but fear not.

:Fear not fair maiden because we’re actually feeling really, really good about it and have a really good plan in place.”

She went on: “There’s actually like a good amount of time between my birth, my supposed birth because basically I’m having the baby in London again.

“So I gave birth with Bambi at The Portland.

“I’m not worried and I’m actually really, really happy that he’s got a fight because it’s been over a year since his last fight.”

She trailed off and spoke about how “difficult” it is to get a fight date secured, adding: “So just having a date for something and and having a focus and us having like I don’t know something to look forward to in the fight like it’s just I think it’s actually a really, really, really positive thing and he will be here when I get home.

“He will be able to support me.”

She then spoke about the horrendous situation after she had given birth last time, saying: “It’s not going to be anything like the the last time.

“I mean that was a very, very bespoke and ridiculous situation to have one of like the most high pressure fights.

“Like there was so much pressure on him for the Jake Paul fight.

“It was just mental and obviously it was our first baby. I just given birth and he was literally going to Saudi and it was it was really hard.

“But this time round it’s not going to be anything like that.

“He will be at home. He will be living at home. He will be having his camp at home. We’re actually feeling really, really good about it.

“So, no concerns over here. We’re in a really, really great place. Everything feels, almost just feel like a little bit too good to be true.”

Molly also explained how she has no birth plan other than to hopefully have an epidural.

She also explained how she hopes not to have a C-section.

WASHINGTON — A day after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, the truce showed signs of strain Wednesday as Iranian leaders accused Americans of violating the agreement and reports emerged that Tehran had moved to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The developments tested President Trump’s ability to parlay a fragile pause in fighting into a lasting peace deal with a country he has spent weeks threatening to destroy, and raised questions about whether the Trump administration had the diplomatic leverage to hold the deal together.

The White House sought to project confidence about the ceasefire, but the fragile deal grew shakier after Israel carried out its largest attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon since the conflict began. Iran said the strikes by the U.S. ally amounted to a breach of the ceasefire terms, even as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu maintained that Lebanon was not subject to the agreement.

“The big issue seems to be that the two sides can’t agree on what the agreement is,” said Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute. At best, he said, the two sides had secured a “tactical pause.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States must choose between a ceasefire or “continued war via Israel.

“It cannot have both,” Araghchi wrote on X. “The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”

Whether Iran will draw a red line over Lebanon could become a key question. The Wednesday back-and-forth represented “threshold-testing” of Iran and whether it will be willing to reengage the United States in conflict over the issue, said Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

The parties’ prospects for reaching an agreement — and what Trump’s options become for declaring success — will depend on how the ceasefire goes in the coming days, Harrison said.

“There’s some room here … if [the Iranians] see that negotiations are real and not a pretext for further attacks,” he said. “A lot of what the United States can get depends on what the United States is willing to give — not just in terms of the points of their plan, but also in terms of the signaling that they too have an interest in de-escalating.”

Reports that Iran had moved to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway whose opening was central to the truce negotiations, further complicated the ceasefire.

“Any vessel trying to travel into the sea … will be targeted and destroyed,” the Iranian navy told shipping vessels, Fars News reported. The news agency is aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

At a news briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was aware of reports that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, a move she called both “completely unacceptable” and “false.” She added that the president expects the waterway will be “reopened immediately, quickly and safely” during the ceasefire.

Leavitt sidestepped questions about who currently controls the oil route.

Earlier in the day, at a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that “commerce will flow” through the strait, but did not say whether U.S. warships would be escorting vessels through the waterway. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who stood next to Hegseth, was asked whether the strait was open. He said: “I believe so.”

Hegseth emphasized that Iran should keep its end of the bargain or face the consequences.

He said the U.S. military plans to maintain a presence in the region to ensure Iranian compliance, saying American troops are ready to “go on offense and restart operations at a moment’s notice” if the truce broke down.

“We’ll be hanging around,” Hegseth said. “We are going to make sure Iran complies with this ceasefire and then ultimately comes to the table and makes a deal.”

The warning came as several Persian Gulf nations reported Iranian missile and drone attacks on their territories despite the ceasefire. Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted drones, while Bahrain reported that an Iranian attack has sparked a fire at one of its facilities.

Hegseth downplayed the continued Iranian attacks in the region, saying that “it takes time sometimes” for ceasefires to take hold, but advised Iran to “find a way to get a carrier pigeon to their troops in remote locations” and ensure compliance moving forward.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out its largest strike against Hezbollah since the militant group began launching rockets in solidarity with Iran last month. Lebanese health authorities said hundreds were killed and wounded in the Israeli strikes.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have maintained that Lebanon is not subject to the ceasefire agreement. Leavitt reiterated that stance, telling reporters that “Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire” and that it had been relayed to all parties.

Asked whether Trump would want to add Lebanon to the agreement in the future, Leavitt said that the matter “will continue to be discussed but that “at this point in time they are not included.”

More than a dozen European heads of state called on “all sides” to cease fire, including in Lebanon. In a Wednesday statement, they urged the parties to move quickly in diplomatic talks.

“The goal must now be to negotiate a swift and lasting end to the war within the coming days,” they said in the statement, which was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, along with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as well as other European leaders.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped broker the ceasefire, wrote on X that ceasefire violations had been reported at “a few places across the conflict zone” and urged all parties to exercise restraint. He did not detail the violations but said the attacks “undermine the spirit of the peace process.”

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz underscores how much remains uncertain about the agreement between the United States and Iran. The full terms of the ceasefire have not been publicly disclosed, and Trump wrote on his social media website that the “only group of meaningful ‘POINTS’ that are acceptable to the United States” will be discussed behind closed doors.

Trump also seemed to take issue with the 10-point peace plan that Iran publicly released Wednesday. He said that there are terms being floated by people who have “absolutely nothing to do” with the negotiations between the United States and Iran. He said that “in many cases, they are total Fraudsters, Charlatans, and WORSE.”

Leavitt declined to offer details about the working proposal being negotiated, saying the talks will take place privately. Both Leavitt and Hegseth, however, mentioned that the U.S. wants to ensure Iran does not have stockpiles of enriched uranium, the fissile material that is key in developing nuclear weapons.

“This is on the top of the priority list for the president and his negotiating team as they head into the next round of discussions,” Leavitt said.

Hegseth told reporters earlier in the day that Iran may “hand it over.” If they don’t, he said, “we will take it out, or if we have to do something else ourselves like we did [with] Midnight Hammer or something like that, we reserve that opportunity.” He was referring to the 12-day war against Iran in June.

Leavitt reiterated that administration officials “hope it will be through diplomacy,” but left open the possibility that the uranium could be retrieved through ground operations.

There is probably negotiating room over enrichment, said Harrison of the Middle East Institue, while Iran may be less flexible on the Strait of Hormuz. The United States needs a resolution more quickly than Iran, he added.

“Time is their friend, not a friend of Donald Trump’s,” Harrison said.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week after rolling his SUV.

Prosecutors are seeking Tiger Woods ‘ prescription drug records from a pharmacy, a week after his vehicle crashed in Florida and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Prosecutors in Florida on Tuesday said they planned to issue a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Florida, from the start of the year through the end of last month.

Prosecutors in Martin County, Florida, want the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them, according to documents in an online court docket.

Any objections to the subpoena must be filed with the State Attorney’s Office within 10 days. Neither Lewis Pharmacy nor Woods’ attorney, Doug Duncan, immediately responded to emails seeking comment.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week, hours after a sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a trailer and rolled over on its side.

Woods was travelling at high speeds on a beachside, residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30-mile per hour (nearly 50km per hour) speed limit when the accident occurred, authorities said. The truck had $5,000 in damage, according to an incident report. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said.

Woods said last week that he is stepping away to seek treatment.

It’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, after his SUV ploughed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando, he took a leave of absence to work on being a better person. That lasted four months, and he returned at the Masters.

He was also in a 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation.

Americans are split on whether to trust Donald Trump’s instinct-driven approach to the Iran conflict. The range of opinions reflects a deeper unease about a president bypassing his cabinet and Congress in favour of gut decisions. Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro speaks with US citizens at the White House.

MODEL Brooks Nader is set to make waves in the wake of Pamela Anderson in the latest Baywatch reboot.

The 29-year-old star and her predecessor, 58, were both on the red carpet at the Fashion Trust US Awards in LA on Tuesday.

Pam, 58, played lifeguard CJ Parker in the original Baywatch in the 90s.

Brooks is set to follow in her footsteps having been cast as lifeguard Selene in the reboot, out this year.

The model got her big break when she won the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’s nationwide casting call and went on to model for the brand.

She is currently dating Kingsmen actor Taron Egerton.

read more on brooks nadar

BAY-MATCH

How Brooks Nader’s troubled life mirrors Pamela away from Baywatch swimsuit

BAEWATCH

Taron Egerton snogs Baywatch star Brooks Nader – after dating for months

Brooks was previously married to advertising exec Billy Haire, who she dated for four years.

They split in 2024 and she went on to have short-lived relationships with former Strictly Come Dancing star Gleb Savchenko and Greek Prince Constantine-Alexios.

In September it was claimed she was seeing tennis pros Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Addressing the rumours, she said: “I would just say a lady never kisses and tells, especially twice.

“Dating is such a loose term these days… My only thing is, guys do it all the time, so why can’t I do it?”

U.S. government attorneys on Tuesday told a federal judge the Department of Homeland Security still intends to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, despite a new agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home countries.

The Salvadoran national’s case has become a focal point in the immigration debate after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year. Since his return, he has been fighting a second deportation to a series of African countries proposed by Homeland Security officials.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, of Maryland, previously barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him or detaining him. She has written that the agency has no viable plan to actually deport Abrego Garcia, referring in February to “one empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success.”

Abrego Garcia has argued that if he is going to be deported, it should be to Costa Rica, which previously agreed to accept him. But Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, said in a March memo that deporting Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica would be “prejudicial to the United States.” Abrego Garcia should be sent to Liberia because the U.S. has spent government resources and political capital negotiating with the West African nation to accept third-country nationals, Lyons wrote.

At a Tuesday hearing in Xinis’ court, Ernesto Molina, director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation, suggested that Abrego Garcia could “remove himself” to Costa Rica.

Xinis pointed out that the Justice Department is prosecuting him in Tennessee on human smuggling charges. She called it a “fantasy” to say that he can remove himself anywhere while the criminal case is pending. Xinis set a schedule for a briefing on the matter and scheduled a new hearing for April 28.

Abrego Garcia, 30, has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger there from a gang that had threatened his family. By mistake, he was deported there anyway last year.

Facing public pressure and a court order, President Trump’s administration brought him back in June, but only after securing an indictment charging him with human smuggling in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to dismiss that case.

Loller writes for the Associated Press.

UEFA Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain claim 2-0 first-leg lead over English Premier League champions Liverpool.

Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League defence remains on course after a dominant 2-0 victory against Liverpool in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie.

The home side took the lead thanks to a deflected effort in the 11th minute on Wednesday, after Desire Doue’s effort from outside the box looped over the helpless Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The Reds are long out of their own title defence in the English Premier League this season and left only with the Champions League as a faint hope of silverware, but Arne Slot’s side rallied in response to the Parisians’ fortune until the half-time whistle.

The second period was a far different matter, and all too familiar to Liverpool fans this season. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia deservedly doubled the advantage in the 65th minute when the Georgian international dribbled into the box before rounding the keeper.

A total of 18 shots were registered by the home side, with six on target. Liverpool managed just three efforts on goal with none on target in reply.

It was far from the most fluent display by Luis Enrique’s side in the French capital, despite relentless passing and a 74 percent share of the possession, but their second-half showing was a vast improvement from the first.

Achraf Hakimi’s 82nd-minute drive was one of the biggest moments to settle the tie, but drew a fine save from Mamardashvili, low to his left, which keeps his side in with a chance as the teams head to Anfield for the second leg next Tuesday.

There was little the Reds’ keeper could do other than hope, as Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele produced a moment of brilliance with two minutes to play when he exchanged a one-two with substitute Lee Kang-In in the box only to see his fierce strike rebound off the post.

It was Liverpool’s fourth consecutive defeat away from home, a first for the Merseyside club since April 2012

The winner will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next round, with the latter holding a 2-1 advantage following the first leg of their quarterfinal in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.

The US president has stepped back from the brink.

After calling for the destruction of an entire civilisation, it appears Donald Trump is in the mood for peace.

He has confirmed that Israel and the United States will stop attacking Iran for two weeks.

And while it’s not clear if the agreement will lead to lasting peace, what is certain is that the US – and the world stage – have been changed.

So how has the US been shaped by Trump’s war on Iran? How has the world order?

And can any of it be walked back?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Sanam Vakil – Director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House

Robert Pape – Professor of political science at the University of Chicago

Kim Wehle – Professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore Law School

NEW ORLEANS — The wife of a U.S. soldier was released Tuesday from a federal immigration detention facility where she had spent nearly a week after being taken into custody on a Louisiana military base.

The detention of 22-year-old Annie Ramos, the Honduran-born wife of a U.S. Army staff sergeant preparing to deploy, prompted public backlash from critics of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign who warned it demoralized troops during an ongoing war.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Ramos’ mother-in-law, Jen Rickling, confirmed her release to the Associated Press. The New York Times first reported Ramos’ release.

Ramos, who married Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank in March, had been detained by federal immigration agents while attempting to register at his base to receive military benefits and ultimately obtain a green card. She had lived in the country since she was less than 2 years old. Homeland Security said Ramos had been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge in 2005 after her family had failed to appear for a hearing.

Ramos and her husband say she has been attempting to gain legal status, including by applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2020 though her application remained stalled amid legal battles to eliminate the program.

“All I have ever wanted is to live with dignity in the country I have called home since I was a baby,” Ramos said in a statement to the Associated Press after her release. “I want to finish my degree, continue my education, and serve my community — just as my husband serves our country with honor.”

A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, said that Kelly had called Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin regarding Ramos’ detention. Blank has family in Arizona.

“I’m happy Annie is back with her husband and family where she belongs,” Kelly said in a statement. “They never should have gone through this painful process, but far too many families like theirs are because of this administration.”

Homeland Security told the Associated Press that Ramos had been released with a GPS monitor “while she undergoes further removal proceedings.”

“She will receive full due process,” Homeland Security said.

The Trump administration has scrapped policies of immigration enforcement leniency toward the family members of military personnel and veterans, even as the military has promoted the protection of U.S. soldiers’ family members from deportation as a recruiting incentive.

Ramos said she plans to continue studying biochemistry and focusing on enjoying married life with her husband.

“As Matthew continues preparing for his long career in the military, my focus now is on securing my status, continuing my studies, and building our life together,” Ramos said. “We want to create a home, a future, and a family. This experience has been incredibly difficult, but it has also reminded me of the power of faith, love, and community. I am hopeful for what comes next.”

Brook writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Juan Lozano contributed to this report from Houston.

Earlier on Wednesday, Grace Davison set a new Irish Senior and Championship record of 54.45 in the 100m freestyle heats to reach Commonwealth Games and European consideration and while slightly slower in the final with a time of 54.88, it was enough to claim gold

The 18-year-old Ards swimmer finished ahead of Larne’s Danielle Hill whose 55.92 is also enough for Commonwealth Games consideration, while National Centre Ulster’s Victoria Catterson finished third in 56.12.

“I’m really happy with that (day), but if I’m honest I’m probably a little bit disappointed with tonight, I wanted to go a bit quicker, I was 54.4 this morning and 54.8 there,” Davison reflected.

“But it’s all learning for me and I think a big thing for me is learning to be quicker in the morning, so when I do go to the international stage I can progress through the rounds, so if anything, it’s interesting to see that I can go quicker in the morning than in the final.

“I’m really happy to get all those times out of the way on the first day of the competition, it’s pretty cool.”

In the Open 100m freestyle final, Limerick swimmer Evan Bailey took gold in 48.98 with Bangor’s James Ward second and Lisburn City’s Matthew Hamilton third.

Jack Cassin claimed the 200m butterfly title with a personal best and championship record of 1:57.05, finishing ahead of team-mate Paddy Johnston and UCD’s Sean Donnellan.

Templeogue’s Ellen Walshe won the 200m butterfly title in 2:09.74 – under the consideration time for the European Aquatics Champinships – with National Centre Ulster’s Alana Burns Atkin second and Eve Leleux third.

Clare Custer won the 800m freestyle title in 8:52.63, finishing ahead of Bangor team-mates Chloe Stewart and Eva Hand with visitor Fleur Lewis of Loughborough University first home in the race with a time of 8:48.33.

Competition continues tomorrow (Thursday) through to Sunday.

April 8 (UPI) — A Russian hacking group financed by the spy agency GRU managed a large-scale campaign to steal information about militaries and governments by hacking into Wi-Fi routers, the FBI said.

The group known as Fancy Bear is behind the hack done to governments around the world. Intelligence and police services in the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania and others discovered the operation, which attacked poorly protected Wi-Fi routers, they announced in a joint statement Tuesday.

The hackers took “passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails” Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said in a statement.

“This way, they acted as ‘intermediaries’ in the online space to collect passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails, which under normal circumstances are protected by SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] and TLS [Transport Layer Security] cryptographic protocols,” SBU said.

The GRU operatives, who have been using this technique since at least 2024, planned to use the information to “carry out cyberattacks, information sabotage and the collection of intelligence,” SBU said.

The FBI said the GRU has “indiscriminately compromised a wide pool of U.S. and global victims and then filtered down impacted users, especially targeting information related to military, government and critical infrastructure.”

Romania, which participated in the investigation, said the GRU operatives “were collecting military, governmental, and critical infrastructure-related information,” Romanian President Nicușor Dan said.

“Russia therefore continues its hybrid war against Western countries — only those acting in bad faith could fail to see this,” Dan said in a post on X.

The FBI also urged “all network defenders and owners of small office/home office (SOHO) routers to update to the latest firmware versions, change default usernames and passwords, disable remote management interfaces from the internet, and stay alert for certificate warnings in web browsers and email clients.”