Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended by three weeks after Oval Office meeting
Lebanon and Israel extended their ceasefire for three weeks after a high-level meeting at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Trump hosted Israel's ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. Nada Moawad in the Oval Office for a second round of U.S.-facilitated talks, a ‌day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people including a journalist.
"The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned armed group that is fighting Israel, was not present at the talks. It says it has "the right to resist" occupying forces.
Iran seizes vessel in Strait of Hormuz, defying US naval superiority
Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (April 23) with a video of commandos in a speedboat storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open one of the world's most important shipping corridors, Reuters reported.
US President Donald Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran's "little wise-guy ships" and told reporters that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal but that its leadership was in turmoil. Trump added that he was in no hurry for a deal, but if Iran did not want one, "I'll finish it up militarily."
Iranian state television broadcast video overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a door in the hull and jumping through, brandishing rifles.
Son of former shah of Iran appeals to Western countries for support
The son of the former shah appealed to Western countries to join the war against Iran and criticised the decision of the German government not to meet him during his visit to Berlin today (23 April), Reuters reported.
Reza Pahlavi, whose father was deposed in the revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power in 1979, accused Europe of standing by and allowing the Tehran government to continue the bloody repression of protests that killed thousands at the end of last year.
"The question is not whether change will come. Change is on the way," he told a press conference in Berlin. "The real question is how many Iranians will lose their lives while the community of Western democracies continue to merely watch."
30 people killed in 900 disaster incidents in Chaitra
Thirty people were killed in various parts of the country due to disasters in the month of Chaitra (March 14 to April 13).
Sixteen men, 10 women and four children died in natural disasters including fire, storm, lightning and snowfall. Two hundred and twenty-two people have been injured due to natural disasters during that period, according to police.
It is reported that 191 houses, 117 animal shelters, and three government offices have been damaged, while 529 livestock have died.
The estimated loss from the disaster is Rs 337. 26 million.
A total of 143 people have been displaced by the disaster.
During this period, 272 disaster incidents were reported in Koshi, 136 in Madhes, 85 in Bagmati, 39 in the Kathmandu Valley, 95 in Gandaki, 129 in Lumbini, 57 in Karnali and 93 in Sudurpashchim Province.
Police spokesperson Avi Narayan Kafle said that 4,841 police personnel were deployed for disaster response.
