13/04/2026 – 15:49Qatar says maritime routes should not be used as ‘bargaining’ tools
13/04/2026 – 15:47’Full efforts’ under way to resolve US-Iran war, Pakistan PM Sharif says
Full efforts are still being made to resolve the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, a day after talks between the two sides, held in Islamabad, ended without agreement.
13/04/2026 – 15:45Qatar urges US, Iran to be responsive to mediation
Qatar FM urges US, Iran to be responsive to mediation in call with Iranian FM
13/04/2026 – 15:42Neutral vessels already in Iranian ports granted limited period to depart, UKMTO says
13/04/2026 – 15:37Humanitarian shipments allowed free passage via Hormuz, subject to inspection, US CENTCOM says
The US military is poised in the coming hours to enforce a blockade of all ships entering and leaving Iranian ports starting Monday, part of efforts to force Tehran into agreeing to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and accept a peace deal.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a notice to seafarers on Monday adding a warning that vessels “entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture”. CENTCOM’s note stated, “the blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations”, and that humanitarian shipments including food and medical supplies would be allowed, subject to inspection.
The blockade is due to begin at 14:00 GMT, the note says.
Iran has responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, taking aim at US-allied countries.
13/04/2026 – 14:48Almost all Russian staff evacuated from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant, says Rosatom
Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom started the final stage of evacuation from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev was quoted as saying by RIA on Monday. Likhachev said 108 Rosatom personnel would leave the plant.
13/04/2026 – 14:35Pope Leo slams ‘neocolonial world powers’ after Trump’s direct barbs
Pope Leo criticised violations of international law by ‘neocolonial’ world powers in a forceful speech on Monday during an Africa tour, hours after Trump’s direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church.
13/04/2026 – 14:26Attacks on medical staff in Lebanon ‘gravely concerning’, ICRC says
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon following a strike on a Lebanese Red Cross centre in the south of the country on Monday, as well the killing on Sunday of a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer.
“The loss of those who dedicate their lives to saving others is gravely concerning, given the impact on the civilians who depend on their help,” said Agnes Dhur, head of delegation of the ICRC in Lebanon.
Ahmad Assi, 29, cries on the grave of his friend Hassan Ali Badawi, a paramedic of the Lebanese Red Cross killed in a Israeli strike, during his funeral in Choueifat, Lebanon, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
13/04/2026 – 13:53Ankara says Israel seeks to declare Turkey ‘new enemy’
Israel “cannot live without an enemy” and its government is now trying to portray Turkey as one, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
Tensions between Turkey and Israel have steadily escalated since the Gaza war erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, cross-border attack in Israel.
The dispute entered a new phase over the weekend after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned US counterpart Donald Trump of “possible provocations and sabotage” that could jeopardise an initial ceasefire arrangement in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
13/04/2026 – 13:33Israel says 7,693 people injured since start of Operation Roaring Lion
Israel’s health ministry says 7,693 injured individuals have been evacuated to hospitals since the start of the war, of whom 104 are currently hospitalised, two of them in critical condition.
13/04/2026 – 13:28Netanyahu says Israel supports Trump’s Iran naval blockade
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel supports US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a naval blockade on Iran, adding that his government is in full coordination with Washington on the matter.
“Iran violated the rules (of the peace talks in Pakistan), President Trump decided to impose a naval blockade,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, according to a video statement released by his office.
“We, of course, support this firm position, and we are in constant coordination with the United States.”
13/04/2026 – 13:09Pope calls for peace in Algeria against the backdrop of Iran war
Pope Leo XIV has called for peace in all nations to prevail shortly after landing in Algeria for the strat of the first-ever papal visit to the north African country.
Pope Leo XIV speaks at Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument in Algiers. © Andrew Medichini, AP
His trip has already been overshadowed by the US-Israeli war in Iran and an extraordinary broadside against Leo by US President Donald Trump.
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13/04/2026 – 12:10Two Iranian-linked tankers exit Gulf via Hormuz ahead of US blockade
Two oil tankers linked to Iran have exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz ahead of a planned US blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas, shipping data from Kpler and LSEG shows.
The tanker Auroura is laden with Iranian oil products while the New Future tanker is carrying diesel loaded from the Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, Kpler data showed.
13/04/2026 – 11:49Israeli fire kills three in Gaza following new ceasefire talks
An Israeli airstrike has killed at least three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials say, shortly after mediators met leaders from Hamas in an effort to shore up a US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Medics said the strike had hit a group of men outside a school in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.
13/04/2026 – 11:45Israel says troops fighting Hezbollah surrounded key Lebanese town
The Israeli military says its troops have completely surrounded a key town in southern Lebanon after killing more than 100 Hezbollah fighters there over the past week.
The announcement marks a significant advance in Israel’s ongoing invasion of southern Lebanon.
“The forces of the 98th Division have completed the encirclement of the town of Bint Jbeil and have begun an assault on it,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.
Just five kilometres (three miles) from the Israeli border, Bint Jbeil has long been both a symbolic and strategic flashpoint in confrontations between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
It was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting during the 2006 war, when Hezbollah’s resistance there became central to the group’s narrative of defiance.
13/04/2026 – 11:25France, UK to host talks on ‘peaceful multinational mission’ for Hormuz
France and Britain will soon host talks towards creating a “peaceful multinational mission” to help restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, French President Emmanuel Macron has said in a post on X.
“In the coming days, together with the United Kingdom, we will organise a conference with those countries prepared to contribute alongside us to a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait,” he wrote, adding it would be “strictly defensive” and ready to deploy “as soon as circumstances permit”
13/04/2026 – 10:31China says hopes US, Iran will not reignite war after talks fail
Beijing hopes the United States and Iran will not reignite the Middle East war, a foreign ministry spokesman has told a news conference.
“China hopes the relevant sides will abide by the temporary ceasefire agreement, continue resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means, avoid reigniting war and create conditions for an early return to peace and tranquility in the Gulf region,” Guo Jiakun said.
13/04/2026 – 10:14Starmer says Britain ‘not supporting’ US blockade of Hormuz strait
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Britain will not join the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz announced by US President Donald Trump.
“We are not supporting the blockade,” Starmer told BBC radio, adding the UK “is not getting dragged in” to the war with Iran.
13/04/2026 – 09:40Trump says doesn’t care if Iran comes back to talks
US President Donald Trump has said he does not care if Iran comes back to negotiations after talks in Pakistan failed to produce a deal.
Trump, who was attending a UFC martial arts event in Miami on Saturday when the talks ended without an agreement, told reporters upon his return from Florida: “I don’t care if they come back or not. If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”
US President Donald Trump talks to UFC 327 fighter Paulo Costa at Kaseya Center in Miami on April 11, 2026. Credit: Rebecca Blackwell, AP