Iran War Live Updates: Tensions Rise in Strait of Hormuz Over Ship Attacks and Iranian Threats

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they were closing the strait until the U.S. blockade is lifted. Two ships reported being hit as they tried to pass through the strait.

Published: April 19, 2026, 2:32 am

U.S. Officials Visited Havana to Lay Out Proposals for Cuban Reforms

The delegation told Cuba’s leadership that it had only a narrow window of time to make the economic and political changes demanded by the Trump administration.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:17 pm

Kyiv Mass Shooting Kills 6 and Gunman Is Shot Dead After Taking Hostages in Grocery

It was the deadliest mass shooting in Ukraine in years, where firearms have proliferated since the war with Russia began.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:43 pm

A Potent Threat in Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s ‘Mosquito Fleet’

Although much of the regular Iranian navy is destroyed, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps can still deploy small, speedy boats to disrupt shipping.

Published: April 18, 2026, 2:40 pm

Pope Says News Outlets Misread Some of His Remarks as Criticism of Trump

Pope Leo responded directly on Monday to a presidential attack. But since then, he said, some of his statements during his Africa trip have been misconstrued.

Published: April 18, 2026, 9:07 pm

Maduro’s Successor Is Purging Allies Who Kept Him in Power in Venezuela

The successor to Venezuela’s captured President Nicolás Maduro is purging the people who kept him in power.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:06 am

Trump Spat Gives Spain Leader Pedro Sánchez a Political Lifeline

To leftists abroad, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain is a hero for standing up to President Trump. At home, Mr. Trump is seen as Mr. Sánchez’s political savior from thorny domestic challenges.

Published: April 18, 2026, 9:05 pm

Carney’s Liberal Majority Reshapes Fortunes to the Left and the Right

Mark Carney’s brand of centrist politics and his invitation to floor crossers with conservative convictions into the Liberal Party’s ranks have reshaped the country’s political economy.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:57 pm

In Angola, Pope Leo XIV Faces the Legacy of Colonialism

His visit includes a trip to a shrine where enslaved Africans were baptized before being forced into the treacherous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

Published: April 18, 2026, 6:40 pm

A Mild-Mannered Pope Finds His Voice

Leo XIV has had a reputation for being cautious. But since President Trump attacked him at the start of his Africa trip, he has been more combative.

Published: April 18, 2026, 4:23 pm

The 27-Year-Old Diplomat Waging Trump’s Cultural War With Europe

Five years out of college, Samuel Samson has driven the Trump administration’s push to upend America’s postwar relationship with Europe.

Published: April 18, 2026, 3:29 am

Hezbollah is willing to cooperate with a cease-fire with Israel. For now.

The leader of the Iran-backed militia said that a more durable peace with Israel would require the fulfillment of a list of long-standing demands.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:51 pm

Ships Attacked in Strait of Hormuz as Iran Declares Strict Control of Vital Shipping Route

The day after Iran declared the vital waterway open, it reversed course, injecting new peril into navigation there.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:50 pm

Six Are Missing After Cargo Ship Is Found Overturned Near Guam

The ship, the Mariana, was found overturned days after the Coast Guard lost contact with its crew, after a super typhoon struck.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:26 pm

More Displaced Lebanese Head Home as Cease-Fire Is Tested

The truce appeared to mostly hold even as Israel said it had carried out strikes on what it called “terrorists” approaching its forces in southern Lebanon. Separately, a U.N. peacekeeper was killed.

Published: April 18, 2026, 5:26 pm

Trading Spaces

With spring comes the urge to spring-clean. It’s about so much more than just organizing your closet.

Published: April 18, 2026, 10:23 am

Who Is the New Leader of Hungary?

Our reporter Andrew Higgins describes why Hungary’s voters chose Peter Magyar over Viktor Orban in a landslide, ending Orban’s 16 years in power.

Published: April 18, 2026, 7:36 pm

Here’s the latest.

Published: April 18, 2026, 10:24 pm

Trump Extends Sanctions Exemption on Some Russian Oil as High Gas Prices Persist

The Trump administration has loosened restrictions on Russian oil exports since the war in the Middle East began to rattle energy markets in March.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:42 pm

Trump Frames Iran War as All but Over in Optimistic Social Media Flurry

Iranian officials did not confirm most of Mr. Trump’s claims and disputed several of them.

Published: April 18, 2026, 2:04 am

Trump Is Urged to Move on Nuclear Site Thought to Be Beyond Reach of Bombs

Little is known about Pickaxe Mountain, but some experts say it illustrates the impossibility of relying on force alone to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.

Published: April 18, 2026, 2:39 am

Humans Who Used a Bear Suit to Defraud Car Insurers Sentenced to Jail

The California residents collected more than $141,000 in insurance payouts after staging bear attacks on their luxury cars, state officials said.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:03 pm

Potential 2028 Democrats Audition in Michigan,With a Focus on Trump

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky spoke at a gathering of party insiders in Detroit, fueling presidential speculation.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:29 am

U.S. Installs a Trump Loyalist to Lead ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Case Into Trump Foes

A former lawyer for President Trump’s campaign, Joseph diGenova, is said to be planning to split time between Miami and Fort Pierce, where a grand jury overseen by a Trump-favored judge sits.

Published: April 19, 2026, 12:02 am

Activists Tear-Gassed at Failed Raid of Beagle Research Facility

Some 1,000 protesters tried to storm a private breeding and lab facility in Wisconsin in an effort to steal thousands of beagles that are bred for medical experimentation.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:40 pm

Man Charged in Lego Theft Scheme of Replacing Pieces With Pasta, Police Say

A California man was charged with grand theft after the police said he reaped about $34,000 in what an official called an “off the charts” pasta-and-switch scheme involving Lego kits.

Published: April 18, 2026, 9:31 pm

Remains Linked to Submerged Car Solve 1958 Mystery of Missing Oregon Family

The case of the missing Martin family was unsolved until a diver found a car in an Oregon river in 2024. Officials, relying on DNA tests, said Thursday that they had identified the remains of three people.

Published: April 18, 2026, 5:13 pm

Six Are Missing After Cargo Ship Is Found Overturned Near Guam

The ship, the Mariana, was found overturned days after the Coast Guard lost contact with its crew, after a super typhoon struck.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:26 pm

Appeals Court Again Allows Ballroom Construction to Go On, for Now

In the latest ruling, an appeals court in Washington allowed construction to continue until at least June while it considered the case.

Published: April 18, 2026, 2:40 pm

After D4vd Arrest, Lake Elsinore Residents Mourn Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Celeste Rivas Hernandez went missing from Lake Elsinore, Calif., at age 13. The musician known as D4vd has been detained in connection with her death.

Published: April 18, 2026, 6:35 pm

For Iran, Flexing Control Over Waterway Is New Deterrent

Iran’s government could emerge from the conflict with a blueprint to keep adversaries at bay, regardless of any restrictions on its nuclear program.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:08 pm

‘Turning Point Was Charlie Kirk’: Why This Student Group Moved On

Students at the University of Arkansas disagreed with Turning Point’s direction, pointing to challenges ahead for the conservative group.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:32 pm

The Doctor Will Seek Your Vote Now

Dozens of Democratic doctors are running for office in the midterms, including some spurred by opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaccine stance.

Published: April 18, 2026, 8:59 pm

Takeaways From the Supreme Court’s Shadow Papers

Confidential memos written by the justices shed light on how they came to issue emergency orders in cases about the scope of presidential power.

Published: April 18, 2026, 9:02 am

The Primary That Could End a State G.O.P.’s Independent Streak

For years, Republican state legislators in Montana have been willing to team up with Democrats, but in nearly two dozen races on June 2, a nationally attuned right has those lawmakers in its sights.

Published: April 18, 2026, 6:23 pm

Inside the Supreme Court’s Risky New Way of Doing Business

Secret memos obtained by The New York Times illuminate the origins of the court’s now-routine “shadow docket” rulings on presidential power.

Published: April 18, 2026, 9:02 pm

Key Excerpts From the Supreme Court’s Secret Memos

The New York Times obtained a trove of documents illuminating the inner workings of the court as it embraced a secretive track for making major decisions.

Published: April 18, 2026, 11:25 am

In Phoenix, Trump Eyes Lower Gas Prices and Frets About the Midterms

President Trump told a crowd of supporters that the price of oil and gas was coming down, part of an effort in recent days to present a rosier picture of the nearly two-month-long Iran war.

Published: April 18, 2026, 2:40 am

Trump Will Participate in a Marathon Bible Reading

He will read a passage from the Old Testament that his Christian supporters cite as a call to national repentance and divine blessing.

Published: April 18, 2026, 3:15 am

Trump’s Dispute With Pope Leo Deepens Divisions on the Right

Sean Hannity criticized the pope. Tucker Carlson attacked Mr. Hannity. And President Trump suggested ranking MAGA figures: “good, bad, and somewhere in the middle.”

Published: April 18, 2026, 12:56 am

With Vaccines Widely Popular, Kennedy Changes Tone, but Maybe Not His Plans

Several moves suggest Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could revive his campaign to question the safety and effectiveness of the shots after the midterm elections.

Published: April 18, 2026, 1:32 pm