Global Dispatch

Uncovering Today's International Headlines and Top Stories

Iran War Live Updates: Uncertainty Remains at Strait of Hormuz After Reopening Announcement

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

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps speedboat and navy ship in the Persian Gulf, in 2024.

In Angola, Pope Leo XIV Faces the Legacy of Slavery

Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon on Thursday. He is scheduled to visit Angola on Saturday as part of his 10-day trip through Africa.

How Trump Helped Pope Leo Find His Voice

Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon on Friday. His strident speeches in Africa this week have marked a shift in his rhetoric.

Trump Spat Gives Spain Leader Pedro Sánchez a Political Lifeline

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain addressing Parliament in March.

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

Trump Tries to Stop Drug Smuggling From South America. Drug Smugglers Invent New Tactics.

‘I Just Want to Be Back’: Thousands Rush South in Lebanon Under Cease-Fire

Starmer’s Credibility Just Took Another Body Blow Over the Mandelson Scandal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Paris on Friday. “That I wasn’t told that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when he’s appointed is staggering,” he said.

Iran War Forces America’s Friends in Asia to Court Its Rivals

A gas station in Manila. In the Philippines, America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia, the oil shortage prompted officials to declare a national emergency.

Lebanon Cease-Fire Leaves Netanyahu in an Uncomfortable Spot

Thousands of families made their way along the highway south of Beirut and Saida, Lebanon, on Friday after the cease-fire with Israel was announced.

Starmer Fires Senior U.K. Civil Servant Over Mandelson Revelations

Olly Robbins in London in 2019. Mr. Robbins, the top civil servant in the British Foreign Office, was fired on Thursday night.

‘I Would Rather Be a Dwarf’: A Comic in Botswana Prizes His Difference

Lutnick Says Canada Trade Deal Needs to Be Reworked Ahead of Talks

Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Commerce Secretary, in Washington in February.

Here’s the latest.

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

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the U.S. government would not renew the sanctions exemption on Russian oil already at sea.

New PEPFAR Data Show Worrying Declines in Testing and Treatment for H.I.V.

A woman held H.I.V. medication that she received through funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, along with her hospital records book, at her home in Harare, Zimbabwe, last year.

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

President Trump during an event in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is open, but adds that it is still under Tehran’s supervision.

Attendees at a rally in support of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in Tehran on Friday.

Amid Conflicting Messages From Trump and Iran, Hopes for Peace Deal Emerge

A rally in support of Iran’s leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran on Friday.

An Explosion Rattles a Toronto Neighborhood. A Drake Video Was to Blame.

Drake performing in London last year. He posted two images on social media of an explosion that startled residents near Downsview Park in Toronto.

Rescuers Try to Save Timmy, a Whale Stranded Off Germany

Off Poel Island in northern Germany on Thursday. A humpback whale has been stranded in the area for almost a month.

The U.S. blockade on ships will continue until Trump ends it, says Central Command chief.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, during a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.

Carney Courts Investors to Reduce Canada’s Economic Dependence on U.S.

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada on Parliament Hill this week in Ottawa.

Mark Mobius, Pioneering Investor in Emerging Markets, Dies at 89

Mark Mobius in 2001. Working for Franklin Templeton in the late 1980s, he started one of the first investment funds anywhere dedicated to emerging markets.

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

A satellite image provided by Vantor shows the tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain in Iran last month. Last fall, satellite images revealed that Iran had advanced construction at the site soon after U.S. forces disabled the country’s three main nuclear facilities in June.

Europe Wants to Help Restore Shipping in the Strait. It Just Isn’t Sure How.

From left, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy arriving for a conference on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Friday.

Why Lebanon’s Government Has Struggled to Contain Hezbollah

A Hezbollah flag at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, last month.

U.K. Police Investigate Claims Drones Targeted Israeli Embassy in London

Officers in Kensington Gardens in London on Friday.

New York New Jersey Stadium? Why MetLife Is Changing Its Name for the World Cup

People in New York and New Jersey know it as MetLife Stadium, but that will not be the case for the coming World Cup.

Strait of Hormuz Is Open During Cease-Fire in Lebanon, U.S. and Iran Say

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from the United Arab Emirates in March.

Israel-Lebanon Cease-Fire: What to Know

Families make their way home on Friday after the announcement of a cease-fire in Lebanon.

In northern Israel, relief at the cease-fire is overshadowed by unease.

A street in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, near Israel’s border with Lebanon, on Friday.

Lebanon’s Cease-Fire Buys Time, Not a Way Out

A family returning to Dahiya, Lebanon, after the cease-fire on Friday.

Myanmar Frees Ousted President, but Not Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s then-president, U Win Myint, at an event in Naypyidaw, the capital, in 2019. He was released from a prison in central Myanmar on Friday.

Iran Resisted a Powerful Attacker. Taiwan Can, Too.

Here’s the latest.

Trump says he might go to Pakistan if an Iran deal is signed there.

President Trump speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday.

10-Day Cease-Fire Between Israel and Lebanon Goes Into Effect

Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have been forced by the fighting to leave their homes.

Bitcoin’s Greatest Mystery

The cease-fire goes into effect after Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire.

A man observing the aftermath of an attack in Corniche Mazraa from his home in Beirut on Monday.

Forced into a corner by the U.S., Netanyahu agrees to a cease-fire in Lebanon.

Mandelson, a Friend of Epstein’s, Became U.S. Ambassador Despite Failing Security Vetting

Peter Mandelson, then Britain’s ambassador to the United States, at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, in February last year.

Despite Cease-Fire, Iran’s Hackers Haven’t Logged Off

Demonstrators in Tehran this week. Iran is trying to keep up pressure on the United States and Israel with cyberattacks but also positioning itself to mount a bigger retaliation if peace talks do not resume.

The Long-Term Plan to Scrub Carbon From the Sky

A carbon capture facility in Tracy, Calif., in 2023.

Bahrain Charges Intelligence Officer in the Death of a Detainee

Smoke rising over Bahrain’s capital, Manama, after a reported Iranian drone strike last month.

U.S. Completes Handover of Military Bases in Syria

U.S. forces patrol near the town of Tel Hamees in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province in 2023. The U.S. military first came to Syria in 2015 to fight the terror group Islamic State.

How Trump’s Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Works

Hegseth Again Threatens Attacks on Iran’s Civilian Infrastructure

“We’d rather not have to do it, but we’re ready to go at the command of our president and at the push of a button,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday.

White House Declines to Offer Congress an Estimate of Iran War Cost

Russell T. Vought, the White House budget director, said he would not give an estimate of the cost of the conflict because he did not want to be inaccurate.

A Timeline of the Lebanon-Israel Relationship

Workers removing scrap metal in Beirut last week from the rubble left by Israeli bombardment.

Rohingya Refugee Recounts Rescue From Capsizing Boat That Left Nearly 250 Others Missing

A Rohingya survivor being carried on a bamboo stretcher to a hospital at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after being rescued last week from a capsized boat.

White House Shrugs Off Shaky Economy as War Exceeds Trump’s Timeline

The energy surge has made groceries more expensive while also raising costs for farmers.

Why China Isn’t Pushing Iran to Accept U.S. Demands to End War

A mural representing the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran this week. The strait is a critical passageway for China’s energy and goods.

Sri Lanka Uses U.S.-Iran Cease-Fire to Repatriate Iranian Sailors

A photograph provided by the Sri Lankan Navy showed one of its vessels approaching an Iranian Navy vessel, the Bushehr, during a rescue operation off the coast of Colombo in March.

Pope Leo, Amid Standoff With Trump, Says ‘Woe to Those Who Manipulate Religion’

Pope Leo XIV at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, on Thursday. A violent secessionist movement centered in the area has divided the country over the past decade.

South African Politician Julius Malema Is Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

Julius Malema at a hearing in KuGompo City, South Africa, on Wednesday. Citizens are barred from serving as a lawmaker if they are sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the option of a fine.

Pakistan Looks to Play Peacemaker Between U.S. and Iran, Again

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, center, and other Pakistani officials during peace talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, last week.

What the U.S. Blockade Means for Iran’s Economy

Despite sanctions, Iran conducted about $110 billion in non-oil trade with over 170 nations last year, importing goods including smartphones, auto parts and grain.

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