Portal:Current events/2026 April 8

April 8, 2026 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
  - 2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations
    - 2026 Iran war ceasefire
      - Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirms the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, which includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The ceasefire is ratified by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). (Shafaq) (Khaleej Times)
      - The SNSC announces that negotiations between Iran and the U.S. will start on Friday in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the U.S. contingent to be led by vice president JD Vance alongside senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. (Axios) (Middle East Eye)
      - Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. president Donald Trump both claim that the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, despite contrary statements from both Iran and Pakistan on their versions of the ceasefire agreement. (Al Jazeera) (BBC News) (The New York Times)
      - White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt states that Netanyahu and Trump will continue discussions on potentially including Lebanon in a ceasefire arrangement. (AFP via Aaj News)
      - After the announcement, an Israeli military spokesperson states that Israel is still launching attacks on Iran. (CNN)
      - Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian says the ceasefire with Israel and the U.S. has been violated as a result of the bombings of Iranian islands and Lebanon. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf later echoes the remarks, citing the attacks as well as the "denial of Iran to enrich uranium." (CNBC) (Forbes) (G1)
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countries
    - 2026 Iranian strikes on Bahrain
      - The Bahraini military intercepts six missiles and 31 drones. (Yemen Online)
    - 2026 Iranian strikes on Kuwait
      - Kuwait's interior ministry reports fires at several oil facilities, power plants, and desalination plants after an Iranian drone attack. (Middle East Eye)
    - 2026 Iranian strikes on Qatar
      - The Qatari military intercepts seven ballistic missiles and multiple drones. (DPA via Yahoo News)
    - 2026 Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia
      - Saudi Arabia's East–West Crude Oil Pipeline is hit in an Iranian attack. (Reuters)
    - 2026 Iranian strikes on the United Arab Emirates
      - The Emirati military intercepts 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones. (The National)
    - After the announcement of a ceasefire, Iran launches ballistic missiles at Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. (CNBC News) (CNN)
    - Iranian agencies report explosions from the Lavan and Sirri islands of unknown origin. Iran accuses Kuwait and the UAE of the attacks and launches retaliatory attacks against those countries in response. (Ynet) (Wanaen)
  - 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
    - Thailand confirms the three crewmen on a vessel that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz in March have died. (Al Jazeera)
    - MarineTraffic reports the first ships that have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire announcement, namely the Greek-owned bulk carrier NJ Earth and Liberia-flagged Daytona Beach. (CNBC) (Euronews)
    - Iran closes Strait of Hormuz maritime traffic to oil tankers over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, claiming that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire. (G1) (Forbes)
  - Bahrain, Iraq, and Syria reopen their airspace after weeks of closure. The Damascus International Airport and the Bahrain International Airport begin resuming flights. (Khaleej Times) (BNA) (AA)
- Hezbollah–Israel conflict
  - 2026 Lebanon war
    - 2026 Israeli Beirut strikes
      - At least 254 people are killed and 1,165 others are injured in a wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including in southern Lebanon, Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley. (Al Jazeera) (Al Jazeera) (BBC News)
    - The IDF announces that its strikes in Lebanon are one part of a new operation called "Eternal Darkness". (Ynet)
    - The Israeli military says that it has halted strikes against Iran, but state that they will continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. (The Times of Israel)
    - The Lebanese army closes a bridge in the Tyre District after receiving a warning of a possible Israeli strike on the structure. The bridge is the last crossing linking areas north and south of the Litani River in the area, where many residents remain despite evacuation notices. (AFP via The Times of Israel)
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  - Gaza war
    - Killing of journalists in the Gaza war
      - An Israeli airstrike in Sheikh Ijlin, Gaza City, Palestine, kills two people, including Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Wishah. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes
- 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war
  - Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning says that Afghanistan and Pakistan has agreed on a comprehensive plan to end tensions after seven days of talks in Ürümqi, China. The two countries also agree to avoid any escalations in their current conflict. (AFP via The Straits Times) (Reuters)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  - U.S. president Donald Trump threatens to impose 50% tariffs on countries that supply military weapons to Iran. (CNBC)
- Danish shipping company Maersk says that they will take a "cautious approach" for vessels to cross the Strait of Hormuz despite the ceasefire and says that they have not provided security certainty as to when normal operations would resume. (Reuters)
- German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says that it still does not plan to resume transiting the Strait of Hormuz despite the two-week ceasefire. They also say that it would need 6–8 weeks for recovery and for normal operations to resume. (Insider Paper) (Reuters)
- Oil prices plunge below US$95 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surges past 1,000 after the ceasefire announcement. (AP)

International relations

Belarus–North Korea relations
- Belarus plans to open an embassy in North Korea by August 1 after president Alexander Lukashenko visited the country in March following a decree signed by prime minister Alexander Turchin. (Caliber.az)

Law and crime

2026 attack on Israeli consulate in Istanbul
- Turkish police arrest 198 suspects across 34 provinces in operations targeting the Islamic State following a fatal shootout outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on April 7. Several suspects are placed in pre-trial detention as part of the investigation. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Gilgo Beach serial killings
- Rex Heuermann admits in court to killing eight women and discarding their bodies between 1993 and 2010 in New York, United States. Heuermann is expected to receive a sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced on June 17. (AFP via RTHK) (NBC News)
Illegal drug trade in the United States
- A U.S. court sentences Jasveen Sangha to 15 years in prison for distributing ketamine that resulted in the death of actor Matthew Perry in 2023, as part of a wider investigation into a network supplying controlled substances. Authorities also charge and sentence other individuals, including medical professionals, in connection with the distribution of the drug. (AFP via France 24)

Politics and elections

Protests against the 2026 Iran war
- Anti-war protesters gather outside the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, Canada, to protest against the Iran war despite the ceasefire along with the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. (CTV News)
- Around 50,000 protestors across over 150 locations, including around 30,000 outside the National Diet Building in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, protest against the war and proposals by prime minister Sanae Takaichi plan to revise Article 9 of the constitution. (CNN) (Kanagawa Shimbun)