Israeli Police Arrest 13-Year-Old, Accuse Him of Carrying Out Tasks for Iran

A demonstrator carrying the Israeli flag walks past a portrait of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian fighters, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on June 7, 2025. (AFP)
A demonstrator carrying the Israeli flag walks past a portrait of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian fighters, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on June 7, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Police Arrest 13-Year-Old, Accuse Him of Carrying Out Tasks for Iran

A demonstrator carrying the Israeli flag walks past a portrait of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian fighters, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on June 7, 2025. (AFP)
A demonstrator carrying the Israeli flag walks past a portrait of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian fighters, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on June 7, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli police arrested a 13-year-old, accusing him of taking money to carry out tasks for Iran.

A statement from the police and the domestic security agency Shin Bet Tuesday said the teen had been contacted on the messaging app Telegram by "Iranian elements," without elaborating.

Police say the teen, a resident of Tel Aviv, was asked to take pictures of Israel’s missile defense system Iron Dome, a task he did not carry out.

They also accuse him of spraying graffiti at the behest of his Telegram contact.

The teen was released on house arrest after being questioned, police said.

Over recent months, Israel has arrested several people in connection with what it says are attempts by Iran and others to pay Israelis to spy on facilities and officials.



Trump Slams Right-Wing Commentators Who Oppose Iran War

US President Donald Trump attends the signing ceremony for an executive order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2026.  (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump attends the signing ceremony for an executive order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Slams Right-Wing Commentators Who Oppose Iran War

US President Donald Trump attends the signing ceremony for an executive order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2026.  (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump attends the signing ceremony for an executive order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily lashed out at multiple well-known conservative commentators who have criticized his war against Iran, slamming his onetime allies as attention-seeking "NUT JOBS."

"They're stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!" Trump wrote in a nearly 500-word social media diatribe.

In the president's crosshairs were Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly -- two former Fox News hosts turned independent podcasters -- as well as Candace Owens and Alex Jones, also podcasters and prominent conspiracy theorists.

All four have vocally criticized Trump over the war, slamming him for abandoning his anti-war campaign promises and -- to varying degrees -- accusing him of bowing to pressure from Israel to launch the conflict.

Their criticism has highlighted a divide among Trump's supporters over the war, a potential major political risk for the Republican Party heading into the November midterm elections.

"They don't have what it takes, and they never did! They've all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren't even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they're NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some 'free' and cheap publicity," he complained.

While all four have been backers of the president's "Make America Great Again" movement, some have feuded with the president.

During Trump's first presidential campaign, Kelly -- then a Fox News host -- asked the billionaire businessman and reality TV star about disparaging remarks he had made against women.

Trump retorted with a joke about comedian Rosie O'Donnell, his longtime nemesis, and later prompted controversy by seeming to suggest that Kelly had asked the tough question because she was menstruating.

Trump referred to the saga on Thursday, saying Kelly "nastily asked me the now famous" question.

He also personally attacked the other three, slamming Carlson for not obtaining a college degree, saying he hoped French First Lady Brigitte Macron wins her defamation suit against Owens, and that Jones deserved to go bankrupt after losing his own suit over calling a mass school shooting a hoax.

Owens, 36, has accused France's first lady of being a man.

"Actually, to me, the First Lady of France is a far more beautiful woman than Candace, in fact, it's not even close!" Trump wrote Thursday.

Owens snapped back with a short post on X.

"It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home," she said.

Jones, for his part, said on X that he has "made it very clear that I no longer support Trump and I'm very thankful to him for making it clear that I have nothing to do with him."

"The new Trump is a rotting husk of the old Trump," he added.


Russia’s Putin Announces Orthodox Easter Ceasefire, Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Agrees

 Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia’s Putin Announces Orthodox Easter Ceasefire, Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Agrees

 Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a 32-hour ceasefire over a two-day period for Orthodox Easter and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv would abide by the measure.

The ceasefire for Orthodox Easter celebrations on Sunday coincides with a pause in US-led efforts to clinch a settlement to the four-year-old conflict amid hostilities in Iran and the broader Middle East.

Putin's announcement was similar to a 30-hour ceasefire he ordered last year. Each side accused the other of violating it.

The Kremlin said the Easter ‌ceasefire would ‌be in effect from Saturday at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) to ‌midnight (2100 ⁠GMT) on Sunday evening. "We ⁠proceed on the basis that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation," the Kremlin announcement said.

The announcement said Defense Minister Andrei Belousov had issued an order to Russia's top commander, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, "to stop for this period military action in all directions".

"Troops are to be ready to eliminate all possible provocations by the enemy as well as any aggressive actions."

Zelenskiy said ⁠Ukraine had repeatedly proposed a halt to fighting for Orthodox ‌Easter.

"Ukraine has repeatedly stated that we are ‌ready for reciprocal steps. We proposed a ceasefire during the Easter holiday this year and will ‌act accordingly," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

"People need an Easter without threats and ‌a real move towards peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter."

NO RESUMPTION OF THREE-WAY TALKS

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS that Putin's ceasefire proposal had not been discussed in advance with the United States. ‌Nor was it linked to any notion of resuming three-way talks on a settlement.

Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is, ⁠meanwhile, now in the ⁠US and is meeting members of US President Donald Trump's administration for discussions on a peace deal and US-Russia economic cooperation, sources with knowledge of the visit told Reuters.

According to the calendar of the Orthodox faith, dominant in both Russia and Ukraine, Easter falls this year on April 12.

Zelenskiy had for more than a week proposed an Easter ceasefire and, citing air attacks on Ukrainian cities, said Moscow had chosen to respond instead with drones. Russia had previously reacted coolly to Zelenskiy's proposal, saying it preferred to pursue a long-term settlement.

The Ukrainian president has proposed a halt to fighting on a number of occasions, but has been turned down by Moscow.

For Easter, he called for each side to stop targeting the other’s energy infrastructure, saying he made the offer through the United States.


Cuban President Tells NBC He Won't Resign under US Pressure

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers a welcome address to politicians and activists of the Our America Convoy at the Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, 20 March 2026. EPA/ADALBERTO ROQUE/ POOL
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers a welcome address to politicians and activists of the Our America Convoy at the Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, 20 March 2026. EPA/ADALBERTO ROQUE/ POOL
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Cuban President Tells NBC He Won't Resign under US Pressure

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers a welcome address to politicians and activists of the Our America Convoy at the Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, 20 March 2026. EPA/ADALBERTO ROQUE/ POOL
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers a welcome address to politicians and activists of the Our America Convoy at the Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, 20 March 2026. EPA/ADALBERTO ROQUE/ POOL

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday that he would not resign under US pressure and called for open dialogue in his first television interview with an American broadcaster.

"We have a free sovereign state, a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States," Diaz-Canel told NBC News, according to their translation of his remarks.

"The US government that has implemented that hostile policy against Cuba has no moral to demand anything from Cuba," the 65-year-old leader added.

"The concept of revolutionaries giving up and stepping down -- it's not part of our vocabulary."

Washington has waged a pressure campaign on communist-ruled Cuba, imposing a virtual oil blockade on the island by threatening tariffs on any country that attempts to sell oil to the island, AFP said.

Cuba has been in the throes of an energy crisis since January when its main supply from Venezuela was cut off with the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

The Caribbean island has been under a US trade embargo for more than six decades.

Trump has openly floated the idea of "taking" Cuba -- as he has with Greenland, Canada and Venezuela -- and his administration labels leaders in Havana a "threat" to US national security.

Last month, Diaz-Canel vowed "unbreakable resistance" to any such takeover effort.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, has taken the reins of negotiations with Havana and has called for major changes to Cuba's leadership, which he deems incompetent.

But Rubio denies calling for Diaz-Canel's resignation.

The Cuban leader told NBC that Havana wants "to engage in dialogue and discuss any topic without any condition -- not demanding changes from our political system, as we are not demanding changes from the American system, about which we have a number of doubts."

Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal told AFP on Tuesday that talks with the United States were "in a very preliminary, very initial phase."

Despite bilateral tensions, the US allowed a shipment of crude oil from a Russian tanker to be unloaded in Cuba over a week ago.