The economic game of chicken between Iran and the US is about to enter a dangerous new phase

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/14/business/economic-impact-us-iran-blockade

But the blockade will require serious military power to enforce, putting US troops in harm’s way – a consequence the US has largely avoided so far by conducting the majority of its attack from the air. Putting boots on enemy ships and taking control of dangerous waters threatens to increase the US death toll.

Americans are already largely opposed to the war, and the blockade risks two outcomes they have demonstrated no tolerance of: even higher gas prices and troop casualties. Trump is betting Iran will blink first, but Iran has withstood severe economic pain before, and there’s little evidence it is prepared to back down from this existential fight.

“Oil’s game of chicken continues to escalate,” said Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Market and a former CIA analyst. “I’m not sure either side is prepared to swerve.”

So, who will blink first?

“Time is working in Iran’s favor,” said Rauball.

“Iran has dealt with devastating sanctions before, and they never abandoned their right to enrich uranium,” Croft said.

“Iran can probably hold out longer than the US Navy would care to enforce the blockade,” added Karen Young, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

Three votes for Iran.

Chinese tanker crosses Strait of Hormuz, testing Trump’s blockade

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5830128-chinese-tanker-strait-hormuz-blockade/?tbref=hp

A U.S.-sanctioned Chinese tanker tested President Trump’s new blockade on travel through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, passing through the trading corridor to the Gulf of Oman.

Another U.S.-sanctioned Chinese tanker, Murlikishan, passed through the strait from the opposite direction and is currently located in the Persian Gulf. The second tanker flies under Madagascar’s flag and is heading to Iraq to load fuel on April 16, according to Kpler. 

‘They’re not getting what they voted for’: Jesus meme lays bare GOP frustrations with

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/14/trump-jesus-meme-pope-backlash-00872163

President Donald Trump’s weekend tirade against the pope — capped off by an AI-generated depiction of the president as Jesus — was, for some of his supporters, just too much.

Their unusually severe backlash comes as many once-devout Trump supporters are having a crisis of faith. Upset over what they feel is a too timid deportation agenda, a sputtering economy and another war in the Middle East, many couldn’t stomach the affront the way they might have in the past.

“They’re not getting what they voted for to begin with. On top of that, whether he’s mocking their religion intentionally or not, he still is,” said Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host and an influential voice with evangelical voters central to the MAGA base. “I think we are looking not really at a MAGA crack-up per se, but a lot of the base becoming exasperated enough to start looking beyond Trump.”

For weeks, some of the president’s core supporters have been nursing grievances over the Iran war — which alienated the GOP’s isolationist wing — as well as rising prices, an insufficiently aggressive deportation agenda , and lingering frustration over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files. The weekend collapse of Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary, a lodestar for that wing of the movement, is only deepening the disillusionment. Against this backdrop, some of the president’s supporters had no tolerance for the attempted appropriation of Jesus.

Iran’s Regime Has Changed—for the Worse

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-radical-regime-change-a42d96ea?mod=hp_lead_pos7

On March 13, a massive billboard appeared in Tehran’s Enqelab Square. It showed Iran’s newly selected supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, standing in a trench and instructing commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fire missiles at their enemies. The text suggested the mission is divinely inspired, comparing Khamenei to Imam Ali, a revered Muslim figure known for his legendary victory over Jewish tribes.

For opponents of Iran’s regime, the image is the visual representation of their worst nightmare: a militarized Iran ruled by a younger, hard-line leader where the Revolutionary Guard plays an even more dominant role.

Growing Authentic Leadership-Yahrtzeit of R.A.Miller

 BS"D

27 Nissan, 5786/ Yahrtzeit of Rav Avigdor Miller ZT"L

Isn't It About Time We Do Something Differently?

Growing Authentic Leadership

Current events are to serve as a Divine wake-up call, not only individually, but also communally, as evident from the Rambam at the beginning of Hilchos Ta'anis.

We've seen many Divine wake-up calls, e.g.: COVID; the ongoing Ukraine War; the Simchas Torah pogrom; the Gaza war - leaving Hamas entrenched, despite over a thousand Israelis killed and about 20,000 plus seriously maimed; skyrocketing Jew-hatred fueled by the recent, ever-morphing wars in Israel and beyond; the first Iran War; the current Mideast War; the Lebanon quagmire; the global economic crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz; the ability of Iran to withstand the military might of the US and still pose an escalating ballistic missile threat, having evidently depleted Israeli interceptor missiles to dangerously low levels - while still being able to fire modern killer-cluster-warheads - all the while still posing a potential nuclear threat.*

[* This, despite the bombastic grandstanding of Netanyahu, who is claiming to have impeded another Holocaust - on Israeli Holocaust Forgetance Day - consistent with his arrogating of the Divine Role of Guardian of the Jewish People.]

This is before we even talk about all of the spiritual assaults to which we've been subjected in recent years, in the US, Israel, UK, and elsewhere -- be they self-inflicted, or superficially otherwise.

Each one of these should have awoken us - individually and communally. Have they?  If so - how?

It's the Yahrtzeit of Rav Avigdor Miller ZT"L tonight (27th of Nissan). Ask yourself: When was the last time you saw your community leadership complying with the non-Politically-Correct Torah imperatives to intelligently articulate an uncompromising stand against the communal sins against which Rav Miller would rail? These include communal support for pro-sodomist, pro-abortion, pro-crime politicians, and tolerance of the same in Israel, and the drafting of girls into the immoral cesspool of the Israeli Army. (The fact that the IDF isn't as depraved as it used to be in his time is more due to the "Me-Too" movement than due to Orthodox political "leadership" growing a spine.)

How many communal "leaders" (lay, organizational, or otherwise) risk their positions and reputations to counter or protest the ongoing "community" support for politicians (of either major party) who support the types of moral subversion against which Rav Miller - and numerous other Gedolim - protested so heroically?

Case-in-Point: As we've discussed in detail on our weekly WSNR radio broadcast, LevinAt11, if the Orthodox community would have complied with the directives of Da'as Torah on issues of foundational morality and retzichah (murder) - by voting for values rather than selling out for government money - we would have been able to forestall passage of Physician-Facilitated poisoning of the "terminally-ill" - which passed this year in NY, and previously passed in NJ - by a single vote, being one Assemblymember from Passaic (thanks to Avi Schnall, as documented previously).

And the worst - by far - is yet to come, if we keep it up (like Canada), R"L.

As a child, my father had the merit to get ejected from his last Rabbinic position (in Edmonton, Alberta - yes, there is a frum community there). He taught us by example that principle trumps position, and "parnossah," the latter in truth being dependent on HaShem alone.

In Eretz Yisroel as well, do we see the frum politicians - who have formidable power in the current Israeli government - even talking against the moral subversion against which Rav Miller and Gedolei Eretz Yisroel alike fought - be it sanctioning LGBTQ, abortion-on-demand, the IDF subjecting "non-Chareidi" soldiers to inappropriate exposure to female soldiers, or drafting the next generation of Jewish mothers into the exploitative Army environment?

Please realize that every one of the issues enumerated here is something that should be a common ground priority for every single Orthodox faction. Authoritative Rabbis from across the spectrum concur on these basic issues.  So why barely a peep, from almost all quarters (other than the No'am Party)?

"מאריך אפיה - וגביה דיליה."

Let's not complain so much about the ubiquitous Jew-haters, the fulminating leftists, and the Islamist radicals. Let's look in the mirror. THAT will certainly make a difference.

If you desire to do something tangible, and would like to help share in the burden of those who've taken responsibility to save neshomos of girls in jeopardy of being drafted into the Israeli Army - please donate today here. The holy work is B"H expanding, along with the needs.

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2026/03/saving-neshamos-in-eretz-yisroel-kimcha.html

How befitting for Yizchor money - to help ensure that these girls - who stand to compose the next generation of Jewish mothers - don't suffer the fate of the many tens of thousands of girls who weren't saved.

May we merit the Redemption the easier way - through communal teshuvah - rather than having the need to endure so many forms of yisurin.

Good Chodesh, and Good Shabbos.

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

845.642.1679

Direct: 771.215.8892

Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337

torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com

Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]: 

Tomim1679@gmail.com

Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2

Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

'Not even close': Joe laughs at Trump's claims he thought AI image was him as a doctor, not Jesus

Divine Providence is a Fundemental Belief

 Maharal (Gevuras HaShem 47) You should know that there are three beliefs that form the foundation of Judaism so that if G-d forbid one of them fails the religious faith falls with it. 1) Divine Providence that G-d supervises the world 2)Everything is in G-d’s hands and there is nothing besides Him, and this is the belief in the reality of God... 3) The third belief is that God spoke to man and give him Torah.  And so when Moses came to redeem them and God saw their affliction and did not forsake them, it is said, "And the people believed that God had visited the children of Israel," etc., and this is the belief in providence... If He watches over people and their deeds and does not forsake them, then He certainly pays them their reward as well, which is not reasonable to say that He, sees their deeds and watches over them and does not punish them for their sins... And so from providence, reward and punishment follow.

27 Nisan: The Yahrtzeit of Harav Avigdor Miller zt”l BY Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

https://www.ou.org/holidays/27-nisan-the-yahrtzeit-of-harav-avigdor-miller-ztl/

Hashgacha Protis - Knowledge or Awareness?

 An important issue is whether Hasghacha Protis means G-d determines what happens to us or is merely aware of our actions and will eventually give reward or punishment

Avos (03:15) Everything is foreseen but the right of choice is granted, and the world is judged with goodness, and everything is in accordance with the preponderance of man's deeds.

Kli Yakar (Bereishis 41:01) And behold after two years Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. The Philosophers claim that G-d is too elevated and great to pay attention to the lowly world below the sphere of the moon. To nullify this pernicious view the verse says Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.This means not to say that because G-d is so great  that he has no awareness  of our actions because He is all knowing and is  fact knows all of mans deeds

Koheles Rabbah (10:14) Never does a serpent bite unless it has been incited from Above, nor does a lion rend its prey unless it has been incited from Above, nor does a government interfere with men unless it has been incited from Above.

Rabbeinu Bachye (Kad HaKemach Emuna):From Heaven G-d observes all men ande from His palace He supervises the whole earth. The Creator fashioned all their hearts and therefore fully understands all their deeds  Dovid mentions in these three verses the subject of Divine Providence. Meaning that He influences all men in the lowly world either in general or a particular person. And He knows their thoughts and fully understands their actions

Ramban (Bereishis 18:19) The word yedativ literally means “knowing.” He is thus alluding that G-d’s knowledge, which is synonymous with His Providence in the lower world, is to guard the species, and even the children of men are subject despite it to the circumstantial evil occurrences until the time of their visitation comes. But in His piety, He directs His attention to know each one individually so that His watch constantly attaches to him, His knowledge and remembrance of him never departs, as it says: He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous. There are many verses on this theme, as it is written, Behold, the eye of the Eternal is toward them that fear Him, and other verses besides. 

Shmuel (1 02:03-10) Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.4. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.5. Those who were full have hired out themselves for bread; and those who were hungry ceased to hunger; the barren has borne seven; and she who has many children has become wretched.6. The Lord kills, and returns to life; he brings down to Sheol, and brings up.7. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich; he brings low, and he lifts up.8. He raises up the poor from the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them.9. He will keep the feet of his pious ones, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.10. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; from heaven shall he thunder upon them; the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Tehilim (33:13-15) 13. The Lord looks down from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men.14. From the place of His habitation He looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.15. He fashions their hearts alike; He considers all their deeds.

GOP senators grow uncomfortable with Trump rhetoric, endgame for Iran

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5829511-senate-gop-trump-iran/

Senate Republicans facing worsening polls want President Trump to rein in his extreme rhetoric, which included an attack on Pope Leo XIV for being “WEAK on crime” and a threat to wipe out Iran’s civilization, and find a quick end to the conflict with Tehran.

GOP lawmakers returning to Washington from the two-week Easter recess aren’t comfortable with Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, which has put them again on the defensive, but they are more concerned about finding a quick way to end the conflict, which has caused fuel and fertilizer prices to soar.

Given growing concerns among GOP colleagues about how much longer the conflict may last, Senate Republican leaders have decided not to attempt to pass additional funding for the strikes against Iran in a budget reconciliation package they plan to bring to the floor as soon as next week.

Trump pressed on “blasphemy” and anti-Christ in bruising debacle

Taking Too Much Vitamin D Can Backfire, Scientists Warn

 https://www.sciencealert.com/taking-too-much-vitamin-d-can-backfire-scientists-warn

The "sunshine vitamin" may come with a dark side. Just as a lack of vitamin D can lead to health dangers, so too can an excess.

For years now, scientists have warned that not everyone needs to take vitamin D supplements, and that, in rare cases, high-dose versions can be toxic, especially for young kids and older adults.

Trump on AI Jesus image: ‘I thought it was me as a doctor’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5829046-trump-doctor-red-cross/

President Trump told reporters Monday that the AI image appearing to depict him as Jesus Christ was actually an image of Trump as a doctor healing people. 

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support,” Trump told reporters outside of the Oval Office.

“Only the fake news could come up with that one,” he continued. “I just heard about it, and I said how did they come up with that? It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better and I do make people better.” 

The image was removed from Trump’s Truth Social account earlier Monday following unusually fierce backlash from a number of the president’s supporters online, who appeared to interpret the image as Trump portraying Jesus. 

Trump post appearing to depict him as Jesus removed amid backlash

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/13/trump-jesus-religious-conservatives/

President Donald Trump’s posting of an image that appeared to depict him as Jesus drew rare criticism from the religious right, prompting allegations of blasphemy and calls for him to take down the post before it was deleted.

“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” wrote Megan Basham, a prominent conservative Protestant Christian writer and commentator. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

One administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to criticize the president’s post, predicted that conservative Christian outrage would dissipate in a matter of days as it often has. But the official said it was going too far for Trump to post such an image of himself, even though some of his most loyal MAGA supporters have cast him in quasi-messianic terms.

Trump takes down Truth Social post of AI image portraying him as Jesus

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5828915-trump-ai-jesus-image-removed/mlite/ 

The AI image posted by President Trump on his Truth Social platform depicting himself as Jesus Christ appears to have been removed from his account.

The link where the image previously was posted on Sunday, which was Orthodox Easter, now reads “This resource could not be found” on Monday afternoon.

The image, which showed Trump portrayed as Jesus Christ healing sick people, sparked backlash from some of his own conservative supporters.

In the hours before the post was taken down Monday morning, a number of some of Trump’s most vocal allies from the conservative Christian community called on him to remove the post. 

Conservative political commentator Michael Knowles weighed in saying, “I assume someone has already told him, but it behooves the President both spiritually and politically to delete the picture, no matter the intent.”

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X that she was “praying against” the post.

“On Orthodox Easter, President Trump attacked the Pope because the Pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus,” she wrote. “This comes after last week’s post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization. I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!”

Most Jews do not have Hashgocha Protis

 Sforno (Vayikra 13:47) Most Jews except for a few exalted people are without a doubt are ruled by Nature and are influenced by the heavenly bodies like other animals who do not receive personal Divine intervention but only as a species. They receive attention only as being part of the Jewish people. 

Rabbeinu Bachya (Bereishis 18:19) The personalized supervision of mankind, operates in the following manner. 1) There is supervision in the sense that G’d is aware of all of man’s actions and thoughts; this extends both to Jews and to Gentiles alike. We know this from Psalms 33,15, “He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings.” The supervision becomes manifest in G’d protecting people against mishaps. This type of benevolent supervision does not extend to Gentiles and not even to all Israelites except the righteous among them. G’d saves the righteous from experiencing the kinds of disasters which non-deserving people are prone to experience. 

Trump’s FOX Interview on Iran Was a Total Mess

Trump posts image depicting himself as Jesus performing a miracle after bashing Pope Leo XIV

 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/us/news/trumppope-clash-after-criticism-president-posts-ai-miracle-image/articleshow/130224745.cms

Trump Pope Leo: US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV. The Pope had spoken out against US actions in Iran. Trump responded via social media, questioning the Pope's stance. Following this, Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting himself in a divine role. The Pope had previously called for an end to conflict and warned against aggressive rhetoric.

After talks fail, IDF planning for return to war, Trump mulls strikes on Iran

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-talks-fail-idf-planning-for-return-to-war-trump-mulls-strikes-on-iran-reports/

All three major Hebrew TV networks reported that the IDF is gearing up for renewed conflict with Iran as the ceasefire talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic collapsed, in what appeared to be a coordinated leak by defense officials on Sunday.

The reported preparations come less than a week after a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan went into effect, and less than a day after negotiations in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to produce a deal to permanently end the war in the Middle East.

In a clear sign that diplomatic efforts were at a dead end, the American military said on Sunday it will begin to enforce a naval blockade on Iran starting on Monday, following orders by US President Donald Trump.

G-d pays attention to Israel

 Shir HaShirim Rabbah (07:08) Just as the farmer pays no attention to the baskets of dung or of straw or of stubble or of chaff,because they are not worth anything, so \G-d pays no attention to the other nations,because they are not worth anything, as it says,  All the nations are as nothing before Him. To whom,then, does He pay attention? To Israel, as it says, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, etc., and again, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel. 

Did Trump Buy Ed McMahon’s Home To Save Him From Foreclosure -Compulsive Liar

 https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-trump-buy-ed-mcmahon-home-foreclosure-11816985

President Donald Trump has shared a viral social media post claiming that he purchased Ed McMahon’s home in 2008, saving the television personality and comedian from losing it to foreclosure, and allowing him to live their rent-free for the remainder of his life.

The story shared by Trump is untrue, with no evidence that Trump bought McMahon’s property or leased it back to him free of charge. Contemporaneous reporting, as well as statements from McMahon’s representatives and family, contradict the claim.

Trump did publicly express an intention to help Ed McMahon during his foreclosure issues, but didn't buy the home or provide free lifetime housing as claimed in the post shared on Sunday. Additionally, the assertion that the media ignored Trump’s efforts is untrue, as his publicized offers were widely reported on at the time by outlets including CNBC and Reuters.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban, ally of Trump and Putin, concedes election defeat

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/04/12/hungary-election-viktor-orban-trump/

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat Sunday in a major election loss that will reverberate in Washington and Moscow and bring an end to the 16-year rule of a self-proclaimed champion of illiberal Christian democracy who is a darling of MAGA-aligned American conservatives, an ally of the Kremlin and a proud antagonist of European Union leaders in Brussels.

Orban, 62, who has governed Hungary with increasing authoritarianism since 2010, and his Fidesz party were ousted by Peter Magyar, 45, a center-right, socially conservative member of the European Parliament, and his Tisza Party — in what was arguably the country’s most consequential vote since the end of the communist era. Vice President JD Vance visited Hungary last week to campaign for Orban.

The U.S. Sank One of Iran’s Navies. The Other Still Controls Hormuz.

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/the-u-s-sank-one-of-irans-navies-the-other-still-controls-hormuz-98ea16ff?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_3

The U.S. has destroyed most of Iran’s navy. But not the one Tehran uses to control the Strait of Hormuz.

The regular navy operated Iran’s big battleships largely for prestige and occasional long-range deployments. The paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on the other hand, has its own extensive fleet of more nimble boats designed to control the crucial waterway with missiles, mines and harassment of commercial ships—and they are much harder to reach.

Trump declares US Navy will begin blockading Strait of Hormuz ‘effective immediately’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-april-12-2026/

More than 60% of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval fleet tasked with patrolling the Strait of Hormuz is still intact after six weeks of war with the US and Israel, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The report comes as US President Donald Trump has declared that the US Navy will impose a blockade on the strait following failed ceasefire talks in Pakistan yesterday.

But the largely intact fleet of small boats and attack craft should allow the IRGC to continue to control the Strait of Hormuz with ease, including by laying mines down throughout the narrow waterway, the Journal says, with the heavy damage inflicted to Iran’s traditional navy making “relatively little difference” in this area.

Trump says US will blockade Strait of Hormuz after Iran talks end without a deal

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump

The US president predicted Iran will return to negotiations and renewed his threats against the country after peace talks ended in a stalemate.

• Blockade in the strait: President Donald Trump said the US Navy will start blocking passage through the Strait of Hormuz, risking an even greater spike to oil and gas prices as he seeks to maximize leverage over Iran. The US and other countries will sweep for mines in the vital waterway during the blockade, Trump said.

Trump’s ‘new, reasonable’ Iran is neither new nor reasonable, and he knows it

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trumps-new-reasonable-iran-is-neither-new-nor-reasonable-and-he-knows-it/

 There is a blatant contradiction between US President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence, on the one hand, that the war against Iran has achieved “regime change” and he is now negotiating with new, “much more reasonable leaders,” and his simultaneous acknowledgement, on the other, that any Iranian who dares to take to the streets faces an immediate death sentence.

The same goes for his simultaneous contention, also expounded at Monday’s press conference, that the purportedly new regime is “not as radicalized” as its predecessor, but that, nonetheless, “Israel will be gone, the Middle East will be gone,” if Iran gets the bomb.

“We won, okay,” the US president claimed on Monday night. But for all his contradictions, as Trump knows full well, the Iranian regime against which he went to war remains in power, and its nuclear ambitions are anything but dimmed.

Vance says no agreement with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump

• No agreement: US Vice President JD Vance says no agreement was reached with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan. Iran would not commit to forgoing a nuclear weapon, Vance said, adding that US negotiators gave their “final and best offer,” but Tehran refused to accept the US’ terms for a deal.

• No plans for further talks: Tehran currently has no plans for another round of negotiations, state media reported. In Iran, the failure of the talks is being blamed on “excessive” demands of the United States.

• Questions remain: The failure to yield a deal throws the ceasefire into doubt, and without Iran’s commitment to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, global energy supplies will continue to be throttled. Before the ceasefire, President Donald Trump had promised Iran’s “whole civilization will die.” Then, he said it “makes no difference to me” whether both sides make a deal.

Iran’s Nuclear Program Has Survived, Clouding Talks

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-uranium-stockpile-strategy-333bcc1e?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_2

Iran has emerged from five weeks of punishing U.S. and Israeli bombing with most of the tools it needs to make a nuclear bomb intact, officials and experts say, giving its negotiators another lever for pressing Washington to make concessions.

While Iran has gained a powerful new point of economic leverage through its control of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and Israel have long been focused on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday in Islamabad that talks between the two sides broke down after Iran refused to commit to not seeking nuclear weapons in the future.

The real life or death matter: The struggle between religious and civil judiciaries

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-892513

This declaration of war is not over any concrete dispute. Its purpose is to undermine the legitimacy of a parallel state judicial institution – to challenge its composition, authority, and decisions. Imagine the storm that would be unleashed if Chief Justice Amit had determined that Israel’s chief rabbi was impudent, lawless, and an enemy of the State of Israel.

The chief rabbis’ outburst has deep roots. Their father, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, along with many other rabbis, held that Israel’s courts are “gentile tribunals.” Decoded, this phrase implies that Jews may not turn to them. It echoes Maimonides and the Shulhan Aruch, “whoever comes before them for judgment is wicked.” This is, to put it mildly, a deeply problematic halachic-cultural position. The ban on litigating before gentile courts was, of course, formulated in exile.

US intel said to assess Iran can recover underground launchers, fire thousands of missiles

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-intel-said-to-assess-iran-can-recover-underground-launchers-fire-thousands-of-missiles/

US officials assess that Iran retains thousands of missiles it can fire by recovering launchers buried underground, and they are concerned Iran will work to rebuild its ballistic capabilities during the break in the fighting with the US and Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

An Israeli official cited by the Kan public broadcaster also said Iran was deploying bulldozers to repair entrances to underground missile storage facilities that had been struck by the Israel Defense Forces.

The damage that the US and Israel have inflicted on Iran “is not irreparable, and in the absence of a significant agreement, the IDF will have to go back to [fight] Iran,” the unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying.

Melania Trump put the Epstein files on the front burner

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/04/11/melania-trump-epstein-files-statement/89552086007/

You remember the Epstein files, right? They were the subject of all the “notorious child sex trafficking” headlines President Trump tried to bomb out of existence by starting a war with Iran.

If I’m being honest, the war gambit kind of worked. News about the Epstein files and Trump’s connection therein had largely subsided, making way for news about Trump’s incalculably dumb idea to start a war in the Middle East.

The president used the cover of war to toss Pam Bondi into the attorney general waste bin, unhappy with how she failed to contain the Epstein scandal. He replaced her with his former personal attorney, a guy who once said partying with Epstein ‒ a convicted sex offender who died in prison awaiting a sex trafficking trial ‒ was no big deal.

The president reportedly didn’t know his wife was bringing up the Epstein files. And again, nobody was really talking about the files … until she brought them up, for reasons that remain unclear.

Melania says her piece about Epstein – doth the lady protest too much?

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/melania-trump-epstein-lies

When Donald Trump launched a seemingly random war against Iran, there was a whiff of suspicion of a Wag the Dog ploy to divert attention from how badly the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was going.

So when Trump’s wife Melania made a mysterious appearance at the White House on Thursday to put Epstein front and centre again, was it an elaborate ruse to divert attention from how badly the Iran war is going?

The first lady emerged from the Blue Room and walked to a lectern flanked by US flags in the grand foyer, surrounded by chandeliers, marble pillars and shiny chequered floor.

As cameras clicked away, Melania, full of cold fury, said in her now familiar Slovenian accent: “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.”

To which America responded: “What lies? Maybe we read something somewhere a few months ago but we have more pressing concerns right now.”

What is Melania’s game? Is she a secret member of the resistance after all, driven to act now by Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation and growing fears that he is descending into madness? Is there a smoking gun in the Epstein files that could yet bring him down? It would all make a great Amazon documentary.

Melania Trump denies connection to Epstein case, calls accusations ‘baseless lies’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/melania-trump-denies-connection-to-epstein-case-calls-accusations-baseless-lies/

US first lady says Congress should hold a public hearing centered on survivors of Epstein’s crimes, claims statements about her are financially and politically motivated

First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his sex crimes, saying that accusations she was somehow involved were an attempt to defame her, thrusting the affair back into the spotlight ​after her husband had sought to put it behind him.

The seemingly out-of-the-blue message came as her husband, US President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally seemed to move past more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein, especially as the Iran war had become all-consuming in Washington.

Democrats, meanwhile, jumped on Melania Trump’s comments, saying they agreed with her call for a congressional hearing. In a social media post, Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee that is investigating Epstein, called on the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, to schedule a public hearing “immediately.”