Donald Trump has announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon to be followed by a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese leaders next week, in a deal that it is hoped will bring progress toward a parallel peace agreement between the US and Iran.
The ceasefire took effect at midnight on Thursday in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting devastating airstrikes aimed at wiping out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.
The US president provided few other details, apart from the start time and length of the agreed truce. He later told reporters: “At the right time I would visit Lebanon.”
The Israeli occupation is likely to be the subject of talks that Trump said would take place in Washington next Tuesday between Joseph Aoun and Benjamin Netanyahu – the first Israeli-Lebanese summit in decades.
“I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform from Air Force One in advance of a public event in Las Vegas. “It will be an [sic] GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!”
Trump announces 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon after ‘excellent conversations’
Trump has announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon to be followed by a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese leaders next week, in a deal that it is hoped will bring progress toward a parallel peace agreement between the US and Iran.
The ceasefire took effect at midnight on Thursday in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting devastating airstrikes aimed at wiping out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.
Hegseth says US is ‘locked and loaded’ to finish job of destroying Iran energy grid
Iran’s energy infrastructure is “not destroyed yet” and the US is “locked and loaded” to finish the job, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, said on Thursday as he called many of the press corps gathered the moral equivalent of the Pharisees who conspired to destroy Jesus Christ.
Trump’s triumphal arch moves closer to approval after key agency meets
Trump’s design for the triumphal arch he wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital moved a step forward on Thursday after a key agency reviewed the proposal for the first time. The arch is one of several projects that the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his lasting imprint on Washington DC.
Pope says ‘world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ amid feud with Trump’s White House
Pope Leo XIV’s comments mark the latest back-and-forth in his almost week-long feud with the White House over the US-Israel war on Iran. The first American-born pontiff did not mention Trump by name, but used his speech in Cameroon on Thursday to denounce world leaders that invoke religion to justify violence against other nations.
Trump nominates Erica Schwartz, ex-deputy surgeon general, as CDC director
Trump has selected Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bringing to an end a months-long search for a permanent head of the troubled public health agency.
RFK Jr accused of ‘dangerous conspiracy theories’ at heated budget hearing
Vaccines and public health dominated a frequently contentious hearing with Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday before the US House ways and means committee.
Trump officials urge other countries to join ‘trade over aid’ push
The Trump administration has moved to formally enlist foreign governments in a sweeping reorientation of global development policy, directing US diplomats worldwide to seek official support for a “trade over aid” declaration before its introduction at the United Nations later this month. This would mean a move away from direct aid to poor nations in favor of increased trade, led by private companies.
US House approves bill to shield 350,000 Haitians from deportations
The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to shield 350,000 Haitians from deportations for three years, a rare bipartisan rebuke of Trump’s mass deportation agenda enabled by a small group of Republican defectors.
What else happened today:
A Texas court interpreter who was arrested by ICE after living in the US for more than 35 years is speaking out from detention, saying she has been “treated like a criminal” and fears being deported to a country where she has never been.
Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia whose tenure was upended by allegations of sexual assault, shot and killed his wife Cerina Fairfax on Thursday before killing himself, police said.
Hundreds of previously redacted records reveal how Amazon has put pressure on independent sellers using its platform into raising their prices on the sites of competitors such as Walmart and Target, so that Amazon can appear to have lower prices, California authorities allege.
The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Eric Swalwell following his resignation from Congress, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Utah has emerged as a major center of measles infections in the US, as an outbreak that has been building for some time continues to expand.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 15 April 2026.
