detoxed.news

April 23

Arts and culture

Italian soldiers install a new statue of Jesus in the Christian village of Debel, southern Lebanon, in place of a previous statue given by the Israeli military, who destroyed the previous statue with a sledgehammer, drawing widespread outrage.
Source: The Jerusalem Post external link

Sports

U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio states that Iran's national football team can participate in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, while indicating that entry restrictions may apply to non-athlete delegation members with alleged links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Source: FMT external link
In American football, the 91st edition of the NFL draft is held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with the Las Vegas Raiders selecting former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick.
Source: ESPN external link

Armed conflicts and attacks

United States president Donald Trump orders the navy to open fire on any Iranian vessels placing mines along the Strait of Hormuz, after the military reportedly observed an Iranian mine-laying operation.
Source: Axios external link
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command conducts a boarding operation on the stateless tanker M/T in the Indian Ocean, alleged to be carrying US-sanctioned Iranian oil.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
An Israeli security source says that Israel is not conducting airstrikes in Iran following reports of explosions over Tehran, while defense minister Israel Katz states that the country is prepared to resume military action pending approval from the U.S.
Source: Business Recorder external link
Trump rules out the use of nuclear weapons in the Iran war.
Source: The Hill external link
U.S. president Donald Trump says that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been extended to 3 weeks.
Source: AP external link
Three people are killed and 10 others are injured in an overnight Russian drone strike on a 13-story apartment building in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine.
Source: Reuters external link

Business and economy

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock market index surpasses 60,000 points for the first time in a historic high, while South Korea's KOSPI also reaches a record high amid gains in technology shares.
Source: Nikkei Asia external link
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed as investors remained cautious despite a three-week extension of the 2026 Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, underscoring lingering geopolitical uncertainty.
Source: CNBC external link

Law and crime

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa suspends national police commissioner Fannie Masemola pending investigation into allegations of procurement violations linked to a R332 million (US$20 million) police health services tender.
Source: The Peninsula external link
Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi is splashed with red liquid after leaving a federal press conference building in Berlin, Germany in which he criticized the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S.
Source: AP external link

Disasters and accidents

More than 6.5 million, mostly southern, Somalians face hunger amid climate shocks, drought, and conflict, with children facing acute malnutrition risks.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
A boat capsizes in waters between Algeria and Spain. At least 17 Somali migrants are killed.
Source: AP external link
Eighteen people are injured, including five critically, when two trains collide near Hillerød, Capital Region, Denmark.
Source: Reuters external link
Eight people are killed and two others are injured when a vehicle loses control and plunges into a gorge in Tehri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, India.
Source: Hindustan Times external link

April 22

Business and economy

German airline Lufthansa announces that it will cut 20,000 short-haul flights in Europe this summer, saying rising fuel prices have made many flights "unprofitable" for the company.
Source: BBC News external link
Stocks in the United States, including S&P 500 and Nasdaq, rise following yesterday’s announcement that the ceasefire would be extended indefinitely.
Source: CNBC external link
Russia announces it will halt the transport of Kazakh oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline starting May 1, citing technical reasons, while the German economic ministry states that the interruption is not expected to significantly disrupt fuel supply.
Source: AFP via France 24 external link

International relations

Islamabad, Pakistan, remains on lockdown ahead of a potential, unconfirmed second round of talks between Iran and the U.S. in the city.
Source: Digital Journal external link
France and the United Kingdom host a military conference involving over 30 countries in Northwood, London, to discuss the use of military forces for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.
Source: AA external link

Disasters and accidents

Eleven people are killed, including children, in a multiple-vehicle collision in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Source: Deccan Herald external link
Nine people are killed and around 27 others are injured when a bus crashes into a tree on a highway near San Juan del Río and Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro, Mexico.
Source: in Spanish external link
A leak results in a violent chemical reaction involving nitric acid and another substance at a facility in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, killing two people and injuring 19 others.
Source: AP external link
Two people are killed and 16 others are injured when a passenger bus carrying Ukrainian citizens strikes a group of people and crashes into a ditch in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda external link

Law and crime

Moldovan oligarch and former politician Vladimir Plahotniuc is sentenced to 19 years in prison for embezzling about US$1 billion from the country's banks.
Source: Reuters external link
International Criminal Court (ICC) judges dismiss former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's jurisdictional challenge regarding the ICC's authority over alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member, allowing proceedings to continue against Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign.
Source: Reuters external link

Politics and elections

Nepali home minister Sudan Gurung resigns to allow an impartial investigation into his financial activities, becoming the second minister to leave prime minister Balen Shah's government following recent elections.
Source: The Straits Times external link
The Greek parliament votes to lift the immunity of 13 legislators from the ruling New Democracy party to allow investigation into alleged fraud involving European Union agricultural subsidies.
Source: Reuters external link
Source: Reuters external link

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seizes two vessels after attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. A third vessel is also reportedly "disabled off Iran's coast".
Source: CNN external link
Three members of the Kurdistan Freedom Party are injured in a drone attack in the Khabat District, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The group attributes the attack to Iran.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
A French UNIFIL peacekeeper dies from his wounds sustained from an ambush last week blamed on Hezbollah.
Source: AFP via Al Arabiya external link
Israeli airstrikes kill at least five people across Lebanon, including a journalist.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
Suspected Boko Haram insurgents on motorcycles kill at least 20 people in shootings in Borno State and Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Source: Reuters external link
Ten people are killed and eight others are injured in an attack on a copper and gold mine in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan. A Turkish citizen is among the fatalities, while another is kidnapped.
Source: AFP via Al Arabiya external link

April 21

Disasters and accidents

Thirteen people are killed and 23 injured after an explosion at a fireworks manufacturing unit in Thrissur, India.
Source: India Today external link
A shell explodes inside a Type 10 main battle tank from the 8th Division's Western Army Tank Battalion, during a live fire exercise at Hijudai Training Area in Kusu, Ōita Prefecture, Japan, which is under the AOR of 4th Division, killing three soldiers and injuring another.
Source: Asahi Shimbun Company external link

Law and crime

A joint investigation by the Indonesian human rights commission, the ombudsman, and the child protection commission finds that police and other state security personnel violated human rights, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and alleged child sexual abuse, during anti-government protests in 2025 that left at least 11 people dead and thousands detained.
Source: Reuters external link
At least five people are killed and 200 others are injured in a prison riot at the Yare Prison in Miranda State, Venezuela.
Source: New Straits Times external link
South Korean police seek an arrest warrant for Hybe founder and chairperson Bang Si-hyuk over alleged violations of capital market laws related to Hybe's initial public offering, accusing him of misleading early investors and receiving profits through a related private equity fund.
Source: AP News external link
The U.S. justice department indicts the Southern Poverty Law Center on fraud charges related to payments it made to infiltrate white supremacist hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and the American Nazi Party.
Source: New York Post external link

International relations

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te cancels his planned visit to Eswatini after the governments of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles denied overflight permissions for his aircraft, with Taiwan attributing the decision to pressure from China.
Source: Reuters external link
Ukraine completes repairs on the Druzhba pipeline damaged in a war-related strike and prepares to resume operations, while president Volodymyr Zelenskyy links the restoration to progress on a proposed €90 billion European Union support package.
Source: AP external link
Pope Leo XIV arrives in Malabo, the final leg of his papal visit to Africa, becoming the first pope to visit Equatorial Guinea since John Paul II in 1982.
Source: AP external link

Science and technology

NASA announces that the rover has detected more than 20 organic molecules on Mars using a chemical analysis method involving tetramethylammonium hydroxide, conducted for the first time on another planet, indicating the long-term preservation of compounds associated with prebiotic chemistry.
Source: The Manila Times external link

Armed conflicts and attacks

United States president Donald Trump announces that the ceasefire will be extended so that Iran can make a "unified proposal", upon Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and field marshal Asim Munir's request. However, Trump also says the blockade will remain.
Source: The Hill external link
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announces that it stopped and boarded a stateless tanker, M/T , which it says is connected to Iran.
Source: Stars and Stripes external link
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi calls the blockade "an act of war" and a violation of the ceasefire.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and launches a drone into northern Israel.
Source: The Times of Israel external link
Two Israeli soldiers are sentenced to 30 days in military prison for destroying a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in the Christian village of Debel, Lebanon.
Source: The Times of Israel external link
French president Emmanuel Macron affirms France's support for the territorial integrity of Lebanon, saying that the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the country is a precondition for stability.
Source: Al Jazeera external link
Two Palestinians are killed and three are injured in an attack towards a school by settlers and Israeli soldiers in Al-Mughayyir, West Bank.
Source: Reuters external link
Israeli troops raid the Quneitra Governorate in Syria, where they detain three people.
Source: AA external link
A United Nations investigation finds that the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar facilitated the transfer of weapons, vehicles and Colombian mercenaries to Sudan to fight for the Rapid Support Forces against government forces. The operation was centred around Kufra, Libya, where LNA forces control Kufra Airport.
Source: AP external link
Transitional Sovereignty Council leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Omani sultan Haitham bin Tariq hold official talks to focus on regional development and efforts to end the war in Sudan.
Source: Muscat Daily external link
The Russian defence ministry says the Africa Corps freed a Russian and a Ukrainian citizen abducted in Niger in July 2024 by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin during an operation conducted in Mali.
Source: AP external link

Business and economy

Nepal resumes issuing work permits for its nationals seeking employment in the Middle East after a temporary suspension linked to the Iran war, citing guidance from the foreign ministry and demand from workers.
Source: Reuters external link
Vitol CEO Russell Hardy says that at least one billion barrels of oil production will be lost because of the war even if it ends immediately, and that the current loss is in the range of 600 to 700 million barrels.
Source: Financial Times external link
Japan approves new rules easing long-standing restrictions on arms exports, allowing the overseas transfer of a broader range of defense equipment, including deadly weapons.
Source: The Manila Times external link

Politics and elections

U.S. House of Representatives member Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns from her position amid a probe by the House Ethics Committee, following her November 2025 indictment by federal prosecutors for stealing $5 million of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, some of which allegedly went towards funding her 2022 election campaign.
Source: CNBC external link
The British parliament passes the Tobacco and Vapes Bill formally banning anyone in England born after December 31, 2008, from buying cigarettes and other tobacco products in an effort to create a "smoke-free generation". The age controls will enter force on January 1, 2027.
Source: AP external link
The Indonesian parliament passes the landmark Domestic Workers Protection Bill into law after 22 years of deliberation.
Source: Bloomberg external link
New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon secures the support of his caucus after initiating and winning a confidence vote on his leadership within the National Party.
Source: Reuters external link