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Wednesday, April 22, 2026

WrestleMania 42 full winners list: Which WWE stars were victorious?

April 22, 2026
WrestleMania 42 full winners list: Which WWE stars were victorious?

LAS VEGAS — There is no greater win than coming out victorious atWrestleMania 42.

USA TODAY Sports

WWEwrapped up its two-day extravaganza in Las Vegas, as 13 matches took place over Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. Its the ultimate goal to be able to compete in the show, but winning in it is the ultimate prize. The win gets immortalized in wrestling history and proves star power every wrestler hopes to have.

While every match has a winner, there actually are more losers that leave the event empty-handed. So who got the honor inside Allegiant Stadium? Here is the full list of winners from WrestleMania 42:

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<p style=WrestleMania showcases a mix of high‑profile matchups and crowd‑driven moments across its biggest stages.

See scenes from WrestleMania as competition unfolds and post‑match celebrations follow.

Above, LA Knight celebrates alongside The Usos following their pinfall victory over The Vision and IShowSpeed on Night One of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> LA Knight lands a punch against Logan Paul on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 18, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Austin Theory, IShowSpeed and Logan Paul enter the arena during the first night of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 18, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. LA Knight enters the ring on the first night of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 18, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Usos enters the ring during the first night of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 18, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. John Cena enters the ring at the start of the first night to host WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 18, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Building wraps for WrestleMania 42 are shown on the exterior of Allegiant Stadium on April 17, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The WWE's flagship event will be held at the venue on April 18th and 19th.

WrestleMania 42 delivers the biggest WWE moments, wins and emotion

WrestleManiashowcases a mix of high‑profile matchups and crowd‑driven moments across its biggest stages.See scenes from WrestleMania as competition unfolds and post‑match celebrations follow.Above, LA Knight celebrates alongside The Usos following their pinfall victory over The Vision and IShowSpeed on Night One of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026.

WrestleMania 42 winners list

  • Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and LA Knight

  • Jacob Fatu

  • Brie Bella and Paige

  • Becky Lynch

  • Gunther

  • Liv Morgan

  • Cody Rhodes

  • Oba Femi

  • Penta

  • Trick Williams

  • Finn Balor

  • Rhea Ripley

  • Roman Reigns

Rhea Ripley is introduced before the WWE Women's Championship match against Jade Cargill during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WrestleMania 42 full results

  • Undisputed WWE Championship match: Cody Rhodes def. Randy Orton

  • Women's World Championship match: Liv Morgan def. Stephanie Vaquer

  • Gunther def. Seth Rollins

  • Women's Intercontinental Championship match: Becky Lynch def. AJ Lee

  • WWE Women's Tag Team Championship fatal four-way match: Brie Bella and Paige def. Nia Jax and Lash Legend, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, Lyra Valkyria and Bayley

  • Unsanctioned match: Jacob Fatu def. Drew McIntyre

  • LA Knight, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso def. IShowSpeed, Logan Paul and Austin Theory

  • World Heavyweight Championship match: Roman Reigns def. CM Punk

  • WWE Women's Championship match: Rhea Ripley def. Jade Cargill

  • Demon Finn Bálor def. Dominik Mysterio

  • United States Championship match: Trick Williams def. Sami Zayn

  • Intercontinental Championship ladder match: Penta def. Je'Von Evans, JD McDonagh, Dragon Lee, Rusev and Rey Mysterio

  • Oba Femi def. Brock Lesnar

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Who won at WWE WrestleMania 42? Full winners list

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A third Californian has died after being bitten by a snake - as researchers try to work out what is causing a spike in attacks

April 22, 2026
A third Californian has died after being bitten by a snake - as researchers try to work out what is causing a spike in attacks

A NorthernCaliforniawoman has died after being bitten multiple times by a venomoussnake, marking the third snakebite death in California this year and part of an unusual rise in fatalities statewide.

The Independent US While the species of snake involved in the third fatal California bite of 2026 has yet to be determined, two other people have already died from rattlesnake bites in the state this year (Getty)

The 78-year-old woman, who lived in Redwood Valley, was walking on a rural property on April 8 when she was bitten three times, Quincy Cromer, a spokesperson for the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, toldSFGate. Family members transported her to a hospital, but she later died from her injuries. An autopsy on April 15 determined the cause of death was envenomation from the bites, and officials ruled the incident accidental. The snake species involved has not been identified.

Her death marks the third snakebite-related fatality in California in 2026, which is well above the state’s typical average of no more than one a year,SFGatereports. A25-year-old mountain bikerdied in Orange County in February, followed by a46-year-old hikerin Ventura County in March, both after rattlesnake bites.

The California Poison Control System has already recorded about 70 rattlesnake bites in the first three months of the year, compared to a typical annual total of 300 to 350 cases, Rais Vohra, medical director of the system’s Fresno-Madera Division, toldSFGate.

“More research and information will help us figure out if this trend is a real uptick in the number of bites from rattlesnakes in California, and why that is happening,” Vohra told the outlet.

The California Poison Control System has already recorded about 70 rattlesnake bites in the first three months of the year, compared to a typical annual total of 300 to 350 cases, experts say (Getty)

Experts say the spike in snake encounters might be driven byunseasonably warm weather in the region, including anearly March heatwave, which pushed rattlesnakes out of hibernation earlier than normal as they searched for food and mates. At the same time, warmer temperatures encouraged more people to spend time outdoors, increasing the likelihood of accidental encounters.

“We had good rains early in the winter followed by unusually warm weather,” Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, told theLos Angeles Timesearlier this month. “With good plant growth, rodent populations are doing well, so the snakes have good food sources and warm temperatures that are triggering more surface activity.”

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Rattlesnakes are most active in warm temperatures, typically in the high 70s to low 80s. With cooler nighttime conditions recently, their activity has shifted mainly to daytime hours, Pauly said.

Later in the season, in lower-elevation areas, midday temperatures can become too hot for snakes to be active, causing them to adjust their behavior and become more active in the morning, evening and even at night to avoid extreme heat, he explained.

“We want to stress prevention and safety when people are enjoying the outdoors on hikes and exploring the wilderness and rural areas,” Vohra sid. “Wear protective shoes and long pants, stay on well-marked trails, carry a phone and water with you, and do not touch or approach wild animals, including snakes, when you see them.”

Experts urged anyone who has been bitten by a venomous snake to seek urgent medical attention. (Centivax)

Experts emphasize that anyone bitten by a snake should seek immediate medical care, as venom can quickly lead to serious, potentially life-threatening complications. Dr. William Woo of Kaiser Permanente toldKTLAlast month that rattlesnake venom places intense stress on the body and can lead to organ failure and other severe health issues. Antivenom is the most effective treatment, he said, and outcomes improve significantly the sooner it is administered.

Woo cautioned that people bitten by a rattlesnake should avoid outdated or unsafe first-aid methods, such as trying to suck out the venom or using a tourniquet, as they can actually make the injury worse.

“Try to stay calm, keep the heart rate nice and slow, and keep the area of the bite in a neutral, relaxed position is the best thing you can do,” he offered instead. “Do not delay that hospital care. That is of the utmost importance.”

The Independenthas contacted the CPCS for comment.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2026

PHOTO ESSAY: AP photographer chronicles Chernobyl’s painful legacy of silence, sacrifice and danger

April 21, 2026
PHOTO ESSAY: AP photographer chronicles Chernobyl’s painful legacy of silence, sacrifice and danger

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) —Efrem Lukatsky,a Kyiv-based photographer for The Associated Press, was living in the city on April 26, 1986, when the explosion and fire struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about a two-hour drive away. He has visited the plant and the “exclusion zone” around it dozens of times.He recalls the disasterthat has haunted him and Ukraine for 40 years.

Associated Press FILE - The highly contaminated control room for Reactor No. 4 is seen inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. Engineers threw a switch at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, that triggered two explosions and the world's worst nuclear disaster. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Remains of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, damaged in the separate 1991 fire in a turbine hall for Reactor No. 2, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Oct. 13, 1991. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Efrem Lukatsky, now an Associated Press photographer, wears protective clothes outside the sarcophagus that covers destroyed Reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in this undated photo taken several years after the explosion. (AP Photo, File) Soldiers taking part in cleanup operations following the Chernobyl power plant explosion rest in a tent camp inside the A security officer gestures to a photographer outside the gates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in this 1989 photo, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) People hold signs reading FILE - About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances, all highly contaminated with radiation, sit abandoned in a junkyard, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000, after being used in cleanup operations following the 1986 explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File ) FILE - Beds sit in a room of an abandoned kindergarten in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, which housed Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers and their families. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Ivan Kalenda turns away to wipe his tears as he visits his 3-year-old grandson Vitya, right, in the children's cancer hospital ward in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly a decade after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Alec Zhloba sits in a children's cancer ward with markings made by doctors on his head following chemotherapy in Gomel, Belarus, March 19, 1996, nearly 10 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent radioactive clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of Europe. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A medical worker attends to a 17-year-old girl recovering from surgery to remove her cancerous thyroid at the intensive therapy unit of the Endocrynology Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 30, 2000, nearly 15 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Alehandra Lihova, sister of a worker who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, wipes away tears at a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument to victims in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 26, 2004. The monument depicts the plant and its inscription reads FILE - Portraits of Soviet officials covered by radioactive dust sit in a city club in Pripyat, Ukraine, April 10, 2006, where Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers lived and were evacuated after the deadly explosion and fire. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - An investigator points toward damaged Reactor No. 4 inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nov. 10, 2000. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A worker checks radiation levels after leaving a nuclear waste storage site at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A broken clock hangs on a wall in a school in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant about 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) away. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A pommel horse sits in a school gymnasium in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 5, 2017, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Bumper cars sit in a playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, Nov. 27, 2012, once home to people whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Praskoviya Nezhyvova places a photo of her son, Viktor, who died following cleanup operations from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, at a monument to the victims in Kyiv, April 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A dome-shaped shelter covering the damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant is seen on the horizon, April 15, 2021, from the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to some 50,000 people whose lives were connected to the plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Workers examine the damage to the roof of the New Safe Confinement structure, which was built to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, following what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - A radiation sign stands near the remains of a vehicle belonging to the Russian military near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - An abandoned Ferris wheel stands in a city park, April 15, 2021, in the abandoned town of Pripyat, Ukraine, once home to workers and their families whose lives were connected to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Ukraine Chernobyl Witnessing Disaster Photo Essay

It began with whispers at work.

There was no official announcement about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when it happened in 1986 — only fragments of information passed quietly among colleagues.

I was in my late 20s at the time and was a specialized underwater welder for a Kyiv institute that sent me to offshore platforms and classified military bases across the Soviet Union.

No one spoke openly about what happened at Chernobyl — which is transliterated as “Chornobyl” in Ukraine — but unease was growing. There was a metallic taste in my mouth and a dryness in my throat. Others had it, but no one understood why.

The first official, brief acknowledgment came two days later — that an accident had occurred. Nothing more. People spoke in hushed tones about plant firefighters being flown to hospitals in Moscow.

Officially, life continued as normal.

At night, we tuned in to Western broadcasts — still considered subversive in those days — for news the state would not provide. We learned the accident had spread a plume of radiation beyond the USSR’s borders. Experts urged people to seal windows, wear masks and give iodine to children. I followed their advice, placing an iodine drop each day on a sugar cube to protect my thyroid gland from absorbing contamination.

Warnings from friends

My family home was in Kyiv, where a neighbor warned me about radioactive dust. Later, I saw her husband, a policeman, strip off his clothes in the stairwell and seal them in a bag before going inside.

A friend, a nuclear physicist, called and urged me to leave Kyiv for good, and some residents sent their children to other regions. I didn’t go. My parents were here and it was my home.

I found an old military radiation meter and checked everything — my apartment, my clothes, the streets. The readings were unsettling. At a playground, they climbed far above normal. At home, they were even higher. I used tape to lift the dust off my clothes.

Five days after the explosion, the annual May Day parade went ahead in Kyiv as planned. Thousands filled the streets, many of them children. I marched too, past a monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, and was handed a banner praising the leadership.

Days later, the city hosted a cycling race, and spectators lined the streets as if nothing had happened. The state said nothing was wrong, but we already knew otherwise.

Evacuees arrive

After the accident, long columns of buses moved slowly into Kyiv, carrying thousands of evacuees from Pripyat, the city adjacent to Chernobyl where most of its workers lived.

I remember their faces — uncertain but calm. They were told they’d be gone only a few days. They left behind homes, belongings and pets who died waiting for owners who never returned.

Three weeks after the disaster,Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevaddressed the nation, giving no explanation for the delay or reporting fully what had happened.

A first visit

In autumn 1986, I first visited what became known asChernobyl’s “exclusion zone,”a 2,600-square-kilometer (1,000-square-mile) area, having been sent there as part of a team from my scientific institute, and later as a stringer photographer for the Soviet magazine, Ogonyok.

Silent apartment blocks stood beside schools, swimming pools and businesses that looked as if their occupants had just stepped out.

But what stayed with me most were those sent to contain the disaster. Firefighters, we learned, had dragged hoses across wreckage, trying to extinguish a blaze that water couldn’t quench. Tens of thousands of cleanup crews, or “liquidators,” were sent in to remove contaminated soil or seal the damaged reactor in concrete. Soldiers scraped radioactive debris from the plant’s roof, risking lethal exposure in minutes.

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Then there were the coal miners. To prevent the plant’s radioactive fuel from reaching the groundwater, they dug tunnels beneath it through darkness and heat, often stripped to their shirts.

We had little protection — suits, boots and masks — that felt inadequate. Before leaving, we were inspected and washed down, as if that could undo any exposure. After each trip, I sealed my clothes in bags and discarded shoes and coats.

Information remained tightly controlled. Photographers had to hand over film after each assignment.

Shifting ground

But the truth already was spreading. People spoke more openly in Kyiv. The first protests were small and tentative but soon grew into larger demonstrations demanding answers — rallies that in turn formed the nucleus of Ukraine’s independence movement.

That was when my career as a journalist began. My photos were shown at an amateur exhibition, then published abroad. I thought I might be arrested.

By then, however, the Soviet system itself was under strain.

After the USSR collapsed in 1991 and Ukraine gained independence, I returned to the exclusion zone many times, often with scientists, police and firefighters. I was hired by the AP in 1989.

Another lasting image was seeing people awaiting medical checks. I photographed them — the very old and the very young — standing quietly for examinations for signs of illness.

Immediately after the accident, 30 plant workers and firefighters died from acute radiation sickness. Later, thousands of people died from radiation-related illnesses. Six photographers and cameramen sent there in the first days all died of illness later.

Inside the control room

Pripyat was frozen in time. At a hospital where the first victims were treated, radiation levels remained dangerously high.

Nearby was a vast machinery graveyard: Ambulances, buses, trucks, armored vehicles and helicopters used in the cleanup were abandoned as too contaminated. To photograph them, we moved quickly to minimize exposure.

Inside the power plant, dust hung thick in the air, catching the light. We moved quickly but carefully to the control room, where a routine test for Reactor No. 4 had gone wrong at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, triggering two explosions. Many buttons from the panels were missing — taken as souvenirs.

As we moved deeper into the plant, radiation levels rose, and we turned back. Some limits you do not cross.

Trying to contain radiation

As years passed, the original shelter over the reactor deteriorated, opening gaps where radiation leaked out. In 2019, the entire building was covered by an enormous arch-shaped shelter, designed to last generations. It seemed the situation finally was under control.

ButRussia invaded Ukrainein 2022, andMoscow’s forces entered the exclusion zone,pushing toward Kyiv. The troops dug positions in contaminated soil, disturbing what had long been buried. Three years later,a Russian drone strikedamaged the protective structure. There was no radiation leak, but it was a reminder that the danger persisted.

Without people, the still-contaminated exclusion zone has recovered in unexpected ways. Forests have spread. Wildlife has multiplied. Rare species now move through places once defined by disaster.

Pripyat remains frozen, but it’s no longer entirely empty, as animals roam through it.

After 40 years, that could be the clearest truth: Lives were upended, and for a long time, reality was kept hidden. But left alone, nature endures — even at Chernobyl.

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

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World awaits fate of ceasefire after US seizes Iranian ship

April 21, 2026
World awaits fate of ceasefire after US seizes Iranian ship

By Daphne Psaledakis and Hatem Maher

Reuters A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska as USS Spruance (DDG 111) conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS Smoke rises after USS Spruance (DDG 111) fired during the interception of Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS A resident walks while covering her nose to protect against the smell rising from a building containing homes and a restaurant hit by an Israeli strike hours before the ceasefire, amid a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, in Zrarieh, Lebanon, April 19, 2026. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra A police officer guards a road blocked with shipping containers, for security measures at D Chowk near the President's House as Pakistan prepares to host the United States and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 20, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 20 (Reuters) - Concerns grew on Monday that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran might collapse after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran vowed to retaliate.

Efforts to build a more lasting ‌peace in the region also appeared under threat, as Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the U.S. had hoped to ‌kick off before the ceasefire expires.

The U.S. has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly ​one-fifth of the world's oil supply.

The U.S. military said it fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran's Bandar Abbas port on Sunday after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines.

U.S. marines then rappelled from helicopters onto the vessel, U.S. Central Command said.

"We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what's on board!" President Trump wrote on social media.

Iran's military said the ship had been traveling from China. "We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the U.S. military," a military spokesperson ‌said, according to state media.

Oil prices jumped more than 5% and ⁠stock markets wobbled as traders fretted that the ceasefire would collapse and traffic in and out of the Gulf would remain at a bare minimum.

IRAN REJECTS PEACE TALKS

Iranian state media reported that Tehran had rejected new peace talks, citing the ongoing blockade, threatening rhetoric, and Washington's shifting positions ⁠and "excessive demands."

"One cannot restrict Iran's oil exports while expecting free security for others," Iran's First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref wrote on social media. "The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone."

Trump earlier warned Iran that the U.S. would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if Tehran rejected his terms, continuing a recent pattern of such ​threats.

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Iran ​has said that if the United States were to attack its civilian infrastructure it would hit power stations ​and desalination plants of Gulf Arab neighbors.

PREPARING FOR TALKS THAT MIGHT ‌NOT HAPPEN

Trump said his envoys would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening, one day before a two-week ceasefire ends.

A White House official told Reuters the U.S. delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war's first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. But Trump told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.

Pakistan, which has served as the main mediator, was still gearing up for the talks on Monday.

Nearly 20,000 police, paramilitary and army personnel have been deployed across the capital Islamabad, a government and a security official said, adding that the area around the venue for the second round of talks had been vacated.

Public transport across the ‌city has also been suspended.

"Special security measures have been taken for all of our special guests," Pakistan's ​Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement, adding that he had briefed U.S. ambassador Natalie Baker on ​the security measures for the talks.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has led ​Iran's side in the talks, had earlier said the two sides had made progress but were still far apart on nuclear issues and the ‌Strait.

European allies, repeatedly criticized by Trump for not aiding his war effort, ​worry that Washington's negotiating team is pushing for ​a swift, superficial deal that would require months or years of technically complex follow‑on talks.

Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait.

Thousands of people have been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes on ​Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel ‌since the war began on February 28.

Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against Israel and nearby Arab countries that host U.S. bases. The Islamic ​Republic executed two men convicted of cooperating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and planning attacks inside the country, the judiciary's news outlet Mizan reported on Sunday.

(Reporting ​Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andy Sullivan and John Geddie; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Alexandra Hudson)

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Woman arrested at LAX, accused of brokering weapons deals for Iran

April 21, 2026
Woman arrested at LAX, accused of brokering weapons deals for Iran

An Iranian woman who resides in Southern California was arrested on suspicion of “trafficking arms on behalf” of the Iranian government, an official said on Sunday, April 19.

USA TODAY

Shamim Mafi, 44, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 18, said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

According to a criminal complaint, Mafi is accused of having “conspired with others to perpetrate an unlawful scheme to broker the sale of weapons, weapons components, and ammunition on behalf of the Government of Iran,” violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act gives the president “broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency,” according to theCongressional Research Service. PresidentDonald Trumphas used thislaw to impose sweeping tariffs.

<p style=See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Syria
Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Iraq
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Iraq
Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Qatar
A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Qatar
Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Bahrain
A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Saudi Arabia
The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=United Arab Emirates
A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=United Arab Emirates
An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Oman
Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Kuwait
Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw,

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Saudi Arabia
A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Turkey
People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=United Arab Emirates
Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=United Arab Emirates
Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Lebanon
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Lebanon
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=Lebanon
Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=United Arab Emirates
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026.

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See how the Iran war’s fallout is hitting the Middle East

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

According to the complaint, Mafi, with the assistance of an unnamed co-conspirator, “brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense.” In addition, they “brokered the sale of millions of rounds of ammunition from Iran to Sudan.”

Mafi is accused of brokering weapons deals on behalf of Iran through a company she owns with a co-conspirator as recent as early 2025, according to the complaint. That includes one contract valued at over 60 million euros for a sale of Iranian-made drones to Sudan’s ministry of defense, according to the complaint. Other items that Mafi brokered, or attempted to broker, included “bombs” and “assault weapons,” according to the complaint.

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Essayli said that Mafi is expected to make her first court appearance on April 20. It’s not immediately clear who represents Mafi.

According to the complaint, Mafi was born in Iran but is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and maintains a residence in Woodland Hills of Los Angeles.

She frequently traveled to and from Los Angeles, and Mafi “only spends part of her time” in the U.S., according to the complaint.

Mafi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to Essayli.

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atpbarraza@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Los Angeles woman arrested, accused of 'trafficking arms' for Iran

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