LIVE: US to block ships in Hormuz, says Trump; Russia steps in with mediation offer
Putin discusses US-Iran talks with Pezeshkian as tensions escalate; Trump targets ships linked to Iran, cites nuclear concerns after failed negotiations
Here is the top, trending news of Sunday, April 12, 2026, including the Iran war, Indian politics, states’ politics, geopolitics, federal issues, economics, development issues, sports, entertainment, and so on.
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- 12 April 2026 8:35 PM IST
Turkish President Erdogan threatens to invade Israel, slams Netanyahu
Turkey’s government has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “Hitler of our time,” accusing him of trying to derail peace negotiations between Iran and the United States amid a fragile two-week ceasefire in the region.
The remarks came after the collapse of high-stakes US-Iran talks held in Pakistan following 21 hours of negotiations.
Turkey’s statement followed Netanyahu’s criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he accused him of accommodating Iran-backed groups.
“Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies, unlike Erdogan who accommodates them and massacred his own Kurdish citizens,” Netanyahu wrote on X on Saturday.
Responding strongly, Ankara said, “Netanyahu, who has been described as the Hitler of our time due to the crimes he has committed, is a well-known figure with a clear track record.”
The Turkish foreign ministry also referred to ongoing international legal proceedings against Israel under Netanyahu’s leadership, including cases at international courts and an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
It further alleged that Netanyahu’s aim was to disrupt peace efforts and advance “expansionist policies” in the region, warning that he could face prosecution in Israel and possible imprisonment.
“The fact that our President has been targeted by Israeli officials with baseless, brazen, and false allegations is a result of the discomfort caused by the truths we have consistently voiced on every platform,” the ministry added.
- 12 April 2026 6:58 PM IST
Israel accused of demolishing villages in southern Lebanon amid Iran-US tensions
Over the past two weeks, even as the United States and Iran traded missiles and rhetoric while exploring the possibility of a peace deal, the Israeli military carried out large-scale demolitions in villages across southern Lebanon.
According to The Guardian, these demolitions were executed by rigging homes with explosives and triggering them in coordinated, remote-controlled blasts. The publication reviewed three videos shared by the Israeli military and circulated on social media that showed such detonations in the border villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan.
Lebanese media outlets have reported similar incidents in other border villages, though satellite imagery to independently verify those claims was not immediately available.
The Guardian reported that the demolitions followed a public call by Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, for the destruction of “all houses” in border areas, drawing on tactics used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza. In Rafah, southern Gaza, around 90 per cent of homes were destroyed.
The report also noted that such large-scale destruction of civilian housing has been described by academics as “domicide” — the deliberate, systematic destruction of homes aimed at rendering areas uninhabitable. Israel has faced allegations of genocide in Gaza in connection with the use of such methods.
- 12 April 2026 6:56 PM IST
Trump threatens Strait of Hormuz blockade after US-Iran talks fail
President Donald Trump on Sunday (April 12) said the US Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade to stop ships from entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement.
Trump sought to exert strategic control over the waterway responsible for the transportation of 20 per cent of global oil supplies before the war, hoping to take away Iran's key source of economic leverage in the fighting.
The president added that he has “instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”
Trump also said the US was ready to “finish up” Iran at the “appropriate moment," stressing that Tehran's nuclear ambitions were at the core of the failure to end the war.
- 12 April 2026 6:34 PM IST
US sending forces to help with mine-clearing in Strait of Hormuz
The US military said two of its destroyers transited the critical waterway in the Strait of Hormuz ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. “We're sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump said as talks extended into early Sunday (April 12) morning.
Iran's state media, however, reported that the country's joint military command denied that.
On Saturday, Trump said on social media that the US had begun “clearing out” the strait. “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon,” US Central Command commander Adm Brad Cooper later said.
- 12 April 2026 6:28 PM IST
World leaders urge more negotiation after US-Iran talks fail
Following the collapse of high-level US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the Iranian president that Russia is “ready to mediate.”
Putin has also strongly condemned US and Israeli strikes on Iran, particularly those targeting nuclear facilities, describing them as “unlawful” and warning that they pose a threat to global security.
- 12 April 2026 5:36 PM IST
Pak's first container vessel reaches Karachi port after reopening of Strait of Hormuz
MV Selen has become Pakistan's first container vessel to reach Karachi Port after the Strait of Hormuz was reopened in the wake of the ceasefire between the US and Iran.
The vessel MV Selen, arriving from Jebel Ali in the UAE, docked at the Karachi Port on Saturday night, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) said.
The arrival of MV SELEN, operated by NLC (AP Line) signalled the resumption of containerised trade and reinforced confidence in maritime supply chains, the KPT said in a statement.
Weeks after the conflict started in West Asia, Iran and the US on April 8 agreed on a conditional ceasefire that included the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically located key waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman handling roughly 20 per cent of global energy supply.
The strategic waterway was one of the 10 main points -- Iran wants to control the Strait of Hormuz -- on the agenda in Islamabad for the first direct US-Iranian talks that took place over the weekend.
The failure to reach an agreement has raised doubts about the effectiveness of the fragile two-week ceasefire, as well as the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy market.
- 12 April 2026 4:33 PM IST
Amarnath Yatra to begin from July 3, registrations to open on April 15
The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will commence on July 3 and conclude after 57 days on August 28, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Sunday.
Pilgrims between the ages of 13 and 70 can undertake the yatra and registrations will begin from April 15, the LG told reporters at the Lok Bhavan in Jammu. The dates for the yatra were decided at a meeting of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board (SASB) chaired by Sinha.
"The Amarnath Yatra will commence on July 3 and conclude on August 28. Overall, this year's pilgrimage will be slightly longer, lasting about 57 days," the LG said.
Registration for the pilgrimage has been made mandatory and will begin from April 15. The minimum age for pilgrims has been fixed at 13 years and the maximum at 70 years, he said.
"Advance registration can be done through nearly 556 designated bank branches across the country, while online registration will also be available through the official website of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board," Sinha said.
Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank will facilitate registrations through their branches, he said.
He said the first puja will be performed on June 19, on the occasion of Jyeshtha Purnima.
The pilgrimage will commence from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
- 12 April 2026 3:28 PM IST
BJP appoints Chouhan as central observer for election of Bihar legislative party leader
The BJP on Sunday appointed Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the central observer for the election of its legislative party leader in Bihar. With this, the party set in motion the process of the formation of a new government in Bihar after former chief minister Nitish Kumar moved to the Rajya Sabha.
"The Parliamentary Board of the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, as the Central Observer for the election of the leader of the BJP’s legislative party in Bihar," BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said in a notification.
Earlier in the day, JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said the process of the formation of the new government in Bihar will "roll out after April 13".
- 12 April 2026 3:12 PM IST
Kunki Chowdhury summoned by police in election related case
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Sunday slammed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after its candidate for Guwahati Central Kunki Chowdhury was summoned by police in an election-related case and claimed that the ruling party is rattled after seeing that the mandate has gone against them in the constituency.
Chowdhury reached Panbazar Police Station in the morning after receiving a summons for an election-related case. She was served a notice on Saturday and asked to appear before police on Sunday before 11 am, noting that failing to do so would render her liable for arrest.
A case was filed against Chowdhury and her campaign manager, Sandeep Yadav, by a BJP activist Naba Kumar Lahkar on the day of polling on April 9, alleging the duo violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and hampered the conduct of free-and-fair elections.
"All the charges in the FIR are bailable, so she cannot be arrested. In fact, the charges are not serious at all. This was filed and the summons issued with such a strong language just to harass her," Advocate Santanu Borthakur told reporters outside the police station.
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force now, and when the chief secretary is running the government, how the chief minister can reportedly say that he has sent police, asked the legal expert.
"Kunki contested the polls and set a narrative for the entire state, and it was damaging for the BJP. That's why this politically motivated case was filed," Borthakur said. He also asked the police what happened to the complaint Chowdhury filed regarding a deep fake video, allegedly propagated by BJP IT cell members.
- 12 April 2026 3:10 PM IST
BJP struck Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat TMC from power in Bengal: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the BJP has struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat the Trinamool Congress from power in the state.
She made the apparent reference to a viral video of Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir, who was purportedly heard saying that he was in close touch with BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari, to unseat Banerjee from power and receiving Rs 200 crore as an advance payment of a Rs 1,000-crore deal to split minority votes to defeat the TMC.
"They (BJP) have struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat the TMC from power in West Bengal," the party supremo said at a poll rally at Onda in Bankura district. Banerjee also alleged that central forces deployed in the state for the upcoming polls were "disrespecting" women in the name of conducting searches.
She also accused the BJP of bribing voters before elections, and called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls the "country's biggest scam" in recent times. At an earlier rally at Khandaghosh in Purba Bardhaman district, Banerjee claimed that the BJP would "snatch everything" from the people of West Bengal if it came to power in the state.
"The BJP bribes voters before the elections. But they forget their promises soon after the polling is over. That was seen in the Bihar elections," Banerjee said. The TMC chief further alleged that the BJP would try to manipulate the polling process to win the election and urged the people to remain alert and keep a tab on the voting machines.
