Trump waives Russia sanctions and tariffs days before they were due to take effect

Trump said the blockade was effective, that no Iranian ship had crossed Hormuz, and told a Kentucky rally the war will end 'very quickly'. UKMTO said 12 vessels were struck in a week, 10 of them in Hormuz, with transits about 70% below prewar levels. CENTCOM said it had redirected 138 vessels and 97% of crossings succeed. The IRGC navy declared the strait closed after a supertanker hit a mine. Brent reached $110.

Russia fired 332 drones and missiles overnight, hitting energy sites in ten regions. At least eight people were killed, about 60 injured and over a million left without power. In Zaporizhzhia, apartment blocks were hit, wounding at least five including an 11-year-old girl, and a woman, 27, was killed that evening. A strike on Kherson killed a 64-year-old ambulance driver. Daytime attacks killed at least six more across Ukraine, four of them in Sloviansk. Outage schedules were set nationwide for Sunday.

Students, unions and Yellow Vests marched across France on Saturday against high prices, in a fourth week of student protests. Organisers claimed 800,000 marchers. Police used tear gas and stun grenades in Paris and about 400 people were arrested nationwide. Demonstrators stormed Marseille's town hall, a tourist office was burned in Lyon, and Limoges's 19th-century town hall was largely destroyed by fire. Rioters also clashed with police in Brussels.

Masked settlers on quad bikes surrounded French, Belgian and Polish diplomats in Taybeh, beating a French mayor and smashing a Belgian consular vehicle window. France demanded arrests. Israel's Foreign Minister Saar condemned the 'rioters' but faulted the diplomats for not coordinating with the army. Netanyahu's office alleged a 'smear campaign', and Rubio said the US wants Israel to crack down. OCHA counted nearly 200 harvest-related settler attacks, against 185 in all of 2025: one Palestinian killed, over 120 injured.

The fast-spreading Norte Fire in Orange County began in San Clemente and burned at least six homes there and in San Juan Capistrano. About 16,000 residents were ordered to evacuate and two firefighters were injured. Intense Santa Ana winds and unseasonably high temperatures fuelled fires across Southern California. Brush fires in Malibu, Azusa and Camp Pendleton also forced evacuations, and utilities cut power to well over 100,000 customers.

The UAE will resume paying some government forces in the south while Saudi Arabia provides air cover, Yemeni sources told the Guardian. Egypt's Sisi pledged 'any measure' to defend Saudi Arabia if asked, with parliament due to meet Sunday. Taiz's military command said 378 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded, and Houthi shelling killed a woman there. On Friday, two missiles struck near Aden airport, 500 metres from a Yemenia plane preparing to take off.