Headlines for April 10, 2026

Israel’s military is continuing attacks on Lebanon, threatening to derail a fragile two-week ceasefire agreement ahead of high-stakes talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad this weekend. The death toll from Israel’s massive strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday has topped 300. More than 1,150 people were injured. The Financial Times described Israel’s attack as “one of the deadliest single bombing campaigns in the history of a country wracked by decades of war and destruction.”

Israel and the U.S. have claimed the Iran ceasefire deal does not include Lebanon, but numerous other nations have disagreed. The U.S. is expected to host talks between Israel and Lebanon next week. After headlines, we’ll go to Beirut to speak with award-winning journalist Rania Abouzeid.

Iranian officials have warned the United States not to allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to derail the two-week regional ceasefire by continuing attacks on Lebanon. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media, “If the U.S. wishes to crater its economy by letting Netanyahu kill diplomacy, that would ultimately be its choice. We think that would be dumb but are prepared for it.” Araghchi’s language mirrors language used by Vice President JD Vance warning Iran not to let the ceasefire fall apart over Lebanon. Vance is heading to Pakistan today for high-level talks with Iran in Islamabad; he’ll join U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who previously held negotiations with Iran that were derailed, twice, when the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran.

House Republicans have rejected an effort by Democrats to force a vote on resolution to limit President Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran. On Thursday, with most of Congress still on recess, Maryland Democratic Congressmember Glenn Ivey rose to speak during a pro forma session, where he asked to pass an Iran war powers resolution by unanimous consent. But Republican Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Smith quickly gaveled the session to a close without allowing Ivey to speak.

Rep. Chris Smith: “Pursuant to clause 13 of rule 1, the House stands adjourned until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 13th, 2026.”

Congressmember Ivey and other House Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps after their attempt to force a vote on a war powers resolution was pushed off until at least next week. This is Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeleine Dean.

Rep. Madeleine Dean: “Over the weekend, we read and heard the president’s Easter morning tweet of profanity, blasphemy, danger and, the following day, his threat to eliminate an entire civilization. Pause there. These are not normal times America. When will my Republican colleagues stand up in the House, in the Senate, the vice president, the Cabinet secretaries who surround this madman? When will they grow a spine? When will they say, ‘Stop’?”

Israel’s Cabinet has secretly approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank — Israel’s largest-ever recognition of unauthorized outposts in a single step. The Cabinet made the decision on April 1, but it was classified until Thursday, when an Israeli military censor approved it for publication.

This comes amid a sharp rise in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians. On Wednesday, 28-year-old Alaa Khaled Sabih was shot and killed as armed Israeli settlers attacked the village of Tayasir, east of Tubas. Separately, 65-year-old Palestinian farmer Hussam Abdel Latif Wahdan says he narrowly escaped a mob that descended on his farm.

Hussam Abdel Latif Wahdan: “Yesterday, they attacked us. I was on my way to open the water irrigation system, and they attacked me, around 12 settlers. … I escaped, thank God. They were very close to me, only around 10 meters away.”

The U.N. reports over 1,070 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem by Israeli forces or settlers since October 2023.

In the Gaza Strip, health officials say Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 9-year-old girl in front of her third grade class on Thursday, traumatizing students and teachers who were left in “psychological shock.” Ritaj Rihan was reportedly struck by a bullet without warning as she was sitting at her desk in a tent serving as a classroom in Beit Lahia. Video and photos show her bloodied body being rushed through the streets toward a hospital on foot, since there was no medical transport available in the area. She was one of four Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday.

Mourners also gathered for the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Muhammad Washah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Al Jazeera reports Israel has attacked Gaza on 36 out of the past 40 days, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that was supposed to have taken effect six months ago.

A federal judge has rebuked the Department of Defense for defying his earlier ruling requiring the Pentagon to restore access to credentialed journalists. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled Thursday that Trump administration officials had committed a “blatant attempt to circumvent a lawful order,” after they failed to comply with his March 20 ruling voiding large sections of a highly restrictive press policy introduced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which violated the First Amendment. In October, dozens of reporters turned in their government-issued press badges rather than agree to the rules, which state that news outlets cannot obtain any information that the Pentagon does not explicitly authorize. Thursday’s ruling reinstates the press credentials of seven New York Times reporters and applies to other members of the Pentagon Press Association.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has postponed the termination of temporary protected status for about 5,000 Ethiopian immigrants living in the U.S., after determining the Trump administration likely disregarded the rules Congress set up for the TPS program. Wednesday’s ruling comes as the Supreme Court is poised to hear oral arguments later this month on challenges to the Trump administration’s attempts to cancel protected status for over 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.

The United Nations migration agency warns over 180 people are feared dead or missing in the latest shipwrecks on the Mediterranean, including more than 80 migrants who went missing when their boat capsized on Sunday after departing from Libya. The International Organization for Migration reports nearly 1,000 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe since January — one of the deadliest starts to a year since record keeping began.

First lady Melania Trump unexpectedly summoned reporters to the White House on Thursday, where she read from a prepared statement denying any relationship with the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Melania Trump: “I have never had any knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant, was never on Epstein’s plane and never visited his private island.”

Melania Trump also acknowledged she’d exchanged emails with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in 2002, but dismissed it as “casual correspondence.” A document from the Justice Department’s incomplete release of the Epstein files shows Maxwell referred to Melania in an email as “sweet pea,” to which Melania replied, “Give me a call when you are back in NY.” The letter concluded, “Love, Melania.” Melania Trump infamously appears in a 2000 photo posing alongside her husband and next to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Meanwhile, the first lady is calling on Congress to hold a public hearing specifically centered around Epstein survivors. In response, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, said he agreed, urging Republican committee chair James Comer to schedule hearings immediately. The first lady’s comments reportedly caught White House officials off guard, including President Trump, who told an MS NOW reporter he had no prior knowledge of what his wife was preparing to say.

The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has blocked the publication of research showing that COVID vaccines were highly effective at preventing hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter. The Washington Post reports the findings had cleared the CDC’s scientific review process and were scheduled for publication on March 19 in the agency’s flagship scientific journal, before acting Director Jay Bhattacharya personally intervened to withhold the report. In 2020, Bhattacharya was a main author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued against COVID lockdowns at a time when no vaccines were available.

Argentina’s Congress has approved legislation that rolls back protections for thousands of glaciers, making it easier for large-scale mining projects to move forward. The reforms were supported by Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei. Environmentalists warn the legislation threatens critical freshwater reserves that are the source of drinking water for about 7 million people. On Thursday, protesters rallied outside the National Congress building in Buenos Aires.

Ana Salgueiro: “I would tell the lawmakers that they were elected to represent the interests of the people, not those of the big mining companies or big capital, and that they should rise to the occasion, because today they may get the deal that they want, but this affects all of us. Tomorrow, they too will suffer the consequences of not having water.”

Hundreds of doctors, nurses and public health workers have signed an open letter demanding the removal of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. They warn Zeldin is “pursuing a deregulatory agenda that will result in a massive increase in health-damaging air pollution, toxic chemicals, and climate-heating greenhouse gases.” On Wednesday, Zeldin delivered a keynote address to a gathering of the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank that promotes climate misinformation. Zeldin celebrated his decision to revoke the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which allowed the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, and praised the Trump administration’s rollback of fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks.

Lee Zeldin: “We believe that manufacturers should make whatever the American consumer wants rather than what politicians and bureaucrats demand. … This morning and today, all of you gathered here in D.C., is a moment to celebrate. It is a day to celebrate vindication.”

Zeldin’s comments came as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed last month was the hottest March on record for the contiguous United States, with temperatures more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average. The finding comes as forecasters warn a strong El Niño is likely to exacerbate global heating from human activity, which could make this year surpass 2024 as the hottest year on record. Zeldin has been rumored to be under consideration to replace Pam Bondi as attorney general.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with the chair of Taiwan’s main opposition party in a landmark meeting, the first of its kind in a decade. Speaking from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Xi declared that China “will absolutely not tolerate” independence for Taiwan, and called for the island’s reunification with the People’s Republic of China. Cheng Li-wun, who leads Taiwan’s KMT party, replied that the Taiwan Strait should no longer be a flashpoint for a potential conflict, and warned against “external interference” — an apparent reference to U.S. and Japanese support for Taiwan. Cheng has called her six-day visit to mainland China a “journey of peace.” It comes as Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has stalled a proposed $40 billion increase in military spending. This is Cheng Li-wun.

Cheng Li-wun: “What should be flying in the sky are birds, not missiles, and what should be swimming in the sea are fish, not warships. Human technology should be used to seek well-being for humanity and for the Earth. Human technology should not be for mutual slaughter or for the destruction of ecosystems.”