Sunday, April 12, 2026
Trump: We're also bringing in more traditional minesweepers
Understand Britain other nations are also sending minesweepers .
Iran lawmaker says delegation sought US ‘surrender’ in Islamabad
Iran’s delegation to Pakistan was not sent for negotiations but to pursue diplomatic pressure on the United States, a senior lawmaker said on Sunday.
“There is no negotiating team,” Hamidreza Haji Babai said, adding those dispatched aimed to advance what he described as US “surrender” at the United Nations.
Haji Babai said “our negotiation is our battle,” adding the confrontation would continue until the United States is “brought to its knees.”
Hormuz not Iran’s to close, ADNOC CEO says
The Strait of Hormuz has never been Iran’s to close or restrict navigation through, Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil giant ADNOC, said in a post on X on Sunday.
He warned that any disruption would threaten global energy, food and health security, calling such a precedent “dangerous and unacceptable.”
“The world simply cannot afford it and must not allow it,” he added.
منذ 28 فبراير:
— Dr. Sultan Al Jaber (@SultanAlJaber) April 12, 2026
- تم استهداف ما لا يقل عن 22 سفينة.
- قُتل 10 من أفراد طواقمها.
- نحو 20,000 بحّار عالقين وغير قادرين على العبور بأمان.
- حوالي 800 سفينة تجارية عالقة، من بينها ما يقارب 400 ناقلة نفط.
لم يكن مضيق هرمز يوماً ملكاً لإيران لكي تغلقه أو تقيد الملاحة فيه.
إن أي…
'Putin ready to help resolve Iran conflict'
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a call with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, expressing his readiness to assist in helping find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.
"The President of Iran provided an assessment of the Iranian-American negotiations held on April 11 in Islamabad and expressed appreciation for Russia’s principled position, including in international forums, aimed at de-escalating the situation. Masoud Pezeshkian also thanked Russia for the humanitarian assistance provided to the Iranian people," the Kremlin said in a statement. Furthermore, Putin told his Iranian colleague Moscow would continue contacts with its partners in the Middle East in an effort to facilitate diplomacy and help achieve "just and lasting" peace in the region.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to developing and strengthening bilateral relations.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Putin-ready-to-help-resolve-Iran-conflict/66050434
Keep an eye on how police cameras are used
You're being watched. We all are. It's a fact of modern life.
That cell phone in your pocket? Service providers have a constant digital track of its position and movements. Did you enter a bank, a government building or a hospital today? You were on camera. Ditto if you used self-checkout at a grocery store. Did you kill an hour doom-scrolling online? If you didn't hide your clicks, then sophisticated algorithms took notice of everything you viewed. If you're at a public venue, there's a good chance someone's recording video. Even if you're just relaxing on your patio — well, most of us have been buzzed by a drone.
Given these realities, we can understand why some Rochester residents might yawn about the installation of automatic license plate recognition cameras in areas where car thefts are relatively common. Two such cameras (funded through a state grant) were installed last week along 41st Street Northwest, and RPD on Monday got the city council's unanimous approval to seek federal funding for four more.
These aren't the notorious "gotcha" cameras that cite drivers for speeding or running a red light. They don't photograph faces. They don't look for handheld cell phone use or other signs of distracted driving. The sole purpose of these cameras is to take pictures of license plates, which can help law enforcement agencies track a stolen vehicle or a car linked to a crime or an Amber Alert.
License readers helped identify the suspect in the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Nationwide, this technology has been instrumental in solving numerous major crimes.
So, what's the problem?
Well, just a day after Rochester gave the go-ahead to seek more cameras, another news outlet reported that several Minnesota cities have turned off their license readers, or removed them entirely, due to concerns about how the data they collect was stored and with whom it was shared. Flock Safety, which is a major provider of these camera systems, has acknowledged the possibility that some law enforcement agencies have accidentally allowed unauthorized access to the data that Flock cameras have collected.
In Wisconsin, for example, two police officers have been charged after they allegedly used Flock license readers to track the movements of a girlfriend and ex-girlfriend. In Kansas and Georgia, police chiefs have faced similar charges. Incidents like these are likely why more than 30 cities canceled contracts with Flock in the first two months of this year.
Finally, we can't ignore the elephant in the room: Given Minnesota's recent experience with ICE enforcement, some people worry that federal agencies have gained access — without warrants — to license reader data.
The good news is that Rochester deliberately opted for a different camera provider, Axon, which also provides RPD's body cameras. The data collected by the cameras will be owned and fully controlled not by Axon but by RPD, and it will be released only in response to a judicial warrant.
Fair enough. Given that Rochester saw 120 auto thefts in 2024 and 88 in 2025, we see potential value in a system that could help recover stolen vehicles and bring thieves to justice. If that system costs the city virtually nothing, so much the better. And, if these cameras someday aid in the rescue of just one abducted child, they'd be worth their weight in gold.
Still, we can't help but ask, "Who will watch the watchers?" We're glad that the data won't be controlled by some third party, but we would like to hear more about the safeguards RPD will implement to ensure that no police officer, city official or anyone else can access this data for self-serving purposes. Just last year, a former Olmsted County Jail deputy admitted taking screen captures from surveillance videos of female prisoners in changing areas.
Stuff happens. People make bad choices, and sometimes the wrong person gets a badge.
We don't question the intent of RPD Chief Jim Franklin, who told the city council, "As we adopt these tools, we are going to do it through transparency, accountability and respect for constitutional rights." We hope that plan is fulfilled.
But a couple years from now, we hope these cameras will be showing some positive results — and more importantly, that RPD has never had occasion to say, "Sorry for the data breach. We won't let it happen again."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/editorial-keep-eye-police-cameras-172100483.html
Trump Says US Will Blockade Hormuz Strait After Iran Talks Fail
President Donald Trump said the US would blockade the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this weekend.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post.
Saudi Arabia's Most Critical Pipeline Restored After Drone Attack
A key Saudi oil pipeline to the Red Sea was restored on Sunday and is now pumping at full capacity after an Iranian drone attack last week damaged a pumping station.
The East-West pipeline is back at full capacity, moving about 7 million barrels per day and restoring critical energy flows from Saudi's Persian Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing the turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz.
Bloomberg quoted the Saudi energy ministry as saying that Saudi Aramco's offshore Manifa field has been restored, while repairs continue at the Khurais onshore complex. Last week, attacks on Manifa and Khurais each knocked out about 300,000 bpd.
"This quick recovery reflects the high operational resilience and crisis management efficiency of Saudi Aramco and the kingdom's energy ecosystem as a whole, thereby enhancing the reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets," the energy ministry said.
The Iranian attack on the pipeline last week came on the same day the U.S. and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire. By Sunday, after a marathon round of talks in Islamabad between Vice President JD Vance, U.S. negotiators, and Iranian negotiators, no peace deal was reached, but the door was left open for future diplomacy.
"We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer," Vance told reporters earlier. "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of War confirmed that two U.S. warships transited the Hormuz chokepoint to begin marine mine-clearing operations. Only a handful of ships have transited the critical waterway, as traffic remained muted late into the weekend.
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/saudi-arabias-most-critical-pipeline-restored-after-drone-attack
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