Orange Republican Town Committee

04/18/2026

He will read a passage from the Old Testament that his Christian supporters cite as a call to national repentance and divine blessing.

04/18/2026

President Trump says the first releases from a Pentagon study on UFOs will come out "very, very soon," teasing interesting documents found by officials.

04/18/2026

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said that the country would no longer be an “arena for anyone’s wars”, and that the ceasefire with Israel should lead to work on permanent agreements.

In a televised address to the Lebanese public on Friday, he said that Lebanon was no longer “a pawn in anyone’s game, nor an arena for anyone’s wars, and we never will be again”.

His speech comes a day after a 10-day ceasefire was announced between Lebanon and Israel, bringing respite from Israeli attacks that began on March 2, after Hezbollah fired at Israel, and have left more than 2,200 dead and more than a million displaced.

Aoun said that they were entering a phase of “transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation.”

He expressed gratitude to those who he said helped end the hostilities, naming United States President Donald Trump and “all our Arab brothers, foremost among them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

President Joseph Aoun promised to work to preserve Lebanon's sovereignty and freedom.

04/18/2026

A doctoral student who was targeted for deportation under President Donald Trump has chosen to return to her native Turkiye, citing the “state-imposed violence and hostility” she faced in the United States.

Rumeysa Ozturk made the announcement through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday, after a nearly yearlong legal battle with the Trump administration.

“The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for,” said Ozturk, who received her PhD in child study and human development in February.

Ozturk’s case was one of the most high-profile instances of the Trump administration seeking to punish foreign students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Surveillance video of Ozturk’s arrest went viral in late March 2025, showing six plain-clothed immigration officers suddenly surrounding her on the street outside her Massachusetts apartment, as she left to break her Ramadan fast.

The video captures a first officer grabbing the then-30-year-old Ozturk by the hands, prompting her to cry out. As she is handcuffed, a concerned passerby questions the officers, who wear hoodies, sunglasses and masks: “How do I know this is the police?”

Ozturk has no criminal record. She appears to have been targeted for her decision to co-sign an opinion column in her student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, along with three other students.

The article called on her university’s president to acknowledge the Israeli genocide of Palestinians and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Afterwards, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of having “engaged in activities in support of Hamas”, though there is no evidence to back that assertion.

The Trump administration has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as giving it the power to remove legal immigration documents from foreign nationals, if the secretary of state deems them to cause “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.

Ozturk says she made the decision to avoid 'losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility' under Trump.

04/18/2026

US President Donald Trump says the US will “have to start dropping bombs again” if no US-Iran deal is reached by Wednesday. He said the US blockade on Iranian ports will continue if a long-term deal is not agreed.

US President Donald Trump says the US will “have to start dropping bombs again” if no US-Iran deal is reached.

04/18/2026

President Donald Trump said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open and ready for business and full passage." Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the key waterway is open through a "coordinated route."

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open through Iran's "coordinated route." President Donald Trump said a blockade on Iranian ports will remain in effect.