Documentation of the residential building targeted earlier in the Lebanese capital of Beirut by the Israeli Air Force.

According Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, a number of vessels attempted to transit westbound through the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Iran’s newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) and following warnings from the IRGC-N, they were stopped and turned back around.

Sweden has officially announced that it will donate a total of 16 Saab JAS 39 Gripen C/D Multirole Fighters to Ukraine, beginning in 2027, with long-range capabilities, ammunition, electronic warfare capabilities and support to be provided by the Swedish Air Force. Additionally, Ukraine has agreed to purchase upward of 20 Gripen E/F utilizing funds from the EU’s Ukraine Support Loan, with deliveries starting in 2030.

Significant damage seen to the residential structure targeted by the Israeli Air Force earlier in Beirut, in a reported assassination strike against the head of missile operations in Hezbollah’s Imam Hussein Division, Ali Al-Husayni.

According to a release from U.S. Central Command, since the start of the U.S. blockade of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports, 111 vessels have been redirected by more than 20 participating U.S. naval vessels.

According to a release from the Israel Defense Force (IDF), the IDF conducted a strike yesterday in Gaza’s city of Khan Yunis that targeted and eliminated a key Hamas financial facilitator Ihab Karazim. Per the release, Karazim was in charge of managing the transfer of monies estimated in the millions to Hamas’ military wing. Additionally, a key Hamas weapons production official, Muhammad Alhabash, was also eliminated in the strike.

According to @BarakRavid for Axios, citing two U.S. officials, a 60-day memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been agreed upon by both the U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams and currently waits approval by U.S. President Donald J. Trump and senior decision-makers in Iran. Per the report, the MOU will include a statement that maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will be “unrestricted,” the gradual lifting of the U.S. blockade of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports that is commensurate to the increase in free maritime traffic, an Iranian commitment not to pursue a nuclear weapon, and a commitment to hold discussions on the disposal of Iran’s highly enriched uranium within the 60-day timeframe.

Additionally, per the report, the MOU will include a U.S. commitment to discuss sanctions relief for Iran and the unfreezing of Iranian assets. Reintroducing the flow of trade and humanitarian aid to Iran is also set to be discussed.

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations (UN) has stated that Israel is freezing cooperation with the office of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres after Israel was placed on a list of offenders accused of sexual violence in conflict zones, according to Ynet News.

Senior officials at the White House have been pressed the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring the portrait of President Donald J. Trump, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on the U.S. Dollar since the Superintendent of the National Currency Bureau Spencer M. Clark placed his own face on a bill in 1866, four current and former employees have told The Washington Post.

Starting last year, two political appointees at the Treasury Department - U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown - repeatedly urged staff at the agency to prepare prototypes of the note, with Beach in August and September provided bureau staff with mock-up designs for the note, including one that shows President Trump’s face in the center of the $250 bill next to the signature of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The Director of the Printing Bureau, Patricia “Patty” Solimene, and other staff repeatedly explained to Beach and Brown that there were legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note and it would take years, requiring laws to be changed by Congress. Though the two political appointees were dismissive in response, and Solimene was abruptly reassigned from her post by Treasury management on April 27, 2026.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrates his birthday today.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has confirmed reports today by the Washington Post that work has begun to design a $250 bill featuring the portrait of President Donald J. Trump. Bessent told Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy that the Treasury “prepares things in advance,” and that legislation is in front of the House and Senate to change the requirement that living individuals not be allowed on U.S. Currency.

Following yesterday’s threat by President Trump to “blow up” Oman if they did not behave regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that he spoke today with the Omani Ambassador who said that Oman has no plan to impose tolls on the Hormuz Strait.

Reports of explosions and possible missile launches towards the Strait of Hormuz from the Bushehr Province of Southern Iran.