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Today's Political News Compilation - Friday, April 17, 2026

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Below are some of the top political news stories of the day:

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Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz, but threatens to close it again as the US maintains its blockade


By KAREEM CHEHAYEB, AAMER MADHANI and ELENA BECATOROS
Updated 10:44 PM CDT, April 17, 2026

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, but questions lingered Saturday about how much freedom ships actually had to transit the waterway as Tehran maintained its grip on the who got through and threatened to close it again if the U.S. kept in place its blockade of Iranian ships and ports.

Iran’s Friday announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water, through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped, came as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S., including on its nuclear program.

Asked by a reporter Friday night what he will do if there’s no deal when the ceasefire expires next week, Trump said, “I don’t know. ... But maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.” But he also told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One to Washington that a deal is “going to happen,” and flatly rejected the idea of restrictions or tolls by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump had earlier celebrated the Iranian announcement, posting on social media that the strait was “fully open and ready for full passage.” But minutes later, he issued another post saying the U.S. Navy’s blockade would continue “UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.” ...

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China-linked route exposed after US seizes Iran-bound ship with suspected dual-use cargo

  • News source: FOX News
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An Iranian-flagged cargo ship recently seized by U.S. forces had recently traveled through Chinese ports, spotlighting a supply route now under scrutiny as officials probe suspected dual-use cargo aboard the vessel.

The vessel, Touska, remains in U.S. custody as American forces continue inspecting what maritime security sources told Reuters is likely "dual-use" cargo — materials that can serve both civilian and military purposes — following a voyage from Asia.

Shipping data shows the Touska made multiple recent stops in Zhuhai, a major port in...
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Texas AG Paxton sues Dem fundraising platform ActBlue, alleging 'fraudulent and foreign donations'

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday against Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue, accusing them of misleading donors about safeguards meant to block fraudulent and foreign political contributions.

"BREAKING: I just filed a landmark lawsuit against ActBlue for deceiving Americans by lying about its donation processes that allow fraudulent and foreign donations," Paxton wrote Monday on X.

The state’s lawsuit, filed in Tarrant County district court, seeks injunctions barring ActBlue from accepting contributions made through gift...
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US singer D4vd charged with murder stemming from death of missing teenage girl

  • News source: BBC News - World
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Prosecutors say the singer, real name David Anthony Burke, could face life in prison due to the nature of the case.
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Victory slips away as marathon runner celebrates too soon

  • News source: BBC News - World
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The dramatic end to the Delaware Marathon occurred when the lead runner slowed in celebration before a trailing marathoner sprinted toward the finish line .
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Democratic candidate apologizes for past pro-police, pro-gun posts in key battleground race

  • News source: FOX News
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A Pennsylvania Democrat is apologizing for Facebook posts defending police officers during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and supporting gun rights as he runs for his party's nomination in a key battleground race.

Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and former union leader, is seeking to unseat Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Penn., who was first elected in 2024 after beating Democratic incumbent Susan Wild by roughly 4,000 votes. Brooks has centered his campaign around appealing to blue-collar Americans without college degrees on a platform that...
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GOP strategists called to DC as Trump team confronts rising midterm headwinds

  • News source: FOX News
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With the six-month mark until Election Day 2026 closing fast, President Donald Trump’s top political advisers are meeting behind closed doors Monday with dozens of leading Republican political consultants from across the country for a strategy session as the party defends its razor-thin House and slim Senate majorities in the midterms.

The meeting, organized by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who was co-chair of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, comes as the party in power in the nation’s capital...
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Sledgehammer murder spurs ICE manhunt for illegal immigrant suspect

  • News source: FOX News
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked officials in Democratic-run Harris County not to release an illegal immigrant suspect from custody after he allegedly beat a coworker to death with a sledgehammer on a construction site in a suburb of Texas’ largest city, Houston.

This comes as Texas officials feud with the City of Houston over a new policy limiting law enforcement cooperation with ICE. The confrontation mirrors the broader national debate between Democrats and Republicans over the Trump administration’s immigration...
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Police gunfight with favela gang traps 200 tourists on hilltop

  • News source: BBC News - World
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The access route to Morro Dois Irmãos was blocked during the operation in Vidigal, leaving scores of alarmed sightseers stuck on the hill.
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Trailblazing black beauty queen who defied apartheid South Africa dies aged 76

  • News source: BBC News - World
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At the 1972 Miss World contest, Cynthia Shange was one of two contestants from South Africa - one black and one white.
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How Trump's messaging on Iran has shifted since saying they "agreed to everything"

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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In less than 48 hours this weekend, President Trump went from saying Iran has "agreed to everything," including working with the U.S. to remove its enriched uranium, to warning that if Iran doesn't sign a U.S.-backed deal, the "whole country is getting blown up."

The president's rapid shifts in messaging, expressed in phone calls with individual reporters and on Truth Social, come as the two-week ceasefire in the war with Iran enters its final days, and as the state of negotiations with Iran is uncertain.

The president has also shared...
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Jackson scolds colleagues in solo dissent after court jumps into routine police-stop case

  • News source: FOX News
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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accused the Supreme Court majority on Monday of overstepping its role to "wordsmith" a lower court in Washington, D.C., in a pointed break from her colleagues in a Fourth Amendment case about whether a police officer had reasonable suspicion to stop a man.

Jackson, a Biden appointee, was the lone justice to defend the D.C. appeals court, which had found last year that the officer improperly stopped the man while he was in a vehicle. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision 8-2, approving the police stop...
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Sen Mark Warner 'heartbroken,' announcing daughter dies of juvenile diabetes

  • News source: FOX News
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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced the loss of his adult daughter Madison Warner at age 36 after a long battle with juvenile diabetes and other health problems.

"We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison, 36, after a decades-long battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues," Warner wrote in a joint statement with his wife Lisa Collis. "She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void."

"We are grateful for the loving support of friends and family during this...
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Sledgehammer-wielding illegal immigrant sought by ICE after alleged blue city murder

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked officials in Democratic-run Harris County not to release a sledgehammer-wielding illegal immigrant from custody after he allegedly beat a coworker to death on a construction site in a suburb of Texas’ largest city, Houston.

This comes as Texas officials feud with the City of Houston over a new policy limiting law enforcement cooperation with ICE. The confrontation mirrors the broader national debate between Democrats and Republicans over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement...
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Swing-state Dem candidate's 'disgusting' comments about JD, Usha Vance's 'Brown children' sparks outrage

  • News source: FOX News
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  • Views: 5
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is running as a Democrat for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, is facing online blowback over a podcast appearance where he took several pointed shots at Vice President JD Vance’s personal life, including his relationship with Second Lady Usha Vance.

"What do you think is going through Usha's head when he talks? She's like, ‘Damn, I have to sleep with him,’" El-Sayed said on The Allen Analysis Show posted on Friday.

"I guess she’s pregnant so something is happening," El-Sayed continued, "Can you imagine, he’s got brown kids...
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WATCH: Houston faces $110M hit as Texas gov lays down law on 'sanctuary' policies

  • News source: FOX News
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Houston, a major red-state city run by Democrats, is in "crisis" mode as it faces an ultimatum to repay the State of Texas approximately $110 million if it does not repeal a "sanctuary"-type ordinance limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Houston City Council recently voted to end a policy requiring police to wait at least 30 minutes for ICE to arrive if a suspect had an immigration warrant. Afterward, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, drew a line in the sand, telling the city to immediately reverse its...
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Left-wing activists heckle pro-Israel Democrat Haley Stevens at Michigan convention

  • News source: FOX News
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Pro-Palestinian activists shouted down Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., as the U.S. Senate hopeful spoke at Michigan Democrats’ spring convention on Sunday.

When Stevens, a pro-Israel Democrat, walked on stage with a group of union employees, the crowd erupted with party activists heckling her over her support for Israel.

"Democrats, I love you, even when we disagree," the congresswoman said, but audience members continued to drown her out with boos and jeers.

DEMOCRATS TEAM UP WITH FAR-LEFT STREAMER WHO ONCE SAID ‘AMERICA DESERVED 9/11’

As Stevens...
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More than 200 rescued from IS-linked group in DR Congo

  • News source: BBC News - World
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The youngest of those freed from an Allied Democratic Forces camp is a girl aged just 14, Uganda's army says.
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Days of Our Lives and Starship Troopers actor Patrick Muldoon dies aged 57

  • News source: BBC News - World
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The actor and producer also appeared in Melrose Place and Saved By the Bell.
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Sen. Mark Warner's daughter dies at 36 after longtime diabetes battle

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Washington — Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia announced on Monday that his daughter Madison has died following a lengthy battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues. She was 36.

"We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison," Warner and his wife, Lisa Collis, wrote in a statement shared on social media. "She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void."

The couple said they are "grateful for the loving support of friends and family during this difficult...
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Trump pushes back against pundits, says Israel did not talk him into the Iran war

  • News source: FOX News
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President Donald Trump rejected the notion that Israel convinced him to launch the war against Iran, asserting in a Monday Truth Social post that the outcome "will be amazing."

The president said that the heinous October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack against Israel bolstered his view that Iran must be blocked from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did," the president declared in the Truth Social post.

"I...
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Eric Holder accuses GOP of 'stealing seats' while defending 'fair' Democratic redistricting push

  • News source: FOX News
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Top Virginia redistricting proponent and former Attorney General Eric Holder defended Democrats’ proposed changes to the Old Dominion’s congressional map, accusing Republicans of "stealing seats" in Missouri and Texas.

Voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to "restore fairness" — in the words of the Democrat-crafted referendum itself — by essentially approving a new congressional map that would redraw Virginia's districts to favor Democrats over Republicans 10-1.

In a CBS News interview, anchor Margaret Brennan pressed Holder on the need...
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Trump tariff refunds begin but consumers likely to miss out

  • News source: BBC News - World
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  • Views: 7
Businesses can apply online through a portal for refunds expected to total $160bn.
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Outrage over Israeli soldier's vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon

  • News source: BBC News - World
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The Israeli military says it views with "great severity" the actions of the soldier, as the US ambassador demands "swift" consequences.
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New Zealand declares state of emergency in Wellington as floods hit

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
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Footage online shows vehicles submerged, trees uprooted and houses hit by landslides.
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Nigerian wins global prize for trying to save bats in a country that shuns them

  • News source: BBC News - World
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  • Views: 3
Many Nigerians associate bats with witchcraft but that did not deter ecologist Iroro Tanshi.
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