Trump signs order to accelerate access to psychedelic drug treatments

Child survives 60-foot fall from Worcester apartment building window: ’That kid had guardian angels’.

Emergency crews rushed to the Lincoln Village Apartments Wednesday night after a frantic 911 call reported a child had fallen out a window.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene. One man, identified as Antonio, said he heard the screaming and ran to help. He said he saw the boy fall several stories before landing on the ground.

“The way he hit the ground, you don’t survive that. That kid had guardian angels. Whether people are spiritual or not, that kid had something on his shoulder that said ‘you’re not today,’” he said.

Boy landed on patch of mulch Worcester police said officers arrived within a minute and found the boy conscious, alert and breathing. He was taken to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

Investigators said the child fell more than 60 feet and narrowly missed large utility boxes below. Officials believe the impact was partially cushioned by a patch of mulch on the ground.

“It was an amazing unique circumstance that definitely could have gone a different way,” said Sgt. Elise Miranda with the Worcester Police Department.

Detectives are still working to determine exactly how the fall happened, but they believe the child may have fallen through the screen of a common-area window that had been opened to cool the apartment.

As temperatures rise, police are urging families to take precautions.

“As we start getting into the warmer weather, everyone is going to start opening up those windows, we’re talking about air conditioning and things like that,” Miranda said. “Couple things you’re going to want to start looking at are the locks on the screens, making sure the screens are intact.”

Miranda suggested parents with young kids in the home should also buy additional security tools around windows.

The investigation remains ongoing. Police said the family has been fully cooperating, but understandably distraught.

The child was still in the hospital Thursday in stable condition, but he is expected to make a full recovery.

U.S. urges nations to back ‘trade over aid’ plan as UN warns against privatizing assistance.

The UN is warning against privatizing a global aid system that delivers crucial assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Ahead of the initiative being formally introduced at the UN at the end of April, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered all U.S. diplomats to deliver a call to action to high-level foreign officials to sign on with their support by Monday, according to a diplomatic cable sent this week and obtained by The Associated Press.

According to the directive, the “Trade Over Aid Initiative” is meant to encourage UN member states to “make pro-business reforms” to their aid processes by facilitating conversations between governments, the private sector and international organizations.

The proposal also calls for “free market” policies to attract foreign trade that include “limited regulation, low taxation, multiple energy sources, private property rights, sanctity of contracts, and a trusted judiciary.”

“The idea that trade and free market capitalism is the surest path to prosperity has been proven by the facts and by history,” said Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman. “The U.S. remains the most generous country in the history of the world, but those arguing for ‘aid not trade’ are really arguing for lining the pockets of a corrupt NGO industrial complex.”

While signing on to the proposal is nonbinding and does not create obligations or require changes to national laws, it would reflect global opinion on the increasingly dire global aid situation as powerful countries like the U.S., the United Kingdom and others have decreased funding for humanitarian aid and increased their nations’ defense spending.

The latest move is also seen by the UN and other international organizations as further abandoning the aid system at a moment of growing conflicts around the world, while increasing the risk of exploitation by for-profit companies.

Despite the U.S. effort, the United Nations is committed to putting in place its sustainable development agenda by 2030, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, which includes ending poverty, achieving gender equality and urgently tackling climate change.

“For us, trade, investment, and private sector engagement can be powerful drivers of inclusive growth and job creation,” he told AP. “They should, however, not be used to substitute international development cooperation or for principled humanitarian assistance.”

Eric Pelofsky, who served at the U.S. State Department under the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations, blasted the effort in a statement, saying that “there’s no American who looks at a picture of a starving child and sees an opportunity for companies to enrich themselves.”

“That’s because Americans have historically run to the fire to help rather than looking for ways to sell fire hoses to those suffering,” according to a statement from Pelofsky, now an executive at the Rockefeller Foundation. “This approach betrays America’s traditions, values, and national security interests — and it makes us less safe.”

Devex, a news organization covering global development, earlier reported details of the initiative and The Washington Post earlier reported on the cable.

House rejects effort to withdraw U.S. forces from the Iran war as Republicans stick with Trump

US President Donald Trump reportedly said during a private dinner with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands that he wants to end the war with Iran as soon as possible, The Wall Street Journal said.

According to the newspaper, the US leader said that he is convince that the only way to bring Iran back to the negotiating table is to ramp up pressure on it.

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale operation against Iran on February 28. On April 7, the United States announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Iran and the United States held several rounds of talks in Islamabad on April 11. The Iranian delegation was led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the US delegation - by Vice President JD Vance. Both Tehran and Washington said after the negotiations that no agreement on a long-term settlement of the conflict had been reached due to a range of disagreements. It is not yet known if a new round of consultations will take place. Nevertheless, the US administration claims that the talks may be resumed in Islamabad in the coming days.

#Pakistani delegation arrives in Tehran in move to ease tensions and arrange more U.S.-Iran talks.

The Pakistani military said the delegation included Field Marshal Asim Munir, the country’s interior minister and other senior security officials. The group is “part of the ongoing mediation efforts,” the military said, but it gave no details.

Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict after it hosted rare direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad, a move authorities said helped narrow differences between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Saudi Arabia on an official visit to discuss regional issues. A statement from Sharif’s office in Islamabad said he was received at the airport in Jeddah by senior Saudi officials. Sharif was accompanied by Pakistan’s foreign minister and information minister.

Officials say U.S. and Iran are making progress

The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the week-old ceasefire agreement, but regional officials said they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the United States and Iran had an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

But even as mediators worked for peace, tensions were still simmering. The commander of Iran’s joint military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, announcing the incoming Pakistani delegation, said Islamabad “has held discussions with the Americans and has also heard our stances. During this visit the views of both sides are to be discussed in detail.”

A senior U.S. official said before the Pakistani visit was announced that the United States has not formally agreed to extend the ceasefire and that “engagement” with Iran continues. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive negotiations.
Mediators seek compromise on sticking points

Before the two-week ceasefire expires on April 22, mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend — Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the mediation efforts.

Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country “based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment,” Iran’s state-media reported.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Trump says Iran wants a deal

The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region. Oil prices fell on hopes for an end to fighting on Wednesday, and U.S. stocks surged close to records set in January.

Yet the future of the fragile ceasefire still hung in the balance as the U.S. pressed ahead with its blockade, which threatens to sever Iran from economic lifelines it has relied on since the war began nearly seven weeks ago, and Tehran threatened regional trade.

“I think they want to make a deal very badly,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in an excerpt from an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” scheduled to air Wednesday morning. He added: “I view it as very close to over.”

Trump claimed Wednesday that China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulated that Beijing has considered transferring arms.

Trump wrote in a social media post that China is “very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz.” He added: “They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran.” He seemed to suggest the two are linked.

China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.
U.S. military says no ships got past blockade

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and reenter Iranian waters.

The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began Feb. 28. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash that’s been vital to keeping Iran running.

Since the war began, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most commercial vessels avoiding the waterway. Tehran’s effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.

Ottawa ‘very seriously’ considering social media ban for kids, minister says. #OTTAWA — The federal government is “very seriously” considering introducing a social media ban for kids, Culture Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday, days after party members voted in favour of a ban at the Liberal party convention.

“I respect and acknowledge the work that’s been done and the concern where that policy proposal came from,” Miller told reporters on Parliament Hill.

“The grassroots have spoken. We do have to study that.”

In Montreal on Saturday, party members passed a non-binding resolution calling on the government to set 16 as the minimum age for access to social media accounts.

A ban could be an important tool but it’s not a solution to the bigger problem of online harms, Miller said.

“I do think it could be an important layer, but it has to be seen as that and not as the answer to everything. Online harms don’t end as soon as you turn 15 or 16 or 17,” he said.

Last December, Australia became the first country to pass a law enforcing age limits on social media accounts.

The federal government plans to introduce an online harms bill and is consulting with an expert advisory group on what the legislation should look like. Miller, who is taking the lead on the file, declined to give a timeline for introducing the bill.

Miller said the government is leaving it to the expert group to weigh in on whether the legislation should also cover access to AI chatbots.

“The more these things become prevalent and people have access to them and they are in fact causing harm, then you feel the people that are supporting these platforms or the owners of these chatbots have a responsibility,” he said.

On Saturday, the Liberals also adopted a similar non-binding resolution to set age restrictions for AI chatbots.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.

-- With files from Kyle Duggan

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

Strait of Hormuz traffic barely affected on first day of U.S. blockade, data shows.

The first full day of a U.S. blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports made little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic on Tuesday, with at least eight ships including three Iran-linked tankers, crossing the waterway, shipping data showed.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal.

The blockade has created even further uncertainty for shippers, oil companies and war risk insurers. Traffic remains at only a fraction of the 130-plus daily crossings before the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran began on February 28, industry sources said on Tuesday.

“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade,” the U.S. Central Command said on X, adding that six vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port.

The three Iran-linked vessels that transited the strait were not heading to Iranian ports and were not affected by the blockade.

Panama-flagged Peace Gulf, a medium-range tanker, is heading to Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, LSEG data showed.

The vessel typically moves Iranian naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, to other non-Iranian Middle Eastern ports for export to Asia, Kpler data showed.

Prior to this, two U.S.-sanctioned tankers passed through the narrow waterway.

Handy tanker Murlikishan is heading to Iraq to load fuel oil on April 16, Kpler data showed. The vessel, formerly known as MKA, has transported Russian and Iranian oil.

Another sanctioned tanker, Rich Starry, would be the first to make it through the strait and to exit the Gulf since the blockade began, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The tanker and its owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co, were placed under U.S. sanctions for dealing with Iran. The company could not be reached for immediate comment.

Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its last port of call, the UAE’s Hamriyah, the data showed.

The Chinese-owned tanker has Chinese crew on board, the data showed.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is “dangerous and irresponsible,” warning that it would only aggravate tensions. The ministry did not mention whether Chinese ships were passing the strait.
Further sailings through the Strait

Five other vessels had sailed through the strait since the blockade began at 1400 GMT on Monday. These comprised two other chemical and gas tankers, two dry bulk vessels and the Ocean Energy cargo ship that docked at Iran’s Bandar Abbas port.

A U.S. military note sent to mariners and seen by Reuters said that humanitarian shipments would be exempt from the blockade.

“The United States does not need to block every type of ship or enter the Strait of Hormuz; it can carry out an intermittent blockade,” said Fabrizio Coticchia, professor of political science at Italy’s University of Genoa.

“Ships will not be attacked, but rather diverted,” Coticchia said, adding that U.S. warships would be located outside of the strait in the Gulf of Oman.

While the cost of war-risk insurance has not increased since the blockade began, it remains at hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional weekly costs, with cover typically reviewed by underwriters every 48 hours, industry sources said.

“A return to ‘normality’ in the Middle East arguably now appears more distant than it did one week ago, especially given that the U.S. navy has started a blockade,” ship broker BRS said in a report.

“It is anticipated that there will be little or no commercial traffic in the strait for the foreseeable future.”

(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Mariko Katsumura in Tokyo, Jonathan Saul in London, Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and Francesca Landini in MilanEditing by Himani Sarkar, Jamie Freed, Sharon Singleton and David Goodman)

Zelensky says U.S. doesn’t ‘have time for Ukraine’ because of Iran war: interview

Suspected militants kill police officer assigned to guard polio team as nationwide campaign begins.

The shooting occurred in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, shortly after Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, according to local police official Mahmood Alam.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and local militant groups, which often carry out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries where polio has not been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization.

First lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated during the weeklong drive, which aims to reach more than 45 million children under 5 across all provinces and regions. She said the campaign will be conducted in coordination with Afghanistan, reflecting a shared commitment to interrupt cross-border transmission and close remaining gaps.

Aseefa is the daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a 2007 gun and bomb attack by militants, and who had personally overseen initiatives aimed at eliminating polio during her tenure. In a statement, she said “Pakistan stands at a crucial moment in the fight against polio.” She said while the country is closer than ever to eradication, “the final stretch remains the most challenging.”

Highlighting recent gains, she said 31 polio cases were reported nationwide in 2025, while only one case has so far been recorded so far this year, but warned against complacency.

While Pakistan primarily uses door-to-door vaccination teams to reach children at their homes, Afghanistan generally relies on fixed vaccination sites and health facilities, where parents are asked to bring their children for immunization.