Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced an Orthodox Easter ceasefire with Ukraine, the Kremlin said Thursday.

"By the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, a ceasefire has been declared in view of the upcoming Orthodox holiday of Easter, from 16:00 on April 11 until the end of the day on April 12, 2026," the Kremlin said in a statement. "Troops must be prepared to thwart any possible provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions," the Kremlin said.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his counterpart North Korea’s Choe Son Hui in Pyongyang on Thursday.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to further deepen cooperation and exchanges between their countries. Wang said his country stands ready to work with the North Korea to take the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties, noting that this year marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the China-North Korea Treaty of Friendship.

Choe said her country’s relation with China is based on the common socialist system and traditional friendship, describing bilateral relations as deep-rooted. It was known that Wang’s arrival in North Korea was his first visit in seven years.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanon on a peace agreement, his office said Thursday.

The office said the proposed talks would focus on "establishing peaceful relations" between the two countries, which have no official ties and remain formally at war. The negotiations would also address the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned group that Israel targeted in intensified strikes on Wednesday after cross-border fighting resumed in early March amid the broader Iran conflict.

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In a public statement, First Lady Melania Trump dismissed allegations connecting her to Jeffrey Epstein as “lies” on Thursday.

She clarified that any interaction with the disgraced financier was merely the result of shared social circles in New York. The First Lady emphasized that Epstein played no role in her introduction to Donald Trump, stating they met “by chance” at a party in 1998. According to Melania, she did not meet Epstein until 2000 and was entirely unaware of his illegal activities. She further noted that she never traveled on his private aircraft or visited his island.

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French President Emmanuel Macron arrived on Thursday in Rome on the eve of his first meeting with Pope Leo XIV.

Their meeting at the Vatican on Friday morning comes against the backdrop of the Iran war, for which both sides had called for a diplomatic solution. According to Macron’s presidential office, both leaders will address a wide range of topics in Friday's meetingfrom international affairs and the regulation of artificial intelligence, to climate change and humanitarian issues.

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UK foreign secretary  Yvette Cooper  has called for the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened after ships in the Gulf were warned by the Iranian navy that those without permission to pass through faced attack.

“No country should be able to hijack those international shipping transit routes in the way that Iran has. That’s why it’s so important. They have this international cooperation to keep up the pressure to get the strait fully open, not to have tolls, not to have restrictions, but to get that fully reopened again,” Cooper said on Thursday.

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Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo.

Marles welcomed the good news about a ceasefire between the United States and Iran and said Australia hopes the truce will hold.  He described the development as an important step toward de-escalation in the Middle East. The two ministers also discussed how the situation could affect global security and the Indo-Pacific region, including energy supplies and maritime trade routes.

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President Trump said US military is fully loaded and will stay in place around Iran until a real agreement is reached.

In his Truth Social post Trump said "All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with. If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shooting’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.

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Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised Iran's President Masoud Pezehskian and US President Donald Trump for agreeing to a ceasefire and on the upcoming talks in Islamabad involving representatives from both countries.

"This ceasefire is the first step. But their true destination is lasting and durable peace, and progress of development and prosperity," he said during a televised speech. The Pakistani leader also thanked Arab Gulf nations for their "commitment to peace and stability in the region".

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On 8 April, Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, formally received letters of credence from 20 newly appointed ambassadors and high commissioners during a diplomatic ceremony in Pretoria.

Among them was the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III. He is a conservative American political activist and commentator, appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa in 2026. His appointment comes during strained relations between the United States and South Africa, particularly after diplomatic disputes and policy disagreements in recent years.

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