Top Stories; Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran's ports after peace talks fail
Top Stories — Monday, April 13, 2026
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran's ports after peace talks fail — CNBC
- Scores Killed in Nigerian Military Strikes as Clashes With Militants Intensify — nyt News
- An Underwater Phantom Is Killing Fish and Breaking Hearts — nyt News
Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran's ports after peace talks fail
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/13/2026, 3:52:21 AM
Crude oil prices surged on Sunday, as the U.S. Navy prepares to impose a blockade on Iran's ports after peace talks failed over the weekend.
U.S. crude oil futures for May delivery jumped nearly 8% to $104.20 per barrel by 6:13 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent for June delivery advanced 7% to $101.86.
U.S. Central Command said Sunday the military will blockade all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. It added that the U.S. will not impede vessels transiting to and from non-Iranian ports.
"The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman," CENTCOM said in a statement.
President Donald Trump had threatened earlier Sunday to blockade the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end the war during negotiations in Pakistan.
"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said in a social media post.
Trump is considering limited strikes on Iran to break the stalemate in peace talks, officials and people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
The president said Sunday he ordered the Navy to find and interdict any ship in international waters that has paid Iran a toll to transit the strait. The narrow sea route is a vital artery that connects Middle East oil producers to global energy markets.
Tanker traffic through the strait has plunged due to the threat of Iranian attacks, triggering the largest oil supply disruption in history. About 20% of global oil supplies passed through the waterway before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
It is unclear whether Trump will now resume airstrikes on Iran. The president agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday in exchange for Tehran allowing ships to pass through the strait. He had previously threatened to bomb every bridge and power plant in Iran.
Tehran has made safe passage during the ceasefire contingent on its approval. Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Sunday that the "key to the Strait of Hormuz" remains in the Islamic Republic's hands, according state news agency Press TV.
Three supertankers made the journey on Saturday, according to data from LSEG. Each vessel can carry up two million barrels of oil. But traffic is well below pre-war levels when more than 100 vessels made the trip daily.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said Sunday the negotiations failed because Iran would not provide an "affirmative commitment" that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.
"The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon," Vance told reporters in Islamabad. "We have not seen that yet, we hope that we will."
Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said the U.S. "failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations."
Scores Killed in Nigerian Military Strikes as Clashes With Militants Intensify
Source: nyt News • Published: 4/13/2026, 3:48:55 AM
At least 50 people were killed and many others injured when the Nigerian military conducted airstrikes Saturday against insurgents in northeastern Nigeria, according to residents and the local authorities.
A Nigerian military spokesman, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, said the strikes hit what he called a terrorist enclave and logistics hub near Jilli, in what he said was an abandoned village in Borno State, killing militants who had taken up residence there.
But the local authorities and human rights groups described a starkly different scene, saying the bombs struck a weekly market that attracts hundreds of people and denying that the town was abandoned. They said the number of dead, mostly civilians, was much higher than reported.
“I spoke to the hospital authorities, and they confirmed that at least 100 have been killed,” said Isa Sanusi, the executive director of Amnesty International in Nigeria.
Others put the death toll even higher. “The figures are not certain, as we are still recovering bodies,” said Malam Lawan Zanna, a member of a local council. “But as I am speaking, over 200 people have lost their lives from the airstrike at the market.”
Nigeria’s northeast has experienced a surge in violent attacks in recent months, analysts say, mainly involving clashes between the military and two of the country’s most powerful terrorist groups, Boko Haram and a splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province.
“Political violence in Nigeria overall rose by over 25 percent in March,” said Ladd Serwat, an Africa analyst at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, a research group in Madison, Wis. But the most striking shift was in the intensity of battles, both in number and in body counts, he said.
Last week, the State Department authorized so-called voluntary departures for U.S. government employees and their families in Nigeria because of the “deteriorating security situation” and advised U.S. citizens against traveling to at least 23 states, covering nearly two-thirds of the country.
The warning, which the Nigerian government dismissed as not reflective of “the overall security situation,” came even as the two countries stepped up military collaboration to fight against what officials said were terrorists and criminal gangs.
U.S. and Nigerian military sources confirmed that around 200 U.S. troops had deployed to Nigeria in February in part to carry out near-daily surveillance missions using MQ-9 Reaper drones to track insurgents who often move in groups on motorbikes.
The U.S. forces also include about a dozen intelligence analysts at a Nigerian military headquarters in Abuja who are helping Nigerian officials synthesize information from the drones, informants and other technical means and use that intelligence to guide Nigerian troops to their targets.
The U.S. support has led to several Nigerian-led operations across northern Nigeria, mainly in Borno, two U.S. military officials said. The operations have killed or captured dozens of militants, including some local leaders of the Islamic State, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. Last month, Nigerian forces claimed to have killed at least 80 militants in an attack on military camps.
Despite the increased pressure, the insurgents have ramped up attacks, killing hundreds of civilians and dozens of military personnel in recent months. Last week, a coordinated attack on military positions in Borno by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, normally fierce rivals, killed an army commander, Brig. Gen. Oseni Braimah, and several of his soldiers.
The Nigerian military confirmed that Saturday’s strike in Jilli targeted the same insurgent network responsible for attacks against military positions in the area. The operation was executed following intensive surveillance after the April 9 violence, said Lt. Col. Sani Uba. The military did not attribute the surveillance to U.S. forces, saying only that it was working with a number of groups.
Analysts and security experts said militants use the weekly market at Jilli to collect illegal levies, procure supplies and plan further attacks.
“In Jilli market, insurgents move freely and openly on motorcycles, often armed, overseeing transactions and maintaining control,” said Yunusa Bunu, a security analyst in Maiduguri, adding that it has for years been known locally as Kasu Daulaye, a Kanuri phrase meaning “the terrorists’ market.”
“Because of the absence of government authority in much of northern Borno, many communities have been left vulnerable, with militants effectively dictating daily life and economic activity,” Mr. Bunu added.
In telephone interviews, area residents said most of the traders and buyers at the weekly market when the airstrikes hit were civilians from surrounding communities.
The Nigerian military has faced repeated allegations over the years that some of its airstrikes have resulted in mass civilian casualties.
“They completely shield themselves from accountability,” said Mr. Sanusi of Amnesty International. “We have documented so many such airstrikes that killed civilians, and it is a pattern. They don’t want to expose their own crime.”
Ismail Alfa contributed reporting from Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Saikou Jammeh is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Dakar, Senegal.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades.
Read the full story at nyt News.
An Underwater Phantom Is Killing Fish and Breaking Hearts
Source: nyt News • Published: 4/13/2026, 3:41:20 AM
Reporting from South Australia
Wendy Parry, an ocean swimmer from Adelaide, Australia, has for decades relied on a local beach as a refuge for stress reduction and relaxation. But she stopped going last year when the water turned green and yellow, and a foul-smelling foam clung to the sand.
As dead fish, seadragons and other creatures began washing ashore along the South Australian coastline, the air irritated her lungs, leaving her coughing and suffering from itchy eyes.
“Being on the beach was just disgusting,” said Ms. Parry, 66, who typically swims at least three times a week, even through the winter. "It broke your heart.”
The culprit was a harmful algal bloom, a naturally occurring phenomenon in which toxin-producing algae rapidly grow and concentrate. Along the jagged coastline of South Australia, a state with nearly two million people, it has become an underwater phantom that has drifted along the shoreline for more than a year. Researchers say it has spanned more than 7,000 square miles of ocean, and they’re not entirely sure why.
The algal bloom has devastated marine life, disrupted the fishing industry, and threatened a cherished rite of Australian life: going to the beach. Surfers have reported irritated eyes and shortness of breath, and beachgoers have been horrified by the dead animals washing ashore, including stingrays, octopuses and sharks.
As scientists search for explanations, the bloom is taking a psychological toll on South Australians. In a survey last July, nearly 70 percent of respondents said that they could not stop thinking about the bloom, and about half reported feeling anxious or afraid. Some said they felt as though they’d lost a loved one.
It also removed an outlet for many who rely on ocean activities for stress-relief or socializing, said Brianna Le Busque, an environmental psychology scientist at Adelaide University, who led the survey.
“People realized how important it was when it was taken away from them,” Dr. Le Busque said.
The bloom in South Australia first appeared in March last year, when surfers on two beaches reported sore throats, eye irritation and other symptoms. By July, it had moved northeast to the coastline near Adelaide, the state’s capital city, and later reached the Yorke Peninsula.
Several local species of fish declined last year as the bloom emerged, according to a government report. “It was literally just like an underwater bushfire,” said Nathan Barbiero, a recreational fisherman.
Only some species of algal blooms produce toxins. They have appeared in South Africa, Europe and parts of coastal United States, including Florida’s Red Tide.
Scientists say the bloom off southern Australia stands out for how long it has persisted, how large it has grown and what kind of toxins it is producing.
Some species of algae produce a type of neurotoxin known as brevetoxins. But Shauna Murray, a marine biologist at the University of Technology Sydney who studies harmful algal blooms, said that she has identified a rare species off South Australia, Karenia cristata, that had not been previously been known to produce brevetoxins.
“We’ve never had this before,” said Dr. Murray, referring to brevetoxins in Australia. Their sudden appearance in this algal bloom “rang alarm bells,” she added.
The exact origins of this bloom are unknown, but scientists are looking at a few working theories.
Officials have pointed to several recent events as possible drivers, including a marine heat wave and a nutrient-heavy flood from the nearby Murray River. The intensity and frequency of harmful algal blooms have also generally been linked to climate change and agricultural runoffs.
Critics have accused state and federal officials of moving too slowly to warn the public. A parliamentary inquiry last year found officials were ill-prepared to monitor and track the crisis, and recommended more investment in marine research.
Murray Watt, Australia’s environment minister, pushed back against the criticism in an interview last month with the Australian broadcaster ABC.
“To this day, no one has been able to produce an answer on what could have been done differently to prevent the bloom,” he said, adding that the country would now have a “roadmap” for similar events in the future.
The state government of South Australia said in a statement that it has a comprehensive testing and monitoring program for algal blooms that covers 240 sites, and that the state and federal governments are investing more than 60 million Australian dollars, or about $41 million, into protective measures that include offshore monitoring buoys and reef restoration projects.
The crisis has pushed some residents to document its potential toll. The precise impact of the bloom on marine life is still being determined, but since February 2025, a crowdsourced platform has recorded more than 100,000 instances of dead marine life.
Lochie Cameron, a resident of Corny Point, said he was crushed when the beaches last year around Foul Bay filled with dead animals. “That was like the entire ocean had spat all of its fish and all of its creatures onto the shore,” he said.
A lifelong fisherman, he has not cast a line since. “I can’t kill another fish after seeing so much on the beach,” he said.
Mr. Cameron and others in the community have collected water samples and photographed the dead sealife, acting as self-described “citizen scientists.”
There are signs the bloom may be receding in some areas.
The vast majority of South Australia’s coastline has recorded low or undetectable levels of Karenia for the past three months, a spokesman for a state government unit monitoring the bloom said in an email. But in late March, some people reported signs that the bloom may have shifted west toward Port Hughes, northwest of Adelaide on the Yorke Peninsula.
Stefan Andrews, a marine biologist and diver who has been tracking the bloom, said that on a recent dive at Port Hughes, he saw neon-green water and many dead octopuses.
“That was one of the last spots that I was holding onto on the whole Yorke Peninsula,” said Mr. Andrews, a co-founder of a nonprofit focused on marine habitats along southern Australia. “I’ve kept this little bit of hope in me that maybe — somehow — it’s able to dodge it.”
In Adelaide, Ms. Parry said she had noticed signs of recovery, such as stingray tracks in the sand. She has even returned to ocean swimming after a seven-month break.
But when she notices discoloration, foam, or strange smells, she stays on land.
“I don’t think it’s totally gone,” she said.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
Read the full story at nyt News.
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