Ajuede.com

Members of the US Air Force Pararescue, April 5, 2026; illustrative. (photo credit: US AIR FORCE) When the first reports came on Friday of the downing of an American F-15 fighter jet over Iran with two pilots – the US military tasked the  impossible mission of retrieving a pilot and navigator  from behind enemy lines with the US Air Force Pararescue, commonly known as the “PJs.” The PJs serve as the Pentagon’s ultimate insurance policy. Operating under the motto “So That Others May Live,” these elite specialists are trained to go where no one else can, often under heavy fire and in the most inhospitable environments on earth. “It’s one of the elite and really not very well known elements of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC),” said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior intelligence service officer with the  CIA . “This is, of course, the most elite forces in the US, and they are trained in doing the impossible, which often is going behind the lines to recover...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump to congratulate him on the success of the US mission to rescue the US air force pilot who had been stranded in Iran, Netanyahu announced on X, early Monday morning.  Trump also expressed appreciation for Israel's help with the operation, Netanyahu wrote.  "I am deeply proud that our cooperation on and off the battlefield is unprecedented, and that Israel could contribute to saving a brave American warrior," the post read. 

(L) Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad on October 13, 2024. (Photo by MURTAJA LATEEF/AFP via Getty Images) / (R) U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 06, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Upon announcing that he reached a tentative  ceasefire with Iran , President Donald Trump shared Tehran’s official statement promising to halt military operations and allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The statement on Tuesday evening, shortly after Trump’s 8:00 p.m. ET deadline, came from Iran’s Minister of Public Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “I express gratitude and appreciation for my dear brothers HE (His Excellency) Prime Minister of Pakistan (Shehbaz) Sharif and HE Field Marshal (Asim) Munir for their tireless efforts to end the war in the re...

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak in the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images) President Donald Trump gave Iran a two-day deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz or face severe consequences as Operation Epic Fury enters its sixth week. “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday morning. “Time is running out.” He provided what’s left of the Islamic regime in Iran “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.” “Glory be to GOD!” the president concluded.   About a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped from the Gulf region through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has kept a tight grip on through its weeks-long conflict with the U.S. and Israel. Trump has repeatedly reminded countries allied with the United States that most of the U.S.’s oil is not imported through the Strait of Hormuz and urged the countries that...

(L) Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel on July 6, 2025. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP) (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images) / (R-top) An inmate greets relatives as he walk free from La Lima prison in Havana on April 3, 2026. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images) / (R-bottom) A inmate greets a relative on April 3, 2026. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images) In a significant development for Caribbean diplomacy, the Cuban government announced on Thursday that it would release 2,010 prisoners, with inmates beginning to leave custody on Friday. While Havana officially characterized the mass pardon as a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture” tied to the religious celebrations of Holy Week, the decision comes as the island faces a crippling energy blockade and high-stakes, behind-the-scenes negotiations with the United States. The announcement, published in the state-run newspaper  Granma , noted that the release follows a “careful analysis” of the inmates’ co...

IMO: Currently I Haven't Been Paid 44 Months For Services Of Men At War Front - Dokubo Dokubo ; "As I am talking to you, for 44 months, I have not been paid. For the services of the men who are fighting at the forefront, getting injured and dying." Speaking in an interview with THE SUN on Sunday, March 29 2026, Dokubo‑Asari said his group has been deployed in Imo since 2021 and remains there permanently, not merely for election duties. He insisted he is not currently involved in pipeline surveillance operations, though he said he supports such efforts.   Dokubo‑Asari described a prolonged period without remuneration for the fighters who have been active in Imo State, stressing the human cost of their deployment. He said the personnel have been exposed to danger and some have been killed or wounded while carrying out their duties.

National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) member and General Services Administration head Ed Forst, NCPC Commissioner Michael Blair, and NCPC Chairman Will Scharf participate during a meeting to vote on the proposal for a new $400 million ballroom at the White House, on April 2, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images) The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has voted to approve President Donald Trump’s plans for the new White House ballroom. The NCPC derives its authority from the National Capital Planning Act of 1952. This federal law designates the NCPC as the central planning agency for the federal government in the D.C. region. Under the Act, any federal agency — including the Executive Office of the President — proposing a development project in the National Capital Region, must submit its plans to the NCPC for review. The commission is legally charged with ensuring that new construction is: Consistent with the “Comprehensive Plan for the National Capi...