//The Wire//2300Z April 13, 2026//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: MAJOR ESCALATIONS REPORTED IN MIDDLE EAST AFTER PEACE TALKS FAIL. AMERICAN NAVAL BLOCKADE ANNOUNCED IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ. TERRORIST ATTACK REPORTED IN ALGERIA DURING POPE'S VISIT.//

-----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Middle East: Over the weekend, negotiations between the United States and Iran failed to produce any sort of agreement. Both parties have returned to their respective countries, and the potential for future negotiations remains unclear. Shortly after negotiations concluded, President Trump announced the implementation of a naval blockade of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. The post specifically stated that the U.S. Navy will blockade "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz". A few hours later, CENTCOM posted an article on the implementation of this policy, stating that "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".

Lebanon: The war continues as Israeli forces continue their advance to the Litani River. Clearance operations have been on going in the south, with most villages within a few miles of the traditional border between Lebanon and Israel having been either bombed or bulldozed over the past few years with the goal of establishing a buffer zone.

Hungary: Yesterday, the results of the general election resulted in sitting Prime Minister Viktor Orban being replaced by Peter Magyar after holding power for 16 years.

Algeria: This morning two IED attacks took place in Blida, which took the form of two assailants wearing explosive belts attempting to target a crowd near the National Police Headquarters.

Analyst Comment: These attacks coincided with Pope Leo XIV's visit to Algiers. Consequently, local media is speculating that these attackers were on their way to target the Pope, and got discovered, prompting their detonation. However, considering that the attackers were on foot at the time (and Blida is a long way from Algiers, where the Pope was located), a more likely theory is that this attack was targeting the police station. This theory is supported by the rather graphic video of at least one of the attacks. These types of attacks are extremely common throughout the third-world, as low-level insurgent groups sometimes prefer to conduct attacks during a high-profile visit, so as to amplify the message of their cause. In this case however, nobody survived to convey what group actually conducted the attack, so pending a group claiming credit, the overall motive for this terror attack remains unknown.

Eastern Pacific: Overnight strikes on narco-vessels continued throughout the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, with multiple airstrikes being reported in the general vicinity of the Caribbean.

Analyst Comment: While attention has been diverted to the Middle East, Operation Southern Spear has been continuing, with strikes on fastboats being reported regularly this entire time. Most of the more recent strikes have been conducted not in the Caribbean specifically, but in undisclosed regions of the Pacific Ocean (probably off the coast of Ecuador, where joint American operations have been increasing over the past few weeks).

-HomeFront-

New York: A mass stabbing attack was reported at the Grand Central Terminal subway station on Saturday, after an assailant began attacking a crowd of people on the platform. Police officers on the platform shot and killed the assailant immediately after the attack began. Concerning casualties, 3x elderly victims were wounded during the attack and all are expected to survive. The assailant has been identified as Anthony Griffin, and a family friend stated that Griffin was known to have mental health issues and that he was known to