Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Saturday, including Trump saying the US is considering winding down military efforts in Middle East; the UK letting the US use bases for strikes on Iranian sites; and Iranian new supreme leader saying the country’s defense is stronger than what the ‘enemies’ assume

TOP STORIES

• Trump says US 'getting very close' to meeting objectives in Iran, considers winding down military efforts

US President Donald Trump said Washington was nearing the completion of military objectives in Iran, and was considering winding down operations in the Middle East.

Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz would need to be "guarded and policed" by nations that relied on it for oil, not the US, adding Washington would help if asked.

• UK agrees to let US use bases for strikes on Iranian sites targeting Strait of Hormuz

The UK approved an expansion of US access to British bases for operations targeting Iranian missile capabilities threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Downing Street.

A statement said in a meeting, Cabinet ministers “confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz."

• Iran’s new supreme leader says country’s defense stronger than ‘enemies’ assume

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the country’s front lines are far stronger than its “enemies” assume, accusing them of miscalculating Iran’s internal strength.

He said adversaries believed assassinating top leaders and military figures would create fear and despair for the population, and lead to the collapse of the political system.

Khamenei, however, said Iranians formed a “vast defense line” across the country, frustrating those plans.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The Israeli army carried out overnight strikes on army targets in southern Syria, in what it claimed was a response to an attack on Druze citizens in Suwayda.
• Mohammad Ali Naeini, a spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed by US-Israeli attacks, the IRGC announced.
• French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out joining "any use of force" to open the Strait of Hormuz.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Oded Joseph and lodged a strong protest for Israeli forces' airstrike targeting the Russian RT channel's journalists in Lebanon.
• A woman was reported dead from meningitis in France’s northwestern Manche department in Normandy.
• The French Navy seized an oil tanker coming from Russia and suspected of flying a false flag in the western Mediterranean.
• Switzerland announced it will halt exports of war materiel to the US due to the conflict with Iran.
• The Israeli army claimed its forces killed Esmail Ahmadi, the head of the intelligence division for Iran's Basij forces, in an airstrike on Tehran.
• Two people have been arrested after attempting to enter a UK nuclear submarine base in Scotland.
• US forces carried out another strike on an alleged "narco-trafficking" boat in the eastern Pacific in which three people survived.
• US President Donald Trump said Washington is seeking talks with Iran but claimed there is “nobody to talk to” following weeks of US-Israeli strikes that he said decimated the Iranian leadership.
• Claiming that Iran has been severely weakened, US President Donald Trump said he does not support a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran.
• The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Harvard University alleging antisemitism on the Ivy League campus.

BUSINNESS & ECONOMY

• US temporarily authorizes sale of Iranian oil stranded at sea to ease global supply pressures

The US Treasury Department issued a temporary authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil stranded at sea, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The "narrowly tailored" license, which runs until April 19, covers Iranian crude oil and petroleum products already loaded on vessels as of March 20, including those on previously sanctioned ships. Related services such as crew management, insurance and docking are also permitted under the authorization.

• US jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter acquisition

A federal jury in the US state of California found Elon Musk misled investors during his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, ruling that his statements about the platform's fake account levels violated federal securities law.

The jury in San Francisco found Musk's claims about bot accounts caused an artificial decline in Twitter's share price.