China’s Xi warns world order is ‘crumbling into disarray’ – Updates

Donald Trump suggested the war in the Middle East is ‘close to over’ despite peace talks failing in Pakistan over the weekend.

As a tentative two-week ceasefire continues:

• The US says it has stepped up its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and it has ‘completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea’
• Iran has not commented to Trump’s claims, but UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was ‘highly probably’ that talks would resume
• Lebanon described preliminary talks with Israel in the US as ‘productive’ while Israel said the talks show the three countries ‘are on the same side of the equation’
• Donald Trump said it was ‘very possible’ the war would be over by the time King Charles visits the US later this month
• He also suggested the special relationship with the UK ‘has been better’ and said ‘I think that I like Starmer’

Europe is speeding up a fallback plan for NATO in case Washington pulls out of the alliance as anxiety grows over America’s reliability.

Officials working on the plans, dubbed ‘European NATO’, are reportedly attempting to supplement US military assets with European ones.

The plans, drawn up last year, are also seeking to place Europeans in NATO’s command-and-control roles, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Those involved have stressed that it is not intended to rival the current alliance, but rather preserve deterrence against Putin, nuclear credibility and operational continuity even if the US withdraws forces from Europe.

The US claims it has implemented a full blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for any vessels trading with Iran.

Yesterday, a Chinese tanker, the Rich Starry, was forced to make a U-turn after passing through the strait.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the world order is ‘crumbling into disarray’ as the US steps up its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

In remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, he said: In ‘today’s world, chaos abounds, and the international order is crumbling’.

The visit by Sanchez comes as many Western governments are seeking to maintain ties with Beijing despite lingering security and trade tension, as discomfort grows over the policies of Trump.

Xi said deeper ties between Spain and China were in both of their interests and and urged stronger communication and trust to ‘uphold the rule of law, jointly defend genuine multilateralism, and safeguard global peace and development’.

Sanchez said international law was repeatedly being undermined, and called for closer ties to promote peace and prosperity.

‘It is more necessary today than ever, and so that together we can establish an even stronger bond between China and the European Union,’ Sanchez said.

Iran used a Chinese spy satellite it secretly bought in 2024 to target US bases in the current war.

The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye Co, was bought by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China, according to the Financial Times who cited leaked Iranian military documents.

The Iranian military commanders directed the satellite to monitor major US military sites, the newspaper said.

As part of the deal, the IRGC received access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a Beijing-based provider of satellite control and data services provider with a network extending across Asia, Latin America and other regions, according to the report.

The Chinese satellite reportedly captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15.

The satellite also monitored Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations close to the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil airport, Iraq, around the time of IRGC-claimed attacks on facilities in those areas.

Israel and Hezbollah are continuing to trade fire despite ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in the US.

Lebanon described preliminary talks with Israel in the US as ‘productive’ while Israel said the talks show the three countries ‘are on the same side of the equation’.

Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group, has already claimed it will take no notice of the outcome of talks and will continue to target Israel.

Iran is causing chaos in the Strait of Hormuz by using ‘zombie ships’ without any identification to try and bypass the US blockade.

The US said its blockade has been ‘fully implemented’ but Iranian state media reported a crude oil carrier has passed through ‘without any concealment’.

Experts have described a new pattern of ‘shadow’ activity where ships adopt difference identification to avoid detection.

‘Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using “zombie” or random identification,’ Ami Daniel, the chief executive of Windward, a maritime intelligence data provider, told the New York Times.

Under international maritime laws, commercial vessels must travel with a transponder that transmits identifying information including the ship’s name, location and route.

Iran has claimed a crude oil carrier ignored the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and entered Iranian waters after travelling through the waterway.

The supertanker, which the regime said is capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of crude oil, sailed through international waters and the strait with its tracking system switched on and ‘without any concealment’, according to the country’s state Fars News Agency.

The claims heavily contradict US assertions that the crucial passageway has been blockaded to ships trading with Iran.

On Tuesday, Adm Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command said: ‘A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented.

‘In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,’ he added.

US Central Command earlier claimed six merchant vessels turned around and returned to an Iranian port after complying with ‘direction from US forces’.

It is hard to assess how effective the blockade has been so far.

The first day on Tuesday appeared to make little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic, with at least eight ‌ships including three Iran-linked tankers passing through, shipping data showed.

Donald Trump claimed it was ‘very possible’ the Iran war would be over before King Charles visits the US at the end of the month.

The monarch is travelling to the US on a state visit for three days from April 27.

Trump told Sky News: ‘It’s possible. Very possible. They’re beaten up pretty bad. It’s very possible.’

Asked about the UK’s relationship with the US, Trump said it has ‘been better’ before strongly criticising Sir Keir Starmer’s failure to support the conflict.

He added: ‘How is the relationship? It’s the relationship where: when we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn’t need them, they were not there. And they still aren’t there.’