Britain’s royal family held a series of events on April 20-21, 2026 to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday. King Charles and Queen Camilla visited a major new exhibition, “Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style,” at the King’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace, showing more than 300 items from the late monarch’s wardrobe. The sovereign delivered a pre-recorded, personal tribute calling his “darling Mama” a life of service and saying she might have been “troubled deeply” by the times. Royals and Prime Minister Keir Starmer viewed final designs for a national memorial in St James’s Park — a Foster-led scheme that includes a traditional bronze statue by Martin Jennings (about 3 metres tall), a bust of the Queen in later life, and a rebuilt park bridge — expected to be completed in roughly two years. Princess Anne opened the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Regent’s Park, and the family hosted an evening reception at Buckingham Palace for charities the Queen supported and centenarians. The government-backed Queen Elizabeth Trust was also launched with £40 million and the King as patron to support community spaces.

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend a two‑week ceasefire with Iran on April 21 at Pakistan’s request to allow peace talks to continue, hours before the truce was due to expire. Trump framed the pause as conditional, saying it would last “until their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” while ordering the U.S. Navy to maintain a blockade of Iranian ports. Tehran’s leadership had not immediately confirmed acceptance and Iranian officials criticized recent U.S. seizures of vessels, calling the boarding of the tanker Tifani and an earlier cargo ship “piracy” and saying such actions undermine negotiations. Pakistan has been preparing to host a possible second round of talks in Islamabad but the U.S. delegation’s travel was uncertain and Vice President J.D. Vance had not yet departed. Markets reacted to the fragile truce: oil spiked on fears the Strait of Hormuz would remain effectively closed, and global equities dipped. Core negotiating disputes include the blockade and Iran’s nuclear programme, with Tehran seeking recognition of its enrichment rights and the U.S. demanding limits on highly enriched uranium stocks.

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from Congress on April 21, 2026, minutes before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on disciplinary recommendations that could have led to expulsion. The committee had earlier concluded there was substantial evidence of misconduct and an adjudicatory subcommittee found 25 violations related to alleged misuse of funds. Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted in November on federal charges accusing her and relatives of diverting about $5 million in FEMA pandemic-relief funds to her campaign and personal expenses; she has pleaded not guilty. Her attorney said the ethics process would jeopardize her right to a fair criminal trial. With her resignation the Ethics Committee said it lost jurisdiction and will not pursue sanctions; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis must set dates for a special election to fill the seat. The departure comes amid a string of recent House resignations and narrows Democratic ranks as Republicans hold a two-seat working majority in the chamber.

U.S. forces boarded the M/T Tifani, a tanker previously sanctioned for carrying Iranian crude, in the Indian Ocean on April 21, 2026, the Pentagon said. The department described the vessel as “stateless” though MarineTraffic data showed it sailing under a Botswana flag and carrying a near-full cargo of crude between Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The operation, conducted under U.S. Indo-Pacific Command authority, was described as a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction” and was carried out “without incident”; Pentagon video released showed troops boarding from helicopters. Officials said multiple agencies participated and that the administration will decide in coming days whether to seize, tow or transfer custody of the ship and cargo. The move follows recent U.S. actions to enforce a blockade on Iranian ports, including the disabling and capture of the Iranian cargo ship Touska, and comes as a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran nears expiry and mediation efforts in Pakistan remain uncertain. The Pentagon reiterated it will pursue vessels it says provide material support to Iran “anywhere they operate,” warning international waters are not a refuge for sanctioned ships.

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson issued a public apology for his role in promoting Donald Trump, saying he was “sorry for misleading people” and that he will be “tormented” by his support. The mea culpa came in a podcast conversation with his brother, Buckley Carlson, in an episode published April 20 and widely reported on April 21, 2026. Carlson said he and others who rallied for Trump were “implicated” in the president’s return to power and voiced sharp criticism of Trump’s conduct, especially the administration’s decision to wage war in Iran and what Carlson termed the president’s “vile” rhetoric. The break with Trump has widened as other right-wing figures have also become critical; Trump fired back on his social platform with personal insults toward Carlson and others. The apology has drawn swift reaction across the media — from cable and entertainment shows to political commentators — with some dismissing Carlson’s words as insincere and others treating it as a notable fracture within the conservative media ecosystem that helped elect Trump.

The Pentagon has ended its long-standing requirement that U.S. service members receive the annual influenza vaccine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a video posted on X on April 21, 2026. A memo dated April 20 makes seasonal flu vaccination voluntary “effective immediately” for active duty, reserve component and civilian Defense Department personnel, though the vaccine remains available to anyone who wants it. The move follows earlier steps to narrow vaccination rules for reservists and the 2023 rescission of the COVID-19 mandate; roughly 8,000–8,700 service members were separated during that dispute. The Pentagon says the change reflects respect for individual conscience and faith; critics, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, warned it could marginally reduce readiness. Public-health bodies including the World Health Organization recommend annual influenza vaccination for most people, and military health officials have long argued universal shots reduce outbreaks and protect force readiness. The U.S. force includes about 1.3 million active-duty troops and more than 750,000 National Guard and Reserve members, who operate in close quarters where respiratory illness can spread rapidly.