TAIPEI, April 2 (Reuters) - A delay in approving Taiwan's budget this year threatens T$78 billion ($2.44 billion) in weapons procurement, maintenance and training, a senior defence ministry official said on Thursday.

Defence spending is set to increase by 22.9% to T$949.5 billion in 2026, President Lai Ching-te's administration said in August. At 3.32% of gross domestic product, the figure will cross the 3% threshold for the first time since 2009, government figures showed.

"Is Netanyahu real or AI?" an internet headline blared, pointing to a video that supposedly showed the Israeli prime minister with six fingers.

But the clip was real.

Speculation spiraled online that Netanyahu might be dead or wounded in an Iranian strike and that Israel was covering it up with a double generated by artificial intelligence.

"Last time I checked, humans usually don't have 6 fingers... AI does," said one post on X, garnering nearly five million views. "Is Netanyahu no more?"

By Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump staunchly defended his handling of the month-old, U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in a prime-time address on Wednesday, saying the U.S. military was nearing completion of its mission while also reinforcing his threats to bomb the Islamic Republic back to the Stone Age.

He delivered his 19-minute speech against a backdrop of high global oil prices and his own low approval ratings.

Here are some key takeaways:

LOOKING FOR AN EXIT - BUT NOT QUITE YET

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Washington will strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks and hit the country into the "Stone Ages."

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump said in a nationally televised address.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols)

Ottawa, April 1 - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed developments in the Middle East conflict.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa)

By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will address the nation in a televised speech at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT) on Wednesday as his administration signals it is moving toward a possible exit from the month-long war with Iran.

April 1 (Reuters) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a letter addressed to the American people that his country harbors no enmity towards ordinary Americans, Press TV reported on Wednesday.

He said in his letter that portraying Iran as a threat was "neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts."

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Chris Reese)

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to pull the United States out of NATO due to its European members' refusal to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz near Iran, as he intensified his denunciations of the military alliance.

Experts say it is not clear whether Trump could act unilaterally to leave the 77-year-old trans-Atlantic coalition, even though he frequently makes major decisions without congressional approval, some of which are held up by U.S. courts.

Here's a look at the issue:

Thousands of Iranians gathered Wednesday in Tehran for the funeral of the Revolutionary Guards' naval commander, killed in an Israeli strike, with mourners vowing to fight to the end despite tough talk from Washington.

The procession took place on the 47th anniversary of the Islamic republic, proclaimed on April 1, 1979, after the revolution that overthrew the last shah and ended more than 2,500 years of monarchy.

But this year, the public holiday carried particular weight, as Tehran fights for survival under relentless US-Israeli bombardment since February 28.

PARIS, April 1 (Reuters) - China will at one point have to engage more directly on how to restore oil traffic flows in the Strait of Hormuz because the number of vessels it has going through is probably insufficient, France's navy chief said on Wednesday.