World News

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran has said it was in a state of collapse and wants the United States to open the Strait of Hormuz while it sorts out its leadership.

It was not clear from Trump’s social media post how Iran had communicated that message and no immediate comment from Iran was available.

“Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible, as they try to figure out their leadership situation (Which I believe they will be able to do!)” Trump said in a social media post.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the Truth Social post.

Trump is unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal ​on resolving the two-month war, a U.S. official told Reuters, dampening hopes for a resolution of the conflict that has disrupted energy supplies, fueled inflation and killed thousands of people.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu)

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CAIRO/GAZA, April 28 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians, including a 9-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said.

Medics said an Israeli drone killed the child, Adel Al‑Najjar, in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, while an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in Gaza City, killing four people.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either incident.

At Nasser Hospital’s morgue, relatives arrived to bid farewell to Najjar’s small, white‑shrouded body. 

Women cried next to the body, which lay on a medical stretcher on the floor, and men held a special prayer before carrying him to the cemetery for burial.

The boy was collecting cardboard that the family uses for cooking, relatives said. There has been no electricity in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, and Palestinians have complained of Israeli restrictions on the entry of cooking gas.

“We don’t have gas. We collect cardboard to bake, they want to eat; they want to drink,” said one of the boy’s relatives, Sabreen Al-Najjar.

Violence in Gaza has persisted despite an October 2025 ceasefire, with Israel conducting almost daily attacks on Palestinians.

At least 800 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, according to local medics, while Israel says militant attacks have killed four of its soldiers over the same period.

“Isn’t it shameful what is happening to us? Isn’t it shameful that we bury our children every day, right in front of us? Isn’t it shameful? I swear to God, our hearts are breaking for these children,” another relative, Suhaib Al‑Najjar, said at the morgue.

Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for ceasefire violations.

More than 72,500 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.

Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Ramadan Abed in GazaEditing by Keith Weir, Aidan Lewis)

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Tuesday ordered an al-Qaida-linked extremist leader to pay 7.2 million euros ($8.4 million) in reparations for atrocities he oversaw as head of the Islamic police in the desert city of Timbuktu in the West African country of Mali.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud was convicted of torture, religious persecution and other inhumane acts in 2024 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Judges found he was a key figure in a reign of terror after Islamic extremist rebels overran Timbuktu in 2012.

“Mr. Al Hassan, as the person found responsible for the crimes, which caused the harm to the victims, is the person financially liable for the cost of repairing the harm,” Presiding Judge Kimberly Prost said, addressing the courtroom in the Dutch city of The Hague.

While the court has declared Al Hassan liable, it won’t be able to collect the money from the 49-year-old, who was declared indigent and represented by a court-funded lawyer during his trial.

Instead, reparations for the more than 65,000 victims will be paid by the Trust Fund for Victims, set up by the court’s member states to distribute the funds.

We are “one of the many innovations of the Rome Statute,” the fund’s executive director, Deborah Ruiz Verduzco, told The Associated Press.

Under the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, the fund “responds to the harm resulting from the crimes under the jurisdiction.”

The 24 staff members in Ruiz Verduzco’s office are tasked with assisting victims and their families, establishing programs in communities destroyed by violence and drumming up financial support to fulfill its mandate.

In its two decades of operation, the trust fund has received money from perpetrators in only one case.

“Substantial fundraising will need to take place,” Prost said.

The bulk of the money will come from the court’s member states, though the fund also accepts private donations. In March, Germany gave 40,000 euros ($46,000). Sweden and the Netherlands are the two biggest supporters.

Judges guide how the reparations money will be allocated, though they solicit input from the victims through their lawyers and the trust fund.

In the Al Hassan case, the reparations will be used for “socio-economic support, educational programs or trainings and psychological support,” according to the decision. Projects should target women and girls, who suffered disproportionately under the extremist groups.

Communities in Mali have already seen some restitution. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2016 for destroying historic mausoleums in Timbuktu. In 2021, the trust fund began a project to repair ruined buildings.

Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.

Tuesday’s decisions comes days after an alliance of al-Qaida-linked militants and separatists carried out the largest coordinated attack in Mali in over a decade.

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WARSAW, April 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Special Envoy John Coale said on Tuesday he expects to secure the release of more prisoners from Belarus in the next month, adding that the lifting of further sanctions on Minsk was always a possibility if this happens.

“I expect that we can get some prisoners released in the next month,” he told Reuters by telephone. “And I’ll be going back to facilitate that in the next month. Nothing definite, but probably the next month.”

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Militants with the Islamic State group attacked a village overnight in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 29 people, authorities said Monday. It was the latest violence in Africa’s most populous country that has long been battling a complex security crisis.

The attack took place late on Sunday in Guyaku, a village in the Gombi local government area in the country’s Adamawa state, according to the state governor.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on the Telegram messaging app.

Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri denounced the attack as tragic and unacceptable during a visit to the village on Monday.

Nigeria is facing myriad security challenges, especially in the north, where an insurgency has simmered for more than two decades. In February, the United States sent troops to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity.

There are two major IS-backed militant groups in Nigeria but it wasn’t immediately clear which one was behind the attack in Guyaki.

The Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, is known to be operating in the northeast, including in Adamawa state, while another IS-linked group known locally as Lakurawa often attacks villages further away in the northcentral states of Sokoto and Kebbi.

The Guyaki attack occurred on the same day that gunmen raided an orphanage in north-central Nigeria and abducted 23 pupils. Fifteen were later rescued and the government said “intensive operations” were underway to “secure the safe return of the remaining eight victims and apprehend the perpetrators.”

Students’ kidnappings have come to define the insecurity in Nigeria, where analysts say armed gangs see schools and students as “strategic” targets to draw attention.

The attack took place in an “isolated area” of Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, according to a statement by the state’s commissioner, Kingsley Femi Fanwo. The facility, Dahallukitab Group of Schools, was operating illegally, he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a region has seen an increase in kidnappings for ransom. The statement did not say how old the abducted children are, but the term “pupil” in Nigeria usually refers to someone in kindergarten or primary school, covering ages up to 12.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.

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KYIV, April 27 (Reuters) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that Israel’s ambassador had been summoned to his ministry over what he described as Israeli inaction in allowing shipments of grain to enter the country from Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Sybiha that Ukraine had provided no evidence to support allegations that the grain was “stolen”. He accused him of conducting diplomacy through the media.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported earlier that the vessel Panormitis, which it said was carrying grain from occupied Ukrainian territory, was waiting for permission to berth in Haifa.

The newspaper said four shipments of grain from occupied Ukraine had already been unloaded in Israel this year.

Sybiha, writing in English on the X social media platform, said it was “difficult to understand Israel’s lack of appropriate response to Ukraine’s legitimate request regarding the previous vessel that delivered stolen goods to Haifa”.

“Now that another such vessel has arrived in Haifa, we once again warn Israel against accepting the stolen grain and harming our relations,” he wrote.

Israel’s ambassador, he said, had been asked to appear at the foreign ministry on Tuesday so that Kyiv could “present our protest note and request appropriate action”.

In his response, also on X, Sa’ar said the issue would be examined, but that allegations were not evidence and no evidence had been provided.

“You did not even submit a request for legal assistance before turning to the media and social networks,” Sa’ar said.

Diplomatic relations “are not conducted on Twitter or in the media”, he added.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source, speaking earlier on condition of anonymity, said that if Israel did not reject the latest cargo, Kyiv would “reserve the right to deploy a full suite of diplomatic and international legal responses”.

The source said Kyiv was tracking the latest vessel and Israel had “essentially shrugged off” Kyiv’s previous demands.

(Reporting by Max HunderAdditional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in JerusalemEditing by Ros Russell, Ron Popeski and Lincoln Feast)

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By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) – Two Republican members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration to empower the National Guard to address potential drone-related threats and ensure a “unified federal security posture” at the upcoming World Cup games.

The letter by U.S. Representatives Michael McCaul and Elijah Crane, who both sit on the House of Representatives’ Committee on Homeland Security, was sent to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Friday.

McCaul and Crane called for immediate interagency action to secure the airspace over the 11 U.S. cities hosting World Cup matches this summer.

Potential personnel shortages and complex jurisdictional divides between event organizers and host cities risk creating a fragmented environment, they said, adding that the situation requires a unified federal security posture.

“With its rapid deployability, nationwide scalability, and extensive experience responding to domestic emergencies, the National Guard is uniquely positioned to assist federal and state authorities with C-UAS mitigation and unified coordination for World Cup security,” they wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The call to deputize troops to respond to drone threats came a day before a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, sparking new security concerns about this summer’s World Cup games.

The White House said on Monday that the matches will be safe following Saturday’s shooting.

“President Trump is focused on ensuring that this is not only an incredible experience for all fans and visitors, but also the safest and most secure in history,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Lincoln Feast.)

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By Jasper Ward

April 27 (Reuters) – Afghanistan is at risk of losing more than 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030 if the Taliban-led country’s restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment are not lifted, according to a new UNICEF report released on Monday.

The Taliban has banned women from most public sector jobs and limited girls to receiving an education only until the age of 12.

These restrictions, according to the report, have already affected at least 1 million girls – a figure that is expected to double by 2030 if nothing changes. UNICEF called on the Taliban to lift the ban that it imposed after returning to political power in 2021. 

UNICEF’s “The Cost of Inaction on Girls’ Education and Women’s Labour Force Participation in Afghanistan” report found a rapid decline in qualified women entering the teaching and healthcare sectors.

Up to 20,000 female teachers and 5,400 health workers could be lost by 2030, according to the report, which estimated that this figure is about 25% of Afghanistan’s 2021 workforce. As many as 9,600 health workers could be lost by 2035, it added.

“Afghanistan cannot afford to lose future teachers, nurses, doctors, midwives, and social workers, who sustain essential services,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “This will be the reality if girls continue to be excluded from education.”

Female healthcare workers are required to attend to female patients, and female teachers are preferred for girls in gender-disaggregated schools whenever possible, the report noted.

The growing decrease could have at least a AFN 5.3 billion ($84 million) annual economic impact on Afghanistan’s economy, according to UNICEF, which added that this is the equivalent of about 0.5% of the country’s gross domestic product. 

Afghanistan’s de facto authorities should safeguard skills training and allow women to participate in the labor market, UNICEF said.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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TAIPEI, April 28 (Reuters) – Taiwan has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait and has sent its own naval and air forces to keep watch, the defence ministry in Taipei said.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sends its warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around the island on an almost daily basis, to the condemnation of the Taiwanese government.

While Taiwan’s defence ministry offers daily updates of the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week.

Late Monday, the ministry said a Chinese destroyer and a frigate had entered waters to the southwest of the Penghu islands, home to major Taiwanese navy and air bases and close to the Taiwan side of the strait. 

Taiwan’s military “closely monitored the formation and responded appropriately using naval and air forces”, the ministry added, without elaborating.

The ministry showed colour pictures of both ships taken from the air, but did not give an exact location. 

China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, it said China’s regular military activities around Taiwan are “entirely justified and reasonable” and any tensions are the fault of the government in Taipei.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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