World News

BUCHAREST, April 25 (Reuters) – Romania recovered drone fragments in the southeastern city of Galati after an overnight Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, with an electricity pole and a household annex damaged, its defence ministry said in a statement.

There were no casualties, the ministry said.

Romania, a member of both NATO and the European Union, shares a 650-km (400-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach its airspace as Moscow attacks Ukraine ports on the other side of the Danube river.

While drone fragments have routinely fallen on Romania, Saturday marked the first time property had been damaged.

“The defence ministry firmly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that these represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area,” the ministry’s statement said.

“Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s lack of respect for the norms of international law and endanger not only the safety of Romanian citizens, but also the collective security of NATO.”

Two Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets – part of a British air-policing mission in Romania – were scrambled to monitor the attack from the air, which is standard procedure. Residents of neighbouring Tulcea county were also warned to take cover.

Tensions have mounted along Europe’s eastern flank in recent months after suspected Russian drones breached the airspace of several NATO states.

Romanian law allows it to shoot down drones during peacetime if lives or property are at risk, but it has not yet done so.

Defence Minister Radu Miruta on Friday said a U.S.-made, AI-powered counter-drone system would be integrated into national air defence systems in a matter of days after final tests.

The Merops system, developed by Project Eagle – a U.S.-based company backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt – would be able to counter drone threats along the Danube river, Miruta said.

Poland is already using the system on NATO’s eastern flank.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Reuters) – Malaysia has named a former judge to head the country’s anti-corruption agency after the current chief, whose long tenure has been marred by allegations of misconduct, leaves next month.

Abdul Halim Aman will take the helm of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) effective May 13, the chief secretary to the government, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, said on Saturday.

“The government is confident that with his vast experience and high integrity, he would be able to bolster efforts to strengthen governance, improve public confidence and intensify the anti-corruption agenda in the interest of the country,” Shamsul Azri said.

The agency’s ​current chief, Azam Baki, has been accused of misconduct with regard to his stock holdings on at least two occasions, the first time in 2022. Even so, his contract, which began in 2020, has been renewed several times.

He came under fresh calls to resign this year, after media reports in February accused him and several other MACC senior officials of misconduct and breaching rules for public servants. 

Azam and the MACC have described the allegations as baseless.

The allegations have deepened rifts within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ⁠administration, with some key allies questioning the premier’s commitment to tackling graft.

The ​government has investigated some allegations against Azam but has so far ​declined to make the findings public, pending related probes by police and other authorities.

Abdul Halim’s appointment was made by the country’s king, Sultan Ibrahim, who said this week he would choose the agency’s new head to prevent the role from being politicised.

The statement on Saturday said the monarch’s decision followed a proposal by Anwar.

According to Malaysia’s constitution, the king can appoint heads of key government agencies on the advice of the prime minister. The monarchy plays a largely ceremonial role and is ⁠traditionally seen as above politics. But it has become more influential in recent years due to prolonged political instability during which the king has wielded rarely used discretionary powers.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Xinghui Kok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) – Two forest fires in northern Japan’s Iwate Prefecture burned into a fourth day on Saturday as ground and aerial firefighting efforts expanded to more than 1,000 personnel.

The blazes are pushing closer to the residential areas of the town of Otsuchi, where about a third of the town’s residents were ordered to evacuate.

• One fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in a mountainous area of Iwate Prefecture, followed by another two hours later about 10 km (6.2 miles) away and near Otsuchi’s residential area.

• Flames are threatening homes in multiple districts, with 1,225 firefighters, including teams dispatched from outside the prefecture, battling the blazes from ground and air.

• Helicopters from several prefectures and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are conducting aerial water drops.

• The wildfires have scorched more than 730 hectares (1,800 acres) and forced evacuation orders covering 1,541 households and 3,233 people as of Saturday morning.

• Eight buildings, including one residence, have burned. No casualties have been reported.

• No rain is forecast over the coming week, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

• Together the fires have burned up the third-largest area of any wildfire in Japan, behind an Ofunato fire that consumed about 3,370 hectares in 2025 and the Kushiro fire in 1992 that consumed 1,030 hectares, according to media reports.

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta

CAIRO/RAMALLAH, April 25 (Reuters) – Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will gauge the political mood at a time when Israel’s government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will help reinforce its claim to authority over the war-torn territory, from where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007.

Gazans, who are still struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote.

“I’ve been hearing about elections since I was born,” said Adham Al-Bardini, sitting next to the family’s cooking pots outside their tent home in the city. “We are eager to take part … so we can change the reality imposed on us.”

ISRAEL HAS EXTENDED CONTROL OVER GAZA AND WEST BANK

Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little progress towards a settlement that envisages international supervision of Gaza.

European and Arab governments broadly support an eventual return of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state comprising Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under Israeli occupation.

Western diplomats say local elections could pave the way for the first national elections in nearly two decades and help advance reforms to increase transparency and accountability that the Palestinian Authority says are already well under way.

They are the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war started more than two years ago with the cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four years ago.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay wages as Israel withholds tax revenues it collects on its behalf, raising fears of economic collapse. Israel justifies withholding the funds in protest at welfare payments to prisoners and families of those killed by its forces, which it argues incentivise attacks.

The Israeli government has also taken steps to help settlers acquire West Bank land and ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”

In Deir al-Balah, which has suffered less damage from Israel’s assault since 2023 than other Gazan cities, banners bearing candidate lists hang from buildings. Some voting will take place in tents and the process will end two hours early due to electricity constraints.

The Palestinian election committee cited widespread destruction among the reasons voting could not be held across the rest of Gaza, more than half of which is controlled by Israel with the rest under Hamas rule.

HAMAS BOYCOTTS VOTE BUT SOME CANDIDATES ARE ALIGNED

Some Palestinian factions are boycotting the elections in protest at the Palestinian Authority’s request that candidates back its agreements, which include recognition of the state of Israel.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, has not formally nominated any candidates but one list in the Deir al-Balah election is widely viewed by residents and analysts as aligned with it.

Analysts say the performance of candidates linked to the militant group could gauge its popularity. Most candidates, including in the West Bank, are running under Fatah, the main political movement behind the Palestinian Authority, or as independents.

Hamas has said it would respect the results, and Palestinian sources told Reuters ahead of the vote that the group’s civil policemen would be deployed to safeguard polling stations in Gaza.

The Palestinian Central Elections Committee said more than one million Palestinians, including 70,000 in Gaza, are eligible to vote, with results expected late on Saturday or on Sunday.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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ISTANBUL (AP) — Officials and visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey gathered in northwest Turkey on Saturday to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

The solemn ceremony began at 5:30 a.m. local time near a beach where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzacs, first landed at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.

The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.

The Gallipoli campaign, part of a British-led effort to defeat the Ottoman Empire, ultimately failed, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides during the eight-month conflict. It aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the Ottomans out of the war.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealand’s national identities as well as friendship with their former adversary, Turkey.

“From great suffering, understanding can grow. From former enemies, friendships can blossom. The relationship between Turkey, Australia and New Zealand is built on remembrance, respect and recognition of our shared humanity,” said Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Cindy Kiro during the opening address.

Turkish Col. Fatih Cansiz read from the tribute Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk made in 1934 for the fallen: “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours.”

Ataturk first rose to prominence as commander of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli, then went on to lead Turkey’s War of Independence and ultimately found the Turkish Republic.

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TELL, West Bank (AP) — Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week in a spike of renewed violence, the latest shot dead by Israeli forces during a mid-week raid.

Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Tell mourned the death of Youssef Shtayyeh on Friday after health officials said he was gunned down by Israeli forces in the nearby city of Nablus.

Waving Palestinian flags and carrying the 15-year-old’s sheathed body down through the village streets, his relatives and neighbors moved in a tide of grief and recited religious verses in unison.

Israel’s military acknowledged the fatality and said that its forces had fired after attempting to arrest a Palestinian who they said had hurled rocks toward them. They did not say why they were operating in Nablus, the West Bank’s second largest city, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority.

Shtayyeh is at least the fourth Palestinian killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this week, following shootings across the West Bank, in Hebron, al-Mughayyir and Deir Dibwan.

Palestinians, rights groups and international observers are increasingly warning about the worsening violence, where young Palestinian men are being killed with increasing regularity amid a broader climate of arson, vandalism and the displacement of farming communities near settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Ramallah Mayor Leila Ghannam said at one of this week’s funerals that the onslaught of violence suggested broader impunity in the Palestinian territory. Israeli “settlers and the army are one and the same,” she said.

At least 40 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, including a record 11 by settlers, two more than in all of 2025.

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By Kate Abnett and Jonathan Saul

BRUSSELS/LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) – European Union countries agreed on Friday to keep pushing for a global price on shipping’s CO2 emissions in U.N. talks next week, setting up another potential clash with the United States over the proposal.

Governments at the International Maritime Organization decided last year to postpone the climate plan by a year, after the Trump administration strongly opposed the measure and threatened to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on delegates who supported it.

That has not stopped European countries attempting to revive the plan, according to the EU’s negotiating position for next week’s IMO talks, seen by Reuters.

EU countries “shall oppose any attempts” to remove the climate measures from being negotiated at the meeting, the document said.

EU countries will consider changes to the original carbon pricing plan if this helps gather support, the document said. However, some EU officials said they were pessimistic any compromise deal on climate measures could pass, given the firm opposition from the U.S..

Norway’s environment minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen said that the IMO still had a chance to strike a historic deal, but had to look at “different approaches” to avoid a repeat of last year’s failure.

“Also… whether we can do some things already now and potentially postpone other parts of the regulation to a later stage, for example,” he added while speaking to journalists.

A total of 57 countries – among them, China and major shipping states including Liberia – voted to delay the carbon price at the meeting in October, versus 49 who sought to land a deal.

The supporters included European nations, Brazil and some small island countries vulnerable to climate change.

A coalition of the world’s top three ship registries, Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands, plus oil tanker companies including Saudi Arabia’s Bahri urged IMO members to consider alternatives to the original carbon pricing plan when they meet next week.

“Support for the framework in its current form has continued to erode” since the IMO meeting last year, they said in a statement.

The IMO decision last year split the EU, as Greece and Cyprus – each home to major shipping industries – broke ranks with the bloc and abstained in the vote, rather than supporting the EU-backed climate proposal.

Greece, Malta and Italy declined to endorse the new EU negotiating position, which was passed by a reinforced majority of EU countries, officials said.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Jonathan Saul, additional reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A court in Kosovo on Friday sentenced two ethnic Serbs to life in prison and another to a 30-year jail term over a clash in 2023 between police and a group of Serb gunmen that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the volatile Balkan region.

The Basic Court in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, convicted the three men of violating the country’s constitutional order and inciting terror activities with an aim to break away the predominantly ethnic Serb northern Kosovo and unite it with Serbia.

“Through this well-organized plan, they attempted to separate the municipalities in the north from Kosovo and annex them to Serbia,” Judge Ngadhenjim Arni said.

The clash in September 2023 saw heavily armed Serb men set up barricades in northern Kosovo before launching an hourslong gunbattle with Kosovo police at Banjska village, A Kosovo police officer and three gunmen were killed in the clash.

Kosovo has accused Serbia of arming and supporting the group. Belgrade denied the allegations, saying the men acted on their own. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

A total of 45 people were initially charged but the trial was held for just three who were in custody. Among those still at large is the group leader Milan Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia’s ruling populist party and President Aleksandar Vucic.

Serbia briefly detained Radoicic after the shooting, accusing him of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of weapons. Radoicic has not been put on trial despite pressure from the U.S. and European Union officials. He has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Britain for alleged financial criminal activity.

The three gunman tried in Kosovo were injured during the clashes and arrested in Banjska, while others fled to Serbia. One of the defendants, Blagoje Spasojevic, has told the court that “I am not a terrorist.”

“This (incident) was my biggest mistake in life … but I did not kill anyone,” Blagojevic said during the trial.

Lawyers have argued that prosecutors failed to prove the charges against their clients. They said they would appeal Friday’s verdict which they described as “too harsh.”

The main ethnic Serb political party in Kosovo, Srpska Lista, or Serb List, said in a statement that the verdict was “retribution” and a “grave violation of basic principles of justice and the right to a fair trial.”

More than 10,000 people were killed during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo that erupted when ethnic Albanian separatist rebels launched an insurgency against Serbia’s rule. Belgrade’s brutal response prompted NATO to intervene to end the conflict.

Washington and most EU countries have recognized Kosovo’s statehood while Russia and China have backed Serbia’s claim on the territory. Belgrade and Pristina have been told they must normalize ties to advance in their bids to join the EU.

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By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – A lobbyist who helped a nursing home owner convicted of tax fraud secure a pardon from President Donald Trump has been indicted on extortion charges, court records showed. 

Attorney Joshua Nass, founder of lobbying firm Merkava Strategies, faces six criminal counts stemming from an attempt to extort money from three people, according to an indictment in Brooklyn federal court made public on Thursday evening.

• Nass was arrested in March on charges of hiring someone to intimidate a former client and his son into paying him $500,000. Court papers did not identify the former client, but two people familiar with the matter said it was Joseph Schwartz, the nursing home owner who received a pardon last year.

• Court records had previously indicated that Nass was in plea talks with federal prosecutors. The indictment, which paves the way for Nass’ case to continue toward trial, signals that those talks have not resulted in an agreement.

• Nass has not entered a plea. His lawyer, Henry Mazurek, said Nass had never harassed, threatened or committed violence against anyone, and that the case was “created” by the government and an informant.

• “Josh never took the government’s bait. This indictment is an attempt to humiliate Josh for doing the work of obtaining pardons for those serving long prison sentences,” Mazurek said in a statement.

• A spokesperson for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.

• Congressional lobbying records show Nass agreed to represent Schwartz in connection with petitioning for a pardon. Trump pardoned Schwartz on November 14, three months after he began serving a three-year prison sentence.

• Trump, during his second term in the White House, has made far earlier and more frequent use of the president’s unchecked clemency powers than his predecessors.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul)

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ROJ CAMP, Syria (AP) — Four Australian families on Friday left a camp in Syria that houses people with alleged ties to militants of the Islamic State group, in a renewed attempt to return to their home country, officials said.

Associated Press journalists saw 13 women and children depart Roj camp, a remote facility near the border with Iraq that houses family members of suspected IS militants, in a bus escorted by a delegation of Syrian government officials.

Lana Hussein, an official with the Women’s Protection Units of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which manages security at the camp, said the departure of the families was organized in coordination with the central government in Damascus.

She said the families were expected to remain in Damascus for a period of around 72 hours and then “they will be deported under security procedures.”

Representatives of the Syrian foreign ministry and the Australian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A previous attempt to return 34 women and children to Australia from the camp in February was aborted after being turned back by Syrian authorities. Australian authorities at the time said they would not repatriate the families, and the Australian government later issued a temporary exclusion order banning one of the women from returning.

It was not immediately clear if there had been coordination with the Australian government before the new attempt Friday.

Roj camp is in an area of northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, but the Australians had planned to fly out of Damascus.

Camp officials said at the time that the planned repatriations were organized by family members of the returnees rather than directly by Australian authorities.

Former Islamic State fighters from multiple countries, their wives and children, were held in a network of camps and detention centers in northeast Syria after the militant group lost control of its territory in Syria in 2019. Though defeated, the group still has sleeper cells that carry out deadly attacks in both Syria and Iraq.

The larger al-Hol camp has now been closed down, while thousands of suspected IS militants previously held in Syria were transferred to Iraq by the U.S. military to stand trial there.

The moves came after fighting broke out between government forces and the SDF in January. Government forces seized much of the territory formerly held by the SDF. Amid the chaos and clashes, many detainees fled al Hol and some prisoners escaped from a detention center.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.

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