World News

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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NICOSIA, April 24 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Friday that the European Union could ease sanctions on Tehran as part of a comprehensive deal that would end the Iran war, but other EU leaders struck a more cautious note.

The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iran for years, including travel bans and asset freezes for senior officials and entities, in response to human rights violations, nuclear activities and military support for Russia.

U.S. officials have suggested a comprehensive deal covering Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes and the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz could bring a lasting end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Tehran, beyond the current ceasefire.

After an EU summit in Cyprus, Merz said the bloc could gradually ease sanctions on Iran in the event that a comprehensive agreement was reached.

European leaders have been largely sidelined in the current Middle East conflict but some European officials see the bloc’s sanctions as a possible way for the EU to be involved in a diplomatic solution.

“The easing of sanctions can be part of a process,” Merz told reporters after the Nicosia summit.

“No one has objected to that,” he said of the summit deliberations. “It is, so to speak, part of the contribution we can make to advance this process and, hopefully, lead to a permanent ceasefire.”

But European Council President Antonio Costa, the chair of the summit, told a press conference after the end of the meeting: “It is too early to talk about relieving any kind of sanctions.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said sanctions relief could only come after clear evidence of fundamental changes of course from Iran.

“We believe that sanctions relief should be conditional on verification of de-escalation, particularly on progress on the international effort to contain its nuclear threat, and on a change to the repression of its own people,” she told the same press conference.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Andreas Rinke, Andrew Gray, Michele Kambas and Julia Payne; writing by Ingrid Melander and Andrew Gray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A law requiring Cambodian males aged 18 to 25 to serve in the military for two years has gained Cabinet approval following two spates of deadly combat last year with neighboring Thailand.

The new draft law on conscription will replace an existing law dating from 2006 that was never implemented and no longer addresses current and future needs, a government spokesperson said Friday.

The existing law specified 30 as the maximum call-up age. Women will be allowed to serve on a voluntary basis.

Spokesperson Pen Bona said the draft law, with eight chapters and 20 articles, was adopted by the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday.

Fighting between Cambodia and Thailand flared twice last year over contending claims to territory along their shared border.

Hundreds of thousands of people in both countries were displaced and about 100 Cambodian soldiers and civilians lost their lives. There has been no new fighting since a December ceasefire, though tensions remain high.

A government statement described military service as an essential duty and a great honor allowing the Cambodian people to contribute to national development and defend the motherland.

Prime Minister Hun Manet said in July last year when relations with Thailand were deteriorating that Cambodia would implement conscription this year. He said that soldiers joining through conscription are more effective and professional than a voluntary force, and that conscription will be used to fill shortages and upgrade military capabilities.

The legislation will be sent to the National Assembly and the Senate for approval, and become law once King Norodom Sihamoni signs it.

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SEOUL, April 24 (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors sought a 30-year jail term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, in a case alleging he ordered a drone operation over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his December 2024 declaration of martial law, Yonhap news agency said.

The Seoul Central District Court is expected to rule on the case at a later date.

The trial is one of eight Yoon is currently involved in after he was ousted last year following his brief declaration of martial law, which sent shockwaves through a country long viewed as one of Asia’s most resilient democracies.

Prosecutors allege the drone operation heightened military tensions with North Korea and, after a drone crashed, risked exposing sensitive military information related to the mission and South Korea’s capabilities.

Yoon denied the charges against him, saying he had not taken any action that could trigger a military clash with North Korea, according to his lawyers.

The former president was indicted in November last year on charges that included benefiting the enemy, which can apply even without direct collusion with an enemy if South Korea’s military interests are harmed or an adversary is aided.

(Reporting by Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies)

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By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – A woman and her five children, whose immigration detention of over 10 months marked the longest family detention under President Donald Trump’s administration, were released on Thursday hours after a judge’s order, their lawyer said.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas ordered the family’s release on Thursday.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children aged 5 to 18 were taken into federal custody last June after last year’s fire-bomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, over which her ex-husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged. An 82-year-old woman who was injured in that attack later died.

“The El Gamal family is free,” Eric Lee, a lawyer for the family detained in Texas, said in a statement.

El Gamal and Habiba Soliman, 18, the eldest child, will have to wear ankle monitors.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of which the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is a part, criticized the ruling that ordered the family’s release, saying it came from an “activist judge” who was “releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets.”

Mohamed Soliman was arrested over the attack on a gathering that commemorated Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza. El Gamal divorced Soliman after his arrest, NBC News reported. She also condemned the attack.

The family’s legal team says they had no advance knowledge of the suspect’s plans and that the family was detained unlawfully. The government said federal agents were investigating “to what extent” the family knew about the attack.

The legal team also said the family’s health deteriorated during their detention and alleged they were denied appropriate medical care.

Lee, the family’s lawyer, said El Gamal was taken this month to an off-site emergency room after she “began experiencing excruciating pain” and that she received a CT scan which showed she had “fluid around the heart.” The legal team said all five of her children were suffering from depression.

The DHS said the family received medical care and due process.

Rights groups have noted detainee complaints about conditions in ICE detention facilities that they call inhumane.

At least 47 people have died in ICE custody since Trump’s return to the White House. Trump’s immigration crackdown has been condemned by rights groups for what they say are violations of due process and free speech rights. Rights advocates say the crackdown creates an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.

Trump casts his actions as necessary to curb illegal immigration and improve domestic security.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Syria Accuses Hezbollah-Linked Cells of Plotting Attacks, Signaling a Break From an Assad-Era Alliance 

Damascus is moving against networks it says planned assassinations, bombings, and rocket fire, raising new questions about sovereignty and power after Bashar Assad’s fall 

[DAMASCUS] Syrian authorities have accused Hezbollah-linked cells of plotting attacks inside Syria and across its borders, marking a striking turn in the relationship between Damascus and a group that helped prop up Bashar Assad during the Syrian civil war. 

Those accusations, issued in successive security statements, reflect more than an isolated security incident. They also raise broader questions about the current nature of the relationship between Damascus and the group that, for years, was a key ally of the Assad regime before its collapse and the flight of Bashar Assad to Moscow on December 8, 2024. Until recently, theirs was one of the Syrian civil war’s most entrenched alliances. 

Current Syrian authorities, who assumed control of the country following Assad’s fall, say their recent security operations—concentrated in Damascus and its surroundings—have led to the arrest of several individuals and the seizure of weapons and explosive materials. They also claim to have foiled plots involving rocket launches, drones, and assassination attempts. 

According to the official narrative, some of these cells received training abroad and were linked to a broader organizational structure, suggesting external support or direction. Still, these claims remain independently unverified amid ongoing restrictions on media access within Syria. 

On February 1, 2026, security agencies announced the arrest of a cell allegedly behind attacks targeting the vicinity of Mezzeh Airport in Damascus. Then, on April 11, a five-person cell was apprehended after authorities said they had thwarted an attempt to plant an explosive device near a religious site in the capital. Investigations indicated that its members had received training abroad with the aim of carrying out assassinations. Days later, on April 18 and 19, the Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of another cell, also composed of five members, reportedly linked to Hezbollah and planning to launch rockets across the border with the aim of destabilizing the situation. 

In total, authorities have announced at least three main cells in less than three months. According to official statements, their activities ranged from internal assassinations and explosive devices to cross-border rocket fire. Syrian authorities say this reflects a multi-objective operational pattern that extends beyond local activity to a broader regional scope. 

What gives these developments unusual weight is not only the nature of the accusations but also the identity of the accused party. Hezbollah was a key player in supporting the previous Syrian authorities during the years of war, participating in decisive battles that helped consolidate the balance of power in favor of Bashar Assad’s regime. This history of close military cooperation makes the current accusations—placed in full context—a possible sign of a deep shift in the alliances formed over the past decade. 

For its part, Hezbollah has categorically denied the accusations, describing them as false, without providing further details. This brief denial aligns with the group’s usual approach to such matters, as it often avoids engaging in open media disputes, especially when field information remains unclear. Even so, the absence of a detailed response leaves room for speculation, given the sensitivity of its relationship with Damascus. 

In this context, Syrian political analyst Mustafa al-Naimi told The Media Line that what is happening cannot be understood merely as a security campaign, but rather as “an indicator of a sovereignty struggle within the Syrian state itself.” He explained that “the past years witnessed the emergence of something resembling multiple centers of power within Syria, where forces such as Hezbollah operated within semi-independent security and military networks.” 

Naimi added that “if the current authorities are moving against these networks, this means they are attempting to restore the legitimate monopoly over sovereignty—a profound structural shift, not merely a transient political tension,” noting that “any confrontation in this context will not be only with Hezbollah, but with the entire model of influence that took root during the war.” 

At the regional level, these developments are difficult to separate from the broader network of balances involving actors such as Iran and Israel. Iran, considered the main supporter of both Damascus and Hezbollah, views the group’s presence in Syria as part of its regional strategy. Israel, meanwhile, sees that presence as a direct threat and has intensified its strikes against related targets inside Syrian territory in recent years. Within this framework, the Syrian accusations may be seen as part of a broader repositioning, whether in bilateral relations or within more complex regional balances. 

Syrian researcher Shifa Sultan told The Media Line that “the issue goes beyond a dysfunction in the bilateral relationship between Damascus and Hezbollah, extending into the core of Iran’s axis itself.” She noted that “Hezbollah has not been merely a local actor, but part of an interconnected regional structure. Therefore, any friction between it and Syrian authorities may reflect a redistribution of roles within this axis, or even differences in priorities between Tehran and its allies.” 

Lebanese political analyst Omar Salloum offers a reading focused on the internal dimension. He notes that “any new or reconfigured authority in Syria will face the dilemma of redefining its relationship with the forces that contributed to prolonging the previous government.” He added that “Hezbollah, having been an ally of the former Syrian regime, is now perceived more like an adversary, as millions of Syrians believe it was deeply involved in bloodshed and contributed to the fall of cities in favor of Assad’s regime at the expense of the opposition that now controls the country. Therefore, Syria is moving toward eliminating any Hezbollah ambitions within its territory.” 

Yet the overall picture remains incomplete. The lack of independent verification, conflicting narratives, and the difficulty of accessing accurate field information all make it hard to draw firm conclusions about the nature of what is happening. Even so, the mere act of Damascus directing such accusations at Hezbollah is a notable development in itself and, if its full dimensions are confirmed, may mark the beginning of a new phase in relations within Syria—and perhaps in the broader regional balance as well. 

Current developments appear to go beyond a temporary security campaign, touching on deeper questions about the shape of the Syrian state in its new phase, the limits of its sovereignty, and the nature of its relationship with nonstate actors that played a decisive role during the years of war. While some analyses focus on the internal dimension linked to rebuilding authority, others point to the overlap between this process and broader regional calculations, especially within the network of influence tied to Iran. Against that backdrop, the rupture between Damascus under its current authorities and Hezbollah may serve as an early indicator of the contours of the coming stage—not only within Syria, but across the region as a whole. 

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By Gerardo Arbaiza and Emily Green

SAN SALVADOR, April 23 (Reuters) – From inside a Salvadoran mega prison, more than one hundred alleged gang members sit in rows, wrists cuffed and ankles shackled, to watch court proceedings on a large screen that will decide the fate of all of them.

Reuters witnessed the scene on Thursday as the court oversaw the trial of 486 suspected gang members in the largest mass trial yet under President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence.

Since April 2022, Bukele has used state-of-emergency powers to suspend constitutional rights and detain over 91,000 people, primarily those suspected of being members of the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs. His New Ideas party also passed a law that made El Salvador Latin America’s only country to allow mass trials.

Bukele, who has been in office since 2019, is publicizing the current trial and has granted Reuters access to the prison.

The defendants are being held across five prisons including the maximum-security CECOT opened in 2023 that has become a symbol of Bukele’s zero-tolerance crackdown.

The prisoners at CECOT dress in all-white uniforms and have their heads shaved, some revealing tattoos linked to MS-13. Heavily armed guards stand watch.

Prosecutors have accused the alleged gang members of more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including extortion, arms trafficking and homicide.

But the defendants in the mass trial are only accused of gang membership and would be sentenced based on affiliation, said Ana Maria Mendez, director for Central America of the Washington Office on Latin America. Like all criminal court proceedings in El Salvador, the trial is closed to the public.  

“There is no way to see and verify that the information the prosecutors present is true. Secrecy is now the norm in El Salvador,” Mendez said.

Considering the number of detainees and length of pre-trial detention, mass trials are likely to become commonplace in El Salvador, she said.

“Mass trials are just formalities,” said Salvadoran criminal defense lawyer Roxana Cardona. “They violate the right to defense, which allows lawyers to sit down with their accused clients and build a defense strategy. In mass trials, that is completely lost.”

A Bukele spokesperson and representative for the attorney general’s office did not respond to texted requests for comment outside of regular office hours.

Bukele has defended mass trials as necessary for the war on gangs, who once ruled swathes of the country. His tough-on-crime policies has won him broad support from Salvadorians, making him one of Latin America’s most popular leaders.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday reiterated concern over rights violations during El Salvador’s state of emergency and called for an end to its use to fight crime.

The government has credited the gang crackdown under emergency powers for pushing the homicide rate down last year to 1.3 per 100,000 people compared to 7.8 in 2022.

(Reporting by Emily Green and Gerardo Arbaiza; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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April 24 (Reuters) – U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines will lead a five-member bipartisan delegation to China next week, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing sources.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing on May 14 and 15 to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip which was postponed due to the Iran war.

Daines will begin its visit on May 1, with stops in Shanghai and Beijing, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo in Mexico City; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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