World News

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ROME, Italy (AP) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated the police late Saturday for the arrest of an alleged crime boss and one of Italy’s most wanted fugitives.

Authorities announced the arrest of Roberto Mazzarella, 48, following a raid Friday on a villa on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy after allegedly using false documents to rent the luxury coastal property.

Meloni, who is on a tour of Gulf states, described Mazzarella’s arrest as an “an important blow against the Camorra,” referring to the notorious criminal organization that originated in Naples.

“This sends a clear message that the state will not back down” Meloni said in an online post.

Mazzarella is wanted in connection with a 2000 fatal shooting at a delicatessen in central Naples.

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Iranian Barrage Wounds 6 Across Central Israel as Missile Fragments Strike Near IDF Headquarters  

Missile fragments from an Iranian barrage struck near the IDF military headquarters (HaKirya) in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Additionally, six people were lightly wounded as a series of attacks using cluster munitions caused damage across central and southern Israel.   

Iran launched multiple salvos of ballistic missiles throughout the day, with several carrying cluster warheads that dispersed submunitions over populated areas. Impacts were recorded at more than a dozen sites across central Israel.  

In the Tel Aviv area, shrapnel landed in a parking lot near the Kirya base. Nearby cities, including Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak, reported damage to buildings and vehicles. A structure in Ramat Gan sustained significant damage, prompting emergency crews to search the area for people who might be trapped in the rubble. A man in his 50s was treated for light injuries, while a 45-year-old man in Bnei Brak was wounded by shattered glass, medics said.   

Additional damage was reported in Rosh Ha’ayin, where a high-voltage power line was hit, causing outages in parts of the city.   

A ballistic missile carrying a heavy conventional warhead struck the Ne’ot Hovav industrial zone south of Beersheba, sparking a fire at the site.   

The Israel Defense Forces said Home Front Command search-and-rescue teams were deployed to multiple impact sites and urged the public to stay away from affected areas due to the risk of unexploded ordnance and falling debris.  

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Trump Warns ‘All Hell Will Reign Down’ if Iran Fails to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Within 48 Hours  

President Trump said Saturday that Iran has 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face a US response, warning that “all Hell will reign down on them” if no action is taken.   

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” The statement marked an escalation following earlier warnings tied to the strategic waterway.   

On Friday, President Trump indicated that Washington could take direct action regarding the strait, writing on social media: “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”   

The Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported, has become a central flashpoint during the current conflict. Iran has restricted passage for countries it considers hostile, including the US, Israel, and their allies, while continuing to allow access to Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and other countries.   

Tehran announced Friday that Iraqi vessels would be permitted to transit the strait despite the broader restrictions. “We announce that our brotherly country of Iraq is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed on the Strait of Hormuz, and these restrictions only apply to enemy countries,” spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on state television.   

The disruption to shipping through the strait has coincided with a sharp rise in global energy prices. Brent crude has surged from roughly $65 to between $100 and $120 per barrel in early April 2026, reflecting the impact of the closure on international markets.  

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, carrying a tall, lit candle through a darkened and silent St. Peter’s Basilica, ushered in Christianity’s most joyous celebration with his first Easter vigil service as pontiff Saturday night, urging that Easter would bring harmony and peace to a world torn by wars.

Easter for Christians commemorates Christ’s triumph over death with his resurrection following his crucifixion. Lighting the candle before he entered the basilica, the pope intoned: “The light of Christ who rises in glory.”

Candle bearers stopped to light candles of the congregants as they walked down the central aisle, spreading flickers of light through the dark basilica before the lights went up as the pope arrived at the baroque main altar, followed by cardinals dressed in white.

In his homily, Leo called sin “a heavy barrier that closes us off and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us,’’ and likened it to the stone that had covered Jesus’ tomb — but which was found overturned, revealing Jesus’ resurrection.

Leo said that there are stones representing sins to be overturned today, some “so heavy and so closely guarded that they seem to be immovable.”

“Some weigh heavily on the human heart, such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations.

“Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!” the pope said, calling on the faithful to make a commitment “so that the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere and always throughout the world.’’

With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. On Palm Sunday, he said that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence,

As is tradition, Leo baptized 10 adults from all over the world during the Mass.

During Leo’s first Holy Week, which is notoriously demanding, the pontiff carried the cross for the entire 14 stations during the Way of the Cross on Good Friday, the first time a pope has done so for decades. On Holy Thursday, he washed the feet of 12 priests in the traditional Holy Thursday ritual, restoring a tradition his predecessor Pope Francis had broken by including laypeople and non-Christians.

On Sunday morning, Leo will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message “to the city (of Rome) and the world,” which acts as a summary of the world’s woes.

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LONDON (AP) — London police are urgently investigating how armed protection officers guarding Mayor Sadiq Khan left a bag of guns outside his home.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement late Friday that five officers had been removed from front-line duties while inquiries were being carried out.

The weapons cache, which according to The Sun newspaper included an MP5 semiautomatic Heckler & Koch ­carbine, a Glock pistol, Taser and ammunition, were found in south London Tuesday by a couple, who then informed the Metropolitan Police.

Scaffolder Jordan Griffiths told the newspaper that his girlfriend found the bag by the curbside and said that he was in “shock” after discovering what was inside.

“I could not believe my eyes and took some pictures as proof of what we had found,” he said. “I called the police and told them what I had found and within a few minutes they turned up to collect the guns.”

The police Directorate of Professional Standards is reviewing what happened and confirmed that five officers have been removed from front-line duties.

“We are urgently reviewing the circumstances of this incident and recognize the concern it may cause,” it said in a statement. “At this stage it is believed the bag was misplaced by on-duty officers a short time before the member of the public located it.”

A spokesperson for the mayor said the police “must now take all steps to ensure an incident like this never occurs again.”

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ITTEFAQ, Afghanistan (AP) — For several minutes after the earthquake struck, he could hear their screams. Then there was silence.

Mohibullah Niazi, a neighbor who helped in the rescue efforts, said Saturday that the eight people killed on the outskirts of Kabul after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan the previous night were a refugee family recently returned from neighboring Iran.

There was only one survivor: a boy of around 3 years old, who was injured and has been hospitalized in Kabul.

Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on Saturday increased the overall death toll from the quake to 12, with another four people injured. Fitrat said five homes were destroyed and another 33 significantly damaged, affecting 40 families in the provinces of Kabul, Panjshir, Logar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan.

The Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority put the overall death toll at nine. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

The family near Kabul was among the millions of Afghan refugees who have recently returned from Iran and Pakistan, after both countries launched crackdowns in 2023 on foreigners — particularly Afghans — living in their countries.

They had arrived 15 days ago and were living in a tent on land next to Niazi’s home. The family head, Najibullah, who was about 50 years old, “had no other shelter,” Niazi said. “He was a very poor person.”

The family had set their tent up next to a wall separating the plot of land from Niazi’s home, which stood on higher ground, in the village of Ittefaq on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital.

Heavy rains over the past several days, which have led to deadly floods in many parts of Afghanistan, had left the ground sodden and soft. When the earthquake struck, the wall collapsed on the family.

“My daughter shouted to me that a wall had fallen on them. The whole family ran, but there were so many big rocks,” Niazi recounted Saturday as he stood at the scene. “We tried our best.”

On Saturday morning, piles of bricks and mud were all that were left, along with blankets, cooking utensils and other personal belongings salvaged from the rubble and set into a pile.

“For about three minutes, I could hear the voices of these people,” Niazi said. “But we couldn’t do anything. There were two or three of us, but this was not the work of three people.”

Neighbors soon rushed to help, digging through the mud and rubble with spades and their hands. They alerted the local Taliban police checkpoint, which sent rescuers and ambulances.

The young boy, Aarash, was pulled out alive but injured, and rushed to the hospital. Health Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman, who visited the boy Saturday, said he was being treated for a severe head injury.

For the rest of the family — the father and mother, four daughters aged between 12 and 23, and two sons — it was too late. The rescuers could only recover their bodies.

Niazi said he had hosted the family in his own home one night. On Friday, just half an hour before the earthquake struck, he had renewed the offer, telling the family they could spend the night in his own guest room to shelter from the cold and rain. “But they did not come with me,” he said.

Friday night’s quake had an epicenter in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the northern city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the U.S. Geological Survey. The area is roughly 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of Kabul.

Afghanistan lies in a highly seismically active part of the world, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years.

Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

On Oct. 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.

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Associated Press writer Abdul Qahar Afghan in Ittefaq, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

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April 4 (Reuters) – Iran used a new air defence system on Friday to target a U.S. fighter jet, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the joint military command said the country would “definitely achieve full control” over its airspace, according to Iranian state media.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher;Editing by Alison Williams)

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BANGKOK (AP) — The disciplinary body for China ‘s Communist Party said Friday it has placed the former Xinjiang party chief under investigation over suspected violations of discipline and law.

Ma Xingrui is a member of the party’s Central Committee and served as party secretary of the Xinjiang region in China’s northwest from 2021-2025. He also previously served as director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and deputy party chief in Guangdong province.

It was unclear what violations Ma allegedly committed. Ma is the latest senior official to be removed from power this year. China’s Xi Jinping removed the top general in charge of the country’s military in January.

Ma was replaced by Chen Xiaojiang last July as party chief of Xinjiang, a region that had become well-known internationally for a yearslong campaign of extrajudicial detentions.

China had detained a million or more minorities, including ethnic Uyghur Muslims, saying it was in response to a series of attacks by a small number of Uyghur extremists

By 2021, when Ma had become secretary, China said it had shut most of the detention centers. But at least a few camp sites had been converted into prison-like centers, and information leaked to the AP showed that thousands of Uyghurs were thrown into prison with long sentences on what experts called trumped-up charges.

In March, China passed a law that experts say cements its assimilationist approach towards its ethnic minority groups, building on years of policy changes at the provincial level in Xinjiang and elsewhere.

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April 4 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Saturday condemned what it described as “riots, acts of vandalism, and assaults” outside its diplomatic mission and the residence of its head of mission in Damascus.

The UAE called on Syria to fulfil its obligations to secure the embassy and its staff, investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and ensure it is not repeated, the ministry said in a statement.

Videos circulating on social media, but not verified by Reuters, have showed protesters gathered outside the embassy.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Alison Williams)

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