US President Donald Trump signaled Friday that an Iran peace deal was all but done, telling AFP there were "no sticking points" left between Washington and Tehran.

Trump's comments came after a slew of social media posts in which he touted Iran's promise to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and progress on ending Iran's nuclear program.

"We're very close. Looks like it's going to be very good for everybody. And we're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone interview with AFP from Las Vegas.

MOSCOW, April 17 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that European countries were becoming more involved in the war in Ukraine, referencing a warning from Russia's Defence Ministry about drone production sites across the continent and in Britain.

The Defence Ministry on Wednesday warned against European plans to step up drone supplies to Ukraine and published a list of factories and enterprises it alleged manufacture drones or drone components.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, April 17 (Reuters) - An average of at least 47 women and girls were killed each day during the war in Gaza, according to figures published by U.N. Women on Friday, and the agency warned that deaths have continued six months into a fragile ceasefire.

More than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025, according to the report by U.N. Women, an agency that focuses on gender equality.

By Saad Sayeed and Mubasher Bukhari

ISLAMABAD, April 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan's air force escorted Iranian negotiators home from inconclusive peace talks with the U.S. last weekend, launching a major operation after the Iranians said Israel might seek to kill them, three sources told Reuters.

Pakistan deployed some two dozen jets in the escort, as well as the force's Airborne Warning and Control System for aerial surveillance to ensure the safety of the delegation back from Islamabad, said two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the operation.

Three Iranian oil tankers carrying a total of five million barrels of crude have become the first such loaded vessels to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since a US blockade came into force, the tracking firm Kpler told AFP on Friday.

The Deep Sea, Sonia I and Diona, all under US sanctions, passed the strategic strait on Wednesday after leaving Iran's Kharg Island, having loaded on April 2, 8 and 9 respectively, according to the maritime data company.

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, April 17 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a U.S.-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a deal meant to enable broader U.S.-Iran negotiations but one that will see Israeli forces maintain positions deep inside southern Lebanon.

WHAT DOES THE DEAL SAY?

Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a "cessation of hostilities" on April 16 at 2100 GMT for an initial period of 10 days to enable peace negotiations between the two countries, according to a text of the deal released by the State Department.

By Joshua McElwee

YAOUNDE, April 17 (Reuters) - Pope Leo has debuted a new, forceful speaking style on his four-nation Africa tour this week, issuing sharp denunciations of war and inequality that have sparked repeated attacks on the pontiff from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The change in rhetoric reflects Leo's growing concern with the direction of global leadership, experts said, after he maintained a relatively low profile for a pope during the first 10 months of his papacy.

Tehran threatened on Saturday to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more if the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports, hours after Iran announced it had reopened the strategic waterway in the wake of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The potential for the resumption of transit had lifted stock markets on Friday and prompted optimism from Washington, with President Donald Trump telling AFP a broader US-Iran peace deal was "very close" and saying Tehran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium -- a key sticking point in negotiations.

Alongside hundreds of others forced to flee south Lebanon, Amani Atrash and her family waited eagerly on Friday morning for bulldozers to reopen the Qasmiyeh bridge, which Israel bombed just hours before a ceasefire began.

Her family was among the tens of thousands of people hoping to go home after being displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war -- despite warnings against returning to the south from the Iran-backed militant group, Lebanese officials and the Israeli army, which continues to occupy parts of the area.

By Lili Bayer and Feras Dalatey

BRUSSELS/DAMASCUS, April 17 - The European Union plans to deepen its engagement with Syria by relaunching formal political contacts and paving the way for closer economic and security ties, according to a document seen by Reuters, marking the latest step in a broader policy shift after years of frozen relations.