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Trump, Israel pressure Iran ahead of deadline as search continues for missing US airman

By Enas Alashray and Phil Stewart

CAIRO/WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel on Saturday stepped up pressure on Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its energy infrastructure, while Iranian and U.S. forces searched for a missing U.S. crew member from one of two downed warplanes.

Trump, who has sent mixed messages since the conflict began with a joint U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran on February 28, told Tehran that his latest deadline for a deal to end the war was fast approaching.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet prepares to launch from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln at an undisclosed location during the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran, March 31, 2026. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

At Easter vigil, Pope Leo urges world not to grow numb to war

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, April 4 (Reuters) - Pope Leo led the world's Catholics into Easter at a Saturday night vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and urged people not to feel numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work for peace.

Leo, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, said that mistrust and fear have been allowed to "sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations."

Pope Leo XIV leads the Easter Vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 4, 2026. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Two more detained over arson attack on Czech defence factory

PRAGUE, April 4 (Reuters) - Authorities detained two more people in connection with the arson attack on a Czech optics and drone factory last month, Czech police and a public prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

A previously unknown pro-Palestinian activist group has claimed responsibility for the March 20 fire at an industrial complex in Pardubice, about 120 km (75 miles) east of Prague.

Czech authorities have previously announced five detentions, including of an Egyptian and a U.S. citizen, since the fire that targeted a building used by Czech defence group LPP Holding.

FILE PHOTO: A firetruck stands in front of a burned production hall at an industrial area in Pardubice, Czech Republic, March 20, 2026. REUTERS/David W Cerny/File Photo

Bushehr: Iran's only nuclear power plant

Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's only operational civilian nuclear facility, was built by Russia and officially handed over in September 2013, after decades of twists, turns and delays linked to Iran's turbulent history.

The facility, located in the south of the country and equipped with a 1,000-megawatt reactor, was hit Saturday by a US-Israeli airstrike, killing a security guard, Iranian state media reported.

Bushehr nuclear station, pictured here on January 1, 2025, has been hit several times since the war began

Mideast war presents 'serious risk' for Africa: report

The Middle East war "presents a serious risk to Africa", the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a report seen by AFP Saturday.

The conflict threatens to increase the cost of living and curtail growth on the continent, the report warned.

The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa's imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted.

The conflict has already caused petrol shortages in African countries such as Ethiopia

Russia evacuates 198 more staff from Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, agencies report

MOSCOW, April 4 (Reuters) - Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom evacuated a further 198 of its staff from Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported.

Rosatom has been evacuating staff from the plant since the Iran war broke out at the end of February.

Saturday's evacuations had been planned before the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a post on X on Saturday that one of the plant’s physical protection staff was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on site was affected by shockwaves and fragments.

Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Zelenskiy arrives in Istanbul for talks with Erdogan

KYIV, April 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Istanbul for talks with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskiy's spokesman said on Saturday.

The spokesman also told reporters that Zelenskiy would meet Patriarch Bartholomew, the most senior cleric in the Orthodox Church.

(Reporting by Max Hunder;Editing by Alison Williams)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan attend a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey, November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Trump weighs broader cabinet shake-up as Iran war pressure grows

By Nandita Bose, Jana Winter, Gram Slattery and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi's removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, five people familiar with internal White House discussions said.

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. April 1, 2026. Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS

Israel says will strike Lebanon-Syria border crossing

The Israeli military said on Saturday it would strike an area near the main crossing between Syria and Lebanon, urging residents to evacuate immediately as it continued its attacks across Lebanon.

Israel has carried out strikes across Lebanon and launched a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the war in the Middle East on the side of its backer Iran.

A rescue worker inspects the debris of destroyed buildings in the Maarakeh area near Tyre