By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration has scaled back a key U.S. government report on human rights worldwide, dramatically softening criticism of some countries that have been strong partners of the Republican president, such as El Salvador and Israel, which rights groups say have extensive records of abuses.

By Sarah Morland

(Reuters) -The United Nations' Haiti appeal for 2025 has received the lowest funding of any response plan worldwide, the organization's humanitarian coordinator for the Caribbean nation said on Tuesday, as armed gangs continue to paralyze transport routes and fuel hunger.

This year's humanitarian response plan aims to raise over $900 million, mainly from U.N. member countries, but is just 9.2% funded, the coordinator, Ulrika Richardson, said in a briefing marked "the lowest level of funding for any response plan in the world."

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel and Russia on Tuesday that he has significant concerns about patterns of certain forms of sexual violence by their armed and security forces, according to a report seen by Reuters.

The alleged crimes included incidents of genital violence, prolonged forced nudity of captives, and abusive and degrading strip searches aimed at humiliation and interrogation.

The United States on Tuesday alleged that human rights were worsening in Western Europe due to internet regulations, in a pared-down annual global report that spared partners of President Donald Trump such as El Salvador.

The State Department's congressionally required report historically has offered extensive accounts of all nations' records, documenting in dispassionate detail issues from unjust detention to extrajudicial killing to personal freedoms.

KINSHASA (Reuters) -Congo's army on Tuesday accused Rwanda-backed rebels of carrying out multiple attacks in eastern Congo which it said violated agreements signed in Washington and Doha, and warned it reserved the right to respond to provocations.

The army statement came a day after the rebel group, known as M23, accused Congolese forces of mobilising more troops and violating the terms of a declaration of principles signed on July 19 in Doha voicing support for a permanent ceasefire.

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) -Mothers of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including one who appeared emaciated in a recent Hamas video, voiced fears on Tuesday that a planned Israeli offensive could further endanger their sons' lives due to the risk of reprisals.

Israel plans a much-criticised new Gaza offensive to take control of Gaza City in the almost two-year-old war against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Bombardment of the city is underway but the timing of the full offensive is uncertain and efforts to salvage a ceasefire continue.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday revived calls to "allow" Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, as the military prepares a broader offensive in the territory.

Past calls to resettle Gazans outside of the war-battered territory, including from US President Donald Trump, have sparked concern among Palestinians and condemnation from the international community.

Netanyahu defended his war policies in a rare interview with Israeli media, broadcast shortly after Egypt said Gaza mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce.

By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump has said that both Kyiv and Moscow will have to cede territory to end the war in Ukraine, so how much territory does Russia control in Ukraine?

Russia controls nearly 114,500 square km (44,600 square miles), or 19%, of Ukraine, including Crimea, and a major chunk of territory in the east and south-east of the country, according to open source maps of the battlefield. Ukraine does not control any internationally recognised Russian territory.

By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) -Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives slipped into second place behind Germany's far right in a poll marking his hundredth day in office after a tough summer in which a botched judicial appointment and a reversal on supplying Israel with arms alienated foes and allies alike.

Nestled among shops in a bustling market in north Lebanon's Tripoli, Mohammed al-Shaar is at his workshop making traditional tarboosh hats, keeping up a family craft despite dwindling demand.

With a thimble on one finger, Shaar, 38, cuts, sews and carefully assembles the pieces of the conical, flat-topped felt hat also known as a fez, attaching a tassel to the top.

Reputedly the last tarboosh craftsman in Lebanon, the Tripoli native has been making the hats for 25 years in know-how passed on by his grandfather.