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Pope Leo says those who wage war are thieves stealing away our peaceful future

ROME, April 26 (Reuters) - Pope Leo on Sunday described those who wage wars and appropriate the earth's resources as thieves who rob the world of a peaceful future, issuing a warning about the use of nuclear power on the anniversary of the Chornobyl reactor accident.

Ukraine is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster on Sunday amid lingering fears that Russia's four-year-old war could spark a repeat of the tragedy.

Pope Leo XIV looks on as he meets with Catholic religious education teachers attending a national meeting organised by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Israel's president says he wants a deal reached in Netanyahu case before pardon decision

JERUSALEM, April 26 (Reuters) - Israel's president said on Sunday that he will consider Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pardon request in his long-running corruption trial only after efforts to reach a plea deal are exhausted, signalling no decision will come soon.

Netanyahu's legal troubles, which began with investigations around a decade ago, have polarised Israelis and shaken national politics through five rounds of elections between 2019, the year of his indictment, to 2022. The next ballot is due by the end of October 2026.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog attend a memorial service in Meitar, Israel, January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

Iran's Araqchi discusses efforts to end war and Hormuz security with Oman

April 26 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held talks in Oman on Sunday and discussed security in the Strait of Hormuz and broader Gulf waters and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-U.S. conflict, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.

In talks in Muscat with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, Araqchi said the U.S. military presence in the Middle East was fuelling insecurity and division and called for a regional security framework free of outside interference.

(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by Ros Russell)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said at Al Baraka Palace in Muscat, Oman, April 26, 2026.  Oman News Agency/Handout via REUTERS

East Jerusalem residents anguished as homes demolished to make way for biblical park

Yusra Qwaider is 97 years old, bedridden and helpless: within days, bulldozers from the Jerusalem municipality will come to tear down the home she has lived in for over 50 years.

If the demolition in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood goes ahead, it will be the third time she has lost her home -- this time to make way for an archaeology and tourism park in the Silwan area just outside the Old City.

"I don't know what to do... I want to stay in my home," she told AFP from her bed in the house where she lives with 12 family members that the municipality says is illegal.

Yusra Qwaider, 97, is bedridden and helpless: within days, bulldozers from Jerusalem municipality will tear down the home she's lived in for over 50 years

ICE detains family less than two days after court ordered their release, lawyers say

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - An Egyptian family which was released from more than 10 months of immigration detention this week following court orders was taken into custody again by federal authorities on Saturday, lawyers said.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children aged 5 to 18 were detained less than 48 hours after a federal judge had ordered their release, the family's legal team said in a statement.

The badge of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is embroidered on a polo shirt of an ICE employee, in Arlington, Texas, U.S. August 26, 2025.  REUTERS/Shelby Tauber/File Photo

US-Iran peace hopes fade as Trump scraps talks

By Saad Sayeed, Ariba Shahid and Steve Holland

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran receded as a new week began, with talks aimed at ending the two-month conflict at a standstill and both Tehran and Washington showing little willingness to soften their terms.

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy for Peace Missions listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS

Israel says it will attack Hezbollah 'forcefully' as four killed in strikes on southern Lebanon

April 25 (Reuters) - Israel said on Saturday it would attack Hezbollah targets forcefully, further testing a fragile ceasefire with Lebanon that U.S. President Donald Trump recently said had been extended by three weeks.

Four people were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Lebanon's state news agency reported, while the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel, posing the latest challenges to the tenuous ceasefire.

Smoke rises from a village in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army operates in it as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 23, 2026 REUTERS/Gil Eliyahu/File Photo

Russian forces pound Ukraine's Dnipro, other areas, killing 10 people

By Max Hunder and Serhiy Chalyi

DNIPRO/KYIV, April 25 (Reuters) - Russian forces pounded the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday in waves of attacks with drones and missiles that also hit other regions, killing 10 people and injuring dozens.

Dnipro was subjected to three separate attacks overnight and during the day.

Regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said eight people were killed and 49 injured in the city, a repeated target in more than four years of war with Russia.

A police officer evacuates a resident at a site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine April 25, 2026. Picture taken using a mobile phone. REUTERS/Serhii Chalyi

Iran says it will not accept 'maximalist' US demands as Pakistan pursues peace

By Saad Sayeed, Ariba Shahid and Steve Holland

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi laid out Iran's demands and its reservations about U.S. positions on Saturday as Pakistan made a new push to end a war that has killed thousands and shaken global energy markets.

After holding talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other top officials, Araqchi and his delegation flew out of Pakistan's capital Islamabad with a military jet escort, government sources said. Details of the talks were scant.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 25, 2026. Pakistan's Prime Minister Office/Handout via REUTERS