The Taliban government said on Saturday that Afghans who fled to Qatar, fearing reprisals over their collaboration with US forces, may return home "with full confidence".
The administration of US President Donald Trump, which has made a sweeping crackdown on immigration a signature policy, had given a March 31 deadline to close a camp where more than 1,100 Afghans were staying at a former US base in Qatar.
By Andrew Chung
April 25 (Reuters) - Among President Donald Trump's main arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court defending his moves to rescind humanitarian protections that shield hundreds of thousands of immigrants from deportation, one stands out: Courts cannot review his administration's decisions in this area.
ANKARA, April 25 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Turkey could consider taking part in demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz following a possible peace agreement between Iran and the United States.
Fidan, speaking to reporters in London on Friday evening, said a technical team was expected to carry out mine‑clearing work in the strait after any agreement, adding that Turkey viewed such efforts positively in principle as a humanitarian duty.
Here are some details from Fidan's remarks:
By Saad Sayeed, Ariba Shahid and Steve Holland
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. negotiators are scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Saturday, but Iran said its officials did not plan to meet the Americans to discuss ending the war that has killed thousands and roiled global markets.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to depart on Saturday morning for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the White House said.
The latest developments in the Middle East war:
- Trump says Washington shooting will not stop Iran war -
US President Donald Trump said a shooting at a Washington media dinner on Saturday would not divert him from the Iran war.
"It's not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, I really don't think so, based on what we know," Trump told reporters at the White House after the incident.
- Iran executes accused militant -
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta
CAIRO/RAMALLAH, April 25 (Reuters) - Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will gauge the political mood at a time when Israel's government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state.
The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will help reinforce its claim to authority over the war-torn territory, from where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007.
Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty will meet at the UN from Monday as hopes fade they can reach agreement and tensions soar between the atomic powers.
In 2022, during the last review of the treaty that is considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was "one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."
The situation has only worsened since then.
Palestinians in the West Bank and central Gaza voted for municipal councils on Saturday, the first elections since the Gaza war began.
With a narrow slate of contenders, turnout was initially low in the occupied West Bank where 1.5 million people were registered to vote.
But it was boosted by a last-minute surge, reaching 53.44 percent, the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission (CEC) said, just fractionally lower than in the previous ballot in March 2022.
April 24 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States of abandoning internationally recognised diplomatic conventions in pursuit of its own interests, particularly in dominating energy markets, in an interview broadcast on Friday.
Lavrov, interviewed by Russian state television, said Washington, in its dealings with Latin America and the Middle East, was "taking us back to a world where nothing existed" in international law.
April 24 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, called for the resumption of talks to secure a rapid, sustainable agreement to the Middle East crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
A statement said the ministers, in a telephone call, "expressed their shared view on the need to resume negotiations in order to promptly reach agreements on a long-term, sustainable resolution of the crisis, taking into account the legitimate interests of all countries in the region".
