Ukrainian and US officials met in Saudi Arabia late on Sunday to discuss a possible partial ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, part of an escalating diplomatic push by US President Donald Trump to end three years of war.
An Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, said the militant group, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at more than 50,000.
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday dismissed calls from some Democratic legislators for him to step down as leader in the Senate over his approach to a recently passed government funding Bill.
Ukraine, US teams meet in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian and US officials met in Saudi Arabia late on Sunday to discuss a possible partial ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, part of an escalating diplomatic push by US President Donald Trump to end three years of war.
The meeting, which precedes talks on Monday between the US and Russian delegations, also in Saudi Arabia, comes as US special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism about the chances for ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
“I feel that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants peace,” Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday.
“I think that you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that, you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire.”
White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday the US was talking through a range of confidence-building measures aimed at ending the war, including on the future of Ukrainian children taken into Russia.
Putin agreed last week to Trump’s proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days, but that narrowly defined ceasefire was soon cast into doubt, with both sides reporting continued strikes.
Kyiv, facing continued advances by Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, has backed Trump’s call for a blanket 30-day ceasefire.
The Ukrainian delegation taking part in Sunday’s talks will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, a fact that President Volodymyr Zelensky said meant Kyiv would be able to act in a “very quick and very substantive” way, without elaborating.
However, Ukrainian officials have also said they see the Riyadh talks as purely technical.
Heorhii Tykhyi, foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Friday the Ukrainian and US sides were due “to clarify the modalities, the nuances of possible different ceasefire regimes, how to monitor them, how to control them, in general, what is included in their scope”.
The contacts between Trump and Putin — two publicly announced phone calls but possibly other exchanges too — have spooked European leaders who fear Washington could be turning its back on Europe in the hope of striking a peace deal with Russia as part of some broader grand bargain encompassing oil prices, the Middle East and competition with China.
Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia war were “somewhat under control”. The US hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by 20 April, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.
Israeli airstrike kills Hamas official as Gaza death toll passes 50,000
An Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, said the militant group, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at more than 50,000.
Hamas said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife.
The Israeli military confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it had killed the Hamas official on Saturday.
“This elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” added the military.
After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas.
Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week.
At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, said health authorities. Those killed included three municipal employees, said medics.
Bardaweel was a member of the Hamas decision-making body, the political office, and had held posts such as heading the Hamas delegation for indirect truce talks with Israel in 2009 and leading the group’s media office in 2005.
“His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will remain fuelling the battle of liberation and independence,” said the group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the main aim of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity.
He has said the aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up the remaining hostages. Israel launched its initial assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and 113,274 wounded since the beginning of the war, said the health ministry on Sunday.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation warning on X for residents in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah in the south of the strip.
The military later said troops had encircled Tel Al-Sultan to dismantle “terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area” to reinforce control and expand the security zone in southern Gaza.
It said soldiers were allowing the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone via organised routes for their safety.
Dozens of families quit their homes in Tel Al-Sultan heading northward to Khan Younis, some on foot, while others carried their belongings and children on donkey carts and rickshaws.
“When the ceasefire began, we returned to put up tents next to the ruins of our homes, dreaming that soon our homes would be rebuilt,” said Abu Khaled, a Rafah resident.
“Now we are fleeing under fire for maybe the 10th time, when will we ever rest? When will there ever be peace in this city?” he told Reuters via a chat app.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained trapped in Rafah after they were surprised by an Israeli army raid into their areas, warning their lives, and those of rescue teams, were at risk.
Palestinian and international officials also warned about the return of the risk of famine in the enclave.
“Every day without food inches Gaza closer to an acute hunger crisis. Banning aid is a collective punishment on Gaza: the vast majority of its population are children, women & ordinary men,” the head of the United Nations agency on Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarin posted on X.
On 2 March, Israel blocked the entry of goods into Gaza and Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, accused Hamas of taking aid for its own use, a charge Hamas has previously denied.
Chuck Schumer rejects calls to quit as top Senate Democrat
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday dismissed calls from some Democratic legislators for him to step down as leader in the Senate over his approach to a recently passed government funding Bill.
Schumer sparked anger among Democrats last week when he decided not to block a Republican-drafted spending bill that many in the party said gave Trump, a Republican, too much power.
“Look, I’m not stepping down,” Schumer told NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
Schumer said while the spending Bill was “certainly bad” and that he had anticipated his support for it would stir controversy, the other option had been to let the government shut down, which would have been “15 or 20 times worse”.
Schumer said during a shutdown the executive branch had sole power to determine what government functions and employees were essential. In such a scenario, Schumer argued, Trump, his cost-cutting adviser Elon Musk and budget chief Russ Vought could “eviscerate the federal government”.
Schumer’s decision to side with Republicans outraged Democrats in Congress and progressive groups, and highlighted the party’s struggles as it is shut out of power in Washington.
Several Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Representatives Glenn Ivey and Delia Ramirez, suggested he step aside, according to Politico.
NPR reported on Thursday that while Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado stopped short of calling for Schumer to quit, he told a town hall that “it’s important for people to know when it’s time to go”.
Schumer dismissed criticism on “Meet the Press” from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he gave away Democratic leverage for nothing, arguing what they achieved was avoiding the “horror” of a government shutdown.
Canada’s Carney poised to call election, seeks mandate to tackle Trump
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was poised to call an election on Sunday, looking for a strong mandate to deal with the threat that Trump’s tariffs pose to the economy.
Carney’s schedule shows him visiting the governor general — the personal representative of King Charles, Canada’s head of state — at noon (1600 GMT) and holding a media briefing afterwards.
Although the next election is not due until 20 October, Carney is hoping to capitalise on a remarkable recovery by his Liberal party in the polls since January, when Trump began threatening Canada and former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.
Carney, a former two-time central banker with no previous political or election campaign experience, captured the Liberal leadership on 9 March by persuading party members he was the best person to tackle Trump.
Liberal party sources had said Carney would seek an election within weeks.
The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday the election will be held on 28 April, giving Carney five weeks to win over Canadians. Polls suggest the Liberals, who have been in power since 2015 and badly trailed the official opposition Conservatives at the start of the year, are now slightly ahead of their rivals.
Carney has yet to speak to Trump but has sought to lower the temperature, telling reporters that he respects what Trump is trying to do.
Turkey jails Istanbul mayor before trial, stoking opposition anger
A Turkish court on Sunday jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, pending trial on corruption charges, in a move likely to inflame the country’s biggest protests in more than a decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu to jail comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic.
As the courtroom developments unfolded, there were signs that the mayor’s troubles were galvanising opposition against Erdoğan’s government, which has run Turkey for 22 years.
Thousands of Republican People’s Party (CHP) members and non-members streamed into polling stations nationwide to elect Imamoglu its candidate in a future presidential vote.
The non-member vote will be closely watched as an indicator of how much support the widely popular Imamoglu enjoys beyond the party faithful.
Imamoglu has denied the charges he faces as “unimaginable accusations and slanders” and called for nationwide protests on Sunday. “We will rip away this coup, this dark stain on our democracy, all together,” he said.
Footage showed what broadcasters said was him being taken to Silivri prison in a police convoy.
Imamoglu was removed from duty, along with two other district mayors, said an interior ministry statement.
The government denies that investigations are politically motivated and says courts are independent.
A nationwide ban on street gatherings was extended on Saturday for four more days but protests and skirmishes with police continued through the night in major cities.
Thousands crowded outside the courthouse overnight and early on Sunday awaiting the rulings on Imamoglu.
The court said Imamoglu (54) and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation, one of two opened against him last week.
It said he was arrested for “establishing and leading a criminal organization, accepting bribes, embezzlement, unlawfully recording personal data, and rigging public tenders in connection with a financial investigation”.
The jailing capped a monthslong legal crackdown on opposition figures and the removal of other elected officials from office, in what critics called a government attempt to hurt their election prospects.
No general election is scheduled until 2028.
But if Erdoğan (71), who has led Turkey for 22 years, is to run again, parliament would need to back an earlier election since the president will have reached his limit by that date. Imamoglu is leading Erdoğan in some opinion polls.
Five-year-old among three killed in Russian drone attack on Kyiv
A large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv killed at least three people, including a five-year-old child, causing fires in high-rise apartment buildings and damage throughout the capital, said Ukrainian officials on Sunday.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, called it “a massive enemy drone attack on Kyiv” and said emergency services had been dispatched to several districts of the city to respond to reports of fires and damage.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 147 drones overnight targeting several parts of the country. The military said air defence units had destroyed 97 of the drones, with 25 failing to reach their targets.
Zelensky said Russian forces had used more than 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 attack drones and 15 missiles against Ukraine over the past week.
“We need new solutions, new pressure on Moscow to stop such strikes and this war,” said Zelensky on Telegram.
Putin and Trump may have spoken more than twice, says Kremlin
Putin and Trump may have had more contacts than the two publicly announced telephone calls over recent months, said the Kremlin in video footage published by state television on Sunday.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly said that he wants the three-year conflict in Ukraine to end and has warned of the risks of it escalating into a world war between the US and Russia.
There have so far been two announced phone calls between Putin and Trump this year — on 12 February and 18 March — though there has been speculation about much more frequent contact, and also reports that they spoke before Trump was elected last year.
When asked by the most prominent Kremlin correspondent for state television about remarks by Trump that indicated there may have been more than two calls, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said information had been released about those calls he knew of.
“Listen, we inform you about the conversations that we are aware of. But we can’t rule out everything else,” said Peskov.
State television’s Pavel Zarubin then asked: “So all sorts of nuances are possible, as they say?” to which Peskov replied: “Well, that is how I would answer your question.”
Pope Francis returns to Vatican after five weeks in hospital
Pope Francis returned to the Vatican on Sunday after surviving a five-week battle in hospital against double pneumonia that became the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.
The 88-year-old pope, who also made his first public appearance since 14 February before being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, left the facility shortly after noon.
A car carrying the pontiff was accompanied by police vehicles through Rome, making a short detour to take flowers to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, a church to which Francis has a special devotion and visits frequently.
Though the pope has returned from hospital, his doctors have said it would still take “a lot of time” for his ageing body to heal fully.
They have prescribed a further two months of rest at the Vatican and told him to avoid large or stressful meetings, leaving unclear how much activity Francis will undertake in the coming months.
Just before leaving the hospital on Sunday, Francis smiled and waved at a group of well-wishers gathered outside. He used a wheelchair, as he has done for several years.
His face looked swollen and there were bandages visible on both arms underneath his white cassock during the appearance, which lasted only a few moments.
Pro-Trump senator meets Chinese Premier Li with US company executives
US Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing with a group of executives from US companies on Sunday, following an annual business summitin the capital attended by CEOs from big foreign firms.
Daines was accompanied by seven senior executives including Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes and Boeing Global Senior Vice-President Brendan Nelson in the talks at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, said a foreign media pool report.
Daines’ trip marks the first time a US politician has visited China since Trump took office in January. Beijing is seeking high-level dialogue with the Trump administration, hoping to reach a deal to avert further pressure on tariffs from Washington.
Daines, a staunch supporter of Trump and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was heavily involved in negotiations over US-China trade during Trump’s first term as president and has made multiple trips to China as a senator.
He lived in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the 1990s while working as an executive for Procter & Gamble which he referenced in his opening speech.
“Collectively, these seven companies have over 275 years of experience of doing business in China,” said Daines as he introduced the CEOs, according to a pool transcript.
Israeli Cabinet votes no confidence in attorney-general
Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved a no-confidence motion against the attorney-general on Sunday, in its latest move on officials deemed hostile to the government, defying protesters who took to the streets for a sixth day.
After the vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin called on Gali Baharav-Miara to resign, saying “substantial and prolonged differences of opinion” prevented effective cooperation between the government and its chief legal adviser.
The vote against the attorney-general, who has frequently clashed with the government over the legality of some of its policies, came days after the Cabinet sparked mass protests by approving the removal of Shin Bet intelligence agency chief Ronen Bar after Netanyahu lost confidence in him.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined demonstrations over the past week, as anger at the removal of Bar, whose agency has been investigating corruption allegations linking Qatar with Netanyahu’s office, has merged with fears for Israeli hostages after a resumption of the bombing campaign in Gaza.
The final dismissal of Baharav-Miara, a former district attorney appointed under previous prime minister Naftali Bennett, could be months away. Bar’s dismissal, approved by the cabinet despite objections from the attorney-general, has been held up for two weeks by a temporary injunction from the Supreme Court.
But the moves against the two officials have drawn accusations from protesters and the opposition that Netanyahu’s right-wing government is undermining key state institutions.
At the same time, families and supporters of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza have vented their anger at what many see as the government’s abandonment of their loved ones.
“All they want is power and they are sacrificing the kidnapped and the values that the State of Israel was built on, that we value life and morality,” said Sharon Huderland, who joined a march on Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.
“He’s breaking down, crushing the legal system, and we have to fight to get our country back,” she said.
Signalling the risk of a wider protest that could draw in Israeli institutions, the leadership of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said that it would shut down the university if the government defied Supreme Court rulings on the dismissals.
Israel approves independence for 13 West Bank settlements
Israel’s security Cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighbouring communities, said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday.
The settlements would ultimately be recognised as independent, he posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank.
“We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologising, we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank.
Israel’s opposition to ceding control of the West Bank has been deepened by its fears of a repeat of the 7 October 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticised the approval of the separation of the neighbourhoods and their recognition as independent settlements as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza, condemned the move in the West Bank, describing it as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground and consolidate colonial occupation on Palestinian lands”.
Israel intercepts missile launched from Yemen
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory, as escalation between Israel and the Iran-aligned Houthis continues.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the group fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, said military spokesperson Yahya Saree in a televised statement on Sunday.
Saree said the attack led to the suspension of air traffic at the airport for over half an hour.
Israel Airports Authority, however, said that the airport was not affected.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks on Sunday against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea.
The Houthis recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to US strikes earlier this month, which amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
The Houthis’ fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.
How Trump’s regulatory freeze is disrupting the US fishing industry
Trump’s regulatory freeze has injected chaos and uncertainty into several lucrative US fisheries, raising the risk of a delayed start to the fishing season for some East Coast cod and haddock fleets and leading to overfishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna, according to Reuters interviews with industry groups and federal government employees.
The US’s $320-billion fishing industry relies on a branch of the federal government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to manage coastal fisheries. Under a 1976 law, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service develops management plans for 45 fisheries, setting quotas and determining the start and close of fishing seasons, in consultation with federal government scientists and local fishermen.
Trump’s 20 January declaration of a 60-day freeze on regulations disrupted this process for several of those fisheries, delaying key meetings and causing confusion over the issuance of new rules, according to Reuters interviews.
The freeze allowed overfishing in waters off North Carolina of Atlantic bluefin tuna which could mean reduced quotas for New York and New England fishers when the fish migrate further north this summer, according to a Massachusetts legislator as well as industry groups and the federal government employees.
“There’s just a lot of confusion right now, both internal and external,” said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, an industry group. “I’m getting calls from fishermen asking what’s going to happen.”
Some 163 probationary employees — or about 5% of the NOAA workforce dealing with fisheries — were fired last month including administrative support staff, fish biologists and fisheries management specialists, a senior NOAA employee who was among those fired told Reuters. Those roles are involved in the regulatory process, from monitoring the health of stocks to consulting on regulations for annual catch.
Even if new regulations can be issued once the freeze lifts, delays in openings can have an impact on the industry, especially fishermen who rely on migratory fish or operate smaller vessels.
“It can make or break a fishery if the window of opportunity to go fishing is narrowed or shifts significantly,” said Noah Oppenheim, principal of Homarus Strategies, which advises commercial fishermen and organizations across the country.
Reuters spoke to two industry groups and 13 staff at NOAA who described impacts from Alaska to the Atlantic because of regulatory delays and job cuts.
Twelve of the NOAA staff were fired and reinstated on 17 March in response to a court order, though they were placed on administrative leave. DM