TOP NEWS

April 26 (UPI) — U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on Sunday that he will end his blockade of Kevin Warsh’s confirmation as Federal Reserve chair after the Department of Justice ended its investigation into current chair Jerome Powell.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday said the Justice Department was ending its investigation into Powell over the Fed’s budget for renovations to its headquarters and has threatened him with criminal charges over testimony he gave about the costs.

Tillis made the announcement during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” because the department assured him that it has “completely and fully ended” the investigation.

He had previously said he would block all Trump nominees until the probe was dropped.

“We worked a lot over the weekend to make sure that we were very clear that we have assurances from the Department of Justice that I needed to feel like they were not using the department as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed,” Tillis told NBC News.

The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Powell in January after President Donald Trump questioned the Fed being over budget on renovations to its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The investigation was condemned by several members of Congress as improper, including Tillis, because it was seen as politically motivated punishment from Trump for not setting interest rates at levels he preferred.

Pirro said Friday that she has asked the Federal Reserve’s inspector general to investigate the renovation costs, which she said is “billions of dollars” over budget, and that she expects a “comprehensive report” on the matter.

She noted, however, that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

April 26 (UPI) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog decided to hold off on a pardon for the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of corruption, opting instead to attempt to negotiate a plea deal.

Netanyahu has been on trial for six years on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust across three separate cases but denies he has violated any laws, calling the charges a “witch hunt.”

Herzog has been under pressure from Netanyahu, his allies and U.S. President Donald Trump to issue the prime minister a pardon, though he has held off as opinions in Israel are relatively split on the trials, The New York Times and The Times of Israel reported.

“President Isaac Herzog sees reaching an agreement between the parties in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cases as a proper and correct solution,” Herzog’s office said in a statement.

“The president believes that it is right to first, before discussing the pardon request itself, exhaust a process that could lead to the formation of an agreement between the parties, outside the walls of the court,” his office said.

Netanyahu became the first active Israeli prime minister to be put on trial in 2020, when he was charged with allegedly accepting cigars and champagne in exchange for political favors.

In the second case, he allegedly boosted circulation of an Israeli newspaper that offered him positive coverage and, in the third case, he allegedly promoted regulatory changes to benefit an telecommunications company in exchange for positive coverage by an online news organization.

Netanyahu in November requested the pardon from Herzog, whose office said at the time that it would consider the request and review it with justice officials because of the “significant implications” a pardon for such charges could have.

A plea agreement would require an admission of guilt, in addition to likely requiring Netanyahu to resign from office, which he has said is unacceptable and part of why he calls the trials an effort to drive him from office.

The trial “stirs divisions and deepens rifts,” he said in the request for a pardon, and said that “to repeal the threats [to Israel] and realize the opportunities, national unity is required.

United States President Donald Trump has cancelled a planned visit to Pakistan by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had been expected to explore indirect talks, which remain deadlocked over issues that include the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, signalling that Washington for now would not send negotiators to Pakistan, the country that is mediating between the longtime adversaries.

With neither Washington nor Tehran showing much willingness to soften their positions, prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough in the US-Israeli war on Iran and securing a lasting ceasefire remain stalled.

The conflict spilled into the larger Middle East region, including Lebanon, causing the worst global energy crisis since the 1970s and risking a global recession.

So what do we know about the talks and where they stand as of now?

What has the US said?

The US president on Saturday told reporters in Florida that he scrapped his envoys’ visit because the talks involved too much travel and expense to consider an inadequate offer from the Iranians.

After the diplomatic trip was called off, Iran “offered a lot, but not enough”, Trump said.

On Truth Social, he wrote that there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.

“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he posted. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!”

What has Iran said?

In Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that his government will not enter negotiations while the US maintains a blockade on Iranian ports.

In a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday night, Pezeshkian said Washington “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” before any new talks can begin, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Islamabad on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate meetings with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Sharif.

In a post on Telegram, Araghchi said their discussions covered regional dynamics and Iran’s non-negotiable positions without disclosing specifics. He added that Tehran intends to engage with Pakistan’s mediation efforts “until a result is achieved”.

After departing Islamabad on Saturday, Araghchi travelled to Oman, where he discussed ways to end the conflict with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, according to state media.

He was then scheduled to continue on to Russia. Iran’s IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected to return to Islamabad on Sunday for additional talks.

What has Pakistan said?

Despite hardening public positions from Washington and Tehran, Pakistan’s political and military leadership is continuing to mediate, two Pakistani officials said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press news agency. They were quoted as describing the indirect ceasefire contacts as still alive but fragile.

There were no immediate plans for US envoys to return for talks, according to the Pakistani officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, AP added.

Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Islamabad, said Pakistani officials are underscoring that the expected return of Araghchi to Islamabad is seen as a “hopeful sign”.

“What they hope is that this will in fact be something that can be incremental in the process and will advance forward,” she reported.

What is happening with the ceasefire?

The US-Iran ceasefire began on April 8 after nearly six weeks of US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory Iranian attacks against Israel and across the Gulf region.

The two sides held talks in Islamabad on April 11 aimed at securing a permanent deal, but they ended after 21 hours with no breakthrough.

After repeated threats of restarting the war if Iran did not heed Washington’s demands, Trump extended the ceasefire on Tuesday without a set deadline, saying he was in no rush to conclude a peace deal with Iran.

While the truce has held for the most part, the two sides continue to accuse each other of violations.

Iranian forces, which have essentially blocked the Strait of Hormuz, have captured commercial vessels, and the US has intercepted or detained ships suspected of violating its naval blockade of Iranian ports just one week after the ceasefire went into effect.

The naval blockade is seen by Iran as a breach of the ceasefire. Tehran has warned that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible as long as the blockade remains in place.

The critical waterway has become a central dispute in the conflict. One-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped through the strait, which links the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, before the war began.

Iran insists on sovereignty over the waterway, which lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. It has also floated the idea of levying tolls while Washington demands full freedom of navigation. The Gulf nations, which export most of their petroleum through the strait, have opposed the Iranian plan to impose tolls.

Another key issue is the debate over Iran’s stock of enriched uranium.

The US and Israel are pushing for zero uranium enrichment and have accused Iran of working towards building a nuclear weapon while providing no evidence for their claims.

Iran has insisted its enrichment effort is for civilian purposes only. It is a signatory to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Tehran says it has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme. But according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear watchdog, Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent, a level that is far higher than what is needed for civilian use.

April 25 (UPI) — Two wildfires in Georgia have burned thousands of acres and dozens of homes over a couple of days amid extreme drought in the Southeast.

The fires — the Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County and the Pineland Road Fire in Clinch County — have between them scorched more than 40,000 acres and destroyed at least 120 homes, ActionNewsJax and CBS News reported.

Each of the two fires is roughly 10% contained, and are among a host of blazes being fought in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida, where the weather is not expected to cool off any time soon.

“So we got the two most dangerous, biggest, problematic fires anywhere in the United States in the small area we’re having to fight,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters on Friday.

“We need a change in the weather, but until we get that, we’re just going to stay after these fires and do everything we can to get them contained,” he said.

The Highway 82 fire, which grew overnight by a few thousand acres, has destroyed around 90 homes and businesses, is thought to have been started by a mylar balloon landing on a power line that started to spark, News4Jax reported.

The Highway 82 Fire so far has burned nearly 10,000 acres, prompting mandatory evacuations in some parts of Brantley County and voluntary evacuations across the entire county, according to reports.

Brantley’s county manager, Joey Cason, told reporters that strong winds are expected in the area later today and recommended that people follow mandatory evacuation orders if they are issued.

The Pineland Road Fire, which is burning on what is privately owned forest, was started by sparks from somebody welding a gate, ABC News reported.

That fire has already burned more than 32,000 acres and is experiencing the same weather conditions as neighboring Brantley County.

April 25 (UPI) — An attraction planned for Central Florida called Sloth World Orlando will not open after at least 31 of its sloths died during the last two years in a facility that had not been properly permitted.

Sloth World Orlando had imported at least 69 wild-caught sloths that it planned to put on display in an educational “slotharium,” but an investigation by The Sloth Conservation Foundation, The Sloth Institute and investigative reporters found the animals were being mistreated and dying, the organizations said.

Orange County, Fla., building inspectors had posted a stop-work order at a warehouse that Sloth World Orlando was storing its sloths because of alterations made to the building with permits, and because the last use permit issued for the building was for vehicle storage, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Ben Agresta, who owns Sloth World Orlando, told Fox35Orlando, that he has ended plans for the slotharium and plans to file for bankruptcy after it was forced to give up its 13 surviving sloths in the wake of the reports.

The 13 sloths will live at the Central Florida Zoo until the Association of Zoos and Aquariums can help find long-term homes for them.

The two Costa Rica-based non-profits have been running a campaign about the facility and “following the initial press release, we received reports from former employees raising concerns about the welfare of the animals,” they said in a press release.

The organization’s report, published by Inside Climate News, found that at least 31 of Sloth World Orlando’s sloths died between December 2024 and February 2025 when they started importing the animals, and that another 24 slots remain unaccounted for.

A separate report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year performed unannounced routine inspection of the storage facility that resulted in warnings about the sloths living conditions and improper records being kept on all of them.

Among the issues raised about the facility was the lack of power, heat or air conditioning and no water.

The state report also noted that in one shipment of 10 sloths wild-caught sloths, two arrived deceased, and the other eight appeared to be in poor health and later died as well.

Agresta said in a statement that allegations the animals were poorly treated are “false and inaccurate,” claiming instead that the company “lost sloths that had a virus with showed barely any symptoms and was undetectable even after necropsy.”

April 25 (UPI) — An Egyptian family of six that was released from custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement days ago was rearrested on Saturday and may be headed for a quick deportation, their lawyer said.

After an emergency appeal earlier in the day, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery said the family’s immediate deportation should be paused, The Guardian and The Texas Tribune reported.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children had been held in the Dilley detention center outside San Antonio, Texas, which has been criticized for lack of medical care and food, for ten months.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Chestney on Thursday ruled that the family, which came to the United States in 2022 on a tourist visa and applied for asylum, should be freed while they wait for a decision on their case.

After the family was arrested again on Saturday morning, El Gamal’s attorney, Eric Lee, posted on X that the family had already been put on a flight to Michigan, where they are expected to be deported to Egypt.

Calling the agency’s actions “an absolutely brazen violation of separation of powers,” Lee said the flight “constitutionally” should not be permitted to take off, posting “stop this travesty of justice from taking place.”

The family was arrested in June after El Gamal’s husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, allegedly threw Molotov cocktails into a crowd rallying in support of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

A judge already had temporarily halted their deportation in June after their arrest.

April 25 (UPI) — Palestinians in Gaza held an election for the first time in 20 years as municipal elections were held there and in the West Bank on Saturday.

People in Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, voted for the first time since 2006 because it was the least destroyed area after two years of airstrikes by Israel after the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, CNN reported.

The elections, which also were held in many parts of the West Bank, were run by the Palestinian Authority and required candidates to agree with Palestinian Liberation Organization to recognize the state of Israel and support a two-state solution.

Elections were last held in the West Bank in 2022, The BBC reported, and had not been held in Gaza since Hamas took the enclave over two decades ago. Hamas was not permitted to participate in the elections.

Election results will be reported either late Saturday or on Sunday.

Salama Badwan, who voted with his wife and daughter, told Al Jazeera that the first election “is a truly Palestinian democratic celebration.”

“We must change everything through the ballot box,” Badwan said. “Whoever wins, it is their right, but not through inheritance … change must be through the hands of the people.”

Roughly 70,000 Palestinians — or 5% of the entire Gazan population — in Deir al-Balah were eligible to vote because many of the places that would have been used for voting were destroyed, as were supplies like ballot boxes.

The Palestinian Authority’s Fatah party dominated ballots as votes were held for 90 municipal councils and 93 village councils — leaving 42 other municipal councils and 155 village councils to be decided without votes.

Hamas praised the vote in Gaza and expressed hope for the rest of the territory to also choose its own leaders, although after its election in 2006 it forced Fatah out of Gaza in often violent battles and had not held an election since.

Edward’s teammate Donte DiVincenzo was also hurt as Minnesota rallied to beat Denver and take a 3-1 NBA playoff series lead.

Ayo Dosunmu came off the bench to score ‌a career-high 43 points on 13-for-17 shooting, and the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 112-96 win over the ⁠Denver Nuggets in Game ⁠4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Saturday night in Minneapolis.

The victory, which gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, came at a steep cost for the Timberwolves, who lost two key starters ⁠due to injury.

Anthony Edwards, a four-time All-Star and the team’s top scorer, left in the second quarter and did not return because of a left knee injury. Earlier, in the first half, Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo injured his right leg on ⁠a noncontact play. Early reports indicated he might have ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Naz Reid added 17 points off the bench for Minnesota. Julius Randle finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Rudy Gobert grabbed a game-high-tying 15 rebounds to go along with four points.

Jamal Murray scored 30 points on 10-for-25 shooting to lead Denver. Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. ‌However, he shot 8-for-22 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

Thunder 121, Suns 109

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff-career-high 42 points to lift Oklahoma City to a road win over Phoenix.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player finished 15 of 18 from the floor with eight assists to give the Thunder a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Oklahoma City have won 11 consecutive first- round games. Playing without Jalen Williams, who suffered a hamstring strain in Wednesday’s Game 2 victory, the Thunder leaned even more heavily on Gilgeous-Alexander.

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with ⁠33 points while Jalen Green added 26 points. Devin Booker scored 16 points, but was ⁠held to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor.

Knicks 114, Hawks 98

Karl Anthony-Towns totalled 20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his first career playoff triple-double as New York earned a victory over host Atlanta and evened their Eastern Conference first-round series at two games apiece.

Towns ensured Game 5 on Tuesday ⁠in New York will not be an elimination game for the Knicks and also ensured the series returns to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday. Towns posted his fifth career triple-double ⁠in any game. He also notched the seventh postseason triple-double in New York’s ⁠history. Anunoby led the Knicks with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth career playoff double-double.

CJ McCollum led the Hawks with 17 points but was held to three points after half time. Nickell Alexander-Walker added 15 and hit five 3s, but the Hawks were a dreadful 10 of 41 (24.4 percent) from behind the arc.

Magic ‌113, Pistons 105

Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points apiece as Orlando withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat visiting Detroit in Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Banchero had 12 rebounds and nine assists for the eighth-seeded Magic, ‌who improved ‌to 7-1 in their last eight home postseason games, including play-in tournament games. Bane was 7-for-9 from 3-point range.

Cunningham scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons. Tobias Harris scored 23 points, Ausar Thompson had 17 and Duncan Robinson added 10.

US President Donald Trump calls off a planned trip to Pakistan by his envoys, in the latest setback to efforts to end the war with Iran.

Prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough in the US-Israeli war with Iran appear to have dimmed, with negotiations to end the two-month conflict stalled as both Tehran and Washington show little sign of easing their positions.

US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned visit to Islamabad by his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, dealing blows to peace prospects, while Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, left Pakistan at the weekend. There, he presented mediators with a potential framework for ending the conflict.

The US president has said that Washington has received a new peace proposal from Tehran, but it has already been rejected.

The conflict has already pushed energy prices to multi-year highs, stoked inflation and darkened global growth prospects.

Here is what we know on day 58 of the conflict:

In Iran

• Araghchi left for Oman, saying he would return to Pakistan again on Sunday before heading to Russia, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
• According to a statement posted on X by US Central Command (CENTCOM), US forces intercepted a sanctioned ship linked to Iran’s so-called “shadow fleet”.

• The ship, identified as the Sevan, was part of a 19-vessel “shadow fleet” transporting Iranian oil and gas products to foreign markets, the US military said.
• Iran executed a man convicted of being a member of the armed group Jaish al-Adl and carrying out attacks on Iranian security forces, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

War diplomacy

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by phone that Tehran would not enter “imposed negotiations” under threats or blockade, an Iranian government statement said.
• Pezeshkian said the United States should first remove “operational obstacles”, including its blockade on Iranian ports, before negotiators can lay any groundwork to resolve the conflict.
• Iran’s IRNA news agency is reporting that Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, “discussed and exchanged views on issues related to diplomacy and ceasefire, as well as the latest regional developments”.
• Araghchi also had a call with Turkiye’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, but the agency did not provide further details.

In the US

• Trump told reporters in Florida that he scrapped the envoys’ visit because the talks involved too much travel and expense to consider an inadequate offer from the Iranians. After the diplomatic trip was called off, Iran “offered a lot, but not enough”, Trump said.
• On Truth Social, he wrote that there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.
• “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he posted. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!”
• Trump said that the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner on Saturday was unrelated to 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.

In Lebanon

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered troops to attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, his office said, further testing the three-week ceasefire.
• Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health’s emergency operations centre said two Israeli raids on a truck and a motorcycle in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif in Nabatieh district killed four people, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.
• Also in southern Lebanon, Israeli soldiers reportedly blew up buildings in the city of Bint Jbeil.

US President Donald Trump has called a shooter who tried to rush the White House Correspondents’ gala, ‘a sick person.’ Trump says the man was heavily armed, but was apprehended by the Secret Service.

April 25 (UPI) — Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Saturday said he will give up his seat in Parliament to focus on rebuilding his Fidesz-KDNP party after its election losses two weeks ago.

Orban said that he is leaving the parliament to focus on rebuilding the far-right, Russia-aligned party after it secured only 55 seats in Hungary’s parliament in elections on April 12, Politico and The New York Times reported.

Peter Magyar’s Tisza party won 138 of the parliament’s 199 seats in a landslide victory ending 16 years of Orban running the country.

“I am needed not in Parliament but in the organization of the patriotic movement,” Orban said in a video message posted on social media.

“Discussions are in full swing about renewing the patriotic camp, strengthening our parliamentary group and protecting our communities,” he said.

Magyar will take over as prime minister on May 9 and, because Tisza has more than two-thirds of the parliament’s seats, he can undue some of the actions Orban took during his rule, which included cracking down on the media and a host of democratic institutions.

Orban, who was in Hungary’s parliament since 1990 and prime minister since 2010, said he plans to remain in charge of Fidesz and will seek re-election in June to keep the job.

Trump says the shooter has been apprehended and that First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance are ‘in perfect condition’.

April 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump returned to the White House after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.

There was a shooting incident near the main security screening area at the Washington Hilton, with one person in custody as law enforcement assesses the situation, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement.

All protectees, Guglielmi said, are safe, including the president, first lady and members of the Cabinet who were at the dinner.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he wanted to return to the dinner and for the “SHOW TO GO ON,” but security insisted that they leave the hotel and return to the White House.

“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do immediately,” Trump posted about an hour after the incident.

“The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition,” Trump posted. “I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”

An announcement in the ballroom mirrored Trump’s announcement about rescheduling the dinner for next month.

The FBI confirmed that the suspect is in custody in a statement.

The suspect has been taken to the hospital, as has a Secret Service agent who was injured, The Washington Post reported.

Trump also said he would give an update from the press briefing room at the White House later this evening.

Dinner was being served at the annual gathering of the Washington press organization when shots could be heard from the ballroom before Trump was evacuated by security, according to video of the event.

President Trump, Melania Trump and other members of the administration on the dais and in the ballroom were evacuated within minutes of shots being heard over C-SPAN and other networks broadcasts.

As the officials were cleared from the room, Secret Service agents swarmed it and ordered other guests to stay in their seats.

Most of the other guests remained in the ballroom after organizers made an announcement that the show would continue shortly.

There was also speculation whether Trump would return to the dinner after the announcement the show would continue and the Presidential Seal was not immediately removed from the podium on the dais.

C-SPAN reported that waiters started to clear the salad portion of dinner as guests started to open wine while waiting for more information about the situation before the announcement that the dinner is going to be rescheduled.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Trump says Tehran did not make satisfactory offer after Iranian foreign minister travelled to Pakistan to present a framework to mediators to end the war.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

The US president was escorted out from the event at a Washington DC hotel by his secret service agents.

United States President Donald Trump has been evacuated from the White House correspondents’ dinner at a hotel in Washington, DC, by his secret service agents.

The evacuation on Saturday evening came after loud sounds were heard inside the banquet hall of the Washington Hilton, where the event was taking place.

Footage from the scene showed Trump and attendees taking cover after the loud noise, after which the US president was led away. Heavily armed agents then take over the head table.

More soon…

Video footage shared on social media shows two women being arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Berlin. Participants waved Palestinian flags and chanted solidarity slogans amid a heavy police presence.

Lawyers say El Gamal family detained by Trump administration hours after returning home from 10-month detention.

A United States federal court has blocked the administration of United States President Donald Trump from deporting a woman and her five children following their release from immigration detention.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children, ranging in age from five to 18 years old, had been held for 10 months prior to their release earlier this week following a judge’s order. They had been held in detention for the longest of any known family during Trump’s second term in office,

But just days after returning to their home in Colorado, immigration authorities again detained the family on Saturday and sought to swiftly deport them, according to their lawyer.

“The Trump administration has kidnapped the El Gamal family in violation of a federal court order from the Western District of Texas, which ordered them Thursday not to detain or remove the family from the United States,” a statement from the family lawyers, shared by lawyer Eric Lee, said.

“The attempt to remove the El Gamal family is in violation of a federal court order and must be halted immediately,” it adds.

Lee said shortly after that US District Judge Fred Biery, who ordered the family’s initial release on Thursday, had granted an emergency order on Saturday barring their removal.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The Trump administration has at times flouted court orders barring it from deporting people from the US, pushing a hardline approach that critics say has defied legal constraints.

That has come amid a wider campaign to restrict immigration, legal and illegal, particularly from non-Western countries.

Hayam El Gamal and her children were detained by the Trump administration after her former husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, attacked a group of people in Boulder, Colorado, as they gathered in support of Israeli captives held by the Palestinian armed group Hamas in June 2025.

An 82-year-old woman later died from injuries sustained during the incident.

Soliman’s family condemned the attack and denied any knowledge that it was going to take place, with NBC News reporting that El Gamal divorced her husband soon after his arrest.

An FBI agent also testified under oath that there was no evidence that the family, who have not been charged with any crimes, was aware of the father’s plan.

Their nearly yearlong detention by the Trump administration has been described by the family’s lawyers and several lawmakers as an illegal and cruel effort to punish the family for an act they did not commit.

Following Soliman’s arrest, the White House, in a post on X, said it would seek to immediately expel the family, whose lawyers have said are in the process of applying for asylum after coming to the US on tourist visas from Egypt.

“Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” the White House post said.

The family has experienced deteriorating health and been denied proper medical care while in detention, according to their lawyers. Earlier in April, El Gamal was hospitalised due to a medical emergency related to an untreated growth on her chest, they said.

Immigration rights groups have noted that it is typically illegal to detain children for extended periods of time.

In a statement earlier this week, US Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said the Trump administration’s motives would be clear if they sought to re-detain the family despite the judge’s order to release them.

“If, despite the judge’s recommendation, the Department of Homeland Security still objects to the release of an innocent woman and her five children, we know exactly why that is the case,” Durbin said.

“It is not because they present any danger to the community or a flight risk. It is because they are immigrants – Arab Muslim immigrants at that.”

Divisions are widening within NATO.

US President Donald Trump is furious after a refusal by European member states to join the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Reports say he’s considering measures against the United Kingdom and Spain.

So, how serious is the rift for the future of the military alliance?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Carne Ross – Former British diplomat and founder of the nonprofit advisory group, independent diplomat

Eli Bremer – Retired major in the US Air Force and a Republican strategist

Pablo Calderon Martinez – Head of politics and international relations at Northeastern University London and a specialist in European affairs

April 25 (UPI) — The scientists and engineers serving on the National Science Board received letters from the Presidential Personnel Office Friday telling them they have been fired.

The board, which was created in 1950 to be an independent entity to guide the National Science Foundation, is made up of scientists and engineers from universities and industry. Board members are appointed by the president but serve six-year terms to help ensure they cross administrations.

The NSF provides grants for scientific research and has helped develop technology used in MRIs, cellphones, LASIK eye surgery and more.

The letters they received, according to screenshots shared with The Washington Post, said, “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I’m writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the ranking member of the Science Committee, said in a statement, “This is the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation. The NSB is apolitical. It advises the president on the future of NSF. It unfortunately is no surprise a president who has attacked NSF from day one would seek to destroy the board that helps guide the Foundation. Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won’t stand up to him as he hands over our leadership in science to our adversaries? A real bozo the clown move.”

Marvi Matos Rodriguez, a senior vice president in the energy sector who works on fusion, received one of the letters Friday. She has been on the board since 2022.

“The idea of having six-year terms is you get to do something significant, impactful and go beyond administrations, political administrations,” she told The Post. “I serve the board at nights and on weekends,” Matos Rodriguez said.

It’s not clear how many members of the board were dismissed and if they will be replaced.

April 25 (UPI) — Two police officers were wounded in a shooting Saturday at a Chicago hospital, leaving one of them in critical condition, officials said.

The two officers were shot at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital on the north side of Chicago at around 11 a.m., the hospital’s parent company said on Facebook. Endeavor said the shooter was brought to the Emergency Department for treatment around 9 a.m. CDT Saturday in the custody of the officers. He was wanded and escorted by the officers at all times, Endeavor said. At around 11 a.m. he shot the officers and left the building. He was caught and is in police custody.

Law enforcement sources told the Chicago Sun Times that the shooter disarmed one of the officers before opening fire.

No patients or hospital staff were injured.

“The safety of our patients and team members remains our top priority,” Endeavor said. “We are cooperating with law enforcement during their investigation and our deepest compassion remains with the officers and their families.”

The condition of the other officer isn’t clear.

The hospital was locked down Saturday afternoon, but there is no ongoing threat.

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Early this morning, Salama Badwan, his wife and daughter headed to a polling station in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, to participate in the municipal elections, which are taking place for the first time since 2006.

The 43-year-old said he was delighted to be casting a vote after such a long absence, and overjoyed that his daughter, who recently turned 18, could vote for the first time in her life.

The vote is also the first since a “ceasefire” took effect in Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The war has affected all aspects of life, including the electoral process itself. With many of Deir el-Balah’s buildings damaged or destroyed during the war, polling stations have been set up in temporary fibreglass tents on open land.

“I am very happy today, because this is a truly Palestinian democratic celebration. Many generations have been deprived of it for more than 21 years, and today my daughter is voting for the first time,” Badwan told Al Jazeera.

For him, the importance of the elections is providing Palestinians in Gaza with a chance to achieve change through peaceful and democratic means.

“We must change everything through the ballot box … whoever wins, it is their right, but not through inheritance … change must be in the hands of the people.”

But despite this enthusiasm, the reality in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, remains complex amid the ongoing “ceasefire”.

The city, which Badwan describes as “always calm,” has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people from across Gaza, putting unprecedented pressure on its infrastructure.

“The city received large numbers of displaced people, each coming with different ideas, circumstances, and harsh suffering … This created enormous pressure on water networks, sewage systems, and waste management, and exhausted the previous municipality.”

Deir el-Balah was given the opportunity to hold elections because its infrastructure was less damaged than that of other cities in Gaza during the war.

Badwan places his hopes on a new municipal council capable of handling the scale of the crisis left by the war, away from the political divisions that have swept the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Fatah, the two main rival factions.

“We want a very strong municipal team that does not belong to any faction … one that can secure support from donor countries and meet people’s needs, because today Deir el-Balah is hosting all.”

On the street, he describes the atmosphere of the elections as “positive and enjoyable”, despite general frustration with the political class.

“People are fed up with politicians and unfulfilled promises,” he says, adding that he encouraged those around him to participate in the elections in the hope of creating change.

“I told my friends and children we must go and vote … we cannot just sit at home and wait for change.”

‘I finally have a voice’

Standing beside her father, Dunia, Salama’s 18-year-old daughter, did not hide her joy at casting a vote, despite the exceptional circumstances surrounding her.

“I’m very happy that I can vote in my country and my city, Deir el-Balah … and that I, like others in my generation, can finally participate and have a voice,” said Dunia, a first-year nursing student at Al-Aqsa University.

“Honestly, I had never voted before and didn’t have a clear idea … but when the elections came, my father explained how things work and how our voices could help change the difficult reality we live in, even a little,” she said.

Like many of her peers, Dunia’s motivations are practical and directly tied to daily life, which has sharply deteriorated since Israel launched the war in October 2023. She chose a candidate list composed mostly of young people, describing them as “capable and experienced in their work,” reflecting her hope for a more efficient municipal administration.

“The reality the city is living after displacement is far from stable… the situation is tragic, especially cleanliness, public streets, healthcare, and even education … everything is in very bad condition.”

“I hope these elections help create a situation where students return to schools, and new housing alternatives and camps are provided for displaced people instead of using schools,” she said.

“We want things to go back to how they were … schools should return to students instead of being shelters, hospitals should improve, and streets should be cleaned,” she says.

A long-delayed moment

For Awda Abdel Karim Abu Baraka, 73, the elections represent an opportunity to choose those capable of “reviving society and institutions that have been stalled for years”.

He believes that the local elections could carry broader significance beyond Deir el-Balah. “They are part of a larger system … the West Bank and Gaza,” he explains.

“Holding elections today in Deir el-Balah shows the world that we are a democratic people, and we choose our representatives without imposition,” he adds, expressing hope that “the international community will support this path.”

He also stressed the need for the winners of the vote to respect the city’s residents who have suffered for years amid Israel’s war. “There must be real programmes, not high slogans that later fall … the citizens must be respected, and their dignity and humanity – violated by war – must be restored.”

Despite recognising the scale of challenges, he remains committed to gradual change. “We know the challenges are big and that change takes time … a long journey begins with a single step, and hopefully, this is the first step on the way.”

‘Born out of nothing’

Meanwhile, Mohammad Abu Nada, coordinator of the Deir el-Balah electoral district, moved between voters and staff inside tents set up in place of school polling stations, describing an electoral process that was “born out of nothing”.

He recalls greeting the initial announcement of the elections by the Central Elections Commission in the West Bank with a mix of surprise and a sense of responsibility.

“At first, the news was unexpected … there was joy that we were returning to work after two and a half years of suffering under war, but at the same time, there was a strong sense of responsibility.”

That feeling quickly collided with the complex logistical reality in a city suffering from widespread destruction and severe shortages of resources.

“Capabilities are extremely limited … even this place was just empty land. We relied on tents from international organisations to use as polling stations,” he says, noting that most schools have been turned into shelters for displaced people.

Despite these challenges, polling centres were set up across the city, in a task he describes as far from easy.

The difficulties did not stop there. Essential electoral materials, usually transported from Ramallah, were prevented from entering Gaza.

Abu Nada explains the challenges in securing logistical items such as ballot boxes, stamps, papers, and campaign materials.

“We had to rely on our local capabilities … ballot boxes were designed and manufactured here in Deir el-Balah, and they served the purpose fully.”

Even electoral ink was unavailable after being denied entry by Israeli authorities. “We used ink previously used by the World Health Organization during vaccination campaigns … we tested it, and it stays on the finger for days and worked well,” he explains.

Amid shortages and soaring prices – “multiplied 10 times” – work continued intensively.

“We worked day and night … everything was difficult, from papers to stamps, but in the end we managed,” he says, noting that approximately 70,000 voters are eligible in the city.

While turnout appeared to be limited in the early morning, it picked up later in the day, Abu Nada said, attributing the slow start to people’s focus on meeting basic needs.

“People are standing in lines for water and bread … but we expect turnout to increase.”

The choice of Deir el-Balah for holding elections was not random, but due to its relatively better conditions compared to other areas.

“It is impossible to hold elections in completely destroyed areas like northern Gaza or Khan Younis … so the decision was to start in an area with minimal capacity, hoping to expand later.”

Still, the challenges facing the upcoming municipal council remain significant.

“Deir el-Balah today is not what it was before the war … population pressure is huge, and expectations from the new municipality are high,” he says.

As for the campaign, Abu Nada explains it was conducted in record time and with intense efforts.

“We worked like a beehive … organised more than 20 awareness workshops, worked with local institutions and influencers, and distributed posters and materials explaining how to vote and encouraging participation.”

At the end of his remarks, he expresses a sense of achievement despite the difficulties.

“Today, in front of everyone, we are exercising our electoral right despite all conditions … and that in itself is a success,” he says.

“And hopefully, this is the first step on a longer road.”

April 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has canceled the trip to Islamabad, Pakistan, in which Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were planning to meet with Iranian officials.

“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there,” Fox News’ White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie reported the president said. “We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”

The two were scheduled to fly to Pakistan Saturday to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the White House confirmed Friday.

But Iranian state news agency IRNA said that no meeting had been scheduled.

Araghchi landed in Islamabad on Friday night for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir, Axios reported. A Pakistani official told Axios that the meeting was expected to focus on relaunching negotiations with the Trump administration.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has departed Islamabad and is on his way to Muscat, Oman, CBS News reported.

Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance traveled with Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad for talks with Iran, but the negotiations failed. The war in Iran has continued since the first attack by the United States in late February. The Strait of Hormuz, a key oil corridor, has been closed by Iran and the United States since the war began.