Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a ban on Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, a group that was designated as a terrorist organization more than two decades ago.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of withdrawing from the country after two decades of war.

The Russian court’s move was a diplomatic victory for the Taliban, who were put on Moscow’s list of terrorist organizations in 2003, making any contact with them punishable under Russian law.

At the same time, Taliban delegations have attended various forums hosted by Russia as Moscow has sought to position itself as a regional power broker.

The court’s ruling on a request by the Prosecutor General’s Office followed last year’s adoption of a law stipulating that the official designation as a terrorist organization could be suspended by a court.

The former Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989.

Russian officials have recently been emphasizing the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan.

In recent years, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have removed the Taliban from their lists of terrorist groups.

The Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, but started to enforce restrictions on women and girls soon after the 2021 takeover. Women are barred from most jobs and public places, including parks, baths and gyms, while girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade.

Such measures have isolated the Taliban on the world stage, although their government has established diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.

The UN this year renewed its call for the Taliban to lift the bans.

The group’s decrees limiting the participation of girls and women have affected foreign aid to the country. The Taliban also have brought back their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, including public executions.

Some Taliban want greater engagement with the international community and want to scrap harsher policies to attract more outside support. In recent months, there has been increased engagement between the Taliban and the US under President Donald Trump, mostly because of prisoner exchanges and releases.

Ibraheem Bahiss, a senior analyst with Crisis Group’s Asia Program, said the Taliban’s listing as a terrorist group was a legal impairment for trade and political ties with Kabul and its lifting reflected Moscow’s desire to improve relations.

“However, beyond making it easier for individuals and businesses to engage with Afghanistan, I am not sure what other major benefit this will have,” he said.

South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said the Russian move was not ground-breaking because many countries had never formally designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization. At the same time, he called the decision a “win-win” for bilateral relations.

For Russia, he said it would serve as a confidence-building measure helping pave the way for more engagement and enabling Moscow to better protect its interests in Afghanistan, particularly concerns about anti-Russia terror groups like Islamic State-Khorasan.

“Meanwhile, for the Taliban, the court decision is a legitimacy-boosting outcome they can leverage to point to international acceptance of their rule,” Kugelman observed.

A US citizen hijacked a small Tropic Air plane in Belize on Thursday at knifepoint, injuring three others before being shot and killed, police said.

The assailant pulled a knife while the plane was in air, demanding the domestic flight take him out of the country, Police Commissioner Chester Williams told journalists.

The hijacker was identified as US citizen Akinyela Sawa Taylor, Williams said, adding that it appeared Taylor was a military veteran.

The plane circled the airspace between northern Belize and capital Belize City as the hijacking was underway, and began to run dangerously low on fuel, the police commissioner said.

Taylor stabbed three people on board, according to Williams, including the pilot and a passenger who shot Taylor with a licensed firearm as the plane landed outside Belize City.

That passenger was rushed to the hospital, as was Taylor, who died from the gunshot wound.

Williams said that it was unclear how Taylor boarded the plane with a knife, though he acknowledged that the country’s smaller airstrips lacked security to fully search passengers.

The attacker had been denied entry to the country over the weekend, according to police. The plane had been due to fly the short route from Corozal near the Mexican border to San Pedro, off the coast. Police said it was unclear how Taylor reached Corozal.

Belizean authorities have reached out to the US embassy in the country for aid in investigating the incident. Luke Martin, public affairs officer for the embassy, told journalists that it had no details on Taylor’s background or motivation so far.

According to information released by the airport, Taylor was a teacher in the United States. He was listed online as previously being a football coach at the McCluer North High School in Florissant, Missouri.

An employee at the school told Reuters that Taylor did not currently work there.

Hamas has rejected the Israeli ceasefire offer presented earlier this week, according to a senior Hamas official, instead calling for a “comprehensive” proposal to end the war.

The rejection prompted far-right Israeli lawmakers to issue calls for an immediate escalation in Gaza, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to unleash “hell” and pursue “complete victory.”

The Israeli ceasefire proposal did not guarantee an end to the war and called for a disarmament of Gaza, both of which have been red lines for Hamas. The militant organization refuses to give up its weapons and demands that any proposal includes a permanent end to the war.

“We want a comprehensive package,” the official said.

The Israeli plan called for a 45-day truce, during which the two sides would aim to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

Under the proposal, the remaining 59 hostages would be released in stages, starting with American-Israeli Edan Alexander on the first day of the truce as a “special gesture” to the United States. A further nine Israeli hostages would be released in two stages in exchange for 120 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,100 detainees held without charge since October 7, 2023.

Israel’s proposal also demands that Hamas provide information about the remaining living Israeli hostages held by the group, “in exchange for information about the Palestinian detainees,” and the release of the bodies of 16 deceased Israeli hostages for the remains of 160 deceased Palestinians held by Israel.

Hamas studied the proposal for several days before responding. But from the beginning, the proposal stood little chance of success. Hamas had repeatedly made clear that it demanded an end to the war as part of any hostage release, and it refused calls for a complete disarmament. Hamas also called for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, whereas the Israeli proposal only included a temporary redeployment of the military.

In a televised statement from Qatar on Thursday night, Khalil Al-Hayya, the head of the negotiating delegation, said, “The resistance and its weaponry are linked to the existence of the (Israeli) occupation, and it is a natural right for our people and all peoples under occupation.”

Al-Hayya insisted that Hamas is “immediately” ready to begin negotiations for a comprehensive agreement that would see the release of the remaining hostages for an “agreed-upon number” of Palestinian prisoners. Such an agreement would include the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction and an end to the blockade of Gaza.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel would continue its bombardment of Gaza. “The state of Israel shall not surrender to Hamas and won’t end the war without the complete victory and fulfillment of all its objectives, including eliminating Hamas and returning all the hostages,” he said in a statement.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir echoed Smotrich, writing on Telegram: “No deal, no ceasefire, and no aid – only the continuation of fighting until the surrender of the Nazis from Gaza. Activate all force and might until Hamas begs on its knees.”

The Hope Forum, a right-wing group representing hostages’ families, tweeted: “Only massive military pressure, a total blockade, and capturing territory will force Hamas to beg for a deal. What are you waiting for?!”

Israel shut off humanitarian aid and supplies going into the coastal enclave in early-March, igniting a humanitarian crisis that UN officials says is the worst since the war began. Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza has displaced more than 500,000 Palestinians in less than a month, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says that the attacks on Gaza have killed nearly 1,700 Palestinians since March 18.

Israel has argued that the humanitarian blockade has pressured Hamas into agreeing to a ceasefire. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “The pressure on Hamas to carry out the deal is heavy and the tension between it and the local population is increasing.”

But that pressure has failed to force Hamas into accepting the latest proposal.

UN warns of humanitarian catastrophe

The United Nations issued a dire warning over the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying lifesaving supplies were nearing “total depletion” due to Israel’s block on aid.

More than 2 million people remain trapped in the besieged enclave, with mental health needs skyrocketing, critical infrastructure in ruins, and essential services on the brink of collapse, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told a press briefing.

Dujarric said that nearly 90% of water infrastructure – including wells, pumping stations, and sewage plants – had been destroyed or damaged by hostilities, exacerbating disease risks and forcing families to rely on unsafe sources.

“Stress levels, particularly among children, are surging as violence and deprivation persist,” Dujarric said, emphasizing that Israel, as the occupying power, bears legal obligations under international law to ensure access to food, medical care, and public health services. The UN reiterated demands for urgent humanitarian access, warning that delays risk mass preventable deaths.

Israel launched its war on Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, following the militant group’s surprise attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

More than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the health ministry in the enclave.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that if it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, the United States needs to abandon its efforts and move on.

“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” he told reporters before departing Paris. “We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable.”

The comments come a day after he and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with European and Ukrainian allies as US President Donald Trump’s administration pushes for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A US-authored outline of a peace plan had received an “encouraging reception” at the talks, according to a State Department readout, which did not give details on the outline. Rubio also spoke with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and conveyed the same outline, the readout said.

Speaking Friday, Rubio said he and Witkoff had come to Paris to “begin to talk about more specific outlines of what it might take to end the war” and whether or not this is a war that can be ended.

“If it’s not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen then I think the president is probably at a point where he’s going to say we’re done,” he said.

“It’s not our war. We didn’t start it. The United States has been helping Ukraine for the past three years and we want it to end, but it’s not our war,” he added.

“President (Trump) has spent 87 days at the highest level of this government repeatedly taking efforts to bring this war to and end. We are now reaching a point when we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not. Which is why we’re engaging both sides.”

Meanwhile, Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine overnight, hitting a residential neighborhood of the city of Kharkiv. The strike killed one person and wounded 67 others, authorities said Friday, adding they feared more people could be trapped beneath the rubble of a damaged apartment building.

Step towards minerals deal

Rubio’s words of warning on Friday come after the US and Ukraine moved closer toward clinching an agreement on a minerals deal on Thursday night.

Kyiv and Washington have now signed a memorandum as a move towards the proposed agreement, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said in a post on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said earlier Thursday that a memorandum related to the deal could be signed remotely that day.

“This document is the result of the professional work of the negotiating teams, which recently completed another round of technical discussions in Washington,” Svyrydenko continued. “Ahead is the finalization of the text of the agreement and its signing — and then, ratification by parliaments.”

“There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries,” Svyrydenko concluded.

An earlier iteration of the minerals deal went unsigned following a public argument between Zelensky and Trump in February.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A striking portrait of a young Palestinian boy who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City has been named Press Photo of the Year.

Photographer Samar Abu Elouf, who is also from Gaza, met nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour three months after an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other. Ajjour and his family were evacuated to Doha, Qatar, where Abu Elouf is based, to receive medical treatment.

“One of the most difficult things Mahmoud’s mother explained to me was how, when Mahmoud first came to the realization that his arms were amputated, the first sentence he said to her was, ‘How will I be able to hug you?’” Abu Elouf wrote in her accompanying notes on the image, which was taken for and published in The New York Times.

The photo is a stark reminder of the long-term costs of the war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands and led to widespread destruction and displacement of its residents. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates about half of those killed are women and children. Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza was triggered by the deadly October 7 rampage by Hamas militants.

“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, in a press statement.

The jury observed three central themes — conflict, migration, and climate change — in the entries this year, says Lucy Conticello, director of photography for Le Monde’s M magazine and one of the judges.

“Another way of seeing them is as stories of resilience, family, and community,” Conticello said in a press statement.

The contrast in the winning photo — light and dark, beauty and pain — captured the attention of the judges, she added.

The winning photo was selected from nearly 60,000 entries submitted by 3,778 photographers across more than 140 countries.

Two other works were selected as runners-up: an otherworldly image of Chinese migrants warming themselves by a fire after crossing the US-Mexico border, and a haunting image of a young man walking to his village, once accessible by boat, along a desert-like riverbed in the Amazon.

Winners were also selected for regional categories, including an ethereal image of a stranded Boeing jet surrounded by floodwaters at Salgado Filho International Airport in Brazil, and a groom at his wedding in Sudan.

The winning images are currently on display in a traveling exhibition, which opens today (April 18) in Amsterdam at De Nieuwe Kerk, followed by shows around the globe, including in London, Jakarta, Sydney and Mexico City.

US airstrikes on an oil port in western Yemen have killed at least 38 people, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported Friday, marking one of the deadliest days since the United States escalated its aerial military campaign against the Iranian-backed group in recent weeks.

US Central Command said Thursday the strikes on Ras Isa fuel port in Hodeidah province were aimed at cutting off revenue to the Houthis, adding the port has been used as a source of illicit profits to the group.

“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen,” the US Central Command said in a statement. “This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”

Al-Masirah reported that all those killed were workers at the port and that the strikes also injured 102 people, citing the Houthi-run health ministry’s regional office.

Since mid-March, US airstrikes have pounded Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting oil refineries, airports and missile sites, with US President Donald Trump vowing to use “overwhelming force” until the US achieves its goal of stopping the Houthis from targeting shipping in the Red Sea.

Houthis have launched numerous missiles against Israel and disrupted shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s war in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attacks.

Video aired on Al-Masirah shows the injured receiving treatment at a hospital after dawn, many with visible burns to their bodies.

“Multiple air raids targeted the area,” a man who identified himself as a civil defense worker told Al-Masirah as he lay on an examination table, breathing heavily. “I found myself falling on the ground as a rocket hit.”

Another survivor at the hospital described the moment the port was struck.

“One strike after another, the whole area was lit on fire,” he told Al-Masirah. “When we managed to leave the area, we saw the place where we were hiding earlier getting struck too.”

The US says its campaign is working. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that multiple Houthi leaders had been killed.

While as many as 80 Houthi military officers may have been killed, according to analysts, the senior echelon of its military and political leadership appears intact. So are at least some of its missile-launching sites.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have continued to launch more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Israel, and barrages of drones and missiles at US navy ships. While none caused major damage, the threat remains.

Early Friday, Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile from Yemen. No injuries were reported, Israel’s emergency service said.

Police have arrested scores of people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 mob attacks on outlets of US fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-United States sentiment and opposition to its ally Israel’s war in Gaza, officials said.

Police in major cities in the Islamic nation, including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital Islamabad, confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC outlets were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalized. At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.

KFC and its parent Yum Brands, both US-based, did not respond to requests for comment.

A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen. The official added there was no protest at the time and they were investigating whether the killing was motivated by political sentiment or some other reason.

In Lahore, police said they were ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets around the city after two attacks took place and five others were prevented.

“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” said Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), were arrested in the city. He added the protests were not officially organized by TLP.

TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan said the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not given any call for protest outside KFC.”

“If any other person claiming to be a TLP leader or activist has indulged in such activity, it should be taken as his personal act which has nothing to do with the party’s policy,” said Khan.

KFC has long been viewed as a symbol of the United States in Pakistan and borne the brunt of anti-American sentiment in recent decades with protests and attacks.

Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protests in Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries in recent months over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

Yum Brands has said one of its other brands, Pizza Hut, has faced a protracted impact from boycotts related to Israel’s war in Gaza.

In Pakistan, local brands have made inroads into its fast-growing cola market as some consumers avoid US brands. In 2023, Coca-Cola’s market share in the consumer sector in Pakistan fell to 5.7% from 6.3% in 2022, according to GlobalData, while PepsiCo’s fell to 10.4% from 10.8%.

Earlier this month, religious clerics in Pakistan called for a boycott of any products or brands that they say support Israel or the American economy, but asked people to stay peaceful and not destroy property.