Attacks on Iran increase and Israel tells Iranians to avoid train travel as deadline to reopen strait of Hormuz looms By Julian Borger, Dan Sabbagh in Jerusalem and Andrew Roth in Washington A reference to the anti-Trump No Kings protests is left on a building at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology that was damaged in an airstrike. Photograph: Majid-Asgaripour/Reuters Donald Trump has warned that Iran ’s “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran did not comply with his demands, as the world braced to see if the president would deliver on his latest threat to order the mass destruction of Iranian power plants and bridges in the absence of a deal by 8pm EDT (1am BST). [Genocide Watch comment: Trump's threat is an open declaration of intent to commit genocide.] Iran’s Revolutionary Guards signalled they were also ready to escalate the war with a threat to retaliate “beyond the region” and “to deprive the US and its allies of oil and gas in the region for years”, suggesting Iran would target oil and gas production facilities in the Gulf and elsewhere, potentially sending the world into a recession. The White House issued a statement on Tuesday insisting the US was not considering the use of a nuclear weapon after the vice-president, JD Vance, triggered concern with a warning that US forces had tools they “so far haven’t decided to use”. But by threatening Iranian “civilization”, Trump appeared unwilling to dispel doubts he was prepared to commit serious war crimes by targeting the country’s population. On Sunday, he said US bombing would destroy all Iran’s power stations and bridges within fours hours of his deadline. Late on Tuesday, Pope Leo described Trump’s threats as “truly unacceptable” and urged people across the world to contact their political leaders to call on them to bring the conflict to an end. “Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” he said. The pope added that attacks on civilian infrastructure were “against international law, but … also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction the human beings are capable of, and that we all want to work for peace”. With Trump’s deadline looming, there was little sign of Pakistani-led peace efforts bearing fruit, with Iran unwilling to give up its main point of leverage, the near-total closure of the strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for the flow of oil, gas and petrochemicals such as fertilizer from the Gulf, in return for a temporary ceasefire. Hours before the deadline, Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, publicly requested that Trump delay his ultimatum to Iran by two weeks in order to “allow diplomacy to run its course”. Sharif did not offer any specific updates on the negotiations, but said diplomatic efforts were “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully, with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future”. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios that Trump “had been made been aware of the proposal, and a response will come”. Sharif also requested that Iran open the strait of Hormuz “as a goodwill gesture” and that “all warring parties” observe a two-week ceasefire. Reuters cited a senior Iranian official as saying that Tehran was reviewing the ceasefire proposal “positively”. However, reports indicated explosions in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday evening, as sirens were heard in Bahrain, where local residents have been requested to shelter in place, and interceptors were said to have engaged targets over the United Arab Emirates. Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice-president, said the country was ready for all possibilities as the deadline approached. “National security and infrastructure sustainability are the subject of our precise calculations,” he wrote on social media. “The government has finalised the necessary measures in detail for all scenarios. No threat is beyond our preparedness and intelligence.” Earlier on X, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said: “More than 14 million proud Iranians have so far registered to sacrifice their lives to defend Iran. I too have been, am and will remain devoted to giving my life for Iran.” Tehran has presented its own 10-point plan, insisting on long-term security guarantees, which Trump has rejected as “not good enough”. Donald Trump at a press conference in Washington DC on Monday. Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images After days of escalating threats, Trump posted a warning on social media Tuesday: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” The president has set deadlines before and allowed them to pass over the five weeks of the conflict, but he insisted on Tuesday the ensuing hours would be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World” unless “something revolutionarily wonderful” happened, with “less radicalized minds” in Iran’s leadership. Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s representative at the UN, said that Trump’s threats constituted “incitement to war crimes – and potentially genocide”. During a security council session on the strait of Hormuz, Iravani said: “Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes. It will exercise, without hesitation, its inherent right of self-defence and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures.” Through his spokesperson, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, issued a reminder on Monday that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, but Trump declared on the same day he was “not at all” concerned about being called a war criminal. A US B-2 stealth bomber flanked by fighter jets. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters Officers in the chain of command are obligated under US and international law not to carry out blatantly unlawful orders but it was unclear whether there was anyone left in Trump’s entourage willing to intervene to stop him. In the hours before Trump’s deadline, Israel mounted its own attacks on Iran’s infrastructure. A rail bridge in the central city of Kashan was one of the first reported bombed on Tuesday by Iranian state media, with two people reportedly killed as Israel’s military said it had launched “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting dozens of infrastructure sites”. A bridge over a railway line near Karaj, to the north-west of Tehran, was hit, according to Iranian media, and power outages were reported in the same city after a substation and transmission lines were bombed. Bridges near Qom and Tabriz were also reportedly hit. The US also struck 50 military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, the home to its main oil export terminal, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical complex in retaliation for strikes on an Iranian petrochemical facility the night before. Israel’s military, writing in Farsi on social media, said on Tuesday morning that “from this moment” – 8.50am Iran time – until 9pm, Iranians should refrain from “travelling by train throughout Iran” for the sake of their own security. “Your presence on trains and near railway lines endangers your life,” the statement continued in a clear warning that stations and tracks normally used by civilians would be bombed on Tuesday. Iranian media reported on Tuesday that the Khorramabad airport, in western Iran, had been attacked, and Israel said it had conducted another wave of strikes on Tehran overnight. Israel’s military said it had bombed a petrochemical facility in Shiraz, where it said nitric acid used to make explosives was produced, as well as a ballistic missile launch site in north-western Iran. Israel’s military expressed regret on Tuesday for damage caused to a synagogue in Tehran, claiming it was “collateral damage” from a strike against a “senior military target”. Iranian media said the synagogue, serving the capital’s small Jewish population, had been destroyed. © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

A temporary clinic in Tawila for people fleeing conflict in Darfur. "There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war," says UN Women. © UNFPA Rape is used as a weapon in Sudan's war, doctors group says The Washington Post March 31, 2026   By Evelyne Musambi and Samy Magdy | AP The aid group Doctors Without Border says that sexual violence against women and girls is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan’s fierce conflict between the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces NAIROBI, Kenya — Sexual violence against women and girls is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan  ‘s fierce conflict between the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, international aid group Doctors Without Borders said in a report Tuesday. Sudan slid into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle  between the two forces exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere. The International Criminal Court is investigating mass killings, gang rapes and other crimes during the conflict as potential war crimes  and crimes against humanity. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, detailed in its report the accounts of women who were gang raped in the South Darfur and North Darfur regions. MSF said that at least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence sought treatment at their facilities between January 2024 and November 2025. The group said most of the survivors identified the perpetrators as armed men, with 60% of the cases in South Darfur involving multiple perpetrators. In the report, one survivor narrated her horrific ordeal. “They took us to an open area. The first man raped me twice, the second once, the third four times,” she is quoted in the report as saying. MSF Emergency Coordinator Myriam Laroussi, who was in Tawila, North Darfur, supporting teams in late 2025 after the fall of El Fasher, told journalists at the report launch in Nairobi, Kenya, that the numbers captured in the report were just a “tip of the iceberg” and that the scale of the sexual violence is bigger in areas where MSF lacks access. An MSF midwife, Gloria Endreo, said the team saw an average of 10 to 15 women daily, with most of them coming after the initial 72 hours, which are considered a critical period for treating injuries and trauma, avoiding infections and preventing unwanted pregnancies. Most victims have to walk for days or get a camel ride to Tawila. “As healthcare practitioners, we consider the 72 hours as a golden period because we provide a lot of care within that period,” Endreo said. Sexual violence affects not just the victims but the broader community because in some cases the girls were raped in front of their mothers and grandparents, said Andreza Trajano, a sexual health specialist at MSF. Some community members are unable to conduct daily activities like farming for fear of sexual assault, Trajano said. “Will we continue to just let women’s and girls’ bodies be used as a weapon of war?” she said. MSF urged the United Nations to have a stronger presence in Sudan to help respond to the needs of communities. The devastating war  has killed more than 59,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and that the true number could be many times higher. The fighting has recently centered in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, where deadly attacks, mostly by drones, were reported daily. More than 500 civilians were killed in drone strikes this year as of mid-March, the U.N. Human Rights Office said. Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt. Copyright 2026 The Washington Post

Palestinian students walk to school using an alternative route that is nearly twice as long because a fence separates their village from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel, near the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Associated Press April 15, 2026 By SAM METZ and JALAL BWAITEL RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Hajar and Rashid Hathaleen have always walked to school from their neighborhood on the outskirts of Umm al-Khair. But when classes resumed this week for the first time since the Iran war began, coiled barbed wire blocked the Palestinian siblings’ path to the village center. Israeli settlers had installed it overnight, according to video that Palestinian residents provided to The Associated Press. Palestinians say the improvised fence is just the latest attempt by settlers to expand control in part of the occupied West Bank where state-backed demolitions, arson and vandalism regularly occur and settler violence, at times lethal, is rarely prosecuted. The villagers’ plight was covered in the 2024 Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” but the publicity has done little to stem the bloodshed or curb land grabs. They say Israel has used the cover of the Iran war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the military imposes additional wartime restrictions on movement, citing security. Khalil Hathaleen, head of the village council and a member of the extended family that makes up much of Umm al-Khair’s population, said settlers were exploiting the war to seize land, cut down olive groves and raid nearby villages at night. “It was a good chance for settlers to do what they want, with no rules,” he said. Like in Israel, Palestinian kids stayed home before last week’s ceasefire, with the threat of falling missile debris leading schools to close. Hajar, her brother Rashid and their classmates sat waiting Monday and Tuesday near Israeli flags, the barbed wire and newly felled trees as their parents and village leaders demanded they be allowed to pass. On Monday, the children were met by plumes of tear gas and sound grenades hurled by armed men in an unmarked white truck, including some uniformed soldiers, according to the video. Israel’s military said troops used “riot dispersal means” outside Carmel, the settlement next to Umm al-Khair. It acknowledged that children were present but said the measures — which it didn’t detail — were directed at adults in the area, not the children. The Har Hevron Regional Council, the settlements’ local government in the area, did not respond to questions about the fence. Bedouins and other villagers have been using the 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) path from the neighborhood of Khirbet Umm al-Khair to the village center for decades. “We are determined to keep it,” Khalil Hathaleen said. The fence is just another way that Palestinian movement is being restricted as Israeli settlements multiply in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians say it follows a well-worn pattern in which settlers erect fences or claim farmland that Palestinians say is theirs, and then move to enforce this new reality with the backing of Israel’s military. Hathaleen said Israeli forces sometimes restrain the settlers, but more often than not they defer to them. “We are refused a solution,” he said. The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements illegal. Israel, meanwhile, views the territory as disputed and says its final status is subject to negotiations. The outposts are built without the permission of Israeli authorities, who sometimes dismantle them but other times turn a blind eye or even legalize them retroactively. Hathaleen said the military’s civil administration unit told Umm Al-Khair to divert students to another path. But parents said the alternate route is roughly twice as long and more dangerous, requiring them to pass near Carmel. “We have deep concerns as parents and as residents that the (Israeli) occupation and soldiers will attack students,” said Al-Mutasim Hathaleen, another parent. On Tuesday, some students got to school on buses that took the alternate route. But classrooms sat half-empty and the playground was deserted. There was no school on Wednesday due to Palestinian Authority cuts to teacher salaries in the area. But on Thursday, kids will try again to get to school on their regular route, Khalil Hathaleen said. Testing the settlers’ resolve could be risky. Israeli officials and military leaders have recently sounded the alarm over intensifying violence and lawlessness by extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank, where arsons and deadly attacks have continued unabated. At least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers across the territory in 2026. Settlers have killed eight Palestinians — an equal number to all of 2025. The Israeli rights group B’Tselem, following the killing of a 23-year-old Palestinian man by a settler, said that what it called “daily unbridled violence” amounted to Israeli government policy, noting that many of those involved are army reservists. “These militias are fully backed by the state of Israel and enjoy complete impunity for killing, assaulting and looting Palestinian residents,” it said. ___ Associated Press reporter Amer Abdeen contributed reporting from Umm Al-Khair, West Bank. Copyright 2026 Associated Press

Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, the national security minister, and other Israeli hard-liners had campaigned on a promise to execute Palestinian militants.Credit ...Erik Marmor/Getty Images Genocide Emergency Alert: Israel’s Death Penalty Law Violates International Law and Israel’s Basic Law   Israel has executed only two convicted criminals since 1948. The first was Meir Tobianski, executed in 1948 for treason, who was posthumously exonerated. The second was Adolf Eichmann, executed in 1962 for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against the Jewish people.   On March 30, 2026, in a 62 to 47 vote, Israel’s parliament passed a law mandating capital punishment —by hanging—for  acts of terrorism and killings “negating the existence of the State of Israel”. The law includes procedures that expedite executions and it sharply limits opportunities for appeal. The law as written will be exclusively applied to Palestinians. The law was introduced by the far-right Jewish Power party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.    The law’s scope is explicitly exclusionary. Israeli citizens and residents are not subject to its provisions. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will be prosecuted in military courts. Israeli settlers in the West Bank are subject to civilian courts. The West Bank and Gaza will have two unequal legal systems. Palestinians may be sentenced to death. Israelis will not be subject to capital punishment. The law violates Article 4 -- protection of life, body and dignity in Israel’s Basic Law.   The law weakens safeguards traditionally associated with use of the death penalty. It includes lowered evidentiary thresholds, altered judicial requirements, and the possibility of convictions without unanimity. It imposes an accelerated timeline for executions— 90 days—restricting meaningful avenues for review and heightening the risk of irreversible error.   Israeli military courts have been trying Palestinians in the Occupied Territories since 1967. Military court judges and prosecutors are always Israeli soldiers in uniform. Palestinian defendants are almost always convicted for violating orders issued by Israel. Military courts are powerful mechanisms for maintaining Israel’s control over Palestinians   Israeli military courts have a longstanding record of discrimination against Palestinians. Conviction rates in military courts reach 96 percent , raising serious questions about the presumption of innocence and the independence of judicial proceedings. Amnesty International , B’Tselem  and the UN Special Rapporteur  on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories have documented coercive interrogation practices, including torture, to extract “confessions.”   Israel is a State-Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Hague Conventions of 1907, and the Geneva Conventions.   ICCPR Article 6(2) permits capital punishment only under the most restrictive conditions. Where it has not been abolished, the death penalty must be reserved for the “most serious crimes” and applied in full compliance with stringent fair trial guarantees.  Imposition of capital punishment that discriminates by ethnic identity or citizenship is collective punishment that violates Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions.  It is a war crime.   The Hague Conventions of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibit occupying powers from resettling their citizens in occupied territories. They protect the rights of populations under occupation.   Under the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts by the International Law Commission , states are obligated not to recognize or support discriminatory policies  under international law.   The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  and Amnesty International have called for repeal of this discriminatory law.   Genocide Watch condemns the 2026 Israeli death penalty law and calls for its repeal. The Supreme Court of Israel should rule that the 2026 death penalty law violates Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, Articles 2 and 4 (“All persons are entitled to protection of their life, body, and dignity.”)

By Talia Sasson The prickly pear cactus, a widely recognized symbol in Palestinian culture, representing steadfastness and the ability to survive prolonged hardship while remaining rooted to the land, even in harsh conditions .Credit- Valerio Muscella The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, last week passed a law allowing the hanging of Palestinians convicted of killings during militant attacks, using language that effectively exempts Jewish perpetrators of nationalistic violence. This legislation is both unconstitutional and discriminatory. Beyond its fundamental immorality, the law is part of a larger, accelerating effort to systematically end once and for all the possibility of a Palestinian state. That effort includes the uncontrolled surge in violence by settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and a strategic restructuring of the West Bank’s administration intended to make it easier for settlers and the state to seize Palestinian land. An alliance of settlers and far-right politicians is the primary engine behind this radical transformation. While polls show that most Israelis support it, the legislation was pushed through by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure the survival of his governing coalition by indulging the vengeance narrative that serves as the cornerstone of the political goals of the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key partner in the coalition. Its passage comes on the heels of a sharp escalation in near-daily acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past year. Settlers have raided Palestinian villages, setting fire to homes and vehicles, harming livestock and uprooting trees. In February and March alone, settlers reportedly killed eight Palestinians. Settlers continue to establish illegal outposts within Area A — territory that under the Oslo peace accords of the 1990s is designated for full Palestinian civil and security control. According to data from the United Nations, 36,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes in the West Bank last year, 3,500 of them forced out directly by settler violence. This trend intensified in the first three months of 2026, with 1,697 Palestinians already displaced. Historically, Israeli soldiers have been reluctant to enforce the law when Jewish settlers commit crimes, often viewing such actions as an unwanted entanglement in political disputes over the fate of the West Bank. This reluctance has evolved into radicalization among troops since Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right government took office in late 2022 — and that radicalization has sharply accelerated since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In several documented instances,soldiers have even reportedly participated in crimes against Palestinians. Conversely, in some cases where soldiers have attempted to curb settlers’ illegal behavior, they have found themselves the targets of settler attacks. Last month, a CNN crew arrived in the village of Tayasir in the northern Jordan Valley to report on an attack by settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost. While documenting the scene, the journalists were assaulted and detained by Israeli soldiers for two hours at gunpoint. During the detention, soldiers were captured on camera echoing settler ideology, defending the outposts and speaking of acting out of revenge. The military labeled the matter a “grave ethical incident” and took the highly unusual step of suspending the operations of the entire battalion, mainly composed of former members of the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda unit. The battalion’s commanders were reprimanded, and one soldier was ejected from the military. Such isolated disciplinary measures fail to address a systemic, untreated malaise within the military’s ranks and the systemic discrimination against Palestinians that is embedded in law enforcement. The Israel Police rarely conducts thorough investigations into settler violence, and such cases almost never result in indictments. While the Shin Bet, the domestic security service, can issue administrative restraining orders against extremists and carry out administrative detentions of them, Defense Minister Israel Katz has moved to stop the use of such measures against Jewish settlers, although the vast majority of detainees were Palestinian. This policy only serves to embolden Jewish extremist activity in the territories. While building a governing coalition, Mr. Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich , the finance minister, agreed that Mr. Smotrich would take an additional role, within the Defense Ministry, to effectively administer the West Bank. Mr. Smotrich has called for one state under Israeli control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Since taking office, he has focused on expanding settlements, notably through the establishment of dozens of Israeli “agricultural farms” across the West Bank. These illegal outposts are intended to eventually become legal settlements under Israeli law. (The United Nations’ top court has deemed all settlements to be illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.) In February, the government approved measures meant to significantly ease land acquisition for Jewish residents in the West Bank and to open the formal land registration process for the first time since 1967, making it easier to expand settlements and more difficult for Palestinians to claim ancestral property. Moreover, planning and administrative power over land use, historically held by Palestinian municipalities under the Oslo Accords, and including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, were transferred to Israeli authorities. Compounding this crisis are the conflict in Gaza, which has fueled deep-seated animosity toward Palestinians in Israel, and the new war with Iran, which has pushed the heightened volatility and violence in the West Bank to the periphery of public discourse. Under the cover of regional escalation, the fire in the territories burns quietly, out of sight. And yet, amid all this, a new chorus of voices is emerging within the Israeli public — both Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel — that rejects the atrocities occurring in the West Bank. Through petitions and the media, these citizens are calling on the government and security forces to act immediately to halt these acts of terror. They demand that law enforcement take a decisive stand against shameful deeds being carried out in their name, and have condemned the new death penalty law as racist, unconstitutional and immoral. As the number of Israelis protesting these actions grows, so too does the likelihood that the government will move to halt the atrocities. Ultimately, no factor remains more consequential to Israel’s trajectory than the Trump administration, which could still use its leverage over Mr. Netanyahu to push him to de-escalate the situation in the West Bank. I believe that once the Israeli government resolves to do so, it possesses the power to bring an end to most of this violence. © 2026 The New York Times Company

12 April 2026 Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, addresses after a parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favor of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions. It was a stunning blow for Orbán — a close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — who quickly conceded defeat after what he called a ″painful″ election result . U.S. Vice President JD Vance had made a visit to Hungary just days earlier, meant to help push Orbán over the finish line. Election victor Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO — ties that frayed under Orbán. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar. His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orbán had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside. It will also reverberate among far-right movements around the world, which have viewed Orbán as a beacon for how nationalist populism can be used to wage culture wars and leverage state power to undermine opponents. It’s not yet clear whether Magyar’s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament, which would give it the numbers needed for major changes in legislation. With 93% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 37% for Orbán’s governing Fidesz party and looked set to win 94 of Hungary’s 106 voting districts. “I congratulated the victorious party,″ Orban told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.″ Jubilation erupted along the Danube In a speech to tens of thousands of jubilant supporters at a victory party along the Danube River, Magyar said his voters had rewritten Hungarian history. “Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,” he said. On the streets of Budapest, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed. Many revelers chanted “Ruszkik haza!” or “Russians go home!” — a phrase used widely during Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, and which had gained increasing currency amid Orbán’s drift toward Moscow. Turnout in the election was nearly 80%, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any vote in Hungary’s post-Communist history. ‘Choice between East or West’ Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right. The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orbán repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighboring country in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy imports. Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orbán’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc. Members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orbán’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy and the rule of law. In Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to breakdown these boundaries borne of hatred.” Strained relationship with the EU During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms , subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies. He also heavily strained Hungary’s relationship with the EU. Although Hungary is one of the smaller EU countries, with a population of 9.5 million, Orbán has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity. Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid. His challenger came from the inside Magyar, 45, rapidly rose to become Orbán’s most serious challenger. A former insider within Orbán’s Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily. In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Russia under Orbán, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe. Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party, the mainstream, center-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU’s 27 nations. Uphill election battle Magyar faced a tough fight. Orbán’s control of Hungary’s public media, which he has transformed into a mouthpiece for his party, and vast swaths of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message. The unilateral transformation of Hungary’s electoral system and gerrymandering of its 106 voting districts by Fidesz also required Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orbán’s party to achieve a simple majority. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries had the right to vote in Hungarian elections and traditionally have voted overwhelmingly for Orbán’s party. Russian secret services have plotted to interfere and tip the election in Orbán’s favor, according to numerous media reports, including by The Washington Post. The prime minister, however, accused neighboring Ukraine , as well as Hungary’s allies in the EU, of seeking to interfere in the vote to install a “pro-Ukraine” government. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Up to 200 civilians killed in Nigeria after air force 'misfire' on market Associated Press April 13, 2026 Civilian patients in   hospital in Yobe state, northeast Nigeria wounded in Nigerian Air Force strike ostensibly aimed at Boko Haram terrorists.  Copyright AP Photo   By  Gavin Blackburn   Such "misfires" are common in Nigeria, where the military often conducts air raids to battle armed groups who control vast forest enclaves. A Nigerian Air Force strike targeting jihadist rebels hit a local market in the northeast, killing as many as 200 civilians, a local chief reported on Monday. Officials confirmed a "misfire" but provided no further details. Amnesty International cited survivors as saying that at least 100 people were killed in the air strike on Saturday on a village in Yobe state, near the border with Borno state, which is the epicentre of the insurgency that has ravaged the region for over a decade. “We have their pictures and they include children,” Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International's Nigeria director, said, referring to the casualties. “We are in touch with people that are there, we spoke with the hospital,” he said. “We spoke with the person in charge of casualties and we spoke with the victims.” A worker at the Geidam General hospital in Yobe, said at least 23 people injured in the incident were receiving treatment. The worker spoke anonymously as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Patients receive treatment at a hospital in Damaturu after Air Force strikes in northeastern Nigeria, 12 April, 2026 AP Photo   Such "misfires" are common in Nigeria, where the military often conducts air raids to battle armed groups who control vast forest enclaves. At least 500 civilians have died since 2017 in such "misfires," according to a tally of reported deaths carried out by the AP news agency. Security analysts point to loopholes in intelligence gathering as well as insufficient coordination between ground troops, air assets and stakeholders. The large, remote market located near the Borno-Yobe border is known to be often used by Boko Haram militants to buy food supplies. Abdulmumin Bulama, a member of a civilian security group working with the Nigerian military in the northeast, said there was intelligence that Boko Haram terrorists had gathered very close to the market and were planning an attack on nearby communities. “The intel was shared and the Air Force jet acted based on the credible information,” Bulama said. The Yobe State Government confirmed in a statement that a Nigerian military strike was targeting a stronghold of the Boko Haram jihadi group in the area and that “some people…who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected.” The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency also acknowledged that an incident had occurred resulting in “casualties affecting some marketers” and said it had dispatched response teams to the area. Nigeria's military issued a statement saying it conducted a successful strike on a “terrorist enclave and logistics hub” belonging to terrorists in the area, killing scores of them as they rode on motorcycles. It did not provide any detail about a possible misfire, but noted that motorcycles remain prohibited in conflict hot spots and “any such movements in restricted areas are therefore treated with the utmost seriousness.” Patients receive treatment at a hospital in Damaturu after Air Force strikes in northeastern Nigeria, 12 April, 2026 AP Photo Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the incident, adding that the military is “fond of” labelling civilian casualties as “bandits.” Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country, is battling a complex security crisis, especially in the north, where there is a decade-long insurgency and several armed groups that kidnap for ransom. Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, which is affiliated with the Islamic State group and known as Islamic State West Africa Province. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa group operating in communities in the northwestern part of the country that borders Niger Republic. [Genocide Watch note: Fulani jihadists in Nigeria's central and northern states are the most murderous terrorist group. They have killed tens of thousands of Christians since 2009, leaving Muslim villages unharmed. Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Lakarawa kill and kidnap both Christians and Muslims. US missiles aimed at ISWAP with Nigerian government permission have only struck empty fields. There is strong evidence of complicity by Muslim Nigerian military generals with Fulani jihadists.] Additional sources  • AP, AFP Copyright 2026 Associated Press   https://www.euronews.com/2026/04/13/up-to-200-civilians-killed-in-nigeria-after-air-force-misfire-on-market-sources-say

Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent faces of political commentary in Russia. Credit BBC, originally from Solovyov Live, VGTRK March 2026 By Vladimir Kovtun Genocide Watch is issuing a genocide alert on Russia’s incitement against Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Russia has begun an information campaign regarding the Baltic countries which is similar to its propaganda strategy against Ukraine. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), this constitutes a “phase zero” that lays the ideological groundwork for war. Though Russia has not explicitly called for the extermination of the Baltic people, Russia’s incendiary rhetoric is approaching the level of a “Direct and public incitement to commit Genocide,” defined as a punishable act by Article III of the United Nations (U.N.) Genocide Convention. First and foremost, Russia’s narrative claims that the Baltic states are reportedly working to eliminate the Russian-speaking populations within their borders. To back up this claim, they tend to cite laws such as the ban on Russian language education , even as a second language in school. Indeed, the Baltic states are actively trying to reduce the role of the Russian language in their societies, with Latvia and Estonia actively ending Russian language education. However, Russia uses this fact to push sensationalist narratives that the Baltic states are pursuing ethnocide against Russians. This claim has been invoked to advance the idea that the Baltics are actively following national socialist (NS) ideology. The Russian Duma has passed a law comparing Latvia’s actions to “The Third Reich,” and Russian-linked figures in Latvia claim that the government’s next steps could be to “create a closed area for Russians” or “ban Russian names.” The Russian Foreign Ministry itself alleges that Latvia’s government is “aggressively imposing a Nazi cult” and that the Baltic states actively celebrate NS ideology. It must be noted that there is no backing to Russia’s claims, and Latvia has been found not to have discriminatory laws against Russians that break the European Convention on Human Rights. This, in effect, is dehumanization, as it provides the same moral justification used in Russian propaganda for atrocities against Ukrainians. This “accusation in a mirror” works to justify atrocities by concocting an existential threat which makes planned actions seem logical rather than morally abhorrent. Similar to its actions before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has built a historical narrative minimizing the Baltic states’ case for independence from Russia. In 2025, Professor Maxim Grigorev of the Moscow Institute for International Relations (MGIMO), Russia’s top research university, published the book “The History of Lithuania,” which emphasized early Lithuania’s inherent position in the Russian sphere and claimed that Lithuania’s official narrative of its founding is mythical. The book’s foreword was written by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who celebrated its challenge against “False narratives.”   Finally, Russia’s narratives assert that the Baltic states are actively aggressing against Russia. Foreign Minister Lavrov has claimed that Lithuania is blocking access to Kaliningrad (a Russian enclave located between Lithuania and Poland) so as to elicit a Russian reaction and a NATO response. Similar allegations were used to justify the invasion of Ukraine . These narratives have also contributed to the spread of hate speech, with Vladimir Solovyov, a famous news anchor on state TV channel Russia 1, calling for Russia to “obliterate the Baltics.” It seems that Russia is suggesting that a casus belli for war already exists, normalizing war for Russians. Based on Genocide Watch President Gregory Stanton’s Ten Stages of Genocide , Genocide Watch assesses that Russia is engaging in Stage 1: Classification and Stage 2: Dehumanization of the Baltic states and their people.  To prevent this incitement from translating into atrocities, Genocide Watch recommends: Provide the European Digital Media Observatory ( EDMO ) with greater resources to counter propaganda in the Baltics, aiming to weaken Russia’s stranglehold on the local Russian diaspora. Strengthen European Union-level coordination mechanisms to disrupt illicit financial networks used to sustain Russian intelligence networks. Reverse policies ending Russian language education in the Baltics, in favor of continuing to protect minority languages in order to mitigate local grievances. This has been shown to stop intercommunal conflict .

Is morality dead on arrival? Independent Catholic News April 9, 2026 By Rebecca Tinsley Until recently, nations gave lip service to international laws that classified certain actions during conflict - attacking hospitals and essential civilian infrastructure like power generation and desalination plants - as illegal. Such attacks might only be lawful if the military advantage gained outweighed the loss of civilian life. The problem arose - vexing politicians, military leaders and human rights lawyers - in the case of "dual use" targets such as bridges essential for the transfer of enemy military equipment or hospitals and schools which belligerents treated as human shields. Now, medical facilities and personnel are deliberately targeted in Sudan and Gaza in defiance of the Geneva Conventions. Leaders threaten to destroy entire civilisations, in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention (a gift to China's President Xi and Russia's Putin). Medical staff and ambulances are singled out with impunity. Can the international community return to at least the pretence that perpetrators of crimes under international law will be held accountable? Or was the promise of ethical policy always "partially false", as Canada's leader recently conceded at the Davos conference? Following the Second World War, most members of the United Nations ratified the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions, and other humanitarian laws. In theory, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice would hold abusers to account. Many assumed these were signs the human race was evolving from savagery to civilisation. Yet, in the largely ignored war in Sudan, MSF reports: "Hospitals have been looted, bombed, or occupied. Medical staff have been threatened, detained, or forced to flee, and ambulances have been blocked…. with Sudan accounting for 82% of global deaths from attacks on healthcare in 2025." Commenting on the March 22nd attack on Ed-Daein Hospital in Darfur, the Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect notes, "it is not an isolated incident but part of a clear pattern of attacks on protected persons and objects, with devastating consequences for civilians. According to the WHO, 2,036 people have been killed in 213 attacks on health care since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023." Recent attacks include an April 2nd strike on Al Jabalain Hospital that killed 10 people, including seven medical staff. Soldiers beat medical staff and destroyed equipment. The same day, a drone destroyed the operating complex of a hospital in White Nile state, killing the director, Dr Hamed Suleiman, who was performing surgery at the time. Ten other medics were killed. The targeting of Gaza's medical facilities has drawn more attention. As of May 2025, the World Health Organisation reports 697 attacks since October 2023, with 94% of hospitals damaged or destroyed. In an updated report, WHO logged 735 attacks on health care in Gaza from 7 October 2023 to 11 June 2025, killing 917 persons and injured 1411, affected 125 health facilities, and damaged 34 hospitals: 1151 healthcare workers have been killed, and 165 doctors are dead. "Deliberate attacks on health and care workers, and health facilities, which are gross violations of international humanitarian law, must stop now," according to the UN's expert panel. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney When Canada's Prime Minister Carney spoke at Davos, he admitted there is a yawning gap between humanitarian law and reality. "Stop invoking the rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised," he warned. "We knew…. the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim." The problem is that international laws and institutions have few enforcement mechanisms and no battalions, to paraphrase Stalin's comment about the Pope. In 2005, the UN adopted the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine which charged all nations with intervening to stop crimes again humanity, war crimes and genocide. Yet, at the same moment, a genocide was raging in Darfur; no country responded. This failure to challenge impunity guaranteed the current slaughter in Sudan, with at least 150,000 killed in the past three years. Yet, surely the pretence that international law exists and acknowledges ethics, morals, or values - choose your word - is preferable to the current brute force. Finland's President Alexander Stubb describes this as "value-based realism." Prime Minister Carney calls for coalitions of "middle powers" (the EU, the UK, Australia, Japan, Canada) "that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to work together…..and honest foreign policy, because countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability to retaliation." We must hope that Mark Carney's vision of an ad hoc coalition of concerned countries upholding international norms, albeit imperfectly, succeeds. Rebecca Tinsley is the founder of   www.WagingPeace.info Tags:   Rebecca Tinsley , Justice , Morality , Sudan , Gaza , Mark Carney , Al Jabalain Hospital , Darfur , Geneva Convention , Davos , Putin , Genocide , President Xi , Putin , Alexander Stubb , World Health Organisation , WHO ,

Serbia plans to produce drones with the Israeli arms giant Elbit Systems, BIRN/Haaretz can reveal, despite the firm’s high-profile involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza. April 7, 2026 07:45 Hermes 900, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for tactical missions that Elbit sold to Serbia, was displayed at a military parade in Belgrade on October 20, 2025. Photo: BIRN/Sasa Dragojlo In early March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the imminent opening of a drone factory. “For serious drones,” he said. “The most serious in the world.” Vucic said the factory would be a joint venture between two partners and might be ready in April, but he didn’t specify with whom Serbia was partnering. The answer might prove unsavoury for some. BIRN and Haaretz can reveal that the factory will be co-owned by top Israeli Elbit Systems and Serbia’s main state-owned import-export company, SDPR – with the Israeli partner having a majority state of 51 per cent. In a June 2025 report, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese named Elbit Systems among a number of companies profiting from “the ongoing genocide” in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli military operations since the October 2023 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas. According to official documents obtained by BIRN/Haaretz and two independent sources, Elbit and SDPR plan to produce two types of drones for short- and long-range missions. The partnership arguably takes defence ties between the two countries to a new level; the value of Serbian arms exports to Israel has already skyrocketed 42-fold since 2023, reaching 114 million euros last year . Most of those exports were carried out by SDPR. Serbia stands to benefit financially from the drone joint venture and from the transfer of technology and knowledge from one of the most advanced arms companies in the world, said Vuk Vuksanovic, foreign policy lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Israel, on the other hand, is keen to secure a military supply chain outside its immediate region, “which is constantly in a conflict zone”, he told BIRN. On a geopolitical level, Vuksanovic said Serbia’s ruling elite has come to see Israel as a “shortcut to the White House”, at a time of growing popular dissatisfaction with Vucic and the ruling Progressive Party after 14 years in power. “The Serbian ruling party’s main priority now is staying in power and in order to achieve that, it is best not to anger the Americans, especially in the context of recent Trump moves in the global arena,” he said. SDPR did not respond to questions from BIRN, while Elbit Systems only replied: “No comment.” ‘Omnipresent killing machines’ The plan for the project, according to documents reviewed by BIRN and corroborated by two independent sources close to the Serbian arms industry, is to produce two types of drones – a rotary-wing model capable of carrying heavy payloads of ammunition on short-range missions and a more sophisticated, long-range drone capable of flying at altitudes of up to 6,000 metres. One source said the long-range drone is “more advanced” than the Serbian-produced Pegasus. “It has a higher flight altitude and greater operational autonomy,” the source told BIRN on condition of anonymity. “That’s the essence, because we can’t achieve that ourselves.” “The general idea is the transfer of technology, because Serbian engineers will be working on it as well, and that drone is the crown of the whole story.” According to one source, engineers from the Serbian aircraft company UTVA, owned by SDPR, will be also involved in the project. Albanese’s report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide , mentions drones developed and supplied by Elbit Systems and another Israeli company as flying alongside the Israeli fighter jets that have been bombing Gaza. The drones, she wrote, provide surveillance of Palestinians and intelligence on targets. With the support of these companies and collaboration with institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, wrote Albanese, “drones used by Israel acquired automated weapons systems and the ability to fly in swarm formation”. “Drones, hexacopters and quadcopters have also been omnipresent killing machines in the skies of Gaza,” she declared. Albanese identified Elbit System as among those companies that “contribute to producing the tools for surveillance, crowd control, urban warfare, facial recognition and targeted killing, tools that are effectively tested on Palestinians”. Israel has dismissed allegations of genocide. The documents obtained by BIRN reveal it was initially planned for the drone factory to be potentially located in the industrial zone of Simanovci, about 30 kilometres west of the capital, Belgrade, in a facility owned by the Pink Media group, the company of pro-government Serbian media tycoon Zeljko Mitrovic. However, following publication of the article, Pink Media Group denied that the factory will be located there. “This information is completely false. Neither Zeljko Mitrovic nor Pink Media Group have anything to do with this project. He hasn’t participated, nor is he participating in any talks, negotiations, deals or arrangements related to this drone factory,” the company stated, adding that no company linked to Mitrovic also had any role in the project. A Palestinian man walks past destroyed houses along a street in Al Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, February 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER Reputational risk According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, which tracks the global trade in arms, Elbit Systems is Israel’s No. 1 defence contractor , operating in fields including aerospace, land and naval command and control, communications, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that Elbit Systems is now the biggest Israeli firm by market value listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It has a string of major contracts with the Israeli state and has already done business with Serbia. Early last year, Elbit Systems sold Serbia advanced artillery systems and drones worth $335 million . In August, another deal valued at $1.6 billion was signed for the delivery of drones, long-range missiles, electronic warfare systems, and other military equipment to Belgrade. The same month, BIRN reported that the Belgrade-based company Edepro – which describes itself as a “regional leader in propulsion system solutions” for rockets, drones, and missiles – had exported goods to IMI Systems, which is owned by Elbit Systems since 2018. Its role in Gaza has given other states pause. Citing an official document, Agence France-Presse, AFP, reported in September last year that Spain had cancelled a contract worth some 700 million euros for the purchase of Elbit’s multiple rocket launcher system after the government announced a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its Gaza offensive. Last month, a group calling itself The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility for a fire at a factory belonging to Czech LPP Holding, which has announced in 2023 that it would partner with Elbit in developing drones. The group said its aim was to disrupt Israeli operations in Gaza. Such setbacks have not stopped Elbit Systems from posting revenues last year of $7.9 billion, 16.3 per cent up on 2024, boosted further by the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Visiting in Serbia in March, Albanese described the Balkan country as “one of Israel’s strongest and most determined allies, without any shame”. In response, Serbia’s foreign ministry called her remarks “inappropriate”. Genocide accusations – and denial In September last year, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and mass destruction. “When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” said the head of the commission, Navi Pillay. Previously, in January 2024, the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, ordered Israel to prevent its forces from committing or inciting genocidal acts against Palestinians, in response to a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. A final ruling on whether Israel has committed genocide in Gaza could take years. Israel has denied doing so. Issues even before Gaza war In 2009, Norway’s government announced it had excluded Elbit Systems from investment by the Government Pension Fund based on a recommendation by the Fund’s Council on Ethics over Elbit’s supplying of surveillance systems for a separation barrier in the West Bank. “We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” said Kristin Halvorsen, Norway’s then finance minister. In January 2010, Danske Bank added Elbit to a list of companies that it said failed its Socially Responsible Investment policy; two months later, a Swedish pension fund also boycotted the firm for its involvement in the construction of the West Bank barrier, which a 2004 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice said contravened international law. In 2014, one of Denmark’s largest pension fund administrators, PKA Ltd, announced it would no longer consider investing in Elbit, citing the same reasons. And in 2018, British bank HSBC divested from Elbit following the Israeli firm’s acquisition of IMI Systems. HSBC cited IMI’s production of cluster bombs. NOTE: This article was amended on April 7, 2026 to rectify a reference to Pink Media Group and Zeljko Mitrovic, and to include the company’s denial of any involvement in the project. Copyright BIRN 2025

by TruthNigeria | Ekani Olikita Burnt Houses after Fulani Militia attack on Gidan-Ogiri (Sabon-Gida) community on Thursday Credit: Gidan-Ogiri archive (Makurdi) Heavily armed Fulani ethnic militia have razed three  predominantly Christian communitie s in Central Nigeria’s Nasarawa State in coordinated attacks over a 24-hour period. Residents say the violence lasted more than 24 hours without any intervention from security forces. The affected communities: Gidan-Ogiri (Sabon-Gida), Akyewa-Baka and Udege-Kasa in Nasarawa County of the state, were attacked between Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, 2026. Witnesses report that homes were set ablaze, properties destroyed and an unconfirmed number of residents killed as the violence spread across the rural settlements. Gidan-Ogiri in Udeni-Gida Precinct was reportedly burned down on Thursday, while Akyewa-Baka and Udege-Kasa in Udege Precinct were set on fire the following day. Residents say the attackers moved with no resistance and no visible response from local vigilantes or government security personnel. Abu Jonah Akum, a resident of Sabon-Gida in a phone interview with TruthNigeria, described the situation as both terrifying and frustrating. “Fulani militia have been attacking our communities for over 24 hours for reasons best known to only them and there has been no reaction from the police or military,” he said. “What can we call this if not some forms of collaboration?” Ismail Dan Hajiya, a resident of Akyewa-Baka Community said, the attacks appeared deliberate and strategic. “They are burning our homes to force us out,” the resident said. “This is not random violence—they want to take over our land,” Hajiya told TruthNigeria  In Udege-Kasa, a resident, Adon Gari recounted fleeing with family members as Fulani Militia advanced into the village. “We ran into the bush and watched everything we owned go up in flames,” the resident said. “There was no one to protect us.” Residents across the affected communities have accused both the attackers and security personnel of complicity, alleging that the absence of a timely response enabled the scale of destruction. Security analysts warn that such attacks reflect a broader pattern of rural violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, where Ethno-religious cleansing by armed Muslim Fulani Ethnic Militia against local Christian residents has escalated in recent years. According to Dr. Damian Attah, an anti-terrorism expert at the Benue State University Makurdi, the incident underscores systemic gaps in early warning and rapid response mechanisms. “The persistence of these attacks points to serious deficiencies in Nigeria’s security architecture,” “When communities are left vulnerable for extended periods, it not only emboldens perpetrators but also deepens mistrust between civilians and the state,” Damian told TruthNigeria. According to an investigation by TruthNigeria, Nasarawa State, with its capital in Lafia, increasingly has been identified by local observers as a  staging ground for armed groups  operating across neighboring states, including Benue, Plateau, Taraba, and parts of southern Kaduna, as well as areas near the Federal Capital Territory.  Fulani Ethnic Militia have been linked to thousands of deadly attacks across Nigeria. According to the  Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa , Fulani militants were responsible for killing almost 24,000 civilians in the 4-year reporting period, making the conflict one of the deadliest in the country’s recent history  As of the time of this report, authorities have not released an official statement on the attacks, and the exact number of casualties remains unknown. Meanwhile, displaced residents continue to seek refuge in nearby communities, uncertain of when—or if—they can safely return home. Ekani Olikita is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria. © Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv

Immigration arrests of people without criminal convictions have increased eightfold under Trump, report says. The rise is related to the steep increase in the number of immigration-related street arrests, according to an analysis using ICE data by UC Berkeley. April 8, 2026 By Daniella Silva An ICE agent's badge in St. Paul, Minn., in December. Bill Angelucci / NBC News Arrests of immigrants without criminal convictions by ICE have surged 770%, while street arrests saw a more than 1,000% increase during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a new analysis released Tuesday. The analysis by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley found that ICE arrests more than quadrupled in that period, with transfers from jails and prisons roughly doubling. The much-increased street arrests took place in neighborhoods, at immigration court and at ICE field offices during regular immigration check-ins, the report said. “Arrests not in jails or prisons at this order of magnitude are a new phenomenon. For both types of arrests, ICE was much less likely to target people with criminal convictions,” according to the analysis by the Deportation Data Project, which is led by a group of academics and lawyers that collect, post and analyze government immigration enforcement data. The changes in enforcement led to a 770% increase in immigration arrests of people without criminal convictions, according to the analysis. The project's analysis is based on data obtained through a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act and covers arrests through March 10, according to the report. “It’s well known that ICE has been pursuing a campaign of indiscriminate arrests, but it’s less well known that even as ICE has arrested more people who likely could win their cases and stay in the United States, arrests have been ending more often in deportation,” report author David Hausman, co-director of the Deportation Data Project and assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley, said in a statement. “One big factor is that detention causes people to give up on their cases.” A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News that the Deportation Data Project had “cherry picked” data in order to “peddle a false narrative.” The spokesperson added: “70% of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens. We are continuing to go after the worst of the worst — including gang members, pedophiles, and rapists.” The DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for data substantiating that 70%. The agency has previously said that 70% of its arrests are of people who have been either convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S. The agency added that “every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally.” Crossing the border without authorization is a federal misdemeanor for a first offense. The administration has also arrested immigrants who entered the country legally. “The Deportation Data Project relies on information releases that have not been reviewed, audited or given context,” the spokesperson said. “DHS nor ICE have verified the accuracy, methodology or the analysis of the project and its results. The bottom line is that the Deportation Data Project is not accurate.” In response, the Deportation Data Project said that ICE had sent them its datasets in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and that it posted the original data. “These are ICE’s own records of who is arrested, detained, and deported,” the project said. The group also said it documented every step it took in analyzing the original data. The project’s analysis also found that deportations of people who were already in the U.S. — versus migrants encountered at the border — increased by a factor of five during the first year of Trump’s second term. The report said this change was due to increases in detention space and a decrease of releases. The administration also more than quadrupled the number of detention beds used for people arrested within the U.S., according to the analysis. That surge was due to both new funding and a decrease in border arrests, the report said. Graeme Blair, co-director of the Deportation Data Project and professor of political science at UCLA, said in a statement that the analysis showed that arrests did not surge only in Democratic cities where the administration launched immigration enforcement operations, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. “In fact, even at the peak of the Minneapolis surge, those arrests accounted for only 15% of nationwide street arrests,” Blair said. “The expansion is truly national.” The project’s report follows its previous analysis of the first nine months of the Trump administration, which found that a jump in the number of street arrests led to an increase in the number of deportations of people who were in the U.S. by more than four and a half times. © 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC