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Iran and the United States held a second round of nuclear talks Saturday in Rome, where both sides agreed to begin drafting a potential deal. Iran’s foreign minister confirmed the move, while a U.S. official reported “very good progress.”

Easter Sunday remained far from peaceful in Ukraine as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia intensified shelling and the use of drones. The reported attacks came despite Moscow’s announcement of an Easter ceasefire.

As Easter approached, there was some hope for hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war and scores of injured soldiers, with officials saying they were being exchanged on Saturday. It also came after U.S. Vice President JD Vance cautiously expressed optimism about an end to the more than three-year war following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The United States may abandon efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine within days if no clear progress is made, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on April 18. Speaking after talks in Paris with European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio said President Trump is prepared to “move on” from the negotiations in the absence of any clear signs of progress.

Italy’s rightwing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says U.S. President Donald J. Trump has accepted her invitation for an official trip to Rome at a time when the third largest economy in the European Union tries to bridge differences between the EU and the U.S. over trade and security.

Legislation that would give the U.S. Department of Justice more time to track down and punish pandemic-era unemployment insurance (UI) fraud is on its way to the U.S. House floor

The U.S. Energy Department is rushing to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly terminating hundreds of jobs as part of a broader government overhaul, several American sources say.

The border czar in the administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump has accused Pope Francis of hypocrisy for condemning mass deportations of illegal immigrants in the United States while living at the Vatican, which is surrounded by a wall.

Elon Musk urged the US to eliminate entire federal agencies to cut spending and reorganize priorities, criticizing the current government as a “rule of bureaucracy” rather than a democracy.

President Trump signed a presidential memorandum on reciprocal trade on Thursday, instructing federal agencies to explore adjusting U.S. tariffs to mirror the duties and economic barriers imposed by other nations on U.S. products.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he remains committed to payments to families of prisoners convicted of terror against Israel or to loved ones of those who died while carrying out acts of terrorism.

Israel is urging the U.S. to keep Syria fragmented, including allowing Russia to maintain military bases to counter Turkey’s growing influence, Reuters reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that he has signed a declaration to expedite the delivery of roughly $4 billion in military aid to Israel, as concerns rise that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas may soon collapse and intense conflict could resume.

The Israeli government has agreed to a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan and Passover. However, Hamas rejected Israel’s terms for extending the first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal, which would involve maintaining the ceasefire and releasing more hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees and terrorists.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Middle East leaders have a “strong desire” to see expansion of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that led to the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain.

Seven Sudanese Christian youths were arrested and tortured by intelligence agents of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in the country’s River Nile state on Jan. 14, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Wracked by a civil war launched between the SAF and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF),

A prominent Christian human rights activist who fled his home in Pakistan after facing death for alleged blasphemy against Islam has expressed outrage about the killing of two Christian women and the conviction of four people on blasphemy charges over the weekend.

A pastor who was tortured and imprisoned in Cuba for protesting the government’s violation of human rights was released last week after serving three and half years in jail, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Communist Cuba ranks 26 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2025 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

A new annual report by the Article 18 Iranian persecution watchdog a dramatic increase in the number and length of prison terms handed to Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran last year compared to 2023.

A pastor in Ohio has been fined $200 and sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail term after being convicted of violating a municipal fire code order at his church.