South Korea’s justice minister has pledged to expand access to judicial remedies for victims of state-led abuses, including foreign adoptees whose adoptions were marred by widespread fraud under previous military governments. Using unusually strong language for a senior South Korean official, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the country’s past adoptions amounted to “forced child trafficking” and that the government will largely refrain from appealing rulings in cases brought by victims seeking compensation for government wrongdoing. Jung spoke Thursday in a roundtable interview with selected journalists. Hundreds of Korean adoptees in the West have already requested that their cases be investigated...

First lady Melania Trump is denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his sex crimes, saying Thursday that the “stories are completely false” and calling accusations that she was somehow involved “smears about me.” Reading an extraordinary statement at the White House, Melania Trump said she and her attorneys were fighting back against “unfound and baseless lies” in regards to her connections to the late financier, a convicted sex offender who leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his crimes. “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to...

A drone strike on a town in Sudan’s Darfur region hit a wedding party, killing at least 30 civilians, including women and children, the United Nations said Thursday. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N.’s secretary-general, said during a briefing that the wedding ceremony was in the town of Kutum in North Darfur. The strike is the latest in an intensifying dronefare between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have been at war since April 2023. The nearly three-year conflict in Sudan killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say the true number...

Voters in the small Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti cast ballots for president on Friday, with longtime leader Ismaïl Omar Guelleh expected to secure a sixth term in office after lawmakers scrapped presidential age limits last year. Guelleh, 78, has ruled the country of about 1 million for more than two decades. The results of the 2021 election showed him winning nearly 99% of the vote. He faces a single challenger, Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former ruling party member, in a race analysts say offers little genuine competition. Opposition groups frequently boycott elections, citing restrictions on political freedoms. Critics...

Drawing ever closer to Earth, the Artemis II astronauts tidied up their lunar cruiser for the upcoming “fireball” return and reflected on their historic journey around the moon, describing it as surreal and profound. As the next-to-last day of their flight dawned Thursday, humanity’s first lunar explorers in more than half a century were less than 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) from home with the odometer clicking down. “We have to get back. There’s so much data that you’ve seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There are so many more pictures, so many more stories,”...

Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed not to escalate their conflict and to “explore a comprehensive solution” after several weeks of cross-border fighting that has killed hundreds of people, China’s government said Wednesday after mediating talks. All the parties also agreed to keep the dialogue after seven days of peace talks mediated by China in the western Chinese city of Urumqi under China mediation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “The three parties agreed to explore a comprehensive solution to the issues in the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and clarified the core and priority issues that need to be addressed,” Mao...

The USA has announced that American government employees and their family members in Nigeria are to leave the U.S. Embassy Abuja due to the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria. On April 8, 2026, the U.S. State Department allowed voluntary departure of non-emergency employees and families from the U.S. Embassy in Abuja due to Nigeria’s worsening security, highlighted by the April 9 assault in Benisheikh that troops repelled at the cost of lives including possibly Brigadier-General O. Braimah. The U.S Embassy in an announcement on Thursday stated that: “Abuja is closed for visa appointments. Applicants should check their email for details...