The Israeli military acknowledged Thursday that it does not have “sufficient evidence” to substantiate terrorism funding allegations it leveled against a prominent Palestinian journalist, even as an Israeli general ordered he be detained for another six months.

The Israeli military’s top general in the occupied West Bank ordered the journalist, Ali Samoudi, 58, to be held under administrative detention, which allows the military to hold individuals without trial for up to six months at a time. Administrative detention orders can be renewed indefinitely.

The commander issued the order on Wednesday following a military court hearing last week during which prosecutors sought to extend his detention.

Palestinians living in the West Bank are subject to Israeli military law and are typically tried in military courts, not Israeli civilian courts.

At the time, the Israeli military accused him of transferring funds to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in the West Bank and Gaza which Israel considers a terrorist organization. The Israeli military provided no evidence to back up its claim.

Israeli military prosecutors never leveled that accusation in court, Samoudi’s lawyer Jamil al-Khatib said, instead vaguely accusing Samoudi of harming the activity of Israeli forces in the West Bank.

The military’s administrative detention order cites Samoudi’s “presence posing a danger to the security of the region” as justification for his detention.

He is one of 20 journalists detained and held under administrative detention since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).

“Samoudi’s arrest and administrative detention is part of the occupation’s escalating campaign of targeting journalists, particularly through the systematic use of administrative detention,” the PPS said in a statement.

Samoudi is now being held in Megiddo prison in central Israel, according to his lawyer, where he is still waiting to receive his eyeglasses and medications for several chronic conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

One of the most well-known Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, Samoudi has worked with international news organizations for decades as a local producer and fixer.

He was also a witness to the high-profile killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, by Israeli forces in 2022, during which he was also shot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “defend ourselves alone” against Yemen’s Houthi rebels after US President Donald Trump struck a deal with the Iran-backed group.

According to Trump, the US would halt an ongoing military campaign against the Houthis in exchange for the group stopping its attacks on US interests in the region.

The Houthis acknowledged the agreement but made it clear their attacks on Israel would continue. Senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said after the announcement that the agreement was “a victory that separates US support for the temporary entity (Israel) and a failure for Netanyahu.”

On Wednesday, Netanyahu said, “Israel will defend itself by itself.” In the past, Israel has carried out joint strikes with the US against the Houthis, but two consecutive days of Israeli attacks on Yemen earlier this week were done alone. “If others join us—our American friends—all the better. If they don’t, we will still defend ourselves on our own,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Trump referred to the deal as capitulation from the Houthis on Tuesday but on Wednesday he said they had a “good outcome with the Houthis,” adding they had a “great capacity to withstand punishment” from repeated US strikes.

“You could say there’s a lot of bravery there,” Trump said at a swearing-in of his ambassador to China at the White House. “It was amazing what they took.”

He added that the US would “honor their (Houthis’) commitment” not to attack US warships or commercial vessels in the region.

Trump ‘thinks about America’s interests’

The US-Houthi truce sidelined the Israeli government, according to former US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross.

He noted that Netanyahu was left in the dark when the US began talks with Hamas in March and only found out about US nuclear talks with Iran when Trump made the announcement seated next to the prime minister in the Oval Office last month. The US-Houthi ceasefire is one more instance where Israel’s concerns were a tertiary consideration for the White House, if at all, he said.

“The Trump Administration thinks about America’s interests,” said Ross.

There has been no public criticism of the White House decision from Israeli officials. Netanyahu, who once openly criticized the Biden administration’s requests and policies, is one of Trump’s most vocal international supporters. Other members of the government have reserved their judgement as well, instead focusing on Israel’s resolve against the Houthis.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Thursday that “Israel must be able to defend itself by itself against any threat and any enemy. This has been true in the face of many past challenges, and it will remain true in the future.”

Trump designated the Houthi group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the final days of his first term as president. President Joe Biden revoked that designation early in his presidency in 2021, and Trump designated it again in January.

If Skin Gourmet’s skincare products look good enough to eat, that’s because they are: all are made from locally sourced materials that are edible.

The Ghanaian company was founded in 2014 by Violet Amoabeng, and makes cleansers, scrubs, oils and butters. “No gimmicks, no toxins, no waste — just raw, edible Ghanaian goodness that helps people feel seen, valued, and connected to something meaningful,” she says.

For Amoabeng, “If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?” because “anything put on your skin, is absorbed into your body.”

The company’s palm kernel butter, made from locally sourced palm kernels, blended with cocoa and vanilla, is a skin and hair balm, won the Best Eco-Friendly Product category at the 2024 Ghana Beauty Awards.

However, its naturally smoky, chocolatey aroma, also makes it a popular cookery ingredient for local customers like Sorella Bakery, in Accra. Skin Gourmet even used it in a cake they gave to customers who bought their products.

“We created a palm kernel butter cake with passion fruit curd and lime buttercream,” says Amoabeng. “The smoky richness of the palm kernel paired perfectly with the bright citrus and tropical curd.”

Skin Gourmet’s hibiscus & tea sugar scrub is a colorful, sweet and tangy anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and acne treatment. Containing cane sugar, raw hibiscus powder, raw coconut oil, Ghanaian sea salt, tea tree essential oil and wild northern honey, it can also be added to drinks and food. Renowned chef and 2025 Time Earth Award recipient Selassie Atadika has been known to cook with the hibiscus powder and coconut oil, according to Amoabeng.

Tapping into Ghana’s resources

Amoabeng, who has an MBA in Business Administration from Shenandoah University, in the United States, came up with the concept for the company while looking for business ideas that could create jobs and boost economic growth in Ghana by using the country’s abundant natural resources.

After suffering from a sore lip and successfully treating it with shea butter, she tried to source more and was told by a local community that they eat shea butter. Inspired, she started Skin Gourmet in 2014, with only $45.

She now works with smallholder farmers and communities in Ghana to source raw materials for pre-processing. The products are then packaged in Accra, marketed, distributed, and sold in over 30 countries worldwide including Switzerland, Japan, Qatar, Turkey, Germany and France.

The global edible cosmetics market was estimated to be worth $266 million in 2023, according to Grand View Research — attracting shoppers who are “increasingly concerned about the ingredients they apply to their bodies and overall health.”

Global research firm Technavio projects that an expanding consumer base in Africa, particularly demanding natural ingredients and anti-aging products, will grow the continent’s beauty and personal care market by $8.18 billion between 2023 and 2028.

A growing number of African companies are producing skin care products specifically for African consumers, including Uncover, founded in 2020 in Kenya, which uses African ingredients such as baobab and rooibos leaf extract in its products.

Amoabeng now plans to expand her business and reach consumers around the world. She is guided by her faith in God and says that “everything we make starts with prayer and reflection because true innovation flows from Him. It’s not just about creating skincare — it’s about stewardship.”

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States has been elected the 267th pope and has stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

He’s now known as Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the first ever pope from the United States.

In his first words as pope, a visibly emotional Leo said to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square: “Peace be with you all.”

Addressing the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, Leo paid tribute to the late pontiff Francis, urging the crowd to remember his predecessor’s legacy before outlining his vision for the Catholic Church.

“We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” he said. Speaking in Italian to thousands of Catholic faithful, Leo called on people to “show our charity” to others “and be in dialog with love.”

Leo was chosen just two days after a group of 133 Cardinals gathered in conclave to select a new pontiff.

That timeline matches the previous two gatherings, suggesting that Prevost quickly impressed his peers during the secretive process.

Francis and Benedict XVI were both revealed in the evening of the conclave’s second day, while John Paul II, the longest-reigning pope of modern times, was selected on the third day in 1978.

‘An exceptional leader’

A leader with global experience, Prevost spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Francis’ reforms.

Prevost worked for a decade in Trujillo, Peru, and was later appointed bishop of Chiclayo, another Peruvian city, where he served from 2014 to 2023. In 2015, he also received Peruvian citizenship.

The new pontiff is a member of the Augustinian religious order – which he also led for more than a decade as their prior general, which has given him leadership experience of leading an order spread across the world.

Considered a highly capable and accomplished leader, Prevost most recently led the powerful Vatican office for new bishop appointments, the Dicastery for Bishops, assessing candidates and making recommendations to the late pope. He also served as the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

While it is often said cardinal electors would always shy away from choosing a pope from the US, due to America’s outsized global political influence, Prevost’s long experience in Peru may have mitigated those fears among the electors.

Allen added that he is seen as an apt leader in Vatican circles because “he’s able to accomplish things without necessarily being authoritarian about the way he did things.”

“Prevost is somebody who is seen as an exceptional leader. From very young, he was appointed to leadership roles,” Allen said. “He’s seen as somebody who is calm and balanced, who is even-handed, and who is very clear on what he thinks needs to be done… but he’s not overly forceful in trying to make that happen.”

Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and went on receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

He was later sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University and was ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his career, he taught canon law in the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.

In an interview with Vatican News shortly after he became the leader of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost said: “I still consider myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”

Days of celebration

The coming days are for celebration; Leo’s name will be uttered in homilies and masses across the Catholic world, and will spark particularly joyous scenes in his home country. Adding to festivities, and to the new pope’s diary commitments, is the fact that 2025 is a jubilee year for the church – a special celebration announced by Pope John Paul II 25 years ago, which sees a busy schedule of Vatican-organized events.

But leading the largest Christian denomination through an unpredictable era will require difficult and consequential decisions. The new pope inherits a church whose image and ambitions were transformed by its predecessor; Francis pulled the priorities of the church away from social issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gender roles and contraception, advocating instead for the world’s poor, displaced and needy, and instilling a mission anchored in altruism.

Whether or not to continue that trajectory will be a defining choice for the new pontiff. Francis’ rejection of opulence and his softer tone on social issues was praised by some Western leaders, but there remains a faction in the church advocating for a stricter line on questions of sex, gender, marriage and migration.

Asked about the contributions of three women who were made members of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost told Vatican News: “I think their appointment is more than just a gesture on the part of the Pope to say that there are now women here, too. There is a real, genuine, and meaningful participation that they offer at our meetings when we discuss the dossiers of candidates.”

He must also choose carefully when to intervene on the world stage. Francis became increasingly political in the final years of his papacy, making the case for the rights of migrants, urging a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and suggesting – to the ire of Kyiv – that Ukraine should wave “the white flag” and make concessions to end Russia’s war in the country.

These ongoing conflicts, and the rise of populism and authoritarianism around the world, set a complicated context in which the new pope – himself an important figure in global diplomacy – will operate.

And he must deal with crises from within, too. Francis’ failure to bring a close to the years-long scandal of child sexual abuse in the church will also reverberate through his successor’s papacy. Though he spoke defensively about his record on the matter, and took some important steps to tackle systemic issues involving abuse, the previous pope was accused by survivors’ groups of failing to hold accountable bishops and cardinals accused of covering up abuse.

Previously addressing the responsibility of combating clerical abuse, Prevost told Vatican News: “There are places where good work has already been done for years and the rules are being put into practice. At the same time, I believe that there is still much to learn.”

Last year, Francis’ commission for child protection said in its first report that parts of the church are still failing to ensure that abuse is properly reported, and raised concerns about a “lack of transparency” in how the Vatican handled cases.

The weather was bad along the front line as the hour approached. Heavy clouds and rain meant activity by the two warring parties was always likely to be on the lower side.

But as the clock approached midnight Wednesday, the time the Kremlin said its guns would fall silent for three days, the men at the National Guard monitoring center in eastern Ukraine had absolutely no faith in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ceasefire.

“My answer is simple – we don’t believe him,” said Kir, a drone special unit commander, expressing a view shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly said he is only interested in an immediate 30-day pause in the fighting.

As nightfall approached Thursday, almost a full day into the Russian leader’s ceasefire, Ukrainian officials were reporting continued attacks across the front line.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there had been more than 500 attacks on Ukrainian troop positions over the course of the day, along with at least 10 strikes by guided aerial bombs, one of which killed a 55-year-old woman and wounded her son in the northern Sumy region.

In the southern Kherson region, a 35-year-old woman was killed in a drone strike, officials said.

Working from a nondescript building in a location we were told not to disclose, Kir and his colleagues were looking out for Russian attacks. Monitors on the desks and on the walls showed more than 100 live feeds from surveillance drones, operating across almost half the front line.

About 60 cameras were trained on the Donetsk region alone. Mavic drones only tonight, Kir explained, because of the bad weather. Usually there would be even more feeds to look at.

A few minutes after midnight, the men were reporting Russian activity. Artillery fire near Pokrovsk. A Grad rocket fired near Toretsk, and another instance of artillery fire, this time near Sloviansk. Attacks were on the low side, Kir said, though his attention was drawn to very high surveillance drone activity by Russian forces.

He was clear about Putin’s true intentions. When the Russian leader called an earlier snap ceasefire over Easter – which Ukraine said it had “mirrored” – Russia took the opportunity to re-supply positions and move troops, Kir said.

And it had benefited them, he added: “They struck successfully after Easter, and we lost some positions.”

He said he expected further infantry moves during the latest ceasefire.

The National Guardsmen had other evidence they said proved the Kremlin has absolutely no interest in peace.

Surveillance feeds have been showing them for several weeks that Russia is moving significant numbers of troops and hardware into positions just a few dozen kilometers back from the front line.

“Remember Crimea?” Kir asked, referring to Russian’s invasion of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, which Moscow denied at first, before moving quickly to illegally annex the territory.

“They started with a lie. And they’re still lying.”

Svitlana Vlasova contributed to this report.