RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Hamas militants and police units in Gaza beat, maimed and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during its war with Israel in acts amounting to war crimes, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment in the war-ravaged territory, which it said were often publicized during and afterward to instill fear in the populace.

“These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals,” it said.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated militants and police forces were involved in nearly one-fourth of the 249 documented cases — including 108 deaths — from August 2024 to January 2026. The commission specifically investigated cases involving Hamas-affiliated forces but also counted ones attributed to other armed groups.

Representatives for Hamas did not respond to questions about the report’s allegations.

Hamas has run Gaza for nearly two decades since seizing control of the territory from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Since an October ceasefire halted more than two years of full-scale war with Israel, Hamas has steadily reconsolidated its control over the areas of Gaza that it still governs.

According to Tuesday’s report, rather than being imposed through courts or judges, the punishments were carried out by Hamas’ military wing and police units.

Srinivasan Muralidhar, the U.N. commission’s chair, said the abuses documented in Gaza were occurring in an “environment engineered by Israel,” where “Hamas-affiliated forces have exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction.

Those targeted included anti-Hamas activists and members of Israel-backed clans and armed groups that emerged in areas where Hamas’ grip weakened during the war, which has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

The U.N. report cites executions recorded on video, including one of three blindfolded men who were shot by masked men outside Shifa Hospital in September 2025 before a crowd. It describes another public execution a month later, when eight men were dragged into a public square in Gaza City and shot. Both groups were accused of being spies, traitors and collaborators, according to the report.

The instances, the commission said, “amount to the war crime of murder and to a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial.”

Others targeted with beatings and forms of public shaming — including children — were accused of theft, drug trafficking or illegally selling tobacco.

Witnesses also told the commission that the punishments were carried out in hospital compounds, including the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. However, it concluded that activities documented — which don’t target Israel — don’t forfeit hospitals’ protection under international law. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using schools, hospitals and mosques to stage operations.

The report is the latest from the world body, which last year accused Israel of committing genocide, using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza and of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank — allegations that Israel strenuously denies. Israel has repeatedly accused the U.N. rights office of anti-Israel bias.

The U.N. report also criticized a growing wave of violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, saying it “functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policy, with both the state and violent settler groups working toward the same strategic objectives: entrenchment of Israeli settlements, annexation of Palestinian territory and displacement of Palestinians from their land.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions about the allegations.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, 1,098 Palestinians — including at least 240 children — have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to U.N. figures. Amid the violence, Bedouin communities in rural areas have been driven from their land as new Israeli outposts have sprung up and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pro-settler government has moved to legalize others.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The gap between Peru’s two presidential candidates narrowed to less than 20,000 votes Tuesday with 96% of ballots counted after Sunday’s runoff contest.

The winner will be the South American country’s ninth president in 10 years.

Official figures showed nationalist congressman Roberto Sánchez with 50.055% of votes, while conservative politician Keiko Fujimori had 49.945%. The electoral body has counted more than 17.8 million votes.

Fujimori, the daughter of a disgraced former president, and Sánchez, an ally of an imprisoned ex-president, beat 33 other candidates in the initial vote in April, but neither earned even 20% of support. Electoral authorities took more than a month to declare them winners of that contest.

The country’s chief electoral authority, Roberto Burneo, has said the outcome of Sunday’s vote will be available within 30 days. He asked voters and political organizations to “act with democratic responsibility” as the counting continues.

The slow pace is due to a law that requires each ballot and each tally sheet, which summarizes the votes from each polling station, to be taken to one of more than 100 offices to be counted. Additionally, ballots and tally sheets must arrive in the capital, Lima, from 63 countries to be counted.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians aged 18 to 70. Failure to do so results in a fine of up to $32.

More than 27 million voters are registered. Of those, about 1.2 million were expected to cast ballots from abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.

Surging crime, particularly extortion, was the overarching concern for voters. Experts attribute the increasing power of organized crime to growing profits from illegal gold mining in the Andes and the Amazon.

The runoff’s winner will be sworn in to a five-year term on July 28.

Neither candidate was particularly popular, and many voters associate each with controversial Peruvian ex-presidents.

Fujimori is linked to the authoritarian and corrupt legacy of the government of her late father, Alberto Fujimori, in the 1990s. She became Peru’s first lady in 1994 after her parents’ separation.

Sánchez is one of the closest allies of imprisoned former President Pedro Castillo, whom many perceive as corrupt and chaotic. Castillo’s 16-month term saw more than 70 Cabinet changes.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

WELLINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – For the first time in a decade, New Zealanders see the United States as more of a threat than China, a survey by the Asia New Zealand Foundation found, as concerns over trade disruption and global instability weigh on public sentiment.

• The foundation’s annual Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples survey, now in its 29th year, polled 2,300 people in January and February.

• 39% of respondents saw the United States as a friend of New Zealand, while 35% viewed it as a threat. By comparison, 43% saw China as a friend and 23% saw it as a threat.

• The number of people who perceived the U.S. as a friend fell significantly over the last year, while the view of China improved.

• The survey also found that 81% of New Zealanders see developing ties with Asia as important.

• “There is a growing recognition that prosperity, resilience and security will depend on the depth and quality of our relationships across Asia,” Asia New Zealand Foundation Chief Executive Suzannah Jessep said in the report.

• New Zealand and the U.S. have deepened defence, security and technology cooperation in recent years, with Wellington seeing Washington as central to Indo-Pacific stability and as a counterweight to China’s growing influence.

• At the same time, New Zealand’s exporters have been hit by U.S. tariffs, while the economy has faced pressure from higher oil prices linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

• “New Zealanders also still understand their sense of security largely through an economic lens, and so tariffs and disruption to global trade weigh heavily on those calculations,” said David Capie, professor of international relations at Victoria University of Wellington.

• Souring U.S. sentiment followed a broader pattern across Western liberal democracies, Capie said.

• A University of Sydney poll released in December found the majority of Australians, Japanese and Indians believe U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term has been bad for their countries.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Kevin Buckland)

June 9 (Reuters) – A Tunisian court sentenced prominent journalist Khaoula Boukrim to four years in prison in absentia, she said on Tuesday, in a ruling critics say highlights a growing crackdown on critical voices and free speech under President Kais Saied.

The ruling against Boukrim is the latest move against journalists following the jailing earlier this year of several media figures, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies.

Boukrim, founder of the news website TUMEDIA who fled to Paris in December, was informed that two separate judgements had been issued against her under Decree-Law 54, a cybercrime law enacted in 2022 that includes strict penalties for online publication offences.

Rights groups say the law has increasingly been used to prosecute government critics and curb free speech, while authorities say it is needed to combat misinformation and online abuse.

“I was forced to leave to Paris when I learned that legal cases were being prepared against me because of my critical positions toward the president and those around him,” Boukrim told Reuters.

“The ruling is a continuation of the targeting of free journalism and critical voices,” she added.

The authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Rights groups warn of growing attempts to stifle remaining independent voices since Saied dissolved the elected parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree.

Free speech initially flourished following the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and led to the “Arab Spring”.

Critics say Saied’s accumulation of power in 2021 and decrees he has issued since have dismantled democratic safeguards and enabled the authorities to pursue many journalists.

The leaders of Tunisia’s main opposition parties have been jailed in the last three years, along with dozens of politicians, activists and businessmen, on charges of conspiring against state security, money-laundering and corruption.

Saied says he will not be a dictator and that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia.

(Reporting By Tunis newsroomEditing by Bill Berkrot)

By Tariq Maqbool

MUZAFFARABAD, June 9 (Reuters) – Cities and towns across Pakistan-administered Kashmir were brought to a standstill on Tuesday after protesters clashed with security forces ahead of a general strike called by a recently banned alliance of civil society groups.

Streets in the capital Muzaffarabad and elsewhere were deserted with only police vehicles visible for much of the day. 

At least 11 people were killed on Sunday night in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Rawalakot, prompting a sweeping crackdown by authorities.

The regional government has since ordered sedition cases to be registered against four prominent leaders of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee, according to a notification seen by Reuters. It has also announced a 10 million rupee ($35,951) bounty for their arrest, after banning the group on Friday.

The JAAC had called for a region-wide strike to protest the reservation of 12 seats for refugees in the July 27 elections to Kashmir’s legislative assembly. Those seats are contested by candidates who do not live in Kashmir but elsewhere in Pakistan.

“Muzaffarabad — the largest capital city of Azad Kashmir, with a population of 550,000 — is completely deserted and utterly lifeless,” resident Zahid Amin said. 

“Every shop, every market, every lane, every street, and every bazaar is completely shut.”

Amnesty International said in a statement that the “violent and sweeping crackdown on protests in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir – including an internet shutdown, mass arbitrary arrests, and deadly use of force – continues an alarming deterioration of human rights in the region.” 

Pakistan’s interior ministry and Kashmiri government authorities did not respond to a request for comment. 

“Talk like brothers,” said Muzaffarabad resident Mohammad Aziz. “Bring senior people from Pakistan and have them talk with these people. These people are not against Pakistan. They are just asking for their own rights.”

The Himalayan Kashmir region has been divided between Pakistan and neighbouring arch-rival India as a disputed territory since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Previous mass demonstrations in the last two years ​led by the JAAC to protest the rising costs of flour and electricity turned deadly after clashes between its ​supporters and the security forces.

($1 = 278.1500 Pakistani rupees)

(Reporting by Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad; Writing by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Gareth Jones)

By AJ Vicens

June 9 (Reuters) – A U.S. surveillance law that allows federal authorities to collect the communications of foreigners abroad and search them for Americans’ data without a warrant is set to expire on June 12, amid debate over warrant rules and President Donald Trump’s planned appointment of a political loyalist as acting Director of National Intelligence.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is a key tool for collecting foreign intelligence, officials say. It allows authorities to gather communications from foreign targets overseas and then search that data, including for information about Americans who may have been in contact with them, a central concern for critics.

The June 12 deadline is the second extension deadline for the law this year. Here’s how we got here:

WHAT IS SECTION 702?

Section 702 is “a key provision” of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 that “permits the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside the United States, with the compelled assistance of communication providers,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in an explainer document.

The law allows targeting of non-U.S. citizens abroad, but bars U.S. agencies from targeting U.S. citizens, “regardless of location.” It also prohibits collecting data on anyone located in the U.S., or targeting a non-American to get to a U.S. citizen. 

Millions of Americans are caught up in this surveillance, however, if they happen to communicate with a foreigner who is under surveillance. The FBI, NSA, CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center “routinely” search the data for Americans’ phone calls, emails and text messages without having to obtain a warrant, the Brennan Center for Justice said in March 2026.

WHY IS IT EXPIRING ON JUNE 12?

Section 702 expired on April 20, 2026, but Congress passed a 10-day extension. Bipartisan critics pushed for a warrant requirement to better protect Americans’ data, while the White House and intelligence officials sought a “clean” renewal with no changes to the law. Supporters of the clean reauthorization said that 2024 reforms to the law had addressed concerns, but critics pointed to data showing that Americans’ data was still being searched in questionable ways.

On April 30, Congress again passed another extension, this time for 45 days. As part of that agreement, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has long opposed warrantless data collection, secured an agreement to publicly release a secret FISA court ruling related to how Section 702 has been used.

WHAT HAPPENS IF SECTION 702 IS NOT RENEWED?

Federal authorities may still be able to query Americans’ data under Section 702 even if it were to expire on June 12, according to the Brennan Center for Justice’s Hannah James and Elizabeth Goitein, because the program operates under yearlong certifications last renewed in March.

However, telecommunications companies may be reluctant to provide information without a clear reauthorization, according to James and Goitein, while also facing heavy federal fines if they fail to comply with lawful requests. A T-Mobile representative said the company “carefully (reviews) each request and provide legally required information. Our teams are closely monitoring developments, and our focus remains on complying with the law and protecting our customers’ information.”

Neither AT&T nor Verizon responded to requests for comment.

Even without Section 702, U.S. authorities have other surveillance tools.  The Department of Homeland Security uses facial recognition, social media monitoring, phone hacking tools and cell site simulators, which allow for granular surveillance of mobile phones in some cases, and the deployment of MQ-9 Predator drones.

Local police departments also employ facial recognition technology under various laws, news outlet Stateline reported last year.

(Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit.;Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is vowing to press ahead with a luxury development linked to U.S. President Donald Trump ’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, despite a surge in protests against it there.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Rama dismissed environmental objections as the result of misinformation and said the development was turning Albania from a country once ignored by investors into one “where the big capital wants to come and the big investors want to come.”

The government says the development would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.

But thousands of demonstrators have joined daily protests outside Rama’s office in the capital, Tirana — including on Tuesday — against the planned project that includes hotels, apartments, villas and a marina for yachts.

The prime minister said a formal environmental impact assessment has not started, even though work has begun to clear land inside a nature reserve.

Asked if he might step back from the project, Rama refused, adding, “Step back from what?”

Albania’s anti-corruption agency has opened an investigation related to the project. The government says the land is privately owned, but rival claims over its privatization have emerged.

Rama said Kushner’s proposal began by chance. He recalled a dinner in southern Albania with Kushner, his wife, Ivanka Trump, and friends who had stopped in the port of Durres to refuel their boat on the way to Montenegro.

Months later, Kushner approached him at a gathering of world leaders and business executives in Davos, Switzerland, and expressed interest in investing in Albania, Rama said.

“Your country’s absolutely stunning, and we would like to look for a chance to invest,” Rama recalled Kushner telling him.

An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.

The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.

Work has already begun to clear land inside a nature reserve used by migratory birds, prompting environmental groups to warn of the destruction of long-preserved habitats. Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of harsh communist rule.

Rama said a formal environmental impact assessment has not started because the plan for the development has not been finalized. He said international architects and environmental specialists are still shaping the proposal.

“When it comes to the environment, there is no project yet, there is no environmental impact assessment yet, because this is still a planning process,” he said.

He argued that Albania has a strong conservation record, pointing to bans on hunting and logging that he said helped flamingo populations recover.

“We have fantastic documentation of how the wildlife in Albania came back thanks to the 10 years moratorium of hunting,” Rama said.

Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the planned development area, opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.

The prime minister suggested that some of the backlash to the project was being amplified by outside interference, citing what he described as a long-running Iranian cyber campaign against Albania.

Albania has long accused Iran of backing hackers who attack the country’s cyber infrastructure, after Albania sheltered members of an Iranian opposition group. Tehran has denied the allegations.

“There is a lot of manipulation. There is a lot of half-truths that become bigger and bigger lies by the hour,” he said.

He emphasized that he was not accusing individual protesters of acting as foreign agents.

BARCELONA, June 9 (Reuters) – Pope Leo had a brief private meeting with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny at Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium on Monday evening as both were touring Spain, the Vatican said on Tuesday, adding that it did not expect to release any photos of the meeting.

According to a Vatican statement, the pope met the reggaeton sensation, whose album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” (I Should Have Taken More Pictures) won Album of the Year at this year’s Grammys, with his family and other people. He offered them a short greeting before leaving the stadium, it added.

Leo, who drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year after criticising the Iran war, is on a week-long tour of Spain, where he has warned that escalating conflicts have pushed the world into “profound crisis”.

Coincidentally, triggering Trump’s anger is something the pope and Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, have in common.

The singer has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies and supported former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, in the 2024 presidential race.

Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in February, bringing Spanish language and reggaeton rhythms to the annual U.S. football spectacle. Trump called the show “absolutely terrible” and “an affront to the Greatness of America”.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, writing by Andrei Khalip, Editing by Alex Richardson)

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter that was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz overnight and vowed to respond, but gave no other details.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” he added.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Ljunggren)

By Alexander Villegas and Marco Aquino

LIMA, June 9 (Reuters) – Peru’s presidential race tightened overnight with candidates now separated by less than 0.1% as overseas ballots are swinging the race back to conservative Keiko Fujimori, giving markets an early boost on Tuesday.

Peru’s main stock index jumped by more than 7% Tuesday morning while U.S.-listed shares of Peruvian stocks like miner Buenaventura were up 8.2% and Intercorp Financial Services were up 12.9%; the iShares MSCI Peru and Global Exposure ETF jumped 6.7%.

The local sol currency was also up 2.45% against the dollar to 3.345.

The rise is largely a reversal of a sharp selloff on Friday after leftist Roberto Sanchez, who rattled markets and investors with proposals to revamp Peru’s mining-heavy economy, rose in the polls.

He has advocated for reforming the constitution, imposing windfall taxes, a wealth tax and reforming mining concessions. While his rival Fujimori, has leaned into the tough-on-crime legacy of her father, Alberto ​Fujimori, Peru’s authoritarian former president ⁠who was jailed for human rights abuses in connection with massacres under his tenure.

Fujimori led exit polls and the early count, but Sanchez gained ground on Sunday and Monday as votes from Peru’s rural regions rolled in. Sanchez’s lead rose to nearly 50,000 votes on Monday but is down to 20,000 as overseas ballots continue to be counted.

Sanchez currently leads with 50.06% to Fujimori’s 49.94% with 95.95% of the vote counted. Alfredo Torres, the head of pollster Ipsos, said that while the remaining rural vote tends to favor Sanchez, a large part of the pending vote is from outside the country, which is favoring Fujimori.

About 1.67% of ballots have been flagged for review. Most are from the Lima metropolitan region, which also favors Fujimori.

“Doing the math, it’s possible that the numbers we’re seeing now could be reversed,” Torres said, speaking to a local radio station.

Both candidates have called for patience and for 100% of the votes to be tallied. Peru’s ONPE electoral authority said a full count is expected in July.

(Reporting by Alexander Villegas and Marco Aquino; Editing by Aurora Ellis)