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United States President Donald Trump has claimed that a new nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran will be “far better” than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the US withdrew from in 2018 during his first term.

On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran a day before it was set to expire, with hopes for a second round of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Key among the US demands is that Iran stop all enrichment of uranium.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian use only, such as for power generation, which requires uranium enrichment of between 3 percent and 5 percent. To build nuclear weapons, uranium needs to be enriched to 90 percent.

In this explainer, we visualise what uranium is, how it is enriched and how long it could take Iran to make a nuclear weapon.

What is uranium, and which countries have it?

Uranium is a dense metal used as a fuel in nuclear reactors and weapons. It is naturally radioactive and usually found in low concentrations in rocks, soil and even seawater. About 90 percent of the world’s uranium is produced in just five countries: Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, Australia and Uzbekistan. Reserves of uranium have also been found in other countries.

Uranium is extracted either by digging it out of the ground or, more commonly, through a chemical process that dissolves uranium from within the rock.

Before it can be used as nuclear fuel, uranium is processed through several different forms, including:

• Yellowcake: Mined ore is crushed and treated with chemicals to form a coarse powder known as yellowcake, which, irrespective of its name, is usually dark green or charcoal in colour, depending on how hot it has been treated.
• Uranium tetrafluoride: Yellowcake is then treated with hydrogen fluoride gas, which turns it into emerald-green crystals known as uranium tetrafluoride or green salt.
• Uranium hexafluoride: Green salt is further fluorinated to create a solid white crystal known as uranium hexafluoride. When heated slightly, this crystal turns into a gas, making it ready for enrichment.
• Uranium dioxide: The gas is spun in a centrifuge machine, which chemically converts it into a fine, black powder.
• Fuel pellets: The black powder is pressed to form black ceramic pellets, which can then be used in a nuclear reactor.

How is uranium enriched?

Natural uranium exists in three forms, called isotopes. They are the same element, with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Most naturally occurring uranium (99.3 percent) is U-238 – the heaviest and least radioactive – while about 0.7 percent is U-235 and trace amounts (0.005 percent) are U-234.

To generate energy, scientists separate the lighter, more radioactive U-235 from the slightly heavier U-238 in a process called uranium enrichment. U-235 can sustain a nuclear chain reaction while U-238 cannot.

To enrich uranium, it must first be converted into a gas, known as uranium hexafluoride (UF₆). This gas is fed into a series of fast-spinning cylinders called centrifuges. These cylinders spin at extremely high speeds (often more than 1,000 revolutions per second). The spinning force pushes the heavier U-238 to the outer walls, while the lighter U-235 stays in the centre and is collected.

A single centrifuge provides only a tiny amount of separation. To reach higher concentrations – or “enrichment” – the process is repeated through a series of centrifuges, called a cascade, until the desired concentration of U-235 is achieved.

What are the different levels of uranium enrichment?

The higher the U‑235 percentage, the more highly enriched the uranium is.

Small amounts (3-5 percent) are enough to fuel nuclear power reactors, while weapons require much higher enrichment levels (about 90 percent).

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) considers anything below 20 percent to be low-enriched uranium (LEU), while anything above 20 percent is considered highly-enriched uranium (HEU).

Low enriched – less than 20 percent

• Commercial grade – 3-5 percent: This is the standard fuel for the vast majority of the world’s nuclear power plants
• Small modular reactors – 5-19.9 percent: Used in more modern reactors and advanced research reactors

Highly enriched – More than 20 percent

• Research grade – 20-85 percent: Used in specialised research reactors to produce medical isotopes or to test materials
• Weapons grade – above 90 percent: This is the level required for most nuclear weapons
• Naval grade – 93-97 percent: Used in the nuclear reactors that power submarines and aircraft carriers

Depleted uranium, which contains less than 0.3 percent U‑235, is the leftover product after enrichment. It can be used for radiation shielding or as projectiles in armour‑piercing weapons.

How long does it take to enrich uranium?

The effort it takes to enrich uranium is not linear, meaning it is much more difficult to go from 0.7 percent natural uranium to 20 percent LEU than it is to go from 20 percent to 90 percent HEU. Once uranium reaches 60 percent enrichment, it becomes much quicker to reach 90 percent weapons grade.

The effort it takes to enrich uranium is measured in separative work units (SWU).

According to the IAEA, Iran is believed to have about 440kg (970lbs) of uranium enriched to 60 percent – enough to theoretically build 10 or 11 low-technology atomic bombs if refined to 90 percent.

Ted Postol, professor emeritus of science, technology and international security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told Al Jazeera that before the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow, the country had at least 10 cascades of 174 IR-6 centrifuges in operation – meaning 1,740 IR-6 centrifuges.

The IR-6 is one of Iran’s most advanced centrifuge models. The country also has tens of thousands of older centrifuges.

Little is known about the conditions of these centrifuges or the stocks of uranium hexafluoride, which are still believed to be buried underground.

Postol has calculated that Iran’s cascade of centrifuges could produce 900 to 1,000 SWUs annually.

“Getting from natural uranium to 60 percent enrichment, which Iran has already achieved, takes roughly five years, and about 5,000 SWUs using Iran’s cascades.”

“If I want to go from 60 to 90 percent, I only need 500 SWUs. So, instead of five years, [by] starting with the 60 percent here, this might take me four or five weeks. Because I am already very enriched,” Postol said.

Using an analogy of a clock, Postol explained: “Let’s say it takes seven minutes to get 33 percent enrichment, and then eight minutes to get to 50 percent enrichment. It only takes me one minute to get to total [90 percent] enrichment.”

How easy would it be for Iran to build a nuclear weapon?

Postol said Iran’s stockpile is held underground, meaning a military strike would not necessarily eliminate the nuclear threat.

A single centrifuge cascade capable of enriching weapons-grade uranium could take up “no more floor space than a studio apartment, making it easily hidden in a small laboratory”, he said, estimating the area at 60sq metres (600sq feet).

“A single Prius Compact Hybrid car can produce enough electric power to run four or more of these cascades at a time,” Postol added, meaning “Iran can covertly convert its 60 percent uranium into weapons-grade uranium metal”.

“What they have done is put themselves in a position where anybody who thinks about attacking them with nuclear weapons has to know that they could be sitting in those tunnels after such an attack, refining [and] enriching the final step they need to build atomic weapons and converting it to metal, and building a nuclear weapon, and that they have the means to deliver it,” Postol said.

“They would have all of the technical equipment they need to build the atomic weapons. And they have the missiles, which are also in the tunnels and can be manufactured in addition to what they already have. And the atomic weapon would not need to be tested, because uranium weapons do not need to be tested before they’re used.”

What does the NPT say about enrichment?

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), established in 1968, is a landmark international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Iran is a signatory to this pact.

The treaty supports the right of all signatories to access nuclear technology and enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, including energy, medical or industrial purposes, with precise safeguards to ensure it is not diverted to make weapons.

Under the NPT, nuclear-weapon states agree not to transfer nuclear weapons or assist non-nuclear-weapon states in developing them. Non-nuclear-weapon states also agree not to seek or acquire nuclear weapons.

Despite this, most nuclear powers are currently modernising their arsenals rather than dismantling them.

Most of the countries are signatories, except five: India, Pakistan, Israel, South Sudan and North Korea.

What agreements has Iran made about its nuclear programme in the past?

In 2015, under the Obama administration, Iran struck a deal with six world powers — China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US — plus the European Union, known as the JCPOA.

Under the pact, Tehran agreed to scale down its nuclear programme, capping enrichment to 3.67 percent, in exchange for relief from sanctions.

“The Iranians agreed to it, and they were following the treaty. There was no problem with the treaty at all, absolutely no problem,” Postol said.

“They were allowed to have 6,000 centrifuges, which, if they had natural uranium, they could probably build a bomb within a year if they were secretly using these centrifuges, but that was all under inspection. They were just simply going to enrich to 3.67 percent, which is for a power reactor. They’re allowed to do that by the Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

But in 2018, Trump pulled out of the deal, calling it “one-sided” and reimposing sanctions on Iran. Iran responded by eventually resuming enrichment at Fordow.

After the US killed Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, Tehran stated it would no longer follow the set uranium enrichment limits.

Former President Joe Biden made attempts to revive the deal, but it never came to fruition due to disagreements over whether sanctions should be lifted first or Iran should rejoin the JCPOA first.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran should not have the ability to produce nuclear weapons. It has been one of Washington’s red lines during talks with Iranian officials over the past year, and was also the central justification that Washington used when it bombed Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day US-Israel war on Iran last year.

In the current negotiations, Iran has said it is willing to “downblend” its 60 percent enriched uranium to about 20 percent – the threshold for low-enriched uranium. The process of downblending involves mixing stocks with depleted uranium to achieve a lower percentage of enriched U-235 overall.

“From the point of view of showing goodwill, I think it’s good, it shows that the Iranians are thinking of ways to address what the Americans claim are their concerns,” Postol said.

Which countries have nuclear weapons?

Nine countries possessed roughly 12,187 nuclear warheads as of early 2026, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Approximately two-thirds are owned by two nations – Russia (4,400) and the US (3,700), excluding their retired nuclear arsenals.

Some 9,745 of the total existing nuclear weapons are military stockpiles for missiles, submarines and aircraft. The rest have been retired. Of the military stockpile, 3,912 are currently deployed on missiles or at bomber bases, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Of these, some 2,100 are on US, Russian, British and French warheads, ready for use at short notice.

While Russia and the US have dismantled thousands of warheads, several countries are thought to be increasing their stockpiles, notably China.

The only country to have voluntarily relinquished nuclear weapons is South Africa. In 1989, the government halted its nuclear weapons programme and began dismantling its six nuclear weapons the following year.

Israel is believed to possess nuclear weapons, with a stockpile of at least 90. It has consistently neither confirmed nor denied this, and despite numerous treaties, it faces little international pressure for transparency.

Iran responded to the US capture of one of its tankers close to the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week by capturing two foreign commercial vessels on Wednesday and moving them to its coast. Iran called the US attack on its ship by the US an act of “piracy” and, on Wednesday, said the two tankers it had seized had violated maritime regulations, according to Iranian state media.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said: “This is in line with what we heard from the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] previously, saying that any passage of ships, vessels or oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz should be with the permission and coordination of the IRGC.”

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He said the seizure reflected Iran’s continuing strategy to impose control and authority over maritime traffic through the chokepoint, adding that Iranian officials were now discussing charges and transit fees for vessels using the route.

On Monday, the US military fired on and then seized the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska close to the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Arabian Sea as it was en route to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) and President Donald Trump said the Touska had refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure came after the US imposed a naval blockade on all Iranian ports on April 13.

Iran called Washington’s capture of the vessel “an act of piracy”.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of piracy. Last year, Venezuela also made the allegation when the US seized sanctioned oil tankers off its coast.

But is this the case?

Here’s what we know about US strikes on Iranian ships:

What happened to the Touska?

The US military enforced its naval blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran’s block on most vessels coming through the narrow waterway. Since the war began, Iran has allowed only a few ships belonging to nations that have struck deals with Tehran to pass.

The US military said it would bar any ships belonging to Iran or travelling to or from Iranian ports from passing through the strait.

On Monday, according to the US military, the Touska tried to defy the US blockade by crossing from the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Oman through the Strait of Hormuz towards Bandar Abbas.

CENTCOM reported: “American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade.”

“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room” before the US destroyer fired at the Iranian ship, the CENTCOM statement said.

Subsequently, US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded the Touska and captured the ship.

What other Iranian ships has the US targeted?

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said US forces had detained another oil tanker sanctioned for transporting Iranian crude oil as it sailed in the Bay of Bengal, which links India and Southeast Asia.

In a post on social media, the Pentagon said US forces “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” of the M/T Tifani “without incident”.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate.
International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,” it added.

Washington has been targeting Iranian ships throughout the war on Iran, which began when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Tehran on February 28.

On March 4, a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena with a torpedo in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. The ship and its crew were returning home from Visakhapatnam on India’s east coast after participating in naval exercises. US forces have been criticised for leaving the ship to sink and not making efforts to rescue survivors afterwards.

Sri Lanka’s navy, which mounted a rescue effort, reported that 32 Iranian sailors were rescued, 87 bodies were recovered and 61 of the crew remain missing.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the Iranian warship was the “first such attack on an enemy since World War II”.

How has Iran responded?

After the US sinking of the IRIS Dena, Tehran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries, causing multiple deaths.

After the recent capture of the tankers by the US, Iran called Washington’s actions “piracy” and threatened to strike back.

“We warn that the armed ⁠forces of the Islamic ⁠Republic of Iran will ⁠soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by ‌the US military,” a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s joint military command, said hours after the capture of the Touska.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Washington’s naval blockade constituted a breach of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation [of the ceasefire],” he said.

A spokesperson for Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state television on Tuesday that Iran had yet ⁠to decide whether to attend further talks with the US. He described the boarding of the tanker as well as the earlier seizure of the cargo ship as “piracy at sea and state terrorism”.

If the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot

by Jason Chuah, professor of maritime law, City University of London

Is the US guilty of piracy?

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), acts of piracy are “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft”. They can take place either on “the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft” or can be directed “against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State”.

Piracy also refers to “any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft”.

Jason Chuah, a professor of maritime law at City University of London, told Al Jazeera that legally, therefore, the US actions do not constitute piracy.

“Piracy requires private gain, not government vessels enforcing sanctions or a blockade in times of armed conflict,” he said.

“However, if the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot,” he added.

US law allows its Coast Guard to conduct searches and seizures on the high seas if the purpose is to enforce US laws. It states that the US Coast Guard “may make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the high seas” to prevent violations.

The container ship Touska was flying the Iranian flag. However, its owners have been under sanctions issued by the US Department of the Treasury and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and have been accused of helping Iran evade sanctions.

In previous enforcement actions against sanctioned ships, the US has seized not only the ship itself but also the oil on board. In 2020, it confiscated fuel from four tankers allegedly carrying Iranian oil to Venezuela.

It is unclear what the Touska was carrying when it was seized, but Trump posted on Truth Social after the capture that American sailors are “seeing what’s on board”.

Apurva Mehta, a partner at the Indian law firm ANB Legal, noted that Article 87 of the UNCLOS  guarantees all states the freedom to navigate on the High Seas.

“While acts of the US cannot be termed as piracy, US warships on government service and authorised as such, can carry out seizures on account of piracy,” she said.

“Under Article 110, warships are entitled to board foreign vessels in high seas, if they believe that the vessel is engaged in piracy, slave trade, carrying out unauthorised broadcasting or playing without a flag etc.”

Has the US captured ships before?

Yes. In December, Trump said the US had captured a sanctioned oil tanker close to the coast of Venezuela.

According to a Reuters news agency report, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified the crude carrier captured as the Skipper.

Venezuela also described that incident as an “act of piracy”.

At the time, the US was building up a military presence in waters near the northern coast of South America. From those positions, it had already carried out strikes on at least 21 boats that it claimed – without showing any evidence – were carrying drugs destined for the US. Many of them were Venezuelan, it said.

With 50 days to go until the World Cup kicks off, FIFA and the tournament’s host nations face criticism over wide-ranging social, political and logistical issues surrounding the global event.

Canada and Mexico will cohost the tournament with the United States, which, alongside Israel, launched a war on World Cup participant nation Iran on February 28. While the war is currently under a fragile temporary ceasefire, Iran’s participation in the tournament remains uncertain.

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Fans across the three host countries are in uproar over exorbitant ticket prices, which have affected sales and interest in the world’s most popular quadrennial sporting event.

Local politicians and the public have also raised concerns over the hike in transport fares on routes connecting match venues in the US.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the growing concerns in the run-up to the tournament, which begins on June 11 with the opening fixture between Mexico and South Africa:

What’s the latest on Iran’s participation in the World Cup?

Iran’s football team is preparing for the championship. However, officials say a final decision on the team’s participation will be taken by the government and the National Security Council after they review the players’ safety in the US.

Iran had said last month that it would not participate in the tournament amid the war, especially if the host nation could not guarantee players’ security. It followed a social media post from President Donald Trump, where he suggested that the Iranian team’s safety and security could not be guaranteed in the US, where Iranians are scheduled to play all their games.

The Iranian football federation then asked FIFA to relocate its games from the US to Mexico. FIFA rejected the request.

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino said last week that Iran “has to come” to the tournament.

Iran will play all their group stage matches on the US West Coast. Should they advance to the knockouts, the remaining games would also be held in the US.

Outrageous commuter fare prices in US host cities

Fans can expect to pay nearly 12 times the regular $12.90 fare for a round-trip train ride from Manhattan’s Penn Station to the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, venue of the World Cup final and seven other major fixtures.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and FIFA have chided each other on the $150 price tag for a roughly 15-minute, 14km (9-mile) ride; Sherrill said FIFA should bear the costs, while the global body hit back, saying it is not obligated to do so.

Train commutes to Gillette Stadium in Boston’s suburbs cost roughly four times the regular price ($20), while round-trip bus fares to Foxborough cost $95.

Host cities Los Angeles and Philadelphia have pledged to keep their transit fares unchanged, while Kansas City is offering a $15 round-trip fare to Arrowhead Stadium. Houston said it has added buses and train cars to serve fans but intends to keep fares at current levels: $1.25 for buses and light rail trains, and park-and-ride options ranging from $2 to $4.50.

High prices, low demand for match tickets

Sky-high ticket prices have left fans outraged at what they say is pricing that excludes supporters from the tournament. A lag in ticket sales for blockbuster matches, including hosts USA vs Paraguay, seems to be a testament to the high price tag.

FIFA put tickets on sale in December at prices ranging from $140 for Category 3 in the first round to $8,680 for the final. Later, it raised prices to as high as $10,990 when sales reopened on April 1.

The North American bid had initially promised tickets would be available for as little as $21; however, the cheapest ticket has been priced at $60. Most tickets cost at least $200 for matches involving higher-ranked teams.

FIFA announced another round of ticket sales on Wednesday to coincide with the 50-day countdown. Tickets will be available across categories 1 to 3 for all 104 matches on a first-come, first-served basis.

Pushback against immigration raids during World Cup matches

The Trump administration’s push for mass deportation and its efforts to tighten legal immigration pathways have spurred concerns about whether the World Cup’s international audience might be targeted by US immigration authorities.

Infantino was approached last week to pressure Trump to avoid immigration raids at this year’s tournament. Reporters suggested that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were present at last year’s FIFA Club World Cup matches, though the Trump administration denied conducting enforcement efforts.

A report by The Athletic explained that FIFA executives have framed the possibility of an immigration moratorium as a potential public relations boon for the Trump administration. It also indicated that the executives hoped Infantino would leverage his friendly relationship with Trump to assuage any immigration-related fears.

Violence in Mexico raises fears over tournament security

World Cup cohost Mexico is also under the spotlight due to concerns for fan safety after a lone attacker opened fire on tourists near the country’s capital on Monday.

The accused opened fire on top of one of the Teotihuacan pyramids — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Mexico’s most frequented tourist attractions — and killed one Canadian tourist and injured 13 others.

It raised questions about security protocols taken by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government in the run-up to the global football tournament.

Sheinbaum said Mexico will beef up security ahead of the World Cup.

“Our obligation as a government is to take the appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again. But clearly, we all know — Mexicans know — that this is something that had not previously taken place,” she said on Tuesday.

NBA player’s profile image shows a Palestinian child blocked from school by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

Famed basketball player Kyrie Irving changed his social media profile picture to an image of a Palestinian child blocked from attending school by Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The picture on Irving’s Instagram, which boasts 20.2 million followers, shows a young Palestinian boy sitting with a book as he turns around to look at Israeli soldiers standing behind a barbed wire fence just behind him.

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Earlier this month, Palestinian schoolchildren in Umm al-Khair, in the occupied West Bank, found a barbed wire fence blocking their route to school roughly 1km (0.6 miles) away. Despite the barrier being erected by settlers without legal authorisation, soldiers have refused to take down the barrier in a community that faces imminent Israeli demolition orders later this month due to a lack of building permits. Such permits are rarely granted to Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is entirely under the control of Israel.

When the children, some as young as five years old, tried to go around the fence, soldiers launched tear gas and sound grenades at them. Shortly after the fence went up, a large Star of David was built with stones by settlers on the side of the fence that the Palestinian schoolchildren can no longer access.

The community subsequently launched a march as part of a new initiative – “the Umm al-Khair Freedom School” – walking alongside the schoolchildren right up to the fence as the children banged on drums and sang defiant songs while soldiers watched from metres away.

For stretches of time, the children sat down on rocks adjacent to the barbed wire, took out their books and began working on schoolwork they have been deprived of for more than 50 days.

The social media update was not the first time Irving, 34, has voiced support for Palestinians in Gaza.

In February, he attended an NBA All-Star game wearing a shirt that read “PRESS” to honour journalists covering Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In a pre-game interview in November 2024, he was seen wearing a chain with the Palestine flag in the shape of Israel’s land mass.

A year earlier, he made headlines by attending a post-match news conference wearing a keffiyeh, a cotton headdress with a distinctive chequered pattern worn in many parts of the Arab world that represents Palestinian identity.

Since the declaration of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on October 10, 2025, Israel has violated the agreement with near-daily attacks, killing hundreds of people.

Israel violated the ceasefire agreement at least 2,400 times from October 10, 2025, to April 14, 2026, through the continuation of attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings, the Government Media Office in Gaza reports.

Israel has also continued to block vital humanitarian aid and destroy homes and infrastructure across the Strip.

Virginia voters have narrowly approved a referendum to redraw the state’s congressional map, with about 51.5 percent voting yes and 48.6 percent voting no, and 97 percent of ballots counted, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The map redraws the boundaries of Virginia’s congressional districts, changes that can directly shape which party wins seats in the United States House of Representatives.

With most votes counted, the result remained close, but Democratic-leaning areas helped push it through.

The vote is part of a broader national fight over district lines – a battle that could decide who controls Congress.

Republicans in Florida, for instance, are planning a special session of the state legislature next Tuesday where they are expected to seek to redraw their state’s political map – a move that could help them gain as many as five seats, potentially wiping out any Democratic gain in Virginia.

Here are five key takeaways:

Democrats gain a major advantage in the House race

Currently, Virginia sends 11 members to the US House. At the moment, they comprise six Democrats and five Republicans.

The new map changes how those seats are drawn. By reshaping district boundaries, it makes most areas more favourable to Democrats by clumping together voters who lean towards the party strategically, while splintering communities that typically vote Republican.

• Eight districts would be safely Democratic
• Two would be competitive but lean Democratic
• Only one would be safely Republican.

Because of this, Democrats could realistically win at least eight and possibly up to 10 of the 11 seats in the US house, instead of just six.

This shift follows a high-stakes political battle, with total spending estimated at $100m.

Democratic leaders, including Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, framed the new map as a direct response to efforts by US President Donald Trump and Republicans to redraw districts in their favour in other states.

However, even with this win, “there’s no guarantee they’ll send a delegation dominated by Democrats to Washington,” Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said, reporting from Virginia.

There are still six months until the midterm elections, and voter behaviour can shift. Even favourable maps can produce unexpected outcomes.

Virginia is one part of a bigger battle

Virginia is just one part of a bigger fight over who controls the US House.

After the 2024 election, Trump pushed Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps before the usual timeline to improve their chances in the 2026 midterms.

Republicans moved first in states like Texas, where new maps could give them up to five more seats.

Democrats responded with their own moves. In California, voters approved a plan backed by Governor Gavin Newsom that allowed lawmakers to draw a new, more partisan map. This is expected to give Democrats up to five extra seats.

The Virginia result fits into this bigger picture. If Democrats gain up to four seats there, it could help cancel out Republican gains in other states.

But the fight is not over. More changes could still happen, including in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis is looking at redrawing the map.

“Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms,” Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott said in a celebratory statement.

“At a moment when Trump and his allies are trying to lock in power before voters have a say, Virginians stepped up and levelled the playing field for the entire country.”

Legal challenges could still overturn the result

The measure has been approved by voters, but its future is still uncertain.

The Supreme Court of Virginia is expected to review ongoing legal challenges that could affect whether the new map takes effect. While the court allowed the vote to go ahead, it said it would examine the case in full if the measure passed.

The challenges focus on two key issues: Whether Democratic lawmakers followed the correct legal process when putting the proposal forward, and whether the wording on the ballot may have been misleading to voters.

A narrow win

Both parties were watching the vote closely.

Democrats were happy to win, even if it was close. Republicans, meanwhile, were relieved it wasn’t a big loss.

“Virginia Democrats can’t redraw reality,” said Republican Congressman Richard Hudson. “This close margin reinforces that Virginia is a purple state that shouldn’t be represented by a severe partisan gerrymander.”

Gerrymandering is the process of redrawing electoral maps in ways that can benefit one party over another.

Democrats said the tight result was partly down to voter confusion, which they blamed on Republican messaging. Democrats framed the effort as a response to Trump, promoting the plan with advertisements featuring former US President Barack Obama.

Opponents pushed back by pointing to past comments from Obama and Spanberger, both of whom have previously criticised gerrymandering, using that to question the Democrats’ position.

Gerrymandering is at the centre of the fight

The vote highlights the growing importance of partisan map-drawing in US politics.

Democrats say this balances Republican advantages elsewhere. Republicans call it a power grab in a competitive state.

Either way, redistricting is now a key tool shaping election outcomes, not just reflecting them.

Kevin Durant scores 23 for Houston but the Lakers bag a 101-94 win despite a depleted team, with Luka Doncic missing.

LeBron James compiled 28 points, eight rebounds ‌‌and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-94 victory over the visiting ⁠⁠Houston Rockets, taking a ⁠⁠2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

With leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring injury) and Austin Reaves (oblique strain) watching from the bench on Tuesday, Marcus Smart added 25 points, including 5 of ⁠⁠7 from 3-point range, and Game 1 hero Luke Kennard contributed 23 points, which included 3 of 6 from deep.

“Just as hard as we played in Game 1, we had to double that in Game ⁠⁠2,” James said. “We understood what they wanted to come in [with], the desperation they were going to have, so we had to be even more desperate. And I thought we played a hell of a game.”

Kevin Durant, who missed the opening game with a right knee contusion, scored 23 points for Houston, but he had nine turnovers and was ‌‌held to just three points after half-time.

Houston’s Alperen Sengun paired 20 points with 11 rebounds, Jabari Smith Jr had 18 points, and Amen Thompson posted 16 points and nine assists.

“The turnovers hurt us, but outside of the third quarter, [we were] decent overall,” Rockets coach ‌‌Ime ‌‌Udoka said. “But 7-for-29 from three, 8-for-20 on second-chance points, and shooting 40 percent is not good enough … [We’re] defending well enough, but not scoring. That’s the bottom line from these two games.”

The best-of-seven series shifts to Houston for Game 3 on Friday.

Trail Blazers win as Wembanyama suffers concussion

Scoot Henderson poured in a season-best 31 ‌‌points as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers came back from 14 points down in the ⁠⁠fourth quarter to outlast the ⁠⁠short-handed San Antonio Spurs 106-103 and even their first-round Western Conference playoff series at one win each.

The teams will play Game 3 on Friday in ⁠⁠Portland, and it is unclear whether the Spurs will have Victor Wembanyama available. The NBA Defensive Player of the Year hit his face on the floor in the second quarter and was diagnosed with a concussion. ⁠⁠He is scheduled for further testing on Wednesday.

The Spurs, led by Stephon Castle’s team-high 18 points, carried a one-point lead into the fourth quarter but reeled off the first 13 points of the final period to build their advantage to 93-79. The Trail Blazers roared back to take the lead via a 7-0 run ‌‌capped by a Jrue Holiday layup with 2:02 left and held on from there.

Holiday produced 16 points and nine assists, and Deni Avdija added 14 points for the Trail Blazers. The Spurs got 17 points from De’Aaron Fox, plus 16 points and 12 rebounds from Devin Vassell.

Celtics ⁠⁠97, 76ers 111

VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey combined to make 11 3-pointers ⁠⁠and score 59 total points as the Philadelphia 76ers bounced back to even the Eastern Conference playoff series with hosts Boston Celtics.

Seventh-seeded Philadelphia shook off a dismal Game 1 performance, which included making just four 3-pointers in a 123-91 loss, with a complete reversal on the offensive end. ‌‌With 19 points from Paul George, they shot a torrid 19 of 39 (48.7 percent) from beyond the arc in Game 2.

Jaylen Brown went for a game-high 36 points, and Jayson Tatum finished ‌‌with ‌‌19 points to go with his game-high 14 rebounds for the Celtics. No other Boston player reached double figures in scoring, a stark contrast to Game 1, when the Celtics’ entire starting five notched at least 10 points.

A plane carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes from Iraq’s oil revenues was blocked by the US Treasury, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The United States has halted shipments of US dollars to Iraq and paused some security cooperation programmes with the Iraqi military, increasing pressure on Baghdad to curb powerful Iran-aligned groups, according to Iraqi and US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The report said a recent cargo plane shipment carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes was blocked by the US Department of the Treasury. The money came from Iraqi oil revenues held in accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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The suspended transfer was the second scheduled dollar shipment to Iraq’s central bank delayed by Washington since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February.

The move comes as Washington pushes Baghdad to move closer to the US and loosen longstanding ties with Iran during the nearly eight-week war.

It follows attacks claimed by Iran-aligned groups inside Iraq, targeting US military facilities and neighbouring countries in what they described as support for Tehran.

The US has also carried out air attacks against armed factions in Iraq aligned with Iran, including groups linked to the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) – an umbrella body of factions formally incorporated into Iraq’s state security apparatus.

In a statement on Tuesday, Iraq’s central bank did not refer directly to the halted deliveries, but said it had sufficient US currency reserves.

Iraq war legacy

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington took control over the management of Iraq’s oil revenues by placing tens of billions of dollars in proceeds at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Although the arrangement was presented as a way to stabilise Iraq’s economy, critics said it gave the US enormous leverage over a country it had just occupied, allowing Washington to influence Iraq’s financial system and access to its own oil wealth.

Large shipments of cash were then sent back to Baghdad each year to keep the economy functioning, reinforcing Iraq’s dependence on US-controlled financial channels.

US officials told The Wall Street Journal the suspension of shipments was temporary, but did not specify what steps Iraq would need to take for deliveries to resume.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in office since 2022, has sought US support for a second term, while also avoiding confrontation with the Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq.

Football’s governing body puts more tickets on sale but has introduced new premium-priced tiers that angered some fans.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is putting more World Cup tickets on sale after angering some fans by adding new, more expensive categories.

FIFA announced on Tuesday that it would make more tickets available at 11am EDT (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday for all 104 games in Categories 1, 2 and 3, in addition to the new “front category” pricing it added this month.

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The new category led to online complaints from fans, who said they had thought that the better seats in the categories they had bought tickets for were withheld, and they had been assigned less favourable locations.

FIFA in December put tickets on sale at prices ranging from $140 for Category 3 in the first round to $8,680 for the final, then raised prices to as much as $10,990 when sales reopened on April 1.

FIFA did not respond to an April 9 request for comment about the new ticket categories it added.

Also on Tuesday, The Athletic reported that ticket sales are lagging for the US opener against Paraguay on June 12 at Inglewood, California. It said a document distributed to local organisers, dated April 10, said that 40,934 tickets had been bought for the US-Paraguay game, and 50,661 were bought for the Iran-New Zealand contest on April 15.

FIFA projects the capacity at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, where the US-Paraguay and Iran-New Zealand games will be held, to be about 69,650, noting that it may change.

FIFA’s December sale priced US-Paraguay tickets at $1,120, $1,940 and $2,735, and Iran-New Zealand seats at $140, $380 and $450.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in the United States has been indicted on federal fraud charges after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the civil rights group of improperly raising millions of dollars to pay informants to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and other far-right groups.

The Department of Justice alleged that the law centre defrauded donors by using their money to fund the very ideology it claimed to be fighting.

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It pointed to payments of at least $3m between 2014 and 2023 to people affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America and other far-right groups.

“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said.

The civil rights group faces charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Justice Department brought the case in Alabama, where the organisation is based.

The indictment came shortly after the SPLC revealed the existence of a criminal investigation into its programme to pay informants to infiltrate far-right groups and gather information on their activities.

The group said the programme was used to monitor threats of violence. The information was often shared with local and federal law enforcement, it added.

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said the organisation “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work”.

Blanche said the money was passed from the centre through two different bank accounts before being loaded onto prepaid cards to give to the members of the far-right groups, which also included the National Socialist Movement and the Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club.

The group never disclosed to donors the details of the informant programme, Blanche added.

“They’re required to under the laws associated with a nonprofit to have certain transparency and honesty in what they’re telling donors they’re going to spend money on and what their mission statement is and what they’re raising money doing,” he said.

The indictment includes details about at least nine unnamed informants who were paid by the SPLC through a secret programme that prosecutors say began in the 1980s.

Within the SPLC, they were known as field sources or “the Fs”, according to the indictment. One informant was paid more than $1m between 2014 and 2023 while affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance, the indictment said. Another was the imperial wizard of the United Klans of America.

The SPLC said the programme was kept quiet to protect the safety of informants.

“When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the Civil Rights Movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators, and the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system,” Fair said. “There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives.”

The SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded in 1971, and has used civil litigation to fight white supremacist groups.

The nonprofit has become a popular target among Republicans, who see it as overly leftist and partisan.

The investigation could add to concerns that the administration of President Donald Trump is using the Justice Department to go after opponents and critics.

It follows a number of other investigations into Trump foes that have raised questions about whether the law enforcement agency has been turned into a political weapon.

The SPLC has faced intense criticism from conservatives, who have accused it of unfairly maligning right-wing organisations as far-right groups because of their viewpoints. The centre regularly condemns Trump’s rhetoric and policies around voting rights, immigration and other issues.

The centre came under new scrutiny after the assassination last year of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The centre included a section about Kirk’s group, Turning Point USA, in a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024”. It described Turning Point USA as “a case study of the hard right in 2024″.

Kash Patel, Trump’s appointee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ended his agency’s relationship with the centre, which had provided law enforcement with research on hate crime and domestic far-right ideology and practices.

Patel said the centre had been turned into a “partisan smear machine” and accused it of defaming “mainstream Americans” with its “hate map”, which documents alleged antigovernment and hate groups inside the US.

Republicans in the House of Representatives hosted a hearing centred on the SPLC in December, saying it coordinated efforts with former President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration “to target Christian and conservative Americans and deprive them of their constitutional rights to free speech and free association”.

More than four in every 10 deaths and disappearances occurred on sea routes to Europe, the UN agency says.

Nearly 8,000 people died or disappeared on migration routes last year, with sea routes to Europe the most deadly, according to the United Nations.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said that many of the victims were lost in “invisible shipwrecks,” as it released new figures in a report on Tuesday.

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“These figures bear witness to our collective failure to prevent these tragedies,” Maria Moita, who directs the UN agency’s humanitarian and response department, told a news conference.

The figure of 7,904 people that the UN counted as died or missing in 2025 constituted a fall from the all-time high of 9,197 in 2024, the IOM said in its report. However, it added that the drop was partly due to 1,500 suspected cases that went unverified due to aid cuts.

Total deaths since 2014 exceed 82,000, with about 340,000 family members estimated to have been directly affected.

Shifting routes

More than four in every 10 deaths and disappearances occurred on sea routes to Europe, the IOM reports.

“In Europe, overall arrivals declined, but the profile of movements changed, with Bangladeshi nationals becoming the largest group arriving while Syrian arrivals fell following political and policy shifts,” the report reads.

Many cases were so-called “invisible shipwrecks” where entire boats are lost at sea and never found.

The West African route northwards accounted for 1,200 deaths, while Asia reported a record number of deaths, including hundreds of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar or misery in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The organisation stressed that the data showed migration routes “are shifting rather than easing, with risks remaining high along increasingly dangerous journeys”.

“Routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks are still very real,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.

“Behind these numbers are people taking dangerous journeys and families left waiting for news that may never come,” she added.

“Data is critical to understanding these routes and designing interventions that can reduce risks, save lives and promote safer migration pathways.”