Donald Trump has said Abu-Bilal al Minuki, who is "second in command of Isis globally", has been "eliminated" in Africa in a joint operation by US and Nigerian forces.Al Minuki, 44, was "the most active terrorist in the world", Trump said: "With his removal, Isis's global operation is greatly diminished," Trump wrote on Truth Social.Al Minuki, from Nigeria, has reportedly held a regional commander position within Isis since 2018 and has been described as a hardline militant.The joint operation by the US and Nigeria comes after the US struck what it said were Islamist bases in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day last year. The strikes followed accusations by Trump that Christians were being persecuted in Nigeria, which the African nation's government denies.The news comes after Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said contradictory messages from the Trump administration “made us reluctant about the real intentions of Americans".“We are in doubt about their seriousness,” Araghchi said. Donald Trump claimed that he threw away Iran’s peace proposal after reading the “unacceptable” first sentence as diplomatic efforts to end the war reached a stalemate.Trump claims ‘most’ Iranians have same first namePresident Donald Trump has claimed “most” Iranians have the same first name.Trump’s comment was made during a Fox News interview that aired Friday evening, in which he talked about the U.S. Space Force’s ability to surveil Iranian nuclear sites.“Space Force, which I created, has got cameras — nine different cameras — in space on that site,” he told Special Report host Bret Baier during his trip to China this week.“We know everybody that moves there. We can read the name of a person. If his name is Muhammad something — and most of ’em are Muhammad, you can guess about 50 percent right — we can read his name right on his tag from space,” Trump added.Rebecca Thomas16 May 2026 10:00Iraq exported 10 miilion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in AprilBasim Mohammed, has said the country exported 10 million barrels of oil via the Strait of Hormuz last month - down from 93 million - according to reports from Reuters.Oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have been curtailed due to the closure of the key waterway during the war."We export 200,000 barrels through Ceyhan port, and we ⁠have a plan to increase ​it to 500,000 barrels," ​Mohammed said. Iraq's crude exports through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan ​oil pipeline resumed in March, after Baghdad and ‌the ⁠Kurdistan Regional Government agreed on restarting flows.Iraq plans to engage ​with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost the ⁠its production and export capacity, the minister said, adding that Baghdad aims ⁠to reach a production ​capacity of five million barrels per ​day.Rebecca Thomas16 May 2026 09:21Trump says ‘most active terrorist in the world’ killed by US and Nigerian forcesU.S. President Donald Trump said Friday Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of Isis globally, was killed in an operation conducted by U.S. and Nigerian forces."Tonight, at my direction, brave ​American ⁠forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the ⁠most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield.“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second ​in ⁠command of ISIS globally, ‌thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he ‌was doing," Trump said on Truth ‌Social.Trump did not disclose in his post the exact location of the operation.Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated as a "specially designated global terrorist" by the ⁠former Biden administration in 2023, according to the U.S. Federal Register.Rebecca Thomas16 May 2026 09:01FIFA officials to meet Iranian FA to discuss World Cup on Saturday - reportsFIFA officials are set to meet the Iranian FA in Istanbul to offer “reassurance” over the country’s participation in the World Cup, according to reports from Reuters. A source familiar with the talks told Reuters that FIFA was working with the relevant authorities to ensure all teams at the World Cup, which is set to be held in the US, were able to compete.Iran is set to play three World Cup matches, but its participation has been in question since the onset of the US-Israel war with Iran in February. Rebecca Thomas16 May 2026 09:00Key demand of senior Iranian officialsThe main demand of senior Iranian officials seems to be guarantees against future US-Israeli attacks as a precondition for negotiations.Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said yesterday that the US must satisfy Iranian “confidence-building” before starting negotiations.The Iranian regime seeks that the US recognise its control over the Strait of Hormuz as one such guarantee.Vishwam Sankaran16 May 2026 09:00UN states backing Trump's resolution will be responsible for escalation, says IranThe UN states who co-sponsor Donald Trump’s draft resolution for the Strait of Hormuz will share responsibility for any military escalation, Iranian officials have warned. The statement published on the social media site X accused the US of seeking to “exploit” supportive member states to engineer a false image of “broad international support.”Rebecca Thomas16 May 2026 08:39Even Iran's own export hub has paused oil shipmentsIran's key export hub, Kharg Island, has paused shipments likely due to an oil spill in the area, satellite images suggest.Reports from TankerTrackers, a firm that uses satellite imagery to monitor vessels, point to a multi-day pause in the loading of big ships at the island.This follows a large oil spill reported around the site on 9 May by the New York Times.Iran remained one country easily moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz, but the oil spill seems to have disrupted its dominance in the area as well.Vishwam Sankaran16 May 2026 08:30Iran says lack of trust is biggest hurdle to end war with USIran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said today that a lack of trust with the US is the biggest obstacle to ending the war.He said contradictory messages from the Trump administration “made us reluctant about the real intentions of Americans".“We are in doubt about their seriousness,” Araghchi said, adding that Iran would welcome diplomatic support from other countries, particularly from China.He said the issue of Tehran's enriched uranium stockpile is one of the most difficult subjects in negotiations with the US.Vishwam Sankaran16 May 2026 08:00Trump's $40bn Hormuz ship insurance scheme has had zero takers – reportNearly two months after US president Donald Trump announced a government programme to provide insurance to ships seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz, not even a single user has used the scheme, a new report suggests.In March, Trump announced that the US would provide insurance to ships seeking to pass through the Strait “at a very reasonable price”, with insurers Chubb and AIG roped in to help provide cover.He posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the US Development Finance Corporation would provide “at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, travelling through the Gulf".(Getty)But the $40bn programme has not been used at all till now, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the scheme's operations.This comes even as reports suggest at least 38 ships have been attacked or struck since the conflict began, and 11 seafarers killed while transiting through the Strait.Vishwam Sankaran16 May 2026 07:30Hormuz strait will open in 'summer at the latest': US energy secretaryThe US energy secretary Chris Wright said yesterday that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen “sometime this summer at the latest".“Traffic will be flowing through the Straits of Hormuz, you know, as soon as we can, but certainly sometime this summer at the latest,” Wright said, later adding that a deal could be struck “in the next few days" at the earliest.“We’ve done the early steps on that, but [what’s] better is to get a deal and not have to use military force,” he said.Vishwam Sankaran16 May 2026 07:00