U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that 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, Reuters reported.

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.

Trump, who has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest, thanked the Nigerian government for its ​partnership in the ​operation.

Nigeria denies discriminating ⁠against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.

The U.S. had ​earlier carried out strikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in ​Nigeria in ⁠December. Since then, Washington has deployed drones and 200 troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Nigerian military against Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked ⁠insurgencies that ​are spreading across West Africa.

The U.S. forces ​were operating in a strictly non-combat role, Nigerian military officials said earlier this year.

Israel plans to sue The New York Times and ‌one of its journalists for defamation over an article that said Israeli soldiers, prison guards and settlers had used widespread sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ​instructed his legal advisers “to consider the harshest legal action” against the newspaper ​and Nicholas Kristof, a veteran journalist who reported the story from the ⁠occupied West Bank, Reuters reported.

“They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel ​about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and ​Israel’s valiant soldiers,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail,” he added.

The United Nations and ​rights groups say they have documented the use of sexual violence by both Israel and ​Hamas since the militant Palestinian group’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel’s ‌war ⁠in Gaza.

Netanyahu did not say where or when the lawsuit would be filed. He also threatened to sue the newspaper last August over an article about starvation in Gaza but did not follow through.

In a ⁠statement on Wednesday that followed criticism from Israeli lawmakers, the newspaper defended Kristof’s article, which includes testimony by a Palestinian saying ​he was raped by a dog. Israel rejects this.

“The accounts ​of the ⁠14 men and women [Kristof] interviewed were corroborated with other witnesses, when possible, and with people the victims confided in – that includes family members and lawyers,” newspaper spokesman Charlie Stadtlander wrote, ⁠adding ​that “details were extensively fact-checked”.

In his article, Kristof, who writes ​for the newspaper’s opinion section, wrote: “(Our) American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, so this is ​sexual violence in which the United States is complicit.”

China’s Xi Jinping hailed positive trade negotiations with the United States at the start of a two-day summit with President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday, with discussions also set to cover the Iran war and ​U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

With his approval ratings dented by his entanglement in the Middle East, Trump’s hotly anticipated trip to China – the first by a U.S. president to America’s main strategic rival ‌since his last visit there in 2017 – has taken on added significance, Reuters reported.

“You’re a great leader, sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway,” Trump told Xi after the Chinese leader treated him to a grand reception at Beijing’s imposing Great Hall of the People, featuring an honour guard and throngs of children excitedly waving flowers and U.S. and China flags.

“There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump said. “It’s an honour to be with you. It’s an honour to be your friend ​and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before,” he added.

Xi opened the summit by telling Trump that stable China–U.S. relationship benefits the entire world. “When we cooperate, ​both sides benefit; when we confront each other, both sides suffer.”

He also said preparatory talks by economic and trade teams in South Korea on Wednesday had reached an “overall balanced and ⁠positive outcome”, according to a readout by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

The latest round of negotiations aimed to maintain the trade truce struck last October and establish mechanisms to support future trade and investment, officials with knowledge of ​the matter said.

Joining Trump on the trip are a group of CEOs looking to resolve issues with China, including Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a late addition. Trump has said his first request to Xi will be to “open ​up” China to U.S. industry.

Musk, Huang and Apple’s Tim Cook were present during the opening talks between the leaders, with Musk telling reporters they were “wonderful” as he left the Great Hall.

This week’s leaders meetings will provide plenty of face time between Xi and Trump: after their initial talks, they will tour the UNESCO heritage site Temple of Heaven and attend a state banquet on Thursday, before taking tea and lunch together on Friday, according to the White House.

POWER DYNAMICS HAVE SHIFTED

The power dynamics have changed since Trump’s last visit to ​Beijing when China went out of its way to lavish Trump and buy billions in U.S. goods, said Ali Wyne, senior adviser for U.S.-China relations at International Crisis Group.

Back then “China was trying to persuade the United States of ​its growing status… This time around it’s the United States, unprompted, of its own volition, that is acknowledging that status,” Wyne said, pointing out Trump revived the term ‘G2’, referring to a superpower duo, when he last met Xi on the sidelines of ‌an APEC meeting ⁠in South Korea in October.

Trump enters the talks with a weakened hand.

U.S. courts have hemmed in his ability to levy tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries. The Iran war has also boosted inflation at home and escalated the risk that Trump’s Republican Party will lose control of one or both legislative branches in November’s midterm elections.

Though the Chinese economy has faltered, Xi does not face comparable economic or political pressure.

Nevertheless, both sides are eager to maintain a trade truce struck last October in which Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of rare earths, vital in making items from electric cars to weapons.

They are also expected to discuss forums ​to support mutual trade and investment and dialogue on AI ​issues.

Washington looks to sell Boeing airplanes, farm goods and ⁠energy to China to cut a trade deficit that has long irked Trump, while Beijing wants the U.S. to ease curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors, officials involved in the planning said.

IRAN, TAIWAN IN FOCUS

Aside from trade matters, Trump is expected to encourage China to convince Iran to make a deal with Washington to end ​the conflict. But analysts doubt that Xi will be willing to push Tehran hard or end support for its military, given Iran’s value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight ​to the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State ⁠Marco Rubio told Fox News aboard Air Force One that it was in China’s interest to help resolve the crisis as many of its ships are stuck in the Gulf and a slowdown in the global economy would hurt Chinese exporters.

For Xi, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China, will be a top priority.

China reiterated on Wednesday its strong opposition to the sales, with the status of a $14-billion package awaiting Trump’s approval still unclear. The U.S. is bound ⁠by law to ​provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.

“Trump doesn’t really have that many of the cards ​to play. But I don’t think that Trump actually sees the situation that way,” said Ronan Fu, an assistant research fellow at Taiwan’s top government think tank Academia Sinica.

Xi has a reciprocal visit tentatively planned for later this year, which would be his first visit to the United ​States since Trump re-took office in 2025.