AP World News

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of traders and customs clearance company owners protested in central Baghdad on Sunday, demanding that Iraq’s government reverse recently imposed customs tariffs that they say have sharply increased their costs and disrupted trade. The new tariffs that came into effect on Jan. 1 were imposed as

By SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A limited number of Palestinians traveled between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday as the Rafah crossing reopened after a two-day closure, Egyptian state media reported. The vital border point opened last week for the first time since mid-2024, one of the main requirements for

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Sunday that the man suspected of shooting a deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency in Moscow was detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia, and they alleged he was working on behalf of Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot several times Friday by

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to over seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security

By JAMES BROOKS Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The makers of mobile apps designed to help shoppers identify and boycott American goods say they saw a surge of interest in Denmark and beyond after the recent flare-up in tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland. The creator of the “Made O’Meter” app,

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results with 99% of votes counted. Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7% of votes, compared with

By KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It is pre-dawn in the historic Podil district of the Ukraine capital, Kyiv, and warm light from the Spelta bakery-bistro’s window pierces the darkness outside. On a wooden surface dusted with flour, the baker Oleksandr Kutsenko skilfully divides and shapes soft, damp pieces of dough. As

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and FOSTER KLUG Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ‘s governing party secured a two-thirds supermajority in parliamentary elections, Japanese media reported, citing preliminary results. The landslide victory was due, in large part, to the extraordinary popularity of Japan’s first female prime minister, and allows her to pursue

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his Board of Peace this month in Washington to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza. The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, would include both world leaders who accepted Trump’s invitation in January to join the

By NATALIE MELZER Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday about American talks with Iran, his office said Saturday, while Iran’s foreign minister threatened U.S. military bases in the region a day after the discussions. “The prime minister believes that all

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Tourists to Milan during the Winter Olympics hoping to see Leonardo da Vinci’s “ The Last Supper” were in for an unwelcome surprise: Access to the masterpiece is closed to the public for 3 1/2 days. The painting, created between 1494 and 1498 by the Italian

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s presidential council stepped down on Saturday after almost two years of tumultuous rule alongside a U.S.-backed prime minister, who is expected to remain in power as the country prepares for the first general elections in a decade. Days before the nine-member council

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press MILAN (AP) — The performance by pop star Mariah Carey at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony was the talk of the town — but it also raised a few questions. The rendition by the American singer of Italian classic “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” — better known as

By MUNIR AHMED and MUHAMMAD YOUSAF Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces raided multiple locations and arrested four suspects, including the alleged mastermind, behind a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of the capital that killed 31 people, the interior minister said Saturday. The announcement by Mohsin Naqvi came a

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the Jeffrey Epstein files. And all in Europe, rather than the United States. The huge trove of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice has sent shock waves through Europe’s political, economic and

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal to end the nearly four‑year war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters, as Russian strikes on energy infrastructure forced nuclear power plants to cut output on Saturday. If the June deadline is not

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister is a heavy metal music fan. She loves motorcycles and playing the drums, including with visiting dignitaries. She thrilled a nation that often fetishizes company loyalty by declaring that her secret for success as leader would be “ work, work, work, work, work. ”

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — After a day spent selling books, Solanda Oña typically boards a bus from a wealthy seaside district in Havana to her home in the city’s working-class center. But on Thursday night, the bus never came. The 64-year-old bookseller spent the night sleeping in a nearby restaurant instead,

By GONZALO SOLANO Associated Press ALTO ILA, Ecuador (AP) — On a recent journey into the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle, Ramón Pucha realized he was being trailed. Fresh puma tracks now lined the path alongside his own footprints. Unfazed, he continued his trek, focused entirely on the precious cargo he carried — seeds from some of

By ABBY SEWELL, JOHN LEICESTER and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — U.N. peacekeepers patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by The Associated Press. The report by one of

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Vice President JD Vance met Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — one of the Trump administration’s closer allies in Europe — during his trip to Italy for the Olympic Games. Vance is on a weeklong visit that combines sports and diplomacy,

By ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — An alleged participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, has been taken into custody to face prosecution for the rampage that killed four Americans and emerged as a divisive political issue, the Justice Department said Friday. Zubayar Al-Bakoush,

By KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday described the performance of the air force in parts of the country as “unsatisfactory,” and said that steps are being taken to improve the response to large-scale Russian drone barrages of civilian areas. The repeated Russian aerial assaults have in

By PELUMI SALAKO and OPE ADETAYO Associated Press WORO, Nigeria (AP) — Weeks after residents of two Nigerian villages ignored a letter from militants announcing they would come to spread their extreme form of Islam, gunmen arrived on motorbikes and embarked on a 10-hour frenzy of killing. The attackers went from door to door, shooting