AP World News

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces. The proposal offered

By SUZAN FRASER and FAY ABUELGASIM Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Search teams in Turkey on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, while efforts to retrieve the victims’ remains were still underway, Turkey’s interior minister said. The private

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois had approved a law allowing for medically assisted suicide, and he called for greater respect of life. Leo said he had spoken “explicitly” with Gov. JB Pritzker and urged him

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that criminalizes a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers. The bill — introduced, debated and approved within two days in the National

AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said he will be extending invitations to next year’s U.S.-hosted Group of 20 summit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as the Republican administration looks to deepen its relationship with the Central Asian nations. Trump announced the plan on Tuesday after holding separate phone

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels have reached an agreement to free 2,900 detainees in the largest swap during the 11-year civil war, according to Saudi and Houthi officials. Saudi Ambassador Mohamed AlJabir said in a statement on X that the agreement was signed under the supervision of the Office

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach. Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas. The barrage struck

By MARIAM FAM Associated Press Attallah Tarazi recently received Christmas presents that included socks and a scarf to shield him against the Gaza winter, and he joined some fellow Palestinian Christians in a round of hymns. “Christ is born,” the group sang in Arabic. “Hallelujah.” The presents and hymns offered the 76-year-old a taste of

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sudan’s prime minister on Monday proposed a wide-ranging peace initiative to end a nearly 1,000-day war with a rival paramilitary force, but the United States urged both sides to accept the Trump administration’s call for an immediate humanitarian truce. Kamil Idris, who heads Sudan’s transitional

By HALLIE GOLDEN and MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in waters along the Texas coast, officials said. Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians,

By SAMYA KULLAB and VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Initial drafts of U.S. proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv’s demands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, although he suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in

By GABRIELA MOLINA Associated Press QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A court in Ecuador handed lengthy prison sentences Monday to a group of eleven soldiers who were responsible for the abduction and torture of four children last year — a case that has rattled the South American nation and raised questions about President Daniel Noboa’s efforts

By KATIE MARIE DAVIES Associated Press Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a number of high-profile attacks against prominent Russians since Moscow invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago. While Kyiv has hinted at its involvement in some cases, Ukrainian officials have often stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility. In other cases, they have

By GHAITH ALSAYED Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Clashes erupted between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters on Monday as top Turkish officials visited Damascus ahead of a deadline to implement a deal between the government and Kurdish-led forces in the country’s northeast. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that two civilians were killed

MOSCOW (AP) — A car bomb killed a Russian general on Monday, the third such killing of a senior military officer in just over a year. Investigators said Ukraine may be behind the attack. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, died from his injuries,

By GEIR MOULSON and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the United States won’t take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump ‍​announced ​the appointment of a ‌special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory. Trump’s announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press Two NATO-nation intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon to target Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation with destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel, with the aim of reining in Western space superiority that has helped Ukraine on the battlefield. Intelligence findings seen by The Associated Press say the so-called

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, according to Australian police documents released on Monday. The documents, made public following Naveed Akram’s video court appearance

By RAJESH ROY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India and New Zealand announced Monday they have reached a free trade deal, seeking to deepen economic ties and shore up growth at a time of mounting global trade uncertainties. The move comes as New Delhi accelerates efforts to diversify export destinations as part of a

By DMYTRO ZHYHINAS, DEREK GATOPOULOS and VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The icy ground crackling under their feet, members of an elite Ukrainian drone-hunting team set up for a long night. Antennas and sensors are clipped to a light stand. Monitors and controls are pulled from hard cases, and a game-changing new

By NICHOLAS KOMU and ZELIPHA KIROBI Associated Press NAIVASHA, Kenya (AP) — When Dickson Ngome first leased his farm at Lake Naivasha in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 2008, it was over 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from shore. The farm was on 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) of fertile land where he grew vegetables to sell at

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia will resume talks later this week to work toward a more durable ceasefire along their border, Thailand’s foreign minister said Monday, stressing that progress depends on detailed bilateral negotiations rather than public declarations that internationalize the dispute. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29

By MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As the dawn rose on President Donald Trump’s second term, one key figure from his first administration stood back, content to focus on his personal business interests and not retake a formal government role. Now, nearly a year into Trump 2.0, Trump’s son-in-law Jared

By The Associated Press A White House envoy said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States

By MICHELLE GUMEDE and ALFONSO NQUNJANA Associated Press BEKKERSDAL, South Africa (AP) — Nine people have died and at least 10 others were wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday, authorities said. The incident occurred just before 1 a.m. in the

PARIS (AP) — Three men will stand trial next year after a silver steward employed at the official residence of the French president was arrested this week for the theft of items of silverware and table service worth thousands of euros, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The Élysée Palace’s head steward reported the disappearance, with