AP World News

By MONIKA PRONCZUK and CAITLIN KELLY Associated Press MBERA, Mauritania (AP) — The men move in rhythm, swaying in line and beating the ground with spindly tree branches as the sun sets over the barren and hostile Mauritanian desert. The crack of the wood against dry grass lands in unison, a technique perfected by more

By LORNE COOK, SAM McNEIL and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders stalled early Friday in talks to provide a massive loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, officials said, as Belgium sought ironclad guarantees from its partners that they would protect the country from any retaliation by Russia. The leaders

By SIBI ARASU and RISHI LEKHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Recent remarks about pollution from two Indian officials have increased frustration among residents who say policymakers are unwilling to acknowledge the severity of India’s air quality crisis. When Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told Parliament earlier this month that India’s capital, New Delhi, has

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday that it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people on the same day the House rejected efforts to limit President Donald Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels. U.S. Southern Command stated on social media that the

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Africa has been the hardest hit by the Trump administration’s decision to add 20 countries to a list of travel restrictions but reactions on the continent of some 1.5 billion people were largely muted on Wednesday as affected nations mulled the implications of the measure and

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Some oil vessels are diverting away from Venezuela after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the South American country, a dramatic escalation in the White House’s pressure campaign on leader Nicolás Maduro. Trump said Tuesday on social media, in

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off Venezuelan oil sales could devastate a country already wrangling with years of spiraling crises. The prospect added to Venezuelans’ collective anxiety over their country’s future on Wednesday. But after years of political, social and economic challenges, Venezuelans

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops fired a mortar shell over the ceasefire line into a Palestinian residential area in the Gaza Strip, in the latest incident to rock the tenuous ceasefire with Hamas. Health officials said at least 10 people were wounded, and the army said it was investigating. The

By The Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks. U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end nearly four years of fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of

By EMILIO MORENATTI and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BADALONA, Spain (AP) — Police in northeastern Spain carried out eviction orders Wednesday to clear an abandoned school building where around 400 migrants were living in a squat north of Barcelona. Knowing that the eviction in the middle of winter was coming, most of the occupants had

LONDON (AP) — Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has been given a final chance to turn over the 2.5 billion pounds ($3.25 billion) that he promised to give victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine from the sale of Premier League club Chelsea, the British government said Wednesday. Abramovich was forced to sell the club after being

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are about to attempt something they’ve never tried before. The chances of failure are significant. Their actions this week could set dangerous precedents and a wrong move could undermine trust among the bloc’s 27 member countries for years to come. At a summit starting

By DAVID KLEPPER and DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — China is exploiting partnerships with U.S. researchers funded by the Department of Energy to provide the Chinese military with access to sensitive nuclear technology and other innovations with economic and national security applications, according to a congressional report published Wednesday. The authors of the

By THOMAS ADAMSON and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Employees at the Louvre Museum voted to extend a strike that has disrupted operations at the world’s most visited museum, though the attraction partially opened Wednesday to allow visitors to enjoy the “Mona Lisa” and other highlights. The museum said that visitors have started

By MICHELLE GUMEDE and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African immigration authorities raided a United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg and seven Kenyans working there illegally were arrested and given deportation orders, South Africa’s Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, as the U.S. called the action “unacceptable.” Tuesday’s raid occurred at a

By GEIR MOULSON, KERSTIN SOPKE and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — In 2018, German artist Michael Triegel asked a homeless man in Rome to pose for a drawing, thinking that he would make an ideal model for St. Peter if he ever needed to paint the first pope. Seven years on, the

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY, KRISTEN GELINEAU AND ROD McGUIRK Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — An accused gunman in Sydney’s Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney to begin funerals for the victims. Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy. Trump’s escalation

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S. The Trump administration included five more

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Like many Australians strolling at Bondi Beach on long, warm summer evenings, Ahmed al Ahmed just wanted a cup of coffee with a friend. Around him, a bloody massacre erupted as two gunmen targeted Jews during Hanukkah festivities at a park close to the shore.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was taken to a hospital emergency room twice after her arrest last week by Iranian security forces, her family said Tuesday, following what they described as severe beatings during her detention in the northeastern city of Mashhad. In a statement on social

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European officials on Tuesday moved to ease their ban on sales of cars with internal combustion engines by 2035, responding to pressure from governments and automakers who argued that the industry needed more flexibility in finding ways to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and help

By WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians in Gaza struggled to recover Tuesday from torrential rains that battered the enclave for days, flooding camps for the displaced, collapsing buildings already badly damaged in the two-year war and leaving at least 12 dead, including a two-week-old baby. The

By MARK BANCHEREAU Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Rwanda-backed M23 rebels said Tuesday they will withdraw from Uvira, the strategic city in eastern Congo seized last week, as fighting in the region escalated despite a U.S.-mediated peace deal. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, which includes M23, said the withdrawal was requested

By DAVID BILLER Associated Press ROME (AP) — Rome opened two subway stations on Tuesday — one deep beneath the Colosseum — that mix the modernity of high-tech transport with artifacts from an ancient era. Commuters and tourists entering the station beside the iconic amphitheater can view displays of ceramic vases and plates, stone wells

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A driver who injured more than 130 people when he plowed his car into a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League championship was sentenced Tuesday to more than 21 years in prison. Paul Doyle rammed his minivan through a sea of fans on May 26

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France’s first lady has defended her use of a sexist slur to denounce feminist protesters, saying the comments were “clumsy” but made in private when “I didn’t see that someone behind me was filming.” Speaking to online media outlet Brut, Brigitte Macron acknowledged in a video interview

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union envoys worked on Tuesday to narrow gaps on a plan to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a massive loan to cover Ukraine’s economic and military needs over the next two years, ahead of a crunch summit of EU leaders

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals being negotiated with U.S. officials for a deal to end the fighting in Russia’s nearly 4-year-old invasion of his country could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before possible further meetings in