Month: September 2025

GENEVA (AP) — Congo’s armed forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have committed crimes including gang rape, sexual slavery, torture, killings of civilians and other “horrific” atrocities in eastern Congo over the last year, the U.N. human rights office said Friday. It said the governments of both countries bear responsibility. A new report by a fact-finding

By The Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, particularly while its invasion was still ongoing, would be considered “legitimate targets” by Moscow’s forces. Putin’s comments came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force, a prospect that Moscow has repeatedly described as

By JESSIE WARDARSKI and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — At a Catholic school in Pope Leo XIV’s hometown, fifth graders read comic books about Carlo Acutis’ life titled “Digital Disciple.” They draw pictures of what the teenage Italian computer whiz might have had as his cellphone wallpaper. They discuss the miracles that allegedly

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A passenger bus veered off a road and plunged into a precipice in a mountainous region in Sri Lanka, killing 15 people and injuring 16 others, a police spokesman said Friday. The accident occurred near the town of Wellawaya, about 280 kilometers (174 miles) east

By PETER SMITH Associated Press The Ukrainian government has declared that a branch of the Orthodox Church has failed to sever its longstanding ties with Moscow — and could soon be banned. The looming ban affects one of the two rival branches of Orthodoxy in the country and further underscores the turbulent role of religion