AP World News

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis visited Rome’s central prison Thursday and met with dozens of inmates as he kept an Easter season appointment to spend Holy Thursday among the least fortunate, even as he continues recovering from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia. Francis met for nearly a half-hour with

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A portrait of a young Palestinian boy who lost both arms as a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza was honored Thursday as World Press Photo of the year. The photo, taken by Qatar-based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times

BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to nearly 4,900 prisoners to mark the country’s traditional new year, state-run media reported Thursday, and an independent watchdog said they included at least 22 political detainees. At least 19 buses with prisoners aboard left Yangon’s Insein prison and were welcomed outside the gate

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing three people, including a child, and wounding dozens, officials said Thursday. The strike late Wednesday was the latest in a string of Russian attacks that have caused civilian casualties and intensified

By EMMA BURROWS and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — France hosted high-level talks Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time since President Donald Trump’s inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war. U.S. Secretary of State Marco

By WAFAA SHURAFA, FATMA KHALED and LEE KEATH Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel’s blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press SAN MIGUEL ESCOBAR, Guatemala (AP) — Stitch by stitch, artisans have worked for months on the elaborate garments that will debut this week in Holy Week processions across Guatemala and beyond. The hefty velvet cloaks, finely embroidered with gold thread will cover the wooden Virgin Mary and Christ figures

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least 62 active-duty Taiwanese military members have been found holding Chinese residency permits, the self-ruled island’s Defense Ministry said, in the latest revelation of Chinese influence in the Taiwanese armed forces. Since splitting amid civil war in 1949, China has considered Taiwan a renegade province

By GRANT PECK and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Cambodia on Thursday for a two-day state visit that serves as an opportunity to further strengthen China’s already robust relations with its closest ally in Southeast Asia. The visit, Xi’s first since 2016, concludes a three-nation

By JOSH BOAK and COLLEN BARRY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he is in “no rush” to reach any trade deals because he views tariffs as making the United States wealthy. But he suggested while meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni that it would be easy to find an agreement

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday the key question in Canada’s election is who is best to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump while his Conservative rival argued that Carney doesn’t represent change after a decade of Liberal Party rule. Opposition Conservative Pierre Poilievre said during the

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Thursday threatened unspecified retaliation after the U.S. flew long-range bombers over South Korea during training with South Korean warplanes, which North Korea views as practice for an attack against it. The U.S. flew the B-1B bombers Tuesday to train with other U.S.

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A power blackout hit all of Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the heavily Catholic U.S. territory prepared to celebrate the Easter weekend. All 1.4 million clients were affected, Hugo Sorrentini, spokesman for Luma Energy, which oversees the transmission and distribution of power, told The

The Associated Press A ruling Wednesday from the top court in the United Kingdom that says the legal definition of a woman is someone born biologically female is the latest high-profile action globally involving the issue of what legal recognitions transgender people are allowed. The spectrum of protections around the world ranges widely, from none

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press BINYAMINA, Israel (AP) — Rachel Dancyg never thought she would see her dog again after it disappeared in the Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing war with Israel. Her ex-husband and brother were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel and killed. She thought her beloved pet had suffered

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The top United Nations official in South Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to use its clout to prevent the world’s newest nation from again plunging into civil war. Nicholas Haysom warned that the escalating rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A boat has capsized after catching fire in northwestern Congo, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds missing, a local official said on Wednesday. Dozens were saved following the accident on the Congo River late on Tuesday night, many of them with bad burns. The

By YOLANDA MAGAÑA and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press SAN SALVADOR (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Thursday evening in El Salvador, coming face to face with the wrongly deported man after two days in the country pushing for his release. The Democratic senator posted a photo of

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A man was convicted Wednesday of stabbing to death a transgender actor and model in her apartment in Georgia last year, a killing that shocked the South Caucasus nation and came a day after lawmakers passed legislation that severely restricted LGBTQ+ rights. Beka Jaiani, 26, was sentenced to life in prison

By JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press The Israeli defense minister says his country’s troops will stay in “security zones” in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, after Israel unilaterally expanded its frontiers in the war unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it needs to hold on to the zones to prevent similar

By GEIR MOULSON and MARKUS SCHREIBER Associated Press MARIENBERG, Germany (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to become a tough nut to crack in an unlikely place — a small company whose factory nestled deep in the hills of eastern Germany produces painstakingly hand-crafted nutcrackers that are snapped up by American collectors. Alongside

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian glide bombs and artillery struck a city in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding nine others as Moscow forces continued daily attacks across the country. The city of Kherson was struck with glide bombs on Wednesday morning, and when rescue teams arrived

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Malaysia’s leader Wednesday that China will be a collaborative partner and stand with its Southeast Asian neighbors in the wake of global economic shocks. “In the face of shocks to global order and economic globalization, China and Malaysia will stand with countries

By JON GAMBRELL and NASSER KARIMI Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran confirmed Wednesday that the next round of nuclear talks with the United States this weekend will be held in Rome after earlier confusion over where the negotiations would be held. The announcement by Iranian state television came as Iran’s President

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A notorious paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military said it’s forming a rival government that will rule parts of the country controlled by the group, including the western Darfur region where the United Nations says recent attacks by the group have killed over 400 people. Gen.

By ISAAC SCHARF, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza killed

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China appointed a new trade negotiator Wednesday in the midst of its tariff fight with the United States as the world’s two largest economies steadily increase tariffs on each other’s goods. China’s government said Li Chenggang replaces Wang Shouwen, who participated in negotiations for the countries’

By BRIAN MELLEY, JILL LAWLESS and SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a woman is someone born biologically female, excluding transgender people from the legal definition in a long-running dispute between a feminist group and the Scottish government. The court said the unanimous ruling shouldn’t be seen

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — The association that represents academic staff at Canadian universities is warning its members against non-essential travel to the United States. The Canadian Association of University Teachers released updated travel advice Tuesday due to the “political landscape” created by President Donald Trump’s administration and reports of some Canadians encountering difficulties crossing

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding nine other people, a hospital spokesman said. The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area, where